The emperor personally escorted the Crown Prince's coffin to the imperial mausoleum. He had lost a lot of weight from the grief over the Crown Prince's death, and his temper was becoming increasingly erratic. There had been several occasions when he'd had a courtier flogged to death at a court meeting. Currently, all courtiers didn't dare speak during court meetings unless spoken to by the emperor.

Maybe because of the previous relations between the Gu family and the Crown Prince, the emperor seemed to be on even better terms with people of the Gu family after the Crown Prince's death. The Jiang family, however, didn't have such luck. The King Duan had several times suggested a couple of members of the Jiang family be reinstated, but the emperor had not only rejected the suggestion but also reprimanded the King Duan.

Also, the couple of courtiers that had been flogged to death were the King Duan's followers.

It was now widely rumored in the capital city that the King Yu would probably become the next crown prince, because the King Yu had gained the Gu family's support, and most importantly, the emperor had complimented the King Yu in front of all courtiers several times.

After returning home, the King Duan had several servants beaten to death in succession to vent his anger. "This goddamn Zhou Mingyi! It turns out I underestimated him previously!"

"What should we do now, Your Highness? Judging from His Majesty's attitude towards the King Yu, it seems that... he really has the intention of designating him as crown prince."

"A state cannot survive a single leaderless day. Our country is in a situation where a crown prince must be selected. Without a crown prince, both the political and the social stability is in jeopardy. His Majesty would definitely anoint someone as his heir within the next half a year. Your Highness, there's no time to loose. We've brought down a crown prince. We cannot afford to let anyone other than you become the new heir!"

"Of course I know that, but what would you have me do? The Gu family are dominating every court meeting. I tried several times to have my father reinstate the Jiang family but he refused to listen."

...

The King Yu secretly contacted Yuwen Tong once again, inviting him to meet him. This time Yuwen Tong declined.

"Yuwen Tong actually thinks he's still the marshal having the whole North-western Army at his command? His Majesty is just in too deep grief to deal with him. Otherwise he wouldn't be living such a peaceful life."

Clearly, the King Yu was displeased, a rather sulky look on his face. "Never mind. Yuwen Tong has always been like this. Whether he's on our side or not no longer matters. Currently we have something more important to attend to."

"Your Highness, we need to make hay while the sun shines, take advantage of this opportunity and have His Majesty appoint you as crown prince. Otherwise new problems might crop up."

"That's true. We should tender our memorials to the throne tomorrow."

The King Yu was both privately excited and worried. "But although my father has praised me several times lately, he never expressed any intentions of making me his heir. Wouldn't we be rushing into things if we do that so soon?"

"Your Highness, His Majesty's praise is a hint big enough. I think he's made his take on this issue quite clear."

The King Yu was swayed. "Still, I should consult with Prime Minister Gu about this matter first."

The next day. At the court meeting.

For the first time, some courtiers suggested that the emperor anoint a crown prince. Directly or indirectly, they all expressed their great regard for the King Yu's abilities, making it very evident that they wanted the emperor to designate the King Yu as crown prince.

Naturally, the King Duan and his followers raised strong objections to the proposal, but people of the Gu family, who were eloquent and plausible, shot down their opinions, rendering the King Duan's followers bitter and indignant. The Crown Prince's faction had been gathering momentum all along, and now after all its members followed the Gu family's lead and sided with the King Yu, half of the courtiers were in favor of the proposal to designate the King Yu as crown prince. Realizing that they were on the losing side, the King Duan's followers were grinding their teeth in rage.

But instead of taking a stand, the emperor made an excuse and postpone appointing a crown prince.

In the Ling Mansion.

"The emperor is indeed not sure whether the King Yu is the best choice or not. Otherwise he would at least have dropped a hint or something," said Ling Zhang.

A gleam flitted across Yuwen Tong's eyes. "It's about time we made our move."

The action Yuwen Tong took was very direct. He tendered a memorial to the emperor, stating his support for the proposal to appoint the King Yu as heir to the throne.

News of it instantly sparked intense discussion both in and out of the imperial court. Nobody could have foreseen that Yuwen Tong would suddenly make a stand.

The King Yu's aides were all thrilled, but people of the Gu family advised the King Yu to stay calm.

"Your Highness, it's only too obvious that His Majesty is wary and suspicious of Yuwen Tong. There's really no telling whether him expressing his public support for you is a good thing for you or not."

While the King Yu was weighing up the pros and cons, the King Duan lost his composure.

"Your Highness, Yuwen Tong has clarified his position, and now the King Yu has both the Gu family and Yuwen Tong at his back. With a top-ranking civil official and a top-ranking military officer supporting him, I'm afraid His Majesty will–"

The King Duan bitterly sprang to his feet. "On no account will I let Zhou Mingyi get heirship to the throne."

After saying this, he smashed his teacup to pieces.

...

The timing of Yuwen Tong handing in his memorial had been quite subtle. All officials in the city fell silent after the submission of that memorial, as though waiting for the emperor to take a clear-cut stand.

The King Yu was waiting, and so were people of the Gu family.

However, the emperor didn't make a decision during the next two court meetings. It seemed that he was still hesitating.

Seeing how things were going, the King Duan prepared for the worst. At the same time –

"Your Highness, here's a letter from Lord Yuwen."

A secret letter was delivered to the King Duan.

After reading it, the King Duan was first startled and then in raptures. "Terrific!"

"May I ask what makes you so excited, Your Highness?"

The King Duan handed the letter to his aides, all of whom were pleasantly surprised by the contents of it. "Yuwen Zhi actually managed to draw the commander of the Northern City Garrison Battalion over to our side without any of us knowing about it?"

"The commander of that battalion is one of His Majesty's henchmen. He and Dai Cheng are sect-brothers. The two of them were recruited to the army by His Majesty at the same time. He's one of the most hard-core members of His Majesty's faction. How the hell did Yuwen Zhi rope him in?!"

"Your Highness, is Yuwen Zhi trustworthy?"

"No matter what, I'll go and have a meeting with him, and then we'll find that out."

"Well... Yuwen Zhi and Yuwen Tong sided with you and the King Yu respectively. What kind of game are he and his nephew playing?"

"Yuwen Tong and Yuwen Zhi had a falling out a long time ago. Given the ugly end of that incident in the Yuwen family, if I were Yuwen Tong, I wouldn't want to have anything to do with Yuwen Zhi either."

"Still, this might be a trap. You've got to be careful, Your Highness."

"I understand."

...

In the Ling Mansion.

"Marshal, the King Duan had a secret meeting with Second Master. Wang Qi of the Northern City Garrison Battalion was also present.

Currently, everything is going as you planned, Marshal. It seems that Second Master has indeed played the only card he had left – inciting the King Duan to rebel."

Yao Yi returned, bringing back some big news.

Yuwen Tong, with a calm look on his face, fished out three thin bamboo tubes and handed them to Yao Yi. "Have these delivered to our men. It's high time we made our move."

"Yes, Marshal!"

During the next few days, changes of the situation in the imperial court happened so quick that people barely had enough time to figure out what was really going on. The King Duan was held responsible for two consecutive mistakes. The first one had been made by himself, and the second by one of his subordinates. On the emperor's desk was a large pile of memorials submitted by courtiers impeaching him.

The situation on the King Yu's side, however, was quite the opposite. As though some kind of divine intervention was at work, the King Yu finished several assignments with flying colors in succession, earning himself quite some commendation and a huge boost in his prestige among the people. Even the emperor was blindsided by such changes. There was widespread support for the King Yu across the country, and the majority of courtiers were petitioning him to bestow the title 'Crown Prince' on the King Yu. Even members of the Gu family couldn't help but wonder whether or not the King Yu was predestined to be an emperor and receiving help from the divine providence. What other explanations were there for such coincidental occurrences? A series of good opportunities seemed to have been delivered right into the hands of the King Yu, increasing his success rate drastically.

In these circumstances, even the King Duan's followers found their loyalty wavering, and some of them betrayed their master and covertly started working for the King Yu. When the King Duan found out about it, his eyes reddened with fury.

"I must stop waiting. Otherwise I'll soon be clobbered. Today my father has already shown signs of being swayed. If I keep waiting, Zhou Mingyi, that fool, will really trump me and become crown prince!"

After hearing this, the pillars of the King Duan's faction also lost their cool and were naturally agreed on the King Duan's resolution unanimously.

"Are you sure that Wang Qi guy is reliable, Your Highness?" asked an aide uncertainly.

"You've seen him with your own eyes recently. I think you've made your own judgement on him," replied the King Duan.

All the others immediately fell silent.

"Send a message to Lord Yuwen. Tell him I'd like a meeting with him tonight to consult him about our big plan."

...

In the Ling Mansion.

"Marshal, the King Duan took action."

"Keep a close watch on him."

"Yes, Marshal."

There had been too many events in the capital city recently. The spate of upheavals had thrown a lot of people into confusion and fear, as though a tempest loomed up ahead of them overnight.

Nobody remembered that farce in the residential compound of the Yuwen family a few months ago.

Everybody's attention was fixed on the rivalry for the heirship to the throne.

Even if there were some people having their eye on Yuwen Tong as well, it would be because of the King Yu. Everybody was conjecturing that the King Yu's victory was almost certain.

In the imperial palace.

The emperor hurled his writing brush, ink stick, paper and inkstone to the ground, his face dark with rage.

"Your Majesty," said his personal eunuch in a tremulous voice, "Please turn from your anger."

"And how would you suggest I do that?! Zhou Mingyi is really not bad. It turns out I've underestimated him!" The emperor's chest was heaving violently with ire. "First the Gu family, and then Yuwen Tong. My most capable civil official and most competent military officer have both taken his side. Do them still remember who the emperor is?! I'm not dead yet!"

His personal eunuch hurriedly slumped to his kneels, prostrating himself, not daring utter another word.

The emperor was still in a temper. "Originally I wanted to take Zhou Mingyuan, that brat, down a peg, and warn him not to play any tricks, but I never expected that he would be going downhill ever since. I couldn't bring him back into the game even if I want to. Now the balance in the imperial court has been thoroughly broken. More than half of the courtiers are trying to pressure me into anoint Zhou Mingyi as crown prince. They are trampling on my dignity as the emperor!"

The personal eunuch wished the ground could have swallowed him up, shuddering all over, pretending he didn't exist.

"The Gu family. Those flip-floppers! They switched their allegiance to someone else before my son is cold in his grave. A bunch of scum! I haven't found the time to deal with Yuwen Tong, but he has already got himself an out. He thinks the King Yu would protect him? In his dream!"

The emperor kept shouting all kinds of abuse. If it weren't for the excellent sound insulation of the imperial study, people outside would have heard him and then word would get out and cause yet another ruckus.

...

A quite weird situation had come into being – there had been signs of what the emperor's final choice might be, but it'd been a long time and he still hadn't officially made the King Yu crown prince. The King Yu and his supporters were all running out of patience.

At this time, someone suddenly suggested the emperor shelve the issue of appointing a new crown prince and go to the imperial manor in the southern suburb to get out of the heat.

"Given that the Crown Prince has just passed away, Your Majesty must still be broken-hearted. Moreover, the weather is scalding hot, so I think Your Majesty might as well go to the manor in the southern suburb to have a short holiday." The speaker was the Right Prime Minister who was one of the emperor's henchmen and not on any prince's side.

His words temporarily lightened the subdued mood at the court meeting, and the emperor conveniently took this opportunity to extricate oneself from this awkward position and declared that he was going to the suburban manor for the cool and shade, thinking he could finally rid himself of these pushy courtiers.

The imperial manor in the southern suburb was not really far away from the capital city. It was about a two-hour carriage ride from the palace to the manor.

This time around the emperor brought only some courtiers on his trip to the manor, as though planning to make a final decision. Almost everybody in the city had a wait-and-see attitude towards this matter.

...

"We've got this far already, but now it turns out the Right Prime Minister is on the King Duan's side. He's such a consummate master of disguise," observed Ling Zhang.

After all, all courtiers and city officials had believed that he was a firm neutralist. Who could've thought that he had secretly sided with the King Duan and been in cahoots with him all along?

"I wonder what the King Duan will do next. Will he directly lay siege to the imperial manor in the southern suburb or..."

Yuwen Tong said, "If he is to ascend the throne, the emperor must die. There will undoubtedly be an upheaval in that imperial manor. Things in the capital city are going to get rough as well."

...

Two days later, as though there was something dangerous lurking in the city, many citizens felt rather uneasy but had no idea what was causing it.

There was a meeting in the King Yu's residential compound, people of the Gu family present. "Prime Minister Gu, I keep feeling disturbed, as if something big is about to happen."

After a moment's silence, Prime Minister Gu remarked, "You're not the only one feeling this way, Your Highness. I'm afraid the situation may take an unfavorable turn during His Majesty's stay in that suburban manor."

"Then we must stop it," said the King Yu immediately.

Prime Minister Gu agreed, "This time His Majesty brought neither me nor any of the King Duan's men on his trip. Clearly he didn't want us to know anything about his consultation with his henchmen. Your Highness, it's indeed high time we stopped waiting and did something."

"What do you have in mind, Prime Minister Gu?"

"We kill the King Duan."

The King Yu widened his eyes. After a while, with a cold look in his eyes, he said, "You've had it all planned out, I suppose?"

Prime Minister Gu confided his plan. The King Yu inclined his head repeatedly while listening. Eventually, he rose to his feet and said, "Okay. We'll follow your plan, Prime Minister Gu. Zhou Mingyuan will never get out of my way unless he's dead. Do you think I should tell Marshal Yuwen about this, Prime Minister Gu?"

After a few moments' silence, Prime Minister Gu shook his head. "The fewer people aware of this matter, the better. Besides, there's a reason why His Majesty is wary of Yuwen Tong at all times, Your Highness. In the future, after you're enthroned, Yuwen Tong will remain the gravest threat to you, and you'll still have to eliminate him some day, so there's no need for you to tell him everything."

The King Yu walked once up the living room, back again, and then said, "Let's do it your way, Prime Minister Gu."

...

One day later. In the Ling Mansion.

"We have a bit of a situation, Marshal." Yao Yi entered the room in haste.

Yuwen Tong looked at him. "What is it?"

"The King Yu has decided to make an attempt on the King Duan. They're going to do it tonight," answered Yao Yi.

Yuwen Tong knitted his brows and kept silent for a while.

This night was the time when the King Duan would take action in the imperial manor in the southern suburb. The King Yu's making his move at this point would cause disruptions and, without doubt, upset Yuwen Tong's plans.

Ling Zhang's eyes suddenly lit up. He said, "I have an idea."

Yuwen Tong looked at him. Ling Zhang craned over and whispered something in his ear. Eyes gradually brightening, Yuwen Tong bobbed his head and said, "This idea is pretty good, but if we do that, my men in the north-west would have to work faster."

Yao Yi was somewhat befuddled. "Marshal, Childe Ling?"

"There are two things I need you to do. Remember, tell them they must not blow their cover," said Yuwen Tong.

Yao Yi immediately threw his chest out. "At your service, Marshal!"

After he heard Yuwen Tong's plan, Yao Yi's eyes also started glistening. "I'll do it right away!"

The moment Yao Yi left, Ling Zhang shifted his gaze to Yuwen Tong. "Just now you mentioned there was something going on in the north-west. What's the plan?"

"Um. That's just a precaution. We might not actually need it," said Yuwen Tong.

He leaned over and breathed something in his ear. Ling Zhang's mouth fell open in amazement.

"Now that I've decided to take it, I'll do it in a way that will make all of them sincerely convinced and have no reason to judge me," said Yuwen Tong, a flinty expression in his eyes.

After a long moment, Ling Zhang commented, "That's very impressive."

Yuwen Tong immediately beamed, "I supposed I deserve a kiss for that."

Ling Zhang, "..."

...

On that very night. In the King Yu's residential compound.

"Your Highness, everything's in readiness." A man walked into the King Yu's study late at night.

The King Yu replied, "Do it."

"Yes, Marshal."

At the same time. In the barracks of the Northern City Garrison Battalion.