Storm is coming
Liu Ju had just turned fourteen this year, and the moment Ah Jiao saw him, she thought he looked a great resemblance to the Empress. He was followed by several attendants, all with haughty expressions, but Liu Ju himself was quite well-behaved. Despite his young age, he was composed and composed, with a faint smile always on his face.
Just like his mother.
This made her heart even colder, but the smile she gave him became even gentler.
"Slow down, little prince. Be careful not to cut your hands with the sword."
She saw Liu Ju and his nephew Huo Changqing standing in the yard practicing sword fighting. Liu Ju was still young and thin, holding a thick sword and dancing with it, making swish sounds, looking very dangerous.
Liu Ju, who was already struggling, was suddenly called by Gillian and accidentally got scratched in the face.
"Oh, Your Highness!"
Seeing this, Ah Jiao hurried over. Huo Changqing took the sword from him and said with a smile, "It's nothing serious, just a scratch. It will be healed in a while."
A Jiao glared at him and took Liu Ju's hand to the eaves.
"Your Highness is fair and pretty. It would be bad if you got a scar. Who would be so careless as a barbarian like you?"
She used a handkerchief to carefully dab at the blood on the wound, then called a maid to bring ointment. She held Liu Ju's chin with one hand and gently stroked his cheek with the ointment with the other. The cool and slightly stinging feeling made Liu Ju shudder.
The woman in front of him was in the inner courtyard of her home, so she just let her hair down casually. Her long black hair was gathered together and tied with a red silk thread at the end. She was wearing a goose yellow, pink and green long dress. The soft sunlight shone on her, and she looked like a fairy.
The subtle fragrance from his sleeves made him lean back involuntarily. Gillian asked softly, "What's wrong, Your Highness? Did I hit you too hard?"
"No, no... I'm just a little unaccustomed to it." Liu Ju was simply a little unaccustomed; he had never experienced such close contact with anyone. His mother, though gentle and kind to others, was actually extremely strict with him, demanding strict standards for everything from food, clothing, shelter, and behavior. He was constantly overwhelmed with schoolwork, and only under the guise of learning swordsmanship from his uncle could he find a moment of relief.
His aunt suddenly laughed. "What's there to be unaccustomed to? I guess I'm not as gentle as the Queen."
"No... Mother... Mother was very strict with me and never got this close to me."
He would not have spoken like this to others, but perhaps because this was his favorite cousin, and he also liked his cousin's wife, and did not want her to misunderstand, so he was a little reserved.
"Your Highness is the crown prince and the future of the country. The Queen loves you deeply and holds you accountable."
"I understand." Liu Ju's voice was a little low. He didn't like to hear these admonitions. He had heard enough from the Grand Tutor and his mother.
Ah Jiao smiled again and said to him, "But don't be too restrained when you're here with me. You know I grew up in the Western Regions and I'm not used to the customs of Beijing. You can come often. I'd be very bored here alone."
As she spoke, she took the sword and performed a set of moves.
Liu Ju's eyes lit up when he heard this, "You can use a sword!"
"I learned a few moves from my father in the Western Regions, but they were just fancy moves. I can't compare to a general."
Huo Changqing tossed the sword to the servant and walked towards them. "Although it's just a showpiece, it's already quite impressive. It's somewhat similar to the young prince's level."
Gillian laughed and said, "Then I don't know whether to cry or laugh."
Liu Ju felt it was a bit embarrassing to compare himself with this delicate cousin-in-law. "I will practice sword fighting with my cousin. I want to become a hero like my uncle!"
"You'd better save your energy. I'm not your uncle yet. If Your Highness goes to the battlefield, the Queen will be worried to death."
Huo Changqing's tone was filled with resentment, and Liu Ju snorted. "My mother is always too cautious. Didn't my uncle also gain fame and honor on the battlefield? Every Han man is brave and skilled in battle, but how can we convince others with just talk?"
Ah Jiao seemed to notice that the little man was being serious, so she smiled and said, "When Your Highness ascends the throne, you can fulfill the general's wish and let him conquer the vast territories for you."
"Shut up!" Huo Changqing's face suddenly turned serious. He looked around and shouted in a low voice, "Your Majesty is still here. How can you speak nonsense?"
Gillian seemed a little unhappy with his tone, but she lowered her voice as he said. "Isn't it natural for the Crown Prince to inherit Your Majesty's throne? Why do you have to do this?"
"There's no question of whether it should or shouldn't be." Huo Changqing said, "As long as Your Majesty is alive, there's no need to mention future events."
As if intent on teaching Liu Ju a lesson, Huo Changqing looked at the young prince and said, "My aunt often said that when the late emperor was alive, Your Majesty was still the Prince of Jiaodong, and the crown prince was Liu Rong. Everyone thought Liu Rong was deeply favored by the late emperor and his succession to the throne was a foregone conclusion. But later, because his mother was disliked by the late emperor, he was immediately deposed, and Your Majesty was made the crown prince. This shows that the Empress's advice to Your Highness to be cautious in public life is a good thing."
Liu Ju was lost in thought. He thought of his own mother. "That's because Li Ji wasn't the queen. Her son was only the eldest son, not the legitimate son. But I'm the legitimate eldest son."
Huo Changqing's tone deepened as he spoke, "Your Highness is wrong. Whether Li Ji was favored or not, or whether she was the Queen, is irrelevant. The decisive factor in determining the Crown Prince's position at the time was the power behind him. Li Ji and Queen Wang were originally of equal status, but Li Ji offended the Princess, causing the Princess's power to tilt towards Queen Wang's side. This was the key factor in Your Majesty's smooth transition to the Crown Prince, succession to the throne, and subsequent stability in his empire."
Liu Ju seemed to understand what he said, and frowned, "But I don't have an aunt like the eldest princess." He had no power to lean on.
Huo Changqing smiled and patted his head. "What I want to say is not whether you have such an aunt, but that you must have strength behind you. Your uncle has always stood behind us, and it will be me in the future, so Your Highness will definitely grow up well."
Liu Ju was still thinking, and A Jiao smiled and said, "Okay, let's stop talking about these big principles. Come, Your Highness, you have practiced swords all day, go take a bath and have dinner."
Liu Ju hesitated for a moment, then shook his head. "My father will ask about my homework tonight, and I still have a lot of words to copy. I'd better go back."
"What word?"
"It's a scroll from the Lingfei Sutra. My father said my handwriting is not good and I have to copy four pages every day to pass. I haven't copied for three or four days..."
Gillian thought for a moment and smiled, "I have a way to deal with Your Majesty."
"What method?"
"Let me make it clear first, Your Highness must not betray me if anyone finds out."
Huo Changqing heard this and said helplessly, "Then you'd better not say anything. If you lead the young prince astray, your aunt will definitely hold you accountable."
Liu Ju didn't really want to go back to the palace, but when he saw Ah Jiao trying to keep him, he immediately said, "Cousin, please tell me. I will take responsibility for my own actions."
Gillian glanced at Changqing and leaned close to Liu Ju's ear.
…
Liu Ju played in the mansion until the palace gate was about to close, and then he left reluctantly. A Jiao saw him off and chatted with Chang Qing on the road.
"The young prince seems to like you very much."
"Your Highness is my aunt's only child, and all my hopes are pinned on him. Therefore, I keep a tight rein on him. At such a young age, he has to act like an adult and be bound by rules everywhere. It's really hard for him."
Gillian said, "Your Highness is a good boy, I like him very much."
"Your Highness likes you too." Chang Qing smiled, "He was originally a lively person, but he was restrained and suppressed like an old man, so I often took him to practice sword and horse riding, and to walk in the streets, but my aunt always got angry.
Speaking of which, your aunt has been staying indoors in the palace lately, so that must be why Your Highness has been able to take some time off to come out."
Staying indoors
Just staying indoors...that's not enough, not even close to enough.
"Yes, I wonder if my aunt is sick. She hasn't even seen the little prince."
"Don't worry, His Majesty is always here... Your Highness is so noble and deeply favored by His Majesty, everything will be fine."
Chang Qing smiled at her, but a sense of unease was building within him. He looked up and saw a sky full of dark clouds, gathering before him. A storm was about to arrive...
After reading the homework Liu Ju handed in, Emperor Wu of Han slapped the boy hard. Liu Ju fell to the ground and quickly knelt up. He was nervous and panicked, but he didn't know what had offended the emperor, so he remained silent with a dizzy head.
"Why don't you say anything? Do you dare to do it but not to speak?"
"Your son... Your son doesn't know what he did wrong."
"Is this something you wrote?"
He felt that his father had discovered that his cousin's wife had copied the document for him, but he couldn't repay kindness with hatred and betray her, so he gritted his teeth and said, "Yes... yes, your son."
The pair of black shoes embroidered with dragon patterns slowly walked over. "I'm asking you again, did you write these words?"
"It is indeed my son."
"Okay." Liu Che laughed in anger, "Come here, take the prince to the Zongzheng Temple and deal with him according to family law."
The guard hesitated after hearing this and tried to persuade him, "Your Majesty, the prince is still young. The family rules... those twenty strokes of the cane are too weak. If they were to cause any harm..."
"I just want him to know what's right for him." Liu Che looked at Liu Ju mockingly, "Take these rags of yours and reflect on what mistakes you've made."
After Liu Ju left, Liu Che drank a bowl of tea, but he was still not satisfied. He called Jiang Chong and asked, "Who did the prince meet today?"
Jiang Chong said, "Your Highness stayed with General Huo for a while this afternoon."
"Huo Changqing?" Huo Changqing's name flashed through his mind, but somehow, he thought of another person.
It's her again!
His face darkened visibly, as if he could already imagine the woman's smug and seductive look.
He had clearly warned her, yet she dared to cause trouble again. But the problem was that her handwriting didn't look exactly like his. Instead, it looked a good three or four points like hers...
His heart suddenly tightened, his anger rising. That face, unlike hers, had the same movements and expressions as hers. The image of her imitating someone else's image lingered in his mind, bringing out the long-buried evil desires within him that he couldn't release...
He suddenly stood up, his wide sleeves dragging the bamboo incense burners on the table to the ground with a crash. He became increasingly agitated, and finally couldn't help but say to Jiang Chong, "Send Madam Huo to the palace."
Jiang Chong was a little surprised, "Now...now? It's already night..."
"Go when I tell you to, and bring her here."
"Yes." Jiang Chong stood up anxiously, and when he reached the door, he heard the man's irritable voice behind him again.
"Forget it, call for some water, I want to take a bath."
Liang Chong had no idea what was wrong with his master tonight. After wiping his body, he cautiously left the inner room under the pretext of ironing clothes, so that Liang Chong wouldn't punish him if he was unhappy.
The sound of water slowly rang out in the quiet room, gradually becoming lower and slower. A pair of black hair spread out from the side and stuck to the chest, covering the deep meaning in the man's eyes.
Anger and murderous desire were mixed with a strange and unspeakable feeling...
The sound of water suddenly became rapid, as if a violent storm was sweeping across the sea.
On the desk stands a plum vase with a bright red branch, fragrant and dewy, about to fall.
When Jiang Chong walked in again, he caught a glimpse of the emperor walking into the curtain with a cold face and clothes draped over him. He quickly lowered his head and concealed his gaze, but wondered in his heart which person in the palace had moved his heart recently.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
