The Crown Prince smiled. “Killing two birds with one stone. Imperial Brother, you’re the greatest winner of all.”
At some point, the eunuch had already come to stand behind Prince An, clearly ready to carry out his orders.
“If I die, Imperial Brother will be the only candidate for the throne. Why, then, must you kill Father?”
Prince An lowered his eyelids slightly, his voice calm and steady. “Father was killed by Imperial Brother. This prince is merely purging the court of traitors. Whatever else happens has nothing to do with this prince.”
The Crown Prince sneered. “Are you truly this impatient?”
“Father’s health is robust, and my son is about to be born. Naturally, this prince hopes it can happen as soon as possible.”
The Crown Prince laughed aloud. “Father gave birth to a son like you. Even dying, he won’t have died in vain.”
“One last question. Before leaving the capital, I confirmed that most of your forces were stationed at Prince An’s Residence, with only a small contingent accompanying you to Mount An Temple. How did you help Zhou Yu escape?”
Prince An’s gaze shifted to Shen Xiabai, who had remained silent and motionless from beginning to end, quietly observing everything. “That was all thanks to Lord Shen’s assistance.”
Shen Xiabai’s usually composed expression tightened with displeasure. He glanced at Prince An.
The Crown Prince turned his gaze toward Shen Xiabai, looking somewhat astonished. “So it was Lord Shen. I never thought to include the Directorate of Imperial Justice in my calculations.”
He had assumed that Shen Xiabai would not involve himself in the struggle for the throne. After all, he had never joined any faction and had always maintained a neutral stance.
The Crown Prince had tried to win him over many times, but to no avail.
“So that was why Lord Shen reminded me that Zhou Yu was not in the capital that day, hinting that today was the best opportunity to act and encouraging me to make my move?”
“When did Lord Shen come to an agreement with Xiao Yi and join forces with him? What did Imperial Brother promise you? What could possibly have moved you?”
Shen Xiabai raised his eyelids slightly, his voice tranquil. “Your Highness has misunderstood. I have always known how to protect myself and have never taken part in the struggle among the princes. I cooperated with Prince An only because we shared a common objective.”
His gaze fell upon the Emperor’s corpse.
“I have never been blindly loyal to anyone. I am loyal only to my wife, A Chu.”
As long as the Emperor lived, he could never feel at ease.
All he wanted was for the Emperor to die.
Prince An cast a sidelong glance at Shen Xiabai. His eyes held an unfathomable storm of emotions, but he concealed it expertly, ensuring that the wariness and murderous intent in his gaze never showed.
A man loyal to no one—not even the imperial authority.
With such a nature, and holding such a high position, he would become a calamity for Great Liang if he were allowed to remain unchecked for long.
The Crown Prince nodded. “I see.”
Father had wanted Cui Yunchu dead, which was why he could not tolerate him. Then what about Xiao Yi?
The Crown Prince raised his eyes and smiled faintly. “I’ll be waiting for one of you to come and accompany me.”
With that, he moved to cut his own throat.
“Your Highness, wait!”
A deep, urgent voice suddenly came from outside the hall, accompanied by hurried footsteps.
Prince An looked up—and saw Cui Qingyuan, who had supposedly fallen from a cliff and died several days ago.
His pupils contracted violently, and his eyes narrowed slightly. “Prime Minister… Cui.”
Cui Qingyuan strode forward, snatched the large blade from the Crown Prince’s hand, and flung it heavily to the ground. He then glanced at the dead Emperor.
“Your Highness must not die.”
Prince An’s gaze remained fixed on Cui Qingyuan. His clothes were torn and ragged, and he looked battered and covered in dust.
“Prime Minister Cui, do you truly believe you can protect the Crown Prince by yourself?”
Prince An paced over to Cui Qingyuan’s side. “Things have already come to this. With Yunfeng here, the Cui family will certainly not fall into ruin. Why not simply go with the tide and lead the officials in paying homage to the new Emperor?”
“If we are speaking of familial ties, Prime Minister Cui and I are father-in-law and son-in-law.”
Cui Qingyuan’s expression was solemn. “Whether as a man or as a subject, I believe in remaining loyal to the end.”
Prince An’s face turned icy. “At a time like this, do you really think you can stop me?”
“I indeed cannot. But outside Mount An Temple, the Tang family’s eldest son is waiting at the exit with five thousand troops from the frontier. Should anything happen to the Crown Prince, they will certainly storm inside.”
“Prince Xinyang has died in his fief. His son will soon return to the capital to report on his duties and request his title. Both Your Highnesses should be well aware of Prince Xinyang’s ambitions back then. If we fight to the death today, we will only give someone else the opportunity to reap the rewards.”
“To prevent the Xiao clan’s empire from falling into the hands of outsiders, Your Highness, you must carefully weigh what matters more and what matters less.”
In a struggle for the throne, the greatest danger was internal strife combined with external threats.
Prince An’s expression darkened. “Wasn’t the Tang family’s son a thousand li away? How could he be in the capital?”
He seemed unable to believe it. He ordered the eunuch beside him to go outside and investigate. The eunuch returned soon after and whispered a few words into his ear. Xiao Yi’s expression immediately grew even more somber.
“Will you fight the Crown Prince to the death, or temporarily call off the hostilities and put the greater good first? Your Highness, you must think this through carefully.”
Silence descended upon the great hall. Every official held his breath and stared at Prince An, waiting for his decision.
If they fought to the death now, the capital’s forces would suffer heavy losses, giving the regional princes an opportunity to raise their banners in rebellion. They might well end up paving the way for someone else.
Xiao Yi lowered his gaze toward the Crown Prince.
The Emperor was already dead, and the Crown Prince’s life was in his hands. The throne was practically within reach. To withdraw his troops now was truly difficult to accept.
Yet the struggle between brothers for the throne was, in the end, a family matter. With a genuine external enemy watching hungrily from the sidelines, the brothers would have to settle the external threat first and deal with their family dispute afterward.
Prince An closed his eyes briefly. “Prime Minister Cui, weren’t you dead? Why have you suddenly come back to life?”
Cui Qingyuan said nothing. He merely glanced at Zhou Yu.
Prince An furrowed his brows in thought and stared at Cui Qingyuan. “It was you who summoned the Tang family’s son back?”
Had he left in order to help the Crown Prince?
No. If that had been the case, Cui Qingyuan could have stabilized the court, and Father would never have allowed the rumors about abolishing the Crown Prince to spread. The Crown Prince would not have been forced into rebellion either.
Or was today also part of Cui Qingyuan’s scheme? But what benefit had it brought the Crown Prince? The Crown Prince was at a disadvantage and had suffered considerable losses in troops and men.
The situation today was tangled into an inextricable mess, and for a moment, Prince An could not make sense of it. He knit his brows tightly, his gaze sweeping across the hall before finally settling on the dead Emperor.
Only one objective had been achieved today: the Emperor was dead.
And every time the Crown Prince tried to take his own life at a critical moment, someone had stopped him.
The most direct way to identify the mastermind behind the scenes was to look only at the result that had been achieved.
As for Cui Qingyuan, he looked as though he had just escaped from a disaster.
Prince An’s gaze fixed on Shen Xiabai. “Zhou Yu is your man.”
It was not a question, but a statement.
The moment he finished speaking, Zhou Yu silently stepped behind Shen Xiabai, answering Prince An’s question.
No wonder Shen Xiabai had recommended Zhou Yu to the Ministry of War. No wonder the man Cui Qingyuan had pursued and tried to kill was still alive. Cui Qingyuan had not fallen from the cliff at all—he had been hidden by Shen Xiabai.
Prince An had originally thought Shen Xiabai was afraid of the Emperor. He had never imagined that while the mantis stalked the cicada, the oriole was waiting behind it. He had believed himself to be the oriole, only to discover that there was another oriole hidden behind him.
Shen Xiabai had schemed against everyone. He had not only incited the Crown Prince, but had also manipulated Prince An himself. The two brothers had fought a great battle, only to achieve the result Shen Xiabai wanted.
Prince An himself had been one of the executioners in Shen Xiabai’s scheme, used by him—and had even summoned the Tang family’s son to restrain him.
Using someone once his purpose was served and playing both sides—although those descriptions sounded harsh, they could not have been more fitting for Shen Xiabai’s actions.
Prince An’s eyes were filled with suppressed rage, yet he laughed instead.
“Shen Xiabai, you schemed against me and betrayed me?”
Shen Xiabai’s expression remained unchanged. “Your Highness is joking. You and I merely made a deal: I helped you rescue Zhou Yu, and you helped me kill the Emperor. We both fulfilled what we promised, and kept our word, did we not?”
Prince An was genuinely amused to the point of anger. He had gone to such lengths to rescue Shen Xiabai’s people, and still had to offer him additional benefits in exchange. Did Xiao Yi look like some kind of fool?
And today, of all days—!
Shen Xiabai said, “As for anything else, I never said a word. Your Highness, please don’t slander me.”
Prince An let out several icy, mocking laughs. The sound was loud, filled with the fury of someone who had lost by a single move.
