Chapter 108 The Sickly and Tyrannical Crown Prince 6

After Xie Rong finished speaking, his legs went weak and he sat down on the carpet, his thin shoulders trembling from his incessant coughing.

His black hair was loose, and behind the strands of hair, one could vaguely see his bright red face, which was filled with a manic and delirious laugh.

Lu Yuanju's face was blank, the wound on his back stuck to his clothes, still dripping blood.

"If I were the Emperor, I wouldn't have left even one of you from the northern frontier alive," Xie Rong muttered to himself, his hands no longer able to support his body, so he simply leaned against a slave. "If I killed them all, the whole world would belong to me."

"That fool, Father, used the pretext of my illness to send troops, but he was cowardly and hypocritical, like a coward."

"But when it came to the women in the harem who followed him, he suddenly became hypocritical and could turn a blind eye to people dying in the inner palace."

“I am clearly more suited to be emperor,” Xie Rong couldn’t help but laugh again, blinking as he looked at Lu Yuanju. “Don’t you think so?”

Lu Yuanju looked at him as if he were a madman.

Xie Rong's expression immediately turned fierce. He slapped him across the face, almost unable to catch his breath. "I'm asking you a question!"

Lu Yuanju suppressed his family and national hatred and uttered a single word: "Yes."

“I destroyed your country, and you still answer yes, you’re really despicable,” Xie Rong said weakly, slapping his face with his cold hand. “But I like despicable dogs like you.”

"You lowly dog, do you want my reward?"

The Crown Prince of the Celestial Empire in front of him was half-mad and half-awake, and his words showed no regard for the lives of others or his own.

Lu Yuanju replied blankly, "I don't want to."

Xie Rong slapped him again.

Lu Yuanju gritted his teeth, wishing he could stare a hole through his face. "Yes."

"Then crawl over here."

He wanted to see what tricks this sickly prince was up to with his so-called reward.

Lu Yuanju lifted his shirt, gritted his teeth and swallowed the humiliation, and crawled toward Xie Rong.

Then he saw Xie Rong lift the hem of his nightgown, revealing his legs that weren't wearing underwear.

Lu Yuanju's gaze instantly darkened.

"Come a little closer," Xie Rong said with a dismissive look, as if he were looking at a vicious dog that he had anticipated, or as if he were looking through him at someone he was close to.

Lu Yuanju pinched him... and unconsciously used...

A black vortex gathered in his deep eyes.

Only by enduring hardship and biding their time can a defeated nation have a glimmer of hope for survival.

Therefore, nothing is not worth sacrificing.

Lu Yuanju... lowered his head.

Xie Rong... raised his head.

...

The wound on Lu Yuanju's back had become infected and festered, which might soil the Crown Prince's bed. Therefore, from this day forward, the person warming the bed was changed from Lu Yuanju to other slaves in the low room.

When Lu Yuanju learned of this, he was applying medicine to the wound on his back.

It wasn't some top-quality wound medicine, just a few chewed pieces of herbs.

"Brother Lu? Brother Lu?!"

Lu Yuanju frowned: "What is it?"

“Ever since you returned from that sickly prince’s bedchamber this morning, you’ve been distracted,” a prisoner of war from the northern frontier asked with concern. “Brother Lu, has the prince tormented you again?”

Lu Yuanju bit his clothes, tore off a strip of cloth, and wrapped it around his wound, avoiding answering, "What did you say just now?"

“Oh, just now that prince’s lackey came to deliver a message, saying that you don’t need to go to the bedchamber tonight, Brother Lu, but the rest of us can take turns,” the prisoner of war from the northern frontier continued. “That’s good too. We brothers share joys and sorrows. No matter how he tries to humiliate us, we’re tough and strong. What are we afraid of, a sickly devil like him?!”

The prisoners of war echoed him with great enthusiasm.

It's nothing more than whipping and beating people with sticks; they're not afraid of that!

Seeing Lu Yuanju's somber expression, everyone quickly offered him comforting words.

"Brother Lu, you don't need to worry about us. You've done enough for us."

"Yes, yes, let the second brother go first today, the third brother tomorrow, and the fourth brother the day after! We must let that prince know that even if we warriors from the northern frontier become prisoners of war, we will not desert. Let him come at us."

They understood that the crown prince was seriously ill and locked himself in the Eastern Palace every day, which had caused him mental problems. He simply liked to grab people to torture and vent his anger.

Therefore, he comforted Lu Yuanju even more sincerely.

Lu Yuanju left without saying a word, his face stern.

Everyone was confused, but they didn't take it too seriously.

The second-ranking prisoner of war was taken away by the eunuchs at dawn.

Lu Yuanju was chopping firewood outside the low house.

“Brother Lu, it’s time to rest. Do you really want to work wholeheartedly for that prince? Besides, your back injury hasn’t healed yet.”

"Brother Lu, are you worried about the second brother?"

A piece of firewood was chopped to pieces, and the axe was deeply embedded in the stake.

Lu Yuanju squatted down, stared at the axe, and suddenly kicked it hard, knocking the axe off the wooden stake and back into his hand.

He continued chopping wood with a blank expression.

After daybreak, the second prisoner of war returned.

“Brother Lu…” The second prisoner of war looked up and saw Lu Yuanju chopping wood as if he were chopping off a person’s head. He was stunned and stood there.

"You're back?" Lu Yuanju dropped the axe, looked up and scanned him, then suddenly scoffed, "Looks like he didn't do anything to you."

The second son's face suddenly turned red, and after stammering for a while, he finally managed to say, "Um..."

“The Northern Frontier and the Celestial Empire are sworn enemies,” Lu Yuanju said calmly, leaning against the door with drooping eyelids. “Even if he hasn’t done anything to you, you must not let your guard down.”

The second son raised his voice, filled with righteous indignation: "Of course! This little prince, please use whatever means you have!"

"Woof woof woof!" Suddenly, the sound of a dog barking came from afar.

Lu Yuanju turned his head in the direction of the sound and saw a mastiff, even more robust than an adult man, running excitedly forward.

The palace guards who were holding the dog's leash were dragged to the ground by the mastiff, and they didn't dare to let go of the leash even after being dragged all the way.

“That’s the prince’s dog, named Xifeng,” the second son said.

Lu Yuanju glanced back at him and said, "You know quite a lot."

The second prince's face flushed red, and his voice was filled with anger: "That little prince sent me to his bedchamber last night just to watch me and his Xifeng fight over a dog bone. I was almost bitten to death by that dog! I would recognize that dog even if it turned to ashes!"

“Oh,” Lu Yuanju raised an eyebrow and said casually, “It seems he won’t be asking you to warm his bed anymore.”

"Why?" the second son immediately asked.

“Because you didn’t let him have his fill of fun,” Lu Yuanju narrowed his eyes, scrutinized the dog for a while, and then smiled coldly, “Just an animal.”

In the days that followed, the people in the low house were called to the bedroom in turn, all to fight with the mastiff for things.

He treated people like animals, while the animals were treated as superior, using the Crown Prince's influence to swagger around in the Eastern Palace.

However, for some reason, the news of this matter spread from the Eastern Palace.

When the emperor learned that the crown prince's illness had improved, he not only failed to make progress but also watched animal fights in the Eastern Palace. Enraged, the emperor went to the Eastern Palace and reprimanded the prince.

When the emperor reprimanded her, the empress felt extremely distressed and stood in front of Xie Rong, wiping away her tears.

Why is her Rong'er so unlucky!

"Empress, your doting on him will ruin him sooner or later!" The emperor was so angry that his beard trembled.

"Mother, why are you stopping him?!" Xie Rong gasped for breath, her head maid patting her back to help her catch her breath. She vented her anger intermittently, "If you've got the guts, kill me!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he vomited a mouthful of blood, his thin body fell backward, slumped on the bed, his face as white as paper, and he fainted, with only half of his slender white wrist hanging by the side of the bed visible.