Turning back towards the Crown Prince, fatty smiled, âFor this very reason I never crossed swords with Zhuo Fan and Luo clan; in fear of providenceâs retribution. My position bears, in fact, heavenâs stamp of approval!â
âTo hell with your approval, youâre just a puppet! Is that something to take pride in?â Crown Prince snorted.
Fatty merely chuckled, âYet I am an emperor. Fatherâs last words were, whatever you can grasp, itâs yours. At least I have grasped the throne while dear brother of mine laments even failing to be a puppet.â
âWhy youâŠâ Crown Prince gnashed his teeth.
With a sadistic smile, fatty clapped, âBring the medicine!â
âRotten ball of fat, what are you planning?â Crown Prince cried.
Fatty beamed, âYou used medicine to kill father, a scandal I had to cover up. But for fatherâs revenge, Iâll have you go down the same way.â
A servant approached with a reeking bowl. The awful stench was to die over.
Yongning struggled to go there but Zhuo Fan held her back, repeating over and over to stay calm.
Crown Prince shuddered at every step of the incoming bowl of death, âDamn fatass, stop justifying killing me with your petty excuse. If it werenât for me acting first, youâd have stepped in as well that day. You dare come at me playing the timeless virtue, a damn hypocrite? â
âYouâre right about one thing. Weâre both cruel and sinister.â
Fatty raised an eyebrow, âEasing my conscience by taking revenge the same way you killed father is one reason. While Iâm more unsettled about letting you live. We have lost the trust of the guardian sects and Zhuo Fan limits my actions. If by some miracle you manage to escape, and use your name as Crown Prince to fight me, those sects will squash Yuwen clan. For the safety of our clan, big brother, have an early hereafter.â
Fatty took the bowl to Crown Prince.
Crown Prince couldnât even move, only snapping back, âRotten piece of fat, youâre gonna regret this!â
âI never regret my actions, or Iâd have never made it to the throne.â Fatty snickered, his eyes shining with cruelty, as he pried Crown Princeâs mouth open and force fed the slimy medicine.
Crown Prince put up a feeble fight. With his cultivation sealed, all he could do was seethe with hatred as the disgusting slime poured down his throat.
Yongning was wrecked with tears, shaking like a leaf. Only keeping quiet thanks to Zhuo Fan holding her mouth.
Fatty threw the empty bowl away and cackled, âHa-ha-ha, I can rest easy now!â
âHa-ha-ha, fatty, jokeâs on you. You wonât have a carefree reign even as a puppet!â Crown Prince was bleeding from everywhere, his eyes bloodshot, yet laughed as he cursed.
Fatty mocked, âThatâs not for you to decide. What can a dead man do anyway?â
âOh really? Humph, you may kill me, damn fatty, but donât think for a darn second youâll be at ease. Thereâs someone else who wants your seat just as much!â
âSecond brother?â Fatty snickered, âThanks for reminding me. That brick head will cause a mess sooner or later. But you can rest easy now, knowing Iâll make sure he follows you soon enough.â
Crown Prince cackled, âHa-ha-ha, follow me? Youâll have to find him first!â
âWhat did you say?â
Fatty frowned and shouted, âDidnât father imprison him? W-what did you do?â
Crown Princeâs face was covered in black blood, life ebbing out of his every pore, yet only his smile remained, âI donât mind telling you. To make sure fatherâs anniversary went as I planned and old second wouldnât flee in the chaos at Imperial Palace, I had set up some contingencies. First was poisoning the father and then killing your lardass in passing. The other was to have someone take old second away.
âIf I succeeded, old second would die. If I failed, heâll be my avenger, turning Tianyu upside down.â
âWhy did you do that?â Fatty squinted, âIf fatherâs plan had worked, Tianyu wouldâve been Yuwen clanâs. You are destroying our lands!â
Crown Prince mocked, âMy dear rotten fatass, have you forgotten fatherâs teachings already that you just now preached? If I canât have these lands, Iâd rather destroy them. Even if theyâre my brothers, ha-ha-ha⊠â
Crown Prince cackled and fatty turned grim, âHow can old second do it? He isnât capable of that.â
âYes, he alone has no hope and that is why I had prepared some things for him. One of those things is the same gift I had obtained for father, Lands of Our Nation!â
âRumor has it that whoever holds Lands of Our Nation, Danqing Shen will fulfill their wish. What, pray tell, do you think old secondâs wish will be?â Crown Princeâs eyes were mad.
Fatty stared at him coldly, âDanqing Shen has been missing for a thousand years with no one catching any sign of him. He may even be dead. This hope is a pipe dream.â
âNo matter how abysmal, as long as old second lingers on, Danqing Shen will one day come to Tianyu. Your days as an emperor are numbered. Have a taste of constant dread looming over your shoulder, fatass, ha-ha-ha⊠â
Crown Prince cackled as the light in his eyes faded. The proud smile remained even as he bled from every orifice.
Fatty squinted and snorted as he stormed out of the jail.
âPut out a wanted notice for second prince Yuwen Yong. Anyone catching him dead or alive will be greatly rewarded!â
âYes, sir!â
The jail guardâs shout echoed outâŠ
With everyone gone, Zhuo Fan turned towards the prideful but dead Crown Prince. With a flash of golden, he brought the girls out of there.
Whoosh~
The trio returned to the same spot they had left from and Zhuo Fan let the girls go.
Princess Yongning fell to her knees, sobbing, âBig brother⊠how could you do this to your third brother?â
âItâs simple. If he won, fatty wouldâve been the one lying in there instead.â Zhuo Fanâs flat tone came, masking the chaos within.
Witnessing fatty killing Crown Prince with such cruelty let him understand why fatty was so at peace with his role.
Perhaps it was Yun Xuanjiâs prophecy at work, that heaven could not be denied. Perhaps because of the three sectsâ ever watchful eyes, ready to snuff him out the instant he strayed like the old emperor.
[Thatâs why he wants to end the princes, to safeguard his future.]
[It will stabilize his position in the short term. While the rest would be left for the future.]
By that time, Luo clan would be a behemoth not even the sects could shake and all of fattyâs machinations would not achieve anything.
[Not while the greatest minds of Tianyu steer it!]
He could leave with an easy heart.
Breathing in and out, [After so many years, my heart has found peace at lastâŠ]
âDemons, all of them!â Princess Yongning sobbed louder.
She was oblivious to the deep-rooted hatred and hostilities between her dear brothers, a matter of life and death. [All of it, just for the throne?]
[Youâre brothers, of the same flesh and blood! You canât even let each other live?]
Zhuo Fan scratched his nose at her crying, âUhm, to be honest, Iâm a demonic cultivator, practically a demon as well.â
âSteward Zhuo, you donât count.â Yun Shuang looked him in the eye with rosy cheeks, âAt least you want the best for Luo clan and the elders. If youâre a demon as well, what will that make everyone else, devils?â
A chord moved in Zhuo Fanâs heart and he frowned.
[I, a great and grand Demonic Emperor, true believer of the demonic path, is not a demon?]
[Either everyone else is a demon or Iâm straying farther from the demonic path.]
Zhuo Fan was perplexed. His heart was at peace yet his mind couldnât pierce the ever thickening fog. [Is this my demonic path?]
He used to be so clear-headed but it has kept getting clouded as of late.
[Am I to tread ahead or take a step back?]
Yun Xuanjiâs words came back to him. [This life might be just another way of cultivating.] And he regained calm.
[Regardless, the demonic path isnât definite. Just follow your heart.]
âShuangâer, tomorrow weâre returning to Windgaze City. Fattyâs actions have put me at ease.â Zhuo Fan spoke.
Yun Shuang nodded.
Yongning looked up at him and pleaded, âZhuo Fan, I beg of you to take me with you. I do not want to stay in such a painful place.â
Yun Shuang nodded before he could refuse, âOf course. Youâll come with me to Luo clan and live in the Yun clan.â
âUh, itâs improper to take the great Princess away.â
Zhuo Fanâs dissuasion felt flat and Yun Shuang said, âWeâre the biggest clan there is. Whatâs improper about that? Come on.â
She pulled Yongning away, leaving Zhuo Fan speechless.
[How come even Shuangâer has turned feisty, so out of her character. Am I a bad influence?]