Most of the tableware used by Liu Che in his life were bronze or lacquerware. In the past two years, due to the emergence of celadon, they have gradually been replaced with porcelain, but no matter what, they are all shaped utensils.

He never imagined that one day he would be dining on leaves.

Those leaves seem to be lotus leaves, and they are all relatively fresh and tender lotus leaves. The glossy color of the vegetables matched with the tender green lotus leaves looks fresh and eye-catching.

Because it was evening, Liu Tan did not arrange too many greasy dishes. The only meat dishes were lotus leaf chicken and mushroom chicken. The rest were mainly mushrooms, and there was also a lotus leaf rice dish.

Liu Che smiled when he saw the various mushrooms on the table. His son was always able to choose the dishes that best suited the current situation.

Living in the woods is indeed a good time to try some wild delicacies.

Liu Che liked both of the meat dishes very much, and the lotus leaf rice was also very much to his liking, with the fragrance of lotus leaves and very refreshing.

Not only Liu Che, but also the people who came with him were eating with relish.

Li Ling, who was sitting next to Liu Tan, whispered to Wei Deng, "We can show off to the Prime Minister and the others when we get back."

Wei Deng chuckled and said, "I've already written to my brother, but it's a pity he can't come."

Li Ling suddenly asked, "I've noticed that Your Highness never seems to enjoy singing and dancing while dining."

Wei Deng thought for a moment and said, "That's true, but it's nothing. After all, these dishes are delicious. Look at these people, how many of them have time to watch the singing and dancing?"

Li Ling looked up and saw that most of the people around him were busy eating. He and Wei Deng, who could often get one or two meals in the Northern Palace, were still okay. They could occasionally talk to the people around them. However, several of the others were following Liu Che here for the first time and had no time to talk at all.

Li Ling even noticed several famous gourmets in Chang'an shaking their heads while tasting the food, and their faces looked very satisfied.

This was the first time that Li Ling realized the power of food. The music of bells and drums and the dancing of beauties were all fake. Only the food in front of him was real.

Li Ling even secretly glanced at the emperor and found that His Majesty was also eating very seriously. However, the emperor came here to stay healthy, so he didn't eat much. After tasting every dish, he focused on eating his favorite dish and then put down his chopsticks.

Liu Che glanced down and found that Liu Tan had also put down his chopsticks and was rinsing his mouth. He then looked again and found that this boy had eaten even less than himself.

Liu Che waved to Liu Tan and said, "Tan'er, come here."

When Liu Tan stood up, he saw Lu Xuan looking up at him with puffy cheeks. He saw that Lu Xuan had almost finished eating everything. Adhering to the principle of not wasting anything, he simply had someone send over the lotus leaf chicken that he had hardly touched.

This behavior seemed extremely rude. If it was not enough, he could just ask someone to bring another one. It was not like he was so poor that he could not even afford a chicken. However, before Liu Che could say anything, Lu Xuan had already taken Liu Tan's chicken and ate it without any hesitation.

For a moment, Liu Che was in a very subtle situation. Even if he was very affectionate with his favorite concubine or male favorite, it would never reach this extent.

At this time, Liu Tan had already walked over to Liu Che and sat down beside him and asked, "Is there anything else that your Majesty would like to eat?"

Liu Che didn't say anything, but reached out and grabbed the back of his head to make him turn around.

Liu Tan turned his head in confusion, following Liu Che's movements. He found that Liu Che was actually looking at him carefully. He couldn't help but wonder for a moment. Just when he was about to ask what was wrong, he heard Liu Che say, "You've lost weight."

Liu Tan subconsciously said, "No?"

Liu Che pinched his chin and shook it, saying, "You didn't have much flesh on your face to begin with, and now it's even less."

Liu Tan subconsciously covered his cheeks, fearing that Liu Che would pinch him in front of so many people, and said vaguely, "Maybe it's because I've grown taller recently."

Teenagers do tend to be a little thinner when they grow taller, and since teenagers have a strong metabolism, this is normal.

"Why are you eating so little? You'll be skin and bones if you keep eating like this."

Liu Tan was at a loss for words: "I ate quite a lot, mainly because I drank too much soup. I couldn't eat anything else."

Seeing that Liu Che seemed to want to say something, he simply said, "How about I go out for a run and come back for a second meal?"

Liu Che laughed: "Nonsense."

Liu Tan smiled and moved closer: "Then I will accompany Father for a walk."

Liu Che nodded, because the food was delicious. Even though he tried to control himself, he still couldn't help eating a little more. It was a good opportunity to go out for a walk to help digest the food.

Their early departure wouldn't affect anyone, but when Liu Tan saw Lu Xuan about to follow, he stopped him and said, "Keep eating. When it's almost time, let them go and do whatever they want. Don't worry about us."

As he spoke, he touched Lu Xuan's stomach, wondering where all the food went.

Lu Xuan used his body to block the others' view, secretly squeezed his hand and said, "Then go ahead."

Liu Tan smiled at him, turned around and caught up with Liu Che.

Because the restaurant was also in the tree house, Liu Tan stopped Liu Che before leaving, asked someone to bring two sachets, and then bent down and tied them to Liu Che's belt personally.

Liu Che faintly smelled a medicinal fragrance and couldn't help asking, "What is this?"

Liu Tan let Miao Rui tie the sachet around him while explaining, "There are more mosquitoes in the woods at night. This sachet is made with various medicinal herbs and is quite effective in repelling insects. The only drawback is that it only lasts for two hours at most."

It is certain that there will be many mosquitoes wherever there are a lot of plants or water. No matter how much money you have, you cannot kill these mosquitoes. There is no such thing as toilet water these days, but fortunately, Chinese herbal medicine is still quite useful.

In the past, the Weiyang Palace did not have such troubles because there were not many flowers and trees. In fact, there were basically no flowers and trees in the previous dynasty. There were only some in the garden of the harem, and the area was not large, so it was not difficult to drive away mosquitoes.

After tying the sachet, the father and son went downstairs one after the other. When they walked onto the grass, Liu Che realized that what Liu Tan said was absolutely correct. There were many flying insects flying around the candles.

However, it was only then that he noticed that the lampshades of the candle lamps placed on the trees were basically shaped like birds, ranging from sparrows to goshawks. Some birds were even spreading their wings, with black gems on their heads reflecting light. If the entire body was not transparent and you could clearly see the candles inside, you would probably think it was real.

Liu Che looked up and observed carefully for a while, and found that there were all kinds of movements, including two chubby glass birds huddled together, and one was tilting its head to comb its feathers.

After he had looked around for a while, he lowered his head to look at the ground. Sure enough, the candle lampshades on the ground were all in the shapes of various small animals, such as running rabbits and squirrels about to climb trees.

Liu Tan was able to play with a simple piece of glass in a variety of ways.

At this time, Liu Tan also discovered that he had originally thought that the light green color in the glass would affect the effect, but now it seems that the glass has no color at all, as if it is purely transparent.

Liu Che originally just wanted to take a walk to digest his food, but at this moment he wanted to see what other small animals there were as if he was looking for treasure.

After finding them all, he asked with satisfaction, "How are these made?"

He had just taken a closer look at these glass lampshades, which were extremely thin, as if they would break if touched. He could also see that all the glass lampshades were almost one piece, with only a candle-sized circle stuck at the bottom.

According to today's technology, it is not difficult to make a hollow mold, but Liu Che always felt that it should not be that simple. The most important thing is that the molten glass is very viscous and not easy to pour into the mold.

Liu Tan winked at him and said, "Father, can you guess?"

Liu Che reached out and patted his head: "I'll give you a chance."

Liu Tan immediately changed his words and said, "It was blown out."

Liu Che was a little surprised: "What?"

Liu Tan nodded seriously and said, "It's blown out. Use an iron tube, dip it in molten glass, put it into the mold and blow hard."

Liu Che thought for a long time and found that he could not imagine what the scene was like. Liu Tan said, "If your Majesty is interested, I will ask them to demonstrate it when we return."

Of course Liu Che was interested, as he had a strong curiosity about everything unknown.

After a stroll, Liu Che returned to the tree house contentedly.

I have to say that this tree house really satisfied all of Liu Che's fantasies of seclusion just as Liu Tan had imagined.

Liu Che wasn't the only one who had this fantasy. After Liu Tan finished talking, he saw Lu Xuan squatting there fiddling with the rabbit lantern. He couldn't help but walk over and ask, "Are you sabotaging something?"

Lu Xuan looked up at him, smiled, and said, "No, I was just taking a look."

After standing up, he glanced around and said, "It would look better without these tents."

Liu Tan didn't deny it. He also said, "Yes, but there's nothing we can do. We can't drive all these people out to live."

Lu Xuan suddenly leaned over and whispered, "We can also find a place like this to live in seclusion in the future."

Liu Tan turned to look at Lu Xuan and asked with a smile, "Do you know how much it cost to build this forest? Do you know how much it costs to maintain it on a daily basis? Not to mention the money, do you know how much manpower and material resources it took?"

Liu Tan would not attack Liu Che, but if Lu Xuan thought so, he would actually strike back.

Lu Xuan's smile froze. He looked down at Liu Tan and whispered, "I... I have money."

"Haha, that's what you call a vacation, not a secluded life. True seclusion means being self-sufficient. But if it were me, I probably wouldn't be able to do that. As for you... can you farm?"

Lu Xuan could no longer maintain his smile but still insisted, "I can herd."

Liu Tan laughed and said, "Well, when I get tired of it, I'll just raise a few cows and sheep and wander around."

Lu Xuan looked at him with his eyes downcast. His dark green eyes looked particularly gentle against the backdrop of the twinkling lights. He said softly, "Okay."

Liu Tan turned to look at him, noticing Lu Xuan's serious expression. He couldn't help but elbow him and said, "You really want it? You want to be well-fed and well-dressed, but you insist on herding sheep. What's wrong with you? Go to sleep!"

Lu Xuan smiled and said nothing, but silently followed him back to the tent. Then... he was kicked out by Liu Tan, and finally he could only sleep in his own tent with a wronged look on his face.

This night was probably the noisiest night in Liu Che's life. In the past, no matter where he was, even in summer, the area around his bedroom was absolutely quiet. If he saw cicadas on the trees, he would use something to stick them away.

But these small animals in the woods are the indigenous people. Liu Tan didn't do anything at all. He just used some insect repellents within the living area.

So there were still some insects chirping at night. Liu Che didn't expect that he didn't find it noisy at all and even slept very well. When he woke up the next day, he even didn't want to get up.

After he got up, Liu Tan immediately arranged the next destination - a real water park.