There were neither stars nor moon tonight. The palace road was cold and pitch-black, and a single dim lantern floated low in the air like ghost fire, swaying as it drifted deeper into the inner palace toward Qianchun Hall.
This was supposed to be the secluded place where the king recuperated from his illness, yet it was eerily deserted. Not a single royal guard stood watch outside. The lights within the hall were faint and murky, while looming shadows clung to the low-hanging curtains like waving ghostly hands. Accompanied by the faint sound of palace servants desperately suppressing their sobs, the place felt even more chilling and haunted.
When Yu Gong Ming arrived, someone had already reached the hall ahead of him. The aged, gaunt features of Duan Yang Shu Chang twitched faintly, but the wild joy in his eyes burned like fire. Struggling to restrain his excitement and not daring to say too much, he called out heavily in a trembling voice, “Ming’er!”
The premonition that his dream had finally come true grew ever clearer. Yu Gong Ming calmly nodded to him, then walked at an unhurried pace toward the royal couch screened by curtains of sea-silk gauze.
A rain-washed sky-blue porcelain bowl lay shattered before the couch. A puddle of cold noodle soup had half congealed across the polished palace floor. A thin figure lay quietly within the bed curtains, undisturbed by the people coming and going around him.
Prince Xiaohui stood tall beside the couch, dressed in black with a face like pale jade. His features were refined, but his expression was icy, like an underworld reaper dragged out of bed in the middle of the night to collect a life. Without asking whether Yu Gong Ming wanted to see, he raised a hand and swept the gauze curtains aside.
Yu Gong Lie lay on his back beneath the embroidered quilt, his eyes tightly closed. His chest showed no rise or fall, and his face and lips had taken on a dark bluish-purple hue.
“The king is dead,” Yu Gong Zhao Ye said succinctly.
“…”
Yu Gong Ming stared blankly at his elder brother’s corpse. At first, only his fingertips trembled, but the shaking soon spread through his bloodstream to his entire body. He suddenly swayed as though the ground had vanished beneath his feet. Before anyone could support him, he forced himself to stand firm, then bent over with trembling hands to check the corpse’s breathing.
“He’s dead?”
Unable even to trust his own senses, he turned to Yu Gong Zhao Ye for confirmation.
Those pale amber eyes, like a bird of prey’s, looked down at him from above. The undisguised mockery within them was just as cold, like an icy wind striking him full in the face. “Yes. He ate poisoned noodle soup. He was already dead when I arrived.”
Upon receiving his confirmation, Yu Gong Ming’s legs gave way. He dropped heavily onto the footstool, his back instantly soaked through with cold sweat, and released a long, feeble breath.
Yu Gong Zhao Ye’s long brows drew together slightly in distaste. He had never seen a murderer so excitable and utterly lacking in guile. Yu Gong Ming might as well have written I killed him across his face.
“I knew this would happen.” He urged him impatiently, “Get up. I called you into the palace so we could clean up the scene and discuss what to do next. Otherwise, if Fu Yu Wei and the others arrive and catch you in the act, you’ll have a hard time inheriting the throne.”
Duan Yang Shu Chang had entered a little earlier than Yu Gong Ming and had already adjusted to this earth-shattering good news. Seeing Yu Gong Zhao Ye’s unfriendly expression, he hurried forward to help Yu Gong Ming up. “His Highness is right. Third Prince, the king died suddenly of illness and had no time to leave a posthumous edict. You are the prince most qualified to succeed to the throne. We absolutely cannot leave behind any weakness at this final step.”
“I have already sent people to detain the cook who prepared the food, as well as the eunuchs and palace servants on duty tonight.” Yu Gong Zhao Ye asked, “How should they be dealt with?”
Yu Gong Ming said, “Kill them.”
Yu Gong Zhao Ye confirmed, “All of them?”
He did not explicitly ask, Even your own people among them? Yet the question itself revealed his displeasure. Yu Gong Ming’s eyes shifted toward him, and he suddenly grinned. “Royal Uncle, are you angry with me?”
The corner of Yu Gong Zhao Ye’s mouth twitched. “What?”
“Even you were fooled by me, weren’t you?” Yu Gong Ming smiled smugly. “On the journey back, I told you that Yu Gong Lie had leprosy. You thought I would seize upon that weakness, stop at nothing to expose the truth, and force him to abdicate voluntarily.”
“But neither you nor his trusted ministers considered that even if Yu Gong Lie truly did have leprosy, so long as he remained king, he still possessed the authority to choose his successor. He could adopt an heir from a collateral branch of the royal clan. I was never his only choice.”
“Isn’t a younger brother succeeding his deceased elder brother far more straightforward than ‘abdication in favor of the worthy’?”
The expression on Yu Gong Zhao Ye’s face, usually as still as an icy pool, finally rippled faintly.
Apart from a military coup, there were few threats in the world as powerful as leprosy when it came to shaking an adult sovereign who had already ascended the throne. Everyone had assumed that victory or defeat would be decided at the moment the truth was exposed. Their attention had been held hostage by the most fatal weakness of all, and they had devoted themselves entirely to dealing with the turmoil engulfing the city while anxiously awaiting Yu Gong Ming’s next move.
But that had merely been a diversion.
“When you told me you would not send your elder brother away, but would find an uninhabited place to ‘settle’ him and support him properly until the end of his life, you were deliberately pretending to be mad and foolish. In reality, you had planned from the beginning to send him to his death.”
“You publicly spread a prophetic verse, arranged for the crows to attack the royal carriage, and had your maternal grandfather muddy the waters in the Cabinet… Besieged on every side and pressed back step by step, the king was frightened into hiding deep within the palace, afraid to see anyone. Day and night, he guarded against the enemies outside, never imagining that the true killing intent was concealed in an inconspicuous bowl of food.”
Thus, when his mind and spirit were exhausted, the timely appearance of that bowl of hot noodle soup had effortlessly taken Yu Gong Lie’s life.
“Once he became neither human nor ghost, living would have been far more painful than dying. Was it not kind of me to help him find release sooner?” Yu Gong Ming said cheerfully. “Just a little pufferfish poison. A silver needle cannot detect it. Perhaps he even thought the noodle soup tasted especially delicious.”
“I see.” Yu Gong Zhao Ye looked thoughtful. “I had assumed Tian Qing was your man. It seems the insider was in the royal kitchen.”
Yu Gong Ming had no intention of revealing every part of his arrangement. Although no one could restrain him now, it would still be best if an accusation such as poisoning his elder brother did not spread.
“Tell your people to clean everything up thoroughly.”
That meant he accepted Yu Gong Zhao Ye’s submission, but did not completely trust him. Yu Gong Zhao Ye’s expression darkened. He said nothing, merely answering with a brief acknowledgment.
Yu Gong Ming watched the changes in his expression with great interest, an indescribable pleasure rising within him. Royal Uncle surely had no idea how fascinating he looked at that moment—anger hidden beneath the surface, yet forced to lower his head and submit.
Smiling, he casually reassured him, “Those paltry little tricks could have been performed by anyone. They cannot possibly compare with the merit Royal Uncle earned today by aiding a sovereign’s accession. Royal Uncle may set your mind at ease.”
Yu Gong Ming had always looked down on the weak and incapable Yu Gong Lie. Among all the princes and royal descendants, only Yu Gong Zhao Ye—who had taken command of Bihua at barely twenty years of age—was worthy of his high regard. Yet this brilliant talent, radiant as a pearl, happened to be a false prince, forever barred from the throne and destined to walk the path of loyalty to his sovereign until the bitter end.
Although Yu Gong Ming felt fortunate that he did not have to compete against him, he was also inexplicably resentful. Yu Gong Zhao Ye was merely an outsider’s bastard, yet he dared assume the posture of an elder and lecture him. Even Yu Gong Ming’s own maternal grandfather, Duan Yang Shu Chang, had hurried to flatter and ingratiate himself with him after learning he might inherit the throne. But Yu Gong Zhao Ye had never shown him the slightest warmth, opening his mouth only to mock and ridicule him, as though he were not a sovereign deserving of respect and loyalty at all.
No matter how capable he was, he was still nothing more than a mere assassin, something that could not be exposed to the light. Bihua was certainly important, but if a weapon turned on its master, then it was no divine weapon—it was a cursed blade.
“Royal Uncle.” Yu Gong Ming ran his tongue over the tips of his teeth and suddenly called out to stop Yu Gong Zhao Ye. “With the methods I displayed today, if I were placed within Bihua, I would at least be worthy of a seat among its ranks, wouldn’t I?”
Duan Yang Shu Chang: “…”
Had his precious grandson become so overjoyed that he had lost his mind? He was about to become king, yet he was still preoccupied with competing against an assassin. Could he possibly want Yu Gong Zhao Ye to take him in as a subordinate? Surely their positions were reversed.
Hearing this, Yu Gong Zhao Ye stopped in his tracks and turned around. For once, he looked Yu Gong Ming over properly with open curiosity.
After meeting his gaze for a moment, he finally revealed the faintest trace of a smile—rarer than a night-blooming flower and almost generous enough to be called tolerant.
“You needn’t worry.”
With a sweep of his hand, he tore down an opaque curtain beside the bed, revealing several Cabinet ministers standing behind it with twitching faces and varying expressions—as well as the very much alive Yu Gong Lie, whose face had turned livid with disgust at the words “support him until the end of his life.”
The lights outside the windows blazed to life, illuminating the hall in an instant until it was as bright as day.
Yu Gong Zhao Ye patiently finished the second half of his sentence. “Yeguang does not recruit anyone that stupid.”
Yu Gong Ming: “…”
Poor Duan Yang Shu Chang was already advanced in years and simply could not endure such a shock. His eyes rolled back, and he collapsed with a heavy thud.
“When committing a crime, the most important thing is to deny it to the bitter end. Someone like you, who bites the moment bait is lowered and starts spilling his heart before he has even succeeded, generally would not survive past the second day in our line of work.”
The former Bihua operative and current head of Yeguang solemnly rejected him. “Assassination is not the profession for you. Find another path.”
“You… all of you…”
Yu Gong Ming no longer cared about Bihua or Yeguang. He stared in terror and hatred at that pale, refined face. His complexion was ashen, and his teeth chattered uncontrollably. “You tricked me… You’re not dead!”
He abruptly turned to look at the “Yu Gong Lie” lying upon the bed. Afraid that he had not understood, Yu Gong Zhao Ye kindly reminded him from the side, “It’s fake.”
He had fallen into their trap.
Yu Gong Zhao Ye had used a false corpse to trick him into confessing his true intentions, making him smugly perform an entire spectacle of murdering his sovereign before an audience like a clown on a stage, thoroughly destroying any hope he had of inheriting the throne.
Yu Gong Ming clutched his forehead, his eyes bulging and bloodshot. Disjointed words poured chaotically from his mouth. “You… When did… Why… No, how could you possibly have predicted that I would poison you?!”
Yu Gong Lie lowered his eyes coldly and looked down at the soaked dog twisting and struggling upon the ground. “When the disturbance broke out during the return journey that day, Royal Uncle rescued me and suspected that someone might be creating a diversion. He therefore placed me under protection in a separate palace residence and had someone impersonate me, waiting to see who would leap out at such a moment.”
When Yu Gong Lie first heard that Yu Gong Ming had returned, his fury had driven him nearly out of his mind. He knew that what he truly felt was fear. For years, every nightmare he had suffered involved someone discovering his illness, the ministers driving him from the throne, and his being locked away in a lightless ditch.
But that day, Yu Gong Zhao Ye had descended like a divine warrior and carried him out from the attacking flock of crows, bringing him safely back to the palace. His attitude had remained as calm as ever, without showing the slightest disgust, and he had openly discussed how they should deal with the difficulties that followed. Suddenly, Yu Gong Lie had not felt quite so afraid.
“Why is Little Uncle still willing to help me?” he had asked haltingly. “I have that kind of disease. I am unfit to be king…”
Yu Gong Zhao Ye had lifted his eyelids and glanced at him, his face bearing a wordless blend of At least you possess some self-awareness and Why must I coax a child? He replied indifferently, “Of two evils, one chooses the lesser.”
Yu Gong Lie: “?”
“Compared with selling out the country, your problem is minor.” Yu Gong Zhao Ye picked up an orange and handed it to him, attempting to plug his mouth with food. “Whether someone is fit to rule a country depends on his ability to govern. Haven’t you done very well these past few years?”
He waved a hand, signaling for the king to amuse himself for a while, then turned away to supervise his subordinates at work.
Yu Gong Lie held the orange blankly. He thought that even Yu Gong Zhao Ye’s methods of comforting people were remarkably clumsy. He blinked, only then realizing that his aching eyes had already begun shedding tears.
“My brother, I am deeply disappointed in you.”
“Ha…”
Yu Gong Ming laughed in disgust and cursed viciously, “You have the nerve to be disappointed? You filthy monster stole the throne and deceived everyone under Heaven! How dare you stand here pretending to be benevolent!”
Yu Gong Lie sighed sorrowfully and looked with pity at his disappointing, wayward younger brother. That tolerant expression was astonishingly similar to Yu Gong Zhao Ye’s.
“Years ago, Yanyuan’s army reached the city walls, and Longsha was on the verge of destruction. Once their forces broke through, the king and crown prince would have been nothing but fish upon their chopping block.”
“I accepted the appointment in a moment of crisis and was named crown prince because I was the eldest son, your elder brother, and… someone destined to die sooner or later.”
“Father sent you to Dongyu to preserve the Yu Gong bloodline. Had we died for the country, you would have been Longsha’s final hope.”
“Unfortunately, you understood neither Father’s painstaking intentions nor mine. Instead, you harbored resentment, colluded with a foreign nation, and attempted to murder your sovereign and rebel against your superior.”
“You have been so foolish…”
Even after being attacked with such malice, he never spoke a single cruel word to Yu Gong Ming from beginning to end. He appeared every inch a forgiving elder brother and compassionate sovereign.
Yu Gong Ming was arrogant and conceited, flattering those above him while despising those below. He could pinch his nose and endure Yu Gong Zhao Ye’s insults, even seizing every opening to recover his pride, but he could never tolerate being looked down upon and reprimanded by Yu Gong Lie, whom he himself despised.
All the blood in his body surged into his head. He wished he could tear away Yu Gong Lie’s painted skin with his bare hands and force everyone to see his true face. He roared sharply, “Shut up! You monster! You liar!”
A cold blade flashed from his sleeve, and Yu Gong Ming suddenly sprang toward the frail young man among the crowd.
Yu Gong Lie met his blood-red gaze and revealed his first smile of the night.
A heavy force struck Yu Gong Ming’s wrist. The agony forced his hand open, and the blade flash, white as a strip of silk, fell—only to be caught effortlessly by someone else. Only then did Yu Gong Ming finally see the black shadow sweeping across his vision, but it was already too late even to turn and flee.
Yu Gong Zhao Ye caught the falling blade with one hand and swept a whip kick into Yu Gong Ming’s ribs, sending him flying several feet away.
A deafening succession of crashes rang out as tables, desks, and screens collapsed in a heap.
Every sound dissolved into ringing hums of varying pitches. Yu Gong Ming lay sprawled across the cold palace tiles, dizzy and disoriented, feeling as though his spine had snapped into two pieces. A hot, bloody taste surged through his throat, and he vomited a large mouthful of blood.
Black boots landed without a sound and approached at an unhurried pace. The swaying hem of a robe rolled like waves upon a deep sea, while a mass of pitch-black night descended over him.
“The rebel has been subdued. Take him away.”
Yu Gong Ming desperately forced his eyes open, yet his unfocused gaze could not make out the other man’s expression. He had never truly seen this person clearly.
Only when Yu Gong Zhao Ye turned to leave did Yu Gong Ming catch a glimpse of the hazy sheen flowing over his black robes.
Like pale moonlight scattered by a cold wind in the depths of a dark and bottomless night.
Moonlight could kill.
Author’s Notes:
Zhao Ye: Those are all tricks I’ve already used.
Futile Devices Scans 
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