Dark Sand: My Players Are All Actors
Chapter 408 - 243: Die, Dog Emperor! (8000 words, soliciting monthly votes)_4

Chapter 408: Chapter 243: Die, Dog Emperor! (8000 words, soliciting monthly votes)_4

"Ah? That works?"

Li Hongyun was dumbfounded.

In fact, when he first decided to assassinate the emperor, it was just to go along with Chu Ge’s plan. And Chu Ge actually did not have time to explain the plan to him in detail.

After all, the two were so familiar with each other and trusted each other implicitly, there was no need to waste time on unnecessary explanations.

Li Hongyun took on this mission partly out of his own indignation and also because he figured that since time was running out that night, why not go for broke?

But could assassinating the emperor really secure the capital?

Li Hongyun doubted it. This was probably just busying oneself for nothing. However, even if it was in vain, killing an emperor on the side didn’t seem like a loss.

If he couldn’t kill Wanyan Sheng, couldn’t he still kill Emperor Yingzong of Qi?

After he succeeded in the assassination, to his surprise, he really did pass the first stage. This was somewhat unexpected for Li Hongyun.

The fog filled the air once more, and Li Hongyun realized he was about to wake up in reality.

Everything had fallen into place just right.

...

"Why did killing Emperor Yingzong let me pass the first stage?"

The first thing Li Hongyun did after waking up was to express the doubt in his heart to Chu Ge.

A smile also spread across Chu Ge’s face.

Obviously, although his role as Imperial Censor ultimately ended with him being pursued and committing suicide out of fear of punishment in his own residence, Chu Ge played a crucial role in this process, so he too, had passed.

This success meant that many of his previous speculations had been confirmed.

"This is a long story.

"You should be aware of the underground struggle between Emperor Qihui and Emperor Yingzong, right?"

Chu Ge gave Li Hongyun a brief explanation of when he had the idea to kill the emperor.

In fact, Chu Ge’s decision to do this was clearly not a spur-of-the-moment idea, but the result of an objective feasibility analysis.

It all started when Emperor Qihui came to the throne.

Emperor Qihui’s predecessor was his own elder brother, who had been groomed to be the Crown Prince from a young age. Although he was young, he did quite well once he took charge of the government in his teens.

First, he reinstated the new laws that had previously been completely abolished by Wen Jun and then made significant progress in the northwest conflicts.

So much so that later generations believed that if he had lived a few more years, not needing much, just until the age of sixty to see General Han Fuyue’s rise, he would have been able to accomplish the objective of recapturing Yan and revitalizing the Qi Dynasty.

And that would have been highly probable.

However, such an emperor died young in his twenties.

And his successor was his younger brother, Emperor Qihui.

The current prime ministers were very reluctant, even giving a very fair assessment: Prince Duan is frivolous, unfit to rule the world!

And later historical records note that Emperor Qihui seemed to be skilled in calligraphy and painting, reportedly very good at soccer as well, quite talented in many areas. But he could do anything except be an emperor.

Unfortunately, the words of that prime minister ultimately carried little weight.

And what exactly is the difference between a good emperor and a poor one?

Is there really such a thing as a person born to be a good emperor and another born to be a poor one?

Indeed, there are inherent factors that cannot be denied, but postnatal factors are also very important.

The reason the previous emperor did well was that he had been groomed to be the Crown Prince from the start, so his ability to govern was not weak and his political acumen was also not poor; compared to Emperor Qihui, who was never groomed to be the Crown Prince from a young age, but suddenly at the age of twenty, a fully grown man with a firmly established character, he was thrust onto the imperial throne.

Thus, Emperor Qihui was fundamentally problematic, and it was the kind of flaw that was difficult to amend.

The same issue arose with Emperor Yingzong.

Emperor Yingzong was Emperor Qihui’s eldest son, but he was never favored by Emperor Qihui.

At that time, Emperor Qihui preferred his third son.

This Third Prince had an elder brother who had died young. So, he could be said to be the second in line to the throne.

In contrast to Emperor Yingzong, who was not much like Emperor Qihui, this Third Prince demonstrated more impressive qualities, his talents were better, and his educational level was higher; he even secretly took part in the imperial examinations without Emperor Qihui’s knowledge and managed to become the top scholar.

Emperor Qihui was naturally delighted, believing this Third Prince to be the most like himself and secretly nurtured him in various ways.

Not only did he put him in charge of a crucial department like the Wude Bureau, but he even allowed him to go to the front lines to learn about military affairs from various generals.

Of course, due to the Qi Dynasty’s then weak military strength, such learning was quickly abandoned due to the high risks involved.

But regardless, the intent of linking a Prince with military power was absolutely clear.

Because historically, except for the few princes who were really capable in warfare and were used as tools by their fathers, any prince associated with the military inevitably held a significant advantage in the competition for succession, subtly expressing the old emperor’s bias.

If the Jingping Incident had not occurred, perhaps after a few more years, Emperor Qihui would really consider transferring the throne to this Third Prince through certain means.

However, the unexpected Jingping Incident happened.

Even if Emperor Qihui wanted to pass the throne to the Third Prince at that time, the conditions were not mature at all, let alone the fact that there was an elder son, Emperor Yingzong, ahead. Thus, even though Emperor Qihui was extremely reluctant to favor this eldest son, in the urgent situation of wanting to flee, he had no choice but to hastily transfer the power.