CHAPTER 258: CHAPTER 256 I WANT THE CROWN PRINCE’S POSITION AND SHEN YINNING

Lu Shiyan’s Adam’s apple bobbed, as if something was stuck in his throat.

He was overjoyed at Zhaozhao coming to Jiangnan. He once thought, even if she couldn’t accept him now, it wouldn’t matter. The days ahead were long, and he had enough time to gradually win her over. Someday, she’d surely come to accept him.

But now, Lu Ying was saying he regretted it.

Like a stone tossed into water, shattering his illusion of a dreamlike reflection.

Lu Shiyan tightened his face, speaking one word at a time: "What do you mean you regret it?"

"Literal meaning."

Unwilling to engage in verbal sparring with Lu Shiyan, the sharp aura surrounding Lu Ying churned like thunder.

In the next moment, a palm strike carrying the anger of a superior came toward Lu Shiyan in mid-air, like countless bolts of lightning spilling from dark clouds!

Lu Shiyan was forced to raise his folding fan to defend himself.

The folding fan trembled violently.

The white paper peeled away from the ribs of the fan, and in the blink of an eye, the once rigid iron birch wood frame lay in shattered fragments!

With a deafening crash, the wheelchair splintered into pieces, and Lu Shiyan was flung backward!

He collided with a row of antique shelves, sending wood dust and debris flying everywhere. Supporting himself on the floor, he sat up in a wretched state.

As he coughed, he raised his head, the air in his lungs seemingly drained. His chest heaved violently like a fish tossed onto the shore. A metallic taste spread in his throat; as he raised his sleeve to cover his mouth, blood spilled through the gaps of his teeth, staining the snow-white sleeve with scarlet marks, like peach blossoms blooming across a piece of rice paper.

"Your Highness!"

Even the Hidden Guards, who had been injured by Lu Ying’s palm strike, staggered over to support him.

One of the younger guards couldn’t hold back and yelled at Lu Ying, "The Crown Prince, relying on perfectly healthy legs and body, bullying our Prince like this—what kind of skill is that?! They all say the current Crown Prince is pure and noble, a paragon of virtue. Is bullying the disabled your idea of virtue?!"

Lu Shiyan pushed him away: "Shut up!"

His eyes reddened, and he stared at Lu Ying with wariness.

The man stood under the lamplight, dressed in a Dark Robe and adorned with a golden hairpin, seemingly flawless yet unnervingly powerful.

And he was none other than his half-brother.

"Prince, could it be that I spoke falsely?" The youngest Hidden Guard protested angrily, "You’re already paralyzed in both legs; how could you fight anyone?! The Crown Prince is clearly bullying you!"

"Bullying..." Lu Ying savored the word, his gaze dark as storm clouds, "Does Imperial Brother truly feel that I bullied you?"

Lu Shiyan’s cheeks burned faintly, his jawline tense, and his lips tightened into nearly a straight line.

Bullying...

If anyone was guilty of bullying, then it should be him bullying Lu Ying instead.

Truthfully, in their youth, he had fought Lu Ying twice before.

At that time, his legs were healthy, and their father placed high hopes on him. Among all the princes, he was the most likely to ascend to the position of Crown Prince.

The Emperor and his consort had invested immense effort in nurturing him, enlisting several Great Scholars to personally teach him literature and the Emperor’s Skill, as well as hiring the most renowned swordsmen and swordmen in the land as his instructors.

Even his archery was personally taught by the Emperor.

Since childhood, his mother nourished him with rare and precious supplements. Although he was only two years older than Lu Ying, he appeared much stronger due to years of consuming heavenly treasures and earthly wonders. During every autumn hunt, he was always the prince with the richest harvest and the only one who could spur his horse to match the Emperor’s pace.

At the time, Lu Ying resided in Consort Liu’s palace, his meals irregular, without an Imperial Physician carefully attending to his diet.

Lu Ying looked like a frail, pitiful bean sprout at the time.

That year, on New Year’s Eve, during the palace banquet, the children, bored with the festivities, ran off to the Imperial Garden to play with snow and fireworks.

In the noisy crowd, Zhaozhao’s Bright Pearl, affixed to the tip of her embroidered shoes, suddenly went missing. He accompanied her to search everywhere, only to see the pearl pinched between Lu Ying’s fingers.

Youthful arrogance got the better of him, and he immediately assumed that Lu Ying had stolen Zhaozhao’s pearl.

But Lu Ying denied it.

He claimed he’d simply found it.

None of the other children stood by Lu Ying. In their eyes, Lu Ying was proud, aloof, and solitary—a misfit, wearing clothes so plain and shabby, unloved by the Emperor. It wasn’t hard to believe he might have stolen the Bright Pearl to sell it for money.

As the accusations grew louder, Lu Ying suddenly lost his temper. With a grim face, he crushed the Bright Pearl between his fingers.

Silence fell over the crowd in an instant.

That was Zhaozhao’s favorite Bright Pearl, a pair so rare they were hard to come by.

Zhaozhao froze momentarily before bursting into tears.

But how could he stand for Zhaozhao being bullied like that by Lu Ying? Without hesitation, he charged forward and fought Lu Ying.

How old was Lu Ying that year?

Nine or ten years old?

He couldn’t remember.

He only remembered that New Year’s Eve night, when the Imperial Garden descended into chaos, everyone pretended to intervene but, in truth, disliked Lu Ying’s solitary demeanor. Under the guise of breaking up the fight, they restrained Lu Ying’s limbs, preventing him from resisting.

And he punched, each blow landing with force, until Lu Ying was covered in bruises and injuries.

He basked in the glory of the crowd’s adulation.

Savored the feeling of trampling his so-called legitimate younger brother beneath his feet.

Later, he heard that after the fight dispersed, a young eunuch cleaning up the debris from the firecrackers found Lu Ying curled up in the snow, barely clinging to life.

Lu Ying was brought back to the palace and spent an entire month bedridden before he could walk again.

After that, Lu Ying’s personality grew increasingly withdrawn and cold. Even when he went to the Imperial College to study, he never interacted with others.

Their second fight happened when Zhaozhao was twelve, during the first month of the new year.

It was just two days after the Lantern Festival when Lu Ying suddenly came to him, saying he was going to ask their father for an Imperial Decree of marriage—he wanted to marry Zhaozhao.

He even ordered him to stay away from Zhaozhao from then on, claiming he didn’t want to hear any more rumors in the Capital about the two of them being ambiguously involved.

But how could he agree!

He refused Lu Ying’s demand; Lu Ying seemed unsurprised, his face expressionless as they fought fiercely.

At that time, he thought of himself as their father’s carefully cultivated heir, a prodigy who had benefitted from unparalleled resources and training, a future Emperor in the making.

He had every advantage—from timing to location and support—how could he lose?

There was no way he could lose to someone as unloved and downtrodden as Lu Ying!

He thought he’d hit Lu Ying so hard, just as he had on that New Year’s Eve night, that he’d leave him bedridden once again.

But—

He lost.

Lost miserably.

He hadn’t even lasted ten moves under Lu Ying’s hands!

He lay defeated in the rain, his white robes stained red with blood, trembling with pain that made his teeth chatter, unable to utter a word!

He couldn’t understand how, in just a few years, Lu Ying had grown so much so quickly!

Like a monster!

Fine rain drizzled.

Lu Ying’s shadow loomed over him.

He suddenly realized with alarm that, unbeknownst to him, his younger brother had grown tall and imposing, even half a head taller than him, standing like the moon suspended above or a jade mountain towering magnificently!

He heard Lu Ying’s voice, colder than a harsh winter, descending from above: "Imperial Brother, I want the Crown Prince’s position, and I want Shen Yinning. If you’re unwilling to yield, then I’ll take them for myself."

This wasn’t so much a negotiation as it was a declaration.