"Shut up!! Who do you think is your mother?! A monster like you doesn't deserve to be anyone's child! You should have died a long time ago, you evil ghost! You must pay for my son's life!!"
As soon as the woman heard the word "mother" from Prince Yu's mouth, her whole body shuddered as if she had been electrocuted.
Her face twisted with even more intense hatred and killing intent. She was gripping the arm of the three-year-old child beside her with such force it seemed she might crush it. But she remained unaware, just kept cursing and glaring at Prince Yu in front of her.
The child was both in pain and frightened. Terrified by his mother's savage expression, he burst into loud cries.
The dozen or so young men and teenagers around the woman, who looked quite similar to one another, all frowned at the scene. Eventually, the third eldest, who stood closest to the child, stepped forward slowly and gently held the woman's hand that was still gripping the child. In a low voice he said,
"Mother, Little Eighteen's hand is about to break. Please let him go first."
Whether the woman heard him or not was unclear. Her hateful and murderous eyes remained fixed on Prince Yu. But slowly, she loosened her grip on the child's hand.
The man bent down and picked up the crying, frightened child. As he held him, he took out a box of ointment from his sleeve and began applying it to the child's injured arm. His voice was calm and faint as it drifted into the woman's ears,
"Mother, everything about that year has already been investigated clearly, hasn't it? The people who murdered Fourth Brother were all executed by you personally. Sixth Brother was just one of their targets. They wanted him to die with Fourth Brother, so they carried him over to play with him even though he was less than a year old. Fourth Brother was just a victim too. How many more years will it take before you..."
But before the man could finish speaking, she slapped him hard across the face.
"Shut up!!! What do you know?! All of you who weren't blessed by the gods, what's the use of having more children like that?! You're all useless! How could you understand the pain of my real child?!"
"You all should know by now! No one can replace that child! He was my only real son! None of you are anything without him!! Especially him!!"
With bloodshot eyes, the woman screamed wildly. The hand that had just slapped the man now pointed fiercely at Prince Yu again.
"Especially this monster who should never have lived! He stole my child's life! He took everything that should have belonged to my son! As long as I live, he will never sit on that throne! That seat belongs to my child! Never to this cursed ghost!"
The man's face was turned aside by the slap, and blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. But it seemed he was already used to it. He raised his hand to wipe the blood and said nothing more. Holding the child tightly, he returned to his place and continued applying medicine.
The child in his arms was crying like a little river, clearly terrified, but he bit his lip and didn't dare to make a sound.
After yelling, the woman turned to look at the private soldiers and loyal followers behind her.
"You are the ones I've spent years training! All for the day you would kill this monster for me! To take back everything that should belong to my child!"
"Now, the time has come! This monster not only killed my child, he also murdered the only god-blessed heir of Dahlia Kingdom, causing our country to lose the chance of receiving the divine blessing we had waited hundreds of years for!"
"He must die! His crimes are unforgivable! Now! Your chance to earn merit has arrived! Whoever brings me that monster's head will become Dahlia Kingdom's new Grand Duke and the Great General who protects the nation!"
The city guards were on high alert in the capital of Dahlia Kingdom, where a suppressed rebellion by blood kin broke out.
Empress Yao had secretly raised many private soldiers over the years. Aside from the ones behind her in the palace, once they received her hidden battle signal, three waves of private armies holding torches surged from the east, west and south of the capital.
However, these forces never even reached the edge of the capital. They were crushed and encircled by the troops that Giles had stationed in advance.
The oppressive and shocking bloodline coup inside the imperial palace only lasted half an hour before it ended.
Among the twenty or so children Empress Yao gave birth to, the most outstanding in both intelligence and skill was Prince Yu. Otherwise, he could not have stood out among so many siblings, becoming Crown Prince at age nine and reaching his current status, earning support from ministers and brothers alike.
Though Empress Yao was the queen of Dahlia and the mother of Prince Yu, she still could not defeat him, even though he never intended to fight his own mother.
The failed rebellion ended with all the traitorous soldiers captured.
When Empress Yao was restrained by the maids, her face twisted in hysterical madness and unwillingness.
"You will be punished. A demon like you doesn't deserve that throne. That place belongs to my child. Only the divine son of Dahlia should have it. You, who stole my child's life and killed the divine son, will be punished by heaven. You will never be blessed by the gods. Never be acknowledged by them. You are the true traitor. You don't deserve that seat. You will be punished and dragged to hell. Go to hell."
Empress Yao was dragged down by the maids, her vicious curses still echoing through the air like a haunting spell.
Historically, emperors would purge all rebels that very night, regardless of how closely related they were, often ending in public execution.
But Prince Yu didn't do that. He still called the woman who wanted him in hell his mother. He ordered the maids to take care of her in the palace and had imperial doctors on standby in case her emotions caused complications in her pregnancy or health.
Half an hour later, the palace became completely quiet.
The bloodstains at the palace gates were quickly cleaned by the servants. Still, this sudden and shocking rebellion left a deep shadow in the hearts of all who witnessed it.
Due to the secrets involving the divine bloodline, the fourth child Empress Yao gave birth to had once awakened it. That event caused a stir back then, but after being lost in a great fire, the child became a forbidden topic within the imperial palace.
More than ten years later, many of the current court officials didn't even know that child existed. They had no idea that a divine son who once nearly restored divine favor to Dahlia had only lived five years before passing away quietly.
Tonight, this shocking revelation hit the ministers hard, especially those who had long hoped for the divine bloodline's return.
Though most supported Prince Yu, faith in gods and divine blessings ran deep in this world.
For generations, Dahlia had not received divine favor. Most people didn't expect Prince Yu to awaken it either.
But now they suddenly learned that their country was almost blessed by the gods years ago. That realization stirred complex emotions in their hearts.
Especially after seeing the queen, Empress Yao, curse her own son with such twisted fury.
This event cast a shadow over the hearts of many ministers. Some even began to secretly doubt and question what truly happened back then, what caused the divine child to disappear so silently.
On the eve of the new emperor's ascension, the court, once filled with anticipation, fell into heavy and unspoken sorrow after the rebellion.
After the ministers left, Gareth approached Prince Yu, hesitated for a moment, then coughed softly and asked, "Do you need tonight's matter handled."
Everyone present understood what he meant by "handled."
Though the ministers were innocent in some ways, Gareth was the Duke of Yan for Dahlia. For national stability, sometimes hard decisions had to be made.
Prince Yu gently shook his head. His expression hadn't changed much. His voice was calm and without clear emotion. "No need."