Immortal Curse

Xiulan couldn't help but feel responsible for all that had happened as she struggled to fish Zhao Mingyu's body out of the water.

How could she fall for such a simple trick? she thought to herself. But then again, how could she not?

Xiulan had overheard a possible assassination attempt being planned by nobles of the fourth prince's faction. At that time, finding Zhao Mingyu was her top priority. She needed to make sure he was safe and informed of the attempt on his life—rituals and other senseless etiquettes be damned. But she hadn't anticipated that this was exactly what the fourth prince was hoping for. Her love, care, and devotion to the crown prince had been turned into a trap he would be forced to fall into.

The appearance of Su Mei ended up being nothing more than a tease of hope for Xiulan. The sin she had committed as a maid was punishable by death. The fourth prince and his people claimed that Xiulan had sneaked onto the emperor's trail with thoughts of assisting Zhao Mingyu in ambushing the emperor so that he could quickly ascend the throne. She tried to resist, but it was all for naught. After all, it was well known that Li Xiulan was wholly devoted to the crown prince and would assist him in any capacity, even in treason. So, being found on the emperor's trail, not far from the place where the emperor was severely injured—what coincidence was that, the fourth prince argued.

Su Mei was no different, as the position of General Su in court was weak. But with her engagement to the crown prince, if the King were to die, the crown prince would quickly ascend the throne, and the tiger tally would land in his hands and, consequently, in General Su's grasp, fortifying his position and power as a general. The fourth prince continued, claiming it was very possible, even highly likely, that Su Mei herself had injured the emperor during the hunt. Su Mei, of course, defended herself, stating that her father and loyalty to the country were not to be insulted in such a way. But alas, she lacked the sweet tongue of deception that most calculated nobles possessed, and thus she was also to be tried for treason.

From his hiding place, Zhao Mingyu assessed the situation and understood the trap the fourth prince had set for him. The fourth prince, Zhao Liancheng, had purposefully made his hunting trail and the emperor's hunting trail intersect so he could frame Zhao Mingyu for an attempt on the emperor's life using Mingyu's own people. He finally decided to step into the light to face the trap head-on.

"Oh, 4th Brother, I didn't know you were on this trail too."

"Zhao Mingyu, you have just come in time. Look at these two traitors we caught."

"Traitors? How so?"

"We caught them lurking around the area where His Majesty the emperor was injured, so we quickly detained them."

"Oh, what about the evidence? I hope you have more than the fact they were found on the emperor's trail."

"We definitely have more than that, Crown Prince, and I would like for us to have a trial for such capital crimes."

"Trial? Without the presence of the emperor? How could we?"

"But we have you, our Crown Prince, the Heir Apparent. In such cases where the emperor is absent and such an important matter requires immediate attention, you, Crown Prince, should use your powers as the Heir Apparent to conduct the trials."

The trap that the fourth prince had set was so good that Zhao Mingyu couldn't help but be amazed. If he did not comply, it would be framed that it was all his doing—that was why he was going easy on the traitors. But if he did comply, he might be forced to declare them guilty, which would mean he would have inevitably caused the death of two close people.

Well, Xiulan he was closer with, but even if Su Mei wasn't as close, he would feel bad if she died. Plus, he wouldn't want to become enemies with the Su family. He had known General Su's family ever since he was a child—from his sons to his daughters—so to have them turn on him would be a huge blow.

"So, what evidence do you have of their crimes?"

"Plenty. We have arrows with Su Mei's colors on them, a map of the trail on Xiulan, witness accounts, and many more. So, how would you like to proceed, Crown Prince?"

"Those are all lies!" Su Mei cried out.

"It doesn't matter what she says, Your Highness. You must remember, this is the emperor we are dealing with... I know that even though they committed such a crime for you, it wasn't on your orders. You are a filial son who would never try to usurp his father's throne. So prove it. Punish these traitors to show that you won't tolerate treason from anyone, even your own people."

"You are right, Fourth Brother. We should show that treason will not be tolerated in front of everybody. This would make for a better example for all nobles and show our loyalty to Father."

"Crown Prince, you are not trying to buy time so that you can show leniency, are you?"

"Of course not, Brother. We must show that traitors will not be tolerated, but at the same time, we need to make sure that the innocent aren't punished unjustly."

"Are you trying to call me a liar, Crown Prince?"

"Of course not, Fourth Prince. But we should not rush such things lest we harm our people. How about this: we call upon the relevant offices for such a case, the Censorate and the Ministry of Justice. How are we sure there are no other people involved? Also, we are dealing with a member of the Su family. How can we carry out the execution without proper investigations?"

"You are right, Crown Prince. How can we treat the Su family this way when they have served the country well? We can push for the case to happen later. The Sus are known for their loyalty to the crown, so it might be a case of framing. But as for your maid, isn't she a member of the Li family? She might harbor intentions of revenge for what happened to her family. As such, I beg you, take care of this swiftly."

"Yes, she is a member of the exterminated Li family, but that doesn't mean she harbors ill will toward the emperor."

"But that is exactly what it might be, Your Highness. She might have approached you with intentions of getting revenge, and this day just happened to be the perfect day to execute the plan. Thus she is guilty of treason and cannot be forgiven. ARCHERS, drop her."

Immediately, an archer shot an arrow that cut the rope that was suspending Li Xiulan.

"NOOO!"

Zhao Mingyu jumped into action, catching the rope that was just moments ago dangling Xiulan. The friction tore through his hands as the rope grazed his skin, but he didn't care for the pain.

"Your Highness, are you protecting a traitor? We can't have that, can we?"

Before he knew it, an arrow was passing through his body, blood spilling to the ground as the pain surged through him, but he didn't care. He tried to reel Xiulan back up, but he couldn't and fell into the river below.

It was now nighttime, and Xiulan had managed to remove Zhao Mingyu's body from the depths of the river and found shelter in a cave. She managed to start a fire that she could use to warm herself and Mingyu, but she had no food or medicine and wasn't sure how she was going to sustain them both.

Would Zhao Mingyu survive with such a fatal wound to his chest?