Liu Tan swallowed his saliva and very slowly got off Lu Xuan. He stood up obediently and said, "Father."
At this time, Liu Tan was very nervous. He didn't know how long his father had been there and whether he had heard their jokes.
Well, considering Miao Rui's loyalty, he should have reminded his father when he just came over, so it should be... okay?
He subconsciously glanced at Lu Xuan, then saw Lu Xuan stand up, straighten his clothes, and bow calmly, "Greetings, Your Majesty."
Liu Che slowly walked up, looked at the dazzling array of snacks and fruits on the food table, then looked at Liu Tan and asked softly, "Are you planning on letting me have a grandson?"
It’s over. His father really heard everything he just said.
Although he had just discussed with Liu Che whether he was suitable for the job, the thought of Liu Che hearing his flirting with Lu Xuan made him feel like his parents had caught him in a premature love affair, and his face immediately turned red.
Liu Tan forced himself to explain, "Father, it's not what you think. I... can you explain?"
Liu Che squinted at him and said, "What do you mean by explaining? Explaining that you let me handle state affairs, and then you came here to live a life of debauchery?"
Liu Tan: I swear to God, it was obviously you who wanted to help me deal with it!
However, Liu Tan knew full well that no one could stop the emperor's unreasonable demands, so he said honestly, "I've already started having people make the glass, but because I'm not sure of the formula, I can only try it out bit by bit. I just want to find a place to wait."
Liu Che glanced at him sideways, and Liu Tan immediately said, "It's time for dinner, Father, let's go back."
Liu Che snorted coldly and turned to leave. Liu Tan fanned his hands at Lu Xuan, who nodded to indicate that he understood.
Liu Che, who was walking in front, suddenly turned around and said, "The King of Wusun should come too."
Liu Tan: ...
He suddenly felt a little stomachache and felt that this meal might not go well.
Compared with others, Lu Xuan was quite calm and even dared to squeeze Liu Tan's hand to comfort him when walking side by side with him.
Liu Tan quickly withdrew his hand as if he had been scalded, and glared at Lu Xuan.
Lu Xuan felt a little itchy when he was glared at him, and he was deeply moved. He and Liu Tan had already made things clear, so why did they still have to be so secretive?
After returning to the hall, Liu Tan's eyes suddenly jumped, because he saw that the Hu girls his father brought back were already kneeling there, waiting for the emperor to come very humbly.
He thought about the morning when Liu Che pointed out a Hu girl, and what would happen if Liu Che gave him a Hu girl in front of Lu Xuan, or even more outrageously let two Hu girls accompany him and Lu Xuan respectively... that scene was too beautiful and he didn't want to watch it.
So he felt a little stomachache before he even had dinner.
Although Lu Xuan walked forward without looking around, he kept an eye on Liu Tan. After noticing that something was wrong with his aura, he glanced at the Hu girls and got an idea.
After sitting down, Liu Che saw that Liu Tan remembered what he had said before. After thinking about it, he only called one of the Hu girls to serve him. The other two looked at the emperor half sadly and half longingly, and then left obediently.
Liu Tan was a little surprised. He looked up at Liu Che and then met Liu Che's mocking gaze.
His son and Lu Xuan are currently very passionate about each other. Even if he sends eighty Hu girls to Liu Tan, Liu Tan won't even look at them. Besides, would Liu Che use such a low-level method?
Of course not.
After a quiet dinner, when Liu Tan thought he was going to get through the night, Liu Che suddenly said, "I will be leaving for Chang'an in a few days. King Wusun, why don't you come with me?"
Lu Xuan: ...
He originally thought that after Liu Che left, he would spend a few days with Liu Tan in a good mood, and then rush to Chang'an on time. Before that, he could send an envoy to Chang'an to say hello.
Unexpectedly, Liu Che directly stopped his idea.
Since the emperor had personally issued the invitation, Lu Xuan had no choice but to be tactful. So, he honestly said, "I obey your command."
Liu Che was satisfied, turned to look at Liu Tan and said: "Please read those documents again yourself. I asked Huo Guang to wait for you in the study after dinner."
Liu Tan: ...
He glanced at Lu Xuan. Although he had no plans to hang out with Lu Xuan tonight, there was still a big difference between subjectively not having a plan and passively not being allowed to.
Before Liu Che stood up and left, he said, "Remember to get up early tomorrow. You said you wanted to go ice sledding."
Well, even the option of staying up late is blocked.
Liu Tan had no choice but to respond, "Yes."
After Liu Che left, he looked up at Lu Xuan and said, "Let's go ice sledding together tomorrow."
After all, they had gone shopping together last time, so he had nothing to be afraid of. He simply took Lu Xuan with him.
Lu Xuan smiled and replied, "Okay."
Before they parted, Liu Tan gave another warning: "Father will probably leave after I get the glass out. Have someone pack up first so you don't get caught in a rush... Never mind, I'll have Fu Yu and the others help you later. You don't even have a maid by your side, and they're all big, strong men. I guess they won't be that attentive."
Lu Xuan smiled and said, "I'm going to Chang'an. There's nothing there. Don't worry."
Liu Tan responded without saying anything. After saying goodbye to Lu Xuan, he went to the study.
As soon as he entered the study, he saw Huo Guang put down the brush in his hand, slowly put away his things and said, "The official business has been almost completed. Your Highness should go back and rest early."
Liu Tan stood in the study, looking at Huo Guang with condemnation, suspecting that Huo Guang was in collusion with Liu Che to trick him.
Huo Guang met Liu Tan's gaze calmly and said, "If your Highness has any doubts, you can ask Zhu Shanfu."
Liu Tan was silent for a while before asking, "Did Father really finish the matter in such a short time?"
How long had it been since he ordered the sand to be burned until he and Lu Xuan went to the Eastern Palace? How could Liu Che have actually finished handling the matter? He saw such a thick stack of documents before he left!
Huo Guang said, "I assisted."
Liu Tan said unconvincedly, "You usually help me, but it's never this fast."
Huo Guang looked at him expressionlessly: "So I hope Your Highness can learn more from Your Majesty."
Huo Guang has become very familiar with Liu Che's cooperation over the years. After all, he grew up next to Liu Che. The most important thing is that their thought processes are relatively consistent. He can understand whatever Liu Che orders, and Liu Che can also understand what he wants to say.
But when facing Liu Tan, the two of them often talk at cross purposes.
In addition to this, Huo Guang also had to be constantly wary of Liu Tan's impulsive ideas, and asked him to take back those outrageous ideas as soon as he said them. He was so exhausted, and how could it be as enjoyable as cooperating with Liu Che?
He really didn't ask Liu Tan to reach the level of Liu Che, he just asked Liu Tan to be more reliable, not to have so many wild ideas in his mind every day, and not to do things secretly, causing Huo Guang to often help him clean up the mess.
Liu Tan looked at Huo Guang's accusing eyes and felt a little guilty: "Father has eaten more salt than I have eaten rice. How could I learn this?"
This was said with great confidence, to which Huo Guang replied, "Haha."
Liu Tan was heartbroken: "Just because you worked with the emperor for an entire afternoon, you...don't love me anymore!"
Originally, he almost wanted to say that he was in Cao's camp but his heart was with Han, but he remembered that this was a saying passed down from the Three Kingdoms period. If he said it out loud, it would basically jump from the Western Han Dynasty to the division of the Three Kingdoms at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty. He was afraid that something would go wrong, so he had to change his sentence temporarily.
Huo Guang stood up and walked out. When he passed by Liu Tan, he saw his eyes wide open. He couldn't help but imitate Liu Che and touched his head and said calmly: "I just have high hopes for Your Highness."
Liu Tan slapped his claws away: "Don't follow Father's lead! Do you have any manners?"
He called himself "subject" but raised his paw to touch his head? Is this still Huo Guang?
Huo Guang left calmly. Liu Tan turned helplessly to look at Zhu Shanfu, who had been treating him like a pillar. He put away his previous incoherence and asked in a gentle voice, "How do you feel?"
This was the first time Zhu Shanfu saw the Northern King's face-changing skills. He was just like a child, but at this moment he turned back into the gentle, mature and steady Northern King.
He said in a trance, "It's... it's okay. Your Majesty said that I... said that I have spirituality."
Liu Tan laughed and said, "Father doesn't often praise people, but since he said that about you, it must be true. Work hard and learn more. Once you're familiar with it, I'll let you go out and serve as a county governor. From now on, no one above the rank of Nine Ministers will be selected unless they've served as a county governor before."
Zhu Shanfu's eyes lit up immediately after hearing this, and he said excitedly, "I will definitely live up to Your Highness's high expectations!"
Liu Tan patted his shoulder and said, "It's getting late. Go get some rest first."
Zhu Shanfu seemed to float away. Liu Tan saw that he was the same when he came and when he left, he couldn't help laughing. He was still young and lacked exercise.
The next morning, Liu Tan got up early and took Liu Che to the newly found oxbow lake to play on the ice sled.
In a short period of time yesterday, he had people build several ice sleds, including one for Lu Xuan.
Liu Che was a little surprised when he saw the ice sled. The shape was really special, but he didn't think much about it. He just felt a little uncomfortable sitting on it. After hearing Liu Tan say that it was for the convenience of braking, he didn't say anything.
Liu Tan personally squatted beside Liu Che and told him how to play. However, this thing was simple. After he was told once, Liu Che knew how to play it after a little try. The only problem was probably mastering the trick, how to row faster.
After listening to Liu Tan's words, Lu Xuan watched as Liu Che started to play with the ice sled by himself, and whispered, "It would be nice if we could play together."
Liu Tan rolled his eyes at him. He dared to be dishonest in front of Liu Che. This guy was getting bolder and bolder.
Lu Xuan smiled and ran off to play by himself.
Liu Che played for a while until he was sweating all over. When he looked up, he saw Lu Xuan sitting on the sled, paddling quickly and lightly. Comparing his speed with his own, Liu Che was silent for a while.
Then Liu Tan watched helplessly as his father cheated - he simply let several guards push his ice cart!
Thanks to the natural ice on the lake, which was not particularly smooth, the guards had a hard time running, but it was still faster than when Liu Che rowed himself.
Lu Xuan's emotional intelligence was indeed high. After realizing that Liu Che was competing with him in speed, he decisively slowed down and let Liu Che leave him behind.
Liu Tan calculated the time and felt it was about time, so he stopped Liu Che's ice cart and lied with his eyes wide open: "Your Majesty, you have just exercised too much. It is easy to catch a cold if you are exposed to cold wind after sweating. It is better to warm up first. I will ask someone to cut ice first, and then go fishing."
It was unknown whether Liu Che was tired or not, but the guards behind him were all very tired. However, he was indeed uncomfortable after being exposed to the cold wind on the ice for a long time, so he readily agreed to follow Liu Tan back to the tent on the shore.
After drinking some hot soup and eating two snacks, someone came downstairs to report that the ice hole had been drilled.
Liu Tan immediately took people to take a look around, and after confirming that there were no safety hazards, he allowed Liu Che to go and try it out.
This was the first time for Liu Che to fish like this, and it was quite strange. The most important thing was that the fish here were obviously much more enthusiastic than those in Changshou Palace. Liu Che could catch a fish almost as soon as he put the hook in.
Although some were big and some were small, they greatly satisfied Liu Che's sense of accomplishment.
After he has had fun, it's time to go home.
The smooth-haired Liu Che seemed quite easy to talk to, and he smiled more often towards Lu Xuan.
Just as Liu Tan was about to breathe a sigh of relief, Miao Rui hurriedly leaned over to his ear and said, "Your Highness, this is bad! Someone has tampered with the sand, and the craftsmen have all been poisoned!"
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