Chapter 5

Liu De knelt for another half an hour after this.

At this moment, the emperor, who had been kneeling at the front of the memorial hall, finally stood up, wiped away his tears, and said, "The Empress Dowager held my hand before she passed away and left a final command: all posthumous affairs should follow the late emperor's will, and the people of the realm should not be forbidden from marrying, giving in marriage, worshipping, drinking, or eating meat. Those who should wear mourning clothes should not trample on them. The mourning sash should not exceed three inches, and there should be no use of carriages or weapons, and no mobilization of the people to mourn in the palace. Unless it is morning or evening, no one should mourn at will... I am unfilial and could not follow her command, unable to control my grief. This is my fault!"

"Your Majesty, please take care..." The civil and military officials, as well as the feudal lords present, hurriedly knelt down.

"Pass my order: from this moment on, all funeral rites shall follow the Empress Dowager's last command, and no official shall disobey..."

"Agreed!"

Hearing these words, Liu De let out a long sigh of relief.

With his stepfather's command, the hard days of the funeral were finally over.

In fact, if they were to follow the Empress Dowager's last will, such a scene should not have occurred.

However, two years ago, when the late emperor passed away, his will stipulated that the scale of the funeral should be even smaller than that of a minor feudal lord, and even the traditional mourning period and rituals were strictly limited and shortened.

At that time, because it was the emperor's will, his stepfather had no choice but to comply.

But this year, with the Empress Dowager's passing, following her will and emulating the late emperor's funeral seemed unreasonable.

Thus, today's mourning ceremony took place.

In the end, today's events were a performance for the feudal lords of the realm.

If Liu De's memory served him right, the Han dynasty was now entering a turbulent period.

Chao Cuo, who was now the Grand Historian, was actively preparing to reduce the power of the feudal lords.

Chao Cuo's plan to reduce the power of the feudal lords naturally met with resistance from the feudal lords, especially those in the south.

Just by looking at the number of feudal lords present at the funeral, one could tell—apart from Liang King Liu Wu, who was the emperor's half-brother, and Dai King Liu Gong, who was Liu De's cousin, only a few feudal lords personally came to Chang'an to mourn. Among the powerful southern feudal lords, only Qi King Liu Jianglu was present.

The most powerful feudal lords, such as Wu King Liu Bi, Chu King Liu Wu, and Zhao King Liu Sui, only sent representatives.

A year later, the rebellion of the Seven States, led by Wu and Chu, was sparked by an accusation that Chu King Liu Wu had been drinking and reveling during the Empress Dowager's funeral. Chao Cuo seized this opportunity to reduce his fief, which led to Liu Wu and Liu Bi raising the banner of "clearing the court" and rebelling. Zhao King Liu Sui, Jiaoxi King Liu Mao, Jiyang King Liu Piguang, Zichuan King Liu Xian, and Jiaodong King Liu Xiongqu also joined the rebellion, and half of China was plunged into chaos overnight.

In his previous life, Liu De was accused of being "unfilial" and was severely beaten.

Even a clay Buddha couldn't save itself in such a situation.

Therefore, even though he knew the rebellion of Wu and Chu was coming, he couldn't use it to gain any advantage for himself.

Now...

"Brother, what's wrong with you?" Liu De was lost in thought when someone suddenly grabbed his sleeve and whispered, "Mother is very angry!"

Liu De turned around and saw it was his younger brother, Liu E, and he was taken aback.

Compared to his other ten brothers, Liu De's feelings for Liu E were the most complex.

After being accused of being "unfilial" in his previous life, almost everyone avoided Liu De, even Liu Rong didn't pay much attention to him.

During the time Liu De was under house arrest in the palace, waiting for his trial, it was Liu E who found opportunities to talk and chat with him every day.

Unfortunately...

Liu De remembered that three years later, Liu E fell ill and died, posthumously titled as King Ai of Linjiang. Two years after that, Crown Prince Liu Rong was demoted to King of Linjiang, and two years later, Liu Rong committed suicide...

Turning to Liu E, Liu De held his hand and patted his shoulder, saying, "It's fine, don't you know Mother's temper? She'll calm down eventually..."

This was true.

In the past two years, as his stepfather became emperor, his stepmother, Lady Suji, had become increasingly temperamental, often lashing out for no reason and then calming down just as suddenly.

"Brother, would you like to come and sit with me?" Liu De thought for a moment and suggested.

For Lady Suji and Liu Rong, Liu De had done his best in his previous life and didn't care how they viewed him.

But for Liu E...

Thinking of Liu E, who had been with him during his darkest times, Liu De couldn't remain indifferent.

"Regardless of whether Liu E's fate will change..." Liu De thought, "I'll at least try to see if I can prevent him from being sent to Huguang..."

In Han history, there were two taboo fiefs: one was Linjiang, where two rulers died young, and the other was Yan, where almost no king had a good end...

Most of the Yan kings brought their own downfall.

But Linjiang had a problem with the land itself.

Linjiang was roughly in the area of present-day Jingmen, Hubei. At that time, Huguang was not the fertile land it is today; it was undeveloped, humid, and hot. A pampered prince sent to such a place would likely fall ill.

Liu De knew that his younger brother's talents were only average, and thus he was not favored by his stepfather.

That's why he was sent to Linjiang.

Even Liu De, who had been branded as "unfilial," was sent to Hejian, and the foolish Liu Duan got Jiaodong.

Among all his brothers, the worst fiefs were Linjiang for Liu E and Changsha for Liu Fa.

The reason...

These two were the least noticeable among the many princes.

Of course, there was another reason—Liu De had forgotten how to get home...

It sounds funny, but it's understandable.

In his previous life, after being accused of being "unfilial," Liu De was put under house arrest.

When he finally got out, he was immediately made King of Hejian.

During this period, he only lived in his prince's palace in the imperial city for a month.

After that, Liu De never returned to that place.

It had been at least a dozen years.

So, it was normal that he couldn't remember the direction of his home.

...

There will be another update tonight.

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My previous editor is gone, so I guess I'm a neglected person, hehe...

Of course, I bear the greatest responsibility.