Chapter 4

Walking out of the sleeping chamber, Liu De tidied up his attire and looked back at the appearance of the chamber.

In his previous life, after he had traveled through time, he relied on the rudimentary historical knowledge and laughable political insights he brought from two thousand years later, bumping around like a headless fly.

Back then, all his thoughts were focused on the Liu Zhi who was still in swaddling clothes, and he was terrified of him.

Unfortunately, he forgot one thing: history is written by the victors.

It was only many years later that he realized this, but by then it was too late.

Fortunately, now that he had a second chance, he was no longer unfamiliar with this era. He could recite the backgrounds and origins of the current officials and the rise of the political giants who would later dominate the political scene with his eyes closed.

Through the fog of history, many things were clear to Liu De.

For example, up until now, his stepfather had never thought about establishing a crown prince.

Even the later appointment of his elder brother Liu Rong as the crown prince was merely a temporary measure.

It sounded ridiculous.

But as someone who had lived through it, when Liu De reviewed the entire process, this was the only explanation.

In the final years of his previous life, whenever Liu De thought about this, he would sigh in regret. If he had known this earlier, he wouldn't have made those mistakes...

Being a Monday morning quarterback, of course, was just talk.

However, when he was reborn at the beginning of his time travel, Liu De became a prophet!

"My stepfather..." Liu De sighed in his heart.

A set of data can perfectly illustrate the character and personality of the current emperor, Liu Qi.

The current emperor, Liu Qi, had his first son, Liu Rong, when he was sixteen.

In the first three years, Liu De's stepmother, Su Ji, gave birth to three sons: Liu Rong, Liu De himself, and Liu E.

Then, Cheng Ji gave birth to two sons within three years: Liu Yu and Liu Fei.

In between, Cheng Ji's maid, Tang Ji, gave birth to a son, Liu Fa, for Liu De's stepfather.

Then, Jia Fu gave birth to Liu Pengzu and Liu Sheng over the next three years.

Among them, except for Cheng Ji, who took advantage of Jia Fu's pregnancy to give birth to another son, Liu Duan, the other concubines bore no children.

For the next eight years, the emperor had no more children until Wang Mo appeared and gave birth to Liu Zhi.

Listing the birth months and years of all the princes and their mothers up to now, it is clear that the current emperor, Liu Qi, is not a promiscuous man but a very devoted emperor. However, his devotion only lasts for three to four years, during which he basically favors only one person. Once the time limit is exceeded, he quickly shifts his attention.

When Liu De's stepfather focused his energy on state affairs, another situation emerged.

Is Chao Cuo now powerful and influential enough, with almost all his memorials approved?

However, when the Wu-Chu rebellion broke out, Chao Cuo was almost tricked into being beheaded on the street.

After that, Zhou Yafu, due to his military achievements, was highly favored by the emperor for a period, almost becoming a model of harmonious relations between the emperor and his minister.

However, when Zhou Yafu clashed with the emperor over the issue of the crown prince, he quickly fell from grace and was eventually thrown into the imperial prison!

From Chao Cuo to Zhou Yafu, Liu De's stepfather completely violated the long-standing Han tradition of 'not humiliating the generals and ministers.'

The so-called 'not humiliating the generals and ministers' was an unwritten tradition proposed by Jia Yi to the previous emperor and became a precedent.

It means that high-ranking officials, such as dukes, generals, and ministers, should be given a dignified end unless they commit treason or other heinous crimes.

Typically, this means a non-violent death.

For example, the famous Chariot General Bo Zhao was the first to receive this treatment.

However, Chao Cuo and Zhou Yafu, one a censor and the other a former grand commandant and prime minister, both of whom were once very close to Liu Qi, did not receive this treatment.

Seeing this clearly, it is evident what kind of person the current emperor, Liu Qi, is.

When you are useful to him or he likes you, he will give you whatever you want without hesitation.

But when you are no longer useful to him or he is tired of you, the smart thing to do is to get out of his way.

Therefore, after being reborn, Liu De's goal is very clear: to make Liu Qi see his value as much as possible.

However, to become the crown prince, merely demonstrating talent and value is far from enough.

A good man needs three helpers, and he needs a strong force to support him. Otherwise, even if he becomes the crown prince, he will be deposed in a few days.

His experience in his previous life told Liu De that his maternal clan was more of a hindrance than a help.

Liu Rong's dethronement was half due to Su Ji and half due to the troublesome uncles.

To avoid repeating Liu Rong's mistake, the only way was to escape the Su clan's influence.

The only person who could help Liu De escape the Su clan's influence, as he thought about it in his previous life, was Empress Bo.

Empress Bo had no children, which was a fatal flaw.

Liu De himself had a problematic maternal clan, which was also a fatal flaw.

If he could be adopted by the Bo clan, both problems would be solved.

More importantly, the Bo clan had been operating in Chang'an for over twenty years with few scandals.

Of course, this matter could not be rushed, and Liu De could not propose it himself. Empress Bo had to request it from the emperor, and then he could go along with it.

As for the instability of Empress Bo's position, Liu De did not consider it significant.

Thinking about these things, Liu De slowly crossed the long corridor and arrived at the side of the memorial hall.

He looked around, then crouched down and returned to his original kneeling position, kneeling properly.

"Brother, where were you just now?" As soon as Liu De knelt down, a soft and gentle voice whispered from behind.

Liu De knew without turning around that it was his eighth brother, Liu Duan.

Among the eleven brothers, only he had that tone.

"Nothing, just went to visit Mother..." Liu De did not turn around and whispered, "Brother, don't get distracted. Focus on your own duties!"

Liu De's memory of Liu Duan was already quite vague.

At the beginning of his time travel in his previous life, their relationship was quite good.

However, after they were each enfeoffed as kings, their opportunities to meet became increasingly rare, so they gradually lost contact. He only heard that this brother had done many outrageous things.

But Liu De had never disliked this brother, nor had he avoided him like the other brothers.

Indeed, Liu De knew that this brother was actually a pitiable person.

Liu Duan was born with a physical defect.

To be precise, he had an extra organ.

In the 21st century, this could be resolved through gender reassignment surgery, but in this pre-Christian era, it was unsolvable.

Therefore, people often say that those who are pitiable must have something hateful about them.

...

PS: This chapter was written a bit slowly. I might need to revise it tomorrow. I feel that some parts are not quite right. For now, it's like this. I'm too tired...