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..."

Their father smiled and casually said,? "It's fine to be devious as long as he knows when not to overstep, incompetence is what is unforgivable...Competition is also great for progression and if one cannot handle that, then they are simply undeserving."

Defense minister Lei knit his brows, "Your majesty, what about the informant who sent this information. How could they have known such details...We need to look int-"

"It's fine." Their father swiftly responded.

Defense minister Lei frowned, the Emperor he knew was not the sort to allow mysterious entities to roam in his empire. There was also the fact that he gave so much credence to a message from unknown sources, it was odd behavior. He narrowed his eyes and then asked,? "Is it the Fourth prince?"

Their father got up and walked down and showed a small smile and said, "Again, there is nothing wrong with being devious. It is an art that one needs to learn to rule..." And with that the topic was over and he strode out of the room.

Contrary to Prince Yi's expectation, not only was he not punished or even accused of being part of the rebellion. Their father actually put him in charge of the investigation of the late Crown prince's rebellion.

Prince Yi was perplexed, he was not sure whether their father was really blind of his connection to the event or whether he knew but chose to ignore it. He suspected whether their father had laid out some sort of trap for him in all this, because it was so unbelievable to him that his father suddenly started to notice his existence overnight. But then he could not think of a reason why his father would waste such energy on something like that. So he told himself that his father had simply finally realized his worth after all.

He finally got to bask in his father's attention for once in his life...and it felt good. It felt good to be noticed, it felt good to be relevant.

He knew all the officials who were in support of the Crown Prince's rebellion and he brought to light the obvious suspects and left the others alone. Garnering their gratitude and beginning to build his own support base.

The officials were grateful to Prince Yi for keeping their secret, and were also made aware that this reprieve came at a cost. Their future lay in his hands and bringing new evidence to light was never too late and so they gladly curried favor with Prince Yi and swore their allegiance.

The Crown prince's great-uncle and his closest associates fell with the Crown prince and were executed by the order of the Emperor.

The ironic thing in all this was the fact that a few days after the rebellion, a commander from the war front arrived and presented the Emperor with a letter from Jun Kai. While reading it the Emperor frowned and then burst out laughing and in the end, he said, "It is very good to have guts."

Jun Kai had chosen to deny his father's request for his return. He wrote that there were too many things to be done on the battlefield, so he could not return at this time. As he watched his father smiling at the letter, Prince Yi frowned and felt his blood begin to boil.

{...When he has guts, it is very good...When other people have guts, you send them to their graves. What sense does that make?...}

After this incident, their father started to look Prince Yi's way more and more, asking his opinions on issues and even assigning him to oversee tasks. And Prince Yi's voice started to grow in importance in court.

What's more, contrary to the expectations of everyone, their father did not appoint Jun Kai as the Crown prince, nor did he ask for him to return again. Jun Kai remained on the battlefield, while Prince Yi stayed in the capital flourishing and seemed to be growing in importance in the Emperor's eyes. He had stepped in to fill the Crown prince's shoes and was excelling and the Emperor seemed more pleased with him.

The unexpected had happened,? the third prince who everyone thought had no chance, rose up to be a viable candidate for the throne. Prince Yi was happier than he had ever been, his world was looking bright again. For once people looked at him with respect, not disdain and not tolerance. Respect. His words were important, he was important.

He had his father's approval...and for the first time in his life, he could hope for more. He could be more.