Chapter 144: I have some metaphysics in me
There's something a bit of mystical about the late emperor's appointment of a crown prince. To test the will of heaven, the late emperor deliberately created something resembling a mock crown prince, intending that whoever was healthy would become the next crown prince. The results... some were stung by poisonous bees, some were chased against a wall by vicious dogs, some were hit by a plaque that fell from the sky, and some...
[Ah, look at this kind of bad luck! If we were to rank the sons who betrayed their parents, the late emperor would definitely be ranked high. Even a tyrant had his carriage overturned and fell into a stinking ditch because he was named the proposed crown prince.]
Although he was the least injured of all the princes, he was the most miserable. When he climbed out of the stinking ditch, he was surrounded by onlookers and became a laughing stock among the people.
Xiao Jingfan, whose unpleasant memories were suddenly awakened...his face turned two shades darker, and he could still smell the strange smell of the sewer.
Chu Liuzheng was still sighing here.
[The tallest among the short ones, so it seems that the tyrant becoming emperor is destined by heaven? Heaven's choice or something, well... hard to say.]
Xiao Jingfan, whose mood had gradually improved because of the first half of the sentence, couldn't help grinding his teeth when he heard the last two words, as if he wanted to chew up some audacious woman.
What's so difficult to comment on? Is there anything wrong with my role as emperor?
He was destined not to get an answer, because Chu Liuzheng's attention returned to the late emperor.
The late emperor was afraid of seeing his younger sons die before his time. After that, no matter how much the officials urged him, he never considered appointing a crown prince again. His attitude towards the princes was also ambiguous. He seemed to value all of them, yet seemed dissatisfied with none of them. While he was deceiving the heavens, he also made it difficult for the officials to take sides.
Since it's hard to judge the late emperor's attitude, we can only compete on our overall strength. Among the princes, Prince Cheng and the Fifth Prince are the most likely to inherit the throne. After all, one has a favored mother who will influence others, while the other has strong personal abilities and receives the most responsibilities.
[On the contrary, the tyrant, the final victor, has always been tepid, neither rising to prominence nor becoming prominent. It seems that apart from that face that is more outstanding than all the other princes, he has no real strength at all... Wait! I think I understand what the Minister of Shangbao is trying to do.]
Chu Liuzheng had an idea.
[This fellow stole two imperial edicts and gave them to two princes, just to try to play both sides. If either Prince Cheng or the Fifth Prince becomes emperor, he'll make a killing!]
[Tsk tsk, he had a good plan, but unfortunately he overlooked the tyrant, a dark horse who was hiding his true potential. The tyrant single-handedly defeated an entire group and ascended to the throne, leaving him with nothing. This angered him so much that he secretly stabbed the tyrant's villain.]
Piercing a villain?
very good.
Xiao Jingfan frowned and solemnly wrote down the name of Shangbao Siqing in the little notebook in his heart.
The Minister of the Imperial Treasures was chatting with Prince Cheng when suddenly his right eyelid began to twitch violently, making him feel very anxious.
Prince Cheng was not interested in watching a man blinking his right eyelid at him like a cramp, so he considerately stopped talking and signaled Shangbao Siqing to do as he pleased.
Shangbao Siqing ended the conversation with a convulsive smile.
Prince Cheng turned around with a smile, a hint of gloom flashing across his eyes.
Here, Chu Liuzheng continued to search in the system, wanting to eat the whole melon.
[Hmm... The Fifth Prince has made the blank edict into the late emperor's will. The one in Prince Cheng's hand is still blank. I wonder what his plan is. Tsk tsk, if the tyrant knew of the existence of these two edicts, he would probably be so upset that he couldn't sleep or eat.]
Xiao Jingfan, who was forced to know: "..."
Thanks for the invitation. I want to kill two people to vent my anger.
Chu Liuzheng suddenly caught sight of a line of words and paused. After reading it, his mouth opened slightly in surprise.
[Frog Fun! The Fifth Prince's Consort Can Actually Disguise Herself!!]
This is truly a case of daring and skill! Relying on her superb disguise, while the Imperial Guards were bustling the city arresting people, she had already disguised herself as Han Cunzhong's mistress, not only planning her strategy in secret but also slipping under their noses quite a few times.
Han Cunzhong had been away from the capital for many years and had no contact with the Fifth Prince's men. Who would have thought that Han Cunzhong was also a secret agent left behind by the Fifth Prince? Even the Jinyiwei missed him when they were arresting him.
Han Cunzhong confessed so readily before, wasn't it because he was worried that the Fifth Prince's wife would be implicated? If this matter were to be discovered, it's unclear whether Han Cunzhong's entire clan could be saved, but the entire clan would definitely be executed.
[Tsk tsk, he really cared about the Fifth Prince's wife, but it's a shame she'd rather destroy a useful chess piece than take his life. After all, only the dead have the tightest tongues.]
Xiao Jingfan: "..."
After searching for so long, he turned out to be hiding in the capital and even knew how to disguise himself.
I really underestimated that woman who would fall down at the slightest gust of wind and would cry for a long time just looking at a wild flower by the roadside!
However, the Embroidered Uniform Guards arrested all of Han Cunzhong's relatives and friends and found no suspicious persons. The woman must have escaped.
Chu Liuzheng's next words confirmed this.
[…After issuing the final order, the Fifth Prince's consort fled to Jiangnan to reunite with her son. Alas, she's mastered the art of disguise, changing into five or six fake identities just on her way to Jiangnan. How could anyone possibly track her down? Where on earth did the Fifth Prince manage to marry such a powerful consort?]
She curiously looked up the life story of this master of disguise, muttering to herself as she flipped through the pages.
[I remember that the Fifth Prince's Consort was just the daughter of a minor sixth-rank official. She saved the Fifth Prince's life when he fell into the water. In gratitude for her life-saving grace, the Fifth Prince petitioned the late Emperor to grant her a marriage. This was even praised as a beautiful story at the time... Wait!]
Chu Liuzheng widened his eyes. Xiao Jingfan, who was eavesdropping, bit his back teeth, silently prepared himself for the deafening sound in his ears again, and focused all his attention on the inner voice.
[Holy crap! The Fifth Prince's wife is actually an orphan from the previous dynasty!]
Xiao Jingfan's first reaction was, "It's really loud!" And then... an orphan from the previous dynasty?!
"No, the throne of Dasheng has been passed down for six generations. How could there still be orphans from the previous dynasty? You still want to overthrow the Dasheng empire? What the hell is going on?"
Chu Liuzheng, having uncovered the identity of the Fifth Prince's consort, was speechless. Before they launched their rebellion against the Yong Dynasty, they should have done some public research. How many people still remembered the utterly corrupt Yong Dynasty? Who still considered themselves citizens of the Yong Dynasty?
Return to Yong, stop making trouble!
She continued to scroll through the pages, and as she was flipping through, her consciousness suddenly shook, and she almost turned off the system.
[Wow! The murderer who poisoned the late emperor wasn't the favored Concubine Dowager, but her good daughter-in-law, the Fifth Prince's wife, who helped make the osmanthus lotus root soup. It was she who poisoned the osmanthus lotus root soup, which is why the late emperor died suddenly, and the princes seized the throne, almost causing chaos in the world!]
Xiao Jingfan's eyelids jumped when he heard this. The murderer was not that vicious woman. Then he had to kill...
【Wait a minute, it's too early to draw conclusions. 】
Xiao Jingfan, who thought he had killed the wrong person: "..."
Could you please stop breathing so hard!
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