After Cracking Three Madmen’s Skulls - Chapter 3

The crown prince had reached Ling Zhao. His voice softened.

“A-Zhao, I’ve missed you. Come with me, will you?”

Ling Zhao remained cold. He raised his hands.

“Unlock these.”

The crown prince obeyed.

“Don’t be angry, A-Zhao. It’s all those servants’ fault. How dare they treat my A-Zhao this way?”

His broad sleeve slipped back, revealing a red mole.

Ling Zhao swayed in disbelief. After a long moment, he spoke hoarsely.

“Yan Bei. You and I… have known each other for decades.”

The crown prince’s expression was gentle.

“Of course.”

“You knew nothing of my birth?”

Without blinking, the crown prince answered, “Nothing.”

Ling Zhao fell silent.

He wasn’t stupid. The sudden upheaval might have stunned him, but twenty years of upbringing as an aristocrat’s son allowed him to collect his thoughts quickly.

He asked again.

“When I was reduced to a servant and given to the Shen household, you weren’t beside His Majesty?”

The crown prince played with his hands.

“I wasn’t.”

“And when I was stripped of my outer clothes and whipped, you weren’t watching from the side?”

The crown prince’s expression cooled by degrees.

“I wasn’t.”

Ling Zhao could scarcely endure it, but he forced his emotions down.

“Your Highness always says you treat me sincerely. If you swear a solemn oath and answer my last question honestly, I will never doubt you again.”

The crown prince’s expression eased.

“What question?”

Ling Zhao looked him in the eyes.

“Where were you when I was abducted after placing third in the examinations?”

The crown prince gave an odd, indulgent smile.

“Doing everything I could to find you, naturally. Where else do you think I should have been?”

Without the slightest restraint, he lifted Ling Zhao’s hand and pressed a light kiss to it.

Fury filled Ling Zhao’s eyes. His hand curled and tightened involuntarily, as if shocked.

But all he did in the end was release a soft breath.

“Then I have no more questions.”

The guards discreetly lowered their eyes.

Hidden currents ran through the room. Everyone had a secret agenda.

Everyone except Shen Yan, who sensed none of it. His great ox eyes grew wider and wider. For a straightforward soldier like him, all of this was far beyond his understanding.

I quickly covered his mouth.

The crown prince looked over coldly.

“Why would A-Zhao say such things for no reason? Someone must have been sowing discord.”

My heart pounding, I pulled Shen Yan down into a swift kowtow.

“Your Highness, my brother and I have been deeply apprehensive since Young Master Ling came into our household. Now that His Majesty is ill and Your Highness governs in his stead, the Shen family will naturally serve you with all our strength!”

Shen Yan immediately offered up the command tally.

“The Shen military tally is here, at Your Highness’s disposal!”

The crown prince studied me for a moment, then said with some approval, “You have sense. Unfortunately, your father is stubborn. As his children, you ought to advise him.”

Ling Zhao turned his hand to hold the crown prince’s. He lowered his eyes and his voice.

“Have them released. I’ve been treated well here. Now that everyone is acquainted, it will be… easier for you to visit.”

The crown prince stroked his hand, then rubbed his waist.

“As you wish.”

The chains fell from our wrists. I quietly exhaled.

Without the military tally, Shen Yan grew increasingly restless.

I caught his arm and slowly shook my head.

Dusk settled. Three distant drumbeats sounded.

Heavy, orderly footsteps approached, accompanied by a powerful shout.

“Yan Bei, you whelp! What are you doing to my children?”

The Shen soldiers wore black armor, their bodies like iron towers, long blades in every hand. Each carried the dangerous air of someone who had walked out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

At last, the old man had hurried home.

The crown prince’s face darkened.

My father stood beneath the covered walkway and unleashed a torrent of abuse.

“Yan Bei, you scheming brat! A palace maid’s son, and you think yourself fit to be crown prince? His Majesty has already decreed your deposition! How dare you swagger through my estate?”

Those words slashed through every pretense the crown prince had so carefully cultivated.

Both heavily armed forces drew their blades. The very air seemed thick with smoke and blood. Torches flared around us, distorting faces into long, strange shapes.

Firelight danced across the crown prince’s face, leaving it half in shadow.

“General Shen, I’ll ask you one last time. Will you submit?”

My father gave three great laughs.

“The Shen family is loyal to Yan and to His Majesty! You schemed to confine me in the palace, then threatened my children while I was gone. You lack the virtue for your position. Why should I serve you?”

Veins bulged on the crown prince’s forehead. He raised the tally.

“All men, hear my command! Kill Shen Zhitan at once!”

Before the words had fully left his mouth, he spat blood.

I gripped my dagger and drove it hard into the crown prince’s back.

Shen Yan immediately knocked down the guards around us. Ling Zhao snatched up my whip, kicked the prince to the ground, and looped it around his neck.

Unable to move, the crown prince glared at Ling Zhao, eyes almost splitting with rage.

“A-Zhao! I’ve treated you well!”

Archers hidden around the estate loosed their bolts.

Screams rose from every direction. The smell of blood grew stronger. Heavy thuds sounded in my ears as bodies hit the ground.

Ling Zhao could no longer restrain his hatred. Slowly, he pulled the whip tighter.

“You violated me. You killed my family. And you call that—treating me well?”

The crown prince’s pale face swelled purple. Rasping sounds came from his throat.

I drew my blade across his neck. Warm blood splashed over my face.

Bodies littered the walkway. Blood ran like a river.

My father rushed up, checked the prince’s breathing, and stared with great round eyes.

“Dead?!”