Liu Tan snorted, but before he could say anything, he suddenly felt his body lighten and his vision blurred. When he reacted again, Lu Xuan had already picked him up and carried him inside.

He was startled and hit Lu Xuan: "What are you doing!"

Lu Xuan exerted force on his hands, "Don't move. Why didn't you wear shoes when you ran out? It's so cold outside, what if you catch a cold?"

Liu Tan: ...

Of course he didn't need to wear shoes indoors, after all, there were floor heating and reed mats. However, he was so excited to hear that Lu Xuan had returned that he just ran out.

He thought about how he had just pretended to be indifferent and questioned the other party, but was betrayed by a pair of shoes. He suddenly felt a little uneasy.

After returning to the room, Lu Xuan placed him on the small couch. Before Liu Tan could come back to his senses, Lu Xuan hugged him tightly, buried his head in his shoulder, and sighed deeply: "You're finally back, Ah Tan, I missed you so much."

Liu Tan was about to lose his temper, but upon hearing Lu Xuan's words, he softened. He reached out and hugged Lu Xuan back, then turned his head and kissed his cheek, saying, "What's wrong? Is the battle not going well?"

Lu Xuan found a comfortable position while holding him and said, "I can't say it wasn't going smoothly, it's just... I didn't realize it before, but now I realize how tiring it is to coordinate so many people."

Liu Tan asked, "Are they disobedient?"

Lu Xuan sneered: "It's more than just disobedience, it's simply..."

He suddenly stopped talking mid-sentence, then kissed Liu Tan on the forehead and said, "Let's not talk about this anymore. I've finally come back, so I'll try to stay with you for a while longer this time."

Liu Tan suddenly realized something: "No, why didn't I hear about your withdrawal before? When did you withdraw? I haven't reached an agreement with Xulihu yet."

Lu Xuan said, "They haven't retreated yet."

Liu Tan was shocked. The commander hadn't retreated yet, and he'd just run away? Was he so willful?

Lu Xuan looked at his wide-eyed expression, and felt itchy, so he couldn't help but kiss him.

Liu Tan was caught off guard and his mouth was blocked. At first he was so angry that he wanted to kick Lu Xuan away, but now he was talking about serious business!

But he soon became absorbed in it, and put his arms around Lu Xuan's neck. He originally wanted to turn over and take the initiative, but his waist and abdomen were not strong enough, and he was forcibly suppressed by Lu Xuan. When he stopped, he leaned his whole body in Lu Xuan's arms, and had long forgotten about military and national affairs.

Lu Xuan hugged him and whispered, "There's meat."

Liu Tan was surprised when he heard this: "He's gained weight?"

Lu Xuan chuckled and said, "No, it's just right. I was too thin before."

The two of them stayed together for a while before Liu Tan remembered what he had just wanted to ask about. He couldn't help but ask, "What happened? Why did you come back by yourself?"

Lu Xuan said nonchalantly, "There's basically no fighting going on over there. I stayed there just to put pressure on Xuli Lake. Now that my goal has been achieved, I want to withdraw. If the weather gets colder, the soldiers will suffer."

Liu Tan was confused: "Then why didn't they withdraw their troops?"

Lu Xuan sneered, "I withdrew my troops, but others didn't. Now these people are united and trying to force the emperor to abdicate."

Liu Tan understood instantly. Lu Xuan weighed the pros and cons and wanted to quit while he could, but the people of those small nations refused to accept that. They were on the verge of reaching the Xiongnu capital. When had they ever achieved such an accomplishment? They must have already begun imagining how to divide the profits after taking Dragon City.

At this time, Lu Xuan, as the initiator and the commander-in-chief, must be worried that the Wusun Kingdom will take away a lot, especially since the Wusun Kingdom now has the Han Dynasty as its backing. How can they snatch it away?

Therefore, they would definitely be eager for Lu Xuan to retreat.

Liu Tan sneered, "A bunch of short-sighted, profit-seeking idiots."

Lu Xuan tangled a strand of Liu Tan's hair with one hand and said lazily, "Let them go. It's a good opportunity for the Xiongnu to teach them a lesson."

The Xiongnu were able to fight the Han Dynasty on equal terms. If Lu Xuan had not restrained and commanded this rabble, they would not even be able to take down Yanran Mountain. How could they still imagine fighting the Xiongnu?

Liu Tan said, "It just so happens that Xulihu sent me a letter asking you to withdraw your troops, and he promised to send some Xiongnu slaves. I refused at the time, but later he sent a lot of money, cattle and sheep. I originally wanted him to cede land, but I think that's his bottom line. Since you've already withdrawn your troops, I might as well agree to it."

Lu Xuan said dazedly, "Well, you can do whatever you want."

Liu Tan touched his head and said, "Get up and go to bed. It's uncomfortable here."

Lu Xuan narrowed his eyes and let Liu Tan pull him up and tuck him into the quilt. When he realized Liu Tan was about to leave, he reached out to hold him back and whined, "Stay with me."

Liu Tan originally wanted to write a letter to Xulihu, but after weighing the pros and cons, he decided that writing a letter to Xulihu was not as important as spending time with his wife, so he asked Miao Rui to tell Yan Xingsheng. After explaining the main points, he let Yan Xingsheng write the letter himself.

Yan Xingsheng felt a little uncomfortable after receiving this order. It was not like he had not done ghostwriting before, but at that time it was usually Liu Tan who dictated, and he would then turn Liu Tan's spoken language into written language. Basically, it was the duty of a recorder.

Although his prince has told him the important places, he still needs to write eighty percent of the letters.

The most important thing is to imitate Liu Tan's tone. If Yan Xingsheng was asked to write according to a fixed format, it would be fine. He had learned how to write when he was with the prime minister. Unfortunately, no matter what he learned, it would be half useless when he was with their prince.

Their Highness never followed the usual rules when writing letters to other kings, so he was probably being restrained and polite when writing to Xulihu.

After Yan Xingsheng wrote it in Liu Tan's tone, he wanted to show it to his prince. However, his prince had not shown up the whole day since the King of Wusun arrived. He had no choice but to run to find Prime Minister Huo Guang.

He didn't know if it was Yan Xingsheng's illusion, but he always felt that when Huo Xiang heard that the King of Wusun had arrived and that His Highness was accompanying the King of Wusun in the harem and not appearing, he seemed to see a flash of murderous intent in Huo Xiang's eyes.

Huo Guang took Yan Xingsheng's letter and glanced at it. He immediately understood what was happening and said, "Your tone is still too soft. Now it's Xuli Lake that needs our help. Even when the enemy was at the gates, Your Highness didn't soften his stance at all, let alone now. Change it up a bit here, here, and here."

Yan Xingsheng said with some embarrassment: "But this humble official... really..."

Huo Guang agreed when he thought about it. It was indeed too much to ask Yan Xingsheng to be as tough as Liu Tan. They did not have such experience and confidence, so of course it was impossible.

Huo Guang simply drafted one and said, "Write it according to this. Go ahead."

Yan Xingsheng was immediately overjoyed: "Thank you, Prime Minister Huo!"

After Yan Xingsheng left, Huo Guang immediately ordered, "Go and find out why the King of Wusun suddenly returned."

He came back suddenly without any news, and Huo Guang was always worried that Lu Xuan was planning something bad.

Of course, he also knew that even if Lu Xuan wanted to cause trouble, he would not target Liu Tan. It was just that he had been the prime minister for such a long time that he was used to having everything under control. What he hated most was this kind of emergency, which meant that many things had to be rearranged.

While Huo Guang was having people investigate, Lu Xuan finally got enough sleep. Liu Tan woke him up and pulled him up to eat something. After eating and drinking, he finally regained some energy.

While he was eating, Liu Tan rested his chin on his hand and watched him from the side. Lu Xuan fed Liu Tan a few mouthfuls while he ate. After he finished eating, Liu Tan asked, "If you withdraw your troops like this, how will we divide the territory we conquered?"

"Share?" Lu Xuan picked up a piece of dessert and fed it to Liu Tan while saying, "Who wants to share it with them?"

Liu Tan raised his eyebrows and was about to ask, but because he had a snack in his mouth, he had to swallow it before speaking.

Seeing him chewing with his cheeks puffed out like a little animal, Lu Xuan couldn't help but smile and said, "Don't be anxious. Eat slowly. There's more."

Liu Tan rolled his eyes at him. He wasn't trying to grab food, he just wanted to talk!

Lu Xuan seemed to know what he was going to ask and said, "Don't worry, the Xiongnu will help me."

Liu Tan's eyes rolled, understanding his meaning. It would be strange for the Xiongnu to tolerate such provocations from a mob of small nations. They would inevitably fight back, just as Lu Xuan had said. By then, those small nations would be taught a lesson. By then, they would be severely weakened, and what would be the point of competing with Lu Xuan? What right would they have to compete with him?

Although this is rather shameless, as long as they don't suffer any loss, it's fine. If countries are too gentlemanly in their confrontations, they will suffer losses.

Liu Tan took another sip of the honey water that Lu Xuan handed him and said, "I just happened to be trying to figure out how to split the Xiongnu. I'm not sure if this plan will work."

Lu Xuan said, "Well, you mentioned it in your letter before, and I also gave the order. This time I came here with some information and a person. I'll show it to you later."

Liu Tan was a little surprised: "One person? Who?"

This person must be very special, otherwise it would not be worth Lu Xuan's special mention.

Lu Xuan said, "A man who can split the Xiongnu."

Liu Tan tilted his head. "Is it related to Wu Shilu? Is it his confidant or someone else?"

Lu Xuan said dissatisfiedly, "Well, you'll see it tomorrow. I'm a living person sitting here, and you insist on caring about a dead person!"

Liu Tan was speechless: "Didn't you tell me that? Be reasonable."

"I won't!" Lu Xuan came over and hugged Liu Tan, saying, "We haven't seen each other for so long, why do we have to talk about them?"

Liu Tan was a little amused and helpless. There was nothing he could do about it. After all, each of these things was more important. Once he missed it, there might not be another chance. When was there any problem with romance?

But on second thought, I feel that between the two of them, the time spent on romance is more precious, and they spend more time discussing political affairs.

Liu Tan's heart softened: "Okay, okay, I don't want to worry about those annoying things today, so I'll accompany you, okay?"

Lu Xuanni whispered something in Liu Tan's ear while lying on him.

After hearing this, Liu Tan's face immediately turned red from his neck. After hesitating for a while, he nodded.