The benefits brought about by his own death? It's likely that the noble families and powerful officials whose interests are now affected by the New Three Laws would be overjoyed, but this has nothing to do with the Empress, as she also supports them, meaning they are her own interests as well.
"If I die, the Empress herself will not lose any benefits; on the contrary, she will gain."
Following this line of thought, the first thing Chu Chen considered was power.
Since ancient times, every dynasty with a prime minister or chancellor, or a similar governmental structure, has basically seen a struggle between the power of the chancellor and the imperial power.
For example, in the more famous Ming Dynasty, Zhang Juzheng, as the Grand Secretary, was equivalent to a prime minister. During his reforms, his power was so immense that even the emperor dared not speak much.
If he were to die and the Empress chose to preserve the results of his policies, then she could concentrate all power in her own hands, with no chancellor to share her authority. The entire court would essentially be her sole domain.
"This means my death would bring power benefits to the Empress. But the problem arises again: why choose to act during my wedding with Xin Yue? Because I cannot marry Xin Yue? Because it obstructs the concentration of power? But if that were the case, the Empress should not retire to become a Grand Empress Dowager, but should continue to be the Empress!"
"Wait! It can't be?"
The Heavenly Demon Profound Body Divine Skill, a demonic art! Mother and daughters, five daughters with different personalities, unable to marry, the five daughters, all in their late twenties and still unmarried, all these issues combined.
Chu Chen suddenly shivered: "Damn, no way? Could it be that all five princesses are the Empress herself? Or are the five princesses avatars of the Empress? Or something similar to avatars?"
"Because all five are her, she certainly wouldn't marry, nor would she allow another man to touch her. So, she wants to get rid of me before the wedding?"
This answer made Chu Chen feel extremely terrified, but after a while, he felt something was wrong. If this were truly the case, then the five princesses would be too independent as individuals, so independent that they would rebel against their own本体.
One is understandable, but here, two are planning to do so.
"But if they are not like avatars, then what is their relationship with the Empress's demonic art?"
Chu Chen thought and thought, and suddenly recalled a demonic art from Taoism he had seen in his previous life: Dao Heart Seed Demon!
He clapped his hands, and Chu Chen suddenly understood: "Right, if they are not avatars, then they must be like nourishment! The Dao Heart Seed Demon technique involves planting the seed of a certain cultivation method into someone else's body, having them cultivate it on their behalf, and eventually seizing everything from them to strengthen oneself."
"This guess has some basis, but the first four princesses all have the talent to cultivate martial arts. However, if I hadn't given Xin Yue a Marrow Cleansing Pill, she probably wouldn't have been able to cultivate martial arts, right? Without the aptitude, how could she become nourishment for the demonic art?"
Chu Chen frowned, deeply pondering the connection.
"If the four princesses who can cultivate have been planted with the demon seed, but their martial arts realms are not the same. The cultivation of the eldest princess is unknown for now, but the second and third princesses are definitely only at the Foundation Establishment realm, or even below. And the fourth princess, being silly and sweet, certainly wouldn't cultivate diligently. With such cultivation, the demon seed might not mature, right?"
"Unless the Empress's demonic art is special, and has nothing to do with the depth of martial arts cultivation. Combined with their four different personalities: the eldest princess is gentle and generous, the second princess is sickly and crazy, the third princess is ambitious, and the fourth princess is silly and sweet, the fifth princess is willful and capricious."
"This means that the Heavenly Demon Profound Body Divine Skill is more related to personality than martial arts cultivation. This is somewhat in line with the characteristics of demonic arts, which do not seek aptitude but rather ruthless dark methods."
Chu Chen's brow relaxed considerably, as if he had already grasped many key points: "This means that the first four, no, likely all five princesses have been planted with demon seeds to provide personalized emotional demonic art as nourishment for the main body. And this demonic art likely has a requirement for virginity, which also aligns with the characteristics of demonic, Buddhist, and Taoist sects: virgin cultivation, boy cultivation."
"So, my wedding with Xin Yue would destroy Xin Yue's virginity, causing her demon seed to lose its efficacy. Coupled with the conflict between my power as a minister and the imperial power, and the fact that the New Three Laws no longer require me. Therefore, the Empress would make a move against me, wanting to kill me. This way, she could harvest the demon seeds of all five princesses in one go."
"However, there is still one point that is not quite right. How does the Empress determine the growth of the demon seed? What if it wasn't fully grown and I killed it prematurely? For example, in the life simulation, the second princess was once killed directly by me, and even several times by the invading armies of other countries. In that case, how would she recover these demon seeds?"
"Unless the Empress doesn't need to determine if it's mature or not. As long as the five princesses die, she can directly recover these demon seeds from the void, and her strength will greatly increase."
With this thought, Chu Chen pondered. If he didn't marry Xin Yue, but instead pursued the path of a powerful minister usurping the throne, would that be feasible?
Or, he could see if the system had anything to help Xin Yue remove the demon seed, and then, incidentally, kill the Empress and directly support Xin Yue to ascend the throne. Would that also be possible?
"Forget it, thinking about these things now is useless. Since in multiple life simulations, I only died around the time of the wedding or the later stages of war, it means that if I continue on this path, I will be in little danger for some time to come."
"Since that's the case, I'll deal with future matters in the future. For now, I'll focus on finding a way to quickly capture the second princess, Meng Die, who is planning a rebellion."
Chu Chen sighed and casually reopened the life simulation. He decided not to change his mind and, as before, would first earn some points.
[Congratulations to the host for completing five life simulations. Current points: 27600 points.]
[Congratulations to the host for completing ten life simulations. Current points: 41600 points.]
[Congratulations to the host for completing fifteen life simulations. Current points: 55600 points.]
[Ding! The system detects that the host's brain cannot handle the subsequent life simulation computations. Life simulation function paused.]
[Ding! The system kindly reminds you: There are countless life simulations, but it is best to proceed according to your brain's capacity for long-term health. Please ensure you rest in a timely manner.]
"..."
Chu Chen fell silent. He had never expected that this artificial imbecile system would actually give such a "kind reminder."
However, it was this reminder that made Chu Chen realize that the system's life simulation was not without its costs and limits, it was just that the price was very low and paid by him.