I, the prince, only want to be deposed.

Chapter 163 The emperor passed away, but the news was kept secret?
Liu Ju designated the first stop of this "rural tour" as Huang County, where Xu Shenxian and his followers had previously been entrenched.

The work of setting up the stage and ensuring security was naturally the responsibility of the Magistrate of Huang County. Li Guangli only needed to take his team to the performance. The Magistrate of Huang County would provide them with food and lodging, and he would also have to give the actors a reward before they left.

After all, even if this team was not performing on the orders of the Crown Prince, they were performing on official business, so the local government must serve them well.

Liu Ju personally thinks that the response to this performance was quite good.

Although he did not go to the scene to observe the reactions of the people of Huang County when they watched the performance, he had already achieved the effect he wanted from the reactions of Huo Guang, Sima Qian, the Qimen warriors and Jianzhang cavalry, and the local officials of Donglai County when they learned about this.

how to say?

Now these people saw his expression.

Looks like I just ate a shit-flavored chocolate.

To the point that for a moment I couldn't tell whether what was in my mouth was shit or chocolate, and I didn't know whether I should swallow it or spit it out, so I was completely trapped in a mess of doubt and self-doubt.

"I should have thought of it earlier... I should have thought of it earlier..."

Huo Guang only felt that his heart was more tired than ever before. Even when he was serving Liu Che, whose power was unpredictable, he had never felt so tired that his heart didn't want to beat.

Although Liu Che's power was unpredictable, at least most of his thoughts were still confined to the scope of "human beings".

But Liu Ju...

Huo Guang felt that he was not even a human being, and even the term "personification" was a false compliment!

God knows what's in his mind with all its twists and turns.

Who would become an immortal in front of tens of thousands of people without even saying hello, and then push themselves off the altar without hesitation without even giving them any psychological preparation? !

What's going on? !
What about playing? !

You don't even care about your own life, but you're also making fun of others?!
"His!"

When Sima Qian learned about this, he jumped up excitedly and tore the bamboo slips on which he had written so many words with great effort into messy bamboo pieces.

Because these texts, which were originally intended to be included in history books, have now become waste.

What happened to becoming an immortal?

How come in the blink of an eye it has become a magic trick that can be performed by anyone? !
Can you please finish everything in one go? Stop keeping us in suspense. This is interfering with the work of a rising star historian, Your Highness. Do you know? !
There was silence for a long time.

Sima Qian then looked up at Huo Guang, who was completely indifferent to his act of tearing up the bamboo slips and even seemed to be struggling with his conscience:

"Captain Huo, what do you think about this?"

"..."

"Captain Huo?"

"what?"

Sima Qian called out twice before Huo Guang suddenly came to his senses and asked, "What's the matter?"

"What do you think about this?"

"what's up?"

"What else could it be? It's just that the prince suddenly changed 'immortal arts' into 'magic tricks' again, and ordered people to perform them everywhere!"

"……You speak first."

As expected, it is Huo Guang.

Even at this time, he was still unwilling to easily reveal his thoughts to outsiders, and insisted that Sima Qian show some sincerity first to avoid giving others an excuse.

Sima Qian didn't care about these things, and said thoughtfully:
"You and I have both seen Jiujiu, the one who demonstrated the 'immortal arts' on behalf of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. She was just an ordinary girl."

"She has only been here for a few days and she has been able to demonstrate her 'magic arts' in public. This is enough to prove that these so-called 'magic arts' are indeed tricks. Although we don't know the principles yet, there is no need to doubt this matter anymore."

"I just don't know why the prince would do this?"

"Captain Huo, after learning that the Crown Prince had 'become an immortal', you and I both had doubts about the future relationship between the Emperor and the Crown Prince, and we were worried that this would be the beginning of chaos in the world."

"You said, has the prince already thought of this? Is this move intended to prevent things from developing to that point?"

"After all, if the prince hadn't taken the initiative to reveal it, his 'becoming an immortal' would have already become a fact, and no one could refute it. Even we would have believed it..."

After hearing Sima Qian's words, Huo Guang neither confirmed nor denied it, but just said ambiguously:
"You also know about the pacification of Nanyue. Just now, I thought about it and suddenly felt that the things here have many similarities with the pacification of Nanyue. What do you think?"

"Captain Huo means..."

Sima Qian frowned slightly when he heard this. After pondering for a moment, he suddenly seemed to understand something and said in surprise,

"Your Highness's actions may seem chaotic and absurd, but they are not aimless. They may contain mysteries that are difficult for ordinary people to understand or even foresee."

"Yes, yes. When the Nanyue Kingdom was first pacified, whether it was the "one country, two policies" proposed by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, or the military merit titles, atonement orders, and the policy of paying grain to fill official posts that were later implemented in the Nanyue Kingdom, each of these measures, when taken separately, is difficult to understand, and even gives people a feeling of nonsense."

"But it was precisely because of these measures that not only did the Nanyue Kingdom successfully submit to the Han Dynasty, but the southern border countries were also conquered without a single soldier, and these small countries were forced to cut off their own arms. From then on, they had no possibility of resisting the Han Dynasty. It was simply incredible!"

"So what lofty goal is your Highness the Crown Prince trying to achieve this time?"

"..."

That’s all I have to say.

Sima Qian looked at Huo Guang, as if he wanted to get an answer from him.

He couldn't figure it out for a moment.

If this matter was the same as the matter of pacifying the Kingdom of Nanyue, he certainly would not have been able to think of it.

Just as no one would have thought that those messy policies would lead to a peaceful situation in southern Xinjiang.

Otherwise, why would Sima Qian describe it as an "unforeseen mystery"?

"..."

Huo Guang also looked at Sima Qian, with a look in his eyes that said "keep talking". Because his ambiguous words just now were not meant to lead Sima Qian to think in this direction...

The "similarities" between the two events he was referring to were actually: "Don't you think that what the prince has been doing all along seems to be deliberately challenging the emperor's bottom line?"

However, this sentence was too outrageous and it was impossible for Huo Guang to say it directly.

And the reason why he thought so was not without basis.

Others may not know, but this close minister of his knows a lot of things...

From the first time he encountered the emperor visiting Bowang Garden, to the later pacification of the Nanyue Kingdom, to the recent days when he accompanied the emperor to watch the miracles and climbed Mount Tai, and this time waiting for the gods in Donglai.

Especially the time when Liu Ju was kicked off the six-gold-rooted chariot by Emperor Liu Che.

Huo Guang was kneeling under the car at that time and heard everything clearly. If Liu Ju's words had been said by someone else, I'm afraid that even the entire family tree would have been executed!

Especially that sentence that comes from the heart: "Wake up, father!"
However, although those words were disobedient, Huo Guang could clearly feel the sincerity contained in them.

Unfortunately, Liu Che didn't want to listen, didn't want to listen, and didn't know how to listen.

Let’s go back to the matter of pacifying the Nanyue Kingdom and the Donglai God-waiting incident.

When he was pacifying the Nanyue Kingdom, he was clearly able to come up with a powerful conciliatory policy like "one country, two policies", but he forcibly implemented military merit titles, atonement orders, and official positions by paying grain in the Nanyue Kingdom. Was it because he could not think of a better policy?

Huo Guang felt that this was definitely not the case. Liu Ju was just using this opportunity to deliberately satirize his father, the Emperor Liu Che, so that Liu Che would listen carefully to the comments of the small countries in southern Xinjiang on these policies.

Use this more educational method to persuade Liu Che to wake up!
Another example is the Donglai God-waiting event this time.

Liu Ju first made himself an immortal, surpassing the alchemists and wizards previously favored by Liu Che, but now he immediately pushed himself off the altar.

Isn’t this also for Liu Che to see?

He must have wanted to use this to make Liu Che see clearly that even he, who was a hundred times better than the alchemists and wizards in the eyes of the world and had even become an immortal, was just a deceptive trick.

Advise Liu Che to stop being obsessed with seeking immortality and asking ghosts for advice, and stop being stubborn!
"My cousin... is so brave, and it's not easy for him!"

Huo Guang was filled with emotion.

With such a stubborn father who insists on his own way, no one can persuade him, and no one dares to persuade him.

Only Liu Ju continued to put himself in danger, even at the cost of his position as crown prince and his life, even if no one supported him, he still moved forward courageously, without hesitation, and would do everything he could.

He is really... too difficult!

Huo Guang couldn't help but recall the time when he was still in Panyu, the capital of the Kingdom of Nanyue, and he advised Liu Ju not to implement those national policies.

"It seems that my cousin also has some complaints about my father's national policy?"

When Liu Ju asked this question, he became concerned and fled.

Because like most officials who had been tamed by Liu Che, although he knew that some things were wrong, he had long lost the courage to give advice, and he also had a mission that he had to shoulder.

Just as I was thinking about it.

"Report! Commander Huo, three messengers have arrived in Donglai at the same time, each carrying an imperial edict. Commander Huo, please go quickly to receive the edict with the Crown Prince!"

Suddenly, a report from subordinates came from outside the door.

"Three envoys delivering the imperial edict at the same time?"

Huo Guang suddenly came to his senses, a look of shock on his face.

"?"

Sima Qian on the side also had a look of doubt on his face. Issuing three edicts in a row must be a huge matter!

……

An hour later.

"Brother Sima, His Majesty has ordered Your Highness and I to lead the people back to Chang'an immediately to report. We will say goodbye now."

While Huo Guang was packing his things, he took the initiative to speak to Sima Qian who came up to him again and tried to gossip.

"I am also planning to return to Chang'an soon, so we can come together."

Sima Qian smiled and asked another question:
"But...the three imperial edicts were only to convey this matter. Didn't they say anything else?"

"What do you mean, brother Sima?"

Huo Guang was stunned for a moment when he heard this, then he stood up and looked at Sima Qian.

"I dare not say..."

Sima Qian had already received a positive answer, but he hesitated and was hesitant to speak.

Huo Guang's brows slowly knitted together, and he said sternly, "Brother Sima, you can speak freely. I am not a talkative person, so you don't have to worry about it being spread."

"In that case..."

Sima Qian came very close and lowered his voice.

"As far as I know, many imperial edicts suddenly summoned the crown prince back to the capital without specifying the reason. Usually, they kept the death a secret in order to maintain the stability of the court..."

"?!"

When Huo Guang heard this, his body stiffened and the things in his hands fell to the ground.

Probably not? !

A few days ago, when he ordered people to send the memorial about the prince's ascension to heaven back to Chang'an at an accelerated speed of 800 miles, he was worried whether Liu Che could bear it.

Is it...

(End of this chapter)