Chapter 358 - Shocking Arrangements (1/2)
Despite his mounting apprehension, Prince Yi would never give his brother the p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e of watching him plead for mercy. Not that it would matter much, his brother was a cold-hearted man. He cared for no one and sought no one's approval, not his parents and definitely not his siblings; very much like their royal father.
But what made Jun Kai more dangerous was that he was highly deceptive and manipulative; deceiving people and leading them to believe that they truly mattered to him. Then the moment they became useless, he would casually discard them, showing his true colors.
Therefore, Prince Yi steeled himself and harshly stared the Emperor down. But even then the Emperor could still sense his fear. It seemed the dire state of his present situation had finally sunk in for Prince Yi. The Emperor was finding Prince Yi's dip in self-importance to be quite a welcome sight.
The Emperor straightened up as he smugly continued on to say, ”But... Xing er' has taught me a thing or two on leniency for my subjects. I understand that people are sometimes left with little choice in their life matters. Therefore, I have permitted the option of surrender before battle and they have naturally been informed of your current circ.u.mstance. Ahh, what is it that Xing er' calls it again? Full disclosure? Ah yes, full disclosure. They have been made aware of all the facts, to be fair, as I'm sure Zhao Chang did for you earlier.”
Prince Yi lowered his gaze and frowned. The Emperor smiled, raised an eyebrow, and casually asked, ”How many of them do you think will remain loyal and fight for you?” He asked with a raised eyebrow.
Prince Yi gulped, and his frown deepened, ”I know nothing about any army...”
”Of course you don't. If you did, I would kill you right here...” The Emperor coldly retorted. Prince Yi looked up at him skeptically, not quite understanding what the Emperor was getting at now. If he did not want to kill him, why bring it up at all?
”What do you want?” Prince Yi asked in a low voice, containing his anger.
The Emperor sneered, ”Do you have anything to offer?” He asked with that irritating sly smirk that always made Prince Yi want to bash his head in.
Prince Yi angrily glared at the Emperor while the Emperor steadily met his gaze with cold calm as he callously stated, ”You just need to understand that your life is at my mercy. It has always been so and will remain so. I warned you not to tempt me...”
Understanding suddenly dawned on Prince Yi. His glare intensified as he clenched his fists and quietly spat out, ”You can kill a man but you should not humiliate him...”
”You humiliated me first!” The Emperor lashed out and then took a deep breath to regain his calm.
The Emperor leaned forward again and menacingly said, ”If you can't stand it, then kill yourself because I will not grant you death. You will be here for as long as it pleases me. When I am satisfied that you have truly learned your place, you may go live your life. Perhaps when I have something to celebrate, maybe the birth of a child? New life does bring with it new beginnings but that won't be for about a year, at the very least...”
”...Well, it is great seeing you adapting so well to your new home,” the Emperor finished with a smile which fell as soon as he straightened up. He gave Prince Yi a final hard stare before leaving. Prince Yi stood frozen for a long time, still glaring at the spot the Emperor had vacated, not thinking of anything.
Was the Emperor serious about his threat of indefinite imprisonment? Maybe, maybe not...but that was not for Prince Yi to know.
Regardless of his true intent, the Emperor could not have his prisoner being too comfortable in captivity. Therefore, this ought to give Prince Yi a lot more to think about. He needed to understand fear since respect was unlikely. He needed to understand that no one was coming to his rescue, not unless the Emperor permitted it. And well, the Emperor was currently not of a mind to grant such permission.
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The next afternoon, true to his words, the Emperor returned to the Empress dowager's palace with Lei Xing in tow. Seeing that Lei Xing was unwell yesterday, he had not planned on ”visiting” so soon but Lei Xing insisted on ”getting it over with”.
Last night, he shared his encounter with the Empress dowager and what her ”grievances” with Lei Xing were. He thought he would need to persuade Lei Xing to visit the Empress dowager, but to his surprise, Lei Xing said she was expecting it. Apparently, the thought had occurred to her the day after the ceremony that they needed to pay a visit to the Empress dowager. But everything was so hectic at that time and the Emperor had not said anything, so she too had ignored this obligatory visit.
After all, it was not like the Empress dowager actually wanted to see her face, the woman had made her dislike for Lei Xing utterly clear. However, Lei Xing had obviously underestimated the woman's superiority complex.
It occurred to her that the Empress dowager would not leave until she had received her ”due respect”. The Emperor had apologized for the trouble and was glad for Lei Xing's understanding. He did not want anyone to have any more reason to criticize Lei Xing, and by extension, him.
So here they were, standing in front of the Empress dowager's palace as the guards undid the locks at the entrance. The Emperor turned to Lei Xing when he heard her sigh, he took her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze as he said, ”Nothing will happen, I'm here.”
Lei Xing cast the Emperor a side glance, straightening her back, ”I've told you, I can take your mother... There's nothing to worry about.” She mumbled with a lopsided smile. She had absolutely nothing to worry about.