The Lin Family, renowned for several decades, collapsed in a single day.
The news of Master Lin’s gold-swallowing suicide, reached the ears of Emperor Huian that very night as he waited for word in the Imperial Shangfang. Upon hearing it, Emperor Huian remained silent for a long ti.
In the end, Emperor Huian personally took up the brush to issue an edict, posthumously conferring the title of Duke Wen Zhong upon Master Lin. He ordered the Ministry of Rites to arrange a funeral with the honors due to a duke, and decreed a day of court mourning as an expression of his sorrow. Having done all this, he hurried out of the Imperial study with Liang Gonggong.
In a secluded and desolate palace within the Imperial palace, the guards had raised their hands by now.
Liang Gonggong stood sternly outside the palace gate, allowing no one to approach. Listening to the fragnts of sentences emanating from inside, he sighed inwardly.
In the humble palace, lit only by a single candle and thus very dimly lit, King Heng glared at the ruler of a nation—his biological father—with not a hint of a son’s respect or adoration, only endless hatred in his eyes.
"Back then, you dreaded the Lin Family, thus you took my mother into the palace and feigned affection to win her heart. It was because of this that after giving birth to , she poisoned the Empress Dowager for my sake! In essence, you are the chief culprit. How dare you play the saint, poison my mother, and imprison ?" King Heng, eyes bloodshot, questioned the silent Emperor Huian, indifferent to how his words might be sacrilegious and invite fatal punishnt: "There is not a man in this world colder, more hypocritical, or more heartless than you. The one who deserves to die the most is you!"
In the face of his own son’s accusations, Emperor Huian didn’t get angry, nor did he retort. He had also pondered whether Master Lin, with his integrity, would truly wish to see the world in chaos. As long as he dedicated himself to governnt and ruled the Great Chu well, Master Lin would probably not use that thing to threaten him.
But human hearts are unpredictable, and he couldn’t let anyone have control over his lifeline. He didn’t regret taking the Lin Imperial Concubine into the palace, but he would not give her a child, lest she develop ideas she shouldn’t have. However, things had co to this point, and no matter how much he regretted it, so things simply couldn’t be undone.
Seeing that Emperor Huian remained silent, King Heng felt as if his heavy punch had landed on cotton, his eyes brimming with intensified hatred: "You have always been concerned only about your favored Crown Prince, never giving a second thought to your other sons! Over the years, your displayed affection for , your feigned valuing of , it was all for your other sons to see, to use as a shield for your beloved son! If you had not given hope, how could I have been driven to such sches? In the end, it was you who forced , so what right do you have to deprive of my title and imprison ?"
It was a painful truth that he only began to understand after Chu Heng, the treacherous villain, instigated a beast attack that injured so many Princes without facing any punishnt. By then, it was too late; he could no longer turn back.
Finally, a change ca over Emperor Huian’s face; he looked at King Heng with a pained gaze. For this son, he hadn’t fulfilled a father’s duty, and ultimately, he owed him.
"Ye, you are mistaken! Over those years, your grandfather indeed favored you and nurtured you, sincerely not wanting anyone to disturb the Crown Prince, but you cannot deny that your grandfather truly cared about cultivating you, with the expectations due for a Crown Prince!"
King Heng was stunned, then contemptuously turned his head: "Don’t try to deceive with those words, nor expect to forgive you just like that! What you did to , to my mother, and to the Lin Family, I will always rember. Don’t you dare to hope for peace of mind in your days to co!"
"Ye, you..." Emperor Huian opened his mouth, wanting to explain, but in the end, he gave up.
Of all his sons, apart from Hengheng, the one with the most kingly aura was the one before him. For the sake of Hengheng, his previous reliance on him indeed contained ulterior motives, but had he not also cultivated this son with the standards of a Crown Prince, hoping that should anything befall Hengheng, he would be able to shoulder the responsibility of the Great Chu’s realm?
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