The chaos outside Furongyuan far exceeded “Xiao Changyan’s” estimates. With more urgent matters to attend to, he stopped holding back and swung his sword fiercely at Xiao Changzhen.

Originally meant only to force Xiao Changzhen back – he could have easily dodged – but Xiao Changzhen not only didn’t evade but met the strike with his sword.

Seeing this, “Xiao Changyan” couldn’t pull back in time. He quickly turned his wrist, redirecting the blade that would have severed Xiao Changzhen’s neck. As Xiao Changzhen crashed into him, the sword pierced through his shoulder blade instead.

Xiao Changzhen’s sword immediately thrust toward “Xiao Changyan’s” chest. Fortunately, Xiao Changyan reacted in time, dodging aside so the blade only cut across his arm, leaving a bloody trail from chest to shoulder.

Just as “Xiao Changyan” steadied himself, he turned to see a blade pierce through Xiao Changzhen’s abdomen from behind. His expression changed.

The Wing Guard soldier holding the blade trembled. He had acted urgently upon seeing “Xiao Changyan” nearly get stabbed through the heart. With his skill, Xiao Changzhen could have easily dodged both “Xiao Changyan’s” sword and his blade by evading and abandoning his strike.

But no one expected Xiao Changzhen not to dodge, taking hits from both front and back. While “Xiao Changyan’s” restrained sword thrust wasn’t fatal, the Wing Guard’s blade from behind was lethal.

Yet Xiao Changzhen stood rigid, his face contorting in pain but showing a strangely relieved smile…

The Wing Guard soldier seemed to finally wake from his daze, quickly retreating as Xiao Changzhen collapsed. “Xiao Changyan” rushed forward to catch him before he hit the ground.

Though the surrounding forces continued fighting, none dared approach them. Lying in “Xiao Changyan’s” arms, Xiao Changzhen grabbed his arm, speaking with extreme difficulty but clarity: “You… you’re not… Eighth Brother!”

“Xiao Changyan” froze. Only the Crown Princess had ever seen through the Crown Prince’s disguise – he had personally applied it!

Xiao Changzhen’s smile widened slightly.

He wasn’t trying to trick the “Xiao Changyan” before him. He had only noticed something amiss during their fight, not initially. Turning his head to cough blood, Xiao Changzhen felt his vision darkening, his limbs growing cold.

He gripped “Xiao Changyan’s” arm tighter: “Please… please ask Seventh Brother… one favor… bury us… husband and wife… together…”

The final word was almost silent as Xiao Changzhen’s grip on “Xiao Changyan’s” arm loosened and fell.

His lack of ambition and mediocrity didn’t mean he was incompetent or foolish.

These years, perhaps because he stayed out of things, he saw more clearly than anyone that among their brothers, the Crown Prince had always been the most subtle and capable.

For an assassination attempt at Furongyuan, for Xiao Changyan to command the Wing Guard which only moved on imperial orders, only one person could achieve this – His Majesty himself.

If anyone else could accomplish this, His Majesty wouldn’t have lived until today. Or perhaps there was another possibility – His Majesty had already seen through everything and was turning the plot to his advantage, allowing the assassination attempt at Furongyuan.

However, who would attempt regicide at this time? The Eastern Palace wouldn’t choose when a Shen woman was marrying, much less when the Shen father and son were at their peak. Even if the Crown Prince wanted to kill two birds with one stone – first assassinate His Majesty, then frame the Shens, finally righteously executing his wife to avenge his father – it was impossible!

Someone whose heart holds another can best tell whether the love in another’s eyes is genuine or feigned. He had his first wife in his heart, and he believed the Crown Prince’s gaze at the Crown Princess held pure, unfeigned love.

Therefore the Crown Prince wouldn’t wrong the Shens. Even if the Crown Prince were truly masterful at deception and fooled him, he couldn’t fool the Crown Princess.

If this assassination attempt were truly the Crown Prince’s doing, the Crown Princess would be the first to oppose him.

This assassination attempt simply couldn’t have happened.

Besides the Eastern Palace, no one else would move against His Majesty at this time. Combining this with the Wing Guard and Xiao Changyan, Xiao Changzhen boldly deduced this was an imperial plot targeting the Shen father and son!

Yet the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. The oriole was also the cicada’s good son-in-law. His Majesty thought himself the mastermind but didn’t know there were plots beyond his plot – he was both puppeteer and puppet.

From the moment the message was passed to Li Yanyan, Xiao Changzhen knew His Majesty and Eighth Brother couldn’t win.

After discovering “Eighth Brother” wasn’t Eighth Brother, he became even more certain His Majesty would have to swallow this bitter pill in silence.

This was the imperial family – father and son, mother and son, brother and brother, openly and secretly struggling to the death!

He knew with his death, his wife wouldn’t live alone – he had been her reason for enduring such bitterness.

He knew she loved him, but between them lay an ocean of national and family hatred, impossible to level or fill.

He had asked himself countless times – what could they gain from this torturous life together except mutual suffering?

He was truly exhausted, and perhaps she was too.

Better they find release together.

Eighth Brother was fake, everything was in the Crown Prince’s control. When this assassination attempt concluded, someone would have to step forward to close matters – it could only be the real Eighth Brother, now the Crown Prince’s prisoner.

Everyone knew he died by Prince Jing’s hand – that made him a meritorious subject who helped suppress the rebellion and saved the emperor.

His princess consort, devoted to him, couldn’t bear his death and took her own life – this wasn’t a Li Dynasty princess dying from abuse, didn’t blacken the imperial family’s name. The old officials of Li wouldn’t live in constant fear, doing foolish things like seeking death.

Instead, His Majesty would surely reward merit, treating the old officials of Li and Liang well. As a son-in-law of the Li family, he could face his wife’s family without shame.

She too could rest easy, free of concerns, ending a life worse than death.

He only hoped in their next life, neither would be born to imperial families, and they could continue their fate, staying together for life.

“Xiao Changyan” propped Xiao Changzhen’s body against the stone lion at Furongyuan’s gate, then gripped his sword and charged into the garden, leaving the various forces staring at each other.

Now slightly more rational, they temporarily ceased fighting and cautiously rushed into Furongyuan together, killing any assassins they encountered.

“Xiao Changyan” fought his way to the great hall’s entrance. Still, no one knew who plotted to assassinate His Majesty. Seeing “Xiao Changyan,” the court officials didn’t guard against him, and indeed he had been killing assassins on his way.

“Your Majesty, your son has brought the Wing Guard to save you!” The shout rang through the great hall.

This naturally lifted the court officials’ spirits, while the assassins seemed stimulated, striking even more viciously.