The Empress placed her hands folded on her legs and smiled as she addressed the Second Prince, changing how she referred to herself: “However, today this edict has appeared in public. If the Second Prince keeps Little Seven and this palace alive, should anyone in the future question the Second Prince’s illegitimate ascension, we would serve as living witnesses! What does the Second Prince think?”

Seeing the Second Prince raise his eyebrows, the Empress continued: “Naturally… this palace will keep the edict’s secret and not mention His Majesty’s intention for Little Seven to ascend. The Second Prince must also keep this palace’s secret and not mention His Majesty’s edict requiring this palace’s martyrdom. How about it?”

The Empress was essentially placing her vulnerability in the Second Prince’s hands, seeking to bargain for life for herself and her child.

The Second Prince’s features were originally extremely regular and handsome, but probably due to excessive indulgence, his eye sockets were sunken. In this great hall filled with orange firelight, those eyes appeared even more sinister. He laughed lowly: “Now I am the knife and chopping block, you are the fish and meat, yet you still want to negotiate terms with me! The edict’s secret? Tonight, not one person in this great hall will leave alive. Tell me… who will know what that edict contained!”

As soon as the Second Prince finished speaking, the imperial guard commander beside him nodded to his subordinates. Blades rose and fell, and the palace maids, eunuchs, and ministers kneeling throughout the hall were beheaded one after another.

“Second Prince, spare my life! Second Prince, spare my life!”

“Second Prince, spare my life!”

“Empress, save this servant!”

In the great hall, screams rose and fell, blood splattered on the screens, then quickly returned to silence.

The intense, sweet, metallic smell permeated the entire hall.

The Empress closed her eyes, her folded hands on her legs tightening. When her maid was killed, blood splashed onto her face, and her mouth seemed filled with that nauseating taste.

She wiped the blood from her eyes with a handkerchief before looking up…

The great hall could truly be described as rivers of blood, with blood flowing to the edge of the footstool beside the imperial bed, flowing to the hem of the First Prince’s robes. The First Prince trembled uncontrollably, terrified that his mad brother might kill him too.

“Second Brother! Second Brother… Father Emperor has passed the throne to you! Your older brother heard nothing just now!” The First Prince quickly straightened his kneeling posture and kowtowed to the Second Prince. “Your Majesty, long live, long live, long long live!”

Seeing his older brother’s pathetic state, the Second Prince patted the First Prince’s face with his sword and shouted: “Take him away and imprison him!”

“Yes!” The imperial guards immediately dragged the First Prince away.

The Second Prince approached the Empress, casually lifting his foot to rest on the edge of the bed where the Empress sat, tilting his head to glance at the Emperor inside who had completely lost all breath: “This way… the Empress will hand over Seventh Brother to me, then follow Father Emperor in martyrdom! I’ll spare Seventh Brother’s life!”

The Empress didn’t hesitate and responded: “Good! Your Seventh Brother is sleeping in his chambers… don’t disturb him!”

Hearing the Empress’s answer, the Second Prince completely lost patience and grabbed the Empress by the collar: “Still not telling the truth? This entire palace is already filled with my people! Whether Seventh Brother is in the palace or not, would I not know? Where have you hidden Seventh Brother?”

The Empress stared steadily at the Second Prince: “Your Seventh Brother is sleeping in his chambers.”

Why was the Empress so resolute this time, determined to push her son onto the throne? Simply because, based on the Empress’s understanding of the Second Prince’s methods, if the Second Prince ascended, her child probably wouldn’t survive!

Yet fully supporting the First Prince as emperor, the Empress was unwilling, since her son was also legitimate.

“Second Highness!” One of the Second Prince’s men entered from outside the great hall, cupping his hands in salute: “The embassy has been surrounded, but only one chief envoy, Liu Rushi, remains among the Great Zhou envoys. The others have all disappeared!”

The Second Prince’s pupils contracted, then he turned to look at the Empress: “You gave Seventh Brother to the Great Zhou people and delayed me here while the Great Zhou people took him away? What are you planning? Planning to have your son rely on Great Zhou’s army to kill his way back and seize the throne?”

The Empress pressed her lips tightly together, saying nothing.

The Second Prince threw the Empress beside the old Emperor, his deerskin boots stepping in the blood covering the floor.

The Empress was thrown against the old Emperor’s body. Hearing the Second Prince leaving with his troops, she supported herself up, understanding that the Second Prince was personally leading people in pursuit!

“Send the Empress on her way to accompany the former Emperor! Lest the former Emperor be lonely on his journey.” The Second Prince’s voice came from outside the hall.

Her palms kept clenching, only hoping the Great Zhou envoys would lead the Second Prince away so her son could safely reach Great Zhou.

It didn’t matter. Although she had gambled and lost this time, losing the throne, at worst, her son would just be a commoner. What she had prepared for her son was enough for him to live in wealth for life, better than waiting for the Second Prince to ascend and losing his life!

The Second Prince’s people questioned those at the embassy, learning that the Great Zhou envoys had secretly departed not long ago. Guessing the Great Zhou envoys were returning to Great Zhou, they immediately rode fast horses to the coast, using the new emperor’s authority to mobilize large numbers of naval forces, determined to intercept and kill them before the group of Great Zhou court officials could reach Great Zhou’s borders with the Seventh Prince.

If the Great Zhou took their Dongyi country’s legitimate son back to the Great Zhou, they would surely want to support a Great Zhou puppet emperor in the future. He would rather kill his own Seventh Brother than let such a thing happen.

Second year of Yuanhe, tenth day of the eighth month, palace coup in Dongyi country, Second Prince forces the palace in rebellion.

The sky had already brightened. Lu Fenglang sat in the ship cabin with tightly pressed lips, not knowing whether the Second Prince’s forced rebellion was related to the suggestion she gave the Empress. If it truly was related to her suggestion to the Empress, then this time she had ruined Great Zhou’s affairs.

In the ship cabin, the Great Zhou envoys were still discussing animatedly, speculating why the Second Prince would suddenly force the palace into rebellion. But even if it was forcing the palace into rebellion… as Great Zhou envoys, would the Second Prince dare kill them?

“Lord Liu also acted as a precaution, so he had us leave first while Lord Liu remained in Dongyi. Presumably, regardless of who ascends the emperor’s throne in Dongyi country, they wouldn’t… wouldn’t dare rashly trouble us Great Zhou envoys!”

“Indeed! When a new ruler ascends, it’s precisely the time to stabilize the court situation and stabilize neighboring countries. Our Great Zhou is a powerful nation – are we afraid of this tiny country?”

Fan Yugan saw Lu Fenglang’s tense posture and poured her a cup of hot tea, saying: “I know you’re worried about Lord Liu, but Lord Liu having us leave was just a precaution. I’ve had contact with that Second Prince. Although everyone outside says he’s mad, he’s not mad enough to disregard diplomatic relations between two countries and insist on killing Lord Liu!”

Lu Fenglang looked up at Fan Yugan and finally spoke quietly: “There’s something I never told Lord Liu…”