murai

Ancient China captured half the world, captivating people of European appearance. Rise of racism. Ever since childhood, Yuming had been a prisoner at the imperial palace, won over foreigners in a group of mosques for entertaining martial nobles, presented himself to endless mockery because of his appearance. Despite the favor of the emperor’s son, he decided for himself that he would be the best in his business and take revenge on the offenders, but how will relations with the emperor’s son be conducted when he goes to the throne?

The Rise of Qing-era racism

Emperor Xinhua was known for his intense hatred towards other races, so it's no wonder that foreigners captured as prisoners were valued no more than trash. The most they could hope for was to wash dishes, plow fields, and the highest honor was to die in battles where stakes were placed.

Xinhua tried to instill all his hateful attitudes towards other races in his son, but little did he know that on this night, while he was sound asleep, his son slipped into the prisoners' barn and handed over his precious fur cloak to some fair-skinned urchin.

Meanwhile, in the prisoners' barn.

The guards intended to take revenge on the poor boy and take away his expensive clothes, but from the shadows emerged Yanlin, and all the guards bowed before him. He ordered them not to touch the child and to ensure that nothing happened to his gift. It seemed like someone wanted to object, but no one dared.

Satisfied, Yanlin rushed into the palace as fast as he could before his disappearance was noticed; otherwise, he wouldn't find his father's mercy. On his way to his chambers, he bumped into a servant, and to divert suspicion from himself, he decided to play the prankster.

And he darted into his chambers, pretending as if he had been playing hide and seek or just running around somewhere.

All night long, he thought about Yuimin.

Morning in the barn began at 5 am; before he even opened his eyes, Yuimin felt the weight of numerous contemptuous glances and discussions about how he came into possession of imperial clothing. Did he steal it? But how could that be possible?

He tried not to listen to the nasty remarks and remembered how he had slept at night, as if in someone's warm embrace. The cloak was so warm that it felt like he had been healed overnight, while the other children shivered with envy. One of the strongest among them stated,

"How did such a degenerate get clothes clearly not befitting his status? Are you trying to say you became the emperor's friend?"

And they all instantly burst into mocking laughter.

Yuimin just lowered his eyes to the ground and didn't touch the plate of scraps, clutching his knees with his hands and pressing back even harder into the cloak.

"It's not fair. Why does such a freak, who was supposed to perish when they slaughtered his parents, now receive the best treatment? We're supposed to die of illness while he's sitting warming himself on a winter night."

And they quickly decided to surround the poor child, tear off his clothes, and enthusiastically discuss how they would take turns wearing the cloak.

No one expected that so early in the morning the emperor's son would visit them for training, and quickly noticing his clothes on someone else, he confidently approached that person.

"If you dared to steal my clothes from the person I gave them to, I automatically take it as a challenge to a fight today."

This meant certain death because everyone knew that fights among slaves were to the death. But if you fought the emperor's son, you couldn't kill him in case of winning; you would bid farewell to your life. Defeating the emperor's son was bad form, and if one were lucky enough to survive, such a person would be scorned by everyone and would be killed eventually.

Rescue