The Great Han Dynasty Volume 2: The mountain has trees, and the trees have branches; ninety willows are wounded.

  "Uncle!" Zhang Yan cried out loudly, her voice filled with alarm.

  At the same time, due to her utmost effort in leaning back, the boy's lips brushed against her right cheek, the scent of wine mixed with a hint of sweetness and the warmth from the boy's body, filling the space between their mouths. In an instant, her senses became extremely acute, and she could clearly feel the warmth and softness of the boy's lips, like feathers, on the fine hairs above her upper lip.

  Liu Ying's whole body suddenly became clear-headed, and she stared at the girl in her arms. The girl was lowering her head, her body slightly trembling, delicate and moving, while on her left earlobe there was a bright red mole, very cute.

  "Ah Yan." Liu Ying was startled and hastily pushed her away, "What are you doing here?"

  She took a step back and stopped, looked up and said, "Then I'll have to ask you, Uncle."

  She tried to say something righteous, but the scene just now was still lingering in her mind, and she couldn't shake it off. The heat on her face had been burning, and finally, she couldn't even lift her head up. Liu Ying also looked embarrassed, with no place to put her eyes.

  This unexpected turn of events made the atmosphere between them ambiguous and awkward. For a moment, Zhang Yan was annoyed, wanted to cry, and wanted to wipe away the marks on her face with her sleeve. In the end, she just sighed and asked softly, "Uncle, now that you're so self-destructive, do you still remember what you said when you invited the four wise men of Shangshan?"

  At that time, he was ambitious and had a clear vision. He stood in front of Dongyuan Gong with white hair and beard, talking confidently, "The resplendent one is China, the vast one is Xia."

  That young man who said "I only wish that the people can gradually become rich and happy, no longer suffering from war" went where?

  Liu Ying's eyes revealed a pained expression, and she said softly, "A Yan, you're still too young, you won't understand."

  "How did you know I didn't understand?" Zhang Yan asked sharply. "In the past, Emperor Gao and Xiang Yu of Western Chu fought for the world. How could they have won every battle without exception? Several times they almost died. If he had been like you, giving up as soon as he encountered setbacks, would this world be ruled by the Liu family today?"

  "It's different."

  "What's different now?"

  Liu Ying's legs moved restlessly, "If it were an enemy, no matter how many setbacks, I would not be afraid. But," his eyes showed a hint of weakness and confusion, "if that person was your own mother."

  His voice was getting lower and lower.

  What can you do?

  Because of blood ties, can't give up, can't compromise. Can't turn back, can't...

  Can't face it.

  He stretched out his hand and stroked his forehead, "I will never understand, killing someone is just a nod of the head, why did she have to be so ruthless?"

  "Why?" Zhang Yan coldly laughed and said loudly. "Then you should go ask the previous emperor."

  "Ah Yan," Liu Ying jumped in fright and shouted loudly, "You must not be disrespectful to the late Emperor."

  "Rude?" Zhang Yan glanced at him, "Your Majesty probably forgot, as long as I think it's reasonable. Even when the previous emperor was alive, I dared to speak in front of him. And today, with the Empress Dowager and Concubine Qi having reached such a miserable state, it must be said. The previous emperor would also have to take half the responsibility."

  "This is adding insult to injury."

  "Hehe," Zhang Yan smiled and shook her head, "Your Majesty is a man, so you don't understand what women are thinking. The ancient saying goes, 'Regulate the family, govern the country, and bring peace to the world.' The previous emperor did well in the latter two, but unfortunately, he didn't do well in regulating the family, which led to trouble. The previous emperor favored Consort Qi, so he let her provoke the Empress, even... If he really cared about Consort Qi, he should have taught her how to advance and retreat, and distinguish right from wrong. Many times, a family is like a country, and as a husband, one needs to balance things. When the legitimate wife is not favored, and the concubine is given precedence, isn't it bound to lead to disaster?"

  "According to you," Liu Ying said with a bitter smile, "a husband must also be diligent and hardworking in his own home, without being able to follow his heart, isn't that too tiring?"

  "It's not comparable to the hardships of women." Zhang Yan raised an eyebrow, suddenly coldly smiling, "Or, in your eyes, women are just a pastime, and there's no need to care about their joys and sorrows?" She glanced at the disheveled imperial bed, "Your Majesty, do you still remember the woman who lay on this bed last night, what was her name, and what did she look like?"

  "This——" This time Liu Ying was really embarrassed.

  "So," she said with a slight pout, lowering her voice, "men are all like this. On the one hand, they suffer from not understanding women who have been wronged by past grievances, and on the other hand, they create suffering for other women."

  "A Yan," Liu Ying said with a blush of anger, "I am the Emperor of Great Han, summoning palace maids to attend me in bed is a common occurrence."

  For the lovely young palace maids in Weiyang Palace, being favored by the emperor was also an honor.

  "But those palace maids are human beings too," Zhang Yan countered, "They have feelings as well. What's a trivial matter to you is something they'll pay for with their entire lives. And yet, Uncle, you can't even remember their names. Don't you think that's cruel?"

  "Alright, alright." Not knowing whether it was because he had never thought about it from this angle before and felt guilty, or because he was discussing private matters with his young niece, Liu Ying's face turned red as he said, "Let's not talk about that. Was it the Empress Dowager who sent you here?"

  He let out a bitter laugh and buried his face deep in his palms, "I've already given her everything she wanted, what more does she want?" His voice was full of disgust.

  Zhang Yan looked up at him and asked, "What does the Empress Dowager want to do again?"

  "It's just a matter of fighting for power and profit."

  Her mother liked to have control over everything and everyone, and she had to be in charge of all matters, not allowing any dissatisfaction, even if that person was her own son.

  "It's not like that." Zhang Yan shook her head, "At least, it's not just like that." Lyu Hou certainly liked power, but there was no woman who didn't care about emotions, even if that woman was strong and iron-blooded like Lyu Hou. Hardness and softness were two sides of Lyu Hou, lacking either one couldn't form the complete her.

  "Uncle," Zhang Yan suddenly had an idea, "what are you actually angry about? Is it that Qi Fu Ren died unjustly and miserably, or is it that the Empress Dowager just promised you something and then immediately broke her promise?"

  Liu Ying was taken aback for a moment.

  He really doesn't understand his mother at all.

  It's not entirely as hypocritical as Zhang Yan said, for Qi Fu's miserable death, he indeed had a heart full of unbearable pain and sympathy, but in this unbearable pain and sympathy, he asked himself, how much anger came from his disappointment with his mother?

  Under his mother's strong pressure, he has already made concessions. Why is his mother still unwilling to forgive him? Time and time again, she makes promises to him, but turns around and lightly abandons them, as if she doesn't have a son like him in her heart at all.

  "Look," Zhang Yan looked at him, her eyes shining with a hint of transparency, "Your Majesty is punishing yourself and making the Empress Dowager sad in order to take revenge on the Empress Dowager. But Your Majesty also knows that the Empress Dowager loves you, so she can follow suit and be sad too, right?"

  "Not true." Liu Ying was momentarily at a loss for words, how could he shake off the knot in his heart. In her mouth, it was like a child playing house, making a big deal out of nothing.

  "Ayao, it's not like that." He looked at the girl seriously and said, for a moment not realizing that he had treated his 10-year-old niece as an equal object of thought. "I... I just suddenly felt that whether this big man is here or not, it's all the same. I desperately wanted to protect Ruyi, but in the end she still died. I hope Empress Dowager can rest easy in her old age." His voice fell into confusion, "If I couldn't even protect the people by my side... then what's the point of protecting this country and its people? In fact, even if there was no emperor like me, all state affairs would still proceed as usual. The civil and military officials would each do their jobs. And Empress Dowager could govern them well."

  "So," he said in a low voice. "What is this emperor of mine doing, after all?" The sunlight cast a desolate silhouette behind him.

  "It's not like that." Zhang Yan hugged the young man from behind, who was not very thick, and said excitedly.

  "A Yan?" Liu Ying was somewhat surprised, reaching out to remove her hand from his shoulder, but the girl placed half of her cheek on his shoulder and sobbed, "Who says Uncle has no way to protect us. Do you know or not, your existence itself is a kind of protection for us."

  "It's because of you that the Empress Dowager is a legitimate Empress Dowager and the Eldest Princess is an honorable Eldest Princess. If you weren't here, perhaps we would be nothing. Orphaned children and widowed mothers are often bullied. You've also seen what happened to Emperor Xian's widow, Qi Fei, and Ruyi after his passing. If you were to pass away prematurely, who knows, that might be our fate too. A man in this world can give up on any achievement, but at the very least, he must protect his own family, wife's family, and descendants. Don't you want to ensure that after your death, the Empress Dowager and your mother won't be bullied?"

  "And," her voice gradually became somewhat cold, whispering in a voice that only he could hear, "if you want to be an unyielding protector, you must first become stronger yourself."

  Only when one's own strength is sufficient can one's will be truly carried out. Many times, your loved ones also mean your opponents. Why can she enter the palace unimpeded because in the two palaces, Empress Lü's authority is too great.

  This is not good news for Liu Ying.

  Before he ascended to the throne, in the eyes of the world, Empress Lü and the Crown Prince were one entity. In maintaining Empress Lü's position as queen and Liu Ying's position as crown prince, their interests were entirely consistent. Even if Empress Lü was a bit overbearing, there was nothing wrong with that. On the contrary, she could make up for the deficiencies in Liu Ying's personality.

  However, the situation changed completely after Empress Lü's ascension to power. A powerful empress dowager would necessarily diminish the emperor's authority to some extent. Without mentioning other things, when Emperor Hui showed clear signs of protecting his concubine, Empress Dowager Lü's eunuchs were still able to enter the imperial harem and murder Concubine Qi with impunity. This at least shows that within the Weiyang Palace where the emperor resided, the palace eunuchs feared Empress Dowager Lü more than they did the young emperor.

  Liu Ying's body trembled slightly.

  After a long while, Liu Ying said calmly, "Does even an overbearing empress dowager like Mother need protection from me?"

  Zhang Yan burst into tears and laughed, saying, "Yes, don't believe me? Go ask her."

  Even if it was just for her son, Empress Lü had to nod in agreement.

  The eunuch in charge of the imperial court, Gong, personally escorted Zhang Yan out of the palace. "Thank you, Mrs. Zhang," he said with a cough, using his hand gesture to cover up his low voice.

  "You're welcome." She smiled faintly. "Uncle," a nostalgic glint appeared in her eyes, she whispered, "once woke me up too."

  She was talking about that year in Linyi, on a night by the banks of the Zhen River, under the hazy light of the river lanterns.

  Chang Ji was unclear about this past event, his eyes somewhat dazed.

  As they approached the East Glorious Gate, a group of men dressed in official attire passed by the Langguan government office and entered the palace. From afar, they bowed their hands and said, "Greetings, Lord Han."

  Chang Quan nodded slightly.

  One of the boys was about fifteen or sixteen years old, with a delicate face and a hint of childishness, slender build.

  Under Zhang Yan's curious gaze, his face slightly flushed as he bowed and said, "Xun Yu has seen Mistress Zhang."

  This name made Zhang Yan's heart skip a beat.

  Does this count as my little Yan's first kiss? I'm torn.

  I've always thought that subtlety is more beautiful than explicitness. For example, this kind of ambiguous feeling is more dazzling to me than a passionate French kiss. Ambiguity is the best catalyst when things are still unclear.

  The following is the unified answer to readers' questions:

  1. Has the male lead of this article been confirmed?

  It's actually obvious by now, it's our great uncle. Wolf friends who like this pair can howl now. As for those who say they can't accept uncle-nephew love, don't be anxious, considering the strict crackdown period, I won't openly advocate for chaos, so, there will be arrangements later. (Just a wall grass, trying to please both sides. Kick away.)

  2. Does the plot of this book follow history?

  No. Just watch "Jin Wu" and you'll know, I have no respect for history at all. As for the current plot being inconsistent with history, that's because of the outline, I need to create conflict between Emperor Hui and Empress Lü.

  I'm sorry, Mrs. Qi.

  I don't dare watch tragedies, is "The Legend of Hao Lan" a tragedy?

  Once again, I must stress that this is not a tragic story. In fact, when I first conceived of this story, my intention was to describe the warm and intimate details between husband and wife. However, since we didn't even get married, what I wanted to write about hasn't even begun yet.

  I guarantee a HE ending, at least one relatively perfect ending, so my little Yān won't end up pitifully as an old maid, so please jump in with peace of mind.

  Who is Meng Yi, ranked second in the keyword of the work?

  Cough, he (she) is my guilty pleasure. This name hasn't officially appeared yet, it should be around chapter 10 or so. At that time, I hope everyone won't throw rotten eggs at me.

  The plot develops too slowly.

  I know, sorry about that. The beginning was indeed a bit slow. But the story will get more and more exciting, I promise. It's already speeding up now.

  And then, today a figure who is not exactly a heavyweight but will be very... appeared. Those of you who have a slight understanding of Chinese history should know what I mean.

  The children's shoes have all been brought out, can the dog blood be far behind?

  Finally, continue to ask for pink tickets, "Recommended monthly ticket support author", press it.

  Backward walk away from the stage.