Chapter 455 - 379: Is That Position Really That Important?
Chapter 455: Chapter 379: Is That Position Really That Important?
"Yes, Mother, we understand." Qin Jingsu and Qin Jingyuan cried out in unison. "We’ll definitely protect our little sister, no matter what happens!"
...
"Go, Second Brother, go!"
"Get up, Eldest Brother!"
"Don’t be scared, Second Brother! Go on, get him!"
The little girl, only three years old, sat on a rock in her little dress, watching her eldest and second brother compete with their Spear Technique.
Qin Jingyuan was trying his hardest to defeat his older brother.
But after seventy rounds, with a flick and a parry of his Long Spear, Qin Jingsu sent Qin Jingyuan’s own weapon flying. It landed point-first, embedding itself in the ground.
"I lost," Qin Jingyuan sighed, his eyes filled with frustration. "But I’ll definitely beat you next time, Big Brother!"
Qin Jingsu walked over and ruffled his younger brother’s hair. "I believe you’ll beat me one day, too.
In fact, Jing Yuan, you’re actually more talented than I am.
I’m just three years older and have had three more years of martial arts practice.
If I were your age, I doubt I could beat you."
"A loss is a loss. The men of the Qin Kingdom don’t make excuses." Qin Jingyuan brushed his brother’s hand away.
"That’s right, that’s right! Second Brother lost! Quick, quick, Siyao wants a horsey ride!" The three-year-old girl toddled forward happily on her short legs and tugged on her second brother’s trousers. "The loser has to give Siyao a horsey ride, you know!"
Qin Jingyuan looked embarrassed, but he still lifted his three-year-old sister onto his shoulders in the end.
"Giddy-up, giddy-up! Horsey ride! Giddy-up!"
Qin Siyao giggled, hugging her second brother’s head.
Qin Jingsu walked alongside them, worried his little sister might fall off.
Even Qin Jingyuan, who was playing the "horse," broke into a smile. It seemed as if the three siblings could stay this happy forever.
...
"This son pays his respects to the Imperial Father!"
The year Qin Jingyuan was sixteen and Qin Jingsu nineteen, the Sovereign of Qin summoned them both to the Imperial Study.
"Mm."
The Sovereign of Qin nodded, looking at his two sons.
"Since the founding of our Qin Kingdom, our Princes have never been pampered good-for-nothings. Jing Yuan, you are no longer a boy. From this day forward, you two may begin building your own power bases. I will also entrust some government affairs to you. We will see how capable you are."
The Sovereign of Qin pointed at his second son with a smile. "Jing Yuan, you’ve always loved competing with your older brother, haven’t you? Let’s see if you can actually win against him."
...
"Big Brother, do you want to be Emperor?"
One day, after finishing their sword practice, Qin Jingyuan and his older brother lay on the grass together, watching the sky.
Not far away, an eleven-year-old Qin Siyao was happily running about.
Qin Jingsu glanced at his sister chasing butterflies in the distance, then back at the younger brother beside him. After a moment’s thought, he nodded. "I do."
"I see..." Qin Jingyuan murmured, lost in thought.
"What about you, little brother?" Qin Jingsu asked him.
"I... I want to, too!" Qin Jingyuan sat up and looked at his brother earnestly. "I won’t lose to you!"
"Hahaha... That’s good." Qin Jingsu laughed, ruffling his brother’s hair again. "Then you’d better work hard, Jing Yuan."
"I will," Qin Jingyuan said, shifting to the side. "But Big Brother, stop patting my head. I’m grown up now!"
"’Grown up?’" Qin Jingsu paused, then looked at his younger brother, who was now nearly as tall as he was. He smiled and nodded. "You’re right. Jing Yuan really has grown up."
On that day, both brothers wanted to be Emperor.
The older brother wanted to be Emperor because the position was exhausting, the burden too heavy. He didn’t want his younger brother to have to suffer through that.
The younger brother wanted to be Emperor simply because his older brother did. He just wanted to surpass him, to prove himself to him.
But somewhere along the line...
The younger brother found more and more people flocking to his side, seeking to curry favor with him.
Gradually, these people came to be known as the "Second Prince’s Faction."
Gradually, Qin Jingyuan realized he couldn’t stop walking this path. The moment he opened his eyes each day, he was met with the expectations of his ministers. They wanted only one thing: for him to take the throne. If he succeeded, they would be rewarded with the glory of having backed the new emperor.
Gradually, Qin Jingyuan began to forget why he wanted the throne in the first place.
But Qin Jingyuan found that he still seemed to be no match for his older brother.
His older brother was better at handling government affairs and more politically savvy.
More and more people flocked to his older brother’s side.
And though he refused to admit defeat, he was powerless to stop it. He even became somewhat obsessed, to the point of trying to use his sister’s relationship with Xiao Mo to recruit the promising Spear Immortal Disciple as his subordinate.
"In your heart, little brother, is that throne really so important?"
On the day Qin Jingyuan had invited Xiao Mo to a banquet, his uninvited older brother had said those words to him just before leaving.
"Right..." Qin Jingyuan drank his wine, cup after cup. ’Is that throne... really so important?’
....
As the days passed, most people—both in the Imperial Court and among the common folk—believed the Eldest Prince and the Second Prince were still locked in competition.
But Qin Jingyuan knew the truth. His Imperial Father showed increasing favor toward his older brother, entrusting him with more and more important duties.
’In truth, I’ve already lost.’
As Qin Jingyuan gradually came to accept this reality, he realized that he had seemingly never beaten his older brother, not even once since they were children.
His brother’s talent for the Martial Dao was greater than his; he had only ever won a few spars because his brother deliberately went easy on him.
Even in the four arts—zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting—his older brother surpassed him by a wide margin.