[Various] The Deposed Crown Prince's Survival Story

Xiao Wan was the daughter of Fu Su's wet nurse and the younger sister of Fu Su's little follower, Little Rabbit. Fu Su's wet nurse had entered the palace after giving birth to Xiao Wan, so Xiao Wan was a few months older than Fu Su. Because of Xiao Wan's gentle and mild-mannered nature, Fu Su usually treated her like an older sister, and occasionally they would talk about more intimate matters. —Le Wen

Most importantly, Xiao Wan was a gift from Ying Zheng. She was a new person in his palace after Fu Su told Ying Zheng that he was still young and did not want to get married, and asked Ying Zheng not to force him to marry along with Mi Ji. Ying Zheng smiled and stroked his beard, saying, "That's easy. Your father will give you someone, and your mother will not force you to marry."

Because of Xiao Wan's relationship with the little rabbit and her wet nurse, Fu Su did not reject Xiao Wan. Although, Fu Su did not quite understand why his mother suddenly stopped pressuring him to marry after Ying Zheng sent Xiao Wan to him.

I have absolutely no idea what necessary or decisive relationship exists between these two things!

Having been served by a group of eunuchs and older palace maids since childhood, Fusu said he felt immense pressure.

"Young Master is a man, and His Majesty's favorite eldest son. He is destined for a bright future, renowned throughout the land, and perhaps even remembered in history, revered by future generations." Xiao Wan's voice was as clear as a nightingale's, and her smile was sweet, with two dimples at the corners of her mouth. "But it's different for girls. A girl's entire life, from wealth to honor, depends on others. Before marriage, she obeys her father; upon marriage, she obeys her husband; and after her husband's death, she obeys her son. Men fear choosing the wrong profession, and women fear marrying the wrong man. If a girl marries the wrong person, her life may be ruined."

“You’re right. History books are full of princesses who didn’t marry well and ended up with tragic fates.” Fusu nodded. Although Hehua didn’t have to go through a political marriage, who knew what kind of man she would marry? What if her boss suddenly went crazy one day…

"In our folk society, most women with children of marriageable age will arrange marriages for their children a year or even several years in advance, so as not to be caught off guard when they reach marriageable age and affect their children's important marriage plans." Xiao Wan said, giving Fu Su a pitiful look. If it were any other man, he would probably have understood the meaning behind Ying Zheng sending her here, but unfortunately... he met a blockhead.

Fusu, the big blockhead, cupped his cheeks, tilted his head, and thought seriously for a while. "But even so, I still don't want Hehua to get married... Hmm... I've decided!" Fusu slapped his thigh and said excitedly, "I'm going to test that guy and see if he's a good-for-nothing, a pretty face, or a useless old man!"

A good-for-nothing? A pretty face with no substance? A red-lacquered toilet? "Eldest son"—those all seem to describe the same type of person. Are you really planning to meet your brother-in-law?

Leaving aside how Fusu was discussing with others how to seduce Chen Ping, if we were to let him reveal his true, ugly face and let his little sister know that there is no one better than her brother, let's talk about Ying Zheng's conquest of Chu.

Between the veteran generals who demanded 600,000 troops and the young generals who only demanded 200,000, Ying Zheng, whose expectations had been greatly raised by the speed at which Qin had swept away the first four states, indeed chose the latter—ordering Li Xin and others to lead an army of 200,000 to attack Chu.

However, this time, Ying Zheng didn't know what he was thinking. Perhaps he still felt unsafe, so he didn't send Fusu. Instead, he left him in Xianyang to learn how to handle political affairs.

When Fusu was young, he would play in Ying Zheng's study where he handled state affairs all day long. He would often listen to Ying Zheng talking about national affairs with others. Although he did not understand, he did not dislike it. Therefore, when Ying Zheng asked him to study, he did not have much of a grudge. Instead, he obediently followed behind Ying Zheng and Zhao Gao to start learning.

Ying Zheng didn't have that much time to teach him, so what Fusu had to learn at the beginning was to learn from Zhao Gao how to distinguish the importance of memorials and organize them according to their importance so that Ying Zheng could approve important memorials in a timely manner.

Seeing the mountains of memorials arriving every day, Fusu felt a pang of heartache.

"Father, how can you possibly review all these memorials?" Fusu looked at Ying Zheng, who was putting down his pen and rubbing his wrists, and leaned closer to him, offering to massage his father's wrists. He then glanced at the memorials on the table and said, "Is this the script of Yan? It's really hard on the eyes to read."

"There's no other way. With a bigger place and more people, there's more work, and more memorials to the emperor." Ying Zheng looked at his pouting, sulking son and said with a smile, "I heard you've been going out of the palace a lot lately? What's wrong? Have you found someone you like?"

"Father, what are you saying? What sweetheart do you have? How could I have a sweetheart? None of those girls are as pretty as me," Fusu complained casually.

What he didn't expect was that his words silenced Ying Zheng, who had originally wanted to ask, "Why haven't you eaten Xiao Wan yet?" At the same time, he began to wonder if he, as a father, was being too unfair. All those young and beautiful girls sent from the four states had been... cough cough cough... Remember to have Zhao Gao select a few stunning beauties and send them to Fusu's palace later, so that people won't say that the King of Qin is so stingy with his son.

Fusu has been frequently traveling outside the palace lately, all in an attempt to see his beloved. However, the person he wants to see is not his own beloved, but rather the beloved of his sister Hehua.

Although Fusu found Chen Ping really annoying, he figured that since Chen Ping wasn't as good-looking as him, and was fairly intelligent and sensible, even if he wasn't a scholar, he had traveled and studied abroad since childhood and was quite knowledgeable. He figured that talking to him wouldn't lower his IQ, so Fusu thought he could be friends with him. But he absolutely shouldn't even think about him becoming his brother-in-law.

Besides being clever and shrewd, Chen Ping's most important trait is that he has a lot of cunning ideas.

Today, Fusu, as usual, slipped out of the palace and found his good friend.

He took Chen Ping to a newly opened mutton restaurant in Xianyang City, ordered a table full of the best food and wine, and after having a meal with Chen Ping, he said, "Chen Ping, I know you have the most tricks up your sleeve. I have something I need your help with. Can you help me think of a solution?"

"Brother Su, as long as you don't break the law or violate morality, just let me know if you need anything. If I can help, I definitely will," Chen Ping said, his face flushed and his tongue a little thick.

"Here's the thing..." Fusu told Chen Ping, after changing his words about feeling that Ying Zheng's workload was too heavy and worrying that he would ruin his health. "Tell me, how can I get my father to do less work? Money can never be earned enough, and health is more important than money, isn't it?"

In Fusu's account, he is a rich second-generation heir with both money and leisure, while Ying Zheng is a stingy boss who is busy working and making money.

The stingy boss's business is very big, so he is very busy with work all day long. The rich second-generation is worried that the stingy boss is working too hard and ruining his health, so he wants to ask his friends for advice on how to let his father get some rest.

"So that's all? Brother Su, you're truly filial." Chen Ping smiled slightly. He had thought it was something more serious, but it was just a small matter. "Brother Su, how is your relationship with your father? Does he listen to you?"

Fusu nodded vigorously, "My father loves me the most, and although he's not someone who listens to everyone, he'll listen if it's beneficial."

“That’s good. I think you can do it like this…” Chen Ping held up two fingers and whispered something to Fusu.

Fusu nodded repeatedly after hearing this.

Chen Ping is indeed a talented person, but... there's nothing his brother-in-law can do.

That evening, when Ying Zheng entered the study, he found that not only was his large son already waiting there, but there was also something else in the study.

"What is this?" Ying Zheng asked Fusu, pointing to the extra items in the study.

"A scale! Father, you've never even seen a balance scale before?" Fusu looked at Ying Zheng with a sympathetic expression.

"I know, I know this is a balance scale, but I'm asking, why did you put a scale here?" Ying Zheng asked, looking at Fusu.

What kind of look is that on that child's eyes? So naughty!

Ying Zheng thought that putting a balance scale in his study was naughty enough, but he never expected that the mischievous child's bottom line would be so low.

Then Fusu opened a door and pulled out a small figure—yes, a small figure that had already been tied up.

Seeing the strange look in Ying Zheng's eyes, Fusu explained, "He was unwilling to sacrifice himself for Father, so I had no choice but to tie him up..."

"Father, my elder brother is bullying the little pig," Hu Hai said aggrievedly. "He even tied up the little pig, saying he was going to sell it for the New Year."

As Hu Hai spoke, he revealed his hands and feet, bound with white silk, to Ying Zheng.

"What are you complaining about? If you hadn't run away, would I have tied you up? You run away even when you're doing something for your father, you're really unfilial." Fusu said, and with a gentle tug, he tore off the white silk ribbons from Huhai's hands and feet. Then he casually threw Huhai to one side of the balance scale, while he went to the other side to fiddle with the weights.

"I'm not a pig, why should I be weighed?" Hu Hai sat on the scale, looking pitifully at Ying Zheng and said in a sweet voice, "Father, don't sell the little pig, the little pig will definitely be obedient."

Ying Zheng chuckled, reached out and patted Hu Hai's head, and said with a smile, "Good, good! Little pig, be good, your father won't sell you."

"Not for sale! How can you not sell someone this fat at such a young age? He weighs 120 pounds." Upon hearing this, Fusu, who had already prepared the weights, sneered and said.

"Am I that heavy?" Hu Hai shrieked. He was a man who aspired to be the handsome young Qin Er Shi, how could he be so fat? He didn't want to change his name to "Gu Yue Hai" (a homophone for "ancient moon" in Chinese).

"Su'er, tell your father, what exactly do you want?" Ying Zheng was thinking ahead. He felt that his eldest son bringing his youngest son to him to weigh him couldn't possibly be just to tell him that Hu Hai was too fat and needed to lose weight.

"Su'er just wants to tell Father that from now on, the weight of the memorials that Father reviews each day must not exceed 120 catties."

"One hundred and twenty jin?"

"Father, do you think 120 jin is too little? Look at your chubby pig son, do you really think it's too little?"

As Fusu spoke, he poked Hu Hai's round little cheeks with his hand, and said with a pained expression.