actually dependant because there were definitely some princes that would just live elsewhere and govern that area so they would be alittle bit like subordinates of the emperor but then they were definitely times where the emperor would just choose to kill all of his brothers in order to maintain his power. crown prince was definitely a position where all the sons would compete for rather than it always being the eldest son getting it.
Thats interesting and I guess explains majority of historical manhua stories.
I think all royalty no matter which area had instances where they killed off their siblings due to the power struggle or had them become staunch allies.
Question to someone who knows their Chinese history. First, these stories are about Ancient China are supposedly about Tang dynasty, right? During that time, what kind of relationships did emperial families have? Usually, the emperor had multiple children (3rd prince, 12th prince, etc.) and sometimes from multiple wives. Did the eldest son of legal queen automatically became crown prince, or was it more cut-throat competition between all sons of the legal wives? What happened when a new emperor ascended the throne, did he kill off all his brothers from other mothers or even from same mother, to avoid competition? Or was it more like European royalty, where young princes got titles, land and position of power and were not a competition but a support to their king?