The Seventh Prince was confident in his victory.
Because he was not only cruel to others but also to himself.
Ever since he witnessed his mother's death in the cold palace as a child, he wanted revenge on everyone.
From such a young age, he began to scheme for survival.
He learned to please others and protect himself.
Some people are born cruel.
When he was young, he knew his younger brother Little Eight loved climbing trees, with palace maids and eunuchs surrounding him, making his tree-climbing safe.
He casually threw a snake onto that tree.
He didn't really mean to do anything specific.
He had no grudge against Little Eight.
At most, he had seen their father embrace Little Eight, while their father had never embraced him.
That time when Little Eight climbed the tree, he saw the snake, was bitten, fell, and died.
The Seventh Prince watched Consort He go mad - her son had died, and she lost her mind.
While their father merely shed a single tear, forgot about Little Eight, had people take care of Consort He, and later Consort He died in an accident too.
He suddenly realized that life could be planned.
No need to rush, step by step, everything could be planned.
Most people were foolish and could be manipulated.
But some people couldn't be, like his father, who was naturally selfish and cold-hearted.
So he worked hard to gain Princess Huiyun's attention.
He married Jiang Yuluan, the daughter of the Imperial Tutor.
He thought the Imperial Tutor was a formidable person.
But he hadn't expected his elder brother, the Crown Prince, wouldn't hold out.
Then he was banished to a remote territory.
Though not every scheme succeeded, it didn't matter; sometimes failure happened.
Just like when he was young, he hadn't wanted Little Eight to die, he just wanted to see him fall and get hurt, to hear him cry in pain, but Little Eight died instead.
One couldn't have everything go their way.
But by moving slowly, eventually, one would reach their destination.
Finally, that day had come.
The Seventh Prince had victory within his grasp.
He wasn't usually talkative.
He was just preparing.
Every palace coup needed preparation - for instance, poisoning needed time, gathering guards needed time... Having waited half a lifetime, he still had patience.
When the Emperor looked at his son before him and heard him speak of how Old General Meng and Young General Meng had both perished, his usually composed face finally cracked.
He had just thought this son was ruthless like himself.
He too was a ruthless person.
But he hadn't expected they were different.
His Seventh Son was a madman.
Fighting for the throne, winners become kings, losers become bandits.
Victory and defeat both had their causes.
But the Seventh Prince had actually allied with foreign enemies, betraying his own country - he had actually done such an insane thing.
Qin Luoxia, hearing this from not far away, was also furious, cursing her son-in-law to death, saying the Seventh Prince was utterly evil.
When a wealthy merchant's sons fight for inheritance, fighting to the death, and finally the seventh son wins and gets his father's property - that's normal, it happens in wealthy families.
But to invite bandits to steal the family fortune just to win the inheritance - this wasn't just about inheritance anymore, this was madness.
It reeked of a "if I can't have it, none of you can" attitude - willing to let outsiders plunder rather than let his own brothers benefit.
The Emperor finally cursed: "Beast!"
The Seventh Prince smiled: "I was born of a lowly woman."
This statement nearly finished off the Emperor, almost making him cough blood.
The Emperor had predicted the Seventh Prince's moves.
But the Seventh Prince had predicted the Emperor's predictions.
Now, clearly, the Seventh Prince held the winning hand.
Then, Jiang Wan collapsed.
Jiang Wan tried to grab Chu Xi's hand but missed.
She fell straight to the ground.
She stared in disbelief, knowing she shouldn't have gotten involved in these matters.
She had a feeling her life should have been positive, upright, noble, not like this.
Then the earth began to shake.
The first time it happened, she thought she was heaven's favorite, that even heaven couldn't bear to see her hurt.
But now she knew something was wrong.
When she was meant to get hurt, she still got hurt. As the shaking continued, Jiang Wan, feeling near death, uttered her first curse word in life.
She had always been carefully educated by Old Lady Jiang, trained to be a proper lady.
She thought she was heaven's favorite, but now she wondered if she had misunderstood - perhaps with each earthquake, heaven was celebrating her impending death, shaking with excitement...
If there was a next life, she wanted to be a woman true to herself - rejecting what she didn't like, pursuing what she did, rather than compromising herself, pretending endlessly until exhaustion. Jiang Wan stared as the earthquake knocked Chu Xi down, and finally smiled.
The earth shook again.
It hadn't been long since the last earthquake.
The astronomers were going crazy.
The palace, being such a large structure, was normally built to withstand earthquakes, at least up to magnitude five or six.
But when an earthquake struck, it was still terrifying.
Moreover, the palace hall's beams were extremely thick - if just one fell, it could send many people to their next life together.
The Seventh Prince had been certain of victory, his decades of planning finally coming to fruition today.
He believed he would succeed.
Even if more people died.
It didn't matter, since only others would die.
But in all his fifteen years of preparation, he hadn't prepared for an earthquake.
Natural disasters were unpredictable, this he never anticipated.
In the instant of the earthquake, he lost his balance and was thrown near his father.
Almost onto the dragon throne.
But his father still sat on the throne.
The Seventh Prince instinctively wanted to push his father off.
But unexpectedly, his hand was caught by his father first.
His aging father, whom he had underestimated, had an incredibly strong grip.
Even during the earthquake.
His father kept muttering: "Treacherous son, treacherous son, your desire for the throne, I can understand, I came to power the same way, but you must never ally with the Iron Barbarians. If they invade, the country will be destroyed, the family ruined. Haven't you read? You've read so many books, how could you do something so inhuman? When there's no country, no family, what kind of emperor will you be? Whose emperor will you be?"
The Emperor gripped the Seventh Prince's hand tightly.
The Seventh Prince tried several times but couldn't pull his hand free.
The Seventh Prince didn't understand why his father was being so hypocritical, having remained silent when he killed Ninth Brother.
What was more important?
The earth shook.
Everyone fell.
Eunuch Yan, who had been supporting the Emperor, fell to the ground.
Unfortunately, there was a sharp corner under the dragon throne, and Eunuch Yan's head was about to hit it.
Jiang Changtian, being closest and always cautious about earthquakes, had trained at home on how to maintain balance during tremors.
So at this moment, seeing the Emperor and Third Son both falling.
Jiang Changtian chose to follow his heart, rushing to catch Third Son, preventing his head from hitting the sharp corner of the dragon throne.
The Emperor tumbled together with the Seventh Prince.
Fortunately, the dragon throne was large enough for both father and son.
Stay calm during emergencies.
Years of experience had taught Jiang Changtian that staying steady until the end was key to survival.
So while his face showed panic, his heart remained calm.
After confirming his sister Xia was safe, he analyzed the situation.
He and Third Son stayed to the side.
The dragon throne was massive - even if the beams fell, it should hold.
The Seventh Prince had played almost all his cards, and someone as suspicious as the Emperor couldn't be without trump cards.
Sure enough, when the Seventh Prince couldn't free his hand and tried to reach for his fallen sword, he saw the Emperor pull out a knife from the side of the throne.
Unless the Emperor drew it, no one could tell there was a knife embedded in the throne's side.
It was extremely ornate, with dragon patterns and jewels.
The Emperor gripped his son's hand with one hand and took the knife with the other, stabbing forcefully at the Seventh Prince.
"Beast, beast, I should never have let that cheap woman give birth to you, should have killed you both then."
The Emperor was furious, suddenly possessed of enormous strength, stabbing twice, but missing vital spots.
Age difference still mattered.
Even though he had a weapon, even though the Seventh Prince was caught off guard by the earthquake, he quickly recovered and grabbed the knife.
He turned it back on his father.
Loosely, swish!
