I, the prince, only want to be deposed.

Chapter 506: Your Highness is truly a filial son!

At this moment, Liu Ju naturally had no idea that Liu Che was doing such things in private, and he didn't even know that there was such a Nanyue wizard named An Yu.

At present, he just had doubts about Huo Xian's sudden death in history.

And it was just a suspicion. After all, Huo Xian had already lived to the age of seventeen and successfully crossed the ten-year-old hurdle in history. And now he couldn't be sure whether Huo Xian would die suddenly this time.

If he still dies suddenly.

Then Liu Ju definitely couldn't help but pay attention.

This is not because Huo Xian was the only son left by Huo Qubing, and Liu Ju had any special feelings for him.

It was because he smelled a conspiracy in this incident, and he did not even rule out the possibility that Liu Che had been bewitched by some treacherous villains and had participated in this conspiracy.

After all, Huo Shan was brought by Liu Che, and it was Liu Che who insisted on taking him to Mount Tai to offer sacrifices to heaven and earth.

Historically, it was understandable that Liu Che did this. After all, there was no Liu Ju in the official history. Even though Huo Qubing had passed away, he was still the war god of the Han Dynasty whose fame and achievements were even higher than Wei Qing. As the only son of Huo Qubing, he was indeed qualified.

This time, Liu Ju's fame and achievements are obviously higher than Huo Qubing's, and this time he will also participate in the Fengshan ceremony.

In this case, Liu Che still insisted on taking Huo Xian with him, but the reason did not seem to be that sufficient...

And if Liu Ju's worries and doubts are true.

If such a group of treacherous villains dared to attack Huo Shan, then if they were allowed to stay by Liu Che's side, it was not impossible that in time they would mislead the increasingly confused Liu Che and reach out to him, the crown prince who was at the center of power. We really had to take precautions against this.

of course.

What Liu Ju hoped even more was that his worries and suspicions were wrong.

The sudden death of Huo Shan in history was just an accident. Although the location of the Fengshan ceremony remains unchanged, the time has changed, and Huo Shan has therefore avoided the accident.

This is a happy ending for everyone.

Otherwise, even if Liu Ju's son did not want to oppose Liu Che from the bottom of his heart, he would have to formally exercise guardianship.
——Clear the emperor’s side!

In later generations, for an elderly person suffering from Alzheimer's disease, children must fulfill their guardianship obligations. Isn't this a great form of filial piety among many other filial piety obligations?
……

The next few days.

Although Liu Ju had been secretly observing Liu Che and everyone around him, he still did not make any new discoveries.

He did notice the wizards and sorcerers who lived with Liu Che in the palace, and also noticed that a Nanyue wizard named An Yu seemed to be the most favored by Liu Che.

However, after privately asking Su Wen about An Yu's daily words and deeds, he did not find anything particularly noteworthy.

He simply claimed that he was 170 years old and had served Zhao Tuo, the former king of Nanyue.

At present, he did not do anything bad to deceive Liu Che like Li Shaoweng, Luan Da and Gongsun Qing did before. At most, when Liu Che wanted to calculate or divine something, he would ask him to fiddle with the chicken bones and tortoise shells that the Nanyue wizards often played with.

This kind of sacrifice is understandable in this era.

Because not only the wizards of Nanyue practiced divination, the local scholars of Qi also had similar things. Even the Taizhu, Taizai, Taishi and Taibu under the rule of the head of the Nine Ministers of the Han Dynasty had similar duties.

This is a mainstream culture of this era and also a cultural heritage.

Rather than saying it is "harmless", it is better to say that it is a kind of "elegant study" in itself.

Otherwise, if we really take it seriously, at least half of the officials in the Taichang would be laid off. People like Dong Zhongshu, Sima Qian, and Ni Kuan would all be unemployed, and most of the ancient culture of the Celestial Empire would be lost.

Otherwise, why would there be the saying "The most important affairs of a country lie in sacrifices and wars"?

Again.

This was the only hobby Liu Che had in his life. Now that he was at this age, it was no big deal for him to play with chicken bones and tortoise shells for sacrificial divination. As long as everything was within the controllable range, Liu Ju had no reason to interfere forcibly.

In this situation where nothing is gained.

As the Fengshan Ceremony approached, Liu Ju secretly gave something to Su Wen.

"Your Highness, this is..."

Su Wen looked at the thing in his hand in confusion.

"Silver Needle."

Liu Ju smiled and said,

"You can hide it in your clothes on weekdays and no one will notice it."

"Your Highness, what do you mean?"

Su Wen frowned immediately. He was the emperor's closest attendant. Liu Ju was the crown prince, and now he asked him to hide such a sharp weapon. What on earth did he want to do?
But rather than saying it is a silver needle, it would be more accurate to say that it is a silver thread.

This thing is only slightly thicker than a hair, and the two ends are not sharpened. Moreover, because the texture of pure silver is very soft, it will be deformed if you pinch it lightly in your hand, and it can't hurt anyone at all.

"You usually take care of my father's daily life and diet. Now Huo Xian lives with my father, so the food matters should also go through you, right?"

Liu Ju asked.

Su Wen was still puzzled, and just nodded:

"That's true, but..."

"This can detect poison. If someone puts poison in food or drink, just use this silver needle to test it, and it will immediately turn black. I think you can use it."

Liu Ju patiently explained,
"Do me a small favor. From today on, use this silver needle to test the food you send to Huo Xian every day."

In fact, this method is not comprehensive for testing poison, because the principle of silver needle testing poison is to utilize the chemical reaction between silver and sulfur.

If the poison contains sulfide components, it can be detected with just one test, but if the poison does not contain sulfide components, it will be of no use at all.

However, the big man's poison is relatively simple, mainly the poison of 鸩.

Rumor has it that the poison is made from a poisonous bird called "鸩". Simply put the feathers or feces of this poisonous bird in wine and the wine will turn into 鸩 wine. No god can save people who drink 鸩 wine.

However, Liu Ju had never seen this poisonous bird, and neither had the people around him.

Because the terms "鸩" and "鸩毒" actually came from the ancient period before the Qin Dynasty. By the Han Dynasty, they had become synonymous with poisons that harm people, and were not really related to "鸩".

Before this, Liu Ju had done experiments and found that the current "poison" would react if tested with a silver needle.

Combined with the history of the development of poisons in the Celestial Empire, Liu Ju had reason to suspect that the current "鸩毒" was the crude arsenic or its predecessor that first appeared in the historical materials of the Jin Dynasty.

Crude arsenic is produced from a mineral called "arsenic stone". Current technology makes it difficult to remove the sulfide in the refining process, which is why it reacts with silver... This is the principle that Song Ci used when he performed autopsies to check for poison in the Song Dynasty.

"Your Highness, I don't think this is necessary. Whenever Your Majesty eats, I will personally watch the waiter taste the food and make sure it is safe before sending it to Your Majesty."

Su Wen smiled bitterly and shook his head, "Recently, His Majesty has allowed Huo Xian to eat with him, and the food has been tasted by the waiters. How could it contain poison?"

"Even if Your Highness didn't mention it, this old servant would never dare to take it lightly... Oh? Wait a minute!"

At this point, Su Wen suddenly reacted, walked closer, and asked in a very low voice:

"Your Highness, do you mean... someone might be trying to murder Huo Xian recently?"

"Just a little worried, that's all."

Liu Ju pondered and said,
"There are always times when my father is not with Huo Xian. Nowadays, not many people can get in touch with Huo Xian. Only you can help with this matter, so I'm sorry to trouble you to take some care of it. I will remember this friendship."

"Besides, not every minister and attendant around my father is as loyal as you."

"I am worried that if someone wants to cause trouble for my father during such a major event, my father will naturally not have to worry because he has you to serve him. Then they are very likely to do something bad to the other people who are participating in the Fengshan ceremony."

"You should be able to imagine that if something goes wrong with the people who accompanied my father in the Fengshan ceremony, it would also cast a shadow over the Fengshan ceremony."

"This will undoubtedly make the world laugh at my father. How can we not be careful and take precautions? Do you think so?"

"..."

Su Wen was slightly stunned when he heard this, and then he showed great respect to Liu Ju:

"Your Highness is truly a filial son!"

"When Your Highness came back from the Western Regions, I saw the transformation of Your Highness from the inside out. Now that I hear Your Highness being so thoughtful, I know that Your Highness is no longer the same as before!"

"Your Highness is so filial, it is a blessing to Your Majesty and a blessing to the Han Dynasty. Please accept my respect!"

"Thank you for your praise, Minister Su. I will leave this matter to you."

Liu Ju also returned the greeting and said with a smile,
"But it's better not to inform my father in advance... I came back from the Western Regions in a hurry this time, and I didn't bring any gifts for Minister Su. If my worries are correct, then this is my gift to Minister Su. If nothing happens, that would be great. I will also prepare other gifts for Minister Su to express my gratitude."

"Thank you, Your Highness. I understand."

Su Wen smiled knowingly again, then looked around to see that there was no one around, and quietly said goodbye to Liu Ju and left.

He had also heard a little about the "specialties of the Western Regions". After all, both Dongfang Yu and visitors like Zhao Qian were his subordinates, especially Zhao Qian, who was basically half his son.

At the same time, he had to admit that the "gift" Liu Ju gave him this time was indeed heavy enough.

If what Liu Ju was worried about really happened, and he could become the key person to prevent it from happening, it would be almost equivalent to the merit of protecting the emperor, and it would be difficult for him not to be granted a title of nobility.

The prerequisite for achieving this feat is naturally not to inform Liu Che in advance.

Otherwise, Liu Che would have ordered people to further strengthen the guards and take more careful precautions, or even impose martial law on the palace and the entire Mount Tai area.

In this way, even if someone really has ulterior motives, they will definitely not be able to do it.

Nothing will happen by then. Regardless of whether this can be considered a meritorious service, it is possible that Liu Che will think that he is exaggerating... He cannot then put the blame on Liu Ju, as doing so would be a sin in front of Liu Che.

Look at how much this prince has grown.

He can consider even such a juncture in such detail. Among all the young talents in the world, who can match him? And which prince can compete with him for the throne?

……

However, even if Liu Ju made such arrangements.

Until the eve of the Fengshan Ceremony, nothing happened.

Liu Che, Huo Xian, Su Wen, Huo Guang, Jin Midi, as well as the ministers and wizards who accompanied them, each of them appeared to be extremely normal, without the slightest sign of abnormality.

However, this actually did not surprise Liu Ju.

The more we get to this point, the more we should not take it lightly.

According to historical records, Huo Shan died suddenly after he followed Emperor Wu of Han to climb Mount Tai to offer sacrifices to heaven and earth.

And he had previously ordered Su Wen to pay attention to Huo Shan's diet, and especially insisted that Su Wen use silver needles to test for poison. In fact, he was trying to rule out the possibility that someone had given Huo Shan a chronic poison in advance.

It is unlikely that anyone in this era has developed a chronic poison that can delay death, but if the dosage of conventional poisons is deliberately controlled, it is not impossible to achieve the same effect.

Now that Su Wen has not gained anything, this possibility has naturally decreased a lot.

So if Huo Shan had not been poisoned in advance and had no hidden illness, he would still have died suddenly after Emperor Liu Che's Fengshan ceremony as happened in history.

Then the person hiding behind the scenes can only take action during the Fengshan Ceremony or within a few days after the Fengshan Ceremony...

The most fortunate thing now is.

This time when Liu Che climbed Mount Tai, he also brought Liu Ju with him. In this way, Liu Ju could not only see with his own eyes what Liu Che did after climbing Mount Tai, but after all, in history, the first time Liu Che performed Fengshan, he only brought Huo Shan with him to climb Mount Tai, and Huo Shan died immediately after the Fengshan ceremony. Therefore, apart from Liu Che, no one could clearly explain what happened on the top of Mount Tai at that time.

At the same time, Liu Ju could also keep an eye on Huo Xian. If anyone wanted to do something tricky in front of him, it would be difficult to escape his eyes.

So the next day arrived quickly.

Before dawn, Liu Ju changed into the most formal court dress and went to Liu Che's palace to wait.

After Liu Che moved out of the temporary palace, he took a carriage and followed Liu Che's carriage with six golden roots, accompanied by a large number of ceremonial officials, pomp and circumstance, and ministers and envoys, to Liangfu Mountain to perform the enshrinement ceremony and worship the earth god.

Thanks to God, it is sunny and windy today.

Everything went very smoothly. After the groundbreaking ceremony was held at the foot of Liangfu Mountain and many white jade tablets were buried, the mighty team headed non-stop to Mount Tai.

Finally, we arrived at the foot of Mount Tai at 15:30 on the 9th hour.

Got here.

Liu Che finally got off the carriage with six golden roots. Huo Shan followed closely behind Liu Che. Liu Ju also got off the carriage one step ahead and followed closely behind Liu Che on the right.

Amid the shouts of "Long live the emperor" from the ministers, the three men walked into the mountain gate.

In fact, it is not accurate at all to say that Liu Che, Liu Ju and Huo Shan climbed Mount Tai alone.

On the way up the mountain, every few feet there was a Qimen warrior or Jianzhang cavalry guarding the roadside, extending all the way to the top of the mountain.

There were also several places to rest along the way, and attendants had already prepared hot tea and cakes for them. The ministers who had just shouted "Long live the emperor" at the foot of the mountain to see him off, those with a salary of more than 2,000 stones, were also fortunate enough to follow Liu Che one mile away.

It’s just the last mile to the top of the mountain.

Neither the Qimen warriors and Jianzhang cavalry, nor the attendants and ministers could go there anymore.

(End of this chapter)