[Various] The Deposed Crown Prince's Survival Story

Although Geng Zhangtang is not yet famous in the public eye, he is a well-known figure among the common people of Chang'an, especially among the wandering knights.

Although it's not a good reputation, filled with adjectives like "ruthless" and "cruel," it's extremely effective.

Every day, when Zhang Tang, dressed in his official robes and carrying a short sword, patrolled the streets as usual, the normally unruly wandering knights became as quiet as quails, not daring to even breathe loudly. They only dared to whisper and point after Zhang Tang left.

"Oh! That's Zhang Tang. When he was very young, a rat stole the meat from his house, so he dug three feet into the ground to dig it out, then tortured it severely, issued a warrant for retrial, thoroughly investigated, and brought back the rat and the leftover meat. Once the crime was confirmed, he executed the rat by dismemberment in court. He's a ruthless character."

"Wow! Poor mouse!"

"Nonsense! How can rats be as pitiful as us? Ever since Zhang Tang took office, I haven't even dared to steal money bags."

"Tsk tsk! This guy will do anything to get an official position, but unfortunately... His Majesty is benevolent and has no liking for such cruel officials. It's probably difficult for Zhang Tang to get promoted."

Although Zhang Tang is not the "Prince of Slapping Faces in the Face," there is a saying that goes something like, "Slapping faces in the face comes too fast, like a tornado."

No sooner had the man finished speaking than the sound of horses' hooves was heard, and then a guard dressed in the armor of the palace imperial guards appeared before everyone's eyes.

As soon as the guard rushed into the crowd, he shouted, "Where is Zhang Tang, the Prefect of Chang'an? His Highness the Crown Prince requests your presence!"

Well, it doesn't matter if the current emperor doesn't like it, as long as the next emperor does.

The Crown Prince resides in the palace and has no publicly known address outside the palace. This has both advantages and disadvantages.

The advantage is that if anything important happens in the palace, such as the emperor's death, the crown prince can succeed to the throne immediately; the disadvantage is that there is absolutely no way to form cliques and engage in private affairs under the emperor's nose, and even summoning a minor official requires booking a restaurant outside, which is extremely distressing.

Even though he had booked the entire venue, Liu Rong's status as the crown prince gave him an aura of dominance, and he easily recruited Zhang Tang into his service and gave Zhang Tang his first task.

"There's a man in Huaili named Jin Wangsun, and he has a daughter named Jin Su. Go find them, and then..."

A few days later, the Chang'an County government received a petition. The person making the complaint was named Jin Wangsun, and the defendant was named... Liu Qi.

Ahem! That's right, the defendant is none other than the current emperor, Liu Qi.

The petition stated that when Emperor Liu Qi was still the crown prince, he forcibly took a woman—Jin Wangsun's wife—to the palace as a concubine. The petitioner was not accusing Liu Qi of the past, but rather that since the woman had now become Liu Qi's favored concubine, bearing countless children—her daughter a princess and her son a prince—he pleaded with Liu Qi to look after his daughter, who was now of age and lacked even a decent dowry.

When the magistrate of Chang'an County received this petition, he immediately felt like his headlines had exploded. A royal scandal! Would he be executed and his family wiped out in a heartbeat?

There's a saying, isn't there? "Three lifetimes of misfortune, and you're a county magistrate; three lifetimes of evil deeds, and you're a provincial governor; three lifetimes of heinous crimes, and you're a capital city magistrate."

"Fu Guo" means living in the same city as one's superior.

In other words, being the mayor of a provincial capital means having to live in the same city as the provincial governor, which is already considered a sin in three lifetimes. But what's worse is being a county magistrate in the capital, where high-ranking officials are as common as dogs. You have neither the prestige of a local official nor the leisure of a leisurely official in the capital. In short, it's an extremely miserable job, an official position only someone who has committed heinous crimes in their previous life would hold.

The magistrate of Chang'an County is like this now, wishing he could turn back time and kill his younger self who was about to take office, so as to prevent him from causing trouble for his family decades later.

The magistrate of Chang'an County wanted to suppress the matter, but Jin Wangsun told him that if the matter was not handled here, he would appeal to the next level, even up to the emperor.

Her stubbornness and serious attitude were comparable to the female protagonist in the 21st-century film "The Story of Qiu Ju," which made the magistrate of Chang'an County dare not take her lightly.

Left with no other option, the magistrate of Chang'an County had to pass this hot potato up the chain of command, and then his superior would pass it up the chain of command, and so on, until it soon reached Liu Qi.

Liu Qi was already ill, and upon seeing the petition, he immediately vomited blood and felt completely unwell.

After regaining his senses, Liu Qi, enraged, immediately summoned Wang Zhi.

Looking at the beautiful woman kneeling on the ground, Liu Qi roared angrily, "You slut!"

Although Liu Qi was a mischievous child, he was also well-read and learned. He couldn't bring himself to curse like a street ruffian. So, after thinking it over, he decided that the word "bastard" was the most effective.

"Why is Your Majesty acting this way?" Wang Zhi, still unaware of the situation, looked up at Liu Qi with a pitiful expression and asked.

Normally, Wang Zhi's frail appearance would evoke Liu Qi's pity and be his favorite sight, but today... Liu Qi felt like vomiting.

"Look what you've done!" Liu Qi angrily threw the complaint at Wang Zhi's face.

Wang Zhi picked up the petition and glanced at it. She was immediately terrified, her face turned pale, and she cried out in tears, "Your Majesty, I am innocent..."

"Injustice? Where is it injustice? You never married Jin Wangsun? You don't have a daughter named Jin Su?" Liu Qi laughed angrily, looking at Wang Zhi with a cold smile.

"I'm truly innocent! I only... I only..." Wang Zhi knelt on the ground, trying to grab Liu Qi's leg, but Liu Qi kicked her away. She didn't dare to utter a sound and could only quickly get up from the ground. "I was just young and confused back then. My mother made me marry, so I married... But that Jin Wangsun not only didn't know how to cherish a beautiful woman, he also beat me every day... I had no choice but to run away from home because of his beatings..."

"In order to escape the Prince Jin, I had no choice but to hide in the Crown Prince's Palace, where I met Your Majesty, who was then the Crown Prince..."

It must be said that Wang Zhi cried very beautifully and pitifully, and her words were also very touching. In addition, people in the Han Dynasty did not value chastity. Most importantly, it was she who had cuckolded Jin Wangsun, not Jin Wangsun who had cuckolded her. Therefore, after Wang Zhi's tearful plea, Liu Qi did not directly punish Wang Zhi, but only ordered her to be placed under house arrest.

Wang Zhi was a shrewd woman with allies. Although she was under house arrest, her accomplices outside were still there: her three daughters, one son, and her younger sister. They knelt outside the Xuan Room every day, hoping that Liu Qi would forgive Wang Zhi for her "youthful ignorance."

Seeing this, Liu Rong could only sigh, "If only my mother were this smart."

Consort Li is such a fool. Instead of taking advantage of such a great opportunity to show Liu Qi her gentleness and pretend to be magnanimous, she spends her time mocking other women in front of Liu Qi, claiming that only she is good.

Liu Rong felt incredibly heartbroken watching this!

Just as Liu Qi was about to let Wang Zhi and her sister go after being persuaded by the Wang sisters and their children, considering their "many years of marriage" and "childbearing children," another rumor reached Liu Qi's ears.

This rumor is called the paternal inheritance theory.

First of all, this is a completely fake theory and pseudoscience. The person who fabricated this theory is probably either a loser who has been cheated on or can't find a woman.

The paternal inheritance theory states that after a man's sperm enters a woman's body, some is expelled, while the rest undergoes autolysis in the woman's uterus. During autolysis, the sperm releases nucleoproteins, a genetic material, which are absorbed by the female reproductive organs. Simultaneously, the sperm contains various sex hormones, which are also absorbed by the woman and adhere to the uterine wall over a long period.

When a woman has relations with another man and becomes pregnant and gives birth, the sperm and sex hormones from the previous man, including the genetic material DNA, are passed on to the next generation.

Therefore, we men must find a virgin woman, otherwise we will easily become a cuckold and raise someone else's son.

Normally, Liu Qi would just laugh it off when he heard such rumors, but this time was different. He had just learned that one of his wives was not a virgin.

People are prone to overthinking, and Liu Qi's overthinking resulted in him looking at his children from all angles and finding something wrong with them.

Suspicion arose within Liu Qi, who felt that Pingyang and the others resembled neither himself nor Wang Zhi in many ways.

Of course, according to scientific theory, if Pingyang and the others are Liu Qi's biological children, they will look neither like Liu Qi nor Wang Zhi, and they certainly cannot look like Uncle Jin next door.

But Liu Qi didn't know this; he had his suspicions.

The more he looked, the more heartbroken he became. The more heartbroken he became, the more he looked, until he was so angry that his already seriously ill body collapsed, and his condition worsened.

A few days later, Wang Zhi, who was under house arrest in the cold palace, died suddenly for no reason. Her three daughters were hastily married off by Liu Qi. Not only were their marriages not as good as in her previous life, but they were all married out of Chang'an, seemingly never to see each other again.

Liu Xiaozhu, who is currently three years old, was hastily enfeoffed, but his fiefdom was not Jiaodong, but Changsha.

Changsha, though famous in later generations as the land of fish and rice and home to Hunan TV, was no different from going to sub-Saharan Africa for poverty alleviation in the Han Dynasty.

The area is a desolate and barbaric place, inhabited by barbarians, and the fiefdom is pitifully small. Most importantly, the natural conditions are extremely unbearable. If a more delicate prince were sent there, he would probably fall ill and die within a few years.

Therefore, generally speaking, the fiefdom of the Prince of Changsha was the fiefdom of an unfavored prince. For example, the current Prince of Changsha, Liu Fa, was the product of a one-night stand, so there was naturally no affection involved.

With this change of heart, Liu Qi made Liu Fa the King of Jiaodong and Liu Xiaozhu the King of Changsha, thus completely eliminating any possibility of succession.