Chapter 37 - Old Wounds (1/2)

Most importantly was the fact that the fourth prince's mother was accused and sentenced to confinement in the cold palace for the case of the death of the first empress, the crown prince's mother. The two women have always had a strained relationship from the beginning, one was the side consort and a childhood friend of the emperor when he was still the crown prince, and the other was a princess who seemingly dropped in from nowhere and took the crown princess's position the other had long hoped for. Later on, when the emperor took the throne, the two switched roles, the side consort was elevated to the empress and the crown princess was demoted down to a noble consort.

The side consort gained the position, support, and power, while the crown princess who had the status, position, and support of a whole country lost everything all at once. Therefore it was no secret that the two tolerated each other's existence, but it seems that the situation came to a head after in a big altercation, where the empress had ended up exercising her power and publicly humiliated the fallen Xia princess by having her whipped. Of course, this matter reached the emperor but it seemed he decided to stay out of the situation, and so the fallen Xia princess endured the humiliation with no recourse and the empress went unscathed in the end. A few days after this incident, the empress then suddenly became terribly ill and died, it was ruled to be poisoning, and the obvious culprit was the fallen Xia princess. Despite her denial and pleas for justice and the emperor's hesitation on the matter, she still ended up being held responsible for it. Defense minister Fu moved the entire court to act on the death of his daughter, and the fallen Xia princess's past atrocities that had been covered up were dug up and aired out, such as deaths and terrorization of other Imperial wives and other malicious schemes. The court as a whole asked for the death of this malicious woman.

Of course, the fallen Xia princess vehemently denied all the accusations, but whether she was guilty or not was irrelevant to most people there, as they all unanimously thought that it was not good for her to remain at the emperor's side for a variety of reasons and this was a golden opportunity that they would not let go. In the end, the emperor did not kill her but punished her to confinement for life.

Therefore, there was also this blood feud between the crown prince and the fourth prince. Once the crown prince gets on the throne that would mean the end for the fallen Xia princess and there is no way the fourth prince will be left alive either, it was impossible for both princes to exist under the same sky.

...I guess I did leave a chaotic situation behind...but it was unavoidable...

The emperor sighed as he intently looked at the scene in the painting. He remembered that the day before he left, their father had held a send-off banquet for him and the generals that would be leaving and remembered the crown prince, his first brother staring daggers at him the entire time and chuckled. His second brother was behaving ambiguously, as usual, always seeming aloof and uninterested and...his third brother, as usual, was looking at him with an expression of veiled anger. He was aware of a reason why his third brother would hate him, but was also certain that his third brother was unaware of that reason and so was initially perplexed at his behavior but simply let it be as it was what was best for them all and got used to it.

After a while of being at the banquet, Jun Kai excused himself and wandered around for a while and found himself near the courtyard with the little pond, he walked to the pond and stood there for a while reminiscing his time playing here when he was younger. Now looking at the quiet scenery, the memories seemed like a dream, an illusion that never was.

...Things were definitely simpler then...

”Why are you here?” A strained voice asked from behind, and he turned to find his third brother, Jun Shan standing there with a frown.

Jun Kai smiled, ”Shouldn't I be the one asking you that?” At this time, the second and third princes had moved into their own residences outside the palace, so only the crown prince and the fourth prince still lived in the palace.

Jun Shan narrowed his eyes and didn't say anything. He walked forward and stood at a distance from Jun Kai.

After a while of standing in silence, Jun Shan asked, ”Are you trying to get on father's good side by going off to war?”

Jun Kai looked at him on the side and smiled, ”And why would I need to do that?”

Jun Shan kept looking forward with a straight face, ”Then why are you joining the war? Do you think war is the same as sparring matches? Are you that anxious to die?”

Jun Kai laughed and sat down on the grass, ”It isn't that much different here, is it?”

Jun Shan looked down at him, ”So you've made up your mind to leave?”

”And you seem to have made up your mind to stay. I thought you would have left by now.” Jun Kai said looking up with a smirk.

Jun Shan frowned and turned to leave, when Jun Kai spoke up, ”You should be careful, First brother can be quite paranoid...Well, sometimes it is for good reason.” Jun Kai finished with a laugh.

Jun Shan stood there and clenched his fists, ”Since you're leaving, don't come back.” and then walked off.

Jun Kai snorted and called after him, ”I'll try.” and then continued to sit there staring at the pond for a while.

The next day, Jun Kai set off and went off to join the war. They had spent about three weeks on the journey and had finally crossed into Han country and were on schedule to arrive at the main army camp in about a week's march. They had made camp for the night when a soldier on a galloping horse suddenly rode towards their camp, he had come with a letter bearing the seal of the commanding general of the main army. The war situation had changed and they were in need of reinforcements urgently, the enemy troops have currently surrounded the city they are occupying and have also poisoned the city's water source and so a lot of soldiers are currently out of commission because of this so their numbers have dwindled. They are currently boarded up in the city trying to stall the confrontation and so need urgent assistance, as they are unsure how long the city gates can hold.