Under One Person: Starting from the Inheritance of Gods

Chapter 414 The End of Joy of Life (Part 1)

With the support of court officials and several grandmasters, Fan Xian finally ascended the throne and became emperor.

To demonstrate his royal lineage, Fan Xian had no choice but to change his name to Li Chengxian!

However, in private, he still refers to Fan Xian and Fan Jian as Fan Xian and others.

After ascending the throne, his first act was to grant a general amnesty and reward his officials. Afterwards, in addition to listing Emperor Qing's crimes and issuing an edict to set the record straight, he also...

The most important thing is how to deal with the Crown Prince, the Second Prince, Li Yunrui, the Empress, and others.

Among them, Crown Prince Li Chengqian was dealt with by Fan Xian according to the fate of the hidden crown prince with the same name in history, demoted to a commoner and exiled to Danzhou.

The Second Prince, Li Chengze, was quite clever. Before Fan Xian's edict was even issued, he entered the palace to request that his princely status be revoked in order to save his life.

Fan Xian sat on the throne, looking at his nominal elder brother. He saw that the elder brother was extremely respectful, kneeling on the ground and bowing deeply.

It has to be said that Li Chengze's life was actually quite tragic.

He grew up in the palace from a young age, surrounded by power struggles and intrigues. He was granted the title of prince at the age of thirteen. At fourteen, he built a residence outside the palace. Emperor Qing commented that he was virtuous and capable, and that being a prince was beneath him.

On the surface, he was expelled from the palace, but in reality, he was given the opportunity to freely associate with officials. At the age of fifteen, he entered the Imperial Study to listen to the court affairs. Before that, only the crown prince had such an opportunity.

However, as he gradually realized his true role, his inner struggle and resentment grew stronger.

He initially thought it was the Emperor's cultivation, but later realized that it was His Majesty who pushed him to this position, and that he was merely a "sharpening stone" used by Emperor Qing to force the Crown Prince to mature.

Therefore, he was unwilling and resentful!

This fate of being destined to be a pawn was something he could not accept at all. He even said, "We are both chosen ones of heaven. Who would be willing to be a whetstone that will inevitably break in the future?"

As a result, he became extremely cunning and ruthless in his actions, all in an effort to survive.

In the original novel, he preferred death to a lowly existence. Therefore, he carefully calculated the time to drink the poison, told Fan Xian all his last grievances, and then died.

Finally, on the will entrusted to Fan Xian to be delivered to Emperor Qing, four hastily written but ruthless characters were conspicuously written at the end: "Widow! Orphan! Lonely!"

This marked the complete end of his short, complex, and involuntary life.

Now, his life and death are in Fan Xian's hands. At the same time, he understands that royal infighting is always cruel, but Fan Xian's character gives him a glimmer of hope for survival.

In reality, Fan Xian was unwilling to actually raise the knife against these nominal "brothers."

After a long silence, Fan Xian finally spoke: "Starting from Danzhou Port, crossing the sea and heading to the far east, there is a continent called Nanzhanbuzhou, and in the middle there is a country called Tang Dynasty."

"The palace gates open to the heavens, and the celestial beings of all nations bow before the emperor. This country can be considered the center of the world, with its flourishing culture and prosperous economy. I intend to appoint you as an envoy to the Tang Dynasty, leading a group of officials from the Court of State Ceremonial. Would you be willing?"

At this moment, Li Chengze lowered his head, his forehead covered in cold sweat. When he heard Fan Xian's words, a fleeting look of joy crossed his face.

He immediately realized that this meant they were letting him off the hook.

Regardless of whether the Tang Dynasty that Fan Xian mentioned actually exists, as a nominal envoy to Tang, he can leave this land alive.

In other words, it was essentially equivalent to exile to another country!

But as long as I can save my life, who cares about being exiled or not?

Li Chengze immediately bowed and expressed his gratitude, shouting, "Your subject is willing to go! Long live the Emperor!"

"In that case, let's go!" After seeing Li Chengze off.

Fan Xian picked up another imperial edict from the table. He stared at it, hesitated for a moment, and then gently stroked the silk with his fingertips. The ink had long since dried, but it still seemed to retain a heavy weight.

He closed his eyes briefly, then finally raised his hand and handed it to the palace servant beside him: "Send it to Guangxin Palace."

The palace servant bowed and accepted the gift, and was about to leave when Fan Xian suddenly spoke again: "Wait."

He paused for a moment, then said in a low voice, "Tell Wan'er... she can visit once a month."

The palace attendant obeyed and left, and the hall returned to silence.

Fan Xian sat alone on the dragon throne, his gaze fixed on the empty palace gates.

Li Yunrui, the woman who once held sway over everything, will eventually have to pay the price for all she has done.

Beekeeping Alley, that dark and damp prison, will be her final resting place.

Fan Xian felt a pang of pain in his heart when he thought of Lin Wan'er.

She was so pure, kind, and gentle, yet she had to bear the bitter consequences of her mother's sins. However, the bond between mother and son was ultimately difficult to sever, and his monthly visit was the greatest leniency he could offer.

He always said he had to learn to be ruthless, but he couldn't help but have a soft spot in his heart.

"Your Majesty," the old eunuch beside him whispered, "it's time for your meal."

Fan Xian snapped out of his daze and waved his hand, "Wait a little longer."

He looked out the window at the darkening sky, as if he could foresee the towering walls of the beekeeping alley and the once extremely proud woman inside.

At this moment, Li Yunrui was sitting quietly in the courtyard of Guangxin Palace. She had long anticipated her fate, and her expression was calm to the point of indifference.

When the palace servants read the imperial edict, she even chuckled lightly, with a hint of sarcasm: "Fan Xian didn't kill me? Beehive Alley? It's a quiet place, isn't it?"

She slowly rose, her gaze sweeping over the servants kneeling on the ground, finally settling on the line about Lin Wan'er in the imperial edict. A complex emotion flickered in her eyes, but vanished in an instant.

“Tell Fan Xian,” she straightened her sleeves, her voice cold, “I obey the decree.”

That night, a small sedan chair made of blue cloth silently entered the most secluded corner of the palace.

The iron gate of the beekeeping alleyway creaked in the darkness as Li Yunrui stepped into the sunless cell. A damp, musty smell hit her, but she seemed oblivious, only looking up at the small, high-hanging window.

Moonlight filtered through the iron fence, casting dappled shadows on the ground.

Li Yunrui suddenly remembered that many years ago, under a similar moonlight, she had strolled hand in hand with young Lin Wan'er in the Imperial Garden. Back then, Wan'er would look up at her and call her "Mother."

She closed her eyes, turned around and sat on the simple wooden couch. From now on, this would be her world.

And the daughter she once used, hurt, yet could not completely sever ties with will become her only connection to the outside world.

The palace lanterns gradually went out, and the heavy iron gate of the beekeeping alley closed again, locking all ambitions and schemes into this darkness.

This crazy, extremely beautiful, dark woman, whose skin was as white as a lotus flower, would ultimately spend the rest of her life rooted in this mud, living a life of humiliation and hardship.

After receiving this news, Lin Wan'er did not go to Fan Xian to plead for her; instead, she shed a single, heavy, relieved tear.

(End of this chapter)