Yet his smile remained as kind as ever. He looked at him, blood slowly trickling from the corner of his mouth. He didn't understand why he had such an expression. Didn't he always dislike him? Didn't he not like him? Why, then, did he now reveal such a look? Who was this for? Was it for him? He didn't want to look, didn't want to look, yet he couldn't help but want to, because he knew this might be the last time he saw him, because he was about to die, about to die right in front of him.
And the murderer was indeed him, his illegitimate son whom he had always looked down upon.
Why? Why? Was it because he was facing death that he remembered he was his child? But if he regretted it, why had he done nothing back then? Why had he stood by indifferently as he was bullied and his mother was beaten to death?
He seemed to want to vent. When he came to his senses, the sword in his hand had already pierced the person several times.
Having contributed to the killing of Prince Xuan, he was appointed Commander of the Imperial Guard at a young age. Even though the court officials opposed it, the Emperor insisted.
He became the youngest commander in Qi's history. Until one day, a former aide of his father found him and handed him a letter, the handwriting as familiar as he could possibly be.
He placed the letter on the table. After the aide left, he slowly opened it.
The handwriting was indeed his.
After reading it, he was stunned. He burned the letter and fell into silence.
It turned out his birth mother was not some lowly maid, but a beauty offered to the State of Yu. When his father was still a prince, he had sent the beauty to Yu. Along the way, he had secretly fallen for a beauty. Later, when the beauty entered the palace, she discovered she was pregnant. A year later, a mute man brought a letter to the prince's mansion. Prince Xuan then learned that the beauty had given birth to the child and later arranged for someone else to bring the child to him.
At the time, as a prince, having an affair with a beauty sent to the State of Yu was a crime. He dared not make it public, fearing any harm to her who was far away in Yu. Thus, he schemed to find a lowly maid to be his birth mother, for the humbler a person, the less attention they would attract.
All the indifference and coldness from back then were for his safety.
And he himself had killed his father. He thought his father disliked him, hated him, and had killed him.
"Young Master, what are you thinking about?" Lin Zifeng asked Qi Yu Yuan, who was lost in thought.
Qi Yu Yuan snapped back to reality and looked at Lin Zifeng. "If the Emperor were to be overthrown now, what are the chances of success?"
Lin Zifeng replied, "Thirty percent."
"Why?" Qi Yu Yuan asked.
"Firstly, the ten thousand troops of Prince Nanping are currently stationed outside the imperial city. If you initiate a 'clearing the court' operation, it's hard to guarantee that Prince Nanping won't take advantage of the chaos.
Secondly, the tiger tally is not in your hands, but in Chen Ming Sheng's. Once you initiate, if Chen Ming Sheng does not submit to you, it will be even more difficult.
Thirdly, your state of mind is unstable, which is a major taboo in the military."
Qi Yu Yuan narrowed his eyes. "If we can gain Prince Nanping's support, wouldn't it be twice the result with half the effort?"
"Young Master, that is not advisable. Prince Nanping is treacherous. Back at Mingxia Pass, if it wasn't for his deliberate actions, we would never have been surrounded," Lin Zifeng said.
Qi Yu Yuan nodded. "I know all this, but what if I can offer him what he desires most? Why would he willingly allow himself to be surrounded? It was because he wanted to release Qi Yu Ze. What if I could release Qi Yu Ze?"
Lin Zifeng heard this and said, "You mean to use this condition to induce Prince Nanping to cooperate with you?"
Qi Yu Yuan nodded. "I have this idea."
"But Young Master, once discovered, the consequences would be unimaginable," Lin Zifeng said with some concern.
"It doesn't matter. We won't know if we succeed unless we try!" Qi Yu Yuan stood up, clenching his fists. "Father, I will surely avenge you."
"It seems Qi Yu Yuan is planning something big," Feng Xi Ning remarked.
As she had expected, Jian Nan Xiao left the sleeping quarters that night, taking only Fan Yan with him. No one knew what his purpose was, but she knew it wouldn't be that simple.
She guessed that Prince Nanping and Qi Yu Yuan had reached some agreement. Her informant watching Fan Yan finally had news. It turned out Fan Yan had gone outside the imperial city. She assumed Qi Yu Yuan intended to force the Emperor's abdication.
When she had fought Qi Yu Yuan before, she knew he was not a loyal minister who could honestly assist a ruler. Moreover, his father, Prince Xuan, had been ordered to be beheaded by the Emperor. Such blood debts were not easily forgotten. Although the Emperor heavily relied on him, he must have had his reasons for trusting him.
The more chaos, the better! she thought.
Ten days later, a rebellion broke out in Qi. Qi Yu Yuan, the heir of Prince Xuan, led ten thousand imperial guards outside the imperial city, sealing it off. No one could enter or leave. The common people were gathered and housed in a deserted courtyard, which was said to be Prince Xuan's former residence.
The Emperor of Qi was greatly alarmed. He immediately summoned Chen Ming Sheng and ordered him to take the tiger tally to Jinzhou to gather ten thousand troops to suppress the rebels. He also sent someone to invite Prince Nanping. However, Prince Nanping's ten thousand troops were already guarding the imperial city. Even the ten thousand troops summoned from Jinzhou could not break into the city. In a moment, the Emperor fainted.
Qi Yu Yuan proclaimed himself king, using the excuse of "clearing the court," and entered the imperial palace. When the Emperor of Qi opened his eyes, Qi Yu Yuan, clad in armor, was standing by his bedside.
"You... you traitorous dog," the Emperor of Qi rasped slowly.
Qi Yu Yuan gave a cold smile. "If I am a traitor, then what are you? Do you dare to produce the imperial decree and have it read aloud?"