The Valued Lady is Truly Dominant

Chu Ze sat cross-legged on a haystack, a thick cloak draped over his shoulders. Yet the dark and damp conditions of the Heavenly Prison made him shiver incessantly, and the sound of coughing echoed from time to time.

As he turned a page, his hand paused, looking towards the direction of approaching footsteps. A glimpse of imperial yellow entered his view.

The bright yellow quickly approached, and Chu Ze looked up to meet the gaze, adjusted his collar, and stood up to bow to Emperor Chu.

”Greetings, Emperor.”

Without waiting for permission to rise, he straightened his body and calmly met his gaze.

More than twenty years have passed since he left the capital to govern a domain, and this was the first meeting between the two brothers.

Time flies; age quickly comes upon man.

Even the Emperor, often hailed as eternal, bore the marks of age around his eyes, yet his gaze held an awe-inspiring fierceness that few dared to meet directly.

Years in power have made him older, yet more possessive of the awe-inspiring majesty of a monarch, regal and dignified beyond defiance.

While Chu Ze assessed Emperor Chu, the latter was equally scrutinizing him, trying to find traces of his childhood on this youthful yet gaunt face.

However, nothing could be found.

Emperor Chu’s eyes flickered slightly; this person gave him a sense of complete unfamiliarity, utterly unable to overlay with his childhood image.

”Should I call you Shang Pu or Chu Ze?”

Chu Ze smiled faintly: ”Shang Pu is me, and Chu Ze is also me. It’s just that no one has called me by the name Chu Ze for a long time.”

His response was neither servile nor overbearing, his demeanor calm, as if speaking with an ordinary friend.

Emperor Chu squinted his eyes and said, ”So you admit you conspired with Xia Houzhe, intending rebellion?”

”If you wish to convict me in such a way, you may do so,” Chu Ze chuckled indifferently.

Emperor Chu’s expression was somewhat grim, feeling as though his punch landed on cotton, neither painful nor itchy.

”Do you have no explanation or defense to offer?”

Chu Ze shook his head: ”Since I followed those you sent without resistance, you should know I won’t argue. I trust you know all there is, why waste words in pointless debate? Isn’t it meaningless?”

”So, you are letting me do as I please, butcher or flay you?”

Chu Ze maintained that harmless smile.

”What about Princess Consort Ji, do you not care? I heard that the Accompanying Poison on you, the mother poison is on the Consort. I remember how, as a child, the Consort and Father Emperor cherished you as a treasure, nearly offering their hearts.”

Chu Ze’s fingers twitched, saying: ”Blessings are not disasters, disasters cannot be avoided. The length of one’s life is recorded in King Yanluo’s book. As fortune and misfortune are intertwined, for the wealth enjoyed, a corresponding price must be paid.”

Emperor Chu laughed coldly, about to speak when Chu Ze turned away, covering his mouth with a kerchief, coughing vigorously.

After a fit of violent coughing, Chu Ze apologetically smiled at Emperor Chu: ”This unworthy body shames me in front of the Emperor. Unlike me, a worthless subject, Your imperial health matters, it’s better not to linger where the cold might harm, wouldn’t that be unbecoming?”

Emperor Chu gazed fixedly at him, suddenly laughed: ”You needn’t say so, at least one of the Shang clan is deeply attached to you, willing to trade with me to secure your release.”

Chu Ze’s brow furrowed lightly.

Emperor Chu turned, walking away, while ordering: ”Someone, transfer Prince Min to Chaoyang Palace.”