"Speaking of which, the Founding Emperor first used the Demon Race, then brazenly cast them aside, slaughtering the Divine Strategy Army in a single night."
"Father Emperor also exhausted every effort to wipe out the Demon Race one by one. Better to kill the wrong ones than let any escape—he put immense effort into it, generation after generation!"
"But the more the Founding Emperor and Father Emperor feared demons, the more it proved that demons could help me. That was precisely why I had to collude with the Demon Race!"
"Imperial Grandfather, if your spirit still watches from heaven, then watch a little longer. It is not that I insist on colluding with them—it is Father Emperor who leaves us no way to live."
Prince Qi's face pulled into something like a smile, yet not quite one.
"Even if you came back to life, Imperial Grandfather, sitting in my position, would you not be left with only one sentence: it could not be helped?"
"Otherwise, with your schemes and talents, even if you could not become Emperor, you could still have become a duke or marquis. It was not as though there had been no road left!"
"Utterly deranged?"
"You were utterly deranged. Father Emperor was utterly deranged. And today, it is my turn to be utterly deranged!"
Prince Qi gave a strange, high laugh.
"As for that little nephew of mine, there is something uncanny about him. Without anyone noticing, he climbed all the way up and became the Imperial Grandson. Several of my schemes ended up helping him instead... Could it be that he truly bears Heaven's Mandate?"
"Enough. That is unimportant. Heaven's Mandate cannot be relied upon. In the end, everything depends on human endeavor."
"I do not believe in Heaven's Mandate, and I believe in Father