Chapter 983: Four Ounces Deflecting a Thousand Pounds

Yes.

No one expected it.

Liu Zheng actually dared to do this.

Just as he was still sailing on the ship, a bombshell piece of news was sent out by him.

He had found the corpse of the Crown Prince, Xie Fang.

The entire Longyan was in an uproar.

The Crown Prince?

Xie Fang?

A corpse?

This...

Those who were still waiting for the Crown Prince to return were all acting like they had gone mad. He died? Just like that?

What is to be done now?

The entire imperial court was also filled with panic.

The entire Li Dynasty was even more filled with wailing everywhere.

The Crown Prince is dead.

This is a major event.

Of course, after Xie Fang went missing earlier, many people felt that he was in grave danger, but since his corpse had not been found, firstly, the imperial court would not replace the Crown Prince at this time, and secondly, people still held some hope for the Crown Prince's return. After all, as long as the Crown Prince was there, the imperial court could be considered stable, and people still had something to look forward to.

But now.

Now.

Liu Zheng had essentially poked a hole through this layer of window paper all at once.

Everyone panicked.

Once this layer of window paper was poked through, it was equivalent to this returning Vice Minister Liu throwing a bomb at the Longyan Dynasty... You all, go ahead and play among yourselves for now.

"Is it real or fake?"

Qin Zhangfeng and Pei Yanran, looking at the charred corpse before them that had been preserved by being wrapped in lime, were also completely bewildered.

Liu Zheng smiled and said nothing.

Pei Qianyun, who was beside them, could no longer hold it in and burst into belly-aching laughter: "I can't, I really can't hold it in, I can't..."

Qin Zhangfeng and Pei Yanran blinked in succession.

The latter then exclaimed, covering her mouth: "This is..."

Liu Zheng smiled slightly: "Just a Wa person with a somewhat similar physique."

"Ah?"

Both of them were terrified.

Fake?

So this young master had produced a fake one for Longyan?

"Young Master, this is..."

Qin Zhangfeng was shocked.

This is the crime of deceiving the Emperor! This is a monstrous lie!

Liu Zheng chuckled: "Do you think it is still possible for Xie Fang to be alive?"

"This..."

The two looked at each other.

Alive?

That is almost impossible. However, as long as there is even a sliver of hope...

Logically speaking, Liu Zheng should not be such an imprudent person. What if Xie Fang suddenly appeared?

A flash of intense killing intent crossed Liu Zheng's eyes: "My purpose in doing this is to make Xie Fang understand... even if he is still alive, there is no place for him in Longyan. Even if he manages to return, he should not continue to live..."

After saying this.

Qin Zhangfeng was still bewildered.

Pei Yanran, however, had eyes that lit up: "Young Master is brilliant!"

Liu Zheng smiled amusedly.

In truth, he had indeed taken a great risk by doing this. However, he had only taken such a desperate gamble after carefully weighing all aspects. At the very least, through the various intelligence systems in Liangzhou, he truly had not discovered any trace of Xie Fang. Furthermore, in this situation, if Xie Fang had not appeared, it could only mean that he was dead or already very far away from Longyan. There was no possibility of him being hidden by someone; otherwise, he would have long since been hoisted up as a banner by someone to seize the succession.

He had not.

So it was easy for Liu Zheng to fabricate the story.

The Crown Prince is dead.

The corpse is in Liu Zheng's hands.

The whole nation is in grief.

This is truly not a small matter, especially at this critical juncture.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty..."

Xie Tianyao, upon hearing this news, fainted on the spot.

The story Liu Zheng fabricated was actually quite close to the truth. Back then, Xie Fang was kidnapped and taken prisoner by Qiao Yuan, then found an opportunity to escape to the sea, was discovered by the Wa pirates, and was subsequently taken back to the Wa nation. In this great war, the Wa nation used Xie Fang as leverage to repeatedly make things difficult for the Li Dynasty. The Li Dynasty, for the sake of Xie Fang's safety, had always avoided their sharp edge, and only then fell into an extremely passive position.

Finally.

Xie Fang could no longer endure it and shouted before the battle lines, "Fire at me!"

For Longyan!

For glory!

Fire at me!

At that time, Xie Fang was iron-willed and awe-inspiring. He embodied heroism, patriotism, royal majesty, and self-respect. Truly, those who saw it wept, and those who heard it were moved.

Liu Zheng.

He could not bear it in his heart, struggling for several days.

Finally, before the battle lines, Xie Fang shouted one last time: "For Longyan!"

He bit his tongue and killed himself.

Only then did Liu Zheng fly into a rage, requesting reinforcements from Nanyang; once the army of five hundred thousand arrived, the Wa nation was immediately defeated.

This story is deeply moving.

In an instant, it spread throughout Longyan.

The emotions of the entire Longyan populace were stirred up as well.

The Crown Prince!

This is our Longyan Crown Prince!

An iron-willed Crown Prince!

Look, although he wasn't very promising while in Longyan, once he left the country, he possessed the responsibility and dominance of a Son of Heaven guarding the borders!

"Long live the Crown Prince!"

"The Crown Prince died for a worthy cause!"

"Oh, Crown Prince, sob, sob, sob..."

For a time, the entire Longyan was filled with this atmosphere. Suddenly, the status of Crown Prince Xie Fang was elevated infinitely. All across the country, there were various memorial activities for him.

A State Funeral!

Such a Crown Prince is worthy of a State Funeral!

And at this moment, the one welcoming the Crown Prince back from a foreign land is none other than Vice Minister Liu!

Jinghua.

Shangshu Mansion.

Zhu Zhen and the others sat together, silent and speechless.

Dead?

Just like that, he died?

The death of the Crown Prince had a massive impact on the situation, directly shattering the current balance in Jinghua. Because Crown Prince Xie Fang had always been supported by the Old Aristocrats. With his sudden death, the Old Aristocrats were thrown into a panic. It could even be said that they had lost their target.

Who should they support?

Xie Ming was already a man of the Scholar-officials.

Xie Chan was a person of the New Aristocracy.

What were the Old Aristocrats to do? Previously, they could wave the banner of the Crown Prince to fight for power and profit, standing on equal footing with the New Aristocracy and the Scholar-officials. Now, they had no one to support.

What does this mean?

Should they withdraw from this struggle for the throne?

Impossible!

Absolutely impossible!

The struggle for the throne signifies the entire situation of Longyan for the next few decades, nearly a century.

"What is the reaction over there..."

Zhu Zhen finally spoke.

This move by Liu Zheng was indeed caught people off guard.

The others looked at each other.

"Old Minister, they have gone mad; some have already begun to exert their strength."

"Several of their Regional Commanders already show signs of mobilizing troops. And they are all pointed toward us..."

"Old Minister..."

Zhu Zhen nodded slowly as he listened.

Too ruthless.

This move by Vice Minister Liu was too ruthless. It directly drove the Old Aristocrats into a frenzy.

Balance.

This has broken the balance.

Although Xie Fang was not there before, at least he "wasn't dead yet." Now that you have "gotten him killed," who will the spears of these Old Aristocrats point to?

Naturally, the second successor in line, Xie Ming!

It is equivalent to Vice Minister Liu igniting the flames of war between the Old Aristocrats and the Scholar-officials before he even arrived!

Evil!

This guy is too evil!

Originally.

Everyone's eyes were focused on Liu Zheng. Everyone was waiting for Liu Zheng to return to put pressure on him. Even some assassins were already on their way.

With this one move, he shifted all of it away.

This is truly using a four-ounce weight to move a thousand pounds.

Zhu Zhen pondered for a moment: "Do you think this Crown Prince is really dead or not?"

"Ah?"

A group of people all blinked. Pop-ups have been severe lately; you can click to download to avoid pop-ups.