In the death cell, it was dark and wet, and the creaking of mice was particularly harsh at night. Ying Bu and Lu Wan were detained in two prison cells in the east and west, far apart. Everyone in the detention was nervous. After all, these two were the best figures in the dynasty and could not be neglected.

Lu Wan held a straw in her arms and leaned on the shabby bed. He looked through the narrow window at the dark night sky outside the window, as if he saw Liu Ji's dark eyes. When did Liu Ji become such a cold-blooded and ruthless person now? Lu Wan asked himself countless times in his heart, but he could never find the answer. Deep in his heart, Liu Ji was always the third young master who was laughing and playing with him in Pei County.

Lu Wan shook her head and cleared the feeling of loss in her heart. He was born to not like thinking about these complicated things. The more he thought about them, the more tired he felt. He turned over impatiently, and looked at the empty bed beside him, and couldn't help feeling lonely.

"It's true that Xiao Hehe's body temperature is a little cold." Lu Wan murmured in a low voice and fell asleep in a drowsy manner.

Since the rescue plan failed, Xiao He hurried to the palace. He knelt outside Liu Ji's palace and couldn't get up. No one could persuade him. Xiao He was a Confucian scholar, with a thin body and kneeling in the cold wind for several hours. His face turned pale, but he still gritted his teeth and insisted. The figure in the white clothes was like a shaky fallen leaves, stubbornly blocking Liu Ji.

Two days later, Liu Ji issued an edict saying that King Yingbu of Jiujiang led his troops to rebel and should be punished for his crimes. He was sentenced to the punishment of dismemberment of five horses and executed one month later.

When Xiao He heard this decree, his face was pale. Although the imperial edict did not mention Lu Wan's punishment at all, it was enough to show Liu Ji's inner anger. He still knelt in front of Liu Ji's bedroom and begged him to let Lu Wan go.

Liu Ji was in the bedroom, looking at Xiao He who could not kneel up, his eyes were cold and there was no slight pity. A small guard walked in with a plate of fruit. Liu Ji rubbed his somewhat tired forehead, waved his hand, and said to the guard: "I feel a little tired, please wait for me to change my clothes and rest."

The little guard nodded and agreed. Liu Ji changed into bed clothes, glanced silently at Xiao He's figure outside the room, and then went to bed without saying anything. The fragrance in the room was lingering. After lit the benzoin, the guard respectfully retreated out of the hall.

"Sir, Your Majesty is already asleep." The little guard walked to Xiao He: "Sir, please come back."

Xiao He's body was already shaking, but he still gritted his teeth and shook his head without agreeing. The little guard sighed helplessly and stepped down.

The aroma of benzoin made Liu Ji sleep very peacefully and feel drowsy. He seemed to dream of playing hide-and-seek with Lu Wan when he was a child. Lu Wan and he were brothers born on the same day of the same year, month and day. The two of them were like brothers. He was like a little follower, playing with him next to Liu Ji. They climbed trees and stole fruits together, roasted wild pheasants together, and caught fish...

It took a long time before Liu Ji woke up in a daze. The memories of childhood aroused the softest part in his heart. He took a deep breath and subconsciously glanced outside the room.

Xiao He was still kneeling outside the hall. His white clothes that were originally untainted had become dirty, and Xiao He's hair was also a little messy. Liu Ji asked the guard and then realized that Xiao He had lost his energy and fainted twice.

Liu Ji got up and changed into a dragon robe. He hesitated for a moment, left the bedroom from the back door, and ordered the guards to send him back to the mansion after Xiao He fainted again, and prohibited from entering the palace.

Lu Wan lay bored in the prison. He caught the rats and cockroaches, put them in the bowl, and watched them run around in panic. He even weave a grasshopper with straw to play with them.

"Are you very comfortable?" The prison door behind you slowly opened, and Liu Ji appeared in the cell wearing a dragon robe. Lu Wan did not look back and teased the mouse on his own: "I am really bored, do you have to have some fun?"

"Bold traitor, why don't you kneel when you see Your Majesty?" The leader of the Imperial Guard shouted loudly, and Lu Wan glanced at him sideways and snorted coldly. The leader was not angry and wanted to teach Lu Wan a lesson if he acted, but was stopped by Liu Ji.

"Go down, I'm talking to General Lu, it's not your turn to interrupt."

The leader of the Imperial Guard was so scared that he urinated and hurriedly retreated, leaving only the two of them in the prison.

Liu Ji sat cross-legged casually on a haystack, imitating Lu Wan's appearance and picked up a straw. This slutty look was exactly the same as when they were in Pei County. Lu Wan was stunned, and an unknown feeling surged in his heart. He threw down the mouse playing in his hand, stood up and sat in front of Liu Ji.

"Aji, do you really don't believe me?" Lu Wan's expression became much more serious. This was the first time he called him Aji since Liu Ji ascended the throne. Liu Ji's hand trembled and raised his eyes and looked straight into Lu Wan's gaze.

Liu Ji was speechless and didn't say anything. Finally, he just shook his head and sighed: "I don't believe you, but at that time, the 100,000 elite soldiers were fully armed and headed straight to the palace. I must give you an explanation."

Lu Wan's eyes dimmed a little. After Liu Ji ascended the throne, he became more and more serious. He never felt happy or angry. However, Lu Wan grew up with him since childhood and knew his temper well. He already felt that Liu Ji really became suspicious of him.

Deep loss and sadness flowed through Lu Wan's heart. He lowered his head, covering up the disappointment deep in his eyes, and said lightly: "Where is Ying Bu, how do you deal with him?"

Liu Ji paused: "Ying Bu was a traitor of Xiang Ji. I have ordered that all his military power be taken back and sentenced to dismemberment of five horses."

Lu Wan's body shook obviously. He held the corner of the table and barely raised a sarcastic smile: "Then do you come to me today and want to dismember me from the body?"

Liu Ji's eyes became a little deeper: "Lu Wan, don't be too presumptuous."

Lu Wan slapped the table suddenly and stood up: "Rareless? Haha, Your Majesty, since you think I'm unruly, why should you condescend to come to this death row and see me, a rebellious traitor? Wouldn't you just dismember me and just dismember me all?"

"Lu Wan!"

"Liu Ji!" Lu Wan didn't care about anything. His eyes were slightly red, and his cynical face no longer covered his endless disappointment: "You stepped on the bodies of countless brothers and reached the current status. Your crown was covered with blood. When you sat on the throne, do you know what we thought?"

Lu Wan patted her chest and said excitedly: "We are proud, we are proud! Because you are our elder brother, you have finally reached the pinnacle of power, because you deserve everything we give, even life. But how do you repay us?"

Liu Ji's face loosened for a moment. His heart, which had been numb, squeezed into a hint of unbearableness and guilt. Lu Wan smiled self-deprecatingly: "I finally understand why Zhang Liang chose to leave you at the beginning. He is smarter than each of us and looks at the long term."

"For the emperor, you are destined to move forward alone, and you will step on our corpses and go further and further."

Lu Wan said this sentence with great pain. In fact, Zhang Liang had warned him before leaving, but he was too naive at that time, immersed in the excitement of regaining the world and did not care about it. Now, if you savor it carefully, you will find that the person you can actually see the most thoroughly is Zhang Liang.

Liu Ji was touched by Lu Wan's words. He stood there and didn't speak for a long time. After he ascended the throne, there were praises everywhere, and few people could express their heartfelt words. As he went further and further on the road of power, he had lost his original heart at some point, but when he turned around, he found that he was really only one person left.

Liu Ji suddenly felt very tired on his shoulders. Since he became emperor, he has been suspicious every day, worried that there would be rebellious voices everywhere. He often had nightmares at night, and even dreamed that Xiang Yu came to ask for his life. After getting the rights he wanted, Liu Ji found that he was living more and more painfully.

The road to the emperor is lonely after all...

Lu Wan's words made him wake up as if he was dreaming. Since he chose this path, he embarked on a path of no return. Those partners who fought side by side with him and Qi Lan who loved him will all be far away from him. He had already made a choice, but now he is just unable to bear the consequences of this choice.

Liu Ji closed his eyes, and the sour pain made him feel the urge to cry, but now, he has forgotten how to cry. He stood up silently and said to Lu Wan: "The Huns army has been turbulent on the Han border. I will give you 30,000 troops and send troops to attack the Huns."

Lu Wan didn't say anything. Liu Ji walked out of the cell, stood quietly for a while, and said in a low voice: "Let's go tomorrow. Tonight, I allow you to say goodbye to Xiao He."

Lu Wan lowered her head and was silent. After a long time, she knelt on her knees respectfully and gave Liu Ji the most respectful bow: "Sinner, I will receive the order and thank the Lord for your kindness."

Liu Ji walked out of the cell and never looked back. Lu Wan's kneeling figure did not get up for a long time. The brotherly love that had been with him for decades was over today. From now on, the king and his subjects were strangers and life was different.

At night, Xiao He’s Mansion.

Xiao He didn't know when he was carried back to his government office. He felt weak and sore everywhere. His knees were swollen into two small hills, which hurt when he touched them. Xiao He lifted his clothes and saw that the wound had been carefully treated and was wrapped in a thick bandage.

Xiao He looked up as he looked up and saw Lu Wan standing in front of the window in a daze. He was shocked and hurriedly got up. Before he could take two steps, he felt a scorching pain in his knees. His body softened and he suddenly fell into a warm embrace.

"Xiao Hehe, your knees are not healed yet, how can you get off the ground?" Lu Wan picked up Xiao He and carefully put him back on the bed: "Don't get off the ground for the past month, be obedient and well recover."

"Why are you back? Did Your Majesty not make things difficult for you? What did he say, should you hold you responsible?" Xiao He rushed out of a lot of questions. Lu Wan smiled and shook her head: "It's okay, Your Majesty did not make things difficult for me. Look, am I back?"
Chapter completed!