Chapter 008 My Unreliable Brothers
If Liu Chang had known that the situation would be so embarrassing, he would never have spoken to Liu Ruyi.
After the two continued to confront each other in silence for a while, Liu Chang realized that there was no hope and turned around to leave.
However, Liu Ruyi grabbed his shoulders and forced him to stay in his seat.
Liu Ruyi looked more serious than before. He frowned, looking a bit like Liu Bang. "Why do you want to wear a sword? Is someone bullying you?"
"bully me???"
Liu Chang was stunned and shook his head quickly, then told Liu Ruyi in detail about his plan to improve the spinning wheel.
Contrary to what he thought, there was no trace of mockery on Liu Ruyi's face from beginning to end. He listened to his little brother's thoughts very seriously.
After he finished speaking, Liu Chang felt a little frustrated when he saw that Liu Ruyi was unmoved.
No one believes in me at all.
"Your idea is not bad... It's rare that you can think about your mother..."
Liu Ruyi took off the sword from his waist, and when Liu Chang reached out to grab it, Liu Ruyi took it away.
"You just kicked me today, and I feel like I'm at a disadvantage by giving it to you like this."
"Then you kick me back, and I will definitely... not fight back for now."
"Hahaha, forget it. How about this, if you call me Third Brother, I will give it to you."
Liu Chang frowned and called out in a muffled voice, "Third Brother."
"Hey! I didn't hear you clearly... What's your name?"
“Third brother!!”
"Hahaha, here you go, brother!"
Just as Liu Chang grabbed his sword in ecstasy, a big hand suddenly reached out and grabbed Liu Chang's forearm. Liu Chang looked up angrily, and the person who grabbed his forearm was Liu Heng.
"Third brother...you can't give him the sword...it's too dangerous. What if he gets hurt?"
"What do you care about me?! Let me go!"
Liu Heng just shook his head calmly, and then looked at Liu Ruyi again.
"Brother, you will hurt him."
Liu Ruyi didn't dare to argue anymore. He retracted his hand and took away the sword.
This made Liu Chang very angry. He finally met someone who was willing to believe in him and was able to actually do it, but his plan was ruined by Liu Heng. At this moment, Liu Heng even surpassed Liu Ruyi and became the person Liu Chang hated the most.
Liu Ruyi looked at Liu Chang helplessly and said, "You can't blame me for this."
At the following banquet, Liu Chang was very unhappy. He pouted and sat in his seat angrily. Even the beef was not as delicious as before. Liu Bang was drunk. After singing the song, he went down to the stage to dance. Although he was staggering, his dance was more charming.
He was in a very good mood and rarely pulled Liu Ying to dance with him.
This was probably the happiest day for Liu Ying, not because his position as crown prince was secure, but because of his father's rare close attitude. At that time, Liu Bang was completely focused on his great cause, so he could abandon his wife and son, and even asked for a share of the spoils when the enemy threatened to eat his father.
He had no time to care about his family's thoughts. Liu Fei and Liu Ying grew up during that period.
Only after he had achieved great success did he have the time to enjoy himself. By this time, Liu Fei and Liu Ying had grown up. They could only watch with envy as Liu Bang held his younger siblings and poured into them the fatherly love that they had never enjoyed.
But it is not true to say that Liu Bang did not love his two eldest sons.
Liu Bang gave the richest land of Qi to his illegitimate son Liu Fei. He sent his most trusted and favorite talent to assist his son. The name of the prime minister of Qi was Cao Shen, who ranked second in merit when the country was founded, only after Xiao He.
When Liu Ying was ill, Liu Bang lost his appetite and stayed with his son all day long, inviting the best doctors from all over the country.
However, facing a son who was almost as tall as himself, it was difficult for Liu Bang to express his feelings, especially towards Liu Ying. He was very strict with him. From childhood to adulthood, Liu Ying had never received a single praise from his father. In order to gain his father's recognition, he worked hard to make himself better and better.
At this moment, when Liu Bang was pulling him to dance, Liu Ying was smiling, and tears were flying and splashing from time to time.
During the entire banquet, everyone was very happy except Madam Qi, Liu Ruyi and Liu Chang.
When the banquet was over, Concubine Qi struggled weakly to get up, and Liu Ruyi helped her up. Because of Liu Chang's interruption, his mood had improved a lot, and at this moment he was whispering to comfort his mother. Liu Chang stood beside Empress Lu angrily, staring at Liu Heng in the distance with gritted teeth.
As usual, Concubine Qi wanted to stay and serve the emperor, so Empress Lu took Liu Chang and left first.
The Pepper Room was deserted. Liu Chang had never seen his father come here since he came here, and Empress Lu's personality became more and more lonely. In his few memories, he had seen his mother's smiling face and the way his mother held him and played in the palace.
But now, Empress Lu rarely smiled anymore, and even if she did, it was just an uncomfortable "smile" out of politeness.
Candles were lit in the Pepper Room, and Empress Lu was sitting alone in front of the spinning wheel, weaving cloth.
Little Liu sat obediently beside her, pouting and complaining about his unlucky day.
"Today the teacher asked us to study Daoyuan. I can understand every word, but I have no idea what it means when they are put together... It's so mysterious, and it also said that the color of clothes you wear in a certain season can affect the disasters and harvests in different places... Isn't this nonsense?"
"Um."
"Ruyi loudly insulted the teacher, saying that learning these things would not allow him to govern the country. The teacher praised him, saying that he inherited his father's legacy. I stood up and said that this was nonsense. The old man actually wanted to beat me. We are all princes, why should we treat them differently?"
"Um."
"Heng answered the teacher's questions correctly and patted the teacher on the back. I can see that none of my brothers are good people, except my second brother. "
"Um."
"My father's singing is really bad... It's bad enough, but I'm not allowed to talk about it!"
"Um."
Under the candlelight, in the empty house, the mother was quietly spinning cloth while her son was chattering.
…
The next day, Liu Chang slept in for a rare day. They were on a day off and didn't have to go to class. They had to attend classes sixteen days a month and could rest on the rest of the days. It is said that the Qin Dynasty had to attend classes fifteen days a day. In order to avoid being accused of copying the system of the "Tyrannical Qin", the Han Dynasty made special modifications and added one day. It must be said that this change was really huge, and it can be seen that the Han Dynasty did not copy the system of the Tyrannical Qin.
When Liu Chang woke up, Empress Lu was not in the Pepper Palace. He didn't care where his mother had gone. He asked the palace maid for food and started eating happily. There were a lot of delicious food left over from the banquet yesterday, and Empress Lu brought a lot of them back and left them for Liu Chang.
"Young Master...Young Master Heng is outside the door and wants to see you."
"Heng? No see, no see!"
Liu Chang still remembered what happened yesterday, so he spoke loudly.
In fact, as a younger brother, when Liu Heng came, it should be Liu Chang who went out to greet him. However, this was the Pepper Room, where Empress Lu lived, so Liu Heng could only ask for a meeting and could not barge in.
The maid said helplessly: "I see that Master Heng brought a lot of things... If the Queen knew that you asked Master Heng to wait at the door... I'm afraid..."
"snort!"
Liu Chang then stood up and walked towards the door. When , he noticed the package in Liu Heng's arms. Do you think I can forgive you just by taking something? This is impossible!
"Heng? What are you doing here?"
When Liu Heng saw him, he didn't waste any words and directly opened the package in his arms, revealing what was inside.
Liu Chang's eyes widened. It was a small saw, about the same length as Liu Chang's arm. It was not much different from the common saws in later generations, except for some differences in workmanship and materials.
"This is……"
"A long sword is too dangerous, and can't be used for carpentry, but this thing can."
"Brother...is this for me?"
"Let's talk about this in advance. Be careful in everything you do and don't hurt yourself."
Liu Chang took the saw and didn't know what to say for a moment. He murmured, "But how did you get this?"
"I found the craftsmen who were building the Weiyang Palace..."
"But how dare they lend you something like this?"
"Long... As long as you respect others, others will respect you."
Liu Chang was very happy, playing with the saw in his hand. With this thing, it would be much more convenient to make things. It would be even better if there was a woodworking knife, saw blade, milling cutter machine, drill bit, mortise and tenon processing knife. However, Liu Bang probably couldn't get these things he wanted...
"That's great. When I finish the spinning wheel, my mother will be very happy and she won't have to work so hard."
Liu Heng smiled, looked into the distance, and said seriously: "I also hope you can do it. If you have talent in this area, don't give up."
"If there really is a machine that can increase the efficiency of weaving, women can use it to support their families, mulberry farmers will benefit greatly, and the national treasury will also receive more income. Most importantly... everyone in the world will be able to afford clothes, and this cold winter will not be so unbearable..."
Liu Chang was stunned.
