Chapter 220 - 111: Fine, Fine, Fine! So You’re Messing With Me, Huh?

Chapter 220: Chapter 111: Fine, Fine, Fine! So You’re Messing With Me, Huh?

Zhao Yong: "!!!"

’Two of them!’

’Was the other one the Crown Prince?’

In an instant, his scalp went numb.

The entire Imperial Study felt as if it had transformed into an ice cavern, silent for a thousand years. The air seemed filled with tiny, sharp needles of ice, and he didn’t even dare to breathe.

Zhao Huan stood up and slowly walked over to him, looking down from his superior height. "You’ve done well! As a younger brother, you’re willing to take all the blame to protect your dear older brother!

As a subject, you sacrifice yourself to protect the Crown Prince and prevent turmoil within the Great Yu.

Since that’s the case, I presume you’re also prepared to atone for your sins before the world and be denied entry into the Imperial Mausoleum!

Excellent!

Yong, you’ve done so very well!"

As he spoke, his hand landed gently on Zhao Yong’s shoulder.

The gesture was light.

But it was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Zhao Yong could no longer bear it. He slammed his head heavily onto the floor, his voice hoarse and breaking. "Father Emperor! I am guilty! I am guilty! You can kill me, but I beg you, please don’t banish me from the Imperial Mausoleum!"

Zhao Huan said, his voice laced with pain, "The mastermind behind the murder of a brother—how can such a person enter the Imperial Mausoleum? Yong, your willingness to sacrifice yourself for the Crown Prince, for the Great Yu, is not entirely without merit. But the Imperial Family can no longer tolerate you. After you die, I will see to your body. I will have you buried deep in the mountains, your surname stripped from you. The bond between us as father and son is severed. But as your father, I cannot bear to let you become a lonely, wandering ghost."

"No! No!"

Zhao Yong broke down, grabbing Zhao Huan’s leg. "Father Emperor! I never had the heart to harm anyone. I was just following my older brother’s lead! I truly don’t want to be a villain who murdered his own brother!

I can die—I’ll even accept death by a thousand cuts—but please don’t banish me from the Imperial Mausoleum! Don’t strip me of my surname! I am your son! I am the son of the Martial Emperor of Great Yu! I beg you! I’m begging you..."

Fearing Zhao Huan would refuse, he quickly let go of his leg, scrambled back a few steps, and began kowtowing with desperate abandon.

"I’m begging you!"

THUD!

"I’m begging you!"

THUD!

After just a few kowtows, blood was already splattering everywhere.

He held nothing back, as if by kowtowing himself to death right here in the Imperial Study, he could secure his place in the Imperial Mausoleum.

But as he brought his head down again, it struck something soft.

Zhao Yong looked up, bewildered, and saw that Zhao Huan had placed his hand on the floor, his palm now covered in his blood.

As if clutching a life-saving straw, he was overcome with emotion. "Father Emperor! You..."

Just then, Eunuch Li’s voice sounded from outside.

"Your Majesty! The Tenth Prince has arrived!"

Zhao Yong: "!!!"

’Zhao Ci?’

’Why was Zhao Ci summoned too?’

A terrible thought surfaced in his mind, making him tremble uncontrollably.

Zhao Huan said weakly, "Let him in."

"Yes! Tenth Prince, please enter!"

CREAK...

The door to the Imperial Study opened.

When Zhao Ci saw the scene inside, his mind went blank for a second. He had just completed his first muscle and tendon transformation. Under the effects of the Taotie Talisman, the Heaven-Suspended Spider Silk and supplementary medicines had been completely absorbed, and the meridians in his body had, as expected, broken through to the first rank.

He was just about to test its effects and begin the Celestial Demon Body Refining when Eunuch Li arrived.

And then he came to the palace and saw this.

Seeing Zhao Yong’s head covered in blood and Old Deng weeping, he immediately understood what was going on. Nothing short of colluding with the Demon Sect and attempting fratricide could be this serious.

’Damn!’

’Looks like the evidence is ironclad.’

’What kind of monsters are in the Imperial Clan Court? How did they manage to produce enough solid evidence for a conviction so quickly?’

He acted as if he were terrified by the scene, his expression a thousand times more shocked than his inner thoughts. "Father Emperor! What kind of show are you and Brother Huang putting on..."

Zhao Huan’s face was grim and sorrowful. He asked in a low voice, "Ci! If the villain who tried to harm you were right in front of you, what would you do?"

Zhao Ci said indignantly, "That villain nearly killed me and Luotang! If he dared to appear before me, I would have him torn to pieces!"

CLANG!

Zhao Huan threw a short dagger onto the floor and pointed at Zhao Yong. "Then do it!"

Zhao Ci: "..."

Zhao Yong: "!!!"

The scene became incredibly awkward.

Zhao Ci stared at the subtitles floating above Zhao Huan’s head, and his mind started buzzing.

[Zhao Huan’s Current Wish]: Zhao Ci has been acting too abnormally. I fear he may have been possessed by Gu Xiangzhu using her superb techniques. I must test him today! Wish Completion Reward: Comprehension Value +100, Possession Talisman x1.

Zhao Ci: "..."

’Right, right, right!’

’So that’s how you want to play it!’

’And here I was, seeing you crying your eyes out, thinking you actually needed to mentally prepare yourself to kill your own son.’

’Turns out, I’m the one who has to do the killing!’

’And you’re testing me, aren’t you?’

He glanced down and met Zhao Yong’s lost and helpless eyes.

The ever-so-annoying Yongzi actually looked somewhat pitiful today.

Of course, pitiful or not, Zhao Ci still wanted to kill him. After all, the bastard had genuinely tried to have him killed.

’But this situation right now...’

"Ci!"

Zhao Huan looked at Zhao Ci. "The killer is right in front of you. Aren’t you going to do it?"

Zhao Ci turned to Zhao Yong, his eyes filling with boundless resentment. He immediately bent down, picked up the dagger, and asked angrily, "Brother Huang! I thought we just had clashing personalities. I thought that no matter how fierce the competition between our manors became, we were still brothers, bound by blood. I never expected... I never expected you would set such a trap just to kill me! You... you really deserve to die!"

As he spoke, he couldn’t help but take a step forward.

But Zhao Yong showed no sign of fear. His face was ashen as he kowtowed listlessly toward Zhao Huan. "Father Emperor! I know my sins are grave, and I no longer beg to live. I only hope that you will let me keep my surname. Even if you have me torn to pieces, please don’t deny that I am your son."