Liu Tan sat there without any movement, only his hands, which had been pressing on the desk tightly, turned pale and blue, showing how furious he was.
Jiang Chong swallowed his saliva. He no longer had the ease and composure he had just now. Only deep fear remained.
Because he actually sensed murderous intent in Liu Tan's eyes and body.
This was something he hadn't noticed before. Not to mention that Liu Tan had never been angry before, even at that time, his aura was calm even when he was angry, making people feel that even if they made him angry, it might not be a big deal.
But now... Jiang Chong suddenly realized that defeating Liu Tan, who had robbed the country, was not just a matter of military merit, but he himself had also experienced the tempering of war.
Liu Tan seemed to be trying hard to suppress his anger. After a long while, he gritted his teeth and said, "He got away with it."
Li Guangli died so easily. He was just crushed to death, just a moment of pain, but he had enjoyed it for many years before that.
However, Liu Tan soon realized a problem. He dared to let Li Guangli guard the gold mine because Jiang Chong and Huo Guang were there.
Even if Jiang Chong was inferior to Li Guangli in status, what about Huo Guang? He had originally instructed Huo Guang to plant spies among the miners. Was Huo Guang really unaware of this matter?
Liu Tan thought of this and suddenly looked up: "Please ask Captain Huo to come over to discuss this matter."
When Huo Guang came over, he saw Jiang Chong standing there like a quail, not daring to say a word.
When Jiang Chong looked at Huo Guang, he tried his best to wink at him.
During this period, Liu Tan was away, because Li Guangli, Jiang Chong and Huo Guang were basically a united front, and they cooperated well.
Huo Guang acted like a gentleman and made Li Guangli feel uncomfortable in an upright manner, while Jiang Chong acted secretly. The two of them worked together quite well, one openly and the other secretly.
Jiang Chong felt that Huo Guang was not a stupid person, but a dark person at heart. Huo Guang, on the other hand, felt that it would be good if such a villain could be used well. Jiang Chong did like to take crooked paths, but surprisingly, he was not a complete ungrateful person.
Because of their partnership during this period, Jiang Chong was willing to give Huo Guang a reminder.
Huo Guang understood what was going on after seeing his expression. He walked over to Liu Tan, saluted, and then got straight to the point: "Your Highness, are you going to ask about Li Guangli?"
His words blocked the questions Liu Tan had already prepared. Liu Tan had no choice but to look at him and ask, "Are you unaware of Li Guangli's outrageous behavior?"
Huo Guang looked at Liu Tan calmly and said, "I know."
Liu Tan looked at him in disbelief. "Then why didn't you intervene? Did he dare to be rude to you?"
Li Guangli's most prominent identity was probably that of a relative by marriage, while Huo Guang was not only a relative by marriage but also a capable minister, at least he was favored by Emperor Liu Che.
Li Guangli must be a man who can read people's expressions to get to where he is now. He dared to provoke Jiang Chong and even Liu Tan, but he certainly didn't dare to provoke Huo Guang. If Huo Guang had warned him, he would have restrained himself.
Huo Guang said, "This man is narrow-minded and values money more than his life. If I obstruct him, he will certainly bear a grudge against me. I am not afraid, but I am now following the orders of Your Highness. If he dares not bear a grudge against me, he will probably bear a grudge against Your Highness."
Liu Tan understood what Huo Guang meant in an instant, because this was a villain. If he was targeted by such a villain, he might be in trouble at any time. So Huo Guang simply let it go and let Li Guangli cause a huge disaster before dealing with him.
If you look at the incident alone, this is the legendary sting operation.
But Liu Tan didn't know who to vent his anger at for using human lives to sting the law.
Huo Guang was also thinking about him, otherwise what would he be afraid of?
Liu Tan finally couldn't help himself this time, standing up and spinning around a few times. When Huo Guang was worried that he might anger the Fifth Prince, Liu Tan suddenly turned around and said, "I... I know you're doing this for my own good, but I think you should also understand that it's not easy for me to deal with someone like Li Guangli."
Huo Guang was silent for a long moment before he said, "I am afraid that when Your Highness returns... Li Guangli will take advantage of your misfortune."
Kicking someone when they are down? How could Liu Tan allow Li Guangli to kick him when he is down?
Liu Tan wanted to ask back at first, but then he understood what Huo Guang meant, which was to say... Huo Guang never thought that Liu Tan could win from the beginning, and he even thought it would be good enough to be able to withdraw smoothly.
In fact, no matter who you show this battle to, the chances of winning are very slim.
This is a typical case of an amateur guiding an expert. Even if Liu Tan had two experts under him, they were only armchair strategists. They had never even led troops alone before and had only been to a military camp a few times, yet they were going to launch a surprise attack on a country like this.
Everyone knows that attacking a city is a hundred or a thousand times more difficult than a confrontation between two armies. So Huo Guang was worried that if Liu Tan was defeated and Li Guangli held a grudge against him, Liu Tan would have a hard time.
Liu Tan sat down slowly. He thought for a long time but didn't know what to say. Finally, he said, "It's my fault. I didn't think it through."
In fact, Huo Guang and Jiang Chong had already prepared themselves to be scolded. Jiang Chong even struck a classic pose, shrinking his head and shrugging his shoulders, as if to imply that you could scold him as you pleased.
Huo Guang also lowered his head and looked as if he didn't want to say anything more.
But no one expected that Liu Tan would say such a sentence after holding it in for a long time. They looked up at Liu Tan in surprise and found that Liu Tan no longer had the high spirits of returning victoriously just now, and he had become silent.
Huo Guang was about to say something when Liu Tan spoke first, "If Li Guangli was able to conceal his true identity, how did he manage to get to the cave?"
Jiang Chong spoke quickly, no longer cadenced like he had just been telling a story. "It seems the embroidered messenger sent by Your Majesty received a signal from Your Majesty to warn Li Guangli, and he's calmed down a bit. I... when I learned about this, I was afraid he'd be let off lightly, so I went to his house, pretending to question him. But Li Guangli, feeling guilty, led his men to resist and escape. After escaping, they were surrounded by miners, and in a panic, they ran to the mine and tried to hide in a tunnel. But the tunnel was already on the verge of collapse, and Li Guangli and his men were crushed to death."
Jiang Chong narrated the whole incident in the simplest way, and his tone was very dry, but it did not prevent Liu Tan from recalling the situation at that time.
He was surrounded by miners, who hated Li Guangli so much.
Although it seemed that he deserved it, Liu Tan actually felt that his death was too easy. He should have called the families of the dead miners over and then dragged Li Guangli over to let the families take revenge.
Liu Tan raised his eyes and glanced at Jiang Chong: "You are quite courageous."
This matter certainly cannot be concealed, and Liu Che also wants to know the whole process. If we only look at what happened, Jiang Chong must be the culprit, and Liu Che may target him.
Jiang Chong gave a bitter smile: "This matter... was originally my fault."
Jiang Chong originally wanted to suppress Li Guangli and see if he could get any evidence against Li Guangli so that he could take credit for it when Liu Tan returned.
Who would have thought that such a big man like Li Guangli could be even timid than a mouse? He was so scared that he ran away. Now he not only has no merit but has committed a crime instead.
Liu Tan didn't say anything. After a long while, he said, "Go write a letter."
Jiang Chong looked bewildered: "Huh?"
Liu Tan said, "Write a letter with everything you knew before you defrauded Li Guangli and give it to me. I will write a handwritten letter and then say that you went there on my orders."
Jiang Chong was stunned at first, then his eyes slowly turned red. He knelt on the ground and said, "Your Highness, this matter is of great importance..."
Liu Tan scoffed, "How big of a deal can it be? It's just the death of an actor. Don't worry, my father won't blame me for this."
Huo Guang hesitated: "Madam Li..."
Lady Li was still very much favored by Emperor Wu of Han. Liu Tan might not be punished because of his merits when he just returned, but if Lady Li cried in front of Emperor Wu of Han every day, what if Liu Che changed his mind over time?
"This matter involves the harem, so don't get involved."
Huo Guang smiled bitterly. Although it was said that court officials should not pay too much attention to the harem, the harem could influence the emperor. How could he not pay attention to it?
Jiang Chong fell to the ground and burst into tears, saying, "I thank Your Highness for saving my life."
Jiang Chong did not say anything more about dying for Liu Tan. People like him usually speak sweet words and have said such words countless times, but he knew in his heart that they would not come true.
What he really cares about in his heart, he will never speak out casually.
Liu Tan said tiredly, "Alright, let's end this matter here. I need to write a letter to the emperor. You guys can go and do your things first."
Huo Guang and Jiang Chong looked at each other and retreated.
Even after the two of them left, Jiang Chong was still wiping his nose and said sullenly, "Your Highness... Is Your Highness okay?"
If it was Liu Ju, Huo Guang could say with certainty that nothing would happen, and of course Liu Ju would not do the same as Liu Tan.
Everyone's focus on this matter was different from Liu Tan's. Huo Guang and Jiang Chong were both worried that Liu Tan would not be able to explain to Emperor Wu of Han. Their focus was on Li Guangli's death.
However, to Liu Tan, Li Guangli's death seemed unimportant, and he felt sad for the miners.
Huo Guang was unusually confused. He didn't know why those people made Liu Tan so sad. They were just some miners.
Therefore, at this moment, it was difficult for Huo Guang to answer Jiang Chong.
After Huo Guang and Jiang Chong left, Liu Tan sat there quietly for a long time without moving.
He kept staring at the paper on the desk, seemingly in a daze, but actually he was thinking about the whole thing.
It seems that he shouldn't have let Li Guangli guard the gold mine from the beginning. In fact, when he made this choice, he knew that Li Guangli would definitely embezzle money. He might even be looking forward to Li Guangli's embezzlement. Otherwise, why would he let Jiang Chong go there?
Liu Tan knew that in a struggle of their status, no matter what form it took, it would be almost impossible not to implicate others.
But if someone like Jiang Chong was implicated, Liu Tan would definitely not feel any psychological pressure, because it was originally a question of standing on the side. Didn't those who defected to Li Guangli get any benefits? Didn't Jiang Chong get any benefits by defecting to him?
These people are already in this vortex, so there is no question of whether they are involved or not.
However, those miners are truly innocent people.
This incident made Liu Tan realize for the first time that he now had enough power to influence the lives and even the survival of many ordinary people.
More than a dozen lives were lost, and this was a lesson.
It is truly unforgettable.
While Liu Tan was thinking about this, Miao Rui, who was standing beside him, watched Liu Tan sit from dawn to dusk. Finally, he couldn't help but whispered, "Your Highness..."
Liu Tan came to his senses and said, "It's already this late? I forgot before. I'll give the order later. All miners' wages will be doubled this month. The miners who died previously will also receive pensions at the level of sergeants. As an exception, their families will be treated the same as the widows and orphans of those killed in action. Don't forget to bring it back when you go back."
Miao Rui breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Liu Tan finally start giving orders. Just as he was about to say something, Liu Tan said, "Don't forget to tell the captain that I'll pay for it. Don't touch the military pay."
Miao Rui bowed and retreated. Only then did Liu Tan start to write a letter to Liu Che.
Liu Che had been in a good mood for several days when he received the letter. He knew the situation on Liu Tan's side earlier than anyone else, and even knew Lu Xuan's situation clearly.
Although they were not fighting against the Huns, but... Liu Tan also killed a team of Hun cavalry in the process. That was a rare victory in recent years, so of course he was in a good mood.
At this time, the news of Li Guangli's death had not reached him yet, and the embroidered uniform envoy did not know how to deal with this matter. Seeing that Liu Tan was coming back, he wanted to take advantage of the time difference and deliver the letter at the same time as Liu Tan's.
So when Emperor Wu of Han heard that the great victory had been announced in Beijing, he excitedly received the envoy and even opened Liu Tan's letter in front of his ministers.
For some reason, Liu Che always felt that the tone of Liu Tan's letter this time was very different from before, and there was a sense of coldness between the lines.
Liu Tan wrote three letters in total. The first one was to report the good news. He wrote about the process of the war and reported his achievements to his subordinates. The second letter was about Lu Xuan. He just briefly talked about the vassal state. He did not dare to say too much because he wanted Liu Che to make the decision.
The first two letters were undoubtedly good news. If they really did what Liu Tan said, then the Wusun tribe would be considered a complete ally of the Han Dynasty, or even closer than an ally.
What does it matter if it's smaller? Can't the big man support it?
In this excited state, Liu Che opened the third letter, and then was poured a basin of cold water on his head.
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