I Have to Go See the Little Prince

Inside the imperial palace, a lavish, ostentatious carriage raced along the palace road, its brazen arrogance enough to leave people speechless.

A young eunuch who had only just entered palace service stood to one side and spoke without thinking. "The imperial palace is the emperor's forbidden domain. How dare anyone act with such utter disregard..."

Before he finished, the carriage's owner raised his eyes and glanced at him, his gaze as cold as if he were looking at a dead man.

He really would kill people!

That rare silver hair and those green eyes-it was the National Preceptor!

He was done for. He seemed to have offended someone terribly important.

Smack!

A burning palm print instantly appeared on the young eunuch's face, delivered by the supervising eunuch beside him.

"What nonsense are you spouting, boy?! This is the National Preceptor! Where could he possibly be forbidden to go? This isn't something we can run our mouths about. Watch your tongue! Do it again and I'll beat you to death!"

The supervising eunuch had nearly been scared to death. To keep the young eunuch from being killed on the spot for his reckless words, he hurriedly disciplined him himself, lest he meet an untimely end.

Knowing he was in the wrong, the young eunuch dared not say anything else.

When they looked back, Zhang Lanhe's carriage continued toward the Hall of Mental Cultivation. It seemed he had not taken it to heart.

Everyone on the palace road broke into a cold sweat, nearly fainting from fright.

Fortunately, nothing serious had happened.

When Zhang Lanhe reached the Hall of Mental Cultivation, the old emperor was surrounded by beauties. He showed none of the reasonably wise ruler he had been in his youth and looked more like a muddleheaded emperor.

At the sound of familiar footsteps, a sharp gleam surfaced in the old emperor's eyes as he looked toward Zhang Lanhe.

"National Preceptor, you're here. Without you, my realm would be unstable. With you here, I can enjoy the company of my beauties without worry."

He was old, but he refused to concede to age. Only with fresh, young people could he find the feeling of youth.

As long as National Preceptor Zhang Lanhe was there, his realm would never fall.

This was a secret passed down through generations of the imperial family.

The old emperor looked at Zhang Lanhe's robust physique, unchanged over the years, and a barely perceptible trace of jealousy and wariness flashed through his clouded eyes.

He had grown old, yet Zhang Lanhe had never changed. He looked just as he had when the emperor was a child.

A young wolf that gradually grew stronger and bared its fangs within the pack would either defeat the old wolf king and drive him out, or bite him to death.

They were almost unable to keep this beast under control.

He felt threatened, yet there was nothing he could do.

If Zhang Lanhe truly wanted the throne, he could do nothing about that either.

Zhang Lanhe said coolly, "You flatter me, Your Majesty."

Before Zhang Lanhe could speak, the old emperor suddenly asked about his private affairs. "I hear you've been looking for a man. Once you find him, would you like me to grant you a marriage and silence all the gossip?"

Although Zhang Lanhe had quelled all the wars while the old emperor lay unconscious and kept his realm intact, nearly the entire realm had become subject to Zhang Lanhe's word alone. This made the old emperor deeply wary.

Did this realm belong to the Xie family or the Zhang family?

When he heard that Zhang Lanhe was rather interested in a man, he immediately began making his own calculations.

It was good that he liked men-wonderful, even. Without any desire to marry and have children, he would have no designs on the emperor's realm.

And he had even heard that Zhang Lanhe suffered from a private ailment!

To the old emperor, this was simply wonderful news.

Had someone not offended Zhang Lanhe by sending him handsome men, he would have bestowed a whole crowd of men on him long ago. Better still if he died in a beauty's bed.

Zhang Lanhe's expression turned strange. "..."

Why was the old emperor suddenly concerning himself with my marriage? Don't think I can't see "you have a private ailment" written all over your face. It has been far too long since Your Majesty was put in his place.

He needed to hurry and catch that little rascal who went around talking nonsense, and make sure that mouth of his could never utter such absurdities again.

"That is my private business, Your Majesty. You need not inquire. I know my own person well enough." Zhang Lanhe had never liked others meddling in his private affairs, and he disdained this so-called public gossip. "I've never feared what others say. I'll kill anyone who talks. The dead are the quietest."

Seeing his displeasure, the old emperor simply dropped the subject.

Zhang Lanhe said, "Your Majesty, why have you suddenly decided to bring the Ninth Prince back to the palace?"

The Ninth Prince Xie Huizhou's clear gaze was still vivid in his mind. A little rabbit like him would be schemed to death in the palace.

Zhang Lanhe did not think the old emperor would make such a decision out of nowhere. It might well be a move in his game.

"When people grow old, they always want their children beside them. Let him properly fulfill his filial duties." The old emperor looked kindly, a smile on his lips. Without considering his identity, he truly seemed like a loving father. "With so many older brothers and sisters, he won't lack for anything in the future. Family should spend more time together."

Zhang Lanhe's tone carried mockery. "Your Majesty has truly given this great thought. What a loving father's heart you have for His Ninth Highness."

The crafty old emperor had despised this son for so long, only to suddenly take a liking to him. Zhang Lanhe did not believe it.

The old emperor said, "You saved him before, too. This child will have to rely on you a great deal in the future, National Preceptor."

Zhang Lanhe worked it out: the old emperor wanted to bind them together. Xie Huizhou was merely a pawn for him to use.

In the old emperor's eyes, Xie Huizhou did not even count as a person. Nothing had changed after all these years.

"There are plenty of pressing matters at the National Preceptor's Residence. We can discuss this another time."

Disgusted by the old emperor's scheming, Zhang Lanhe excused himself on the grounds of urgent business.

"Then I wish Your Majesty all that your heart desires, and an early reunion with your son."

Zhang Lanhe left the Hall of Mental Cultivation. An attendant beside him asked quietly, "Your Highness, His Majesty wants to bind you to the Ninth Prince. I'm afraid this bodes ill."

The Great Xia Dynasty had always abhorred faction-building for private gain above all else. Moreover, Xie Huizhou was incapable and out of favor. His chances of ascending the throne in this struggle for imperial power were slim.

The fear was that, when the time came, even Zhang Lanhe would be powerless to turn things around.

There was no shortage of people who had been implicated in struggles for imperial power and put to death along with their entire clans.

"A plan to bring me down along with the Ninth Prince. Still as ruthless as ever, willing to sacrifice a prince just to deal with me. Yet they want to kill me and have no choice but to keep me alive. This has happened countless times already."

The corners of Zhang Lanhe's mouth rose in mockery of the old emperor's stupidity. He was not someone easily schemed against.

"I have to go see this little prince and find out how much longer that body of his can live. If he's of some use, I'll keep him around for now. If not, he might as well rest in peace sooner."

Perhaps, with some honing, he could become a blade that killed others rather than a whetstone.

Your Majesty, if you want to draw me into the game to serve as a whetstone too, then prepare to have your favorite blade broken by me.

After Zhang Lanhe left, several figures emerged from behind the rockery in the imperial garden.

It was none other than the Eighth Prince, Xie Tingchun.

The Eighth Prince's study companion said snidely, "Your Highness, have you heard? His Majesty is dissatisfied with the princes and thinks they don't measure up to the prince who died before. He intends to bring the Ninth Prince back. We already have enough trouble dealing with the others. What's the meaning of adding another now?"

The Fifth Prince's mother already came from an excellent family, and he had a whole crowd supporting him. That sinister bastard was not easy to deal with.

After all these years of fighting, now another Xie Huizhou was about to appear!

The Eighth Prince said indignantly, "After all these years, why has Father suddenly remembered him? Surely Consort Yu didn't appear in his dreams and tell him to bring him back!"

He already resented Xie Huizhou for preventing him from making a move on the beauty. Now he hated him even more.

When Consort Yu was alive, she had shone brilliantly. No one in the world could rival her talent and beauty, and she had been the most favored woman in the six palaces. Even the empress had been no match for her. For a time, she had enjoyed unrivaled glory.

Had she not died in childbirth, and had the empress not bribed the old National Preceptor to declare Xie Huizhou a cursed star destined to bring ruin to those around him, they would never have had a chance to compete for the crown prince's position.

Now, having overheard the old emperor's intentions, they were swayed by their unwillingness to accept them.

"I heard the National Preceptor saved Ninth Brother before. Perhaps he's Ninth Brother's backer and forced Father to bring him back!"

They had schemed all their lives. How could they let someone else reap the rewards!

No. He had to die.

They had to kill Xie Huizhou before he grew strong!

"Don't panic. Father hasn't issued the decree yet. He's still outside the palace, isolated and without support. People like that can easily die quietly in some corner." The Eighth Prince's brow darkened, and a ruthlessness beyond his years appeared on his face. "He was born frail and has nearly died several times. If some accident happens and he dies in the meantime, we can't be blamed."

Plenty of princes had died in this palace. One more would make no difference.

"We can invite him to come out with us for next month's spring hunt."

Every year, people died in accidents during the spring hunt.