Young master, why not become a corpse immortal?

Chapter 315 Prince
The newly established Daxing was a prosperous place, with officials diligently maintaining order and military generals fighting hard to eliminate enemies within its borders.

After a great war, the land was devastated and the casualties were heavy. It would take a long time to recover before it could regain its former glory.

At this point, Zhao Liulang ventured into a completely unfamiliar territory; matters of domestic affairs were entirely unknown to him.

He tried to handle official business for two days, but ended up feeling frustrated and overwhelmed.

As a result, the memorials he corrected himself were riddled with errors, which actually reduced the effectiveness of government affairs.

In the end, Zhao Liulang simply stopped dealing with these internal affairs and entrusted them all to Jiao Gong and Wang Yunian. He and his third brother then traveled around Daxing, cleaning up the remaining forces of various countries, only returning occasionally.

During this time, Lin Jiang never saw the "Emperor's Barbecue Story" that Master Zhao mentioned. He didn't know if the fog had glossed over that experience or if Master Zhao had deliberately fabricated the story to quickly portray the emperor's image.

However, considering that the Imperial Preceptor was born bald yet boasted that "the heart has severed three thousand strands of afflictions, and the body has transformed into the nine heavens," one suddenly felt that these old men rarely spoke the truth, and that most of their words had been "embellished" by themselves.

While dealing with the bandits, Zhao Liulang was also searching for the calamities hidden in Daxing. To him, these calamities were not only the source of the disaster that shook the lifeline of the country, but also the culprits who took away his wife. If he had not shouldered the heavy responsibility of the country, he would probably have devoted his extraordinary skills to sweeping away the calamities.

Similarly, the Imperial Advisor in the capital also did a lot of work. As early as the beginning of the founding of the country, he dispatched a fleet to the ends of the earth, trying to measure other places in the world.

Lin Jiang knew that it was his grandfather's voyage, but because his view wasn't focused on that area, he could only regretfully miss the details.

However, since the protagonist of this fog was Zhao Liulang, Lin Jiang put aside his thoughts and stopped thinking about those irrelevant things.

Since he started cleaning up the "garbage," Zhao Liulang has returned to the capital much less often, sometimes not even once a year. He is more like a general on a distant expedition than an emperor.

Because of his extremely high prestige in the court and his extraordinary level of skill, coupled with the fact that all the officials in the capital were his old friends, he was able to sit firmly on the throne.

Finally, after completing a journey to the north, Zhao Liulang returned to the capital.

On his return to Beijing, Lin Jiang noticed that the flow of the fog was gradually slowing down.

It is estimated that another person of great importance to Zhao Liulang will appear in the fog.

He held his breath and looked around.

When the fog finally stopped and gathered, Lin Jiang finally caught a glimpse of Zhao Liulang residing in a quiet study.

At that moment, Zhao Liulang leisurely crossed his legs, engrossed in a book, seemingly enjoying this rare moment of tranquility.

Lin Jiang also scanned the study with great interest, and found that the bookshelves were mostly filled with military strategy books, rather than many poems and classical texts.

He leaned closer to Zhao Liulang's back, glanced quickly at the scroll in his hand, and his face instantly darkened.

Comic books! Serial comic books!
Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be one of those erotic books with explicit sexual illustrations!
How could you, the dignified Emperor of Daxing, secretly hide in this study watching erotic films?

Fortunately, Lin Jiang doesn't have a physical form to rely on right now, otherwise he would definitely give Zhao Liulang a good talking-to.

No, I need to take a good look at this and see what exactly you're looking at.

As Lin Jiang was secretly looking at Zhao Liulang's "exquisite collection", he caught a slight rustling sound coming from the study door. Looking up, he saw a young man walk straight in.

With just one glance, he recognized without hesitation that this young man was none other than the eldest prince who had once defeated him in a contest of power!
Compared to the obviously aged eldest prince, he was now full of energy and looked like a young man. His features were strikingly similar to Zhao Liulang's, but his skin was exceptionally fair, which was the complete opposite of his father's rough and dark skin.

Lin Jiang glanced at Zhao Liulang, only to be surprised to see a clear look of bewilderment in his eyes.

Lin Jiang: "?"

Could it be that he can't even recognize his own son?

The young man before him seemed to have realized that Zhao Liulang had not recognized him, but his expression remained unchanged. He simply bowed respectfully to Zhao Liulang.
"Father."

Zhao Liulang was clearly stunned for a long time before a look of realization appeared on his face.

Only then did he realize that the eldest prince in front of him was actually his own son.

In a daze, Zhao Liulang suddenly realized that he hadn't spoken to his family for a long time and was completely unaware that his eldest son had come of age.

Like many fathers in Daxing, Zhao Liulang didn't know how to get along with his children. Suddenly remembering that he was holding something rather unrefined, he immediately closed it and secretly stuffed it at the bottom of the pile of books on the table.

He stared silently at the eldest prince for a long while, until the prince felt slightly flustered, before slowly withdrawing his gaze:
"What business do you have with me?"

"Father has not returned to the palace for a long time. Now that you have returned, I only hope to see you."

"Oh."

Their long-awaited reunion ended with such a dry and uninteresting conversation.

Lin Jiang, who was listening in, couldn't help but sigh and rub his forehead.

He seemed to have glimpsed the root of the Crown Prince's future personality changes.

Isn't this the cause and effect of a mute father and a lack of care?

Even though Lin Jiang knew that royal family ties were not comparable to those of ordinary families, Zhao Liulang's description still seemed somewhat inappropriate. However, to Lin Jiang's surprise, the eldest prince simply smiled and said:

"Father, Emperor Wenzu planted some flowers in the courtyard a while ago, and they are in full bloom these days. They are very beautiful. It would be perfect to pick some petals to make flower cakes. Would you like to try some, Father?"

Unable to find an excuse to refuse, Zhao Liulang stiffly stood up and walked to his son's side:

"Take me to see it."

The eldest prince led the way, with Zhao Liulang following closely behind. Before long, the two entered a garden.

Zhao Liulang scanned the flowers around him and saw that they were mostly orange-yellow, with some pink mixed in.

In his view, these flowers were somewhat effeminate, and he would have certainly scoffed at them when he was young, but his wife loved them, and later he came to like them too.

However, he was really bad at it. Not to mention planting flowers, even if he brought the water-resistant thorny plants from the Gobi Desert, he could kill them. So he had to ask Wen Zu, who was quite refined in this regard, to help him plant some flowers in the back garden.

However, since his wife's death, Zhao Liulang has been unable to recall her name.

Perhaps it was osmanthus, or perhaps apricot blossom? He had no idea.

He turned his head slightly and caught a glimpse of several plates of exquisite pastries on the stone table next to him.

The eldest prince led Zhao Liulang to the stone table, poured tea, and then Zhao Liulang slowly sat down.

Zhao Liulang picked up a piece of pastry, put it in his mouth, and chewed it:
"It is too sweet."

"Looks like I should use less sugar next time I make it."

The eldest prince laughed.

"Did you make this yourself?"

"It took a little effort."

"Boys should learn to be tougher."

"Father." The eldest prince suddenly looked at Zhao Liulang seriously. Lin Jiang could see that Zhao Liulang's body shrank subconsciously at this moment, obviously a little nervous, but he still kept a tight face and didn't say a word.

“My talent is far inferior to my father’s. The Imperial Preceptor has personally taught me for a long time, but I still can’t grasp the essentials and my cultivation is difficult to improve. However, I heard that my father does not like to manage civil affairs, so he puts all his energy into it. According to the Imperial Preceptor, my father is more suited to pursuing the pinnacle of cultivation. If he is bound by court affairs, it may actually hinder his cultivation.”

"what do you mean?"

"If possible, I would like to help my father share the burden."

Zhao Liulang remained silent.

“I know that I have not had much contact with my father, and he may not be familiar with me. I dare not say whether I can take on the affairs of the country, but I hope my father will give me a chance.”

Upon hearing his eldest son's words, Zhao Liulang raised an eyebrow slightly, a hint of surprise in his expression.
"Fine, but I'll be even more demanding than you expect."

"I implore Father Emperor to be stricter. If I presume to govern beyond my capabilities, it will be a great calamity for the people of the world."

After this conversation, Lin Jiang was surprised to find that the eldest prince's demeanor was completely different from his previous impression.

At this moment, he appeared exceptionally gentle and refined, with no trace of affectation in his demeanor.

However, Lin Jiang suspected that this might be a ruse. After some thought, he felt he should observe the situation carefully for another ten days before making a judgment.

As the light mist wafted by, Lin Jiang's gaze inevitably fell upon the eldest prince.

Zhao Liulang's thoughts were clearly similar. During that period, he also stayed in the capital for a long time, carefully observing the words and deeds of his sons.

The eldest prince was indeed as he said, proficient in literature, law and politics, capable of handling all affairs of the country swiftly, and quite gentle in nature, always putting the common people first when dealing with government affairs.

The second princess was more skilled in spiritual cultivation than in politics. She resembled the empress in appearance, but she was extremely aloof and harbored deep resentment towards her father, whom she had not seen for a long time. She often hid herself deep in the palace, and Zhao Liulang rarely saw her.

As for the third prince, he was clearly inferior to his older brothers and sisters. He was not very good at cultivation and was also somewhat lacking in political affairs, but he was good at navigating social situations and got along well with many people in the court.

After spending time together, Zhao Liulang became convinced that his eldest son was qualified to inherit Daxing.

He finally felt at ease and entrusted all matters concerning Daxing to the eldest prince. He then sought out Wang Yunian and resolved to settle the matter of the disaster with him.

Witnessing the passage of time, Lin Jiang also realized that this moment marked the beginning of the "modern era." If the time Grandpa Sun mentioned that day was correct, then in seven years, Zhao Liulang would be lying in this coffin.

As the mist continued to flow, Lin Jiang finally saw the origin of the matter:
After consulting numerous ancient texts, the Imperial Advisor discovered that the so-called calamities all originated from the Divine City. However, since the last battle near the Divine City, too many stars in the surrounding area had perished, and the Divine City had been transformed into a secret realm. Many secrets were buried deep with the destruction of the city, and may never see the light of day again.

After learning about the situation, Zhao Liulang refused to believe it and decided to lead a team to the divine city to investigate and retrieve the information about the calamity.

Thus, a group of people set off from the capital and headed straight for the former divine city.

(End of this chapter)