I, the prince, only want to be deposed.

Chapter 516 Do you want to pay more?
Then, Huo Guang watched helplessly as Liu Ju pinched An Yu's chin, squeezed a large amount of blood out of the puffer fish, and poured it all into An Yu's mouth drop by drop.

As we all know, pufferfish toxin is mainly hidden in the internal organs and blood of pufferfish.

Liu Ju's method of squeezing juice from live animals can definitely preserve the toxicity of pufferfish toxin better than mixing it into food and cooking it. It is easy to get rid of An Yu with such a dosage.

Throughout the whole process, although An Yu struggled hard, he was always in vain like a little chick.

In the end, after only a dozen minutes, An Yu began to have difficulty breathing and his pulse weakened. As soon as Liu Ju loosened his hand, the South Vietnamese wizard collapsed to the ground like mud, with only the exhalation but no inhalation. Only his eyeballs could still move in fear.

Although he is not 170 years old as claimed, he is over 70 years old.

But throughout his life, he had never met a ruthless man like Liu Ju, who took his life so easily due to a disagreement and even arranged the most reasonable cause of death.

At the same time, it was not difficult for him to see that Liu Ju was helping Qi Xiang Bu Shi to silence him.

Although it is still unknown what Liu Ju's real intention was, as long as he died, the matter would naturally not be investigated further, and the emperor would have no choice but to put an end to the case.

"..."

Looking at An Yu who was gradually losing his life, Huo Guang had already determined that the sudden death of the palace maid was related to this strange fish, so he was thinking about the same question in his mind:

Why did Liu Ju help Bu Shi to silence him?
After much thought, Huo Guang quickly linked the matter to King of Qi Liu Hong.

Even though he had basically no dealings with Liu Hong, he knew that among the many princes, Liu Hong was the brother closest to Liu Ju.

Not to mention their childhood memories, Liu Ju and Liu Hong have had a lot of interactions in recent years.

Before this, when Liu Ju was thrown into prison, Liu Hong had visited him. Later, Emperor Wu of Han issued an imperial decree to adopt Liu Hong as the son of Wei Zifu, making him a half-brother of Liu Ju. In addition, Emperor Wu of Han personally participated in an unprecedented "operation" to save Liu Hong's life... This friendship had long surpassed that of ordinary royal brothers.

Liu Hong was the King of Qi and Bu Shi was the Prime Minister of Qi.

Bu Shi was directly involved in this matter, so Liu Hong naturally could not escape responsibility, or at least could not escape blame.

and so……

Did Liu Ju do this to protect Liu Hong, to prevent him from being implicated in this matter and bearing Liu Che's concerns and suspicions?
But isn’t this unwise?
At least before we find out whether Liu Hong was also involved in this matter, we should not cover up Liu Hong in this way.

After all, people's hearts are divided, especially between royal brothers like Liu Ju and Liu Hong. There is a natural conflict between them on the issue of succession. God knows whether Liu Hong has ambitions and is using any means to fight for the throne?
What's more, judging from the small pieces of silk that An Yu had just voluntarily handed over.

There was definitely more than just Bu Shi involved in this matter. There must have been other people in the court and around Liu Che who cooperated with him, and they should have been people in high positions of power or extremely favored by Liu Che.

This problem is undoubtedly more serious.

Even a discerning person could see with his own eyes that the person behind this matter must be a powerful and omnipresent party or organization. This powerful party or organization must have an influence that cannot be underestimated between the government and the opposition, and may even have an immeasurable impact on Liu Che.

After all, the longevity ceremony that Liu Che organized during the Fengshan Ceremony was obviously their work.

And if Liu Hong secretly controlled such a powerful party or organization, he would surely become Liu Ju's biggest rival in the competition for the throne...even this longevity ceremony might be aimed at Liu Ju.

Now think about it carefully, this possibility is not impossible, on the contrary it is very high.

First of all, if, as Liu Ju had analyzed before, this was a variant of a plot to sow discord between Liu Che and the prince.

Liu Che thought that he had borrowed some life span, so he began to be cautious about all the princes, and Crown Prince Liu Ju was the first to be affected.

After all, Liu Ju is no longer the same person as before. After all these years of operations in the Western Regions, Liu Ju has become the third treasure of the Han Dynasty after Huo Qubing and Wei Qing. Whether in terms of reputation among the people, influence on the Western Regions, or even status in the hearts of Han generals and soldiers, no one can match him.

If Liu Che did not want the power to be divided, he would naturally have to find a way to suppress Liu Ju first, which would inevitably lead to a conflict between the two and make the situation develop in an unpredictable direction.
Secondly, although Huo Shan was not Huo Qubing, he inherited the title of Marquis of Guanjun.

Although Huo Qubing has been dead for many years, his influence is still there and he still has the support of the soldiers in the army. What's more, Liu Che had high hopes for him before. After he comes of age, he may order him to lead the troops at any time to continue Huo Qubing's glory and supplies.

Especially after Wei Qing's death, Huo Shan, the Marquis of Guanjun, naturally became one of the backbone forces that could not be ignored between the Wei and Huo families.

Taking this opportunity to get rid of Huo Shan would also weaken the power of the Wei and Huo families.

Isn't this weakening the power of Liu Ju, the crown prince who was regarded as the leader by the Wei and Huo families?
After all, with Liu Ju's current fame and achievements, if another Marquis of Guanjun appears, no one will be able to shake Liu Ju's position as the crown prince. I'm afraid even the emperor Liu Che will have to think twice before acting!
I thought so in my heart.

Huo Guang felt more and more that these conspiracies were actually aimed at Liu Ju, and that Liu Che was just a by-product, and was even being used as a gun.

The more this happened, the more Huo Guang thought that Liu Ju's current behavior was unwise. He really shouldn't be so emotional. It made him seem a bit too soft-hearted, which was not the behavior of someone who was going to accomplish great things.

"Your Highness..."

Looking at An Yu, whose facial muscles were beginning to relax, Huo Guang finally lost his patience and decided to give him some advice.

"Cousin, I know what you want to say."

Liu Ju wiped the blood off his hands and said with a smile,

"Don't worry, I know what I am doing and I have my reasons for doing this."

"In my opinion, there are still some strange things in this matter that need to be further investigated. Once my father gets involved, the initiative will no longer be in my hands. I am afraid that it will backfire."

"Besides, whether it's Bu Shi or Liu Hong."

"If it is proven later that this matter is really related to them and they do have ill intentions towards me, even if it doesn't depend on this matter, I still have plenty of ways to make sure they die without a burial place, and I will show no mercy."

Seeing that Liu Ju didn't seem to be joking, and seeing that the way he dealt with An Yu was indeed not the kind of soft-hearted person, and even more so showed decisiveness and ruthlessness, Huo Guang finally felt a little relieved and bowed:
"Your Highness knows what is going on, and I am just being nosy."

……

Thus, the inexplicable death of the palace maid was left with a sloppy mark.

"Suicide out of fear of crime..."

Liu Che was naturally not very satisfied with this result.

After all, all signs indicate that An Yu cannot accomplish this task alone, and there must be someone manipulating and cooperating behind the scenes.

But now the cause of death of the palace maid has been found, and An Yu has died, the clues have been cut off here, and it is very difficult to continue the investigation.

In addition, all the civil and military officials in the court and envoys from various countries were present, and Liu Che did not want to make it too public to prevent the birthday ceremony from being exposed to everyone's sight, so he could only accept this result temporarily.

However, temporary acceptance does not mean that Liu Che decided to ignore it.

After letting Liu Ju and Huo Guang leave, Liu Che called Su Wen in again and gave a private order:

"Su Wen, you and Wei Kang continue to investigate this matter secretly."

"Don't let anyone who is suspected to be related to this matter go, and investigate them thoroughly, especially the eunuchs and ministers around me, and investigate them thoroughly!"

What Huo Guang could think of, Liu Che could naturally think of as well.

He did not suspect that Liu Ju was deceiving the emperor again, but that his methods were more sophisticated, nor did he suspect that Huo Guang was cooperating with Liu Ju. What he could not tolerate most was the close servants and eunuchs around him who were fickle, and those who could not remain loyal must be removed and must not be allowed to stay by his side.

"promise!"

Su Wen knew that this matter was of great importance, and he was already prepared to conduct strict self-examination and clean up his own house among his attendants.

By the way, several eunuchs and messengers who don't respect him very much have been put on his blacklist. This is a great opportunity to eliminate dissidents... Some things and some people do not require conclusive evidence to be dealt with.

"Also, let's keep the Eastern Tour simple to avoid unnecessary complications."

Liu Che pondered for a moment and then continued.

Originally, after the Fengshan ceremony, Liu Che had a plan to tour the east to the seaside of Qi to wait for the gods.

However, after what happened, he lost interest and did not want to continue his eastern tour with the evil people hidden among these officials. This would be irresponsible to himself, to the Han Dynasty, and to the Fengshan Ceremony, and he should not continue to take the risk.

"Yes, I will arrange it right away. Order the Prime Minister to summon the ceremonial officers to modify the itinerary according to the etiquette."

Su Wen bowed again and agreed.

……

So the matter seemed to have come to a temporary end.

Those who don’t know about this naturally have no way of knowing.

Those who knew about this matter all kept their mouths shut under Liu Che's gag order. However, some were anxiously guessing Liu Che's thoughts, while others were secretly investigating in accordance with Liu Che's orders.

As for An Yu's suicide out of fear of crime, it made some people feel a little relieved.

Because they knew that after An Yu's death, the clues of this matter were completely cut off... An Yu died a good death. Although they did not know that this Nanyue wizard actually died at the hands of Liu Ju, even if Liu Ju did not take action, they would take action to ensure that he would shut his mouth forever before Liu Che could find out about him.

In fact, for the people behind the scenes, the biggest surprise this time was Huo Xian.

Before this, the people behind the scenes had never thought that such a meticulous plan would eventually be ruined by a greedy palace servant, causing the real target Huo Xian to escape, but also killing An Yu.

As a result, An Yu naturally lost Liu Che's trust.

The longevity ceremony he presented to Liu Che naturally could not continue to make Liu Che believe it, and would inevitably affect the development of subsequent events.

At the same time, for the people behind the scenes, the crisis caused by this accident has not yet passed.

This can be seen from the fact that after the Fengshan Ceremony, Liu Che suddenly decided not to continue his eastern tour but to return to Beijing immediately. People who are familiar with Liu Che know that even though he has not made any big moves now, he will definitely not give up, and he will definitely have a backup plan after returning to Beijing!
But what they don't know is.

Liu Ju also had a backup plan after returning to Beijing, but he needed to confirm some things first.

……

Two months later, seemingly peaceful.

As Liu Che drove the six-golden-rooted chariot into the Bacheng Gate of Chang'an, the Fengshan ceremony finally came to a successful conclusion in the eyes of outsiders.

As soon as Liu Ju returned to Bowang Garden, he immediately ordered Guo Zhen to secretly go to the "Xie Garden" mentioned by An Yu to look for the secret letters.

In this matter, An Yu did not lie.

Only half an hour later, Guo Zhen came back with a box of secret letters.

Although many contents in the secret letter were written quite obscurely and without relevant signatures, they could all be linked to the longevity-borrowing ceremony organized by Liu Che, and did mention the plan to use pufferfish toxin to kill Huo Shan after the Fengshan ceremony.

As for the handwriting in the letter, it is not yet possible to determine whether it was written by Bu Shi.

After all, personalized writing styles were not popular those days, and at least nine out of ten people’s handwriting was almost the same, making it difficult to make an accurate identification based on handwriting.

Moreover, even if the handwriting can be checked, An Yu's words are not completely credible, and the possibility of imitation and frame-up cannot be ruled out...

Therefore, Liu Ju decided to go to Zhumuyuan in person to find out what Liu Hong had to say.

As a result, before he had time to go out, Su Wen arrived at Bowang Garden first.

"I wonder what business Minister Su has here?"

Liu Ju couldn't help feeling a little strange.

Liu Che had just returned to Chang'an when Su Wen, who was supposed to be with Liu Che, came to Bowang Garden right after, without even giving him a chance to catch his breath. It seemed that this must be no trivial matter.

"Your Highness, may I have a word with you?"

Su Wen looked at Guo Zhen behind Liu Ju with a serious expression.

Liu Ju understood and nodded to Guo Zhen. Guo Zhen immediately said, "I'm leaving," and quickly retreated, closing the door to Liu Ju and Su Wen.

"Minister Su can now speak with confidence."

Liu Ju then led Su Wen to sit in front of the table, poured a cup of tea and then asked slowly.

"Yesterday morning, my servant found an unsigned secret letter outside the door."

Su Wen took out a secret letter written on white silk from his bosom, and placed it on the table in front of Liu Ju, while lowering his voice,
"The secret letter not only revealed the conspiracy related to your majesty's borrowed birthday ceremony, but also revealed a conspiracy against your majesty and your highness. The mastermind of these conspiracies all pointed to a person that even your majesty could not expect."

"Who?"

Liu Ju picked up the secret letter and looked at it while frowning and asking.

"King of Qi Liu Hong."

Su Wen's voice lowered and became deeper.

"Has my father read this secret letter?"

Liu Ju thought about it and asked again.

Su Wen nodded:

"It was His Majesty who asked me to deliver this secret letter to Your Highness. His Majesty meant that this matter would be left to Your Highness to handle with full authority."

"Doesn't my father know that Liu Hong is my beloved relative, brother and kin?"

Liu Ju’s brows furrowed even more tightly. Do you want more money?

(End of this chapter)