In a gloomy cave, second prince was asleep on a stone bed.
Drip~
An ice-cold droplet trailed down the cave wall and landed on his head. He flickered his eyes open with a shiver.
“Your Highness.” A deep voice came from his side.
Second prince looked through the haze at a kneeling man covered in black. Startled, he jumped to his feet and shouted, “Who are you? Where is this place?”
“Your Highness, I am with the Crown Prince. He had me rescue Your Highness.” His tone was cold, his words flat.
Second prince recalled that on the eve of his father’s birthday, someone barged into his cell and knocked him out. Next thing he knew, he was here.
Second prince frowned, looking suspiciously at the man, “So you are big brother’s man? Humph, what is he up to now? Father had me imprisoned for life and I am no threat to his throne.”
“Your Highness, all Crown Prince has done is to save Your Highness.” The man cupped his hands.
Second prince became even more suspicious, “Save? That’s not the brother I know. And who would want to kill me, father?”
“Your Highness, many things have happened while you were imprisoned. In short, third prince colluded with the traitor Zhuo Fan, conspiring against His Majesty and Crown Prince. As the crisis came upon His Highness, he ordered me to save Your Highness in hope that sir might one day restore the Yuwen clan and eliminate those vile traitors.”
“Impossible. Old third is just a fat pig, he can’t do anything.” Second prince refuted in mockery.
Or more like he could not once believe that where his rebellion failed, fatty succeeded. [That’ll be the crown jewel of humiliation. Am I a bigger loser than even a fat pig?]
The man shook his head, “With the third prince’s ability, yes. But he had Zhuo Fan’s cunning in catching His Majesty and Crown Prince unprepared, though that’s not how the world sees it. Your Highness needs simply to take a walk outside and can learn who is the emperor and who has the world.
“Third prince betrayed his ancestors, surrendering Tianyu to that foul Zhuo Fan and becoming a puppet. Luo clan now reigns supreme, holding power above the imperial dynasty. Whole of Tianyu knows. And they’ve issued wanted notices for Your Highness, to weed you out. These are facts sir may find out just by stepping outside. I am telling no lies.”
Second prince eyed him skeptically, yet gave credence to the words in the end. Because these conclusions were simple to reach, he found them to be sound.
Being stuck in a cell all this time, second prince was oblivious to the great civil war in Tianyu, of the emperor and Quanrong’s deal and even Zhuge Changfeng’s rebellion.
At this point he’d gobble up anything that was thrown at him.
The man in black’s fabricated story was based on facts. That Luo clan was Tianyu’s apex, and the emperor had changed.
What was more, the second prince was in complete denial that fatty had it in him to become emperor. He must’ve resorted to some underhanded deeds to pull through.
Second prince grew outraged, oblivious that he was playing into Crown Prince’s hand of inciting chaos.
The man in black’s order was: if Crown Prince ascended, kill second prince; if Crown Prince failed, make second prince his avenger.
Yuwen Yong had become the departed Crown Prince’s tool.
The man in black grinned inside, hidden behind a grieving facade.
“Damn you pig, you stole my crown! You even gave away our lands! You are a stain upon Yuwen name, a disgrace to our ancestors!” Second prince ranted.
Then sighed, “Alas, their power is beyond my reach. How am I to succeed in restoring our dignity, in getting revenge for father?”
“Second prince, Crown Prince has made plans.”
The man in black presented a black package, “Your Highness, this is what Crown Prince has prepared for sir. Therein lies the hope of revenge, of restoring our nation’s glory!”
Second prince opened it to find three items.
The first was a painting second prince was most familiar with, “Lands of Our Nation? Why did you give it to me, big brother? Am I to find the long lost apex of western lands’ power, Danqing Shen, to help me?
“That’s not possible. He’s been gone for a thousand years now. Where do I even start looking?” Second prince shook his head.
[This is too thin, way too thin.]
He moved on to a hand-sized box. On opening it, he cried, “W-what is this?”
A sparkling orb rolled around inside, just like an eye.
The man in black bowed, “Second prince, it is High Priest Yun Xuanji’s eye, capable of reading the stars. When His Majesty obtained it, he had tried hundreds of ways to pierce its mystical ability, only to fail every time and give up. Crown Prince had the chance to get it. It is unknown what it can do but it must be incredible for sure. He has passed it on to you, in hope that it may help sir.”
“Yun Xuanji’s eye?”
Second prince shook, eying the ocular organ, feeling a power taking over his mind. Staring at it for a fraction had him shaken to his core, his soul unsettled. He clenched his hand and took a good time to settle down.
“E-evil!”
Putting it back in the box, second prince eased a breath , “I can’t use it for now, nor do I know how. I know my limits not to mess with it.”
The man in black found it natural. What could he figure out when the emperor’s whole gang couldn’t for so many years?
Second prince turned to the last item, an ancient piece of cloth, engraved with a map. At a corner was an enlarged Yun character.
“Your Highness, this map was part of the Imperial Palace’s treasury. Rumors say this map is what Great Ancestor used to find the Yun clan, their homeland. But with the Yun clan having gone from their ancestral home for so long, many have forgotten this detail. By following this map, Your Highness can find it.” The man reported.
Second prince frowned at the tree items, “High Priest’s eye, Yun clan’s ancestral map and Lands of Our Nation. Big brother wants me to…”
“Correct. Yun clan’s High Priests can read fate, so their ancestral home must be the only place to unravel the eye’s mysteries. By using the mystic eye, you might even catch Danqing Shen’s trail among the flow of fate!” The man in black cupped his hands.
Second prince sighed, “Big brother is thorough to think of such a plan, of exceptional talent. If he could find Danqing Shen, he could take back more than just Tianyu Empire, even the whole western lands!”
Second prince shouted, “Alright, since big brother has gone to such lengths, I will complete his design by finding western lands’ greatest expert. Then, old third and Zhuo Fan, your deaths shall be nigh!”
Second prince steeled himself and the man in black slipped on a wide smile.
[Crown Prince, your soul can look on in peace knowing your design carries on. Second prince is on the path you paved, your avenger…]
Meanwhile, Zhuo Fan paid Veiled Dragon Pavilion a trip to tell them about fatty’s proposal. Long Yifey couldn’t be happier, agreeing on the spot.
With a thousand miles of rich lands at their disposal, anyone would accept. Though with it being on the border, carrying out operations was risky.
Of course, he’d ask Zhuo Fan for troops.
And the man agreed just as quickly. Sharing a secret glance with his masterminds, everyone enacted psychological warfare on Long Yifey’s mind by explaining the benefits of Luo Alliance.
With so many upsides to it, Veiled Dragon Pavilion hopped right on the bandwagon. With one down, the other two allies weren’t far away either, all coming over as easy as breathing.
With Luo clan being the one true clan here, with them they’d live the high life, but against them, an early grave.
Adding the three old weasels’ sly and smooth speech into the mix, it worked to cower and awe the trio into falling in line to the extent that they thought they were the ones better off. It was Zhuo Fan’s way of showing gratitude to the old allies for all that they had done.
But when did heaven ever flung a pie in anyone’s lap?
Every single benefit they received was followed by an equal if not larger price. Having joined the Luo Alliance, they’d make it big, sure, but they had lost independence, reduced to mere members of the Luo Alliance, unable to direct their own development, and being at the whims of the organization.
Just like the other clans were vassals to the houses. Only now, the relations were much tighter, yet still had a defined hierarchy. The Alliance Leader was a no-brainer, Luo clan, with the rest being members they controlled.
Not that the others minded. With the Luo Alliance in inception, they’d get a little something and that proved to be enough to forget about vapid stuff like freedom.
Now came the time of consolidating Luo clan’s power. Although Zhuo Fa had no hand in it, leaving it to the clan’s newest steward.
It was time to leave…
