[Various] The Deposed Crown Prince's Survival Story

Fusu didn't want to believe what Lu Sheng and the others said, so he went to look at his father and found that his father was really depressed. Specifically, he wouldn't even fight with him for the chicken leg anymore.

Watching Ying Zheng, who usually ate meat, expressionlessly stuff a piece of green vegetable into his mouth, Fusu sighed heavily and came to a conclusion—it seems he is seriously ill.

As the saying goes, "A mental illness requires a mental cure," but I'm not a psychologist, so how would I know this?

Left with no other choice, Fusu summoned Lu Sheng and the other two cobblers, saying, "Give me a way to ease Father's worries."

“Uh…” Lu Sheng and the other two looked at each other, not knowing what to say.

If even someone as intelligent as Your Highness has no ideas, how could the three of us possibly come up with any?

Lu Sheng cautiously expressed his opinion to Fusu.

"You guys are really stupid! You can't even handle this simple thing, what right do you have to be swindlers? And you call yourselves my apprentices! You've really disgraced me!"

Fusu's words immediately made Lu Sheng and the other two blush with embarrassment.

As a seasoned swindler, he can't even handle such a small matter properly. He has truly failed to live up to His Highness's deep affection.

It's just fooling someone; we're very good at it.

The three men, Lu Sheng and his companions, were filled with fighting spirit, but it was all in vain; they still couldn't come up with a good idea.

Seeing the deadpan expressions on Lu Sheng and the other two's faces, Fu Su said, "Well then, I have an idea, but I don't know if I should say it."

"Speak, speak! Please tell us quickly!" Lu Sheng and the other two nodded repeatedly.

I knew His Highness the Crown Prince would have a plan!

We're getting smarter and smarter, it must be because His Highness the Crown Prince is so smart!

It's all His Highness's fault for spoiling us with his high intelligence!

"Tell Father that as long as he stays home more and doesn't make a big fuss when he goes out, he won't be targeted by evil spirits and won't have to worry about dying young. Also, isn't it said that Mars guarding the heart of the heart will harm the emperor? Tell him to stop referring to himself as '朕' (Zhen, the imperial "I") and start calling himself... um... '真人' (Zhenren, the True Man). Don't cultivators like to say 'XX Zhenren' (Xuanren, the True Man of XX)?" Fusu recalled articles he had read on forums, such as "I Do All Dual Cultivation in the Cultivation World," and seriously suggested, "What do you think of this idea?"

"This plan is brilliant! Your Highness is truly a genius!" Lu Sheng and the others praised repeatedly.

That evening, after returning home, Lu Sheng and the other two found a good opportunity to bring up the matter with Ying Zheng.

Ying Zheng made the decision, "I grant... I, the True Man, grant it."

When Hu Hai heard that his father had started sneaking out again—no, this time it wasn't sneaking out, but that he rarely even went out, spending his days having fun in the newly built, yet unnamed palace—he was completely stunned.

Why is Father's style getting weirder and weirder? Although it seems like I'm not going to have anything to do with the throne in this lifetime, Father can't let his image collapse like this just because he can't pass the throne to his beloved little pig, right?

"Father, why haven't you been going out to play lately?" Hu Hai asked Ying Zheng cautiously.

"You brat, how can you talk like that? What do you mean by 'going out to play'? I... I'm going on a tour to suppress the rebellion in the empire, not for some kind of tourism trip." Ying Zheng glared at Hu Hai, annoyed. He was already over twenty years old, and still couldn't be more composed. What a naughty child.

"You're over twenty years old now, you need to learn to be more mature, understand?" Ying Zheng thought to himself, then said it aloud. Not only did he say it, but he also pointed out the direction Hu Hai should learn from, "Look at your elder brother, when your elder brother was twenty, he was so..."

"How naughty and mischievous you are!" Hu Hai retorted irritably, making a face at Ying Zheng. "Father, when my elder brother was twenty, I was already old enough to remember things. You can't fool me."

What a brat! He deserves a beating! Just like his older brother! Who gave birth to such a brat?

The key point is, this is someone I, the Emperor, have spoiled. I've decided to find you a powerful wife.

Ying Zheng began to seriously recall which prince or noble family in Xianyang had the fiercest daughter, but before he could recall, another extraordinary event occurred in the court.

A falling star appeared in Dongjun, with the words "The First Emperor will die and the land will be divided" written on it.

Upon learning of this, Hu Hai had only one thought in his mind: "Damn it! These traitors don't even know how to change the characters they used to inscribe. How can they still be the same as in their past lives? Are they really that uncultured? I thought this whole mess was over."

Hu Hai simply didn't want to complain about the people who carved the inscription. In his previous life, his father had completely centralized power and hadn't even granted half a king. Yet, they carved "When the First Emperor died, the land was divided." Now that his father had already divided the land, they still carved "When the First Emperor died, the land was divided." Was this brain-dead?

They have no idea how to adapt to the situation, and it's unclear whether they are genuinely stupid or just pretending.

Although Hu Hai kept complaining about it, this incident still had a great impact on Ying Zheng. He already had a bad case of depression, and now he became even more depressed.

Ying Zheng's melancholy caused Fusu to pace in circles, even developing blisters on his lips.

"Father, what are you so worried about?" Fusu finally couldn't help but ask Ying Zheng, "You've already divided up the land, so what are you worried about? Or is it..." Fusu narrowed his eyes and said in a cold voice, "Are you worried that the Qin Dynasty will only last two generations, that the Qin state will be gone, and that the six states will be restored, so you divided up the land?"

Just as Ying Zheng was about to nod, he noticed that the room suddenly felt a bit cold, and the source of the cold air was Fusu sitting in front of him.

Haha! It's rare to see a brat get angry. What's he angry about? What's there to be angry about?

With a "smack," Fusu slammed his hand heavily on the long table. Ying Zheng was slightly startled and saw his son, who always had a smile on his face and made people feel comfortable, suddenly bring his face closer.

Huh? I never noticed before that Su'er's face is so big.

Seeing Fusu's icy expression, Ying Zheng composed himself and snorted coldly, "Fusu, what are you doing? Have I said anything wrong? Are you threatening me?"

Fusu blinked, and then his handsome face, which had been as cold as an iceberg, instantly crumbled as if touched by a spring breeze.

"Father, you are really underestimating Su'er by saying that... Waaah... Fusu doesn't want to live anymore."

Fusu buried his face in Ying Zheng's arms, his fragile emotions beginning to surge. As the emotions swelled, Ying Zheng also felt ashamed.

Why can't I trust Su'er? With Su'er around, how can those guys from the Six Kingdoms possibly cause any trouble?

It wasn't that Ying Zheng thought too highly of his son, but rather that he was extremely satisfied with Fusu's recent performance. Fusu was shrewd, skillful, and most importantly, ruthless.

He actually administered sterilization drugs to the remnants of the six kingdoms.

No, no, no! It's not exactly a sterilization drug. Anyway, according to Fusu, if you take this kind of drug, you either won't be able to get pregnant, or you won't be able to keep the pregnancy. Even if you do keep the pregnancy, the child is very likely to be disabled or mentally challenged.

For people at that time, having many children and grandchildren was the most important thing.

One of the signs of a thriving nation is having many children and many blessings. If you don't believe it, you can open a history book and see for yourself.

With the exception of a few oddballs, most emperors at the beginning of a dynasty had a great many children, but by the end of the dynasty, the emperor's children would become pitifully few.

The most famous examples are the Han Dynasty, which was dominated by child emperors.

Fusu caused fertility problems among the remnants of the six states. Although he could not sever their lineage, he could shake the beliefs of those who supported them. People at the time would think it was divine retribution, that even the heavens thought they were at fault, which was why they could not have normal children.

So, with such an outstanding successor, why should I worry about the "land distribution"?

"Father, don't you think about it? With Su'er here, how could... how could... such a thing happen?"

While crying, Fusu dabbed saliva on his face with his index finger.

Today's Fusu is different from yesterday's Fusu. He now knows that on Blue Star, crying is not necessarily a sign of weakness; sometimes it can even achieve certain goals. Therefore, it is necessary to cry sometimes.

However, when he was a child, Fusu was afraid that he would accidentally cry and embarrass the 123 Romance Star people, and even go to outer space. So when he was strengthening his physique, he directly removed his tear ducts.

Tear glands aren't like hair; you can't just remove them and they'll grow back.

Therefore, no matter how much Fusu howls, even if he applies Tiger Balm to his face, he is guaranteed not to shed a single tear.

Left with no other choice, I could only wipe some saliva to pretend to be crying.

It's such a hard life!

"What a miserable life! When you're wiping your mouth and pretending to cry, can't you at least do it in private?" Ying Zheng, unable to bear it any longer, smacked Fusu on the head. Seriously... even when lying, you should at least prepare a draft and consider the feelings of the person involved.

“Father, you are not human.” Fusu’s words made Ying Zheng’s forehead veins throb. He couldn’t help but want to reach out and grab Fusu’s head again. “Father, you are a real person.”

Ying Zheng's outstretched hand immediately changed from a "knocking" gesture to a "touching" gesture.

Good boy! You have such a sweet tongue!

“A true person is one who remains unwetted by water, unburned by fire, soars above the clouds, and endures as long as heaven and earth.” Fusu continued, “Father, you are so powerful that even if I wanted to do something bad, I couldn’t hide it from you. So why should I hide it? I might as well just confess honestly.”

My good son, you're getting sweeter and sweeter with your words!

Having finally managed to appease Ying Zheng, Fusu was unaware that three major events that caused Ying Zheng considerable distress occurred in history that year.

The most important of these was that when an envoy passed through Huayin, he encountered a man holding a jade disc at night. The man said, "I am the Lord of Haochi," and at the same time, "The First Emperor will die this year." He then handed the jade disc to the envoy and disappeared.

It was truly a case of misfortunes never coming singly; one blow after another came crashing down on Ying Zheng.

Hu Hai found it strange. How could these people be so uncreative and incapable of assessing the situation? His father's health was much better now than at the same time in his previous life; he was strong enough to kill an ox. How could they still say, "The First Emperor will die this year"? Where was their creativity?