Mingde was fast asleep, his long eyelashes fluttering like fragile butterfly wings in the wind, easily startled.

Some family's beloved son, drunk and dreaming, amidst golden wine and silver cups of grapes red in the spring night. The recklessness of youth, like sunshine adorning the branches and flowers, startled and flew away with the swallows' whispers, awakening to find it all an empty dream.

That night, Prince Qiu Duo of Yuezhi led envoys to present tribute. A grand banquet was held in the Lianyi Palace, with three hundred tables of flowing feasts. Enchanting songstresses circled the entire hall, a scene of drunken revelry and extravagance.

Yuezhi was a powerful nomadic nation in the northwest. They once roamed the Tianshan area but were later driven out by the Celestial Empire's troops. They then submitted as vassals, sending gold, silver, cattle, sheep, cloth and other treasures as annual tribute.

The Celestial Empire was keen to appease such a vassal state. Each year when the envoys arrived, they would hold grand receptions and bestow precious treasures. This year, it was said that the Yuezhi King was seriously ill and unlikely to recover, so he sent Prince Qiu Duo, the future heir, to seek support, the implication obvious.

Prince Qiu Duo was a typical northern nomadic man, speaking in a loud voice and straightforward in character. When meeting the Emperor, he did not kneel.

The Qianwan Emperor laughed and allowed him to pay respects according to his country's customs. He even bestowed a wine cup and ordered songstresses and beauties to surround and serve him. As the banquet progressed, the Emperor and his ministers became somewhat intoxicated. Taking advantage of this, Qiu Duo laughed loudly to the Qianwan Emperor, "Your Majesty! For this visit, I have brought you a special gift!"

The Qianwan Emperor asked with a smile, "Oh?"

Qiu Duo stood up and waved to his subordinates, "Your Majesty, please look!"

The great doors opened with a bang, and a row of Yuezhi women in various colors descended from the Yuezhi carriage. Most of them wore colorful long skirts of foreign style, looking like a bouquet of assorted fresh flowers as they approached gracefully.

"Your Majesty!" Qiu Duo pointed to the row of women, "These are the twenty most beautiful women from our Yuezhi Kingdom. My father the King had me bring them as an offering to you!"

For some reason, despite it being quite a sensual matter, the Emperor sitting high on the dragon throne frowned, a flash of obvious displeasure crossing his face.

In fact, this was not presumptuous. Presenting beauties was a tradition when vassal states paid visits. If these beauties gained favor, they could be granted the title of concubine and bear children, although their offspring could not be crowned as crown prince. Even if they could not become concubines, staying in the palace would still be a sight to behold. No emperor would refuse to enrich his harem.

Qiu Duo keenly noticed the Qianwan Emperor's displeasure and immediately asked, "Does Your Majesty find them unattractive?"

The Qianwan Emperor smiled and avoided answering directly, "Drink! Let's drink!"

The implication was very clear.

Qiu Duo was somewhat unconvinced. He firmly believed that the healthy and beautiful Yuezhi women were the most charming. Moreover, these women had been carefully selected, so there was no reason for the Emperor to ignore them.

"Does Your Majesty really think they are not beautiful? Could it be that there are women in Your Majesty's palace more beautiful than them?"

When these words came out, the ministers who were unaware of the situation were simply puzzled, while those who knew the inside story all covered their mouths and pretended they heard nothing. The Qianwan Emperor's face showed displeasure. He slammed down his wine cup and said nothing more.

Qiu Duo had hit a nail on the head and could only drink in silence. After getting half-drunk, a new round of dancing girls came up, wearing only thin cicada-wing gauze, taking turns toasting the entire hall. For a moment, even the most restrained censors completely let loose. Laughter and cheers mixed with the sound of fireworks outside the palace, shaking the roof tiles and soaring into the sky.

Just as the atmosphere was at its most lively, Zhang Kuo walked over to the head seat with a bent waist and whispered something to the Qianwan Emperor by the dragon throne. The Qianwan Emperor suddenly spilled his wine and asked in shock, "What? In the entire Qingzhen Palace, no one could stop him?"

Zhang Kuo said in a low voice, "Forget it! Who dares to stop the little noble consort? Fireworks are being set off outside the Qingzhen Palace, each blast so loud that the little noble consort was frightened and running all over the place..."

The Qianwan Emperor thought so too. At this moment, a small figure flashed outside the palace door, then timidly hid behind the door. The Qianwan Emperor no longer cared about attracting attention and hurriedly got up to welcome him.

Mingde was wearing only a light chiffon silk pajamas, barefoot, peeking in and out. Seeing so many people, he was too scared to go in. The palace maids behind him were holding shoes and sable fur coats, so anxious they were about to cry.

The little ancestor just wouldn't listen to them. If they forcefully dressed him, the little ancestor would throw a tantrum; if they didn't, the night was cool as water. Being startled and frightened by the fireworks all the way here, if he fell ill after returning, what would they do?

The Qianwan Emperor quickly wrapped Mingde in a snow-white sable fur coat, scooped him up in his arms, and asked repeatedly, "How did you run out here? Were you scared? Have you eaten? Are the people following you all idiots? They don't even know to stop him!"

Mingde's voice was even trembling a little. Just then, a firework shot up into the sky with a whoosh and exploded with a bang. The little one suddenly buried his head in the Qianwan Emperor's embrace, shaking with fright, "Fire... fire..."

The Qianwan Emperor carried him and walked into the great hall, comforting him, "There's no fire, not even a bit of fire. They're setting off fireworks, don't be afraid, don't be afraid..."

"Fire... fire... burned..."

The Qianwan Emperor couldn't hear clearly and asked in a low voice, "What burned?"

"Burned... the Taixue Hall*..."

*T/N: The hall that stored his examination papers long ago.

The Qianwan Emperor suddenly paused, his heart feeling like it had been pricked by a needle, a sharp pain slowly spreading, rendering him speechless.

At that time... he was even quite proud of himself... for coming up with such a method...

Mingde was restless on the dragon throne, squirming in the Qianwan Emperor's arms. After a while, hearing the fireworks outside stop, he finally dared to stick his head out and curiously surveyed the hall full of people.

The Qianwan Emperor restrained him with one arm to prevent him from crawling out, and fed him snacks with the other hand, forcing him to turn his attention back.

After all, Mingde had no interest in people. He obediently turned his head back and ate the food bite by bite. Most of the people in the hall were seeing him for the first time. They could only see a person being carried in by the emperor himself, unable to clearly see his face.

They could only see that he was wrapped in a snow-white mink fur coat, revealing an ankle that was so white it was almost transparent, as if it would break with a single bend. When he finally showed his face on the dragon throne, he looked at others, and others looked at him. The difference was that he found it amusing, while others were simply mesmerized.

Qiu Duo muttered, "This... this is... whose child is this?"

The eunuch beside him had already received generous gifts from the envoy and quickly smiled, saying, "Your Highness should have seen him before. This young master is quite remarkable. The one who broke into your country's army camp at the foot of the Tianshan Mountains last year and shot dead the rebel general, wasn't it this young master?"

Qiu Duo was startled. "Wasn't that a young general?"

He remembered his subordinates reporting back once, saying that it was a young general in silver armor on a white horse, with an extremely heroic and valiant appearance, and also extremely skilled in martial arts. Qiu Duo, a man who admired martial prowess, was quite fond of him at the time and sent someone to invite the young general into the palace for a drink and a chat. However, his subordinates returned and said that the young man had already ridden out of the country after his successful strike.

At that time, he was quite regretful for a while, thinking that during this envoy visit to pay respects to the Emperor of the Celestial Dynasty, he must meet this young general and have a good exchange with him. Seeing that the person was not among those present today, he thought he had not come. Who knew that he would meet the real person under such circumstances?

Beautiful as he was, how could a proud and generous son of heaven like him fall into such a state?

The eunuch laughed shrilly, with a mysterious look on his face. "Is Your Highness surprised? Hehe, this young master is also quite something. After returning to the capital, he directly led his troops to charge into the palace... It is said that this young master has some kinship with the former empress. As a result, our emperor suppressed the rebel army and purged the palace, but he uniquely spared him..."

Qiu Duo asked in shock, "Why do I see that he seems mentally unsound?"

"Indeed, he was driven mad by the emperor that very day... But even though he's mad, this young master is exceptionally good-looking. Seeing how much the emperor dotes on him, it's a pity he's not a girl, otherwise..."