Minister's Daughter

No person is more important than the emperor themselves. And it is not entirely unusual that their births are surrounded by myths and legends - not only should the rulers be appointed by the heavens but also palace intrigues are dangerous for anyone involved and especiall for tiny little babies. Many a consort or a concubine would conceal their pregnancy to avoid getting poisoned and if all went smoothly with the birth, manye of them would go to extreme length to keep their child protected. Sometimes, all of these precautions were still not enough - so one consort in particular, rumoured to be the current empress dowager herself - decided to smuggle her child outside of the imperial palace gate and have it brought up in secrecy somewhere safe, until that child can defend themselves from the evil plots and is able to say no to strangers offering them delicious candy.   The myths surrounding the birth of the current emperor go something like that: his mother was convinced someone is plotting against her which brought on labour earlier than anyone suspected. As she was not very favoured at the time, her alongside her trusted maids, were able to keep the process secret and the previous monarch learnt about the birth only the following day.   She knew the baby is not safe within the palace walls and luckily, learnt the same morning that her sister also gave birth to a child during the night - although her child was a daughter, whereas the consort gave birth to a boy. Some people speculate they took the risk and switch the minister's daughter for the royal baby boy and as such the emperor spent the first six years of his life outside of the palace walls.   The current empress dowager has three sisters so there are still speculations about who was the royal baby switched with, and all remained unconfirmed to this day. Many also think that this myth is completely false.