"What?"

Liu Che and Chen Ajiao had a rare couple's duet.

For some reason, Liu Tan suddenly felt that these two people didn't know whether they looked like a couple or because they were cousins. Anyway, their surprised expressions were very similar.

It’s just that Chen Ajiao’s expression is more vivid, while Liu Che’s is much more reserved, but he is not as expressionless as the legend says.

Chen Ajiao couldn't sit still: "Do you know what you are talking about?"

Liu Tan said calmly: "I know."

Chen Ajiao raised her eyebrows: "You know it and you're still talking nonsense? No!"

Chen Ajiao felt sorry for her daughter, but now that things had come to this, it was useless for her to feel sorry for her. She certainly couldn't harm her son just because she felt sorry for her daughter.

Liu Che glanced at Chen Ajiao and, for once, agreed with her: "Don't be impulsive. Think carefully."

Liu Tan said, "I know my father and mother are worried about me, but... although the Han and the Xiongnu have been at peace in recent years, as the Xiongnu recuperate and grow stronger, a war with our dynasty is inevitable. Most importantly, our dynasty cannot passively wait for the Xiongnu to attack. The Xiongnu cavalry is unparalleled and can move swiftly. We must seize the initiative, and terrain is paramount in this regard."

Liu Che nodded seriously. He had thought about this and had already started working on it. However... among his sons, only Liu Tan noticed this, which made Liu Ju feel a little awkward.

You have to know that Liu Ju is the crown prince and is exposed to these things more often than Liu Tan, and his maternal family has two capable generals, so he should also be good at this aspect, but Liu Ju does not seem to have such a high talent, he is just average.

As for Liu Fuling... although his age is almost the same as Liu Tan, it seems that one is still a child while the other is already an adult with mature thoughts.

Seeing that Liu Che didn't seem to object, Chen Ajiao became anxious: "So what if that's the case? How can it be your turn?"

Liu Tan laughed and said, "I am the vanguard for my father. If I had sent a skilled and capable general to escort the bride, not only the Xiongnu but even the Wusun might have been wary. But if I were the one to lead them, they wouldn't have noticed anything."

Chen Ajiao still said: "You are not needed!"

Liu Che had been silent from the beginning. He was observing what Liu Tan wanted to achieve with this matter.

It is impossible to threaten him not to marry Danyang to Wusun. Liu Che thinks that he should not be so stupid, but what is Liu Tan's purpose?

However, when he heard Liu Tan say the words "being a pioneer for his father", his eyes lit up.

In fact, Liu Che had the ambition to personally lead an expedition to the north to attack the Huns in his life. Unfortunately, there was Wei Qing before and Huo Qubing later, so he was not needed. He just had to try his best to meet the requirements of these two people.

After these two people were gone, Liu Che himself was no longer young, and the impulsiveness of his youth had turned into the rationality of age. Although the passion in his heart was still there, he would not act impulsively.

But these four words really hit the spot for him. All parents always regard their children as an extension of their own will, and hope that their children can realize the wishes that they have not fulfilled.

Liu Che was better than many of his fathers because he was the emperor. Everything he wanted was within his reach, except seeking immortality.

However, he would not expect his son to do something like seeking immortality. After all, even he couldn't do it, and his son was not as good as him, so how could he possibly do it?

So his requirements for his son may be similar to those of a father.

Liu Tan was probably the first person to hit the nail on the head, but he still asked seriously, "Have you really thought it through?"

Liu Tan nodded vigorously. Chen Ajiao wanted to say something, but Liu Che looked her back. In the end, she could only grit her teeth in hatred, not knowing what was wrong with Liu Tan.

Liu Che asked again: "Aren't you afraid of danger?"

Liu Tan said, "Others will be in danger. I... The Great Wusun would rather their crown prince be in danger than let me get hurt. Otherwise, just wait for the Han to attack. The Han won them over, not because they can't defeat them, but because they don't want to create another enemy."

Liu Che smiled and said, "Not bad."

Not to mention the Wusun, even the Xiongnu might not really dare to attack Liu Tan. To be exact, there was no need to do so.

If they plundered the border on weekdays, the Han Dynasty would only send a part of its army to pursue them. If they could catch up, they would fight them, but if they couldn't, they would just let it go.

But if the prince of the Han Dynasty died in the Western Regions, or more precisely, died at the hands of the Xiongnu or Wusun, then the Han Dynasty would be in a state of rebellion until its death.

Of course, it is not ruled out that the Huns would attack him in order to sow discord between Wusun and the Han Dynasty.

However, the Han Dynasty’s wedding procession was definitely not small in size, and there would be no danger unless a military conflict occurred.

Liu Che's brows relaxed and he said, "Okay, I promise you."

Liu Tan bowed and said, "Thank you, Father!"

Liu Che was also a little tired at this time. He waved his hand at Liu Tan and said, "You have been tired for a few days. Go back and rest."

Liu Tan finally breathed a sigh of relief, secretly complaining to himself, "You know I'm very tired. It's too much to torture teenagers in the middle of the night!"

Perhaps because Liu Tan was leaving too quickly, Liu Che said to him as he was about to leave: "Next time a deity or immortal appears in your dream, remember to tell me."

Liu Tan quickly shook his head frantically: "No more, no more."

Liu Che: "Hmm?"

Liu Tan immediately changed his tone: "No, no, no, next time, definitely next time."

Liu Che was satisfied: "Go."

Liu Tan wiped the sweat from his forehead, turned around and ran away.

But before he had gone far, he heard a voice behind him shouting, "Liu Tan, stop!"

Liu Tan suddenly started to wake up and remembered that he had just dealt with his father and had not yet dealt with his mother.

He suddenly felt bitter, turned around and looked at Chen Ajiao with a smile and said, "Mother, why did you come out? Are you going back to the Pepper Palace? I will take you back."

Chen Ajiao looked at Liu Tan with a sullen expression and asked, "Do you know what you are doing?"

Liu Tan whispered, "This son knows it very well in his heart."

Chen Ajiao raised her eyebrows: "Clear? What do you know?"

Liu Tan bent down to support Chen Ajiao and said, "Mother, mother, it's cold outside. Let's go back first and talk about it first. Don't let you get cold."

"It's better to be cold than to be angry with you!" Chen Ajiao felt that both her son and daughter were not easy to worry about. She was simply born to be a worrywart.

After Liu Tan helped her get into the car, he followed suit and explained in a low voice, "Mother, I'm worried about letting Danyang travel all the way to Wusun alone."

Chen Ajiao's eyebrows softened. "Mother knows you care about Danyang, but you can't take risks on your own. If there's any disaster or illness along the way, what will we do if we lack medical care or medicine?"

Liu Tan smiled and said, "Don't worry, mother. I've always been in good health, so there won't be any problems."

"So what if he was always healthy? Wasn't Marquis Jing Huan healthy? Didn't he die young? Back then, people said he died of an epidemic in the Western Regions. How can you compare to him?"

Liu Tan: ...

This example is irrefutable. However, what surprised him was that no one knew the cause of Huo Qubing's death. Wasn't it because the historical materials were lost?

Liu Tan coughed lightly and said, "I will be careful, don't worry, mother. I will definitely come back healthy and send Danyang safely. Father has already promised to make all the arrangements for me."

Chen Ajiao said with some resentment: "I think he is..."

I don’t know what Chen Ajiao wanted to say to Liu Che, but in the end she didn’t say it. She could only desperately remind Liu Tan to be careful.

Liu Tan had no choice but to say, "Mother, I'm not leaving tomorrow. Even if it's a marriage alliance, we need to prepare for it for a while and choose an auspicious day before letting the princess marry."

Only then did Chen Ajiao stop talking.

By the time Liu Tan sent Chen Ajiao to the Jiaofang Palace and then returned to his Suiyu Palace, he no longer had the strength to speak.

Although he has been acting very relaxed these days, he is actually still under a lot of pressure. Even though he has prepared every link, Liu Tan is still worried that something unexpected will happen. Now he finally breathed a sigh of relief and even arranged a business trip for himself, which turned out well.

Yes, the journey that was very dangerous in Chen Ajiao's eyes was just an official trip in Liu Tan's eyes. After staying in this palace city for a long time, he felt too depressed. Liu Tan had wanted to go out for a long time, but now it seemed that Liu Che and Chen Ajiao were competing with each other, and his fiefdom would not be settled for a while, so he might as well go out for a while.

Anyway, given the transportation conditions these days, it will take several months for me to come back after sending the bride off.

By then, Chang'an may look completely different. Well, I hope Liu Fuling will set his sights on Crown Prince Liu Ju again and stop staring at him all day long. Isn't it annoying?

He felt annoyed but Liu Fuling didn't feel annoyed. Liu Fuling just felt that everything had gone wrong for him since Liu Tan returned to the palace.

After returning to Gouyi Palace, Lady Gouyi noticed that Liu Fuling looked unhappy and couldn't help but ask, "What happened again? Was someone disrespectful to you?"

"It's still that Liu Tan!" Liu Fuling said angrily. "Today, I accidentally let him get into the spotlight again. When the emperor was leaving, he called him away without even looking at me!"

Madam Gouyi's expression changed: "What's going on? Did you make His Majesty angry?"

Liu Fuling said angrily, "My father never said a word to me from beginning to end. How could I possibly make him angry?"

Lady Gouyi was extremely flustered. "Then... could it be that His Majesty was angry with me because of Princess Danyang's incident and that this has implicated you?"

Liu Fuling shook his head. "Not necessarily. Liu Tan... Humph, he's just a man of some strange and cunning tricks. He made up some fairy tale to deceive Father. Sooner or later, I'll expose him!"

Madam Gouyi's expression gradually grew colder as she spoke, "I originally thought he was just the son of a disgraced queen, and of little use. I never expected him to be so capable of bewitching people. It seems our previous methods were too gentle. Fuling, didn't Jiang Chong show signs of defecting a few days ago? Go and give him that jade carving."

Liu Fuling looked at Lady Gouyi in surprise: "But, that is your favorite jade carving, Mother."

"It's just a possession. Compared to your life and mine, what does it mean? I originally thought he had a close relationship with King Zhao and might not really want to support you. But now it seems... even if he doesn't, so what? Let him deal with Liu Tan first."

Liu Fuling gritted his teeth and said, "Okay!"

Lady Gouyi touched Liu Fuling's head and said, "Fuling, we mother and son are helpless in this palace, so we can only resort to this last resort. Wei Zifu has Crown Prince Liu Ju, and the legacy of Wei and Huo is still there. Huo Guang is even more loyal to Your Majesty. Chen Ajiao is the Empress. Even if Liu Tan is not the Crown Prince, even if he will be deposed in the future, she can still become the Queen Mother. The Chen family is the descendant of meritorious officials, which is her confidence. We are alone, mother and son, with nothing. You must strive to be worthy."

Liu Fuling thought for a moment and said, "Mother, I know what to do."