Chapter 36 - The Uncanny (2/2)

The emperor watched her departing form with a confused frown.

{...Is she really okay?...}

After Lei Xing exited the royal study, Eunuch Li watched her with confusion as she hurried off and then went in to see the emperor who was standing there looking at the doors with a frown. Eunuch Li approached the emperor and bowed, ”Your majes- ”

”Send an Imperial doctor to her palace, she seems unwell.” The emperor casually said and then turned to go back to his throne chair and sat down, and then glanced at the chair at the end of the table and sighed.

{...Why did I even mention that?... It is really weird...}

He sighed again and then picked up a memorial to read. Eunuch Li looked at the emperor for a while and then turned and went to do as he was bid.

After Eunuch Li left, the emperor sighed again and dropped the memorial, got up and went to back to the small room and stood there looking at the painting, frowning.

{...Is it really okay to leave things like this?... There are some things cannot be salvaged no matter how one tries...In the end, if it's all pointless then what?...}

The day depicted in the painting was a very important day in his life. It was the day he learned many truths.

At that time, the war against Han country had been going well and they were steadily claiming enemy territory.

So, the late emperor had then decided to send reinforcements to speed up the victory, and the current emperor, who was the fourth prince at the time had requested to follow the reinforcements and join the war and to everyone's surprise, the emperor agreed to his request.

The officials were quite shocked by this turn of events, because a little over a year ago when the emperor wanted to start this campaign, the crown prince had asked to lead the war but the emperor had refused his request, and yet now he agreed for the young fourth prince to go, even though he will not be leading the war, but a prince will still hold considerable power.

Some officials speculated that it must be because the crown prince is in an important indisposable position, but then the fact that the emperor led campaigns himself when he was a crown prince discredited that theory.

Although the fourth prince was young, the officials were not particularly worried about him joining the war because despite being the youngest, he has proven himself to be a genius who can compete with the crown prince, and may even be better given time. Rather they were worried about the aftermath and implications of this development.

The emperor often had the princes competing with each other since they were young, regardless of the age difference between them, they were expected to strive to constantly outperform each other.

In terms of learning and skills, everyone had nothing but praise for the fourth prince who seemed to naturally excel in all aspects. Therefore, some speculated that this was a sign from the emperor; if the fourth prince can come back from the war victorious and alive, the crown prince may be changed.

There was also the fact that the fourth prince already had a considerable power base in court, as the current empress's adopted son, he had the prime minister's power. Although the Defense minister Lei has always appeared neutral and followed along with the emperor's wishes, the fourth prince's close friendship with his son may serve as a leverage to win his support.

If the fourth prince can gain the Lei family's full support then his position is set, as to gain the defense minister's support is akin to gaining the emperor's support.

With that in mind, at the time the defense minister's son was chosen as the fourth prince's playmate, a lot of them suspected that perhaps the fourth prince was the emperor's favored son for the throne considering he allowed him to build a relationship with the Lei family.

But then dismissed the idea and considered it as a bid to reign in the empress, considering he had just appointed the first prince as crown prince.

But now with this development, the theory was seeming more and more likely to be true.

The officials understood that the battle for the throne was about to go into full throttle, the sense of security the crown prince had has been shaken with this development.

Even though the crown prince still held considerable support from the officials as the appointed crown prince, the first son of the emperor and the only child of the deceased empress. He had already lost his main source of power in court with the death of his grandfather, the previous defense minister who died two years ago.

The deceased empress was an only child, so the closest kin he had available in court for support was Minister Fu, his grandfather's younger brother and the current minister of finance.

From the onset, it was clear to everyone that the fourth prince was his biggest competition, the second prince lacked skills and was fickle, the third prince lacked standing and was aloof, and also had a good relationship with the crown prince's side, and then there was the fourth prince who had everything since birth, a mother with standing and more importantly one who the emperor seemed to care for greatly or at least held deep sentiments for.

After all, she was once his crown princess and almost the empress, according to rumors she had refused to assume the position, but most dismissed the idea considering it didn't seem at all profitable for the emperor to want to take the princess of the country he just destroyed as empress.

But still, when you add that background on with his natural talents, he was indeed the greatest threat. With the confinement of his mother, most had thought that was the end of the road for the fourth prince.

Unexpectedly, he rose up again and ended up on the side of the childless empress. This greatly confused the officials as to the emperor's intentions, is he supporting the crown prince or raising the fourth prince?

Some speculated that perhaps the emperor saw himself in the fourth prince, the emperor was also someone who was gifted and exceptional from childhood and that the idea of the fourth prince going into battle with defense minister Lei's son may be reminiscent of the past where he and defense minister Lei fought battles together.

The crown prince aside, the emperor having this idea is dangerous in itself, while it may be advantageous for him to admire the fourth prince's potential that reminds him of himself in his younger years, if he sees too much similarity then it will be more of a disadvantage and the fourth prince may really not live long.

This was starting on the path of a thin line, one where a single misstep will mark the end.

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