The assassin, confirming he was dead, casually tossed the waist tokens of the First Prince and Second Prince's residences into the nearby grass.
Mere moments after they left, someone quickly emerged from the grass and snatched one of the tokens.
Of all the princes, the First Prince was indeed the one most directly impacted. Everyone could discern the Emperor's intentions; as long as the First Prince lived, their own chances were slim.
At this moment, the First Prince trembled behind a guard. He had never witnessed such a bloody scene in his life. The Emperor had always protected him exceptionally well, ensuring everything he desired was delivered without him having to strive for it.
Seeing the guards beside him fall one by one, he began to shake uncontrollably, feeling an urge to call out for his father, the Emperor.
Alas, before the sound could escape his lips, an arrow pierced his throat. The First Prince clutched at the arrow tightly, a guttural groan escaping him from the pain. He then toppled backward.
At this instant, the forest fell silent, save for the whistling of the wind.
"No!" someone roared. The others snapped back to reality. Seeing the First Prince's grim situation, the assassins quickly retreated. The First Prince's guards, however, pursued them desperately. The most skilled among them raced to the source of the arrows and engaged the archers.
The archers, renowned for their archery skills, were no match for them, and within moments, they were reduced to corpses.
The scene devolved into utter chaos. While everyone was distracted, someone discreetly swapped one of the two tokens the assassins had discarded before vanishing without a trace.
When the Emperor's reinforcements arrived and found the First Prince's guards, their faces turned pale, and cold sweat beaded on their foreheads.
Their only thought was their own doom. Glaring at the men in black, their hearts seething with hatred, they joined the fray. Driven by the instinct for survival, they unleashed their potential, and soon, the black-clad assassins were either captured or killed.
The Second Prince was aware of Zhang Dahai's departure. Though curious about his activities, he tacitly provided cover.
When he looked again, he found the man had reappeared behind him without anyone noticing. The Second Prince, of course, pretended ignorance.
Not long after, the First Prince was carried back. The Emperor fainted dead away. The accompanying imperial physicians quickly pinched his philtrum, and he slowly regained consciousness.
"My son, how could you leave me?" The Emperor was genuinely heartbroken. He could only bear to glance at the First Prince's tragic state once; the sight was too searing. Each subsequent glance felt like a knife gouging his heart. He knew his own health was poor and he couldn't succumb to excessive grief. He had to live, find the murderer, and avenge his son.
As if heaven deemed the Emperor hadn't suffered enough today, the Third Prince's corpse was brought in shortly thereafter. The Fifth Prince was found covered in blood; though injured, his life was thankfully spared.
The Emperor's face darkened. After a while, he spat out a mouthful of blood and collapsed weakly.
The hunt ended inconclusively. Everyone packed up and returned to the palace. Lying in bed, the now lucid Emperor couldn't help but weep. Weakly, he addressed the chief eunuch by his side, "Issue an imperial decree: the Deputy Commander of the Imperial Guards must ascertain the cause of my son's death. He cannot die with his eyes closed. I cannot fail his mother."
The chief eunuch, suppressing his tears, nodded. "Your Majesty, please rest well and take care of yourself. Leave other matters to this servant."
The Emperor closed his eyes and waved his hand, signaling them to leave so he could be alone. Lying in bed, he couldn't help but ponder who the killer was. After much thought, he concluded it could only be one of those few scoundrels.
The First and Third Princes were dead; who benefited the most? Undoubtedly the Second. However, the Fifth was also a suspect, as he had been quite active in the past.
The Emperor was conflicted. He didn't know how he would punish the Second Prince if he were found to be the culprit. Should he utterly extinguish his ambition for the throne and pass it to the Fifth, or should he, as the Second Prince wished, allow him to ascend to the position of Crown Prince?
Either way, he felt uneasy. If he indulged the Second Prince's ambition and made him Crown Prince, wouldn't the First and Third Princes have died in vain? But if the Fifth Prince were to ascend the throne, reason told him it was not wise. Among all the princes, the Second Prince was the most capable and most suited to be Emperor. He wished for his dynasty, which he had founded, to continue to flourish under the next ruler, and he did not want the foundation laid by his ancestors to be ruined by his own hand.
Of course, if the First Prince were alive, it would be another matter. The First Prince was the apple of his eye, the recipient of all his best possessions. The Fifth Prince was different; his early life spent in exile was a significant vulnerability. Furthermore, the relationship between father and son, aside from their occasional meetings, lacked depth. He was unwilling to make an exception for the Fifth Prince.
Thinking too much made his head ache. He quickly cleared his mind and rested. Although the loss of his two sons caused him immense sorrow, he valued his life and did not wish for excessive grief to negatively impact his health.
After a day of investigation, the Deputy Commander of the Imperial Guards reported his findings. They had discovered several tokens in the forest, the majority belonging to the Fifth Prince's residence. At the Third Prince's place of death, tokens from the First Prince's residence were also found.
"Nothing from the Second Prince's residence?" This was not what he expected. He asked directly.
"No," the Deputy Commander replied respectfully.
The reason he entrusted such a significant matter to the Deputy Commander of the Imperial Guards was that the arrangement of personnel at the hunting grounds last time had been made by the Commander of the Imperial Guards. Yet, with such a major incident occurring at the hunting grounds, no one had intervened, leading to the death of his son within. It was clear he had betrayed him, and he no longer trusted him.
A while later, officials from the Dali Temple reported their overnight interrogation of the Commander of the Imperial Guards. They discovered he had long been an operative for the Fifth Prince. This time, the Fifth Prince's survival was partly due to their efforts. At the time, they knew the Fifth Prince was making a move and stayed close to him. They had not anticipated that the Fifth Prince would endure three assassination attempts, resulting in heavy casualties on their side.
Upon hearing this, tears welled up in the Emperor's eyes again. If they had heeded his words and protected the First Prince with all their might, would the First Prince have survived, perhaps with only minor injuries like the Third Prince? At this moment, he intensely hated the Fifth Prince, feeling that his life had been bought with the First Prince's death.
Soon after, the prison authorities also reported that the assassins apprehended yesterday had confessed. They were all elite guards trained by the Fifth Prince, and the one who delivered the fatal arrow to the First Prince was also one of their men.