In a distant land, there exist two empires: Qin and Zhu. They had been at war with each other. It was foretold that the two could not co-exist. One must disappear for the other to stay but one of the descendants of the first Emperor of Qin decided to change that. He wished for peace so he worked hard at achieving precisely that. Unfortunately, he did not live to see it but the seeds of peace were sown. His son, managed to realize his dream and such, the two Empire became allies.
The peace lasted for hundreds of years. That is, until an incident where the crown prince of the Qin empire and his party were assassinated while visiting the Zhu empire. In retaliation, the Emperor of Qin beheaded all the princes and princesses of the Emperor of Zhu. This retaliation was delivered despite the princes and princesses having been sent over for political marriages throughout the year. This, in turn, sparked the flames of war once more; one that raged on until present day.
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The lands of the Qin and Zhu Empires were stricken by droughts. For years, they had yet to receive a drop of rain from the heavens. It was said that the droughts had been brought on by the wrath of their ancestors. It was to the point that both Empires had to sign a truce because they couldn’t even feed their armies.
The Empress of Qin, who was currently pregnant, worried for her child. She worried that, because of the droughts, her child wouldn’t be able to get enough nourishment to grow up. Months passed, and during one cold night, the Empress found herself in labour. She was struggling and her condition wasn’t good enough, to begin with. She fought for hours until finally the cry of a young child could be heard.
“It’s a boy!” the midwife announced aloud, relief and bliss emanating from her words. The exhaustion from hours of struggle disappeared from the midwife’s face the moment the baby’s cries resounded within the room. She handed the crying baby to the Empress who gently held the boy, her face brimming with pure happiness. Outside, as if answering the boy’s cries, the land which had not seen a drop of rain in years, finally received its blessings in the form of a heavy downpour. “Your Imperial Majesty, it seems the heavens answered this child by blessing us with rains…” the midwife seemed to cry in joy. Now that their droughts had ended, they finally saw the light. Just then, the door opened and a eunuch entered the birthing chambers.
“His Imperial Majesty, the Emperor has arrived!” he announced and after that declaration, a figure dressed in black clothes decorated with golden dragons entered. The Empress just smiled warmly as she saw him.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Ebsji Leryjcv… beg mtliv… lr j mtliv atja lr yifrrfv ys atf tfjnfcr. Llr mglfr rewwbcfv atf gjlc jcv bcf vjs…” atf Swqgfrr vlvc’a ufa atf mtjcmf ab olclrt tfg rfcafcmf jr atf Swqfgbg lcafgpfmafv.
“One day, this child will succeed Zhen and rule this Empire after Zhen. He will lead this Empire with a resolute and firm decision, for he is the child of heaven. Steward Wong, send out the Royal Edict. From today onward, Qin Yijun, fourth prince of Emperor Qin Wuzhen, the prince blessed by the heavens, is the crown prince of the Qin Empire!”
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Coafg atf Jgbkc Uglcmf’r ylgat, atf Swqfgbg kjr rb tjqqs atja tf rfca jcbatfg Pwqfglji Svlma vfmijglcu jii mlalhfcr bo atf Hlc Swqlgf kfgf ab yf fzfwqa ogbw qjslcu ajzfr ecali atf Jgbkc Uglcmf aegcfv olnf sfjgr biv. Lfjglcu atlr, atf mlalhfcr gfpblmfv. Gfrqlaf atf ofk sfjgr bo vgbeutar, fnfgsbcf mfifygjafv obg bcf tecvgfv vjsr jr atbeut atf vgbeutar tjv cba ijrafv obg atf ugefiilcu obeg sfjgr. Dea, cba jii mfifygjafv atf wjaafg. Ktf Swqfgbg tjv rfnfgji Pwqfglji Jbcmeylcfr, ybat ofwjif jcv wjif mbcmeylcfr. Ciatbeut atfgf kfgf cb bypfmalbcr ogbw atf wjif qjgjwbegr, atf rjwf mbeiv cba yf rjlv bo atf ofwjif mbcmeylcfr. Srqfmljiis ogbw atf Pwqfglji Jbcmeylcfr ktb ylgatfv Uglcmfr jcv Uglcmfrrfr.
With the change of seasons, time passed amicably. The Crown Prince was doted on by both parents and most of their subjects. The servants served the Crown Prince wholeheartedly; some of the older servants even treated the Crown Prince as they would their own child. Days turned to months, months into years and, without realizing, four years had passed since the birth of Qin Yijun. Despite years having passed, everyone was still grateful to the young prince. In fact, some even thought that the prince was actually a reincarnation of a god that came down in order to face trials in the mortal realm. There are few gods in the legends that could call out the rain, but citizens seemed to prefer to liken him to one of the four Dragon Gods, XuanLong.
Imperial Concubine Xing, the mother of the eldest prince, had been the most hostile over the years. Although she did not publicly show it, there was a rumour that had been spreading to all that lived in the Imperial Palace that she disliked the fourth prince. There’s a saying that the walls have eyes and ears everywhere, and the Imperial Palace was one such place where evil plots ran the deepest. Whether the rumours were true or not, those who heard it already assumed that Concubine Xing hated the fourth prince; that she saw him as a thief. After all, if it were not for the Imperial Edict, her son would’ve been the one to be crowned as the Crown Prince. And if that were to happen, her status would’ve been that of the Empress while the current Empress would have been reduced to Imperial noble consort.
“If only that rain had not fallen just when that useless child was born!” she cursed under her breath. “Don’t think this is over yet! It was just a coincidence that your child was born when the rains were about to fall!! Your luck is going to run out soon!” Concubine Xing seemed to be unable to control her anger anymore as her face mirrored the sinister thought in her mind and her lips curved up in a malicious smirk. The servants that attended Concubine Xing could only lower their heads while the concubine paced around her room with a calculating face, trying to think of a way to gain Emperor Qin Wuzhen’s favour toward her and her child.
“Mother…?” the quivering voice of a young boy snapped her out of her anger and she quickly turned to see her son. Concubine Xing noticed that her son looked scared and she suspected that the young prince had witnessed her earlier outburst.
“Chenji, my beloved prince, how long have you been standing there?” Concubine Xing asked, her expression turned into pure concern as she approached her son. The servants who saw this retreated out of the room in a silent tacit understanding.
“Umm, I just arrived, mother. I just wanted to tell you that Imperial Father has just assigned a tutor for me! And also a martial arts tutor!” he announced happily. Qin Chenji, was the first prince of Emperor Qin Wuzhen. This young prince had only recently reached six years of age. Despite his youth, he was intelligent and cunning. There were several complaints from the eunuch and other servants about the firstborn prince. Some said that if you displeased him, you’d have your arm broken as punishment. The things that Qin Chenji would be displeased with could be as small as dropping a grain of rice while serving him a meal.
“Good, good, good. You must work hard and make the Emperor proud. That way, all may not be lost yet,” Concubine Xing gave Qin Chenji a warm, gentle smile yet, her eyes shone malevolently as her mind filled with venomous thoughts. Concubine Xing then remembered her son was still around and let out a heavy sigh as she patted his head gently. “If only I could make that bastard disappear,” she mumbled in a soft voice, making Qin Chenji look up to her.
“Who are you talking about, mother?” the young prince asked. Though he appeared innocent, he clearly knew who his mother was talking about. Who else would it be if not the Crown Prince, Qin Yijun? With how most of the servants revered the Crown Prince, even Qin Chenji felt that his limelight had been stolen. His mother used to tell him that he would be the future Emperor and that the Dragon Throne would belong to him. Then, Qin Yijun was born under the blessing of the heavens and suddenly, Qin Chenji found his path to the Dragon Throne being blocked by his younger brother.
“That bastard Yijun of course!!” she hissed, her face turning ugly.
“Then, if he disappears, will mother be happy?” he asked, and his mother just gave him a smile.
Hello! This is the author, Lin Xiaolong. You can call me Lin if you’d like.
I am very honoured to have this story added to CG’s library. I hope that everyone will enjoy this story as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it!
Some of you might’ve seen the older version of this story in Wattpad, and some may have read the newer version in Tapas. Rest assured, this one and the one in Tapas is the same version. So if any of my readers are here, you can now continue to read here if it is more convenient for you.
Another word of disclaimer: Although I did a lot of research for this story, the amount is still lacking. I know this, so if any of you find some… discrepancies, this author begs you to either inform me or turn a blind eye 
Excited^^ Another one to binge-read!