Chapter 456: Being This Crown Prince Is Way Too Hard

"Sister, look, big brother and elder brother are exchanging glances; something's up between them!"

Sizi tugged Li Lizhi's hand, and his words were shocking.

Chen Yan and Li Chengqian both twitched the corners of their mouths; the latter, with a dark face, stared at his formerly cute younger sister, finding it hard to believe she could have become like this.

"Sigh—let's sit first."

The Crown Princess placed a hand on her forehead and invited everyone to sit first.

Chen Yan didn't sit; he walked to the bedside and carefully examined Li Chengqian's condition.

Play is play, and teasing is teasing, but you can't joke with a brother's life.

Later, Chen Yan made a preliminary judgment that Li Chengqian was indeed not in serious trouble, relaxed, raised an eyebrow and said, "Brother Cheng Qian, you really scraped a life back."

"The methods you fell into before were extremely vicious; having endured them now without perishing, there will surely be future blessings."

Li Chengqian, upon hearing this, finally let his lingering heart settle and said with emotion, "I really can count this as having scraped a life back. You don't know, but not long ago, at the worst point, I truly felt I couldn't hold on, fearing that once I fell asleep I would never wake up again."

He paused, his complexion suddenly darkening, eyes filled with a cold glint: "But the suffering I endured can't be counted like that. Once I recover, I will investigate who poisoned me; without avenging this, my heart won't be at peace."

Li Lizhi and Gao Yang fell silent.

Even now, they still can't believe anyone on earth would dare to strike Li Chengqian.

What nerve!

Chen Yan didn't think that way; after his initial surprise, he quickly accepted it.

After all, later Ming emperors, aside from founders, conquerors, those who pursued Dao without attending state affairs, or those indulging in wine and women, were generally short‑lived; saying there's no issue here, he doesn't believe.

Putting aside later eras, before the Zhen Guan period, Empress Dowager Hu of Northern Wei poisoned Emperor Xiaoming with the backing of the Hu clan; the Southern Dynasties' court assassinations sound like internal crown‑prince rivalries, yet still involve aristocratic families.

Those who have stood on this land for so long rely not on kindness, but on ruthlessness!

The Crown Princess spoke at this moment: "Father Emperor has secretly detained everyone involved in providing the poison, and they are now being interrogated, but so far there seems to be no result."

Li Chengqian was not surprised, "Since someone dared to poison me, they naturally had to consider the risk of exposure. Last year, someone slandered Du Ruhui for corruption—didn't they find anything?"

"This matter isn't urgent; I'm already unharmed, and I have plenty of time to investigate from now on!"

Chen Yan gave a slight nod; he had to admit that Li Chengqian increasingly bore the bearing a Crown Prince should have.

He still remembered that in the third year of Zhen Guan, this fellow was already on the brink of depression, his spirit nearly worn flat.

Gao Yang interjected at this moment: "Counting across the entire Tang Dynasty, how many would dare to poison you? Just consider the recent shifts in court; the clash between Father Emperor and the aristocratic families says it all."

"Even if this wasn't done by an aristocratic family, it would still be inseparable from them."

"There are no airtight walls in the world; last year's slander against Du Ruhui wasn't unsolvable, but Father Emperor simply chose not to pursue it further."

Hm?

Chen Yan stared at her, "You seem to know something?"

Gao Yang, cradling her daughter, lifted her chin and said coyly, "Of course. You think I, with a head as big as yours, wouldn't know how to use it?"

"I didn't even need to investigate; just hearing your brief description let me guess who was behind it."

"Who?" Even Li Chengqian became curious.

The matter was indeed too strange; the corruption case caused such a stir that even the gravely ill Du Ruhui, not yet recovered, was slandered into prison, only for it to abruptly fizzle out with no one mentioning it again.

How bizarre.

Gao Yang scanned the room, her gaze lingering a moment on Sizi, then lowered her voice, "Zheng Guanyin!"

"Zheng…" Li Chengqian subconsciously began to utter the name, but stopped as soon as he realized, saying nothing further.

Li Lizhi and the Crown Princess's pupils contracted; they inhaled deeply and did not continue asking.

Only Chen Yan, rubbing his chin, wore a thoughtful expression.

No wonder… if it were Zheng Guanyin, the corruption case ending without resolution does make sense.

It also explains why, even with Li Shimin's influence, they couldn't uncover the mastermind behind such a far‑reaching impact.

"Zheng Guanyin…"

Chen Yan muttered to himself, gazing at Li Chengqian lying on the couch, his heart stirred, and suddenly new ideas emerged.

Perhaps… he could use Zheng Guanyin to investigate exactly who poisoned Li Chengqian, and in some respects, help deal with the aristocratic families.

After all, judging from what Zheng Guanyin did last year, the woman harbors resentment, yet knows her limits and hasn't done anything intolerable.

From her standpoint, she seems even more aligned with the current aristocratic families!

"What kind of ghostly scheme are you cooking up now?" Gao Yang asked suspiciously.

Chen Yan shook his head, "Nothing, just pondering tomorrow's cooperation with the aristocratic families."

"Cooperation?"

Li Chengqian seemed to hear a huge joke, "Zi Anxiong, you're cooperating with the aristocratic families?"

"Do you even believe that once you say it?"

"Hahaha… hiss, ow!"

Chen Yan twitched his mouth, "Yesterday's grand wedding, the aristocratic family sent someone over, saying they wanted to cooperate with me to grow cotton. I guessed they couldn't use me, and foresaw the danger the Great Tang Daily posed to them, so they tried to win me over."

"Honestly, I'm quite tempted. After all, their aristocratic family has stood for years; the contacts and channels they control are unimaginable. I've always wanted to sell silk outside the Tang to bring back tenfold, even hundredfold profits, but lacking that channel, I never acted."

"Yesterday the aristocratic family brought this up to me; I think I can make use of it."

Li Chengqian pondered for a moment, "There are many old foxes among the aristocratic families; they might not trust your willingness to cooperate, perhaps they have other motives."

"Regardless, you're tightly bound to His Majesty; they may not grasp the benefits, but it's a fact you married Changle and Gao Yang."

"Maybe their proposed cooperation is just a trap."

"Then let's give it a try," Chen Yan said nonchalantly, "Rather than refuse and wait passively for the aristocratic families to act, it's better to cooperate, use each other, and let the winner take all in the end."

"They have their goals; I likewise have my considerations."

"At worst…" Chen Yan joked, "I could bring my wife and children here to live; with me around, anyone trying to poison you would find it difficult."

Li Chengqian's face turned bitter, "Stop bringing this up. I truly didn't expect that even grinding my own ink and drinking a little wine could lead to poisoning."

I feel being this Crown Prince is just too hard.

ps: Darlings, I have something important today, I'm taking a day off, love you all, muah!