Liu Ju fell ill so suddenly that no one was prepared.
He did not lose his mind after he fell ill, but it was impossible for him to handle state affairs.
Under normal circumstances, when Liu Che was missing and Liu Ju was ill, the matter should have been handed over to the Three Dukes first.
In fact, even if the emperor and his son both stopped attending court for a month, it is estimated that there would not be any major problems in the Han Dynasty.
The biggest possibility is that the power of the emperor and his son has been hollowed out, but Liu Ju cannot lose the power in his hands now, after all, he is still only the prince.
Handing over the government to Liu Qumao means allowing Liu Qumao to pave the way for King Changyi Liu Bo!
Liu Ju directly asked someone to report to Chen Ajiao, and at the same time, he wrote a letter to Liu Tan despite his illness. Of course, he had no strength at the time and could only write two words.
But just these two words are enough. What is important is the Prince's seal and stamp on the letter.
Liu Ju was very ill at the time, and fearing that he might have made some inconsiderate mistakes, he asked someone to bring all his seals and stamp them one by one.
The result was that Liu Tan received a letter with only two words but covered with seals. If he had not confirmed that the two words were written by the prince himself, he would have suspected that his brother had found some ancient relic and incarnated as the Ten Perfect Old Man to start stamping frantically.
After learning that Liu Ju was ill, Chen Ajiao did not rush to the Prince's Palace. Instead, she went to Madam Wei first, took Madam Wei with her, and then rushed to the Prince's Palace.
After arriving at the Prince's Palace, Chen Ajiao asked bluntly, "Where's the tiger talisman?"
Liu Ju no longer had the strength to speak. Madam Wei threw herself beside him and cried bitterly, while the young eunuch serving Liu Ju took out a lacquer box with tears in his eyes.
Chen Ajiao opened it and took a look, then turned around and said, "Bring me some paper and pen."
Chen Ajiao wrote an imperial decree directly in the Prince's Palace to summon Liu Tan back to the capital, and also wrote a letter to explain the matter clearly.
Then she began to write a transfer order, mobilizing the Minister of Justice Wu Hou to guard Chang'an.
While doing these things, Chen Ajiao's hands were shaking and things were completely out of her control.
If only Liu Che was missing, she could still make arrangements calmly, after all, there was still Liu Ju.
If it were the Chen Ajiao of the past, she would definitely want to win in the chaos and let Liu Tan come back as soon as possible to ascend the throne. But now, the situation in Chang'an is complicated, and Liu Tan might be stuck in a quagmire if he comes over, and he may not get anything even if he tries his best.
Chen Ajiao was rarely soft-hearted. She knew her son was living happily in the Northern Kingdom and was still taking care of his sister. Princess Danyang's current situation was inseparable from his and Lu Xuan's help.
And wasn't the reason why Lu Xuan helped Princess Danyang also because of Liu Tan?
Perhaps people become soft-hearted as they get older, and Chen Ajiao was one of them. So when Liu Ju wanted to let Liu Tan go to Beijing, Chen Ajiao stopped him.
But I didn't expect that Liu Tan would have to take such a risk in the end.
After Chen Ajiao finished writing, she sent someone to deliver it quickly. Then she turned to Liu Chuan and said, "You should take good care of yourself. It's just a temporary illness. With proper care, you will be fine. I have already written to Tan'er, asking him to return to Beijing as soon as possible."
After hearing this, Liu Ju instantly breathed a sigh of relief and almost fainted.
Chen Ajiao looked down at Madam Wei and said, "Look after the Crown Prince here. Don't let anyone with unknown origins in. The Crown Prince's medicines are prepared by trusted aides. He eats mostly bland food these days, so please keep an eye on him."
Madam Wei felt relieved. She stood up, bowed to Chen Ajiao and said, "Don't worry, madam. I will take good care of the prince."
Chen Ajiao looked at her twice more, not knowing what to feel.
She had been at odds with this woman and had also ignored each other, but she never expected that there would be a day when they would work together to protect the prince.
She didn't care whether the prince lived or died, but at least the prince couldn't die before Liu Tan came to Beijing!
Madam Wei was also very clear about this, but what she knew even more clearly was that as long as the King of the Northern Territory came to the capital, and as long as the Crown Prince was not knocked down by Shi Ji, the Crown Prince would not be in danger, at least not from the Queen.
After Chen Ajiao left, she went to the Weiyang Palace. In the past, she came here mostly to find Liu Che.
When she was young, she still had feelings for Liu Che and did not want to be separated from him. She was also worried that someone would seduce him.
Later, he came here to quarrel with Liu Che.
By now, she had not been to the front hall for a long time. Instead, Liu Che would run to the Pepper Palace from time to time to quarrel with her.
She never imagined that the scene would be like this when she came to Weiyang Palace again.
She had previously said that Liu Ju was old enough and didn't need his mother to rule the country, but she didn't expect that she would still have to go through this.
When Chen Ajiao arrived at the Weiyang Palace, she called everyone over, even the Prime Minister, and then kept all the ministers in the Weiyang Palace. However, she privately ordered the embroidered envoys to arrange spies and keep a close eye on all the three dukes and nine ministers. If they showed any signs of collusion or gathering, they must report it.
During the discussion with the ministers, Chen Ajiao carefully observed everyone's expression, but to her disappointment she did not see any problems.
Everyone's face was filled with just the right amount of panic and solemnity, but they handled things in a very clear and organized manner. Chen Ajiao had no idea what they were thinking.
When the meeting was over, Chen Ajiao, sitting on the throne, couldn't help feeling confused and frustrated. For a moment, she couldn't figure out how many of those people were friends and how many were enemies.
Those who supported Liu Ju might not be sincere to her, and those with ulterior motives might feel that she and Liu Tan were a threat. Of course, there were quite a few Confucian disciples in the court who wanted to maintain "orthodoxy."
But that was not simply supporting her. Chen Ajiao looked at the empty hall and thought absentmindedly: If Che'er were here, what would he do?
Unfortunately, she is not Liu Che, and her style of doing things is different from Liu Che. For so many years, she has been doing her own thing and has not learned Liu Che's methods and style.
In the end, she could only hope that Liu Tan would return to Beijing as soon as possible. As long as she could keep calm before Liu Tan returned to Beijing, it would be fine.
But what if it can’t be stabilized?
Chen Ajiao felt that she had to prepare for the worst. After thinking for a while, she said, "Please ask the Imperial Censor Zhao Yu to come over."
Zhao Yu came over and bowed, then sat there quietly. Chen Ajiao said bluntly, "I'm afraid I'll have to ask Censor Zhao to put in more effort recently to catch some of the bad guys."
Zhao Yu raised his eyes to look at Chen Ajiao, and after a while he bowed and said, "I obey your command."
Chen Ajiao felt slightly relieved, as she was really worried that Zhao Yu would not obey.
Zhao Yu can be regarded as another ruthless person after Zhang Tang and Du Zhou, and can be called a cruel official.
He had served as the prime minister of Yan State for several years before. Later, because he could no longer stand King Liu Dan of Yan, he asked to return to the capital, even if it meant being demoted.
His premonition was indeed correct. The Prince of Yan had indeed caused a big trouble. However, when tracing back, it was discovered that the Prince of Yan had already started doing illegal things when Zhao Yu was serving as the Prime Minister of Yan State, so they investigated him as well.
Although Zhao Yu was finally found innocent, he was punished and demoted because he failed to persuade and educate the King of Yan as the Prime Minister of Yan.
It was also because of his own ability that although he was demoted, he was soon promoted by Emperor Wu of Han.
Strictly speaking, Zhao Yu's punishment was somewhat related to Liu Tan. Everyone in Chang'an knew that King Yan Liu Dan was in trouble because he offended Liu Tan.
Although he did do something wrong, he would not necessarily be discovered if he had not provoked the King of the North.
What Chen Ajiao was worried about was that Zhao Yu would vent his anger on Liu Tan.
Zhao Yu seems to be fine now.
With the embroidered envoy, military power, and cruel officials at her disposal, Chen Ajiao felt a little more at ease. At least she should be able to hold on until her son returns, right?
Chen Ajiao was relieved, but her son was almost going crazy.
Liu Che was missing, Liu Ju was seriously ill, and there was no more capable prince in Chang'an. The only one with the right of inheritance was still in his infancy.
If it's not handled properly, it will be a bloody storm.
Although Liu Tan was anxious, he still called Huo Guang and others.
Everyone became very nervous the moment they learned about this. Although everyone had settled down in the Northern Border Country, their base was in Chang'an.
Huo Guang decisively said: "Your Highness, please lead the elite troops into the capital!"
It is normal for someone to take advantage of the chaos to rebel at this time. Liu Tan's elite regiment is not large in number, but they are well-equipped. As long as there are not tens of thousands of troops attacking the city, there will be no problem.
The most important thing is that Chang'an may not be without military forces.
Li Ling said, "Your Highness must obtain the tiger talisman as soon as possible after returning to the capital."
Liu Tan took a deep breath and said, "Wei Buyi will return to the capital with me. Tell Li Buyan to intensify patrols and notify him promptly if there are any unusual movements by the Xiongnu. Wei Deng will stay and temporarily take over the position of the Chief Justice."
Upon hearing this, Wei Deng immediately said, "I am a military commander of the elite regiment. I should accompany Your Highness."
Liu Tan asked Wei Deng to stay mainly because he wanted to leave a bloodline for the Wei family. He had already prepared for the worst. In case Chang'an City was engulfed in war, Wei Qing's eldest son Wei Kang was in Chang'an, and Wei Buyi would have to go with him. In fact, if Wei Buyi did not have experience in leading troops in battle, Liu Tan would not want to take him with him, but there was no way. He knew his own ability to lead troops. He could carry out sneak attacks or surprise attacks, but he would not be able to do it in a real battle between two armies.
Since Wei Buyi is going, Wei Deng must stay.
But now was not the time for nonsense. Liu Tan was too lazy to explain to Wei Deng and said decisively: "You and Li Ling both stay. We don't need you!"
Li Ling is not the only son of the Li family, but he is the most promising one of his generation, and nothing can be done to him.
Liu Tan didn't need to make too many arrangements for other things. With Huo Guang around, the only thing he had to do was to pack his luggage and leave.
But before leaving, he still had to tell someone about it—Lu Xuan.
After arranging for everyone to leave, Liu Tan turned to look at Lu Xuan, who had been silent since the beginning.
After Lu Xuan looked over at him, he didn't wait for Liu Tan to speak before saying, "I'll go back immediately to help you contain the Xiongnu."
Liu Tan took a deep breath and said, "I know this request is a bit excessive, but there is no other good solution right now."
They all knew that they would take advantage of Wu Shilu's death to cause trouble for the Huns. Now that Liu Che was only missing, the Huns would probably not miss this opportunity. It was basically impossible to completely conceal the news. After all, he took so many people with him, and the noise was too loud.
Moreover, it is now a time of famine, and the Han people have their own food reserves to get through this period, so the Huns can only rely on looting.
Lu Xuan walked over, touched his head, and said, "Why are you being so polite to me? Go ahead. I can't go with you and can't help you, but at least I can protect our home."
Liu Tan put his arms around his waist, rested his forehead on his shoulder and said, "Take care of yourself."
Lu Xuan hugged him tightly: "It's you who should take care of yourself."
In the face of national affairs, love between young men and women seemed to have become a luxury. Liu Tan was only weak for a moment, but he soon cheered up and prepared to set off in three days.
As a result, the next day, he received another urgent message from Chang'an, which was eight hundred miles away: King Guangchuan Liu Qi led his troops directly to Chang'an in the name of clearing the court.
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