The world begins with refining skills

Chapter 245 Draft
"father?"

The second prince was stunned at first, and then he suddenly laughed.

"Haha. Ho-ho."

First there was a burst of laughter, and as he laughed he began to cry, revealing endless grievance and unwillingness. Then it gradually turned into a mournful wail.

At this point, the Second Prince no longer has any father-son feelings towards Emperor Qing, and is only filled with grievances and resentment.

If Emperor Qing had not regarded him as a whetstone for the Crown Prince, he would not have been pushed step by step to the point of mutiny and rebellion.

"Chengze." Concubine Shu heard the pain in the second prince's laughter, and her heart felt as if it was cut by a sharp blade, and it ached inexplicably.

In the past, she only felt that her son was too restless and always had too many desires for things that did not belong to him.

However, after hearing the Second Prince's laughter, Concubine Shu suddenly felt that she had never truly seen through her son's heart.

After a long time, the second prince's laughter gradually subsided.

"Father. No, Your Majesty."

"When His Majesty first allowed me to sit in on government affairs in the Imperial Study, I was so happy. I felt that this was His Majesty's cultivation of me and my father's expectations of his son.

But I was wrong, all this was just my wishful thinking!
Your Majesty only treats me as the prince's 'grindstone'. This is not an expectation for me, but an expectation for the prince.

I hope that the prince can kick away this stumbling block of mine and grow into a qualified crown prince.

But the battle for the throne is so cruel! Once you are involved, there is no way out.

To retreat means to lose everything, not only power and status, but even life.

Your Majesty, you don't know this, do you? "

The Second Prince's tone became increasingly resentful, and he stared at Li Yunqian without blinking, trying to see a hint of guilt in his expression.

However, he found nothing. It was as if Li Yunqian was listening to the howling of a stray dog on the roadside, and he did not react at all.

"Oh", the second brother smiled bitterly: "How could your majesty not know? Your majesty was the winner of the battle for the throne back then!

Isn't it Your Majesty who caused the fate of all the imperial uncles?

But I am unwilling to accept this. I am unwilling to be treated as an abandoned pawn like this!"

"So you got together with Li Yunrui?" Mu Sheng asked curiously.

But what kind of logic is this? I don't understand!
'Get together?'

The second prince was a little surprised by the word "Li Yunqian", but he was indeed colluding with Li Yunrui to engage in smuggling business.

"Yes, since His Majesty has chosen the Crown Prince as the heir apparent, I will surpass him in every aspect.

To achieve this, I need the support of power and money, and in Qing Kingdom, only the eldest princess can satisfy my needs."

Mu Sheng nodded when he heard this. This made sense.

The inner treasury managed by Li Yunrui was the purse of the Qing Kingdom. With a little manipulation, he could make a fortune.

Moreover, she also had an intelligence organization at her disposal, and she and Prime Minister Lin Ruofu were pregnant with a daughter, so she could also exert influence on officials in the court.

Really a good partner to work with.

"But I never thought that the crown prince that His Majesty had chosen was actually someone else. The prince and I are both discarded pieces on His Majesty's chessboard.

It's ridiculous that I have racked my brains to fight with the prince for these years, but in the end I found that I didn't even know who my real opponent was. "

"Now that things have come to this, Your Majesty can do whatever you want to me, but I just ask that my mother not be implicated." The second prince slumped on the ground, looking ready to be killed.

Hearing him say this, Concubine Shu rushed to Mu Sheng, hugged his thighs and begged: "Your Majesty, Chengze was just confused for a moment, please spare his life."

"Mother, there is no need to plead for me. His Majesty will never forgive me for being so drunk and treasonous." said the second prince.

"Your Majesty will certainly not forgive you, but this person may not be so sure!"

Concubine Shu muttered in her heart, her pleading voice continued unabated, and her hand quietly reached out where no one could see.

"Hi~"

Mu Sheng took a deep breath, he didn't expect that the usually dignified and virtuous Concubine Shu would give him such a cruel treatment.

Never mind, never mind. It's his fault for being so soft-hearted and reluctant to return the favor.
During this period, Concubine Shu had been very attentive in serving him. It was too cruel to kill a mother's only son in front of her. The kind-hearted Mu Sheng would never do such a thing.

Besides, Concubine Shu still has the leverage over him. If his will wasn't as strong as steel, his strength would have been exposed by now.

"My beloved concubine, there is no need to do this. Chengze is still a child. I will not bother with him."

Mu Sheng comforted Concubine Shu, pulled her up, and saved his pillar of support from danger.

Then he looked at the second prince and said, "For your mother's sake, I will spare your life. However, from now on you are no longer a prince. Go and be a farmer!"

When Concubine Shu heard about Mu Sheng’s punishment for the second prince, she felt relieved instantly.

Although he was stripped of his status as a prince and demoted to a commoner, he at least saved his life.

Moreover, considering the current situation in Qing Kingdom, losing the identity of a prince might be a good thing.

After all, even the emperor, the ruler of a country, had his core replaced right under the noses of the civil and military officials. It is conceivable that the Qing Kingdom is beyond salvation.

"What? Your Majesty didn't kill me!"

The second prince stood there in a daze, as if he had heard something incredible.

"Does my mother have such great power in front of His Majesty? Even a crime like treason can be given a lighter sentence?"

The second prince is finally beginning to have some doubts. Is the person in front of him really his father?

The Second Prince was a little uncomfortable with His Majesty's sudden kindness to him.

"Chengze, why are you still standing there? Why don't you thank your father quickly?" Concubine Shu urged her son as she looked at his dazed look.

The second prince came back to his senses and said, "Your Majesty, I, your son, thank you for your grace!"

"Hmm?" Mu Sheng frowned when he heard the Second Prince's address, and said with some dissatisfaction: "Why, I have forgiven your crime of treason, but you are unwilling to call me dad?"

The Second Prince was stunned again when he heard this, and then, under the urging of Concubine Shu's eyes, he said with a complicated expression: "Dad"

"Oh! Good son, go and play somewhere else!" Mu Sheng waved his hand and let the second prince roll aside, then walked to the front of the crown prince.

Upon seeing this, Concubine Shu quickly pulled the Second Prince aside and scolded him in a low voice for his reckless behavior.

If it weren't for her kindness during this period, the Second Prince would probably have been killed by this person today.

"Dad, Dad, I know I was wrong, please spare my life." Seeing Mu Sheng coming, the prince knelt down in front of him and begged for mercy. He had also heard the conversation between Mu Sheng and the second prince just now. Although he didn't know why His Majesty would forgive the second prince's crime of treason, he would do the same thing since he was just calling him dad.

"Ah, this..." Mu Sheng didn't expect that the prince had learned to answer quickly.

He originally planned to kill the other person with a slap. After all, he and the queen were only one-night stands and were not very familiar with each other.

But the prince already calls me dad, and as a father, I should be more tolerant towards my child.

"Forget it, since you call me dad, I will let you go." Mu Sheng patted the prince's head and said, "I will also depose you from your position as crown prince and demote you to a commoner."

"Cheng Qian thanks father for his kindness! Thank you father for your kindness!" the prince cried bitterly.

It’s strange, why does it feel like in palace dramas where the young eunuch calls the old eunuch?
"Go away, you get out too!" Mu Sheng impatiently shouted the prince away, and then walked towards Li Yunrui.

"Do I have to call you dad too?" Li Yunrui looked at Li Yunqian sarcastically.

Although he didn't know why he let the crown prince and the second prince go, Li Yunrui always felt that he had ulterior motives and there must be some ulterior motive.

"It's no use even if you call me daddy!" Mu Sheng said mercilessly.

After all, it was a major event of treason, so he couldn't just leave all the masterminds unpunished, right? And he wasn't the kind of protagonist who would drag his feet, he was all about being quick and decisive.

Well, the main reason was that he had lost interest in Li Yunrui. It would be fine if this didn't happen, it would be nice to keep him in Guangxin Palace as a toy and play with him occasionally.

Now, let’s just clean it up.

Mu Sheng slowly squatted down and hugged Li Yunrui in his arms: "Oh, I forgot to tell you, I am not the Qing Emperor Li Yunqian. The real Qing Emperor was killed by me in the Qing Temple!"

What, Li Yunqian is dead?
A light bulb suddenly lit up in Li Yunrui's mind, and all the details that she had ignored in the past were connected together at this moment.

However, just when she was about to say something, Mu Sheng suddenly exerted force and hugged her hard, and the bones between Li Yunrui's chest and abdomen were instantly crushed.

Broken bones pierced her internal organs.

"Hehe."

Li Yunrui kept spitting out blood from his mouth, and the air from his lungs rushed out along with the blood, making a loud sound.

"Who exactly are you?" Li Yunrui stared at Mu Sheng and uttered a few words with difficulty.

She was unwilling to die in such a confused state without even knowing who the enemy who had been toying with her for so long was.

It’s a pity that Mu Sheng didn’t have the habit of answering the enemy’s questions. He just watched Li Yunrui die unwillingly.

"Hey! This is the most authentic 'Killing a Girl in Arms', right?"

Such a thought suddenly popped up in Mu Sheng's mind.

With the death of Li Yunrui, this rebellion that started off well but ended badly came to an end.

After such a big incident, the autumn hunt could no longer continue.

The next morning, Mu Sheng returned to Kyoto with civil and military officials.

Although the crown prince and the second prince escaped with their lives, none of those who followed them in the rebellion had a good mother.

If you can't recognize your father, then you can only accept your fate.

And with Mu Sheng's deliberate connivance, the scope of the crackdown on those plotting rebellion became wider and wider, and the entire Qing Kingdom's court was in a state of panic.

Taiping Villa.

"What! You said that His Majesty is my biological father? I am actually the prince of Qing Kingdom?" Fan Xian stared at the disabled old eunuch sitting in a wheelchair in front of him with his eyes wide open.

"That's right. When the young lady was waiting for Wuzhu to arrive, the young lady had already gone to Danzhou. Later, Wuzhu took you to Danzhou." Chen Pingping recounted Fan Xian's life story in detail.

"You mean, you suspect that Emperor Qing sent someone to kill my mother?" Fan Xian felt like his brain wasn't enough.

He just learned that he was the prince of Qing Kingdom, and then he was told that his mother might have died at the hands of his biological father.

Fan Xian felt like he was watching a melodramatic ethics TV drama, except this time he was the protagonist.

"That's right. The person who benefited the most from the young lady's death is Li Yunqian. I have to suspect him," said Chen Pingping.

"Are you telling me this now because you want me to help you find evidence?" Fan Xian guessed.

"No, I'm telling you this because the person sitting on the dragon throne now is no longer Li Yunqian."

"???" Fan Xian's head was even more dizzy: "What does it mean that he is not Li Yunqian anymore? Is there anyone else who can pretend to be the emperor?"

"You guessed right, he is indeed the young lady's son."

No, I was just guessing, but it turns out to be true.

Isn't this ridiculous? No one could find out that the emperor had been replaced?
Oh, Chen Pingping discovered it.

But even so, it is too unbelievable. Isn't it said that there is a great master hidden in the Qing Palace?
Thinking of Fan Xian, he asked, "What about the Grand Master in the palace? Didn't he find out?"

Chen Pingping looked a little unhappy when he heard this and said, "Based on what His Majesty did at the Xiyuan Hunting Ground a few days ago, this person is a Grandmaster."

"And it is very likely that he is the Imperial Master of Northern Qi, the leader of the Siming Divine Religion, Mu Sheng!"

Being able to kill Yan Xiaoyi, a ninth-grade warrior, and more than a dozen eighth-grade warriors with one strike, it was hard to think of anyone else except Grandmaster Chen Pingping who could do it.

"No one knows the identity of the Grand Master in the Imperial Palace, so we can't be sure, mother, whether the Grand Master is unaware of this matter or has already..."

Chen Pingping did not continue speaking, but Fan Xian already understood what he meant.

If you don’t know, it’s fine. But if you know but have no reaction, then you may have encountered an accident.

However, Fan Xian felt that it was unlikely. After all, he was a legendary grandmaster. It was impossible for him to die so quietly, right?
In a palace so heavily guarded, throwing a stone would attract attention, let alone the noise of two grandmasters fighting each other.

With the commotion at the Xiyuan Hunting Ground and the Qing Temple, it was impossible to hide it.

Wait, Qingmiao!
Since this 'Emperor Qing' is now a Grandmaster, then the one fighting with him must be...
Fan Xian immediately described to Chen Pingping the scene he saw in the Qing Temple. After listening to him, the other party's face became even gloomier.

"Fan Xian, I need you to give Wu Zhu a message. I want to see him!"

Chen Pingping originally wanted to find the grandmaster in the palace and then join forces with Si Gu Jian from Dongyi.

It would be best if we could capture this daring leader of the Divine Religion, but if we can't, we must find out the whereabouts of Li Yunqian.

Now it seems that we still have to ask Wuzhu for help.

"Okay, I'll pass the message on for you, but I don't know if Uncle Wu Zhu will come to see you."

A few days later.
"What? Your Majesty is going to select a beauty pageant, and Ruoruo wants to participate too?"

(End of this chapter)