EOL Chapter 28

The servants keeping watch were tight-lipped and didn’t know what to ask. Xiu and Alfred “saw” the second prince according to the emperor’s request. They had nothing to say to the living second prince, let alone the dead one. So the two left quickly.

They separated outside Xinghui Palace, and Xiu followed the emperor’s order to “go back and rest” and returned to his Dawn Palace.

The master has been away for several months, but everything in the Palace has been taken care of as it was when the master was here.

Mark, the steward of Dawn Palace, was originally working for the late Queen. After the death of the late Queen, he came to Dawn Palace to be the steward. He worked there for more than 20 years and witnessed the growth of the two princes in this palace.

Today, he had been waiting at the door early. When Xiu came back, he immediately came up to greet him and saluted him.

“Get up,” Xiu said.

Mark straightened up and glanced behind Xiu.

“Your Highness, has your Highness been left in the Shengjin Palace? Why haven’t I seen him come back?” Mark asked as he helped Xiu take off his coat and handed it to the manservant next to him.

Logically speaking, servants should not inquire about the master’s whereabouts, but with Mark’s qualifications as a butler, it was normal for him to ask.

“Father didn’t keep him. Of course, he wouldn’t come back here.” Xiu glanced at Mark, “He is already an adult. How can two adult princes live in the same palace?”

Mark sighed and said, “That’s right. I’m so confused. I thought I could serve two His Highnesses at the same time.”

Xiu didn’t take it seriously and said, “Go to the study room on the second floor and wait for me.”

After being away for several months, he always wanted to ask questions. This was not surprising, so Mark left after responding.

Xiu was served by two male servants in the dressing room and changed into regular clothes. Then he dismissed everyone and went to the study to find Mark.

“Did anything special happen in the past few months when I was away?” Xiu sat down behind his desk and asked casually.

A smile of unknown meaning appeared on Mark’s old face, and he said: “In the past few months, the protagonist of the main planet has always been the second prince.”

First, he celebrated grandly for receiving an honorary degree, and then he died and the whole country was under martial law. He contributed enough talk to the public both during his lifetime and after his death. He was indeed the “protagonist”.

Dawn Palace and Xinghui Palace are like fire and water, and they may need to take care of the royal family’s appearance outside. Now that they are alone, Mark naturally doesn’t speak with much respect.

Xiu nodded and asked: “Did you hear any news about his death?”

Mark smiled bitterly shook his head and said: “Your Highness, the gate of Dawn Palace has been closed since you left. After the news of the death of the second prince came out, I was afraid of causing trouble, so I strictly prohibited people from entering and exiting Dawn Palace. Naturally, the news couldn’t get in.”

Xiu Dao: “It’s okay. You did a good job.”

The two chatted a few more words, and Mark bowed and left. Just as he was about to leave, Xiu suddenly stopped him.

“The servants of the Shengjin Palace suddenly changed their tune and no longer called Alfred ‘Your Highness’, but ‘The Third Highness’. You once served mother in the Shengjin Palace. I want to know, what kind of tradition is this?” 

Mark was stunned for a moment. He thought for a while, shook his head and said, “Your Highness, I don’t know.”

“It’s okay. You can go.”

Mark withdrew, and Xiu sat alone in the study for a while, then got up and went back to his bedroom. It seemed that he was tired from the long journey and was ready to rest.

Unlike the extensively renovated Xinghui Palace, although the Chenxi Palace is also luxurious, as the residence of successive crown princes, it has a classical charm everywhere, and some devices even use the gear transmission system from the early part of this century.

You know, after the vigorous development of the Ethernet network, many new technologies came into being. In the first few decades, they were only used for military and scientific research. As the survival crisis gradually eased, many new technologies that facilitated ordinary people’s lives gradually emerged.

This was the direction of the second prince’s major. To keep up with his “academic status”, his Xinghui Palace also uses many cutting-edge new technologies.

With the emperor’s overt and covert connivance and acquiescence, the outside world spread increasingly outrageous rumours, saying that the research direction the second prince participated in would benefit the whole empire. It was said that the Xinghui Palace renovated by the second prince was “alive” and could understand people. order, in the future, everyone can use such a “living” house.

The irony is that Xinghui Palace is “alive”, but the owner himself is dead.

A few years ago, the second prince had proposed to help his eldest brother renovate the Chenxi Palace so that His Highness the Crown Prince could enjoy the latest technology, but Xiu refused.

“Now there is a saying among the nobles that the Xinghui Palace came back to life and killed its owner.”

Sitting in his classical bedroom with no trace of technology, Xiu smiled contemptuously: “That’s not wrong at all.”

On his handheld device, the voice of the high priest continued: “There is only one left now.”

Unlike the border and space, the Ethernet here is very stable, and the high priest’s voice is very clear. As he gets older, his originally deep voice has become a bit hollow and weak.

Xiu: “I’m afraid things are not that simple. Teacher, has Father looked for you recently?”

“Of course he did.” The high priest said a little impatiently, “I am the high priest.”

The high priest would go to witness the birth and death of royal members.

“That’s not what I meant…” Xiu thought for a while and said, “My father… talking to him gave me a bad feeling. He did not compromise on this.”

He told the emperor’s attitude today. The high priest pondered for a moment and said: “This is indeed not a compromising attitude. I would rather he lock you up… In this case, the plan we originally prepared to frame the third prince would not be good to put into action.”

“Since my father has such a calm attitude, I think we should adjust our strategy to avoid wasting time. He is the emperor after all. As time goes by, if he finds out, we will be very passive.”

“Find it out?” the high priest sneered, “Even if all the power of the empire is gathered, the emperor can’t figure out what’s going on! Their methods are beyond the understanding of these lowly insects! Xiu, you don’t understand. It is good to trust ‘them’ and be cautious, but in this case, you have seen what ‘they’ are capable of.”

Xiu said calmly: “Father, we don’t need to understand ‘their’ methods. We only need to find traces of ‘their’ existence, and we will be in trouble.”

“You have silenced all the rebels, and now we are the only ones who know the existence of ‘them’. If it gets leaked in this way…” the high priest said grimly, “that can only mean that there is a traitor among us.”

When Alfred returned to Dawn Palace, it was already dark.

This is not Xueli Star. They live in a livable zone of a livable planet. Darkness means it is very late. The night guard of Dawn Palace dutifully stopped the person, only to find out that this person was the third prince.

“Why are you stopping me when I go back to sleep?” Alfred asked, “I’ve only been gone for two years, have you already forgotten that I live in Chenxi Palace?”

Although Alfred has grown up, he has not been given a separate palace due to a mistake two years ago. This situation is indeed embarrassing, not to mention that there are still vague rumours that the eldest prince and the younger prince are not getting along. He didn’t come back to the palace today. Everyone thought he went out to find a place to live. Who would have thought that he would come back at night…

The guard would offend the crown prince if he let him in, and he would offend the third prince if he didn’t let him in. He was in a dilemma when suddenly an old voice came from behind.

“What are you doing to stop His Highness? Why don’t you get out of the way?”

Butler Mark greeted him. His words held great weight in Chenxi Palace. The guard hesitated for a moment and bowed to get out of the way.

“Your Highness is back.” Mark’s attitude was as usual as if Alfred had never left. “It’s late at night. Your Highness has already rested. Does Your Highness want to rest too?”

Alfred glanced at the doorman and asked with a smile: “Can anyone still sleep in my bedroom? I’m afraid no one has cleaned it in two years.”

“It’s always ready for you, you can go to bed at any time,” Mark said.

Alfred nodded and was led into the palace by the butler himself.

Mark not only sent him upstairs but also sent him into the bedroom himself. This was not etiquette. Alfred caught some unusual meaning and without saying a word, he allowed the old butler to enter his bedroom and locked the door behind him.

The door lock fell and Alfred said firmly: “You have something to tell me.”

Mark said: “Please forgive me for being rude, Your Highness. I do have something to report to you.”

“Say it.”

“How the servants of the Shengjin Palace address their masters, such trivial servant etiquette details are generally handled by the senior deacon of the Shengjin Palace. I have served in the Shengjin Palace for several years and I am familiar with the senior deacon. He is a man who grew up with His Majesty the Emperor. He is the best at catering to His Majesty’s preferences and is cautious in doing things. He never takes risks or does unnecessary things. Today, His Majesty is not a person who is tolerant of his servants. The servants of Shengjin Palace are doing things before the emperor, he has developed a cautious personality, and it is impossible to change the title of the prince without permission.”

Alfred raised his eyebrows and did not interrupt Mark. Mark did not pay attention to Alfred’s reaction and continued talking to himself.

“Such a change of title is unusual. I worked at the Shengjin Palace. When the second prince was born, he was first called ‘Your Highness’. This is tradition and the youngest royal family member is called this way. Until Her Royal Highness the Queen became pregnant again, he changed his name to ‘Second Highness’. The senior deacon can’t violate tradition and ask the servants to change their greetings collectively. This is not in line with his character. He must have learned something and thought that such a change could please His Majesty.”

After all, Alfred was young and didn’t know the twists and turns inside the Holy Golden Palace. Now that he heard Mark say this, he realized the hidden dangers behind that title.

However, at this moment, he was more concerned about another issue.

“Did you also inform the prince of these words?”

Mark looked at Alfred steadily and said, “No.”