The obsessive shou moves on

Extra 3

Li Ying had a kind father and a mother who was extremely harsh sometimes but still loved him.

At least, he had always felt this way before he knew that Zhang Shixue was not his biological mother.

He was not born the crown prince, even though he was the first son of the first wife. But because he ranked third among his brothers, everyone called him Third Royal Highness.

During his years as Third Prince, Zhang Shixue was quite strict with him. To what extent was she strict? When he was two years old, he was beaten on his palm with a ruler because he could not recite a poem, and when he was three years old, he was whipped a dozen times for not being able to hold a stable horse stance.

His father didn't like Zhang Shixue, so he rarely set foot in her palace, and so he never found out about it.

So how did she love him?

She would personally administer medicine to him when he was bruised and scabbed, and told him with tears in her eyes: "Mother did it for your own good. If you don't study hard and don't let your father see your excellence, how can you become the crown prince?"

Little Li Ying trusted her and said cautiously: "But it hurts."

Zhang Shixue blew on his palm in distress and told him in a gentle voice: "Mother will be lighter next time."

At first, he did believe it.

But later he discovered that as he got older, her hand would only get heavier and heavier. The so-called 'lighter next time' was simply a lie to coax him.

So, he stopped crying in pain.

Li Ying was a very good-tempered child. In simple terms, he was very well-behaved at an early age, and his heart easily turned soft. No matter how many beatings he received, as long as Zhang Shixue cried, he would feel that his mother did it all for his own good.

When he was about five years old, on his father's birthday, he, together with many children from the family, went to his father's palace to celebrate. He memorized more poems than anyone else, the other children were no match for him. It was the first time he had gained vanity from among children of the same age. He was blank that night for a long time until Zhang Shixue sent someone to call him and he left in a hurry.

As soon as he entered the palace, he found that his mother stood with her back to him and said gracefully: "Ah Ying received a lot of limelight today."

He was a little cautious, and his childish voice was a little tender, but his words were very clear: "They were not as good as me."

He thought Zhang Shixue would be proud of him, but the other party laughed disdainfully, "Your aim is not to make a name for yourself but to please your father who is the only one who can decide your fate."

Li Ying refuted logically and clearly: "As long as I am outstanding enough, my father will see..."

Zhang Shixue backhanded him.

For him, being beaten was commonplace, and he knelt down obediently.

Zhang Shixue said, "Li Ying, I force you to do your homework in hopes for you to become talented. It's not to make you catch the limelight, not to make you well liked, and not to satisfy your vanity. I want you to be the crown prince, do you understand?"

Li Ying lowered his eyelashes and said, "Ah Ying was wrong."

"Do you know that I was pregnant during the same time as Empress Wei? And because your father liked her, her child was made the crown prince before he was born. Even if the child died at birth, he will always be the second prince. You were born a quarter of an hour later than him, so you can only rank third."