The year he was sent to the palace as a hostage, Ning Huaiying was only two years old.
For more than a decade afterward, Emperor Zhao raised him himself, treating him like a son.
First he was made heir apparent, then appointed commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Ning Huaiying's early life was smooth sailing, and he rose to the highest ranks of the court, earning the envy and resentment of countless people.
Fortunately, his strongest rival for the crown prince's position, the third prince Pei Xing, had long been at odds with him.
The two were sworn enemies, locked in a battle to the death.
Everyone thought that once a new emperor ascended the throne, Ning Huaiying was bound to meet a grim fate.
.
In the twenty-sixth year of Yuanjing, the third prince was sentenced to death by Emperor Zhao for practicing witchcraft, shaking the entire court.
No one knew that on that day, Pei Xing had knelt on the ground and wept bitterly, swearing that though he had been foolish for a time and harbored resentment toward the traitor Ning, he had never once meant to defy his father and sovereign.
"Perhaps you aren't so foolish after all."
Emperor Zhao only sighed and asked him, "But you hate Huaiying so much. When I'm gone, who will he be able to rely on?"
Reading guide:
Fake father-son relationship + fake stepbrother romance. Neither the top nor the bottom is related by blood. Includes forced love and other elements.
A short, melodramatic romance written for practice, with uninhibited kinks and no logic. Probably only forty or fifty thousand words.
Theme: Exemplary ruler and subject
