Chapter 2 Prologue(2)

Somewhere in the corridors of the Imperial Palace, the Crown Prince Fu Wei was running at full speed to a particular room. Several maidservants yelped in surprise as he rushed by. Coming to a skating stop in front of a golden door, Fu Wei opened it and entered. Immediately after he entered, all sorts of sounds came rushing into his ears, evident that the room was soundproof. Aside from hearing people talking and the footsteps of people walking around the room, the most prominent one Fu Wei heard was the sound of a baby screaming his head off. After entering the room, Fu Wei looked in the direction of the baby's cries and saw the old midwife standing over his little brother with a blob of water conjured from a spell hovering over her index finger. "What's with the second prince? Is he already hungry? It's not even been long since he was born." The midwife standing over the second prince said in a perplexed tone. Meanwhile, said prince was all red in the face from his screaming, even throwing in arm and leg movements in his tantrum. Fu Wei closed the door behind him and made his way through the servants who were carrying bloody sheets and basins of water. They all looked towards him, but seeing who it was they only smiled and went back to tend to the paled face woman on the bed. Fu Wei only took a glance at the woman on the bed, before he made his way to the table-like structure that held his brother. Despite his screaming and flaying, the midwife had still managed to clean him up enough to wrap a blanket around him. Before Fu Wei could get any closer to look at his brother, the midwife swept him up and carried him off to the woman on the bed. Fu Wei's expression became slightly annoyed. "Crown prince you have to wait, lady Ying hasn't met her son yet." said the midwife as she went to the bedside of the woman called lady Ying. Despite her disheveled hair and deathly pale face, the woman's beauty could not go unnoticed. As a matter of fact, even the Empress herself would be slightly inferior to her when she's in her top condition. Fu Wei not having anything to do, only sat on a chair off to the side kicking his legs, while having an impatient look on his face. Over at the bed, the baby had stopped his crying when he was handed over to the smiling woman. After a moment of cooing and rocking, the woman named Lady Ying began to cough a little. The midwife who was next to her said, "Lady Ying don't force yourself; even though the delivery was successful, your body is still weak from the exertion." As she said that, she gently took the baby from her. Lady Ying was slightly reluctant, but she could only nod her head. "Don't worry, the second prince will be in the room next door, when you've recovered, you'll have all the time to be with him then." Lady Ying again nodded at the midwife's words. Then, the midwife began walking to the exit with the second prince. Seeing this, Fu Wei jumped up and followed her out. Just like the midwife said, she went to the room next door that was already prepared for the second prince. A baby bed was situated in the middle of the room, with child-like drawings sprawled across the walls of the room. After placing the second prince into the small bed, she turned to the Fu Wei and said, "Now Crown Prince you should be careful with your brother, don't pick him up lest you drop him and cause an injury." Fu Wei nodded his head at the midwife. Despite being the Crown Prince, he didn't dare be disrespectful to this old woman. He didn't know what position she held in the Imperial Court, but when all the ministers and court officials spoke with her, their deference wasn't any lower than when they were speaking to his father. Even his father, the Emperor, spoke to her with slight respect in his voice. After Fu Wei nodded, the old midwife turned to leave. Fu Wei watched as the door closed with a slight smile on his lips. He stood there and waited for a moment. When he was sure she was gone, his slight smile fell from his lips, as he turned to his brother who was inside the crib. The demeanor he once had of a naive and immature child was completely gone. His cold and somewhat emotionless eyes bore down at the newly born second prince. For a ten-year-old to have such a cold and detached look in his eyes was actually frightening to see. His immature features also didn't make things look any better, he just stood there staring down at his brother. After a while, his voice echoed in the room. "Why couldn't you have been a girl?" As the question left his lips the only reaction the second prince had was to stare at his older brother. Fu Wei then bent down over the crib and placed his hand on his brother's belly, his cold and emotionless demeanor suddenly vanished like it was only an illusion, and then a warm smile started to spread across his lips. "And the worst thing of all, people are saying that you were born with the blessings of the heavens, isn't that just ridiculous?" Fu Wei began to slide his hand slowly upwards towards his brother's throat. Despite his hand being a small, ten-year-old's hand, he was still able to wrap it around his brother's neck. The second prince showed no reaction to this, though as a baby who was just born, he couldn't possibly know what was happening. With a warm smile still on his face, Fu Wei continued to speak. "If it turns out that your talent is greater than mine, Father might just take away my title as the Crown Prince and give it to you." Killing intent flashed across Fu Wei's eyes as he added, "That title belongs to me, and only me. If you ever surpass me in cultivation in the future, I'll have you killed." Fu Wei’s hand slightly tightened around his brother's neck, however, but before he could squeeze down any harder to do any real damage, he heard faint giggles. Looking up, he saw that his baby brother's expression had brightened. He giggled incessantly while reaching forward with his tiny hands as if he wanted to grab and hold him. Seeing such an innocent expression on his baby brother's face, it felt cold bucket of water had been douse over Fu Wei's head snapping him out his crazed thoughts. But at that moment, the sound of footsteps suddenly echoed outside of the door. In a panic, Fu Wei went to release his brother's neck, but his brother suddenly grabbed onto his index finger before he could. Fu Wei then felt something entering his finger from his brother's small palms. That something caused pain to shoot through his entire right arm, and with a grunted, he immediately tried to pull his finger away. However, to his astonishment, his brother's grip remained firmly clamped onto his finger and he was lifted slightly off of his back from his pulling. The footsteps came closer, and Fu Wei began to panic even more. "Little Shen let go, I-I'm sorry." Fu Wei said and was about to pull harder. However, he stared with wide eyes at his baby brother as a golden aura suddenly appeared around his entire body. Within a flash, it condensed onto his little palms and entered his index finger. Fu Wei almost let out a scream from the pain coming from his arm. That pain suddenly moved from his right arm to the middle of his forehead, causing him to bite down on his lips. What followed was a plum blossom with six petals appearing between his eyebrows. Each petal was different in color, one was golden, another one was pink, the third was red, the fourth was violet, the fifth was azure, and the last one was pitch black. After glowing for a second, they faded away from sight. The grip on Fu Wei's finger was released, as the door was pushed open. Unbelievably, Fu Wei was quick enough to compose himself before the old midwife came in. "Alright Crown Prince, visiting time is over, it's time for the second prince to get some rest." A sad expression appeared on Fu Wei's face before he reluctantly said, "Fine." He then began walking towards the door with a downcast expression. He went to leave the room, but not before turning around to look at his baby brother. He was standing up in the small crib staring straight at him. The voice of the midwife suddenly sounded out, "Oh look at you! Already standing despite just being born, what a strange child you are." 'More like a freak.' Fu Wei couldn't help but think to himself as he closed the door behind him with his left arm. His right arm was still in a bit of pain, confirming that what had just happened wasn't his imagination.