ITVCFITB CHAPTER 105

Chapter 105 – Couldn’t Resist

At the palace gates, Shen Mingyun and the Fourth Prince step down from the carriage.

“Your father’s really worse?” Shen presses.

The Fourth nods. “Collapsed after morning porridge. Breath faint. The Imperial Physicians say two days at most. That clear vial you gave me… worked.”

Shen doesn’t mention the system. “Two days, then. Did you get the edict?”

“Not yet. Don’t even know if he finished it,” the Fourth says. “I’ll stay in the palace and search. Whatever happens, the name on the decree must be mine.”

“And if it isn’t?”

“Then I’ll write one,” he says flatly.

“The jade seal?”

“A dead object. Easy to copy.”

Shen takes in the naked ambition and grudgingly adjusts his own thinking. “In that case, why still care about your father?”

“That’s what your vial is for,” the Fourth answers, low. “He’s too old to decide. I’ll decide for him.”

As they near the sickbed, the corridors are thick with muffled sobs, retired favorites dabbing eyes for their fading patron; no fakes needed when your backing’s about to die. Even Consort Mei and Worthy Consort Wei look drawn.

The Fourth’s face flips from glee to grief on command. He drops at the bed-curtain. “Father! Your son is here!”

Through gauze: gray in the Emperor’s hair, hollowed cheeks, a breath so thin it’s almost not there. The Fourth whips on the physicians. “Didn’t you say he’d be fine? How did this get so bad so fast?”

Before the stammering starts, Li Mingjin enters with Luo Shuyu. A glance to Consort Mei brings the facts; a single glare freezes the physicians.

The Fourth doesn’t bother with civility. “Third Brother, was this you?”

Consort Mei bristles. “Mind your tongue!”

Li Mingjin’s voice is cool. “So eager to accuse… guilty conscience, Fourth Brother?”

“Let’s speak plainly,” the Fourth sneers. “If Father passes, the throne doesn’t suit you. Go back to Gucheng and guard the border. I’ll spare your family.”

Mingjin actually laughs. “Bold talk. If you’re this anxious, today’s collapse smells like your doing.”

“The physicians have no cause. Don’t pin it on me,” the Fourth parries.

They circle, but the bed-curtain stays closed. Only the two princes are allowed close. Consort Mei and Worthy Consort Wei withdraw.

Mingjin shifts the knife. “You came for one thing: Father’s edict.”

“Who wouldn’t?” the Fourth says. “Don’t you?”

“I want Father safe and long-lived,” Mingjin replies, bland as milk.

“Sounds fake.”

“What sounds real to you?” Mingjin asks.

“Holding the edict.”

“Blunt honesty, perhaps we are brothers,” Mingjin murmurs. Then, when asked whom the Emperor will choose, he answers without a blink: “I hope it’s you.”

The Fourth blinks at that.

A few paces back, Luo Shuyu and Shen Mingyun stand almost elbow-to-elbow. Shuyu angles away; Mingjin’s position also keeps Shen from any sudden “props.”

“Hypocrite,” Shen mutters at Shuyu, hearing Mingjin’s line.

“What’s not hypocritical?” Shuyu answers, soft as silk. “The one who drugged him?”

Shen jolts, voice pitching up. “Who drugged—”

“Whomever the shoe fits,” Luo smiles. And that’s that.

After a final volley of barbs, Mingjin and Shuyu “reluctantly” withdraw, deliberately clearing the room.

Only the Fourth and Shen remain.

They move immediately: checking shelves, tapping panels. A bribed attendant had whispered of a turnable vase and a hidden chamber. The Fourth spots a white porcelain piece with a painted plum bough, twists it right. Click. A cabinetry panel slides, revealing a dark void.

“An inner room,” Shen breathes.

“Stand watch. I’ll—” the Fourth begins.

Shen barrels in first.

On the bed, the Emperor, clear-headed for a quarter of an hour now, can neither speak nor rise, so he lies and listens to his son and son-in-law ransack his room. Traitors, he rages silently. Guards!

Too late. They’ve found the cache and the edict.

One look at the writing, and the Fourth goes white. Shock shivers through him. He drops the scroll, snatches Shen’s sleeve. “Go.”

They step out of the secret room and run straight into Li Mingjin and Luo Shuyu coming back through the curtains.

Sweat on brows, guilt in eyes. Mingjin and Shuyu trade a look.

As expected: the Fourth just couldn’t resist.

---

Author’s Note

“I’m exhausted and low on energy today, so this chapter’s a bit shorter. I’ll work harder tomorrow!”

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