Late at night. In the imperial temple.

The Ninth Princess had been having a very hard time ever since she'd been penally sent to the imperial temple to be an un-tonsured Buddhist nun. In this place, there was no magnificent palace, no high-class delicacies, and no crowds of eunuchs, only terribly ugly, grayish clothes, a changeless menu on which all dishes were bland and unpalatable, a shabby bedroom, and a reticent handmaid. To make things worse, every morning she had to get up early for Buddhist matins, and there were Buddhist vespers at night. Overall, life here consisted of only two things: Buddhist chant and trance, which were driving her crazy.

Although her mother and elder brother had been having someone covertly take care of her, it didn't make much difference. She was still stuck in this temple, and there was always someone following in her wake whenever she walked out of the main area, as if she were a prisoner never to have her freedom back.

On this night, as usual, the Ninth Princess threw a tantrum and exhausted herself before going to bed.

Incense had been lit in her bedroom. The aroma of it slowly wafted through the mosquito curtain and into the Ninth Princess' nostrils.

...

The lofty palace was right in front of the Ninth Princess and she went wild with joy. Finally, she got out of that godforsaken temple and returned to the place she was familiar with.

"I knew it. Father would never really have me become a Buddhist nun. Father still favors me!" crowed the Ninth Princess happily, hurrying towards the hall with the intention to look for her father.

On entering the hall, she found that it was full of kneeling people, all of whom were chorusing aloud, "Long live the emperor."

The Ninth Princess was startled, fearing that she had done something wrong once again and might be sent back to the imperial temple. She anxiously raised her head to look at the one sitting on the throne, but whom she saw dumbfounded her.Read more chapters at ReadNovelFull.com

"Brother?!"

Sitting on the throne was not his father but his elder brother, Zhou Mingci, the King Hui.

Her brother had ascended the throne!

Her brother had finally ascended the throne!

From now on nobody in the world would ever dare cross her!

The Ninth Princess gazed in utmost excitement at Zhou Mingci sitting on the throne and noticed that her brother was wearing a bluish white imperial robe with gold piping, which she had never seen before. She couldn't help but fix it with a careful stare. The sleeves and lower hem of the imperial robe had been embroidered with wavy dark lines to make the robe exquisite and sumptuous.

As if he had finally observed the Ninth Princess' presence, Zhou Mingci sitting on the throne said, "You came, sister."

The Ninth Princess jerked out of her trance and looked at Zhou Mingci delightedly. "Brother!"

She woke herself up with this greeting. The beautiful and imposing hall slowly faded away, and so did Zhou Mingci on the throne. Both of them were replaced by the dark bedroom, which was terrifyingly quiet.

Someone carrying a lamp walked over. The reticent handmaid asked, "Did you have a dream, Your Highness? Tomorrow the King Hui would come here to see you. You may relax and continue to sleep. Dawn will break soon."

But the Ninth Princess could barely keep from wailing. She snapped, "Get out!"

She clearly had already returned to the palace and seen her brother sitting on the throne as emperor. How come she was still in this godforsaken place!

...

The next morning, the King Hui went to the imperial temple and met his younger sister.

The Ninth Princess' haggard face made his heart ache. He asked, "Why are you not looking well? A bad night's sleep?"

The Ninth Princess burst into tears at the sight of the King Hui. "I don't want to stay here anymore, brother. Please figure out a way and get me back home!"

The King Hui had an awkward countenance. It was the emperor who had ordered the Ninth Princess to practice Buddhism without tonsure. Besides, it had been only a few days, and the emperor was still angry. Even if he was to help the Ninth Princess get back, he had to wait until the emperor's anger subsided to take action.

But the Ninth Princess, who was unwilling to listen to the King Hui's explanation, said, "Brother, our father has given up on me. He would never let me get back. Please help me. You and mother are my only hope now."

The Ninth Princess reached out her hands and grabbed her brother's. With a beseeching look on her face, she implored, "Help me, brother. Please."

Seeing this, the King Hui instructed the others to leave and consoled his sister, "Just show some patience. I promise I'll get you out of here the moment father cools off. Trust me, sister."

The Ninth Princess shook her head. "Father no longer has any love for me, brother. Once you become the emperor, I'll regain my freedom. Yes, brother – you should mount the throne as soon as possible!"

The King Hui's face paled and he hurriedly clapped a hand over the Ninth Princess' mouth. "Stop that nonsense, sister. The Crown Prince is the heir to the throne."

The Ninth Princess, her mouth held, was still shaking her head, a muffled sound emanating from her throat.

This gave the King Hui a terrible headache. Resigned, he huffed to the Ninth Princess under his breath, "You may repeat what you just said if you wish to die in this place, and I don't mind dying with my sister."

The Ninth Princess gradually recovered herself after hearing this remark.

The King Hui took his hand off the Ninth Princess' mouth, heaving a sigh of relief. In an undertone, he reproved, "What got into you just now? Why did you say that so loudly? You want to get the two of us killed?"

The Ninth Princess, who also had a lingering fear on her face, flicked a glance at the door.

The King Hui said, "I don't think any of them heard it. Don't say that kind of crazy things again. Otherwise I won't dare pay you another visit."

The King Hui was the only one that the Ninth Princess could count on to help her, so of course she didn't dare behave like that again. After calming down, she found her back drenched with cold sweat. Immediately, she promised, "I won't. I really won't dare. Please don't be mad at me, brother."

The King Hui looked at her, his countenance a mixture of resignation and vexation. Apart from anything else she was his younger sister, and his heart still ached for her. "It hasn't been long since you were sent here. Though I want to get you out of this place, I have to wait until father's anger subsided. Otherwise whatever I do will have the opposite effect. You have to endure this a few days longer. Mother is worried about you and has been having a hard time trying to save you. Don't let her efforts go to waste."

The Ninth Princess gave a bob of her head. "I understand. I'll wait for you and mother to save me."

After a few moments, she said, "The reason why I said that just now was because of a dream I had last night."

The King Hui asked blithely, "What kind of dream?"

The Ninth Princess said in an undertone, "I dreamed that you were enthroned, and all courtiers chorused to you 'Long live the emperor' while you were sitting on the throne which our father sits in every day."

The King Hui's eyes briefly lit up. "Oh? That doesn't sound so bad."

The Ninth Princess chuckled. In the knowledge that her brother was no longer angry, she felt a sense of relief and continued, "I saw you wearing a bluish white imperial robe with gold piping, the sleeves and lower hem of it embroidered with wavy dark lines. It was just gorgeous. I'd never seen anything like that before."

However, no sooner had she finished speaking than the King Hui's face changed. "Did you say that it was bluish white, with gold piping, and the sleeves and lower hem of it were embroidered with wavy dark lines?"

The Ninth Princess nodded and gave a more detailed account of what she had seen in that dream of hers. "You were brimming with health and spirits just as you are right now. After I woke up, I felt that it won't be long before you ascend the throne, which was why I said that nonsense just now. Please stop being angry with me, brother."

The King Hui slowly shook his head. "I'm not angry. What else did you see in the dream?"

After thinking for a few moments, the Ninth Princess also shook her head. "I've been suffering from insomnia since the day I was sent here. Even if I fall asleep, I always wake up with a start. The only occasion when I had a sound sleep was last night, and I dreamt about you, brother. Maybe it was because I subconsciously knew you'd come here to see me today."

The King Hui, however, didn't think so, because the Ninth Princess was right about one thing – he did have a prince's robe which was bluish white and had gold piping. It'd been rushed out only a few days ago, and its sleeves and lower hem were embroidered with wavy dark lines. It was very sumptuous, and he had specially had it made for the hunt meeting. This robe had just been delivered to him, and his henchmen, who were few in number, were the only ones aware of its existence. There was no way this matter had come to the Ninth Princess' knowledge.

But now the Ninth Princess told him that she'd dreamt about it, and she'd also seen him wearing it sitting on the throne in her dream. What did this suggest?

The King Hui was more inclined to believe that his sister had had a premonitory dream, that this was some kind of herald!

After leaving the Ninth Princess' room, the King Hui summoned the subordinates he'd planted in this temple and asked them about the Ninth Princess' recent daily life. After hearing their replies, the King Hui was positive that it was impossible for the Ninth Princess to have known the existence of that robe. This gave his spirits yet another great lift.

"This is your reward. Make sure you take good care of my sister. If anything happens to her, all of you will be held responsible."

"Rest assured, Your Highness, we'll do whatever we can to take good care of Her Highness."

The King Hui left the imperial temple in a good mood, and he appeared to be full of pep even on horseback. After an hour or so, the imperial temple was out of sight.

At a fork not far away from the city gate, he encountered a man riding over from the distance along the other branch road. He was wearing a white robe of a special style which bore some similarity to a Taoist robe, a bamboo tube tied with red string fastened to his felt.

The King Hui reined in his horse and looked at that man, a somewhat astonished expression on his face.

This branch road led to the Star Observation Platform of the Imperial Observatory, and that rider was a messenger working at the Star Observation Platform. His bamboo tube contained a dispatch, and the red string around it typically meant it was to be delivered to the emperor.

On no account would his father summon any members of the Imperial Observatory, particularly those working at the Star Observation Platform, except for on the New Year's Day, when by convention he would inquire the Imperial Observatory of their deduction of the run of international situation in the new year, making a token gesture towards praying to providence for blessings, because his father wasn't really a believer in this kind of things – none of his predecessors had been, as a matter of fact.

Therefore, members of the Star Observation Platform never sent any letters to his father of their own accord, which was very sensible of them. Why did they suddenly deliver a dispatch to him on this occasion?

The King Hui believed that the Star Observation Platform would never have done this had there not been an important event. Something definitely had happened.

He opened his mouth and was just about to stop that man when he, maybe startled by the King Hui and his attendants who had abruptly shown up, was sent into a brief trance. Meanwhile, his horse seemed to have accidentally trod on something and suddenly went restless, nearly throwing the messenger off.

The King Hui gestured for his attendants to offer the man some help. After calming his horse down, the messenger wiped sweat from his face, dismounted and said, "It's a great honor to bow before you, Your Highness. Thank you for coming to my help."

The King Hui nodded, suggesting that there was no need to thank him, then looked at the bamboo tube fastened to the messenger's belt and asked, "Why are you suddenly sending a letter to my father? Did anything happen?"

The messenger replied, "I don't know either. This is the result of the head star-watcher's observation last night. I have orders from him to deliver it to His Majesty as a matter of urgency."

The King Hui's countenance grew thoughtful. "May I have a look at it?"

An awkward look appeared on the messenger's face. The King Hui imagined that he was going to refuse, but unexpectedly, the man inclined his head. "Thank you again for helping me just now, Your Highness, but you must not let a second person read this letter, and what you're about to learn must be kept in the strictest confidence."

Sure enough, seeing he was so tactful, the King Hui smiled, "Of course."

The messenger unfastened the bamboo tube, removed the seal, fished a piece of paper out of it and handed it to the King Hui.

The King Hui, as if thinking of something, looked at him. "You're not reading it with me?"

"I can't, Your Highness," said the messenger.

The King Hui found this man fairly interesting. He then took the paper and glanced at it. At first he was confused, but after a few moments his face changed drastically and with that he abruptly fixed the messenger with a penetrating stare. "You really don't know what's in this letter?!"

Seeing this, the messenger shook his head. "I don't, Your Highness. If you've finished reading it, please give it back to me. I've returned the favor, and from now on we're even. Now if you'll excuse me, it's about time I delivered this letter into the imperial palace."

The King Hui, gazing at those words on the letter paper, suddenly had a murderous expression on his face, stifling a wild laughter. Instead of giving the letter back to the messenger, he said, "Then you might as well go the whole hog."

It had never crossed the messenger's mind that the King Hui would break his word. All the color drained from his face. "You!"

After snatching the messenger's letter and coercing him into pretending to have already delivered it into the imperial palace and not to breathe a word of this matter to anybody, the King Hui returned to his residential compound in a great hurry, hastened into his study, shut the door and read the letter from the head star-watcher to the emperor once again.

The King Hui, restraining his excitement, muttered to himself, "Even the head star-watcher says so. It seems that my sister's dream was indeed a herald as well!"

"Guards, get my aides here!"

The King Hui had a couple of aides living in his residential compound, all of whom were very much in his confidence. These people gave counsel to him, sharing life and death with him. The King Hui believed that they would never betray him, so he confided to them the Ninth Princess' dream and what the head star-watcher said in the letter.

The look on his aides' faces turned from shock to rapture and then a mixture of nervousness and fright.

"Your Highness, originally this could've been unbelievably good news, but now it has come to the knowledge of the head star-watcher. You intercepted this letter today, but how could you intercept a second one? We must make sure the head star-watcher keeps his mouth shut about it," an aide said immediately.

Certainly the King Hui himself was also aware of this. Earlier this day when his eyes had fallen on that letter, he'd felt a great thrill and broken out in a cold sweat. Had his father been informed of the head star-watcher's prophecy, given his suspicious mind, he would no doubt figure out a way to have this potential usurper executed, though he wasn't really a big fan of star-watchers.

"I've already sent some men to stake out the Star Observation Platform, keeping their each and every move under surveillance. The head star-watcher must die, but my father would definitely order an investigation into it if he dies a sudden death, so this matter has to be handled with great caution, and it'll take a lot of doing," said the King Hui.

His aides exchanged glances. They could see the mixture of delight and concern on each other's faces.

"Your Highness, there could be many a slip between the cup and the lip, so I believe we should seize the initiative and strike first!" suggested one of the aides.

"That's right. There's no telling whether there will be a second head star-watcher after this one is down. Also, somebody else with knowledge of astrology might foresee this as well and report it to His Majesty. In that case, there'd be nothing we could do, so we might as well launch a pre-emptive strike before anybody could react," another aide also said.

"We haven't made any preparations whatsoever. It'll be too hasty," said a third aide.

The King Hui hadn't made any remarks so far. On the surface, he was sitting in his seat listening to his aides' opinions with utter composure, but excitement had actually been bubbling inside him for quite some time. As a matter of fact, on his way back from the imperial temple, he had already made a decision – striking first before the prophecy came to the knowledge of his father.

But as regards how to do it, as one of his aides had said, they were totally unprepared.

"Your Highness, once you take action, the King Duan, the King Yu and the Crown Prince would definitely come to stop us like wolves smelling blood. Moreover, His Majesty is still in good health. Unless we adopt special means, he–"

"Then we adopt special means!"

"But we could give this matter further thought, made a long-range plan and confound our rivals step by step. If we are to suddenly face them all at once, what kind of special means could we possibly find to defeat all of them?"

Finally, the King Hui knitted his eyebrows in spite of himself. "Making a long-range plan is no longer an option. For us, that prophecy is not only a good omen but also a death sentence. Once my father or any of my brothers finds out about it, we will meet our ends in no time."

All his aides lapsed into silence. In other words, making their move as soon as possible was their only choice!

After a short while, one of them said through gritted teeth, "Your Highness is right. Things came to this too suddenly. We must take this path wherever it might lead us. For Your Highness' great undertaking to succeed, we must create opportunities if there aren't any in sight!"

On hearing this, the King Hui inclined his head, very pleased. Even wealth couldn't be achieved without taking risks, let alone a position representing supreme power and utmost glory!

"Your Highness, our original plan is to cooperate with the Wan Kingdom. Do you think we could still join hands with Shan Congwen in these circumstances?" said an aide.

"Indeed, Shan Congwen has at his disposal some marksmen and also powerful crossbows suitable for assassination. Maybe he could lend us a hand," another aide commented.