"You... you... you are unfilial." The Emperor trembled with anger, seeing that he was unrepentant.
"Everyone for themselves, or they will be destroyed by heaven and earth. Come, bring the First Prince to me." The Second Prince didn't want to waste more time with him and directly ordered his attendants.
In a short while, the First Prince, bound and gagged, was pushed down and knelt before the Second Prince.
"Second brother, it's not too late to stop now. I guarantee I'll spare your life." The First Prince was still dreaming, trying to persuade him.
The Second Prince gave a disdainful smile. This was his father's favorite son, utterly brainless. If he didn't have a clever and wise mother, he would have died countless times already.
With lightning speed, the Second Prince drew a knife from an attendant and stabbed him.
The knife pierced his body. The First Prince looked down in disbelief, his hand trembling as he pointed at him, "How could you, how dare you..."
The Emperor watched, speechless with shock, as the First Prince crashed to the ground, his life hanging by a thread.
To leave no future troubles, the Second Prince massacred all the princes in the palace, but deliberately spared the Sixth Prince in the cold palace.
It wasn't that he forgot about him, but because the Sixth Prince had been feigning illness for so many years, even the imperial physicians had recently declared his life was nearing its end. With so many princes already killed, public criticism was mounting, and they needed to leave one alive for show.
Next, they purged the dissenting factions, and blood flowed like rivers in the palace.
Seeing that everything was within his grasp and the situation was excellent, the Second Prince became a little arrogant. If it had been so simple, why had he waited so many years?
He held a victory banquet with everyone. After a few drinks, his face was flushed.
He watched the people below feasting and celebrating, with song and dance in the center, and couldn't help but feel a surge of pride. This would be his world from now on.
Suddenly, he saw the shocked gazes of everyone. He lowered his head slightly and saw an arrow embedded in his chest.
Pain surged through him, followed by an endless darkness.
"Assassin! Quickly capture the assassin!" Someone's voice, perhaps the first to react, shouted loudly.
The Second Prince never woke up again. After all calculations, only the Sixth Prince, residing in the cold palace, remained among the Emperor's offspring.
The Sixth Prince suddenly became high-profile, appearing in public. Only then did people realize that he, who had been judged by the imperial physicians to be on his last legs not long ago, appeared no different from an ordinary person.
The Emperor, after this ordeal, was critically ill and unable to manage state affairs. All the ministers submitted petitions, requesting the Sixth Prince to take charge of the situation.
The Sixth Prince quickly took office. Initially, the ministers held no expectations for him, as he had grown up in the cold palace and had no guidance. They were prepared to deal with a mess, but they found that this choice, made out of necessity, exceeded their expectations.
He was like a born ruler, grasping things quickly, learning from experience, receptive to advice, and meting out rewards and punishments fairly. This greatly comforted the ministers.
Zhao Yunfei had been utterly exhausted these past few days. Although he had lived through several lifetimes with Wu Caiwei, he had never been a ruler before, and much had to be learned on the fly.
With his immediate tasks concluded, he did not forget the gravely ill Emperor.
He went to visit, feigning concern. The Emperor looked at the face that was the same as in his memory, his heart filled with mixed emotions and a complex gaze.
Perhaps it was retribution. After all the twists and turns, it had come back to this. Ultimately, the throne had to be passed to the son born of her.
So be it. This was fate. He owed her. In his memory, that woman had a bright, sunny smile and always looked at him with adoration. Although he never admitted it, he knew in his heart that the person who loved him most in this life was that woman.
He had ruined her, ruined her family. Now, he was entrusting everything to her son, as a form of atonement.
Zhao Yunfei sensed the shifting emotions in his gaze and understood his thoughts. In a voice only they could hear, he said, "The arrow that struck the Second Prince... I had someone shoot it."
The Emperor's eyes snapped open wide. He thought he was hallucinating and used all his strength to ask, "What did you say?"
Although he had tried his best, it was almost inaudible to outsiders. If Zhao Yunfei hadn't been paying close attention, he wouldn't have heard it.
"I said I killed the Second Prince. I've been waiting for this day for many years and planning for it." Zhao Yunfei looked at him and repeated maliciously.
The Emperor became agitated, suddenly spitting out a mouthful of blood. The head eunuch waiting nearby, who had been monitoring the situation, saw the Emperor's state and immediately sent for an imperial physician.
The physician arrived quickly. With the Emperor gravely ill, they had cleared out a room in the adjoining chamber for him to stay in and attend to the Emperor at all times.
The Emperor was already at the end of his strength. The imperial physician took his pulse and instructed him to rest well and not to get too emotional.
Even with a thousand grievances, the Emperor knew that Zhao Yunfei was his only son. He did not want to hand over the throne to anyone else, so he had to grit his teeth and accept it.
Seeing that the future heir to the throne was in his twenties and unmarried, the ministers all submitted petitions requesting the selection of a future Empress. This would not only bring good luck but also was for the sake of the empire.
The Sixth Prince announced his intention to marry Wu Caiwei. After inquiring about her, the ministers strongly opposed it. Firstly, this woman was rebellious and had severed ties with the Zhou family. Secondly, her status and position were too low to be worthy of the Empress's title. Thirdly, she had almost married into the Lin family, and with so much past, she was unsuitable to be the mother of the nation.
After days of effort, Zhao Yunfei had already gained full control. He disregarded the counsel of the crowd and insisted on marrying her.
Some extreme ministers even submitted bloody petitions, kneeling outside his palace day and night. Zhao Yunfei ignored them all.
During this time, the Zhou family actively sought him out. Although they did not know why the Sixth Prince was so determined to marry her, it did not stop them from wanting to become relatives of the royal family. S u d a n N o v e l S i t e.
Unfortunately, they couldn't even get past Wu Caiwei's door. This matter soon became widely known, and the public said that the future Empress was heartless and did not even recognize her parents.
Wu Caiwei knew they wanted to use public opinion to force her hand, but they were mistaken. She was not the type of person who cared much about her reputation.
In the end, Zhou Xiangyu could only watch helplessly as his own daughter, with a grand procession of ten miles, walked step by step towards the imperial palace. He, who should have been the father of the Empress, gained no advantage at all.
He secretly cursed his deceased second daughter again. If not for her, how could he have drifted so far from his third daughter? If he had known she was destined to be Empress, he would never have agreed to switch the marriage.
The Prime Minister's wife, after the downfall of the Lin family, had long realized the fickleness of human relationships. When it rains, it pours. She then heard the news that Wu Caiwei was about to become the Sixth Prince's consort, and thus the future Empress. Overwhelmed by shock and fear, she fell gravely ill.
Her daughters-in-law, who were daughters of officials, could no longer tolerate the poverty of the Lin family. They were already fighting over the family's assets. No one visited their sick mother-in-law. Her two sons had disappeared, likely indulging in their own pursuits. She truly regretted her neglect of her sons, which had led to the Lin family's complete ruin.