During the early and middle stages of the struggle for the throne, the Tenth Prince had shown no desire for the imperial throne and made no moves to claim it. Different factions merely courted and cast him aside, treating him as a pawn to be manipulated amid the chaos.
Yet in the end, everyone realized that the Tenth Prince, this seemingly ordinary pawn, had been the true player all along. No one knew when he had begun laying his plans. By the time his intentions were exposed, he already held an absolute advantage, eliminating every rival and inheriting the throne without incident.
An emperor exceptionally skilled at forbearance—this was how many people judged the Tenth Prince.
Richard's assessment differed somewhat. The Tenth Prince did possess forbearance, but the ones truly skilled at enduring in silence were the Truth Society standing behind him.
Yes, the Truth Society.
Through his cooperation with Zong Hu and Dragon Tree, who led the Spider Web, along with the work of Shalin's intelligence network and his own analysis, he had concluded long ago that over ninety percent of Xia Ya's chaos had been caused by the Truth Society.
And the Tenth Prince's rise as the new emperor was also inextricably connected to the Truth Society.
After all, the Second Prince, Third Prince, and Fourth Prince, those powerful contenders for the throne, were no fools. Before attempting to recruit the Tenth Prince, they had extensively infiltrated his forces to determine whether he could truly be used.
If the Tenth Prince had truly possessed great strength, he might have deceived one person, but he could not have deceived everyone.
The reason people had let down their guard around the Tenth Prince was that he truly had little strength. His astonishing final outburst was nothing more than the support