Chapter 109: National Mourning Five years have passed in the blink of an eye, Xiang...

Five years passed in a blink of an eye. Xiang was sitting comfortably on the throne of the crown prince. Although he made some mistakes, fortunately, he did not make any irreparable mistakes. Everything was under control.

The ministers were quite satisfied with the crown prince and had accepted that they would live under her in the future.

Just as she turned twenty, and reached the marriageable age, Fu Li announced that she was going to choose a concubine for the crown prince.

As the crown prince, Xiang's marriage was destined to be determined by her own will. However, within the appropriate range, Fu Li was willing to let her choose the one who most appealed to her.

Fortunately, both Xiang's parents and Fu Li had been successful in raising her, at least not raising her to be a love-obsessed person. Xiang now understood what a suitable marriage meant to her.

Although she was the legitimate crown prince and her family was one of the earliest ministers to follow the king, she was not born and raised in Shu after all.

Her family had long ago migrated to Da Shang, and she was born in Da Shang. She was chosen by the king and brought back to Jinguan City when she was fifteen years old.

The fact that the Shu court accepted her had little to do with her intelligence, but was simply because Fu Li, who chose her, was a highly prestigious founding monarch.

To put it more clearly, the court officials did not believe in Xiang's ability, but in Fuli's vision.

Only when she married a Shu man and gave birth to children, could she be considered fully integrated, and only then would the ministers and the people abandon those cold judgments and truly regard her as a Shu person.

Yes, although she had been the crown prince of Shu for five years, the people of Shu did not completely regard her as a Shu citizen.

Fu Li's selection range was limited to males of marriageable age who held a third-rank official or higher position in the capital. Xiang didn't focus on talent or beauty, but instead chose the one with the most measured conversation.

The reason is simple: a person's upbringing can be best seen from his conversation, and the upbringing of his children can reveal whether the family can have long-term development.

She didn't want to marry the Crown Princess and then have her family get into trouble and have their property confiscated. That wouldn't just be bad for her, it would put him in an extremely embarrassing situation.

"Chosen?"

"It's chosen."

"That's it?"

"That's it."

"Not changing it anymore?"

"No change."

Ask important questions three times.

Fu Li asked her three times and confirmed that she had made up her mind, so he issued an imperial edict to announce to the world that he would marry the second son of Huang Yu, the left vice minister of the Ministry of Works, as the crown princess, and the marriage would take place on August 15 this year.

When the Ministry of Rites came to ask about the wedding ceremony, Fu Li said directly, "It's just one level lower than the ceremony for enthroning the empress."

Anyone with a discerning eye could see that the king was trying to save face for the crown prince and help him consolidate his authority. The ministers were no fools, and of course they could see which way the wind was blowing.

Led by the Ministry of Rites, the wedding was a beautiful affair. Since Shu had no curfew, the people of the capital spontaneously celebrated for three days.

For this reason, the chief officer of the Wucheng Bingmasi was worried that a large number of people would gather for a long time, which would lead to many unnecessary conflicts. He specifically asked Fu Li whether to disperse the people.

Fu Li directly rejected it.

Firstly, the crown prince's wedding is a joyous event celebrated by the whole nation; secondly, the people's spontaneous celebration is a manifestation of their love for the king, so why would she spoil the fun?

However, large crowds do tend to cause trouble. To maintain public order, Fu Li decided to give the Wucheng Bingmasi an extra month's salary, asking them to be more vigilant during these three days, patrolling the streets more frequently but avoiding conflicts with the people.

This was what she did openly. In secret, she also instructed Hong Xin to arrange for the Yulin Guards to hide in the crowd and guard against accidents, big or small.

As a result, during these three days, many people personally experienced something miraculous.

For example, a fried food vendor was nearly knocked over by a crowd. The couple watched helplessly as the oil in the pot splashed high into the air. They were ready to pay compensation if someone got hurt, only to see the pot right itself.

What made them even more stunned was that the boiling hot oil that splashed over the edge of the pot for more than a foot actually fell back on its own. Not only did it not burn anyone, not even a drop of it got on the stove.

Another example is that some adults are so engrossed in watching the fun that they lose sight of their children and scream in panic when they realize their children are gone.

Usually, after shouting four or five times, you can hear the child crying behind you.

At the time, I was so anxious that I didn't pay attention. I grabbed the child, hugged him, cried, hit him, and scolded him. Later, when I realized what was happening and asked him carefully, I learned from the child's fragmented and vague description that they had been crying for a long time and couldn't find their parents, and suddenly they saw their parents.

There are many more examples like this.

Because Fuli has been adhering to the principle of ruling people by people for many years, even if there are officials in the court with profound magical powers, they have always used the best methods humanly possible to solve problems.

Therefore, even if the king and many officials lived unusually long lives and never aged, the people of Shu would subconsciously ignore the fact that their king was not a mortal.

The various incidents that occurred during the three days of celebration were spread privately by the people. They all said that the king had good vision and the crown prince he chose was blessed by heaven, which benefited the people as well.

Xiang's position as crown prince was secured earlier than expected.

Fu Li saw it and was happy in her heart.

She even pulled Lingzhuzi along to start thinking about where to go for fun after abdicating. After having enough fun, they would go to pay respects to the elders.

As early as fifty years ago, Mount Emei had produced special cameras whose pixels and functions were far beyond the reach of mobile phones.

Fu Li has sent a message to Zhao Gongming, asking him to help buy a set of the latest photography equipment. The two of them want to travel all over the mountains and rivers to capture their images.

The following year, when spring arrived and flowers were in full bloom, the medical officer announced the good news that the prince was pregnant. The king was overjoyed and exempted all agricultural taxes for a year.

On the seventeenth day of the twelfth lunar month, the prince's eldest daughter was born, and the whole world celebrated.

Everything went so smoothly that people were so happy that they forgot everything else.

So, when the crisis came, everyone was caught off guard.

At that time, the crown prince's eldest daughter Huizhi was five years old, and the king ordered the crown prince to perform the New Year's ceremony on her behalf.

This is a precursor to the succession of power.

No one had ever expected that during the journey, a small poisonous insect hit the prince's face and bit him in panic.

It was just such a small bug, and with just one bite, half of Xiang's face became black and purple and swollen in an instant.

The medical officers reacted quickly and rushed to the scene to try and save the patient, but the toxin took effect too quickly and he was ultimately not saved.

When the news reached Jinguan City, Fu Li was completely stunned.

Zhao Gongming bought the best photography equipment for his apprentice out of his own pocket and delivered it to him personally.

When Fu Li received the message, she was fiddling with the bracket and accidentally twisted the extremely hard alloy bracket into a twisted snake shape.

Lingzhuzi hurried forward to support him, and Zhao Gongming asked worriedly, "My dear disciple, are you okay?"

Fu Li shook her head, gently pushed Ling Zhuzi away, and asked, "Where is Xiang'er? Where is Xiang'er?"

The visitor lowered his head and choked up, saying, "Your Highness's coffin is still on the way and probably won't arrive until tomorrow."

Fu Li was rarely angry: "I'm asking you, where is she now?"

The visitor mentioned the name of the place, but no one responded for a long time. When he looked up, he realized that the king, the queen, and the grandfather who had just arrived were all gone.

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The three of them rushed to the place where Xiang's coffin was placed. As soon as they arrived, Fu Li ordered Hong Xin to take the Yulin Guards to capture all the people involved in the ceremony and interrogate them separately.

At the same time, she also issued an edict to the Ministry of Justice, the Censorate and the Supreme Court, ordering the three departments to conduct a thorough investigation.

After exhausting all human and non-human means, the conclusion reached was an accident, a pure accident.

Fu Li couldn't catch her breath and almost fell over.

"Be careful!" Lingzhuzi held on to him. Besides being sad, he also felt the pain of years of dashed hopes.

But at this moment, he should comfort Fu Li and tell her that although the prince is gone, he still has a daughter.

Fu Li looked at Ling Zhuzi, her eyes full of guilt. She could neither say that she didn't care about the life or death of Shu Kingdom, nor could she ask the other party to understand her.

She has always been eloquent, but has she ever thought that one day she would be tongue-tied?

Taiyi Zhenren also received the news and rushed over. Unlike Zhao Gongming who stayed in Emei all year round, Taiyi Zhenren spent more time with Xiang, and the child was filial, so there was still a lot of affection between the grandfather and grandson.

But because Xiang was a mortal, and a mortal without the talent for cultivation, Taiyi Zhenren knew from the beginning that there would be a day of separation, and did not invest too deep feelings in her.

Therefore, although he was sad about Xiang's passing, his concern for his own disciple was far less than his. Seeing that the couple was stuck in an argument, he secretly poked Zhao Gongming and stepped forward to smooth things over: "This is something no one could have imagined. Take good care of the child's funeral."

Doesn't she have a daughter? Her name is Huizhi, right? Huizhi is also a good child, smart and clever, and an excellent choice for the crown prince."

Zhao Gongming rarely disagreed and echoed him, "This is Heaven's will, and it's not something we cultivators can defy. Fortunately, there are already candidates, so there's no need to trouble you to choose again."

Compared with Taiyi Zhenren, Zhao Gongming, who had never gotten along with Xiang, spoke in an especially cold tone.

After all, in his opinion, Xiang was just chosen by his disciple to inherit the throne. He was neither a formal disciple nor his disciple's biological son. He was not worthy of his attention at all.

What concerned him more was the unborn immortal fetus still in the immortal stone.

The one who felt the most aggrieved at this time was Lingzhuzi.

Just when his long-awaited wish was about to be fulfilled, it was suddenly dashed. Since this matter concerned the fate of an entire nation, he could not complain at all.

Fu Li pondered for a while and said, "Why don't you go back to Qianyuan Mountain and do some retreat? Huizhi is five years old this year. If you start teaching him now, he will be able to take on important responsibilities in twenty years at most."

As long as you don't use time-limiting magic tools, a mere twenty years of seclusion will pass quickly.

Upon hearing this, Taiyi Zhenren, who felt sorry for his disciple, his eyes lit up and he hurriedly followed suit to persuade him.

Zhao Gongming glanced at his disciple and seeing that she was serious, he followed suit.

Lingzhuzi had a gloomy face and didn't say anything for a long time. He just looked at Fuli deeply and nodded slightly.