Translated by Eve

　　Edited by Wuxian

　　Although the protagonist shou, Lin Xiao, had nearly been turned into a pa.s.serby in the protagonist gong Situ Yu's eyes because of Sui Yuan, as the fated character that was the pillar of this world, even if he skipped over a huge portion of the plot regarding the household harem politics, the young Lin Xiao was still able to show that he had the potential to become one of the most influential Officials of his generation. Except that for now, he could only be considered an outstanding, resourceful, and wise strategist.

　　After Situ Yu generously pardoned Lin Xiao's deceit of having 'pretended to be a woman' and agreed to help him feign his death, Lin Xiao became unswervingly dedicated to Situ Yu and would bend to any task, sparing no effort for him. Furthermore, the attractive force between the protagonist shou and gong exhibited its effectiveness. Even though the two people did not develop romantic feelings in accordance to the plot, the always cautious Situ Yu still felt his guard abnormally lowered when around Lin Xiao. After just one interaction, he discovered that he and Lin Xiao were kindred spirits and he thus told him the truth about his aspiration to seize the throne.

　　In order to repay Situ Yu, Lin Xiao, after muttering to himself for a bit, immediately came up with a clever way to feign his death. It was a way to make 'the Fourth Prince's Cefei, Lin Xiao' die in a logical way but also place the blame onto Situ Yu's enemies. As for why these enemies would dispose of this lowly ranking 'Cefei of the Fourth Prince'…once one saw how withered and depressed Situ Yu was after receiving the news of his 'Cefei's death, one would know!

　　Kill one woman, and you will be able to ruin a man. It was simply an extremely profitable transaction!

　　The untimely death of his beloved caused the always 'n.o.ble' Fourth Prince to go mad. He placed all of his energy into catching the culprit, swearing to never rest until he attained his goal. Ultimately, after getting the confession of the a.s.sa.s.sin that had killed 'the Fourth Prince's Cefei', he presented it to the Emperor, alongside the proof of his enemies having ganged up against him.

　　No matter how the people implicated by the Fourth Prince insisted on their innocence and tried to deny things, after having been splashed with the dirty water that was 'having a.s.sa.s.sinated the Fourth Prince's Cefei' the accusation that they had ganged up for personal interest was already proven true and thus, there was no way for them to detach themselves from this.

　　This was an overt plot. Even if His Majesty the Emperor did not believe that these people had a.s.sa.s.sinated 'the Fourth Prince's Cefei', at this time, he could not let go of these 'murderers' as he had to placate properly the Fourth Prince who was bereaved over the loss of his loved one.

　　His Majesty the Emperor looked down at Situ Yu who was kneeling at the foot of the steps, staring at the 'murderers' with an ice-cold hatred as they were led away by the Imperial bodyguards in fits of sobs and shouts. He was both annoyed and amused. Situ Yu had given him a 'huge, pleasant surprise'. The Emperor had truly never expected that this Fourth Prince who had always concealed his strength and bided his time in the original plot, waiting until the very last moment to bare his fangs, would unexpectedly make such a daring move.

　　Thus, of course, after morning court ended, the Fourth Prince was made to stay behind alone to be 'comforted' by the 'endlessly worried' Emperor.

　　Even though he had gotten what he wanted—removing the most irksome saboteurs from the court—and even though he believed that he had been careful not to let people grab hold of his pigtail, meeting with his Emperor Father face to face still made Situ Yu's heart palpitate in fear. He dared not meet those dragon eyes directly and could only lower his head, appearing downcast and grieved.

　　The Emperor looked at him indifferently for a long period of time. In the end, he could not help but sneer, "Enough. The things you've done, Zhen sees through it. You need not put on an act before Zhen any longer!"

　　Situ Yu froze and felt helpless. Only his firm mind kept him from losing his composure and was not drawn out by the Emperor's words, "Emperor Father? Erchen…does not understand what you mean…."

　　"You do not understand?" His Majesty the Emperor raised his hand and slammed it against the Imperial desk, tone full of interest, "Then perhaps that strategist by your side named 'Lin Xiao' would understand? Heh, Zhen truly did not know that the Cefei Zhen bestowed to you was so capable. A man pretending to be a woman. One who is willing to achieve his aims by such underhanded tactics is unexpectedly so daring!"

　　A pause. When he recalled the affairs between Lin Xiao and Xu Tu the protagonist gong had imagined, Zhao Xihe rather maliciously added, "Contrary to what Zhen expected, your third brother had reason to be so hung over that Cefei of yours. He is indeed a bit interesting."

　　At this point, Situ Yu could no longer pretend that his family's Emperor Father was just guessing. From his tone, he was obviously aware of all their movements, ah! Situ Yu's legs turned soft and he immediately knelt, slightly trembling as he was clueless on how to respond.

　　Only now did Situ Yu understand that they had underestimated this Emperor Father of his. He sat on the clouds, high above the ground and was clear on all of the tricks and actions of his sons below. However, he only watched them indifferently without making a sound, as if so long as the brothers did not end one another's lives, he would permit them to fight, vie, and steal—or rather, even if they were to kill off their brother, perhaps their Emperor Father would not even bat an eye.

　　This callousness of his tightened one's heart from fear.

　　Situ Yu suddenly remembered that his Emperor Father had also tread on the skeletons of his own brothers to seize the throne. He linked this to how recently, his Mufei was acting in a quite uncharacteristic way, telling him repeatedly to keep a low profile and endure patiently—that he absolutely must not stir anything before the Emperor. Situ Yu broke out into a cold sweat, soaking his clothes.

　　Situ Yu felt that he and his brothers were like poisonous insects trapped in an earthen jar by their Emperor Father. There was nothing to eat, nothing to drink, nor was there a way out. They had no choice but to nibble on the others' bodies as a way to leave. In the end, the one who manages to see the light again would be the King of all poisonous insects.

　　——Then, why did Emperor Father expose his ruthless side before him now? Why didn't he let him be like his brothers, pleased with their own scheming, not in the least aware that they were actually being played with in the palms of his hand?