The Way of Eating and Sleeping

The Realm of Newborns, the Skyward Domain, the Great Zhou Dynasty.

At this moment, the imperial palace of the Great Zhou was crowded with people gathered before the Emperor's sickbed. Each figure was clad in the finest silk and brocade, but one among them stood out—a man in a yellow robe adorned with four-clawed dragon-serpent embroidery. He was kneeling at the side of the bed, none other than the Emperor’s own brother, Luo Yuanhuang.

Suddenly, the doors burst open with a bang, and two figures—a youth and a maiden, both no more than sixteen or seventeen—hurried in, their faces grave and sorrowful as they rushed to the Emperor’s bedside.

The youth was Ye Jiuyao, son of the Duke of Side-by-Side, a pillar of the realm. The maiden was Luo Qingyu, the eldest princess of the dynasty and, since childhood, betrothed to Ye Jiuyao.

“Qingyu, why have you brought him here—a useless good-for-nothing!” Luo Yuanhuang’s face darkened ominously at the sight of Ye Jiuyao, as if the young man were a harbinger of misfortune, his presence an ill omen, and he scolded sharply.

Ye Jiuyao glanced in surprise at Luo Yuanhuang, sensing something different about the man today—his tone, his attire, the authoritative way he regarded others. It was reminiscent of the Emperor himself, lofty and unassailable.

Did the old man think he had inherited the throne already?

Spurred by Luo Yuanhuang’s rebuke, the others looked at Ye Jiuyao with thinly veiled disdain, yet he paid no heed. His gaze remained tender as he watched the young princess holding the Emperor’