AHDIBCB Chapter 63

Li Heng couldn’t help but stroke Yuan Yi’s belly again. “I’m a little…”

Yuan Yi asked, “A little what?”

Li Heng said, “I’m a little overwhelmed with joy. Honey, I think… they just kicked me? They did kick me, didn’t they?”

This feeling amazed him more than anything else that had ever happened in his life.

These were his and Yuan Yi’s children. Even though he wasn’t the one who gave them life directly, they were connected by blood, and he still felt a surge of excitement at that moment.

Yuan Yi had originally said that once the babies’ movements could be seen from the outside, he would record a video to show Li Heng. But now there was no need—Li Heng saw it first hand, and Yuan Yi also witnessed his reaction immediately.

There was a feeling in his heart that he couldn’t quite describe.

He had once thought the children wouldn’t be something Li Heng looked forward to—after all, he had become a father passively. Few people would feel happy in such a situation.

But unexpectedly, Li Heng loved them no less than he did.

Li Heng suddenly said, “I really want to hold you and the babies.”

Yuan Yi leaned forward slightly, resting his forehead against his. “We miss you too.”

In the past, he would never have said something like that. But the person in front of him always seemed to find a way into his heart so easily.

At that moment, Li Heng’s heart felt soft all over.

The man who had once been unwavering suddenly developed a weakness. But at the same time, that very weakness became his most unbreakable shield.

That night, explosive news spread through the Imperial Court. The Emperor was dead. Some claimed that the rumor of the Emperor being poisoned was merely a lie fabricated by the Crown Prince to lure Li Heng to the court and eliminate him. The Emperor hadn’t appeared in days, and the court physicians hadn’t seen him for quite a while either.

The public discussed the matter intensely, but no one could actually confront the Crown Prince about it.

However, it was different for the senior officials in the Imperial Court who held the responsibility of supporting the state.

The Council President, Ling Xian, and Shan Jingyu—equivalent to prime ministers in ancient times—were a male alpha in his sixties and a female alpha just past her fifties. They led a group of officials to the council chamber to request an audience with the Crown Prince, demanding to see the Emperor.

At first, the Crown Prince thought it was the Second Prince behind this move, but to his surprise, the Marshal of the Qiming Army behind the Second Prince hadn’t even stirred.

The Crown Prince paced back and forth in his study. “These people—why ask now of all times, neither earlier nor later?”

A lazy voice drifted from the chaise lounge in the corner. “What are you so nervous about, Big Brother? They didn’t move earlier because they were giving you the chance to act—testing whether you’re fit to become the head of the empire. The main duty of the Council President is to ensure that the reigning Emperor is capable of leading the empire.”

The person on the chaise lounge was none other than the now-freed Fourth Prince, who spoke in a relaxed tone. “Just bring the real one back to deal with them, and that’s that. It’ll show everyone you weren’t lying—the Emperor really was poisoned.”

The Crown Prince said, “You make it sound so easy.”

What he hadn’t told the Fourth Prince was that he had given the Emperor additional poison. Although they were cooperating for now, both of them knew clearly that this was only temporary. Sooner or later, there would be a showdown between them—so he couldn’t willingly hand over any leverage.

But if he brought in the real Emperor, the court physicians brought by the two council presidents would definitely notice something was wrong.

“Why hasn’t that Second Brother made a move yet? He’s really got some patience.” He had been waiting for the Second Prince to act and had made quite a few preparations for it—he just wanted to hold the moral high ground. But now it felt like he was losing that ground more and more.

“It’s not that he doesn’t want to act. He’s worried that if he does, he’ll push you into a corner and you’ll call Marshal Jian back. It’s clear they’re waiting for Marshal Jian and Li Heng to completely break away from you—waiting until you’re no longer capable of stirring up a storm—then they’ll strike. A single, decisive blow. That kind of strategy clearly isn’t Second Brother’s idea—it’s from Marshal Huaman. The Qiming and Xingyan armies… Qiming is like its name: a light that appears only after enduring the darkest night—able to endure. Xingyan, on the other hand, is like fireworks—burning brightly even if only for a fleeting moment. The two marshals have very different styles, and the things they handle are different too. And, Brother, there’s one thing you have to understand: Marshal Jian led the Xingyan army for years—there’s no way he doesn’t have any loyal followers.”

“You’re saying this sudden council ambush is related to Marshal Jian?”

“There’s a good chance. And if you’re not careful, Second Brother will grab your weakness in one go.” The Fourth Prince, with a mocking smile, added, “Brother, let’s be honest—pushing Li Heng out was the stupidest thing you’ve ever done in your life.”

“But he wasn’t on my side from the beginning!”

“He doesn’t need to be on anyone’s side. As long as his heart is with the billions of people in Owanda, you should’ve used him to the end. But look at you—you let him fly so far away.” The Fourth Prince said, “Now his wings are fully grown, and he’s gained new support.”

Now that the Crown Prince thought back on it, he regretted it so much it made his guts twist. He should have at least used Li Heng and Jian Qingchuan to take down the Second Prince before making other plans. Back then, he was simply too eager to seize absolute power—and now he was stuck in such a mess.

But without enough power in hand, how could he possibly maintain control?

What he didn’t realize was that his steps were becoming more and more disorganized, more and more agitated.

Suddenly, he stomped his foot. “Right, you just mentioned new support—what new support? Who has Li Heng roped in now?”

The Fourth Prince said, “Not that. I meant Yuan Yi. Don’t be fooled by his young age—he’ll definitely become a worthy partner to Li Heng in the future. Do you remember that night when Mo Ting brought him in…”

The Fourth Prince paused for a moment, as if recalling something, then gave a soft chuckle and continued, “He answered the Emperor’s questions clearly and calmly, without panic. That kind of composure isn’t something students his age usually have.”

The Crown Prince didn’t care. “It’s not like the Emperor asked anything hard to answer. And he’s just an omega—at most, he can give Li Heng a few good-quality kids. You talk him up like he’s some sort of celestial being. Which of our omega younger siblings didn’t get the best education? Have any of them done anything impressive? Yuan Yi studied under Zhou Tandai—what good could he have learned?”

The Fourth Prince couldn’t even be bothered to argue anymore. “You know Zhou Tandai that well?”

The Crown Prince snorted with sarcasm. “I didn’t before, but isn’t he basically Li Heng’s father-in-law now? So I dug a bit more. Why?”

The Fourth Prince said, “Then get to know him better. Zhou Tandai is Yuan Yi’s uncle after all—raised him for so many years, he should know quite a bit about him. And that aunt of his should be looked into too—maybe there’s something you can use to hold Li Heng back.”

That was indeed an angle he hadn’t considered. The Crown Prince gave a vague “mm” in response.

What he was most concerned about right now was the immediate situation. If it came to it, he’d have no choice but to partially cure the Emperor’s poisoning. Sangmeng couldn’t be cured, but the poison they had administered themselves could be.

The Fourth Prince noticed the Crown Prince suddenly becoming somewhat absent-minded and frowned slightly from his seat in the corner.

Before long, the Crown Prince summoned Fang Pu and whispered a few words to him. Fang Pu immediately turned and ran out.

Soon, an emaciated old alpha with closed eyes was carried into the Imperial Court.

The two council presidents arrived with a group of parliament members to meet the Emperor, only to find him lying on a hospital bed, his breathing shallow, while the life monitoring devices constantly gave off warning alarms.

One of the medical officers brought by the council presidents stepped forward to check the condition, but just then, the monitor let out a sharp, piercing alarm.

The Emperor’s heart had stopped. Everyone froze for a moment, then the medical officers quickly rushed forward to attempt resuscitation. Emergency drugs and physical CPR were both administered, but nothing worked.

Right in front of everyone, the Emperor—just like that—was gone!

The Crown Prince was stunned. “That’s impossible!”

He rushed forward to check if it was really the Emperor, only to be horrified to find not a single flaw.

The two council presidents summoned the medical officer. “What happened?”

The medical officer said, “The Emperor was indeed unconscious due to being poisoned by Sangmeng. But with proper care, he shouldn’t have passed so quickly. The cause of death requires thorough investigation.”

After agreeing, the council president turned to the Crown Prince and asked, “What does Your Highness think?”

The Crown Prince instinctively glanced at the Fourth Prince standing among the crowd, only to find him intently watching the Emperor lying on the bed.

Just then, a maid’s shriek rang out from outside. The guards quickly rushed out to see what was happening.

After checking, they returned and reported, “Your Highnesses, Council Presidents, Fang Pu is dead.”

President Ling asked, “Dead? How could he be dead just like that?”

The guard replied, “It appears to be suicide.”

A medical officer went to verify and returned, saying, “Council President, it was indeed suicide.”

Everyone turned their gaze to the Crown Prince. It was well known that Fang Pu was the Crown Prince’s close confidant, and the Emperor had been under his watch the entire time. Now, with the Emperor suddenly deceased and Fang Pu dead by suicide, the Crown Prince could hardly escape suspicion.

At that moment, the Crown Prince exclaimed, “Why are you all looking at me? He was perfectly fine this morning. Father, Father, please wake up, Father!”

The Emperor showed no response.

The Fourth Prince spoke then, face full of grief. “Brother, stop calling him. The most urgent thing now is to thoroughly investigate the truth—we can’t let Father die with injustice.”

The Crown Prince came to his senses. “Yes, yes. Council Presidents, Fang Pu may have been my man, but I had absolutely no reason to do such a thing. If I really intended to harm the Emperor, I had plenty of chances in the past—why wait until today? I beg you, Council Presidents and fellow council members, please investigate this matter thoroughly. This is clearly someone trying to frame me.”

President Shan said, “This situation is indeed suspicious. But since Fang Pu served at Your Highness’s side for many years, Your Highness must avoid suspicion. As for who will serve as acting Emperor… what does everyone think?”

A council member said, “Though the Emperor has many children, only the Crown Prince, the Second Prince, and the Fourth Prince have the authority to act on behalf of the Emperor. The Second Prince is currently not at court, and the earlier incident involving abduction and attempted murder is still unresolved—so only the Fourth Prince is eligible to act as regent.”

“President Ling, what do you think?” President Shan asked.

“Until the matter is fully investigated, let the Fourth Prince temporarily assume the Emperor’s authority,” President Ling said, looking at the Fourth Prince. “Your Highness, what is your view?”

“In my opinion, the Crown Prince should continue handling the duties,” the Fourth Prince replied. “You all know what I’m like—and besides, between brothers, this sort of thing doesn’t sit well.”

“If it concerns the Imperial Court, then it concerns the nation. The sovereign-subject relationship comes before brotherhood,” President Ling said. “What does the Crown Prince think?”

Right now, the Crown Prince’s mind was entirely occupied with thoughts of what to do if the Emperor’s secondary poisoning was uncovered. Hearing that the Fourth Prince might take over national affairs, he was unwilling deep down, but still nodded. It wasn’t yet time to fall out openly with the Fourth Prince—surely he wouldn’t use this to take him down.

Besides, what could he do if he disagreed? The authority of the Imperial Council was granted by the Emperor himself. It indeed had the right to appoint an imperial prince to act on the Emperor’s behalf when the Emperor was unable to perform his duties, until a new sovereign was chosen after the old one passed.

Letting the Fourth Prince act in the Emperor’s stead was clearly a move to test his capabilities.

What the Crown Prince couldn’t figure out was—why had Fang Pu suddenly committed suicide? He had never given any such order.

Soon, President Shan ordered the Emperor’s body to be moved into the ice chamber, and Fang Pu’s body taken away as well. The Crown Prince’s heart sank with each step, but there was nothing he could do to stop it. And now, the tables had turned—this time, he was the one being restricted. Though, the Fourth Prince hadn’t truly imprisoned him—just barred him from leaving the Imperial Court.

On the way back, President Shan asked President Ling, “What do you make of this situation?”

President Ling replied, “You’ll be leading the investigation, President Shan. As for Fang Pu—whose man he really was—this needs to be looked into carefully. This morning, Li Heng already replied that the Sirius squad was on their way back to Star Capital as soon as they found the antidote to Sangmeng. And then, this happened so soon afterward… someone clearly didn’t want him to return. Otherwise, why act now?”

“You think it was the Second Prince?”

“I didn’t say that. Just feeling a bit of regret in my heart… I fear the decades-long balance is about to be broken.”

President Shan slowly glanced around to make sure no one else was nearby, then asked, “Or perhaps… it’s Li Heng himself who doesn’t want to come back?”

The two looked at each other in silence, seemingly weighing the possibility—then smiled.

President Ling said, “The duty of the Imperial Council has always been the same.”

President Shan continued, “To do everything in our power for the happiness of the billions of citizens of Owanda.”

A week later, the investigation results were released. The Imperial Court’s Information Department issued a new statement: the Emperor’s actual cause of death was a sudden, large-scale myocardial infarction. However, this otherwise common condition could not be treated in time due to the lingering effects of the Sangmeng poison, which had kept the Emperor in a coma for an extended period and further impaired his already fragile heart and brain function. As for who had administered the poison—there was still no definitive conclusion.

Part of the public suspicion turned toward the Second Prince, as Sangmeng originated from Brute Wilds, and his connections with the Brute had never been fully clarified.

Photos of the Second Prince dining at the same table with Brute beastmen had been circulating online for a long time.

Some people speculated that the Crown Prince couldn’t wait to ascend the throne and had committed patricide. Otherwise, why, when the investigation concluded that he wasn’t primarily responsible, didn’t he revoke the Fourth Prince’s acting authority as regent?

For a time, public trust in both the Crown Prince and the Second Prince plummeted. In contrast, the Fourth Prince, steadily holding the position of acting Emperor, began to show talents unlike anything seen from him before.

In early December, heavy snow fell over Star Capital. The state funeral organized by Jian had concluded.

He Yanwu arrived at the Imperial Court alongside Pei She. Originally, this was by the Crown Prince’s order, but now that the acting throne had changed hands, the Fourth Prince received He Yanwu with great respect, never once mentioning anything negative about Li Heng.

The Fourth Prince even issued a new decree: reinstating Marshal Jian and Li Heng’s official positions, awarding Li Heng the military rank of Lieutenant General in recognition of his achievements in the campaign against Gallich.

He even personally bestowed a lieutenant general’s residence upon Li Heng.

The announcement was posted on the official site of the Court’s Information Department, so Li Heng and Yuan Yi saw it immediately.

The two of them were a bit speechless after reading it. The praise was flowery to the extreme, but not a single coin was offered for the war effort. And now they wanted to benefit from it by coaxing Li Heng to continue contributing to Owanda?

“General,” said Winter Wolf, “Captain He says the Court is already leaning toward having the Fourth Prince formally succeed the Emperor.”

“If that happens and you still don’t return, the Fourth Prince would have grounds to send troops against Zhenyuan and Sirius.”

“He won’t dare—at least not for now. As long as the Second Prince doesn’t move, he won’t either,” Li Heng said. “Still, he really knows how to seize an opportunity.”

“So are you going back or not?” Yuan Yi asked. “You can’t just drift around forever. We’re still okay, but there are so many soldiers in Zhenyuan and Sirius whose families are still in Owanda.”

“That’s exactly what the Fourth Prince is counting on,” Li Heng replied.

“If we go back now, we’ll be in a very passive position,” said Scarlet Snake. “Should we wait a bit longer?”

“What does Madam think?” Li Heng asked Yuan Yi. Lately, whenever major decisions were at hand, he’d always connect with Yuan Yi to hear his opinion.

“I say we can’t wait,” Yuan Yi replied. “Either don’t go back at all—or go back immediately.”

“Why?” asked Night Wolf.

“The Second Prince won’t make a move, and neither will the Fourth Prince. The Second Prince stays still because we haven’t moved, and the Fourth Prince hasn’t officially taken the Emperor’s throne,” Yuan Yi explained. “That’s why the General must go back—to break this deadlock. The Court releasing the news, rather than directly confirming the Fourth Prince as Emperor, is likely because they’re waiting for the General’s decision.”

These old foxes clearly knew that if they pushed the Fourth Prince to the throne while Li Heng remained motionless, the Second Prince would lead the Qiming Army straight to the Imperial Court.

Without the support of the Xingyan Army, the Fourth Prince wouldn’t be able to hold back the Qiming Army—the throne would inevitably fall to the Second Prince.

And the Qiming Army was waiting for Li Heng’s move too, because whether the Second Prince would cooperate with the Brute Wilds ultimately depended on whether Li Heng returned.

If Li Heng didn’t return to Huamei Star, the Qiming Army alone would be more than enough to crush the Fourth Prince. Even if the Xingyan Army had troops stationed on Huamei Star, without Li Heng’s return, Marshal Jian wouldn’t lend the Fourth Prince a hand.

The old marshal was aging, and sooner or later, the Xingyan Army would come under Li Heng’s full command.

“Exactly,” said Zi Lu. “As soon as the General moves, the Second Prince will be forced to move too. Because if the Fourth Prince secures the throne with the General’s help, then the Second Prince will never have a shot at the crown in his lifetime.”

“But what if the Second Prince still refuses to move?” asked Bi Chan.

“He won’t stay still. What he seeks is more than just the throne,” said Li Heng. “Cooperating with the Brute Wilds would earn him infamy for generations, yet he still insists on doing it—because his ambition isn’t just to become Emperor. He wants to unify the entire star system. He wants the rubber resources of Maledor, and even more, he wants to completely defeat the Brute Wilds, Gallich, and Igtan. More accurately, this ambition wasn’t originally his.”

“It came from Marshal Huaman of the Qiming Army?” Yuan Yi guessed.

“That’s right. The Second Prince is heavily influenced by this great-uncle of his.”

Here, “great-uncle” referred to the Second Prince’s maternal grandfather’s elder brother.

Back in the day, this man followed the Emperor in military campaigns across the galaxy and had already conceived such ambitions. But the Emperor at the time had no intention of pursuing them. Marshal Huaman had to return, his aspirations unfulfilled—but all these years later, his goals haven’t changed in the slightest.

Li Heng asked, “Any new movements from the Brute Wilds?”

Zi Lu replied, “Same as before—neither advancing nor retreating. They’re maintaining a very delicate distance from Sirius.”

Yuan Yi said, “Looks like they’re planning to head to Huamei Star with the General. That way, the Second Prince and the Qiming Army will have an even more legitimate excuse to strike at you.”

Bi Chan said helplessly, “So the goal is to make the public truly believe our General is working with the Brute Wilds?”

Winter Wolf said, “Very likely. Space warfare isn’t like land battles—it’s not something people can just see for themselves. When the time comes, if the Brute stay put and the Qiming Army attacks us, it’ll appear to the public like a simple act of defense.”

Scarlet Snake asked, “But if the Brute just watch from the sidelines, hoping to profit from the chaos, doesn’t that harm the Qiming Army too? At that range from Huamei Star, the moment the fight hits the ground, it’s all over.”

Li Heng said, “That’s exactly why the Xingyan Army is necessary. Marshal Huaman knows the old man well. Internal war is one thing—but if civilians or the empire itself are threatened, the Xingyan Army will act.”

Yuan Yi, gently rubbing his belly, added, “The Second Prince and his great-uncle plan to use the Brute Wilds, then turn around and eliminate them with the help of the Xingyan Army. Once war breaks out and chaos spreads across all fronts, pushing the Second Prince to the throne won’t be hard at all—taking down the Fourth Prince will be even easier. In other words, they’ve never seen the Crown Prince or the Fourth Prince as their real enemies. The real threats in their eyes are the Xingyan Army and Sirius. Because those are the biggest obstacles to unifying the star system. So this war is inevitable, no matter what.”

“Madam is absolutely right. That’s exactly how it is,” Li Heng said. “Winter Wolf!”

“Here!”

“Clear the battlefield immediately. Head for Huamei Star at top speed! We’re going to support…” Li Heng sneered, “His Highness the Fourth Prince in his glorious ascension as Emperor.”