The days when I pretended to be a cat in the Forbidden City[Comprehensive]

When Xia Anran and other vassal kings got the news, Liu Zhi had already become the prince.During this period of half a year, most of the news was trapped in Chang'an City and never leaked.

The news was not leaked, so naturally no one could intercede for the former prince.

The former prince was young and had no followers. In the entire court, only the prince Taifu Dou Ying and the current prime minister Zhou Yafu gave advice. Even the words of the queen mother could not reach the ears of Emperor Jing.

Xia Anran knew that this was a historical inevitability, but when the letter arrived in his hands, he still felt a little uncomfortable when he saw that his elder brother set off for the south in the middle of winter.

After the one-year-old vassal kings gathered in the capital, Xia Anran often wrote letters to Liu Zhi with excuses, asking him to ask Liu Rong if he didn't understand.When Liu Rong answered his brother's letter, he never forgot to bring some interesting gadgets from the capital. Xia Anran helped him with the things, and the feudal lords who received the gifts naturally had to return the gifts, and their feelings gradually deepened.

Different from those little kings who are in the vassal state, the prince is in front of the emperor, and he needs to learn a lot of homework. Even so, the elder brother still tries his best to meet the requirements of the younger brother.

Although Liu Rong may not be a qualified prince, he is really a good brother.

After Liu Qi said that he could ask his uncles questions, the topics of discussion among the little kings quickly became more advanced. They all slowly absorbed the experience of their seniors from the first-level novice in governing the country and quickly upgraded.

During this process, the little kings shared a lot of experience and experience with each other. As Chang'an was the distribution point for news, Liu Rong was inevitably drawn into their chat circle.If there is no accident, he will not be blinded by the Empress Dowager.

But Xia Anran knew very well that for Liu Rong, what he lacked was not experience in governing the country.

Liu Qi was not in good health, and he often had to recuperate for a period of time in a year. During this time, Liu Rong helped to classify and record all the government affairs.Although he does not have the power to oversee the country, Liu Rong definitely has no shortage of political experience.

What he lacked was experience in how to deal with this feeling of abandonment.

No one can help him with this.Xia Anran thought for a while, and asked someone to bring over a few big white rabbits, a special product of Zhongshan Country, along with some fruits and vegetables from Zhongshan Country, and copied books, plus the previous book "Only Fan Handbook" and excerpts of the experience of everyone's mutual exchanges in the past two years.

After the item was delivered, it disappeared. I don't know if Liu Rong hadn't arrived yet, or he was too busy with arrangements to reply to the letter.

The younger brother suddenly became a prince, not only Xia Anran, but also the other princes didn't know how to react for a while.

If you want to say sincere congratulations... that must be false.

Liu Rong is the prince, and the princes can say: who made him born early.

But Liu Zhi is the prince, what will the princes say?Could it be: who made him born late?Or is it that the younger brother is the smartest and they are not as good as him?

The relationship between the brothers deteriorated overnight, and many people wrote letters to persuade Xia Anran to be careful.

Liu She is no longer the younger brother he raised for a year, he is already Liu Che, not Liu She.

Regardless of other people, Xia Anran was the closest to him when he was young, but in the future he needs to control his limits.

In this regard, the little king has long been prepared.

It is completely different from the feelings of unwillingness or reluctance that others may have towards him behind the scenes.

As a time traveler, this matter has been rehearsed countless times in Xia Anran's heart. This is the first step for Emperor Wu of Han to reach his peak life. To be able to witness this, even if it is thousands of miles away, the little king can't bear it. Zhu Huan was so happy that he rolled several times on the bed.

Then he hid the edict of the call in a small box for permanent preservation.

The tomb of Liu Sheng, King of Zhongshan, has been preserved unharmed to future generations. If this edict is discovered, it will be so meaningful. No second treasure can be found in the whole world. It will definitely be a treasure in the cultural and historical circles. It can prove that Liu Xiaozhu's nickname is Liu Zhi.

It can definitely serve as one of the cultural relics prohibited by the country from going abroad.

As for how to reply to the letter, he had already considered it for a long time, and after he wrote it, he almost finished it in one go. Afterwards, the letter went to the capital with the congratulatory gift from Zhongshan Kingdom.

Xiao Douding has a very high intuition in this regard. He has been keenly aware of the changes in the attitudes of his brothers towards him from the formulaic letters of his brothers.Therefore, when he found out that Xia Anran's letter was still intimate, no matter how busy he was, even if he stayed up late, he would reply to his brother's letter as soon as possible.

Xia Anran was like the last straw that affected his brotherhood, tightly held in the palm of the young boy's hand.

August [-]th, the full moon night of the Mid-Autumn Festival in later generations, has not yet formed a custom, but the little king saw that the weather was good, so he invited his blind dated courtiers to hold a moon-watching banquet at night, and he also brought out a lot. Paper lanterns were given to these courtiers as a tool to illuminate the way home.

Of course, the little king secretly hoped that after these courtiers endorsed him personally, the sales of paper lanterns would surge.

It was originally a peaceful and joyful night, but on this day, Da Changqiu, who was serving Empress Bo, quietly visited before the curfew. The former two-thousand-year-old man knelt down in front of the little king, weeping, and said, "Your Highness, please Your Highness!" Save the lady."

"The empress is about to die of illness!"

The little king was startled when he heard the sound, and he didn't have time to reach out to help the old man, "How could this be? Wasn't it fine when I wrote the letter to your mother?"

"Your Highness, you know that your mother's health depends on good medicine. But since your mother was deposed and the supply of medicinal materials was not available, your mother's illness has been going from good to bad. Now the autumn is cold, and your mother has a cough again. I can't see it, and I can't find anyone to ask for it, so I can only ask His Highness."

Xia Anran narrowed her eyes slightly, and the anxiety just now was gradually resolved with Da Changqiu's words, and finally his expression turned indifferent, "How did you get here?"

The former chief minister was stunned when he heard the words, his face full of disbelief, as if he couldn't understand why King Zhongshan asked him this question at such a critical moment, but he still replied respectfully: "The slave is on duty in the palace, and I have saved some money before. The slave used the money to bribe the officials and escaped secretly. He hid in the truck all the way..."

The little king paused every word and said: "If you want to go from Chang'an to Zhongshan to take the cargo lane, it will take more than half a month to get stuck at the checkpoints. In other words, it should not be autumn before you get on the bus."

"How did you see your empress hurt Qiu Liang?"

Da Changqiu was stunned when he heard the words, and hurriedly defended: "Your Highness, it was the servant who used the inappropriate words..."

When he had no chance to utter the next words, Xia Anran sent someone to silence him.

The little king looked at the servant who had tears in his eyes and seemed to be full of words, and was silent for a long time.

Da Changqiu accompanied Empress Bo for many years, and took care of her after Empress Bo was deposed.From the bottom of his heart, he didn't want Da Changqiu to betray him, but now the facts speak louder than words.

There must be something wrong with Da Changqiu, but Xia Anran also wondered how could Da Changqiu, who had been serving in the deep palace for many years, make such a low-level mistake that people can understand at a glance?

This is also the reason why Xia Anran couldn't judge for a while, Da Changqiu was not dragged down, but was bound to the side.The little king put on his coat, pondered for a while in the cool autumn, and suddenly had a thought.

He made people retreat all the way, Da Changqiu and his eyes met, and the two eyes intersected. After a while, Da Changqiu's eyes that were not covered also narrowed.

That's because of laughing.

Xia Anran's guess was confirmed, "Da Changqiu did it on purpose."

He sighed and said, "Your Highness is wise!" Da Changqiu, who was gagged, laughed.

The little king shook his head, he closed his eyes and thought for a moment, and suddenly asked a question, "Are you forced by others?"

"I have been serving Your Highness for many years." Da Changqiu didn't answer, but looked at the little king and said respectfully, "Your Highness is one of the few people that I can't see through. So, I want to gamble once."

From Da Changqiu's mouth, Xia Anran learned that although Queen Bo's situation was not as serious as what he said, it was not far from it.

After losing her status as a queen, Queen Bo remained indifferent.She is a smart woman, and she naturally knows that this day will come sooner or later.She accompanied Liu Qi all the way from the prince to the emperor, observing one person for more than 20 years, it is impossible to say that she can't see through.Just because she saw it through, she became cold-hearted.

Liu Qi had a bigger world in his heart.She couldn't see what kind of world it was. Although she was once fascinated by that world, she was completely desperate after he handed over Chao Cuo in order to pacify the Seven Kingdoms Rebellion.

Chao Cuo is Liu Qi's tutor, who has been with him for more than ten years since he was the crown prince.

So what else can he not give up?

She was in poor health, and after being deposed, the emperor gave her special treatment, and the treatment would not be reduced.But the people below are the most able to do things according to the weather. Although they dare not do big things, it is still possible to change the formula and use cheap medicines in the medical configuration.

The effect of the medicine has decreased, so the effect of eating it is naturally not so good, but Empress Bo is not attractive, and her attitude of following the trend is very obvious.

Because of this, when she wrote the reply letter to Xia Anran, the situation was already showing bad signs, but in the letter, the years were still good.Da Changqiu tried to persuade her, but Empress Bo's attitude of advocating inaction, her resignation to her fate without fighting or snatching, was very obvious.

In fact, Da Changqiu also knew that even if he reported it once or twice, too many times would not be of much use. What's more, although the superior had no intention of disposing of Empress Bo, he had no intention of indulging her.

If she continues to stay in the capital, Empress Bo will most likely become a flower that is gradually withering in the dark.

Da Changqiu didn't want to see this scene, so he kept trying to find an opportunity to escape from the capital.

It happened that someone came to him and asked him to deliver a message with ten thousand taels of gold, and Da Changqiu agreed.

In fact, this strategy is very simple, but it is not poisonous.

Empress Bo is the mother of Liu Sheng. As a prince, she should follow in the footsteps of the emperor. After the emperor clearly ordered to sever the relationship between husband and wife, she will also sever any ceremonial relationship from now on.

Liu Sheng is not the parent and son of Empress Bo, and there is no relationship between etiquette and law, but the relationship between people will not change because of changes in etiquette and law. Human beings are creatures manipulated by emotions.

King Zhongshan accepted the gift from Empress Bo twice, which in the eyes of outsiders is proof that he and Empress Bo have a good relationship.

Even if the feelings are ordinary, how many people can remain indifferent when the former aunt comes to ask for help?

But if King Zhongshan moved, it would cause Liu Qi to look sideways.

Why does a vassal king in a vassal state pay so much attention to the affairs of the imperial capital?Moreover, the vassal state was able to obtain first-hand information about the capital, no matter which point would make the emperor sleepless.

It doesn't matter once or twice, if there are too many times, no matter how deep the relationship between father and son is, they can't bear this.

The relationship between father and son has faded, and it is about the duty of monarch and minister.

This is undoubtedly an extremely dangerous signal, showing the emperor that his son has grown up.

But if it is said that there is nothing to do in the face of the queen's request for help, it will be possible to do the opposite in the future.The Han Dynasty advocated filial piety. Although etiquette is no longer relevant, but after all, after taking care of you for so long and giving you so many precious books, even unrelated strangers who enjoy this kindness but do not extend a helping hand will be punished. criticized.

This is undoubtedly a dilemma, just like the problems Liu Zhi encountered back then, with a sense of looking down from above that invites you into the urn.

But now even if Da Changqiu confessed frankly, Xia Anran would not be able to handle this matter.

Now Da Changqiu is clearly saying that his purpose is to save Empress Bo, and Xia Anran can't really let Empress Bo be tortured, that is to say, he knows that this is a conspiracy, but he still wants to jump down—this may also be true. In the calculation of the person behind.

This person shot at Liu She for the first time, and the second time he shot at him. In fact, the purpose of this person was very simple, to weaken the crown prince's strength.

Before that, he used Liu Zhi to attack Prince Liu Rong, but now he wants to use him to attack Liu Che's influence.

Liu Che had no half-brother, so his natural allies were the four sons born to Wang Meiren's younger sister.But in reality, Liu Che and the four Dou Dingzhi couldn't talk about going together because of the huge difference in their ideological situation.

So so far, if one wants to say that Liu Che has a relatively solid political alliance in the fraternal alliance, Xia Anran is the only one.

However, Zhongshan Kingdom is under the control of Zhidu and Han Ying, both of whom are experts in this field, and protect the little king so that no one can get in.

His own political literacy is also good enough, the background behind him is also very deep, and his reputation among the people is also very good. It is not easy to do something to him.

But there is no corner in the world that cannot be dug, as long as you keep digging the soil, even if you can't dig it, it will annoy you to death.

Xia Anran pointed at the table, thinking about the current situation with downcast eyes.Unexpectedly, halfway through the thought, Da Changqiu struggled to control his bound body and knelt down towards Xia Anran. His hands were tied behind his back, and it was difficult to control his strength. This movement, Da Changqiu was completely out of control. He hit the ground with his forehead.

There was a muffled sound immediately after the effortless movement, which obviously startled the guards outside.

"Your Highness?"

"It's okay." Xia Anran paused, and suddenly felt that the voice was wrong, "Ah Wan? Why is it you?"

Being called to reveal his identity, Dou Wan came in from the outside. Seeing Da Changqiu's kneeling posture, he frowned, and seeing the little king's thin clothes, he was even more dissatisfied, "Your Highness, please wear cold clothes first."

Xia Anran's eyes widened.Wait, shouldn't you explain why you're here first?

Dou Wan is half of his companion, so naturally he does not have the duty of guarding, not to mention it is already curfew time, how did this person come in?

Are you over the wall again!Pity the guards of Zhongshan Kingdom, don't burden them any more!

However, his gaze was lost. Dou Wan skillfully found thicker clothes in his hall, and then walked over to put them on, avoiding the little king's sight the whole time.

After wrapping the person up tightly, Dou Wan took out a candy exuding a sweet aroma from the drawer under the table and stuffed it into Xia Anran's mouth.

The little king glared at him: You can't eat candy at night, it will cause tooth decay.

Dou Wan looked over calmly: Just wash up before going to bed, Your Highness, you were wearing unlined clothes just now, be careful of catching a cold, take some medicine to prevent it.

Xia Anran refused, so Dou Wan raised his hands and looked at him quietly.The little king cared about Da Changqiu who was still kneeling on the ground, so he could only open his mouth angrily to let the candy be brought in. While glaring at people, he bit the candy until it was crunchy, enduring the strong smell of ginger inside.

After swallowing it in two or three gulps, even after gulping down a cup of hot tea, the little king still felt that his mouth was full of spicy ginger.

This candy called medicine candy is a new product of Changsha. In fact, it is ginger candy, but ginger is still very rare today. It was so rare that a few years ago, the little king thought that ginger had not been introduced to the big man at this time. .

It wasn't until his elder brother Liu Fa enriched his small coffers by selling sugar, and sent a bunch of southern specialties to thank Xia Anran, that the little king discovered that he already had ginger.

After having ginger, there is a lot of room to operate. The little king immediately wrote to his brother to ask him to work hard to expand the space for ginger planting.In addition to being able to remove the fishy smell and be used as a spice, this thing is also very effective in warding off cold and avoiding epidemics, and it also has a certain effect on schistosomiasis.In this era of drinking unboiled water, the problem of parasites is very serious.

In order to encourage Liu Fa to plant ginger, Zhongshan State placed a large order on the spot that was enough to make Liu Fa excited.In the second year, Zhongshan State received this batch of goods. Except for a part that Xia Anran kept to test whether it could be planted in the north, most of them were sliced ​​and dried for preservation, and some were ground into powder to make ginger candy. Put it on sale in the shop.

This kind of candy with a spicy taste and special aroma was widely praised as soon as it was launched, but even though people in Zhongshan became richer and richer, the number of people who were willing to spend money on candies was still limited.

For ordinary people, the most is to buy some and put them at home during the holidays, and occasionally lick a few sweet mouths for the children.

But soon someone discovered a secret - this sugar can cure diseases.

The reason was that a family’s child fell ill, and the family gritted their teeth and prepared a few medicines, but the child couldn’t eat it by himself, and vomited after pouring it down. The rural family had no money to go to the city to hire a doctor. Mr. Tou thought that he could not let the child go with a mouthful of bitter medicine, so he went to a relative to buy a candy on credit.

The relatives were also kind enough to give some more, who knew that with a few grains of candy, the child would be able to open his eyes the next day, and he would be able to drink the medicine when he could open his eyes.

The news spread ten to ten, and the name of Jiang Tang's medicinal candy spread immediately.

People are not willing to spend money to buy a candy that is useless but sweet, but if this is medicine, the price is very cheap!

And some villagers who have bought it have endorsed the effect of ginger candy and recommended it to each other.As soon as the news spread, even other villages and counties entrusted relatives acquainted in Zhongshan to purchase, and the ginger candies made were quickly swept away.

When the news reached Xia Anran, the little king was also puzzled.In Xia Anran's opinion, it is impossible for such miraculous therapeutic effects in the rumors. The ginger soup contains not much ginger. Even if ginger does have the ability to dispel cold, in this era where basic diseases rely on self-healing, the effect is overwhelming. group.

But it's not to the point where one night before you were terminally ill, you can feel a hundred times more energetic the next day after taking one pill and sleeping.

If he hadn't confirmed that the people below hadn't done this before, he would have thought that he had engaged in false sales in order to promote sales.

But even though he later posted a big-character poster at the door of the shop selling ginger candy to refute the rumors, the name of Yaotang has already become famous, and it has been followed by merchants all the way abroad, and it has become a sharp weapon for many merchants to open other people's doors.

In desperation, Xia Anran could only ask the subordinates to make ginger candy with higher ginger content, and supply it to the villagers who mainly needed to cure diseases.

Later, he thought about it, and it is not unreasonable to say that this sugar can cure diseases.The raw materials of ginger candy are ginger and brown sugar. Brown sugar can add a lot of energy and calories to the human body, and ginger does have a certain therapeutic effect. At the same time, its appetizing effect is very significant.

The most feared thing about illness is loss of appetite. For young and middle-aged people, as long as they can eat enough, the body has a source of energy to boost its own resistance.

But Xia Anran herself doesn't like ginger candy at all.

He doesn't mind seasoning with ginger, but he doesn't like eating it at all.

When Xia Anran was trying to rinse his mouth, Dou Wan had already helped Da Changqiu up. The latter wanted to maintain a kneeling position, but Dou Wan was so strong that he forcibly pulled him up.

Da Changqiu: Wait, this routine is not right!

Da Changqiu raised his head again, his forehead was red, and he felt pain when he looked at it. He was forced to stand up, and he looked at Xia Anran with complicated eyes, "Your Highness!"

Xia Anran looked into his eyes, fell silent for a moment, and sighed, "Da Changqiu, do you want to say, let me take your mother over to take care of her?"

The man's eyes burst into brilliance in an instant, and he struggled to kowtow again, "I know that this request has embarrassed His Highness, but His Majesty has already rectified the Bo family before, and Your Majesty has nothing to rely on in the capital. Once Your Majesty loses his compassionate Madam, It’s going to be tough.”

"I beg Your Highness, if His Highness is willing to bring your mother to Zhongshan Kingdom, I will never forget Your Highness's great kindness!"

After all, he kowtowed again.

The little king sighed, and he stood up slowly to help him up.Following his actions, a look of despair appeared on Da Changqiu's face.

Indeed, for His Royal Highness Liu Sheng, it was not easy to pick up Empress Bo. The vassal king could take care of his mother after the emperor's death, and it also depended on what the successor thought. It was a favor rather than a matter of course.

There has never been a precedent for someone to pick up his father while he was still alive, but Da Changqiu came up with this idea because there was no precedent for deposing the queen before.

Now Empress Bo has been abolished, and has been raped to the end. She is not even a court lady, she belongs to ordinary people.To put it simply, it is the kind of divorced unilaterally, who doesn't even have any property before and after marriage.

If she was just a civilian girl, it would be easy to leave, but the emperor left a trace of superficial affection, and allocated resources to support Empress Bo.This is a little unclear.

This is a difficult problem.

Da Changqiu knew that the question he gave was more difficult than the one given by those with evil intentions.That person's question can be avoided by tricks, but it is very difficult for His Royal Highness Liu Sheng to avoid talking about it.

The Bo family was already in decline, and they didn't have any help to help His Highness Liu Sheng.If His Highness is willing to lend a helping hand, he will get nothing but a lot of trouble.

To King Zhongshan, this would do a lot of harm but not any benefit, and it was only natural for His Highness to refuse.

Da Changqiu comforted himself that he was also here to try his luck, because His Highness Liu Sheng was the only one other than His Royal Highness the Crown Prince who continued to inquire about her after the accident, and he was just...just to try his luck.

It seems, it seems that his luck is not so good.Forget it, this can be seen from the fact that he was the only one among the brothers who was sent into the palace.I just don't know if His Highness is willing to send his old bones back to Chang'an, as long as he is alive, he can always take care of some ladies.

"I promise you. I will write a letter to my father, asking to take care of my mother." Xia Anran waved his hand, and personally untied the old man, "I offended you a lot earlier. Da Changqiu will go to rest for a while, and wait until the king is ready. , and sent people to Chang'an to write a letter."

With a lift of his hands, he stopped the old man who was about to kneel again, calmed him down with a few words, and asked someone to send him out.Then he looked at Dou Wan, and asked the question that was avoided just now, "Why did Ah Wan come here suddenly?"

Dou Wan stared at him, his dark eyes were filled with darkness, "Your Highness..."

After deliberating for a while, he swallowed the dissuading words and changed the subject, "Your Highness, Wan seems to have found an entry point to understand the princess' letter."

"Really?" The little king raised his eyebrows and smiled, "It's such a coincidence, I just figured it out, why don't we write the answer together?"

Dou Wan would never refuse, the two of them wrote their pens together, and after the scrolls were drawn, there were two words - time.