A son who doesn't resemble his father? Love you, old man, see you at Xuanwu Gate!

Chapter 54 Moving
After the heavy snow cleared, the entire city of Chang'an was still buried in snow.

Although the sun was weak, it was still very dazzling. As the carriages and horses of the Jiaofang Palace, the Prime Minister's Mansion, and the Imperial Censor's Mansion returned, it looked as if a huge wave was about to rise.

As everyone expected, rumors spread from the Prime Minister's residence that the Crown Prince had no intention of overseeing the country, but rather was ruling.

Officials from both the Chinese and foreign dynasties remained silent.

For more than a decade, Your Majesty has been engaged in a war of attrition, focusing solely on military achievements. You have put the highest officials and ministers in the forefront, using them as decoys to block and kill those upright ministers who attempted to advise you to recuperate and bestow blessings upon the people. However, after the downfall of Zhu Fuyan, Zhuang Zhu, and others, and the establishment of the crown prince, ministers and generals turned against you one after another. Your Majesty was forced to personally take up arms and fight, suffering defeat after defeat.

The way the Prime Minister's office is releasing information now is so similar to His Majesty's deliberate probing when choosing the Crown Prince's tutor.

With the blood of his relatives staining the imperial court, the crown prince wishes to emulate Yi Yin by releasing Tai Jia and banishing His Majesty to Ganquan Palace.

However, not a single minister, high-ranking official, or even officials from two dynasties expressed any resentment towards the emperor. Twenty years have passed, and His Majesty's wanton and reckless behavior should come to an end.

Led by Zhang Tang, the Minister of Justice, a memorial was submitted, with the names of all the officials signing it. The memorial requested that Your Majesty move to Ganquan Palace to recuperate. If Your Majesty recovers in the future, it will be a great blessing for the country.

The dukes, marquises, generals, and members of the imperial family knew that this time, His Majesty had truly lost the power to reprimand the masses.

As for the Crown Prince placing His Majesty in Ganquan Palace, and when or whether to return power to His Majesty, the nobles and relatives did not consider it at all; they simply released him first.

Twenty years have passed. Do you know how they've spent these past twenty years?
……

From the palace gate to the Xuan Shi Hall and all the way to the entrance, there were many eunuchs and palace maids standing in rows, each with their mouths tightly shut, listening intently as the imperial physician in the hall read out the names of the medicines on the prescription.

Dong Zhongshu walked slowly to the palace gate and stopped, listening intently.

The imperial physician's voice echoed from inside the hall: "Gentian root three qian, raw gardenia three qian, akebia stem two qian, raw rehmannia root five qian, alisma three qian..."

People often say that if one cannot be a good prime minister, one should be a good doctor. The learned Dong Zhongshu had read many medical books and knew the medicinal properties of many herbs. The above combination of herbs can clear heat and reduce inflammation.

"Am I a volcano?" Liu Che's frantic voice suddenly interrupted the imperial physician's report of a prescription.

The emperor, who frequently took tonics and elixirs, could easily recognize the prescription that Dong Zhongshu could, and roared, "Chun Tuo!"

"The servant is here."

"Tell this piece of trash to get out!"

"Here."

Chun Tuo summoned the imperial physician. Outside the palace, Dong Zhongshu greeted him, saying, "Imperial Physician Yi."

This was a female physician, and also the first female physician to achieve this.

Back then, when the Queen Mother was old and ailing, His Majesty heard that Yi Shuo was a highly skilled physician, so he sent someone to secretly investigate. The investigation proved that Yi Shuo was indeed a highly skilled physician. The medicines she used were nothing more than some herbs, vines and leaves from the mountains, but the effects were excellent. So His Majesty summoned her to the palace and appointed her as the Queen Mother's special physician.

After the Empress Dowager passed away, Yi Shuo remained in the palace, often treating the illnesses of the concubines. During the more than seventy years of the Han Dynasty, the women of the imperial harem were among the healthiest and most fortunate, and Yi Shuo's contribution was indispensable.

The bride returned the gift.

Dong Zhongshu thought for a moment and then subtly suggested, "Since such a simple prescription is not working, why doesn't Physician Yi prescribe some mild tonics?"

"A burning fire in the heart, if not released, will only grow stronger; this is a deadly poison. Does the Imperial Censor intend to murder the emperor?" Yi Shuo had bright eyes and white teeth, but the words she spoke were so chilling.

A good doctor doesn't concern herself with politics; she doesn't want to know the ins and outs of the palace. His Majesty's health is such that he's neither sick nor healthy; his heart fire is strong, but it won't kill him in a short time. However, deliberately prescribing the wrong medicine is like adding oil to a raging fire; the imbalance in His Majesty's health will become obvious. At that point, His Majesty, knowing he's not sick but is, will probably kill her and her entire family.

Yi Shuo knew that Dong Zhongshu meant no harm and was mostly well-intentioned, but this could not hide the Confucian scholar's bad habit of being a know-it-all, so she gave him a small lesson.

“Absolutely not!” Dong Zhongshu said.

"As for the Imperial Censor, he seems to have vomited quite a bit of blood; he should take some tonics."

Yi Shuo looked at Dong Zhongshu's face, which was as pale as gold paper, and said, "If the Imperial Censor needs a prescription, he can come to the Imperial Hospital to find me."

Floating away.

Dong Zhongshu was filled with turmoil. Only after regaining his composure did he step into the main hall. "The Crown Prince has refused to oversee the country. I have come to report to Your Majesty."

Liu Che stared at Dong Zhongshu, recalling his last meeting with Zhuang Zhu in the prison of the Court of Justice. It seemed ridiculous now that a Confucian master with only a few points of shrewdness and a few points of rigid learning had received such high regard. It seemed that Zhuang Zhu had indeed been blind and misjudged him before his death.

"Dong Zhongshu, I see that you are still studious and ambitious, humble and cautious. The position of one of the Three Dukes may be too much for you. Instead, let you enter the central court as a scholar and serve by my side."

With the plan to lure the enemy into a trap failing, officials submitted memorials, and a coup was imminent. No matter how unwilling he was to admit it, the fact remained.

But Liu Che believed that this was temporary, just like the suppression his grandmother, Empress Dowager Dou, had tried to achieve by respecting Confucianism at the beginning of his reign. He believed that one day he would take back what he had lost.

Moreover, not long after, Empress Dowager Dou left him with the accumulated wealth of the reigns of Emperors Wen and Jing, but she left the Crown Prince with a depleted treasury and widespread devastation after more than a decade of war between the Han and the Xiongnu.

Governing a country is not an easy task. There is only one path to national prosperity and a strong nation: reform.

Throughout history, whether a reform succeeds or fails, it will affect the interests of those who have already benefited and offend countless people. Once resentment boils over, that is when they will turn the tables.

At that time, the Empress, the Crown Prince, the Wei family, the emerging military merit group... everyone will have to face the wrath of the true dragon.

Before this, the infiltration of the outer court and the arrangements for the central court should be done in the same way that the Crown Prince did in the past, residing outside and remotely issuing decrees.

The position of Grand Censor, one of the Three Dukes, was a must-have. He would replace him with his trusted minister, Mei Gao, to check the Prime Minister's office, and Wuqiu Shouwang in the central court to continue to check Wei Qing and Huo Qubing.

Without hesitation, Dong Zhongshu bowed deeply and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for recognizing and appointing capable people."

When the Crown Prince discovered Dong Zhongshu's Confucian empire plan, he instinctively felt his death was imminent. He racked his brains for ways to survive, but unexpectedly, His Majesty provided him with a way out. He hid in the central court and became a minor scholar, accompanying the Emperor. It would not be so easy for the Crown Prince to kill him again.

His experience in Jiaoxi told him that as long as there is life, there is hope.

"If the crown prince wants to rule the country, what's wrong with me granting their wish?"

Liu Che's eyes were bright and piercing as he looked at the snow-covered palace eaves outside the hall. He said in a cold tone, "Go and draft an edict. Ask the Crown Prince to choose a place to govern the country. Whether it is Chang'an, the Northern Army, or even Luoyi, I will follow his lead!"

The Crown Prince will likely decline again; prepare two more imperial edicts in advance.

"Here."

"I will go to Ganquan Palace myself, so there is no need for the Crown Prince to exile me!"

"Respectfully seeing His Majesty off on his journey. May His Majesty live a thousand years and enjoy endless happiness!"

(End of this chapter)