Chapter 205 - A Friendly Visit (2/2)

Chun Hai ignored that and continued on, ”I have heard your Emperor is quite taken with her and it seems that you are as well, quite the conundrum. She is, after all, just one woman who can only belong to one man, a powerful one as it turns out, which you're not at the moment s-”

Prince Yi's hand on his sword tightened and he shot up, ”Did you come here to insult me?! I am not an idiot who wou-!”

”How much longer do you think he'll keep you alive?” Chun Hai cut in and Prince Yi glared at him, but he was unfazed and continued,  ”How much longer do you think he can tolerate you? How can he keep a Prince who once reached for the throne?” Prince Yi immediately froze on hearing that.

”From what I heard you were on the verge of crowning yourself Emperor if not for a dubious secret edict from nowhere. You must have felt cheated.” CHun Hai lightly chuckled, ”I guess the question should be, how much longer can YOU tolerate him?”

Prince Yi stood still taking deep breaths to calm himself and then he sat back down, ”You drugged her...why?”

”A plan in motion. She is apparently quite the stubborn one....or perceptive maybe. It depends on how you look at it. If she cooperated, we would not have had to result to this -” When Chun Hai saw Prince Yi frown, he quickly added, ”Ah, the plan was not for her to kiss you...I honestly expected her to strip or something of the kind, something humiliating for your Emperor...Publicly assaulting a strange man would have worked well, but you were just the convenient choice or perhaps, her instincts screamed for you...” Chun Hai finished with a smile and Prince Yi's frown deepened.

{...Screamed for me? She regretted it....as she should have...as I should...}

Chun Hai went on to reassure Prince Yi's, ”The plan was definitely not to kill her, just in case your brother decided to take forever to mourn his lost love. A broken angry heart is much more useful. You know they say, the best way to mend a broken heart is with a new love and a man many wives has plenty of love tales to choose from. A dead love is harder to move on from than one of betrayal. Although it seems your brother is a lot more smitten than we perceived...Enough explanation?”

Prince Yi rested the sword next to him and knit his brows in thought.

{...A betrayal...and yet he still - *snort* I wonder what he would have done if she wasn't drugged? Kill her or keep her? If he killed her, he would lose the Lei family; his love, his friend and his support. I would have liked to see that...If I were thinking I would have thrown her at someone else and then dragged her, the person and all the witnesses before him and all the world...He would have had no choice...I could have and should have...been thinking...}

Prince Yi let out an exasperated breath and then asked, ”What do you want in exchange?” Even though he considered Prince Houyi a dangerous option, it was better than being a sitting duck here, doing nothing. He had nothing to lose and so he could take the risk.

”I need to get inside the palace prison, a map and a guide, a clear way in and out.”

”I take it your person inside has been captured. That explains why you're here...”

Chun Hai simply stood up, ”Time is of the essence, have it ready for tomorrow.”

As Chun Hai headed for the window, Prince Yi spoke up again, ”How do I know I can trust you? Even if yo-”

”You don't know and I can't know either...But I am a man of my word, and as I said, a war is inevitable. Prince Houyi will be happy to have you. I'll be back tomorrow.” And with that, he jumped out the window and left Prince Yi alone.

Prince Yi stared at the window and then frowned.

{...”Man of my word”, aren't we all... It has to be one of those maids...And he seems to care quite a lot. That will be good enough...}

Prince Yi got dressed and left his room, with steady strides, suddenly feeling himself again, a person with purpose.

He had not been paying attention to what has been going on in the palace in the last few days. While he might not have people around the Emperor, he did have people scattered around in the palace, after all, it was his territory for years. He would help Chun Hai but then that maid would be his, as insurance.