Chapter 175 - The Princes Past III (1/2)

Prince Yi immediately rushed over to their father with the guards to play the concerned and heartbroken son for his welfare and inform of the death of his brothers.

But then as he entered the inner palace, he came to understand why the Voice had said the battle was lost. It was a lost cause from the beginning. The inner palace was completely swarmed with thousands of soldiers. And they all pointed their swords at him and demanded that he drop his weapon before proceeding.

Still in shock, he complied and proceeded with caution. As he progressed towards his father's palace, the number of soldiers increased. There was an entire army in the palace and the Crown prince had been unaware? He was incredibly confused.

He arrived to find his father in his study calmly relaxing on the main seat with his eyes closed and a sword on the table in front of him. Defense minister Lei was also there standing on the side, armed and ready. Their father knew and had been prepared, and was simply waiting for the Crown prince to walk into his trap.

The Second prince showing up interrupted this perfectly laid out setup. But even then their father did not even bother to send out the army he had here to help. If he had the battle would have long been over before it even started. Prince Yi suddenly felt the urge to laugh, but he could not muster up even a smile. A scowl was frozen on his face as he walked into the room.

{...He was just playing with all of us...How could he be so heartless?!...}

Prince Yi quickly corrected his expression to a worried one as he got closer. He got on his knees and bowed, ”Father, I am glad to see you safe and sound. The rebellion has been suppressed.”

Their father snorted and casually said, ”Rebellion?... And here I thought it was a simple execution.” He opened his eyes slightly and looked Prince Yi over. Prince Yi glanced up and his heart jumped when he caught his gaze and he immediately lowered his head again, feeling unnerved. It was very possible his father would still kill him, he might even know of all he did. In the end, he might still die even after everything.

”I heard you killed the Crown prince.”

Prince Yi cupped his hands and bowed and shakily began, ”I-I apologize. The Crown prince attacked Second brother and so in the heat of the situation I...” Then he trailed off, showing a grieved expression on his face.

”...and all the Crown prince's men are dead too...” Their father dragged out the words, then he snorted, ”That is quite a situation...Jun Shan, what do you think?”

Prince Yi went rigid for a moment, his father had never really directly asked him a question before. He composed himself and responded, ”It does seem quite suspicious. I believe there may be more to the matter...”

His father was quiet for a moment and Prince Yi could feel beads of sweat forming on his forehead. He finally spoke again, but the topic shifted, ”Hm...I heard you left the city, when did you return?”

”I returned today, Father.” Prince Yi responded, feeling even more unnerved.

There was a long silence and then their father chuckled and said, ”It turns out you are not so useless after all. You can go now, be sure to be in court tomorrow.”

Prince Yi blinked and looked up at his father's calm obscured expression but he could not discern anything. His father was smiling at him, he never smiled at him before. Prince Yi's lips unconsciously curved into a smile and he felt tears welling up in his eyes as he nodded. He kowtowed and closed his eyes, and then left the room.

As he turned to leave, he noticed Defense minister Lei looking at him with somewhat suspicious eyes and Prince Yi's nervousness returned. It was very likely that his father could guess his role in all this, but he smiled at him and told him to come to court...He could not help smiling despite not knowing if his fate in court the next day was to die.

After Prince Yi left, Defense minister Lei turned to the Emperor, ”Even though the message did not mention him, he is definitely involved in the matter, his return is not a coincidence. The Second prince being pulled into the matter as well...”