ITVCFITB CHAPTER 104

 Chapter 104 – Playing the Player

The Heavenly Prosperity Emperor can’t dither anymore. Dreams or not, they’ve peeled back what he already knows:

• Eldest: useless.

• Former Crown Prince: not of his blood, off the board.

• Third: ironclad military skill, personal magnetism, too blunt.

• Fourth: mild, learned, ambitious, and good at hiding his claws, tailor-made for the court.

Both remaining sons have heirs and no overbearing maternal clans; both could reform the court. But neither had a proper crown-prince education, and the Emperor has no strength left to teach. If Third takes the throne, would Fourth and the other princes survive? If Fourth takes it, would Third raise troops?

And why did those foreign princes in his dream all stand behind the Fourth?

He sifts what he actually knows: Third’s base is in Gucheng; Fourth’s strength is in the capital among civil officials. If the edict names Third, Fourth might overturn him within three days. The Emperor rubs his temples. Third suddenly looks… weaker.

---

While the Emperor wrestles with names, the Fourth Prince and Shen Mingyun are done waiting. They need to break the stalemate. Shen understands now: the system’s endgame is the Fourth on the throne. If that’s the task, then speed it up and earn his freedom.

He offers a vicious shortcut: “Add something to His Majesty’s medicine.” If death is inevitable, accelerate it. He needles the Fourth where it hurts: a childhood without acknowledgment, a mother no one remembers. Resentment flares; guilt over the affair cools. Weren’t they always using each other, one for power, one for profit?

Forge the edict in the Emperor’s hand. Make sure palace eyes don’t catch it. Then the seat is his.

Shen, meanwhile, tries prying at the system: Why him? Why not crown me? Silence when it turns inward; platitudes when it speaks. It promises: once the Fourth ascends, Shen is free and the mall reopens. He wants liberty more than love; for now, he’ll be the system’s knife.

---

Li Mingjin and Luo Shuyu can’t hear Shen’s inner arguments, but they read the surface: Shen’s suddenly cooperative? That reeks of coercion or bribery from the system. They’ll judge by actions and respond.

An urgent whisper pulls Mingjin from the drills. He returns home; Shuyu pours tea. “The Fourth may poison the Emperor’s decoction,” Mingjin says.

“Why rush a dying man?” Shuyu frowns then answers himself. “To slip in a forged edict.”

“Exactly. They fear Mother Consort and Worthy Consort Wei are on our side. So—” Mingjin’s smile turns cool. “We let them try.”

“Set a counter?” Shuyu’s eyes brighten.

“Borrow their blade. The imperial clinic is conservative without interference, His Majesty will last longer than they predict. Our plan yields two harvests: one, let Father see the Fourth’s true face; two, flush the Fourth’s people out of the palace. I’d rather save our steel for foreign borders, not our own court.”

“And if the Emperor doesn’t go along or if he’s accidentally hit?” Shuyu asks.

Mingjin shrugs. “That holy sheet of paper is a nice ribbon, not the gift. With or without it, we can finish this.”

Shuyu squeezes his hand. “He’ll choose you.”

“Age narrows vision,” Mingjin says. “To him, we look equal.”

“Then let him see,” Shuyu replies.

Mingjin nods. “I’ll go to the palace tonight and brief Father.”

---

At the Fourth Prince’s manor, Shen hands over a clear vial, the system’s “accelerant,” colorless, tasteless. “One drop per bowl,” he says. “Three days and no physician can trace it.”

The Fourth’s eyes gleam. “Our work is nearly done.”

Shen feels the thrill despite himself. Freedom has a taste.

---

Three days later, grim news spills from the palace: the Emperor has taken a sharp turn, too weak to rise.

---

Author’s Note

Li Mingjin: Wife, today I’m your system and you’re my host. You must finish all my quests to claim the reward!
Luo Shuyu: Sorry, I don’t do systems. Declined.
Li Mingjin: …

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