This story starts with a trip to the water park.

In fact, Liu Che already knew about the water park as early as when he saw the itinerary, but because Liu Tan arranged it relatively late, Liu Che did not rush to ask.

Liu Tan made this arrangement mainly based on the climate. By the time he arranged the trip, the weather was already quite hot, so it was a good opportunity to go to Yangshan to escape the heat, cool down, play in the water, etc.

The first day at the water park must be spent on the lake.

In summer, the lotus leaves and lotus flowers are connected in patches. At first glance, the green is dotted with occasional dark and light red dots, which is really pleasing to the eye.

Of course, the emperor could not walk among the lotus leaves when boating on the lake, so Liu Tan had already cleared the waterway when the lotus flowers were planted.

The cruise ship was completed a long time ago. It has two floors, the lower floor is the cabin, and the upper floor is an open observation deck.

The officials brought by Liu Che were given the opportunity to sightsee on the deck, while Liu Tan and Lu Xuan accompanied Liu Che to the second floor for sightseeing.

The fun of boating on the lake can actually last for a very short time, but the real fun here in Liutan is probably just boating on the lake, eating and watching.

Because of the special location, the ingredients for this meal are basically taken from the lake.

In addition to some green vegetables, the main dishes are lotus root, fish, and some freshwater shellfish.

He made several dishes just from lotus roots, including the sweet and sour lotus roots that Liu Che liked, lotus roots with glutinous rice, and a soup made with shellfish and lotus roots.

Fish is simpler to cook, just steam it and pour sauce over it, and it tastes fresh.

Liu Che was in high spirits after the meal. After finishing his meal, he looked at the vague tall buildings in the distance and couldn't help asking, "You still haven't told me what those are."

Liu Tan took a look and said with a smile, "You'll know about that when you get there tomorrow!"

Liu Che was a little surprised: "Tomorrow? You don't plan to go back today?"

Liu Tan nodded: "Yes, there will be fun things to do tomorrow. If I go back today and rush back tomorrow, I'm afraid it will be too late."

Liu Che asked, "Have you ordered people to set up camp?"

Liu Tan smiled and said, "No need to camp, there's a place to stay."

Liu Che looked around subconsciously, but found that there was no palace, let alone any building, in these places.

Except for Yangshan Mountain over there, the surrounding area is basically plains, and you can see very far at a glance.

Liu Che turned to look at Liu Tan: "Really?"

Liu Tan nodded vigorously: "It's true."

After he finished speaking, he waited for Liu Che to continue asking questions, but he didn't expect that Liu Che didn't ask any more questions. Liu Tan didn't say a single word of the prepared speech and almost suffocated himself to death.

Seeing his bewildered look, Liu Che smiled. What was there to ask? His son always made arrangements properly, and he wouldn't let him sleep in the carriage, even though the size of the carriage meant he wouldn't feel uncomfortable sleeping there.

After the meal, the lake cruise basically came to an end, and at most it allowed Liu Che to satisfy his fishing addiction.

Anyway, Liu Tan didn't know why his father loved fishing so much. The most important thing was that he had never heard that Liu Che loved fishing when he was in Chang'an before. Not only that, he had never fished even when he was bored and went out to play. He didn't know why the fish in the Northern Border Kingdom attracted him so much.

Not to mention, the fish Liu Tan caught in this pond were all quite large. Liu Che was very satisfied with his fishing. After having the fish taken away, he suddenly turned to look at Liu Tan and said, "You won't change this fish for me, will you?"

Liu Tan: ...

He said helplessly: "No, this is the fish we raised ourselves."

After fishing, the boat drifted around the lake and it was time to leave.

After getting on the carriage, Liu Che kept observing their route and found that their destination seemed to be the woods!

Live in the woods?

This is unprecedented. In the past, no matter where you went, there were only a few places to choose to camp. The most important ones were, first, there must be a water source nearby, and second, the area must be open.

Hardly anyone camps in the woods.

But after approaching the woods, Liu Che could see from the outside that the woods must have been cleared. At least there was no wild forest that could leave a path for his carriage to enter.

The only ones who could enter the woods by car were Liu Che and Liu Tan, who was also a hitchhiker. If Liu Tan had not been accompanying him in Liu Che's car, he would have had to ride in on horseback at this moment.

The remaining officials had already gotten off the carriages and changed horses outside. Although they were confused, they didn't say much. Even if they were dissatisfied, they didn't dare to say it out loud.

After entering the woods, they found that the woods had been cleaned up very cleanly, which was different from the damp and miasmic forest they had imagined.

There was soft grass beneath the horse's hooves, wild bushes on both sides of the road, and trees of varying sizes.

The empty path led directly to the center of the forest. When they got there, everyone couldn't help but hold their breath and looked up at the huge monster in front of them.

It might not be accurate to call it a behemoth, but just like when Lu Xuan mistook the tree house for a real tree, everyone now thought it was a real tree.

No one had ever seen a giant tree covering an area of ​​20 to 30 square meters. Some people even dismounted and began to worship it on the spot - such a huge tree may have lived for many years, and even if it has not become a spirit, it is probably almost dead.

It might even be an ancient relic.

So when Liu Tan helped Liu Che get off the car, he looked up and saw a group of people kneeling behind him. Most of the few who were not kneeling were stunned, and only Lu Xuan in the middle had a helpless look on his face.

Liu Che couldn't see as clearly as the people outside in the car. It was only after he got off the car that he saw how shocking the towering tree in front of him was. He couldn't help but be stunned for a moment.

Seeing that his father was also shocked, Liu Tan quickly said, "Fake, fake, this tree is fake!"

Not to mention, if Liu Che ordered a sacrifice to the tree, or wanted to talk to the tree, or even climbed the tree to seek immortality, then he would be in trouble.

Liu Che gathered his thoughts and asked, "Is it fake?"

Liu Tan was at a loss for words and said, "Yes, even a place like Chang'an, where the dragon was born, doesn't have such a huge tree. How could the Northern Border Kingdom have one? I had this made of cement."

Liu Che always trusted Liu Tan and had no doubts after hearing it. The most important thing was that Liu Tan didn't have to say that the truth was a lie. If it were someone else, they would be eager to use this tree to play tricks, and even say that there were immortals on the tree, and then use it to seek success.

Only Liu Tan would tell him directly that it was fake.

However, Liu Che still felt a little strange: "But this appearance..."

Liu Tan coughed lightly and said, "The bark is real."

After Liu Tan's explanation, Liu Che realized that the inside of the tree was made of cement and iron bars, while the outside was covered with real bark. Because the barks were selected from trees of similar age and then carefully selected, they looked as if they were one piece, which made the tree look very real.

Liu Che looked up at the treetops and asked, "What about these leaves? They can't be fake, right?"

Liu Tan touched his nose and said, "Those small branches are planted on the trunk. There is soil inside the trunk, so those leaves are indeed real."

Liu Che looked up for a while, then walked closer to the giant tree and took a look. Liu Tan carefully peeled off a small piece and let him see the grayish-white color of cement inside, which made Liu Che believe that it was fake.

It was only at this time that Liu Che discovered that there was a wooden staircase on the back of the tree.

Liu Tan pointed at the stairs and said with a smile, "This tree is my father's bedroom today."

Liu Che: ?????

He had imagined many things before entering the woods. He saw tents scattered in the woods and thought he was living in a tent.

Not to mention, the tents are also quite wild, surrounded by branches, leaves and flowers, which is quite nicely decorated.

Unexpectedly, his son actually let him live in a tree?

Liu Che couldn't imagine what the bedroom in the tree looked like, so he could only walk up and take a look for himself.

Fortunately, the stairs were not very high. After walking half a circle around the giant tree, Liu Che saw a door. The surface of the door was also made to look like tree bark. No wonder he didn't see it just now.

Liu Tan, who had been following him, reached out and pushed open the door. The scene inside immediately caught Liu Che's eyes - it was a circular room.

The room was not big, and most of the furnishings inside were in natural wood color. There was a window opposite the door. At this moment, a pair of light green gauze curtains in front of the window swayed gently in the wind. The whole room exuded a faint fragrance of plants and trees. It was not particularly noticeable, but it could soothe people's spirits.

Liu Che walked around the house and found that there was a small viewing platform on the side. He walked over to take a look and felt a cool breeze with moisture. It really felt good.

While Liu Tan was accompanying Liu Che to visit the tree house, accommodation arrangements had already begun for other officials.

Liu Che stood on the observation deck and looked for a while. He saw the bathhouse prepared for him and the restaurant, but other than that, he didn't see any other tree houses. He couldn't help but wonder, "Where's your house?"

Liu Tan pointed to the two largest tents below and said, "Over there, Axuan and I live there."

Liu Che frowned slightly: "It's damp in the forest, how can you live there?"

Liu Tan smiled and said, "Don't worry, Father. The cement slabs have already been laid underneath. It's just for convenience."

Liu Tan originally wanted to build a few wooden houses, but wood is quite precious in the Northern Country, and it also requires frequent maintenance. Anyway, they can't live here for too long, so building wooden houses would be very troublesome.

If Liu Che came here every year, he would build a few more houses and even expand the scope of the forest. Otherwise, if everyone lives in a wooden house, there will probably be only a few trees left in the forest.

After everyone settled down, it was getting dark. Liu Che sat on the observation deck and watched the lights in the dark forest light up. The lights were not very bright, but it was this light that gave the forest a mysterious feeling.

Liu Tan asked, "Father, would you like to serve the meal?"

Liu Che stood up and said, "Go ahead."

Liu Tan did not predict what today's dishes would be, and Liu Che did not hold high hopes. What he did not expect was that today's dishes were all served on leaves!