Old Ghost Knows the Way

Prince Yan...

Li Yan had not expected to meet an imperial prince so soon.

Every source of intelligence had mentioned two major troubles in the capital.

The first was the struggle between the Open Sea Faction and the Native Faction. It involved the survival or destruction of countless lineages and concerned the future direction of the Divine Land.

The second was the struggle over the heir apparent, which had always been the root of upheaval.

There were three princes with a chance of inheriting the throne.

First was Crown Prince Xiao Jingheng, whose title was Zhaode. He was benevolent, refined, and exceptionally talented in letters.

He treated others generously and was deeply supported by Confucian scholars. He was considered the choice of a benevolent ruler, but he had a serious flaw.

When this Crown Prince was born, Emperor Xiao Qixuan was plotting a palace coup to purge the empress's party and maternal relatives. The Empress had been frightened into premature labor, leaving the Crown Prince weak and sickly from childhood. Fortunately, numerous famous physicians had saved him, dragging him back from the Ghost Gate Pass several times.

Even now, his health remained poor, and his temperament was somewhat weak.

They said that where one sat determined how one thought.

The current Emperor was a mighty ruler who kept his ministers too cowed to move. He desperately hoped for someone easy to deal with.

But Emperor Xiao Qixuan worried that if the Crown Prince inherited the throne, he would be manipulated by the ministers.

For that reason, the matter of appointing the heir had remained shelved until the Emperor suffered a serious illness the previous year.

Yet even if an heir were appointed now, the matter would still not be set in stone.

Prince Lingshou Xiao Jingming had displayed astonishing intelligence