"Treason is a wonderful way to start your morning, isn't it?"

The Other Prince looked up, a book in hand, furrowing his eyebrows in both confusion and disgust.

"I had expected you to still be sleeping...", muttered the Conqueror. "Guess I don't need this bucket...", he said as he placed a bucket full of water down.

"Get to the point," the late Empress's son quipped.

"Alright. How did you get the Head Astronomer to confess to assassinating me...no, better question. Why did the Minister of Revenue suddenly take the fall for him?"

"Your guess is as good as mine," he remarked while standing up, shutting the book.

"Lovely read?", he asked.

"What do you really want?", the Other Prince said, annoyed the Conqueror was still in his room.

"Justice...but I guess men like you wouldn't want that."

"Stop insinuating. Why would I have anything to do with the Minister of Revenue?"

Looking over the wooden beams of the room, he lightly touched them as he twirled around them whilst gathering his thoughts.

"Why were you not at court the other day?", the Conqueror remarked.

"I was away, and it was short notice," the late Empress's son replied.

"Well, you certainly did not come to make sure I was alright..."

"Why would I? Sixteenth Prince would probably bar my way anyhow."

"He doesn't hate you, you know," he nonchalantly said.

"Us brothers are not on the best of terms. Father certainly made sure of that." Opening his well-worn book again, he charged, "So much so that you suspect me."

"Wasn't he one of your most adamant supporters back then?"

"So was half the court, but it seems like your reign is unchallenged so far."

The Conqueror scoffed. "Your words make it seem like I wanted the throne..."

"Then give to Sixteenth," the Other Prince retorted.

"Or to you?", yelled the Conqueror.

"They were distant cousins. Perhaps they shared a familial bond. He did get him made into a noble afterall"

"Like we do?", whispered his half-brother.

"Then what else could it have been? You think I had a hand in this?", said the Other Prince, sneering at his baseless accusation.

"The Head Astronomer's family was being threatened..."

"And?"

"He was being coerced but giving up your benefactor is a big no-no. Unless someone else got to him afterwards."

"What are you talking about?"

Pacing, the Conqueror delivered his theory. "Revenue Minister is panicking, colludes with the Pirates to get the Southern General killed, but Southern General is not particularly disliked. This action makes someone angry, someone with a lot of political power so when he orders an assassination, that someone intervenes."

"What does that have to do with me?"

"That day...the General gave me the character the Southern General traced along with a message. So I gathered all the nearby players in court impromptu and waited for the chips to fall."

"Why are you telling me all this?", the Other Prince responded back, now curious.

"The quickest way to get someone is through their drink. You, and others close to me, would know I never taste food that a concubine has not eaten, or drink from a cup of tea I have not made myself. However, that day, I called for wine from the kitchen. An assassination is in order, the powerful person promises something to the Head Astronomer that will put his family in good straits, and prevent even his distant cousin, the Revenue Minister, from hurting them."

"Money? A higher position in court?"

"For his son, a newly-made Daoist priest with no political ambition."

"The High Priest..."

"is dead and needs replacing."

"So matter of fact, are you?"

"As a result, he gets the servant girl to pick up a cup, no, a set of cups I would never drink from. That on sight, I would shatter and my death averted."

"I never saw the cups," he quickly stated, turning away in fear.

"The late Empress's favorite tea cup set. Something that you would know well."

"Others too!", he quipped.

"You're right. I break the cup, the Head Astronomer confesses so that the little girl is not executed. To everyone's shock, Revenue Minister takes the blame. The thing is..."

He emphasized this last point. "Someone who was trying to get away from his faults would not do that unless there was someone who was higher up who could hurt them more if they didn't."

"Like who?"

"Exactly. You're a great suspect. 1. Contest for the throne. 2. Son of the Empress would definitely know which cups she used. 3. Could promise someone else a position. 4. Powerful enough to scare Revenue Minister into submission. 5. Again, those cups are never used, placed high on a shelf and most would never know they were there unless they had seen and used them before. Mere commoners, and most royals/nobles could never dream of doing so."

"You have no proof," he exclaimed, crossing his hands over his chest.

"Only you didn't do it."

Furrowing his eyebrows, the Other Prince looked on confused.

"Why would you direct a subject to tell his family member to pick cups related to the Empress? It would incriminate you and even from the grave, your mother would never forgive you."

"So you think there's a conspiracy supporting you? Congratulations then."

"Naw ah. Not so fast. Someone powerful enough to force the Revenue Minister into submission by blackmailing him somehow prevents him from killing the ruler of the nation? Something's fishy with that. Unless they wanted to frame you in the first place, and make it look like there's a conspiracy going on."

"They wouldn't dare!", he cried.

"Who wouldn't? Because the Justice Minister was told the Southern General evaded taxes, and medicine was denied from the Southern General. However, while questioning the Justice Minister, it seems like the medicine denied from the Southern General was not under his direct orders, but someone who spoke to his subordinates and tried to pin it on the Justice Minister."

"All you have are theories. If you came to me, the remaining link to the Empress who tormented your poor mother, you have nothing."

Leaning in, he whispered, "Don't you want to get at the person who set you up?"

"That's my affair," he asserted. Leaving, he paused at the doorway, and said, "By the way, I'm surprised you have not spoken to the Prime Minister yet about this."

"Really?"

"Sources tell me he's the only one who stood calm during the ordeal, as if he knew what was going down." With that, he left with a smirk, internally seething at whomever framed him.

He had a pretty good idea who it was, but like the Conqueror had no evidence. However, the Other Prince would watch their every move. Nothing would slip past his hawk eyes.

Grinning, the Conqueror snapped, and commanded, "Follow him", to a close shadow guard. Without hesitation, they slinked off into the night, silent as the grave.

If someone had framed his younger brother, the Other Prince, then it was someone who either favored the Conqueror more than the Other Prince or had something to gain from the Other Prince losing favor. Either way, he suspected that the Other Prince might have guessed who it was from his responses, but accusing someone else would make him look bad, or incriminate him further. Already, there were rumors at court that the late Empress had said on her deathbed that the Other Prince must inherit the throne.

Someone spread those rumors maliciously, and it would soon make him lose face.

The Empress had been known to use others to do her dirty handiwork, perhaps someone was taking revenge via her son. If the Eldest Prince wasn't such a loafer, he would have suspected him as his mother went down for a crime that former Empress's lackeys did-poisoning Sixteenth Prince and the Conqueror's mother.

Snapping once again, he told a fellow eunuch to send a message to his full-blooded brother.

"Yes, your Majesty," the eunuch replied. Hurrying to get back to the Sixteenth Prince's quarters and relay the orders from a ruler to his subject: Study at the Academy.

Dangerous trials were ahead, and it was better for his brother not to witness them personally.

Especially if the Prime Minister had anything to do with it.

__________________________________________

Author's note: I hope the chapter above is not too confusing. Basically, there's a conspiracy afoot and both the Other Prince/the Conqueror suspect they are in someone's crosshairs right now...

Author's note: Drama-Listening Snow Tower. *Chef's kiss* action scenes, complex 3-Dimensional characters, a believable romance (which isn't the main focus of the story anyhow), two ruthless leads who are...well, act like how grown adults would act , and set in the jianghu realm once again. This is an underrated drama, although it is not my favorite, it is definitely a worthwhile watch. Btw, the song above is in the male lead's POV so yeah.