Liu Tan's frankness caught Liu Ju off guard. Not only him, but even Liu Che suspected that there was something wrong with his ears. He asked doubtfully, "What did you say?"
Liu Tan took the urn from Miao Rui, handed it forward, and said, "It's all here."
Liu Che looked at the jar and realized what Liu Tan had said. He immediately glared at it, stood up suddenly and said, "How dare you!"
Liu Tan looked at Liu Che and thought that if Li Guangli fell into the hands of the cruel officials of the Supreme Court, he would be beheaded and thrown into the market. But now at least some of his ashes were left, so he was already giving him face.
But Liu Ju, standing beside him, looked at him with a look of terror in his eyes. He could only reluctantly retract the thorns on his body and said, "Because the weather along the way was hot and difficult to transport, the body had already rotted before we set off, so I had no choice but to resort to this last resort."
Liu Che's chest was heaving. He was extremely angry but could only say to Liu Tan: "He died unexpectedly and you still humiliated him like this, you..."
Liu Tan placed the urn on the ground and was about to say something when Liu Ju, standing beside him, finally couldn't hold it in any longer. He came over and covered Liu Tan's mouth with his hands before saying, "Father, I know I'm wrong. I have no other choice. The Western Regions are barren and there are no icehouses. Otherwise, General Li would have to be buried here. If that were to happen, he wouldn't be able to return to his homeland."
Liu Tan did not struggle, but just looked at Liu Che quietly. He had never seen Liu Che so angry before, which was quite new.
But what was even more surprising was that he felt like he didn't care at all, and this trip to the Western Regions seemed to have given him some courage.
Liu Che repeated in his mind hundreds of times that he couldn't do it, and finally threw up his sleeves and said, "Go and reflect on your mistakes behind closed doors!"
Liu Tan didn't say anything. Instead, Liu Ju asked, "Father, how long will it take?"
As he walked away, Liu Che said without looking back, "You are not allowed to come out without my permission!"
Liu Ju: ...
He waited until Liu Che left before putting down his hand, looking at Liu Tan and saying, "You..."
Before he could say anything, Liu Tan said, "It's something you have to say whether it's early or late. The result won't change anyway, so how can you say it differently?"
Liu Ju looked at him several times, and finally couldn't help but say: "How did Li Guangli offend you?"
He was puzzled. From the information he knew, Li Guangli was knocked down by Liu Tan as soon as he arrived there. He didn't have much interaction with Liu Tan until his death. What exactly did Li Guangli do?
Liu Tan said nothing. Liu Ju would not understand his anger, so he just said, "It's nothing. I was angry at the time, but the situation is irreversible. There's nothing we can do. Sigh, Your Highness has been tired all day. I won't bother you anymore. I'm going to go see the Queen Mother."
Anyway, his Sui Yu Palace and Jiao Fang Palace are on the same line, so he is just going along the way. You can't say he is disobeying the order, right?
Liu Ju looked at Liu Tan's back with some tiredness, still thinking about how to make his father less angry.
At this time, Liu Che became more and more angry, and even suspected that Liu Tan had done something in the Western Regions, otherwise why did it look so strange?
Liu Che thought about it and turned around and ordered, "Call Jiang Chong."
If you want to find out the truth, you can only start with Jiang Chong. After all, Li Guangli fled in a hurry because Jiang Chong wanted to capture him. Why did Jiang Chong do this?
This time, Jiang Chong saw that Liu Che did not wear that outfit again, but was wearing his official uniform obediently.
After his trip to the Western Regions, he looked much more robust than before. Furthermore, Jiang Chong was actually quite handsome, so Liu Che had a good impression of him. Without beating around the bush, he waited for Jiang Chong to pay his respects before asking, "Why didn't you stop the Fifth Prince from burning Li Guangli's corpse?"
Jiang Chong was stunned for a moment, then blurted out, "Your Highness didn't tell His Majesty?"
Upon hearing this, Liu Che asked, "Why? Is there something hidden behind this?"
Jiang Chong stammered, "Your Highness is not saying anything, obviously he has concerns, Your Majesty..."
Liu Che was a little displeased: "Speak!"
Jiang Chong knelt down and gnashed his teeth as he spoke, "Your Highness did this because... because... Li Guangli set up a witchcraft plot to murder Your Highness. If Your Highness hadn't noticed, he would have swallowed the insect."
Liu Che was startled and stood up immediately: "Are you serious?"
Jiang Chong immediately said, "Your Majesty ordered us to keep quiet and burn all the paper dolls. Your Majesty also knew that I had heard a little about this matter and was worried that this was not just Li Guangli's fault, so he left some things behind. If Your Majesty doesn't believe it, you can show it to me!"
Liu Che's face was gloomy and he immediately said, "Bring it here!"
Jiang Chong immediately asked someone to bring up the things. He had wrapped those things in a cloth bag. When they were scattered out, there were still some grains of sand in the gaps between the dolls. It was obvious that the doll had been buried underground.
The more Liu Che looked at it, the gloomier his expression became. He suddenly looked up at Jiang Chong and asked, "How did you discover this?"
He still couldn't believe that Li Guangli would do such a thing. According to the laws of the Han Dynasty, even if an ordinary person dared to come into contact with witchcraft, he would be sentenced to death and his entire family would be exiled three thousand miles away. It can be said that this punishment was very severe.
Li Guangli is a smart man, so how could he get involved in witchcraft?
Jiang Chong said, "These things were all found in the mansion where His Highness had just built the city. At the time, His Highness was on a campaign to attack a looted country, and some of the servants in the mansion were old, disabled soldiers that His Highness had taken in. They were more alert than ordinary people, and when they noticed a strange face entering the mansion with the craftsmen, they became wary. Then, one night, they noticed someone entering His Highness's bedroom, and when they went in, they saw signs of disturbed soil, and that's how they found them."
After Jiang Chong finished speaking, he saw Liu Che frowning and continued, "Your Majesty, I am sure you know that I went to Li Guangli's house to question him. If it was just corruption, why would Li Guangli flee in panic?"
Liu Che looked up at him, his eyes sharp as an eagle as he slowly asked, "Are you saying that you came to him to question him for practicing witchcraft?"
Jiang Chong said in a deep voice: "Yes, this matter is of great importance. I cannot let it go. He wants to harm the prince and even implicate the queen."
Okay, now Liu Che has the motive for his doubts.
In just a moment, Liu Che could imagine a complete possibility. If Liu Tan was defeated and died in the expedition, Chen Ajiao would have no way out, and it would then be much easier for Liu Che to depose the queen.
Almost all the civil and military officials in the court knew that Liu Che wanted to depose the empress, not to mention Lady Li.
Before Lady Li was drowned, she was considered the most popular woman in the harem. Lady Gouyi had been neglected for a long time because of the incident with Princess Danyang, and Liu Fuling was not as popular either. There were even rumors that the emperor was going to give Liu Fuling a fief and let him become a vassal.
It is not impossible that Lady Li had the ambition to become the queen. She also had a son, and her son was the one with the best fiefdom among all of Liu Che's sons except for the two who were not canonized - King Changyi Liu Bo.
It can be said that her son was driven away by Huo Qubing. Now Huo Qubing has been dead for many years. Why can't he be recalled to be the crown prince?
Liu Che waved his hand and had all these things put away. He looked at Jiang Chong coldly and asked, "Fifth Prince, are you going to hide this?"
Jiang Chong immediately said, "Yes, Your Highness said that the witchcraft incident would implicate the entire family. Li Guangli's death is not a pity, but Madam Li has served Your Majesty for many years and has always been cautious in her words and actions. She would not do such a treasonous act. If the news spreads, I'm afraid the entire Li family will be held accountable. Not only will Your Majesty lose face, but even Prince Changyi Liu Bo will probably be implicated."
Liu Che remained silent. This... was indeed something Liu Tan could do. His son always showed softness in his heart for inexplicable reasons.
But about this matter... Liu Che still had some doubts, because the embroidered robe envoy did not discover this matter from beginning to end, and he could only trust half of what Jiang Chong said.
Liu Che knocked on the armrest of the throne and asked, "How many people know about this?"
Jiang Chong immediately said, "Those who knew about it have all been killed. The only one left is Captain Huo."
Huo Guang? The balance in Liu Che's heart tilted slightly. He closed his eyes and waved his hand listlessly: "Go down."
Jiang Chong didn't quite understand what Liu Che was thinking, but he didn't dare to say much, so he had to lower his head and retreat.
After he left, Liu Che summoned the Embroidered Uniform Envoy to ask him everything, but the Embroidered Uniform Envoy found nothing. However, Li Guangli did indeed insert people into the craftsmen's team and went to Liu Tan's mansion. As for other things... Li Guangli did a lot of sneaky things, but the Embroidered Uniform Envoy only thought that he was hiding gold. How could he have thought that it was related to witchcraft?
Liu Che's doubts grew even more intense. If it hadn't been late, he would have brought Huo Guang over to question him.
The next day was a grand court meeting. Liu Che found that his house arrest order was basically useless for Liu Tan. Today's court meeting was to formally commend and reward Liu Tan. As the chief general, how could Liu Tan not come?
When Liu Che thought of Liu Tan's indifferent expression when he heard about the house arrest, he suddenly felt a toothache and suspected that this little bastard had thought of this a long time ago.
To be honest, he really misunderstood Liu Tan. Liu Tan didn't want to participate at all.
He has a problem. When he is outside, his body will automatically adjust and he looks lively and energetic, but in fact all his problems are suppressed. Once he returns home and relaxes, he begins to fall into a sub-healthy state.
It’s okay to just feel listless, and sometimes you may even have a fever.
So, when he woke up the next day, he felt that his mind was not very clear, but he didn't feel that bad. He should still be able to attend the grand court meeting.
No matter what, he had to go out and save face. The news that Chen Ajiao was under house arrest should have spread throughout the imperial city. If Liu Tan didn't go out, who knows how many people would attack the Queen's family. Well, to be more precise, Lady Gouyi and Liu Fuling might do something again.
Anyway, he just needs to be a background figure in the grand court meeting and there is no need to say anything.
Liu Ju noticed early on that something was wrong with Liu Tan's complexion. His complexion was pale and his lips were dry. Worried, he whispered, "Is he sick?"
Liu Tan just said casually: "It's okay, I didn't get enough rest."
Liu Ju understood that it was normal for Liu Tan to have trouble sleeping after so many things happened.
After the awarding ceremony was complete, the grand court meeting was almost over. At this time, the Minister of the Imperial Household suddenly stood up and asked, "Your Majesty, I heard that Madam Li's tomb has been decided to be located in the northwest of the auspicious land. This is an auspicious land for the queen, which is not in line with common sense. Your Majesty, please be cautious."
After hearing this, Liu Tan took a while to understand what the other party meant, and he was immediately furious.
In history, Lady Li's tomb was indeed buried in the position of the queen, and her tomb was also the largest among the accompanying tombs.
But why was that? Because Chen Ajiao was deposed and Wei Zifu committed suicide, she was later posthumously named Empress Xiaowu.
What right did she have now? Chen Ajiao was still alive, her grandson had not become emperor, and Liu Che was still alive, and he had not made her empress.
Did Liu Che issue this order to slap Chen Ajiao in the face?
When people are sick, their ability to control their emotions will weaken. This was the case with Liu Tan at this moment. At that moment, his head was really buzzing and he couldn't even sit still. He wanted to stand up and say something, but he ended up choking on his saliva because he was too excited.
Liu Ju, who was standing by, quickly asked someone to bring him a glass of water. When Liu Tan took the water and drank it, he hit his lips hard again. He turned around and spat out a mouthful of bloody water.
Liu Ju's eyes widened at that moment, and he couldn't help but stand up and support him: "Fifth brother!"
Jiang Chong had sharp eyes and noticed the almost negligible amount of blood at a glance. He immediately exclaimed, "Your Highness? Why is Your Highness vomiting blood?"
When Liu Tan heard this, he felt a little unwell. He was about to say it was all a misunderstanding, but when he stood up, he used too much force. As he was already sick, his eyes went dark and he fell down.
Liu Ju was so scared that he almost lost his soul when he was next to him.
At this moment, Jiang Chong's words flashed through Liu Che's mind: Li Guangli set up witchcraft to murder Your Highness.
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