Your Highness... His Majesty..."
Obsessed with cultivating immortality, he asked about such ethereal matters. During this trip to Mount Qishan, Sheng Yuan soldiers suffered heavy casualties, and even the Po Sha Army he led suffered numerous casualties.
But as the ruler of a country, Your Majesty did not care at all and left all matters, big or small, of state and military affairs to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.
This time, even without His Highness's consent, three concubines were stuffed into the Prince's Mansion. Posha felt sorry for his own prince, but he also knew that these matters were not something he, a small commander of the Posha Army, could interfere in.
Looking at the murderous aura of Huangfu Lingao, Posha felt a little annoyed. He didn't know how to help His Highness share the burden. Not everyone is as eloquent as that man!
"Your Highness, do you believe that the National Master can cultivate Taoism and become an immortal?" Po Sha could not discuss the emperor, so he asked the National Master.
Huangfu Lingao continued walking, "Throughout history, countless emperors have dreamed of becoming immortals or Buddhas, achieving immortality. Have you ever heard of anyone who succeeded?"
"What about the Imperial Master?"
"Hmph, but it's just opportunism. One should do his job well as a state teacher. As the national teacher, he should advise the emperor and ensure the safety of the people. However, Zhibai only knows how to deceive the emperor, cultivates immortality and asks about the way without caring about the affairs of state. It's unrealistic, and he deserves death." Huangfu Lingao's face was stern.
"Greetings, His Royal Highness..." The man, dressed in a light blue brocade robe, wore his dark hair half-tied and draped behind him, adorned with a jade crown. He was thin, his face as handsome as a jade. He wore a refreshing, natural smile, neither humble nor overbearing.
"Cousin..." When Huangfu Lingao saw the person coming, the coldness on his face faded away and brought a little warmth.
The visitor was Shang Chen, the Crown Prince of the Shang Kingdom, Huangfu Lingao's aunt, and the son of the late Queen Shang. He was also Huangfu Lingao's cousin.
Since Shang Chenzhi was six years old, he was brought to the imperial capital of Shengyuan Kingdom and grew up with Huangfu Lingao, and they had a very close relationship.
"Prince..." Seeing the unhappy expression on Huangfu Lingao's face, Shang Chen readily changed the address to "cousin".
Shang Chen smiled helplessly, still like when he was a child. Shang Chen recalled the first time he met Huangfu Lingao in the Shengyuan Palace. Huangfu Lingao was only 4 years old at the time, and he was only 6 years old. He was a child who had just suffered a sudden disaster and his country was destroyed and his family was ruined.
When he first arrived in Shengyuan Kingdom, facing his uncle the emperor and aunt whom he had never met before, he did not feel the joy of seeing his relatives, but only panic and anxiety.
Even at that time, he was two years younger than me, only 4 years old, but he could already see the maturity of a teenager. Huangfu Lingao, with a stern face, took his hand and called out, "Cousin"
From then on, the little prince who enjoyed all the favors of the royal family of Shengyuan Kingdom stuck to him, and his cousin with an extremely embarrassing identity lived a much better life.
20 years have passed, and the once cold-faced, pretentious little boy has grown up to become the mighty prince of war. But his friendship with him remains sincere.
Shang Chen said: "Cousin, you just returned to the imperial capital? Didn't you see His Majesty?"
Huangfu Lingao was in a bad mood, but he didn't say anything. He just thought about the message left at the foot of Mount Qi. Although he tried to control it as quickly as possible, he had missed the opportunity when he went down the mountain.
Now rumors have spread in many places: Emperor Sheng Yuan persecuted the Shang royal family and destroyed the Shang Kingdom for his own selfish desires, and so on.
This was also the reason why he rushed to the palace as soon as he came back today. Huangfu Lingao naturally tended to believe that this was a deliberate instigation by the mastermind behind this trip.
Or maybe Huangfu Lingao was unwilling to believe this. He would definitely find out the truth of 20 years ago, but Huangfu Lingao looked at Shang Chen in front of him.
He knew that if someone really did it, whether it was true or false, Shang Chen, the Crown Prince of Shang, would find out sooner or later.
Huangfu Lingao said, "Cousin, you should have heard that I took a detour to Mount Qishan on the orders of our father."
Shang Chen was stunned for a moment, guessing what Huangfu Lingao was going to say next. He put away his teasing expression and nodded seriously: "I have heard a little bit about it."
Shang Chen didn't lie. Although the Emperor of Shengyuan didn't restrict his movements in the capital, and his status was still nominally the Crown Prince of Shang, Shang wasn't considered part of Shengyuan. It was just that Shengyuan was in charge of Shang's affairs until he returned to ascend the throne. His status was, after all, sensitive.
He seldom left the house and was not particularly concerned with Sheng Yuan's political affairs. Furthermore, by the time this news, which was detrimental to Sheng Yuan, reached the imperial capital, it had already been embellished countless times.
Huangfu Lingao stared at Shang Chen and said, "During the trip to Qishan, someone used the name of Shengyuan State to lure soldiers from the three kingdoms and people from the underworld to gather at Qishan to exorcise demons and search for treasures. Countless soldiers and people from the underworld were killed or injured.
Someone even deliberately spread the news that the Shang royal family suffered a devastating disaster that was intentionally done by the Emperor of Shengyuan Kingdom in order to seize the treasure on Mount Qishan in Shang Kingdom..."
"Cousin, please be careful with your words..." Shang Chen's eyebrows jumped and he stopped Huangfu Lingao from saying anything else.
Zhou Nian once hinted that this might have been done by Shang Chen. After all, if this was true, Shang Chen would definitely want revenge for the national hatred and family feud.
If the events of that year were indeed caused by the Shang Emperor being deceived by people or demons, then as the crown prince of Shang, he had received the great kindness of Sheng Yuan for twenty years.
The people of Shang were under Sheng Yuan's protection, and even many of the royal family members of Shang had already begun to feel that they belonged to Sheng Yuan. If Shang Chen wanted to return home smoothly, take over Shang, and ascend the throne as emperor without being criticized by the world, he would have to turn kindness into hatred, as hatred often brings people closer together.
When Zhou Nian said this, he was not confused, but he didn't believe it. He believed that someone might be secretly operating, but that person was definitely not Shang Chen.
Now he was clearly testing Shang Chen, but also trusting him. He didn't want anyone else to hear about this matter, nor did he want anyone else to tell him the truth.
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