Chapter 218: Patricide

Zhu Yunhui, who was laboring vigorously atop Lady Qin, had no idea anyone had entered. Suddenly a sharp pain exploded beneath his left ribs, and his body pitched sideways with a stumble. A roar reached his ears: "You beast! This king will beat you to death today!"

Naked as the day he was born, Zhu Yunhui scrambled up to look. Standing before the bed was none other than his own father, the Prince of Chu, Zhu Huakui, with Liu Fugui behind him. His two guards knelt off to the side, not daring to raise their heads.

"Beast! Put on your robes and get down here!"

After kicking his son off Lady Qin and to one side, Zhu Huakui shot Zhu Yunhui a look of utter loathing, then turned and stalked out of the bedchamber, panting heavily, Liu Fugui close behind. Lady Qin, her face streaked with tears, hastily pulled the brocade quilt over her head. Zhu Yunhui grabbed the robes from the bed and scrambled down, covering himself in disarray.

Zhu Yunhui dressed with a dark expression, his mind racing: he'd never imagined someone would dare to inform on him! His father had already been harboring thoughts of deposing him—now his position as heir was surely beyond saving. And if his father learned that he had imprisoned his own mother and beaten his younger brother to death, it wouldn't just be a matter of the succession—whether he'd even live to see another day was another question entirely.

At that thought, a vicious idea rose in Zhu Yunhui's heart. He beckoned Li San over and whispered in his ear: "Li San, I have always treated you well! Today's affair cannot end peacefully! If I have no way out, you're all dead as well! Once we leave this bedchamber, find your chance to kill Zhu Huakui! The seat of the Prince of Chu can only be mine! The post of commander of the princely guard will be yours! And I'll reward you with ten thousand taels of silver besides!"

Li San was both elated and terrified at these words. His expression flickered through changes, until at last he steeled himself, gritted his teeth, and nodded hard.

Zhu Yunhui nodded in acknowledgment, then strode out of Zhu Yunlong's bedchamber with his head held high. Li San drew a sheathed short blade from his bosom, pulled the weapon free, lifted his robe, and tucked it into his boot. He then casually returned the scabbard to his chest and followed behind Zhu Yunhui with the other guard, heads bowed.

On the brocade couch in the side hall, Zhu Yunlong lay stretched out straight, eyes tightly shut, his breath already faint as a thread. A Bureau Director of the princely household frowned as he took his pulse, while Zhu Huakui stood with clasped hands behind his back, his face iron-gray, staring at his third son.

Upon hearing Liu Fugui's report, he had immediately rushed over with the Bureau Director who had been standing by in the Thousand Buddha Hall, along with a group of guards. The two burly men who had been straddling Zhu Yunlong had spotted them the moment they entered the courtyard. Quick to react, they climbed off Zhu Yunlong and slipped away through the rear hall. They thought only of fleeing for their lives and dared not shout a warning to Zhu Yunhui in the bedchamber—for the moment they made a sound, they'd be discovered by the guards Zhu Huakui had brought, and then they'd surely be hunted down. Their only option now was to slip out of the princely residence while few knew the truth; staying meant certain death.

When Zhu Huakui led his men into the hall, the first thing he saw was Zhu Yunlong lying prone on the floor. After sweeping his gaze around and finding no trace of Zhu Yunhui or Lady Qin, he strode swiftly toward the bedchamber off to one side—which led to the scene that had just occurred.

Seeing Zhu Yunhui enter the hall, Zhu Huakui pointed at him accusingly and thundered: "Beast! Kneel before me! Guards! Beat this beast to death!"

Several guards lunged toward Zhu Yunhui, but without weapons in hand. Though the prince had ordered the heir beaten to death, these guards dared not strike him down on the spot. The prince's order came in a fit of rage—he might well change his mind a moment later, for the two were father and son bound by blood.

Zhu Yunhui dropped to his knees before the guards could reach him, crying out loudly: "Father! Hear your son's explanation! It was that Lady Qin who repeatedly seduced me—your son is wronged!"

Zhu Huakui laughed coldly in his fury: "You beast! At death's door and still you slander others! I saw it clearly with my own eyes just now! The tear tracks on Lady Qin's face are still fresh! If she had seduced you, why would she wear such a look of grief? If I don't kill you today, you who have violated all human decency, what face would I have left before the people of this household! What are you all standing there gaping for? Why haven't you beaten this beast to death!"

Zhu Yunhui hadn't expected his father to see through the whole matter in that single brief instant. Seeing the guards hesitate for a moment before drawing their long blades—the next step being to cut him down—he cried out desperately: "Father, your son has a most secret matter to confess! It concerns the very safety of our princely house! Even a minor chill and fever has been plaguing us for over a month—please, Father, lean in and listen!"

Even as he shouted, he tucked one hand behind his back and gave a slight wave. Li San understood and quietly edged forward, at the same time drawing the short blade from his boot, holding it reversed behind his arm. The guards' attention was all diverted by Zhu Yunhui's words, so none noticed Li San's stealthy approach.

Zhu Huakui knew that Zhu Yunhui was ordinarily devoid of cunning—merely a lecherous pleasure-seeker—and seeing that his expression didn't seem to betray a lie, he suspected nothing. He stepped forward toward Zhu Yunhui.

"Beast! If you spin more lies to deceive me, I'll have you thrown into the mastiff yard to be torn apart by the fierce dogs!"

As he spoke, Zhu Huakui closed to within a few paces of Zhu Yunhui. Zhu Yunhui shuffled forward on his knees, then suddenly lunged and wrapped his arms tightly around his father's legs, bellowing: "Li San! Now!"

Li San, who had crept to within a few steps behind Zhu Yunhui, sprang forward in a flash. A gleam of cold light—the sharp short blade plunged into Zhu Huakui's chest, and Li San dodged aside. Zhu Yunhui released his grip on his father's legs and scrambled up. Zhu Huakui's eyes bulged wide, his face frozen in an expression of utter disbelief as he toppled straight back, dead.

The hall fell suddenly silent. Apart from Zhu Yunhui and Li San, everyone else stood rooted to the spot. None had imagined that the tragedy of patricide would unfold before their very eyes—and in a household as exalted as the Prince of Chu's.

"Hahahaha! From this day forth, I am the Prince of Chu! Never again will anyone oppose me! Hahahaha!"

Zhu Yunhui danced and gesticulated like a man possessed.

"Your Highness! Bureau Director Li! Save His Highness!"

Liu Fugui rushed over with a despairing cry. Ignoring Zhu Yunhui in his frenzy of glee, he dropped to his knees and gathered Zhu Huakui's upper body into his arms. Hot tears streamed down, falling upon the prince's face as it slowly grew cold.

He had served at Zhu Huakui's side since the age of eight, when the prince was still heir to the Chu title. After more than thirty years of day-and-night companionship, the two were as close as kin. To meet such a tragedy today, Liu Fugui's heart was dead within him.

Bureau Director Li, who had been attending to Zhu Yunlong, hurried over with his medicine chest. Setting it down, he seized Zhu Huakui's wrist, pressed two fingers to it, then shook his head at Liu Fugui. With a sigh, he said: "His Highness has passed!"

Liu Fugui wailed in grief, clutching Zhu Huakui's corpse. Zhu Yunhui finally snapped out of his wild elation. Pointing at the assembled crowd, he barked: "Why aren't you all kneeling! From this day forth, I am the Prince of Chu! His Highness my father died suddenly of a sudden illness—I shall memorialize the Clan Court to make it known! From now on, so long as you are loyal to me, I will surely treat you well! Every person in this hall today shall receive a hundred taels of silver!"

It wasn't that he didn't want to kill everyone present except Li San and his men—but with the guards Zhu Huakui had brought numbering seven or eight, and several eunuchs outside the hall besides, all wearing expressions of anger, shock, and defiance, he knew that if he tried to silence them all, Li San and the one other man were no match. The priority now was to steady the crowd, seal off every gate of the residence, and then find opportunities to eliminate the rest one by one.

"This humble one congratulates the young prince on succeeding to the seat of Chu! This humble one swears to serve Your Highness unto death!"

Li San and the other guard knelt first, performing the full prostration before Zhu Yunhui. The guards Zhu Huakui had brought, though resentful, lacked the courage to defy their superior. After exchanging glances, they knelt hesitantly, heads bowed in silence.

Bureau Director Li returned to Zhu Yunlong's side, pretending to continue his diagnosis of the Prince of Hanyang, while his mind raced with schemes.

The several eunuchs of various ranks outside the hall also knelt in succession. The young eunuch who had gone to the Thousand Buddha Hall to raise the alarm crept stealthily along the corridor toward the front hall. The kneeling eunuchs, their minds in turmoil, paid him no notice.

Zhu Yunhui saw that while no one openly resisted, who knew what might happen in secret? The most critical thing was that today's events must never reach more ears—and above all, must never spread beyond the residence. If word of his patricide got out, ruin and disgrace would be his fate.

His eyes rolled as he issued orders in a loud voice: "Rise, all of you! Today my father has unfortunately passed in this place. I have decided to keep vigil by his bier here for seven days! Within those seven days, no one in this hall may leave! Li San, go to the sacrificial office and have them prepare the funeral arrangements—summon people to come and help with my father's rites!"

As he finished, Zhu Yunhui looked at Li San and shot him a meaningful glance. Li San understood, rose, and hurried out of the side hall.

He knew Zhu Yunhui meant for him to gather men from within Wuchang city, then return and slaughter everyone in the hall to silence them—burying the truth of Zhu Huakui's death forever.

"Young Prince, the Prince of Hanyang is not long for this world!"

Bureau Director Li rose slowly and reported.