The Second Prince had a nightmare.
In his dream, four people whose faces he could not make out charged at him, shouting slogans about the Nine Clans and bonds and the like.
They hacked him to pieces.
Even after waking, the Second Prince was still badly shaken.
"What fills your thoughts by day fills your dreams by night. Now that I've fallen into trouble, someone is bound to kick me while I'm down."
"The Crown Prince, Third Brother, the Worthy Consort, Wenxi-was it you four?"
"It must have been. There were two men and two women in my dream. If something happens to me, they'll certainly kick me while I'm down."
"Fortunately, my ancestors protected me and sent a warning in my dream."
The Second Prince realized that his inexplicable imprisonment had exposed a fatal opening.
Those opponents who had been watching him all along would never let an opportunity like this slip past.
Yet he also felt that Heaven's Mandate was on his side.
"They say that before Imperial Father ascended the throne, he once dreamed that someone was poisoning him. That allowed him to avoid it in advance, then launch a coup and successfully take the throne."
"The True Dragon Bloodline has divine abilities of its own. When great calamity approaches, the True Dragon Son of Heaven will often foresee it."
"This is the Holy Ancestor protecting me. Heaven never seals off every road. There must be a way."
"Zeng Ningbing. She's the crux of it. First, I must find a way to prove that Zeng Ningbing is my younger sister. Only by proving Zeng Ningbing's and Elder Zeng's identities can I avoid being linked to Thousand Faces and explain what happened in Jiangzhou and with the Golden Scale Alliance. I merely wanted to avenge my sister. I