The Fourth Prince's beautiful face, bathed in the light, took on an air of extreme danger, like a venomous spider, as beguiling words spilled from his mouth.
Xie Huizhou's instincts told him that this elder brother was dangerous.
After all, he had always been favored by the emperor, and in the original novel, he was something of a scheming old fox.
"Fourth Brother, it was you."
The Fourth Prince's appearance caught Xie Huizhou off guard. He had never imagined that he was the one silently following him, and this put him even more on his guard.
"How did you get in?"
The Imperial Guards outside showed no reaction at all. The noise the two of them made amounted to practically nothing.
The Fourth Prince gave Xie Huizhou a long look, then said playfully, "Ninth Son, I got in the same way you did."
As soon as something happened to the Eighth Prince, the palace fell into chaos, and a crowd headed for the Lotus Pond. On his way there, the Fourth Prince, Xie Wangqiu, spotted Xie Huizhou in the crowd.
Full of curiosity about this Ninth Younger Brother who always managed to turn disaster into good fortune, he quietly followed him.
He wanted to see what Xie Huizhou was doing behind their backs.
He had not expected to witness such a surprising scene.
Recalling certain rumors from the past, the Fourth Prince wanted to know what expression would appear on that face, as beautiful as Consort Yu's, if Xie Huizhou learned about that painful history.
It should be very interesting.
Come on, let me see.
Your elder brother can hardly wait.
The Fourth Prince looked far too eager and excited. Xie Huizhou frowned slightly. "Fourth Brother, what did you mean by what you just said?"
The Fourth Prince, Xie Wangqiu, spoke gently, yet his words sounded ill-intentioned.
Instinct told Xie Huizhou that he had better not listen, that it would very likely affect his present life, but curiosity about his birth mother made him unable to resist asking.
He knew full well that this was a trap, yet he willingly jumped into it.
The Fourth Prince made a hypocritical show of concern for Xie Huizhou. "This happened a long time ago. Ninth Son, there are things I can't bear to keep you in the dark about forever. Keeping them from you all this time really isn't fair to you."
"Enough nonsense. Get on with it."
The Imperial Guards outside might notice something amiss here and rush in at any moment. Xie Huizhou had no time to chat with him and urged him to speak quickly.
The Fourth Prince was in no hurry to explain. First, he leisurely asked Xie Huizhou a question.
"Ninth Son, have you ever heard of a sovereign taking his subject's wife?"
Xie Huizhou's pupils contracted. An emperor taking a subject's wife was an act people reviled. If things went badly, it could leave his name in infamy for all eternity. Could something like that really have happened to someone close to him?
As though realizing something, Xie Huizhou glanced at the woman in the painting with tears at the corners of her eyes. Could this have happened to Mother?
That really was unfortunate.
No wonder the young eunuch said this place held a scandal involving the emperor. I came looking for gossip and found myself in it.
"Oh, Ninth Son, there are more filthy affairs in this palace than you could count. You shouldn't be so shocked. Let your elder brother tell you all about it."
Seeing Xie Huizhou react made the Fourth Prince even more excited. He could hardly wait to reveal all the inside information he knew, so that more and more cracks would appear in Xie Huizhou's expression.
Even the Fourth Prince himself felt that he was not quite normal, being so cold and ruthless toward his own brothers.
As though telling a story, the Fourth Prince recounted what he knew.
No one knew where Consort Yu had come from, and her real name was unclear too. After all, she had changed it many times, and most of the names were false. Even knowing those aliases would turn up little.
All anyone knew was that she was beautiful, less like a mortal beauty than a fairy descended to earth. Wherever she stood, heaven and earth paled beside her.
As soon as she entered the imperial harem, she became the most favored of its three thousand women. She was so arrogant and domineering that everyone avoided her.
Still young at the time, the Fourth Prince heard his mother cursing her and, in his childish confusion, grew curious about Consort Yu. Only after sending people everywhere to inquire did he learn a few things.
Rumor had it that Consort Yu had originally been the wife of an official. The couple had been loving and had even had a child. If the sovereign had not taken his subject's wife, she would have lived quite happily.
Her beauty caught the eye of the emperor while he was traveling incognito. He ordered her husband put to death with a cup of poisoned wine, commanded her to become a nun, then brought her into the palace some time later and bestowed upon her the title of Consort Yu.
The emperor had found excuses to kill almost everyone who knew about it back then. Very few who knew the truth remained alive.
For the sake of her only surviving child, she had endured it all in silence, often washing her face with tears behind the splendor.
Xie Huizhou had not expected to have a sibling by the same mother. "Who was the child Mother had before entering the palace?"
Xie Huizhou was curious, but he also had misgivings.
Soon, he gave a self-mocking smile. Even if he knew who it was, what would that change? In what capacity, and with what face, could he go to meet that person?
He had stolen that person's mother.
His existence had brought about the deaths of a group of innocent people.
"That, I don't know. Before Consort Yu entered the palace, Father killed everyone. I've searched for so many years and still haven't found out which family it was." The Fourth Prince shook his head. He, too, regretted not finding anything to use as leverage. "But really, we're your brothers, Ninth Son, yet you're thinking of looking for other siblings. How heartless."
The Fourth Prince seethed with indignation.
They were his brothers. Although their relationship was poor, and could even be described as one of mutual slaughter, that was no reason for someone else to come and steal their little brother.
Brothers in the imperial family killing one another had always been a tradition. It was the finest proof of their brotherly bond.
Father really was too much back then. He was softhearted and failed to kill everyone on Consort Yu's side, leaving our Ninth Son with other ties elsewhere.
If you're softhearted, don't be emperor. Abdicate sooner and give the throne to me.
Xie Huizhou was somewhat speechless. He reminded the indignant Fourth Prince, "Fifth Imperial Brother is your full brother. The two of us aren't that close."
Don't get the wrong person.
You make it sound as though we're such close brothers. I've never believed in any of that.
"Let's not mention that wretched little brother."
The mere mention of the Fifth Prince, who was always competing with him for things, gave the Fourth Prince a terrible headache. He wished his mother had never given birth to him.
"Oh, right, Ninth Son. Father doted on Consort Yu so much. Do you know why he hates you so much?"
The Fourth Prince changed the subject and turned his gaze back to Xie Huizhou. Sparks of excitement flared in his gloomy eyes as he continued dangling shocking revelations to draw him in.
Xie Huizhou refused. "I don't want to hear it."
The Fourth Prince kept deliberately provoking him, trying to anger him. His purpose was unclear, and Xie Huizhou did not want to let him succeed.
In the end, the Fourth Prince would get his satisfaction, while Xie Huizhou himself would be the one to suffer.
I've already said this much, Ninth Son. You don't get a choice now. Of course I have to say it for everyone to hear, the Fourth Prince thought.
"Ninth Son, back then, Consort Yu gave birth to you prematurely after a fright, less than eight months after entering the palace."
The Fourth Prince looked at Xie Huizhou's face as he feigned composure and sneered, delivering the most crucial sentence, the most fatal blow.
"There have always been rumors in the palace that you aren't Father's biological son, Ninth Son."
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