Chapter 139: Seizing the Fourth Prince

Yan Heru and Qi Shengsheng nodded. Seeing that both of them agreed, he finally nodded as well.

Shortly after, the group began waiting for the Fourth Prince to arrive. However, they waited for a long time without any sign of him. Just when they thought the Fourth Prince might not show up today, he finally appeared.

The Fourth Prince was clad in a full suit of armor, holding a long spear in his hand. It seemed he had just returned from the battlefield and had come straight here without even changing his clothes.

Why was he in such a hurry?

Yan Heru and Qi Shengsheng hid to the side, quietly watching the Fourth Prince.

The Fourth Prince paid no attention to the hidden guards deployed around the courtyard. With a clear and purposeful stride, he walked straight into the Third Prince's room—a move that conveniently played right into their planned scheme.

"You must be extremely careful later," Yan Heru whispered, giving a word of caution. "Do not let the Fourth Prince notice our movements, and certainly not the guards outside."

Qi Shengsheng nodded. The two of them proceeded according to the original plan to intercept and capture the Fourth Prince, while the Third Prince acted as an insider within the room, forming a three-way encirclement. Since the Fourth Prince's martial arts skills were not overwhelmingly formidable, the three of them were confident they could capture him.

As soon as the Fourth Prince entered the room, before he could even utter a word, he immediately launched into an attack. The Third Prince had not anticipated this sudden turn of events and suffered a graze.

"Nan Ye!" the Third Prince roared in anger.

"What? Nan An! Are you suddenly shouting my name just to see whose voice is louder?" The Fourth Prince retorted, showing no weakness.

The Third Prince did not reply, nor did the Fourth Prince press the matter further. The two men simply continued their fierce exchange of blows.

Seeing this, Yan Heru and Qi Shengsheng hurriedly stepped forward to assist. In the end, the three of them subdued and captured the Fourth Prince with relative ease.

Even when captured, the Fourth Prince remained somewhat bewildered. Why were there so many people here?

In fact, whenever he came here in the past, he would always check in advance with the guards he had stationed before stepping inside. But today, without checking with the guards, he had walked straight in to see the Third Prince.

He never expected that on the very first time he skipped this precaution, he would end up captured.

"I didn't expect you people to have been lying in ambush here for so long. Qi Shengsheng, after all these years, you've finally revealed your true intentions. I always felt your presence around me was a bit strange, but I never imagined that you didn't like me at all."

Qi Shengsheng smiled faintly and replied, "I never liked you in the first place. Do you honestly think there is anything about you worth liking? Besides, don't twist the narrative to make it sound like I deceived you for a long time. Weren't you doing the exact same thing? All these years, you maintained a distant and ambiguous attitude toward me simply for the sake of my father's status as the Regent, didn't you?"

The Fourth Prince shook his head. "If that's the case, then we are even. Let's not point fingers at each other here. I'm just curious, what are you all ambushing me for today? And you—I never expected to see you here. It seems Qi Shengsheng must have rescued you, right?"

The Fourth Prince turned his gaze toward Yan Heru. Since she was already prepared to capture him, she no longer felt the need to conceal her identity.

Moreover, after pulling off this stunt, both she and Qi Shengsheng would inevitably be exposed. With no other choice, they had to go all in and see it through to the end; only by being utterly ruthless could they secure their own safety.

"This matter has nothing to do with you," Yan Heru answered coldly.

"What do you hope to achieve by capturing me? Are you trying to force me to release the Third Prince? Or perhaps the Emperor?" the Fourth Prince asked.

Yan Heru froze for a fraction of a second. Only then did she recall that not only had the Third Prince been missing, but the Emperor had also vanished.

The sudden mention of the Emperor left them somewhat stunned. Although the two of them had not come here for the Emperor's sake, now that they knew he was also being held here, they could simply not ignore the situation once the matter was brought to light.

Above all, the Third Prince would never allow the Emperor to be left to his fate. While the Emperor hadn't been explicitly mentioned when they mapped out their plan, the Third Prince certainly wouldn't agree to just walk away and leave him behind.

On the surface, the relationship between the Third Prince and the Emperor appeared strained, but regardless of past grievances, they were father and son. There was no way the Third Prince would simply abandon the Emperor here alone.

"Why are you all suddenly so quiet?" the Fourth Prince taunted with a sneer. "Since you've captured me, shouldn't you have a lot of questions to ask, or perhaps threats to make? Why is everyone suddenly keeping such quiet company?"

Stung by the taunt, the Third Prince instantly lost his temper. "What are you acting so arrogant for? You've already been reduced to our prisoner! Shouldn't you be a bit more cooperative? What makes you so certain you'll be able to walk out of here?"

The Third Prince's fury was fueled not just by the provocative words, but primarily by the Fourth Prince's arrogant demeanor. Because of his privileged birth, the Fourth Prince had always adopted this condescending attitude toward him, and seeing it never failed to enrage him.

Seeing that attitude instantly dragged up memories of his younger sister and his own bitter childhood—all of which had been ruined because of the Fourth Prince. Without him, their lives would never have plummeted to such depths.

"Oh? Losing your composure already?" the Fourth Prince laughed heartily.

Noticing that the Third Prince was on the verge of being provoked into a rage by the Fourth Prince, Yan Heru quickly stepped forward to intervene. She could not let the situation deteriorate; after all, their purpose here was not to engage in a petty shouting match with the Fourth Prince.

"For the Fourth Prince to be so eager to provoke my uncle, could it be that you are hiding some shameful, dark scheme? Is it because seeing my uncle stirs up feelings of guilt, and you are desperately trying to cover it up with bravado?" Yan Heru asked pointedly.

Hearing this, the Fourth Prince cast a slightly perplexed look at Yan Heru, utterly failing to understand the logic behind her words.

How on earth could anyone read that into the situation?

"Don't look at me with that gaze, as if you're trying to mask the truth," Yan Heru said to the Fourth Prince before immediately turning her attention to the Third Prince.

"Uncle, let's proceed with the original plan right away. If we delay any longer, things will become difficult to handle."

The Third Prince nodded, realizing that this was certainly not the time to indulge his temper. He had indeed nearly been manipulated by the Fourth Prince's psychological tactics. If not for his niece's timely reminder, he probably would have started a brawl with the Fourth Prince right then and there, inevitably alerting the guards stationed outside.

Had that happened, continuing with their plan would have become virtually impossible.

The Fourth Prince certainly possessed a cunning mind. Even though he was the one captured, he hadn't panicked in the slightest; instead, he had immediately attempted to turn the tables using psychological manipulation.

Of course, the Fourth Prince hadn't genuinely expected that trick to succeed completely. After all, the people present included more than just the Third Prince, and the others were not so easily provoked by mere words.