We have fought to the Arctic Circle, and you want me to inherit the throne?

Li Lin had been to the East Palace before.

Before his relationship with the prince deteriorated, the prince would invite him to the palace for drinks every time he returned to Beijing.

Compared with my previous visits to the East Palace, the furnishings inside the East Palace have not changed much. The only difference is that it is too quiet.

The palace maids and guards who served in the East Palace seemed to have evaporated without a trace, and the huge East Palace was empty.

Of course, it's also possible...that they really evaporated, and that's very likely.

Seeing that the hall was empty, Li Lin hesitated for a moment and then walked in.

Walking through the hallway into the bedroom, I could see a white curtain in the distance.

Emperor Qing sat beside the curtain and looked at the ground. It was dark in the room and his expression could not be seen clearly. One could only see that he seemed to be in deep thought.

There are dozens of incense burners placed around, with wisps of smoke wafting out of them.

The stench in the bedroom was even stronger, mixed with the smell of incense, forming an extremely pungent smell.

Li Lin already had the answer in his mind, and with a trembling voice, he bowed and saluted: "Father, your Majesty, I am back."

Emperor Qing raised his head. The founding emperor, who had always been strong and robust, now looked a little withered under the light.

"I summoned you back to the capital a month ago. Why haven't you left yet?"

Emperor Qing's voice was tired, with a hint of phlegm in it.

Li Lin subconsciously looked at him, then caught a glimpse of a corner under the curtain, and his mind went blank.

"My sixth brother has gone out to sea and hasn't returned yet. I can't bear to let him go, so I thought I'd wait for him to come back before setting off again... I didn't expect..."

"Haha." Emperor Qing forced a dry laugh out of his throat. "You and the Sixth Brother are so close, but have you forgotten that the Crown Prince is your brother from the same mother?"

Li Lin did not respond, but just walked forward a few steps, trying to see clearly what was behind the curtain.

Before he could see clearly, Emperor Qing had already spoken:

"Don't look at it. The prince died three days ago."

Li Lin felt a pang of pain in his heart and subconsciously stopped, not daring to look anymore.

But the next second, he gritted his teeth and looked inside the curtain...

A pale cloth was placed on the couch, one corner of the cloth was lifted up, and a withered hand hung out - the wrist was swollen and shiny, the skin was a disgusting bluish purple, and was covered with star-shaped, festering sores.

Li Lin withdrew his gaze and gasped violently. His chest rumbled like a broken bellows, and every breath he took carried a cold smell of rust.

Although the prince used insidious tactics against Li Lin many times during the fight with Li Che, he did not take his younger brother seriously at all.

But when Li Lin saw his brother, who had the same father and mother, end up in such a miserable state, he instinctively felt a deep sadness in his heart.

As a prince, Li Lin is too humane.

He can neither give up his family affection nor the way of benevolence and righteousness. Caught between the two, he will naturally endure more pain.

Li Lin's body swayed, his feet felt weak, and he almost collapsed.

Then, his eye circles suddenly turned red.

Emperor Qing had been staring at his fourth son. Seeing Li Lin's expression, a hint of relief appeared on his originally gloomy face.

He couldn't help but say, "Among all the princes, you are the only one who showed sadness after seeing the crown prince."

Emperor Qing chuckled as if mocking himself:

"They were terrified, secretly delighted, and uneasy. They only knew that the crown prince of Daqing was gone, leaving the position vacant. But they forgot that it wasn't just the crown prince of Daqing who died, but their brothers, their eldest brother!"

"You're... not bad."

Li Lin did not feel secretly happy about Emperor Qing's praise.

For some reason, at this moment he was no longer even afraid of the emperor in front of him.

"My eldest brother has passed away. Why did Father keep his death a secret and allow his body to rot?"

Li Lin's words seemed to have stung Emperor Qing's nerves. He looked at Li Lin fiercely, and his tone began to rise:

"Are you questioning me?"

Li Lin looked at him calmly and said slowly:

"No! This is just a son...just a son asking his father."

As soon as these words were spoken, Emperor Qing's expression froze instantly.

He finally looked at Li Lin seriously, without any disguise, without any purpose, looking at his son.

At this moment, the emperor seemed to hear the sound of something breaking in his heart. He felt a sore nose and his slightly cloudy eyes gradually blurred.

"I...I..." Emperor Qing seemed to sigh softly, "I just need some time to think it over."

Allowing the princes to fight each other was a plan that Emperor Qing had already made.

Of course, he could explain his actions with words like "Since ancient times, talented people have suffered many hardships, and there have never been many great men among the playboys."

Daqing needs a wise successor, but a crown prince who has not experienced the hardships and competition will obviously find it difficult to inherit this responsibility.

But in the dead of night, wouldn't Emperor Qing be wondering whether he was doing this more for Daqing or for the stability of his own imperial power?

At this point, one of his sons finally lost his life because of this, and he was his eldest son.

Emperor Qing knew that he could not turn back.

This is, what he didn't know was——

The prince was not the first son he had lost.

Emperor Qing had a thousand things to say, but Li Lin was also his son and was obviously not a good person to confide in.

His dignity did not allow him to rant and vent his sorrow to his son like an old man.

Li Lin is not Li Che, and comforting people is not his strong point.

The father and the son just sat there in silence, and the father-son love of more than 20 years was melted into this silence.

After an unknown amount of time, Emperor Qing was the first to break the silence:

"You should know why I asked you to come back. The Crown Prince has passed away, and the country cannot be without a crown prince for a day..."

"I don't want to!" Li Lin said firmly, "Father, I don't want to!"

"How dare you!" Emperor Qing glared at him. "How can we allow your emotions to influence matters of national importance? And how can you refuse?!"

Under Emperor Qing's gaze, a cold chill quietly crept up Li Lin's spine.

Although Li Lin was afraid, he still forced himself to speak:

"You know who deserves to sit in that seat, and I also know... apart from him, what the other brothers will face after sitting in that seat."

"I don't want to be the crown prince, I don't want to...be the big brother!"

Hearing Li Lin's rapid-fire words, Emperor Qing's mind buzzed, and he looked at Li Lin with astonishment, anger... and a hint of fear in his eyes.

For a long time, he had been deceiving himself, and the fact buried deep in his heart was exposed by Li Lin, his most honest and straightforward son.

Emperor Qing was so stunned that he didn't know what to do. He just subconsciously looked into Li Lin's eyes.

When he saw this, he suddenly felt that Sizi's eyes were a little strange.

There was no forbearance and obedience like other princes, but instead something else, something he could not understand.

Emperor Qing also saw the same look in Li Che's eyes.

After realizing it, he said softly, "Well, you've become even bolder since you were with Lao Liu."

"I asked the King of Qin and the King of Jin the same question. They both declined, but their eyes were filled with fear."

Emperor Qing slowly stood up and looked at the strong and powerful Prince Yan in front of him, thinking about something.

After a moment, he continued:

"The King of Qin was afraid. He was afraid before he came to the imperial capital. Do you know what he did?"

Without waiting for Li Lin to answer, Emperor Qing spoke to himself:

"He roamed the streets of Qin State, carrying a copper hammer in his sleeve. He smashed the stalls of merchants and tore up the books of scholars he encountered. To expand the palace, he demolished over a hundred houses and tied protesters to pillars and stoned them for fun."

Hearing this, Li Lin was dumbfounded.

The King of Qin was even more ruthless than him. In order to avoid being the crown prince, he deliberately made himself look disgusting and even gave up his reputation.

Of course, the King of Qin's original reputation was not very good.

However, the previous King of Qin only caused trouble in his own palace, and only the people in the palace knew about his violent side.

Now that everyone knows about it, he naturally can no longer be the crown prince.

"And Prince Jin, he's even more resolute." Emperor Qing sneered, "Ever since the Crown Prince became seriously ill and I sealed the Crown Prince's name, there have been reports from the Ministry of Revenue every few days."

"They're all accusing Prince Jin of colluding with local merchants and aristocratic families to smuggle salt and iron and embezzle imperial funds!"

"If those things are proven true, not only will he not be able to become the crown prince, he won't even be able to keep his current title of prince!"

If Emperor Qing had not been in front of him, Li Lin would have wanted to imitate Li Che and clap his hands and shout to Prince Jin, "Six hundred and sixty-six, salt is not even salty."

The King of Jin's move was even more ruthless. In order to protect himself, he handed over his biggest leverage, and it was handed to a group of extremely stingy officials in the Ministry of Revenue.

It is conceivable what kind of uproar the Ministry of Revenue has caused at this moment. Memorials denouncing Prince Jin are coming in one after another, and the price of paper in the imperial capital has to rise!

Compared to these two, what was the advice that Lao Liu gave me? It was like child's play!

Emperor Qing seemed to have seen through Li Lin's thoughts and asked, "So, what are your plans?"

"No! You can't think of such a ruthless trick. It must have been Old Six who gave you the idea! Tell me, I'm listening!"

Li Lin sighed. He knew that he couldn't hide his little thoughts from Emperor Qing, so he might as well tell the truth.

"I was planning to find an important official in the court who I disliked and give him a good beating..."

Emperor Qing chuckled and said, "Yes, this is the work of Old Six!"

"If I'm not mistaken, the Three Dukes are so powerful that you wouldn't dare to do anything to them. The two Prime Ministers have such a good relationship with you and Old Six that you wouldn't be able to do anything to them either."

"That only leaves the six ministries... It should be Qin Huizhi from the Ministry of Rites. You beat him up once last year, so this one won't be a big deal."

Li Che closed his eyes as if accepting his fate.

How can I play this? My underwear is clearly visible.

Lao Liu even laughed at himself for not understanding politics. Compared with Emperor Qing, Prince Jin and others, Lao Liu's political acumen was as childish as a child!

Emperor Qing looked at Li Lin with amusement and asked, "Now that I've exposed your plan, what are you going to do?"