Chapter 8: What a Lucky Life
As Liu Piao expected, Liu Rong and his entourage had just arrived at the Twenty Li Pavilion outside Changan City's East Gate when King of Liang, Liu Wu, who was returning to Court for the funeral, caught up to them.
From a distance, a figure in mourning clothes was seen galloping towards Liu Rong's position, and at about fifty paces away, he seemed to fall off his horse in a hurry;
As the figure in mourning clothes walked step by step towards Liu Rong, he finally knelt on the ground, overwhelmed with grief.
"Prince of Liang, your subject Liu Wu, greets Your Majesty!"
"I have returned to Court by imperial decree to mourn my father. I beg Your Majesty to restrain your grief..."
As the last word 'grief' was spoken, King of Liang, Liu Wu, had already reached a position five paces in front of Liu Rong, kowtowed to Liu Rong, and then burst into tears.
Seeing Liu Wu's behavior, the Grand Master of Ceremonies officials who were dispatched to welcome the royal carriage also wiped away their tears, some genuinely, some feigned.
At the forefront of the welcoming party, Liu Rong politely stepped aside to avoid the salutation, holding the imperial staff upright in his hand, and lowered his voice.
"I am well."
"Prince, you may dispense with the formalities and rise."
Using the Son of Heaven's staff in his hand as a 'stand-in' for his father, and personally responding to the salutation as a 'mouthpiece', Liu Rong then quickly walked forward and reached out to help King of Liang, Liu Wu, up from the ground.
"Uncle, you have come a long way and must be weary from travel."
"You must restrain your grief..."
A slightly sorrowful comfort only caused Liu Wu to sob mournfully. Liu Rong continued to comfort him for a long time before he finally managed to make Prince of Liang somewhat suppress the grief in his chest.
While his uncle was calming down, Liu Rong discreetly observed King Xiao of Liang, who had left countless historical anecdotes.
Perhaps it was the foresight of a transmigrator that made Liu Rong dwell on the upcoming event: in the past, the relationship between Liu Rong and his uncle was not particularly close.
Of course, it wasn't entirely due to Liu Rong's lack of initiative in getting close; Liu Wu also rarely returned to Changan.
—Twenty-three years ago, Empress Lu passed away, and the Lü foreign relatives launched a palace coup, which was eventually suppressed by the founding ministers;
Subsequently, the young Emperor Liu Hong was deemed 'born of Lu, a rebellious usurper' by the Changan Court, and the Han imperial throne remained undecided.
After repeated discussions, the founding ministers, led by Chen Ping and Zhou Bo, who had successfully suppressed the Lü Rebellion, finally made a decision.
—To enthrone the fourth son of Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang, and the half-brother of Emperor Xiaohui, Liu Ying: King of Dai, Liu Heng, who was later Emperor Xiaowen.
The following year, the Crown Prince Liu Qi, who was only nine years old, was made Crown Prince, and his mother Dou was made Empress;
In the same year, the Second Prince Liu Wu was enfeoffed as King of Dai, and two years later, he was moved to King of Huaiyang.
At that time, neither King of Dai, Liu Wu, who was just five years old, nor King of Huaiyang, Liu Wu, who was less than seven, left the capital to take up their fiefs as per the system due to their young age.
It was only when Liu Wu, as King of Huaiyang, stayed in Changan for a full eight more years, reached the age of fifteen, and was finally transferred to be King of Liang, that he was finally able to leave the capital and return to his state.
At that time, the Crown Prince Liu Rong was just four years old.
He left the capital to take up his fief at the age of fifteen, and according to the rules set by Emperor Gaozu, he was to attend Court in Changan every three years;
All told, it had been a full twelve years since he took up his fief at fifteen, and this was only Liu Wu's fifth time coming to Court.
Coming to Changan once every three years, and only staying for about a month each time—not to mention Liu Rong's inherent aversion, instinctively wanting to keep his distance from this uncle, even if he wanted to get close, there truly wasn't much opportunity.
Therefore, as Liu Rong scrutinized the King of Liang, who was in his prime, Liu Wu's gaze towards Liu Rong constantly revealed a sense of unfamiliarity and reminiscence.
"It's actually the Crown Prince..."
"Uh, it's actually the Crown Prince who came to greet me..."
"What virtue do I possess..."
Although he felt unfamiliar, having met him a few years ago, Liu Wu was not so much so that he couldn't recognize his eldest nephew.
After a somewhat awkward greeting, Liu Wu had just stopped crying when an inexplicable displeasure appeared on his face.
"The national mourning has just ended, Crown Prince, are you so eager to shed your mourning clothes?"
Upon hearing Liu Wu's words and his aggressive tone, Liu Rong was immediately startled!
He knew the visitor meant no good, but he didn't expect him to be so ill-intentioned, and so sudden, did he?
After a brief thought, he speculated that Liu Piao's shocking plan might have already been communicated to Liu Wu;
Knowing that Liu Rong was his strongest, and perhaps only, competitor, Liu Wu had created this scene to assert his dominance over Liu Rong.
Realizing this, Liu Rong subtly straightened his back, and a hint of aloofness appeared on his face.
"Emperor Xiaowen's dying wish stated: National mourning for three months, then all shall cease."
"Even Royal Grandmother and Father Emperor dared not defy the late Emperor's dying wish and have each changed out of their mourning clothes."
"How could your nephew dare to go against the late Emperor's dying wish?"
After explaining as if out of good intentions, Liu Rong deliberately lowered his head and scrutinized Liu Wu from bottom to top.
"Could it be that until the time of your departure, Prince of Liang, you still hadn't received the late Emperor's dying wish?"
"Why are you still in mourning clothes even now..."
As he spoke, a look of concern appropriately appeared on Liu Rong's face, as if he was very worried that someone with ulterior motives might use this to attack his uncle.
Originally, he was just indignant about the deceased Emperor's father and spoke whatever came to mind, but upon hearing Liu Rong's completely unexpected reply, Liu Wu couldn't help but be momentarily stunned.
Vaguely sensing that something was wrong, and feeling a little guilty, he lowered his head to look at his mourning clothes, then feigned indifference and said, "My sincerity in mourning, I believe Royal Brother and Mother Empress will not blame me..."
Although he said this, Liu Wu was inexplicably worried in his heart, completely failing to consider that the 'person with ulterior motives' most likely to attack him for this was currently standing grandly before him, holding the Son of Heaven's staff.
Even later, when he learned of the intentions of his sister Liu Piao and his mother Empress Dowager Dou, and began to entertain those improper thoughts, Liu Wu still told others: That day, my nephew was even worried that I would be attacked for this matter...
"What a lucky life."
"To be so innocent and still grow up whole in the imperial family, enjoying endless glory and wealth throughout his life, and even almost experiencing the thrill of being Crown Prince."
"Tsk tsk tsk..."
Liu Rong could only say: You can't compare people, or goods.
As for using the 'defiance of the late Emperor's dying wish' to make an issue and undermine Liu Wu's political prestige, Liu Rong hesitated for only a second before decisively abandoning the idea.
—For the series of troubling events that were about to unfold, Liu Rong had his own considerations.
"I wish to go to Baling first to pay respects to the late Emperor..."
"I wonder?"
Perhaps unsure of how much taboo he had committed this time, Liu Wu's tone softened by three points as he looked at the Son of Heaven's staff in Liu Rong's hand, and his voice even carried a hint of pleading.
Seeing this, Liu Rong smiled inwardly, but only nodded faintly on his face.
"Father Emperor already gave an oral decree regarding this matter."
"If Uncle wishes to go to Baling, then you may go; your nephew will return to the palace first to report."
"If you are not going for now, then please accompany your nephew into the city."
—Father Emperor has been eagerly awaiting Uncle in Xuanshi Hall for a long time."
"Additionally, Royal Grandmother has already sent several groups of people to urge your nephew to bring Uncle to Changle..."
While Liu Rong was speaking, Liu Wu gradually recovered from his earlier anxieties. He simply put aside the 'defiance of the decree' matter for the time being and resumed the demeanor of a Prince or Duke.
"I am filled with filial devotion and bear the mourning for my father, so I should indeed go to Baling first."
"Fortunately, the Crown Prince reminded me, which made me realize: I was only thinking of filial piety to my father, and I actually disregarded the proper hierarchy between monarch and subject, which was truly improper..."
After a roundabout explanation, which served as an excuse for his 'defiance of the decree by observing mourning', Liu Wu took a deep breath.
"Please, Son of Heaven's envoy, lead the way and guide me into the palace to meet His Majesty."
In this chapter, the latter half had a structural problem that contradicted the overall outline of the book.
It took a lot of effort to fix it, and it was finally accomplished.
Thank you for your understanding, esteemed readers.
This counts as yesterday's second update. There will be today's first update before 12 PM, and another update after 12 PM.