[Various] The Deposed Crown Prince's Survival Story

Fusu continued reading Huhai's letter and found that the brat's cultural level was as bad as ever; his poor language skills were frustrating, and he hadn't managed to clearly explain anything after rambling on and on. (LeWen Novels)

Left with no other option, Fusu had to search through Ying Zheng's letters to see if he could find any clues.

Ying Zheng's letter, however, remained as magnanimous as ever, filled with all sorts of things that would make people envious and jealous, such as "Mount Tai is so beautiful and majestic, it's a pity you didn't come," "The sea is also so beautiful and majestic, it's a pity you didn't come," and "Your foolish younger brother insisted on going swimming in the sea, but as soon as he got to the beach, a wave hit him and knocked him to the ground, almost sweeping him away. Fortunately, I was quick-witted and pulled him out in time." He didn't seem to have any sign of being bullied or wronged.

That's strange, I can't see anything unusual about it.

Fusu then went through the official documents recently sent from Qi, and after a while, he actually managed to find some clues.

When Ying Zheng arrived in Qi, he witnessed its abundant resources and talented people. He felt deeply that he was just a country bumpkin from Xianyang, lacking culture, knowledge, and etiquette. Therefore, in order to attract the advanced culture of Qi, he respectfully and humbly invited nearly a hundred scholars from Qi to formulate the rituals for the Fengshan ceremony.

As everyone knows, the State of Qi is the birthplace of Confucian culture, and the Confucian school is famous for its emphasis on etiquette. Therefore, a large number of very troublesome rituals were formulated for Ying Zheng.

At this time, Ying Zheng still had a bit of arrogance. He decisively rejected the impolite request from the scholars of Qi and led his men up the mountain to perform the Fengshan ceremony in his own way.

Unfortunately, it started raining when Ying Zheng was descending the mountain, and to make matters worse, he was almost swept away by a mudslide.

When Ying Zheng and his entourage reached the foot of the mountain, they encountered the scholars from Qi. These men mocked Ying Zheng, saying that this was a slap in the face from Heaven, proving that his Fengshan ceremony was not approved by the heavens, and so on.

That's the whole story. Ying Zheng didn't argue with the scholars from Qi in order to maintain his image as a magnanimous monarch, but Hu Hai, who went with him, couldn't stand it and wanted to avenge his father.

But revenge requires intelligence. Hu Hai lacked nothing except intelligence. Left with no other choice, he could only write back to his brother, who was barely smart enough, for help.

"There's nothing I can do about this either. Father is clearly insecure."

Fusu put the bamboo slips aside, sighed, and said...

The analysis of this matter is as follows: When Ying Zheng first arrived in Qi, he felt inferior, which is why he sought out scholars from Qi to discuss the Fengshan ceremony. However, at that time, he still had some confidence, so he rejected the impolite request from the scholars from Qi and performed the Fengshan ceremony in the Qin style.

On the surface, Ying Zheng seemed to have overcome his inner inferiority complex, but in reality, he still lost because the entire Fengshan ceremony was conducted in a closed setting. This suggests that Ying Zheng was insecure, afraid of being criticized, and lacked the courage to let others witness it.

To make matters worse, it started raining, and the boss must have been feeling extremely inferior by then.

People with low self-esteem are easily brainwashed. I reckon the boss's father has already been brainwashed into a big steamed bun by the scholars of Qi. If you're a steamed bun, don't blame the dogs for following you.

Regardless of what others do, Fusu felt that if it were him, he definitely wouldn't react like Ying Zheng. He would just follow his own path and let others try to climb over the wall.

In short, this is the consequence of not taking me out. If I had been there, this would never have happened, because which scholar is as good as me? That way, Father wouldn't think those people from Qi are so knowledgeable, but would only think, "My son is so amazing."

Fusu wanted to advise Ying Zheng, but Qi was so far from Xianyang that he couldn't reach it. He could only keep the matter to himself and wait until Ying Zheng took him there next year so he could avenge Ying Zheng.

Meanwhile, Ying Zheng's letters continued to arrive. Apart from eating, drinking, and having fun, the letters didn't mention any other worries. The whole thing was just, "Oh! The seafood here is so big and delicious, it's a pity you can't eat any," "I feel sorry for Wu Bao and the others, so I specially ordered someone to send several buckets of seafood back to Xianyang by fast horse. Don't steal any," and "Your brother went fishing today and got dragged into the sea by a fish. Fortunately, I'm still as skilled as ever." Only the last letter mentioned, "I've heard that there are three fairy mountains in the sea, where immortals and the elixir of immortality live."

Three Immortal Mountains? Immortals? Elixir of immortality? Do such things really exist on Earth?

Fusu instantly recalled records about the Three Immortal Mountains from his mind. It seemed to be from the mythology of the Blue Star people, which said that there were three immortal mountains above the East Sea: Penglai, Fangzhang, and Yingzhou. "All the immortals and the elixir of immortality reside there. The animals and birds there are all white, and the palaces are made of gold and silver. Before arriving, they appear like clouds; but upon arrival, the Three Immortal Mountains are found submerged underwater, and the wind always blows them away, so no one can ever reach them."

How could such a thing exist on Earth?

Fusu remembered that when he followed the comet into the atmosphere, he had done a panoramic scan of the Earth's landscape. Although nineteen years had passed, the general situation should not have changed.

In the sea east of the Qin Dynasty, there are many islands, but only the largest, narrow, elongated island in the middle has intelligent life. Moreover, these intelligent life are not much smarter than monkeys. The other islands probably don't even have monkeys, let alone any immortal mountains.

Fusu remembered that he had scanned very carefully at the time. Theoretically speaking, given the level of technological development on Earth, there was almost nothing on Earth that could be scanned without being detected, unless…

The phrase "all the animals are white" likely refers to the fact that all the animals on the island are white. There is only one possibility for white animals: they have albinism.

Before arriving, it appears like clouds—this likely refers to the rising fog outside the island resembling clouds. Others may not know, but Fusu does. The so-called clouds refer to water vapor. To avoid polluting the environment of Earth, the aliens of Earth process any toxic or harmful substances into water vapor before releasing them into the air.

Therefore, it is very likely that this is just some unidentified object emitting water vapor, which was mistaken for a cloud by those foolish blue planet people.

Upon closer inspection, it was discovered that the Three Immortals Mountain was submerged underwater—this unidentified object possessed the ability to dive.

When approached, the wind would always carry it away, and it could never reach the clouds—the Waixingren Alliance has a rule that one cannot appear in front of the Blue Star people in the form of Waixingren, so of course one has to run away.

Based on these points, Fusu could almost conclude that the so-called Three Immortal Mountains were likely an animal experimentation base on Earth by some alien from another planet.

Since we can't attack intelligent beings, we can only capture ordinary animals for experiments. This has inadvertently led to these small animals becoming all sorts of strange shapes, such as three-legged birds, sphinxes, and griffins. Aren't these the results of genetic experiments?

You mean, besides my beloved 123 Romance Star, how come there are other alien stars on Blue Star?

Please, to put it bluntly, Earth has no space power whatsoever. In the eyes of the advanced beings of the alien planets, it's like an infant. From the Titans to the Feathered Stars to Medusa, they can bully it however they want. What's the big deal about building a base?

Why do you think aliens use gold to build their bases?

Blue Star basically doesn't produce gold. All the gold on Blue Star that exists today comes from outer space. Gold is highly malleable and has excellent other physical properties, so using gold to build a base is not a luxury but an inevitable choice.

Having figured this out, Fusu began to sympathize with Ying Zheng.

Why be obsessed with Wai Xingren's base? What immortals or elixirs of immortality are there on Wai Xingren's base? Oh, there are no elixirs of immortality, but there are methods to prolong life.

In mythology, there's the concept of attaining immortality and ascending to heaven, right? Actually, wanting to prolong life is quite simple; all you have to do is give up everything on Earth and go back to Earth with the aliens.

The rotation and revolution speeds of the blue planet and the eccentric planet are different, so the passage of time is naturally different, and people's lifespans are naturally longer.

Of course, the environment on alien planets is not much different from that on Earth. Many alien planets lack water and air, so Earthlings must modify their bodies if they want to live on alien planets.

As for what form they will take, that depends on fate. People like the 123 Romance Star people have evolved to the point where they detach from their physical bodies and live in the universe entirely through their four-dimensional spiritual bodies.

Fusu had been living on the alien planet for many years and was very knowledgeable. The last intelligent being he knew who had traveled from Earth to the alien planet was a girl surnamed "Chang". That girl gave up her Earthly appearance and transformed into... well... have you ever seen a toad?

Anyway, after staying on Earth for so long, Fusu's aesthetic sense had been corrupted by the Earthlings. When he thought of that four-legged creature that hopped around in front of him, covered in tumors and spots, he absolutely did not want to recall what the girl originally looked like.

"Forget it, it's just a fan of a foreign star, what's the big deal? Just think of it as Father Emperor chasing after a celebrity."

"But why do you have to chase this? If it were anything else, even if Father Emperor wanted stars from the sky, I could get some meteorite fragments. But I really can't get this."

After thinking it over, Fusu put the matter of Waixingren aside and began writing a reply to Ying Zheng.

Father, after you left, Xianyang Palace became much quieter, but recently it has become lively again because those five little rascals can talk and walk.

Father, when will you come back? Wu Bao and the others miss you so much. They ask every day, "Where did Grandfather go?" They can only drink milk after Su'er reads your letters to them every day.

Father, Hehua is pregnant. Xia Wuqie said it might be a boy. Su'er will be a grandfather, and you will be a grandfather too.

Father, Su'er misses you too. Please come back soon.

Mwah in every position and pose, my dearest son Fusu.

Sometimes, you can't speak too definitively. Fusu had just written to Ying Zheng, advising him to do something ambitious and achievable, when Ying Zheng angrily replied, "Didn't you say you could pluck stars from the sky except for the Three Immortal Islands? Come! Come to Pengcheng and help your father get something!"