Wenchuzhu clenched his hands tightly within his cloud sleeves, his fingernails piercing into his flesh, yet he felt no pain whatsoever.
He could not accept the reality that Yu’er had been taken hostage by Xie Huai, convincing himself that Xie Huai was merely deceiving him, especially since jade pendants could easily be replicated.
“I want to see Yu’er,” Wenchuzhu demanded. “If I do not see Yu’er within a quarter of an hour, I will have you killed.”
The actors were still singing Executing the Treacherous Minister on stage, while the ministers in the banquet hall all watched the two men standing at daggers drawn.
Was the Great Zhou Dynasty about to undergo a drastic upheaval?
Bai Rong, the Junior Vice Minister of Rites, stared at Wenchuzhu with an unfathomable gaze.
The atmosphere in the grand hall grew intensely tense.
Xie Huai, however, unhurriedly picked up his teacup and slowly took a sip of tea. “That night when this prince went to your bedchamber, I already discovered that you had someone hidden in your room.”
Lifting his eyelids, he glanced at Wenchuzhu’s expression, which could no longer remain calm, let out a soft laugh, and continued: “At the time, you were holding a teacup, and this prince did not see the night-watch eunuch. Even if you poured the water yourself despite your sickly constitution, the direction in which the teapot was placed was wrong, that position clearly indicated someone had entered from outside to pour it for you.”
After all, Wenchuzhu had still underestimated Xie Huai’s powers of observation, never expecting him to be so meticulous to a fault.
“From this, this prince could deduce all the more that the time you slipped out of the palace and lost your trace was spent negotiating with someone to plot my assassination.”
Xie Huai’s eyes were like a bottomless, freezing abyss, concealing emotions that made it impossible for anyone to see through him.
Wenchuzhu felt as though he were being stripped away layer by layer by the man, left with no secrets to speak of.
“Starting my search from the brothels, this prince followed the clues step by step until I finally determined that the person collaborating with you was the Marquis of Anding, Murong Jue.”
Wenchuzhu closed his phoenix eyes, knowing already that this time, he had lost.
Yet Xie Huai pressed forward step by step, determined to completely crush Wenchuzhu so that he would never have the strength to resist again.
“After the two of you agreed on the strategy to deal with this prince, you simply waited for the right moment to arrive. The so-called right moment was nothing more than my birthday today, assuming that the guards securing the imperial palace would slack off as a result.”
He laughed coldly. “I would not slack off; instead, I would even reinforce the military strength guarding the palace. Yet, to cater to this Feast at Hongmen you prepared for me, I deliberately withdrew the greater part of my forces.”
Wenchuzhu opened his eyes, meeting Xie Huai’s disdainful gaze.
From those eyes, Wenchuzhu could tell that Xie Huai had never once taken this palace coup seriously.
“Yu’er is your entire world. Before the palace coup, you would naturally place him in the place you believed to be the safest, the secret chamber in the Eastern Palace. Since I control the entire imperial palace, how could there possibly be a place unknown to me?”
Xie Huai uttered each word distinctly: “Your Majesty, you simply cannot defeat this prince.”
With that, he leaned in close to Wenchuzhu and whispered in his ear, “Back when the Emperor was still wearing split-crotch trousers, this prince was already practicing martial arts and beginning to plot how to get my hands on you.”
A faint flash of anger crossed Wenchuzhu’s face as he clenched his jaw. “No matter what, at this very moment the palace is controlled by me. The moment I give a single command, you are guaranteed to die.”
“It doesn’t matter; the Crown Prince and this prince shall die together, so I won’t feel lonely on the path to the Yellow Springs.” Xie Huai threatened Wenchuzhu with blatant, naked audacity.
Even though Wenchuzhu could kill him at this very moment, Yu’er was being held hostage by him. Left completely helpless, Wenchuzhu could only say, “Hand Yu’er over, and I will spare you.”
Xie Huai chuckled derisively. “Your Majesty, how can you still be so foolish? You do not possess the qualifications to negotiate with this prince.”
Wenchuzhu furrowed his brow tightly, glaring with burning hatred at Xie Huai.
Seeing this, Xie Huai spoke with a bone-chilling coldness: “Your temper has truly grown increasingly spoiled by my pampering over the years. It seems I must properly discipline the Emperor in public, completely dismantling that shred of your pride so that you will yield to me and become a submissive, humble puppet emperor.”
With those words, he reached out a hand to yank at Wenchuzhu.