DLWAV CH44

Soon, the day of the Mid-Autumn Festival arrived.

Compared to previous years, this year’s Mid-Autumn Banquet was much grander.

Not only because the national treasury was much more abundant this year, but also because the person organizing this banquet was the Duke of Zhenguo, Consort Xian’s father.

So everything was already under their control.

One can imagine how excited Consort Xian was at this moment.

She put on her most magnificent clothes and wore her most beautiful jewelry, all to welcome the impending victory.

Although the ones being sacrificed would be her husband and her younger son.

But that didn’t matter anymore.

After all, her husband possessed a harem of three thousand beauties; in his eyes, she was already yesterday’s yellow flower.

So he wasn’t worth mentioning.

As for her younger son, ever since he started resenting her, his birth mother, over a few past events, she had ceased to consider him her son—

Moreover, what she had always wanted was only the position of Empress Dowager, one person below and above ten thousand.

And now, she had finally waited for this day.

She knew she would be the final winner!

Thinking of this, looking at her graceful and luxurious self in the mirror, the excitement and impatience in Consort Xian’s eyes almost solidified into substance.

“Let’s go—”

Almost at the same time, in the basement of the First Prince’s residence.

The First Prince abruptly drew the precious sword hanging on the wall and slashed the coral pot in front of him in half with a single stroke.

That pot of coral was exactly what Ao Ruize had given him a year ago.

At that time, he thought Ao Ruize was ingratiating himself with Xia Jingyao because he had become sensible and knew to help him win people over.

And Ao Ruize giving him this coral was also to please him.

Back then, he even thought that if he became Emperor one day, he definitely wouldn’t treat Ao Ruize unfairly.

The result? Ao Ruize turned around and stabbed him viciously in the back.

Not to mention how Ao Ruize had humiliated and toyed with him repeatedly.

So he must make Ao Ruize pay the price—this coral before him was a preview of his fate.

After doing this, the First Prince threw the long sword onto the shattered coral pieces and turned around directly: “Let’s go—”

On the other side, in the Duke of Wei’s residence, Xia Jingyao also put on that bright red court robe and wore his favorite jade crown.

Finally, he didn’t forget to hang that small wooden whistle on his waist again.

In the end, he simply said, “Let’s go.”

Only after everyone had arrived did Emperor Yuanxi and Ao Ruize arrive late.

“Long live my Emperor!”

“A thousand years to the Crown Prince!”

The cheers instantly spread out like mountains toppling and seas overturning.

“All ministers may rise!”

Emperor Yuanxi swept his gaze over the civil and military officials below. When his eyes landed on the First Prince and the Fourth Prince, he still couldn’t help but sigh.

No matter what, the First and Fourth Princes were his children. Perhaps he should give them one more chance.

Thinking of this, after saying a few simple words, when the Chief Eunuch Yu Zan presented the program list, Emperor Yuanxi simply said, “I’ve grown tired of listening to these plays about birthday celebrations, singing praises, and romance. Why don’t we change the style today and have… the Incident at Xuanwu Gate?”

Hearing this, countless people couldn’t help but change their expressions.

Some were terrified, like certain officials and their families who sniffed a hint of danger.

Because the Incident at Xuanwu Gate told the story of Li Shimin, the Prince of Qin of the Tang Dynasty, launching a coup at Xuanwu Gate, killing the Crown Prince Li Jiancheng and the Prince of Qi, Li Yuanji, and finally imprisoning Emperor Gaozu, Li Yuan, to successfully ascend the throne.

The background of this event was so similar to the current situation of the Great Yang Imperial Family that it was hard not to overthink it.

Others were ecstatic, like the First Prince and the Fourth Prince…

In their view, the ending of the Incident at Xuanwu Gate was the Prince of Qin successfully killing Crown Prince Li Jiancheng and Prince of Qi Li Yuanji and ascending the throne. Wasn’t this exactly the outcome they wanted today?

So listening to Xuanwu Gate at this time, wasn’t it both timely and fitting?

Emperor Yuanxi: “…”

Emperor Yuanxi couldn’t help but wipe his old face, deeply feeling that implementing the policy prohibiting marriage between close relatives within three generations might be the second most correct decision he made after becoming Emperor.

—The first was installing Ao Ruize as the Crown Prince.

Emperor Yuanxi simply said, “Fine, fine, sing it, sing it!”

So, a grand play officially kicked off.

However, Ao Ruize’s attention at this moment wasn’t on the play at all.

He looked at Xia Jingyao, who was sitting not far below.

Even though the key ministers were also wearing bright red court robes, Ao Ruize still spotted him at a glance in the crowd.

Vermilion lips and white teeth, a straight nose and bright eyes; every gesture exuded elegance and charm. Especially those beautiful peach blossom eyes, which were also looking at him unscrupulously.

When had Ao Ruize ever seen the Dao Lord look like this—it was practically hooking his soul directly.

His Adam’s apple bobbed, and he couldn’t help but lift the wine cup in his hand and drain it in one go.

Little did he know that at this very moment, Xia Jingyao was also using his face as a side dish for the wine.

The First Prince, seeing this scene: “…”

Intuition told him that the atmosphere between Xia Jingyao and Ao Ruize seemed wrong.

A strong sense of unease suddenly rose in his heart.

But it was too late to think about this now.

Just then, the Fourth Prince gave him a meaningful glance.

Seeing the scene on the stage where ‘Li Shimin’ easily shot ‘Li Jiancheng’ dead, he instantly made up his mind.

The next second, the First Prince abruptly smashed the wine cup in his hand onto the ground.

Immediately after, piercing sounds of objects breaking through the air rang out from outside, followed by several fireworks exploding in the sky.

Then, with the synchronized sound of blades unsheathing, the soldiers responsible for guarding the surroundings all drew their swords and aimed them at the civil and military officials at the banquet.

Sounds of killing also came from the distance.

It happened so suddenly that the actors on stage screamed instantly upon seeing the scene.

The other officials present finally reacted.

“What is happening?”

“What do you want to do?”

…

Until the First Prince shouted loudly, “Everyone shut up—”

The soldiers holding weapons immediately advanced two steps.

The scene instantly fell silent.

Emperor Yuanxi, on the throne, slowly put down the wine cup in his hand. He said finally, “Eldest, Fourth, it’s not too late for you to stop now—”

“Stop? And hand over the immense rivers and mountains to Zhao Ruize?”

The speaker was none other than the Fourth Prince, who stood up abruptly.

“Does a cripple like him deserve it?”

First Prince: “Imperial Father, don’t blame us for being rebellious and unfilial. If you must blame someone, blame yourself for being too biased. You’d rather pass the throne to that cripple Zhao Ruize than to us.”

Hearing the First and Fourth Princes calling him a “cripple” repeatedly, the officials present couldn’t help looking up at Ao Ruize.

The next second, some people’s expressions froze on the spot, while others instantly relaxed.

They saw that not only did Ao Ruize show no sign of panic, but he also continued to drink his wine leisurely.

Hearing this, Emperor Yuanxi couldn’t help saying, “What does this have to do with bias?”

“Isn’t it because you two are too stupid?”

The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. “I have seen a true dragon; how could I still look at you small fries?”

First Prince & Fourth Prince: “…”

Other officials present: “…”

The First and Fourth Princes’ eyes turned red instantly.

They never expected that, even at this point, Emperor Yuanxi would still protect Ao Ruize, even going so far as to humiliate them in front of the entire court.

But they truly didn’t dare to actually do anything to Emperor Yuanxi.

After all, even Li Shimin didn’t dare to commit patricide!

But if they couldn’t touch Emperor Yuanxi, could they not handle Ao Ruize?

Thinking of this, the Fourth Prince immediately tried to snatch a long sword from a guard beside him to hack Ao Ruize.

Who knew that the next second, the guard actually dodged directly.

At first, the Fourth Prince didn’t react. He cursed, “Why are you dodging? Give me the sword!”

Since this banquet was hosted by Consort Xian’s father, the Duke of Zhenguo, the guards arranged were naturally his people.

So these guards should naturally obey his orders.

But unexpectedly, hearing this, the guard not only didn’t hand over the sword but subconsciously looked toward Ao Ruize on the high seat.

The Fourth Prince’s expression froze instantly.

Along with it, the smugness in the First Prince’s eyes also vanished for the most part.

They finally realized something was wrong.

Just then, Ao Ruize turned to Emperor Yuanxi on the throne. “Let’s end it here; don’t spoil everyone’s good mood.”

He originally thought a grand scene like a rebellion would be interesting to watch.

But now he just felt it was dull and flavorless.

Blame the First and Fourth Princes for not being able to play even a single trick.

Hearing this, the First Prince, Fourth Prince, and others: “…”

Emperor Yuanxi, who was originally a bit sad: “…”

Instantly not sad anymore.

“Drag them all down and lock them in the Clan Court.”

Before his voice fell, half of the guards in the hall who were facing them withdrew their swords, while the other half filed out and rushed toward the First and Fourth Princes and their cohorts.

The First and Fourth Princes were completely stunned.

“Stop! Everyone stop—”

It was their confidants who reacted first, drawing their swords to protect them behind their backs.

Seeing this, the guards were also afraid of actually hurting the princes, so they subconsciously stopped their movements.

Emperor Yuanxi saw this and said angrily, “Unfilial sons! Things have reached this point, and you still refuse to come to your senses?”

Only then did the First and Fourth Princes realize.

Although they were stupid, if they still didn’t know by now that Emperor Yuanxi and Ao Ruize had long known their plan, they would have lived in vain all these years.

The First Prince was in disbelief. “How is this possible?”

Their plan was supposed to be seamless.

The Fourth Prince immediately turned to look at Shen Dong, the Supervising Army Commissioner of the Divine Machine Battalion, and Yu Yongwang, the Deputy Supervising Army Commissioner of the Five Military Camps.

Only to find them both looking at him expressionlessly.

The answer was already obvious.

Their defection to him was fake.

All of this was Zhao Ruize’s conspiracy.

The purpose was to root them out completely.

And Emperor Yuanxi knew all of this, yet allowed Ao Ruize to act against them.

The Fourth Prince’s eyes turned red instantly.

“Imperial Father, even now, you still say you aren’t biased?”

Emperor Yuanxi laughed out of anger.

He hadn’t expected that even at this point, these two idiots still refused to accept their fate.

“I am indeed biased, but from beginning to end, the ones I was biased towards were you two—”

“Have you forgotten how I wiped your asses when you leaked the news about the Crown Prince’s… inability?”

“Even later, when the matter was exposed, how I protected you.”

“You committed such a huge mistake, yet you were merely fined some salary and sent to the Imperial Mausoleum to play for a few months.”

“The Crown Prince achieved so many merits, yet he could only swallow all his grievances.”

Most importantly—

“Did the Crown Prince force you to rebel?”

At the end, Emperor Yuanxi didn’t want to bother with them anymore. He waved his hand directly. “Arrest them all. If there is resistance, kill on the spot—”

Hearing this, the faces of the First and Fourth Princes completely cracked.

They knew they had lost.

They were completely finished!

No—

They weren’t finished yet.

As if thinking of something, a ray of hope suddenly burst from the First Prince’s eyes.

He still had Xia Jingyao, and the fifty thousand troops of the Five Military Camps!

Just then, the sounds of killing outside the hall got closer and closer. Immediately after, a troop rushed in.

It was none other than soldiers from the Five Military Camps.

“Hahahaha.”

The First Prince laughed loudly on the spot.

“Imperial Father, so what if you look down on me? So what if you calculate everything perfectly? I have the Duke of Wei’s assistance; the final victor will still be me!”

Beside him, Consort Xian couldn’t help but laugh along.

Who knew that the next second, the leading general sheathed his sword and knelt toward Emperor Yuanxi. “Reporting to Your Majesty, all rebel forces outside the palace have been executed.”

Hearing this, before the Fourth Prince and others could retract the smugness on their faces, their vision went black.

The First Prince turned his head immediately. “Jingyao, what exactly is going on?”

Then he realized. “You betrayed me too?”

“Are you crazy?”

Xia Jingyao lowered his eyes slightly, said nothing, and just raised his wine cup again to drain the wine in one gulp.

He thought, I might really be crazy.

Otherwise, why would I choose to help Zhao Ruize?

The First Prince couldn’t believe it, so his voice instantly became hysterical:

“Didn’t you admire me since childhood? Weren’t you devoted to me? How could you betray me and side with Zhao Ruize?”

But the next second, his words were interrupted.

It was Ao Ruize, who hadn’t spoken for a while.

Sitting high on the imperial steps, his right hand resting on the table, his eyebrows raised slightly:

“He admired you since childhood?”

“This Solitary One (I) is his pillow partner.”

“So if he doesn’t help me, who else would he help?”

Boom!

This statement was no less than a thunderbolt from a clear sky.

Xia Jingyao looked up abruptly at Ao Ruize.

Meeting his eyes, which were unabashedly filled with love, at this moment, Xia Jingyao felt his breath and his chest boiling over.

However…

Emperor Yuanxi at the side: “…”

All civil and military officials present: “…”