Not only was Lady Gouyi furious, but Liu Fuling also lost his innocent and lively demeanor in front of Emperor Liu Che. Instead, he had a blank expression and even a gloomy look in his eyes: "How dare he speak so arrogantly in front of my father!"
What's even more infuriating is that Liu Che wasn't unhappy! You know, not everyone could make Liu Che happy on the issue of the Xiongnu. Even apart from the Marquis of Guanjun and the Marquis of Changping, no one could really understand what Liu Che was thinking.
Liu Fuling only knew that when his father was thinking about this problem, as long as he insisted on fighting the Huns and did not retreat, he would not make Emperor Liu Che angry. However, Liu Tan said so much today, but his father was not unhappy at all!
Madam Gouyi said coldly, "He just returned to the palace not long ago. Your Majesty pities him. You should not be too concerned. Don't provoke him these days."
Liu Fuling pursed his lips and responded reluctantly.
Liu Tan didn't know that he had been hated by the mother and son of Gouyi Palace. Even if he knew, he wouldn't care. Ever since he knew his identity, he understood that sooner or later he would become a thorn in the eyes and flesh of some people.
These certain people are the ones who want to fight for the position of crown prince and the throne.
Now that he knew it, there was nothing to worry about. What he cared more about now was what Li Xi would do?
He thought about it and ran to tell Chen Ajiao that he was about to leave the palace to see Li Xi.
Chen Ajiao should be satisfied with his performance in Gouyi Palace, so after Liu Tan's request was granted, he also received a big gift package as a reward from the queen.
I have to say that in some aspects, the couple's habits are quite similar. They always reward people with practical gifts, either cloth or gold cakes.
Liu Tan didn't care much about the rewards, so he turned around and went to the Grand Minister of Agriculture's Mansion. Li Xi was casually given the position of a rice field envoy by Liu Che, which happened to be under the jurisdiction of the Grand Minister of Agriculture.
The Grand Minister of Agriculture's Mansion was very large, and Liu Tan had no official position or title, so there was no need for the Grand Minister of Agriculture to come in person to see him. He just sent someone to notify Li Xi and went directly to find him.
When he saw Li Xi, Li Xi was worrying about the rice seedlings on the ground.
However, after knowing that the fifth prince was coming, Li Xi immediately came over to pay his respects. When he first saw Liu Tan striding towards him, Li Xi was a little hesitant to recognize him for a moment.
Liu Tan was nothing like the little prince he remembered. Although he still looked the same and his height hadn't changed much, his temperament was completely different from before.
This kind of change is not difficult to notice for people who are in close contact with each other day and night.
However, Li Xi was not so imaginative as to think that Liu Tanxin had changed into a different person. After paying his respects, he said, "Your Highness has become much thinner."
Liu Tan paused and looked at Li Xi in surprise: "Really?"
He seldom looked in the mirror and didn't notice it. Most importantly, no one around him noticed. Apart from anything else, the people around him, whether Chen Ajiao or those sent by Liu Che, took care of him meticulously and would pay attention to his diet even if they wished he would lose a few more hairs.
Is this just Li Xi's psychological effect? Or is he trying to get close but doesn't know what to say?
While Liu Tan was thinking about this, Li Xi hesitated and said, "Your Highness, have you been wronged in the palace?"
Liu Tan was silent. Just now he thought that Li Xi wanted to get close to him because he wanted to ask something of him, but as soon as he said this, he knew that Li Xi really cared about him, or in other words, he cared about the fifth prince who grew up in his family.
He shouldn't have said such things. What if it got to Emperor Liu Che's ears and he got angry and punished him even more severely?
He looked at Li Xi deeply and said helplessly: "Don't worry, the most important thing now is your business."
Li Xi smiled bitterly and lowered his head: "It is my incompetence that has caused trouble for Your Highness."
Liu Tan didn't know what to say. Li Xi's expression must have made him imagine all kinds of scenes of being bullied after returning to the palace, but the problem was that he really wasn't bullied.
Although the pressure was a bit high, life was actually okay. The palace servants were not that blind. After all, his mother was the queen and could really manage the six palaces.
Liu Tan didn't want to discuss this any further so he changed the subject and said, "Where are the grape seedlings? Take me to see them."
Li Xiyi extended his hand and said, "Your Highness, please come this way."
Liu Tan followed him all the way to the place where the grape seedlings were planted. When he got there, he knew that these seedlings were basically beyond saving - they were all wilted, with yellow leaves and dead branches. How could they be saved?
He frowned and asked, "Are all the grape seedlings here? Are there any that are doing well?"
Li Xi felt that he seemed to be becoming somewhat unfamiliar, but he simply attributed it to his changed status. He lowered his head and said, "Marquis Bowang sent someone to bring back some more rice seedlings, which have just been delivered."
Liu Tan asked him to take him to see it. After a quick look, he found that although these seedlings were more vigorous than those on the ground, they were also very wilted.
He could see that the people planting the seedlings had tried their best to imitate the environment of the Western Regions, but no matter how similar the imitation was, it wouldn't work. How could something like climate be imitated?
If we can't change the climate, we can only change the breed, but changing the breed doesn't seem to be easy.
Li Xi stood aside, watching Liu Tan's face solemnly. He sighed softly and said, "Your Highness, don't worry about me. This is God's will and cannot be reversed."
Some people grow up in the Western Regions but not in the Central Plains. If this isn't God's will, what else could it be?
Liu Tan was helpless: "Why are you so discouraged? Aren't there other seedlings?"
Li Xi smiled bitterly: "Even if more people come, the result will be the same. Your Highness, this matter cannot be involved. Please don't worry about it. I know your intentions. If there is a chance, I may be able to enter the palace to serve Your Highness."
Liu Tan was suddenly embarrassed. Do you mean to wait to be castrated and then enter the palace to work for me?
Are people so open-minded these days?
What else could he do if he couldn't let it go? Castration was indeed a huge blow to human dignity. When Li Xi first learned that this was the punishment, he even considered ending it all.
But he couldn't bear to leave, he couldn't bear to leave his family and the Fifth Prince whom he had raised so carefully.
What's more, Liu Tan has already returned to the palace, and he may have a chance to turn things around in the future. Even if Liu Tan fails to win the position of crown prince and has to go to the vassal state, he can still follow him to the vassal state and contribute.
Now his family no longer has any titles, and his son's official position is not high enough. If he dies, the whole family will probably starve to death, so he cannot die yet.
Li Xi whispered, "If I could always be by Your Highness's side, I would have no regrets."
Goodbye, if you come near me, my vest will fall off in a minute.
In this case, in order to keep his identity secret, he also has to help Li Xi.
Liu Tan said expressionlessly, "Let's put that aside for now. There must have been records of when these seedlings were planted, right? Bring those records here for me to see."
Li Xi looked at Liu Tan in surprise, and Liu Tan realized that with his original personality, he didn't know much about this aspect, and asking for those records was no different from nonsense.
He coughed lightly and said, "The Crown Prince has countless talented people under his tutelage. Perhaps there is a way."
Li Xi's eyes lit up after hearing this. There were all kinds of talents under the Crown Prince Liu Ju. Emperor Wu of Han doted on Liu Ju and built the Bowang Garden as a gift for Liu Ju's coming-of-age ceremony. The garden was used for the Crown Prince to entertain guests.
You should know that Emperor Liu Che himself did not like his ministers to have connections with each other, but he built such a Bowang Garden for the prince, which shows how much he doted on the prince.
It was precisely because of this favor that Liu Ju had all kinds of talents under his tutelage, including many "heretics" who had different political views from the mainstream.
Precisely because there are so many talented people, it is not impossible that there are people among the prince's disciples who are good at this.
Those people are arrogant and might not be willing to come even if the court summons them to serve as low-ranking officials, let alone recommend themselves. But if the prince gives an order, they will definitely be willing to offer advice.
Li Xi immediately ordered people to find all the records and then found a car to load them.
Originally, Liu Tan wanted to say that they could just load it onto his ox cart, but when he saw a pile of bamboo slips, he swallowed the words back.
Although he knew that most people still used bamboo slips at that time, he was used to using paper, and paper was also used in the palace. Even if paper was difficult to make or the output was low, it would not be difficult for the royal family, so he subconsciously ignored this matter.
After seeing the cart full of bamboo slips, he felt a little uneasy and asked, "When did this record start?"
Li Xi replied, "This record has been kept since the beginning of spring this year."
Beginning of Spring... From January to September, you recorded a whole car in eight months. You can do it.
Liu Tan was helpless. Since he had already agreed to take it, he couldn't return it just because it was too much.
Finally, he could only say: "You don't have to be too anxious about this matter. It's useless to be anxious. Wait until I return to the palace and I will think of a solution for you."
Li Xi said gratefully, "Your Highness, thank you for your help!"
Liu Tan waved at him and went back with a pile of bamboo slips in a miserable manner.
On the way, he casually picked up the earliest bamboo slips and looked at them, and then... he felt extremely painful.
I don’t know if it’s because engraving is too tiring, but the way of recording in this era is extremely simple. Most of the time, it is just a few simple words that are recorded, and then if you really want to translate it, you can translate a lot of content.
Thanks to the fact that Liu Tan's previous major was related to this aspect, he has seen quite a few bamboo slips from the Han Dynasty. Otherwise, he might not be able to understand what they were writing.
However, it is useless to understand it, as there is nothing useful recorded on it.
These records all say that seeds were planted on a certain day of a certain month, and then they disappeared. It doesn't say how many times a day they were watered, or whether they were fertilized. The next time they appeared was on a certain day of a certain month, and then the records of yellow leaves visible to the naked eye became more frequent because... the leaves began to turn yellow, and the seedlings themselves began to wilt, and in the end it was a declaration of death.
Liu Tan tossed the bamboo slips aside in a gloomy mood. Who could have imagined that after arriving in the Han Dynasty, the first thing he would change would be to ensure the survival of grapes? Is this the true nature of the Chinese people, the foodies?
When he returned to Suiyu Palace, Fu Yu came forward to greet him and said, "Your Highness, the Kunmi of Xiao Wusun has brought you a visiting card."
Liu Tan was a little surprised: "Visiting card? Let me see it."
While he had the bamboo slips put into the warehouse, he accepted the visiting card sent by Lu Xuan. After opening it, he was surprised to find that Lu Xuan's calligraphy was actually quite good. What was written on it was that in order to thank the Fifth Prince for his assistance last time, he specially prepared some gifts and asked the Fifth Prince to come and see it.
Liu Tan was a little reluctant to see him. He felt that getting too close to this little Kunmi was not a good thing.
However, the young Kunmi was too enthusiastic. He sent visiting cards every few days. Not only that, he also often sent some strange things along with the visiting cards, such as the first fallen leaf of autumn he collected, stones with beautiful patterns, or beautiful clay sculptures he occasionally came across.
The items were not big and not expensive, but Liu Tan felt quite frightened when he received them as a gift.
If Liu Tan knew other Wusun people, he would even want to ask, are all Wusun people so enthusiastic?
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