The protagonist of this crossover film and television series is disrupting the plot again.

Chapter 550 Joy of Life 106

"what?"

Li Hongcheng was struck dumb, standing there frozen, his mind blank.

After a long while, he staggered forward as if in a dream, grabbed the man's collar, and asked in a trembling voice, "You...you say it again, what happened to my father?"

With a sob in his voice, the man answered again, "The prince has passed away."

Upon hearing this devastating news, Li Hongcheng felt his hands and feet turn ice-cold, and a tremendous grief welled up from the depths of his heart, instantly overwhelming his reason.

His hands loosened their grip on the servant's collar, and he swayed precariously, as if he had lost all support.

Wasn't Father supposed to be in Nanzhao to retrieve the Crown Prince's body? How could he suddenly pass away when he was perfectly healthy?

Li Hongcheng's mind was in chaos, with countless questions swirling in his head, yet he couldn't find the answers.

He opened his mouth as if to say something, but found that his throat felt like it was blocked with cotton, and he couldn't make a sound.

"Young Master?" Seeing his appearance, Fan Ruoruo's eyes instantly welled up with tears. She gently pushed him, her voice filled with worry.

Li Hongcheng then regained his composure, suppressed the turmoil in his heart, and hurriedly returned to the palace with Fan Ruoruo and Fan Xian.

Upon seeing Prince Jing's personal attendants, he couldn't wait to ask, "Father was always in good health, how could he have suddenly passed away?"

The attendant was already sobbing uncontrollably. Upon hearing the question, he knelt down, tears streaming down his face, and choked out, “Your Highness, Your Highness was ordered to go to Nanzhao to retrieve the Crown Prince’s remains. However, just like the Crown Prince, you have been afflicted by the poisonous miasma of Nanzhao. The accompanying imperial physicians were also helpless. Your Highness held on for two days, but in the end… Waaah…”

Upon hearing the servant's words, Li Hongcheng felt a sharp pain in his chest, as if something were gripping it tightly, making it difficult to breathe. He leaned against the wall to steady himself: "Where are my father's remains now?"

The servant knelt on the ground, his eyes blurry with tears, and replied, "Lord Wang, who was ordered to go to Nanzhao with the prince, is already on his way back with the bodies of the crown prince and the prince. He should arrive in the capital in about two days."

Li Hongcheng closed his eyes, suppressing his grief, and ordered in a hoarse voice, "Let's get everything ready first!"

The servant acknowledged and turned to leave.

Fan Ruoruo had just experienced the pain of losing a close relative, so she understood Li Hongcheng's feelings very well.

The two looked at each other in silence, and suddenly felt a surge of sorrow, and both shed tears.

When Fan Xian witnessed this scene, he felt as if he had fallen into an ice cellar, enveloped from head to toe by a bone-chilling cold.

The Crown Prince's death was orchestrated by Emperor Qing, but could Prince Jing have been involved as well...?

Fan Xian closed his eyes, his mind filled with questions.

These two individuals are Emperor Qing's biological son and his closest blood relative.

The former acted irrationally and dissolutely, so killing him could be considered somewhat excusable.

But what about Prince Jing?

Prince Jing was just a leisurely prince who liked farming and didn't care about worldly affairs. He didn't get involved in politics at all, so why was he also removed by Emperor Qing?

Is it simply because he is of royal blood that he is destined to be suspected and purged?

Fan Xian frowned, his mind churning with countless questions, yet he couldn't find a reasonable answer.

Fan Xian originally planned to leave Kyoto as soon as possible, but now that this has happened, he can't leave and can only postpone his trip.

Not long after, the coffins of the Crown Prince and Prince Jing were sent to the capital.

In front of all the officials, Emperor Qing pretended to shed two tears, and then held a grand funeral for them.

The Empress Dowager and the Empress, aunt and niece, both lost their sons and fell ill and were bedridden.

These two women, one being Li Chengze's grandmother and the other his stepmother, are both currently ill.

To fulfill his filial duty, even though Li Chengze was not yet fully recovered, he could only force himself to enter the palace to visit her despite his illness.

Seeing the two of them in such pain, Li Chengze felt bad for them and decided to do a good deed by sending them to another world to reunite with their son.

Upon receiving the news, Emperor Qing was shocked. He never expected that the Empress Dowager and the Empress would die so suddenly. He immediately became suspicious and ordered people to begin investigating the cause of their deaths.

The people sent to investigate thoroughly examined everything from the couple's bedroom to the palace servants, and even their daily food and medicine, but they still couldn't find anything unusual.

Left with no other choice, Emperor Qing could only attribute the two women's deaths to excessive grief and personally handled their funeral arrangements.

At the same time, he also felt a little panicked.

It wasn't that he valued family ties so much, but rather that within a short month, five members of the royal family, including the Empress Dowager, the Empress, Prince Jing, the Crown Prince, and the Third Prince, had passed away one after another. Such a series of sudden changes instantly caused a great deal of discussion throughout the court and among the common people, with rumors spreading like wildfire.

Some even secretly spread rumors that he was incompetent and immoral, which is why God sent down divine punishment.

Isn't this pure nonsense?

Emperor Qing was furious, his face turning ashen, yet he was unable to explain himself.

Ultimately, the root of all these problems lies in two things: firstly, the Crown Prince's scandalous affair, and secondly, Ye Qingmei's involvement.

Both of these matters crossed his bottom line, and he would absolutely not reveal a single detail about them.

Therefore, Emperor Qing could only grit his teeth and, on the one hand, order the suppression of the rumors, and on the other hand, order the Ministry of Works to quickly prepare for the relevant matters of the sacrificial ceremony at Mount Dadong.

If he can successfully preside over the sacrificial ceremony, eliminate the other Grandmasters in one fell swoop, and then take the opportunity to proclaim his own strength as a Grandmaster to the world, then no one in the world will dare to utter a single word of criticism against him.

He could even take advantage of this favorable wind to launch an expedition and sweep across the surrounding countries.

With gunpowder as a powerful weapon, he could soon bring about an unprecedented unification of the world.

And he, Li Yunqian, will become an emperor for all time.

It will be recorded and passed down through history forever, until it becomes an immortal myth.

His dynasty will be passed down through generations... Hmm?

Emperor Qing, who was engrossed in his grand vision for the future, suddenly shuddered.

He suddenly realized a problem: he only had five sons, and apart from Fan Xian, who was an anomaly, the crown prince and the third son were gone, and the eldest son's bloodline was impure. It seemed that only the second son could inherit his throne.

Thinking of this, Emperor Qing frowned.

From the moment he decided to use Li Chengze as a whetstone, he had already completely given up on this son.

Even though he had given up on the Crown Prince, his only thought was to focus on cultivating the Third Prince before the birth of the new prince in the palace, and he did not take Li Chengze into consideration at all.

In his eyes, Li Chengze was nothing more than a tool to purge the old forces in the capital.

Unfortunately, plans can change quickly. Who could have predicted that Chen Pingping, that heartless bastard, would actually kill the Third Prince?

At this moment, Emperor Qing's hatred for Chen Pingping reached its peak, and he also regretted not having had more sons back then.

Does this mean that the choice of heir apparent can only be between the eldest and second sons?

Emperor Qing considered the problem carefully, but before he could come up with a solution, a palace attendant brought good news: "Your Majesty, someone from the Imperial Hospital has reported that this morning, when they took Consort Yi's pulse, they discovered that she is already one and a half months pregnant."

Emperor Qing was overjoyed: "Really?"

The eunuch nodded emphatically: "Absolutely true!"

A hearty smile involuntarily appeared on Emperor Qing's lips, his gloomy mood of the past few days finally vanished, and a surge of joy welled up in his heart: "This child has come at just the right time, solving my current problem perfectly."

Although the child has not yet been born and its gender is unknown, its very existence proves that it is capable of having more children.

Emperor Qing was not a womanizer, especially after he had a crown prince. He felt that he had a successor and only needed to focus on cultivating the crown prince, so he rarely went into the harem.

It wasn't until the crown prince was ten years old that he took Yi Cairen as his concubine, and they had a third prince.

At this point, his harem consisted of only four concubines: the Empress, Consort Shu, Consort Ning, and Consort Yi, plus a few lower-ranking concubines. For an emperor, this was a very small number.

Previously, when he decided to give up the crown prince, he thought he should pay more attention to the third prince, so he stayed overnight at the residence of Consort Yi, who was then Consort Yi.

Unexpectedly, she proved to be so fertile, becoming pregnant again in just one night.

Emperor Qing couldn't help but start to consider whether he should select a few more concubines to enrich his harem and have more princes.

However, he quickly shook his head and dismissed the idea.

Now that the Empress Dowager has just passed away, it is really inappropriate for him to take a concubine during the period of national mourning.

"It seems we should wait until we return from Da Dong Shan to discuss this matter."

As he spoke, Emperor Qing's eyes darkened slightly, and he began to ponder another matter in his heart.

Now that he no longer needs to worry about having offspring, he should continue with the plans he had previously made.

His indulgence of Li Chengze some time ago was nothing more than a carefully orchestrated game.

The goal was to wait until Li Chengze was at his most complacent before ruthlessly crushing him.

Given Li Chengze's personality, he would absolutely not be able to withstand such a huge drop in status.

To preserve his current power and position, he will inevitably struggle fiercely and resist desperately, even taking risks, such as when he goes to Da Dong Mountain for a sacrificial ceremony and conspires with his subordinates to rebel.

Ye Wan's presence will undoubtedly act as a catalyst in this storm, adding fuel to the fire.

Once all those with ulterior motives in Kyoto have surfaced, Ye Wan will launch a surprise attack according to the pre-arranged plan, completely eradicating all the rebels.

From this point on, all the hidden dangers in Kyoto will be eliminated, and his imperial power will be more secure.

Thinking of this, a cold smile flashed in Emperor Qing's eyes, and he then launched a thunderous crackdown on Li Chengze's forces.

This move was like a bolt from the blue, catching everyone completely off guard.

Now that things have developed to this point, everyone, including the eldest prince Li Chengru, believes that Li Chengze is the only choice for crown prince.

But no one expected that Emperor Qing's attitude would change so drastically. He no longer tolerated Li Chengze as before, but began to suppress him without mercy.

This change caused an uproar throughout the court and the public. Just when everyone was confused and somewhat bewildered, news spread directly from the palace that Consort Yi was pregnant.

This news was like a bombshell, instantly becoming the focus of heated discussion and providing a reasonable explanation for Emperor Qing's change of heart.

Suddenly, the imperial court was in turmoil, with various forces stirring up undercurrents, and an even greater storm was quietly brewing.

……

"Emperor Qing has finally made his move."

In the dimly lit study, the candlelight flickered.

Looking at the news reported by his subordinates, Li Chengze showed no anxiety whatsoever; instead, he breathed a sigh of relief.

He gently stroked the intelligence report in his hand, muttering to himself, "That's right, things should be done this thoroughly. That way, I'll have a reason to kill you, hehe."

A while ago, Emperor Qing hadn't made any move, and he almost thought that Emperor Qing had changed his mind and really intended to make him the crown prince.

It's alright though!

Old Deng is still Old Deng, ruthless and uncompromising in his actions.

Otherwise, if Emperor Qing really showed him goodwill, how could he have the nerve to take Emperor Qing's life?

But if we let Emperor Qing go, what about the torment the original owner suffered? Are we just going to swallow our anger and accept this half-cooked meal?

So, thankfully, Emperor Qing is still the same Emperor Qing.

Li Chengze finally calmed down, while Xie Bi'an and Fan Wujiu were as anxious as ants on a hot pan.

As one piece of bad news after another arrived, Xie Bi'an finally couldn't help but ask:

"Your Highness, what should we do now? His Majesty has already begun to target us, and in just a few days, our power has been greatly diminished. If this trend continues, I fear..."

Li Chengze waved his hand to stop him from saying anything more, picked up a pen and quickly wrote a few pages, handing them to Fan Wujiu: "Wujiu, go and spread these messages. Remember, don't make it too obvious."

Fan Wujiu took the Xuan paper, looked at it closely, and was immediately taken aback.

The document listed the names and crimes of more than a dozen court officials, including many high-ranking officials of the third rank or above.

The only thing these people had in common was that they had all pledged allegiance to Li Chengze.

Fan Wujiu opened his mouth, but ultimately said nothing and turned to do it.

Li Chengze watched his retreating figure and nodded in satisfaction.

Among the Eight Generals, Fan Wujiu was the most intelligent, which was one of the reasons why he liked to send him out on missions.

However, the original owner's existence is rather contradictory.

While it may be said that he was highly valued by Emperor Qing, everyone knew that he was merely a whetstone used by Emperor Qing to hone the crown prince.

While he may have a powerful backer, most of the people around him are like Li Yunrui, fickle and indecisive.

Li Chengze already harbored resentment towards these people, but unfortunately, they were now on his side.

If he were to handle the situation personally, he would certainly earn a reputation for integrity, but it would inevitably discourage his other subordinates. He could only give them a warning.

Now that Emperor Qing wants to suppress him, he has given Li Chengze an excellent opportunity.

He could have easily used Emperor Qing to eliminate these people.

This would both purify the forces behind it and buy time, allowing Emperor Qing to protect his core strength as much as possible before he went to Mount Dadong.

Li Chengze then took out the account book sent back from Jiangnan and happily tallied up his gains this time.

…………