My life is like walking on thin ice

Chapter 24 Really fighting? !
Outside the east wall of Weiyang Palace, in Shangguanli, is the Anhou Mansion.

Although it was said that he was "thinking about his mistakes behind closed doors", after all, he was the founding father of the country, a veteran of the Zhuguo State, and the former Emperor Taizong had the rule of "doing not humiliate the generals", so Shen Tujia was not overly embarrassed.

Just being 'escorted' by the imperial guards, or escorted to the Marquis Mansion, Shen Tujia went straight into his study as usual.

Also sent to the Hou Mansion was Liu Rong, the eldest son of the emperor, who was beaten again.

It's just that unlike Shen Tujia, who was indignant and walking like a dragon and a tiger - Liu Rong was half-lying and was carried into the Gu'an Hou Mansion.

Such a drastic change naturally caused a storm in Chang'an City. Even Empress Dowager Dou of the East Palace could not sit still and sent people to Weiyang Palace to inquire about the situation.

Empress Dowager Dou felt relieved when she learned that the only one who was being punished was Liu Rong, the eldest son of the emperor, who had "arbitrarily discussed national affairs". Shen Tujia had only been ordered to shut up and think about his mistakes.

After a few perfunctory explanations of "Don't go too far" and "Save enough dignity for the veteran", he didn't ask any more about the matter.

In the Weiyang Palace, after hearing that Liu Rong had suffered such a change, the Second Young Master Xuanming couldn't sit still. He took the newly joined fourth brother Liu Yu and rushed outside the Gu'an Hou Mansion.

Looking at the closed door of the Hou Mansion, the three brothers had the same anxious look on their faces.

"Brother, why are you so impulsive?"

"Eighty rods!"

"That's eighty!!"

"Even if you weren't beaten to death, you wouldn't have a few pieces of good skin left on your body, right?"

Among the three brothers, the most mature and stable one is undoubtedly the second eldest brother, Liu De.

——After all, I am a little older and have a bookish attitude, so I can still calm down.

But today, when I heard that my eldest brother had suffered such a big change, even Liu De, who had always been calm, obviously couldn't calm down anymore.

The second child is like this, let alone the third child who is always beaming with joy, and the fourth child who has just joined the team not long ago.

If it weren't for Liu De as their backbone, the two brothers might have been in a panic and what stupid things they would have done.

Just standing outside the Hou Mansion full of anxiety, I waited for at least two sticks of incense before the small door next to the main gate of the Hou Mansion finally opened a gap that seemed to be invisible.

The three brothers hurried forward and saw the secretive half of the doorman's face revealed through the gap.

"But the second son of the emperor: Mr. De in person?"

After being called by the concierge, Liu De stepped forward without hesitation, holding the small door gently with one hand, and handing out a gold cake without leaving a trace with the other hand.

"It's down!"

"I don't know, but if you have anything to say, eldest brother, would you like me to forward it to you?"

As soon as he spoke, the golden cake was stuffed deep into the concierge's sleeve by Liu De at some point;
Then the porter raised his hand without changing his expression and shook the gold cake into his robe.

"The eldest son of the emperor offended the Holy Master and was punished with a rod, making it difficult for him to walk."

"I will tell you, young master, that from now on, the Phoenix Hall will be closed to thank guests."

"Young Master, you must abide by your duties and be careful in your words and deeds..."

Upon hearing what the concierge said, Liu De's face tightened immediately, and his hand holding the small door tightened.

"I don't know, brother..."

Unexpectedly, before Liu De finished speaking, the concierge shook his head in a cryptic manner, with a "no comment" attitude.

Seeing this, even though Liu De was worried, he had to force himself to calm down;
He looked at his two brothers Liu Yu and Liu Yu beside him, frowned and thought for a moment, and then handed over another gold cake by cupping his hands to express his thanks.

"My eldest brother has difficulty walking. During these days in the Marquis Mansion, I have to take care of you a lot."

"In addition, I would like to trouble you to tell my eldest brother: Everything is fine in the Phoenix Palace. Don't worry, eldest brother..."

Feeling Liu De's humble gesture, which was almost begging, the concierge couldn't help but feel moved.

He hesitated for a moment, then turned and looked behind him to make sure that his words would not be overheard by others. Then he lowered his voice and said, "The eldest son of the emperor has one more sentence, which he said to Young Master De alone..."

As soon as the concierge said this, Liu Yi and Liu Yu immediately stepped back three or five steps, pretending to be calm and looking around, calming down Liu De and the concierge who were talking.

The concierge took a deep breath, and then quickly uttered a sentence under Liu De Qiyi's gaze;

Before Liu De could react, he quickly closed the door and fled back to the Hou Mansion.

Outside the door, looking at the closed door in front of him, Liu De, the second son of the emperor, looked worried and could not help but shake his head and smile bitterly. "Phoenix Palace closed its doors to thank guests. Madam Li, please don't know about this..."

"——Alas~~~"

"Suffering from this catastrophe, what my eldest brother is most worried about is still his mother..."

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"Sigh~"

"Please, please be gentler..."

In the Hou Mansion, study.

It is said to be a study room, but it is actually a huge pavilion three feet long and wide, with ventilation on all sides, and the top is sealed by two layers of wooden boards;

Except for the entrance to the pavilion, all other directions are occupied by bamboo slips half a person's height and a table in the center of the pavilion.

Now there was Liu Rong lying on the ground, and several short screens to cover Liu Rong's shame. The already not spacious pavilion suddenly became a little crowded.

Seeing Liu Rong's constant hissing, the old servant couldn't help laughing, so he had to slow down the speed of applying the medicine.

But not far away from the two of them, Shen Tujia was already kneeling in front of the case, spreading out a blank bamboo slip, frowning and thinking.

"I thought my father's eighty sticks were just words..."

"hiss!!!"

"Excuse me! Be gentle!"

As soon as the words came out, there was another stinging pain in the lower back and crotch, which immediately made Liu Rong have a layer of cold sweat on his forehead. He couldn't help but shiver when the cool autumn and winter wind blew.

Liu Rong's screams came to his ears, but Shen Tujia did not move his eyes away from the bamboo slips in front of him, and still kept the pen in his hand hanging in the air.

"If it's a real beating, with your pampered body like this, why would you need eighty sticks?"

"Are you afraid that if you use thirty or fifty sticks, the young master will die?"

"——It's just that this scene is sung for the Queen Mother after all, so it can't be too fake."

"The skin is torn and the flesh is torn, the pain is unbearable, but at the same time, the foundation is not damaged and the root of the disease is not affected - this is already an open mind of His Majesty."

"Furthermore, the young master has been associated with the old minister again and again. These eighty sticks may not be His Majesty's way of beating the young master..."

Saying this without raising his head, Shen Tujia waved his hand and dismissed the old servant.

In the middle of the circle of short screens, Liu Rong, who originally just wanted to chat with Shen Tujia, saw that Shen Tujia was willing to talk to him, so he immediately climbed up the pole.

"If Marquis Gu'an hadn't wanted this boy to accompany him, even if my father had the intention to beat him, it wouldn't have gone as far as this?"

But when Shen Tujia heard this, he just shook his head indifferently and did not answer Liu Rong's question;
Seeing this, Liu Rong didn't dwell on this topic any longer, and just naturally brought the topic onto the right track.

"Marquis An, how do you plan to write this memorial?"

"——I have also suffered a lot, and people have come to the Hou Mansion;
So An Hou could not beg my father like that just to see my joke? "

"Since I, the eldest son of the emperor, need to tell Marquis Gu'an what can and cannot be said, why don't Marquis Gu'an say it bluntly: What are the words that make Marquis Gu'an so hesitant?"

After hearing Liu Rong's words, Shen Tujia still had the posture of hanging his pen in mid-air, unable to finish writing;
After a long time, Fang put down his pen with a sigh, stood up, and walked on the north side of the pavilion, looking northward with his hands behind his hands.

"Hun."

"If we want to ensure that after Liu Bi raises his army, the Huns will not interfere and cause the north wall to rot, my Han family may have to make peace with the Huns again..."

"——Even marriage alone is not enough."

"If possible, we should also contact Chang'an Marquis Lu Tazhi on the grassland and the descendants of Han Wangxin to see if we can find out the inside information of the Xiongnu."

"If it happens that the Xiongnu is experiencing internal instability, that would be for the best;"

"Even if it's not the case, we still have to do whatever we can to make some noise on the grassland so that the Huns can't take care of themselves."

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"It's just that these things take time."

"Whether it's getting in touch with the descendants of King Xin of Han and the Marquis of Chang'an, or 'finding something to do' for the Huns, it will take time."

"And right now, what your Majesty lacks the most - or what you are least willing to give to me - is time..."

(End of this chapter)