Xia State is one of the seven great ancient civilizations with a lasting heritage.
At the Kunning Palace in Quwo City, a stifling atmosphere permeated the main hall.
"Mother Empress, the Imperial Yellow was trampled and destroyed by the younger brother. I saw it with my own eyes!"
"Reporting to the Empress, this servant has just investigated carefully! The Imperial Yellow was indeed trampled by someone. The Second Prince was just in the back garden, and the footprints left on the ground match his exactly!"
As these accusations rang in his ears, Li Feng, who had been in a state of shock, suddenly snapped back to reality. He gasped for air, his eyes scanning the people and objects around him in confusion, unable to tell if it was dream or reality.
"Li Feng, is it true that you trampled and destroyed my Imperial Yellow?" A middle-aged, beautiful woman dressed in phoenix robes sat on the dais, staring at the son kneeling on the floor with a face full of biting, mean-spirited venom.
"What is going on? Did I... enter a dream? Or have I been reborn?"
Li Feng’s mind buzzed, his thoughts descending into chaos.
As the only legitimate heir of the Xia State, he had successfully awakened the Legendary Qi-Observing Technique hidden within the bloodline of the Xia Clan, and he should have been the one to inherit the throne.
Instead, the relatives to whom he had poured out his heart and soul had stabbed him in the back. They not only dragged his name through the mud but also used every possible means to help their adopted son ascend to power, snatching away everything that should have been his.
Opening his eyes again, time had somehow returned to ten years ago.
In this year, he had not yet destroyed his own foundation to save his ungrateful sisters.
In this year, he had not yet been sent to the Zhou Country as a hostage to suffer endless humiliation.
In this year, he had not yet exposed his identity as a Legendary Qi-watcher, only to be conspired against by enemies and family alike.
Now, because a rare peony variety—the Imperial Yellow—had been crushed, he had been brought to the Empress’s bedchamber to answer for his crimes, with the labels of being unfilial and viciously cruel slapped upon him.
"You waste, are you crying because you want us to forgive you?"
"The truth always comes out; I am so disappointed in you!"
"Forgive him? With such a malicious act, I could never have such a cold-blooded younger brother!"
...
Three young women, dressed in finery and dripping with jewels, stood to the side. Seeing Li Feng shed tears of regret upon his rebirth, they immediately began to berate him with haughty, commanding airs.
Ungrateful wretches?
Li Feng looked at these faces, both familiar and strange, and confirmed that he had truly returned to ten years ago—back to the naive, sweet period where he had silently treated their illnesses at the cost of his own Yuan Qi foundation.
Empress Ji was nearing fifty. Her face, showing signs of bitterness, was particularly defined by her high cheekbones, yet her skin was fair and her appearance opulent; she was still a woman of some grace. Although not a peerless beauty, her skin was perfectly maintained, and she appeared to be only in her early forties.
Empress Ji’s eyes, devoid of warmth, looked identical to those of her three daughters. With a gloomy expression, she glared at the son kneeling in the hall. "Li Feng, although you are my son, you have disappointed me too much! Our Xia State governs the world through virtue. With such vile conduct, how could I ever entrust the world to you?"
The First Prince, Li Xian, who had been the first to report the incident, was plain-looking, but a curve tugged at the corner of his lips, and his slightly sinister face wore a charming, wicked smile.
There were only two princes left in the Xia State now, and the elderly Emperor was no longer capable of fathering more children.
Although he held the title of the First Prince, he had actually been adopted into the Hexi Prince’s Estate because the current Emperor of Great Xia, Li Yunlong—who was then the Prince of Hexi—had feared he would have no heir. Li Feng, on the other hand, was the biological son Li Yunlong had fathered later.
Fortunately, this Li Feng was a naive fool, and the Li family women before him were a group of idiots. He only needed to use his head a little to keep them all in the palm of his hand.
The brilliant August sun shone into the courtyard outside, making the atmosphere in the hall even more oppressive, as the peony incident escalated to the level of national succession.
"With the Xia State currently facing internal and external threats, if it were really handed over to a waste like him, our state would be completely finished!" The Second Princess, Li Rongxia, did not hide her disgust for this younger brother. She turned to Li Xian and said gently, "In my opinion, since our Father Emperor intends to name you Crown Prince, our Xia State should be entrusted to you!"
The two eunuchs present exchanged silent glances. With the Empress and the Second Princess both voicing their support, it seemed the world of the Xia State would eventually fall to the First Prince!
The First Prince, Li Xian, was overjoyed, but he immediately put on a compassionate, hypocritical mask. "Mother Empress, I believe the younger brother certainly did not mean it. He has always been clumsy in his work; he must have just not noticed the location of the Imperial Yellow and stepped on it by accident!"
"Younger brother, you don't need to speak for this little beast! He did it on purpose! He always liked to help us water the flowers, and I was always wondering what he was after! So he was just pretending to make us let our guard down so he could sneakily trample Mother Empress's Imperial Yellow today. He clearly planned this for a long time!" The Fourth Princess, Li Rongdong, known for her shrewish nature, claimed to see through it all and rained down accusations with her sharp tongue.
"That peony wasn't just accidentally stepped on; someone deliberately destroyed it. You are just too kind-hearted, younger brother; you don't know how black this little beast’s heart is. I heard he did plenty of things like forcing decent women into prostitution back in Hexi City!" The Third Princess, Li Rongqiu, who prided herself on being smart, was a typical airhead; she once again treated rumors as fact to lecture him.
To the side, a beautiful young girl with an oval face held a silk handkerchief, sobbing softly, "Oh heavens! Why is my life, Liu Ruyan, so bitter? Why must I marry such a vicious, cruel man!"
Mother Empress?
Sisters?
Big brother?
Fiancée?
Facing the accusations of his family and his lover, and looking at the gazes of disgust directed at him—seeing these faces that were so clearly ugly to the core—Li Feng knew his love had been misplaced after all.
His father had not inherited the throne as a rightful Crown Prince, but had risen from the collateral Hexi Prince line to become Emperor, only to be confined to the Capital City for five years due to internal royal struggles.
Whether it was luck or misfortune, he had lived far away from these royal infights since he was a child, living with his grandmother in the Hexi Prince's Estate fiefdom.
Although Li Feng was the Prince Heir of the Hexi Prince's Estate, he was like an orphan forgotten in that estate.
After being brought back to the capital to reunite with his family, he had yearned for a complete family, for their love, and for their recognition—the very image of a naive, sweet fool.
But once he returned to the capital and joined this home, he discovered he could never truly fit in.
No matter what he did or said, it was always wrong. It seemed that only this adopted Li Xian was their true son or brother.
Li Feng had originally wept because of the betrayal he suffered in his previous life, but looking at these familiar and detestable faces, and listening to their heartless accusations and insults, he suddenly laughed.
He... had been reborn!
Since he had returned, he would never be a naive fool again, much less a fool who destroyed his own foundation as a Legendary Qi-watcher for the sake of ungrateful wretches. Besides, he now possessed the life experiences of another soul from a modern era as well.
If these foolish women wanted to court death, he would let them, and might even be happy to give them a push. But he would absolutely claim the throne that belonged to him, and he would make those who bullied him in his past life pay a bloody price.
"This little beast even dares to laugh? He has no intention of repenting at all? I think he should sacrifice more for our Xia State. This time, he should be the one to take your place, younger brother, and go to the Zhou Country as a hostage!" The Fourth Princess, Li Rongdong, rolled her eyes, pointed at Li Feng, and proposed viciously.