novelhk Chapter 78: If you won't help me, I'll help you.
Chapter 78: If you won't help me, I'll help you.
Ye Chengfeng and Li Chengzhu stayed in a small, dry space at the bottom of the lake for three whole days.
At this point, Li Chengzhu was able to move around, but because only part of the energy core had been repaired, he didn't have enough energy to move for an extended period.
But getting them out of here would be no problem at all.
"So, have you thought it through? Do you want to tell Fan Xian? That way, you can appear as Fan Xian's younger brother or older brother."
Li Chengzhu sighed and said, "Do you think Fan Xian would believe that?"
"I don't know, but let's at least try. If it really doesn't work, we can kill him and have you take his place. What do you think?"
"There's no need to test me. I don't hate Fan Xian; he's a pitiful person too."
Li Chengzhu has read Fan Xian's memories for over a decade, so he probably understands Fan Xian better than Fan Xian himself.
"Fine, since that's the case, let's go see him!"
In the end, Li Chengzhu chose to acknowledge Fan Xian as his father!
Of course, neither of them could tell Fan Xian the truth.
After discussing what they would say to Fan Xian, the two prepared to leave.
With a Grandmaster-level expert like Li Chengzhu, even if they were with Ye Chengfeng, it wouldn't be too difficult to avoid being discovered by the Imperial Guards patrolling the lake.
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Three days ago, the Imperial Guards informed Emperor Qing of what had happened there.
Upon learning that the body of the temple messenger had been taken, Emperor Qing's face darkened.
He didn't know what use the temple messenger's corpse was, and even if he obtained it, he would only try to destroy it.
But that doesn't mean others can take it away; it's a temple messenger!
Emperor Qing had no choice but to order the imperial guards to search around the lake.
As for himself, he was naturally "deceiving" Fan Xian.
Unfortunately, three days have passed and the temple messenger's "body" has still not been found.
Little did he know that the person who had taken the temple's messenger had already returned to the Fan residence.
In his former bedroom in the courtyard, Fan Xian stared blankly at the person in front of him who looked nine-tenths like himself.
For a moment, I didn't know what to say.
"Who...who are you?"
Li Chengzhu smiled slightly and said, "Obviously, I am your older or younger brother; we might be twins."
After hearing Li Chengzhu's explanation, Fan Xian's face was full of disbelief.
"What? You don't believe me? You suspect I'm in disguise? If you don't believe me, you can check."
Li Chengzhu pointed to his face and said to Fan Xian.
Fan Xian actually went over and even took out a potion with unknown effects to examine it.
"They didn't disguise themselves?"
"Old Ye, where exactly did you find him?"
Seeing that Fan Xian was asking him, Ye Chengfeng didn't keep him in suspense and answered directly: "I went out of the city before, and I happened to meet him outside the city. He seemed to have come specifically to find you, so I brought him to the Fan residence."
After Ye Chengfeng finished speaking, Li Chengzhu immediately stepped forward and said, "Perhaps you don't yet know your own identity!"
"Actually, we are the sons of His Majesty the current emperor; we are princes. Aren't you surprised?"
Fan Xian naturally knew, and Li Chengzhu also knew that Fan Xian knew, but he couldn't show that he knew Fan Xian knew.
Seeing Fan Xian's composed expression, Li Chengzhu immediately exclaimed in surprise, "Did you already know?"
Fan Xian looked at Ye Chengfeng, his meaning clear: he assumed Ye Chengfeng had told Li Chengzhu.
"I didn't tell him. Maybe you won't be surprised once you know his name."
"What do you mean?"
His name is Li Chengzhu.
After hearing Ye Chengfeng's explanation, Fan Xian immediately understood that Li Chengzhu had known his identity since childhood.
"Tell me, what is your purpose?"
"I hope you can help me. We're brothers, you should agree, right?"
"How can I help you? What can I do to help you?"
Fan Xian, of course, would not easily trust this "brother" he had just met.
"Helping me ascend the throne is something we brothers owe each other; it's what Emperor Qing owes us."
"Impossible! Why should I help you, even if you're my own brother!"
Fan Xian rejected Li Chengzhu without hesitation.
"Since that's the case, then I'll help you ascend the throne. You only have these two choices."
Li Chengzhu's plan was simple. He was not surprised at all by Fan Xian's rejection; he knew Fan Xian too well.
If Fan Xian refuses him, then help Fan Xian ascend the throne, which seems like helping Fan Xian.
The problem is that Fan Xian has no desire to be emperor.
Moreover, Fan Xian could refuse to help Li Chengzhu, but he couldn't stop Li Chengzhu from putting him on the throne.
How difficult is it to put Fan Xian on the throne?
It's difficult in some ways, and easy in others. The easiest way is to kill all of Emperor Qing's other sons.
At that time, Fan Xian would be Emperor Qing's only choice. Emperor Qing would force him to become the crown prince without even needing Li Chengzhu's intervention.
As for the consequences of killing the Crown Prince and the other princes, that was none of Li Chengzhu's concern.
Fan Xian had also thought of this, and he didn't care whether Li Chengqian and Li Chengze lived or died.
However, the eldest prince, Li Chengru, and the third prince are different; one is a friend recognized by Fan Xian, and the other is a cousin in name only.
Fan Xian's face was gloomy. He didn't know what to do, so he turned to look at Ye Chengfeng.
Fan Xian now trusts Ye Chengfeng even more, especially since Ye Chengfeng is also a "time traveler" like me.
"I'll think about it."
"Alright, little brother, I won't pressure you too much. And my desire to become emperor isn't for myself, but to fulfill Mother's dream. You should have seen the stone tablet at the gate of the Censorate."
After Li Chengzhu finished speaking, he left.
His strength was already comparable to Wu Zhu's; Fan Xian couldn't even see how he left—he was too fast.
"What's his skill level?"
"I don't know, but from what I've observed, it's at least the upper ninth rank, or even higher."
Ye Chengfeng answered with a serious expression.
Fan Xian found it hard to believe. If the other party wasn't lying to him, then the other party must be his twin brother.
"Could he be a Grandmaster? But I can't sense any true energy from him!"
"Who cares about his strength? At least he doesn't have any ill intentions towards you. At least I don't see any ill intentions from him."
Upon hearing Ye Chengfeng's words, Fan Xian immediately felt somewhat discouraged.
"Of course I can see that he has no ill intentions towards me. You don't know, but just before, my father, that's right, Emperor Qing, I could feel the same way. He was also very sincere towards me."
"But whether it's Emperor Qing or this Li Chengzhu, I always feel that their sincerity is tinged with ulterior motives."
Ye Chengfeng got up and walked to Fan Xian's side, patting him on the shoulder to comfort him.
"At least Li Chengzhu didn't hide his purpose. As for Emperor Qing, I've met him a few times, but I didn't sense any humanity in him."
"Um?"
"I'm not insulting him, I'm not that shameless. What I'm trying to say is that Emperor Qing has a faint divine quality, or perhaps a demonic quality."
"What do you mean?"
Fan Xian thought Ye Chengfeng would say something about emperors being heartless, but he didn't expect Ye Chengfeng to say something so mysterious.
"This may be a drawback of breaking through to the Grandmaster level; their immense power makes them indifferent to humanity."
"The same applies to Si Gu Jian. Perhaps it's because, as the emperor, Emperor Qing's situation is more serious than Si Gu Jian's."
Ye Chengfeng explained seriously.
After hearing Ye Chengfeng's words, Fan Xian thought of Wu Zhu.
"Old Ye is right. I get the same feeling about Uncle Wuzhu. He doesn't care about anyone except me. Could this really be a drawback of breaking through to the Grandmaster level?"