00:00The Emperor could simply leave behind a sealed written decree, publicly declaring that the
00:03rightful successor was named within it. The Imperial uncle, however, fear this would be
00:07too precarious. Once the Emperor passed away, anyone could easily seize or tamper with a mere
00:12written decree. Consequently, the protagonist proposed concealing the decree within the
00:16Emperor's own body, perhaps by engraving the text onto a dental prosthetic or by employing magic.
00:20As long as the decree remained physically with the Emperor, there would be no fear of it being
00:24swapped or stolen. Thus, the Emperor dismissed all his attendants, retaining only a single
00:28liaison officer specifically appointed for such sensitive matters, a man said to be both deaf
00:32and mute, as well as illiterate. The Emperor decided to heed his advice. The protagonist then went on
00:37to suggest that the Emperor should reclaim all military authority, whether currently held by
00:40the fourth prince or by the protagonist himself, to prevent any insubordinate individual who
00:44happened to command troops from defying the Emperor's final decree and forcibly seizing the
00:48throne. The Emperor chose to accept his counsel as well. Next came the question of how to formally
00:53depose the crown prince. The Emperor appeared visibly conflicted, adopting the stance of the
00:57minister of justice. The protagonist argued that both the appointment and the removal of a crown
01:01prince fell solely within the Emperor's prerogative and no one else had the right to interfere.
01:05However, the crown prince was, after all, distinct from the eldest prince. He had not committed any
01:09overt, actionable crimes. Therefore, the protagonist suggested that after being deposed, the crown
01:14prince could be permitted to retain his title as a prince. To help the crown prince accept the
01:18reality of his situation, the protagonist proposed handling the matter through a symbolic
01:22designation. For instance, by bestowing a title with a specific connotation, such as Prince Zhong,
01:26meaning stop or the end, to signify that his part of the throne had reached its conclusion. Yet,
01:31the Emperor's written drafts were riddled with errors and grammatical mistakes. His prose was
01:35convoluted and rambling utterly incoherent. The Emperor felt helpless. After all, stripping the crown
01:39prince of his title was likely an ordeal even more painful to him than having the prince executed.
01:44The protagonist then offered a final suggestion. Perhaps the content of the decree could simply be
01:48preserved exactly as it was originally written. Perhaps his majesty's painstaking efforts could be
01:52conveyed to his imperial brother. If the prince could only understand and accept them, he might
01:56continue to serve the nation in his capacity as a prince. Yet, the more the protagonist spoke,
02:00the more anguish the Emperor felt. How wonderful it would have been had the protagonist been born
02:04sooner. Unexpectedly, upon reading the message, the courier displayed a look of alarm. Realizing he had
02:09been spotted by the protagonist, the courier immediately attempted to flee. However, his escape was
02:13futile. The protagonist moved swiftly to subdue him. The protagonist recommended that the man be
02:18executed on the spot. To feign illiteracy while holding a high-ranking office was, in essence,
02:22an act of betrayal against one's sovereign. Although an investigation might unmask the mastermind
02:26behind the scenes, thereby eliminating future threats, it was feared that doing so would
02:30inevitably implicate yet another imperial prince. Unwilling to stir up further trouble, the Emperor
02:34acceded to the protagonist's proposal. Afterward, the Prime Minister personally intervened to handle the
02:39matter in secret. He could not help but marvel at the 13th prince's exceptional brilliance. It was as if a
02:44young man could read the very hearts of others. The prince was, in fact, the reincarnation of the
02:48secondary sages from the Silver Age figures who had lent their power to the Emperor of that era.
02:53Now that the protagonist had inherited that same power, the Prime Minister looked on with
02:56anticipation, wondering if asterisk he asterisk might be the one to usher in a golden age that
03:00would surpass even the glories of the Silver Age. Later, the protagonist visited the Crown Prince's
03:05residence and mentioned that the Emperor intended to take the Crown Prince along on his annual summer
03:09retreat to the North this year. In previous years, the Emperor had always gone on retreat alone,
03:13entrusting the handling of state affairs to the Crown Prince during his absence, a strategy designed
03:18to allow the prince to gradually assume control of the government and forge a working partnership
03:22with the court officials. However, the protagonist knew better than anyone the true reason behind
03:26this year's change in protocol. He revealed that the Emperor had subtly hinted at his true intention
03:31to personally impart the essence of statecraft to his second imperial brother this year.
03:35Through the power of persuasion, the protagonist attempted to make the Crown Prince
03:38understand the Emperor's sincere and benevolent intentions. Alas, the Crown Prince made it
03:42abundantly clear that he remained resentful and unyielding. Consequently, that very evening,
03:47a mysterious woman appeared to deliver a secret tip-off. The Crown Prince was planning to launch a
03:51coup d'etat that very night, intending to force the Emperor to abdicate. It was a desperate gambit.
03:55The Emperor had moved to strip the Crown Prince of his title, prompting the Prince to stage a
03:58rebellion and storm the palace in a bid to purge the court of his political rivals. The protagonist,
04:03however, had failed to anticipate one crucial detail. The Crown Prince, in his haste to flee
04:07during the ensuing chaos, had chosen to take along the very tutor who had recently been teaching him
04:11foreign languages, a woman named Olivia. What the Prince did not realize was that this tutor was,
04:16in fact, the daughter of Stuart Chen, the head steward of the First Prince's household,
04:19and a house-born servant raised within that very estate. In other words, these were children born
04:23to the Prince's attendance, and, shaped by their environment, such children were far more inclined
04:27to pledge absolute loyalty to their own Prince. She knew that the protagonist had once endeavored to
04:32devise a way to spare the First Prince's life, yet the Crown Prince, casting aside all familial
04:36ties, had ruthlessly struck the fatal blow. This entanglement ultimately implicated her father
04:41as well. Driven by a desire for revenge, she deliberately sought to get close to the Crown Prince.
04:45To her surprise, the Crown Prince revealed, right there in front of her, that as long as the official
04:50decree stripping her of the title had not yet been publicly announced, she still possessed the
04:53authority to mobilize troops and seize control of the royal palace. The Crown Prince intended to stage a
04:58forceful coup, compelling the Emperor to abdicate and retire as the Emperor Emeritus, allowing him to
05:03live out his remaining years in peace. Upon learning that Olivia had previously served by her father's
05:07side, assisting him in managing administrative affairs, the male lead decided to take her in and
05:12allow her to continue her duties within his own household. Her benefits and treatment remained
05:16exactly as they had been before, and she would no longer be required to make personal sacrifices.
05:20The male lead offered this sanctuary solely out of respect for her unwavering loyalty,
05:24specifically, her steadfast determination to avenge her former master even after his death.
05:28As she accepted this arrangement with deep gratitude, the male lead's core attributes increased once
05:32again. Subsequently, the male lead prepared to venture out alone. A simple-minded maidservant might
05:37have worried that it was too dangerous for her master to go out unaccompanied. A clever maidservant,
05:41however, would dutifully remain at home, offering prayers for her master's safe return.
05:45Since the Crown Prince intended to exercise her military authority, she could only call upon a single unit,
05:50the thousand-strong garrison permanently stationed in the province of Wu. The soldiers within this
05:54unit had been rigorously trained to render unconditional obedience to any superior officer
05:59holding legitimate command authority. Consequently, the Crown Prince launched into a rousing,
06:04indoctrination-style speech. In essence, she argued that the Emperor was incompetent,
06:08that treacherous ministers ran rampant, and that she, the Crown Prince, must intervene to save the
06:12nation and purge the court of corruption. Unexpectedly, however, the male lead suddenly appeared to
06:16intervene. Turn back now, he pleaded. Outside these walls lies nothing but hostility and peril. It is not
06:22too late to stop. You can still walk away from this. But if you take even one more step forward,
06:26your only
06:26destination will be the abyss. Yet, the Crown Prince had no intention of sitting idly by and awaiting her
06:32doom. The male lead looked on with sorrow. Had she truly not even bothered to read the Emperor's decree
06:36stripping her of the title? Had she failed to perceive, even in the slightest, the anguish and heavy
06:40burden of responsibility that her father had poured into that document? The very reason her actions had never
06:45been publicly exposed and why she had not yet faced punishment was precisely because her
06:49father had sought to preserve her life, striving with all his might to carve out a path of survival
06:53for her. But the Crown Prince could not accept the fate of being demoted to a mere prince. She had
06:57held the title of Crown Prince for over 30 years. She had fully expected that, one day,
07:01she would ascend the throne and rule the nation. To be told now, after all that time,
07:05that she had waited in vain was a reality the Crown Prince simply could not accept. In his
07:09arrogance, the Crown Prince deemed the Emperor to be senile and incompetent. A chasm had opened
07:13between their values, making any reconciliation impossible. Consequently, the protagonist, the
07:17Emperor's younger brother, was branded a rebel, and the Crown Prince issued orders for his capture.
07:22Unwilling to drag the army into a fratricidal power struggle, yet needing to defend himself at
07:26every turn, the protagonist found himself fighting a thousand foes single-handedly, a perilous situation
07:31from which he nonetheless emerged unscathed. Suddenly, the four great familiars, his summoned beasts,
07:35responded to his silent call. None of those present had ever witnessed such a spectacle. A single blast of fiery
07:40breath from Bahamut left the entire enemy force utterly helpless. The protagonist intervened just
07:45in time to halt the attack, shouting, that's enough. He had no desire to cause any fatalities.
07:49Seeing the soldiers completely incapacitated and the Crown Prince standing there looking utterly
07:54dumbfounded, the protagonist still chose not to take his brother's life. The Emperor, he reasoned,
07:58would surely never wish to see his own sons slaughter one another. However, his forbearance extended
08:03only to not striking the fatal blow himself. He would not, and could not, prevent his elder brother
08:07from taking his own life. After all, were he to personally execute the Crown Prince, every single
08:11one of the Prince's family members and subordinates would be implicated in the crime of treason and
08:16sentenced to death by association. Yet, if the Crown Prince possessed even a shred of sense, his death
08:20could be framed as an act of sudden repentance, a decision to atone for his sins by taking his own
08:25life just as he was about to launch his rebellion. In short, those were the only two options left to
08:29him.
08:29Commit suicide to pay the way for the eldest son's succession, or drag everyone down to hell with him.
08:34But the Crown Prince had already descended into madness. He continued to issue frantic orders
08:38for his subordinates to seize the protagonist, refusing to abandon his delusional quest to
08:42usurp the throne. What he failed to anticipate, however, was the sudden, tacit betrayal of his
08:46own men, or rather, their decision to make the asterisk only asterisk correct choice available to
08:50them. They would follow the Crown Prince no longer. Even in such a dire situation, the protagonist still
08:55showed concern for the well-being of his brother's family and subordinates. Yet, the Crown Prince
08:59responded with nothing but pathetic, unbridled rage. As it turned out, two of the subordinates
09:04had long harbored deep resentment toward the Crown Prince. Years ago, during the operation to
09:08unseal the demonic sword asterisk leviathan asterisk, 120 people had perished within the
09:13confines of the artifact among them, the very kith and kin of these two men. The protagonist,
09:17recognizing their burning desire for vengeance, had tacitly allowed one of them, Olivia, to strike
09:21the blow that avenged her father. Ultimately, thanks to the protagonist's efforts, the entire
09:25rebellion was quelled with a loss of only a single life. The protagonist would subsequently announce
09:29to the world that the Crown Prince, just as he was about to launch his coup, had been
09:32heroically intercepted by a loyal retainer who sacrificed their own life to stop him,
09:36an act that caused the Crown Prince to experience a sudden, profound epiphany, leading him to choose
09:40to take his own life as the ultimate act of atonement. Furthermore, the informants and
09:44Jia Chen would receive commendations, the others involved would face no further repercussions.
09:49Additionally, a recommendation would be made to the Emperor to designate the eldest son as the heir
09:53to the noble title. With the two great generals swearing their allegiance, the protagonist's core
09:57attributes saw a substantial boost, proving, indeed, that true talent is a treasure beyond
10:01compare. It was a pity, however, that the Crown Prince failed to grasp this fundamental truth,
10:05nor did he realize that his every move remained utterly transparent to the Emperor's network of
10:09spies. As the two princes who had vied for power vanished from the world stage, the nation entered a
10:14new era of unprecedented prosperity. Three years later, the protagonist turned 18. Hey, who are you?
10:19It turned out that today marked the formal ceremony to remove his fiancé from her family's
10:23registry. From this day forward, she would officially become the protagonist's wife.
10:26After conversing with the Emperor, Prince Lai came to a realization. The next Emperor would
10:30emerge from among three specific princes, the 4th Prince, the 8th Prince, and the 13th Prince,
10:35the very one upon whom Prince Lai had pinned his highest hopes.
10:37Ah!
Comments