Deng Yi stepped forward. “Your Majesty, quickly summon the imperial physicians—”
The Emperor laughed, wiping the corner of his mouth with his hand, removing the blood traces. “It’s useless. I’m going to die, but—”
His expression held despair and sorrow, but even more, it held crazed excitement.
“With Grand Tutor Deng here, my good nephew will surely be a good Emperor.”
“Even if I die, the one sitting on the imperial throne will never have peace for his entire life.”
“I can die with such peace of mind.”
Having said this, he laughed loudly, laughing and coughing at the same time, with more blood spattering out.
The eunuchs all around knelt down, weeping.
Deng Yi’s body and face were also splattered with blood. He didn’t try to support the Emperor again, but knelt down once more. “This subject will definitely not fail Your Majesty’s high expectations.”
……
……
Throwing the imperial edict on the ground wasn’t enough to vent his anger. Xiao Xun lifted his foot to kick it, then wanted to pick it up and throw it into the fire.
He had never lost his composure like this in his entire life. Even Tie Ying was frightened, not knowing what to do. Ning Kun lunged forward and snatched the edict into his arms.
“Your Highness!” Ning Kun shouted. “Calm down!”
Xiao Xun stopped his movements and looked coldly at Ning Kun. “Calm down? Why should I calm down? So I can deliver this thing to Father?”
The deep affection between the heir and the Prince—Ning Kun, who had watched the heir grow up, naturally knew.
This was also the first time he’d seen Xiao Xun like this. The young heir no longer had his usual detachment. His entire face was filled with rage, like a maddened beast.
“Young lord,” he said in a trembling voice, then fell to his knees with a thud. “Right now, it shouldn’t be what I think, and it shouldn’t be what you think—it should be what the Prince thinks.”
Xiao Xun’s eyes turned red. He lifted his foot and kicked viciously at Ning Kun, cursing harshly, “How dare you say such things! How dare you think such thoughts! You cannot even think it!”
Tie Ying stood to the side, deeply shaken, not knowing whether he should join the heir in kicking Ning Kun.
This Ning Kun—was he actually urging the heir to send his own father to death?!
Ning Kun neither dodged nor avoided, letting Xiao Xun kick him. Struggling, he grabbed onto Xiao Xun’s leg and shouted, “Young lord, think about it! Having you become Crown Prince and ascend to the imperial throne—that is the Prince’s greatest hope!”
Xiao Xun pointed outside. “What is there to think about? He has no choice. The Crown Prince is dead, the Third Prince is a madman, the imperial grandson is also doomed. He only has me—he must choose me!”
“But the Third Prince isn’t dead yet!” Ning Kun shouted. “His Majesty is also a madman! He was mad enough to indulge his two sons fighting for his amusement. Naturally, he could also be mad enough to let the Third Prince continue as Crown Prince. Moreover, His Majesty is still alive. This time, the Prince’s schemes have all been exposed. We have no choice—it’s either seek life or seek death!”
Xiao Xun kicked Ning Kun away. “Father is no longer the weak child he once was. If he wants to kill us now, it won’t be so easy.”
Ning Kun fell to the ground. He didn’t come to grab Xiao Xun again, but said anxiously, “The Prince has schemed for so many years—it’s not to bear the reputation of a treasonous rebel! Young lord—”
He knelt down and held up the imperial edict in his hands.
“Ning Kun is not asking the young lord to commit patricide. I’m only asking the young lord not to make decisions for his father.”
“For such a momentous matter, the Prince must know.”
“For such a momentous matter, young lord, you cannot make decisions on your own!”
However he put it, wasn’t he still asking him to deliver this damned edict, to deliver it to Father?
Xiao Xun’s face was dark with anger, his body trembling.
What would Father think upon receiving this edict? What would he do?
He didn’t dare think, couldn’t think, wouldn’t think.
What he should do now was take this edict and throw it into the fire to burn it, make it disappear from this world.
But—
He stood in place, looking at the edict Ning Kun held up. In his entire life, every step he’d taken, every action he’d made, he truly had never made decisions on his own—everything had been arranged by Father.
This time, should he make his own decision?
What if Father had a better solution?