"You think Consort Ju is wrong. She has been the favored consort for twenty years, yet she is not content and must fight for that position."
"But Second Imperial Brother, are you ever content? You always feel wronged about your identity and hold resentment for your seventeen years of suffering, vowing to get even."
"You feel it is unfair and unjust to determine life and death by birth, yet there are far more people in this world much more miserable than you."
Chang Yan turned his head and pulled his sister with skin like smooth jade and features like beautiful beads to the front, and said softly, "Does Fengjing Capital know that the legitimate daughter of the Jiang family was once wandering outside? Do you know that she was lost as an infant and lived alone outside all these years, eating what kind of bitterness and receiving what kinds of beatings? Should she also hate and feel indignant at the injustice?"
"No, no, no." Jiang Sheng, having regained her senses, shook her head. "I'm fine now. I don't hate at all. If I hadn't wandered outside, I wouldn't have met all of you."
Not until the soft flesh around her waist was lightly pinched did she come to her senses. Crying mournfully, she said, "I hate it, I do hate it. Whoever threw me out, letting me fight with dogs for food every day and always getting beaten without a day my face not bruised and swollen, without ever eating my fill."
"Cough, cough." Chang Yan coughed twice beside her, signaling that the act was over.
Only then did Jiang Sheng stop her mourning and revealed an energetic smile. "But fortunately I survived. Many people starved to death in the snow. The likes of me have great fortune and luck. Good luck is coming my way."
She was truly content.
Content with earning two copper coins, content with eating a meat bun, and even more content with eating pork elbows and braised fish every day.
Even if her destiny should not have been this way, even if her identity was so noble that half of Fengjing Capital had to make way for her.
Before knowing the truth, Jiang Sheng was grateful to be able to meet her brother. After knowing the truth, she did not regret the lost wealth and nobility.
People originally have thousands of ways to live, thousands of backgrounds.
It is difficult to choose one's parents, early experiences are predetermined. Some people struggle to survive, some are abused and humiliated, some die in desolation.
Beggars envy clerks, clerks admire minor officials, minor officials look up to senior officials, senior officials eye the imperial family.
There is always better in this world, always worse, always unfair.
The key is perception.
Xu Mo took a deep breath, stepped forward with clasped hands, "I am Xu Mo. My late father was a successful candidate in the imperial examination during the reign of the previous emperor. He was assigned as the magistrate of Anshui Prefecture but was later framed and falsely accused by villains, driving my father to suicide and crippling my legs, leaving me to barely survive."
"All the way through the imperial civil service examinations, my exam paper was swapped owing to personal vengeance in the palace examination, depriving me of being the top examinee and instead banishing me to oblivion."
"If it is unfairness and resentment, should I also be given a quota?"
While seeing through corrupt officials, he also saw the divine judge. When suffering injustice, he also felt warmth and comfort.
So he stands here, still willing to believe in the imperial examination system, still willing to serve the divine judge.
Zheng Ruqian gritted his teeth and raised his voice, "I don't have elegant language like elder brother, but I grew up as a child in the pleasure quarters. I don't even know who my father is. When I was ten, I was driven out of the pleasure quarters and struggled all the way to where I am today."
"Whenever I encounter difficulties doing business, when looked down upon with contempt, should I also resent and hate why I wasn't born in a prestigious family, why I cannot be a prodigal young master enjoying myself unconstrained, why I don't have an authoritative and resourceful father?"
Wen Zhiyun suppressed sobs and said, "My parents never formed enemies with others, yet they had to die before my eyes, leaving me wandering destitute, struggling to survive. Who should I blame and resent and take revenge on?"
"My father died on the battlefield, my mother was imprisoned, my clan wants to kill me, my once close relatives instantly turned hostile against me overnight. What should I do?" Fang Heng murmured.
Behind him, Jiang Yihong had red eyes. "Both my parents passed away. My clan drove me out after swallowing all of my family property, and finally chased me away to a remote place. I had to sell myself to survive. Who should I complain to about the unfairness?"
"And me..."
"My parents are still alive, but they only want to sell me to exchange food for my younger brother..."
"How should I hate and resent the unfairness..."
Numerous people opened their mouths, hundreds of lives converged.
They were poor or favoritist, miserable or pained.
If possible, they would also like to live in wealthy families and have a carefree life without worries about food and clothing.
But the world is just so, difficult to choose one's origin and expand one's path.
Does Zhu Changyu want to be an unloved tide bug? Does Zhu Changhong necessarily want to be a puppet manipulated by his mother's desires? Does Zhu Changyan necessarily like that tenuous yet awkward paternal love?
People's abilities are too limited to change their backgrounds or pasts.
What has happened cannot be undone. Indulging in suffering is the least viable approach.
"Second Imperial Brother," Chang Yan spoke again. "I'm not denying the suffering you have endured, but telling you there are many, many unfortunate people and events, and you and I are just one of them."
There are few carefree people in the world, with most struggling through unspeakable adversities.
Always wallowing in the past and grief ultimately only tortures oneself.
"Of course, you can also disregard what I just said, thinking I'm speaking from an ivory tower, thinking I should not negate your past." Chang Yan said lightly. "Then can you directly deny everything about Consort Ju?"
No one has it easy in this world, everyone has their own adversities and dissatisfactions.
Usurping power is usurping power. Consort Ju should not use betrayal as an excuse, nor should Zhu Changyu use unfairness as a pretext.
"If Your Highness only loves this land of power, then we brothers will fight to the end. If Your Highness only resents the past, then this younger brother advises you not to make another mistake."
"The 30,000 troops from Capital City are about to arrive. Second Imperial Brother...your answer?"
Zhu Changyu sat on the horse's back, unable to speak for a long time.
He couldn't stop envisioning and imagining himself setting off to his fiefdom thousands of miles away after receiving the title.
Would he be at ease as a prince of an outlying prefecture? Would he be happy?
No one will bully him anymore, everyone will respect and love him, right?
But why is this only heard now?
"Your Highness..." The remote sigh of Fang Yuan was heard.
A tearful Zhu Changyu, with reins in hand, said, "Wu, I cannot retreat, I have no way out now."
Not only the 5,000 guards desperately defending the city, but also the battlefields thousands of miles away, the schemes laid out long ago, the decisions made in the blindness of resentment.
"What does Second Imperial Brother mean by this?" Chang Yan's expression changed.
Zhu Changyu shook his head and ordered the city guards to kill their way onto the crowded streets, using innocent commoners as shields, indeed causing hesitation and caution among the Imperial Guards and frontier armies.
He and Fang Yuan exchanged a deep gaze with the capital city, as they mouthed the word "frontier" before dashing off.
