Chapter 551 [First Update] 551

Sang Hongyang didn't say much to Liu Tan. Liu Tan only gave him a general idea and refused to tell him the rest even if he knew it.

In fact, it was not particularly appropriate for him to say these things to Sang Hongyang. If Liu Che had not given the order personally, he would not have wanted to have too much contact with Sang Hongyang.

It is not good for princes to have too much contact with generals, and it is naturally not good to have too much contact with such important officials.

When Sang Hongyang came, he was full of Buddha nature. He felt that he had lost all desire to live and was about to ascend to heaven in broad daylight. When he left, it was as if he had found the true meaning of life again. His steps were vigorous and he looked like he had a goal to pursue.

After Liu Tan personally escorted Sang Hongyang out of the small flower hall, he watched his back. After making sure Sang Hongyang had left, he turned to Miao Rui and said, "Go prepare a gift to congratulate the Minister of Agriculture on his appointment as Prime Minister."

Although being appointed as prime minister was equivalent to ringing the death knell for Emperor Wu of Han, it was definitely a promotion on the surface. Even if Liu Tan was in the Northern Border Kingdom, he would have to find a way to send gifts and congratulate him, not to mention that he was now in Chang'an.

However, Liu Tan found it funny when he thought about it. He had never seen any minister in any dynasty avoid the position of prime minister so much.

Liu Che, a remarkable man in every sense of the word.

After discussing things with Sang Hongyang, Liu Tan originally planned to live in the palace.

Unexpectedly, when he stayed in the palace for one day, three groups of people came to visit. The first group was the prince's men. Liu Ju's subordinates were promoted and sent some local specialties from their hometown. Some of them tasted good, so Liu Ju planned to send them to Liu Tan to try. Unexpectedly, Liu Tan was not in Sui Yu Palace.

So His Royal Highness the Crown Prince specifically asked, "Why don't you live in the palace?"

Liu Tan helplessly explained, "Princes should live in the palace when they come to the capital."

In fact, the princes had little chance to enter the capital, and if they did, there would definitely not be any royal palaces in the capital. At most, they could just buy their own houses.

The second group of people were sent by Liu Che. The next day was a small court meeting, and Sang Hongyang attended the court for the first time as prime minister.

Originally everyone thought that Sang Hongyang might become haggard, because according to convention, except for Liu Qumao, other prime ministers would look much haggard the day after being appointed as prime ministers.

Unexpectedly, although Sang Hongyang looked average, he was full of energy.

Liu Che knew that Sang Hongyang had met Liu Tan the day before, and he intuitively felt that this must be related to his son, so he sent someone to Sui Yu Palace, and naturally found that Sang Hongyang was not in Sui Yu Palace.

After Liu Tan explained to the eunuch who was sent over, the eunuch also conveyed Liu Che's words: "Why are you living outside the palace?"

Liu Tan had no choice but to explain again: "It is against etiquette for the princes to live in the palace."

The third group of people were sent by Chen Ajiao. Although Liu Tan had told Da Changqiu the formula of the pearl mask and the technique of applying the mask before, Chen Ajiao was worried that something might be done wrong, resulting in poor results, so she simply wanted her son to go over and continue watching over the people below.

Liu Tan explained that there was no problem, but Chen Ajiao was very arrogant and unreasonable: "Are you coming back or not? If you don't come back, I will go to the palace myself and just live in the palace."

Liu Tan: ...

He never expected that he could deal with Liu Ju and reply to Liu Che, but he could not do anything to Chen Ajiao.

But it's normal. For Liu Che and Liu Ju, as long as Liu Tan said "it's not in accordance with etiquette", they would not say anything else.

Chen Ajiao...she is unreasonable!

Liu Tan had no choice but to return to the palace. He originally wanted to tell Chen Ajiao that he would come to see her every day, so that there would be no difference between her living in the palace with him.

Chen Ajiao said with a look of disgust, "How is there no difference? The palace is so far away from Weiyang Palace, aren't you tired running back and forth?"

Liu Tan: ...

His palace is right next to the Weiyang Palace. It was the address that Liu Che personally inquired about and the place that Liu Ju personally selected so that Liu Tan could live closer after his return. If you really count it, the distance from the palace to the Pepper House is closer than some other palaces in the Weiyang Palace.

Of course, it can't be compared with Sui Yu Palace.

But in the face of these explanations, Chen Ajiao only said: "That was also outside the palace."

Liu Tan had no choice but to say patiently, "I have already been enfeoffed. It is against the rules to stay away from my fiefdom for such a long time. I cannot..."

Chen Ajiao waved her hand: "Don't worry about them. Who keeps their word? You came to tell Mother, you really gave them face. They thought of you when they were in danger, and now that things have calmed down, they want to drive you away? You wish!"

Liu Tan choked and was about to say something, but Chen Ajiao said, "Alright, stop talking about rules. There aren't so many rules in Weiyang Palace. If you're married, then you're grown up and it's okay to move out. What's wrong with you living in Suiyu Palace now? Or do you want to get married?"

Liu Tan decisively shut up. Between marrying a wife and living in the palace, he decisively chose the latter.

Chen Ajiao asked somewhat disappointedly, "You really don't want to get married?"

Liu Tan responded softly. He could obey in any aspect, but he didn't want to obey in this matter.

Chen Ajiao said: "Even if you don't want to marry, you should take in a few women, so that you can at least have descendants."

Liu Tan said with a smile: "If we end up with someone like Liu Qumao, it would be better not to have him."

Liu Qumao's rebellion implicated all of his brothers. Those who participated naturally lost their lives, and even those who did not participate were deprived of their titles by Liu Che. Even Liu Sheng's body was dug up and reburied - his title was also stripped away. Since he was no longer the King of Zhongshan, he could not be buried with the rites of a king, and could only be buried in a random place.

Chen Ajiao choked. This problem was indeed not easy to solve. Unfilial descendants were not uncommon, especially since Liu Tan's son also had the surname Liu. There were not many people in the Liu family who were as law-abiding as her son.

Of course, although Chen Ajiao thought her son was very law-abiding, she actually knew that the only thing about Liu Tan that made him law-abiding was that he never fought for power. As for other aspects... they had nothing to do with the word "law-abiding".

Seeing Chen Ajiao frown, Liu Tan said casually, "Besides, the prince hasn't married yet."

To be honest, Liu Tan was almost puzzled to death by the fact that Liu Ju had not yet married a crown princess.

Chen Ajiao said that one can only be considered an adult after getting married. If the prince was still young, it would be fine and there would be no need to rush. But the problem is that the prince is already 30 years old now. Even if the coming-of-age ceremony has been held, in the eyes of many people, not getting married means he is not mature enough.

Not to mention that the prince has people in his house. If the prince is happy, he will give them a position, but if he is not happy, they are nothing. Even those who have a position are not treated as serious people.

So even though the prince has several sons and they are not young anymore, in the eyes of the public, he is still a bachelor.

Chen Ajiao said casually, "Your Majesty probably doesn't want the Crown Prince to repeat the same mistake."

Liu Tan was a little surprised: "What?"

Chen Ajiao sneered and said, "If he marries the Crown Princess now, and Liu Ju ascends the throne in the future, if the original wife can't give birth to a son, or if Liu Ju doesn't like her, it will be very difficult to depose her. The previous emperor suffered this loss, and he himself suffered such a loss, so of course he doesn't want his son to suffer the same loss."

The marriage between Liu Che and Chen Ajiao was mostly based on interests, and they may have had some feelings for each other when they were young.

After all, whether it was Chen Ajiao or Liu Che, the opposite sex with similar status that they met all year round was each other, so it was normal for them to have a good impression of each other.

But this goodwill changes once it involves interests and power.

Emperor Jingdi asked Liu Che to marry Chen Ajiao, definitely not for the purpose of helping Liu Che become the crown prince as the legend said. They were not even engaged when Liu Che became the crown prince. But at that time, Liu Che was already the crown prince, so how could he need a princess's daughter to help him?

This marriage was largely intended to appease Empress Dowager Dou, who failed to achieve her goal. Of course, in the eyes of Concubine Wang, she naturally preferred the background of her daughter-in-law.

Unfortunately, after all the considerations, the result was this pair of resentful couple. Liu Che could depose the queen, but Chen Ajiao could not divorce him.

Therefore, Chen Ajiao can only let go after being reborn once, otherwise no one can let go.

Liu Tan didn't know how to respond. Just as he was racking his brains, he suddenly heard Chen Ajiao say, "Tan'er, while the Queen Mother is still here, remember to tell her if you have any ideas. She will do her best to get you whatever you want."

Liu Tan's expression froze. "What are you talking about, Mother? You should be enjoying your son's filial piety now. How could you, a son, trouble me?"

Chen Ajiao shook her head: "After this incident, my mother realized that there is no going back. No matter how I take care of myself, my eyes can't lie. My eyes used to be so bright..."

Liu Tan said decisively: "The Queen Mother's eyes are also very bright now."

Chen Ajiao was just sighing for a moment. Women will always feel sad after realizing their aging, even someone as proud as Chen Ajiao.

Liu Tan watched Chen Ajiao finish applying the facial mask and observed her carefully. It was true... no matter how delicate and smooth her skin was, or how graceful her figure was, her eyes couldn't lie.

He looked at Chen Ajiao's makeup carefully, and always felt that something was missing.

He saw that the order in which Chen Ajiao put on makeup was indeed quite different from what he knew. At least the makeup part was definitely different. Now the only things that could be classified as makeup were lipstick and blush, not even eye shadow, let alone eyeliner... Hey, eyeliner!

Liu Tan finally figured it out. Eyeliner can have a huge impact on the eyes if it is done well. He seemed to have vaguely heard that eyeliner can make the eyes look brighter and more energetic, and eye shadow can make the makeup more three-dimensional, and there are also things like shadows.

As soon as Liu Tan came out of the Pepper Room, he began to think about a very important question - whether it is liquid eyeliner or eyeliner pencil, what are their ingredients?