Chapter 13 — I Didn't Choose the Crown Prince, The One I Chose Made Everyone Stunned

I watched his back disappear into the long hallway, the smile on my lips becoming colder and colder. Wait and see? Our time is still long. Right then. A little eunuch quietly approached me, quickly stuffed a piece of paper into my hand and then immediately retreated, blending into the crowd. We open the paper. On it was a line of strange words, with delicate yet generous strokes.

“An enemy of an enemy… is a friend.”

The line below is just three words:

“Third prince, Trieu Khai.”

The third prince, Trieu Khai. That name does not evoke any turmoil in my memory. In his past life, he was like an invisible person in the royal palace. Gentle, courteous, neither fighting nor winning, burying himself all day in poetry, calligraphy, and painting, seemingly completely uninterested in court politics. Of all the princes, he is the least threatening, and also the one with the faintest sense of existence. After Trieu Dich ascended the throne, he was appointed a king of leisure, took his family with him and left the capital to the land, from then on almost disappeared from the sight of the world. In my past life, I never considered him a rival for Trieu Dich's position as Crown Prince. I never even really paid attention to him. But today, the fragile piece of paper in my hand is like a big rock thrown straight into the quiet lake in my heart.

“The enemy of my enemy is my friend.”

Who is he talking about? Di, of course, is Trieu Dich. So his friend is him? Or rather… us? When did he start having this idea? Is it because I was reborn, messing up the chessboard that I thought was set, making him see an opportunity? Or is it that behind that appearance of not fighting or taking, he has long hidden an ambition that is not willing to stand below others? I clenched the piece of paper in my hand, my palms were wet and cold. If even someone like Trieu Khai is secretly spying on that location, then how many secrets does this royal palace, this capital city, hide and how many hungry wolves have we never seen? Suddenly I realized that my path to revenge was not only more complicated than I imagined. But it's much more dangerous. I brought the piece of paper closer to the candle. Watch it slowly catch fire, convulse and turn into ash. Whether Trieu Khai is an enemy or a friend, we cannot act rashly. On this chess board, one can absolutely trust there is only one. Trieu Hanh. We must tell him about this. We went to the abandoned temple in the west of the city. Trieu Hanh was already present. It seemed he knew I was coming. There was already a pot of steaming tea on the table, the gentle scent of tea spreading in the quiet space. He raised his head to look at me, his eyes calm.

“Something happened?” He goes straight to the point, no beating around the bush.

I nodded slightly, recounting the entire incident that happened in the palace during the day, along with Trieu Khai's note, without missing a single detail. After listening, Trieu Hanh fell silent for a long time. His long fingers were placed on the table, slowly tapping each beat, the deep sound echoed in the quiet secret room, making the atmosphere even heavier. It took a while for him to softly open his mouth. His voice carried an emotion so complex that we couldn't tell whether it was cold, mocking, or sad.

“He is smarter than what you see.”

“And also ruined more patient than anyone thought.”

He looked at me, his eyes so deep that it seemed impossible to fathom the bottom.

“Do you know who discovered the place where I fell off my horse that year?”

I shook my head. Trieu Hanh spoke slowly.

"He 'coincidentally' passed by, found me seriously injured and in a coma, then personally took me back to the palace."

“It was he who overruled all objections and invited the best physician.”

“When everyone, including my father, thought I wouldn't survive.”

“It was he who stayed by my bedside for three days and three nights.”

He smiled softly. That smile was colder than ice.

"Everyone says that we are brothers and sisters."

“But they don't know…”

His voice lowered, calm and chilling.

“My horse is the work of his people.”

“The mountain road I use every day was also oiled by his people in advance.”

My heart sank a heavy beat. A stream of coldness spread from the soles of my feet to the top of my head. I couldn't believe my ears. The third prince, as gentle as jade, with a humble appearance, neither fighting nor winning... Was he the one who caused Trieu Hanh to fall from his horse and cripple his legs?