In the history of the Great Zhou Dynasty, which lasted over a thousand years, there were wise rulers and also foolish ones.
Qin Yi never considered himself a wise ruler, nor did he think of himself as a foolish one!
He always told Su Pan’er that he belonged to the doctrine of moderation: "My roots are simply too shallow! Although in my youth I possessed the ability to rember everything I read, I ultimately read too little, and even though I later took to the battlefield and won the kingdom of Great Zhou, I still lacked a certain maturity. I do not seek to have accomplished great deeds, but rather to be free of grave errors. My wholehearted wish is to cultivate a good emperor for our Great Zhou. When I go underground, I will have no sha in accepting the trust placed in by my ancestors!"
He focused his attention on Ah Mann.
Witnessing Ah Mann, who was rely five years old and should be enjoying his own childhood, instead acting like a little adult, studying all kinds of principles and knowledge of state governance with the Assistant ntor to the Crown Prince, junior officers, and academicians of the Hanlin Imperial Academy, Su Pan’er was in great anguish.
She couldn’t help but glare at Qin Yi.
"Don’t dress up your excuses as noble, do you think I don’t know the truth?"
She lifted her hand, firmly poking his hard chest: "The reason you’re training Ah Mann so early is just because you want to abdicate sooner so you can travel around sooner. Do you really think I’m a fool?"
The seriousness on Qin Yi’s face dissolved, he winked at Su Pan’er and then burst out laughing, closing in on her.
"Pan’er, you know best, just like the roundworm in my gut!"
"Who wants to be the roundworm in your gut? Move!"
Su Pan’er rolled her eyes and pushed away the man blocking her view, her face showing increasing pity as she looked at the seriously studying Ah Mann: "It’s just a pity for our Ah Mann, this child has never really had the chance to play..."
"Alright! Don’t make it sound like I’m the only one who wants him to ascend the throne early."
Qin Yi shalessly drew close, his eyes revealing clear understanding: "Who was it that just a few days ago ordered her servants to start training Ah Mann to be independent? Who took the initiative to arrange the knowledge Ah Mann should study? Who... has already chosen several advisors for Ah Mann?"
"Cough, cough..."
Su Pan’er’s cheeks flushed with a shade of crimson as she confessed: "So what if it was ? I did it for... Well! Who made our Ah Mann a genius!"
In the end, Su Pan’er simply admitted it!
Ah Mann was weak and often ill in his childhood. With Su Pan’er and Old Xue working together, his health gradually improved. These past two years, he seldom fell ill. His learning talent was revealed when he was just over a year old. At that ti, he had just learned to speak complete sentences, and Qin Yi, on a whim, recited a poem he had composed at court that day, only to have Ah Mann recite it back without missing a word!
Su Pan’er still rembers the image of Ah Mann, just over a year old, swaying his head as he recited the poem!
Such talent really was astonishing!
"Father, Empress Mother!"
The Third Princess, Huanhuan, burst into the hall, shouting as she ran. She plunged into Su Pan’er’s arms, her face covered in tears of grievance: "Empress Mother, Second Elder Sister is so an! Second Elder Sister refuses to take out to play, waaa..."
As she spoke, she also lifted her head to look outside the hall.
Second Princess Little Sugar Bean entered the hall with a helpless expression. The eleven-year-old Little Sugar Bean had changed completely compared to how she used to be.
"This child has co to see Father, and to see Empress Mother."
"What’s the matter?"
Su Pan’er asked, holding Huanhuan in her arms.
Little Sugar Bean looked exasperated: "My younger sister is mischievous; she pressed her guards to sneak out of the Imperial Palace to play. That’s why... when I caught her..."
"Is that true?" Su Pan’er asked solemnly.
Huanhuan had quite a bit of Little Yanyan’s disposition from years ago, but she was even more resilient and mischievous. If you asked her to go east, she’d insist on going west, constantly causing headaches for Qin Yi and herself.
Whenever they thought of Little Yanyan, the smiles on Su Pan’er and Qin Yi’s faces faded sowhat.
Over the past few years, despite Little Yanyan having returned to the palace twice, each ti she stayed only briefly for half a month before leaving again, non-stop.
It must be that having gained experience outside, among the children, Little Yanyan had changed the most.
It really confird the saying "girls look drastically different after they grew up."
"I, I didn’t... I didn’t sneak away, I just, I just..."
Seeing she couldn’t win the argunt, Huanhuan’s eyes darted about as she started acting coy, "Empress Mother, you don’t love Huanhuan anymore, you won’t let Huanhuan go out to play, Huanhuan is so sad..."
"Don’t agree to her, Father, Empress Mother, Third Sister always uses this trick, she’s too good at acting spoiled!" Little Sugar Bean imdiately cried out.
"I did not! Humph, Humph, Humph!"
"You did too, I saw it all!"
"Which eye of yours saw it?"
"Both eyes saw it..."
The incessant chirping of the two little sparrows made Qin Yi and Su Pan’er look at each other and smile.
The children were all grown up now, and they had aged as well!
In Jiantai Era year fifteen, Emperor Jiantai, under the pretext of poor health, went to the travel palace for recuperation and handed over state affairs to the ten-year-old Crown Prince Qin Kaige. It was said to be recuperation, but it was really an excuse to be lazy, as he took Su Pan’er to the countryside for so quiet ti.
Although the Crown Prince was young, he handled state affairs in an orderly fashion, and the country’s power grew day by day.
In the year eighteen of Jiantai, Emperor Jiantai abdicated, declaring himself Emperor Eritus, and passed the throne to Crown Prince Qin Kaige, with the new era na being Jiankang, and declared an amnesty for the whole kingdom.
Emperor Jiankang took up residence in Purple Zen Hall, while Emperor Eritus Qin Yi and the Grand Empress Dowager Su Pan’er moved into the travel palace, refusing to return to the Imperial Palace.
In reality, although they were supposed to be living in the travel palace, the truth was that they took only a small retinue and went back to live in Luoyan Village.
By this ti, Luoyan Village was no longer called Luoyan Village, but had been renad Luoyan County.
Shuanghekou dock was busier than ever, lively and bustling.
Su Pan’er always liked to dress as a man, and along with Qin Yi, they pretended to be an ordinary couple, going out now and then to walk around and see the sights.
By now, with both sons and daughters, their days were peaceful yet also filled with warmth.
The children also gradually grew older, especially Ah Mann, who always used the tunnels within Deicide Mountain to sneak over to their side for a few days at a ti, to entertain and enjoy the company of her parents. Afterwards, she returned to the Imperial Palace to continue her role as the emperor.
Among the children, the most obedient and attentive was Little Sugar Bean.
But Su Pan’er never expected that one day, Little Sugar Bean would suddenly co before her, lifting her head with determination to tell her,
"Mother, I... I am pregnant... I want to have this child!"
Su Pan’er stood there dumbfounded.
——
Dou Dou originally wanted to write according to the plot outline in the finale, but in the end, Dou Dou changed the content.
The story has co to this point, and that’s where the main text ends!
As for the extras, dear readers, whose side story do you all want to see?
Thank you all for accompanying Dou Dou to this point. Dou Dou wrote this book from beginning to end while ill, persisting through sickness.
Many tis, Dou Dou doesn’t know what to say, in fact, Dou Dou’s illness not only hasn’t improved but has shown tendencies of worsening. Dou Dou is also speeding up the writing of the new book, planning to et everyone with the new book as soon as possible. Love ya, everyone!
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