Everyone was a little surprised that Gongsun Ao knew about Liu Tan's return so quickly and sent people over.
What kind of speed is this? Or did he send out many scouts to monitor Liu Tan's movements?
Otherwise, how could he have gotten the news so quickly? You have to know that Liu Tan returned with Huo Guang in a simple carriage, without taking anyone except the guards, and the rest were still on the way.
Gongsun Ao was able to locate Liu Tan so accurately, which must have taken a lot of effort.
Liu Tan turned to Li Buyan and said, "Go out and see him and ask General Gongsun what he wants."
Huo Guang said angrily, "Gongsun Ao is too arrogant to send just one soldier here."
Is the King of the North someone anyone can see? Gongsun Ao coming here alone would be fine.
Liu Tan tried to appease Huo Guang: "Why get angry over such a person? It's not worth it."
Huo Guang paused, and Jiang Chong next to him was already looking at Liu Tan in horror.
From the tone, it felt like Liu Tan was talking about someone's death!
Not long after, Li Buyan walked in and said, "Your Highness, this man is here on the orders of General Gongsun to take you to Shoujiang City."
Jiang Chong suddenly became very nervous: "What are we going to Shoujiang City for?"
Li Buyan said angrily, "He said General Gongsun ordered that Shuofang City has been destroyed. It is no longer safe for Your Highness to remain in Shuofang City. It would be safer to go to Shoujiang City."
Huo Guang said coldly, "Even without Shuofang City, there are other cities. The Northern Border Kingdom also has inland cities. Shoujiang City is deep in the heart of the Xiongnu. What exactly is Gongsun Ao's intention?"
Liu Tan was very calm: "Just reply using Huo Xiang's words, and remember to add the last sentence."
Li Buyan immediately took the order and left. Liu Tan narrowed his eyes and suddenly said, "Now... I really feel a little sympathetic towards my brother, the Crown Prince."
Huo Guang and Jiang Chong looked at him in confusion, but Liu Tan did not explain.
How to explain it?
Liu Ju was really miserable. He had been very powerful. Although his mother was no longer favored, he still had his uncle and cousin, who were the two pillars of the empire.
As a result, the two pillars of the empire were gone early, and only people like Gongsun Ao were left who were dragging them down. If he wasn't miserable, who would be miserable?
This is also what Huo Guang said that reminded him, why did Gongsun Ao let him go to Shoujiang City? Didn't Gongsun Ao know that Shoujiang City was dangerous?
Or maybe Gongsun Ao realized that Shoujiang City was in danger, so he sent Liu Tan there, so that if anything happened to Liu Tan, he could blame it on the Huns.
Gongsun Ao may have done this because he felt that Liu Tan posed a threat to the prince, so he wanted to get rid of Liu Tan without anyone knowing.
It’s a pity that he thinks that doing things secretly is different from other people.
Thinking about it this way, he could understand why the Huns went south and Shoujiang City was intact, while half of Shuofang City was destroyed.
After Liu Tan left, Huo Guang and Jiang Chong exchanged a glance, each with their own speculations. Finally, Huo Guang sighed and said, "The Chief Justice should rest first. Tomorrow... he might be very tired too."
Of course he was tired. The first thing Liu Tan did when he returned to Shuofang City was to see what a ruin Shuofang City had become.
When he passed by the refugee camp outside, he found that the people were in a relatively stable mood. Liu Tan was a little surprised: "They...what's wrong with them? They're not crying or making a fuss."
Jiang Chong said from the side: "Your Highness, you don't know, they are like this... well, they are used to it."
"Habit?"
Jiang Chong nodded solemnly, "Yes, before Shoujiang City was built, Shuofang City was directly attacked by the Xiongnu and was plundered by them almost every year. So... this time, at least it was much stronger than before, and not many people died at the hands of the Xiongnu."
Even the soldiers defending the city died in small numbers, let alone the civilians.
Jiang Chong knew Liu Tan's temper, so he would rather give up Shuofang City and protect these people. If the city was still there but the people were dead, Liu Tan would definitely deal with him.
After hearing this, Liu Tan went into the city in silence.
At this time, the south gate of Shuofang City was actually still intact, but after entering the city, one could see at a glance that the north gate had been damaged. Not only that, the houses on the north side had collapsed and even showed signs of being burned.
Liu Tan asked, "Have you counted the losses?"
Jiang Chong smiled bitterly: "This... there weren't many records originally, and the statistics are..."
Liu Tan sighed and said, "Try to count them as much as possible. Have all the documents been rescued?"
Jiang Chong immediately said, "Don't worry, Your Highness. Those were the first to be transported away and have been hidden in the mines."
When Liu Tan heard the word "mine", he asked, "Is everything okay at the mine?"
Jiang Chong nodded: "The mines are intact. The Xiongnu went there, but they left without finding the location."
Liu Tan glanced at the half-destroyed county government office and asked, "Where have you been living these days?"
Even if half of the city was not destroyed, the city would no longer be suitable for survival.
Jiang Chong said, "We're setting up camp outside. However, part of the palace has already been built. If Your Highness doesn't mind, you can live in the palace first."
Liu Tan suddenly asked, "Has the construction at the palace not stopped?"
Jiang Chong said cautiously, "We didn't dare to stop them. Many of the laborers are from Shuofang City. If we stopped, I'm afraid they would not be able to survive."
Liu Tan said with a headache, "Let's go back and count the number of people first, and then see how to arrange it."
Huo Guang suddenly asked, "Your Highness, do you want to build your capital somewhere else?"
This place is really too dangerous.
Liu Tan said casually, "What's the exchange? This place is good. I'll wait for the Xiongnu here. Next time, I'll make sure they never come back!"
After he said this, Jiang Chong and Huo Guang felt relieved because Liu Tan had no intention of rushing over to attack the Huns directly.
You have to know that when the three countries of Cheshi, Huhu and Jieguo sent soldiers disguised as horse bandits to kill him, he led his men to fight back at that time.
Liu Tan seems to have a gentle temper, but if he really gets angry, he will fight to the death with others.
Fortunately, fortunately, he still had his sense this time. Everyone was very angry about the Huns' southward advance, but there was nothing they could do. Now was not the time to fight. Didn't you see that the people of Shuofang City had already gotten used to it?
Liu Tan glanced at Jiang Chong and Huo Guang without saying anything. Was he still waiting for the next Xiongnu attack? Was he just going to retreat after being beaten?
But before that, he had to stabilize his two generals, and at the same time, he had to stabilize Gongsun Ao. He had to deal with Gongsun Ao first before doing anything else.
Otherwise, if he was fighting the Huns on one side and Gongsun Ao was holding him back on the other side, he would not feel relieved even if he stabbed Gongsun Ao.
Before leaving Shuofang City, Liu Tan looked back at the city and suddenly smiled: "That's good. I was originally worried about how to demolish it, but now it's much easier."
Everyone: ???
Are you so open-minded?
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