I picked up skill fragments in the demon world

Chapter 91: Cuckoo Occupies the Magpie's Nest

Zhang Chen felt his scalp tingle as he listened to Zhang Xiaolan's words. A chill ran straight from the soles of his feet to his heart!

Indeed, how could there be such a coincidence in the world?

His name and Zhang Chen's were so similar?

And the most crucial thing was that Zhang Chen was actually going by the name of Zhang Xiaohua, which was extremely strange!

The Pingbian Prince's Mansion harbored ill intentions!

The two siblings walked down the street like ordinary people. The pedestrians on the street were in a hurry, and no one knew that their conversation involved a shocking conspiracy.

"Why?" Zhang Chen asked, his eyes fixed on Zhang Xiaolan, his voice calm, without the slightest ripple, as if their conversation had not affected him in any way.

"Because you are not my biological younger brother at all! You are the son of the Pingbian Prince!"

"What! ! !" Zhang Chen's expression changed instantly upon hearing this, his eyes filled with shock. He never expected that he would accidentally overhear such a shocking secret.

"Back then, the Pingbian Prince was monitored by the imperial court. The newborns in the mansion died one after another, all secretly murdered by the court. In order to protect you, and also to confuse others, the Pingbian Prince deliberately sent you out of the mansion to my home. In order not to expose your identity, although I knew you were being bullied at home, everyone tacitly did not help you, because the more low-key and inconspicuous you were, the more likely you would be to avoid the court's investigation."

"The Prince initially named you Zhang Xiaohua in order to mislead the Surveillance Department into thinking you were a girl. At the same time, the Prince had already arranged for a substitute for you in the mansion."

"Later, you were forced to leave home, which was also due to the Surveillance Department's close pursuit. A traitor appeared in the Pingbian Prince's Mansion, and the Surveillance Department infiltrated and investigated. The family had no choice but to force you out to change your identity. Then, Fifth or Sixth Mister took you in as a disciple and arranged for you to settle in that village. All of this was personally arranged by Fifth or Sixth Mister, just to give you a chance to escape if the court really pursued you! Zhang Chen, the hunter next door to you, was a criminal exiled from the capital. His family's status in the capital was extraordinary. The Prince was handling a major matter before. If it failed, he would kill Zhang Chen and have you take his identity to go to the capital, smoothly integrate into the Zhang family, occupy the magpie's nest, and replace Zhang Chen's position, so as not to be implicated by the Prince."

Speaking of this, the girl's tone changed: "Even in order to perfectly create an identity without revealing any flaws, the Prince personally killed Zhang Chen's father, leaving only his orphaned widow and child. As for his little sister and widow, they are all under the Prince's surveillance. As long as the situation is not right, he will kill the widow and the young child, and you can replace their identity. You have been neighbors with Zhang Chen for ten years, knowing everything about him, knowing all his details. In the future, when you go to the capital, you will be able to answer the Zhang family's questions smoothly. But now there is no need, the Prince's plan has succeeded! Very successful! You no longer have to live in hiding."

"I came to see you this time with the Prince's order! It's time for you to return to the Prince's Mansion! The great cause of the Prince's Mansion still needs you to inherit! As for that hunter Zhang Chen, he dared to oppose you these years, so burying him in prison can be considered as venting your anger."

Zhang Chen was stunned as if struck by lightning, his eyes filled with blankness.

He wondered if he had misheard! How could so many things happen out of nowhere?

The girl looked at Zhang Chen, thinking that he couldn't accept it, so she said with a smile: "I know it's difficult for you to accept the change of identity for a while, but this is your true identity. You will be the heir of the Pingbian Prince from now on, the only heir of the Pingbian Prince's Mansion. You can change your name now and no longer have to live under the identity of Zhang Chen."

Listening to Zhang Xiaolan's words, Zhang Chen felt his mind buzzing. The crystal core in his body rapidly circulated, trying to suppress the blood flow in his body.

He really didn't expect that he would stumble upon such a shocking secret just by blowing up a fox spirit.

"Big trouble! Huge trouble!" Zhang Chen felt a chill down his spine at this moment, and a cold sweat rose from his back, his eyes filled with horror.

His cheap old man was actually killed by someone?

He was actually arranged by someone, and he actually became someone else's backup plan. Once the other party was threatened, he would be the one sacrificed, and the other party would take his identity to continue living?

"It's simply seamless!" Zhang Chen couldn't help but sigh secretly, the other party's plan had no flaws at all.

First of all, the name, the problem of the two Zhang Chens, as long as he died, if someone from the capital family came to the Northern Territory to investigate in the future, the villagers would mention two Zhang Chens, and the family would easily overlook it.

His old man was gone, and then the younger brother, younger sister, and stepmother were silenced, wouldn't that be a dead end?

Who could prove that the poor scholar Zhang Chen was a fake?

At that time, the fake would also be real!

"What exactly is the Pingbian Prince's Mansion plotting? It actually caused such a disaster?" Zhang Chen felt cold in his heart, his eyes filled with horror. If he hadn't accidentally reversed his identity at this time, he would be in big trouble.

"But it's not like there's no chance. If I kill the real Zhang Xiaohua, now is the best opportunity for me to infiltrate the Pingbian Prince's Mansion and take Zhang Xiaohua's identity to complete the ultimate counter-kill. But my flaws are too big. The villagers all know my and Zhang Chen's details. If I go to the Pingbian Prince's Mansion, someone will definitely go to investigate and identify me carefully in secret. And I have one of the biggest flaws, which is that I am illiterate."

Countless thoughts flashed through Zhang Chen's mind, thinking about how to muddle through, or directly occupy the magpie's nest and seize Zhang Xiaohua's identity to complete the ultimate counter-kill.

"First of all, the real Zhang Chen in prison must die as soon as possible. Only when he dies as soon as possible can I be safer and delay the time of my exposure," a thought flashed through Zhang Chen's mind.

"You should come back with me now! The Prince has long been looking forward to reuniting with you, father and son," Zhang Xiaolan said, looking at Zhang Chen.

Zhang Chen hesitated slightly upon hearing this, a look of indignation appearing on his face: "But I want to personally send that hunter on his way! I have a deep hatred with that hunter. If I don't personally send him on his way, I can't resolve this resentment in my heart."

Zhang Xiaolan was stunned upon hearing this, then nodded:

"It is indeed a bit difficult. Both the imperial court and the Prince want to find out the source of the explosive power through that Zhang Chen. If they can master it, it will be easier for the Prince to do things in the future, and my Pingbian Prince's Mansion will be more stable in the Northern Territory. Since that hunter has already fallen into our hands, he can't escape anyway. After we have interrogated all his information, it will not be too late for you to kill him."

Speaking of which, Zhang Xiaolan looked at Zhang Chen with a solemn expression, her eyes seeming to speak: "Now you are the heir of the Pingbian King, and there are very few things in the Northern Lands worth your attention. He is just a mountain hunter. As long as you ask about the secrets, you can execute him at will. By the way, you have been with that mountain hunter for several years, have you ever noticed any clues about explosives?"

Zhang Chen shook his head upon hearing this, "Not at all! If that hunter had such abilities, how could he have been bullied by me? I think it was just a coincidence!"

Hearing this, Zhang Xiaolan didn't ask any more questions, but said, "Come back to the Royal Mansion with me now!"

Hearing Zhang Xiaolan's words, Zhang Chen's scalp tingled, and he felt a little overwhelmed for a moment. He knew that the time to decide his fate had come.

He now had two choices. The first choice was to escape immediately. But since he knew such a secret, the Pingbian Royal Mansion would definitely not let him go. Moreover, once he escaped, the Pingbian Royal Mansion would also realize something was wrong. Then, the real Zhang Xiaohua would definitely be released. Given the grudges between him and Zhang Xiaohua, Zhang Xiaohua would never let him go.

The second choice was to enter the Pingbian Royal Mansion and live under Zhang Xiaohua's identity, and then kill the real Zhang Xiaohua.

Then, secretly kill everyone who knew the clues. When the time comes, he could naturally and smoothly replace Zhang Xiaohua's identity, and then ascend to the ranks of royalty in one step.

However, he was just an imposter, and there were too many flaws in him. It was only because Zhang Xiaolan was preconceived that he was able to exploit the loophole. Otherwise, as long as a little investigation and verification were done, his imposture would definitely be exposed. Wouldn't going to the Royal Mansion be like seeking his own death?

But even if he didn't go to the Royal Mansion, would he really have a way out?

He was in a dilemma, already in a difficult situation!

However, Zhang Chen was, after all, Zhang Chen, and he quickly came up with an idea: "I can't go back to the Royal Mansion for the time being."

Zhang Xiaolan was stunned when she heard this, "Why?"

"Because I still need time to adjust. This is such a big matter, you always have to give me some time to calm down. Moreover, these are all just your words. I can't just believe them casually. I want to wait for Fifth or Sixth Master to come back and have him tell me personally. I only believe Fifth or Sixth Master's words now." Saying this, Zhang Chen felt that his words seemed untenable, so he spoke cautiously, "Besides, this is all just your side of the story. Perhaps the one in the great prison is the heir of the Pingbian King, and I am just a scapegoat pushed out by you to attract the attention of the Surveillance Division. Wouldn't I be used by you?"

"In fact, there might be another version of what you said, which is that Zhang Chen is the real heir of the Pingbian King, who has been living in seclusion in a mountain village. And I unintentionally moved there, which gave you an opportunity to manipulate things. Now the Pingbian King wants to do something dangerous, but he feels it's not safe enough, and he feels that Zhang Chen's identity might not be able to be concealed, so he came to trick me into taking the blame. He wants me, this fake heir of the Pingbian King, to attract the Surveillance Division's attention, so that if the Pingbian King fails in the future, I will die in place of the real heir!"

"For the sake of the child in your womb, you want to get ahead in the Royal Mansion, disregarding the affection between siblings, and deliberately collude with the Pingbian King to harm me. Even Fifth or Sixth Master's guidance for me to go to that village and become neighbors with Zhang Chen was all a conspiracy of the Pingbian Royal Mansion, just to conceal the identity of Zhang Chen, the heir, and push me out to protect him at a critical moment."

At this time, Zhang Chen's eyes were full of shrewdness as he looked at Zhang Xiaolan, his voice resounding powerfully: "Unless you execute that 'Zhang Chen' to prove to me that he is not the heir of the Pingbian Royal Mansion, I will never go to the Pingbian Royal Mansion."

As Zhang Chen spoke, he couldn't help but give himself a thumbs up in his heart, admiring his own wit.

By retreating to advance, he didn't believe that Zhang Xiaohua wouldn't die!

If Zhang Xiaolan wanted to prove that what she said was true, she had to execute Zhang Xiaohua!

Once Zhang Xiaohua died, he would then contact Fifth or Sixth Master, and then kill Fifth or Sixth Master. When the time came, even fewer people would know his identity.

The only thing that was a little difficult was the villagers. Surely he couldn't slaughter the entire village, could he? He wasn't that crazy!

But once he entered the Royal Mansion, as long as the Pingbian Royal Mansion didn't suspect anything and didn't investigate, those villagers would have no chance to meet him again, which wouldn't be considered a flaw.

What really gave Zhang Chen a headache was the issue of literacy!

That bookworm Zhang Xiaohua was well-read in poetry and books, but he himself was illiterate, which was his biggest crisis.

He now had a little way to escape, which was to delay as much as possible after going to the Royal Mansion, and have the fox spirit make more explosives, and then dig through the tomb. If he could gain enough experience points inside and acquire skills that would allow him to escape, he would have a chance to avoid the Pingbian Royal Mansion's pursuit. Otherwise... even if he mastered supernatural powers, he was afraid it would be difficult to deal with the Pingbian Royal Mansion, unless he hid in the deep mountains and forests and didn't come out. But what about his mother and younger sister? How could he persuade his younger sister and mother to follow him to the deep mountains and forests to take refuge?

Moreover, even if he mastered supernatural powers and could escape, what about his younger brother and sister, and his stepmother? They would definitely be implicated by the enraged Pingbian Royal Mansion. Ever since he met that Gou County Magistrate, he had lost all hope in the government of this world.

In fact, the most difficult thing for him to arrange was his younger brother and sister, as well as his stepmother!

Living in this world, one is always bound by all sorts of constraints.

Hearing Zhang Chen's defense, Zhang Xiaolan was not only not angry, but praised him highly: "As expected of the heir, as expected of the King's seed. This intelligence is admirable. You are right, Zhang Chen in the prison must die in order for you to feel at ease. It is not difficult to fulfill your request! The torture in the prison is definitely not something that hunter can endure. Once that hunter is worthless, I will take you to the prison to personally execute him, which can be considered fulfilling your wish."

"Wait until you execute that hunter, then come find me!" Zhang Chen turned around to leave, but after taking a few steps, he suddenly stopped and glanced at Zhang Xiaolan: "By the way, you have to give me a date. How many days will it take to execute that Zhang Chen?"

He wanted to retreat to advance, forcing Zhang Xiaolan to execute Zhang Xiaohua as soon as possible. At the same time, he didn't want to enter the Royal Mansion now. He still wanted to look for opportunities outside to see if there was a chance to kill Zhang Xiaohua.

Putting all his hopes on the Pingbian Royal Mansion and Zhang Xiaolan was something only a fool would do. He only trusted himself now.

"It's a pity that I'm not in the Great River Basin now. If I were in the Great River Basin, with my ability to control all the water flow within fifty meters, then the mere Pingbian Royal Mansion would just be a group of mortals. What would they amount to?" Zhang Chen said to himself in his heart.