My life is like walking on thin ice

Chapter 290: Brothers working together can break through metal

"Your Majesty, I am honored to see you!"

About half an hour later, Liu Rong finally waited for his second brother Liu De, King of Hejian, his third brother Liu Yu, King of Linjiang, as well as his fourth brother Liu Yu, King of Lu, and his fifth brother Liu Fei, King of Jiangdu, to arrive at the eastern suburbs of Chang'an.

Then they saw the princes of the previous emperor disembarking from afar, led by Hejian Prince Liu De, walking quickly towards Liu Rong.

After walking about five steps, the brothers knelt down on the ground in unison and raised their hands to Liu Rong with tears in their eyes.

"His Majesty……"

"——Brother~"

While they were paying homage, the brothers all had tears in their eyes, and their eyes when they looked at Liu Rong were filled with the emotions they wanted to express.

——As the eldest son of Emperor Xiaojing except Liu Rong, the reaction of Prince Hejian Liu De was textbook-level.

Just by holding back tears and choking with sobs, the attitude of His Royal Highness the Prince of Hejian was clearly revealed.

It is obvious that Liu De has accepted and adapted to the identity change between the two brothers, and put himself in the most correct position: Liu Rong's minister.

As for the tears that showed no sign of falsehood, they were in memory of her deceased father: the late Emperor Xiaojing.

Taizu Gaohuangdi decreed: When the Han emperor passed away, the whole nation would mourn;

As long as the national mourning was not over, all relatives and princes from Guandong were not allowed to go to Chang'an to attend the funeral or offer condolences.

But later, Emperor Xiaohui was weak, the previous and next Shaodi were young, and Emperor Taizong was overly frugal. To varying degrees, they shortened the national mourning period, which was supposed to last half a year, to one to three months.

Although the mourning period was shortened, the ancestral rule that princes were forbidden to visit Chang'an during the national mourning period was still implemented for a period of half a year.

This is why, seven years ago, just a month after the death of Emperor Taizong Xiaowen, the then Prince of Liang Liu Wu was so eager to request an audience in Chang'an, which caused a heated discussion inside and outside the court.

Now, eight months have passed since the death of Emperor Xiaojing.

Counting the days, the brothers were almost within the theoretical period of national mourning: only after the expiration of half a year did they start packing their bags and set out for Chang'an.

In this way, the visit of the vassal states of Emperor Xiaojing to the court can be regarded as a belated visit to mourn their father.

The tears of Hejian King Liu De probably came from this.

Big brother~
My father has passed away...

My condolences, bro...

If so, the reaction of Hejian King Liu De can be described as a textbook-level political show, and the reaction of the third brother Liu Yu can be described as the reality of the world.

He addressed Liu Rong as "brother" without any scruples, and threw aside the relationship between him and Liu Rong as a king and a minister.
That tearful face with a smile obviously did not show much mourning for the late emperor - it was more of a longing for his elder brother Liu Rong and joy at the reunion of brothers.

With the two elder brothers Liu De and Liu Yu taking the lead, the reactions of King of Lu Liu Yu and King of Jiangdu Liu Fei were predictable.

——Prince Liu Yu of Lu had a sorrowful look on his face and remained silent. Although he was not in mourning, he looked like a filial son whose family had suffered a death.

King Liu Fei of Jiangdu was a little more straightforward. He waved and called out to Liu Rong from a distance.
When he walked in, under the warning look of his brother Liu Yu, he first bowed to Liu Rong politely, and then pretended to be "Dad passed away, I am so sad" and lowered his head, but his eyes glanced at Liu Rong from time to time, and it was obvious that he missed Liu Rong very much.

After several years, Liu Rong was naturally happy to see his brothers, with whom he had once been close, again.

But as the emperor, Liu Rong had to behave even more like a textbook than his second brother Liu De.

This is not about whether Liu Rong is hypocritical;

It is just a political task - especially the duty of the Han emperor...

"The kings are all back..."

"Reply...hiss..."

"It'll be nice to come back..."

"Just come back..."

Liu Fei was very sure: from the moment he stepped down from the royal carriage until his brothers walked up to Liu Rong and knelt down and kowtowed to perform the protocol between a monarch and his subjects, Liu Rong still had a gentle smile on his face that made people feel like spring breeze.

But when Liu Rong's choking voice reached his ears, Liu Fei looked up and saw that his elder brother Liu Rong's face was already filled with tears without him knowing when.

——Liu Fei once heard the teacher who taught military tactics in the palace say: There is no constant position of troops, just as there is no constant shape of water. All military masters are good at the art of change.

It is no exaggeration to say that today, Liu Fei may have witnessed the most jaw-dropping "change of formation" in his life...

Compared to the fifth brother Liu Fei's astonishment and the third brother Liu Yu's slowness, the reactions of the second brother Liu De and the fourth brother Liu Yu seemed more mature.

Almost at the same time when Liu Rong finished speaking, the two brothers stepped forward, with the same sorrow and sobs as Liu Rong, and knelt on one knee on either side of Liu Rong;

She held Liu Rong's arms tightly with both hands, looked up at Liu Rong with tears in her eyes, then lowered her head, trembling and sobbing.

"Your Majesty... Your Majesty, please accept my condolences..."

"Your Majesty, take care..."

Seeing their elder brothers set an example, Liu Yu and Liu Fei also stepped forward one after another, knelt behind their brothers, and wiped their tears half-seriously and half-pretendingly.

——It’s no wonder that even now that he’s almost come of age, he still retains the naivety of the previous emperor’s hypocrisy, or that he’s indifferent to his father’s passing.

Being born in the deep palace, her understanding of the word "father" almost entirely came from the classics of ancient sages told by the palace gentlemen, as well as the filial piety and brotherhood that she was exposed to.

Just think about it: since you were born, your mother, brothers and sisters, and you have lived in a slightly larger courtyard, and you have rarely gone out throughout the year;

There are three or five other neighbors whose situations are similar to yours, and you rarely visit each other on weekdays.

There is a person called "Father" who comes to see you once in ten days or half a month, or once in a year or half a month;
But at most we would have dinner together, test your brothers' homework, and then go to bed with your mother.

When you woke up the next day, the mysterious man called "father" had disappeared, and you didn't know when he would come to see you and your son next time.

On weekdays, you brothers stay in the palace, listening to the teachers’ lectures on the principles of governing the country and maintaining peace.

You only know: respect your father - because everyone in the world respects your father;
All you know is that in the future you will be crowned king and rule over the people of an area.

Apart from going to Shiqu Pavilion to listen to the lectures given by the teachers, the only chance for you and your brothers to step out of the "courtyard" is to attend one extremely hypocritical dinner after another.

Growing up in such an environment, you might still follow your instincts and have a glimmer of hope and fantasy about your father's kindness.

But when such a father - or a stranger with a close blood relationship - dies due to the law of nature, it is really difficult for you to feel sincere grief, and miss and reluctance to part with that vague figure. It is like the neighbor uncle you have only seen a dozen times since you were a child. You think the uncle is a good person, but he can't say much to you. He always has a stern face and always says that you are not hardworking;

One day, when you learn that this uncle has passed away, will you be overwhelmed with grief and even shed tears?
If you have a conscience and can shed a few tears at the funeral, you are already very emotional...

No matter how many, don’t say you can’t do it—even the best actor has to put in a lot of effort to perform such a play well.

Even at this moment, the brothers were able to act out expressions of 'great grief', with tears streaming down their faces without any signs of acting, which already made Liu Rong secretly surprised.

As for whether his pursuit of his younger brothers is genuine or just an act?
呵；
The royal family is ruthless, and it's not just about the royal family towards women;

Being alone is not just a saying...

"Hejian is located at the junction of Qi and Zhao, and is close to the sea;"

"You have been in the vassal state for several years. Is the king well?"

After a touching "crying match", Liu Rong finally stopped this political show.

——Liu Rong understood the principle of knowing when to stop.

Hearing Liu Rong's concern for him, Liu De couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief after finishing the segmentation. He quickly put on a moving smile and nodded slightly to Liu Rong.

"I have been blessed by the late Emperor Xiao Jing and Your Majesty's great blessings;"

"My brother is in Hejian, everything is fine..."

Liu Rong nodded slowly, and helped his second brother Liu De to his right.
Then he took two steps forward, helped his third brother Liu Yu up from the ground, and said with concern: "It is said that the third brother caught a cold last year and was bedridden for a while."

"At that time, my prince was the regent and I had no time to go there myself, so I cried and begged the late emperor to send the imperial physician to go there."

"My king, are you all right?"

Compared with his previous concern for his second brother Liu De's "how is your health", Liu Rong's concern for his third brother Liu Yu was obviously more sincere.

no way;
In the original historical timeline, the illness last year really took the life of His Royal Highness the Prince of Linjiang!
Once upon a time, Liu Rong thought that the death of his third brother Liu Yu was due to his mother Li Ji's call of "old dog", which caused him - or rather, the entire camp of the eldest princes headed by the original owner, to be rejected by the late emperor;

Liu Rong even attributed the mysterious death of his third brother Liu Yu to the old man's revenge on the original owner and the liquidation of the eldest prince's party.

It was not until last year that Liu Rong, the Crown Prince Regent, who was busy with his internship in Chang'an, learned that there was news from Guandong that "Prince Linjiang has caught a cold and may not live long". Liu Rong finally realized that in this era, human life is still quite fragile.

People in later generations have become accustomed to it and are even reluctant to take medicine, simply letting headaches and fevers heal on their own. But in this era, these are serious diseases that can be fatal if one is not careful!

As for later generations, those minor illnesses that were not too troublesome and only required a few days of medicine and injections, such as inflammation, were undoubtedly incurable diseases in this era!

From a certain perspective, in this era, if you want to kill someone, you don't have to use some rare and strange poison as described in some novels.

- Find a handkerchief used by a person suffering from a cold, and try to make the person you intend to kill use it to wipe his mouth or wash his nose;
As long as you are lucky enough, this inconspicuous operation of yours will most likely allow you to kill your enemy as you wish.

After realizing this, Liu Rong rushed into the palace immediately.

Although it was not as exaggerated as he said, it still took some effort to ask the old man for a large team of imperial doctors to treat my third brother Liu Yu.

Fortunately, the final result was good - the imperial doctors, despite the high pressure of the Crown Prince Regent saying "if you don't succeed, you will die", tried their best to treat Liu Yu. In addition, Liu Yu was still young and his resistance was at its peak, so he finally got the blessing of heaven and crossed the hurdle in his destiny.

At this moment, seeing his third brother Liu Yu, who should have been dead in the original historical timeline, standing in front of him alive and kicking, and even having the energy to smile at him, Liu Rong couldn't help but feel an indescribable sense of accomplishment in his heart.

——It can be said that Liu Rong relied on his own strength to forcibly change the course of history.

But in the eyes of the other onlookers, Liu Rong's sincere feelings had several different meanings.

"The eldest brother versus the third brother..."

"No—to us brothers;"

"Big brother is really good to us younger brothers..."

Liu Yu had no doubt at all: if he and other brothers encountered the same situation as Liu Yu last year, even if Liu Rong could not do the same to Liu Yu, it would not be much different!
And in heaven - in heaven where hierarchy is more important, such a relatively innocent emotion is undoubtedly moving.

Especially when the brothers just started to think, Liu Rong's concern came to their mind.

"It is said that the fourth brother speaks with a stone in his mouth, day and night without slacking off - is there anything wrong with that?"

It would have been better if Liu Rong didn't mention this matter. As soon as he mentioned it, a layer of mist suddenly covered Liu Yu's eyes.

"Your Majesty!"

"Your Majesty, I am grateful for your concern. I will never be the same as before..."

"No more of the past..."

Just now, when Liu Yu was weeping over the death of the late emperor and the separation of his brothers, perhaps his words were half-truthful;

But this time, Liu Yu really cried.

Only disabled people themselves can understand the mental torment that their physical defects bring to them.

Especially when one is born with an extremely noble status, one can feel more deeply how helpless it is to feel the pity, sighs and even ridicule that surrounds him all the time and appears in the eyes of others.

They will say: Isn’t it just stuttering?
Aren’t you dumb anymore?

They would say: I’m not a storyteller, why do I have to worry about this?
When I am crowned king in the future, who would dare to say, openly or secretly, that my Han relatives and princes are not like ordinary people?

Liu Yu just wants to say: Don’t advise others to be kind without experiencing their suffering…

From childhood to adulthood, Liu Yu will never forget every person who looked at him differently and every malicious look directed at him!
Naturally, I can’t forget the few words from my elder brother Liu Rong, who pointed out a way for me.

A way to say goodbye to the past, become a normal person from now on, and no longer have to endure the gossip and strange looks from others...

"Hmm~"

"I see, there is indeed nothing wrong with it."

"——In the future, you still must not slack off and must continue to practice diligently."

“This is not a disease, but its danger is worse than disease.”

"If you slack off because you are not hindered for a while, in the long run, you may end up wasting all your past sufferings..."

(End of this chapter)