Chapter 11 Nightmare

Yan Qing has not been favored since she was a child.

But because of the prophecy of "the star of fate", even if the royal family and dignitaries hate her, few people dare to make trouble for her. The most common phenomenon is to stay away from her and pretend that she does not exist.

Before she was eight years old, she lived in the palace, and the concubines in the harem treated her like air. After she was eight years old, she was exiled to Suzaku City, and the dignitaries in the imperial city saw her even less often. Until the death of the previous emperor and the ascension of the new emperor, the ninth princess became the eldest princess of Suzaku - regardless of whether the purpose of the previous emperor's canonization of her was to check and balance the regent, to buy time for the emperor to win over the hearts of the people and consolidate his position.

Her title of the eldest princess is genuine, and no one dares to question it. It is also true that she holds the military power of the Qilin Guard.

But in the hearts of the dignitaries and officials, this eldest princess who has been exiled for ten years has always been an abandoned child of the royal family. It is true that many people do not want to provoke her, but it is also true that they look down on her in their hearts.

Of course, Yan Qing, who has been reborn, does not need anyone to look up to her. She will only make everyone crawl at her feet - whether they are willing or not is not important. What is important is that she wants to see the humble faces of those people who are trying to survive.

For Wen Jin, Yan Qing said that he would treat him as a pet, so he really treated him as a pet. He could walk out of the cage when eating and going to the toilet, return to the cage after eating and drinking, and sleep on the bed at night.

He spent most of the day reading books, but Wen Jin couldn't sleep at night.

Every time he closed his eyes, the memories of his childhood nightmares would come flooding in, the dark room without light, the iron chains that locked his hands and feet, the dirty environment, the rotten food, the loneliness and desolation day after day, and there was no one to talk to.

With disheveled hair, he was imprisoned in the room like a beast and was struggling to survive...

The sound of rapid breathing sounded, and Wen Jin curled up in the corner, looking towards the inner hall with his eyes open. That was the only light in his eyes.

Your Highness.

Your Highness.

He shouted silently, his lips moving, no longer smiling gently during the day. His helplessness and despair, his loneliness and sorrow, all flowed out, and were revealed without any cover in the dead of night.

The scene changed, and Wen Jin dreamed of a more terrifying scene.

"Yan Qing." The emperor sat high in the palace, and his expression could not hide his victory. "Hand over the Qilin Guard Talisman, and I can spare his life."

The powerful Prime Minister was restrained by the Imperial Guards, and his flushed face was caused by poison.

A sinister and vicious voice came from the mouth of the king of a country: "If the person you care about most dies in the most humiliating way, will you cry? Yan Qing, I have never seen you cry since I was a child, why don't we try?"

The woman standing in the hall was aloof and indifferent, looking at the emperor with cold and intimidating eyes, but she could not change the situation at this time. He was tortured by strong poisons and was unconscious, but it seemed that there was a special power that made him clearly feel the determination from her.

"Let him go. I hand over the military token."

He heard her cold voice and shook his head in his heart, no, Your Highness, no...

"Hand over the military token first." The emperor's tone was very cold, and there was no room for concession, "Otherwise I don't mind letting them perform a pornographic drama in front of you."

No, Wen Jin struggled to break free.

No, Qingqing.

Yan Qing still handed over the military token, but Wen Jin heard a more vicious voice: "This play arranged by Prime Minister Wen himself is really wonderful."

Swoosh!

A sharp sound cut through her eardrums, the arrow was sharp and cold, and blood exploded in her heart.

"Your Highness!" Wen Jin woke up from a nightmare, panting rapidly, with cold sweat on his forehead.

He curled up in the corner again, shivering all over.

"Light the lamp."

A cold voice sounded, and the maid on duty lit several lights in the inner hall, and the hall was instantly bright.

Yan Qing put on his clothes and stood up, walked to the cage and looked at Wen Jin who was out of control and almost collapsed, frowning: "Did you have a nightmare?"

Wen Jin raised his eyes in shock, and the dark and clean bottom of his eyes still had a look of panic and despair that had not yet faded, which made people feel heartbroken.

"I..." He slowly stood up and knelt down, his voice dry, "I deserve to die, disturbing your highness's sleep."

"I deserve to die." Yan Qing walked to the side and sat down. His voice was particularly clear in the night, as if wrapped in frost. "What nightmare did you have?"

Wen Jin's body was already soaked with cold sweat. Now that he was quiet, he felt exhausted and weak. His face was pale: "I dreamed of my childhood."

Yan Qing was slightly stunned. Childhood?

The memory was suddenly pulled back to ten years ago.

The boy who was imprisoned in the dim room and never saw the sun for years was like a desperate and helpless little beast...

At that time, she had just been exiled to Suzaku City. She was just a little princess who was deeply troubled by the prophecy. She thought about doing good deeds day and night, trying to get the recognition of her father and mother, and looking forward to the day when she would be taken back to the palace.

She accidentally met the child locked in the room. Seeing that his situation was really miserable, she took him back to the mansion out of a little pity.

Because of her noble birth, even though she was exiled to Suzaku City, she had her own separate mansion and servants. She lived alone in the empty princess mansion. She was not lacking in wealth and splendor, and had people to serve her with food, clothing, shelter and transportation.

Except that her father and mother hated her and let her fend for herself outside the palace, the Suzaku King had never treated her harshly in terms of food, clothing and daily necessities, and sent all the good things to her mansion.

Bringing back this boy who was about the same age as her was originally just to have a companion, or to give him a place to stay, thinking that he could be a guard when he grew up.

Who would have thought that after the disheveled child was washed, he revealed a pale, thin, but still handsome face. His pitiful appearance softened her heart and really made up for him for a while.

The so-called girl changes a lot when she grows up, and she experienced it thoroughly in him. After only two months of raising him, the child's elegance after growing up was already visible.

Before that, Yan Qing never knew that she was a person who judged people by appearance.

But the boy's appearance was indeed in her eyes.

She thought it would be a pity if such a child didn't study, so she paid someone to hire a teacher for him.

For a long time, the boy was afraid of the dark, the quiet, and being alone. He always sneaked into her bedroom alone at night. If he couldn't get in, he would stay outside alone, leaning against the wall or the tree.

When Yan Qing asked him, he looked at her with a pair of panicked eyes.

Later, Yan Qing allowed him to sleep in her bedroom and built a small bed for him.

When he was reading, he couldn't make any sound at first, so Yan Qing asked the teacher to beat him in front of her until he was willing to make a sound.

When he was practicing martial arts, his hands and feet were already stiff from being chained for a long time, and he couldn't learn those moves flexibly at all. Yan Qing asked people to use whips to press him, one move after another, until he was sweating all over, his face was pale, and he was about to collapse and faint, and then his hands and feet movements were corrected.

When learning piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, the same teaching method was used. If he played the wrong tune, he was beaten. If he couldn't learn to play chess, he was beaten.

Yan Qing thought he should look good when he smiled, so she ordered the teacher to teach him to smile, with a slight smile on his lips, a standard noble smile, but how could a child who had been imprisoned for many years smile?

If he couldn't teach, he would beat him until he could smile.

Day after day, when he was sixteen years old, Wen Jin's smile made people feel like spring breeze, and every move revealed the demeanor and cultivation of a young master from a century-old family, elegant and calm.

Wen Jin was deeply afraid of Yan Qing, and also deeply dependent on her.

His fate changed because of her.

He said he wanted to be brilliant in his career, so after he turned seventeen, she arranged for him to enter the government and supported him all the way to becoming a powerful official.

Yan Qing thought she had never treated Wen Jin unfairly.

Although she was indeed strict with him when he was young, he was introverted and inferior at that time, and the shadow left by long-term abuse was very heavy. Without special means, he could not get out of the shadow.

She saved him from the dark abyss and paved a bright and prosperous road for him, but how did he repay her in the end?