On the seventeenth day after the death of Emperor Liu Xuan, that is, on the second day of the eighth month of the tenth autumn of the Han Dynasty, in the eastern suburbs of Chang'an City, three elderly figures dressed in filial piety clothes appeared.

One walked in front, looking older, at least over the age of sixties; The other two followed, no more than fifty years old.

The filial piety clothes on the three of them are also slightly different.

The old man walking in front and one of the people behind him were both dressed in the clothes of 斩退 (zhǎn cuī), and if you look closely, you can even find that between the eyebrows of the two, there is a bit of a god-likeness.

The other person is the suit of Qi decay (zī cuī).

"Etiquette and Mourning Clothes" says: The funeral is divided into five clothes, which are beheading, Qi decay, great merit, small merit, and hemp.

According to the different levels of mourning clothes, they correspond to the mourning period of three years, one year, September, May, and March.

In later generations, according to the distance of kinship corresponding to the mourning five clothes, 'five clothes' was also used as a noun to describe kinship.

The reason why later generations will use 'five clothes' to describe the kinship relationship is because the five mourning clothes strictly correspond to the blood relationship between the deceased and the mourner.

Take the first level, the three-year period of filial piety, for example, that the deceased's direct relatives can wear it.

The garment of decay is made from the coarsest burlap, cut a large piece directly with a knife, and then tied with hemp rope to the mourner.

No cutting, no sewing, only from the whole piece of burlap 'chop' next piece, so called chopping, also as 'no decoration to grief', or 'grief like a knife cut in the heart'.

In comparison, the relationship between the person who wears the second rank Qi decay and the deceased is naturally a little farther away.

Although it is also a coarse linen filial piety clothes, Qi decay can be cut and sewn, so it gets the name of 'Qi decay'.

The reason why there is a difference between cutting and sewing between mourning and mourning is mainly to distinguish the relatives of the mourners and the deceased.

In the words of later generations, the decline is 'so close that the mourning clothes can't take care of the cutting and sewing', and the Qi decay is 'although they are also very close, they can still take care of the cutting and sewing of the mourning clothes'.

Combined with the fact that behind these three people, followed by two luxurious chariots of princes and kings, it is not difficult to guess the identities of the three people.

Today, the princes of the Liu clan are only four kings of Chu, Liu Jiao, King of Jing, Liu Jia, King of Qi, Liu Fei, and Liu Ruyi, King of Zhao.

At the same time, the two requirements of 'immediate family' and 'prime of life' are met, and there is only Liu Jiao, the king of Chu.

And Liu Xuan has no brother Kunji, and there is only one cousin.

In this way, the identity of the person who followed the old man, parallel to Liu Jiao, and dressed in Qi decay mourning clothes, was about to be revealed.

Liu's clan relatives - King Jing: Liu Jia.

As for the one who walked in the front, according to the requirements of 'over the age of sixties', 'not for the princes and kings', and 'for Liu Xuan's immediate family', it is not difficult to guess his identity.

"Brother Zhong."

Walking off the chariot in the eastern suburbs hundreds of steps away from Changle Palace, Liu Jiao couldn't help but step forward slightly, pulled the coarse linen on the old man's body, and signaled to go a little slower.

And at this moment, whether it is the man who is called 'Brother Zhong' by Liu Jiao, or Liu Jiao and Liu Jia, there is not much sadness about the loss of their father on their faces, but there are more doubts.

Hearing a light call from behind him, the old man slowly turned around, revealing a puzzled expression.

Seeing this, Liu Jiao showed a little sympathy on his face, and asked in a low voice: "······ that incident back then?"

"Your Majesty hasn't forgiven Brother Zhong yet?"

Hearing this, the old man only shook his head with a bitter smile on his face, and then sighed slightly.

"Since Your Majesty demoted me to the Marquis of Heyang, it has been three years since I was a brother who has not gained the face of the sky......

Hearing this, Liu Jiao's face couldn't help but stagnate, as if he wanted to say something comforting, but when he said it, there was a little bit of complaint in his words.

"Back then, Brother Zhong was indeed a little Meng Lang······"

As soon as he said that, Liu Jiao sighed again, and when he saw 'Brother Zhong' turning around with a wry smile, he slowly followed.

The person who was called 'Brother Zhong' by Liu Jiao is not someone else, it is the second son of the late Emperor Liu Xuan, and the second brother of today's son Liu Bang: Liu Xi!

It stands to reason that in the case that his younger brother Liu Jiaodu has to be crowned the king of Chu, the second brother Liu Xi and the son of heaven Liu Bang should also take care of it.

But in fact, Liu Xi's current 'bad' treatment is not because his younger brother Liu Bang is not enough to take care of him, but because Liu Xi himself is not competitive enough.

Three years ago, that is, in the seventh year of the Han Dynasty, the king of Han surrendered to the Xiongnu in the royal capital of Mayi, and immediately turned the gun and went straight to Daidi!

At that time, Liu Xi was the acting king of Liu Bang himself.

But as the controller of the country, in the face of the menacing Huns, as well as Han Wangxin, who defected to the enemy, Liu Xi at that time did something that made the entire Liu family ashamed.

——The combined forces of Han Wangxin and the Huns have just broken through Mayi, and they have not yet reached Loufu County at the gap of the Great Wall of Zhao, hundreds of miles away, Liu Xi, the acting king of Jinyang, who lives in the capital city, actually ran away with his wife and children!

By the time Han Wangxin led the army to Jinyang, Liu Xi had already run to Luoyang, the eastern capital!

Looking at the back of Liu Xi's 'riding on the dust', even Han Wangxin, who was in battle against the water and turned around to attack the Han, could only be out of reach······

As the princes and kings sent by Liu Bang to garrison the frontier, but he became a deserter when the enemy's shadow did not appear, Liu Xizong is the brother of the Son of Heaven, and he cannot escape responsibility.

Even if it weren't for the identity of the 'middle brother of the Son of Heaven', just by escaping from the battle and abandoning the country, Liu Xi would have nine lives, which would not be enough for Liu Bang to cut!

Since then, Liu Xi has been demoted to the Marquis of Heyang, and so far, he has not been summoned by Liu Bang......

"The year before last, my father begged His Majesty to divide the seal after his deceased brother."

Liu Jiaozheng was thinking about it, and he heard Liu Xi's deep voice sound, and he couldn't help but hurriedly regain his thoughts.

I saw Liu Xi stop for a moment, turned sideways, and looked at Liu Jiao meaningfully.

"Does the King of Chu know that His Majesty has conferred the title of the deceased brother?"

Seeing Liu Jiao's blank face, Liu Xi couldn't help but smile miserably.

"The ······ of the Marquis of Soup"

"The Marquis of Soup~"

"Tut-tut······"

Hearing Liu Xi's slightly resentful sigh, Liu Jiao couldn't help but shake his head slightly.

"Your Majesty is so ······?"

"Alas······"

The word 'grudge', Liu Jiao didn't dare to say it in the end, but on the slightly elegant face, there was more gloom and gloom.

"In the future, be cautious in what you say and do."

"It's a matter of what, it's ······ to offend the royal brother"

Just as he was thinking about it, he saw Liu Xi stop again.

Raising his head, Liu Jiao realized that Changle Palace had arrived.

"King Chu and King Jing entered the palace."

"For my brother, I will return to the house first, and I will wait for the couch."

Saying that, Liu Xi bowed his hand slightly, and actually made a posture of turning back and going home.

Seeing this, Liu Jiao hurriedly stepped forward to stop him, and after a while, he remembered that Liu Xi had just said: Liu Bang, the son of heaven, has not summoned Liu Xi for three years······

"In this case, Brother Zhong will go by himself, and when he sees His Majesty, Brother will intercede for Brother Zhong."

Hearing the words of his younger brother Liu Jiao, Liu Xi did not see any gratitude on his face, only a wry smile, and left silently······