Candle shadows danced in the night; an old friend's return was shattered by shock.
Civil and military advisers filled the hall, their remonstrances cold.
The Prince's brows remained lowered, unrelaxed.
His brooding presence weighed like stone.
"...Wang Yang concealed his tracks and vanished, deceiving Your Highness with a feigned death. His scheming ran deep. This, too, is clear proof of his collusion with the Eastern Palace! Even if he is not one of theirs, he harbors sinister intentions! Keeping him will only breed disaster! When our planned ambush failed to kill him, we thought it a great regret. Now he has walked into our net himself. Heaven has truly robbed him of his wits-how can we let him go again? I beg Your Highness to decide swiftly and not be deceived!"
The moment Li Jingxuan heard that Wang Yang was not only alive but had come to surrender, he sprang forward and argued with absolute conviction that Wang Yang must die.
Though he believed his advice was correct, he had to admit that he had selfish motives. Wang Yang belonged to the Langya Wang clan, a scion of an exalted house, born with everything. A little scholarly discussion, a few poems, and his name resounded throughout Jingchu. Even when he went to prison, rescuers came from every quarter. But what about him?
In military strategy, political maneuvering, battlefield dispositions, and attack and defense, he surpassed Wang Yang many times over! Yet every step forward required him to bow and scrape and exhaust his ingenuity!
Time and again, he had hung his head from his belt and gambled with his life! How many brushes with death had it taken to earn the Prince's special regard? Yet Wang Yang needed to do nothing. A few jokes, and everything was his! He even