Empress Wang, not inferior to men, was kind and straightforward. She criticized her husband Emperor Zhu Qiyu without hesitation: “From the perspective of maintaining feudal etiquette, the prince’s transition from regent to emperor was already an emergency measure beyond ancestral instructions. Now changing the heir is simply too greedy – human desires are insatiable like a snake trying to swallow an elephant.”
As a result, Emperor Jing Zhu Qiyu became furious.
Those who follow me will prosper; those who oppose me will perish! I am the emperor – who should I fear?
The King of Yi rushed over, tightly hugging Wan Zhen’er, squeezing his small body into her embrace, a gesture he was accustomed to. Each time the King of Yi felt uneasy, he would hide in Wan Zhen’er’s arms. Wan Zhen’er only wanted to protect and love the King of Yi.
After moving out of the imperial palace, Wan Zhen’er lived with the King of Yi in a small royal residence. The King of Yi became even more lonely.
The so-called King of Yi’s residence was a sparsely populated, desolate place outside the capital, a small courtyard with a small garden behind it. Besides the King of Yi and Wan Zhen’er, there were two old nannies, nearly deaf, toothless, and blind, responsible for meals and cleaning. There were also two hunchbacked old eunuchs who made up the household staff.
However, the courtyard was surrounded by Brocade Guards, nominally for protection, but actually for surveillance.
The King of Yi’s grand empress dowager, his mother Lady Zhou, and the imperial aunt who loved him – the former Empress Wang, now Lady Wang – were not allowed to visit the King of Yi. They could not easily leave the palace.
That Emperor Jing, with his lackeys everywhere, had planted his eyes inside and outside the palace. Even the slightest movement would not escape his keen observation. Who would dare to challenge him, risking their personal safety and precious life?
Helplessly, they could only let the young King of Yi fend for himself.
Most hateful were the old nannies responsible for meals and cleaning, and the two unsightly, cowardly eunuchs who were afraid of death, unwilling to approach the King of Yi, avoiding him like a plague.
The King of Yi was just a child.
