Their father had made his choice, the Crown prince was Jun Kai. Now it was time for Prince Yi to make his own choice. He could either leave the empire, go into exile, never to return with enough funds to live out his days comfortably or he could wait here and die by Jun Kai's hands.

And knowing their father, he would personally see to the execution himself to ensure that Jun Kai did it or be the one to die for showing weakness - This might have been what their father would have done if it were any of his sons, but not for his protege, his little genius.

For Jun Kai, their father would have probably taken the sword from his hands and thrust into Prince Yi himself to ensure the deed was done and would have simply scolded Jun Kai for his weakness.

After all, it would not have been the first time Jun Kai flouted their father's orders and went unpunished.

It was finally clear to Prince Yi that he would never be enough.

So Prince Yi made his own choice then and there, he told his father that he would as he requested and thanked him for caring for him. He then offered to help his father to bed to thank him for all he had done for him, for giving him the chance to live... and then he suffocated his father to death with a pillow, tucked him into bed and walked out.

The old man was already quite ill so no one thought too much of his sudden death in his sleep... After all, no one really cared if he lived. Empress Zhao and her brother, Prime minister Zhao definitely did not allow his death to be investigated, quite a few servants including his father's head eunuch disappeared at that time so it was not hard for anyone to piece things together that his quickly deteriorating health was a result of their handiwork.

The only person that probably cared was Defense minister Lei but when the Empress, Prime minister Zhao and his supporters and Prince Yi and his own supporters banded together to oppose his call for an investigation, his voice was drowned out.

And so it was simply announced that the Emperor had died peacefully in his sleep and everyone moved on to what they all truly cared about, the important issue of the successor.

Since the Emperor regrettably died before appointing a crown prince, the throne was up in the air between the two princes, and the court opinion was divided between the two. By right of being the older son, Prince Yi should have been the one to ascend the throne. Moreover, since the death of the Crown prince, Prince Yi had been acting as the Emperor's right hand so there was no reason to deny him his birthright.

But then the Empress came over with an edict which the Emperor had secretly given her. This so-called edict appointed Jun Kai as the Crown prince. Prince Yi suspected that the edict was fake, but then Prime minister Zhao and Defense minister Lei then corroborated it by saying the Emperor had informed them of his choice before his demise.

Even from the grave, his father mocked him.?Even now, Prince Yi could still see the condescending smile on his father's face.

Prince Yi again threw his cup at the wall in anger, smashing it to pieces.

{...So what if I killed you? You killed your own father so it's only right that you die by your son's hand!... Do you think your precious protege would not have killed you? He probably hated you more than I did. He has hated you from birth, yet you still gave him everything!...After everything you've done, how could you expect anything from anyone?... How can i expect anything from anyone? -...}

Prince Yi grabbed the jar and threw his head back and gulped down, squeezing his eyes shut.

[...No, no, I'm different...I'm nothing like him, I did what I did to survive! It was all a lie! He would have never let me go, he would still have killed me, sent assassins, I was dead to him, we all were...from the begi-...}

"Well, you look horrible..."

Prince Yi frowned when he heard those words, he stopped drinking and opened his eyes to see Zhao Chang by the door, holding three jars of wine.

Prince Yi had not even heard when he came in.

"What do you want?" Prince Yi asked as he dropped the jug back on the table.

"It seems the craziness from the coronation ceremony really got to you..." Zhao Chang said as he went over and sat across from Prince Yi. He picked up a cup and then opened one of the jars of wine he brought with him and poured.

Prince Yi leaned back in his seat and solemnly asked, "Do you really think my brother is the dragon incarnate?"

Zhao Chang snorted and raised an amused eyebrow at Prince Yi in surprise, "You believe that?" He would never have thought that Prince Yi would buy into the rumors as well.

Prince Yi frowned and let out a breath and quietly said, "I don't know what I believe anymore..."

Zhao Chang paused and knit his brows at Prince Yi. Zhao Chang then cleared his throat and said, "It's all nonsense...It's just like the time when you were poisoned and the Emperor came to see you. You said it yourself it was not because he was worried about you but because he was worried about his precious consort's reputation. You know better than anyone that Emperor is quite skilled at manipulating the people with ru-"

"But then what does it mean? Why did it happen then?!" Prince Yi said banging on the table in annoyance, causing Zhao Chang to flinch.

Of course, Prince Yi knew the Emperor made up the explanation, so that was not what he wanted to hear. He needed a counter explanation, something else to refute the Emperor's claims...some other truth for him to believe in.

Zhao Chang frowned, "I don't know..." Then he gulped down his wine. The whole situation was unbelievable.

The two sat quietly for a while, drinking. It seemed Prince Yi's bad mood was infectious because now Zhao Chang who had come here in a good mood was brooding now.

Prince Yi finally sighed and broke the silence, "What's the good news?"

Bao Zhun pursed his lips and then sighed as he refilled his cup, "Well...Now I'm not sure if it'll be good enough news but as you know - for reasons beyond me, the Emperor has decided to shut down his harem an-"

"He what?" Prince Yi asked blinking at him wide-eyed in surprise, his spirits lifting up.

"You haven't heard?" Zhao Chang asked with raised eyebrows, also surprised. It was all anyone was talking about since the day before when the Emperor boldly made the announcement in court.

Prince Yi frowned, feeling somewhat embarrassed. While he would like to blame his staff, he has not been very receptive to information the last two days. Other than news from Zou kingdom, he had ordered not to be disturbed.

A little smile tugged at Prince Yi's lips, he could not believe the Emperor actually let Lei Xing go, he was both surprised and confused.

{...See, he used and abandoned you...Just as I said, you should have listened to me...}

Zhao Chang looked at Prince Yi's uplifted expression. Zhao Chang then smiled and raised his cup of wine and said, "It looks like we can still become in-laws after all..."

Prince Yi's smile immediately fell and he knit his brows, annoyed with himself for thinking of Lei Xing.

{...What am I thinking? I can't alienate Zhao Chang because of her... There's also Nalan too...}

Prince Yi suddenly paused and frowned, "Don't tell me he has decided to marry the Zou princess?"

"I haven't heard about that, it's the Lei family's daughter again - Ah, a phoenix goddess is what she's called now, she's really something -" He said with a chuckle.

Prince Yi frown deepened as he said, "Don't tell me you're interested in her -"

Zhao Chang choked on his wine, spat it out, and then frowned, "Of course not, I'm not interested in dying." He said amidst his coughing.

Prince Yi froze and stared at him wide-eyed, then he gulped and tentatively went, "You know?"

{...He couldn't...No one knows, not even she knows - except maybe that Jun Kai but he wouldn't have told h-...}

Prince Yi knit his brows, it seems there was some sort of misunderstanding here.

Zhao Chang has disliked the Emperor since they were young and the Emperor returned the sentiment and ignored Zhao Chang's existence. Therefore, there was no way the Emperor would have discussed anything with Zhao Chang, much less the topic of Prince Yi and Lei Xing.

"Know what?" Zhao Chang asked with a raised eyebrow as he shook off his sleeve, "Please be careful what you say. He already doesn't like me, I don't need to give him a reason to finally kill me..."

"What do you mean?" Prince Yi asked, now even more confused.

Zhao Chang blinked at him confused and then he went, "Well, she's the Empress...and considering he decided to clear out his harem because of her, even simply looking at her now might be considered an offense...I would have never thought he was the sort to obsess over a woman, but it seems he still has blood flowing in veins after all." He finished with a snicker.

Prince Yi blinked for a bit and then his mood plummeted as he realized what the Emperor had done, he tightly gripped his cup and bit out more to himself, "He released everyone but her..." It infuriated him even more that he was happy for her release, even it was just a moment.

Zhao Chang stopped laughing and scrutinized Prince Yi with a raised eyebrow and then said, "I thought you would be happy about this..."

Prince Yi looked up at Zhao Chang and irritatedly said, "How the Emperor lives his life is none of my business..."

Prince Yi honestly could not understand what Lei Xing had done to him. Frankly, if he wanted anything to do with her, it should be her death at this point.

She treated him like dirt and not to mention, she seemed to be the only thing his brother cared about. If he wanted his brother to feel the pain of loss, then killing her was the best way. After all, Lei Xing seemed to be more important to him than his own mother.

{...Her life or his throne, I wonder he would he choose?...}

Prince Yi inwardly scoffed, it was obvious to him that the Emperor would choose his throne but it might not be so obvious to Lei Xing who the Emperor was leading along. So he made a mental note for the future. If the Emperor was not immediately killed, he would give him choices, much like how their father had given him his choices back then. He would let the Emperor make this choice right before Lei Xing's eyes so she could see the truth of his character.

After all, as their father believed Jun Kai resembled him the most. Therefore, he cared only for himself. So in the end, as their father always did to all around him, Jun Kai would stab Lei Xing in the back when she least expected it.

It was in his nature.

"It must all this wine clouding your mind..." Zhao Chang said after a while of watching Prince Yi brooding, it was obvious that Prince Yi did not understand the good in this news.

So Zhao Chang explained, "...Even though my sister has been given the title of a princess, my father is greatly disappointed... and I'm certain that he is not the only one. After all, the Emperor has sworn off other women, vowing to stay faithful to his Empress - the "phoenix" for the rest of his rule... Do you understand now?"

Prince Yi glared at Zhao Chang in annoyance at the reminder of his brother's happily married life, but then before he could tell Zhao Chang to get out, his intoxicated brain processed the information and he suddenly realized what Zhao Chang was telling him and his face lit up and he asked, "Your father is upset?"

Zhao Chang smiled, "He went on a rampage in his study yesterday, screaming curses at the heavens..."

Prince Yi looked down at his wine cup and twirled the contents and smirked.

{...This is truly great news...}

After all, the Emperor was truly not a member of the Zhao clan and Prime minister Zhao was obviously not the loyal sort, he had already betrayed two Emperors, so why not a third?

This was it...This was what he had been waiting for all this time.