Gu Rui suddenly said something unexpected.
"This Third Prince is far more formidable and calculating than I expected."
Beside him, Gu Feng looked surprised. "I thought you'd look down on him."
"Look down on him?" Gu Rui chuckled. "How would I dare? On the surface, my third brother seems ignorant of worldly ways. He doesn't look clever or capable in the slightest."
"But to my mind, that is precisely what makes him shrewd."
With Gu Feng and a retinue of advisers and guards beside him, the group walked slowly through the underground palace beneath the lake.
Gu Feng, the First Prince, asked in a deep voice, "What makes you say that, second brother?"
Gu Rui glanced at him with a smile. "Big brother, if you were Gu Xing, standing in his shoes, how would you conduct yourself?"
Gu Feng's brow furrowed. For a moment, he said nothing.
Gu Rui continued unhurriedly. "He was long ago chosen as the heir to Azure Sea Lake, the youngest son cherished by the Dragon Monarch and his consort. His status could hardly be more exalted."
"As the next Dragon Monarch, destined to inherit the hopes of all Azure Sea Lake, how would either of us establish ourselves in his place?"
He paused and looked at Gu Feng. "Think it through, big brother."
"If Gu Xing had been outstandingly gifted from childhood, renowned for his virtue, and grown into the flawless young Dragon Monarch everyone imagined, the slightest misstep later would bring his towering reputation crashing down. For the rest of his life, every step would be like walking on thin ice. He could not afford a single mistake."
"But from the start, he has been willing to appear mediocre and lazy, someone no one would notice. That way, he needs only to accomplish one