The red cloth fell to the ground. The old eunuch surnamed Han was very pale now. Now his whole body, not just his right hand which had just grabbed the cloth, was trembling slightly.

With a pale face, he looked at Eunuch Li, who was standing to the side, and then looked out the door, only to find that there were guards outside. His legs softened, and he immediately knelt down.

Eunuch Li looked at him and spoke indifferently.

“Eunuch Han, His Majesty is grateful for your many years of service, and rewards you with ten feet of white silk and a pot of poisoned wine. Eunuch Han may choose for himself. As for why you received such a reward, you should know in your heart.”

“Ooh… oh…”

The old eunuch on the ground looked at Eunuch Li, and then at the tray that the young eunuch was holding, face full of horror.

“No! No! I want to see His Majesty! I want to see His Majesty! I don’t want to die, I don’t want to die… I beg you, Eunuch Li, please inform His Majesty. Please, Eunuch Li, please remember our years of service together!”

The old eunuch frantically knelt down and crawled on his knees, trying to cling to Eunuch Li’s legs, but he was effortlessly dodged. Seeing the snot and tears, the other party was genuinely worried about soiling his clothes and potentially insulting the Emperor.

“Eunuch Han, you know His Majesty’s temper. If you had known this would happen, you wouldn’t have done it in the first place! But it seems you will not use the white silk yourself. Someone, come pour Eunuch Han some wine!”

“Yes!”

Several guards with strong martial arts immediately rushed into the room and pinned the fleeing eunuch to the ground like a hawk catching a chicken. One guard gently squeezed his chin, forcing the old eunuch to open his mouth.

Another guard took the wine jug, and without even pouring it into a cup, directly opened the top of the bottle and poured the wine into the old eunuch’s mouth.

“Uh…uh…uuu…”

The old eunuch’s hands and feet writhed violently, but even his greatest strength was nothing in the hands of the guards. After making him drink the poisoned wine, the guards directly held his mouth closed to prevent him from vomiting.

Gradually, the old eunuch’s struggles weakened, and after a few breaths, he twitched once more, and was silent.

The guards stood up.

“Boom…”

The light of the lightning outside illuminated the face of the old eunuch on the ground. Purple foam oozed from his mouth. His face was blue, and his eyes bulged.

The weather had been gloomy these past few days, but it hadn’t rained. Tonight was the first time thunder sounded in the past couple days.

The sudden sound of thunder and lightning that night woke up many people who couldn’t sleep, including the eldest prince and Prince Jin.

. . .

When Eunuch Li returned to the imperial study, the old emperor was lying on the bed, covered with a thin silk quilt, and a palace maid was gently massaging his forehead.

When he arrived at the imperial study, the old eunuch subconsciously slowed his pace and only whispered softly when he reached an appropriate distance.

“Your Majesty, Han Baishan has already passed.”

The old emperor opened his eyes, glanced at the old eunuch, and waved his hand. The maid next to him immediately backed away a few steps.

“Good, send someone to bring the secret decree on the table to Qian Junke and Yu Han. Tell them to just do their jobs and not to worry.”

The old eunuch glanced at the two scrolls of yellow silk imperial decrees on the table of the imperial study, and gulped subconsciously.

“Yes!”

Not daring to guess the emperor’s thoughts, be bowed, taking the decrees, and withdrew.

In the courtyard of the largest inn in the Capital Prefecture, Yin Zhaoxian and Ji Yuan were discussing the growth of the second son of the Yin family.

Compared to the exceptional intellicence of Wei Wuwei’s son, Wei Yuansheng, the three-year-old second son of the Yin family seemed much more normal. He was intelligent, but he was not dramatically different from other children of his age group. In addition, he only had one nickname: “Hu’er.”¹

The clap of thunder silenced the conversation between Ji Yuan and Yin Zhaoxian. They had just finished making their bet. Ji Yuan sensed something. He turned his head, looked out the window, and briefly calculated with his fingers. He didn’t need to perform a divination with much detail, but he knew that the bet was in his favor.

Yin Zhaoxian frowned as he watched Ji Yuan’s movements. A master like Ji Yuan must have noticed something.

“Why, Mr. Ji, do you feel something wrong? Is there something wrong with the child’s nickname?”

Ji Yuan shook his head.

“No, it has nothing to do with Hu’er. It does have something to do with the bet we made. Master Yin, you will understand.”

The next day, a grand court assembly was canceled due to Emperor Yuan De’s illness.

But by noon, Yang Qing in Prince Wu’s palace seemed panicked.

“How is this possible? How is this possible? How could this be!”

Prince Wu paced back and forth in front of the hall, his face covered in fine beads of sweat, his usual composure gone.

“Your Highness, Your Highness, don’t panic!”

“Yes, Your Highness, we must not panic!”

Prince Wu looked at the ministers and aides gathered in the hall, and spoke in an agitated voice.

“There is news in the palace that Han Baishan stumbled and fell into the well last night, but I know that he died from poisoned wine. It’s obvious that my father killed him because he found out about my movements. How can I not be anxious? With the emperor’s temper…”

The people in the hall were all Prince Wu’s trusted confidants. At this moment, Prince Wu was in a hurry, and suddenly turned to face everyone in the middle of his sentence.

“Why don’t we just…”

“No! Your Highness, you can’t!”

Almost halfway through Prince Wu’s words, an old minister shouted loudly to stop him. A few others also sensed something and tried to persuade him.

“Your Royal Highness, Lord Zhang is right, you must not have such thoughts now!”

“Yes, Your Highness, since you think that the Emperor has noticed, it will be extremely difficult to succeed if you have such thoughts at this time!”

“Argh!”

Prince Wu slapped his thigh fiercely.

“Succeeding seems extremely difficult, but at least there is still a glimmer of hope. Father Emperor has already begun to eliminated the agents I planted. By the time I am powerless to resist, everything will be too late. If I didn’t have spies in the palace, I would still be in the dark, and would die a fool. Now I still have the strength to fight…”

“That’s right, if Your Highness is ready to revolt, I will follow!”

“The same is true for this commander!”

Several military officials shouted in response.

“Your Royal Highness! Listen to me!”

The old minister from the Department of State Affairs suddenly spoke again, causing a momentary silence in the hall. The impatient Prince Wu suppressed his anger and looked at him, but his expression was not very good.

“Your Royal Highness Prince Wu, compared to Eunuch Han, are your other spies in the palace more hidden?”

Prince Wu was stunned for a moment. He frowned and did not answer immediately.

“Your Royal Highness, allow me to venture a suggestion. His Majesty may have deliberately let Your Highness know about Han Baishan’s execution. Since His Majesty has long observed everything Eunuch Han did, then perhaps he is informed about your other eyes and ears as well!”

Prince Wu shuddered subconsciously, his expression darkening further.

“Don’t be in a hurry, Your Highness. We must not start any rebellion at this moment, or everything will be lost. If Your Highness can remain patient, we may still have a chance!”

“What chance?”

“Speak clearly!”

A few people who hadn’t yet grasped the truth asked impatiently, while some more intelligent individuals began to ponder carefully. The old minister solemnly bowed to Prince Wu.

“Your Royal Highness Prince Wu, now we have only one option left: to wait patiently. Do not entertain any further thoughts! Please reconsider, Your Highness!”

“Please reconsider, Your Highness!”

“Please reconsider, Your Highness!”

Some people who had finally come to their senses offered their agreement one after another. Prince Wu was not foolish, but as the person directly involved, it was difficult for him to remain calm. Even now that he had come to a conclusion, he still found it difficult to quell the intense anxiety and unease in his heart. He felt too insecure.

But even so, he could force himself to make the right decision.

“Alright! This prince shall wait!”

That afternoon, in Prince Jin’s residence, Prince Jin and a few others around him learned of Han Baishan’s “fall into a well” the night before.

However, none of Prince Jin’s informants could have known that Han Baishan died of poisoned wine.

But the lack of informants did not mean that they couldn’t draw their own conclusions. In truth, both Li Mushu and Prince Jin himself suspected that Han Baishan was definitely killed, and that it wasn’t an accident.

In particular, ever since their informants reported this information, Prince Wu had hurriedly summoned many of his confidants to his palace. Although they all traveled secretly, they could not escape some of Prince Jin’s secret intelligence agents.

“According to Lord Li, it seems that this Han Baishan have been spying on His Majesty for His Highness Prince Wu?”

The Head of the Chu family asked in surprise.

“How audacious of His Royal Highness Prince Wu, to dare to touch one of the Emperor’s personal eunuchs?”

“My eldest brother is naturally very bold.”

Prince Jin replied, slightly lost in thought.

A junior counselor in the hall interjected.

“If that’s the case, then His Highness Prince Wu and his men must be very uneasy, right? They have done something outrageous. However, we only know that His Royal Highness Wu reached out to Zhang Jianying of the Imperial Guards, as well as the Southern Army. What should we do if Prince Wu suddenly revolts?”

Li Mushu shook his head and smiled.

“Since His Majesty has already made a move with Han Baishan, then everything is in His Majesty’s hands. Perhaps He is also aware of Prince Wu’s movements in the Imperial Guard. I just don’t know how hard His Majesty will strike against him; will it only be enough to strike him down, or will it strike him dead…”

The Head of the Chu family glanced at Li Mushu and added.

“If His Royal Highness Prince Wu were to start a rebellion, his chances of success would be slim. However, given His Royal Highness Prince Wu’s temperament, he may choose to fight to the death. We must be vigilant!”

Li Mushu looked at him and was about to speak, but suddenly found that Prince Jin had been absent-minded ever since they had begun speaking.

“Your Highness, isn’t this good news? Why is Your Highness so worried?”

Prince Jin smiled at his teacher.

“Of course it’s good news…”

But Prince Jin’s smile quickly faded as he continued.

“It’s just that I’m wondering, if it came to this, would Father still want to make my eldest brother the crown prince?”

“Ah!?”

“That…”

“Is that possible?”

Prince Jin narrowed his eyes and looked outside the hall. Just outside was the very garden where the auspicious omen had descended that winter.

“Haha, I will assume it is. Before, we were in a desperate situation, but now there is a glimmer of hope…”

Prince Jin turned around.

“Teacher, I think my eldest brother will still choose to start a rebellion. If he can’t make a decision, we will help him do so!”

“Your Highness, you…”

“Teacher, I know what you want to say. But I only see this one chance. This is the only way. We are brothers, after all: in terms of daring, I am no worse than him!”

T/n: dun dun dun… I actually really like this little subplot here. I’m a major fan of complex political plots and schemes (currently reading Dune, it’s fascinating and the dinner scene is absolutely amazing, if anyone has book recs PLEASE let me know!). I find it really exciting to see Prince Wu keeping rebellion on the backburner to maneuver himself, while Prince Jin is subtly trying to walk the line to push him to revolt and fail so that the Emperor has no choice but to name him crown prince. All this stemming from the fact that YZX will not pick any side, but that only Prince Jin knows that — just that one single detail is all that Prince Wu is missing, and it’s set him back severely.

1. Literally “Little Tiger.” Children will have childhood diminutives until they reach a certain age and get their adult names. Diminutives will be nicknames used only by very close friends and family from then on.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read