[Various] The Deposed Crown Prince's Survival Story

Hu Hai actually felt a lot of pressure, wondering what his father would think this time. At the same time, he was certain of one thing—there was no traitor in the palace.

In his past life, thirty-six years ago, one unpleasant thing after another happened, and conspiracies came one after another. Among them, the conspiracy was so strong that even Hu Hai felt that there must be a traitor in Ying Zheng's life. Otherwise, how would he know that his father was in poor health at the time and looked like he could die at any moment?

Throughout his life, my father was always full of energy. Apart from being busy with official duties, he was either busy beating his grandsons and sons or watching the stars with young girls at night. His spirits were simply amazing.

Death?

Hu Hai felt that even if he died, Ying Zheng could still be alive and kicking for another five hundred years.

So, just how big of a brain do those guys have to think that the Emperor's happiness wouldn't last long?

The reason is actually quite simple. Although Ying Zheng was in good health in this life, by sheer accident, he ended up doing the same things he had done in his previous life.

The behavior of avoiding evil spirits, traveling incognito, calling himself a "true man," and avoiding contact with outsiders to avoid affecting his "true man's" secluded cultivation would naturally lead uninformed onlookers to believe that Ying Zheng was unwell and eager for elixirs, which is why he agreed to all sorts of absurd behaviors.

Ultimately, how can a monarch not meet with his ministers for an extended period? Throughout history, there are generally only two possibilities for such an event: either the monarch's actions are being artificially controlled, preventing him from seeing his ministers, or the monarch is unwell and unable to meet with his ministers. There are no other reasons besides these.

The simplest example is when a leader of a certain country did not appear on the evening news for a whole month. As a result, the people began to suspect that the leader had died, and the reasons for his death included several possibilities such as illness or assassination.

In short, the consequences of a ruler not seeing his ministers are significant, directly shaking the foundations of the state and the order of the court.

Fusu had clearly thought of this as well.

"Father, the reason this happened is still your fault. If you hadn't been avoiding those ministers, how would the rebels have thought you were about to die?" Fusu ignored the fact that the idea of ​​"traveling incognito" was his own and decisively shifted the blame onto Ying Zheng.

"Hmph! They have no trust in me at all! What a bunch... In my opinion, they wish I were dead!" Ying Zheng snorted coldly, his expression extremely displeased.

"Why don't you attend the grand court assembly tomorrow and let the officials witness your youthful appearance?" Fusu glanced at Ying Zheng and began to seriously consider whether he should reduce the amount of energy he was channeling into Ying Zheng.

Ying Zheng's appearance remains unchanged, and I am growing up day by day. If things continue like this, won't people mistake me for Ying Zheng's younger brother?

Fusu scratched his head, thinking very seriously.

"I'm not going! It's annoying!" Ying Zheng said lazily, resting his chin on his hand and waving his sleeve.

I don't know if it's because his body is younger, so his brain is younger too; or if he's just getting younger with age, but Ying Zheng's temper is becoming more and more like a child's. He's unpredictable, capricious, and likes to contradict people, making him extremely difficult to deal with.

Sometimes Fusu even wondered if Zichu's early death and Zhao Ji's attempt to kill Ying Zheng were because Ying Zheng was so difficult to raise as a child, turning the two of them into psychopaths.

Baby is suffering, baby is tired, baby is heartbroken, baby doesn't want to support Father Emperor.

"Father, what's bothering you again?" Fusu asked, pulling at his hair with a helpless expression.

"They actually cursed me to die!" Ying Zheng started repeating this sentence again, as if it were a cartwheel.

In fact, ever since the envoy brought back the jade disc obtained from Huayin, and a specialist examined it and confirmed that it was indeed the jade disc that Ying Zheng had thrown into the river by boat to pray for the protection of the river god, Ying Zheng had been acting strangely.

It should be noted that the jade disc was lost in the middle of the river. With such deep and swift currents, it would have been virtually impossible for human beings to retrieve it.

But the appearance of this jade disc inevitably led Ying Zheng to have inappropriate thoughts.

Back then, when Qin Shi Huang tried to retrieve one of the nine massive tripods, thousands of people went into the water but still couldn't find it. It was only after his own mischievous son divined its location that they were able to retrieve it in the shortest possible time.

Jade discs are now smaller and harder to retrieve than tripods, yet they were still managed to be retrieved. What does this mean?

This means that the person who pulled him out wasn't human, but possibly a deity.

Didn't the other party say it was Gaochi-kun?

Isn't Lord Gaochi the Water God?

Isn't it perfectly normal for the water god to retrieve the jade disc?

Thinking of this, Ying Zheng felt terrible.

Although Ying Zheng felt he was in good health, unforeseen events could happen at any time. What if something did happen? For example, what if a feather fell from the sky and killed him while he was walking down the street? Wouldn't that make life unbearable?

Ying Zheng's worries put Fusu in a difficult position, but he didn't know how to comfort him. As the Crown Prince of Qin, anything he said seemed likely to be interpreted by Ying Zheng as him cursing him to die.

If we use the conspiracy theory that "murderers are often the beneficiaries," then he, the biggest beneficiary of "Ying Zheng's death," would actually be best left to remain silent.

Left with no other choice, Fusu asked Lu Sheng and the other two to come up with an idea to comfort Ying Zheng.

Lu Sheng and the other two quickly met up and had a short meeting.

"You two should be aware of His Majesty's recent mood, right?" Lu Sheng spoke first.

Hou Sheng sighed, "His Majesty is worrying too much. In fact, given his health, there is absolutely no need for him to worry so much."

“Exactly, with his physique, even if I were to die, His Majesty would still be alive.” Han Zhong’s words drew nods of approval from Lu Sheng and Hou Sheng.

This fifty-year-old man is so young and handsome, it's impossible for anyone else to compete with him.

What's most frustrating is that, seeing how effective the "elixir" was on Ying Zheng, Lu Sheng and the other two secretly tried to refine the "elixir" for themselves, but it was completely useless.

Aside from having diarrhea a few more times, his hair remained white, unlike Qin Shi Huang, whose hair had turned black.

If it weren't for the fact that other parts of Ying Zheng's body had also become younger, the three of them would have thought that Ying Zheng had secretly overdone the ink dyeing.

"Actually, you can't blame His Majesty entirely. Blame those unruly people," Lu Sheng said. "If it weren't for those unruly people causing trouble again and again, His Majesty wouldn't have been thrown into such a state of panic."

"That's right. They can try to restore the monarchy whenever they want, but they insist on dragging us down with them. Not only does His Majesty keep asking 'What should we do?', but even His Highness the Crown Prince is standing idly by this time." Han Zhong sighed and complained angrily.

"What good is it if His Highness the Crown Prince is so wise? He can't really handle this matter. No matter how he tries, it's wrong. After all, he's not the emperor; he's just the Crown Prince." Hou Sheng spoke up for Fusu, saying something fair.

After listening to Hou Sheng's words, Lu Sheng let out a soft "Eh," as if he wanted to say something.

"What's wrong? Lu Sheng, do you have an idea?" Han Zhong asked, looking at Lu Sheng who seemed to be deep in thought.

Lu Sheng didn't say anything, he just waved his hand.

The three had been committing fraud together for years, and they hadn't even started fighting over favors. Instead, they had developed a deep bond because they shared common victims.

With just a gesture from Lu Sheng, Han Zhong and Hou Sheng knew that their brother definitely had an idea, but it was not yet complete and was still being supplemented with details. So they quieted down and waited for Lu Sheng to think it through before speaking.

After about half an hour, when Han Zhong was getting a little impatient, Lu Sheng suddenly spoke up: "His Highness the Crown Prince is wise but not the emperor, while His Majesty the Emperor is incompetent and cowardly but still occupies the throne. What do you think... if the wise Crown Prince became the emperor?"

Han Zhong and Hou Sheng were both startled by Lu Sheng's words. They ran to the door and window respectively, and after confirming that no one was eavesdropping outside, they closed the doors and windows and ran to Lu Sheng, saying, "Lu Sheng, what nonsense are you talking about? Do you want to die?"

"I don't want to die, but I want to contribute to the cause of the emperor's rise to power." Lu Sheng said, tugging at his beard. "There's no future in being a swindler all the time, so I might as well risk my life and take a gamble."

"Shut up! Do you want to die?" Han Zhong looked at Lu Sheng anxiously, reaching out to cover his mouth. "If you want to die, go ahead and die, but don't drag us down with you! Hou Sheng, come and help me catch him."

"Lu Sheng! Today I will capture you, you traitor who plotted to usurp the throne!" Hou Sheng said, reaching out to grab Lu Sheng.

Lu Sheng awkwardly dodged Han Zhong and Hou Sheng's hands, angrily shouting, "What nonsense are you talking about? Who wants to usurp the throne? My loyalty to His Majesty the First Emperor and to the Qin Dynasty is as clear as day. Don't slander me."

"Nonsense! You were just saying... saying... that you wanted the Crown Prince..." Han Zhong pointed at Lu Sheng and shouted angrily, "I really can't say such treacherous words! What has His Majesty the Emperor done to you? What has His Highness the Crown Prince done to you? How could you try to sow discord between father and son like this!"

"That's right! Lu Sheng! Did you take bribes from those traitors from the six kingdoms? Trying to sow discord between His Majesty and His Highness the Crown Prince." Hou Sheng also pointed at Lu Sheng, angrily rebuking him, "I'll arrest you right now and take you to His Majesty and His Highness to apologize, so they can punish you."

"No, no, no! Please don't!" Lu Sheng frantically shook his hands, begging for mercy, "You've misunderstood! I had no intention of usurping the throne! Nor did I intend to sow discord between His Majesty and His Highness the Crown Prince! You've misunderstood! Please let me explain! Please let me explain!"

After hearing Lu Sheng's words, Hou Sheng and Han Zhong exchanged a glance. Then, one of them went to the door and the other to the window, blocking Lu Sheng's escape route. Only then did Hou Sheng speak, saying, "Say what you have to say. If you say something unpleasant, don't blame us for being ruthless."

“That’s right! Don’t blame us for being ruthless!” Han Zhong drew his sword and pointed it at Lu Sheng.

Hou Sheng also drew his sword and glared angrily at Lu Sheng.

"Listen to me, both of you, this is what I'm thinking..."