I, the prince, only want to be deposed.

Chapter 136 I'm not targeting you, I'm saying that you all are garbage!

"I accept your order and respectfully thank your Majesty for your grace."

"Shangguan, take care..."

After sending off the messenger who came to deliver the imperial edict, Gongsun Qing also looked puzzled.

After what happened yesterday, he almost didn't sleep all night and has been worried until now.

Because after those local officials came down from Mount Taishi, they immediately sent people out to inquire about matters related to "Qi Lian Mountain".

In this way, they finally got a piece of information in the middle of the night, and learned that their "Long live the Han army" stunt had already appeared in advance when the Han army was conquering the Western Qiang.

The trick they played had already degenerated into plagiarism and imitation by then.

Therefore, no matter whether it is true or not, it is difficult to win the emperor's favor now, and it may even cause the emperor to doubt it.

This can be seen from the strange smile on Liu Che's face when he heard the call, and his prophetic response.

They didn't understand what was going on then, but now they understand it completely.

Also.

Yesterday, something happened that made him and the local officials panic:

The servants that the officials arranged to go into the mountains to play tricks had not returned to report until midnight!

After the officials learned about this, they specially ordered people to go into the mountains to search overnight, but they still haven't found the people until now. It's as if those servants suddenly disappeared from the face of the earth, and no one can see them alive or dead...

This incident naturally frightened them.

They knew in their hearts that those servants were direct witnesses of their conspiracy to deceive the emperor.

If it accidentally falls into the hands of Liu Che's guards, it will become their death warrant.

Even if these people just went somewhere else on their own initiative, if they don't keep their mouths shut, they may still be dragged into the water.

Therefore, the most important thing at the moment is to find these people as soon as possible and make them shut up forever.

As a result, Gongsun Qing waited in panic, but before he could get any news from the servants, he received an imperial decree from Emperor Liu Che ordering him to go to Donglai with the crown prince to wait for the gods...

"It seems that Your Majesty has no doubts about me, otherwise why would he still entrust me with such an important task?"

After receiving this imperial edict, Gongsun Qing finally felt relieved.

In his opinion, the prince was the heir apparent of the Han Dynasty, and this trip was to wait for the gods on behalf of the emperor. Just based on this identity and this name, his mission this time was the most important task in the world.

Moreover, he had met Liu Ju many times in the past few days and thought he had some understanding of the prince.

In his mind, Liu Ju was just a young boy whose hair had not even grown out yet.

Judging from his performance in the past two days, the prince does not seem to have any scheming or scheming. He even dared to get drunk while accompanying the emperor on his eastern tour, and he spoke without restraint. At first glance, he seemed like he was easily fooled.

In addition, the emperor didn't seem to like the prince very much.

At least from Gaoshi City to Taishi Mountain, he never saw the emperor give the prince a good look along the way. Even every time his eyes passed through him, his expression would instantly become gloomy, showing his annoyance.

It was as if every hair on the prince's body was extremely annoying...

In this regard, Gongsun Qing even had some understanding of Liu Che in his heart.

After all, he had heard of the prince's previous deeds, such as the destruction of dikes and flooding of fields, and the later pacification of Nanyue.

These are rare wonders that only occur once in a thousand years.

Even if information was very closed in this era, the news had already spread to most of the Han people. How could he not know about it?

Even the news of damaged dikes and flooded fields spread back to the capital.

He happened to be in the capital, and had just been summoned by the emperor because of his letter, and had discussed with the emperor the matter of Emperor Huangdi's Fengshan...

"Alas, I don't know what sin the emperor had committed to have such a foolish and stupid son."

"If I were the Son of Heaven, I would not care whether he was the legitimate son or not. I would immediately depose him. Otherwise, if I handed over the Han Dynasty to such a descendant, I would not know how to explain to my ancestors in the afterlife..."

Gongsun Qing thought secretly in his heart and even felt a little sympathy for Liu Che.

But I can only think about this in my heart and cannot say it in front of anyone.

Even those local officials who are currently in collusion with him must not be told, otherwise he would very likely get himself into trouble that would be more serious than deceiving the emperor.

Just as I was thinking about it.

"Boom boom boom!"

There were three knocks on the door, and the servant outside reported:

"Master, the governor and several county magistrates have arrived and are waiting in the guest hall."

"I know, I'll go right away."

Gongsun Qing collected his thoughts, straightened his robe slightly, then opened the door and walked out.

"With this decree, it is clear that those servants have not fallen into the hands of the emperor's guards."

"This should temporarily reassure these officials, but they still have to continue searching. They have to find the person alive or dead. Otherwise, it will always be a hidden danger and must be eliminated..."

……

Three days later.

The emperor finally set off back to Beijing.

After respectfully seeing off Liu Che, who still did not treat him with a good look, Liu Ju also prepared to embark on the journey to Donglai to wait for the gods.

Because he was traveling with Liu Che this time, Liu Ju only brought some attendants to take care of his daily life and twenty shields from the Prince's Mansion. He did not even bring Guo Zhen, the Prince's horseman, who had been with him on every previous trip.

Fortunately, Liu Che was not a stingy person.

This time, he was given a rather large convoy, and Huo Guang was ordered to lead a thousand Qimen warriors and Jianzhang cavalry to take charge of security.

This time, there was an acquaintance among the thousand soldiers, but Liu Ju didn't know him yet.

This person was no other than Li Guangli, who had felt such a strong blood pressure from Liu Ju and Gongsun Jingsheng during the war against the Western Qiang that he began to doubt his life.

After watching the emperor walk away.

Liu Ju immediately turned around and looked at Huo Guang behind him, with a bright smile:
"Cousin, we are destined to be together."

"!"

Huo Guang's mouth and heart twitched at the same time, and he saluted Liu Ju alertly and stiffly.
"Your Highness, I cannot bear this. From now on, please address me by my official title."

"Okay cousin, will you still insist on driving for me this time?"

"Your Majesty did not give any special instructions this time, so I am only responsible for protecting Your Highness. But please rest assured, I will select the person with the best driving skills to drive the carriage for Your Highness."

"That's a shame. I was thinking I could have a good chat with my cousin along the way."

"Your Highness, you really embarrassed me. I have no relationship with Your Highness, so how can we talk about the past?"

Huo Guang's heart skipped a beat and he quickly bowed to Liu Ju.

"It's windy outside, Your Highness, please get in the car as soon as possible. I will go and arrange for them. We need to set off for Donglai as soon as possible to avoid delaying the matter entrusted by His Majesty."

After saying this, Huo Guang turned around resolutely, as if he had made up his mind, and walked away quickly with big strides.

This time he really made up his mind.

He secretly vowed that if possible, he would try to keep as far away from Liu Ju as possible along the way.

Moreover, no matter what Liu Ju wanted to do, he would never interfere. If there was something that he could not escape responsibility for, he would immediately write a letter and send someone back to Chang'an to report to Liu Che, striving to keep his innocence in the world.

"..."

Looking at Huo Guang's back as he avoided Liu Ju as if he were avoiding the god of plague, Gongsun Qing on the side felt amused again.

It seems that it's not just the emperor who dislikes this prince.

Even the emperor's close ministers did not have a good impression of the prince and did not even give him face.

For a prince to end up in this situation is truly a failure among failures, what a waste of such an enviable good background.

But isn't this also an opportunity for him?
Gongsun Qing thought he understood human nature very well. In his opinion, a person in Liu Ju's situation, even if he was a crown prince, must have far more shortcomings and desires in his heart than ordinary people.

The more deficiencies and desires a person has in his heart, the easier it is for him to be taken advantage of, be seduced and deceived.

Thinking of this, Gongsun Qing felt that he had a clue in his mind.

Then he came to Liu Ju with a smile, bowed respectfully and said:
"Your Highness, I am Gongsun Qing, the Taoist priest who accompanied Your Highness to Donglai to wait for the gods on His Majesty's behalf."

"Although I don't have any great abilities, I do have some knowledge of offering sacrifices and praying to the gods. I am willing to serve Your Highness and help you complete the task entrusted by Your Majesty."

As a result, the words just fell out.

But Liu Ju had changed his face to a completely different one. He turned his head and glanced at him coldly, saying:

"just you?"

"!"

Gongsun Qing's smile froze. This was not too far off from the scenario he had imagined in his mind, but it could also be said that they were two completely extremes.

However, Liu Ju curled his lips again and continued to ask aggressively:
"Come on, tell me, besides secretly compiling a bunch of bullshit book Zha, secretly digging a few big footprints, and ordering people to run into the mountains and pretend to be monkeys and shout "Long live the king", what other magic skills do you have?"

"This this……"

After hearing these two sentences, Gongsun Qing was already sweating profusely, his head was buzzing, and he couldn't even speak.

He never expected it.

Liu Ju had just spoken to Huo Guang in a very kind and even humble tone, but now he spoke to him with this expression, he was like two completely different people.

The most important thing is that every word Liu Ju said was heart-wrenching and hit the point where he was most guilty!
He knew better than anyone that the book "Zha" was compiled by himself, but he lied to Liu Che and said that he received it from Shen Gong.

It was indeed he who ordered people to secretly dig those large footprints.

It was he who planned the "Long live the emperor" movement in order to please Emperor Liu Che and obtain rewards.

However, these things were either known only to him or only to a few officials who shared the same interests as him. In any case, they should not be known to Liu Ju.

"He is deceiving me. He has no evidence, it's just wishful thinking!"

"Otherwise, he could have revealed it to the emperor, and I wouldn't be alive today, not to mention being entrusted with an important task by the emperor again..."

It must be said that Gongsun Qing, a Taoist priest who dared to deceive the emperor, had a good psychological quality. He calmed down after only two seconds and said with a dry laugh:
"Your Highness may have some prejudice against me..."

"Don't get me wrong, I'm not targeting you."

Liu Ju immediately interrupted him and said with a grin,

"I mean people like you, Li Shaojun, Li Shaoweng, Luan Da, and those self-proclaimed Taoist priests in Qi are all rubbish."

"You are not as good as them."

"Li Shaojun is at least somewhat knowledgeable in medicine, and with luck he might be able to cure a headache or fever."

"At least Li Shao Weng knows how to play with light and shadow, which is at least a little entertaining."

"Even if Luan Da is not very good, he is good at playing with Cishi, and he has made some contribution to popularizing the characteristics of Cishi."

"What about you? What can you do differently? Show me your skills."

(End of this chapter)