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This kind of cold breathless night was endless, night after night as if it wouldn’t stop until it killed the hope of the person.
Now that he had grown up, he had stopped looking at the door. He no longer had the idea of hoping for someone to come and save him.
It was just that the night would pass soon, and the sun would come out to make his body warmer.
Inside the Royal palace, the coal heaters were burning on all sides making the room warmer as spring. The furnishings were all glamorous and luxurious.
The Emperor, Empress, and the twelve-year-old seventeenth prince were sitting together and eating supper while enjoying themselves.
Seeing that the atmosphere was very good at this moment, the Empress smiled and said to the Emperor, “Recently Little Seventeen has been practicing archery hard with a lot of diligence. Does the emperor want to see it?”
The Emperor was quite fond of archery, and when he heard it, he immediately became interested and asked the eunuch to send the bow arrows and targets.
The queen thought that if her son could show off his archery talent, he would definitely be favored by the emperor.
For a while, there was a smile on her lips.
The seventeenth prince geared up, and excitedly rushed forward to shoot an arrow, but missed the target and shot into the wall.
It was just an arrow, so the Emperor didn’t say anything, but the empress’s expression immediately turned embarrassed.
Only after the seventeenth prince shot another arrow in the air, did the queen’s face become more and more frosty.
Among the ten arrows, only one was near the bullseye. Seeing that the queen became anxious, she wanted to beat her son.
She asked him to practice hard, how did he learn like this?
The expectant smile on the Emperor’s face was put away, and the dissatisfaction was very evident.
The queen showed an embarrassed smile and said, “Little Seventeen has been busy with schoolwork recently, so maybe he didn’t have much time to improve. He is very tired lately.”
Hearing it, the Emperor frowned, “Little Seventeen has talent in the study, so it doesn’t matter if he doesn’t have talent in martial arts. Everyone has different strengths so you don’t have to force yourself to follow others.”
With his fingers on the table, the Emperor suddenly turned his head and asked, “How is Little Ninth? I remember, his archery skills are excellent.”
Hearing the name, the queen was taken aback for a moment.
The Emperor had many heirs, with a total of seventeen children under his knees, except for those who died early, there were still twelve living in the world.
Rong Ming ranked ninth among the seventeen princes and princes.
His biological mother was only a court lady, but because outstanding beauty, she attracted the attention of the Emperor.
Her status was low, and it was difficult for her to give birth, so she died during childbirth.
Soon after Rong Ming was born, he was raised by the Empress.
The world said that Empress was gentle and courteous, and treated other people’s children as if they were her own, but they didn’t know that she was gentle just on the surface and a poisonous snake viper inside.
Although she adopted Rong Ming, she only did that to be generous in front of the world and the Emperor.
With hatred for the court lady gaining the Emperor’s favor, she never really treated Rong Ming as her own child.
Even if Rong Ming was raised by her, he lacked food and clothing. He was left out in the cold, helpless in the palace, and living humbly like a weed.
Rong Ming had always been weak since he was a child, with a withdrawn temperament, hidden behind the crowd, and very inconspicuous.
But when he was thirteen years old, a foreign envoy came to pay tribute, and unexpectedly he won three consecutive matches against them, creating a blockbuster.
Shooting, hunting, and fighting, when the young man drew his bow, he could shoot a hundred shots with full vitality and courage.
He attracted the Emperor’s joy and admiration, making the empress extremely jealous.
Unlike the former dynasty where the eldest son was established as the crown prince, in this dynasty, the emperor passed on the throne to the most capable son.
The Emperor hadn’t established a crown prince yet.
If in the end, her own son couldn’t be compared with the son of a lowly court lady, how could she bear this?!
So, in the hunting fest in autumn last year, the Empress secretly sent an assassin to shoot Rong Ming’s legs.
After that she asked the imperial doctors to heal Rong Ming and sent him to the countryside on the grounds that the situation in the capital was chaotic, and the murderer was still not caught.
The countryside was safe and quiet, and it would be suitable for healing.
So, with just a prescription for healing the legs, Rong Ming was sent to the countryside.
(Translated by Beauty Brute.)