[Various] The Deposed Crown Prince's Survival Story

"Here!"

Knowing he couldn't persuade Ying Zheng, Zhao Gao bowed respectfully, gave a nod, and with a flick of the reins, drove the carriage toward the river.

As soon as the carriage started moving, Zhao Gao, with his sharp eyes, saw Hu Hai riding a small horse, galloping towards the king.

"Your Majesty, the young master has returned," Zhao Gao whispered to Ying Zheng inside the royal carriage.

"Oh? Hu Hai is back?" Ying Zheng said, then pushed open the carriage window and leaned out to look outside.

At this moment, Hu Hai also saw Ying Zheng's figure, and immediately waved his little hand and shouted at Ying Zheng, "Father, Father, I've found my eldest brother!"

found it!

Ying Zheng felt a tightness in his chest. "You brat," he thought, "shouldn't you have told me first, 'Is Fusu alright?' You just said you found him. How am I supposed to know if you found a living person or a corpse…?"

Recalling the scene he had just witnessed, Ying Zheng felt a sharp pain in his heart. Such a massive waterspout could capsize and sink even a ship. How could his Su'er, so small and delicate, a beautiful young man who could be blown away by a strong wind, possibly survive such a storm?

Just as beauty is in the eye of the beholder, a good father's child is always that tiny little kid who cries and begs to be held by his father... or rather, a twenty-year-old giant baby.

However, Hu Hai did not give Ying Zheng, whose eyes were beginning to redden, too much time to reminisce about Fu Su's growth. Instead, he excitedly shouted, "Father, Brother Fu Su has brought back the Yuzhou Cauldron!"

What? You brat, are you kidding me? You must be trying to amuse me! I don't believe it! I don't believe it!

Ying Zheng wiped the tears from his face, opened his mouth in surprise, and looked at Hu Hai, whose face was flushed with excitement, and blurted out: "Hu Hai, you're not lying to me, are you?"

"Father, how can you say that? Brother Fusu really came back from the water, and he even brought the Yuzhou Cauldron. Many people saw him by the river." Hu Hai angrily climbed off his horse, then angrily got back into the royal carriage, and finally angrily threw himself into Ying Zheng's arms, complaining, "Father doesn't believe me, I'm wronged, I'm sad, I'm heartbroken."

"You brat, don't imitate your older brother. Speak properly." Hearing that Fusu was alright, Ying Zheng was still a little more at ease, even though he still had doubts. He was also in the mood to joke around with Huhai.

He scooped up Hu Hai in his arms, held him up, and made him stand in front of him. Pointing at Hu Hai, whose little mouth was still pouting, he stared at his face and said, "Quick! Tell me, what exactly happened?"

Hu Hai pondered for a moment, organized his thoughts, and began, "The matter is like this..."

After Ying Zheng fell into a coma, Zhao Gao sent him back to Wangma. But although he left, Hu Hai did not. He kept looking out by the river, hoping that a miracle would happen after the storm had passed.

In his previous life, although Huhai killed Fusu, he was only acting in accordance with his father's dying edict. From a selfish perspective, he did not want to kill Fusu at all—after all, Fusu was a very good person in his previous life.

In this life, although Fusu is not a very good person, and Huhai hates him to death, Father Emperor likes him. If he really dies, Father Emperor will be very sad. Little Pig doesn't want to make Father Emperor sad again.

Just as Hu Hai was pinning his hopes on a miracle, the waterspout on the river began to weaken, the wind grew calmer, the whirlpools in the water spun slower and slower, and the once churning river gradually calmed down.

Soon, the dragon sucking water cloud pillar disappeared from everyone's sight just as abruptly as it had appeared.

From its appearance to its disappearance, the entire process, though seemingly long, actually lasts only about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn; the once turbulent river surface returns to calm.

But Fusu could no longer be found on the river. Only a few small boats were calling out "Young Master" from where Fusu had disappeared.

"It's all over, my elder brother..." Hu Hai's heart sank completely. He couldn't even imagine how heartbroken his father would be if he knew this terrible news.

"Send men! Send men into the water! We must find our elder brother!" Hu Hai shouted. Without definite news, he ultimately dared not utter the words, "I want to see him alive or dead."

Even without Hu Hai's orders, sailors had already jumped into the water from where Fusu had fallen in and began to search for Fusu's figure in the water.

Despite their search, including Hu Hai's, no one really held out much hope. The power of a waterspout was immense; it could easily tear apart a ship, let alone a person.

Those caught in a waterspout have virtually no chance of survival, and most importantly, their bodies are subjected to humiliation after death, either being mutilated or blown dozens of miles away.

They're definitely going to die, it's just a matter of how... Who was that person who climbed up from the shore? Who was that person who was still holding onto a cauldron with one hand? And who was that person who, as soon as they climbed ashore, started tidying their hair and clothes, looking incredibly calm?

Is this some kind of ghost in broad daylight?

"Brother!" Hu Hai exclaimed, looking at Fu Su in shock.

Fusu raised his head and looked at Huhai standing on the river embankment above. He waved excitedly at Huhai and said in a particularly cheerful tone, "Little pig, your big brother has found the Yuzhou Cauldron."

"Uh... I saw it..." Hu Hai sighed heavily, looking at Fu Su listlessly.

I know you're happy to have found the Yuzhou Ding, but holding it up with one hand and waving it at people like that is really shameless.

How would King Wu of Qin, who died while lifting the heavy tripod, feel in the afterlife? Although he is not our ancestor, he is still a distant descendant, and we cannot mock him like this.

Seeing Fusu surrounded by a group of people offering him words of comfort, Huhai sighed and decided not to chat with this tasteless fellow, but instead to report the news to Ying Zheng.

I should definitely share this good news myself; maybe my father will reward me with something in the first place?

After hearing Hu Hai's account, Ying Zheng felt like he was "Holy crap, this can't be true." Although he didn't want anything to happen to his son, when Fu Su actually came back alive and kicking, he felt... all the filters he had applied to Fu Su immediately disappeared.

The notion of a twenty-year-old "giant baby" vanished in an instant. Ying Zheng recalled Fusu's childhood...

When Fusu was one year old, he grabbed onto someone's... thing and swung on a swing; when he was three, he kidnapped his younger brother and sister and ran away to play; when he was seven, he went up the mountain to fight a tiger, and the tiger even cried in grievance; when he was twelve, he accidentally fell off the roof, his head hitting a stone slab, which shattered the slab, and...

I must have been drugged just now, that's why I acted so stupidly and lost my composure—this is said to be the earliest record in China of an elderly person being tricked by drugs.

When Ying Zheng composed himself and stepped down from the royal carriage with a gait and demeanor befitting his status, Fusu had already changed into a black casual robe and was standing by a rusty cauldron, quietly awaiting Ying Zheng's arrival.

"Fusu greets Father Emperor." Fusu bowed, then pointed to the cauldron beside him and said, "Fusu has fulfilled his mission and brought back the Yuzhou Cauldron."

"Hmm." Ying Zheng raised his chin slightly, and while examining the Yuzhou Cauldron, he quickly looked Fusu over.

He wasn't missing any limbs, there was no smell of blood or medicine on him, and his complexion looked rosy and healthy, so he must really be alright.

Once he was sure Fusu was alright, Ying Zheng was instantly enraged. He wanted nothing more than to grab Fusu, ignore his struggles, turn him over and pin him to his lap, pull down his pants to reveal his snow-white buttocks, and then give him a good slapping... and then raise his hand to slap the brat to death.

Serves you right for being disobedient! Serves you right for showing off! Serves you right for playing in the water! I'll beat you to death! I might as well just beat you to death, so I don't have to worry about you every day! Sooner or later, you'll drive me crazy!

However, the above scenario could only happen in Ying Zheng's mind.

Putting aside the fact that Fusu never struggled when being spanked, and would instead kindly advise himself not to get too angry or risk a liver explosion, just the idea of ​​spanking a naughty child to death is an enormous challenge.

I always feel like my hand will break first.

Ying Zheng imagined the terrifying scene and decided to change the subject to something safer. "Fusu, tell me, how did you manage to dodge the dragon's breath?"

Upon hearing Ying Zheng's question, everyone else present perked up their ears, because it was a question everyone wanted to know, but they were not of high enough status to dare to ask Fusu. Now that Ying Zheng had spoken, everyone naturally wanted to know the answer.

"That's easy, just hide where there's no waterspout," Fusu replied matter-of-factly.

"Where is there no waterspout? Where is there no waterspout?" Ying Zheng suppressed the urge to beat the brat and patiently answered.

Hey kid, speak properly. Don't answer with that "you fools, how can you not even understand this?" look on your face.

“Underwater.” Fusu said, glancing at the faces of those around him. Seeing that they still looked puzzled, he could only sigh and explain, “When I was in the water, didn’t I stop there and look back for a long time? Actually, I wasn’t spacing out or scared at the time; I was calculating how powerful this waterspout was.”

"I've calculated it. The waterspout's power is very small; it can only affect a depth of ten meters at most."

"Ten meters below the surface, the water is calm and completely unaffected by the power of the waterspout."

"So later you all saw it, I dived straight to the bottom of the water. The reason I was holding the Yuzhou Cauldron was because..."

"Firstly, the Yuzhou Ding is heavy enough to sink me quickly into the water; secondly, I'm afraid of ropes, so it's safer to hold onto it myself."

"Later I saw sailors diving down into the water, and I guessed that they must be people sent by my father to find me. So the waterspout on the surface of the river must have disappeared, so I came up to the surface."

"That's how it happened."