"Did I have them all killed? I was already very restrained. I never executed anyone without first teaching them."
The emperor sneered. "There have been plenty of absurd emperors before me. They massacred the innocent and built palaces recklessly, yet none of them lost their kingdoms. Why me?"
Wang Ziteng's voice spoke again. "Your Majesty, you should know that the West has changed."
"Yes, the West has changed. They used to be barbarians, but now it takes tremendous effort just to drive those barbarians back."
Meanwhile, the Crown Prince was already beside himself with panic.
There was no one before him except his father.
Yet his father was speaking back and forth, one sentence after another.
As if some minister were presenting a memorial and answering questions.
His father had gone mad.
Thinking about it carefully, though, that was only natural.
Things had reached this point.
There was no way back for them.
Even if they defeated countless enemies for the moment, more enemies would continue to arrive without end.
In the end, they would still fail.
Was their family's realm really going to vanish just like that? The Crown Prince found it too unreal.
He had clearly done his utmost, carefully acting as Crown Prince and abandoning every bad habit.
He had feared disappointing his father, feared the court officials finding fault with him, feared the women of the inner palace finding some weakness to exploit.
Yet even so, he was still finished.
He felt deeply wronged.
Naturally, the emperor had no idea what the Crown Prince was thinking.
But at that moment, he was thinking much the same thing.
He stood beneath the eaves.
Looking at the pitch-black sky outside, he too felt an intense sense of unreality.
He still felt that all of this was false.
"Helplessly,