Jiang Chen had finally figured out the who, why, when, where and how of the entire situation after some careful organization of the facts. He also knew why the previous Jiang Chen died.

“Alright! Looks like this past Jiang Chen died quite a luckless death. Death because of farting? This king of the Eastern Kingdom is quite a character. Rites of Heavenly Worship? Heh. I, the vaunted son of the Celestial Emperor, have encountered many rituals in my time, but never have I heard of obtaining heaven’s blessing via a fresh shower, new clothes, and a few sticks of incense. There is at least order under heaven. Those who are benevolent are rewarded in kind, and those who are not are punished. Ah, forget it. I have been handed this opportunity thanks to this tyrant killing Jiang Chen.”

Jiang Chen sighed as he lay in the coffin, feeling a multitude of feelings. While he was outraged on the past Jiang Chen’s behalf, he couldn’t help but be secretly delighted that he himself had reincarnated.

Except, he had also clearly heard the conversation between the two. One of them was the past Jiang Chen’s father, or rather, his current father.

Seeing this life’s father flying into an awe inspiring rage, ready to erupt into full blown rebellion at any second, warmed Jiang Chen’s heart. It gave him a sense of déjà vu to witness this kind of fatherly love and doting.

“Who would have thought that I would be so lucky to have an unconditionally supportive father in both my past and present lives. Although this duke of Jiang Han is a pillar of the kingdom, he is willing to rebel for a son unjustly killed. He is a man of courage and uprightness.”

Perhaps it was due to the blood ties between this body and Jiang Feng. Whatever it was, Jiang Chen felt very warmly disposed towards Jiang Feng as a father at first glance.

At least he wasn’t a timid, stupidly loyal subject.

And of course Jiang Chen wouldn’t let the situation get out of hand and develop towards rebellion.

Although it could be deeply satisfying to rebel against one’s overlord for a noble cause, it was a quick way to die when one considered the big picture. Not to mention that Jiang Feng wasn’t on home ground at the moment.

And even if he was, even if he rallied a million troops, it was hopelessly futile to think of a duke prevailing against an entire kingdom.

Jiang Chen was the son of the Celestial Emperor in his past life and widely educated. He understood well the meaning of “those with noble morals need not rush brashly into seeking revenge”, and would definitely prevent the father of his current life from committing such a brainless action.

It was true that he was the son of the Celestial Emperor in his past life.

But in this life, the identity of his past life was nothing but hot air!

If his father Jiang Feng rebelled and the royal family reacted accordingly, how could anyone escape unscathed? Jiang Chen had finally taken control of a new body when he reincarnated, he didn’t want to croak after he woke up.

Therefore, when he saw that his father was ready to leave behind a trail of blood at a moment’s notice, Jiang Chen couldn’t resist the urge to give a quiet “eurgh”. It was a sound that promptly froze Jiang Feng where he stood.

Jiang Feng had become completely petrified as he stared unblinkingly at Jiang Chen’s body lying in the coffin. The fierce rage in his eyes transformed into strong fatherly love in a blink of an eye.

A father’s love is like a mountain, and Jiang Feng almost launched himself into a flying leap like a tiger as he rushed to grab Jiang Chen’s hand. “Chen’er, you… you’re not dead?”

Although the face was a stranger’s face, this fatherly love was so akin to the one he’d experienced in his past life that Jiang Chen was no stranger to it.

“Father, I have dragged you down with me.”

At that moment, Jiang Feng was wholly immersed in the joy of regaining the son he’d lost. Who gave a crap about the flood of great changes following his son?

“Nonsense! You are my son, the son of Jiang Feng, how could you have dragged me down? Everything is so wonderful because you have not died Chen’er! So what if you farted? The daughter of that Eastern Lu contracted an incurable disease, as if holding some rites would cure that? If worshipping the heavens would heal all terminal illnesses, what use are doctors then?”

“And, his precious daughter’s life is important, but is my son’s life not equally so? Just because he held rites to beg mercy from heaven means that my son is to be caned to death for an accidental fart?”

Jiang Feng didn’t bother to hide from his son the fires of bitter anger in his belly. He even dared to call the king of the Eastern Kingdom by his name.

It would seem that this duke of Jiang Han was truly angered. Jiang Chen was certain that if he had truly died, Jiang Feng would have certainly rebelled.

This was a man who was willing to blast holes in the sky for his son.

“It’s not a bad thing to have this kind of father.” Jiang Chen’s positive impression towards this father had increased even more.

“Don’t be afraid Chen’er. Now that you’ve woken up, you will never suffer again for as long as I have breath in my body. I will contact the nobles that we are friendly with and petition that Eastern Lu to pardon those random, absurd crimes you were charged with.”

Defilement of the sacred altar, debasement of the holy temple, blasphemy against the gods, destroyer of the Rites of Heavenly Worship!

If these crimes were not cleared, they would cause no end of trouble for Jiang Chen, even if he’d come back from the dead.

At the same time, Jiang Chen knew that he could not have crimes hanging over his head if he was to live in this Eastern Kingdom in the future.

“Father, let’s not be in a rush to clear my name. The Eastern family is thoroughly enraged at the moment. We can visit after a few days when his anger has abated. I’ve already been caned once, surely he won’t forget his dignity as a king and cane me again?” Jiang Chen had a lot of ways to handle the situation at hand. He was in no rush as he needed time to get used to this new identity and feel at home in this new body.

Jiang Feng was about to respond when some sounds registered in his ears. “Chen’er, lie down, someone’s coming,” he said quietly.

Jiang Chen did so with resignation as his revival from death was simply too abrupt. This would be heaven shaking news if anyone saw him. His father was asking him to keep up the being dead cover for now.

Alright, with this coffin as a cover, playing dead was the easiest thing in this world.