After Liu Tan learned that Liu Ju had woken up, he couldn't help but sigh. He had to put on his clothes again and lead his people back to the palace.

At this time, Liu Ju had fully woken up. When Liu Tan came, he was pacing in his own prince's palace.

As soon as Liu Tan came in, he couldn't help but rush over and hold Liu Tan's wrist and asked, "Are you okay?"

Liu Tan was stunned: "Huh?"

Liu Ju looked him up and down before he breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm glad you're not hurt. You...you're too impulsive. Just tell me when you get the evidence and I'll send someone to arrest him. Why go there in person so late at night?"

What Liu Ju was anxious about was not that the King of the Northern Territory suddenly destroyed the Prime Minister's lair, but that Liu Tan would be injured in the process. How would he explain to his father then?

Seeing that Liu Ju didn't seem angry, Liu Tan smiled and said, "I borrowed your guards a while ago, and now it's time to return them. Well, there are a few who were injured, and I've already compensated them. Your Highness can reward them if you want. As for those who didn't die in battle, don't worry."

Liu Ju said unhappily, "Is this the point?"

Liu Tan blinked: "If this isn't the case, then what is it?"

Liu Ju pulled him to sit down and asked, "What on earth is worth taking such a risk?"

Liu Tan was silent for a moment before saying, "If I must say anything, it's probably because Liu Qumao is planning to start a rebellion tonight."

"What?" Liu Ju was surprised. He had not received any news before. He had sent people to keep a close eye on Liu Qumao, so how come he didn't get any news?

Liu Tan said, "Don't disbelieve me. I've already arrested him. Du Zhou has been interrogating him overnight. He should have a confession by tomorrow."

Liu Ju pulled him aside and said, "No, no, that's not the point. I just... I didn't understand why Liu Qumao would do this. His bargaining chips have already been seized."

Liu Tan approached Liu Ju and asked, "Have you forgotten that his last name is Liu? He is a marquis, and his father is Liu Sheng, the Prince of Zhongshan. He is also a grandson of the emperor."

Liu Ju stared at Liu Tan with wide eyes: "Are you saying... that he is the one who wants to usurp the throne?"

Liu Tan nodded seriously. "The so-called rebellion of the Four Marquises, the so-called treasonous plot by King Guangchuan, and the so-called ill intentions of King Zhongshan and King Changyi were all smokescreens he released. I should have thought of this long ago. If he really felt that King Changyi was his benefactor, he would do everything in his power to repay him. Why would he be so cruel as to push King Changyi out and want the whole world to know about his relationship with King Changyi? He's basically using King Changyi as a target."

So everyone would think that by capturing the King of Changyi, all of Liu Qumao's plans would be ruined. And when others thought his plans were useless and they could deal with him at any time, he would make another unexpected move, which was indeed surprising.

Didn’t you see that Liu Ju didn’t expect it?

I have to say that Liu Qumao played this move quite beautifully.

After the initial shock, Liu Ju naturally understood that it was not surprising that Liu Qumao had such ambitions.

The only thing he was puzzled about was: "How did you know he was going to rebel tonight? When did you get the news? How come I didn't know? Tonight?"

Liu Ju did not doubt Liu Tan, but his brother had clearly handed all matters back to him, and he had never placed his own people in the process of governing, let alone sent people to gather information.

In order to make Liu Tan less passive, Liu Ju almost shared the intelligence channels with his brother. However, the information he received did not include any news about Liu Qumao's uprising tonight.

After hearing this, Liu Tan couldn't help but scratch his head and said, "Ah, this... Actually... I didn't know before I went there either."

Liu Ju: ?????

He suddenly had a bad feeling and asked, "What do you mean? You didn't know before? So you don't have any other information at all, right?"

Liu Tan smiled awkwardly and said, "I just... feel like something's not right."

Liu Ju was stunned: "You thought it was wrong and led people to attack the Prime Minister's house?"

Do you want to go to heaven?

Liu Tan defended himself, "We haven't found any evidence of his crime yet. No matter how careful he is, there must be traces at home!"

Liu Ju leaned on the table and rubbed his forehead, saying, "Wait a moment, let me take it easy."

Liu Ju had probably never encountered such a situation before.

Have you ever heard of going to a suspect's home to look for evidence?

And this posture... Liu Ju felt it was too familiar. Isn't this his father's usual tactic?

However, his father never took action himself. He would send Du Zhou to deal with someone he disliked.

No matter whether it is true or false, he will get the result his father wants.

This also led to a period of time when false accusations became rampant in the court. Anyway, as long as you met someone you didn't like, you could just frame him, and then you could always kill him.

However, after a while, everyone discovered that the emperor was not a puppet.

It is true that you can frame someone if you don't like him, but unless you are innocent, if the emperor finds out that you have framed him, you will be the next to die.

But the question is, is it possible to be innocent if you are falsely accused?

At first everyone thought that this was a sign of the emperor's stupidity, but later everyone gradually realized something - those who really did this were those who formed cliques for personal gain, or those who were selfish but incompetent, and those who were truly upright and incorruptible basically remained unscathed.

Gradually, everyone got a taste of the situation and gradually stopped doing it. False accusations against each other would only hurt both sides, so things have been much more peaceful recently.

But Liu Ju seemed to see the shadow of his father in Liu Tan. This... Don't look back. Chang'an is not like this anymore. Is the Northern Border Kingdom starting to do this?

Even though Liu Ju had confidence in Huo Guang, he couldn't help but look at Liu Tan seriously and said, "Sit down."

Liu Tan sat up straight with a strange look on his face, somewhat confused as to why his brother was so serious.

Next, Liu Ju earnestly told him the disadvantages of doing so.

After listening for a while, Liu Tan finally understood Liu Ju's concerns. He couldn't help but laugh and said, "Why do you think that? I never liked cruel officials."

"Whether you like it or not is not important. What matters most is whether your subordinates think you like it or not. Isn't Jiang Chong a cruel official? What's the difference between him and Du Zhou?"

The concept of cruel officials is very broad. Not all officials who call for fighting and killing are cruel officials. Officials who use any means to achieve their goals are also cruel officials.

Now Jiang Chong basically regards Liu Tan's words as the only guide. He does whatever Liu Tan asks him to do, and he will try his best to get whatever result Liu Tan wants.

Now, every decision Liu Tan makes is correct, and the people he arrests have legitimate reasons, but what if he is wrong?

Jiang Chong was also easily tortured into confessing, so Liu believed that he was no different from a cruel official.

Liu Tan thought about it carefully and it seemed to be true. He coughed lightly and said, "Actually, my visit to the Prime Minister's house was not an impulse. Your Highness should know the situation at the Prime Minister's house. Have you noticed their purchases?"

Liu Ju was stunned for a moment: "What?"

All he cared about was who Liu Qumao was in contact with and the purchasing situation of the Prime Minister's family... Who would care?

However, Liu Tanhui was concerned. He looked through all the purchasing records of the Prime Minister's Mansion and found that there was really a lot to it.

Liu Tan didn't bother to talk about those things with Liu Ju. He just had all the information delivered to him. He put it in front of Liu Ju and asked, "Did you find anything?"

Liu Ju lowered his head and took a closer look. He was a little surprised for a moment: "What kind of method is this?"

There were actually many small squares drawn on the piece of paper, and there were words written in each square, some of which were projects and some were numbers. Liu Ju was a little surprised when he saw it.

Liu Tan then said, "Oh, I just felt that the ones they had made before were not simple and clear enough, so I simply had them draw a table to categorize them so that it would be easier to see."

Otherwise, it would be dizzying to look at all the words together.

Liu Ju looked at it carefully and couldn't help but praise it, "This is a good idea. Go back and summarize it and send it to me. I'll have my men learn it."

Liu Tan: ...Brother, this is not the point!

Fortunately, Liu Ju still remembered what Liu Tan had asked him to look at. After carefully studying it for a while, he asked in surprise, "Why are the expenses of the Prime Minister's Mansion increasing? Their family hasn't added that many people."

In general, except for unexpected events, the expenses of wealthy families are basically fixed and rarely change significantly unless the population increases.

The table that Liu Tan gave to Liu Ju did not show a sudden increase in expenses, but rather a steady increase every day. In the end, the data was almost three times the normal expenses of the Prime Minister's Office!

However, no emperor or prince would keep an eye on the family expenses of his subjects, and the prime minister's subtle increase was actually ignored by everyone.

After reading it, Liu Ju said, "There are so many more. Either he is hiding something, or his family has grown."

There is an upper limit to the population growth. To meet this figure, the Prime Minister's Mansion needs at least a few hundred more mouths to feed. So where do those hundreds of mouths come from?

In terms of the number of guards, the Three Dukes had slightly more than ordinary marquises, but much fewer than the princes, only about a hundred people. With so many more people in his family, it was obvious that he must have exceeded the standard in some aspect.

Liu Ju looked up at Liu Tan and asked, "Is this why you went there?"

Liu Tan said, "Liu Qumao didn't leave any evidence anywhere, so the only possibility is that he hid it in the Prime Minister's residence. He either used the money to buy weapons or hide people. No matter which one, if they find out, he will be in big trouble."

It seemed to make sense, but Liu Ju still said angrily: "You are too reckless. Have you ever thought about what would happen if you don't catch him?"

Liu Tan said, "Actually, I've thought about this as well. If he wants to usurp the throne, these two days would be the best time for him to do it."

Liu Ju immediately understood what Liu Tan meant. He knocked on the table and said, "Your elite regiment isn't with you, and everyone's attention is drawn to the news about our father. But he certainly won't let you bring him back, so he has to act before you leave. But how did you know he would act tonight?"

After hearing this, Liu Tan was very emotional: "How else can I say it's a coincidence? I don't know, I just... caught up."

Liu Ju: ???