In the world of "Covering the Sky": An Analysis of the Ancient Sacred Body at the Start

"Chen Pingping, is the news confirmed? That rebellious son is indeed strengthening his troops on the border and expanding his army without authorization. Could it be that he truly harbors rebellious intentions?"

Inside the Qing Kingdom's palace, after reading the intelligence personally delivered by Chen Pingping, Emperor Qing appeared calm on the surface, but in reality, he was furious beyond measure.

Throughout history, the greatest taboo of monarchs has been rebellion. Even if the person who plots against them is their own son, anyone who covets the throne will be their enemy.

"Your Majesty, I dare not speak presumptuously as to whether the Crown Prince harbors any rebellious intentions, but it is an undeniable fact that the Crown Prince has been privately expanding his army on the border."

"In just six months, the border troops have expanded from 100,000 to 200,000, but even so, the Crown Prince still has no intention of stopping the expansion."

"In addition, as early as six months ago, all the spies planted by the Control Yuan in the border army lost contact and may have already met with misfortune..."

According to the rules of the Control Yuan, the secret agents are required to report their situation to their superiors once a month, but all the secret agents have lost contact since six months ago.

To this end, Chen Pingping dispatched several groups of people to the border to gather information, but those people disappeared without a trace.

Until half a month ago, a secret agent finally returned with serious injuries, but he fell into a coma as soon as he returned to the Control Yuan and only woke up today.

After the spy woke up, he immediately reported to Chen Pingping that the eldest prince had been secretly expanding his army on the border, which was suspected of being a plot to rebel.

Upon learning of this, Chen Pingping dared not delay for a moment and immediately went to the palace to meet the Emperor and report the matter to him.

"Well, none of my sons are easy to deal with. The ones I keep by my side are busy fighting for power every day."

"The one far away on the border, whom I thought was a law-abiding citizen, has secretly expanded his army without my knowledge. His rebellious intentions are now crystal clear!"

Emperor Qing laughed in extreme anger, his chest heaving violently, clearly furious. He almost revealed his aura and exposed his Grandmaster strength.

"Your Majesty, it is too early to draw conclusions now. There may be a misunderstanding. Why not issue an edict to summon the First Prince back to the capital and clarify the matter in person?"

"Report... Urgent dispatch!"

At this moment, an urgent report came from outside the palace. At Emperor Qing's instruction, two imperial guards quickly led a courier into the palace to meet the emperor.

"Your Majesty, something terrible has happened! Urgent news has arrived from the northern border: the First Prince has rebelled..."

"What a fine 'cleansing the court of corrupt officials' and 'pacifying the country'! The ministers around me are all treacherous and sycophantic. What am I then? A tyrant? What a despicable wretch."

After reading the proclamation against the traitors who were purging the court of corrupt officials and quelling the national crisis, Emperor Qing was so angry that his hands trembled. He threw the proclamation at Chen Pingping, forcing him to take a look as well.

"You were just pleading for him, and look what he's saying about you! He calls you a treacherous minister who deceives the emperor and wreaks havoc on the court, and he's even issued a proclamation to punish you..."

So what if they rebelled? It's a wonder that the rebellious son could come up with reasons like "purging the court of corrupt officials" and "pacifying the country."

"This proclamation is well written. It mentions not only the old minister but also that old bastard Fan Jian, which makes the old minister feel a bit more at ease."

"How does His Majesty intend to end this farce orchestrated by the First Prince? This proclamation denouncing the traitor will likely spread soon; the whole world is watching."

In Chen Pingping's eyes, the eldest prince's rebellion was a farce. Now it was up to Emperor Qing to consider their father-son relationship and save the eldest prince's life.

"Just as you said, this proclamation will likely spread throughout the land soon. If I show favoritism and pardon that rebellious son, won't the other princes follow suit?"

If it were anything else, Emperor Qing might have spared his life out of consideration for their father-son relationship, but rebelling had crossed his bottom line.

"This old minister understands..."

Chen Pingping seemed not to be surprised at all. He knew Emperor Qing very well. Although Emperor Qing was talented, brave and resourceful, he was also cold-blooded, ruthless and suspicious.

His suspicious nature made him constantly wary of those around him, and he was willing to use any means necessary and sacrifice everything in order to consolidate his imperial power.

……

"Pfft~ What did you say? The boss has rebelled? How is that possible? I know the boss; he has no ambition. How could he possibly rebel?"

Upon receiving the news, the Second Prince Li Chengze's first reaction was disbelief. He would rather believe that the Crown Prince had rebelled than that the First Prince Li Chengru would rebel.

"This is absolutely true. His Highness the Crown Prince has indeed raised an army in rebellion and issued a proclamation denouncing the rebels. It is estimated that it will reach the capital soon..."

"What kind of proclamation against the traitors? Let me see it... 'Purge the court of corrupt officials and quell the national crisis'? This proclamation is well-written. It seems the boss has some talented people under his command."

Seeing Xie Bi'an's confident assertion, Li Chengze finally believed that his eldest brother, Li Chengru, had indeed rebelled.

……

"Is this really true? Has the boss really started a rebellion? In just a few days, he has captured several cities and is now leading an army of 200,000 towards the capital?"

At the same time, Crown Prince Li Chengqian also received the news. Like the Second Prince Li Chengze, he initially did not believe that Li Chengru would rebel.

"Your Highness, the news has been confirmed. The First Prince has indeed launched a rebellion, and his army will be able to reach the capital in about half a month..."

"Has something happened to Ning Cairen? Otherwise, given the boss's personality, he wouldn't rebel for no reason. You should go and find out..."

"promise!"

Crown Prince Li Chengqian suspected that something might have happened to Consort Ning, but his father had kept the news from him, which was why he didn't know.

……

"Purge the court of corrupt officials and quell the national crisis? Why does this sound so familiar? Isn't this the slogan used by Emperor Yongle (Zhu Di) when he rebelled?"

Fan Xian also received the news. He didn't care whether the eldest prince, Li Chengru, rebelled or not; his focus was on the proclamation denouncing the traitor.

He recalled carefully and realized that this proclamation against the rebels was the same proclamation issued by Emperor Yongle (Zhu Di) when he rebelled, but with slight modifications.

As for why he remembered it so clearly, Fan Xian wasn't entirely sure. Anyway, after "transmigrating" to this world, he gained a lot of knowledge.

Take Dream of the Red Chamber for example. He was able to recite the entire novel, which has more than 700,000 words, without missing a single word. Even he himself was surprised.

Although he had read Dream of the Red Chamber, his memory wasn't good enough to remember everything he read. Yet, with just a little recollection, he could recall it word for word.

"Could it be that the First Prince, Li Chengru, is also a time traveler like me? It seems necessary to meet with the First Prince and confirm this matter..."

I wonder if there's still a chance? After all, if you fail in a rebellion, you'll lose your head.