"Hey, this is all basic knowledge a prince must know. The Taizu crown can only be worn once during the official enthronement, and after that, only a few more times for the coming-of-age ceremony, the wedding, and the investiture of the crown prince. There's nothing fun about it—it's a burden." David Williams stared intently at the crown, even wanting to get up and touch it.

Taizu left behind quite a few relics. Besides the crown, there were the dragon robe, boots, sword, ruyi scepter, horsewhip, jade pendant, and so on. All these things are too old to withstand much handling; only the crown can occasionally be brought out for use.

"The emperor is just like this crown—highly revered, but utterly useless." James Foster, having spent a long time in the quiet chamber, had developed a bit of attachment to these old garments.

"Ha!" David Williams laughed recklessly. The sound of a eunuch coughing came from outside, and he hurriedly knelt properly. After a long wait, he whispered, "That's right, all of you are only useful once in a while. After the crown is used, it can be sent back to the quiet chamber, but you won't get such good treatment. If I were emperor, I'd never end up like this. Tell me honestly, aren't you afraid?"

"I'm afraid, but what's the use of being afraid?" James Foster's gaze shifted to the sword on the rack. Taizu had used it to slay many enemies, but now it could only stay in its scabbard, spotless and useless.

David Williams stood up, glanced back at the door, and quietly walked behind James Foster. "Since that's the case, why don't I just send you on your way now? You won't have to be afraid anymore, and I can get what I want sooner."

David Williams's voice didn't sound like he was joking, but James Foster wasn't afraid of him, nor did he turn around. He kept staring at the sword. "I thought we were supposed to be on the same side."

"So you kept me in the palace as your attendant?" David Williams gritted his teeth.

"That was your idea."

"My idea?"

"You said that once you became emperor, you'd either kill me or keep me by your side. I didn't want to kill you, so I kept you here."

David Williams was stunned for the third time. He had indeed said something like that, but he hadn't expected James Foster to remember it and use it against him. "Don't flatter yourself. Do you really think you're the true emperor? No one listens to you. I'm only here because the Empress Dowager wants to use me to threaten the Cui family."

David Williams's voice was full of hatred. Compared to James Foster, he hated the Empress Dowager, who manipulated everything from behind the scenes, even more.

"That's why we should be on the same side."

"Hey, your Wang family has no power or influence, so you want to use our Cui family as your backer, right? I'm not falling for it... unless you're willing to give me the throne."

"I never wanted to be emperor in the first place. I can give it to you anytime."

"No, it's 'return' it to me."

"Fine, I'll return it to you."

There were footsteps outside. David Williams immediately retreated to his original spot. After it was quiet again, James Foster asked, "Are you in contact with the Cui family?"

"No, they're watching me closely. Samuel Clark, that old bastard, tricked me into the palace and now he's my warden. But this is only temporary. My mother and uncle will definitely find a way to get a message to me."

"Have you... met William Turner?" James Foster asked.

"Chamberlain William Turner? I saw him once—he ran right past me and didn't even bow... You're not pinning your hopes on him, are you? I've heard some things in the palace: he negotiated with the ministers to put you on the throne, sending you into the fire pit. Now he's the Empress Dowager's favorite and most trusted attendant. In the future, it'll definitely be him who kills you. Really, he has the face of a regicide. If I become emperor, the first thing I'll do is get rid of him."

James Foster couldn't figure out William Turner's true nature, but the impression that eunuch left on him was too deep. If he could only choose one person to be his "ally," he'd rather it be William Turner.

David Williams had lost his last bit of reverence for the emperor and began to talk endlessly about his plans. "You return the throne to me—this is called abdication. It's happened before. When the time comes, we'll just say you're gravely ill and can't fulfill your imperial duties. That's easy. The hard part is how to bring down the Empress Dowager... It's really strange. There's one thing I've never understood: why did my uncle agree to hand over the seal of the Southern Army Grand Marshal to the Shangguan family? That's half the troops in the capital! And after making such a huge concession, I still didn't get to be emperor. Outrageous, truly outrageous!"

His voice was a bit too loud. The door opened, and Samuel Clark's doughy white face poked in. "Taizu is watching." The old eunuch's posture and expression were extremely respectful, but his tone left no room for argument.

The door slowly closed. David Williams squeezed out a sound from his throat, "Samuel Clark is a traitor too. Master was right—eunuchs are all traitors."

James Foster didn't know who was a traitor and who was loyal. He only knew that he was in grave danger, and if a miracle didn't happen, he'd never see his mother again.

He turned to look at David Williams again, fully aware that with just the two of them, both barely thirteen, all they could do in the palace was share their grievances. They couldn't accomplish anything else.

David Williams, on the other hand, was much more confident. Suddenly, he crawled over from behind, so excited he nearly knocked James Foster over. "I've found a way to deal with the Empress Dowager! And it's really fast—we can do it tomorrow!"

Chapter Six: The Edict in the Sash