Chapter 85: Want to Execute Fan Kuai
"How is this possible? How is this possible?!"
Fan Kuai's eyes were red and his roar was like thunder.
Liu Bang looked very calm at this moment, and his emotions were not revealed on his face. This was probably the reason. Liu Bang was usually very casual. When he encountered something he didn't like, he would curse and swear without any seriousness. However, when he really encountered something big, he was very calm.
For example, when he was pacifying Zhao Dai, Fan Kuai led his army alone and deep into the enemy's territory and was almost surrounded. Liu Bang called him and scolded him severely. He was very excited and almost wanted to take action. However, when his generals were defeated by Xiang Yu and their army was almost wiped out, he calmly held a banquet for the generals. No sign of fear and anger in his heart could be seen at all.
Liu Bang said calmly: "Rush to Yan State as quickly as possible and capture Lu Wan alive. You know what to do..."
When Fan Kuai was called over by Liu Bang, he was still immersed in the joy of returning home. However, when Liu Bang said that Lu Wan was plotting a rebellion and asked him to lead an army to suppress it, Fan Kuai became angry.
He simply couldn't believe that his elder brother, who stole the fruits and left the big ones for himself, would do something like treason!
"You still don't obey?"
Liu Bang asked coldly.
Fan Kuai sat there blankly, motionless, huddled up, and said nothing. The bear-like strong man actually looked somewhat pitiful at this moment.
Seeing him like this, Liu Bang could no longer curse. He pointed at Fan Kuai for a moment, then put his hand down.
"Forget it, let Xiahou Ying go...you go back."
"No."
Fan Kuai's voice was also a little hoarse.
"I will go myself."
"Take a good rest for two days..."
Liu Bang then appointed Fan Kuai as prime minister to replace Xiao He. The ministers were naturally confused. They were not surprised that Liu Bang replaced Xiao He. They were just surprised that apart from the feudal states, how could there be a prime minister in the Han Dynasty? The prime minister was originally the prime minister, which was higher than the prime minister in the Spring and Autumn Period and was a different position from the prime minister. After the establishment of the Han Dynasty, it was changed to prime minister to avoid taboos. Liu Bang established the Han Dynasty and established the prime minister, abolishing the positions of prime minister and left and right prime ministers.
When the minister asked in confusion: "When did the Han Dynasty have a prime minister?"
Liu Bang waved his hand and said, "If you say so, it will be granted!" Then he changed the position of prime minister to chancellor.
He seemed to be doing his utmost to eliminate the prime minister, both physically and in terms of the influence on the position.
When Fan Kuai returned to his residence, he still looked a little dazed.
"I heard that my uncle is the prime minister! I came specially to congratulate him!"
The Great and Wise King of Han led all the wise men in Chang'an to congratulate Fan Kuai. Fan Kuai could not help but look at his two little boys. Their mouths were almost grinning to their ears, and their faces were full of pride. It must be these two boys who boasted everywhere and attracted the attention of the Great and Wise King of Han.
Ever since Fan Kuai told Liu Chang and the others interesting stories from the past, Liu Chang has fallen in love with his uncle. He would come to listen to his stories whenever he had time. When he heard about Liu Bang being hung up and beaten by his grandfather, he couldn't help but applaud loudly.
Fan Kuai forced a smile when he saw that these little guys really took out their gifts. He also specifically instructed the steward not to forget to return the gift.
The boys gathered at Fan Kuai's house. Fan Kuai asked someone to bring them some delicious food and then went back to the house. With everyone's courtesy, Liu Chang sat in the upper seat and chatted loudly with his brothers, but he was thinking in his heart: Whose house should I go to for free food and drinks tomorrow?
"After dinner, we went to the west of the city. I heard that the Marquis of Yingyin in the west of the city bought another good dog that is half the height of a man!"
Everyone looked at Guan A, who said proudly, "It's really tall and obedient. My father spent a lot of money to buy it. The hair and teeth, hey, you will know after you see it!"
"Is it tasty?"
Fan Kang looked straight at Guan A.
"That's not for eating!!"
Everyone laughed.
In the inner room, Fan Kuai sat alone. He raised the wine cup and drank it all in one gulp. He heard the laughter of the boys outside. Fan Kuai did not look back. He kept drinking one cup after another. Fan Kuai picked up the large jar and drank it down with a gulp. When he put down the jar drunkenly, several figures seemed to appear around him. These young shadows were all saying something loudly, and the words were no different from those outside.
"Brother...you are all here."
Fan Kuai burped and said with a silly smile.
When Lu Shi walked into the inner room, she saw Fan Kuai talking to himself and saying these stupid things.
"My dear? Why drink so much?"
Lü Shi walked forward with some concern, wanting to support him, but Fan Kuai's physique was too big for Lü Shi to support. When she got closer to him, she saw the tears on his face. Fan Kuai said to himself, "Brothers are not like brothers, relatives are not like relatives... This one is treasoning, that one is hiding weapons... What do you want to do next?!"
Lu Xi narrowed her eyes, "Who hides the weapons?"
"Who else could it be?! Lu Shizhi! I'm going to beat him up right now..."
Fan Kuai staggered to his feet, then fell back to the ground, unable to stand up, cursing.
"Someone, take the prince to rest!"
…
When Fan Kuai led his troops to war, he left very secretly. Even the two little kids at home didn't know where their father was going. Naturally, Liu Bang had no way to see him off.
"Your Majesty, Prime Minister Fan has already left."
After hearing the report from his attendant, Liu Bang felt helpless. He shook his head and said, "It's hard for him. Lu Wan has always been very close to him... In the beginning..."
Liu Bang suddenly couldn't continue speaking.
"It's cold in Yan State... and he's afraid of the cold. Did he prepare thick clothes before he went to war?"
"This..." The attendant hesitated slightly, "It should be prepared..."
At this moment, another attendant suddenly rushed into the Xuanshi Hall. This person looked extremely terrified. He bowed to Liu Bang and said, "Your Majesty! There was a big fire in the Tingwei Mansion last night. Eight prisoners and three jailers were burned to death!"
"What?!"
Liu Bang raised his head suddenly and asked, "How did it catch fire?"
"candlelight……"
"No need to say more! Where are the servants of Marquis Jiancheng?"
"They...they were all burned to death..."
"Fan Kuai!!!"
Liu Bang suddenly stood up, roaring, his face extremely ferocious. The attendants in front of him were so scared that they hurriedly knelt on the ground. Liu Bang stretched out his hand tremblingly, pointing into the distance, his eyes wide open, and his whole body shaking.
"Forehead……"
Liu Bang fell down with a loud bang.
"His Majesty!!!"
The imperial doctors kept going in and out of the oath hall, and the palace was under strict martial law for a while, with no one allowed to enter or leave.
When Liu Bang opened his eyes, he heard sobbing.
He turned his head and saw Crown Prince Liu Ying kneeling beside him.
"Why are you crying? If I die, you will be the emperor!"
"Father!"
Liu Ying stepped forward excitedly and called out again, "Imperial Physician!"
"Stop yelling!"
Liu Bang slowly stood up and rubbed his arm. "I'm not dead yet. How many days have I been lying down?"
"In less than a day..."
"Wipe your tears! There is no real man like me. If I really die one day, you should be a good emperor. If you dare to cry like this again, I will beat you even if I dream about it!"
Liu Bang cursed and sat on the bed again, "Send someone to call Chen Ping and Xiahou Ying!"
Liu Ying wiped his tears and said, "As long as my father can get better, I am willing to be beaten to death..."
Liu Bang wanted to curse again, but he couldn't. Looking at his eldest son with red eyes, he reached out his hand and wiped away the tears on his face. "Okay, go and have a rest... I still have important things to do. Have you visited Prime Minister Xiao during this period?"
"My father is seriously ill. I don't have time to visit him..."
"Why don't you go now? Get lost!"
Liu Bang drove away this useless boy and waited quietly for the arrival of the two important ministers.
At this time, he asked the attendant beside him again.
“Who has been here?”
"Your Majesty the Queen and all the princes have been here before... The imperial physician said that His Majesty is fine and just needs to rest, so he let them go... Only the Crown Prince refused to leave..."
"Um……"
The attendant suddenly thought of something and said, "Young Master Chang didn't want to leave either. He cried and hugged Your Majesty and wouldn't let go. The Queen had someone take him away..."
Liu Bang then noticed the stain on his body. He wiped it off with disgust and cursed: "This new clothes has not been worn for three days... this bastard!"
Chen Ping and Xiahou Ying soon appeared in front of Liu Bang.
They were obviously unaware of Liu Bang's illness and were somewhat surprised by Liu Bang's sudden summons.
"I want to kill Fan Kuai. Do you have any plans?"
Chen Ping and Xiahou Ying opened their eyes wide and looked at Liu Bang blankly.
"Your Majesty...what did your Majesty say?"
