Zhao Yao felt that he was not from this world in his previous life.
A few months ago, he fell ill. During his illness, he kept having a dream. In the dream, he lived in another world. In that world, he was also called Zhao Yao, but it was the "Glory" Yao. Zhao Yao could also understand animals speaking.
In the dream, because Zhao Yao could understand animals, he was taken away by a special department when he was very young, and he studied and completed tasks there. Later, during a task, Zhao Yao had an accident, and the dream stopped there.
This dream came intermittently and was incomplete. When he woke up, he forgot most of the dream's content. He only vaguely remembered some details.
After recovering from the illness, he was confused for a while, not knowing whether he was Zhao Yao or Zhao Yao. His mother consort told him that he was the tenth prince of the Great Zhou Dynasty, the emperor's youngest son—Zhao Yao. As for Zhao Yao, it was just his dream.
Zhao Yao walked while chatting with Lai Qian.
Lai Qian had just flown back from outside the palace and heard a lot of things from other sparrows.
[Yao Yao, your second royal brother has won a victory.]
"I know, the whole palace is talking about it." Zhao Yao added, "By now, it's probably spread throughout the whole capital."
Lai Qian said: [Then you definitely don't know another thing.]
Zhao Yao quickly asked, "What thing?"
[Your second royal brother's maternal grandfather is planning to petition your father to abolish the Crown Prince and propose making your second royal brother the Crown Prince.]
Hearing this, Zhao Yao wasn't surprised at all. He whispered to Lai Qian, "Don't they often do this?" These past few years, making the second royal brother the Crown Prince has often been brought up, it's become routine.
Lai Qian didn't quite understand human affairs, it only told Zhao Yao what it had heard.
[Anyway, you're not the Crown Prince, so you don't have to worry about being deposed.]
"Things are about to get lively." Whether in the capital or the Imperial Palace, everything was peaceful whenever the second royal brother was away at war. Now that he's returning, the whole capital and palace will become lively.
Luckily, he's still young, and his maternal family holds no power, so he doesn't have to worry about being caught in this bloody power struggle for succession. However, sometimes when the city gates catch fire, the fish in the moat suffer, so he and his mother consort have to remain vigilant.
If he were already an adult, he could become a leisurely prince, traveling with his mother consort all around. That way, they wouldn't have to worry about being affected.
He really hoped to grow up quickly, preferably overnight, so he and his mother consort could leave the capital, far away from these machinations.
Hearing Zhao Yao sigh, Lai Qian asked concernedly: [Yao Yao, what's wrong with you?]
Zhao Yao pouted and said, "I want to grow up quickly, so I can take my mother consort and you all out to see the world."
Lai Qian happily flapped its little wings and said: [Great, great, we can all go out and play then.]
Zhao Yao made a small face and said, "But, it'll still take ten years."
Lai Qian said with some disdain: [You humans take too long to grow up. We grow up in a few months, and we can fly wherever we want.]
"Sometimes I really wish I were a bird." That way, he could go wherever he wanted.
As Zhao Yao and Lai Qian talked, they arrived at Wende Hall.
Wende Hall is where the princes study. According to the rules, princes must start studying at Wende Hall upon reaching six years of age.
A month ago, Zhao Yao just started studying at Wende Hall. Actually, he didn't want to study, because in his past life he had already studied, although the subjects were quite different from this life's studies, he neither desired to be a talented scholar nor be involved in the succession struggle. As long as he was literate, it was enough. Besides, he thought the knowledge from his past life could suffice for this life.
He discussed with his mother consort whether he could skip studying. The mother consort said no, and also mentioned that every prince must study, even if he was already literate.
Tong Xi reminded him, "Your Highness, we've arrived at Wende Hall."
Zhao Yao sighed, "I really don't want to study." However, he couldn't skip classes. Fortunately, his mother consort said that he only needed to study diligently at Wende Hall and didn't need to be as brilliant as his other royal brothers. So, he's the least studious prince among them.
His royal brothers were each smarter than the next, each more prominent, and each more eager to perform. He refused to compete and didn't want to be as outstanding and capable as his royal brothers. He just wanted to be an ordinary person. If he were as smart as his brothers, his and his mother consort's situation would become dangerous.
"You cannot not study, Your Highness." Tong Xi patiently coaxed, "Your Highness, let's go in."
Zhao Yao tilted his head and said to Lai Qian on his shoulder, "I'm going to study, you go play by yourself."
Lai Qian raised its right wing and lightly patted Zhao Yao's little face, advising him in a mature tone: [You have to study hard, I'll come to pick you up after class.]With that said, it flew away.
Zhao Yao waved his hand at the departing Lai Qian, then entered Wende Hall with Tong Xi.
As soon as he walked into Wende Hall, he heard the ninth prince loudly boasting about Prince Dai's victory. Zhao Yao rolled his eyes and quietly said to Tong Xi, "I knew Ninth Brother would boast."
"You don't have to mind it."
Zhao Yao entered the classroom with Tong Xi, politely greeting each of his brothers. In his past life, he was an only child, but now he had nine brothers and five sisters.
Except for the Crown Prince and Prince Dai, all the other princes studied at Wende Hall. This meant only the Crown Prince and Prince Dai were adults; the other princes were not yet of age.
Zhao Yao was the last to arrive. Normally, he wasn't the last; the ninth prince was usually the last. But today, the ninth prince arrived early to boast about his brother's great victory.
"Zhao Yao, have you heard about my brother?" the ninth prince rushed to Zhao Yao, beginning to brag, "My brother won another battle, he's the War God..."
Zhao Yao maintained just the right amount of curiosity and envy, listening to the ninth prince boast.
The ninth prince was very pleased to see Zhao Yao's envious expression, which made him talk even more excitedly.
Zhao Yao sat at his seat, listening in one ear and out the other.
The other princes were already impatient with the boasting and couldn't be bothered to pay attention to the ninth prince.
Zhao Yao was also impatient, constantly praying for the teacher to arrive soon.
A moment later, the teacher entered the classroom. The ninth prince immediately began boasting to him.
The teacher complimented Prince Dai, agreeing with a few words, then asked the ninth prince to return to his seat.
The ninth prince wasn't satisfied, not having boasted enough, but seeing that the teacher had already opened the books to start the lesson, he had to stop.
Meanwhile, in the Eastern Palace, the Crown Prince, with a worried face, asked his ministers what to do.
"Prince Dai will definitely be richly rewarded by father after this return to the capital."
"Your Highness, the emperor will just bestow some gold and silver jewelry to Prince Dai."
"Prince Dai has made significant contributions again this time, his prestige in the army is growing, and the military officers increasingly trust him. Over half of the military officers in court support Prince Dai." The usually elegant Crown Prince was completely losing his composure, his expression turning anxious, "You know they often say to father that Prince Dai has the emperor's flair from his younger days and is most suitable to be the Crown Prince. Father often says Prince Dai resembles him. At this rate, I'll be deposed as the Crown Prince."
"Your Highness, you were personally appointed as the Crown Prince by the emperor. Unless you commit some great betrayal, the emperor won't depose you."
"That's easy to say, but Prince Dai's power grows increasingly aggressive. If it continues, it will become more disadvantageous for me."
"Over these years, Prince Dai has been fighting abroad, earning numerous military achievements, and winning the admiration of those military officers. Those officers are the ones who followed the emperor to the battlefield back then. The emperor listens to them."
"That's the thing I worry about most." The Crown Prince said irritably, "Prince Dai earned a lot of military achievements. However, I, the Crown Prince, have never been on the battlefield, never made any military contributions, so naturally, those officers don't respect me as the Crown Prince."
"Your Highness, you are the Crown Prince; you can't go on the battlefield."
"Your Highness, although you haven't achieved military honors, you've done a lot for the kingdom and the people at the court; you are not inferior to Prince Dai."
"I am naturally not inferior to Prince Dai, but the people only know of Prince Dai quelling rebellion after rebellion. I fear in the people's mind, there's only Prince Dai." The Crown Prince sneered, "I fear tomorrow there'll be ministers praising Prince Dai while belittling me, proposing to father to change the Crown Prince to Prince Dai."
"Your Highness, as long as Duke Zhen is around, the emperor will not depose you."
Hearing these words, the Crown Prince's anxious expression improved slightly. Whenever he heard about Prince Dai's victory, his mind became unsettled, losing his calm.
"You're right. However, I'm worried that father already favors Prince Dai internally."