It happened years ago.
Qui was celebrating his seventh birthday that year. He was very excited because he knew that he was already advancing on his training. The emperor had been trying to pull him back from all the swords, but he kept escaping anyway. His father told him that he would no longer grow if he kept on trying to develop his muscles at a young age.
It was why he had contented himself with a three-hour a day training rather than the ten-hour standard one that training soldiers were into. He did not have anything better to do with his time. He might have brothers, but he did not have brothers to play with.
From a young age, he understood that he did not belong in their circle. He was that outsider because his mother had been a commoner, a mistress of the emperor.