I, the prince, only want to be deposed.

Chapter 520 Ah, I am sick now
A few days later, Weiyang Palace.

"Why hasn't this rebellious son made any move yet?"

The Crown Prince was not anxious, but the Emperor was. Liu Che threw the memorial in his hand on the table in a somewhat anxious manner.

"Is this so difficult to handle?"

"He only needs to take the secret letter and lead the court judge to Zhumu Garden to confront Liu Hong face to face. Even if he does not want to expand the impact out of brotherhood, he can first arrest the officials and servants of Zhumu Garden. The court judge has plenty of ways to pry open their mouths. If the contents of the secret letter are true, how can Liu Hong deny it?"

"Liu Hong is secondary. What we really need to investigate are those traitors who have colluded with him. None of them can be let go, otherwise it will only cause more trouble!"

"Su Wen, do you think this rebellious son has become confused again and started to show mercy to his wife?"

Over the years, Su Wen had become accustomed to Liu Che's confusing questions, so he bowed and replied:

"Your Majesty, I think that the Crown Prince has changed a lot since he came back from the Western Regions. Although he has not yet reached Your Majesty's level, he is definitely not a fool. He must have his own plans for not taking any action now... How about I go to Bowang Garden again and ask Your Majesty what he thinks?"

"No need!"

Upon hearing this, Liu Che immediately rejected Su Wen's proposal.

What was the point of letting Su Wen come to ask again and again? Did Liu Ju think that a wise and holy ruler like him could see through this rebellious son?
"These people can't run away. I just want to see how this rebellious son will properly deal with this matter!"

"If he messes up the job for me and can't give me a satisfactory explanation, I will teach him a lesson and let him know the difference between him and me!"

"promise……"

Su Wen quickly responded with his head lowered, then carefully served Liu Che a cup of scented tea made with dew water.

In recent years, he clearly felt the change in Liu Che's temperament.

Although most of the time, Liu Che was still the awe-inspiring emperor, but sometimes in private, he would occasionally appear a little childish and willful like he is now.

But you can't say this in front of Liu Che, or you might lose your head...

At the same time, he didn't understand what Liu Ju was waiting for.

Just as Liu Che said just now, this matter is actually not difficult to handle at all. He can directly bring people to confront Liu Hong face to face, or start directly from Zhu Muyuan's people, and there will always be gains.

This move will not only be able to confirm Liu Hong's innocence as soon as possible.

Even if Liu Hong was not innocent, and Liu Ju, considering the brotherhood between him and Liu Hong, was unwilling to turn against him, he could have done some small things during the investigation to downplay Liu Hong's guilt or directly push the blame away.

This is also a solution, it is better than such a blunt delay.

And if Liu Ju did this, he actually did the right thing!

After all, people are made of flesh and blood. Liu Ju and Liu Hong are both Liu Che's biological sons. As a father, he naturally does not want to see Liu Ju and Liu Hong turn against each other... Even if Liu Hong must die, the family disgrace should not be made public.

As the crown prince Liu Ju was going to rule the world in the future, it was even more inappropriate for him to bear the name of killing his brother. The best option was to downplay Liu Hong's guilt or push the blame away. After dealing with those treacherous ministers with thundering means, he would put Liu Hong under house arrest, either for life, or after the matter was completely over, find other suitable reasons to force him to commit suicide, just like Liu Che's elder brother Liu Rong.

So, this time, Liu Che was actually testing Liu Ju.

This is why Liu Che was so anxious.

After all, as an examiner who sets the questions, it would be unavoidable for anyone to feel anxious and disappointed if he found that the candidate he had high hopes for, after getting the test paper, not only did not quickly start answering the questions, but actually held his chin with his eyes closed and started turning the pen, with an attitude that he was ready to hand in a blank paper.

However, now it was not only Liu Che who was anxious.

Su Wen had no idea whether Liu Ju could solve this problem or not, and whether he could get a full score that would satisfy Liu Che.

Naturally, he hoped that Liu Ju could understand Liu Che's intention and give a perfect answer.

In this way, Liu Ju's succession to the throne would be completely stable in the future. Maybe some political affairs would be handed over to Liu Ju in advance. And with his current relationship with Liu Ju, he might even be able to become a veteran of the second dynasty...

Just as he was thinking this, Liu Che suddenly asked:

"Su Wen, do you think it is possible that I have been keeping an eye on Chang'an the whole time? This rebellious son, Liu Hong, and those traitors are all afraid and dare not move. Therefore, they are stuck in a stalemate and are not moving their troops?"

"This……"

Su Wen was stunned when he heard this. He really couldn't understand why Liu Che would come up with such an alternative idea? But then again, this possibility might not be impossible.

First of all, Liu Hong and those rebellious ministers and villains, with a great ruler like Liu Che in charge, no matter how many ideas they had, they would certainly not dare to make any moves. Even their small actions in private would be restrained, unless they were tired of living.

Secondly, Liu Ju might have had the same concerns.

After all, he had suffered from acting impulsively before and accidentally lost his position as crown prince.

As the saying goes, every failure makes you wiser. After returning from the Western Regions this time, Liu Ju has obviously grown a lot. He acts and speaks with great discretion in front of Liu Che, and it is obvious that he has used his brain.

Then he must have considered the impact of many aspects on this important matter, and maybe that is why he is keeping his hands off now.

Su Wen even suspected that Liu Ju had already obtained information about those traitors.
However, among those traitors, there are some big men who hold high positions and have great influence on the court and counties of the Han Dynasty. Considering that his future succession to the throne may be inseparable from the support of these people or these forces, Liu Ju is negotiating with them privately, using this matter as a bargaining chip to exchange for more political benefits?

If this is true, Liu Ju's growth is too fast, and he may have already possessed the qualities of a qualified emperor!

Politics, after all, is nothing more than the art of compromise.

It should be noted that even though Liu Che established an inner court with a one-man show of power, and came up with a series of policies such as the Enfeoffment Order, the relocation of Maoling, and the deprivation of titles by paying bribes to restrict princes, ministers, princes, and local royal families, he still had to make some compromises in many cases in exchange for their support and loyalty.

After all, the so-called feudal system is essentially a system in which a large landlord leads a group of small landlords to rule the people.

The interests of the two actually have many things in common.

If most of the small landlords support the big landlords, then the big landlords are the rightful emperors. If most of the small landlords oppose the big landlords, then the big landlords are likely to become the ruler of a ruined country.

So whether it was the Enfeoffment Order, the relocation to Maoling, or the deprivation of title by drinking wine.

Liu Che always struck a balance. Although he took advantage of the residual power of the Seven Kingdoms Rebellion, he always won over the majority, sanctioned the minority, and divided and ruled, thus ensuring the smooth implementation of policies.

Otherwise, even if these things can still be accomplished, there is no way to ensure that there will be no obstacles or unexpected turmoil...

After all, in this age of information blockade, when it comes to influence on the people, the royal family may not be able to compare with those local wealthy and powerful families.

"Ok, deal!"

Liu Che suddenly slapped the table and said,
"Spread the news immediately and say that I have been feeling unwell recently and am leaving for Ganquan Palace to recuperate. I will not see anyone during this period. The affairs of the court will be handled by Liu Ju, and the affairs of the palace will be handled by Wei Zifu!"

"As for the Weiwei and the Northern Army... I order the generals and lieutenants of each unit to perform their duties. No one is allowed to mobilize without my tiger talisman!"

In the end, Liu Che still had a trick up his sleeve to ensure that the military power remained firmly in his own hands.

"Yes... Your Majesty, what about the Court Judge?"

Su Wen didn't dare to raise any objections and only asked additional questions.

The Chief Justice not only has many cruel officials, but also has three thousand soldiers who can be mobilized to assist in inspections and investigations. If the Guards and the Northern Army cannot move, then the Chief Justice will become the most powerful army in Chang'an. Whoever controls this army will be able to call the shots in Chang'an, except for being unable to compete with Emperor Wu of Han.

"Didn't I order the court judge to assist Liu Ju in handling the case? Let them continue to assist."

Liu Che waved his hand and then collapsed on the couch.
"Ah, I am sick now, why don't you quickly prepare a car to take me to Ganquan Palace to recuperate?"

……

The news that Liu Che suddenly felt unwell and went to Ganquan Palace to recuperate quickly spread throughout Chang'an.

At the same time, the news that he did not meet anyone during this period and handed over the affairs of the court to Liu Ju and the affairs of the palace to Wei Zifu also caused quite a stir among the court and the public.

This makes people wonder what Liu Che's current physical condition is, to the extent that even the political affairs have to be handed over to the crown prince to handle?

When Liu Ju heard the news, he was also somewhat surprised:

"Wasn't he fine a few days ago? Why did he suddenly get sick? And you're not allowed to visit him?"

"Speaking of which, the current situation seems to be more and more similar to the 'Witchcraft Disaster' in history. Is this also the result of the wheel of history turning..."

(End of this chapter)