I, the prince, only want to be deposed.

Chapter 505: The sacrificial ceremony for the longevity of life
Huo Xian inherited Huo Qubing's title of champion and had been pampered since childhood.

Liu Ju only took a quick glance at his face and appearance and could tell that he had fair and rosy skin, a relatively strong body, and a lively and energetic look. At least on the surface, there was no sign of illness on his face.

Many diseases will be reflected in the complexion, especially those serious illnesses that are terminal.

This at least proves that Huo Xian is not seriously ill at the moment.

However, we cannot rule out the possibility of sudden illness caused by some genetic defects, which may cause a seemingly healthy person to die suddenly.

"..."

At the same time, Huo Xian also noticed Liu Ju's gaze, raised his eyes slightly and looked at Liu Ju quietly.

He had never met Liu Ju before.

However, when Huo Guang informed Liu Che just now, he already knew the identity of the person who came to pay his respects - this was his cousin the Crown Prince, whom he had never met before.

Speaking of this cousin of the Crown Prince, although Huo Xian had never seen him, he was well-known to him.

After all, judging from his achievements in recent years, this cousin of the Crown Prince is even more capable than his late father.

First of all, his age is not much different from that of his father when he participated in the Battle of Hexi and the Battle of Mobei.

Secondly, he captured the Xiongnu's Xinlong City in one fell swoop, completely drove the Xiongnu to the Western Regions, and made dozens of countries in the Western Regions compete to submit to the Han Dynasty.

Compared with his father's achievements in the Battle of Hexi and the Battle of Mobei, this was undoubtedly expanded several times. The straight-line distance of expansion to the north and west alone increased by thousands of miles. He was simply a contemporary overlord!
And now I see Liu Ju with my own eyes.

Huo Xian felt that this cousin of the Crown Prince was younger than he had imagined, and looked gentle and elegant in appearance. At first glance, it was hard to imagine that he was a tyrant who so feared the Huns.

The only thing that made Huo Xian a little worried was.

The emperor had previously said that when he grew up he would make him a general to continue the unfinished work of his late father, Huo Qubing.

To this end, he also read many military books, and since he could remember, he often watched other generals train their troops in the Jianzhang Camp and the Northern Army, trying his best to understand ancient and modern wars.

But now he has finally grown up.

However, this cousin of the Crown Prince has already completed the unfinished work of his late father Huo Qubing, and even exceeded expectations... In this case, he probably has no chance to become a general, right?
However, the emperor also said that he was not very similar to Huo Qubing.

Huo Xian was puzzled and asked his uncle Huo Guang privately. Huo Guang told him that it was because his father Huo Qubing had never read any military books and was not as humble as Huo Xian. He even sneered at those military books.

At the same time, Huo Guang also told him that being strong is easy to break, and it was good for him to be like this, and there was no need to deliberately imitate his father.

Just as I was thinking about it.

Huo Xian felt another gaze, this one came from his uncle Huo Guang.

"..."

There was a hint of warning in Huo Guang's eyes, and he shook his head at him calmly.

Huo Xian understood and quickly withdrew his gaze from Liu Ju. He lowered his head silently and stopped looking around.

Liu Ju had already withdrawn his gaze and bowed slightly to Liu Che:

"Your Majesty, you have traveled a long way, but I have nothing to do. I feel uneasy, so I came to see if there is anything I can do to help your Majesty with the ceremony."

"You have wiped out the Xiongnu's threat for a hundred years and made the Western Regions rush to pay tribute to you. You have done your best for me. You should take a good rest during this trip."

Liu Che was in a good mood at the moment and said with a smile.

"promise."

Liu Ju didn't say much and just bowed in response.

"Do you know the entire process of the Fengshan ritual?"

Liu Che asked again.

"I have noted it all down. On the first day at noon, we will hold a ceremony to offer sacrifices to the god of the land at Liangfu Mountain. We will also hold a groundbreaking ceremony at the east of the mountain and bury the white jade book in the foundation."

Liu Ju replied,

"At 3:30 pm on the same day, I will accompany my father and Huo Xian to climb Mount Tai and perform the enthronement ceremony at the top of the mountain."

"The next day, we descended from Mount Taiyin and performed the Hou Tu Ceremony at Mount Suran in the northeast."

"Then I returned to the Mingtang and accepted the congratulations from the ministers and envoys from various countries with my father. The ceremony was thus completed."

"Ah."

Liu Che nodded.

"There is still half a month before the auspicious day, so I will not restrict you. You can enjoy the local customs and people here. Just remember not to miss anything."

"Thank you, Father. I will take my leave now."

Seeing that he could not find a chance to communicate with Huo Xian in private for the time being, Liu Ju did not stay any longer, bowed again and retreated.

This continued until Liu Ju left.

With the help of Su Wen and Huo Guang, Liu Che got off the carriage drawn by six golden roots, and took Huo Shan, who had got off the carriage with him, into the palace that had been prepared long ago.

There was a group of people following behind him.

In addition to the attendants who take care of Liu Che's daily life and the Qimen warriors who are responsible for security, there are also a group of wizards and alchemists dressed in gorgeous clothes, who will all live together in this palace.

Among them, the arrangement for Huo Xian was the most special. He would live in a side room leading directly to Liu Che's bedroom, closer than Su Wen and his closest attendants, while Huo Guang and Jin Midi could only live in the east wing.

As for Liu Ju, his biological son and crown prince, he was arranged to live in a separate courtyard outside the palace with civil and military officials during the Fengshan period.

This arrangement is indeed a bit strange.

Compared with Su Wen, Huo Guang and Jin Midi, Huo Xian's status is indeed higher. After all, he is a marquis who inherited the title of champion marquis.

But compared with Crown Prince Liu Ju, it seems that Liu Che has no reason to make such an arrangement, right?
Could it be that Huo Xian's relationship with Liu Che was closer than Liu Ju's, and her status was higher than Liu Ju, the crown prince who was second only to the emperor?

Liu Ju was not the only one who found Liu Che's arrangement strange.

Even Su Wen, Huo Guang and Jin Midi were equally puzzled, because Liu Che had not said a word to them at all, so they naturally did not dare to ask any more questions.

After entering the palace like this.

Liu Che just sat down on the bed, drank a cup of tea poured by Su Wen himself to moisten his throat, and immediately said:

"Su Wen, go and summon Wizard An Yu."

"Yes." Su Wen responded and quickly put down the teaspoon and went to pass on the order.

This wizard named An Yu should be considered Liu Che's new favorite.

He was a wizard from the Nanyue Kingdom. Several years ago, after Liu Ju pacified the Nanyue Kingdom and the Nanyue Kingdom officially surrendered to the Han Dynasty, he came to Chang'an with a group of Nanyue wizards.

It’s just that wizards and alchemists didn’t have an easy time in the past few years.

First, Emperor Wu of Han drowned a wizard and alchemist in Taiye Lake because of an incident during the time when Liu Ju was "waiting for the gods in Donglai". Although An Yu escaped the disaster, he was not taken seriously by Emperor Wu of Han for a long time and was only temporarily kept in Ganquan Palace.

This continued until last year, when Liu Che felt a minor illness and went to Ganquan Palace to recuperate. He was cured by An Yu using a mysterious prescription from the Nanyue Kingdom. An Yu immediately felt like he had known Liu Che for a long time, so he brought Liu Che back to the Weiyang Palace and often summoned him to his bedroom to test his knowledge and ask him questions.

And it is different from the previous alchemists and wizards.

When Liu Che talked to An Yu, he had to send everyone around him away, and even Su Wen was not allowed to be present, so that Su Wen did not know what the two of them talked about.

But one thing is for sure.

Since An Yu was favored by Emperor Liu Che, the status of the Nanyue wizards also rose rapidly. The local scholars of Qi, who had been in opposition to the Nanyue wizards before, were neglected and suppressed to a certain extent. Now they are rarely summoned by Emperor Liu Che. They can only watch An Yu and the Nanyue wizards continue to receive Liu Che's rewards, and sometimes have to endure their frame-ups.

However, perhaps it was because of the lessons learned from the rumormongers and alchemists such as Li Shaoweng, Luan Da and Gongsun Qing.

Although Liu Che favored An Yu this time, he did not make a big fanfare by appointing An Yu as a general, nor did he give him a seal.

So much so that, apart from Liu Che's close attendants, palace maids, guards and a few close ministers, few people outside had ever heard of this person's name, or even knew of his existence.

……

Soon after.

An old man with many strange tattoos on his body and pierced ears with silver rings entered the hall, bowed and saluted Liu Che in a strange accent:
"An Yu meets His Majesty."

"No need to be polite."

Liu Che nodded slightly, then looked at Su Wen.
"Su Wen, all of you please leave first. I will call you if I have something else to say. Oh, take Huo Xian out of the palace as well."

"promise."

Su Wen did as he was told and only glanced at An Yu out of the corner of his eye.

The Han people believed in filial piety. As the saying goes, "Our bodies and hair are from our parents," and caring for our bodies is also a manifestation of filial piety. Therefore, apart from tattooing, no Han people would tattoo themselves.

Naturally, he would not pierce his body just to wear decorations... Just based on this point, An Yu was already a complete outlier in Su Wen's eyes.

In addition, as far as Su Wen knows.

An Yu claimed that he was 170 years old and had once served Zhao Tuo, the founding king of the Nanyue Kingdom.

Su Wen was unable to make an accurate judgment on this matter.

Because An Yu looked very old indeed, even his eyebrows were completely white and about an inch long. Even if he was not 170 years old, he must be in his 80s.

In addition, the fact that he served Zhao Tuo, the founding king of the Nanyue Kingdom, was indeed confirmed by the wizards and officials of the Nanyue Kingdom.

Speaking of which, Zhao Tuo's death should have been in the third year of Jianyuan (137 BC), when Liu Che had already succeeded to the throne. It has been less than years since then, so this fact is indeed not difficult to verify.

It is Zhao Tuo who is worth mentioning.

This man was originally a general in the pre-Qin period. After Qin Shihuang unified the six kingdoms, he soon turned his attention to the land of Baiyue in Lingnan, and ordered Zhao Tuo as his deputy general to lead the army to attack Panyu (Guangzhou) area.

As a result, Qin Shihuang died soon after. After Qin Ershi succeeded to the throne, he implemented a tyrannical rule, which soon led to the Chen Sheng and Wu Guang uprising. Subsequently, princes and heroes from all directions took the opportunity to revolt, and the Central Plains was completely plunged into war.

So Zhao Tuo also raised an army and annexed Guilin County and Xiang County, established the Nanyue Kingdom with Panyu as its capital, and called himself "King Wu of Nanyue".

In the next hundred years, the Nanyue Kingdom sometimes submitted to the Han Dynasty and sometimes became disloyal, and the days passed one by one. During the lifetime of Zhao Tuo, there was no real major conflict between the Nanyue Kingdom and the Han Dynasty.

Through this time span, we can see that Zhao Tuo was a very long-lived person, otherwise how could he live from the Qin Dynasty to the reign of Emperor Liu Che?
This is indeed the case. According to historical records, Zhao Tuo lived to be 104 years old.

Compared with those alchemists and wizards who claimed to be a hundred or even several hundred years old, Zhao Tuo's 104 years old was a real age. His experiences from childhood to old age could be traced and verified by others. It was not false at all and he was absolutely a genuine longevity.

Therefore, Su Wen secretly doubted it.

The fact that Liu Che suddenly showed such favor to An Yu might be related to this.

After all, Liu Che had been seeking immortality from the gods and ghosts for many years. However, as he grew older in recent years, he became increasingly unable to do many things, and this desire became increasingly urgent. He was eager to hold the Fengshan Ceremony in order to ascend to heaven on a dragon like Emperor Huangdi and become immortal from then on.

As Su Wen and others left, the door of the bedroom was closed tightly.

Liu Che just nodded to An Yu, looked at the seat not far away and said:

"Don't be so reserved. Sit down."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

An Yu bowed again, held on to the table with a somewhat stiff body, and knelt down in front of Liu Che with difficulty.

His body was already very old, with a hunchback typical of older people on his back, and the skin on his face and body was very loose and wrinkled, making it look like the dirt had already buried his nose bridge.

However, Liu Che did not think there was anything wrong with this. After all, as a man who had lived to be 170 years old, it was quite difficult for him to look like he is now.

After An Yu sat down, Liu Che personally poured him a cup of tea, and then he spoke in a low voice:
"As you say."

"I have already selected the descendants of the outstanding people who died young, and have brought them here."

"I have already erected a stone tablet without words to petition Gui Xiong on the top of Mount Tai."

"Now I formally ask you again, is your longevity ritual true? If you dare to lie to me, I will make you regret coming into this world!"

"Your Majesty, please understand. Even if I have the courage of heaven, I will never dare to deceive you!"

An Yu hurriedly and with difficulty stood up and assured Liu Che with a firm word.
"Your Majesty should know that although there is a legend in the world that Huangdi ascended to heaven on a dragon after his Fengshan ceremony, most of the details your Majesty knows today come from the book Zha by the rumormonger and alchemist Gongsun Qing."

"What's more, the rituals and procedures for the Fengshan ceremony held by Huangdi have all been lost. Before that, Qin Shihuang was unable to ascend to heaven by riding a dragon during the Fengshan ceremony. Although your majesty's achievements far surpass those of Qin Shihuang, the rituals and procedures used in the Fengshan ceremony may not be correct, and it is very likely that you may not be able to achieve what you wish for."

"Your Majesty is now nearly sixty years old. If you fail to perform the Fengshan ritual this time, I'm afraid you won't have another chance to try. You really have to leave a way out."

"But my method of borrowing life to prolong life has long been fully proven and is absolutely infallible."

"Otherwise, how could I live to be 170 years old, and how could Zhao Tuo live to be 104?"

"Your Majesty, rest assured. As long as you follow my advice, I can at least give you 20 years of life. If what I said is false, I am willing to be torn into pieces by your Majesty!"

(End of this chapter)