Chapter 170 - The Fox Makes An Announcement

As Xiao Zai watched his father drop to his knees behind the throne, the only thought running through his mind was that he wished his dam was there.

He looked around the hall, but he couldn't see Gu Wei anywhere. He must have heard about what was happening. Wouldn't he want to watch?

A childish part of Xiao Zai wanted to run out and find him, bring him by the hand and point towards the shell that once held their tormentor and say: "Look, papa, he bleeds too."

He supposed that part of him would be gone soon too. He didn't have any interest in revisiting the traumas of his childhood after this. He would bury the child he had been with his father, and look forward for the life he was about to build -- for the sake of his own unborn child.

The King continued to kneel pathetically on the dais, looking up at the Queen Dowager's back in empty disbelief. 

There was no doubt in Xiao Zai's mind that the King had killed his own father, but he also believed him when he said he had done so at the Queen Dowager's behest. He must have been desperate for her approval, willing to do anything to please her. 

Now he had finally succeeded. 

The Queen Dowager sobbed tearfully into a handkerchief she pulled from her sleeve as the ministers and officials talked all over each other, unsure of how to proceed.

An unsuspecting voice rose among the commotion, "Guards, take his Majesty to the palace's holding cells," Xiao Yuan said, straightening his back. "As Crown Prince I'm stepping in to fulfil my duties, this is my first order as King."

The guards did as they were told. Four of them pulled the King to his feet, who offered no resistance, and let himself be dragged out of the throne room.

The Minister of Rites stood from his chair. "We can't let the news of this shameful even spread, his Royal Highness' coronation ceremony should happen as soon as possible!"

Xiao Zai's and Xiao Yuan's eyes met. 

They had a gentleman's agreement. Chu Yun was confident it would earn them Xiao Yuan's loyalty, but in that split-second in the noise throne room, Xiao Zai wasn't so sure.

Something passed across Xiao Yuan's eyes, maybe a flash of what his life would be like, if he was king, but it lasted only for a moment before he shook his head and cleared it away.

"No," he said, looking straight ahead at the Minister of Rites. "I'm going to abdicate."

His words were met with an enormous outcry. Some of the audience lifted their hands to the sky in supplication.

Chu Yun's cousin looked like a single leaf adrift in a coursing river. 

Chu Yun himself examined his nails with an unhurried look.

Xiao Zai relaxed. 

"Who will be King then?" The Minister of Agriculture asked, shaking with rage. "What will happen to Zui if his Royal Highness abdicates!"

Xiao Yuan let the ministers air out their grievances for a moment before interrupting them. "My brother, Xiao Zilang, is more fit to be King than I ever will be. I was aware of our fathers many failings as a King, and of the dangers he posed to Zui and her people, it was only Zilang who took action to stop him and uncover the extent of his corruption."

As he spoke, straight-backed and sober, a far cry from his previous drunken displays Xiao Zai saw the King he could have been. If things had been different, if their father hadn't poisoned Xiao Yaun from an early age, and then poisoned both of them against each other, maybe Xiao Zai would have been happy under his brother's rule.

But that would never come to pass. 

Xiao Zai extended a hand to Chu Yun, who took it with a single nod.

The two of them ascended the steps of the dais together, and bowed to Xiao Yuan, and then to a still sniffling Queen Dowager.

"His Royal Highness' words humble me," Xiao Zai said, and meant it, because he knew how much of the credit was owed to Chu Yun.

None of this would have been possible without him, who stood quietly at Xiao Zai's side. He looked magnificent in his white tiger cloak. It took everything in Xiao Zai not to turn to him and voice the gratitude inside his chest like a thousand fluttering butterfly wings

Of course that despite Xiao Yuan's words there were still discordant voices.

"His Highness the Second Prince is married to an alpha, such an union is unseemly," a lower officer said, looking at his colleagues for approval. "The marriage would have to be dissolved."

Another one joined in on his protests. "Yes, and moreover, if his Highness' becomes King, the alpha children of his First Spouse will be the legitimate heirs to the throne. That won't be possible as long as his First Spouse is another alpha."

Xiao Zai let the complaints die down before declaring, in no uncertain terms, "There will be no divorce or annulment, his Grace, Chu Miaoyan will be King Consort."

More dissenting voices rose, but this time it was Chu Yun who silenced them. "Regarding the matter of legitimate heirs your excellencies needn't worry." He paused, and untied his cloak, letting it drop from his shoulders to the floor.

In a deliberate gesture, Chu Yun cupped his stomach, making his robes go tight against his abdomen, showcasing its slight, round distension.

They had been so busy in the past weeks, and exhausted by the constant travel, that Xiao Zai had scarcely had the opportunity to take a good look at Chu Yun and notice the ways in which his body had changed. The sight left him breathless, that was their child inside Chu Yun. Sometimes he still couldn't believe it.

Uncaring of how everything had gone silent around him, Chu Yun smiled and looked out at the court.. "By the grace of the Heavens' I'm carrying his Highness' child."