Female Novel
Chapter 670 The Death Bell Rang (Part One)
In the largest brothel of the imperial capital, Lucas was lying on the soft bed of Yvette, the topcourtesan in the establishment. The bleeding on his forehead was seeping through the bandage, but itseemed that he didn't really give a damn about it. He simply lay on the soft bed, listening to the musicfrom the zither Yvette was playing. The glass in his hand was already empty, but no wine was pouredinto it. At that moment, his mind seemed to have wandered off somewhere else.
When the piece of music came to an end, Lucas still didn't say a word. Noticing that, Yvette stoppedplaying the zither completely. Standing up, she walked toward Lucas and took a seat beside him. "Youlook so lost in thought even though you've just come back to the imperial capital. It seems that theremust be a beauty in the Stream County that you're thinking of day in and day out."
As Lucas heard that, a glimmer of light flashed across his eyes. He shook the glass in his hand with astraight face, which seemed rather different from his usual playful look. "I'm thinking about Lilian'smarriage," he flatly told her.
"Your Highness, the Bright Dynasty is facing both internal and external problems, so it's a good strategyfor Princess Lilian to marry the emperor of the Great Jade Kingdom in order to make peace with them.Why are you so worried about it?" Yvette asked in confusion.
As a bitter smile crept onto his face, Lucas replied, "You don't know anything about Rolando. To giveyou an idea, that man is comparable to Uncle Matthew. He is too full of himself. If he actually had acrush on Lilian, I wouldn't have been against her marriage to him. However, he is cruel and ruthless,and this would be nothing more than a political marriage for the sake of the peace between the twocountries."novelbin
"But Princess Lilian was the one who volunteered to marry him herself. Who knows? Maybe they'll fallin love with each other and have a happy ending despite their marriage beginning with politicalinterest."
"What I'm worried about is that Lilian might fall into the living hell when she arrives in the Great JadeKingdom!" Lucas exclaimed, sitting up with a deep frown on his face. "Earlier today, I went to theImperial Palace and saw Father. I had been absent for a few days, but drastic changes had taken placein him. He was mostly just skin and bones and didn't even look human anymore. On top of that, histemper had become much worse. He got so furious with me simply because we had a disagreement ona very trivial matter. It was so bad that he even violently smashed a teacup onto my head. This was thefirst time he had ever done anything of that sort to me,"
"Now, Prince Francis is the one handling the national affairs and Prince Jason is trying to bribe thecourtiers. You have been away from the imperial capital for far too long. I'm afraid that His Majesty haslong been under the control of Prince Francis." Yvette said, showing the information she had gatheredto Lucas. "Besides, while you were busy with the disaster relief in the affected area, the formerempress and former Crown Prince Felix poisoned His Majesty in an attempt to usurp the throne. Thatwas why His Majesty's health condition has been getting worse. Unfortunately, as soon as he made itthrough Her Majesty's murder attempt, he ended up falling into Prince Francis' hands."
"Today, I saw Francis and noticed that his health has improved a lot. In the past, he used to be so weakthat he had to sit in a wheelchair all day long. But now, he looks like a totally different person. What onearth could have happened since he moved out of the Imperial Palace?"
"It probably has something to do with that lady," Yvette said, curling her lips to give a bit of a hint. "Inthe imperial capital, there are only a handful of people who are capable of curing Prince Francis, whosecondition had only been getting worse before."
Upon the words, Lucas' eyes darkened a little. "I see. So, it was Aunt Harper who cured him. But whywould she do that?"
"I'm afraid she might have been bewitched by his good looks," Yvette said in an earnest tone, withalluring eyes. "Prince Matthew is already one of the most handsome men in the imperial capital.
However, he is much too cold. In contrast, Prince Francis is very gentle and amiable. Nowadays, manygirls in the imperial capital have been admiring Prince Francis. In fact, his portraits are even hung onthe walls in the rooms of some of the girls here."
With those words, Lucas' otherwise gloomy face didn't seem as cold as before. "So, does that meanyou also have Francis' portrait?"
"I did want to have one, but I gave up, because I'm afraid that someone might get jealous," Yvette saidin a playful tone, trying to hold back her laughter. "The situation in the imperial capital is changing bit bybit. Your Highness, are you ready for what's about to happen?"
Lucas stood up and looked outside the window. The situation in the imperial capital had changed somuch in such a short period of time. The power of the imperial court was now in the hands of Jasonand Francis, while the army was under Matthew, Maxwell, and Shawn. As of the moment, Francis' onlyweakness was his lack of military power. However, not only did Lucas lack military power, but he alsodidn't have a good reputation.
"Yvette, Father doesn't have much time, so I myself won't have time to prepare for anything either." AsLucas exerted his strength to his hand, the glass he was holding shattered into pieces in an instant.Some of the shards even cut into his palm, but he didn't so much as flinch, as if he didn't feel any painat all. Perhaps the time was ripe for him to lay his cards on the table.
An imperial edict had been sent to Matthew's mansion. Surprisingly, Matthew silently accepted itwithout showing any emotion on his face. According to the imperial edict, he would have to set outearly tomorrow morning, which seemed rather hasty. Hearing this, he wondered if it could be becauseFrancis could not wait any longer and was finally about to make a move that he decided to take theopportunity to drive him away.
Seeing Matthew so deep in thought, Harper glanced at Barry and asked, "What is the imperial edictabout?"
"Your Highness, the imperial edict states that His Highness has been appointed as the envoy forPrincess Lilian's marriage. Early tomorrow morning, His Highness has to escort Princess Lilian to theGreat Jade Kingdom to marry their emperor," Barry answered at once. "His Highness has been actingthis way ever since he received the imperial edict."
Harper nodded her head to acknowledge what he said. Then, she entered the room and approachedMatthew. Before she could say anything, he stretched out his arms and wrapped them around herwaist, pulling her closer to him.
In surprise, she wrapped her arms around his neck and said, "I thought this imperial edict made yourblood boil. I was actually wondering how I was supposed to comfort you. But, it seems that that won'tbe necessary anymore."