EBE Chapter 551 Joy of Life 107
Chapter 551 Joy of Life 107
When Li Yunrui formed an alliance with him, he used the Ming family of Jiangnan to give him money.
However, the Ming family gradually became arrogant. Relying on the power of the two of them, after taking control of the three workshops of the Jiangnan Imperial Treasury, they began to show signs of breaking away from Li Chengze's control.
When Fan Xian went to Jiangnan to reorganize the Imperial Treasury, he inevitably clashed with the Ming family. During this time, he clashed with the old lady of the Ming family many times, and the relationship between the two sides eventually reached a fever pitch.
In order to keep the three major workshops under her control, the old lady of the Ming family did not hesitate to sacrifice dozens of lives to hold Fan Xian back.
In the end, Fan Xian found Xia Qifei, the illegitimate son of the Ming family. The two of them worked together to kill everyone in the Ming family and successfully took control of the Inner Treasury.
Neither Fan Xian nor Xia Qifei knew exactly how much money the Ming family had.
Li Chengze had already planted spies in Jiangnan, and taking advantage of the chaos, he tampered with the account books and secretly transferred most of the Ming family's assets.
With this money, Li Chengze's already meager wallet instantly became much fuller.
Li Chengze was overjoyed when he saw the catalog of treasures and the amount of gold and silver he had brought back.
Just then, a servant came to report: "Your Highness, the Prince Jing's heir has come to visit."
"Prince Jing's heir? Li Hongcheng?" Li Chengze was slightly taken aback, a look of surprise appearing on his face.
Since he broke Lee Hong-sung's leg, the other party has not visited again.
Later, when Li Hongcheng got married, he again used the excuse of being "ill" to not attend in person, but only sent someone to deliver a generous gift.
Now, it's been several months since the two last met.
Li Chengze was quite surprised that Li Hongcheng had suddenly come to his door.
After pondering for a moment, Li Chengze said, "Please invite them to the flower hall first. I will be there in a moment."
Upon hearing this, the servant nodded respectfully in agreement and then quietly withdrew.
………………
So what exactly is Li Hongcheng here for?
It turns out that after Li Hongcheng finished handling Prince Jing's funeral, he still harbored suspicions about Prince Jing's death.
Although his father was not a ninth-rank martial artist and had not yet reached the level of being immune to all poisons, he would never be killed by a small poisonous miasma.
This is completely illogical.
The more Li Hongcheng thought about it, the more he felt there was more to the matter, so he began to investigate secretly.
He questioned the attendants who accompanied Prince Jing to Nanzhao in detail, deducing Prince Jing's behavior during his lifetime.
This investigation indeed uncovered some clues. In a moment of impulsiveness, Li Hongcheng immediately wanted to enter the palace to request Emperor Qing's permission to go to Nanzhao to thoroughly investigate the matter.
However, his actions startled Fan Xian, who quickly stopped him.
Fan Xian knew perfectly well that the Crown Prince's death was orchestrated by Emperor Qing, and that Prince Jing's mysterious death was also very likely related to Emperor Qing.
If Li Hongcheng were to rashly enter the palace now and reveal all the suspicious points, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Given Emperor Qing's ruthlessness, he would likely not tolerate anyone who might threaten him in order to eliminate any future troubles.
At that time, Li Hongcheng will not only fail to uncover the truth, but will also lose his life in vain.
If Li Hongcheng dies, wouldn't Ruoruo become a widow?
This is bad! This is really bad!
Fan Xian stopped Li Hongcheng and tried to persuade him with all his heart, but no matter what he said, it was all in vain.
The person who died was Li Hongcheng's father! His own father!
If he knew that his father had been harmed by others, yet still chose to remain indifferent, wouldn't he be worse than a beast and unworthy of being a son?
Seeing that he couldn't persuade him otherwise, Fan Xian took a deep breath and tried to make his tone more calm: "Li Hongcheng, calm down! If you rush to the palace now, you won't find out the truth, and you'll only get yourself into trouble!"
"???"
Although Li Hongcheng was blinded by hatred, he was not completely irrational. Upon hearing Fan Xian's words, he immediately sensed that something was wrong.
His eyes widened suddenly, and he instinctively grabbed Fan Xian's shoulders, asking urgently, "Fan Xian, what do you mean by that? Do you know something?"
At this moment, Li Hongcheng was like a drowning man grasping at the last straw, determined to pry an answer out of Fan Xian.
Fan Xian frowned and directly brushed Li Hongcheng's hand away.
Now that Emperor Qing has his eye on Prince Jing's residence, there's no point in continuing to hide it. So he gritted his teeth and asked, "Do you know why the Crown Prince was suddenly sent to Nanzhao by His Majesty? And why Li Yunrui was also abruptly sent to his fiefdom?"
Li Hongcheng was taken aback, wondering why Fan Xian would bring this up, so he asked, "Why?"
Fan Xian lowered his voice: "Because the Crown Prince and the Eldest Princess had an affair, which His Majesty discovered. His Majesty was furious that the two had done something shameful and tarnished the royal family's reputation, so he decided to kill them."
"what?"
Upon hearing this, Li Hongcheng was struck dumb as if by lightning. He staggered back two steps and slumped into a chair, unable to recover for a long time.
Whether it was the scandalous affair between the Crown Prince and the Eldest Princess, or Emperor Qing's ruthless killing of his son, both events severely impacted his values, making it difficult for him to accept them for a time.
Even Fan Ruoruo, who had been standing quietly to the side, was startled by these two explosive pieces of news. She subconsciously covered her mouth with her sleeve, her eyes filled with shock.
After a long while, Li Hongcheng finally found his voice. He swallowed hard, his throat so dry he could barely speak, and could only manage to say with difficulty, "So... the Crown Prince was killed by His Majesty, then my father was also killed by...?"
Fan Xian's expression was grave as he slowly nodded: "I also had this suspicion. If Prince Jing's death is truly related to His Majesty, then your rash entry into the palace now would be tantamount to walking into a trap. Given His Majesty's methods, do you think he would let you leave alive?"
Li Hongcheng's body trembled slightly, and a sense of fear began to grow in his heart.
Unlike Fan Xian's modern thinking, after learning that it was highly likely that Emperor Qing had killed his father, he immediately felt as if he had fallen into a bottomless swamp, tightly wrapped in thick silt, unable to escape no matter how hard he struggled.
It was as if I was being pressed under an invisible mountain, unable to breathe.
If the king wants the minister to die, the minister has to die.
This statement was like an invisible shackle, binding him firmly within the framework of feudal ethics.
Even as royalty, they could not escape this deeply ingrained concept.
If anyone in the world other than Emperor Qing had killed Prince Jing, no matter how powerful or skilled they were, he would have rushed forward without hesitation and done everything in his power to avenge his father.
But if that person were Emperor Qing, a deep sense of powerlessness welled up inside him.
"Why……"
Li Hongcheng's voice was low and hoarse: "Why did Your Majesty kill my father? My father had clearly done his best to stay away from court intrigues, spending his days farming and growing vegetables, living a life of peace and tranquility. Wasn't that enough? Didn't all of this prove my father's loyalty?"
His voice gradually choked up, and his eyes reddened: "Is it because of me? Because I sided with the Second Prince, which displeased His Majesty? But... but even so, it doesn't warrant taking Father's life!"
My father never did anything to betray the royal family, nor did he participate in any factional struggles. Why did he end up like this?
At this point, Li Hongcheng could no longer control his emotions, his hands clenched into fists, his knuckles turning white from the force.
Anger, resentment, and grief intertwined, culminating in a low growl: "Why?!"
Fan Xian said with exasperation, "Don't you understand? Our Emperor values power above all else. He cannot tolerate anyone being out of his control, much less anyone threatening or coveting his throne."
"Back then, Ye Qingmei, Chen Pingping, Prince Jing, and my father worked together to put His Majesty on the throne. But in His Majesty's eyes, this was not a merit, but a potential threat."
“He feared that these people would unite again and, like they had elected him, elect another prince to the throne. So he eliminated them one by one to consolidate his imperial power.”
"Prince Jing may have long been aware of His Majesty's intentions, so in recent years he has deliberately distanced himself from the center of power and tried to be a leisurely prince who does not compete with the world."
"The problem is that before, with the Crown Prince, His Majesty didn't have to worry about the successor. But now the political situation has changed drastically. The First Prince's mother is of low status and can hardly win the support of the people; the Crown Prince and the Third Prince are dead; the Second Prince has been poisoned and is almost unable to participate in politics. His Majesty no longer has a suitable prince to inherit the throne."
“Prince Jing was His Majesty’s own brother, a blood relative. But precisely because of this, His Majesty was even more wary of him. He feared that Prince Jing might harbor some ambitions, so he struck first and ruthlessly eliminated Prince Jing.”
Fan Xian now views every move of Emperor Qing as a conspiracy.
Emperor Qing's ruthlessness has far exceeded ordinary people's imagination. Now he is only afraid that he has not thought things through enough, and that he may have fallen into Emperor Qing's trap somewhere.
Li Hongcheng, born into the royal family, was used to these conspiracies and intrigues. While he felt a chill at Fan Xian's words, he also had to admit that what Fan Xian said made sense.
"Then what should I do? That is His Majesty. Even if I do my best, it will be nothing but a drop of water to him. How can I avenge my father?"
Upon hearing this, Fan Xian fell silent.
Li Hongcheng was powerless against Emperor Qing, so how could he possibly stand up to him?
If he had a way to deal with Emperor Qing, he wouldn't be standing here.
Fan Xian took stock of his influence in the Qing Kingdom and found that he had nothing behind him.
He is now truly alone, his only support being the Prince Jing's mansion. But now that Prince Jing is dead, even this last bit of support has vanished.
As for the cooperation agreement previously reached with the Empress Dowager and the young emperor of Northern Qi, it was merely a stopgap measure limited to the economic sphere.
Northern Qi would love for Qing to fall into chaos, so how could it possibly help him?
Now, he can't even protect himself, let alone fight against Emperor Qing.
If Emperor Qing were to attack them now, he and Li Hongcheng would be virtually defenseless.
Thinking of this, his brows furrowed even more.
While Fan Xian was building up his power base, Li Hongcheng was also quietly sorting out the connections he could rely on.
After pondering for a long time, he suddenly slapped his thigh, a glint of light flashing in his eyes: "We can seek refuge with the Second Prince. Although the Second Prince is currently being suppressed by His Majesty, even a starved camel is bigger than a horse; he can certainly save our lives for the time being. Then we can slowly plot our way up to the throne, and wouldn't that be the way to take revenge?"
"Your idea... hey? It makes sense!" Fan Xian was about to say that Li Hongcheng's idea was unreliable, but he realized what he was saying before he could finish.
Since the good news spread in the palace, Emperor Qing began to suppress Li Chengze, clearly paving the way for the unborn prince.
Li Chengze had been vying with the Crown Prince for so many years. Now that the Crown Prince was dead and the throne was within reach, how could he possibly be willing to give it up to an unborn child?
Moreover, Emperor Qing's upcoming trip to Mount Dadong undoubtedly presents Li Chengze with an excellent opportunity.
If I can seize this opportunity and plan carefully, I might be able to dethrone Emperor Qing and put Li Chengze on the throne.
Losing the throne is the best revenge against Emperor Qing.
Fan Xian felt more and more that this plan was possible, and his heart pounded with excitement.
As for whether Li Chengze might refuse his offer of allegiance?
Impossible! Absolutely impossible!
Now that he holds the Imperial Treasury, a treasure trove of wealth from all over the world, how could Li Chengze possibly refuse such a great temptation?
Therefore, the initiative is now in his hands.
After arriving in Kyoto, he met many people, but he rarely interacted with Li Chengze.
I saw him once from afar at the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests; he seemed like a kind person.
But you can know a person's face but not their heart. He couldn't hand over the throne to a foolish and tyrannical ruler just to get rid of Emperor Qing.
Therefore, before seeking refuge with this person, one should carefully examine the character of this Second Prince.
Li Hongcheng did say many good things about Li Chengze in front of Fan Xian.
Although Li Chengze broke his leg last time, creating a rift between them, he could still understand it in the end, as it was to save his life. He just found it hard to accept at the moment.
After some discussion, Fan Xian and Li Hongcheng finally reached an agreement and quietly arrived at Li Chengze's residence under the cover of night.
His previous experience at the Second Prince's residence left a considerable shadow on Li Hongcheng. His legs started to cramp at the mere sight of the gate.
In contrast, Fan Xian appeared fearless, constantly glancing around at his surroundings behind the servants leading the way.
After being led to the flower hall, the two found it empty and there was no sign of Li Chengze.
Lee Hong-sung opened his mouth, but in the end, he didn't say anything.
He and Lee Seung-taek grew up together and later publicly supported each other, maintaining a very close relationship.
In the past, when he came here, he was always led directly to Li Chengze, and he had never had to wait.
It seems the two of them have become estranged after all. I wonder if Li Chengze will help them this time.
Li Hongcheng couldn't help but feel a little uneasy.
Since it was Fan Xian's first visit, he assumed it was a rule of the manor and didn't find anything unusual, so he continued to carefully observe his surroundings.