Chapter 4: Better to Take a Different Path!
Han Princess’s Mansion.
Su Yuzhou looked exhausted, with a weary expression on her face.
After a whole night of research, she finally had a rough understanding of the entire framework. First of all, she could confirm that what she could deduce was her own experiences. Secondly, through various tests, she found that everything here was fully functional, and she could expand her own interest group through various means.
Finally, she reached a conclusion.
The Princess of Qin’s faction and the Princess of Jin’s faction were exceptionally powerful. After taking a stroll and clicking on characters, the affiliations of each person were clearly explained. What was even more terrifying was that these people could even be divided into factions within their own factions.
In simple terms, as the Han Princess, she didn’t have many followers, while others had so many that they could even split into multiple small interest groups internally.
It’s worth mentioning that each character was highlighted in different colors to emphasize their value and abilities. Su Yuzhou basically confirmed that white character cards represented mediocre individuals, blue character cards represented competent officials in a government office, purple character cards represented central ministers capable of governing national affairs, and gold character cards were the strongest among all, essentially guaranteed to leave a mark in history as famous ministers.
Yesterday, after a night of effort, Su Yuzhou, like last time, chose the path of exile from the capital, arriving in Le’an Prefecture for development. After several years of management, Le’an Prefecture had become completely her territory. All the officials there obeyed her orders.
But there were only two purple character cards in Le’an Prefecture. Su Yuzhou felt a bit resentful. The first time, she had a gold card named Lu Cheng’an, and she remembered it very clearly.
In the second deduction, Lu Cheng’an suddenly abandoned his pen and joined the military, and Su Yuzhou didn’t understand what he was thinking. His ability was in domestic governance, yet he insisted on becoming a military general. What was he trying to achieve?
She didn’t understand, really couldn’t understand. What was even more incomprehensible was that despite her explicit refusal to let him join the military, he stubbornly left a letter and ran away. In the letter, he told her that he was going to the army to control a certain amount of military power and help her start an uprising in the future.
He was defying the heavens.
During the five years of deduction, there was no news at all, and Su Yuzhou had no idea what this guy was up to.
Just when Su Yuzhou was having trouble understanding.
A piece of information popped up.
[In the eleventh year of Zheng Ying, a general from the Southern Army Corps distinguished himself. After inquiring, you learned that his name was Lu Cheng’an.]
[Purging the Sea of Bandits – Lu Cheng’an]
Su Yuzhou saw a brand new character card.
On the entire background panel, Lu Cheng’an stood alone with a sword in hand, wearing a luxurious light blue robe, but his face was full of unruliness and indifference.
Su Yuzhou was greatly shocked, thinking that he truly deserved to be a famous minister. Even if he abandoned his pen and joined the military, he could still step onto the stage of history.
Then, she clicked on his character card directly and confirmed that he was still a supporter of the Han Princess. She breathed a sigh of relief.
Compared to the Princess of Qin and the Princess of Jin, who had extensive relationships with powerful families and had many talents willing to join them, Su Yuzhou only had one gold card in her hand, so she attached great importance to Lu Cheng’an.
[In the thirteenth year of Zhengying, your father, the emperor, fell seriously ill and ordered you to return to the capital. Knowing that filial piety comes first, you put down the government affairs of Le’an Prefecture and returned to the capital.]
[In the summer of the thirteenth year of Zheng Ying, you wanted to enter the palace to see your father, the emperor, but were refused by the current prime minister, Changsun Ming, the uncle of the Princess of Qin, citing ‘the emperor’s poor health.’]
[In the autumn of the thirteenth year of Zheng Ying, Changsun Ming sent a food box, but there was only a jug of wine inside.]
[You feel that the emperor is clearing all obstacles for the Princess of Qin. Disheartened, you drink the poisoned wine.]
[You died.]
A series of information flashed out, and Su Yuzhou barely had time to look through it. When she finally saw that she had died again, she stood still in shock.
“I… Was I poisoned by the Emperor?” Su Yuzhou bit her lip slightly. Although she didn’t want to admit it, given the Emperor’s temperament, poisoning her was not something he couldn’t do.
However, knowing that the Emperor was capable of such a thing and him actually doing it were two different concepts. Su Yuzhou felt somewhat disheartened.
“Do you want to obtain this simulated memory?”
Su Yuzhou chose “yes.”
She once again experienced all the processes firsthand. This time, Su Yuzhou began to ponder because she discovered the suspicious aspects of the whole matter. After returning to the capital, she hardly had the chance to see the Emperor in person. It was always Changsun Ming who handed her things, including the poisoned wine.
She had a reasonable suspicion that Changsun Ming was manipulating this matter behind the scenes because her being poisoned had no benefit for the Emperor. Instead, it was very advantageous for the Princess of Qin. According to the concept of the first heir, she, Su Yuzhou, as the eldest daughter, should have been the best candidate for the next throne. Even if there were no real interest groups willing to support her, her status should have been higher than that of the Princess of Qin. This was a matter of course.
Just as Su Yuzhou was still pondering.
The scene changed again.
“After returning to the capital, General Mingwei Lu Cheng’an found that you had already died. He stood in front of your grave for a long time and finally chose to commit suicide by sword.”
“Due to Lu Cheng’an’s suicide, he became the first-ranking military officer since the founding of the Dacheng Dynasty to die without battle. The Princess of Qin ordered a thorough investigation into this case and ultimately found that Lu Cheng’an had a good personal relationship with the Han Princess. The public was moved by Lu Cheng’an’s loyalty and achievements in pacifying the pirates, and many coastal areas established temples in honor of Lu Cheng’an.”
“What a loyal minister he is.” Su Yuzhou felt that in her gloomy life, a ray of light had been added, and tears welled up in her eyes.
Starting out alone, she was the only one.
While others were surrounded by civil and military officials, with half of them being their supporters, she didn’t recognize anyone. However, Lu Cheng’an, the one who had been by her side from the beginning, instigated the ‘Han-Lu Rebellion’ immediately after her death in the first scenario and committed suicide at her grave in the second.
“If one day I can ascend to the throne, I will definitely depend on you,” Su Yuzhou silently vowed in her heart.
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On the other side, Lu Cheng’an was on the verge of collapse.
“My Han Princess, how can you depend on me like this?” Lu Cheng’an was dumbfounded. He had already risen to the rank of the fourth-grade military officer – General Mingwei, and had completely controlled a reorganized army of four thousand men.
This had given him some initial influence. He was about to make connections in the military and spread the word about the ‘Han Princess’s faction.’ However, before he could spread the word, the Han Princess fell. What was the point of playing this game when the monarch fell?
He could only end the game and choose to commit suicide at the Han Princess’s grave.
“Why am I behaving like a baby, committing suicide at the slightest setback, you say?” Lu Cheng’an sighed. He was about to rise to power and make grand plans. But now, the monarch had fallen, which was something he truly hadn’t expected.
To pass the plot of pacifying the pirates, Lu Cheng’an had copied the actions of Qi Jiguang in history and named the army he commanded against the pirates the ‘Han Army.’ After beating the pirates along the coast and steadily rising in rank, he truly didn’t expect to meet such misfortune as dying in his own home.
Lu Cheng’an became determined, “If pushed, I won’t consider anything about civil or military affairs first. Instead, I’ll capture you first, let you give birth to several chubby babies for me, and then obediently teach them. When I achieve great success, I’ll nominate you as the Empress, allowing you to regain the throne. Isn’t that a solution?” He realized that it was truly too difficult for the Han Princess herself to unify the world. It was better to take a different path on his own.
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