EOL Chapter 31

When Alfred returned to the main indoor venue, Xiu and a few dukes were there.

The ceremony was held in an outdoor venue, and food and drinks were arranged in the main indoor venue. It was almost lunch time, and people began to enter one after another.

After all, this was a funeral hosted by the royal family, and all the nobles were very reserved. The emperor went to the palace to find Mrs. Hart, so Xiu led several dukes and clan members into the room first, and others would naturally follow.

Duke is the largest title besides prince, and there are not many people there. There were only a few people standing in the huge indoor banquet hall, and even the family members were only a dozen or so.

The person standing closest to the crown prince was the current high priest. After changing the venue, the crown prince finally had a few words with the high priest. Although the high priest is the Crown Prince’s teacher, everyone in the aristocratic circle knows that the two of them are having that relation in name only . They rarely come into contact with each other in normal times, and they can only say hello when they meet at ceremonies.

Alfred entered the hall, and all the nobles saluted him from a distance. He went straight to Xiu’s side, and after saluting, he looked at the high priest.

“Master Priest,” he greeted in a relaxed tone, “Long time no see.”

Behind the high priest stood Joshua, but neither the High priest nor Alfred acted as if the detention and interrogation of Joshua had never happened.

“Your Highness, long time no see.” The high priest said kindly as usual, “Tonight is your coronation ceremony, and we will spend a long time together today.”

“I’m afraid I don’t have the honour to spend a whole day with the high priest.” Alfred said, “The evening ceremony should be postponed.”

The High priest was slightly surprised and asked: “Postponed? I didn’t receive the news. Why was it postponed?”

“How can a birthday celebration and a funeral be held on the same day?” Alfred said matter-of-factly, “It’s not appropriate, so I want to postpone it.”

Xiu asked: “Did Father agree?”

“Not yet,” Alfred said, “I’ll talk to him about it before dinner.”

The disdain in Joshua’s eyes was clear, and he couldn’t help but said: “Your Highness, it’s so easy to say. If you say it, will His Majesty agree?”

Alfred looked at Joshua behind the high priest, and seemed to realize that there was someone there. He looked at Joshua in surprise for two seconds, and when he spoke to the high priest again, his tone was not so kind.

“Master Priest, you are a duke and a high priest. I respect you. But what title and position does your son have? Is he worthy of interjecting during our conversation?”

Joshua’s already pale face became even more ominous, but the high priest said without changing his expression: “There are indeed no position of Joshua to speak. Please forgive me, Your Highness.”

Xiu interjected, “Forget it. After all, Joshua has served Alfred for two years, and the two of them have a relationship, so there is no need to ask for forgiveness. Isn’t that right, Alfred?”

Alfred raised his eyebrows and said, ” As the Crown prince said, yes, of course.”

When these people spoke, other nobles did not dare approach, and no one could hear clearly what they said. However, if Joshua bowed and apologized, the entire banquet hall would be able to see it.

Xiu spoke up to defend him, and Joshua no longer had to plead guilty in front of all the Dukes and relatives. Then his face softened a little, and he silently stepped back and kept his mouth shut.

“Master, you don’t have to say anything anymore.” Xiu continued, “When the order was just given, I reminded you about the conflict between the two dates. The Shengjin Palace replied that the father had already made up his mind, and it would not happen. Because he changed it.”

Alfred said: “His Royal Highness it is useless because you used the wrong method.”

“Really? So what’s the right way?”

Alfred gave Xiu a big smile. He was tall and handsome, and when he smiled, he was as dazzling as the sun. Xiu felt a little dazzled.

Alfred had not shown such a cheerful smile for a long time. When he was a boy, he often laughed like this.

“It’s like this knife.” Alfred said, picking up a knife on the table.

“This knife is not long, thin, straight and sharp. It is a special steak cutting knife used by the servants to cut the steaks for the master and distinguished guests.”

The high priest’s expression became a little tense, but Alfred did not make any dangerous moves. Instead, he pointed the blade at himself very politely and handed the handle to Xiu.

“Although this is a special knife, as long as your thinking is not limited, there are other ways to use it.” Alfred said, motioning for Xiu to take the knife, as if he wanted to demonstrate something to him.

Xiu paused for a second and reached out to take it.

In the next moment, before anyone could react, several things happened at the same time.

Marshal Stone and his wife walked towards the prince and the others stopped not far from them, and reached out to take a small cake on the dessert table.

The high priest opened his mouth slightly, as if he wanted to object to the prince taking the knife.

Xiu held the handle of the knife, but Alfred held his hand tightly almost at the same time, and along with the knife in his hand, he pushed it in his direction.

The door of the banquet hall opened with a bang, and the emperor arrived with Mrs. Hart. Behind them were other nobles.

“Brother!”

Alfred shouted miserably, and everyone looked at him.

He and the prince were seen standing very close together, their hands entangled in Alfred’s abdomen, their postures strange. Immediately, Alfred staggered back and fell slumped at the Crown prince’s feet.

Everyone saw that the Crown prince’s hands were covered with blood, and that the third prince had a sharp knife specially used for cutting steaks stuck in his abdomen.

There was an uproar inside and outside the hall.

“What’s going on!” the emperor roared angrily, “Why are you making a fuss about in this situation?”

“Brother…” Alfred fell in a pool of blood, looking up at Xiu in pain, his bloody hands tightly holding Xiu’s pants, “Brother, why do you want to kill me? Brother… why do you want to kill me.”

He asked with such unwillingness and disbelief that it made people moved.

The servants started running around in a panic, calling the doctor and holding the first-aid kit. No one among the nobles dared to move for fear of being involved.

In this strange scene of stillness and movement, the emperor strode in. A well-trained waiter had already begun to apply an emergency bandage to Alfred to stop the bleeding. The emperor looked around like an angry old lion, and finally he stared at the Crown prince.

“Crown Prince, what is going on?”

Xiu did not answer the emperor’s question immediately. He stared at the first aid work on the ground, his face turned pale. After a few seconds, he looked at the emperor, gritted his teeth and said, “Father, not me…”

He seemed to be in a very rare panic. He turned to look at the high priest and spoke faster than usual.

“The high priest can vouch for me! It’s Alfred… he himself…”

“Can he still stab himself?” the emperor said angrily, “High Priest, tell me!”

In just a few minutes, the situation suddenly changed. The high priest lowered his eyes and had no time to react in such a short time. He tried his best to think carefully and organise his language and said: “Your Majesty, just now… Your Highness, he picked it up himself. The knife accidentally injured him, and His Highness wanted to save him…”

Alfred reluctantly said: “High Priest! No wonder you kept talking to me just now and refused to let me leave. You and he are in the same group…”

The emperor ignored them, turned around and asked solemnly, “What did you see?” 

Several people shook their heads, one after another saying that they stood too far away and did not pay attention to this side.

When it was Marshal Stone’s turn to express his position, the emperor said: “General, you are standing very close, so did you see anything.”

Marshal Stone glanced at the high priest, snorted and said: “I’m afraid the Dukes didn’t see it, and they didn’t dare to refute the high priest? I saw that the Crown prince stabbed the third prince.”

“I wanted to eat this dessert. When we came to get it, we saw the crown prince saying something to the third prince. The third prince went to get a knife and handed it to the prince. His Royal Highness took the knife and immediately…” Madam Marshal on the other hand said in shock, “It happened so fast, I didn’t even have time to shout.”

Mrs. Hart stood at the door, looking wildly at the dining table and Alfred, who was being taken over by the doctor who arrived, wondering what he was thinking.

Xiu immediately said: “Father, seeing is not necessarily believing! I was holding the knife, but I didn’t mean to stab him. The high priest can testify that I didn’t ask Alfred to get the knife, it was him who wanted…”

“That’s enough.” The emperor said gloomily, “At your second brother’s funeral, do you want to send your third brother away again?”

The word “again” made many people’s expressions change slightly.

With such a commotion, the evening celebration will definitely not be held and will be postponed.

Alfred allowed the doctor to carry him away. Before leaving, he turned back to look at Xiu one last time. He seemed to have no excuse and only looked at the emperor with a pale face.

Two years ago, facing Xiu’s frame-up and the evidences, Alfred could not say a word and stood in front of the emperor in despair and panic.

Alfred only felt that the despair was relieved and no longer weighed heavily on his heart, making him restless every night.

However, this scene is not so perfect… It would be better if the person whom Xiu surrendered to and feared could give judgement for Xiu. But now the person who controlled Xiu’s destiny was not the emperor, but he himself.

When the third prince was carried out of the banquet hall, Marshal Stone and his wife looked over. The three of them exchanged an instant look, and then each withdrew their gaze.