Lu Xuan secretly hated himself for being too gentle. He should have chopped off the hands of those two scumbags!

He was filled with hatred and could only calm himself down by taking deep breaths. After a long while, he said softly, "We need to massage the blood clots away. Just bear with it."

Liu Tan responded in a weak voice, which made Lu Xuan hesitate to take action.

But he knew that if he didn't deal with it now, he would probably be even more upset when he woke up tomorrow morning.

Liu Tan's shoulder was numb at this time. He didn't feel any particular pain. He just pretended to be pitiful in order to soften Lu Xuan's heart and let him not mind him rushing over alone.

He was originally thinking about how he would act more pitiful when Lu Xuan took action.

But before he could think, he felt the unique warmth of Lu Xuan's palm, followed by a dull pain, and he couldn't help but gasp.

Lu Xuan's hand paused for a moment. Liu Tan felt it and gritted his teeth as he said, "Continue."

Okay, stop pretending, it really hurts this time!

Lu Xuan rubbed the blood clots away while carefully examining him. He finally breathed a sigh of relief, "There shouldn't be any broken bones."

But he felt even more distressed when he saw Liu Tan's forehead sweating from the pain and gritting his teeth without saying a word.

He carefully took Liu Tan into his arms and said, "I'll stay tonight."

Liu Tan raised his head and forced a smile, "Then I'm afraid I won't be able to bring happiness to my beloved concubine tonight."

Lu Xuan wiped the sweat off his face, and while ordering someone to fetch some water, he said with a stern face, "Go to sleep."

Seeing his serious expression, Liu Tan knew he hadn't gotten over this difficult situation yet. Just as he was about to say something else, he heard Lu Xuan say, "If you can't sleep, ask Miao Rui to make some calming soup."

Liu Tan shut up for a second.

These days, the calming soup and hangover soup have a particularly unique taste. He can better understand hangover soup. A slightly stronger taste can probably make people sober instantly.

But does the taste of the Anshen Soup calm the mind or invigorate the spirit?

Liu Tan obediently allowed Lu Xuan to wipe his body. He glanced at Fu Yu and Cen You standing nearby and said with a smile, "The King of Wusun is here, and my maids are all going to have jobs."

Lu Xuan raised his eyes to look at him: "It seems that you are not tired."

Liu Tan closed his eyes for a second. After Lu Xuan finished wiping his body, he cleaned himself up as well, then lay down beside Liu Tan quietly.

Liu Tan had not fallen asleep yet. Although the experience at night was very exciting and consumed a lot of his energy, he was still unable to sleep even though he was tired because of the dull pain in his shoulder.

In particular, he felt uncomfortable no matter how he lay down. He felt suffocated when he lay on his stomach, and he would accidentally touch the injured area when changing postures, which was even more annoying.

After feeling Lu Xuan lying next to him, Liu Tan couldn't help but hum and move closer.

This time he didn't dare cry out in pain, fearing that Lu Xuan would lose his temper.

Lu Xuan wanted to take his own life at this moment, but he could only think about it.

After feeling Liu Tan approaching, he carefully pulled him over. Liu Tan lay on him and adjusted the other person to a relatively comfortable position.

Liu Tan was surrounded by the familiar cold fragrance and gradually calmed down.

Lu Xuan closed his eyes and listened to Liu Tan's breathing gradually becoming longer and longer, not daring to move.

The next morning, when Liu Tan woke up, he was confused for a moment. He didn't understand why he was sleeping on his stomach and on Lu Xuan.

However, when he moved and felt a dull pain in his shoulder, he remembered what happened yesterday.

Lu Xuan asked in a slightly hoarse voice, "Awake?"

Liu Tan looked up and saw Lu Xuan's eyes were slightly red. He was stunned: "You... didn't sleep all night?"

Lu Xuan cleared his throat and said, "No."

Although he denied it, his stiff movements when he helped Liu Tan up showed that he not only did not sleep that night, but he might not even have changed his posture.

Liu Tan used his uninjured hand to rub Lu Xuan's leg. Lu Xuan held his hand and said, "It's okay. Just move it around a bit."

No matter how relaxed he pretended, Liu Tan could vaguely see that he was uncomfortable.

Lu Xuan was indeed enduring it at this time. He hadn't moved much all night, and even if he just lay down he would feel sore in his waist and back, not to mention that Liu Tan was lying on top of him.

In addition, he could remain still when awake, but Liu Tan would not be so still when asleep. If Liu Tan moved, he might hurt his wound. Lu Xuan could only pay attention to his posture as much as possible to prevent him from being woken up by the pain due to movements such as turning over.

This night was definitely a double test of physical and mental strength. When he saw that Liu Tan's face finally had some color, and was no longer as pale as last night, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He stood up and stretched a bit, enduring the numbness and pain on half of his body that felt like needles pricking him, and asked, "Do you want to get up?"

Liu Tan nodded, stood up and stretched his shoulders a little, and found that the pain was not so severe anymore. He could not help but move over to give Lu Xuan a big kiss.

Seeing him approach, Lu Xuan couldn't help but lean forward, ready to go. Suddenly, Liu Tan pulled back, covered his mouth, and said, "Brush your teeth first."

Lu Xuan: ...

After washing up, the two of them stayed together for a while. Liu Tan kissed his forehead and said, "Do you want to sleep for a while?"

Lu Xuan asked, "Did you get the result?"

Liu Tan said, "Don't worry about it. I'll go take a look. You can have a good rest."

The New Year holiday ends after the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, and we still have to hold a morning meeting today, the first day of work.

Lu Xuan couldn't get involved when it came to internal affairs, so this was a good opportunity for him to catch up on his sleep.

Lu Xuan nodded and said, "Okay, be careful. There shouldn't be much to do today. Come back early and rest."

Liu Tan also knew that it was post-holiday syndrome, and most people's minds were probably still stuck on yesterday, so it was enough to just deal with some simple things.

Although what happened yesterday happened in a hurry, Shuofang City is not that big. I heard about most of it on the way here this morning.

They originally wanted to find out more, but when they saw the expressions of Huo Guang and Jiang Chong, they knew that this was a serious matter, and they couldn't help but feel a little worried for a moment.

Especially Wei Buzhi, he was ready to take off his hat and apologize.

He has always been responsible for the public security of Shuofang City. Apart from issuing a few strict orders, Liu Tan left everything else to him.

He always thought he had done well, but yesterday, His Highness was in high spirits and went out for a stroll, and he encountered someone who broke the rules, and it was the kind that touched the bottom line of the King of the Northern Territory - before, no sharp weapons were allowed, and each family's kitchen knives and ironware had to be registered and filed, and all blacksmith shops were government-run, which Liu Tan had repeatedly emphasized.

Wei Buyi has been working diligently to get his subordinates to pay attention, but he didn't expect that someone would still break the rules. The most important thing is that he doesn't even know it yet!

Wei Buzhi felt extremely ashamed, especially when he thought about how Huo Shou, the only remaining descendant of Huo Qubing, almost got into trouble. He felt even more embarrassed.

Huo Guang was unhappy, Wei Buyi was unhappy, and Jiang Chong was unhappy. Since these three great Buddhas were unhappy, others dared not be happy at all. So just after the New Year, the atmosphere in the main hall of the Northern Border Palace was very solemn.

Those who were originally immersed in the joyful and peaceful festival atmosphere and had not yet come to their senses were now very confused, and no one dared to say a word.

This was the scene Liu Tan faced when he arrived.

He had originally prepared for the atmosphere of the grand court meeting to be relatively relaxed, and planned to let everyone chat casually for a few words and then disperse. However, after he sat down, he found that the atmosphere was even more heavy than usual.

This atmosphere made him almost forget what he was going to say.

Liu Tan sat down in silence for a long while, and everyone had the same thought in their mind: Your Highness is in a bad mood, so just stay put and don't cause any trouble!

Liu Tan coughed lightly. "The fifteenth day of the first lunar month has passed. Everyone has made many preparations for the Lantern Festival. Do you have any preliminary records of how many people were attracted to the capital to watch the Lantern Festival?"

The records of the flow of people should have come out long ago. After all, almost everyone arrives at the latest at the hour of You on the 15th day of the first lunar month. If you come later, not only will you have no place to stay, but you will also miss the busiest crowd.

The person in charge of this aspect was Lin Xiu, the internal historian of the Northern Border State. He stepped out and reported a series of numbers dryly, not daring to say a word.

If this happened on a normal day, he would definitely say a few more words to praise Liu Tan.

After all, in the Northern Territory, his rank as the Internal Secretary of Grain is not low, and he is also one of the senior officials in the court. Unfortunately, several people in the court are too powerful, and each of them has a close relationship with the King of the Northern Territory, so he can only stand aside.

But Lin Xiu also wants to be valued. Being valued by the King of the Northern Territory has many benefits. Just look at Wei Buyi and Li Buyan and you will know that His Royal Highness the King of the Northern Territory is not only generous with money, but also with official positions.

He was only a prime minister in the northern border country. Huo Guang was much younger than him, so logically speaking, he had no hope of promotion.

However, just looking at the way Huo Guangjian seemed to be in the emperor's heart, he knew that he would return to Chang'an sooner or later. Lin Xiu wanted to make an effort and strive for the position of reserve prime minister.

But given the special circumstances today, he should just behave himself.

Seeing that all the people he had accepted were either in a bad mood or as timid as quails, Liu Tan decisively ended the court meeting and decided to go back to Lu Xuan to comfort his wounded heart.

But when he returned, he found that Lu Xuan was not in the bedroom.

After asking, he found out that after leaving, Lu Xuan changed into black clothes and went straight to the Supreme Court with the badge he gave him.

Although the thieves were caught by the Wuhou Guards last night, the case involved princes and the prime minister of the current dynasty, so the suspects must be handed over to the Chief Justice.

However, Chief Justice Jiang Chong was going to attend a grand court meeting today, so only his subordinate officials were present in the Chief Justice's Office at this time.

The subordinate official still knew Lu Xuan. Even if he didn't, he still recognized the token belonging to the King of the Northern Territory in Lu Xuan's hand. He immediately said nervously, "We learned a little bit yesterday, but those two thieves fainted due to their serious injuries, so we didn't ask any further questions."

Lu Xuan said coldly, "That injury won't kill me. Take me with you!"