Chapter 189: Fox Jue’s Downfall

Hu Yan patted his shoulder. "Leave Fox Jue to me. You’ve worked hard these past few days. Go home and get some rest. I’ll take care of the rest."

Hearing this, Zelda visibly relaxed. He was no longer tense like before, weighed down by his worries.

He rolled his head from side to side and loosened his shoulders. "You have no idea. Playing mind games with them these past two days has really worn me out. I need to go home, take a long shower, and rest. And you’ll never guess where Fox Jue was hiding! We practically tore the place apart looking for him."

Without waiting for Hu Yan to answer, he continued, "The man can really swallow his pride. He was hiding in an underground wine cellar. It took us a lot of effort to finally catch him."

Zelda: "By the way, how did it go with the Insect Clan?"

Hu Yan nodded slightly. "They’re dealt with."

At first, he hadn’t understood why the Insect Mother would self-detonate, but he figured it out later.

Their path had been blocked, and it would have taken a long time to dig their way forward. Meanwhile, their pursuers had arrived. With the Insect Clan’s numbers drastically reduced and the remaining insects injured and affected by the ’poison gas,’ they had no chance of victory. The only two paths left for her were capture followed by humiliation, or death.

Between suffering humiliation after capture and death, the Insect Mother unhesitatingly chose to take them all down with her.

The Insect Mother’s move proved to be extremely effective. The one thing she likely hadn’t counted on, however, was that Bai Zhi is an SSS-level Purification Master.

The unexpected appearance of Bai Zhi foiled the Insect Mother’s plan to take everyone with her.

Insect Clan nests are almost always underground, which means oxygen doesn’t circulate as well as it does on the surface.

Considering their location at the time and the number of people, a quick, full retreat was virtually impossible.

The moment the Insect Mother self-detonated, she infected everyone with black mist at an incredible speed. Once that black mist entered their bodies, with no Purification Master and no treatment, Hu Yan and his tens of thousands of soldiers would have been completely wiped out.

You had to admit, even in death, the Insect Mother had played one last trick.

Previously, Hu Yan hadn’t understood how the Insect Mother’s belly had gotten so large in such a short time.

It was because she had been plotting something truly vicious—a plan that, if successful, would have given the Insect Clan a massive advantage.

Zelda waved a hand at Hu Yan. "Well, that’s finally settled. I’m heading out. I’ll send you the recording later. You can figure out how to make him tell the truth."

Hu Yan grunted in response.

After Zelda left, Hu Yan went to the prison where Fox Jue was being held.

Fox Jue was confined alone in a special cell. When Hu Yan arrived, he appeared perfectly composed. Hearing the noise, he merely lifted his eyelids to glance at Hu Yan before lowering them again.

"It seems you aren’t surprised to see me, Second Brother." Hu Yan said softly after surveying the cell. "You’d rather stay here than confess, which made me very curious. So I made a point of asking the Emperor a few things. You can listen and tell me if my guesses are correct."

Hearing this, Fox Jue’s fingers twitched. He only said, "I just want to live a simple life. Is that so wrong?"

Hu Yan: "Of course not. But before that, Second Brother, could you tell me why you, the Second Prince of the Federation, have been continuously leaking secrets to the Insect Clan?"

Fox Jue looked at Hu Yan. "I’ve been on the Main Star this whole time. I never left. How could I possibly contact the Insect Clan? If you’re going to frame me, Third Brother, at least find a better reason."

Hu Yan just nodded along with his words. "Perhaps. But I did get some information from the Emperor. I heard your mother was one of the Tatshaba Clan People."

At these words, Fox Jue’s body tensed involuntarily. "What are you trying to say? My mother has been dead for twenty years! What’s the point of bringing her up now?!"

Hu Yan: "That’s true. The problem is that your mother was not a Federation female, which means your bloodline is not pure. Since ancient times, there has been an unwritten rule: unless there are special circumstances, the one who inherits the throne must have a pure Federation bloodline. Though it’s not written into law, it’s always been the accepted tradition."

Hu Yan leisurely took two steps toward him, his tone unhurried and confident. "This meant your chances of inheriting the throne were slim. I imagine your mother probably told you not to compete for it. Of course, that’s not proof in itself. But we did find some letters in your room that your mother left you before she died. She was worried about you until the very end. Why is that? You give everyone the impression of being honest, humble, and unambitious. A person like that... why would your mother worry so much about you? Even as she was dying, she was still trying to persuade you, still worrying about you."

"I wonder, did she discover something before she died? Or perhaps you were never as benevolent as you appeared. As your mother, she would naturally have known you best. The fact that you could start laying these plans so long ago proves how incredibly deep your machinations run."

Then, Hu Yan stated with absolute certainty, "You want the throne."

Hu Yan’s final, certain declaration made Fox Jue’s pupils shrink violently.

"To get the throne, you first had to eliminate me and Hu Ao. Hu Ao has some brains, but not much. He’s impulsive and easily instigated. But his greatest virtue is that he treats his mother very well, which is one of the reasons I suspected you. I always thought it was Hu Ao and his supporters, right up until I went to his home. You probably don’t know this, but he hasn’t buried his mother all these years. He definitely has his eye on the throne, but with his intellect, he’s not capable of planning something on this scale."

"You hid yourself very well. In the beginning, I never even considered it could be you. You slipped up in four places. First: your dealings with the Insect Clan were handled too cleanly. Hu Ao isn’t capable of that. Second: you shouldn’t have kidnapped her. Third: you shouldn’t have incited Hu Ao to force the Emperor’s abdication at this time. You became too anxious after I returned, and that’s why you kept revealing your tells."

"If you hadn’t kidnapped Bai Zhi, I might not have discovered that the person in the Treatment Pod wasn’t you. I wouldn’t have discovered that you were giving the Emperor a slow-acting poison. And I certainly wouldn’t have known that the one with the real connection to the Insect Clan was you—Fox Jue."

Fox Jue swallowed hard. He hadn’t expected Hu Yan to actually know everything.

"You orchestrated such a grand scheme. First, you used the Insect Clan to get rid of me, then you used Hu Ao’s hand to administer a slow-acting poison to the Emperor. You just didn’t expect me to survive and come back. So you had to change your plan: kidnap Bai Zhi to threaten me, frame Hu Ao for it, and then incite him to stage a coup. It would have been better if the Insect Clan had dealt with me, but if not, you’d just kill Bai Zhi, and I wouldn’t be able to go on living. Finally, when everyone thought Hu Ao had allied with the Insect Clan and staged a coup to seize the throne, you would conveniently ’wake up.’ At everyone’s behest, you would righteously eliminate Hu Ao and take the throne for yourself."

"At that point, the youngest Prince is only a few years old and would be unable to compete with you for the throne. Or you could just get rid of him with some flimsy excuse. That way, you would ascend to that position with perfect justification and with the utmost ease."

Hu Yan’s gaze sharpened as he looked at Fox Jue. "I’m not wrong, am I? My Second Prince of the Federation, my dear Second Brother."

Fox Jue squeezed his eyes shut. He truly hadn’t expected Hu Yan to know everything, nor that he had survived that battle all those years ago.

And now, Hu Yan had uncovered everything he had done, causing him to lose it all.

Fox Jue’s voice was hoarse. "I’ve always been so jealous of you."

He slumped against the wall and let out a self-deprecating laugh. "You have the perfect background. Ever since we were little, you were the golden child. Your talent and intellect far surpassed your peers. You even made the rest of us older brothers look completely unremarkable in comparison. And me? From childhood, my mother warned me again and again not to compete with you, that the throne was not for me. But on what grounds?! I’m the Emperor’s son too! If they wouldn’t let me fight for it, I was determined to fight for it!"

As Fox Jue spoke, he became completely unhinged, a stark contrast to his usual demeanor.

Then, he said to Hu Yan, a taunt in his voice, "You’re so smart, but I bet you can’t guess how my mother died, can you?"

"I killed her with my own hands! Didn’t see that coming, did you? HAHAHAHA..."

"Because she was an outsider, and her status was low, I was looked down on by so many people in the palace. And she was always holding me back, telling me to be patient, all ’for my own good.’ You say she worried about me until the day she died? HAHAHA, that was just her own self-righteousness! It was bad enough she wouldn’t fight for me, but she actively stood in my way! That rule you mentioned? Once I took the throne, it would have ceased to exist!"

Hu Yan frowned as he listened to his frenzied words.

"Hu Yan, do you think you’re some kind of saint? The Illusion Insect told me you’re just using that female, too. She’s done so much for you. Did you not see how much pain she was in when she saw the Illusion Realm? When she learned you were only with her to achieve your own goals? Even if you’ve reconciled, that will always be a thorn in her heart, ready to resurface at any moment. And the best part is, you aren’t even her only Beast Husband. I really look forward to the day you fall out of favor~"

"I wonder if you’ll be able to stay as calm as you are now, analyzing one by one the reasons why you fell out of favor. HAHAHAHA..." Fox Jue grew more and more manic as he spoke, his eyes turning scarlet with excitement by the end.

Hearing this, Hu Yan unconsciously pressed his lips together. Even though he knew Fox Jue was just trying to provoke him, he couldn’t remain completely calm.

Hu Yan said coldly, "Second Prince Fox Jue, for plotting against the Emperor, harming your own kin, and colluding with the Insect Clan, you are sentenced. Your four limbs will be crippled, your tongue torn out, your ears deafened, and one eye blinded. And you will be imprisoned for life! I won’t kill you. Killing you would be too merciful. I want you to watch—with your one remaining eye—as everything you predicted fails to happen. You will see how prosperous the Federation’s future becomes, and how strong our love is. And you will be able to do nothing but lie there, wasting away day by day, watching, unable even to take your own life!"