I just reached the maximum level, and you want me to be a puppet emperor?

Chapter 46: Inner Court of the Cold Palace, the Fallen Unrivaled Genius?

The cold palace holds people who have offended the emperor but whose crimes are not punishable by death.

It is also the place where the concubines who failed in the struggle in the harem go. To put it bluntly, it is a prison cell in the imperial palace.

The walls here are towering, with mottled moss and vines intertwined on the walls, as if telling the vicissitudes of time for this palace.

Li Chen stepped on the bluestone slab and walked into this area, and an old memory emerged in his mind.

At that time, Li Chen was still a cynical prince who stayed in the palace all day tinkering with his toys.

In fact, among the princes, the one with the greatest talent was not the Second Prince Li Xian, but the Fifth Prince Li Ran.

It is said that when Li Ran was just born, auspicious phenomena occurred between heaven and earth, and word spread in the palace that he was a congenital holy body of Taoism and a natural genius in cultivation.

Li Ran has been gifted since childhood. When he was nine years old, he could surpass the crown prince in literary skills, and his cultivation talent was ten times higher than that of the second prince. When the late emperor tested him in military tactics, he was far ahead of the third prince.

He is simply an all-round genius with extraordinary abilities, a true chosen one.

The late emperor doted on Li Ran extremely and brought him with him to court every day.

When receiving envoys from other countries, Li Ran would also be introduced in an important way, allowing Li Ran to show off in front of them.

Even in some court affairs, they would "seek" his opinions, just to test him.

There is no doubt that Li Ran did everything perfectly, and everyone knew how much the late emperor liked him.

At that time, Li Ran had authority that even the prince did not have.

Many court officials were speculating that the late emperor might be hinting at something.

Li Ran's mother was also a descendant of a noble family. At that time, thanks to the late emperor's favor for Li Ran, she was at the peak of her career and even had a tendency to replace the empress dowager.

As a result, one day five years ago, someone secretly reported that Li Ran had an affair with the late emperor's favorite concubine.

When His Majesty took the guards to arrest them, he indeed found Li Ran and the concubine lying naked on the couch.

According to the information Li Chen got from the gossips in the harem, when the door of the concubine's bedroom was kicked open, the crown prince, the second prince and the third prince were all present. In addition to the three of them, there was also the empress dowager.

Don’t ask Li Chen why he only heard about it. He didn’t even join in the fun at that time.

In fact, Li Chen could understand that the Crown Prince, the Second Prince and the Queen Mother were present at the scene. After all, the three of them were in the imperial capital and even in the palace.

It's outrageous that the Third Prince is here. This guy is at the border all year round and he 'just happened' to come back once. Did he really run into such a big event?

It is said that His Majesty was so angry that he beheaded the concubine on the spot, then had Li Ran's eyes gouged out, his hand and foot tendons cut, and castrated him and locked him up in the cold palace.

This is the fall of an unparalleled genius. Many people feel that it was because he was too outstanding.

Li Chen felt that it was neither that simple nor that complicated.

Considering the power of Li Ran's mother at the time, she must have arranged a lot of protection for him.

But these protections suddenly disappeared at a certain period of time, which means that someone used some tricks when they were caught.

Either they were threatened, bribed, or killed.

Li Ran's mother and the Queen Mother were fighting, and whoever lost would end up like this.

Even if the late emperor guessed that Li Ran was framed, there were too many people at the scene and they wanted him to express his attitude.

If there weren't so many people at the scene, he could have kept the news secret and investigated slowly.

Perhaps out of impatience, or perhaps to save the emperor's face, the late emperor chose such a drastic solution.

The struggle in the harem is so simple and plain.

According to later news, Li Ran's mother cried all day and finally died of depression.

Is this really how he died?

Who knows.

At least that’s what the imperial physician reported.

Did Li Chen choose to keep a low profile because of this matter? No, his mother had no power and her health was not very good.

Li Chen had no intention of being high-profile from the beginning. He just wanted to be a slacker and come out after reaching the maximum level.

This incident also confirmed Li Chen's idea.

Li Ran was still young and fledgling at the time, and he had offended so many people at the same time, so his hope of surviving was very slim.

Even though Li Chen has offended many people now, or even more people, it’s nothing.

After walking for a distance in the cold palace, I came to the door of a room.

As soon as he arrived here, a sound came from inside the door.

"Who?" The voice sounded weak and somewhat feminine.

"It's me, Li Chen." Li Chen said casually.

"Sixth Brother? Have you also been imprisoned by His Majesty?"

"No, I was just passing by."

Perhaps Li Ran doesn’t know yet that the late emperor has passed away and Li Chen is now the emperor.

The eunuchs and palace maids who usually brought him meals would not tell him these things.

Everyone in the palace knows that if you come into contact with people in the cold palace, there will be no good outcome.

Just when Li Chen was about to test whether Li Ran was practicing that evil skill, another sound came from inside.

"It's fine if you're just passing by. If I remember correctly, you should be quite old now. Hurry up and ask His Majesty for a piece of land and leave the palace, which is a place of trouble.

No, it seems that they have no hostility towards you. You just need to see who is in power. You can try to curry favor with him and find a courtyard in the imperial capital to be a prince. If you have any problems, you can ask them for help. It is always safer than going to a fiefdom.
Hey, why am I telling you so much? You have lived till now, so you should be smarter than me. I just haven't talked to anyone for a long time, so I nag a little. Just don't mention meeting me here after you leave."

I'm afraid that what Li Ran says now is more than what he has said in the past few years combined.

There was bitterness and vicissitudes in his words, especially the somewhat feminine tone, which made him seem even more miserable.

"What if I want to be emperor?"

Li Chen's words made Li Ran completely helpless.

After all this time, you are the one with the greatest ambition.

But Li Ran was thinking at this moment that if Li Chen wanted to become emperor, it would be of great benefit to him.

At least Li Chen will help him leave this place of trouble and even take revenge on him.

His eyes were gouged out, his hand and foot veins were cut, and he was castrated. The only reason he is still alive is because of his obsession with revenge.

Normally, if the meridians in the hands and feet are severed, one has lost the qualifications to practice.

But Li Ran had an unusually high physical talent. He combined hundreds of techniques and figured out a set of unorthodox skills that could be practiced without relying on meridians.

Even though his practice speed was very slow at the beginning, as he continued to improve it every day, he was surprised to find that this complete set of exercises he improved could achieve twice the result with half the effort without the penis.

In a sense, it was a blessing in disguise.

He had originally planned to practice for a few more decades before coming out of seclusion, but who knew that Li Chen's words would make him feel a little moved.

If he had Li Chen's help, he might be able to reach the legendary realm faster.

Just now, it was because he had already cultivated to a certain level that he accidentally leaked a little bit when he broke through, and was noticed by Li Chen.

Even though he knew that Li Chen's words were a test, Li Ran still decided to take a gamble.

"Don't blame me for not reminding you. There's no turning back on this road."

"Don't worry, if you're not afraid, then why should I be afraid?"

As he said that, Li Chen pushed the door open and walked in.

(End of this chapter)