Chapter 6

Liu De, using a mix of persuasion and deception, coaxed Liu E to bring him back to his palace.

"Your Highness..."

As soon as they entered, Liu De saw a person he was most familiar with from his previous life—Wang Dao, a loyal servant who had always been by his side and ultimately committed suicide with him by taking poison.

Wang Dao was a eunuch, about the same age as Liu De.

If he remembered correctly, Wang Dao had only been assigned to serve Liu De for less than a month at this time.

But this young eunuch had always been by Liu De's side in his previous life, whether during the glory days of being enfeoffed as the King of Hejian or the difficult times of being oppressed and suspected.

Therefore, seeing Wang Dao again after coming back, Liu De was filled with emotion.

In the last year of his previous life, Liu De's daily life had been under surveillance.

A general holding the emperor's sword stood at the entrance of his palace, and the Chancellor of Hejian, holding the emperor's edict, constantly monitored and scrutinized his every move.

At that time, everything in the palace was extremely scarce.

Liu De sometimes even went hungry.

Liu De would never forget that during those days, it was Wang Dao who shared his food with his descendants...

Thinking about this, Liu De's eyes became a bit moist, but he couldn't show it.

He just nodded and then, holding Liu E's hand, entered his bedroom.

Because it was a period of national mourning, everything in the bedroom was very simple, with no luxurious pleasures like wine, music, or dancing girls.

"Your Imperial Highness..." After inviting Liu E to sit on the guest seat, Liu De solemnly said, "Your Imperial Brother has a matter and would like to ask for your Imperial Brother's assistance!"

Liu E replied generously, "We are flesh and blood brothers; there's no need to talk about assistance. Whatever Your Imperial Brother commands, Liu E will not dare to refuse."

"It's like this. I want to write a memorial to Father Emperor, but as Your Imperial Brother, I have little influence. Therefore, I would like to ask Your Imperial Brother to co-sign it..." Liu De said, looking into Liu E's eyes.

This was a risky matter.

In the Han dynasty, memorials that required co-signing were usually controversial or sensitive.

Although the Han dynasty did not have the severe censorship of the later Qing dynasty and did not punish people for their words,

if the memorial contained something that displeased the emperor, one had to be careful about the consequences.

Moreover...

The current emperor, their father, was not a man of good temper.

Deng Tong was a good example.

In the past, Deng Tong was the most favored minister of the late Emperor Xiaowen, whom even the Chancellor could not punish, only reprimand.

However, the first official action of Liu De's stepfather after ascending the throne was to investigate Deng Tong—dismissing him, confiscating his property, and ultimately causing this once-wealthiest eunuch to starve to death on the streets of Chang'an.

Why did Deng Tong offend Liu De's stepfather?

According to popular legend, the late emperor once had a boil on his back that caused him great pain, even fainting once.

Seeing this, Deng Tong, without hesitation and disregarding hygiene, directly sucked the pus from the emperor's back, causing the emperor to regain consciousness. The emperor was deeply moved and exclaimed, "You are the one closest to me."

Deng Tong quickly replied, "The Crown Prince is the one closest to Your Majesty."

At that moment, Liu De's stepfather, who had just heard about the emperor's fainting, rushed over to check on him and happened to witness this.

The late emperor then ordered Liu De's stepfather to suck the pus from his back.

Reluctantly, Liu De's stepfather approached, but before he could even open his mouth, he vomited all over the late emperor...

From then on, Liu De's stepfather deeply hated Deng Tong and, upon ascending the throne, immediately ordered an investigation into him...

This story shows that so-called wise emperors can be as petty as a needle's eye.

When facing an emperor as petty as a needle's eye, even father and son must be cautious when submitting sensitive matters.

Moreover, what Liu De intended to write was indeed risky and could offend his stepfather.

Liu De remembered clearly that in his previous life, he wrote this and gave it to Liu Rong, hoping Liu Rong would use it to solidify his position as the Crown Prince.

Unfortunately, Liu Rong was hesitant and fearful, ultimately losing his last chance.

Thinking about the past, Liu De said, "Your Imperial Brother, don't rush to agree or refuse. Let me write it out first, and then you can decide whether to co-sign it!"

This was also an opportunity for Liu De to change Liu E's tragic fate.

In reality, the experiences and memories of his previous life made Liu De very familiar with his stepfather's character and attitude towards his children.

The current emperor, despite having many flaws and faults,

was an excellent and qualified ruler, politician, and sovereign of the Han dynasty.

Therefore, as long as one did not touch his sore spots, even the most radical suggestions could be tolerated without blame. If the emperor found them reasonable, he could even promote the submitter, as seen with the current Grand Historian Chao Cuo and later Yuan Ang, who sent Chao Cuo to the execution ground.

Chao Cuo suggested reducing the power of the feudal lords.

This was very radical and would certainly lead to civil war, but the stepfather found it reasonable and proceeded with it...

Yuan Ang said that the rebellion of the seven states was Chao Cuo's fault and that killing Chao Cuo would end the war without a fight. This was equivalent to making the stepfather admit his mistake, but the stepfather found it feasible and had Chao Cuo executed...

Later, the rebel forces of the seven states did not withdraw as Yuan Ang had claimed, but the stepfather did not hold Yuan Ang responsible.

What Liu De intended to write, while seemingly risky and likely to offend the current influential minister Chao Cuo,

was actually completely risk-free!

Liu De ordered someone to bring silk and ink, spread them on the table, and began to write.

His years as a king in his previous life had honed his writing skills and classical Chinese proficiency.

Therefore, writing was not difficult for him.

However, writing on silk was a bit awkward.

At this moment, Liu De deeply missed the white paper he had invented in his previous life.

"Once this matter is settled, I will 'invent' white paper!" Liu De thought.

White paper was his proudest creation in his previous life. In Hejian, he used the army and palace craftsmen to experiment and refine the best formula and simplest production process over three years. Although it was far from the quality of later Xuan paper or industrial paper, it was at least suitable for writing, binding, and preservation.

Liu De naturally remembered the process and procedures of this creation by heart.

As he thought and wrote, within a quarter of an hour, Liu De had written hundreds of words on the silk.

After finishing, he blew on the ink to dry it and handed the silk to Liu E, saying, "Your Imperial Brother, take a look. How does this memorial look?" His tone was inevitably proud.

The memorial was well-cited and practical, and more importantly, Liu De felt that his literary skills were already on par with those of contemporary scholars and literati.

For a time traveler, this was undoubtedly a significant achievement!

...

Yesterday, there was an error in copying, and some paragraphs got mixed up. I was very annoyed this morning, and my laptop's motherboard got water damage, and the repair shop suggested I replace the motherboard, which is ridiculous. Fortunately, I had Baidu, or I would have been scammed.

As usual, there will be two updates today, but they will be a bit later.

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