By this time, Fang Zhiyi had returned to the imperial court. His mental state was noticeably much better. He said nothing in response to the probing gazes of the court officials, simply standing there and waiting to clock out.
It wasn't that he liked going to work, but rather that he wouldn't get paid if he didn't. He couldn't just go mooching off his brothers every day, after all.
Fortunately, the old emperor seemed to be intentionally giving him the cold shoulder, not sparing him a single glance the entire time. This left Fang Zhiyi feeling quite satisfied.
It would be even better if his title as Crown Prince could be revoked someday.
Xu Ruyi seemed like a different person today. Not only had she prepared a table full of food, but she also wanted to drag Fang Zhiyi into having a couple of drinks. Fang Zhiyi completely ignored her, turning around and heading straight to Prince Xiang's estate. After a month of spending time together, the two brothers had become much more harmonious. Prince Xiang had long since set up a banquet waiting for him.
"Eldest brother, you don't think he won't be able to hold on, do you?" Prince Xiang picked his teeth, feeling a bit uneasy. "With the old man's personality, he treats whoever he catches like a beast of burden. Although the third brother is capable, I'm afraid..."
Fang Zhiyi stuffed a chopstick full of food into his mouth. "Just relax. Among us brothers, the third brother is the most resilient. Don't be fooled by how well he gets along with everyone; that kid is more suited to be emperor than either you or me."
"Bullshit emperor. It's not a job for a human being." Prince Xiang raised his wine cup and clinked it against Fang Zhiyi's.
"So you don't think I'm just putting on an act anymore?"
"I didn't know before, did I? I used to think you were just pretending to be busy all day, but as it turns out... sigh."
"Anyway, as long as one of the other three can hold on, I'll be free."
"I think it's risky. If even the third brother can't hold on, then the fourth and fifth... In the end, you'll probably still have to take the throne. I'll just stick to leading troops and fighting battles."
"Jinx."
Seeing Fang Zhiyi growing increasingly distant from her, even Xu Ruyi began to panic.
This matter couldn't be hidden forever. She had to come up with an idea to make Fang Zhiyi willingly wear the cuckold's hat.
But nowadays, Fang Zhiyi was either wandering aimlessly all day or not returning home at night. Steeling her resolve, Xu Ruyi tried to enter the palace to seek an audience with the Emperor, only to be denied entry at the gates.
"Crown Princess, please return. His Majesty is resting."
Xu Ruyi gritted her teeth and pleaded, "Eunuch, please help pass on a message for me. Just say that I have come to apologize on behalf of the Crown Prince..."
Zhang Dafu looked her up and down, then shook his head. "Crown Princess, please return."
The Crown Prince's previous remark about Xu Ruyi seeking personal gain for her family had long been noted in the Emperor's mind. How could he possibly see her?
Fang Zhiyi was also very clear about Xu Ruyi's intentions. As the Crown Prince, he couldn't just make a move against the Crown Princess, especially since her father was an old minister of the Emperor. All he needed to do now was wait for Xu Ruyi to expose her own flaws.
However, Fang Zhiyi hadn't expected Xu Ruyi to be so ruthless. After returning from outside, he heard that the Crown Princess had taken a fall, disturbing her vital energy and blood, and was now resting in bed.
Fang Zhiyi was shocked, and then he actually began to admire her a bit.
To be fair, this woman indeed had the audacity to steal a nation, being so ruthless even to herself.
But he didn't care about all that anyway. As long as he continued to slack off, Xu Ruyi would have no way to deal with him. He didn't believe that these various factions would be willing to follow someone who only had the empty title of Crown Prince.
Soon after, Prince Qi arrived with dark circles under his eyes, followed by Prince Xiang, who looked entirely pleased with himself.
Upon seeing Fang Zhiyi, Prince Qi didn't say much. He just shoved a money pouch into Fang Zhiyi's hands. "Eldest brother, save me!"
"Easy, easy." Fang Zhiyi was thrilled.
This was a good business!
Prince Qi quickly discovered that the money was well spent, because Fang Zhiyi not only helped him review memorials and official documents but also personally taught him the techniques of being an emperor. Prince Qi listened in stunned silence; his eldest brother's words couldn't have been spoken without decades of experience working as an emperor.
He also gradually came to believe that Fang Zhiyi truly did not want the throne.
Hearing that his three sons had all mixed together, the old emperor couldn't quite figure it out.
Weren't they supposed to be scheming against each other? How did they suddenly become so close? But after a careful investigation, he finally figured out Fang Zhiyi's little tricks. Thinking that the Crown Prince was actually using this method to make money, the Emperor didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
"Dafu, what are the annual expenses of the Crown Prince's estate?"
Zhang Dafu thought for a moment and replied with a figure.
"That little? Why have I never heard the Crown Prince mention it?"
"This... I am not too sure."
"Over these years, the Crown Prince has indeed had a somewhat hard life."
Zhang Dafu nodded in agreement.
Xu Ruyi didn't appear for several days in a row. When she finally walked out of her room again, Fang Zhiyi was visibly stunned for a moment.
He didn't know how to put it, but Xu Ruyi seemed to have become prettier.
Although she was already pretty to begin with, but... he just felt that her aura had changed.
"Your Highness." Stepping in front of him, Xu Ruyi bent her knees slightly in a curtsy. Fang Zhiyi nodded and continued walking toward the door. Today was the third brother's last day as regent, and tomorrow he would be taking on a new client. He heard that the fourth brother had some good stuff in his hands; maybe he should figure out a way to trick him out of it?
Just as he was thinking, Fang Zhiyi suddenly felt a chill down his spine.
He turned his head sharply, just in time to see Xu Ruyi turning and walking toward the garden, with Xiaocui following behind her with her head lowered.
Fang Zhiyi looked at her back suspiciously.
He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but something wasn't quite right.
Not long after he left, Xu Ruyi also left the estate, taking her maid Xiaocui and heading in the direction of the Xu family.
Prince Qi was indeed just as Fang Zhiyi had predicted. After getting used to it, he could barely manage, though he had also become much more haggard. When the Emperor announced that the fourth brother, the Prince of Chu, would take over as regent, Prince Qi even felt a bit of a sense of loss.
To this, Prince Xiang, standing beside Fang Zhiyi, cursed, "Sick in the head."
He had now clarified his own goal, which was to ride out on the battlefield. Wasn't that much better than staying in a study?
The old emperor still ignored Fang Zhiyi, not even summoning him once. This caused much discussion among the court officials. Some guessed that Fang Zhiyi must have angered the Emperor and completely fallen out of favor, but others found it strange: why would the Emperor give him the cold shoulder yet not strip him of his Crown Prince title?
Fang Zhiyi didn't care about any of this. Just like before, the Prince of Chu, having suffered some hardship, followed behind his two older brothers to ask Fang Zhiyi for help. Fang Zhiyi was happy about this, but he also noticed something was wrong: the official documents in the Prince of Chu's hands had clearly increased significantly.
"This is..."
"Damn, what is this stuff? You even took the backlogged cases from the Ministry of Justice? Fourth brother, is there something wrong with your head?"
The Prince of Chu stammered for a long time, his face turning red. "Imperial Father said that managing the state requires a comprehensive approach..."
Prince Qi frowned. "Isn't this just messing with people?"
Fang Zhiyi laughed. "It is messing with people... It seems the old man knows about me helping you guys out."
None of the princes were fools. At Fang Zhiyi's words, their brows furrowed tightly.
ose... to cooperate with the protagonist! Shen Yuan: I have a system! Protagonist: What? System: Holy crap, you're just spilling it out like that? Shen Yuan: Let's team up, we'll split the system rewards! Protagonist: Fifty-fifty split? Shen Yuan: No way! Protagonist: What!? I'm the one getting beaten up, and I don't get half? Shen Yuan: Forty-sixty split, I get forty, you get sixty! Protagonist: Deal! Big brother, come on, hit me! As long as it doesn't kill me, beat me like you mean it! Shen Yuan: Don't worry... I will definitely protect all of you! No one but me can lay a finger on you! Guard our Heaven's Chosen Ones! I'm the only one allowed to bully them!
nto another world, I bought a slave for the first time, never expecting the silver wolf girl to be so cute... Lin Feng: I know it's cold, but you don't have to sneak into my bed! Yuna: Just sharing body warmth, if you dare do anything naughty, I'll definitely...
lity and could only live as an ordinary mortal. He only wished to live a peaceful life. Yet he didn't know— The dog he adopted, because it ate his food, became a legendary demon king. The kitchen knife he casually forged became a peerless divine weapon, causing numerous experts to fight desperately for it. The young disciple he took in became an immortal lord that led an era, due to cultivating the techniques Ye Feng taught him. Even the skeletons he looked down on the most were ominous demon kings that suppressed countless worlds. Many years later, looking at the void shattered with a punch, Ye Feng murmured to himself: It turns out the peerless kings were myself all along...
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
