Chapter 544 [Three Updates]

Both the Queen Mother of Zhongshan and Emperor Wu of Han were somewhat surprised by Liu Fuling's request.

Liu Che couldn't help but sit up straight. Just as he was about to ask something, he heard the Queen Mother of Zhongshan scream, and then the Queen Mother of Zhongshan began to beat Liu Fuling: "Do you know what you are saying?"

Liu Fuling was caught off guard and was slapped in the face by her, leaving a red mark on his face immediately.

He looked at the Queen Mother of Zhongshan with an expressionless face. He no longer had any attachment to his mother, and he found that this woman must have gone crazy.

Liu Che's eyes turned cold. That was his son, and he didn't hit him. Who would dare to hit him?

Even though the Queen Mother of Zhongshan was Liu Fuling's biological mother, to put it bluntly, if she were in another family, and Liu Che recognized Liu Fuling, then Liu Fuling would be the young master of the family, but the young master's biological mother would still be a slave, and her status would be completely different from that of the young master.

This is because in the emperor's harem, the Queen Mother of Zhongshan had a high rank, and Liu Che did indulge her in the past, so she was qualified to educate her own son.

Liu Che said coldly: "Drag her out!"

Someone immediately stepped forward and dragged the Queen Mother of Zhongshan out. Only then did she seem to react. She turned around and looked at Liu Che pitifully, crying, "Your Majesty, I treated this child with all my heart, but he is so unfilial..."

Liu Che said nonchalantly, "He is a prince. He should be filial to me and the queen. What does it have to do with you?"

The Queen Mother of King Zhongshan's face froze. The thing she was most unwilling to accept in her life was her status as a concubine. The emperor's concubine was still a concubine. It was just that there was a time in the past when she was the only favored concubine in the harem, which led her to have some extravagant hopes and thought that she could also become the queen. At that time, she did think that she was only one step away from being the queen - the mother of the prince was not favored, and the emperor had always wanted to depose the queen.

The Queen Mother of Zhongshan even once thought that Prince Liu Ju was just a shield to prevent the fifth prince from becoming the crown prince. When the time was right, she would naturally make her son the crown prince and anoint her the queen.

However, he did not expect that after the fifth prince returned to the palace, everything seemed different. Now, because of a word from Liu Che, he was thrown from the clouds back to the earth.

The Queen Mother of Zhongshan was dragged away in a daze. Liu Che then looked at Liu Fuling and asked, "What's wrong?"

Liu Fuling whispered, "This previous story of an immortal appearing on earth was orchestrated by Mother. I... I was bewildered at the time and thought it was a good idea, so I adopted it. Now it seems I was completely wrong. Your Majesty changed your title to King of Zhongshan because you love me. I am only grateful. However... if Mother were still the Empress Dowager, I would still have no other options."

The Han Dynasty...governed the country with filial piety. As long as the Queen Mother of Zhongshan was alive, Liu Fuling had to obey her.

Of course, if you meet someone more ruthless, they may choose to kill the person who is in the way.

But she was Liu Fuling's mother after all. When he was a teenager, his mother had a bit of tenderness towards him and did not really regard him as a mere tool for fighting.

But now everything has changed. Liu Fuling thought that he couldn't do it before, so naturally he needed to ask his father for help.

Well, he learned this from Liu Tan.

Although he could not be as righteous as Liu Tan, this matter was very important. Liu Che did not directly demote him to a commoner, which showed that he still had some love for him. Presumably, because of this little bit of love, his father would help him this time.

Liu Che understood Liu Fuling's intention and felt somewhat relieved, knowing that his son, who had seemed possessed in the past, had finally come to his senses. He responded, "Go and prepare to return to your fiefdom, and don't worry about other things."

Liu Fuling felt relieved, kowtowed and was about to leave quietly.

After leaving Liu Che's tent, Liu Fuling ordered his men to pack their luggage and left without even spending the night.

When leaving, Liu Fuling looked back at the brightly lit camp, then at the guards around him, and suddenly found that he was a little uncomfortable without his mother's various orders.

But he still left resolutely. He and his mother Zhao had depended on each other for almost twenty years, and had been on the wrong path for almost twenty years. Now it was time to face reality.

The next day, Liu Tan discovered that Liu Fuling was no longer with the team. He was surprised and asked, "Where is the King of Qi?"

"There will be no King of Qi anymore."

Liu Tan turned around and saw Liu Ju slowly approaching. He asked in surprise, "Has the emperor finally given up on him?"

Liu Ju paused and looked at Liu Tan helplessly, "How can you say that? He made a serious mistake this time, how could he not get any punishment at all?"

Liu Tan's eyes lit up: "What punishment?"

Liu Que said, "Father changed his title to King of Zhongshan."

After hearing this, Liu Tan couldn't say whether he was satisfied or not. He just sighed and said, "It's a good thing he's the emperor's son. If it were someone else, I'm afraid the grass would have grown over his grave by now."

If Liu Fuling was not the son of Emperor Wu of Han, he would have been chopped down on Luzon Island. By now, grass would have grown there.

But he quickly realized: "No, then his fiefdom is the current Zhongshan Kingdom or the previous one?"

The so-called difference between before and now is whether it is the Zhongshan Kingdom during Liu Sheng's time or the Zhongshan Kingdom now. If it is the Zhongshan Kingdom now, then the area... even Liu Tan would find it unbearable to look at.

Liu Qi said: "The current Zhongshan Kingdom plus the fiefs of the marquises who rebelled before."

Liu Tan calculated that it was probably two-thirds of the area during Liu Sheng's reign.

Liu Tan leaned over to Liu Ju and whispered, "How could Liu Fuling not even cry, make a scene, or even commit suicide?"

Zhongshan State was actually not bad, but it also depended on which place it was compared with. Compared with Qi State, it was small and poor. With Liu Fuling's ambition, could he tolerate it?

Liu Ju naturally raised his arm and placed it on his brother's shoulder, whispering, "It's said that he had a conflict with the Queen Mother of Qi, oh, the Queen Mother of Zhongshan, and then he went to find my father. My father... has always been soft-hearted, so it seems he helped him."

Liu Tan looked at Liu Ju deeply, wondering what kind of filter could make Liu Ju say that Liu Che had always been soft-hearted.

Does he believe what he said?

But this is not the point. The point is: "So...how is the Queen Mother of Zhongshan?"

Liu Ju whispered, "There is no Queen Mother of Zhongshan anymore. Liu Fuling left on his own, and his mother didn't follow him."

Liu Tan thought for a moment and said, "Well... if we don't want her to go to Zhongshan Kingdom and we don't intend to kill her, then we can only take her to Chang'an?"

Liu Ju didn't say anything, but generally speaking, not saying anything at such times is basically equivalent to consent.

Liu Tanxin said that this was not a good thing.

He even felt that this might be a combination of punches from Liu Fuling and his son, just to keep Zhao by Liu Che's side. After all, Zhao was favored before, and now she might be able to make a comeback.

By then, Liu Fuling would have his mother in the capital to take care of things for him, and he wouldn't be the King of Zhongshan for long. Even if he wouldn't become the King of Qi again, she would be able to give him another better fiefdom.

Liu Tan and Liu Ju exchanged a glance. Liu Ju blinked, and Liu Tan sighed and said, "The capital has just been frightened, and now they are worried. It's too hard for them."

Liu Ju knew who he was talking about, and said expressionlessly, "It's better than fighting a battle you're not sure of. My wife and mother have made great efforts in this matter. If we let a criminal gain favor..."

Liu Tan said decisively: "I will go write a letter to my mother."

Although writing a letter might not necessarily do anything, Chen Ajiao probably no longer cares much about Liu Che, but she should still care about her position as queen.

After Liu Tan finished writing the letter, he sent someone to send it out as quickly as possible.

Then when he went to see Liu Che, he heard Liu Che say nonchalantly: "Why are you so anxious? We are almost back in Chang'an. You have plenty of time to say whatever you want to the Queen."

Liu Tan was not surprised that he knew this, and said confidently, "I just want to tell my mother not to go out with her makeup on when you return."

"Without makeup?" Liu Che's tone clearly showed disbelief.

Anyway, as for Chen Ajiao, since she was old enough, she would put on makeup even at home. Liu Che had rarely seen her without makeup, so how could she be without makeup now?

Liu Tan said, "Yes, before I arrived in Chang'an, my mother and Madam Wei exchanged all their money for food and fodder in order to defend Chang'an. They didn't even have much money left to buy rouge and powder. She was also worried about when you would return, so she and Madam Wei had to live frugally. As for not being in a hurry, they had to give up on makeup."

Liu Ju listened at the side and couldn't help but give his brother a thumbs up in his heart. Alas, he was not as good at speaking as his brother.

However, his brother did not forget his mother at this time, and Liu Ju was very grateful.

Liu Che's expression softened after hearing this. He sighed deeply and said, "The Queen and Madam Wei have indeed suffered a lot. You don't have to worry. I will compensate you. It's also just right that I plan to stay in Qi for two days. I think this will be enough time for the Queen and the others to buy rouge and powder."

Liu Tan was immediately alert when he heard this: "Staying in Qi? Why? Did Father leave anything in Qi? No, there is no Qi anymore."

Liu Che responded, "Yes, that's right. It's not Qi. I didn't leave anything behind. I just have some things to do."

Liu Tan was very worried that his father still wanted to go out to sea to search for immortals, but... such a terrible thing had happened, his father shouldn't continue, right?

Liu Ju didn't seem to think about it, but was rather surprised. "Your Majesty, are you planning to stop by? You didn't mention it before, so I'm afraid it's too late. Where will Your Majesty stop? I'll have someone arrange it right away."

Liu Che laughed and said, "It's not up to me to decide where to stop."

Liu Tan became increasingly alert: "Who has the final say?"

Liu Che looked at him lovingly and said, "It is our Northern King who has the final say."

Liu Tan: ????