Prince Yu’s father and the Duke of Qin were brothers, both descendants of the Qin imperial clan.
During the reign of Emperor Qin Jian, he suffered from a mysterious illness and remained childless. Consequently, his two nephews were the logical heirs to the throne. One of these nephews was the Duke of Qin, while the other was Prince Yu’s father, the Duke’s elder brother. However, the rise of the Three Lu Brothers and Prince Luwen led to the Qin family being struck from the imperial records.
Even after being removed from the records, they remained a significant threat to the subsequent emperor—the current Emperor Tianwu. For years, Emperor Tianwu had been wary of the Duke of Qin, secretly stripping him of his military authority. As for the Duke’s elder brother, he had passed away from illness many years ago. His son, Qin Jinyu, despite possessing exceptional martial arts skills, was forced into exile at the border to serve as a frontier garrison general simply because his surname was Qin.
Chapter 540