Chapter 80 (2/2)
Pei Khan’s shaky hands held the warm cup of tea that felt too heavy. What was he supposed to do? On one side was his father and on the other side of him was his brother. He didn’t want Pei Jin to die.
Pei Khan purposely walked slowly and his eyes silently warned Pei Jin not to drink the poisoned tea.
Pei Jin thought Pei Khan was acting strange. But he accepted the cup of tea from Pei Khan and pretended to drink the tea.
Pei Jin raised his head and he was startled to see tears flowed down from Pei Khan’s eyes.
The cup of tea fell out of Pei Jin’s hand. There was a deadly poison inside the tea.
‘It was you who killed them!’ the emperor said.
Pei Jin realised his father found out about his past schemes.
‘You hid your real cruel self for many years!’ the emperor said. ‘You killed your brothers! Did you think you can sit carefree on the throne? I should have killed you from the start!’
‘Imperial father, you killed your brothers and stole the throne from your younger brother,’ Pei Jin said. ‘Have you ever once sat carefree on the throne in the last thirty years?’
The emperor’s face whitened and he clutched his chest.
Pei Jin laughed coldly. ‘Imperial father, who are you to criticize me? Isn’t it true you changed imperial grandfather’s edict to your name instead of imperial uncle’s name? Your hands are stained with your brothers’ blood too.’
‘You!’ the emperor said.
The emperor didn’t expect Pei Jin knew the truth.
‘Did you do this to avenge your imperial uncle?’ the emperor asked. He gritted his teeth and remembered how Pei Jin was close to his younger brother in the past. ‘Don’t forget, I’m your imperial father!’
‘Imperial father?’ Pei Jin asked. ‘I’ve always seen you as my imperial father. But have you ever once seen me as your son?’
Pei Jin looked coldly at the broken tea cup. ‘Earlier you intended for me to die. Is this how you see me as your son?’
‘You deserve to die!’ the emperor said. ‘You killed your tenth brother, the empress and you framed your seventh brother!’
‘Did you want to kill me because you loved tenth brother?’ Pei Jin asked. ‘Or is it because you hate being deceived and feeling everything is outside of your control?’
The emperor braced his hands on the table.
‘Imperial father, you’re unjust,’ Pei Jin said. ‘Why do you hate me?’
The emperor looked at Pei Jin’s eyes. Each time he looked into Pei Jin’s eyes he was reminded of the scum who deceived him. Then he would wonder if Pei Jin was like Pei Jin’s mother and scheme against him too. As Pei Jin grew older, Pei Jin acted gentle and kind like Pei Jin’s mother. The more he couldn’t see through Pei Jin the more he hated Pei Jin. Pei Jin being close to his younger brother intensified his hatred of Pei Jin.
‘I didn’t kill tenth brother,’ Pei Jin said. ‘Tenth brother faked his own death because he hated his life in the palace. I only brought him back to the imperial city and kept him captive. He was tired of living and killed himself. As for seventh brother, if he didn’t have bad intentions to kill me and my family then he would never have fallen into my trap. Imperial father, you clearly know this kind of battle can only have one winner. I only want to survive and live with my wife and son.’
‘Don’t think for a moment that I’ll believe you!’ the emperor said. ‘I’ll never believe you! Someone! Arrest him!’
Wang Fu Mu entered the room. ‘Your majesty.’
‘Where are the imperial guards?’ the emperor asked.
‘There are no imperial guards,’ Wang Fu Mu said.
The emperor saw Pei Jin stood upright and his back turned cold.
‘Wang Fu Mu, you’ve been secretly serving him!’ the emperor said.
‘Ninth prince is a good master,’ Wang Fu Mu said.
‘Do the two of you want to commit treason?’ the emperor asked.
‘Treason?’ Wang Fu Mu asked.
Wang Fu Mu was suspicious why the emperor isolated himself and didn’t let anyone come near the emperor. After he heard the emperor wanted to see Pei Jin privately, he suspected the emperor wanted to kill Pei Jin.
Wang Fu Mu wanted to protect Pei Jin so he lied to the imperial guards the emperor wanted them to guard the palace gates. Of course the imperial guards wouldn’t dare go against the emperor’s orders and they believed Wang Fu Mu wouldn’t dare to lie about the emperor’s orders.
Pei Jin knew his father wouldn’t ask all his imperial guards to guard the palace gates and leave his father vulnerable to an attack from inside the palace. Then he thought it was Wang Fu Mu’s way of warning him. He didn’t know how his father intended to kill him. Whether his father would stab him like he stabbed Pei Zhang or poison him like his father poisoned imperial uncle. After he entered the calligraphy room and saw the teapot he realised his father wanted to poison him.
‘What is it?’ the emperor asked. ‘You don’t dare to kill me? If you don’t kill me then how will you climb onto the throne? Even if you want to be the emperor, you shouldn’t dream about it!’
‘Imperial father, I don’t want to be the emperor,’ Pei Jin said. ‘I only want to be your son.’
Pei Jin knelt in front of his father, hit his forehead on the floor, stood and left the room.
The emperor watched Pei Jin’s back powerlessly. He collapsed on the floor and vomited blood.
Wang Fu Mu wanted to help the emperor stand but the emperor glared at him coldly.
‘Wang Fu Mu, have I mistreated you?’ the emperor asked.
‘Your majesty is good to me but ninth prince is good to me too,’ Wang Fu Mu said.
The emperor silently stood and sat.
Pei Jin left the palace. He didn’t know why his father let him leave without killing him. Inside his sleeve was a hidden poisoned dart contraption. Earlier if his father had picked up a sword when he was kneeling then he wouldn’t hesitate to release the dart.
That summer the emperor died.
Pei Jin announced the emperor’s final edict, ‘Thirteenth prince will become the emperor at the age of sixteen. Ninth prince will rule in thirteenth prince’s stead until thirteenth prince turns sixteen.’
What the citizens of the Dian Kingdom didn’t know was Pei Jin was secretly exceptional at mimicking other people’s calligraphy, especially his father’ calligraphy.
***
End of Chapter Eighty