We have fought to the Arctic Circle, and you want me to inherit the throne?

Li Huan woke up from the chaotic darkness.

The cold touch spread from the back to the whole body, like a poisonous snake coiling around.

A tearing pain came from the back of my head, and the base of my left ear was burning. Every heartbeat involved the wound, bringing a piercing pain.

He struggled to open his heavy eyelids, and a blurry golden halo appeared in front of his eyes, which stung his eyeballs.

The dizziness receded like the tide, and my vision finally became clear.

The first thing that caught his eye was a dazzling golden color. The boundless golden color enveloped him and trapped him in place, unable to move.

Li Huan looked down and saw that he was sitting on a huge throne.

The throne was carved with countless coiled dragons and auspicious clouds. The cold golden armrests pressed against his arms, the broad backrest rested against his spine, and the hard base supported his frail body.

The sunlight slanted in through the tall and wide window frames, falling on the throne, reflecting a dazzling yet cold light.

Is this... the East Palace?

Li Huan's brain exploded with a buzzing sound!

He subconsciously tried to struggle to get up, to escape from the seat he had been pursuing all his life, which now felt like a torture device.

wow-

A cold metallic friction sound suddenly rang out, accompanied by a feeling of restraint at the wrists and ankles.

Li Huan looked down in horror, only to see steel chains as thick as a child's arm.

One end was deeply embedded in the base of the throne, while the other end was tied with heavy steel hoops, tightly locking his wrists and ankles.

The length of the chain was limited, only enough for him to move his arms and body slightly within a range of less than one foot from the throne.

Not to mention leaving the throne, he couldn't even stand up straight.

Li Huan was locked on the throne, physically locked!

A huge fear instantly gripped Li Huan. He tried to struggle, using all his strength to pull and drag the cold chains.

"Someone! Let me go! Let me go! What the hell is this? Who did this?!"

Li Huan screamed, his voice distorted by fear, echoing in the empty East Palace Hall, sounding shrill and harsh.

No matter how he struggled, the chain did not budge, and the heavy steel hoop cut deeper into his flesh because of his struggle.

Like a moth caught in an invisible spider web, the more it struggles, the tighter it is bound, and the more desperate it becomes.

At this moment, the wooden door deep in the hall silently opened a crack.

A figure walked in slowly, the light outlining a tall and slightly hunched figure, and the corners of his robe with dragon patterns fluttered slightly in the light.

Emperor Qing!

Li Huan felt as if his neck was strangled in an instant, his struggles and screams solidified in his throat, leaving only heavy breathing.

Emperor Qing's footsteps were slow and heavy, as if every step was stepping on Li Huan's heart.

He walked to ten steps away from the throne and stopped. His bottomless eyes fell calmly on Li Huan who was locked in the golden cage.

"woke up?"

Emperor Qing's voice was not loud and was plain, but it pierced Li Huan's eardrum like an ice cone.

Li Huan's whole body began to tremble violently, and the great fear almost made him incontinent.

He opened his mouth, wanting to beg for mercy, wanting to explain, but all he could make was a wheezing sound.

Emperor Qing wanted to hear what Li Huan had to say, but after waiting for a long time, he didn't hear a complete sentence.

Disappointment flashed across his eyes, and Emperor Qing was the first to speak:

"I know you like to argue. You have liked to argue since you were a child."

"But I didn't expect that you would do anything for this position, even killing your own brothers."

"No, father! It's not like that, I..." Li Huan finally found his voice and tried to defend himself in a crying voice.

But Emperor Qing no longer wanted to give him another chance.

"Shut up, you rebellious son!"

"I know you dream of sitting here. I've told you before that everything in heaven and earth is yours only if I give it to you. If I don't give it to you, you can't take it away."

Emperor Qing's voice remained calm, as if he was stating a fact that had nothing to do with him.

"Now, I will satisfy you."

He raised his hand and pointed at the throne under Li Huan.

"From today on, you will live in this East Palace and sit here, on this 'Crown Prince' throne I built for you! You will eat, drink, defecate, urinate, and sleep here, until..."

Emperor Qing paused, and his indifferent eyes finally showed a very subtle fluctuation.

In endless fear, Li Huan heard his father in front of him utter clearly word by word:

"Until death, or... until a new king ascends the throne."

boom--

Li Huan felt dizzy and his whole world collapsed in an instant.

He was going to be locked here...forever?

Until it rots and stinks, or until the sixth brother he never wants to see ascends the throne?!

"No!!!" Li Huan let out a heart-wrenching scream.

He struggled frantically, pulling at the chains desperately, letting the steel hoops dig deeper into his flesh, causing blood to flow.

"Father! Father! I know I was wrong. I really do! Please have mercy on me, please let me go!"

"I don't want to be the crown prince anymore! I don't want anything anymore. Please let me go! Let me be a commoner, let me guard the imperial tomb, or even let me serve as a servant on the frontier!"

"Please, Father—"

Li Huan's forehead hit the armrest heavily, making a dull "dong dong" sound.

The force was so great that his forehead instantly became red, swollen, broken and bloody.

However, Emperor Qing just looked at him indifferently.

Watching him writhing, wailing, and bleeding in the cage...

In those bottomless eyes, there was neither a trace of pity nor a ripple, only a look of boredom at the clumsy farce.

"Take care of yourself." Emperor Qing gave him one last look, then turned around without hesitation.

The heavy palace door slowly closed behind him, blocking out all light and sound from the outside world, and completely blocking out all of Li Huan's hopes.

"Father! Father!!!"

Li Huan's roar echoed in vain in the hall and was eventually swallowed up by the boundless darkness.

He was completely abandoned.

Li Huan was overwhelmed by great despair. He stopped screaming and collapsed on the throne, staring at the dome of the hall with empty eyes.

The dome is painted with auspicious clouds, auspicious beasts, and soaring cranes, creating a peaceful scene, but at this moment it seems like the most vicious mockery.

Die, or wait to die.

Is this the rest of his life?

No! no way!

Rather than being locked up here like an animal, suffering humiliation and slowly rotting, it would be better to die now!

Li Huan gritted his teeth and decided to start a hunger strike.

The eunuchs guarding him soon noticed something was wrong.

When someone came over, Li Huan started cursing wildly.

Li Huan didn't even look at the exquisite imperial meal that was served.

The medicine that was brought to him was also knocked to the ground by him.

The eunuch had seen too many things like this. He sneered and turned to find Huang Jin.

Huang Jin quickly rushed over and saw Li Huan with his eyes closed. He smiled and said:

"Your Highness, why are you doing this?"

Huang Jin waved his hand, signaling the two strong young eunuchs next to him to come forward.

"Your Majesty has decreed that you must live and sit on this throne."

"Get out of here!" Li Huan growled in his throat.

Upon hearing this, Huang Jin's expression suddenly turned cold.

I spoke in a gentle and kind manner, but I couldn't stand up to the King of Shu... Doesn't His Royal Highness take me seriously?

Do you really think that Huang Jin is a good guy?

Back then, he even dared to plot against His Royal Highness Prince Feng, and he stepped out of the palace step by step, a ruthless person.

Now that I'm older, I've become more gentle in my actions.

Even so, few people in the court dared to disrespect him. Even His Royal Highness Prince Feng had made peace with him. So who the hell were you, Li Huan?!

Thinking of this, Huang Jin winked at the back, and two young eunuchs immediately rushed over. One held Li Huan down tightly, while the other used brute force to pry open his clenched teeth.

Li Huan struggled desperately, and the chains rattled, but he was no match for the strength of the two strong eunuchs, and his mouth and jaw were soon pried open.

"Mmm...Mmm!!!" Li Huan's eyes were bloodshot, and the humiliation and anger almost made him explode.

"Serve His Royal Highness the Crown Prince with his meal. Be careful not to hurt him." Huang Jin ordered coldly.

A eunuch immediately picked up a bowl of warm, mushy minced meat porridge, picked up a silver spoon, and poured it into Li Huan's mouth without saying anything.

The boiling hot porridge was forced into his mouth. Li Huan instinctively wanted to vomit, but was held down tightly.

The porridge slid down the esophagus, bringing a feeling of nausea and burning.

During this chaotic force-feeding process, Li Huan suddenly felt that there seemed to be a hard object with a strange sweet fragrance mixed in the porridge.

The thing slid into his mouth along with the porridge and stopped between his teeth and tongue.

Li Huan suddenly froze. He resisted the urge to vomit and, in between the eunuch's rough movements, secretly rolled up the hard object with his tongue and pressed it firmly under the root of his tongue.

"Well......"

Afterwards, Li Huan stopped struggling violently. Instead, he opened his mouth slightly and let the eunuch pour the remaining porridge into his mouth.

His eyes were still empty, but his body was no longer as stiff in resistance.

Huang Jin watched Li Huan swallow his food obediently, a look of satisfaction on his face: "That's right, Your Highness, being alive is better than anything else."

After a bowl of porridge was finished, the eunuchs forced Li Huan to drink a few sips of water. After confirming that Li Huan had swallowed it, they let him go.

Li Huan collapsed on the throne, coughing violently as if he was going to cough out his heart and lungs.

His face was pale, and there was a trace of porridge at the corner of his mouth.

Then he closed his eyes and stopped looking at Huang Jin and the eunuchs, as if he had completely accepted his fate.

Huang Jin nodded with satisfaction, took his men to clean up the dishes, and retreated silently.

The heavy palace door closed again, leaving only deathly silence.

Time slowly passed, the sun set in the west, and the last ray of light was swallowed up by the thick palace walls.

The main hall of the East Palace was plunged into pitch-black darkness. Only the palace lanterns in the distance shone through the gaps in the high windows, casting a few faint spots of light that barely outlined the outline of the hall.

The eunuchs guarding the door also became lazy, and faint snoring sounds could be heard outside the door.

Dead silence, absolute dead silence.

In this dead silence, Li Huan, who was slumped on the throne, had his eyelashes trembling slightly.

He slowly climbed up from the throne and gently moved his arm within the narrow confines of the chains.

The steel hoop rubbed against the wound, causing pain, but Li Huan didn't care.

He opened his mouth slightly, used all his strength to control the root of his tongue, and carefully and silently spit out the foreign object that had already been soaked with saliva and became slippery.

The thing fell into his palm, small and round, with a hint of lingering strange fragrance.

Li Huan looked over with difficulty in the moonlight coming through the window.

It was a honey pill, covered with a thick layer of sugar coating, and seemed to be wrapped with something inside.

who is it?

Who could have mixed this into his food under such strict guard?

The doubt disappeared in an instant, and a faint glimmer of hope, like a spark ignited in the darkness, fluttered in Li Huan's heart.

He held his breath, his heart beating wildly, and struggled to use his fingernails to carefully and slowly peel off the outer layer of sugar coating.

The sugar coating crumbled, revealing the dark brown wax ball inside.

Li Huan trembled as he dug his nails deep into the wax ball, breaking it open bit by bit.

A small roll of paper, rolled into an extremely thin strip, emerged from the broken wax ball.

Li Huan's heartbeat almost burst through his chest. With the help of the faint moonlight, he opened his eyes wide and tried hard to make out the tiny handwriting on the note.

Only two words.

Two words written with a very fine ink pen.

Dormant!

Li Huan's pupils suddenly contracted, as if he was struck by a silent lightning. The blood in his body seemed to solidify instantly, and then rushed to his head in the next moment.