Early in the morning, Liu Tan's brain started to malfunction.

Lu Xuan didn't hear a response and assumed he was still asleep, so he pulled him closer to his chest and said, "Sleep a little longer."

Liu Tan finally woke up and quickly jumped out of his arms, saying, "No, no, no, I'm not sleeping anymore. I'm awake!"

Lu Xuan let him go with some reluctance. After Liu Tan jumped out, he realized that his quilt had been thrown aside. The quilt he had been covering himself with was Lu Xuan's quilt. Well, he and Lu Xuan were covering themselves with the same quilt!

Liu Tan was a little confused. He remembered that he slept very well and never kicked the quilt. What was going on?

Lu Xuan stood up and saw him sitting there motionless. He couldn't help but touch his forehead and said, "It's still early. Don't be too anxious. Go back to sleep if you're tired."

Liu Tan shook his head and asked a little embarrassedly: "Did I steal your quilt last night?"

Lu Xuan: ...

How could he explain this?

Last night, he was tempted by the beauty and couldn't help but hold Liu Tan in his arms, but he also wanted to cover himself with a quilt, so Liu Tan was covered with two quilts. In the middle of the night, Liu Tan must have felt hot, not only because of the cup but also because of the heat transferred from Lu Xuan's body. He started to lift the quilt when he felt hot, and the quilt he was originally covering himself with was kicked aside by him.

Lu Xuan didn't dare to tell the truth and just coughed lightly: "The stove burned too strongly last night."

Liu Tan scratched his head and was about to say something when he heard Miao Rui ask from outside, "Is His Highness awake?"

Liu Tan instantly looked at Lu Xuan: "Put on, put on, put on your clothes!"

Lu Xuan was amused by him, but he still dutifully found his clothes and put them on. Then Miao Rui and Bigo came in carrying toiletries.

Bigao was still saying, "Your Highness, let's make do with this for now and talk about it when we get back. The furniture here is not suitable for us."

Liu Tan responded and stood up to let Miao Rui and Bigo dress him and tie his hair.

The attendants beside Lu Xuan also came in and began to help him tidy up his clothes. Lu Xuan looked at Liu Tan with a little regret. He really wanted to help Liu Tan put on his clothes again. It would be best if he could help him tie his hair.

After Liu Tan and Lu Xuan had a simple meal, Liu Tan looked at Lu Xuan hesitantly and said, "You... can your body handle all this running around?"

Lu Xuan ran for hundreds of miles yesterday. If he wanted to catch up with the main force today, he would have to run even faster than yesterday. Even though he was always strong and healthy, it would be too easy for him to get sick.

Lu Xuan didn't care about this, but he was reluctant to leave.

Yesterday he was still thinking that it would be enough if he could just meet Liu Tan, but today he greedily wanted more.

Lu Xuan pretended to be relaxed and said, "It's okay. I don't need to catch up in one day. I can take my time."

Liu Tan finally relaxed a bit after hearing this and said, "Wait a minute, I'll write a letter to Jiang Chong, and you can give it to him when you get there."

Lu Xuan looked at him deeply: "Okay."

Liu Tan wanted to say something else, but for a moment he didn't know what to say. Lu Xuan suddenly handed the earrings to him and said, "Can you put them on for me?"

Liu Tan was stunned for a moment. Facing Lu Xuan's hopeful eyes, he couldn't say no, so he nodded, took the earring, and carefully helped Lu Xuan put it on.

For some reason, his face gradually became warmer while wearing it, and by the time he was done wearing it, he felt like he was almost cooked.

He couldn't help rubbing his face, feeling that something was not going well.

How can I create the feeling of wearing a ring by just wearing an earring?

Lu Xuan couldn't help but reach out and hugged him, then gently kissed him on the forehead and said, "Go, I'll take you back."

Liu Tan shook his head: "No, I can go back by myself."

However, Lu Xuan still insisted on escorting him all the way to the Shili Pavilion outside the city gate.

Lu Xuan reined in his horse and said, "If you go any further, you might be seen. I can only take you here."

Liu Tan responded and said, "Go back quickly and be careful on the road."

I originally wanted to say "bon voyage", but when I think about it, even a good journey would be a bit torturous in this weather.

Lu Xuan didn't move, but just said, "You go first."

Liu Tan didn't say anything, nor did he refuse. He turned around and resolutely led his men towards the city gate.

Lu Xuan watched his figure gradually shrink and disappear behind the city gate, and took a deep breath.

As Liu Tan left, he felt as if the temperature in his body had dropped.

He suddenly turned to Agamu and asked, "You said... if we want to border the Northern Kingdom..."

Agamu was stunned for a moment: "This...this is impossible?"

After all, the Northern Border Kingdom is to their east, and to their east is the newly built Golden City of the Han Dynasty, as well as Yangguan and Yumenguan. These are all fortresses of the Han Dynasty. They can't even get too close, otherwise it might be regarded as a provocation to the Han Dynasty.

Of course, the most important thing is that there is a Cheshi Kingdom in the middle, as well as other countries large and small, which is impossible no matter how you think about it.

Lu Xuan said softly, "Possibly."

To the north of the Northern Border Kingdom... is the Huns.

It's difficult, but he has a chance.

Lu Xuan suddenly felt a surge of heroic spirit and turned his horse around to go in the opposite direction of Liu Tan.

What he wanted was never just a temporary lingering.

Liu Tan was also feeling a little lost at this time. No matter how he felt about Lu Xuan, even as a friend, not knowing when they would meet again after parting was enough to make him unhappy.

When Liu Tan returned to Chang'an, he saw armored guards evacuating the crowd as soon as he arrived at the gate. After seeing him, they immediately stepped aside. Then Liu Tan saw Liu Ju riding on a horse and heading out of the city.

Liu Tan looked at Liu Ju in surprise and asked, "What are you going to do, Your Highness?"

Liu Ju was visibly relieved upon seeing him. He quickly rode over and said, "Where have you been? I sent people to your palace to look for you, but they couldn't find you. They said you didn't even go back, and they didn't know where you went. I was nearly scared to death."

It was not until Liu Ju sent people to investigate later that he found out that Liu Tan had left the city. In an instant, many thoughts flashed through his mind, most of which were that Liu Tan had been kidnapped by someone, so he immediately took people to rescue his brother.

Liu Tan touched his nose awkwardly and asked, "Your Highness, are you here to look for me?"

Liu Ju said unhappily, "What else?"

He was already prepared to go to war with the Huns.

There is no way. Only the Huns would dare to kidnap princes in the territory of the Han Dynasty.

Liu Tan coughed lightly and said, "I'm sorry to have worried Your Highness. Let's go back first."

On the way home with his brother, Liu Ju asked, "What happened that made you run out in such a hurry?"

Liu Tan stammered, "Nothing, I just want to go out for a horse race, and then..."

Then... he couldn't continue. He had just returned to Chang'an yesterday. How could he want to race horses? This excuse was really bad.

But he subconsciously wanted to conceal the fact that Lu Xuan had returned, probably because he didn't want Liu Ju to know about the emotional entanglement between him and Lu Xuan.

After all, if Liu Ju knew, it would probably be the same as Liu Che knowing. Even if he could prevent Liu Ju from saying it, Liu Ju would definitely oppose it.

Anyway, he and Lu Xuan weren't really together, so let's just not talk about it.

Liu Ju was a little confused, but he didn't press him any further. After sending him to the palace, he told him not to run around. He also said, "Little Kunmi brought you a few horses and temporarily kept them with me. Don't run around. I'll have someone send them back. Got it?"

When Liu Tan heard the three words "Xiao Kunmi", his ears felt hot and he nodded quickly.

Liu Ju, however, touched his forehead as if facing a formidable enemy and said, "Are you cold? Why is your face so red? Go get some rest and don't go anywhere for the next two days!"

Liu Tan quickly said, "It's nothing, it's just too hot in the room."

However, Liu Ju did not believe it. He felt that this house was not as warm as his prince's palace.

He said with some concern: "Why don't you come back to the palace with me? If it's inconvenient, you can stay at my place first."

Liu Tan was startled, and without caring about blushing, he quickly said, "No need. Your Highness is so busy, I won't bother you."

Liu Ju held his wrist and felt his pulse. After a while, he found nothing wrong and then warned him, "Don't run around. You got sick the last time you came back from a long journey. You must be careful this time."

After that, he said to Miao Rui, "I have some excellent medicinal herbs. You can go get them from me later. If A-di feels unwell, please report it as soon as possible."

Miao Rui responded quickly. Liu Tan was a little amused and had to repeatedly assure himself that he would never joke about his own body.

Liu Ju left feeling very worried. Not long after, Liu Tan received a loving gift package from his brother, the prince - in addition to the horse given to him by Lu Xuan, there were also two doctors and a large bag of medicinal herbs.

Liu Tan had no choice but to accept it. He thought that was the end of it, but after a while, he received caring gift packages from Liu Che and Chen Ajiao. Even Wei Zifu sent him a pair of socks embroidered with patterns to ward off evil spirits.

Liu Tan: ...

He never expected that Liu Ju was such a big mouth!