Betrayal

Prince Yi's carriage arrived at his residence. He stepped down with a frown on his face and directly went to his study, he picked up a report on the desk, read the contents and his frown deepened, and he suddenly swiped everything on the desk to the floor in anger.

{...Why is there no progress on anything at all?!!...}

 "Prince Yi." A man's cautious voice came from behind him.

"What?" Prince Yi coldly asked.

"We've found him."

Prince Yi turned around with a half smile and looked at the black-clothed man bowing, "Good, lead the way." and then bounded out of the room, with the man following behind him.

 Prince Yi walked into an underground jail, where two men were locked up in a cell, with one holding onto his injured torso, with blood seeping through his clothes. As soon as they saw him, they both ruthlessly glared at him.

"Prince Rui, long time no see." Prince Yi said with a wry smile.

"You Long scum, how dare you treat our Prince like some slave, can you bear the repercussions?!" The other man in the cell shouted.

 Prince Yi scoffed, "Ah, that reminds me you recently became a slave, I should address you accordingly. Forgive my slip of tongue, slave R-"

"How dare you, Bastard?!!! If you have the ability, open this cell and -"

"Molin, that's enough." The injured one, Prince Rui said. Molin looked at Prince Rui and quieted down but was still glaring at Prince Yi. Prince Rui then looked at Prince Yi, "What do you want?"

Prince Yi laughed, "What do you have to offer?"

 "I'm not in the mood for you Long people's word games. Since you don't plan to hand me over to your emperor. Say what you want or get lost."

"Who said I don't plan to hand you over. My idiotic brother has been fervently searching for you. I, as his loyal subject, should ease his worries, don't you think?"

Prince Rui snorted and flatly asked, "Then why are we here?"

Prince Yi looked at them for a while and then said, "Prince Rui, how about some wine?" and then turned to his men behind him, "Bring him out." and walked off.

The guards opened the cell and Prince Rui stepped out and was led to a room, where Prince Yi was already seated at a table and motioned for the Prince Rui to sit, he sat and blankly stared at Prince Yi.

 Prince Yi poured two cups of wine from the jug on the table, then picked up his cup and downed it, then motioned for Prince Yi to drink.

Prince Rui looked at the wine suspiciously and then asked, "What exactly do you want?"

Prince Yi said refilling his cup and took a sip and then calmly said, "I want your cooperation."

Prince Rui snorted, "In case you haven't heard the news, I have recently been made into a laughingstock, so I'm afraid you are barking up the wrong tree."

 "I have heard it. Prince Rui was captured by the Long emperor's evil tactics, not only did he manage to brilliantly outmaneuver the enemy and escape, but he also took the risk to infiltrate deep into the enemy's territory and was able to covertly obtain their military formations and tactics, upon returning home was heavily rewarded by the Zou emperor." Prince Yi looked at him with an obscure expression.

 As he listened, Prince Rui's eyes widened and then he skeptically looked at Prince Yi, "You would betray your own country?"

"I am saving the country." Prince Yi indignantly responded lifting his head up.

"Saving?" Prince Rui asked with a sarcastic tone.

"Yes, saving it from destruction."

 Prince Rui held the wine cup on the table and glanced up at Prince Yi with a smirk, "Really? Why have I heard that the country has been prospering over the last few months? The people are happy and all praise the new emperor for his prowess, intellect, wisdom...His title has evolved from the god of war to the god of prospe-"

 "What do those commoners know?!" Prince Yi shouted cutting him off and banging on the table, "What god of war? He is an idiot! A fool! Have any of them ever seen him in battle? Is knowing how to fight everything? Do you think he knows the first thing about ruling a country? He is incompetent just like our father, an idiot who only knows how to use people? Use them and then dump them!! He will use and destroy this country in the same way, and I will not let that happen. If not for me - !" Prince Yi restrained himself and swallowed the rest of his words, regaining his composure.

 Prince Rui sighed and then calmly said, "Knowing how to use people and when to cut loose is also a good skill. But that is neither here nor there...I have no interest in your internal conflicts, but I have a bone to pick with that emperor myself. We have a deal." He picked up his wine cup and downed it in one gulp and then smiled at Prince Yi.

***

 In a small courtyard with the entrance doors chain locked from the outside. A young woman approached a little boy who was seated on the bed with a bowl.

"Kai er', drink some water." She held the bowl out to the child with a smile. The boy stretched his hands out and took the bowl and was about to drink.

{...*Don't drink it!...}

 The child stopped at looked at his mother, "Mother, did you say something?"

"No, hurry and drink." The woman impatiently said, still smiling.

"Oh." The child tilted his head a bit confused. He raised the bowl again.

{...*I said don't drink it!!...}

 The child stopped again and looked around the little room, there was really no one here but him and his mother. The only other person who stays in their courtyard in the cold palace was his mother's maid, Song mama but she was currently not here.

 "Mother, you really did say something now, right?"

"What nonsense are you talking about?" The woman said with a frown.

"I really heard -"

"Kai'er, you want to see the emperor right?" The woman interrupted his words

"En, I want to see father."

 "If you want to see him, you have to hurry and drink the water first, okay?" The woman said smiling and petting the child's head.

The child smiled back, nodded and drank the water and happily showed her the empty bowl.

"That's good, now you should sleep. When you wake up, the emperor will be here."

"En." The child obediently laid on the bed, smiled at his mother and closed his eyes.

 After a while, he started to feel a pain in his stomach, the pain got worse, he started cold sweating and curled up. He opened his eyes and looked up and saw his mother standing by the bed looking at him and stammeringly said, "Mother, my stomach..."

Then his mother turned and ran outside and he could hear her pounding on the entrance doors, shouting, "Emperor, emperor, save my Kai er'...Emperor, Kai er' is dying."

The child's eyes were blurry with tears and he vaguely watched his mother pounding at the doors outside.

{...*I told you not to drink it!!... Now, look at it!...}

 The child eyes frantically darted around looking for the origin of those words, but there was really no one in the room but him. He was feeling scared and was in intense pain and eventually, he fainted.

 After a while, the doors were unlocked and an imperial doctor ran in, after checking the child's pulse and administering some acupuncture and giving him medicine.

He turned to the woman and said, "Your highness, it seems that the prince ate something bad, he will be fine after some rest..."

The Imperial doctor hesitated and nervously glanced at the woman, then continued, "Your highness, the little prince has been getting sick a lot more since coming here...this place is really not suitable for a child...you should let him go." He finished with a bow.

 The woman coldly looked at him and said, "You are dismissed."

The Imperial doctor straightened, cast a worried glance at the child on the bed and then went out. The chains were removed and the entrance doors were opened again, he went out and the doors closed behind him and the chains were put back.

The woman coldly watched the doors.

 "Mother." The child weakly called and she turned to look at him, "did father come this time?"

The woman coldly looked at the child and said, "No." and walked off to the side.

The woman remained in a brooding mood for the next few days and the child got better. She would often just stare at him for long periods of time.

One day, she brought a bowl to him again.

"Kai er' here drink some water."

{...*Don't drink it!!...}

 The child just looked at the bowl but did not reach out to take it.

"Kai er', take it." The woman said with a wide-eyed smile.

"Mother, I'm not thirsty."

"Don't you want the emperor to come?" The woman asked her smile becoming strained.

The child just looked at her in fear and did not say anything. The woman stopped smiling and looked at him coldly and flatly said, "Drink it."

{...*Don't drink it!!... If you drink, this time you will really die!...}

 "Mother, I don't want to." The child hesitantly said, "How about I go out and call father for you?" He said looking up at the woman with pleading eyes.

 The woman dropped the bowl on the floor and laughed hysterically and said, "Call him? He didn't come when you were sick! He didn't come when you were dying! You think he'll come when you call?!"

The woman's laughter became even more hysterical, "How foolish!! You are nothing to him! The only thing he cares about is his useless self!! Why don't you understand this?!" She calmed down and then looked at the child, rubbed his head with a smile and softly said, "Your existence is also quite sad, isn't it? It is unfortunate..."

Then her smile vanished and she coldly looked at him, "Since no one wants you, it is fitting for Long scum like you to die...If you die, then maybe he will show up at your deathbed, if not, then maybe at your funeral. He has to come so I can kill him, you should understand this..."

The child shrunk away from her hand on his head, and looked at her with tearful eyes, the woman got angry and shouted, "What are you crying for?! Why are you acting like a victim? It is obviously you Long scum that are the oppressors! I will get my revenge on all of you! Starting with that demon, I will end him with my hands!! Since you are so useless alive, die a useful death for me!!"

Then she grabbed the bowl and jumped on the bed, straddling the child, forced his mouth open and poured the contents of the bowl in his mouth, the child tried to fight her, but she overpowered him.

 When she finished she threw the bowl to the corner, got up and began laughing hysterically again, "Don't worry, I will send the rest of the Long scum to join you!! At the very least, I will send that devil to join you!!"

The woman continued her hysterical laughter and rants. "I'm finally going to kill him! Stab him...no that is too easy...a thousand needles, and, slicing his throat slowly will work, no first I should off his hands and feet, bit by bit by bit by bit...Hahahahahahahahaha!!!!!...."

 The child turned on the bed and violently coughed trying to throw up the contents, he managed to spill half the contents of the bowl during the struggle. He looked at his mother with deeply saddened eyes, he could already feel the burning pain and his vision started going blurry.

{...*Now is your chance, the doors are being unlocked...Run!!...}

 The child tried to move but his limbs felt weak.

{...*You have to run! Now or you'll die here!!... What's the point of coming to this life just to die here?!!...}

{...*Get up!!!... Now!!...}

 The child heard the chains being removed, he gathered up all his energy and made a dash for the entrance. He reached the doors just as they were opened and ran blindly.

The guards saw him dash out but did not make to catch him as he wasn't prisoner, he was simply here to"accompany" the prisoner, his mother - who threatened to kill herself if she didn't have him, so the emperor had locked the child in with the mother and said for her to let him go when she regains her sanity.

Soon after the child passed, the woman madly dashed to the doors and was grasped by the guards screaming, "Come back!! Come back here!! Kai er'!!..."

{...*Hide in that corner!...}

 The child obediently hid, his breathing was getting heavier and his body felt heavy. He could hear Song mama and the guards calling for him.

{...*If they find you, you will die!...}

{...*You have to find your father...Go to the main hall!...}

{...*Now, run!...}

{...*Left...Right...Left...Left...There!...}

{...*Good, you're out of the cold palace!...Go straight to the main hall!!...}

 The child dragged his weary body through the palace and stumbled his way towards the main hall.

At this moment, he couldn't feel any pain, but just felt his body was very, very heavy. As he walked through the palace, servants and guards saw him, they recognized who he was but none of them approached him. He was a prince who was cast aside to the cold palace with his mother - when the mother loses favor, the child has also loses favor.

Some didn't care to help him because he had no power, while others who cared, didn't help him out of fear of offending those with power. The child slowly took heavy steps and finally he passed through the entrance doors and could finally see the main hall.

{...The main hall...father...help...}

 The boy stumbled forward and walked forward, he could see the ministers coming out at the top. He walked a few more feet before his feet finally gave way.

The ministers noticed the child collapse in the distance and raised alarm and raced down the steps.

The child glanced up at the main hall and could vaguely make out the purple colored robes of the ministers racing down the steps, he could see his father's black and golden silhouette at the doors of the main hall.

He thought he could also hear his mother hysterically shouting his name and felt panic in his heart, but he was really too tired and could no longer move. His couldn't feel his limbs, his eyes were heavy and his eyelids were closing, no matter how hard he tried to keep them open. He couldn't.

{...Father...Am I really going to die?... I don't want to die...}

{...*You have done well, little prince...sleep...You won't die...}