[Various] The Deposed Crown Prince's Survival Story

"What do you mean? What do you mean by 'more than that'?" Li Ji asked Liu Rong with a blank look on her face.

Seeing Consort Li's dazed and foolish appearance, Liu Rong rubbed his temples helplessly. Did she know what was more terrifying than the Empress Dowager interfering in politics? The Empress Dowager who wanted to interfere in politics was a stupid woman who didn't even understand his unspoken meaning. She still wanted to be the Empress Dowager? Did she want to be like Empress Dowager Dou, dominating the country and making the emperor listen to her?

Liu Rong felt that if he were his father, he wouldn't have let his past self become emperor.

This good boy listens to Consort Li too much. He looks like a doomed emperor who will definitely be controlled by the Empress Dowager after he takes the throne. What's worse, the Empress Dowager is a stupid and poisonous woman.

"That's all I have to say, Mother. Think it over carefully."

Having figured out the real reason why he was eliminated in the previous playthrough, Liu Rong really didn't want to waste any more words arguing with Consort Li. He got up, took his leave, and turned to leave Consort Li's palace.

"Go to the Xuan Room," Liu Rong ordered, sitting in the royal carriage.

He needs to think about how to face his adoptive father, and more importantly, how to gradually change his adoptive father's image of him as a good boy without his adoptive father suspecting anything.

Sigh! If only I could turn into a baby like Su Yuzhou, no matter how naughty I am, no one would suspect anything. But I am a twenty-year-old adult man. I can't roll around and act cute like a child to please adults anymore.

Thinking about it, Liu Rong felt a pang of sadness. No wonder her adoptive father liked Liu Xiaozhu so much. The youngest child was adorable, innocent, and lively, while her adoptive father... seemed to be seriously ill and about to die.

Liu Rong suddenly remembered something: another reason why he was crippled was because of his cheap father's health.

When the father felt he was about to die, he went to Consort Li and asked her to take care of his concubines and children after his death. However, Consort Li not only refused to take care of the other favored concubines and children, but also spoke rudely to the father.

As a result, the cheapskate father, who was already on the verge of death, was so angry that he came back to life.

Good heavens! This is absolutely outrageous! How could my cheap father have been so blind as to favor such a stupid woman as Princess Kamiguri? Was it really just because of her looks?

Liu Rong sighed. Before he could come up with a way to deal with his adoptive father, Xuan Shi had already arrived.

Weiyang Palace was transformed from Zhangtai Palace, which was built during the reign of King Zhaoxiang of Qin Dynasty. It contains palaces such as Xuanshi, Qilin, Jinhua, Chengming, Wutai, and Gouyi Hall, covering a vast area and can be described as "magnificent".

Despite its grandeur, Weiyang Palace was not luxurious. Contrary to later accounts that "its architecture was unmatched by other palaces," it reflected the simple and dignified style of the Qin Dynasty before the founding of the Qin Dynasty.

But as the saying goes, "Qin Shi Huang and Emperor Wu of Han were emperors of the Han Dynasty."

After Qin Shi Huang unified the six kingdoms, he changed the simple style of the Qin Dynasty and began to adopt... well, in Su Yuzhou's words, a straight male aesthetic; but Su Yuzhou certainly didn't know that gay men's aesthetics can also follow a straight male style.

After Liu Xiaozhu became emperor, he disliked the Weiyang Palace for being too plain. He spent countless amounts of public funds to renovate the palace, becoming a Han Dynasty version of Emperor Qianlong. He squandered all the money that his father, grandfather, and other emperors had painstakingly saved.

Since it wasn't earned by myself, I don't feel bad about it.

As Liu Rong walked along the long imperial road of Weiyang Palace, he looked at the simple blue bricks on the ground and thought about the "purple-red ground, the golden wall bands, and the rare jade stones" described in later historical records. He secretly vowed in his heart that even if he had to be a spendthrift, he would be the one to enjoy it.

As Liu Qi's eldest son, Liu Rong was also pampered by Liu Qi from a young age—otherwise, Liu Qi would not have made him the crown prince. Therefore, as soon as he arrived at Xuan Shi, he was welcomed in almost without any obstacles.

"Your subject pays respects to Your Majesty." Liu Rong knelt on the ground and bowed to Liu Qi.

"Rong'er, you've arrived. Come and sit down." Liu Qi's face was pale, and he looked very unwell.

Indeed, a few years ago, Emperor Liu Qi heavily relied on Huang Cuo and, disregarding the opposition of senior officials, boldly attempted to reduce the power of the vassal states, which resulted in the "Rebellion of the Seven States." If it weren't for the support of Zhou Yafu and Liu Wu, it's uncertain whether he could have kept his throne.

To make matters worse, just when things weren't going to go wrong, he finally managed to subdue the seven kingdoms, only to fall seriously ill and be on the verge of death. His own mother, Empress Dowager Dou, not only didn't care about her dying son, but instead encouraged Liu Qi to play the "brother succeeds brother" game. Considering how he was later angered by Consort Li, Liu Qi's plight is truly heartbreaking and makes one want to shed a tear of sympathy.

No wonder he was already on the verge of death, but after such a shock, he lived well for more than ten years.

"Rong'er, what brings you to see your father today?" Liu Qi said, coughing a few times, his face now more rosy than before.

Liu Rong reached out and gently patted Liu Qi's back, somewhat speechless and unsure of what to do with him.

The best way, of course, would be to kill Liu Qi directly, so that as the crown prince, he could automatically succeed to the throne.

However, if he used such a violent method, Su Yuzhou would probably mock him for being "simple-minded and physically strong," so Liu Rong felt that he absolutely could not do such a violent thing.

He wanted everyone in the universe to know that he was a wise and profound person.

"Your Majesty knows that you are worried about the affairs of state recently, so I came up with an idea... It's a bit of a humble opinion, but I don't know if I should say it?" Liu Rong said awkwardly.

"Oh? Rong'er can also offer advice to relieve Father's worries? Tell Father about it." Liu Qi's face showed a hint of joy when he heard Liu Rong say this.

Liu Rong from last week's game was indeed well-behaved, but too honest and obedient. Comparing him to Su Yuzhou, Su Yuzhou was the kind of mischievous, troublesome, and resourceful child from a young age, while Liu Rong was the kind of honest, well-behaved, and sensible child who was pitiful.

Because he was well-behaved, Liu Qi didn't like to let him get involved in politics, so he was raised to be cute... or rather, silly.

This time around, Liu Rong doesn't want to continue being obedient.

In royalty, being obedient is another way of saying being stupid; being too obedient means that everyone can bully you.

"However... I hope that if my idea can bring a smile to Father's face, Father will grant me one request," Liu Rong said, his face flushed and his voice slightly shy.

"What is it? Tell me about it." Liu Qi asked, looking at Liu Rong's unusually shy expression.

"Father... could you please grant my request first?" Liu Rong said, grabbing Liu Qi's arm and shaking it. "Father... please... Father, please grant my request first."

Liu Rong was so disgusted by his own words that he almost vomited. How could Su Yuzhou have said such disgusting and nauseating lines back then? It's one thing to write it down in a novel, but to actually do it is enough to make anyone want to throw up their dinner from the night before.

Qin Shi Huang truly deserves to be called the first emperor of China. Despite being so disgusting to Su Yuzhou, he still dotes on him so much. It's simply unbearable.

Liu Rong found it unbearable, but Liu Qi inexplicably enjoyed it. His eldest son, Liu Rong, was well-behaved and sensible from a young age, and his behavior was always very proper. He never caused trouble for the adults. But precisely because of this, Liu Qi did not enjoy much parenting pleasure from Liu Rong. Their father-son relationship was also a standard royal father-son relationship.

It was quite surprising to Liu Qi that his usually well-behaved eldest son was acting like such a child.

"Alright, alright, tell me, I grant your request, I grant all your requests." Liu Qi nodded helplessly, patted Liu Rong's hand, and said, "I've granted your request, now you should speak, right?"

Liu Qi was not worried that his eldest son, Liu Rong, would make any unreasonable demands, since he was always well-behaved and sensible. However, no matter how much he thought about it, Liu Qi could not figure out what kind of demands Liu Rong would make.

Moreover, upon reflection, Liu Qi realized that he actually knew nothing about his eldest son, Liu Rong. In his memory, Liu Rong was only known for being obedient, sensible, and good at his studies. As for what his son was thinking or what he liked, he had no idea.

"Father, I think you should give some reward to the princes who did not participate in the Rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms."

Liu Rong's words shocked Liu Qi. Although those princes had not openly rebelled, they had been secretly colluding with the Prince of Wu and his group. Therefore, it was already good enough that he was not going to settle scores with them and was trying to find a way to deal with them. Why would he give them a reward? He was just sick, not crazy!

Out of respect for his eldest son, Liu Qi did not fly into a rage, but looked at his eldest son with a slight look of disappointment.

Noticing Liu Qi's gaze, Liu Rong wasn't too surprised—thinking about it another way, if his own son were this naive, he too would have been tempted to depose the crown prince. He simply pretended not to understand and continued, "Father, won't you ask what kind of rewards I would like to give these princes?"

"What kind of reward?" Liu Qi asked, somewhat bored, following Liu Rong's words.

“My reward is called the Order of Grace.” Liu Rong casually used a method that Liu Xiaozhu later used to deal with the vassal kings.

"What decree? The Decree of Grace? How come I've never heard of such a decree from our Han Dynasty?" Liu Qi asked Liu Rong with a curious expression.

"Because it was my idea!" Liu Rong shamelessly claimed credit for Zhu Fuyan's work, patting his chest and shouting loudly.

"Then tell Father Emperor, what exactly is this 'Decree of Grace'? What are its functions and advantages? Is it worth Father Emperor bestowing it upon those princes?" Liu Qi looked at Liu Rong's smug appearance and became even more curious, continuing to ask.

"The Edict of Grace... The Edict of Grace is to grant favors to the sons of the deceased king, abolishing the system of succession by the eldest son. After the death of the king, the vassal state will be divided into several states, and regardless of whether they are legitimate or illegitimate sons, as long as they are descendants of the king, they can share the fiefdom until the land is exhausted..."