Chapter 669: A Mysterious Shard

The second prince snorted. "No, I'm not being controlled by an outsider. Taking over the throne was my idea!"

The king of the realm frowned. "Come clean. Which of the princes are working with you, and where's the Jinghun clan?"

Upon hearing the king of the realm's words, except for the crown and ninth princes, the remaining princes' faces uniformly turned pale.

The third prince asked, "Father, do you mean that you're suspecting one of us as well?"

The king of the realm nodded. "Your second brother spent years importing third- and fourth-level beasts into the hunting grounds without being discovered—a clear sign of the manpower of the group sponsoring him."

To catch these beasts and to import them into the hunting grounds required tremendous amounts of manpower and resources, and while the second prince had quite a list of backers, their strength wouldn't have been enough to carry out this ambitious plan. It was therefore natural to deduce that the second prince was working with a yet-unnamed party.

The king of the realm sighed. "I did underestimate you—no, we all did. You're a much stronger schemer than I expected."

The king of the realm did have to praise the second prince's ability to scheme and his patience.

"You never exposed yourself despite years of planning. The kingdom hosts an annual hunt, but despite all the beasts you've smuggled in, you never gave into the temptation to claim victory for yourself. Instead, you let your eldest brother claim all the glory, gritting and gnashing your teeth year after year. It must have been difficult, no?"

The second prince's smile was wry. "It's useless to talk about this now—in the end, I failed."

The king of the realm replied, "You were always intelligent from a young age, and it was difficult for me to choose between you and your eldest brother. As your father, I'm ultimately responsible for what you've done.

Reveal the mastermind behind this affair, the princes you're working with, and the location of the Jinghun. If you do so, I'll consider this matter resolved."

The second prince turned around.

The crown prince sighed. "Second brother, why don't you reveal the truth? If you don't, Father won't be able to let you go."

The king of the realm took a deep breath and waved a hand. "Very well. If you refuse to speak, then we're done here. Guards! Take my traitorous son away and behead him!"

The crown prince immediately got on his knees and begged, "No, Father! That's my brother—your own son!"

The king of the realm glared at the second prince. "Do you suggest that I should leave him alive so he can keep plotting to overthrow me?"

"Father! He—"

The king of the realm pointed at his second son. "If he refuses to see reason, there's nothing I can do."

The crown prince turned to the second prince. "Second brother, don't bicker with Father—he'll really kill you!"

The ninth prince drew his sword and held it by his neck. "Father, if you're going to kill my second brother, you'll have to kill me first!"

The king of the realm stood up in shock. "What are you doing? Are you threatening me?!"

The ninth prince cried out in sorrow, "Father, I only have one second brother!"

Zhang Lie folded his arms as he watched the drama ensue. He was really quite impressed by the entire family's ability to act. The king of the realm had pretended to be half-dead, and now he was taking on the guise of a disappointed father who wanted to claim his son's life. The crown and ninth princes, understanding his intent, supported their father in his act.

The third prince, glancing around and realizing what they were all up to, suddenly called out, "Second brother, don't you remember who pulled you out of a pond you fell into when we were young? It was our eldest brother!"

The crown prince continued, "When you fell seriously ill in your youth, I remember that Father paced outside your bedroom for the entire night without sleeping."

The third prince added, "When we did something wrong, the three of us were silent no matter how Father tried to question us—and we always shared the same punishment. Have you forgotten all that?"

The crown, second, and third princes were all relatively similar in age, and they shared quite a few memories.

The third prince continued, "Don't you remember how our eldest brother would shield us from the mistakes that we committed?"

In the end, his lips trembling, his eyes tearing up, the second prince finally cried out, "Father, I was wrong. Brothers, I apologize!"

Everyone smiled in relief.

The second prince began, "The idea was initially proposed by the Jindao."

The king of the realm asked, "And what about the Jinghun clan? Did the Jindao bring them into the fray?"

"The Jinhun clan actually... actually—aaaaargh!"

The second prince's eyes suddenly glowed with purple light as a small shard of purple crystal emerged from his skull.

The king of the realm and Zhang Lie noticed the problem immediately.?Something's wrong!

However, before they could react, the second prince, clutching his head and keening in pain, exploded right before their eyes.

Blood and brain matter splashed onto the king of the realm and the princes' faces.

𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

The king of the realm trembled, his fists clenched tightly, his body quivering in anger. This—the Jinghun clan were deliberately trying to provoke him!

The crown prince stood still, shaken by what had happened, his pupils narrowed. The other princes were likewise petrified. Their own brother had died in front of their eyes in just a matter of moments, without any prelude whatsoever.

The princes were all enraged and scared—it was only now that they truly understood that their battle for succession had been corrupted by the entrance of another party.

Those who lost this battle never used to die; at worst, they would be sent to the borders of the kingdom, with little grasp of the kingdom's politics—but none of them had expected such an outcome.

The eighth prince slumped to the ground in shock. His brother, who had just been about to repent, had exploded right before his eyes...