Great Qing, Xuanzheng Hall.
The civil and military officials on both sides of the hall watched indifferently the figure kneeling in the hall.
“Sixth Prince, why don’t you explain? His Majesty is waiting!”
The old eunuch by the dragon throne asked anxiously.
“There’s nothing for me to explain.” Sixth Prince Li Che’s face was pale, but his eyes were firm. “You say I used witchcraft to harm the Crown Prince? This is a false accusation; why bother with excuses?”
The old eunuch glanced at the Emperor beside him, and seeing that the Emperor remained expressionless, he steeled himself and continued to ask:
“Then what about the wooden puppet found in your room? How do you explain that?”
Li Che remained silent, only looking at the Emperor on the dragon throne.
Explain? What is there to explain?
How could a founding Emperor, who held the entire court and the world in his grasp, believe such absurd talk of witchcraft?
His Imperial Father had him come to this great hall not to hear his explanation… He wanted him dead!
How did the relationship between father and son come to this point?
Thinking of this, a look of determination flashed in Li Che’s eyes.
“Even a tiger… doesn’t eat its cubs.”
He muttered to himself, a surge of strength appearing from somewhere in his body, supporting his stiff kneeling body to stand up.
The courtiers who were close enough to hear these words immediately lowered their heads in fright, wishing they were deaf.
His gaze swept over the indifferent faces in the hall, Li Che’s eyes hollow.
The slanders of schemers, the suspicion of his own father, and the fratricide among his brothers, coiled around his heart like venomous snakes, almost suffocating him.
His hands clenched tightly, nails digging deep into his palms, blood dripping from between his fingers onto the cold stone steps.
Li Che closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and stepped back a few paces.
His gaze shifted to the pillar in the main hall.
“If there is a next life, I’d rather be a common farmer than a son of an Emperor!” Li Che’s eyes were bloodshot, and he roared in a hoarse voice.
The surrounding officials, seeing Sixth Prince stand up, all turned their gaze to him.
Then they saw Li Che run with all his might, smashing his head fiercely against the hard vermilion pillar.
His speed was so fast that even the military generals present didn’t react in time to stop him.
He clearly intended to die!
Bang—
A dull thud sounded, and Li Che’s body, like a broken puppet, fell limply onto the main hall floor.
Blood gushed from his forehead, staining the ground beneath him red.
“Your Highness!”
“Oh no, Sixth Prince has committed suicide!”
The hall immediately descended into chaos, with officials rushing forward, surrounding Li Che, but no one dared to approach him.
At this moment, the figure on the dragon throne finally stirred.
The Emperor slowly stood up, his gaze imperiously looking down at Li Che’s corpse.
His eyes were indifferent, as if he were looking at an insignificant object, not his own son.
“Where is the Imperial Physician?”
The Imperial Physician, carrying a medicine box on his back, hurried forward, placed his fingers under Li Che’s nose to check, and then felt for a pulse on his neck.
“Your Majesty, Sixth Prince has passed away.” The Imperial Physician knelt on the ground, his forehead pressed firmly against the floor.
As soon as these words were uttered, the entire hall instantly fell silent.
A complex expression appeared on the Emperor’s face, but it vanished in an instant.
Whether the Emperor liked it or not, the Sixth Prince of this timeline was dead.
Meanwhile, Li Che from another timeline regained consciousness…
Hiss—
My head hurts so much.
Li Che felt his brain aching as if being twisted by a knife, and chaotic memories surged in like a tide, making his head feel like it was about to explode.
‘Where is this? Great Qing Empire? Li Che, is he also named Li Che? A dignified Sixth Prince, forced to his death outside the palace; this biological father is quite ruthless.’
‘Wait, this Li Che’s deceased mother was a Princess of the Previous Dynasty? Carrying the bloodlines of two dynasties, and he still dared to plead for the Previous Dynasty’s orphans, so foolish and overly benevolent…’
‘He was usually kind to people, even having the title of ‘Wise Prince’ in the palace? Hiss… these buffs are maxed out, who else but you would die?’
‘The Crown Prince suddenly fell seriously ill, and then a cursed wooden puppet was found in the original owner’s room. Is this an otherworldly version of the ‘Witchcraft Calamity’?’
Enduring the pain to digest the memories in his mind, Li Che suddenly felt a bit dazed.
Transmigrated to an ancient dynasty in a parallel world, becoming an unfavored Prince, and right from the start, forced to death by the Emperor, his old man?
This was a truly disastrous beginning!
High-intensity work really wasn’t good; he was only in his twenties, and he just died suddenly like this?
His team had just discovered a new mine in the Northeast, a truly rich one. If it could be successfully exploited, he might even be promoted to a full-time prospector this year.
What now? Just lie here? Wait for the eunuchs to drag his body away before escaping?
I’m just a science and engineering guy, I’m really not good at palace intrigue!
Just then, on the steps, the Emperor in the main hall spoke.
“Huang Jin, go proclaim the imperial decree.”
“Yes.”
Behind the Emperor, the old eunuch slowly walked out with a sorrowful expression, tightly clutching a roll of yellow silk.
Under everyone’s gaze, the old eunuch walked to the ‘remains’ of Sixth Prince and unfolded the yellow silk.
“By the Mandate of Heaven, the Emperor decrees: Sixth Prince is intelligent and possesses both virtue and talent. Now, Sixth Prince Li Che is hereby enfeoffed as ‘Ninggu Prince’, to govern the lands Outside the Pass. He is not permitted to enter the capital without an imperial decree. Respect this!”
Upon hearing the old eunuch Huang Jin’s modulated proclamation, the surrounding officials collectively bowed their heads deeply, concealing their shocked expressions.
His Majesty… was a bit too ruthless.
The person was already dead, and only then was Sixth Prince granted a princely title.
This was clearly a way to avoid the infamy of forcing his own son to death, a self-deceiving tactic.
He didn’t even use the word ‘posthumous enfeoffment’, so that historical records wouldn’t state that Qing Emperor forced his own son to death.
Instead, it would say that Sixth Prince engaged in witchcraft, and the Emperor not only did not punish him but instead enfeoffed him as a Prince. Subsequently, Sixth Prince, overwhelmed by shame, committed suicide.
And he was enfeoffed as Ninggu Prince?
What kind of place was Ninggu County, Outside the Pass?
That was where Previous Dynasty elders and serious criminals were exiled!
Although nominally belonging to Great Qing, it was actually a buffer zone between Great Qing and the barbarians, and those barbarians would frequently raid south.
The old eunuch respectfully closed the imperial decree and took a few steps closer.
Looking at Sixth Prince on the ground, his kind face suddenly flashed a strange smile.
He bowed slightly and whispered in a voice only he could hear:
“Sixth Prince, Crown Prince asked me to tell you: you like to plead for those people, don’t you? Then go reunite with them!”
The smile on the old eunuch’s face flickered and was replaced by genuine sorrow.
He bent down, just about to tuck the imperial decree into Sixth Prince’s hand.
Suddenly!
A blood-covered hand abruptly rose, and in the old eunuch’s stunned gaze, it snatched the imperial decree.
Li Che’s head slowly lifted, blood flowing down his face from his head, making his entire face appear monstrous.
His lips parted in a grin, and his eyes gleamed with a chilling light.
“Where? Where did you say you were sending me?”
The old eunuch went limp, his mind no longer functioning, and he subconsciously replied, “Outside the Pass, Ninggu County.”
The hand clutching the imperial decree suddenly pulled it back, as if afraid the other party would go back on their word, tightly shielding the imperial decree in his embrace.
“Your Son Li Che… no, Ninggu Prince Li Che, accepts the decree!”
Li Che couldn’t hide the smile on his face.
Outside the Pass, Ninggu County?
Isn’t that the Northeast in later generations?!
I know how to solve this problem!
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