Rebirth As a Fatuous and Self-indulgent Ruler

356. Being an Emperor Was Not an Easy Job (II)

Translator: Storm in a Teacup

After refreshing themselves, Long and Shi went out together.

They went directly to the dining room, where they would have breakfast.

Not long after, Xu You and Fang Shuoyang came in.

Fang said, “You can just continue. I’ve ordered other people to leave.”

Long nodded. Naturally he wouldn’t say no.

Shi didn’t even look up.

Xu walked over and sat beside Shi. “Brother Shi, eat slowly. You weren’t with us these days. I missed you so much.”

Shi glanced at him and nodded.

Long said unhappily, “Why did you miss your Brother Shi?”

Xu blinked. “It’s just like what you think.”

Hearing that, Long gave Xu a fierce look. “There’s someone you should miss. Don’t mess around.”

Xu curled his lips. “Elder brother, you’re so narrow-minded. I really can’t stand you.”

Long sneered. “I don’t need you to stand me. As long as I have Qingzhou, I care about nothing.”

Xu rubbed his arms and said in disgust, “Come on, elder brother, you are still eating here. Can you stop displaying your affection for him? I can’t stand you!”

Long stared at him. “I don’t care!”

Fang patted Xu on the shoulder. “Xu You, stop it. Let them have a good meal.”

“Alright.” Xu shrugged and obediently stopped talking.

Seeing that, Long sneered again.

Xu was almost irritated. Fang hurriedly pacified him and took a look at Long helplessly.

Fang really couldn’t understand Long. Long knew clearly that Xu could easily get angry, so why couldn’t he just stop irritating him?

When Long and Shi finished their breakfast, Fang didn’t ask the servants to clean up the table, but began to talk to them.

“That good father of mine had an in-depth talk with me. It seems that he was trying to sound me out on the throne.”

“Oh?” Long raised his eyebrows. “What did you say?”

“Of course I said I’m a little interested in it, but I know the situation, so I don’t demand it. You know, my eldest brother is still waiting there. If I show much interest, he’ll surely hurt me, right? But if I say I don’t have any interest, nobody will believe me.” Fang knew the situation very well, so he also reacted well.

Long nodded. “Well, this is reasonable.”

“I guess my father won’t deal with me lately, but... from his words, I found that he’s a little dissatisfied with the crown prince.”

Hearing this, Long touched his chin. “Since he showed that attitude in front of you, he must hope that you go to deal with the crown prince. In this way, he can not only eliminate the crown prince, but also have an excuse to restrain you. If he exposes you someday, you won’t be a prince anymore. Then, the one who can benefit from this will only be Zhou Suye.”

Fang looked a little cold after hearing this. “He’s so scheming, making use of his two sons to help the one he favors. Tsk, such a father is so rare.”

Long glanced at him and patted him on the shoulder. “Family affection doesn’t exist in the imperial palace. You should’ve got used to it.”

Fang sighed. “You’re right. I should’ve been used to it.”

Long smiled. “Alright, don’t think too much. Cherish those who deserve your love and give up on those who should be abandoned. This is something everyone must learn in their lives.”

After a pause, Fang said slowly, “I understand.”

Originally, Xu was still a little worried about Fang. But after hearing some words from Long, Fang quickly changed his attitude and calmed down. Xu couldn’t help but admire Long.

Xu thought that Long really deserved to be his elder brother!

Long looked askance at Xu. “What do you want to say?”

Xu shook his head.

Long curled his lips.

Xu said, “I’m just thinking that my elder brother is not worthless.”

Long became speechless.

Shi smiled faintly and looked at Fang. “Since Lord Zhou wants you to fight the crown prince, I think you can give it a try.”

Fang was surprised to hear that. “I’ll do what he wants?”

“He is the emperor. Of course you need to obey him,” Long also said.

Fang frowned. “But...”

“As for how much you can do... haha... it is hard to say,” Long continued.

Fang understood a little about it. After thinking for a while, he said, “But, it’ll be the last step sooner or later. If I really do it, won’t I be exposed? Even if we take extra care, we may still be set up by them. My father is very good at this.”

Long smiled upon hearing this. “Don’t worry. It takes time.”

Fang looked at him. “Time? What do you mean?”

“Well, as long as we finish everything we need to do, or even take the opportunity to threaten him, before he deals with you, it will be fine,” Long said.

Shi also said calmly, “That’s right.”

Fang deeply felt that it was much harder than the use of force. He doubted whether he could do well if he was an emperor.

Long seemed to have seen him through, so he smiled and said, “Fang Shuoyang, you have to know that as long as we are alive, we have to learn and use our brains every day. You can ask Xu You about this.”

Xu blinked. “I’ve heard of this, but I don’t like to use my brain.”

“So you are still like a child now,” Long said bluntly.

Fang took a deep breath. “It’s enough for one of us to grow up like that. I like him being innocent.”

Long shrugged. “Then it depends on how much you can learn.”

Fang stood up and bowed low to Long. “Elder brother, please help me.”

“I can only teach you how to think about things, but I can’t make decisions for you. Fang Shuoyang, as I said a long time ago, what I need is an ally, not a subject.”

“I understand. Thank you, elder brother.” Fang smiled.

Seeing that Fang understood it, Long smiled and said, “There are not many ways to deal with the crown prince. Assassination is the simplest and rudest way, but two princes have already died, which is probably the limit. Furthermore, the situation in Eastern Darkness is already a bit messy and what we need to do is to make it much messier. So, we just need to think about ways to achieve this goal...”

Fang thought about it for a while and then suddenly said, “It is not difficult to fight and create discord with the crown prince, but it’s really hard to eliminate him once for all, unless he has moral problems and everyone in the nation gets annoyed.”

“Yes, you’re right. So, what kind of things can anger all the people in the nation?”

“Hurting his family,” Fang said calmly.

“That’s right. Fang Shuoyang, the crown prince really wishes you to die now.”

Fang narrowed his eyes. “I don’t mind being bait, but I think I may be easily trapped in this.”

“So, it can only happen in broad daylight,” Long said.

Fang fell silent after hearing this.

“Anyway, there’s no rush. You can think about it carefully.” Long patted Fang on the shoulder. Then, he turned to Shi and said, “Qingzhou, let’s go take a walk. I still want to meet Wang Qi.”

Shi nodded.

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