I, the prince, only want to be deposed.

Chapter 257 The First Goddess in History

"Huh? I have to admit, this rumor actually sounds somewhat reasonable."

Liu Ju was stunned for a moment when he heard this, then he shook his head and smiled bitterly in self-mockery.

"Where does that make sense?"

Wei Kang was also stunned when he saw that Liu Ju could still laugh, and immediately said anxiously,

"As far as I know, the old man from the Shi family had already passed away before the Queen asked Princess Pingyang to act as a matchmaker for Your Highness. How can it be blamed on Your Highness?"

"These rumors are nothing but false information. How can we conclude that Your Highness is doomed to be alone?"

At this point, Wei Kang's expression became serious, and his tone became solemn:

"And I also suspect that this news was deliberately spread by someone with ulterior motives, hoping to discredit Your Highness and shake your position as the Crown Prince. Your Highness must not take it lightly!"

"how do I say this?"

Liu Ju stopped smiling bitterly, looked up and asked.

Wei Kang then analyzed for Liu Ju:

"Everyone is afraid of death. These rumors are getting more and more intense. If everyone in the world believes that Your Highness is destined to be alone, then all the false rumors will become true. Who will dare to accept Your Highness' marriage proposal in the future? Even Your Majesty will not be able to force a marriage."

"And according to rumors, not only does the Lonely Luan Demon have an unhappy marriage, but he also cannot leave any offspring."

"Your Highness should know that a person who cannot leave an heir is not suitable to succeed the throne, otherwise the country may be unstable. If Your Majesty also believes that Your Highness is destined to be alone, I am afraid you will have to reconsider the issue of the selection of the crown prince."

Is that the case?

Liu Ju still didn't think this was a big problem, because a guy like him was destined to never be deposed by Emperor Liu Che. On the contrary, the closer he was to being deposed, the more invincible he would become, and maybe those who wanted to harm him would be in big trouble.

As for the question of whether or not to have offspring, he didn't care at all.

Records in historical books have confirmed that there was no problem with his health, otherwise he would not have left behind an outstanding descendant like Emperor Xuan of Han, Liu Xun, in history.

So Liu Ju asked nonchalantly:
"So according to you, cousin, what should I do now?"

"I think... Your Highness should find another marriage as soon as possible. If you can have another child, the rumors will naturally be dispelled."

Wei Kang thought about it carefully and said seriously.

Han Ling didn't have to consider it for the time being. His biological mother had just passed away, and the funeral had already been publicly announced. He had to observe a year of mourning no matter what, so the marriage naturally had to be put on hold.

As for other candidates, Wei Kang naturally had no idea.

After all, his say has no final say in this matter. It still depends on the parents' orders and the matchmaker's words. Therefore, this suggestion is just a suggestion and he can't do anything about it.

As he was saying this, a report came from the guard outside the door:
"Report! Your Highness, the Crown Prince, the Imperial Court Minister Su Wen has been ordered to come and deliver the imperial edict!"

……

Not a majority.

Liu Ju had already changed into court robes and invited Su Wen to ride in the same carriage to meet the emperor in the palace.

This time, Su Wen only brought an oral instruction to Liu Ju:
"His Majesty summons Your Highness to the palace immediately."

Because Wei Kang was present just now, in order not to embarrass Su Wen, Liu Ju did not ask the reason.

Now that they were in the carriage together, Liu Ju had the opportunity to ask questions, so he lowered his voice under the cover of the carriage's sound and asked:

"Minister Su, do you know why my father summoned me to the palace this time?"

"Your Highness should have heard the rumors circulating in the streets these past two days, right?"

Su Wen also lowered his voice and asked instead of answering.

"Lonely Luan Sha?"

Liu Ju raised his eyebrows slightly.

Su Wen nodded and said:
"His Majesty summoned Your Highness today precisely because of this matter. His Majesty naturally does not want to believe the story of the Lonely Luan Demon, but in order to stop these rumors, he summoned two highly respected fortune-tellers to the palace today and taught them to read Your Highness's fortune."

A gas watcher?!

Hearing these three words, Liu Ju immediately perked up.

When Liu Ju was in Lu State, he had some doubts about the "Weather Watcher" who appeared repeatedly in history books but whose names were not mentioned:
Liu Che found such an extraordinary woman as "Lady Gouyi" under the guidance of a fortune-teller.

The subsequent witchcraft disaster was also suspected to be guided by the fortune teller.

After the Witchcraft and Poisoning Incident, Liu Ju's only surviving grandson Liu Xun was imprisoned in the Chang'an Prison. It was again a fortune teller who claimed to have seen the emperor's aura in the Chang'an Prison, which led Emperor Wu of Han to order a thorough investigation of the prison and to execute all inmates regardless of the severity of their crimes.

If it weren't for a jailer named Bing Ji who risked his life to protect him, his lineage would have been completely cut off, and how could there be an Emperor Xuan of Han later?

and so……

Could it be that the two fortune tellers that Liu Che has now found are the ones who participated in these historical events?

The suspicion is not small.

After all, Liu Che was able to summon them at this time, which showed that he still valued them, at least he relied heavily on their ability to read qi. Moreover, people of this era believed in ghosts and gods, and also believed in reading qi and fortune.

What's more, there was an old feudal superstitious person like Liu Che. Although he was severely stimulated by Liu Ju's immortality in Donglai some time ago and drowned many alchemists and wizards who had been kept in the palace and Ganquan Palace, he did not completely give up this way. He still kept a group of alchemists and wizards, and was still obsessed with the Fengshan Ceremony and the immortality.

It’s just that Liu Che is not as easy to deceive now as before, and the number of people who dare to deceive him has decreased a lot.

Thinking about this, Liu Ju asked again:
"Does Minister Su know the identities of these two Qi-gazing masters?"

"One is the current Grand Master of Ceremonies, Wang Shuo. He is good at observing astronomy and astrology, and has some accomplishments in physiognomy..."

Su Wen then carefully introduced him to Liu Ju.

When Liu Ju heard this name, he immediately thought of a person who appeared in history books and subconsciously asked:

"Is this Wang Shuo that Minister Su mentioned the same Wang Shuo who once read the fortune for General Li Guang?"

According to historical records, Li Guang was never granted a title of nobility in his lifetime. In his later years, he was very unwilling to accept this, so he privately complained to a fortune-teller named Wang Shuo, asking why he could not be granted a title of nobility.

Wang Shuo asked him: General, do you have any regrets?

Li Guang replied: When I was the governor of Longxi, I once lured 800 Qiang people into surrendering, and then used deception to kill them all within one day. This is the thing I regret most in my life.

So Wang Shuo told him: There is no greater disaster than killing those who have surrendered. This is why the general has not been able to become a marquis.

From this historical record, Liu Ju did not see any accomplishments in physiognomy from Wang Shuo. He just felt that he was more like a priest who listened to confessions in a small dark room in a Western church in later generations...

Besides.

This Wang Shuo also appeared several times in "The Records of Emperor Wu of Han", and was put together with such fraudulent alchemists as Li Shaoweng, Li Shaojun, Luan Da, and Gongsun Qing.

However, the difference is that Wang Shuo did not participate in seeking immortals or asking ghosts, and most of the records are only related to astronomy and astrology.

"It is this person. It seems that Your Highness has heard of him as well."

Su Wen nodded and continued,

"The other person is a fortune teller who was placed in Ganquan Palace by Your Majesty. Her name is Guo Xuanzi. She is the granddaughter of Xu Fu, the Marquis of Mingci Ting, who was personally conferred by Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty. It is said that she inherited Xu Fu's fortune telling skills and is always accurate in reading people's faces."

Guo Xuanzi?
Liu Ju had no impression of this name.

But everyone knows Xu Fu, the Marquis of Mingci Ting, very well. In later generations, he was praised as the number one goddess in history!
According to historical records, when Emperor Gaozu Liu Bang and Xiang Yu were still fighting in Xingyang, Xu Fu once read Bo Ji's face and asserted that she was of noble character and would give birth to an emperor in the future.

Later, when the Han Dynasty was established, Liu Bang took Bo Ji into his harem after only meeting her once in the weaving room.

After that, she was favored by the emperor only once in her life, and then she became pregnant and gave birth to the later Emperor Wen of Han, Liu Heng. As for Liu Heng's process of entering the capital and ascending the throne after being a king for 15 years, it was much more tortuous and more fortunate than that of Liu Che. Before that, no one could have expected that he would become the emperor one day.

This is the mystery of Xu Fu.

In addition, there is another quite mysterious thing, which is about Zhou Yafu, who served as prime minister during the reign of Emperor Jing.

When Zhou Yafu was still the governor of Henei, he asked Xu Fu to tell his fortune. Xu Fu predicted that he would be granted a title of nobility in three years, and would become a general and a prime minister eight years after being granted the title of nobility, but would starve to death in another nine years.

Zhou Yafu laughed out loud when he heard this and retorted:

"My brother has inherited my father's title of Marquis. With such a family background, it will be no problem for me to be granted the title of Marquis in the future. Do I need you to tell me?"

"Besides, if as you predicted, I can become a general or a prime minister in the future, I will be extremely rich and powerful. How could I die of hunger? Are you kidding me?"

Xu Fu just pointed at his mouth and laughed, "If you enter through reason, you will starve to death."

Later, all her predictions came true. Zhou Yafu was indeed promoted to general and prime minister. However, because he opposed Emperor Jingdi's dethronement of Crown Prince Liu Rong, and clashed with Empress Dowager Dou on many issues, he caused trouble.

Eventually he was imprisoned for some reason, and after being wrongly accused and humiliated by the court judge, he died of hunger strike, fulfilling Xu Fu's prediction.

Liu Ju no longer had a way to verify Xu Fu's physiognomy, but if this granddaughter of Xu Fu named "Guo Xuanzi" really inherited Xu Fu's physiognomy, then she might really be no ordinary person.

But it is too early to draw conclusions now.

After hearing about the identities and backgrounds of Wang Shuo and Guo Xuanzi, Liu Ju was not sure whether they had any connection with the "fortune teller" he suspected. He could only wait until they met before testing the waters.

"Thank you, Minister Su. I never thought my father would care so much about my affairs. I am quite touched."

Liu Ju secretly kept this information in mind and expressed his gratitude to Su Wen with a smile.

Su Wen immediately lowered his eyebrows and said:

"Your Highness may have misunderstood His Majesty. In fact, His Majesty has always been very concerned about your affairs, but sometimes he is unwilling to speak out. It is not convenient for this old servant to comment."

"That's fine, but I don't know how my father will respond if these two fortune-tellers say that I am doomed to be alone."

Liu Ju asked with his eyes deliberately closed.

"..."

Su Wen was startled when he heard this, and silently avoided Liu Ju's eyes, and said in a lower voice,
"Don't trust all rumors, and don't underestimate yourself, Your Highness."

"Besides, I personally believe that everything in the world can be resolved and restrained. Since Your Majesty has found two such highly respected Qi-gazing masters for Your Highness, even if Your Highness is really trapped by evil spirits, Your Majesty will definitely try his best to resolve it for Your Highness."

(End of this chapter)