Controlling mountains and rivers since the Warring States Period

Chapter 389 The First Year of Zhenghe
In the first year of the Zhenghe era,

The emperor of the Han Dynasty arrived at the Wuzuo Palace near the Shanglin Garden.

This is where Wei Qing and Huo Qubing trained their soldiers.
When he was young, he often went hunting and playing here with the soldiers, and organized military exercises.

But right now,
So much has changed.

The once spirited emperor grew old and frail.

The once magnificent Wuzuo Palace is now filled with a desolate atmosphere, and some cracks have appeared in the painted doors and windows.

When the wind blows
They make squeaking sounds.
Just like the aging body of an emperor.

Only the five large oak trees planted next to the palace remained lush and green, swaying their branches and leaves.

They witnessed the emperor's youth.

Now it also witnesses the emperor growing old.

"……His Majesty!"

Huo Shan, who had come here with the emperor, quietly entered, her expression somewhat sorrowful.

He said, "News has come from Liang that the King of Liang has passed away."

"Ah..." The emperor trembled his white eyebrows and beard, and for a moment, not much sorrow welled up in his heart.

Is it because so many people have left him that he has become numb to it?
He simply remarked with a sigh, "That lad Liu Yong has actually beaten me to it."

"I thought he would be walking behind."

then,

He leaned against the armchair and beckoned to Huo Shan, "Come here."

Huo Shan went over, calmly raised her head, and met the emperor's gaze.

These days,

The emperor often looked at the face of him, and also at the face of Wei Qing's son, Wei Buyi, and reminisced about his old friends.

Some of Liu Yong's descendants were summoned to Chang'an by the emperor to accompany him, following the old system.

However, after generations of selective breeding, that grandson of the Liang king was much more handsome and intelligent than his ancestor.

This greatly reduced the effect of the emperor's "seeing objects and thinking of people".

Therefore,
The one who received the most favor from the emperor was Huo Shan, who was raised by close relatives and whose paternal and maternal lineages, as well as his innate talents, all showed the influence of Wei Qing and Huo Qubing.

This allowed Huo Shan to be pardoned even though he had committed the crime of assaulting Jiang Chong, a favorite minister of the emperor.

This time, the emperor, after gazing at his beloved junior for a while, also lost control of his emotions, raising his sleeve and weeping.
"They've all left... I'm old, I'm old!"

His achievements

His empire and glory,

His unrestrained and reckless youth,
It has completely faded away with the passage of time.

Only a lonely, aged Han emperor remained.

He was sometimes very afraid of dying.
Sometimes I can't help but feel that living too long is meaningless.

His friend has already left.

His wife and children gradually developed only superficial respect for him because of the emperor's fickle nature.

How many people in this world truly care about him?
This is the reason why the emperor favored people like Jiang Chong in his later years.

He can no longer be as confident as he used to be.

He can only rely on power to win people's hearts.

"...Come with me for another walk!"

After weeping softly for a while, the emperor lowered his sleeves, revealing his weathered and wrinkled old face.

Huo Shan stepped forward to help him up, and they slowly walked out of the Wuzuo Palace with the emperor.

"Your father and great-uncle used to live here..."

"Train the soldiers in mounted archery!"

When the emperor pointed to a patch of land overgrown with weeds, wanting to reminisce with the younger generation about the past, Huo Shan instinctively blurted out a reply.

Then he explained to the emperor, who was looking at him with a puzzled expression:
“You told me this when I accompanied His Majesty here last time.”

then,

The emperor fell silent.

He didn't know what to say.

When midnight,
The emperor lay on his bed, unable to fall asleep.

Getting older,

Sleep time needs to be shortened.
The constant manipulation of power and intrigue among people also made the emperor dream.

Often, things in dreams are not pleasant.

Upon waking, the emperor would always be breathless and filled with trepidation.

This severely damaged his mental state and intensified his paranoia. Jiang Chong, skilled in dealing with various sorcerers, had previously expressed suspicions that someone was secretly using witchcraft to harm the emperor.

As for who has the strongest motive for the crime?
That depends on who can profit the most from the emperor's death!

This is also why Huo Shan beat Jiang Chong severely in front of many court officials after the court session ended.

At that moment, the second-generation champion broke free from his colleagues who came forward to stop him, raised his fist the size of a bowl, and punched Jiang Chongbang twice, making the other party see stars and his face turn bruised and purple.

The official in charge of maintaining order during the court assembly was terrified and hurriedly asked, "Lord Champion, what do you mean by this?"

Huo Shan did not answer, focusing only on beating Jiang Chong.

When his hand got sore from hitting, he pulled out a large scepter instead, clearly trying to make the most of the time and hit as many people as possible.

The Prince of Liang, standing nearby, looked alarmed and replied to the courtiers around him, "I'm afraid he's been mentally corrupted by witchcraft!"

"I've heard that the Xiongnu Chanyu harbors resentment towards the Marquis of Champion for his sweeping conquest of the northern deserts, and often arranges for shamans to curse the descendants of Wei and Huo!"

“The day before yesterday, I visited Huo Shan, and he even tore open his clothes in front of me and ran around with his yellow dog for no reason!”

"Is there such a thing?"

A courtier inquired about Jin Ridi, a former Xiongnu prince who had been captured and was now a loyal minister of the Han Dynasty.

The other person stared blankly for a moment, mouth agape, before nodding vaguely, "Yes, yes..."

In the end, the matter reached the emperor, but due to his favoritism towards the descendants of Wei and Huo, and the advice of his ministers, it was lightly dismissed.

Jiang Chong's face was swollen from the beating, so even if he wanted to slander someone again, he couldn't do so for the time being.

His appearance was damaged, and he can only stay at home for the time being and cannot go out to see people!
"Ugh……"

Lying in bed, unable to fall asleep, the emperor thought about this and sighed again.

he knows,
Huo Shan did this to protect his maternal uncle, the crown prince.

He even understood it very well in his heart.
Jiang Chong's words and actions did indeed have the intention of sowing discord between the emperor and his son.

But some things,
Knowing something is one thing, doing it is another.

After all, an emperor fears losing power more than death.

Even with Wei Qing's dying instructions.
He also couldn't maintain a cheerful and open-minded attitude in front of his now-strong eldest son.

……

Why are you frowning?

As the night breeze blew through the window, the emperor tossed and turned, finally letting out a soft snore.

in dreams,

Equally aged, but inexplicably looking like he had been beaten up, the late King Liu Yong of Liang was greeting his cousin whom he hadn't seen in a long time.

The emperor was somewhat surprised.

He rarely sees his relatives and friends in his dreams these days.

Even when he missed Wei Qing and Huo Qubing, their images only appeared in his dreams at the very beginning of their separation.

"You..." The emperor pointed to the marks on his cousin's face, "What happened?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Yong's old face fell, and he began to complain to his cousin, "Do you remember when I was young, I almost set fire to the ancestral temple?"

"Now that I am dead, I have met my ancestors in the underworld and received this long-overdue punishment."

"My great-grandfather hit me so hard!"

"If I hadn't run fast, he probably would have broken my legs!"

The emperor recalled those years—

Liu Yong did indeed mention this matter.

He was quite proud of himself at the time, thinking that he had cleverly extinguished the flames with a single powerful water spell after discovering them!
As for accidentally splashing water onto the ancestral tablets when releasing water?
That's not important!
it's good now,

Liu Yong in the mortal world wasn't sharp enough to remember this trivial matter, but his ancestors below were preoccupied with it and were just waiting for him to die!

"Ugh!"

The elderly King Liang, his face a mixture of red and blue bruises, earnestly said to his imperial cousin, "In short, I implore Your Majesty to prioritize the well-being of the nation and refrain from doing anything that would cause your loved ones pain..."

"My ancestors in heaven are watching all of this."

After all,

The dream gradually faded away.
Before the emperor could even try to persuade him to stay, he was swallowed up by the darkness of night.

He finally fell asleep without any worries.

Underworld

Having just finished his dream visit, Liu Yong, holding his colorful face and grinning, said to Wei Qing beside him, "I gave up the opportunity to visit my descendants in a dream, to let them prepare enough tribute for me to advise the emperor."

"I hope he can think more positively and not let my sacrifice go to waste."

Wei Qing nodded in agreement and praised the King of Liang for his sacrifice.

(End of this chapter)