In the Ling Mansion.
Ling Zhang finally found a window of opportunity to talk to Yuwen Tong without the presence of Yuwen Han or Yuwen Jin or any court physicians.
Unsure whether or not there was anybody in the dark spying on him, he held Yuwen Tong’s hand and started writing on Yuwen Tong’s palm with his finger.
He had just finished two strokes when his fingers were tightly wrapped up in Yuwen Tong’s warm palm.
Ling Zhang blinked and fixed Yuwen Tong with a stare.
Yuwen Tong opened his eyes and looked at Ling Zhang who was gazing at him. Then he drew Ling Zhang’s hand to his mouth and kissed it.
Ling Zhang nervously glanced around. “You–”
Yuwen Tong said in a hoarse voice. “Relax. It’s high time I, a ‘seriously wounded man’, came around.”
Ling Zhang let out a sigh of relief, watching Yuwen Tong give him another kiss on the hand. The gentle touch of Yuwen Tong’s lips on his fingers made them bend in spite of himself.
“You must be having a tough time,” said Yuwen Tong.
Ling Zhang gave a light cough and commented under his breath, “Not as tough as yours.”
He had been lying in bed for days.
Yuwen Tong, who hadn’t made out with Ling Zhang for several days, missed him very much, unwilling to release his hand, his affections spontaneously gleaming in his eyes, which gave Ling Zhang a flush on the cheeks.
Ordinarily, he didn’t blush so easily when the two of them were in intimate moments, but on this occasion, somebody might be hiding in the shadows keeping watch on them, and sure enough his grandfather might be watching as well…
Ling Zhang slightly moved his hips, feeling somewhat uneasy. To make things worse, Yuwen Tong was still gazing unblinkingly at him.
“A kiss?” Yuwen Tong suggested.
Ling Zhang secretly gave him a dirty look. Maybe someone was watching!
Yuwen Tong parted his lips and said in a very low voice, “I was hurt so badly and have just come to. It’d be weird if you make no gesture of affections for me, wouldn’t it?”
Ling Zhang, “…”
He craned over and gave Yuwen Tong a kiss.
Yuwen Tong was savoring this kiss, but Ling Zhang’s lips parted from his too quick and he felt he hadn’t had enough of it. Smacking his lips, he wished the kiss had lasted longer. “How about another one?”
Ling Zhang made an attempt to pull his hand out of Yuwen Tong’s grip but failed. Yuwen Tong kissed his hand once again and finally felt slightly satisfied.
“There’s no need to worry about the situation in the hunting ground. What the King Hui did has come to the knowledge of the emperor,” said Yuwen Tong.
Ling Zhang widened his eyes. “How did that happen?”
Yuwen Tong replied, “Of course, I played a small part in that.”
Ling Zhang was puzzled. “Why did you inform the emperor of it?”
Yuwen Tong said, “I can’t let so many people die there. It’ll take a heavy toll on the Great Yue. And I’m ‘injured’, so the best way is to disclose it to the emperor. What the King Hui has done is done, and there’s nothing he could do to make any difference.”
Indeed, just like Yuwen Tong said, on the surface the emperor seemed to be happy, but in fact flames of wrath was leaping in his chest.
The Crown Prince had sensed the peculiarity in the conduct of the King Hui as well as that of Shan Congwen – of course he had.
He was extremely disappointed with the King Hui.
…
At noon, almost all people hunting in the hunting ground had left the woods one after another. The King Hui made an excuse and lingered for quite some time before returning to the entrance.
Like the King Hui, Shan Congwen also delayed his return by a considerable amount of time.
Standing beside him, Shan Congwen looked through the woods at the grandstand which he only had a vague view of, and said, “Almost all of them are there now. When are you going to do it?”
The King Hui clenched his teeth, a tic going in his cheeks. Eventually, his intent to kill got the best of him. “Now.”
He decided to make his move right now when all these people were in the stands, lest there be any unexpected changes.
Shan Congwen gave a soundless sneer, gazing at those people in the stands, finding the King Hui’s callousness somewhat disgusting, but he felt no regret. He was just somewhat sympathetic to these people of the Great Yue who were going to die such violent deaths. Many of them probably would die before they could realize what happened.
It was so unfortunate of the emperor of the Great Yue to have a son like this.
The King Hui raised his hand, instructing the subordinate beside him to send out word.
After a while, the King Hui’s order was communicated to his men in the stands, and the explosives were about to be detonated.
The King Hui had started a countdown in his head, waiting for the moment when everybody in the stands would be blown to pieces.
He clenched his fists tightly, his eyes staring fixedly at people in the stands.
Even Shan Congwen couldn’t help but hold his breath, expecting the arrival of the startling moment.
As the final moment drew near, the atmosphere went increasingly repressive. Feeling that it was about time, the King Hui suddenly closed his eyes, waiting for that moment to pass.
…
After quite a while, the King Hui abruptly opened his eyes and looked at the intact grandstand and the people in it. “What’s going on?”
Shan Congwen’s face also changed, a foreboding feeling rising in him as he found himself drawing back.
Time was ticking away, but still nothing happened in the stands. There weren’t even any unusual sounds, not to mention an explosion.
The King Hui shot out his hands to grab the collar of the robe of his henchman standing beside him and demanded, “What’s going on? Why haven’t anybody lit the fuse?”
The henchman had been sweating buckets for some time. “This can’t be happening. I personally sent your order there. They definitely have lit the fuse.”
The reason why the explosives still hadn’t detonated was either they’d suddenly malfunctioned or…
Nobody dared to give the second possible reason any more thought. The only feeling they had at this moment was dread mixed with anxiety, their legs trembling.
“You good-for-nothing! What are you standing here for?! Go and tell them again! Have them light the fuse immediately!” The King Hui’s eyes nearly popped out of his head.
His henchman was terribly scared. Even if he were a fool, he would have realized that the arrangements they’d made in the stands had gone awry, but the King Hui’s face was even more frightening than what might be waiting for him in that place, so he had no alternative but to go there once again to send the instruction, staggering and almost falling over when leaving the King Hui.
Shan Congwen, who had quietly backed off quite a few paces, winked at the man beside him.
He was ready to retreat at any moment.
After quite a while, the one he’d sent to check out the lay of the land was still not back. This was the worse-case scenario.
Shan Congwen stopped hesitating and turned around with the intention to leave.
“Where are you going, King Ming’en?” Shan Congwen’s body went rigid at the sudden voice. He looked in the direction of the speaker only to find that numerous armed men were abruptly showing up one group after another in the woods. The one in command was unfamiliar to him but seemed to be a commander of the Palace Guards.
Naturally the King Hui had also heard this voice. He spun around to look at the countless men that were emerging from the woods, his teeth gritted. “It’s you.”
All these men were palace guards – half of the Palace Guards who were supposed to be on guard duty in the capital city!
“Your Highness, His Majesty requests your presence in the grandstand,” said the commander in an apathetic tone, looking at him with a face just as apathetic.
The King Hui, who felt as though his insides had turned to ice, stared fixedly at these palace guards, unable to understand why his plan had been exposed, and why these hurdles had arisen when there had been an unmistakable prophecy saying that he was to be the next emperor?!
He was toast. He was indeed toast.
“Your Highness, His Majesty requests your presence in the grandstand,” that man repeated.
The King Hui clenched his fists. His subordinates beside him looked at each other, panic washing over their faces.
…
When the King Hui was marched to the grandstand, many people were still perplexed as to what it was about. Even the King Duan was bewildered for a few moments.
But at the sight of the emperor’s cold and angry countenance, everybody realized the severity of whatever it was that was going on, and none of them dared to utter a word.
A palace guard walked over and reported, “I’m honored to bow before you, Your Majesty. All explosives beneath the grandstand have been dug out.”
Explosives?! Buried right beneath this grandstand?!
Many of those that had come to understand what could’ve happened to them broke out in a cold sweat, their faces drained of colors. Meanwhile, they had got a shrewd idea of what was going on!
The King Duan incredulously eyed the King Hui. He had always believed that the King Hui was stupid, but it’d never crossed his mind that he would resort to adopting this kind of method!
“You! Exactly what have you done, Zhou Mingci?!”
The King Hui raised his head and flicked him a frosty glance, his eyes manifestly suggesting that he was despairing, indignant and unreconciled to the situation.
“What have I done? I’ve tried to get above all of you!”
“Outrageous!” thundered the emperor. “You vile spawn. How dare you talk such nonsense when your death is imminent!”
The King Hui, upset by the emperor’s furious face, not resigned to his fate, sniffed, “Father, have you never thought about this? I’m also your son, and I clearly outshine all of them. Why didn’t you make me the heir to the throne? The Crown Prince is an invalid, yet you’re still going to enthrone him? Aren’t worried that he might not be able to outlive you?!”
“Shut up. Shut up!” The emperor was almost reduced to vomiting blood with ire, repeatedly hitting the armrest of the chair so heavily that the armrest almost broke.
“Zhou Mingci, are you out of your mind?!” The King Duan looked at the King Hui in shock. “What makes you so confident that you are the best?”
Was he soft in the head?
This remark infuriated the King Hui even more than the emperor’s reprimand had, and his eyes reddened. “Zhou Mingyuan!”
At this time, the King Duan had cooled down, fully aware of what was going on. Though astounded by the King Hui’s madness, he soon felt a thrill of rapture. With the downfall of a rival, he was yet another step closer to the throne. As long as he figured out a way to have the sickly Crown Prince die of illness and then eliminate his fifth brother, he would be the only heir to the throne! And his father would have to crown him emperor even if he didn’t want to!
Thinking of this, the King Duan could barely keep from laughing, but he must refrain on this occasion, which was why his face twisted somewhat. Others mistakenly believed that he was angry, but in fact it was because he was exercising all his self-restraint to stifle his laugh.
“Guards! Flog this evil creature to death!” The emperor, who had almost spat blood from wrath, finally recovered himself.
Everybody was startled. Flog him to death?
After a while, the Crown Prince stood up. “Father, please turn from your anger. It’s true that my fourth brother made a mistake, but that doesn’t make him any less of your son, and nor does it make him any less of my brother. Please spare his life, father.”
The courtiers were also brought back to their senses, realizing they had to do something to allay the emperor’s anger, otherwise the King Hui might really be beaten to death.
At first the King Duan was stupefied, but eventually he also hastened to intercede for the King Hui, though he was actually only too anxious to see the King Hui dead.
Finally, the emperor’s fury slowly subsided. He was just about to speak when another palace guard came over to report.
“Your Majesty, we found fifty packs of explosives in total. They were densely planted beneath the grandstand. Had all these explosives detonated…”
The emperor’s countenance went purple with anger once again, and he stared at the King Hui, an extremely icy expression in his eyes. This traitorous son of his had actually planned to blow all of them to pieces!
