Host! I told you to do a task! I didn't tell you to bbb.

Time accelerator...

The 47th year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign.

Emperor Kangxi led a group of princes on an inspection tour beyond the Great Wall.

Kangxi sat upright on his horse, his gaze sweeping over his sons beside him, finally settling on Yinreng, who was riding alongside him not far away.

Over the course of those ten years, Crown Prince Yinreng's behavior became increasingly eccentric.

In particular, Emperor Kangxi often brought Chengyou to participate in discussions of state affairs, and even had him accompany him in his studies in the Imperial Study.

That obvious expectation was like a thorn stuck in Yinreng's heart, causing him to make inappropriate moves repeatedly in his anxiety and unease.

"Your Highness," Kangxi reined in his horse, his voice calm yet carrying an undeniable authority, "yesterday you petitioned to hand over the management of the Jiangnan salt permits to your trusted confidants, a request I have already rejected. Salt and iron are vital national assets; how can they be privately transferred?"

Yinreng's face paled, then he stiffened his neck and said, "Father! I only thought that person was reliable in handling matters, not that I was being biased! Now that Prince Chengyou is growing up, I'm afraid Father no longer sees me as the Crown Prince!"

Upon hearing this, the accompanying princes all held their breath.

A hint of smugness flashed in Yinzhi's eyes, while Yinzhen stared blankly into the distance, as if it were none of his business.

Kangxi's face instantly darkened: "Insolence! Have you forgotten the two words 'benevolence and forgiveness' that I taught you? Chengyou is young, I was merely letting him learn more, and you dare to be so suspicious!"

"Your Majesty, I have no suspicions!" Yinreng became emotional. "Does Your Majesty know that everyone in the court and among the people is saying that Prince Chengyou is the chosen one! I have been the Crown Prince for thirty years. Do you think I am less important than a mere child in Your Majesty's heart?"

He became more and more agitated as he spoke, forgetting the proper etiquette between ruler and subject, his tone filled with resentment.

Kangxi looked at him, his eyes filled with an overwhelming sense of disappointment.

Over the past decade, he had given Yinreng opportunities, but he repeatedly lost his composure due to jealousy, even secretly forming cliques and indulging his subordinates in embezzlement and illegal activities.

Now, to utter such hurtful words in public.

"Yinreng," Kangxi's voice was as cold as the wind from beyond the Great Wall, "do you know what you're saying?"

Yinreng was stunned by the coldness in his eyes and was speechless for a moment, but he still stubbornly refused to lower his head.

At this moment, Chengyou rode forward on his horse.

He was only eleven years old, but he already had a tall and straight posture, and his eyes and brows showed both the composure of Emperor Kangxi and the gentleness of Liu Yunshu.

"Second Brother," he said in a clear voice, with the unique clarity of a young man, "Father's expectations for you have never changed. It's just that you've been acting inappropriately lately, causing Father some worry."

His tone was calm, neither favoring nor belittling anyone, yet it made Yinreng's expression even more unpleasant.

It was as if her loss of composure was even more unbearable in front of her younger brother.

Kangxi glanced at Chengyou, his gaze softening slightly, then turned to Yinreng and said, word by word, "You are not required to accompany us on this autumn hunt. Go back to your tent and reflect on your actions!"

Having said that, he turned his horse around, whipped it, and rode away, leaving Yinreng frozen in place, his face turning pale and then red.

Then something else happened that completely disillusioned Kangxi with Yinreng.

The eighteenth prince, Yinxi, fell seriously ill while accompanying the emperor to the border region, suffering from a persistent high fever.

Emperor Kangxi was extremely anxious and ordered the imperial physicians to treat Yinzhi day and night. He himself stayed outside Yinzhi's tent without taking off his clothes.

All the princes came to visit, and Chengyou stayed outside the tent every day, gently comforting the anxious palace servants and inquiring about the imperial physician's condition from time to time. Although young, he was calm and composed.

Only Yinreng harbored resentment ever since he was reprimanded by Kangxi and forced to stay home to reflect on his mistakes.

Upon hearing that his eighteenth brother was seriously ill, he showed no concern whatsoever, instead drinking wine in his own tent. When Emperor Kangxi found out, he was furious.

When Kangxi rushed into Yinreng's tent, a strong smell of alcohol hit him.

Yinreng was sitting crookedly at the table, still clutching a wine pot in his hand. When he saw Kangxi enter, he not only did not restrain himself, but instead sneered with a hint of drunkenness.

"Father... are you here to laugh at your son? Or do you think he doesn't even deserve a drink?"

The wind outside the tent carried a chill into the air. As Kangxi looked at his drunken state, the anger in his heart flared up like firewood doused with oil.

He snatched the wine pot and smashed it on the ground, shards of porcelain flying everywhere: "Yinxi is still on the verge of death! You, as his elder brother and the Crown Prince, are here drinking and making merry! Is your heart made of stone?"

Yinreng, drunk and disoriented, suddenly stood up, his bloodshot eyes glaring at Kangxi.

"What does his illness have to do with me? Isn't this just what you wanted, so you can blame it on me again?"

"You scoundrel!" Kangxi was so angry that he trembled all over and slapped Yinreng across the face.

The crisp sound of a slap echoed in the tent. Yinreng was knocked to the side, and five finger marks instantly appeared on his face.

He was stunned for a moment, then roared like a caged beast that had been completely enraged, "Father Emperor, you hit me? Just for a sickly child, you actually hit me? I am your eldest son! I am Yinreng, who has been the Crown Prince for thirty years!"

His words were like a blunt knife, cutting deeply into Kangxi's heart.

The thirty years he held the position of crown prince ultimately produced a son full of resentment and devoid of compassion.

As Kangxi looked at his distorted face, the last trace of warmth in his eyes vanished completely, leaving only utter despair.

"Enough." Kangxi's voice was terrifyingly calm, yet it carried a resolute air of finality. "From this day forward, you are no longer the Crown Prince of the Qing Dynasty."

Yinreng was struck dumb, his drunkenness instantly sobering him up. He looked at Kangxi in disbelief: "Father... what did you say?"

"I hereby depose you from your position as crown prince." Kangxi turned away, no longer looking at him.

"Bring him back to the capital and confine him to Xian'an Palace. Without my decree, he shall not step out even a step."

Hearing the commotion, the guards outside the tent rushed in. Yinreng struggled and roared, "No! I won't accept this! Father! You can't do this to me! It's Chengyou! He's the one who ruined me!"

But Kangxi's steps did not falter at all, and his figure appeared particularly lonely and cold in the shadow of the tent.

The wind blew up the corner of his robe, as if drawing a hasty and tragic end to his thirty-year career as crown prince.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

After returning to the capital, the eldest prince, Yinzhi, felt that his opportunity had come. During a morning court session, he suggested to Emperor Kangxi that the deposed crown prince be killed.

He was also found to have used witchcraft to curse the deposed crown prince. Emperor Kangxi was furious and rebuked him as a traitor. Yinzhi was stripped of his title and imprisoned in his residence, with no chance of ever rising again.

The uproar in the imperial court caused by the deposition of the crown prince and the imprisonment of the eldest prince was so great that no one could calm it down for a time.

The princes had different thoughts. The Eighth Prince, Yinzhi, used his "virtuous reputation" to win over the court officials, and his mansion was full of guests, showing signs of becoming a new focus of attention.

The Fourth Prince, Yinzhen, remained taciturn, focusing solely on his duties at the Ministry of Revenue, seemingly indifferent to the struggle for the throne, yet secretly accumulating power.

Meanwhile, the fourteenth prince, Yinzhen, gradually built up his own power through his bravery and martial prowess.

Inside Kunning Palace, Liu Yunshu listened to the eunuch's report on the events of the previous court, her fingertips lightly tracing the surface of the brazier.

She looked at Chengyou beside her, who was engrossed in reading a book. The young man had a calm expression, as if the disturbances of the outside world had nothing to do with him.

"Chengyou," Liu Yunshu said softly, "are you interested?"

Chengyou understood what he meant, and he shook his head.

"Mother, didn't you once say that there are many territories and countries outside of the Qing Dynasty? It's no fun fighting with my brothers for the throne. Bringing overseas territories into our territory is what I want to do."

"Good! What an ambitious young man!" Kangxi happened to lift the curtain and enter. Upon hearing Chengyou's words, his eyes instantly lit up.

He strode up to him and pulled his eleven-year-old son into his arms.

"Well said! As expected of my son, Chengyou!" He looked at Liu Yunshu, his tone full of admiration. "Look, this child's spirit is even more expansive than mine was back then!"

Liu Yunshu smiled and shook her head, gently tapping Chengyou's forehead with her fingertip: "You think you know so much? Do you even know how much effort it takes to 'incorporate' those four words?"

Chengyou broke free from Kangxi's embrace, straightening his back ramrod straight: "Your subject knows. That's why I must study even harder, learn military strategy and mathematics, and in the future I will go to the West to see their ships and weapons. One day, I will make the dragon flag of the Great Qing fly all over those coastlines I have never seen before."

Emperor Kangxi was deeply moved and patted him on the shoulder, saying, "Good! I grant your permission! Starting tomorrow, in addition to the classics, history, philosophy, and literature, I will also send Ferdinand Verbiest and others to teach you Western learning. As for the nautical charts from the Ministry of Revenue and the maps from the Ministry of War, you can look at as many as you want!"

Chenghuan, who was playing with a jade ruyi nearby, came over upon hearing this, tilting her little face up and saying, "Father Emperor, what about me? I also want to learn skills from my brother!"

"You," Kangxi gently stroked Chenghuan's little nose, his eyes full of affection, "If a girl wants to learn a skill, your father will allow it. Since you like those exquisite gadgets, I'll have the skilled craftsmen from the Ministry of Works teach you how to create mechanisms, and the scholars from the Hanlin Academy will teach you to read history and understand principles, so that you can become a knowledgeable, reasonable, and skillful princess in the future, how about that?"

Chenghuan immediately smiled broadly, her eyes crinkling, and shook Kangxi's arm, saying, "Thank you, Father! Then I want to be a princess who can build flying ships, and go see the overseas coastlines with my brother!"

"That's ambitious!" Kangxi laughed loudly, and the atmosphere in the hall became exceptionally lighthearted because of his son and daughter's words, as if the turbulent events of the previous dynasty had been shut out from the hall.

Liu Yunshu watched the father and his two sons chatting and laughing, her fingertips gently tracing the patterns on the heater. She knew that Chengyou's ambition was not a passing fancy.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

The 55th year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign.

Chengyou boarded a warship bound for Southeast Asia. It was also in this year that Kangxi voluntarily abdicated, passing the throne to Yinzhen.

On the official road outside the capital, a horse-drawn carriage was slowly traveling.

Liu Yunshu leaned against Kangxi's chest, and Kangxi would occasionally feed her peeled grapes.

"Sanlang, do you truly have no attachment to the throne?"

Kangxi lowered his head, looking at the few strands of silver hair that had quietly appeared at the temples of the person in his arms. He gently stroked them with his fingertips, and said in a casual but firm tone: "I've been sitting on this dragon throne for more than fifty years. I've had enough of it."

He picked up a grape and slowly peeled it. Sunlight streamed through the gaps in the carriage curtain and fell on his face, making him look even more gentle than when he was younger.

"Yunshu, I haven't spent enough time with you. Now that the children are all responsible, all I want to do for you is be your darling and accompany you to see all the beautiful landscapes of this country."

Liu Yunshu felt a warmth in her heart and gently placed her hand on the back of his hand.

"Yun Shu," he suddenly whispered, "if there is an afterlife, I do not wish to be an emperor again, but to be an ordinary scholar, to meet you under the peach blossom tree, and for all eternity, it will only be you."

Liu Yunshu looked up and gazed into his eyes, where her reflection was mirrored, as clear and bright as when they first met.

She nodded gently, her voice as soft as a falling maple leaf: "Okay, I'll wait for you."

Time flies, taking away the black hair at the temples, but it can't take away the warmth in the palms.

The spring rain in Jiangnan, the autumn wind in the north, the bright moon over West Lake, and the snow on Yanmen Pass—every scene they visited hand in hand became the gentlest footnote in time.

The best years are not the fleeting glimpse of youth, but the time that has passed, when you can still hold my hand and say, "It's so good to have you."