Ning Chen looked hard at Fang Pu. "You were able to take Prince Duan's place because Prince Duan was far from the capital and nobody knew him well."

"But impersonating His Majesty left far too many holes."

Fang Pu let out a sigh. "I know... I had thought myself ready. Then I got here in earnest, and the holes were everywhere."

"But I was on the tiger's back by then and could not get down. Taking your power first was the only move left to me, because I knew that you were the one thing in the whole business I could not predict."

"Ning Chen, once your power was gone... the rest of them might have felt that something was wrong with me, but they would not have dared say it aloud."

Ning Chen looked at him. "In fairness, you are very good indeed."

Fang Pu gave a bitter laugh. "And what does that come to? This world looks only at the result. Who cares about the road there?"

"I schemed down to the last device and still could not out-calculate you... The Eldest Prince is still alive, is he not?"

Ning Chen shrugged and smiled. "Of course he is. It was an act, to take you in... The man is my elder brother-in-law. Was I going to kill him in earnest?"

Fang Pu looked at him and frowned. "Ning Chen, I take myself for a clever man, and I truly cannot read you."

"That dragon throne stands for power above all other power... Men go mad for it and yet cannot get near it. And for you it is there for the taking, yet you will not spare it a glance."

Ning Chen smiled. "Didn't you hear me call His Majesty Father Emperor? Am I to take what belongs to my dad?"

The corner of the Xuan Emperor's mouth was harder to hold down than an AK.

Fang Pu, for his part, would not spare that a glance. "There has never been family feeling in a royal house. For the sake of that dragon throne, brother killing brother and…