Chapter 7
Edward Quan ·
“He really is fine. Hui has divine protection.”
Once again, something astonished everyone.
Those elite assassins from the martial world had each been struck by lightning, burned black as charcoal.
Rumor said there had been only one cloud that night. It hovered directly above Hui’s camp while lightning struck again and again.
The martial world fell silent.
So did the court.
On the day Hui returned, the Emperor ordered Jingze to lead all the civil and military officials to welcome him at the city gate.
His Majesty gave Hui no reward.
Everyone understood what that meant.
Once more, memorials called for a crown prince.
The Emperor issued a decree: Zhou Jingze would be Crown Prince, and Zhou Menghui would be Crown Grandson, heir in the following generation.
When Jingze received it, he cried even harder than he had when I gave birth.
He knelt before his father and wailed.
“Father, I don’t want to be Crown Prince! Let Hui do it. Being his father is enough for me. Truly, I can’t do anything. I’ll only harm the country!”
After listening for far too long, the Emperor lost patience and kicked him.
“Get out!”
Jingze got out.
He stood outside our gates clutching the decree, looking at me as if someone had died.
However much he hated it, he had to be Crown Prince.
Even though everyone knew his appointment was merely to give Hui’s position as imperial heir proper legitimacy.
The Emperor’s health worsened. More and more state affairs were entrusted to the Crown Prince.
Who promptly dumped them on his son.
“Hui, help!”
16
Though both the Emperor and Jingze expressed absolute trust in Hui, some people stubbornly opposed him.
Unwilling to accept him as imperial heir, they devised another plan.
One day, a woman appeared outside the Crown Prince’s residence with a child. She stood below the steps, weeping.
She was in her twenties, lavishly dressed and made up.
The boy holding her hand was about five, pale and clean. His eyes and brows did bear some resemblance to Jingze’s.
At the sight of me, she fell to her knees, tears streaming.
“Your Highness, I am a musician from the Court Entertainment Bureau. Six years ago, the Crown Prince spent a night with me after a banquet… This child is his flesh and blood. I dare not seek a place above my station. I only beg that you let the child live.”
The crowd packed in, people pressing around us to watch.
An old man in official robes pushed through them, looking deeply concerned.
“Your Highness, as his lawful wife, you ought to show generosity. This child is of imperial blood. Why not take the musician into your household and care for the imperial grandson? It would preserve your good name.”
Before I could speak, Jingze appeared from somewhere and rushed to the gate.
“You wish! Hui is my only son!”
The old man was left embarrassed, but not angry.
Instead, he knelt, looking profoundly distressed.
“Your Highness! However much you favor your eldest son, you cannot deny imperial blood! The child looks just like you. Can you bear to leave him outside?”
As soon as he knelt, several other ministers joined him, clamoring that Jingze must “put the imperial bloodline first.”
Eventually, the uproar reached the court.
Some accused Hui of failing to urge his father to acknowledge his younger brother. He lacked an elder brother’s affection, they said, and was cruel and narrow-minded.
Jingze was furious.
“You’re the cruel, narrow-minded ones! You’re the ones with vicious intentions!”
“You dare use a child from who knows where to drive a wedge between my son and me!”
The ministers refused to back down, continuing to lament.
“Your Highness, he is your child. Look how much he resembles you…”
Jingze gave a cold laugh.
“Bullshit!”
“Here’s something for you. Right after Hui was born, I asked the imperial physician for medicine to make me sterile. I can’t possibly have another child!”
17
The hall stayed silent for three full breaths.
Then countless voices erupted.
The Emperor sat on the dragon throne with a very unpleasant expression.
The ministers stared at one another in shock.
The old official who had just been kneeling and wailing about the “imperial bloodline” looked stunned.
In the middle of the hall, the musician’s sorrow gave way to panic.
“Medicine to make you sterile?”
At last, the Emperor found his voice.
“When did you take it?”
“After Hui was born.”