This book nearly never came to be.

This book almost never came to be.

Last year, as my illness worsened, I was forced to abandon the book set in the Qianlong era. My original intention was to recuperate properly and then begin anew. Unexpectedly, by July last year, my condition deteriorated further, and I had no choice but to be hospitalized.

After a series of examinations and treatments, I felt I could endure it and, considering financial difficulties, I resolutely declined the doctors’ recommendation for surgery and chose to return home, hoping to recover slowly with medication. But once again, I miscalculated. Not long after, while attending my child’s parent-teacher meeting, I was suddenly seized by severe angina. The fright it gave the teacher and other parents prompted them to call an ambulance at once, and I was rushed to the hospital for emergency care, where they had to use electric shocks to stimulate my heart—it went on until past two in the morning.

In those days, I was truly plunged into utter despair. The severity of the illness was one thing; on top of that, I was already deeply in debt from medical expenses. All I could do was divide my last bit of cash between my children, urging them not to repeat my mistakes and warning them not to let my stepmother take it. At one point, I even considered pulling out the IV and oxygen tubes myself, wishing for a swift end so as not to burden my children further.

I am deeply grateful to all the enthusiastic readers and fellow writers, to the Guizhou Online Writers Association, and to the editors at Qidian. At that critical moment, they all reached out with timely support, helping me immensely with financial aid and allowing me to lie peacefully on the operating table for treatment. Without their help when I needed it most, I would not have survived.

During my two hospitalizations, spurred on by my stepmother, the old man never once showed his face, which chilled my heart to the core. Yet the warmth and kindness shown by my peers, readers, and editors filled me with gratitude and moved me deeply. Who says there is no genuine feeling on the internet?

I have nothing to repay such kindness but to strive to write this book well, so that my friends and the editorial team at Qidian will not be disappointed in me.

“My Uncle, Emperor Taizong of Song” almost never existed.

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