Change the Fate of the Cannon Fodder

15 part 2

Song Huang secretly relaxed at seeing Tian Mei enter. He almost thought she wouldn't come, it would have destroyed his plans. He sat silently and waited for her to speak first. It would give him the upper hand if she saw that he was indifferent and not desperate compared to her. He didn't have to wait long before she took the bait.

"I saw the Crown Prince leave the palace just as you said. I agree to work with you but what do we do?"

Song Huang thought for a second before coming to the realization that the woman by his brother's side was probably his weakness. He decided to make her his target.

"Do you know anything about the woman by the Crown Prince's side? She will be the key to our plans. If we can naturally remove her and bring her to my side, then you can openly approach the Crown Prince and win his heart." Song Huang's expression of disdain for Tian Mei's aims were hidden underneath his mask.

At that point Tian Mei realized that the masked man didn't know that the woman was in fact her brother Tian Yi. She didn't want to reveal this crucial chess piece but since they were cooperating she decided to tell him. "There is a secret behind the woman's identity, and it could destroy her." Song Huang was intrigued by her insinuation and determined that maybe Tian Mei was more useful than she seemed. He made sure to not sound too eager as he said, "Go on."

"The woman by the Crown Prince's side is in fact not a woman at all. She's a man. More importantly it's my useless older brother, Tian Yi. That bastard is trying to pervert the Crown Prince and pull him into marsh of homosexuality. We need to save the Crown Prince from his evil claws."

Song Huang's eyes widened and he was stunned at this unexpected revelation. Luckily his expression was masked or his whole persona would have collapsed in front of Tian Mei. His face screwed up in disgust at the mention of homosexuality but then his eyes lit up at the wonderful news that would speed up his scheme. All he had to do was reveal to the entire populace that their Crown Prince was a homosexual and he would no longer be eligible for the throne. His lips turned up in a smirk at the gift that Tian Mei had gave him. His voice gentled as he spoke to her. "This is perfect news for us. All we need to do is unveil this news at the next big festival and reveal your brother's deceit to the world. Naturally your brother will be punished and you can rightfully take his place." What Song Huang didn't reveal was that his brother would also be torn down from the high position he currently held and would receive the disgust of the world.

Tian Mei's eyes widened at the simple plan and her heart overflowed with satisfaction at the thought of her brother being spat on and imprisoned. It would be even better if he was killed. Tian Mei excitedly accepted his plan and they started to whisper about the details of the plan.

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A short time prior to Tian Mei's arrival at the teahouse Tian Wu absentmindedly strolled down the streets of the town. He needed some time to himself to figure out what he was going to do. How could he divert Song Huang's attention? He was so deeply chained to his thirst for power that he didn't even know if there was anything else Song Huang cared about. He distractedly glanced up and saw the back of his sister Tian Mei. She was rushing down the street not even caring about her image. It was clear that she was up to no good. Maybe this was a sign that he would need to follow her to find his purpose. Tian Wu followed her at a distance to make sure he wasn't noticed.

When he saw her enter the same teahouse where she had met Song Huang he became certain that they were planning something. But how could he figure out their plans? He was very clear about how careful Song Huang was. There was no way he would be allowed onto the second floor. He looked around the street for some way to get close to the window by the second floor. There was the eatery that he had sat in the last time, but it was too far to hear anything and it was too far for him to read their lips. As he looked up he was struck with an idea. What about the roof?

Tian Wu ran around the side of the teahouse to the backside where only the workers and chefs entered and exited. He jumped up to grab onto the ledge above the door and scrambled up onto the roof. The middle part of the roof was flat so he was able to easily clamber across. When he hung over edge close to the window to hear their conversation he realized that he would stand out easily to everyone on the streets. He decided to disregard that point for the greater good. He was not easily recognizable from his height so he put down his worries and focused on listening.

When Tian Mei revealed Tian Yi's secret he almost fell off the roof in shock and despair. The thing that he had wanted to hide the most was so easily revealed by his bitch of a sister. When he realized that Tian Mei was targeting the Crown Prince he almost wanted to vomit. Where did she get the confidence that the Crown Prince would even look at her even if he didn't have someone else. The first person he wanted to beat was his parents for inflating her ego so much that it could encompass the world.

While Tian Mei was too stupid to realize Song Huang's plans to unseat the Crown Prince from his position, Tian Wu was well aware. Once Tian Mei and Song Huang started whispering he could no longer hear their conversation. He quickly clambered off the roof before he was discovered and blended back into the crowd, disappearing from view.

Tian Wu was despairing at the situation spiraling out of control, but the sparse information that they would reveal it at the next big festival was enough to inform the Crown Prince. He was so smart and well-connected that it was sure he would find a way out of this crisis. He made his way towards the palace with determination.