Chapter 1783 Understanding

Chapter 1783 Understanding

Yan Yating walked out of the building with Long Huan, with Whisker trailing behind with the three puppets.

Shan Wangjiu flew back from where he had run off to and rejoined them as well.

Several of the fighters outside, who had been there to take the second prince away, were now made to submit by the newly arrived Oathbreakers.

The level of strength of the Oathbreakers was on a different scale.

Yan Yating looked at all of them and asked, "Do you wish to fight us, or will you help us?"

Many of the soldiers glared at him, but a few of them looked around, searching for their comrades to see what they were doing.

Once the first person spoke and said they would help, the others followed. However, simple words alone weren't going to help them.

"Speak an oath to aid the Oathbreakers and the Southern Continent's army in to fight against Long Tiankong," Yan Yating said. "Only then will you be allowed to join."

Long Huan watched as the soldiers' eyes widened with horror and they hesitated once again. "Why are you guys hesitating? You already heard what my father did," he said. "Are you still going to fight alongside the man who killed your true ruler?"

As he said that, Long Huan's eyes slowly drifted toward a newly arrived figure.

Long Fangyu floated halfway up the ground, his body bloody and extremely dirty. His disheveled hair and clothes did not fit that of the Crown Prince at all.

Yan Yating took a single step forward to stand between the Second Prince and the Crown Prince. "Your Highness," Yan Yating said with a monotone voice.

"Senior Yan," the Crown Prince said and gave a simple nod.

Yan Yating could already tell something was wrong with the Crown Prince. He looked sick and as though he hadn't had anything to eat for a long time.

"Brother," the Second prince moved beyond Yan Yating even as the man tried to stop him. He stopped once they were merely 5 meters apart.

Before he could act, Long Fangyu lunged for Long Huan.

Yan Yating moved at the same time, having been ready to protect the second prince at any moment.

After hearing the information that the second prince had provided, Yan Yating had become all but certain that his incident was what had forced a lot of the soldiers to give up on the army and defect.

Yan Yating never truly understood what that had been previously as no one was allowed to speak about it thanks to their oath.

Some understanding of the situation had been formed in his mind once Alex forced him to gather everything about the attack after he brought Hannah's portrait to them.

And now, hearing the pieces of information that had previously been blind spots in his understanding, he knew exactly what had happened back then and why the soldiers had defected.

Forcing a group of soldiers to fight their own prince, especially the one that was known to not be involved with politics but instead in scholarly behavior had caused the soldiers to defect.

While not something as bad as the Azure Dragon dying, this was certainly something that too could make a soldier distrust their own higher-ups and Emperor.

As such, now that he had finally seen the Second prince, he wanted to protect him at all times, which he was going to do at that very moment.

"Then do you know that she was there the day that the Azure Dragon died?" he asked.

The Crown Prince nodded. "Father told me everything after you left last time," he said.

"Then you must know that mother was an accomplice as well. She was there to kill the Azure Dragon's child," he said.

"I do not wish to speak ill of the dead," Yan Yating spoke from the back. "But your mother was more than just an accomplice. She was the mastermind behind the entire thing. It was all her idea. Your father had merely agreed to do it."

The two brothers looked back at Yan Yating.

"She was the most active one there. She was the one who constantly tried to kill His Majesty's child. Your father tried, but nearly not as much as your mother."

"I... didn't know," Long Huan said. "I... I had only thought that father had involved her in some ways."

Long Huan's head snapped back toward his brother. "Did father tell you the truth there too?" he asked.

Long Fangyu nodded after a while. "I don't believe he lied about anything. He was very clear with me about everything."

"Then you must know he is wrong," Long Huan said. "Help us, brother."

"But..."

"It shouldn't matter to you that he's our father anymore. He tried to kill me, brother. He didn't care that I was dead. The person we thought was our father is long gone,"

"But... mother would've wanted us to help him," the Crown Prince said. "Mother, she..."

"Brother! Have you not been listening? Mother isn't a good person either," Long Huan said. "She's just as bad as Father."

Long Fangyu's face changed to anger for the smallest second before a look of horror settled on his face. He fell to his knees with his head in his arms.

"Oh god! You're right," Long Fangyu said. "You're right."

Long Fangyu broke down into tears as what he had always understood, but refused to believe, had finally broken past that barrier and settled on him.

"Here, brother," Long Huan took out something and handed it over to Long Fangyu.

A beautiful black sword fell into Long Fangyu's hands, one that Fangyu recognized immediately as it had been something he held onto since the day he was born.

It was his sword given to him after he was born to be kept by him as the first prince of the empire.

Looking at the sword, tears broke down Long Fangyu once again, as this was the last thing he had given to his mother.

At some level deep in his mind, Long Fangyu had always blamed himself for his mother's death. Had he not given his mother that sword, maybe she would've still been alive.

That guilt he held was what made him want to help his father for the sake of his mother. However, seeing the sword and understanding his own flaw, Long Fangyu wanted to do better.

"You should never stop loving mother, brother," Long Huan said. "But at the same time, you are also allowed to realize that she was a bad person. One does not stop you from understanding the other."