The Emperor's voice drifted out from the palanquin. "The Crown Prince has made all the arrangements for this trip most thoroughly. If we can return to the capital safely, this will be counted as a great achievement of the Crown Prince."
The Crown Prince's hand holding the reins tightened unconsciously, and he glanced back at the palanquin.
Prince An seemed not to have heard a thing, taking his time as if he were admiring the scenery along the road.
"Brother-in-law, where is Lord Zhou from the Ministry of War?"
"He's out on an official errand and hasn't returned yet."
"Oh~" Prince An drew out his tone slightly. "He's been gone for so long."
Shen Xiabai lifted his eyes to glance at Xiao Yi, who was putting on an act, and said nothing.
"Your Highness the Crown Prince," a foot soldier galloped against the procession to arrive before them, "there was a heavy snowfall some days ago, and it seems a landslide has occurred upead. Several huge boulders are blocking the official road, and our procession cannot pass."
"How could this happen?"
The Crown Prince frowned.
Prince An still looked as calm as ever, though a faint, almost imperceptible smirk tugged at the corner of his lips.
Shen Xiabai, standing to the side, truly acted as if he had seen nothing at all.
The Crown Prince glanced sideways at the palanquin carrying the Emperor.
"What is the matter?" The Emperor's voice came from inside. The Crown Prince rode his horse over and reported the situation to him.
It was a long moment before the Emperor spoke again, his tone somewhat heavy. "Since I have placed everything in your hands to manage, you may make the decision on your own."
"As you command."
The Crown Prince rode back to his original position, cast a heavy gaze toward the blocked official road, and gave the order. "We will take the small path on the left."
The small path on the left was easy to attack but hard to defend, flanked by narrow, steep valleys on both sides. The moment they stepped onto it, a gloomy, bone-chilling feeling settled over everyone.
The assembled officials could not help but frown.
The Crown Prince sat steadily on his horse, his expression calm and composed.
Prince An said, "Your Imperial Highness, does this place not feel as if many people have died here? It gives off such an eerie chill."
"Not at all. I feel perfectly fine," the Crown Prince replied. "Could it be that you, Imperial Brother, have killed so many people that you are having hallucinations and growing skittish?"
Prince An raised an eyebrow and shot the Crown Prince a smiling glance. "Perhaps. But this place does make one's heart feel a little flustered. I wonder if Your Highness feels the same?"
The Crown Prince chuckled. "When did you become so timid, Imperial Brother? If you are afraid, you may share a horse ride with Lord Shen."
The procession continued forward at an unhurried pace. At some point, the curtain of the Emperor's carriage was pulled ajar, and a pair of large, knuckled fingers tapped at the Commander of the Imperial Guard riding beside the vehicle.
The man immediately leaned close to the carriage, his broad, muscular frame slightly bent, falling into a highly vigilant, combat-ready stance.
Up ahead, the Crown Prince remained perfectly steady, and the entire procession passed through the valley without a single incident. The Emperor frowned as he looked over the group of people riding side by side up ahead, and lowered the carriage curtain with a hint of confusion in his expression.
After they had left the valley behind, the Crown Prince asked with feigned concern, "Is your heart still flustered, Imperial Brother?"
"A little, but I feel much better now."
The Crown Prince smiled faintly. "You are truly not the same as you used to be, Imperial Brother."
"I have no choice. Now that I have a soft spot to care for, I've grown very fond of staying alive," Prince An said, a bright, spirited smile in every line of his face.
The Crown Prince calmly turned his gaze away and said no more, though a heavy, gloomy shadow flickered across the depths of his eyes.
The procession traveled up the mountain path all the way to Anshan Temple, where the abbot and the monks had long since made all the necessary preparations.
Supported by a young eunuch, the Emperor alighted from his carriage and led the entire group toward the altar in the main hall for the memorial ceremony.
The leading monk kept his head bowed low, making his features impossible to see, while all the other monks stood to the sides.
The Imperial Guard, their bodies thick with the aura of battle and slaughter, were only allowed to wait outside the main hall. When everything was in place, an official from the Ministry of Rites stepped forward and called out loudly, "The memorial ceremony to the gods officially begins."
The Emperor stood before the Buddha statue and the altar, waiting for the monk beside him to present the incense.
That monk walked forward carrying a box. When the Emperor opened it, he froze for a moment at the sight of what was inside, and immediately staggered backward.
But the monk suddenly dropped the box, caught the sharp knife that had fallen out of it, and lunged at the Emperor's chest with the blade, which glinted coldly as it cut through the air.
All the officials were stunned by the scene. By the time they managed to cry out, the sharp blades held by the monks behind them were already pressed against their necks.
Shen Xiabai and Prince An reacted the fastest. They fended off the two nearest monks, stood back to back, and warily watched the rest of the knife-wielding attackers.
Prince An raised his eyebrows slightly. "Crown Prince, what is the meaning of this?"
"It is exactly what you think it is, Imperial Brother."
Prince An glanced at the Emperor, who was already struggling to hold his own against the assault of several highly skilled monks. "Our Father the Emperor is still in the prime of his health. Are you planning to patricide and seize the throne?"
"It is a move I had no choice but to make," a hint of bitterness flickered in the Crown Prince's eyes. "I never wished to draw swords against my Father and my Imperial Brother. But if I did not do this, once we returned to the capital from Anshan Temple, the edict deposing me as Crown Prince would be waiting for me."
"With my total defeat, I would have no choice but to die."
The Emperor, unable to fend off the several highly skilled monks any longer, was finally seized and held captive. "That day in the imperial study, I already told you that as long as you behaved properly and fulfilled your duties, I would give you a chance. Even if you were unfit to hold the position of Crown Prince, I would allow you to return to your fief and live out the rest of your days in peace."
"Father, do you even believe those words yourself?" The Crown Prince scoffed. "Will Imperial Brother here ever allow me to live peacefully in my fief? Since the dawn of history, there has never been a deposed crown prince who was allowed to live."
"You placed all the arrangements for this memorial ceremony in my hands just to test me. You spread the rumors that you were going to depose me to force me to make a move against you, just so you could give yourself and the entire empire a justifiable reason to remove me from the position of Crown Prince, is that not right?"
"There should have been a large number of men lying in ambush in that valley back then. If I had chosen to make my move there, I would have already been dead under the blades of the Imperial Guard by now, wouldn't I?"
"Father, between a father and a son, why must it come to this?" There was no triumphant joy on the Crown Prince's face, only a faint sadness.
The Emperor said, "Since you have known all this for a long time, do you really think you can kill me just with a few assassins?"
"I have been waiting all this time for you to make your move."
The Crown Prince nodded slightly. "I know very well that you have laid layers of traps along this entire trip, just waiting for me to walk right into them. But I had to take this risk. Once you return to the palace in the capital, I will truly have no moves left to play, and the game will be completely over for me."
The Emperor huffed coldly. "Chen'er, the reason you are going to lose is that you are not clever enough, and you lack foresight. Guards!"
He shouted a few times toward the outside of the hall, but the entrance of the main hall remained completely silent, not a single sound to be heard.
Crown Prince said, "I may not be clever, but I am not so foolish that I would know you had a plan and not make my own arrangements in advance, just waiting for the Imperial Guard to come and kill me."
The Crown Prince paced to the center of the great hall, looking down at the detained officials. "Anshan Temple is already entirely under my control. Let alone the Imperial Guard, even if the Emperor's elite cavalry arrived, every last one of them would die and be buried here."
He had never intended to launch an ambush halfway along the journey.
The Emperor narrowed his eyes. "Is that so? Then you and I, father and son, shall wait and see. Is your scheme more foolproof, or are my imperial cavalry more valiant in battle?"
The Crown Prince frowned the moment he heard that. The sound of galloping hooves and clashing swords seemed to ring in his ears.
Along the entire journey, the Emperor had arranged a large number of troops, or rather, he had dispatched nearly all the military forces in the capital.
The Crown Prince curled his lips into a smile. "To have come to such a pass as father and son, it is really laughable."
"The imperial family is so utterly devoid of joy. Since it has come to this, let us wait and see whose troops will be the first to break in. The side that loses will stay in this great hall forever."
The Crown Prince was utterly calm, so calm that he did not look like someone about to stage a rebellion at all. He looked as if he was simply waiting for the sun to rise and set as usual. He had done everything in his power, poured every last resource he had into his plans. The current situation had developed to the point where it was a dead end for him, so there was nothing left but to fight with his back against the wall. Victory or defeat would be left to fate.
