Chapter 67: Chapter Sixty-Seven Now Is the Best Time to Leave

Chapter 67: Now Is the Best Time to Leave

"With all this excitement today, how could I be missing?"

Wei Yan stepped in over the shattered door panel, his outer robe soaked in blood, its original color unrecognizable. The tip of the long sword in his hand dripped with blood, like a bloodthirsty asura claiming lives.

"Fifth Brother, what are you doing?"

The Crown Prince had long known of his intent to rebel, yet now he feigned ignorance as if it were real.

"What am I doing?" Wei Yan curled his lips mockingly, a smirk on his face. "Can't you see, Imperial Brother? I'm staging a coup."

As his words fell, a squad of murderous rebels surged in through the broken door, while the courtyard outside was already completely surrounded.

The old emperor's face was dark, his jaw tight, the anger and disappointment in his eyes impossible to suppress.

No one present was a fool; the Prince of Qi's coup was a foregone conclusion.

Wei Zheng subtly glanced sideways at the group of palace maids and eunuchs. The hidden guards and imperial assassins mixed among them instantly understood his intention, slowly retreating under the cover of the crowd until they reached the outermost edge, then vanishing into the shadows with a flicker.

Just as he was about to withdraw his gaze after seeing the hidden guards leave safely, the corner of his eye caught a trembling figure hiding in a corner. He frowned slightly, feeling a vague sense of familiarity but unable to pinpoint anything amiss. As he was about to observe more closely, the old emperor said something, and Wei Yan suddenly snapped into a rage, kicking a shattered door panel away.

The door panel smashed against the courtyard wall, splintering into pieces with a loud crash. The servants in the courtyard were terrified, their muffled sobs hung in the air. Wei Yan shot a cold glare their way, and they immediately fell silent, as if their necks had been squeezed shut.

"Let bygones be bygones? Do you really take me for a fool, you old man?"

He narrowed his eyes venomously, no longer bothering to maintain his usual facade of filial piety, his tone utterly disrespectful.

Zhao Fu pointed at his nose. "How dare you! How dare you speak to His Majesty so treasonously? He is your father!"

Wei Yan laughed as if he had heard the biggest joke, bellowing with mad laughter. "I regarded him as my Imperial Father, but did he ever see me as a son? In his eyes, how am I any different from those lowly servants?"

His face suddenly turned cold as he pointed at Wei Zheng, who had remained silent and detached, as if watching a play. "We are both his sons. Why does Seventh get to be enfeoffed as a prince and stay in the capital simply because he is doted on, while I am sent away to a fiefdom?"

"In what way am I inferior to this waste? The Crown Prince has held his position for so many years without virtue, merit, nor achievement, yet simply because he is the legitimate heir, the throne should rightfully be his?"

He listed grievances one after another, criticizing Wei Zheng and the Crown Prince from head to toe, making it seem as though he was the unrecognized talent and the old emperor was blind.

The old emperor was so enraged that he pointed at Wei Yan, stuttering "you, you, you" for a long time without managing to say a word.

Wei Yan snorted coldly. A guard at his side brought forward a tray holding ink, brush, and an open, unwritten pink wax-treated paper.

Simultaneously, the rebels who had flooded into the courtyard swept their spears, pointing the tips directly at everyone present.

He was clearly forcing the old emperor to write an abdication edict.

Wei Yan was overflowing with confidence. The capital and the palace were already in his grasp, and even the lives of his rivals, the Crown Prince and Wei Zheng, were in his power. When and how to kill them was entirely up to him.

He couldn't help but strike the pose of a victor, raising the long sword in his hand and wiping the blood off the blade with his thumb.

"If Imperial Father writes the abdication edict promptly, I, as your son, will naturally ensure you are well cared for in your old age and given a proper burial. But if you refuse to cooperate—"

Without another word, he flicked his wrist slightly, twirling the sword into a small flourish.

"Your son wouldn't mind adding the shame of killing his father and seizing the throne to his name."

The old emperor had already gotten over his initial anger. He took a deep breath and rebuked Wei Yan sternly, "Do you truly intend to become a traitor? I give you only this one chance."

"Haha..."

Wei Yan burst into laughter, feeling for the first time that his cunning and shrewd Imperial Father was so naive and ridiculous.

"Since I dared to raise an army and rebel, I never considered turning back. This abdication edict—you will write it, whether you want to or not!"

"In that case, I understand."

The old emperor sighed softly. "Wei Zheng, give the order."

"Leave no survivors."

With that, he turned and let Zhao Fu support him as he walked toward the house. Though his figure was aged and stooped, it exuded a stern and unyielding aura.

Under the stunned and bewildered gazes of the Crown Prince and Wei Yan, Wei Zheng shed his previously sickly appearance, straightening his back energetically and saluting with clasped hands to the old emperor's retreating figure. "As you command, Imperial Father."

As his words fell, deafening war drums sounded from outside, their rhythm dense and urgent, shattering the night wind with their vibrations.

Wei Yan was arrogant and self-important. He had never regarded Wei Zheng as a threat, believing that his thousand-strong rebel army was more than enough to capture the Virtuous Prince. But faced with several times that number of Imperial Guards and Capital Garrison soldiers, they were utterly outmatched.

The sounds of fighting echoed incessantly, and the one-sided situation was instantly reversed. Wei Yan's expression grew increasingly grim.

At that moment, the Minister of War, Lord Wang, and the head of the Imperial Guards escorted a disheveled Crown Prince of Huainan and Wang Xi, who had lost an arm, into the courtyard.

The Imperial Guard head knelt on one knee, saluting Wei Zheng with a clasped-hand salute. "The rebel generals have been captured. We await your orders, Virtuous Prince."

Without their leaders, the rebels were nothing but a rabble. Their annihilation was only a matter of time. Wei Yan's cause was lost, and he could hardly believe he had been defeated so quickly.

He had taken the palace with unstoppable force, standing just one step away from the throne. Why had he suddenly failed?

Wei Yan suddenly thought of something and glared furiously at Wei Zheng, his eyes bloodshot as he roared, "You plotted against me together!"

Wei Zheng had never been poisoned. The so-called marriage to a male consort for luck was just a trap waiting for him to jump into!

They had detected his rebellious intentions from the very beginning, allowing him to make one misstep after another, all to righteously eliminate him.

How vicious! Their hearts are worthy of punishment!

Wei Yan had clearly misunderstood. Wei Zheng raised an eyebrow with a smirk and said, "Fifth Brother, you are mistaken. My marriage to Sui Yun was sincere, and you—we simply went with the flow, inviting you into the trap."

To think that they would stage a fake marriage just to kill him—Wei Yan was giving himself too much credit.

Wei Zheng, as if this wasn't provoking enough, added coldly, "If Fifth Brother had no intention of staging a coup, how could you have fallen into this trap? Imperial Father gave you a chance to repent, but alas..."

These words were nothing short of adding insult to injury.

"I'll kill you!"

Wei Yan snapped into a rage on the spot, his eyes blood-red. Gripping his long sword, he charged recklessly toward Wei Zheng.

Wei Zheng remained composed, not even moving a muscle. The hidden guards and assassins disguised as princely manor guards naturally moved to protect him.

Wei San, mixed in the crowd, had already reached the wall by then. He concealed himself in the shadows, flipped his wrist, and raised his hand, several poison needles glinting with a faint green glow now pinched between his fingers.

The reason he hadn't left immediately was to stay and eliminate the Fifth Prince for his master. Though the Fifth Prince's rebellion was a crime punishable by death, the world never considers the reasons behind patricide and fratricide. He couldn't bear to let his master bear the infamy of killing his brother. Let the blame for the Fifth Prince's death fall on him instead.

Under the cover of the crowd, Wei San launched the poison needles. The moment he saw them pierce the Fifth Prince's body, he turned and left without looking back.

The poison needles were tiny, and almost no one noticed when they pierced Wei Yan's body. They only saw the once-frenzied swordsman suddenly go rigid, his face turning red and purple, before he gave a cry, vomited blood, and collapsed to the ground.

Wei Zheng had already sensed something wrong earlier. He feared that the longer he stayed, the harder it would be to escape.

Now was the perfect moment to leave.

The poison on the needles was potent and aggressive, but it wasn’t enough to kill the fifth prince instantly. When Wei Zheng stepped forward and kicked him onto his back, he was still conscious. His mouth gaped open, his throat emitting a gurgling, raspy sound, while blood gushed from his mouth like a spring, flowing out unceasingly.

He stared with wide-eyed disbelief, unable to comprehend how he had come to such an end.

Wei Yan lingered for just a few more breaths before finally dying, his eyes bulging and staring wide in death.

Wei Zheng looked down at Wei Yan’s miserable state in death, but felt no pleasure from having killed his enemy. Instead, he frowned deeply, extremely uneasy.

He thought of the two servants he was deeply concerned about, turned to order the imperial guards’ commander to handle the cleanup, and hurried away.

The crown prince, who had witnessed the entire upheaval, watched his departing figure with a dark expression, a flash of ruthlessness in his eyes.

Wei Zheng’s demonstrated abilities now represented a serious threat to him—he had to eliminate Wei Zheng as quickly as possible.