Chapter 174 - The Princes' Past II

With his decision made, Prince Yi left the capital and made his way to their secret army base to prepare the troops and wait for the Crown prince's order. Since his father never cared for his presence, he was always able to travel as he liked, going and coming as he pleased with no one questioning his movements. And so he used his invincibility to amass and see the progress of their troops. So the men knew his face, but knew of the Crown prince in name only. 

He quickly arrived on the base and began to make the arrangements while coordinating plans with the Crown prince in the capital. They had agreed to execute the plan slowly over a long period of time so as not to alert their father. So Prince Yi had been steadily sending men bit by bit to Crown prince in the capital. 

Six months passed and everything was going according to plan until one day Prine Yi received an urgent message from the Crown prince ordering him to mobilize all the troops and head for the capital immediately. They had run out time and could no longer delay. The situation had changed, and Jun Kai had attained a swift and unexpected victory on the war Nanjing. Their father was greatly pleased and had sent a missive for Jun Kai to return home to be rewarded. 

This was odd. In all the years Jun Kai had been gone and his many accomplishments, their father had rewarded him over and over again, with manors, gold, titles, everything...But he had never ordered him to come home to receive them before. Therefore, Prince Yi could understand the Crown Prince's alarm. 

The time to attack was now. If Jun Kai came back with his army then it would be impossible for them to envision a successful siege. And so Prince Yi immediately set out with the remaining troops and settled in a forest near the capital until it was time to attack. 

The Crown prince had already arranged his men to man the city and palace gates. That way when it was time the gates will be open and the troops could simply walk in. The night of their siege came and Prince Yi laid in hiding with the troops in the surrounding forest, waiting for the city gates to open and for history to be shaped. 

The city gates finally opened and he was about to give the order to move, when...

{...*Stop! Don't go!... You're going to die!...}

Prince Yi frowned and hesitated.

{...*I mean it! If you go, you will die!... The plan will fail and you will die!...}

{...How?...Don't tell me he's here already?...}

{...*No! But the plan will fail so Don't Go!... Dying here is a waste! You've not even met h-...}

{...Tell me how it will fail so we can counter it!...}

{...*There's nothing you can do, it will fail so save yourself!...}

{...Save myself? How am I supposed to save myself in this situation? Tell what will go wrong!...}

{...*Or you can go die if you want, but don't blame me later for not helping you! I tried!...}

{...Answer me!...}

{...*...}

{...ANSWER ME!...}

Prince Yi stood there frowning at the gates and pondering. The voice had never led him astray and frankly, all he had today was because of its guidance. Since his mother died, it had been there looking out for him, serving as a teacher and a guide when he had not. But whether he chose to go in or not right now, he was still likely to be roped into the scheme once his father investigated.

{...How am I supposed to save myself?... Escape? Run away? No, why should I have to?...}

"Your highness, the gates are open." Tian Jin said behind him, looking at him with a perplexed frown. The gates had been open for a while now and Prince Yi was just staring at it.

Prince Yi nodded in acknowledgment but gave no order or moved. After a while, his eyes lit up and then ordered as he marched over to his horse, "There's been a change in plans. Retreat as quickly as possible, back to base." The men looked at each other confused.

Prince Yi vaulted on his horse, turned to Tian Jin and ordered, "Now." Tian Jin nodded in acknowledgment and as Prince Yi sped off, the men withdrew back into the shadows of the forest. 

The Crown prince's men at the city gates were confused when they saw only Prince Yi coming their way, but Prince Yi did not stop to answer any questions. He directly rode to his manor and quickly changed clothes and then went out again, making his way towards the nearby Second prince's manor. He secretly climbed onto the roof and fired an arrow with a note attached into the Second prince's bedroom. Then he quickly got back on his horse and rode off. 

Although the Second prince seemed unconcerned with politics, he was simply just biding his time. He has quietly been trying to forge a relationship with the Empress and the Zhao family, an ungrateful son who would hold the hands of those who destroyed his mother's clan to attain power. But of course, gaining their trust was not an easy thing. So Prince Yi knew that the Second prince would definitely not miss the opportunity to have the glory of taking down a rebellious Crown prince and saving their father.

As he expected, shortly after the Second prince stormed out of his manor with his guards and Prince Yi casually led his horse down the road to meet them. He lived in the general direction, so it was not odd for him to be passing by, despite the late time of day. He flagged the Second prince down with a smile as he said, "Second brother, I did not expect to run into you so soon, and so late too. What's going on?" He asked as he eyed the men behind him.

The Second prince excalimed as he stopped his horse, "You're back?"

Prince Yi smiled, "Yes, just now. Surprisingly the city gates were still open, it seems things have changed while I've been gone..."

"The city gates are open? Then it must be true..." The Second Prince said contemplatively.

"What is?" Prince Yi asked, looking confused.

"Hurry, Father's in trouble. First brother is rebelling. H-"

"What? What do you mean?" Prince Yi cut him off in surprise, "How do you know?"

"That's not important for now. I need to head to the palace immediately." The Second prince responded, getting ready to hurry off

Prince Yi then urgently added, "I will go and alert the city guards to close the gates. You hurry to Father." The Second prince nodded and then quickly sped off with his men.

Prince Yi smirked and then sped back towards the gates and ordered, "Close the gates!" As he got down, the commander approached and asked what was going on with the plan. 

Prince Yi quietly explained that things have changed and that if he wants to stay alive, then he had to act accordingly. The commander quickly got the drift and turned to the guards and ordered, "The city is under siege, close the gates! Protect the Emperor!"

Prince Yi quickly swept back on his horse as the warning bells sounded around the city. The city garrison was quickly alerted and Prince Yi sped towards the palace with them. 

By the time, he got to the palace, it was already full-blown battle scene. The Crown prince had secretly advanced as deep as main hall with his half of the troops, before he was engaged in a brawl with the palace guards, and the Second prince's group had quickly joined in the battle. And now with the city garrison troops flooding in, the Crown prince's numbers were steadily becoming overwhelmed. 

Prince Yi stared at the scene for a second, and thought that if he had come with his troops...if everything had gone as planned, the Crown Prince would have the upper hand and victory would have been swift. He started to doubt the Voice's advice, but it was too late now to go back, too late to regret. He had to act.

Prince Yi easily made his through the battle without much effort as both sides knew not to attack him. He arrived at his brothers' side, who were currently engaged in battle. Then he pretended to have the Second prince's back while signaling with his eyes towards the Crown prince. The Crown prince who had started to worry about his delayed support, seeing Prince Yi felt relief and hope anew, believing all had gone as planned and he would win.

Although the Second Prince coming into the picture was not included in the plan, the second prince was nothing he could not handle. The Crown prince had always been the better fighter amongst the princes, not taking into account the current state of the youngest Fourth prince, Jun Kai. So, the Crown prince attacked the Second prince with more vigor, while Prince Yi pranced around them engaging in the "battle". 

And eventually, the Crown prince managed to best "both" his younger brothers and ran a sword through the Second prince. And in that same second, a small smile formed on Prince Yi's face, as he ran his sword through the Crown prince. The Crown Prince blinked up at him, in surprise and shock. Prince Yi knit his brows and looked at him with a steady, determined gaze.

{...I'm sorry you had to end this way...But this time, I am going to be the one who comes out on top...}

As the Crown prince fell, Prince Yi shouted, "Surrender! The usurper is dead!" The rebellion troops froze and looked towards Prince Yi who was standing next to the Crown prince's body. They were confused but still lowered their weapons and surrendered.

If the Crown prince was dead, then Prince Yi was the one in charge. Regardless, the men knew of Prince Yi more as he was the one who they saw and bowed to all these years, while the Crown prince had remained in the shadows. If he said surrender, then they had no choice.

Prince Yi narrowed his eyes at a few of the rebellion troops and they understood his meaning and shared the look to those closest to them...And as they were being apprehended, they bit into the poison pill in their mouths and slumped. And the rest of the troops, swiftly followed, before anyone could think to stop them. If they were captured and interrogated, there was no guarantee that they would not incriminate Prince Yi. 

The princes had made it clear that if they ever betrayed them...their families would be immediately executed, regardless of whether they lived or died. So they all understood their role now was to die to ensure the survival of their families.