The sky darkened and then brightened again.
The Imperial Guards changed shifts at dawn, and those guarding outside Zichen were all Su Yuntian's men.
Su Mu slowly opened his eyes. His vision was blurry. He couldn't remember how long he had slept, but he felt a terrifying numbness in his body.
"Jin~" Su Mu wanted to call Jin Zhong to get him some water, but as soon as he opened his mouth, he found that his throat felt as if it had been cut by a sharp blade.
"Does Father wish to drink some water?" Su Mu closed his eyes and rested for a moment when a voice suddenly rang in his ears.
Su Mu slowly opened her eyes, gazing blankly at the shadow approaching her, and asked in confusion, "Yi'er?"
The shadow paused slightly before slowly straightening its body.
Suddenly, a cold laugh rang out. "Father, for the past month that you have been in a coma, I have been by your bedside the whole time. But when you woke up, you called out someone else's name. This truly chills my heart."
Su Mu called out again, somewhat belatedly, "Yun Tian?"
"Yes, Your Majesty," Su Yuntian replied respectfully.
During the days when Su Mu was in a coma, his consciousness was confused and he was in a daze all day long. There was always someone by his side who said some very disrespectful things to him. Sometimes he would accuse him of being decisive in killing, sometimes he would complain about his favoritism, and even accuse him of starting a relationship and then abandoning the person, and of being a bad ruler.
He desperately wanted to wake up and ordered his men to drag out and kill the person who was spouting nonsense. As the king of Dongyue, how could he allow others to make unwarranted comments about him?
However, no matter how hard he tried, no matter how desperately he shouted in the dark world, he could never wake up from his slumber.
He could only silently endure the disobedient and insubordinate words spoken to him by those around him every day.
He always thought to himself that if he continued to sleep like this, he would eventually be driven to his death by the person next to him.
Hearing Su Yuntian's voice now, which was exactly the same as the voice of the person in his dream, he knew that the person who had cursed him was Su Yuntian.
Su Mu squinted and turned to look at Su Yuntian, saying, "The person who has been by my side for the past month, uttering those treasonous words to me, is actually you?"
"That's right, it's your son."
Su Yuntian answered truthfully, and without finding anything wrong with it, he even asked Su Mu, "Father, do you think there is anything wrong with what I said?"
Su Mu did not answer Su Yuntian immediately; this Su Yuntian was both unfamiliar and familiar to him.
He was surprised that his eldest son, whom he had always thought would obey him, would so openly express his blatant disrespect.
Yet, this rebellious and cold-blooded Su Yuntian bears a striking resemblance to him when he was vying for the throne.
Su Mu closed his eyes tightly, and the two remained silent for a moment, as if waiting for the other to speak first.
After a long time, when Su Mu felt that his eyes were no longer dry and his throat was no longer tight and painful when he swallowed, he opened his eyes again.
Su Mu's eyes suddenly cleared, but when he looked at Su Yuntian, his face remained expressionless.
"I know you have always been ambitious, but I thought you would be self-aware and know your place!"
Su Yuntian smiled and said, "Your subject is well aware of his own identity, and that as your son, I rightfully have the right to inherit the throne."
"However, it seems that Father Emperor has forgotten his own identity, forgotten that I was once your proud eldest son! You only have eyes for Su Yi and his sister, have you ever given your son a second glance?"
Su Mu stared at Su Yuntian with icy eyes, as cold as frost, and said sharply, "Do you hate me for not handing over the throne, which is why you've dealt me such a cruel blow?"
"Then does Father think I should hate you?" Su Yuntian asked rhetorically, his voice tinged with sarcasm.
Su Mu's voice was hoarse: "You should know that I was able to sit on this throne without the help of Yi'er's maternal family. Without the support of Yi'er's maternal family in the Southern Shu Kingdom, I would probably have died at the hands of your uncles long ago, and where would we be today?"
"So what's wrong with me passing the throne to Yi'er? Besides, Yi'er's maternal grandfather had no heirs, and the throne of the Southern Shu Kingdom will fall into Yi'er's hands sooner or later. At that time, Yi'er will be able to rule the Eastern Yue Kingdom and the Southern Shu Kingdom together, and our Eastern Yue Kingdom will be strong for generations to come, and will be invincible forever."
Su Yuntian chuckled softly, his laughter as chilling as a biting wind.
“They are all your sons. Since Su Yi already has the Southern Shu Kingdom, why can’t Father Emperor give the Eastern Yue Kingdom to his son? Besides, how does Father Emperor know that after I inherit the Eastern Yue Kingdom, I won’t be able to annex the Southern Shu Kingdom as well?”
Su Mu coldly replied, "You can't do it! With the current strength of our Dongyue Kingdom, we are simply no match for the Nanshu Kingdom. Even if I were to cede Dongyue Kingdom to you now, your attempt to attack Nanshu Kingdom would be like throwing an egg against a rock!"
"What if I join forces with Kitasaki?"
Su Yuntian smiled, but his eyes were as sharp as knives as he looked at Su Mu and spoke softly. When Su Mu saw Su Yuntian's crazed smile, he seemed to wake from a dream, as if struck by lightning. He looked at Su Yuntian in astonishment.
Looking at Su Mu before him, Su Yuntian felt a surge of pleasure. “Father, why are you looking at me with such surprise? To tell you the truth, when I was sent as an envoy to Beiqi, I reached an agreement with their old emperor that once I successfully ascended the throne, I would cede three prefectures and counties near Yanmen Pass to Beiqi.”
Su Yuntian smiled slightly at Su Mu and continued in a light tone, "The condition is that they help me seize the Southern Shu Kingdom."
Su Mu's chest heaved violently with anger, her breathing rapid. "You unfilial son!"
"Hahaha..." Su Yuntian laughed wildly, "If we're talking about unfilial sons, I'm ashamed to admit that I'm not as good as your precious Su Yi. Not only does he look down on you all, but he also shamelessly harbors ill intentions towards his sister-in-law! He dares to do such a thing that violates human ethics and morality. What else is he but an unfilial son?"
Thinking of Su Yi and Mu Jin, the smile on Su Yuntian's face gradually disappeared.
"I have respected you since I was a child. I dare not ask for your favoritism. I only ask that you be fair to me. Perhaps then my father and I would not have ended up like this today."
"However, you have disappointed me time and time again. Over the years, whatever you have asked me to do, I have done it without hesitation and done my best in everything you have asked me to do!"
"But you won't even give me a fair chance to compete with Su Yi. You didn't even consider my face and self-esteem, allowing A Jin to divorce me and making me suffer the scorn of the world!"
"Since Father Emperor is unwilling to pass the throne to his son smoothly, then his son will have no choice but to do everything in his power to seize it himself!"
Su Mu's eyes widened like copper bells as he roared angrily, "So, what exactly do you want to do now?"
Su Yuntian said calmly, "Father, we are father and son after all. I only ask for a perfect ending so that you can leave in peace."
"Your Majesty, it's almost time." A voice suddenly rang out, interrupting the conversation between the father and son.
Su Mu looked in the direction of the sound and saw Nangong Ce bowing to Su Yuntian.
Su Mu stared intently at Nangong Ce, then turned his head, his body trembling with rage, and questioned Su Yuntian, "I never imagined he was actually one of your men all along."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
