Shocking! Five men are in love with the same woman!

Upon arriving at Longteng Palace, the morning light was just beginning to break, casting dappled golden rays upon the carved beams and painted rafters, creating a solemn yet warm scene.

At this moment, Emperor Jingzhao had just gotten up and had breakfast, with Consort Li keeping him company.

Upon seeing Xiao Muyao enter, Consort Li immediately bowed to him and then quietly left.

The hall was quiet for a moment, with only the fragrance of ambergris rising and swirling between the beams and pillars.

Emperor Jingzhao had rested overnight and had just taken medicine, so he seemed to be in good spirits.

Xiao Muyao didn't mince words and instead asked directly, "Father, what do you intend to do with my eleventh brother?"

Upon hearing this, Emperor Jingzhao already had a guess in his mind.

He always knew his most prized son well.

So he sighed and pleaded, "Can't we spare his life? We can just keep him under house arrest for the rest of his life."

Despite seeing the hopeful look in Emperor Jingzhao's eyes, Xiao Muyao remained unmoved.

He spoke coldly, “Father, you are good in every way, but you have always been indecisive when it comes to your children. It is good that you have a kind heart, but you must understand that others dare to act so recklessly because of this. Your son is not like you and is not a soft-hearted person. Eleventh brother must die. Your son will not spare him.”

Upon hearing this, Emperor Jingzhao frowned slightly, his eyes flashing with a complex light.

Emperor Jingzhao's thoughts were in complete disarray.

He would think of his once innocent and naive eleventh son, whose image of him laughing and playing behind him as a child seemed still vivid in his mind.

Then he thought of the turbulent situation in the court and the restless ambitions of various forces.

He sighed deeply, slowly closed his eyes, and tried to calm himself down.

After a long while, he opened his eyes again, his gaze filled with a deep sense of sorrow and helplessness.

Emperor Jingzhao once again turned his gaze to Xiao Muyao, who stood before him with a resolute expression.

He knew that his son was always decisive and ruthless, with his own methods and strategies.

He also understood that his suggestion to "kill the chicken to scare the monkey" was indeed reasonable.

The current political situation in the court allows no room for mercy or leniency.

If we let the eleventh prince go today, many more people may follow suit in the future, and the court will surely fall into even greater chaos.

Emperor Jingzhao was constantly struggling internally.

Reason told him that he should support the sixth prince's decision. For the sake of the stability of the court and the long-term interests of the country, he had to make a compromise.

But emotionally, he found it hard to sever the bond between father and son, after all, that was his own son!

After a long while, Emperor Jingzhao finally spoke again.

His voice was somewhat hoarse, filled with deep weariness and helplessness: "So be it, I... I understand your concerns and thoughts, and I know you are thinking of the country and its people. I... I compromise, and I will do as you say."

After speaking, Emperor Jingzhao seemed to age considerably in an instant, leaning weakly against the soft couch, his gaze somewhat vacant as he stared ahead.

When Xiao Muyao heard Emperor Jingzhao finally compromise, he felt a sense of relief.

He knew that his insistence was correct. In order to stabilize the court, his eleventh brother had to pay a price, even if that price was so heavy in the eyes of their father.

Looking at Emperor Jingzhao's tired and helpless appearance, he felt a little sorry for him.

He knew his father was struggling and in pain, but he could not let these emotions shake his resolve.

Suppressing the myriad thoughts in his mind, Xiao Muyao finally replied in a deep voice, "Thank you for your kindness, Father."

………………

Now that the eleventh prince's fate had been decided, Xiao Muyao immediately ordered Lu Yanqing to send him on his way.

After all, time is of the essence, and things can change if things are delayed.

He didn't go there himself, and there was no need for him to go.

The prison was dark and damp, with a pungent smell of decay and blood.

The eleventh prince huddled in a corner, his once magnificent robes now filthy and disheveled, his hair loosely falling over his shoulders, his eyes filled with despair.

When he heard the noise, he slowly raised his head and saw Lu Yanqing carrying the poisoned wine, walking towards him step by step.

His eyes widened suddenly, a look of disbelief flashing across them.

How could this be?

Was his father truly so heartless towards him?

He struggled to get up from the ground, his steps unsteady, and he barely managed to stand by leaning against the cold wall.

His lips trembled slightly, and he called out in a hoarse and dry voice, "Lu Yanqing... what... what are you doing?"

His eyes were fixed on the glass of poisoned wine, and his body began to tremble uncontrollably.

"I don't want to die, I don't want to die like this..." he murmured to himself, his voice filled with resentment.

Seeing this, Lu Yanqing remained silent and did not react at all, simply standing there quietly.

Seeing that he didn't react, the eleventh prince suddenly lost control of his emotions, collapsed to the ground, and burst into tears, crying, "I'm not reconciled, I'm really not reconciled..."

After a long while, the eleventh prince seemed to have cried himself to sleep. He slowly sat up and stared blankly ahead.

He looked at the cup of poisoned wine again, took a deep breath, and said in a voice filled with endless desolation, "So be it, so be it. The victor is king, the loser is villain. This is my own doing, it's my fate..."

With trembling hands, he picked up the poisoned wine and said as a final word, "I hope I will not be born into an imperial family in my next life..."

After saying that, he tilted his head back and drank the poisoned wine in one gulp.

The moment the poisoned wine went down his throat, a look of pain appeared on his face, and his body slowly collapsed.

Finally, he lay quietly on the cold, filthy ground of the imperial prison, and his life came to an end.

But his eyes never closed.

Looking back on my life, I remember there were happy days when I ran and played without a care in the world.

At that time, he had the emperor's favor and his mother's gentle smile.

In the summer, he would catch fish by the pond in the Imperial Garden, getting himself all wet, but laughing with immense joy.

In winter, he would have snowball fights with his brothers in the snow, snowballs flying back and forth, and laughter echoing throughout the palace.

But after his mother passed away, he had no one to protect him, and his father gradually stopped paying attention to him, making his life in the palace extremely difficult.

From then on, he harbored great resentment in his heart.

He hated that his father didn't care about him, hated that the sixth prince stole all of his father's favor, and hated that his other brothers and sisters were living in glory while he was struggling to make ends meet.

He hated the palace maids and eunuchs who fawned on the powerful and looked down on the weak, and he hated the ministers' looks at him with pity, indifference, or disdain.

He vowed that one day he would rise above all others and trample them all underfoot.

But after so many years of planning and preparation, his dream came true in an instant.

He never had another chance.

He had nothing left, no bargaining chips left.

He lost, he lost completely.

But he was really unwilling to accept it!

Memories continued to flood back, the humiliations and neglect he had suffered were like sharp thorns, piercing his heart again and again.

He gazed at the high walls and narrow windows of the imperial prison, where the sliver of light filtering through seemed to be his only source of illumination.

He thought of his mother. If his mother were still alive, would everything be different?

If I could do it all over again…

But alas, there are no "what ifs"!