The fine sand in the hourglass flowed quietly, and the sound of grinding between the sand grains was particularly cold in the silent palace room.

Lu Pheasant slowly woke up from his sleep, reached out and rubbed his temples that were a little painful, and his expression was a little dazed.

Shaking his head slightly, he didn't feel a little funny. People say that cats are winter, and when the weather is cold, they are particularly prone to sleepiness, so they only approved the music for less than half an hour, and they fell asleep leaning on the chair. He was covered with a warm quilt, and he wondered which careful eunuch had put it on for him.

It seems that he is indeed old, and his body is easy to get tired after being pampered for a long time. I thought that I had to take care of Ying'er when I was farming and weaving in Pei County, and I didn't feel too tired, but now I will be sleepy when I lie down and watch it for a while.

Taking a sip of the hot tea on the stove and putting down the teacup, Lu Pheasant raised his head and asked; "What time is it?"

The middle-aged eunuch who was serving on the side hurriedly bowed down and replied; "Returning to the Queen, just after the Shen Shi, now I want to come for about a moment."

Lu Pheasant nodded, frowned, and asked again, "What about the prince, have you studied on time?" ”

The eunuch replied with a smile; "Back to the queen, the attendant just reported that the prince had gotten up from a nap, and now I think he was reading. Queen, you are too worried, the prince is so smart and studious, how can he neglect his homework. ”

Lu Pheasant showed a shallow smile on his face, "I can't say that, although Ying'er is smart and studious, she is the most playful age, if a careless person is taken by the cats and dogs around her, it will be worth the loss." ”

"Who dare." The eunuch laughed; "The people around the prince are all slaves carefully selected by the queen, and the old slaves all know the roots, and none of them are people who don't know the severity. Besides, the ancients didn't say 'Ming Jun is close to virtuous ministers, sparse villains', I think the prince is a Ming Jun who is alive and well, how can he be disturbed by some villains. ”

Lu Pheasant nodded with a smile, but he was in a good mood, and stood up and moved a few times. "Let's go, Lian Cheng, let's go see the prince."

"No!"

Lu Pheasant walked in front, Lian Cheng followed closely, and was about to step out of the palace gate when Lu Pheasant suddenly stopped, turned around and stared at Bian Cheng, and said in a steady voice; "Bian Cheng, don't say that kind of thing in the future, the king is now at the peak of the Spring and Autumn Period, and the prince is just a prince, this kind of talk is arrogant."

"Yes." Bian Cheng hurriedly bent down, but at the moment of bending down, he saw a flash of fierceness in Lu Pheasant's eyes, and he was sincerely frightened.

This queen is really a powerful character, she has served the king of Qi for several generations, and she has never seen such a thoughtful person as her. It seems that in the future, I must be more careful to serve, and I can't make any mistakes for half a year.

Because the Qi country has been in war for a long time, the palace of Qi for hundreds of years has already been burned down in the war, and the momentum of the newly built palace is naturally far from being compared with it. Moreover, Liu Bang is still simple, and the palace room is even more lacking in repair.

The prince's bedroom is on the right side of the main hall, separated by only thousands of steps, and Lu Pheasant will arrive in just a moment.

Looking outside the door, I saw Liu Ying holding a brush hanging on the book, as if she had encountered some problem, and was thinking about it with her brows twisted, and she didn't even notice that Lu Pheasant was coming.

The little eunuch who was sitting on a stool napping outside the door opened his eyes and saw Lu Pheasant coming, and he was so frightened that he immediately knelt on the ground and shouted; "See the Queen."

Liu Ying turned around at this time, and when she saw Lu Pheasant coming, she hurriedly put down the pen, stood up and bowed down, "Erchen participates in the queen mother." ”

Although Liu Ying is only fourteen or fifteen years old, she has been quiet since she was a child, and she behaves in everything and looks like a little adult. This is especially true after being made a crown prince, even when he sees his parents. This won the appreciation of the Manchu ministers, but Liu Bang did not like it, and he was often alienated by his son rather than his father.

Lu Pheasant waited for the little eunuch kneeling on the ground, turned around and took Liu Ying's hand with a smile, and said with a smile; "Ying'er, what are you doing?"

Liu Ying opened her mouth and smiled, "Queen Mother, my son is doing the homework left to me by my father, and when my father left, I asked Young Master Cao to leave ten policy topics, and today this is the last one." ”

Lu Pheasant took out a handkerchief and gently wiped the ink on Liu Ying's forehead, "But what's the confusion?" ”

Liu Ying nodded, "There is something incomprehensible in Erchen's heart. The title of this policy essay given to me by my father is 'The Way of Governing the Country', and Lao Dan once said, 'The good is like water, and the water is good for all things without fighting', which means to be at peace with the people, not to compete with the people, and to rule the world with nothing. However, Han Fei also advocated 'taking the law as a teaching and rewarding strictly', and used the law to restrain the behavior of the people. Erchen is really confused, how to choose the so-called way of governing the country? ”

Lu Pheasant smiled slightly, stroked Liu Ying's head, and muttered for a moment before speaking; "This is your father's test of you. In fact, there is no conflict between Legalism and Taoism in essence, and Taoism's inaction advocates recuperation, light forced labor, and heavy agriculture, which is the foundation of governing the country; In the same way, the power of the Legalists is also controlled by the king, and the law is used to spur the subordinates and restrain the people, so as to ensure the stability and order of the country, which is the backbone of governing the country. If you are governing the country, you might as well pay equal attention to the law and etiquette, first virtue and then punishment, because of the Tao and the law, so that the world can be calm. ”

Liu Ying showed a thoughtful look on her face, and immediately clapped her hands and smiled; "The queen mother is brilliant, it's really seconds, it's wonderful! Well, I'll just write it that way, and my father will be pleased with my plan. ”

Lu Pheasant looked at Liu Ying's thin face full of joy, and couldn't help but feel distressed, and gently took Liu Ying into his arms.

Liu Bang doesn't like the prince, it's no secret, Liu Ying himself naturally feels his father's estrangement from him. So he always redoubled his efforts to study, hoping to get his father's affirmation through this. But he didn't know that Liu Bang didn't like him because his character was too cowardly and he didn't have the style of a king, so no matter how hard he worked to be a fool of the past, Liu Bang would not have any affirmation of him.

Lu Pheasant naturally couldn't say these words, otherwise it would be a very big blow to Liu Ying. Therefore, whenever she sees Liu Ying studying hard, Lu Pheasant can't help but feel distressed, and her complaints about her husband are even deeper.

gently straightened Liu Ying's little face and said with a smile; "Ying'er, it's still a long time before your father returns to China, why don't you put your homework off today and rest for a day."

Liu Ying was stunned for a moment, in the end, it was a teenager's heart, and she quickly smiled, clapped her hands and smiled; "Okay, my brother is here, and I want to play Keju with him."

Lu Pheasant was stunned for a moment and asked strangely; "Which brother?"

Liu Ying said with a smile; "Brother Ruyi, don't look at Ruyi, Queen Mother, you are only eleven years old, and the kick is excellent, even his father praises him."

Lu Pheasant turned his head violently and stared at Bian Cheng, with a cold light in his eyes. Bian Cheng hurriedly said in a panic; "Mrs. Qi was infected with the wind and cold because she was not accustomed to the water and soil in Zhaodi, so the king asked them to send them back first, and they only returned to the palace at noon today, and the old slave had not had time to report to the queen."

Liu Bang has a total of eight sons, Liu Ying is the second, but he is the eldest son. The eldest son, Liu Fei, was born when he was young and fornicated with others, so he was not allowed to join the clan for his illegitimate son, so he was not competitive for the throne. Except for the third son Liu Ruyi and the fourth son Liu Heng, the other two sons are still swaddling babies, and when they are only adults, Liu Bang is probably gone, and naturally it will not pose a threat to Liu Ying's position as the crown prince.

The biological mother of the fourth son Liu Heng is Bo, who was born poor, and is extremely low-key, every time he sees Lu Pheasant, he is respectful, without the slightest slackness, and Bo himself is not favored, but his appearance is mediocre, she was originally a maid by Liu Bang's side, but Liu Bang gave birth to Liu Heng after a while, so Lu Pheasant did not take Liu Heng to heart.

The only threat to Liu Ying's crown prince position is Liu Ruyi, he has been born since he was a child, and he has a lot of naughty ideas, like Liu Bang when he was a child, so he is deeply loved by Liu Bang. In addition, his mother, relatives and wives are abnormally beautiful and spoil the harem, Liu Bang has always responded to her needs. For example, on this expedition to Hebei, Mrs. Qi was clamoring to go back to her hometown because she was from Zhao, and Liu Bang brought their mother and son despite the opposition of the ministers.

The mother and son are so favored, how can they not make Lu Pheasant very hostile. Thinking of this, Lu Pheasant couldn't help clenching his fists tightly, his sharp nails digging deep into the flesh, and secretly swore that sooner or later he would let Mrs. Qi's mother and son know the fate of being an enemy of her Lu Pheasant.

Lu Pheasant slowly retracted his aggressive gaze, and when he turned his head, he changed his motherly smile and said with a smile: "Then you go, remember to be careful not to fall and get hurt." ”

"Hmm." Liu Ying opened her mouth to answer, and rushed out happily.

When Liu Ying went out, the smile on Lu Pheasant's face slowly solidified, and he looked at Bian Cheng coldly. Bian Cheng was afraid in his heart, and hurriedly knelt down, lowering his head and not daring to make a sound.

"If you make your own claims and conceal them in the future, don't blame the mourning family for turning their faces and denying people." Lu Pheasant said coldly.

"Yes...... Yes......" Bian Cheng hurriedly kowtowed, secretly complaining in his heart, he had always known that Lu Pheasant hated Mrs. Qi to the core, and wanted to find a time when she was in a good mood to tell her the news of Mrs. Qi's return, but he didn't expect to end up like this, and he was really bitter.

Lu Pheasant's expression returned to the same as before, and he said in a smooth voice; "Get up."

"No." Bian Cheng hurriedly got up and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead with a wave of his sleeve.

"Did the person who escorted Mrs. Qi back bring any news of the king?"

"Yes." Bian Cheng didn't dare to slack off, and hurriedly replied; "I asked the captain who led the team, and he said that our Han army was about to arrive in Handan, probably preparing to join forces with the Zhao army and then go north to meet the Qin army."

Others didn't know, but Lu Pheasant knew it in his heart, and naturally knew that the real plan of the Han army to go north was to seize Zhaodi, so he didn't say anything. He asked again; "What about Prime Minister Xiao, is there any news coming?"

After Liu Bangque conspired to seize the Qi State, although the situation of the Qi State was roughly stabilized through various means, among the original nobles, the forces supporting the Tian family were still very large. A few days ago, there was news in Jimo that the people rioted and demanded the restoration of King Qi, which was extremely tricky to deal with, especially Liu Bang's repeated claim that he was only acting for the Qi State, and he regarded himself as benevolent and righteous everywhere. Xiao He did not dare to slack off, and personally led a team to Jimo to negotiate peace with the local nobles, striving to resolve the rebellion peacefully.

After Xiao He left, the domestic affairs were in charge of Lu Pheasant. Although it is said that it is against the ancestral laws and regulations for women to be in charge of the country, Xiao He has no other way, except for Lu Pheasant, who can take on this important responsibility, no one else is enough to entrust it.

Bian Cheng shook his head and said; "There is no news from the prime minister, I think it is still handled properly, the queen doesn't need to worry, the old minister is old, and the things he does have always been stable and will never go wrong."

Lu Pheasant nodded, thinking that it was best to do so, so that the husband would not have to worry about domestic affairs when he was abroad.