As for castration, everyone should know that it is castration, which was quite common in the Han Dynasty. The most famous ones were Sima Qian and Lady Gouyi's father, who were also eunuchs who suffered castration.

If you don’t grow grapes well, you will castrate people. What a mess!

It's just a grape.

Wait... wait, that's not right. Liu Tan frowned and thought for a long time before he remembered that grapes should still be a rare item in the Central Plains these days.

He thought for a moment and asked, "Are the grapes you're talking about the ones Zhang Qian brought back from the Western Regions?"

"That's right." Li Buyan nodded quickly.

Liu Tan understood now. Zhang Qian brought back many local varieties from his mission to the Western Regions. On the one hand, he brought these things back to pay tribute to Emperor Liu Che, and on the other hand, to enrich the various crop varieties of the Han Dynasty.

Among them, the grapes were the ones he brought back, but it was easy to bring back seedlings or seeds, but it was difficult to keep them alive.

The soil, water and climate of the Central Plains and the Western Regions are very different. As the saying goes, oranges grown in the south of the Huai River are oranges, while oranges grown in the north of the Huai River are tangerines. Even if the seedlings are the same, it would not be easy to grow the same things.

Now, from what Li Buyan said, it seems that even farming has become a problem.

Liu Tan looked at Liu Ju and asked quietly, "Is the Emperor really angry?"

Liu Ju sighed and said, "When Zhang Qian brought these back, he was accompanied by envoys from the Western Regions. My father was so excited that he said he would definitely invite them to taste the wine from the Central Plains in the future. At that time, the envoys said that we couldn't grow it. My father was unhappy and ordered that it must be grown."

After hearing this, Liu Tan understood. When it comes to face, Liu Che will definitely not lose the battle but the person. Before Wei Qing's death, the envoys from the Western Regions acted like grandsons when they came. Now that Wei Qing is gone, they want to straighten their backs and ask Liu Che for his consent.

But now this problem is very tricky. It is definitely useless to plead for mercy. If the tree cannot be grown, it will be equivalent to slapping Liu Che in the face. Liu Che's face cannot be lost. If he loses face, you will lose your head first.

Thinking about it this way, it seems that castration alone is not so unreasonable for Liu Che?

In fact, Li Buyan knew without Liu Tan's explanation that there was almost no turning back in this matter, and he just wanted to grasp the last glimmer of hope.

At first, their family was almost confiscated, but after Liu Tan returned to the palace, they were pardoned, and only their family was pardoned.

He didn't know that this matter actually had nothing to do with Liu Tan. It was just that the death of Huo Qubing's son Huo Shan made him sad, and he found that the people who had followed Huo Qubing on the Western Expedition had gradually died out. His heart softened, and he showed some mercy.

As for letting Li Xi plant grapes, it didn't mean he would really go to the fields. He was just asked to manage the work. But in Li Xi's eyes, it would be better to let him go to the fields directly. It was obvious that he would be taking the blame.

In fact, it was Liu Che who punished him, but the punishment was for hiding his life experience from Liu Tan.

Liu Tan watched Li Buyan sobbing and sobbing, and felt sorry for their family. He sighed and said, "This matter... I'll have to think of a way. It's unlikely that my father will retract his decision. I'll... see if there's any other way."

Liu Ju frowned slightly but said nothing. After Li Buyan left crying while expressing her gratitude, he said, "Fifth brother, why are you so soft-hearted? How can I agree to this? If you ask for mercy, my father will probably be unhappy."

Liu Tan gave Liu Ju a big smile and said, "Yes, I know. I won't go to my father to plead for mercy."

Liu Quote said, "It would be the same even if you asked the Queen for help."

It might even be worse for you to beg for mercy. Liu Ju didn't say this.

Anyway, as far as he knew, since the queen gave birth to Liu Tan, Liu Che almost never set foot in the Pepper Room except for important matters. Even if he set foot in the Pepper Room, he would not stay overnight there. He would leave after finishing his business.

This couple seems to be incompatible but their hearts are far apart.

This situation was actually a good thing for Liu Ju, but now he suddenly felt a little worried about his fifth brother.

His father doesn't favor him, and his mother doesn't seem to favor him much either. Even if she did, it would be useless because there is still the Li family that holds him back.

Although he had no relationship with the Li family after returning to the palace, how could he cut them off now?

Liu Ju never cared about the life and death of his brothers. Even as kind-hearted as he was, he sometimes felt that it would be better if brothers like Liu Fuling were gone.

Now I am really worried about my younger brother.

Liu Tan, on the other hand, was quite open-minded. He said calmly, "Everything depends on human effort. There is always a way out. Maybe there is a way."

Liu Ju laughed and thought his younger brother was so innocent and cute.

But he didn't say anything. He had also been through this age before and knew that boys of this age were actually very stubborn. It was useless for others to say anything. Only when he hit a wall himself would he understand that some things were not something he could do just as he wanted.

Didn’t their father, the Emperor, who was so noble, also want the Han Dynasty to be able to grow grapes but was unable to do so?

Compared with Liu Ju's idea, Liu Tan's idea was much simpler. In fact, it was not impossible to grow grapes, but it was not possible to grow Western grapes in a simple and crude way.

If people move, they live; if trees move, they die. Grapes are even more fragile than trees. Who can withstand moving them a thousand or two thousand miles?

And although it is said that Zhang Qian brought grapes back from the Western Regions, there were actually grapes in the Central Plains, or rather, there were plants of the grape family, but the varieties were different, and the fruits they produced were not only unpalatable, but might be completely inedible.

This requires the improvement of the variety, which is a very long process. However, Liu Tan has already thought about it. He can use the fact that these are the Han Dynasty's own grapes to convince Liu Che.

Liu Che was very concerned about his reputation. If he planted other people's grapes, people would say they were brought from the Western Regions. That would be so boring. It would be better to plant our own grapes.

Liu Tan felt that this reason should be able to convince Liu Che.

But the prerequisite is that he can find viable grape seedlings in the Central Plains. He can't say whether he can find them, so he didn't say anything definite.

After he followed the prince back to the palace, they parted ways in the previous dynasty.

The Crown Prince's Palace is quite special. It was almost modeled after the Weiyang Palace. Half of it was in the front, which was used for Liu Ju's office, and the other half was in the back, which was the Crown Prince's living area, where his family members lived.

Speaking of family, Liu Tan felt very strange. Liu Ju is not young anymore. The timelines of Wei Qing and Huo Qubing were not affected by the butterfly, so this year is the sixth year of Yuanfeng.

Liu Ju's age was not affected by the butterfly, so he was already 23 years old this year. At this age, he might have been married in later generations, but His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is still single.

Oh, in this dynasty, if you are not married, you are considered single, but he has concubines, and more than one.

I don’t know what Liu Che was thinking. It seems that in history, Liu Ju never had a legitimate crown princess until the Witchcraft Persecution.

Liu Tan was thinking about all this gossip in his mind, and just as he returned to his bedroom, he suddenly remembered something very important - today was his first day of class, and it was already over?

He was just about to ask Miao Rui and Bigo when he saw Fu Yu coming over, bowing and saying softly, "Your Highness, the lady has summoned you."

Okay, I don’t need to ask him to know that it must be Chen Ajiao who knows what happened this morning.

He wasn't afraid and asked with a smile, "Did the Queen Mother prepare any delicious food?"

Fu Yu smiled, but Cen You said more lively: "My wife knows that His Highness likes minced meat, and has asked someone to prepare it."

Fu Yu's heart skipped a beat after hearing this. Cen You's words seemed to answer Liu Tan's question, but in fact they revealed a message - they were in constant contact with the Pepper House Palace, and might even listen to the Pepper House Palace more.

This was something that could not be helped. They originally came from the Pepper Palace, but Fu Yu was worried that Liu Tan would have a grudge against them because of this.

Liu Tan didn't care. Of the four protectors around him, two were sent by Chen Ajiao and two were sent by Liu Che. It was good enough. If something really happened, these two would not be suspicious of him because they didn't know the situation.

When Liu talked about the Pepper Palace, he heard Princess Danyang's crisp laughter again, as expected. He walked in slowly and found that Chen Ajiao did not seem unhappy at all, and even invited him to have dinner together.

This time, Liu Tan was much more free and easy. He found that in fact, as long as your status in the palace was high enough, the etiquette and rules were not that strict.

During the meal, Liu Tan listened to Princess Danyang talk about many interesting things in the palace. Chen Ajiao was looking at them with a smile and occasionally said a word or two, but did not mention what happened in the morning at all, which made him feel very strange.

After finishing their meal, Princess Danyang suddenly looked at Liu Tan curiously and asked, "Fifth brother, I heard that you beat Liu Fuling this morning? How did you do it?"

Liu Tan was gargling at that time. After hearing this, he almost spit out the mouthwash, but thinking that he couldn't lose his manners in front of Chen Ajiao, he held it back and almost swallowed it!

Liu Tan quickly spat out the water in his mouth and let Fu Yu wipe his mouth. He asked, "Danyang, who told you that? This is too outrageous."

Princess Danyang said, "I just heard that Liu Fuling was beaten. I don't know who beat him, but...how many people in the palace dared to beat Liu Fuling?"

Liu Tan glanced at Chen Ajiao cautiously, but couldn't tell what she was thinking from her expression. He said helplessly, "I didn't dare hit Liu Fuling, and he didn't get beaten. It was his two study partners who got beaten."

Princess Danyang asked again, "Who beat him?"

Liu Tan said, "It's Kunmi of Little Wusun."

Princess Danyang immediately reacted, frowned her pretty eyebrows and said, "It's that strange-looking Xiongnu."

Liu Tan was stunned for a moment: "Looks weird?"

Princess Danyang nodded vigorously. "Yes, his eyes are actually crow-blue. Hmm, they seem to be a little lighter than crow-blue. Anyway, it's very strange."

Princess Danyang thought for a moment and added, "But the Xiongnu people all look very strange."

Liu Tan laughed but didn't say anything. They had different aesthetic tastes, so it was okay if Danyang didn't like it or wasn't used to it.

Princess Danyang pressed the matter further. After Liu Tan recounted the story, Princess Danyang asked, somewhat bewildered, "How could this be? Liu Fuling isn't that kind of person, isn't he, Mother?"

Chen Ajiao, who had been listening on the side, looked at Liu Tan meaningfully and said, "Yes, so, Tan'er, don't you understand?"

Liu Tan's mind moved. Princess Danyang was the second person who told him that Liu Fuling was not like this usually. The first one was Crown Prince Liu Ju. However, Liu Ju's words were vague, so Liu Tan did not take it to heart and thought that he was just reluctantly playing the role of an elder brother.

Now that Princess Danyang and Chen Ajiao have said so, then... Liu Fuling is definitely not the person he saw.

He raised his eyes to look at Chen Ajiao and asked tentatively: "So this is a trap?"

Chen Ajiao smiled, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. She simply stood up, walked over to Liu Tan, touched his head, and said, "When you encounter problems in the future, think more carefully. Although there aren't many people in this palace, it's not as simple as it seems. Your mother can't help you much. You have to rely on yourself, understand?"

Liu Tan was about to ask something when he saw the Grand Chamberlain beside the Queen come over and bow and say, "Your Majesty, His Majesty has summoned the Fifth Prince to the Gouyi Palace."