Kowtowing in Thanks for His Highness the Crown Prince's Favor

Chen Yu had not pulled off some brilliant maneuver. He had simply run out of options.

A lofty scion of an aristocratic clan in his past life, the Chen Family's young master with a bright future in this one-he had become a eunuch as lowly as mud overnight. The shock was immense.

He had staked everything on that enormous shock and Wu Junji's tiny sliver of tenderness to win himself a chance.

When clever people crossed swords, what mattered was not the disparity in strength, but the battle of attack and defense within their minds.

One thing was certain: Wu Junji did not want to kill Chen Yu.

Even if he did, it would not be now.

Because in this life, in the eyes of the public, Chen Yu had committed no offense. He merely wanted to stay by the Crown Prince's side.

Wu Junji could, at most, refuse to let him follow. But as long as Chen Yu remained alive, he would never let Wu Junji go.

That son of a bitch!

Wu Junji did not want to make a spectacle of himself for others' amusement.

"Get up. I'll deal with you when we get back."

This did not mean Chen Yu had been let off, yet he felt as though heavenly grace had washed over him. Even this fleeting illusion could soothe his rootless terror.

With a single declaration, Wu Junji settled on his classroom.

"I'll be in Black Six Class from now on."

"I look forward to learning from all you imperial heirs."

Climbing down from Li Jiu's arms, the little Crown Prince left without looking back, his expression sour.

Today was his first day at Minglu Academy. Naturally, he would settle his belongings first; classes would not officially begin until tomorrow.

Chen Yu bowed to Headmaster Yu Sheng, then followed the little Crown Prince out.

The Black Six Class teacher who had just left returned with a physician, only to find himself at a loss over the four people embedded in the wall.

They would have to be pried out first.

Yu Sheng shook his head helplessly and borrowed a few students from the neighboring class to handle the aftermath.

Unwilling to accept it, Xiong Yu asked, "Are we just going to let him keep swaggering around like this?"

White King curled his lip. "What else? Get crushed to death by human emperor fortune?"

For once, Xiong Yu managed to put his brain to work and argued back.

"No. He wouldn't dare kill us."

"He promised to make the Demon Domain prosper. Everyone under heaven is a subject of the Human Emperor. If he openly killed a Demon Heir, how would he command everyone's allegiance? Never mind that castle-in-the-air oath of his."

"If he starts killing, he'll be telling the Demon Domain that he intends to break his promise!"

"Then the Demon Domain will raise the banner of rebellion. Let's see how he handles that!"

White King disagreed. "There are still four years until the ten-year agreement comes due."

The demons currently walking the human world who possessed combat strength were all great demons.

But most demons in the Demon Domain were at the Demon Spirit Stage. A Human-Demon War occurred every ten years. If the Demon Domain won, humanity's fortune would flow back into it, allowing more Demon Spirit Stage demons to take human form.

If humanity won, the Demon Domain would have to lie low for another ten years.

Only six years had passed since the last war. If they rose in rebellion now, only the great demons at the Form Transformation Stage would have combat strength. Once the imperial family launched a campaign to wipe them out, the Demon Domain would be the one to suffer.

Mu Zhao smiled faintly. "Are you all so certain that human emperor fortune is invincible?"

"Don't forget, our Human Emperor is only three."

"No matter how clever he is, can he outmatch a thousand-year-old demon?"

The others paused in surprise. "You mean... Mr. Hu?"

The Demon Domain had a thousand-year-old great demon, a fox currently teaching at Minglu Academy.

No one dared probe the abilities of that thousand-year-old great demon. Even the Lord of Changbai Mountain and the human emperor would show him some respect.

A glimmer rippled through her Peach Blossom Eyes. "It might be worth a try."

Wu Junji had gone to Minglu Academy, and the Retired Emperor wanted to stuff Wu Junzheng into Minglu Academy too.

Wu Junzheng wanted to curse that old geezer to death.

He had finally escaped from Wu Junji's side, only to be sent right back to him. Why did he have to go wherever Wu Junji went?

He had originally thought his imperial father would refuse.

Everyone in the palace knew that the relationship between the emperor and the Retired Emperor had fallen apart.

But he had not expected Emperor Zhou's mind to work so differently from everyone else's when handling matters. Though he beat the Retired Emperor, he was still a thoroughly filial son.

As a filial son, how could he refuse a trivial request from his old father that had no bearing on his interests?

No sooner had Wu Junji left than Emperor Zhou prepared to pack Wu Junzheng up and toss him over there too.

Wu Junzheng was unwilling?

What did a three-year-old know about what mattered? There was no room for discussion.

Wu Junzheng went to plead with Consort Dong instead, but she was utterly baffled.

"His Highness the Crown Prince has gone there too, so the Academy must be the very best. Why are you unwilling to go, my son?"

What could Wu Junzheng say? That he was not Wu Junji? That he could not play those games of intrigue as tangled as a hornet's nest? That he thought Minglu Academy was another enormous pitfall?

Or that the Crown Prince could jump into it and climb back out, while whether he could emerge without getting covered in mud was another question altogether?

Sometimes, his innocent, kindhearted mother left him at a loss for words too.

Wu Junzheng sighed.

"I'll do as you say, Mother."

Consort Dong felt somewhat helpless. She did not understand all the twists and turns involved, so she could only take out a box.

"The Dong Family Heirloom you wanted."

Wu Junzheng's heart clenched. The Sandalwood Box struck his eyes, and he pressed his lips together, not daring to take it for a moment.

"Your uncle had someone bring it into the palace."

"Go on, take it."

Wu Junzheng hesitated. He had two uncles. His eldest uncle served as an assistant general under Chen Yang, while his second uncle was a civil official serving under the chancellor as an Eastern Bureau aide responsible for official appointments.

In his past life, those two had known how to use the heirloom. Driven into a dead end, they had given it to him so he could secretly harm his imperial father.

Why had they handed it over so readily in this life too?

At that thought, Wu Junzheng clutched the Sandalwood Box. His imperial father had originally favored him as his successor.

He had wanted to be a good elder brother to his imperial siblings. None of the other princes had as much influence as he did, and his imperial father doted on him most. Yet the Crown Prince's sudden appearance had thrown everything into disarray.

A beggar had dropped into the imperial family, become his elder brother, and stolen his position as Crown Prince! How could Wu Junzheng not hate him?

He had been the eldest imperial prince for sixteen years! The position of Crown Prince had been as good as his, only to be snatched away because of Wu Junji-a beggar inferior to him in every way!

Prejudice had planted its seeds from the very beginning. Had he not finally transformed from a python into a flood dragon and seen through to the truth of this world, he would have hated the Crown Prince for the rest of his life.

Wu Junzheng opened the box. Inside lay a length of Red Cord.

Make a cloth doll, stuff it with an enemy's intimate clothing or hair, and wind the Red Cord around its neck or another part of its body, and it could injure that person or take their life.

But someone with powerful fortune might detect it in advance.

In his past life, his imperial father had discovered it himself and come straight to his residence. Yet his imperial father had not blamed him. Instead, he had buried the object in the Crown Prince's residence.

That had been the infamous Witchcraft Curse Case.

Using general-summoning power to harm mortals struck true every time.

Wu Junzheng could only smile bitterly.

The grudges of his past life were impossible to untangle.

He took the Sandalwood Box back to his room and stared at the cord for a long time. Finally, he picked up a pair of scissors, cut it into three pieces, and threw them into a brazier to burn.

No matter what, he could not forget that scene in the Jixia Academy dining hall.

He... did not want to see Wu Junji reduced to something as lowly as mud.

If rank determined nobility in this world, he ought to be the eldest imperial prince.

If effort determined nobility in this world, he ought to be Emperor Zhongzu of Great Zhou.

If fortune determined nobility in this world, he ought to be the Human Emperor.

Wu Junzheng clutched his head in agony.

But even so, Wu Junzheng did not want to admit that he had lost to Wu Junji.

Damn it! Did he absolutely have to attend the same academy as Wu Junji?!

Ultimately, it was because the Retired Emperor refused to accept it. He insisted that Wu Junji was an accursed brat, while Wu Junzheng was the rightful imperial grandson.

No one was happier about Chen Yu's self-castration than the Retired Emperor.

A month earlier, after summoning the Imperial Noble Consort, the Empress Dowager had summoned Chen Yu as well. She had helped Chen Yu carry out his castration.

They had also concealed it from the Imperial Noble Consort. Chen Jin had only learned of it after Chen Yu had already cut himself.

Even five thunderbolts crashing down on her head could not have been worse.

She had seized Chen Yu by the shoulders and asked what on earth he hoped to gain, but he had only said,

"Stay out of it. I know exactly what I'm doing."

Chen Jin had been so furious that she slapped him several times.

Even now, Chen Jin could not accept it. She spent every day in a daze, feeling only that she had failed her deceased eldest brother.

She resented the Empress Dowager, the emperor, and the Crown Prince. She even came to resent Chen Yu.

With the Retired Emperor pushing things along, all of Chang'an City soon learned that Chen Yu had castrated himself to remain by the Crown Prince's side.

The Chen Family's reputation lay in the dirt.

Everyone thought Chen Yu had something wrong with his head and had willingly sunk into degradation.

Within Minglu Academy's Residence Courtyard, the simple furnishings were adorned with carpets, incense burners, screens, brocade quilts, bed curtains... luxurious treasures brought from the palace.

Chen Yu knelt on the floor, awaiting the Crown Prince's judgment.

Wu Junji's face looked stern and cold, but in truth, his mind was empty.

On the way to Jixia Academy, his attitude had already softened.

Once he discovered that Chen Yu's current value came entirely from his fortune, and that he would still be constrained by his age and height, Wu Junji had relegated him completely to the status of a discarded pawn.

Had he not changed his method of General Summoning, Wu Junji might truly have resigned himself to his fate.

Now he could neither drive Chen Yu away nor kill him, yet keeping him around left a bad taste in his mouth.

Wu Junji gave two meaningless, cold chuckles and pulled the Meteorite Dice from his waist, only to see Chen Yu offering up an identical one in his hands.

He said, "Please read my mind, Your Highness."

During the past month, Chen Yu had returned to Jixia Academy. He had merely wanted to visit Zhou She, the place where the Crown Prince had once stayed.

Everything had been consumed by the fire. He had found this die amid the ruins.

Some of the golden markings on it had melted, becoming distorted and dull.

Chen Yu had been delighted. Perhaps many people had come before him and searched the ruins, but he alone had found it.

He had never intended to live out his natural lifespan.

No one understood the power of meteorites from beyond the heavens better than Chen Yu.

In his past life, after Wu Junji ascended the throne, he had bestowed on Chen Yu a little dog carved from meteorite, two inches in size.

Chen Yu had always worn it close to his body. After five years, his internal organs had begun to show signs of deterioration.

He did not want a lifetime. He wanted only ten years-thirteen at most.

Thirteen years later, the Crown Prince would be sixteen and Chen Yu twenty. Both would be in the prime of youth, at the ages when their connection had begun in their past life.

He only wanted to say that the Chen Yu of this life was not the Chen Yu whom Zhou Zhongzu had known.

Nor would the Crown Prince of this life be the sixteen-year-old Crown Prince of the last.

He would disappear at the very point in time when they had met in their past life, and with that, respectfully wish His Highness the Crown Prince peace all along his road ahead.

That was the entirety of Chen Yu's plan.

That was what Wu Junji read in his mind.

Castration, a ruined name, and his life, in exchange for thirteen years.

Wu Junji toyed with the Meteorite Dice, took it off, and placed it in a drawer.

Chen Yu wanted to die, and that old geezer could go die too, but he did not want to die.

"Granted."

Chen Yu kowtowed in thanks. "Thank you for your favor, Your Highness the Crown Prince!"