Inside the Golden Throne Hall, Emperor Yuan sat high upon the imperial throne, listening to the civil and military officials report on affairs of state.
The Great Chu Empire had long lived under the constant threat of the Great Jin Empire of the northern barbarians.
Originally, the capital of the Great Chu Empire had been established in Kangcheng. But because the northern barbarian Jin Kingdom had invaded the south, captured Kangcheng, and carried off most of the Emperor's father, brothers, and the royal family of Kangcheng, along with ninety percent of the civil and military officials, the people of the Great Chu Empire felt utterly humiliated by the Disgrace of Kangcheng.
Emperor Yuan, originally the First Prince of the Great Chu Empire, had fled south in a panic with a faction of former Chu officials, establishing a new capital at Ancheng. There, those former officials had enthroned him, keeping the dynastic title unchanged as the Great Chu Empire.
To distinguish it from the former dynasty, the fallen Chu Empire was called Northern Chu, while the present Great Chu Empire was referred to as the Nanchu Empire.
After sorting through these historical backgrounds, Zhao Lie—who was a top-tier university student from the twenty-first century—immediately realized that he had time-traveled into an era resembling the Northern and Southern Song dynasties in the history of the Xia State, though it was by no means precisely the Northern or Southern Song.
Thus, after miraculously surviving his wager with Emperor Yuan, he knew from the original owner's memories that his current predicament was extremely perilous. Weighing the pros and cons, his immediate priority was to survive first and develop later; he had long since formulated a countermeasure in his mind.
Accompanied by his mother, Zhu Lian, he arrived outside the Golden Throne Hall, where the elderly eunuch Yan Song had already transmitted the order for them to enter.
When Emperor Yuan learned that Zhao Lie had actually survived a whole night of freezing in such harsh snow, he was instantly struck with astonishment.
"Let him enter!" Emperor Yuan commanded.
Because his feet were severely frostbitten, Zhao Lie's walking was still somewhat uncoordinated even after moving around in the snow for a little while, yet he managed to walk with steady steps.
However, at that moment, Zhao Lie glanced at the eight characters inscribed on his left palm and then paused. Taking advantage of the fact that his mother was walking ahead and not paying attention, he seemed to tuck something that had appeared out of thin air in his left hand into his bosom.
After entering the Golden Throne Hall, Zhao Lie and his mother passed through the civil and military officials arrayed in two lines, then prostrated themselves on the ground: "Your subject son Zhao Lie pays respects to Your Imperial Father!"
Zhu Lian likewise performed the rites of obeisance toward Zhao Zhen.
"Rise!" Emperor Yuan said, devoid of any emotion.
"Thank you, Imperial Father!"
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
After expressing their gratitude to Emperor Yuan, Zhao Lie went straight to the point: "Reporting to Imperial Father: thanks to the immense fortune of Your Imperial Father, your son has miraculously survived our wager, and I hope Your Imperial Father will fulfill your promise!"
Upon hearing this, Zhu Lian turned pale with fright and hastily chided Zhao Lie: "Lie'er, do not be impudent! His Majesty has a myriad of state affairs to attend to; this matter can be discussed with Your Imperial Father at another time!"
"No matter! A sovereign does not go back on his word! As the Son of Heaven, whatever I say, I shall follow through. Today, right here before the civil and military officials, I confer upon you the title of Prince of Yelang, and you shall depart for your fief when spring arrives next year!" Emperor Yuan had no intention of breaking his word and genuinely enfeoffed Zhao Lie as the Prince of Yelang.
Zhao Lie naturally knew that the territory of Yelang was situated in the far western frontier of Great Chu, characterized by towering mountains, dense forests, sparse population, rampant plagues year-round, barren land, and stubborn, pugnacious inhabitants.
To be enfeoffed as king in such a place was no different from being banished to a penal colony.
Although Zhao Lie was unwilling in his heart, his top priority right now was to leave the capital and save his own life. Within this imperial family surrounded by wolves, his eight older brothers eyed him like tigers eyeing their prey. He had a humble background and no backers in the capital; only the Thirteenth Sister treated him well. But the Thirteenth Sister was young—only fourteen years old. Therefore, contending with these so-called brothers offered not a shred of hope for victory.
Consequently, upon hearing Emperor Yuan's words, Zhao Lie hastily prostrated himself: "Many thanks, Imperial Father! Your son shall pack my belongings and set out as soon as spring arrives!"
"Good!" Emperor Yuan smiled inwardly.
Zhao Lie thanked Emperor Yuan once more and rose, preparing to leave with his mother Zhu Lian, when he heard Crown Prince Zhao Yong laugh: "Congratulations to the Ninth Brother on being enfeoffed as the Prince of Yelang! But the Ninth Brother should not rejoice too soon. On this journey to Yelang, the mountains are tall and the forests dense, with bandits roaming along the roads and outlaws swarming the jianghu; the Ninth Brother must be extremely careful."
The Crown Prince's words sounded like a caution to be careful on the surface, but actually harbored mockery, which Zhao Lie naturally understood.
"Thank you for your kind reminder, Big Brother. Little Brother will take note of it," Zhao Lie answered loudly.
"Indeed! Big Brother is right. The Ninth Brother is fortunate enough to be granted a royal title by Imperial Father, but if he loses his life before he can enjoy the reality of that title and dies prematurely on the road, then it would truly be both laughable and pathetic! Hahaha!" Eighth Prince Zhao Zhen burst into unvarnished, mocking laughter of derision.
"Oh! Rest assured, Eighth Brother, this little brother of yours has a very tough life! I guarantee that long after Eighth Brother is dead, I will still be kicking!" Zhao Lie launched a merciless counterattack.
In the original owner's memories, this Eighth Brother was only a few months older than him. Because they were of similar age and the Eighth Brother's mother was a cousin of the reigning chancellor Qin Kui, he had bullied Zhao Lie ever since childhood.
Naturally, Zhao Lie showed him no mercy at this moment, meeting him blow for blow.
"You... how dare you curse me today?" Zhao Zhen flew into a rage and lunged forward, attempting to lay hands on Zhao Lie.
The remaining seven princes also cheered the Eighth Prince on, and for a moment the entire Golden Throne Hall echoed with clamor.
Seeing his nine sons openly making a ruckus in the imperial court, Emperor Yuan instantly burned with imperial wrath, yet he only lashed out directly at the youngest, Zhao Lie: "Zhao Lie! How dare you be so audacious? Is this how you speak to your elder brothers? Do you have any sense of seniority and hierarchy left in your heart?"
Seeing Emperor Yuan flare up, Zhu Lian knew her son had brought a catastrophic disaster upon himself. She hurriedly prostrated herself and pleaded: "May Your Majesty calm your wrath! Blame this concubine for failing to educate Lie'er properly. I beg Your Majesty not to blame Lie'er; if punishment is due, punish this concubine instead!"
"Mother! You need not plead with Imperial Father for mercy! Your son has done no wrong today. The Eighth Brother uttered unprovoked insults first, and your son was merely acting in self-defense. All the civil and military officials in the court heard it—I beg Imperial Father to uphold justice for your son!" Zhao Lie said loudly, neither servile nor overbearing.
Hearing Zhao Lie's words today, Emperor Yuan, the civil and military officials, and the other eight princes could not help feeling secretly shocked: this Ninth Prince, who had always been muddle-headed, cowardly, timid, stuttering, and willing to take blows without striking back and insults without cursing, seemed like a completely different person today. He actually dared to talk back to the Eighth Prince right in the court hall, before so many civil and military officials!
This Eighth Prince was Emperor Yuan's favorite son. Although his status was inferior to that of the Crown Prince, the Crown Prince had recently been impeached by the Eighth Prince for failing to vigorously lead troops against the Jin forces. This seemed to have damaged the Crown Prince's image, and Emperor Yuan held strong opinions about him.
Consequently, the Eighth Prince was currently riding a wave of immense popularity. Coupled with the fact that his maternal cousin was the reigning chancellor—a man above ten thousand and beneath only one, wielding the power of life and death—his political maneuvers within the court naturally won him the backing of the majority of civil and military officials.
Judging by this trend of development, the future position of Crown Prince might well fall to the Eighth Prince.
Yet today, Zhao Lie's abnormal behavior and his entirely logical and well-founded words had been heard loud and clear by every official: first the Crown Prince had sneered, and then the Eighth Prince had hurled undisguised curses, prompting the Ninth Prince Zhao Lie to launch a counterattack. It was completely reasonable and fair—what crime had he committed?
"Zhao Lie! You are audacious! You committed the offense of a subordinate attacking a superior—that is a fact! You show no respect for your elders, failing first to respect the Crown Prince and then talking back to your Eighth Brother. Such a frantic ruffian devoid of all propriety must be immediately arrested and handed over to the Ministry of Justice for interrogation and correctional discipline, to reflect on himself for three to five years. I beg Your Majesty to discern the truth." The speaker was none of other than the Eighth Prince Zhao Zhen's maternal cousin, the reigning chancellor, Qin Kui.
Because Zhao Lie's "origins" were uncertain, and Emperor Yuan had been dead drunk on the night of his encounter with Zhu Lian, he honestly had not the slightest impression of whether they had truly consummated a marriage. However, he had indeed seen the bloodstain on the bedsheets.
Whether this Zhao Lie was truly his son was something Emperor Yuan could not be certain of.
Yet rulers throughout the ages have always been ruthless figures! Better to execute a thousand by mistake than let a single one slip away. Emperor Yuan had originally intended for Zhao Lie to freeze to death last night. Little did he know this brat possessed a tenacious life and refused to freeze; now Qin Kui's memorial played right into his hands! He would use Qin Kui's hands to eliminate this thorn in his eye and flesh in his heart.
With this thought, Emperor Yuan immediately declared: "Very well! We shall grant Chancellor Qin's request! Zhao Lie, what else do you have to say?"
Zhao Lie replied: "Imperial Father, your son is wronged!"