Leaving Weiyang Palace, Liu Bang went directly to Changle Palace, where Empress Lu lived. At this time, the sky was almost in the unitary hour, and the bell room in the palace in the distance had already sounded the bell at the end of Shen Shi, Liu Bang put his hands behind his back, gritted his teeth and frowned and pondered, all the way he was making up lies about how to go down the steps for himself and Mrs. Qi, and how to give Empress Lu a preventive shot for what happened in the hall today.

Shaking his head and sighing, he walked for a while before finally entering the gate of Changxin Palace, the people at the palace gate stood straight and straight, saw the emperor coming, and hurriedly saluted, Liu Bang frowned and didn't care about these, he went up the steps without saying a word to go in, and just walked to the edge of the door, he heard a respectful voice from inside. Subconsciously stopped, leaned sideways against the door, leaned against the wall, and looked at it.

"The son has seen the queen mother."

"The son has seen the queen mother."

It turned out that Liu Fei, the king of Qi, and Zhang Ao, the king of Zhao, were standing behind Lu and marching forward to make a big salute, while Lu Hou was sitting on the couch with a smile, his hands hanging down, looking at the two of them. After the two of them saluted, Empress Lu asked them to stand up, and asked the female palace people next to them to bring them two mats, and sat down with Empress Lu, and the two of them quickly thanked Empress Lu.

"King Qi, how are you doing in the country of Qi?" Empress Lu asked Liu Fei who was opposite her with a smile.

Liu Fei looked a little nervous and cramped, holding the clothes at the corners of his knees with both hands, not daring to raise his eyes to look at her, thinking that he was not much different in age from Empress Lu, but he had to call her the queen mother, and he was a little reluctant to disobey. Probably Liu Bang also knew the inner feelings of the King of Qi, so he took advantage of Tian Ken's advice to send Liu Fei to the State of Qi and stay away from Empress Lu. Liu Bang is such an older son, his thinking is already very mature, and his own quality is not below others, Liu Bang also values his eldest son Liu Fei very much, and hopes that he will dominate the party. He handed over more than 70 cities in the Qi State to Liu Fei to manage, and you can see how much Liu Bang attached importance to Liu Fei. Empress Lu naturally understood that the threat to the crown prince, in addition to Ruyi being the eldest son Liu Fei, Empress Lu also kept an eye on Liu Fei's situation in the Qi Kingdom. Liu Fei is not a fool, he also has a lot of thinkers, when Qi Wei King Qi Xuan opened the Jixia School Palace, out of a lot of talents, until today, the students of the Jixia School Palace are also mostly their own strengths, as a prince of the king, Liu Fei is to recruit talents, so his palace has also accumulated a lot of all kinds of world talents, they are not only for the King of Qi to analyze the wisdom of the world's great powers, some are in favor of catching up with the economic and cultural undertakings of other countries, such as catching up with the Chu State and Zhao State, Some disagree that it is not necessary to stand out from the crowd, or to develop peacefully and naturally, and it is also to avoid worrying about the woman in the deep palace in the center. After all, they have lived together for a period of time, and they also have a general understanding of the palace life after Lu Hou came to Chang'an from their own images and other people's mouths, and they know the contradictions between her and Qi Ji, I am afraid that not only Ruyi is this person, but anyone who is a threat to her and her son, she will remove it mercilessly and silently. Now not only Mrs. Qi wants to compete with her for the crown, but even herself and other princes are afraid that they will be under her nose, but she and others are not as hated by Empress Lu as Qi Ji and Ruyi, but they are still on an unsafe line. Now Empress Lu greeted him with a smile, Liu Fei felt a different feeling, King Qi knew that Empress Lu was the most tolerant, forbearing, and great wisdom. So he bowed his hand and said obediently, "Everything is fine in the country of Qi, thank you for your mother's concern." ”

Seeing that he had been thinking for a long time and was absent-minded, Empress Lu smiled and said, "The coral carving that King Qi paid tribute to last time was very beautiful, and he had a heart." ”

"The duties of the sons and daughters can be as long as the queen mother likes them." King Qi still didn't look into her eyes to avoid embarrassment.

When Empress Lu saw him like this, he always refused to raise his head, and he also understood his thoughts in his heart, but he felt that it was really unwilling to call his mother, but the seniority was placed there, so he couldn't help but call it, but he didn't expect the King of Qi to care about this, Empress Lu thought about this and smiled again, didn't ask him anymore, asked Dai Qing to serve tea to the King of Qi, and asked Zhang Ao, the king of Zhao, instead.

"Since Ao'er came to Chang'an, I haven't seen Ayuan and Yan'er yet." Empress Lu was very kind to Zhang Ao, and her tone was much lower, and her eyebrows were full of softness like love for her children, and she couldn't see the slightest sharpness, of course, she didn't feel very sharp about Liu Fei, but she didn't treat Zhang Ao so kindly, maybe because he was Ayuan's husband.

Zhang Ao didn't bow his head like King Qi and didn't look at Empress Lu, as soon as Empress Lu asked, he met his gaze, with a soft smile from a man, and replied, "Yes, Erchen went directly to the official residence after coming to Chang'an, I don't want to disturb my father and queen mother, I haven't had time to see Ayuan and Yan'er, today is also in a hurry, I went to Weiyang Palace for a banquet before I had time to see my mother, and the queen mother doesn't blame Erchen, right?" ”

Empress Lu nodded with a smile, and said, "A-Yuan and Yan'er are both in Changxin Palace, you can go and see them in a while, they miss you very much, especially Yan'er, they will dream of you in their dreams." As she spoke, Empress Lu overflowed with a warm smile, full of her love for Zhang Ao.

Zhang Ao nodded and thanked Empress Lu again.

King Qi, who didn't speak on the side, saw Empress Lu's attitude towards Zhang Ao and himself, although it looked the same, but he knew in his heart that she, Zhang Ao and Lu Yuan were family, and he was completely like an outsider, just quietly listening to the conversation between Empress Lu and Zhang Ao.

Liu Bang, who was at the door, stayed outside the door and listened for a long time, watching for a long time, fortunately, Empress Lu did not show his dislike for King Qi, but talked to him with a smile, but there has always been such a scene between King Qi and Empress Lu, there will never be a sense of warmth, but it is not like a stranger's nod of nodding, just a polite relationship between relatives on the surface. Liu Bang naturally knows the emotions of this so-called mother and son, and if he is Liu Fei, he must feel embarrassed, such a scene is already very good, he should be glad that Liu Fei came to see Lu Hou after leaving Weiyang Palace, which is indeed the best performance.

There was no sound inside, and Liu Bang entered the hall as if he had nothing to do, and the palace maids on the side attended the salute and said, "The emperor is extremely happy." Listening to the sound, Empress Lu got up from the couch, and saw the emperor with a sad but unapologetic face, Empress Lu only felt that the heat and cold were colliding violently in his chest, and he couldn't say the feeling, Zhang Ao and Liu Fei got up from the mat and hurried over to attend the ceremony.

"The concubines see the emperor."

"Son-in-law Liu Fei see his father."

"Son-in-law Zhang Ao sees his father."

Liu Bang helped them up one by one, and said lightly with a smile, "You are all here." ”

King Qi and King Zhao glanced at each other, and finally King Qi said, "Erchen and King Zhao have not seen their mother for a long time, and they didn't come to pay homage when they thought they came to Chang'an. ”

Liu Bang nodded, crossed between the two of them, and sat down on the couch where Empress Lu was sitting just now, still smiling, but with melancholy and worry in that smile. As soon as Empress Lu saw him like this, she knew what was on his mind, and wanted to find a step down here, otherwise she would not have come directly to Changxin Palace after the Weiyang feast. Empress Lu raised her eyebrows in embarrassment, she didn't know what to do to her husband, she had worked so hard to be a hostage, but now he was on the ninth five for the son of another woman, and it was heartbreaking to think of this. But thinking that it was unsuccessful after all, and it made the emperor worried, Empress Lu also felt a little balanced in her heart, and she would not let go of Qi Ji's mother and son after all, so she thought to herself: The last time to go down the steps.

"The emperor must be tired of presiding over the Weiyang feast, King Qi and King Zhao have also come, why don't you help Your Majesty to go back to the house to rest, how about it?" Lu Hou came to Liu Bang's side and put his hand on his shoulder. Seeing that he had something in his heart, he frowned, even if he knew something, it was inconvenient to ask him, it was better to pretend not to know, it was better to put this matter aside, and no one should mention it, it was better to make him feel ashamed of himself.

Liu Bang looked up at Empress Lu, perhaps feeling guilty, but as soon as he met Empress Lu's gaze, he retracted his gaze again, no longer looked at her, sat there without saying a word, and did not look at Wang Zhao and Wang Wang.

King Zhao of Qi didn't dare to speak when he saw the emperor like this, so he had to stand in place and accompany him with Empress Lu without saying a word, and suddenly there was a special atmosphere in the hall, which was very dull, and even an embroidery needle on the ground could be heard, and he didn't dare to breathe out loud when he closed his breath. King Zhao of Qi didn't understand how Liu Bang could be like this, just after the Weiyang feast, why did he start to be unhappy now, who provoked him. Empress Lu understood the strange and thought about how to make him stop thinking about this matter.

There was silence in the hall for a while, and soon Liu Bang spoke: "When will King Qi return to the fiefdom?" ”

"Ah......" Liu Feiyou's mind was withdrawn, walked in front of Liu Bang, and said, "Back to my father, Prime Minister Cao Cheng said that there are still some important things in the Qi Kingdom that have not been dealt with, and I think I will go back in two days." ”

Liu Bang raised his head suddenly, thinking that it was too fast, and met Liu Fei's gaze, and said, "So fast?" Prime Minister Cao Cheng didn't forget the state affairs of Qi State, he just arrived yesterday, and he will go back in two days, maybe it's too soon, go back and tell Prime Minister Cao Cheng, let him not be in such a hurry, stay in Chang'an for a few more days, and Qi State will not be gone. After saying that, he changed his smile and laughed.

Liu Fei said, "Prime Minister Cao Cheng has instructed people to prepare everything for returning to China, the prosperity of Chang'an, the sons have already seen it, and Prime Minister Cao Cheng has also seen it, and it is good for the people to go back early to deal with state affairs." I hope that my father will approve it. ”

Liu Bang slowly smiled, and there was a kind of reluctance and sustenance on his face, whether it was to go back early, it was good for him and the people, and staying in Chang'an for a long time was not necessarily good for him. So Liu Bang stood up, stroked his back and pulled him aside, patted his hand, and whispered solemnly, "Fei'er, after arriving in Qi State, be careful, listen to Prime Minister Cao Cheng's words, he is a talent for governing the country, my father took him as your Xiangguo, that is, he trusts and values him, and in the future, all matters in Qi Country will be discussed with him, I hope you will be good in Qi Country, everything is careful." ”

Liu Bang seemed to have something to say, Liu Fei was confused, and just nodded.