"Is this true?" Consort Shu gripped her son's arm tightly with her slender fingers, her fingertips almost digging into the brocade sleeve.
On the gilded candlesticks in the bedroom, the candlelight flickered violently, casting shadows on his exceptionally pale face.
"Mother, it's absolutely true!" The Crown Prince struggled to sit up.
"Three months later, the rebel army attacked the city. Father Emperor fled with his concubine, and Mother Empress and I followed behind. However, on the way, Father Emperor complained that we were slowing down the carriage and stabbed you and several other concubines to death with a sword!"
Outside the window, the wind and snow howled, battering the carved window frames. The prince's words were interrupted by a sudden gust of cold wind, and the gilded bells hanging at the four corners of the bed jingled softly.
Consort Shu slumped on the brocade carpet, the hem of her crimson palace dress spreading out like flower petals. Her trembling fingers unconsciously caressed the jade bracelet on her wrist, but the icy touch could not calm the turbulent waves in her heart.
"Your son was also crushed to death by Father Emperor's strange giant hand while trying to protect your life! Father Emperor is a madman, he has become a demon, he killed the second, third and fourth sons! He doesn't care about his own children at all!"
The prince spoke tremblingly, his face pale.
Consort Shu's expression grew increasingly flustered.
The crown prince's words perfectly matched her dream from a few days ago. That night, she dreamt that she was kneeling in the mud, the hem of the emperor's bright yellow dragon robe flashing past her eyes, followed by a sharp pain in her chest.
The dream was so real that when she woke up, she could even recall the metallic taste of blood rushing to her throat as the blade pierced her chest.
Consort Shu always believed that this was all the fault of that wicked concubine. Without the other party's provocation, how could she have ended up like this in Wangzhong?
These past few days, she has been going to the Hall of Mental Cultivation to inquire about the situation, hoping to find out the specific details of that vixen.
However, after listening to her son's words today, Consort Shu realized that this was not a dream at all, but something that could very well happen in the future!
The culprit wasn't the so-called demon concubine, but the emperor, who never took them seriously from the beginning!
"Mother, we can't continue like this in a daze. We must think of a solution in advance. Mother, I am your only son. You must support me!"
Consort Shu was shaken by her son for a long time, and finally gritted her teeth. "Son, don't worry, whatever you do, your mother will support you!"
With his mother's approval, the Crown Prince immediately got out of bed, closed the door to the room, and said decisively, "Mother, Father's attempt to kill me in the carriage may seem like a last resort, but in reality, he probably had the intention to kill me all along!"
Outside the palace, the palace maids on night duty wrapped themselves tightly in their cotton-padded coats and paced back and forth in the corridor to keep warm.
They vaguely heard the sound of porcelain shattering coming from the inner room, but no one dared to go forward to check, since Consort Shu hated servants meddling in other people's business.
Inside the room, His Highness the Crown Prince seemed to whisper like a demon.
"Since Father will deal with me sooner or later, can't we just sit here and wait to die?"
"Mother, you must come with me..."
"opposite!"
The words struck like a thunderclap. Consort Shu staggered backward, the tassels of her nine-phoenix pearl hairpin swaying violently, drawing messy golden lines in the candlelight.
Her back pressed against the cold sandalwood screen, the embroidered phoenix and bird motif on it digging painfully into her skin.
But recalling the decisive sword strike in his dream, he finally closed his eyes.
Her voice trembled, and her nails dug deeply into her palms: "My son, His Majesty is immoral."
"Tomorrow at midnight, I will ask my maternal grandfather to join you in purging the court of corrupt officials!"
"Mother, I knew it, only you love me the most!" The Crown Prince said, tears streaming down his face.
"However, we cannot act rashly! Mother, you may not know, but the sorceress beside Father is an extremely powerful demon. She can grant Father extraordinary abilities, making him more powerful than any other extraordinary person!"
"If it weren't for being chased by that even more powerful demon from the Yan Kingdom, Father Emperor would never have had to escape this palace!"
"Although my maternal grandfather is the Grand General who protects the country and holds military power in the Northwest, the entire Northwest Army consists of ordinary soldiers. How can they possibly contend with the extraordinary talents that my father has secretly cultivated, and with that vixen who protects him?"
"Mother, we must find an even more powerful demon and stand on its side!"
Consort Shu was shocked. She covered her mouth abruptly and said in disbelief, "Are you talking about that powerful national advisor of Yan?"
Who in the world doesn't know that the emperor of Yan was bewitched by a wicked imperial advisor?
But no one dared to question it to his face, naturally because that national advisor had extraordinary connections and was incredibly powerful.
So what if everyone in the world knows? No one can do anything about it!
"Son, working with that Imperial Advisor is like asking a tiger for its skin! And didn't you say it yourself? Three months later, it was he who personally hunted down His Majesty, which led to our current predicament!"
However, the Crown Prince shook his head repeatedly: "Mother, we only have this one path to take, there is no other choice!"
"What the Grand Preceptor of Yan wants is the tribute from Liang, the position of Grand Preceptor of Liang, and to make the people of Liang worship him as well?"
"That emperor of Yan could do it. So can I! Only in this way can we save our lives!"
The crown prince raised his pale face, his eyes gleaming with a sickly light.
However, the next second, he coughed violently, and a trickle of blood spilled from the corner of his mouth, blooming as a glaring red plum blossom on the snow-white collar of his undershirt.
Consort Shu hurriedly tried to wipe her son's hands with a handkerchief, only to find that they were as cold as ice.
"I'll listen to you, son, I'll listen to you!"
Outside the window, a gust of wind whipped up snowflakes that lashed against the windowpane, making a rustling sound.
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