Diqin Designer

Chapter 431 Gathering of the Princes of Qin

Although Li Nian knew that Fusu had been demoted to a local area by the First Emperor and that some changes had occurred, she was still quite surprised when she saw this rough-looking man in front of her.

Aside from having the human form of Fusu, how does this person match the young master Fusu in his memory?

In Li Nian's memory, Prince Fusu was a model of a noble young master in terms of appearance, clothing, temperament, and knowledge. But the guy in front of her gave people a feeling of being dark, strong, and rude.

He's not exactly a match for a noble young master, but he's certainly far removed from one. People would believe he was released from a barbarian tribe!
Not only Li Nian, but everyone else present felt the same way. Ying Shunying opened her eyes wide and her mouth slightly open: This is her brother Fusu?
Gongzi Gao, Gongzi Jianglu, and the others also looked incredulous. Was this burly, dark-skinned man their elder brother?
This change is truly significant, making it difficult to reconcile with the image of the gentle, refined, and elegant elder brother Fusu that I remember.

But after the initial shock, many questions arose in everyone's minds: Where did Fusu go, neither alive nor dead, for more than a year? What did he do during his disappearance that led to his current state?
According to some rumors, their eldest brother was secretly imprisoned by their father, or even executed. The fact that he is alive today proves these rumors to be false, and it is highly likely that he was given a secret mission by their father.

Seeing that Fusu was still alive, some people were not happy at all, but instead felt heavy-hearted, thinking to themselves: If the rumors were true, how wonderful it would be if this man had been secretly executed by the Emperor!

The fact that this person is alive is the biggest obstacle on their path to becoming the crown prince, the highest mountain they must climb, bar none.

He was the eldest son of the Emperor and their elder brother, so he naturally had an advantage over them. If it weren't for the fact that he disagreed with the Emperor on political matters and had a falling out with him, causing the Emperor to distance himself from him, the position of Crown Prince would probably have been given to him long ago.

Even so, the emperor did not appoint anyone else as crown prince. The reason behind this is obvious. The emperor kept the position of crown prince vacant for a long time, probably waiting for this person to admit his mistake.

The emperor was too biased towards their elder brother, which aroused resentment and jealousy in the hearts of some of the young masters.

Despite their thoughts, no one revealed them. Instead, they all gathered around and bowed to Fusu in greeting.

Seeing the smiles on his brothers' faces, which were hard to tell if they were genuine or not, Fusu returned their greetings and then bowed to Li Nian separately, saying, "Thank you, brother-in-law, for taking care of Yichun Palace while I was away!"

Fusu's address of "brother-in-law" didn't bother Li Nian, but it made Ying Shunying blush. Although the whole of Qin knew about her engagement to Li Nian, they hadn't officially married yet.

Ying Shunying blushed and said, "Brother..."

Seeing this, Fusu laughed and said, "Although Shunying has not yet officially married her brother-in-law, it is only a matter of time, and no other title is as affectionate as 'brother-in-law'."

Li Nian replied, "You're too kind, sir. You are Shunying's brother, which means you are my elder brother. Madam and Qile are my sister-in-law and niece. It is only right that we take care of them when you are not around. You don't need to thank me."

In fact, Li Nian was older than Fusu, but because the First Emperor married Ying Shunying to Li Nian, Fusu became the elder brother in terms of seniority.

If we compare Fusu's current appearance with Li Nian's, most people would think that Fusu is older than Li Nian.

Upon hearing this, Fusu patted Li Nian's shoulder twice with great enthusiasm and laughed loudly, "Truly, we are brothers!"

Li Nian felt that Fu Su's words "our own brothers" were loaded with meaning, implying that certain people were involved. His brother-in-law was able to take care of Fu Su's wife and daughters when Fu Su was away, but some of Fu Su's true brothers wished that Fu Su would never be seen again.

Li Nian thought to herself, 'He's definitely different from the old Fusu. The old Fusu wouldn't have said such sarcastic things. Fusu's transformation plan is working well!'

Some of the young masters who understood Fusu's implied meaning pretended not to. As long as they pretended not to understand, they wouldn't know that Fusu was subtly mocking them. They also had the same thought as Li Nian: this elder brother seems to be more assertive and aggressive than before.

After chatting with Li Nian for a few more minutes, Fusu looked at Gongzi Gao. Among his brothers, he liked Gongzi Gao the most and doted on Huhai the most.

He felt that Prince Gao was very similar to him, both being kind and gentle, but Prince Gao was not as stubborn as him. As for favoring Hu Hai, it was because Hu Hai was the youngest brother.

Fusu looked at the woman standing next to Prince Gao and the baby she was holding, and smiled, "Gao, is this Heng that your sister-in-law is holding?"

Gongzi Gao nodded and said, "It is Heng!"

Empress Lü was very good at reading people's expressions. Holding the infant in her arms so that he could see Fusu, she said, "Heng, look, this is your uncle."

Fusu also leaned closer to look at the baby. He saw the baby's eyes wide open, looking at him curiously without any fear. He reached out and pinched the baby's face, smiling affectionately, "When you were born, your uncle was not here and was unable to give you a gift. Today, I will make up for it for you."

After saying this, Fusu took out a small object from his bosom. Both Prince Gao and Lü Zhi saw that it was an exquisite wooden carving with the totem of the Great Qin, the Black Bird.

This was made by Fusu when he was still in the local area. After learning that the Prince of Langya, Gao Youzi, had a son, he specially commissioned someone to make it as a gift for his nephew, whom he had never met.

After giving the wooden carving to the infant, Fusu chatted with the other princes. Then, looking around at them, he asked in confusion, "Where has Huhai gone? Has he not arrived yet?"

This gathering was specially arranged by the First Emperor, allowing people who had not seen each other for nearly two years to get together and meet.

When asked about Fusu's question, Gongzi Jianglu shook his head and said, "Brother, we don't know where Huhai has gone either. We haven't seen him since we returned."

Upon hearing this, Fusu frowned. It was normal that he hadn't seen Huhai since he had returned late, but some of his brothers had returned to Xianyang much earlier than him and hadn't seen Huhai either.
One of the young masters laughed and said, "It must be that boy Hu Hai has made a mistake and has been confined by the Emperor, which is why we haven't seen him."

The other princes nodded in agreement with this reason. It couldn't possibly be that their father had secretly imprisoned or executed Hu Hai, could it?
Even their eldest brother Fusu was unharmed, so how could their father be so heartless when Huhai is so young?

But Fusu felt that things were not so simple.

Li Nian overheard Fusu's conversation with these princes, but the First Emperor had not told him about it. This was the first time he had learned that Huhai was missing.

Li Nian quickly realized why Hu Hai had disappeared. The First Emperor was probably about to decide on the heir apparent, so he needed to get rid of Hu Hai, this potential threat.

Although Hu Hai is still young and not the Second Emperor of Qin in history, there may be a possibility of change, but given the First Emperor's temperament, he would not gamble.

Rather than betting that Hu Hai can be reformed and will not become the second Qin emperor in history, it is better to prevent the source of danger from posing a threat altogether.

There are too many uncertainties involved in taking a gamble, and it involves gambling with the development and safety of the Qin Dynasty. If the gamble succeeds, it may only result in one son reforming his ways; if it fails, it could have a significant impact on the Qin Dynasty. So why take the gamble? It is understandable that the First Emperor chose to appoint an heir at this time. After learning from Li Nian about the impact of not appointing an heir in time on the Qin Dynasty, the First Emperor wanted to appoint an heir so that if he were to die suddenly one day, the Qin Dynasty would not repeat the mistakes of history.

Unfortunately, there was no one suitable to succeed him, and none of the princes of Qin met his expectations, so he postponed it for two years until now.

Fusu has been sent to a local post for over a year, and the princes have also served in local posts for over a year. Based on their performance, a crown prince of Qin can be selected from among them.

Establishing an heir apparent would make the Qin Dynasty more stable. As for the possibility that the heir might seize imperial power and threaten the throne, the First Emperor was not afraid.

Compared to the threat to the throne, the First Emperor valued the benefits that establishing an heir would bring to the Qin Dynasty. He did not want the Qin Dynasty to follow the historical path described by Li Nian, and his Qin Dynasty would never become like that.

Considering Hu Hai's historical actions, the First Emperor would definitely want to optimize Hu Hai's image before establishing an heir, just in case.

'The First Emperor's handling of Huhai may also have included the intention of bringing his chosen heir apparent into the "historical consultation group," hoping to resolve a problem for the heir apparent first.'

"Because after joining the 'History Listening Group,' the Crown Prince will learn about Hu Hai's historical actions. This will make it difficult for him to deal with his younger brother, Hu Hai. Rather than putting his chosen heir in a difficult position, it's better for him to resolve the issue first!"

"Judging from this, it's likely that Fusu was the heir apparent that Qin Shi Huang intended to appoint. Prince Gao, having married Lü Zhi, had little chance of becoming heir, and Prince Jianglu and others didn't hold a significant position in Qin Shi Huang's favor."

After figuring out the cause and effect, Li Nian wondered how the First Emperor had dealt with Hu Hai. Was he secretly imprisoned somewhere, or had he been killed to end it all?
Just as Li Nian was pondering this, another young master asked Fusu curiously, "Brother, we haven't heard from you for over a year. May I ask where you've gone?"

Upon hearing this question, everyone in the garden looked at Fusu, curious about where he had been for the past year.

However, Fusu glanced at his younger brother who had asked the question and replied, "My destination is decided by Father. Father has not yet decided whether to tell everyone, so I cannot tell my brothers."

Upon hearing Fusu's answer, the young master who had asked the question changed his expression and quickly apologized to Fusu: "It was my ignorance that led me to ask such an inappropriate question. Please forgive me, elder brother!"

If this matter is confidential, and Fusu reveals it because of his inquiry, not only will Fusu be punished by the First Emperor, but Fusu himself will also be punished.

Some of the young masters realized their mistake and were disappointed. If Fusu had told them, it would have been a good thing. Their actions were not discreet, and both of them would have lost a lot of points with their father.

Fusu not only didn't fall into this trap, but also revealed an important piece of information to them: Fusu's disappearance for more than a year was due to a secret mission assigned to him by his father, the emperor. This shows that his father not only did not give up on Fusu, but also intended to give him an important position.

Fusu waved his hand, indicating that he didn't care: "It's fine this time, but don't do it again in the future. Think carefully before asking questions, and don't let curiosity lead you astray."

The young man thanked Fusu and said, "I will follow your teachings, elder brother!"

After that, no one dared to ask where Fusu had been for the past year or so, and all the young masters behaved with great respect in front of Fusu.

Their elder brother, whom they hadn't seen for over a year, was indeed different from before. If they could, they would still prefer the elder brother they had a year ago; the elder brother of that time was much easier to deal with than the one they had now!
Before the banquet began, everyone chatted about everything under the sun, from ancient times to the present, or talked about what had happened in their respective fiefdoms. Li Nian was the main person that the young masters talked and exchanged ideas with.

Since Li Nian is so learned and talented, a fact known to everyone in the Qin Dynasty, from astronomy to geography, and even to countries thousands of miles away, it is very interesting to talk to him and learn many things that one could not have imagined before.

At the same time, which of you gentlemen does not know that Li Nian is highly valued by their father, the Emperor?

Their father treated Li Nian as well as his own sons, or even better. They all thought Li Nian was their own brother and would become the crown prince of Qin.

Although the misunderstanding was later cleared up, the Emperor's high regard for Li Nian was evident. If they could befriend such a person, it might increase their chances of becoming the Crown Prince of Qin.

Fusu sat in his seat, drinking tea while watching Li Nian and his brothers talk. Although it was only his second time drinking tea, he had already come to like the taste of it. The bitterness contained a subtle fragrance, and after tasting it carefully, the aftertaste was very pleasant.

As Li Nian answered his younger brothers' various questions and recounted all sorts of strange and unusual stories he had never heard before, Fusu couldn't help but recall an incident from two years ago: his father had told him that he had found him a learned teacher who was even more learned and talented than Chunyu Shi, but he was unwilling at the time. Instead, he thought that if that teacher came to teach him, he would definitely find some questions to make things difficult for him.

Unfortunately, until he was sent to a local area, the teacher his father had mentioned never came to teach him a single lesson, giving him no opportunity to make things difficult for him.

Later, he learned the identity of the teacher his father was going to assign to him, and he gave up on making things difficult for that teacher.

That teacher was none other than his future brother-in-law, Li Nian, who had been bestowed the title of Prince of Qin by his father and was now chatting and laughing with his brothers.

Looking at Li Nian who was speaking, Fu Su had a feeling that if he became the crown prince of Qin, what his father had said might come true. Li Nian would most likely become his teacher and teach him.

If that were the case, it wouldn't be bad. He did have many questions he wanted Li Nian to answer, especially after being sent down to the countryside, he had accumulated many doubts and needed someone to answer them for him.

Li Nian must be one of the people in the world who has the ability and knowledge to answer his questions, and may even be the one who can give him the most answers, without exception!

Thinking of this, Fusu prepared to ask Li Nian a question that he had pondered in the local area but had not been able to answer.

He said to Li Nian, "I also have a question I'd like to ask my brother-in-law for guidance!"

Seeing that Fusu had spoken, the other young masters stopped talking to Li Nian and let Fusu speak with Li Nian.

Li Nian looked at Fusu and smiled, "Please ask, young master. If I know the answer, I will not hide it from you."

Fusu's expression turned serious, and he asked earnestly, "Brother-in-law, do you believe that governing a country should prioritize benevolence and virtue or law? How should we choose between virtue and law?"

This question has been troubling Fusu ever since he figured it out, and he has never been able to find an answer.

(End of this chapter)