Chapter 1296: Chapter 1296: Trapped Beast

Xia Houzhe sat on the bed, his mind still on the message Emperor Chu had left.

Dong’er had been abducted by the old subordinates of the Xia clan.

What Emperor Chu assumed to be taking a hostage or venting their anger was not so; they wanted to get Dong’er out, and then...

Xia Houzhe suddenly recalled what he had overheard in the secret room of the Prince Mansion, the conversation between Mister Ning and the servant Zhang Zhi—how had they put it?

Sacrifice him, then take Commandery Princess Chongyang away or bring Shang Pu back, and let the two of them have another child.

Now that move was no longer viable, so they were going to take the one already at hand.

At this thought, Xia Houzhe suddenly panicked. Could it be that Mister Ning truly meant to discard this chess piece that was himself?

Impossible. If that were truly the case, was he not afraid that Xia Houzhe would spill everything, tear all pretense apart, and drag them all down to hell together?

After all, he also knew the main base and every stronghold of the old subordinates.

They wouldn’t dare.

Xia Houzhe’s heart loosened a little. He walked slowly to the entrance of the bedchamber, where two eunuchs were standing guard, with armed guards at the door.

"Prince, the Emperor has given verbal instructions, requesting that Your Highness rest and recuperate peacefully in the palace." The two eunuchs, who looked especially honest and attentive, supported him with smiling faces.

But Xia Houzhe understood at a glance. Though they looked honest and attentive, their stances were solid, calluses at the tiger’s mouth of their hands—clearly trained fighters.

This was to keep him in line, to use force if needed to confine him in this bedchamber.

The ease he had just felt tightened all at once. With a dark expression he said, "Go summon Eunuch Zhuo. I have matters to instruct."

"In reply to Your Highness, Eunuch Zhuo recently broke his leg in a fall and is bedridden, unable to get up. Whatever Your Highness wishes to command, this humble one can attend to it for you." One eunuch spoke respectfully.

Xia Houzhe’s heart sank. He turned back into the bedchamber.

There was one thing he had overlooked. If Mister Ning had truly decided to abandon him, would there really be no arrangements? Strongholds could be withdrawn, people could be evacuated, but he was trapped here in the palace, unable to do anything. By the time he regained his freedom, they would have long since gone to ground.

Xia Houzhe paced back and forth in the hall, thinking of the people he could use. Yet the more he thought, the fewer such people there seemed to be. He could not even tell loyalty from treachery, for they were all men that Mister Ning had handed into his charge.

Those people—were they loyal to him, or to Mister Ning?

Cold sweat seeped from Xia Houzhe.

Was this where everything slipped out of his control?

He had thought himself able to control everything, only to realize he was the clown?

No. If the people he trusted were truly loyal to Mister Ning, they would never have left him to his own devices. Mister Ning would not have watched him act willfully and recklessly.

Then in what frame of mind had they followed his moves instead of stopping him?

Xia Houzhe racked his brains and could not understand.

Then there was the matter of the birthday tribute. He recalled what Mister Ning had said that day: for an Emperor who wished to deal with him, did he really need so-called evidence?

No.

Now, Emperor Chu, under public pressure, was taking a heavy hand then letting up with Prince Min Mansion. Was it really only because of the threats from those students and scholars? No—it was because merely confining him was already a form of punishment.

As now—what he could do, where he could move, was only within this bedchamber. Like a trapped beast, he could accomplish nothing.

As long as they confined him, he was helpless.

And as for this body which, even after taking the antidote, still had not recovered—he strongly suspected that it would never fully heal. That way, Emperor Chu would have a pretext to make him "recuperate," keeping him from ever returning to his fief.

Deprived of freedom, even of his people, no matter how shrewd he was, it would all be nothing but empty schemes.

Xia Houzhe panicked.

The more a man is in peril, the easier it is for certain things to be stripped clear. Once he saw the true state of his situation, his mind became extremely clear.

Which raised the question: how had he inched his way into this dead end, day by day?

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