Although having a guilty conscience, Ling Zhang, who had been deprived of chances to whisper to Yuwen Tong by the presence of Yuwen Han and Yuwen Jin, felt fairly frustrated.
Eventually, resigned, Ling Zhang made an excuse, went outside and found Yao Yi to get some information about the situation in the hunting ground.
Yao Yi said, “Rest assured, Childe Ling, the Marshal has some time ago made some secret arrangements, so the King Hui wouldn’t really have his way.
Currently, everybody invited has gone to the hunting ground except for the King Yu. Yesterday when he was on his way back home, the horses of his carriage were abruptly alarmed by a crazy horse and he suffered a minor injury, leaving him unable to participate in the hunt. Also, half of the palace guards have been dispatched there.”
Ling Zhang went skeptical. “The King Yu was hurt? This is so coincidental.”
Yao Yi observed, “I think someone did it on purpose.”
Ling Zhang furrowed his brow. “Who? There are others aware of this?”
Yao Yi shook his head. “Not really. It was Shan Congwen.”
Shan Congwen? Ling Zhang was bewildered. Why had Shan Congwen tried to stop the King Yu from going to the hunting ground? Had these two people had any dealings in private, by any chance?
Yao Yi remarked, “The reason is still unknown to us, but it was by no means because Shan Congwen suddenly decided to have mercy on him. There’s no doubt he did that for a particular motive.”
Ling Zhang pondered over it. The only thing he worried about was whether there was anything that had escaped their notice and, if there was, whether it would upset Yuwen Tong’s plan.
Also, the situation in the hunting ground still concerned him, for he was unable to go there to see for himself. But since Yuwen Tong was “grievously wounded” and the whole residential compound was being staked out, it was inconvenient for him to leave.
…
The hunting ground.
Because of the attempted assassination that happened here in the horse race, palace guards in preparation for this event had some time ago checked the whole hunting ground several times, including the perimeter. And on this day the security in this place was exceptionally tight.
The King Hui had anticipated this situation, so he hadn’t arranged for any assassins to hide in the hunting ground. Instead, he’d had some explosives planted beneath the grandstand. Meanwhile, 20,000 soldiers who had been dispatched over as a matter of urgency were lying in wait outside the hunting ground, along with the marksmen equipped with the kind of crossbows that Shan Congwen had lent him.
All people in the grandstand would be wiped out in an instant once he detonated the explosives, and the possibility that some might survive the explosion didn’t concern him at all, for his men and the marksmen of the Wan Kingdom would immediately hurtle in, making sure nobody escaped. Though there would be some friendly fire, he deemed it necessary sacrifices for his great undertaking.
Shan Congwen as the representative of the Wan Kingdom had some time ago accepted the emperor’s special invitation. Like the King Hui, he also had a seat in the grandstand, but the two of them would make an excuse and take their leave as soon as the time was ripe.
The emperor glanced around before his eyes rested on the commander of the palace guards, who gave a nod implying that all defense and security arrangements had been properly handled.
The emperor inclined his head with satisfaction and then started making an opening address for the hunt meeting.
Courtiers of every description were all listening with undivided attention. The King Hui was also listening attentively on the surface but in fact had been running out of patience. Previously, every time his father was giving a speech, he’d listen in fear and try not to show even the slightest sign of perfunctoriness, worrying that his father might suddenly mention him or ask him a question, to which, if his father did, he would have to strain every nerve to give an answer his father deemed satisfactory.
But now, when this operation was over, he would finally be rid of that kind of misery, and never again would he have to observe anybody’s face gauging their mood to decide what he should or should not say. With the mountain-like, suffocating authority gone, the whole world would be his to rule, and he would be the one giving others whatever looks he felt like giving, and having them tremble in front of him! And those people – the King Duan, the Crown Prince, the King Yu – none of them would be able to cause him any trouble ever again!
Though the King Hui had been doing a great job with his pretence, a hint of smugness still appeared on his face in spite of himself at the thought of this, his eyes sweeping through the opposite side.
Opposite him, sitting in the first seat to the emperor’s right was a gorgeously-clothed man in a crown prince’s robe, but he didn’t look very well, striking people as rather sickly. However, this invalid was the crown prince of the Great Yue, and also the emperor’s most favored son. His seat was in the top row, overlooking everybody, including the King Hui who was also a prince just like him.
The King Hui fixed him with a stare, a mixture of jealousy and disgust involuntarily glinting in his eyes. Though there was merely a ghost of it, the Crown Prince still sensed it, looking in the direction of the King Hui.
Had it been in the past, the King Hui would definitely put on a smile and make a couple of flattering remarks to curry favor with the Crown Prince, but on this occasion the King Hui, who firmly believed that he was about to win, found himself unable to fake an obsequious expression as he had done many times before. After making eye contact with the Crown Prince, he directly swiveled his head aside.
Naturally, this reaction of the King Hui’s, which was a manifest diverge from the norm, aroused the Crown Prince’s suspicions. He gazed at the King Hui for a while, a somewhat uncertain and thoughtful gleam in his eyes.
The King Hui, after taking his eyes off the Crown Prince, looked at the King Duan. In recent days, there had been quite some conflicts between the King Duan and the King Hui. The two of them hated each other’s guts and could sense each other’s gaze almost immediately. At this moment, the King Duan shot a glance back at the King Hui, his eyes full of contempt and sarcasm, and coldly snorted.
The King Hui had an apathetic countenance. If what he felt for the Crown Prince was disgust and jealousy, then what he had for the King Duan would almost be hatred. The strife between the two of them in the imperial court had never ceased and neither of them was willing to budge an inch, and nor would any of them hesitate to resort to crooked means to do the other side harm when the occasion arose. There had been several occasions when the King Hui had fallen prey to the King Duan’s dirty tricks, suffering great losses, and even he himself had nearly come to grief. As a result, he hated the King Duan so much that he would literally eat him alive and drink his blood had he got the chance.
He was even considering whether or not he should whip the King Duan’s body to vent his resentment after blowing him up a while later.
The confrontational eye contact between the two of them lasted only a brief moment, but the disgust in their eyes had been so manifest that everybody else present had perceived.
Eventually, the King Hui cast a demonic and bloodthirsty sneer at the King Duan and then withdrew his gaze.
The King Duan was briefly stupefied by that murderous sneer tinged with bloodthirstiness from the King Hui, and then knitted his eyebrows and wondered, ‘Was Zhou Mingci the damn fool trying to provoke me just now? No, that smile was heavy with murderousness. Does Zhou Mingci want to kill me, by any chance?’ Whatever that sneer had been about, the King Duan was on the alert.
After making eye contact with the King Duan, the King Hui looked in the direction of the seat of the King Yu only to find that he was not there. He couldn’t help but frown. What was going on?
He twisted his head aside and cocked an inquisitive eyebrow at one of his personal bodyguards, who saw the questioning look in his eyes and explained under his breath, “Last night the King Yu was alarmed by a crazy horse and suffered minor injuries which affected his mobility, so he’s not attending this hunt.”
He was alarmed by a crazy horse and got hurt last night? Wasn’t this too coincidental? The King Hui’s heart jolted. Why was it that stupid Zhou Mingyi who’d got hurt? Had it been a mere coincidence or had he smelled anything?
“Where did that crazy horse come from? And how come it so coincidentally ran into my fifth brother’s carriage?”
The personal bodyguard answered, “Your Highness, that crazy horse escaped from a stud farm. As luck would have it, the King Yu happened to be on his way back home. The wheelers of his carriage were alarmed and went wild, which caused him to bump his arm against the side board and get his foot jammed in the door as well. Fortunately all those are just superficial injuries. He’ll fully recover after nursing them for a few days.”
A horse from a stud farm? The King Hui was suspicious. How was it possible for a horse of a stud farm to escape and go into the streets? But if it hadn’t been a coincidence…
Even he himself had made arrangements in great haste for this operation in the hunting ground. There was no way his fifth brother had found out about it. Even if it had come to his knowledge, he would never have had enough time to take any precautions.
But he had expected to wipe them out. How come his fifth brother was now going to slip through the net?!
‘Fuck! What makes Zhou Mingyi think he could sit idle and enjoy the fruits of my work? I’m definitely having his little neck snapped immediately after these people are handled. On no account will I give him any chances to compete with me for the final victory.’
As a number of ruthless methods for killing the King Yu flitted across the King Hui’s mind, the emperor had finished his opening speech.
All those that were supposed to go hunting on this occasion stood up, ready to enter the hunting ground, but the King Hui was still sitting in his seat. Everybody else looked at him. The emperor appeared disgruntled, while the Crown Prince sitting to the emperor’s left had a thoughtful expression on his face once again.
His personal bodyguard very quickly nudged the King Hui, reminding him in an undertone, “Time to go, Your Highness.”
It was at this moment that the King Hui jerked out of his trance. Finding that everybody was looking at him, he subconsciously tensed his back and sprang to his feet, too nervous to sneak a glance at his father’s displeased eyes, fearing that his father might become skeptical.
The emperor originally had wanted to reproach him, but refrained from doing so as his eyes fell on Shan Congwen and other members of the diplomatic corps.
The King Hui hurriedly left the stands with the others. Shan Congwen watched his hastily receding back, a flicker of impatience crossing his eyes.
What a moron.
“You’re not going down there to have some fun?” Shan Congwen looked at the Crown Prince.
There were also a lot of courtiers staying in the grandstand, civil and military. All those going down to hunt were those in the prime of life. Most of these high-ranking courtiers were of advanced years, and they felt no need to compete with young officials for anything.
At this moment, all of them looked at him after hearing Shan Congwen’s words.
Zhou Mingtang, the Crown Prince, who hadn’t shown his face in public for a long time, not only had a sickly face but also was more white-skinned than everybody else – it was the ghastly kind of white.
By asking this question the answer to which he clearly knew, Shan Congwen had meant it as a thinly disguised provocation.
“I’m not in a fit state to perform this kind of activity, which I suppose you might find amusing, King Ming’en. Actually you should join the hunt. I heard that you’re widely known as a marksman in the Wan Kingdom. Today, a lot of young talents of the Great Yue are present. Why don’t you go out there and have a competition with them? You’re not afraid to lose to any of them, are you?” said the Crown Prince.
Without the slightest change of his countenance, Shan Congwen gave an utterly immodest smile. “I think I’ll spare them the embarrassment of being routed.”
The Crown Prince said, “That figures. You’re a prince of the Wan Kingdom after all, and if you lose to youngsters of the Great Yue, you might have quite some trouble justifying your defeat after returning home. Reputation does mean a lot.”
Originally Shan Congwen had intended to provoke the Crown Prince, but it’d never crossed his mind that his opponent would be able to checkmate him with a counter-attack. The Crown Prince was obviously trying to goad him. He had glossed it over once, but if he refused for the second time and word got out about it, people would no doubt make very unfavorable remarks on him.
Shan Congwen felt that he had made an unwise move, but…
He tossed a glance at the unoccupied seat of the King Hui, feeling totally uninterested in sitting in this explosive-laden place any longer. Who knew whether or not this place would be accidentally blown up ahead of schedule? These people were sitting on explosives but were totally oblivious. They couldn’t blame him for their deaths.
Their beloved prince would be the one they should blame.
“Since you’ve put it this way, I feel obliged to display my skills.” Shan Congwen rose to his feet and really went down into the hunting ground.
The Crown Prince’s brow corrugated in a slight frown. He had thought that this verbal duel between him and Shan Congwen would last a little while longer, but unexpectedly, his opponent admitted defeat so soon.
First it’d been Zhou Mingci, and now Shan Congwen…
A peculiar expression appeared in the Crown Prince’s eyes and with that he stole a glance at his father.
The emperor didn’t notice this. He seemed fairly pleased, a faint smile on his face, as if in a good mood because of something pleasant.
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