Chapter 304 - Flipside (1/2)

Their father had made his choice, the Crown prince was Jun Kai. Now it was time for Prince Yi to make his own choice. He could either leave the empire, go into exile, never to return with enough funds to live out his days comfortably or he could wait here and die by Jun Kai's hands.

And knowing their father, he would personally see to the execution himself to ensure that Jun Kai did it or be the one to die for showing weakness - This might have been what their father would have done if it were any of his sons, but not for his protege, his little genius.

For Jun Kai, their father would have probably taken the sword from his hands and thrust into Prince Yi himself to ensure the deed was done and would have simply scolded Jun Kai for his weakness.

After all, it would not have been the first time Jun Kai flouted their father's orders and went unpunished.

It was finally clear to Prince Yi that he would never be enough.

So Prince Yi made his own choice then and there, he told his father that he would as he requested and thanked him for caring for him. He then offered to help his father to bed to thank him for all he had done for him, for giving him the chance to live... and then he suffocated his father to death with a pillow, tucked him into bed and walked out.

The old man was already quite ill so no one thought too much of his sudden death in his sleep... After all, no one really cared if he lived. Empress Zhao and her brother, Prime minister Zhao definitely did not allow his death to be investigated, quite a few servants including his father's head eunuch disappeared at that time so it was not hard for anyone to piece things together that his quickly deteriorating health was a result of their handiwork.

The only person that probably cared was Defense minister Lei but when the Empress, Prime minister Zhao and his supporters and Prince Yi and his own supporters banded together to oppose his call for an investigation, his voice was drowned out.

And so it was simply announced that the Emperor had died peacefully in his sleep and everyone moved on to what they all truly cared about, the important issue of the successor.

Since the Emperor regrettably died before appointing a crown prince, the throne was up in the air between the two princes, and the court opinion was divided between the two. By right of being the older son, Prince Yi should have been the one to ascend the throne. Moreover, since the death of the Crown prince, Prince Yi had been acting as the Emperor's right hand so there was no reason to deny him his birthright.

But then the Empress came over with an edict which the Emperor had secretly given her. This so-called edict appointed Jun Kai as the Crown prince. Prince Yi suspected that the edict was fake, but then Prime minister Zhao and Defense minister Lei then corroborated it by saying the Emperor had informed them of his choice before his demise.

Even from the grave, his father mocked him. Even now, Prince Yi could still see the condescending smile on his father's face.

Prince Yi again threw his cup at the wall in anger, smashing it to pieces.

{...So what if I killed you? You killed your own father so it's only right that you die by your son's hand!... Do you think your precious protege would not have killed you? He probably hated you more than I did. He has hated you from birth, yet you still gave him everything!...After everything you've done, how could you expect anything from anyone?... How can i expect anything from anyone? -...}

Prince Yi grabbed the jar and threw his head back and gulped down, squeezing his eyes shut.

[...No, no, I'm different...I'm nothing like him, I did what I did to survive! It was all a lie! He would have never let me go, he would still have killed me, sent assassins, I was dead to him, we all were...from the begi-...}

”Well, you look horrible...”

Prince Yi frowned when he heard those words, he stopped drinking and opened his eyes to see Zhao Chang by the door, holding three jars of wine.

Prince Yi had not even heard when he came in.

”What do you want?” Prince Yi asked as he dropped the jug back on the table.

”It seems the craziness from the coronation ceremony really got to you...” Zhao Chang said as he went over and sat across from Prince Yi. He picked up a cup and then opened one of the jars of wine he brought with him and poured.

Prince Yi leaned back in his seat and solemnly asked, ”Do you really think my brother is the dragon incarnate?”

Zhao Chang snorted and raised an amused eyebrow at Prince Yi in surprise, ”You believe that?” He would never have thought that Prince Yi would buy into the rumors as well.

Prince Yi frowned and let out a breath and quietly said, ”I don't know what I believe anymore...”

Zhao Chang paused and knit his brows at Prince Yi. Zhao Chang then cleared his throat and said, ”It's all nonsense...It's just like the time when you were poisoned and the Emperor came to see you. You said it yourself it was not because he was worried about you but because he was worried about his precious consort's reputation. You know better than anyone that Emperor is quite skilled at manipulating the people with ru-”

”But then what does it mean? Why did it happen then?!” Prince Yi said banging on the table in annoyance, causing Zhao Chang to flinch.

Of course, Prince Yi knew the Emperor made up the explanation, so that was not what he wanted to hear. He needed a counter explanation, something else to refute the Emperor's claims...some other truth for him to believe in.

Zhao Chang frowned, ”I don't know...” Then he gulped down his wine. The whole situation was unbelievable.

The two sat quietly for a while, drinking. It seemed Prince Yi's bad mood was infectious because now Zhao Chang who had come here in a good mood was brooding now.

Prince Yi finally sighed and broke the silence, ”What's the good news?”

Bao Zhun pursed his lips and then sighed as he refilled his cup, ”Well...Now I'm not sure if it'll be good enough news but as you know - for reasons beyond me, the Emperor has decided to shut down his harem an-”

”He what?” Prince Yi asked blinking at him wide-eyed in surprise, his spirits lifting up.

”You haven't heard?” Zhao Chang asked with raised eyebrows, also surprised. It was all anyone was talking about since the day before when the Emperor boldly made the announcement in court.

Prince Yi frowned, feeling somewhat embarrassed. While he would like to blame his staff, he has not been very receptive to information the last two days. Other than news from Zou kingdom, he had ordered not to be disturbed.