Chapter 279 - 279. Finishing the shooting (2)

Chapter 279. Finishing the shooting (2)

The scene was of a corridor in the royal palace of the Liang Empire. Someone was walking towards the emperor's room.

His eyes glistened with a mysterious shadow and his walk was elegant, but one can notice a shallow radiance on his face, like he was desperate yet calm. 

He was Cao Xu, the person earlier known as the illegitimate wastrel, but now no one dared to call him that as everyone was now familiar with Cao Xu's prowess. 

He had shown his talent and had even managed to kill all the other princes except Xu Tingsheng, the crown prince.

People were already expecting a battle between Cao Xu and Xu Tingsheng and at the same time, they were fearing it too as if a battle really happened, then it would surely engulf the whole empire

The only reason that the battle hadn't started was because the emperor was still alive, but the news of him being sick has already started spreading among the common people. 

And at such a time, Cao Xu was walking towards his room. 

"Stand aside!"

Cao Xu stopped in his steps and raised his head to glance at the two guards standing in front of him. Both of them were the members of the royal guard whose job was to protect the emperor. 

"P-prince, we can't let you get inside."

"The emperor has ordered to not let anyone get inside."

The two guards said consecutively. Their eyes which were unyielding before their enemies shivered, when they glanced at the shallow radiance in Cao Xu's eyes. 

His eyes were like a black hole - dangerous, fearful yet mysterious. 

"I won't say it again. If you don't want to die, then step aside. You are stopping a son from meeting his father when he's on his death bed. It's a sin that you can't wash away!!"

Cao Xu's magnetic voice along with a deadly gaze made the two guards shivered. Their pupils shook and they couldn't help step aside. 

The fear of Cao Xu has already spreaded over the royal guards as he has killed the captain of the royal guard in one strike when he had refused to follow him.

Just one strike of his blade and your head would be on the ground - That was one of the rumours and a warning that was spreading about Cao Xu's strength. 

"Father!"

Cao Xu's extremely profound and elegant voice rang out as he entered the room. The emperor was lying down on his bed and the lights were off, making the atmosphere a bit grim. 

The emperor raised his head to look at Cao Xu when he heard his voice. His eyes shook as he realised why Cao Xu was actually here, but a smile soon formed on his lips.

He was the emperor of the Liang emperor, someone who had killed his brothers and sisters to get the position of the emperor. 

How could he not understand Cao Xu's motive!

"Come here and sit down. I wanted to have a talk with you for a long time."

The emperor raised his body slightly and Cao Xu silently sat down next to him. His eyes looking over the emperor's now weak and feeble body. 

The emperor also realised it and calmly opened his mouth. 

"It's sad that the poison wasn't able to kill me. Guess, I still have some strength left despite my age."

It was a secret that not many knew of, but the emperor was actually poisoned some days ago. It was the deadly poison of a monster named Venomous python. 

Still, the emperor somehow survived. 

"How do you know?"

Cao Xu directly asked that, hearing the emperor's words. His expression remained unchanged, like he already knew the emperor would say that.

"It's not hard to guess. I am not the emperor for nothing. So, how did you manage to kill that Venomous python?"

A grin suddenly formed on Cao Xu's face hearing that.

"It's easy. You just need to cut off his tongue. Then, he won't be able to attack with his poison. Without it, the Venomous python is just a normal monster."

"Haha, as expected of you. I always knew you were the best among all my children."

The emperor laughed out loud, but Cao Xu's eyes grew colder. He looked at his father and remembered his childhood. 

Then, he opened his mouth. 

"If you knew I was the best, then why did you throw me and my mother out? Just because she was a measly concubine and I was illegitimate?"

His eyes shook, his calm eyes had violent waves erupting in them, but the only answer he got from the emperor was something he didn't want to acknowledge. 

"Yes, sadly, you were illegitimate. That's why, I needed to do that."

The emperor closed his eyes saying that. It didn't look like he was regretting his decision to throw Cao Xu out, just because his mother was a concubine. 

"You didn't regret your decision."

"I do regret it now, but as an emperor, I don't have any places for regrets."

A strange silence hung in the air after that. The emperor waited for Cao Xu to open his mouth, but he looked to be in some sort of thought.

As Cao Xu was not speaking anything, the emperor again opened his mouth. 

"Won't you kill me?"

The reason why Cao Xu was here. It was to kill the emperor and start the final battle against Xu Tingsheng. The winner would rule over the Liang empire and the loser would only get sorrow and a painful death. 

Cao Xu didn't show any reaction when the emperor asked that. He knew that the emperor was ready for his death as a new emperor can only take over when the old one had died.

But still, he opened his mouth to say one last thing. 

"I will become a better emperor than you!"

The emperor didn't laugh or grin this time. He just calmly shook his head, his face showing a strange expression. 

Maybe, he was preparing himself for his death? The emperor spoke again while having various thoughts in his mind.

"You won't be able to be a good emperor at all even if you win over Tingsheng. It's because your final goal is to take over the empire, not to make it prosper. You just want to tell everyone that you, Cao Xu, is the most powerful person in the world. That's why... Kwak!!"

A black dagger pierced the emperor's heart as he was speaking. Cao Xu was plunging the dagger in his heart, his eyes bloodshot and expression ferocious. 

While gritting his teeth, he opened his mouth. 

"I will prove you wrong. I will prove EVERYONE WRONG!!"

He shouted with all his strength and a soft grin formed on the emperor's lips as he took his last breath.

'Bang!'

"What happened?"

"We heard a scream!!"

The two royal guards broke the door and entered at that moment. Their expression became dark when they saw the scene before their eyes. 

The emperor, the protector of the empire had died, a black dagger pierced in his heart and the illegitimate prince, Cao Xu was holding that dagger in his hand. 

Both of them gulped seeing that, but before they could even take another breath, two daggers had pierced their neck.

"... I'm the new emperor. Emperor Cao Xu!!"

Cao Xu muttered with a scary smile on his elegant and refined face. It was the smile of a crazy and maniacal monster.

"Cut!!"

Director Chen Pu's voice rang out at that moment and the scene ended. 

* * *

Hello, I decided to give some information about the background characters that don't get a self introduction here.

*The person who is playing the role of the emperor is an old and experienced actor who only got famous after crossing his 50s and the two guards are unknown actors.

Hope you like the chap!