The eighth prince Qi Zhu seems to be the most unfortunate prince of the Dayi Dynasty. Even though he looks like an ordinary person now, he is still known as a fool.
When he was young, when An was still alive, he didn't actually have a very good life.
An was an ambitious woman. Because Qi Zhu was born at a good time, she wished that Qi Zhu could learn astronomy and geography overnight.
But because of her excessive ambition, she ended up harming the Eighth Prince.
During those years, the Eighth Prince lived in a daze.
Fortunately, he had his sixth brother, who cared about him. After he followed his sixth brother, he was never bullied again.
Later, he became the queen's son, so naturally his expenses became even better.
But the queen doesn't love him, which is actually normal.
Who would really treat a big child of someone else as their own
But what the queen did was impeccable. She showed all the concern she should have, but she lacked the love between mother and son.
Of course, without this affection, the Queen would never have had any hope for the Eighth Prince.
They just protect each other as mother and son.
However, the Eighth Prince has a good relationship with the Second Princess.
The year before my father passed away, he arranged a marriage for the eighth prince.
It was Mu, the daughter of the garrison commander of Rongcheng. Mu was lively, sincere and kind. She was a very good candidate.
He also had two concubines.
After Mu entered the palace, she indeed got along well with the Eighth Prince.
Mu never disliked the Eighth Prince's slow reaction, and the Eighth Prince liked the way Mu smiled the most.
In the third year after marriage, Mu gave birth to her eldest daughter.
The eighth prince's first child.
It was after this prince was born that the Eighth Prince began to get better and better.
He has no great ambitions and just wants to live a comfortable life.
After his father passed away, his sixth brother succeeded to the throne, and he was very happy.
He often went to the palace to talk with his sixth brother, but he never talked about politics. He really had no interest in it.
When Mu gave birth to her second daughter, her sixth brother wanted to give her a concubine.
But the Eighth Prince didn't want it. He only wanted one woman from the Mu family, and even sent away the two concubines in the mansion.
Sixth brother didn't force him.
Every year he received rewards, and his family received the most and the best.
None of his brothers can compare to him.
But he always talked about calligraphy, painting, and traveling, and never touched upon state affairs at all.
Mu's third child was also a daughter.
Mu was so anxious that she almost cried, but the Eighth Prince said, "If you give birth to seven, it will be seven fairies. I look forward to it."
"There is no need to worry about having no descendants. The Qi family has many descendants. If you really cannot give birth to a son, wait until I am forty and then adopt one. Isn't it the same?" The Eighth Prince comforted her.
The Queen Mother in the palace also comforted her.
The three daughters of the Eighth Prince were all good-looking and in good health, and were often called into the palace by the Queen to talk and keep the princess company.
Year after year, Mu was no longer able to get pregnant, and she gradually became less anxious.
They lived a very good life in the palace.
The Eighth Prince seldom thought about complicated things, for example, was it because he didn't care about politics at all and just wanted to live a leisurely life that the Emperor's brother always treated him well? Or was it because the Emperor's brother just cared about friendship
He never thought about this, so he could always get along well with the emperor.
Youth has its advantages, and middle-aged people have their advantages.
In the year 41, Mu, who was one year younger than him, became pregnant again.
In fact, the couple didn't expect anything anymore. They just wanted to adopt a child from the same ethnic group and raise it, but they just couldn't find a suitable one at the moment.
Unexpectedly, Mu gave birth to a son, who was in great shape, able to eat and sleep.
The emperor was also very happy and even came out of the palace to visit his nephew and personally gave him a name.
The child is smart and sensible, but he is determined to become the top scholar.
In the end, he became the first person in the royal family to take the imperial examination.
Of course, I didn’t pass the exam…
He was not discouraged and went to his uncle to arrange his work.
The eighth prince lived to be sixty-one.
Not too big, but not too small at this time.
But the disaster he had suffered as a child was serious after all, and the problem was in his brain. No one could tell exactly how badly he had been hurt.
When he was dying, he just held Mu's hand and said, "Don't be sad. I'm waiting for you. We can still be reunited."
People outside were singing in agreement that the Emperor was coming.
The emperor, who was older but healthier than him, entered.
Holding his hand, she said, "Don't worry, Eighth Brother. I have a brother to take care of you at home. Your nephews will also take care of you in the future."
"Sixth brother, I've been sick these days, and I often think about my childhood. I was confused back then, and I only knew that Sixth brother was close to me. It's also my unfilial nature that I don't even have such a deep memory of my father. Sixth brother has protected me all my life, and I have been the most blessed prince in the Dayi Dynasty all my life. Now that I am going, my children and grandchildren will have their own blessings, and Sixth brother doesn't need to take care of them."
The emperor just held him, and after a long while he smiled: "Eighth brother, go with peace of mind. We will always have a reunion day. With you, with father, with mother, and with my mother."
"Ah, it's all nonsense. What afterlife? What the other side? Don't even talk about whether it exists or not. Even if it does exist, how can it be the same? It's nothing."
"Humans, it is enough to live a good life. Why seek afterlife? The saints are just telling people to do less evil."
"Sixth brother. I have lived a good life. Even though I had such a terrible mother, I was still loved by many people. So I have no regrets and no resentment."
"No matter how reluctant you are, you have to go. Sixth brother, I will leave first."
The emperor didn't speak for a long time.
His eighth brother, whom he loved since childhood, passed away first.
In recent years, more and more people have left.
Maybe I paid attention to him when I was a child just because I wanted to be a hero when I was young.
But gradually I got used to it.
Others who approach him have some thoughts to some extent, but the eighth brother only loves him sincerely because he is his sixth brother.
Now that Eighth Brother is gone, no one in this world will call him Sixth Brother anymore.
In fact, over the years, his eighth brother is the only one who is willing to call him brother.
Also no more.
Eighth brother is right, we have to go there eventually, and everything will be different once we get there.
No one is exempt.
Sooner or later.
The eighth prince's funeral was naturally grand and magnificent, as he was a prince, the emperor's most beloved brother, and was also named after the late Empress Shangguan.
That means he is also a legitimate child.
The emperor also conferred upon him the title of "Prince of Saintly Purity" and buried him one level higher according to the etiquette of a prince.
During the hundreds of years of the entire Dayi Dynasty, no other prince had ever been honored or posthumously honored with such ceremony.
Later archaeologists have shown great interest in this prince and have uncovered countless stories of love, hate and passion.
But people in later generations cannot know the truth after all, and no matter how much they speculate, it is just superficial.
And the years when the silly little prince was helpless and protected by his own sixth brother are far more precious than any posthumous honor.
When you live in this world, you will always meet a few people who are most important to you.
For Qi Zhu, the most important person is his sixth brother Qi Yan.
Always has been and always will be.
(End of this chapter)