Xuan Hongyu and Xuan Xiaotian knelt in front of the emperor who was near his last breath. Black blood that carried a bad stench flowed out the corner of the emperor’s lips. In front of his closest ministers, he struggled to speak. “After we pass away, the fifth prince, Xuan Xiaotian, shall inherit the throne. The third prince, Xuan Hongyu, will become the resolved prince. Once we pass away, the third prince is to immediately leave the capital and head towards the feudal fiefdom. Without being summoned, he is not to take a single step into the capital.”


  “We subject sons are grateful for this grace.” Xuan Xiaotian and Xuan Hongyu kowtowed in thanks.

  Xuan Hongyu pressed his lips together tightly. His expression was indifferent, so people couldn’t tell what he was thinking at all. Meanwhile, there was a smug air around Xuan Xiaotian.

  “All of you, withdraw. Hongyu, stay.” The emperor coughed. More black blood overflowed from his mouth, carrying a nasty stench of rot.

  Xuan Xiaotian glanced at Xuan Hongyu, then followed the ministers out.

  “Hongyu, come in front of us,” said the emperor.

  Xuan Hongyu greeted, “Imperial Father.”


  “With your personality, you’re not suited to being emperor,” said the emperor. “When you were young, you had a little dog. You doted on this dog a lot, but one day, this dog ran to us and wanted to play with us. We teased it a little, but afterwards, you killed this dog.”


  Xuan Hongyu didn’t speak. The emperor continued coughing with large mouthfuls of black blood. Xuan Hongyu said, “Imperial Father, don’t speak.” As he spoke, he wiped the black blood that had dripped onto the emperor’s neck.

  “We originally thought that you were a bloodthirsty person, but later, we found that it wasn’t that you didn’t care about things, but that you were too obsessed with the things you cared about. You should head to the fiefdom. Don’t returned to the capital anymore.”


  Xuan Hongyu pressed his lips together without speaking.

  “You can go,” said the emperor.

  Xuan Hongyu knelt. “This subject son will withdraw now.”


  When Xuan Hongyu left the resting palace, he saw that Xuan Xiaotian and the ministers were still waiting outside the palace. Xuan Xiaotian walked up and asked Xuan Hongyu, “What did Imperial Father say to you?”


  Xuan Hongyu glanced at Xuan Xiaotian, then smiled for the first time during all this time. It made him looked exceptionally magnificent. Even Xuan Xiaotian was taken aback for a moment. Xuan Hongyu said mildly, “Guess.”


  Xuan Xiaotian narrowed his eyes, but before he had the chance to say anything, he heard the eunuch’s mournful cry, “His Majesty has passed away!”


  Ning Shu, who was training in the third prince’s residence, heard the sound of the knell coming from the palace, so she knew that the emperor has passed away. The housekeeper immediately took down all the gaudy things in the residence, then hung up white silk.

  When Xuan Hongyu returned, there was a cold air hovering around him. Ning Shu knew from the sight of this that Xuan Hongyu had no hope.

  Later, when she heard the emperor’s decree, she became overjoyed. If Xuan Hongyu headed to the fiefdom after the emperor’s funeral, then there would be no further incidents.

  In reality, the emperor was doing this to protect Xuan Hongyu. Hopefully Xuan Hongyu would be able to understand his old man’s painstaking efforts.

  Ning Shu originally wanted to ask Xuan Hongyu whether he would leave the capital after the funeral, but when she saw Xuan Hongyu’s cold expression and that strange lingering affection in his eyes, she swallowed her words back down.

  She almost forgot that this guy was an expert in courting death. If he didn’t cause some trouble, he couldn’t sleep at ease.

  It was sure rough. Ending up with a master like this was practically the greatest life tragedy.

  Why couldn’t Xuan Hongyu just switch targets? Why did he insist on being fixated on Shangguan Qingrou?

  Although Ning Shu already had some understanding of Xuan Hongyu’s ability to court death, she was still surprised by how skillful he was.

  While Xuan Xiaotian was busy with arranging the funeral and the process of ascending to the throne, Xuan Hongyu kidnapped the empress-to-be, Shangguan Qingrou.

  Towards this action, Ning Shu could only kneel and write the word ‘Respect.’