[Various] The Deposed Crown Prince's Survival Story

Under the protection of the guards, a group of people traveled in a grand procession by carriage to Shanglin Garden.

Upon arriving at their destination, the group indeed found a place with mountains and water, boasting extremely beautiful scenery.

Laymen might not understand it, only finding the place beautiful and comfortable, but experts see it differently.

The sun shone brightly in the sky, and there was not a cloud in the sky. On the mountain to the east was a palace of the Qin kings of all dynasties. The entire palace was located on the mountain and looked like a crouching tiger from a distance. To the west, there were layers upon layers of mountains, like coiled dragons lying down.

"Father, look, there's a tiger in the east and a dragon in the west. This terrain is called 'Dragon Coiling and Tiger Crouching,' filled with auspicious purple energy. It's absolutely an imperial residence," Fusu said, pointing to the "dragon" and "tiger" in the east and west directions to Ying Zheng.

Following Fusu's direction, Hu Hai glanced at the terrain to the left and right and couldn't help but admire his elder brother's talent. He could even come up with such a creative idea, while he himself couldn't see how it resembled a "dragon" or a "tiger".

but……

In his previous life, Fusu was a staunch representative of the Confucian school. He believed that "the Master did not speak of strange phenomena, physical prowess, disorder, or spirits," and he kept his distance from ghosts and gods. He hated alchemists the most in his life. In this life, however, he is... an outstanding young representative of the alchemist and charlatan world.

"Besides the mountains, there is also a large lake not far away. The lake is fed by a tributary of the Wei River, making it a place where rivers and lakes meet, mountains and water converge, and the vital energy is abundant. It is definitely a superior place." Fusu then led Ying Zheng to see the large lake nearby.

The lake water is crystal clear, like beautiful glass and jade, exceptionally bright and clear.

"Good, good, good!" Ying Zheng stroked his beard and nodded repeatedly in praise.

My son is just so amazing; he can always get things done better, never the best.

Once Ying Zheng agreed, Lu Sheng, Han Sheng, He Hua, and others naturally echoed his agreement. He Hua even held Ying Zheng's hand and said coquettishly that after the new palace was completed, she must return to the palace to stay for a while, and that Ying Zheng must not find her annoying or send her away.

"Alright, alright! You can stay here, you can stay here!" Ying Zheng patted He Hua's hand and said with a kind smile.

"Thank you, Father Emperor," Hehua said with a bow and a hearty laugh.

Everyone was happy, except perhaps Hu Hai.

Poor little Hu Hai, with a worried expression and a furrowed brow, looked like a little old man.

Oh, the prophet's woes! What can I do to save you—this utterly foolish family?

Ying Zheng was very happy. After inspecting the site, he ordered craftsmen to create a sand table map of the area so that he could monitor the progress of the palace construction and fantasize about his new palace.

However, after Ying Zheng returned to the palace, Fusu asked him to step aside for the time being, because he had something to tell him, but it was not convenient to say it in front of others.

After Ying Zheng dismissed everyone as instructed, he looked at Fusu with a smile and said, "Su'er, you did a good job today... Tell me, do you want any reward? Your father is in a good mood today, so just tell me, and as long as your father can do it, your father will definitely grant it."

Clearly, today's events put Ying Zheng in a great mood. He didn't even care whether Fusu had made another mistake and needed his help to clean up the mess—although he would usually help, it was never as readily as today. He had no choice but to take advantage of the mischievous child's mistake to discipline Fusu in order to maintain his father's authority.

"Father, what I have to say concerns the location of the new palace." Fusu's face showed a hint of hesitation at the right moment.

Upon hearing that it was related to the selection of a new palace site, Ying Zheng, who had been sitting lazily, suddenly straightened up and asked anxiously, "Oh? What is it? Is it a problem with the feng shui?"

"The feng shui is fine... With mountains and water, the gathering of auspicious energy is wonderful." Fusu said, looking down, glancing at Ying Zheng's expression from time to time.

For Fusu, betraying someone who had been so good to him was a source of considerable psychological pressure, so he felt deeply ashamed. In addition, Fusu felt that his acting skills might not be that good, and if he made eye contact, Ying Zheng would inevitably notice something was wrong. Therefore, he only lowered his head to talk to Ying Zheng, occasionally looking up at his expression to prepare for his next lines, but dared not look up at Ying Zheng's face.

But in Ying Zheng's eyes, the scene before him had a new interpretation: Su'er must have encountered a very difficult situation and desperately needed his help as her father, but was too embarrassed to say it.

"Su'er, just say what you want to say." Ying Zheng touched his chest with his hand and said, "Father can handle it. Even if the location is not good, it doesn't matter. We can always choose another one... or... if you don't want to do it anymore, Father can just hand it over to someone else."

“Oh dear! Father, that location is really not bad at all. It's overflowing with purple aura, absolutely the most suitable place for an emperor to reside. It's just that… there's just one tiny… one tiny problem…” Fusu stretched out his thumb and forefinger, rubbed them together, and made a tiny gap between them, “There's just one tiny… one tiny problem…”

"What is the problem?" Ying Zheng looked at Fusu suspiciously. Just by looking at Fusu's anxious and fearful appearance, he doubted whether Fusu's so-called "tiny problem" was true.

You know your own child best. This little bear, Fusu, dared to demolish the Xianyang Palace with his bare hands. Even if he poked a hole in the sky with a stick, he would only blame the sky for being too short, instead of reflecting on his own actions. So the little problem he mentioned is definitely not a small problem.

It might actually be a big problem.

"The feng shui of this place is... good, but too good... so..." Fusu said hesitantly, looking troubled.

Hearing that it was a so-called "minor problem" because of "good feng shui," Ying Zheng felt a little relieved, but soon said anxiously, "Speak! Don't stammer like a woman."

Haha! Father, do your fans know how chauvinistic your thinking is?

Fusu silently mourned for those "Emperor's Wives Group" on the forum who would come to fawn over their "son" every time he posted something. Serves you right for calling me the nation's son!

"Your Majesty, this place was originally blessed with excellent feng shui, with magnificent mountains and rivers, and the aura of a true dragon and the black and yellow dragon resides here. It is the aura of an emperor. If it is combined with my method of building the palace, after the new palace is completed, all the purple aura within eight hundred miles of Qin Chuan will gather here, and this palace will become the place with the strongest purple aura in the world." Fusu silently recited the lines he had already written.

It has to be said that Fusu's words hit Ying Zheng's sweet spot. He was still worried about that little problem, but after hearing that his future new home was so excellent, his mood improved considerably. "Oh? If that's the case, then what's wrong with it?"

"As the saying goes, the moon waxes and wanes. The reason why this place has such excellent feng shui is because it has absorbed the purple energy of the Qin Chuan region for eight hundred li. Therefore, once the new palace is built, the Qin Chuan region for eight hundred li will..." Fusu glanced at Ying Zheng, a hesitant look on his face.

"So what if it's eight hundred li? Are natural disasters constant?" Ying Zheng asked, frowning.

If that's the case, then relocating is inevitable.

Ying Zheng was not a person who cared about the people or cherished their strength. However, Qin Chuan was the old land of Qin and the foundation of the Qin people. It was not only of great significance but also had a profound influence on military and geography. It was the root of the Qin state. Therefore, even if he had the greatest courage, he would not dare to commit such a great offense. Otherwise, how could he face his ancestors after death?

Moreover, if the entire Qin Chuan region, spanning eight hundred li, is plagued by constant natural disasters except for the area where I live, it would be pointless for me to live alone.

"No, that won't happen. It's just that no other palaces can be built in the Qin Chuan region for the next few decades," Fusu said cautiously, looking at Ying Zheng's face.

"Why is this?" Ying Zheng was surprised. He had planned to build several more palaces after finishing this one, one for enjoying plum blossoms in winter, one for playing in the water in summer, and finally another one to look good.

“Because there’s no more purple aura,” Fusu blurted out.

"Why is that? Why can't we build palaces without the purple aura?" Ying Zheng was still puzzled. What did the purple aura have to do with building palaces? Was this kid just teasing him?

"Father, please allow me to explain. This purple aura originally filled the world. Wherever there are living beings, there will be purple aura, whether in the five lakes and four seas, mountains and rivers, it is just a matter of degree."

"Once the new palace is completed, the purple aura within 800 li of Qin Chuan will gather in the new palace, and the entire Qin Chuan will lose its purple aura, which will take decades to recover."

"The lack of auspicious purple energy is not a big deal for ordinary people. At most, their luck will be low for a few days at the beginning, but they will recover once they adjust themselves."

"But for emperors, who are the incarnations of true dragons, it's fine for a short time, but if they live in a place without purple aura for a long time, they will get sick or even die."

"The old palaces such as Xianyang Palace were originally located in auspicious locations with good feng shui, and they also had protective objects to lock in the auspicious energy, so they were not affected by the new palaces."

“But it would be different if Father were at the Jianxing Palace.”

"The new palace will be recognized by Heaven as the residence of Father Emperor. Even if Father Emperor only watches over it and does not live there after the house is built, there will be no solution."

"Imagine, if Father Emperor were to reside in a place like this all the time, what would happen then..."

Fusu gave Ying Zheng a knowing look.

If it were another emperor, he would probably have already used words like "nonsense," "alarmist talk," and "spreading rumors" to drive Fusu out by now—what Fusu said sounded so fantastical and far-fetched that it had absolutely no credibility whatsoever, and no matter how you listened to it, it sounded like a deceptive story from a folk ghost story.

But Fusu was deceiving Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China, who was known as "the first feudal superstitious man in history."

Later emperors not only clamored to become monks and wore Taoist robes all day, but also a large group of people took drugs like candy. However, in the matter of seeking immortality and engaging in feudal superstition, not only could no emperor compare to him, but he was also frequently used as a counterexample, and this example has been used for thousands of years.

As expected of the First Emperor, even his belief in superstition reached the pinnacle of history, a level unmatched by anyone else.