"Wuhua, in all things you sought the middle path, in every place you preserved peace. In the past, you hid your brilliance and lay coiled like a dragon. I pressed you too hard."
"Hereafter, the sea is broad and the sky is vast. Walk your own road."
"The reins of state have thorns—"
"Today, I shall pull them out for you!"
The Emperor of Great Qi gripped Jiang Wuliang, looking at Jiang Wuliang, yet every word was spoken to Jiang Wuhua, every sentence piercing the eldest son's heart.
His heart had been wounded first!
Chongxuan Ancestral Hall, Qiuyang Prefecture.
Jiang Wuhua held a kitchen knife in his right hand against the Wisdom King, and an eyebrow-trimming knife in his left to pare away karmic fire. Suddenly hearing a dragon's cry in the sky and seeing Ziwei Star dim, he pressed his lips together.
Then the words, "I pressed you too hard," reached his ears, and tears streamed down his face!
The Son of Heaven had given his trust to his eldest son Wuliang, his indulgence to Third Imperial Princess Wuyou, his appreciation to Ninth Prince Wuxie, and his tenderness to Eleventh Imperial Prince Wuqi.
Only toward him had he shown no warmth for decades.
At the time when the Emperor trusted his sons least, he had become Crown Prince by right of birth as the legitimate eldest son, entering the East Palace with trepidation. Ever since he could remember, he had never heard a single word of encouragement.
He had to do everything well, yet could never do anything too well.
If he fell short of the Blue Stone Crown Prince, he would inevitably make his ruler-father think of the past, and pale by comparison.
If he matched the Blue Stone Crown Prince, then it would be, "What intentions do