Chapter 22: Preparing to Make Money

This child cannot be kept!

This was the first thought that appeared in Liu Che's mind. Not to mention that he was a man, how could he possibly be pregnant and give birth to a child?!

Furthermore, if this child really were an imperial prince and was named Crown Prince, the power of the Dou and Chen families—the imperial relatives—would be revived. Wouldn't all the effort and groundwork he had laid over these years be in vain?

He certainly needed an imperial prince now to consolidate his imperial power, but the mother of this prince absolutely could not be A Jiao; otherwise, he wouldn't have waited until he was twenty to have his first daughter.

A Jiao did not yet know of all these thoughts in Liu Che's mind. Her voice carried a faint joy: "From now on, you should rest well in the Jiaofang Hall."

Liu Che suddenly snapped back to reality. He clenched his fists in annoyance. Everything he had just thought about was for nothing; he was A Jiao now, and this child was currently in his own belly!

He masked the deep displeasure in his eyes and only said, "Have Imperial Physician Zhang come over to examine me again."

A Jiao replied, "Very well."

In fact, after one night, the news that the Empress might be pregnant was known not only to the ladies and beauties in every palace of the Weiyang Palace, but even the Wang Taihou in the Changle Palace knew about it.

Just past the hour of the Dragon (7-9 AM), Wang Taihou arranged for an elderly servant who served by her side to go to the Jiaofang Hall to inquire about the Empress's condition. A Jiao said a few casual words and dismissed the nanny first.

Before long, Imperial Physician Zhang also arrived. He took Liu Che's pulse and asked about his symptoms, ultimately giving the same diagnosis as yesterday. However, Liu Che's attitude was slightly better this time. He spoke slowly: "You all go out first; I have some questions I wish to ask Imperial Physician Zhang in private."

The palace maids dared not defy the Empress's order and left the bedchamber one after another. Once only Imperial Physician Zhang remained, Liu Che sat up straight, lowered his voice, and said, "Imperial Physician Zhang, get me a prescription for a miscarriage."

Upon hearing the Empress's request, Imperial Physician Zhang's expression changed drastically. Thinking he had misheard, he looked at him in shock and suspicion: "What does the Little Sovereign mean by this?" Was he certain it was a miscarriage and not a pregnancy-preserving medicine?

Liu Che had already prepared his excuse: "I do not intend to keep this child. After all, when Princess Li was born, she was congenitally deficient. I fear this child will be the same, so it is better not to give birth."

Imperial Physician Zhang: "..." He had never heard of a mother making such a request in his entire life; the Empress was truly a remarkable person.

Seeing that Imperial Physician Zhang did not answer, Liu Che furrowed his brows: "What are you still standing there for? Hurry and get the medicine for me."

Imperial Physician Zhang hesitated: "But the Emperor's side..."

"It has only been a month at most. When the time comes and there is blood, we will just say it was the menstrual period. This child never existed." His expression and words were too cold, as if the person pregnant was not him at all.

Imperial Physician Zhang was so stunned by the Empress's attitude that he didn't dare to say a word.

Liu Che did not forget to warn Imperial Physician Zhang: "This matter must not be made known to the Emperor, otherwise you know my methods."

Imperial Physician Zhang tremblingly agreed: "Understood." —Perhaps he should just retire and return to his hometown; the Weiyang Palace was too dangerous!

On A Jiao's side, she had just dismissed the person sent by the Changle Palace, and Imperial Physician Zhang had already finished the consultation and returned to the Imperial Hospital to prepare the medicine for the Empress. Seeing that Imperial Physician Zhang had left, and seeing Liu Che leaning listlessly on the bed, she walked closer and said, "There might be some discomfort in the early stages of pregnancy; you must endure it."

Liu Che gave a light huff and closed his eyes, not wanting to see A Jiao.

Knowing that he must be in a bad mood, A Jiao did not want to seek trouble for herself here, so she said, "I know you are still angry with me because of yesterday's events, but I will not take back what I said yesterday."

Seeing that Liu Che still had no reaction, A Jiao simply spoke openly: "Why must you divide us so clearly? Now you are me, and I am you. Just as A Li said, we are now a community of shared destiny; we cannot be separated."

"Rest assured, I will still discuss the court affairs of the Great Han with you in the future, and even... if you wish to attend court and listen to the administration with me, I can arrange it for you. I do not mind sharing the world with you."

These ideas were taught to A Jiao by Liu Li. Liu Li told A Jiao that roughly several hundred years later, a dynasty called the Great Tang would replace the Great Han as the master of the Central Plains, and in this Great Tang, there would appear a

female Emperor.

Before this female Emperor became Emperor, she was also an Empress, and she began participating in court affairs while she was still Empress, even being referred to alongside the Emperor of that time as the "Two Sages."

Hearing this from A Jiao, Liu Che finally opened his eyes to look at the A Jiao before him. He had thought A Jiao was usurping his power and status because she wanted to dominate the court like Lu Hou did back then, but he never expected her to say she wanted to share the world with him.

For a moment, he could not understand what A Jiao's true intentions were.

"If you let me participate in court affairs, are you not afraid that I will take everything back from your hands?" In terms of methods and strategy, A Jiao was no match for him at all; the only reason he was at a disadvantage now was because they had swapped bodies.

A Jiao raised an eyebrow: "Afraid, yet not afraid."

There seemed to be a light in her eyes, but it was a radiance he had never seen before, as scorching and dazzling as fire.

She smiled: "Neither of us knows if we will ever be able to swap back. Perhaps we will swap back tomorrow, or perhaps we never will. Then what is the point of this struggle? Unless you want to find a way to kill me right now, and then, in my identity, support the Crown Prince to ascend the throne and become the second Lu Empress of the Great Han."

"But your biggest problem right now is that you have no son. Once I die, the imperial throne of the Han family will fall into the hands of your uncles or brothers."

Liu Che: "..." He had to admit, A Jiao's analysis was truly very thorough.

When Dou Taihuang Taihou was alive, he did not dare to easily let any woman in the harem become pregnant. His grandmother had lived through three reigns, and her prestige in the court was unmatched. If his grandmother had the intention to imitate Lu Hou, depose the Emperor, and support a young child to the throne, his own position would be in danger.

It was not until later, when his grandmother slightly relaxed her power to him and he had gained a certain amount of influence in the court, that he finally relaxed a little.

It was also at this time that Wei Zifu and A Jiao became pregnant one after another.

At that time, he hoped Wei Zifu would give birth to an imperial prince, but he absolutely did not want the child in A Jiao's womb to be a prince. After all, behind A Jiao was not only the powerful force of imperial relatives, but also the Taihuang Taihou!

And now the situation had changed; he had become A Jiao, and A Jiao had become him.

They had become a strange community of shared destiny—no, or rather, he himself at this moment had to rely on A Jiao.

After all, if A Jiao were a little more ruthless, deposed him as Empress, or killed him in his current state, then the world of the Great Han would be entirely hers; she had no need to share this world with him at all.

That she was still willing to keep him, and even say such things about sharing the world, was because she actually still had him in her heart, Liu Che thought to himself.

A Jiao could indeed do as Liu Che thought—depose this Empress or kill this version of herself to eliminate future trouble. But in the end, she could not bring herself to do it. It wasn't because she still had Liu Che in her heart, but purely because she could not bring herself to kill herself.

So it could only be said that what Liu Che was thinking was merely his own wishful thinking.

While the two were talking, the attendants from the Imperial Hospital urgently delivered the medicine Liu Che was to drink. Fuqu, who was guarding the door, took the medicine bowl: "Little Sovereign, this is the medicine sent by Imperial Physician Zhang."

A Jiao turned her head slightly to look at the medicine bowl Fuqu was holding. Fuqu brought the bowl to Liu Che's side. Liu Che reached out to take the black, bitter-smelling medicine, but hesitated for a moment.

Once he drank this bowl of medicine, regardless of whether he was truly pregnant, the child in his womb would disappear.

At the very least, he would have one less worry.

But... did he really want to drink it?

Not only was Liu Che hesitating, but A Jiao, who was to the side, was also watching Liu Che's movements, her heart pounding, holding her breath in tension.

Imperial Physician Zhang had already told her everything about Liu Che asking for the miscarriage medicine; she knew what was in the bowl in Liu Che's hands.

She was gambling.

Gambling on Liu Che's final choice.

If he drank this bowl of medicine, then she would take back the words about sharing the world she had just said and let him experience everything she had gone through in her past life!

Liu Che slowly brought the medicine bowl to his lips. Smelling the bitter, foul odor emanating from the decoction, he furrowed his brows tightly, and then, as if out of spite, threw the bowl in his hand away.

He said with a great temper: "This medicine smells foul to death; get me a new bowl."

Fuqu was so frightened by Liu Che's intense reaction that she dared not breathe, and finally knelt directly on the ground.

A Jiao, however, slowly let out a sigh of relief. "Fuqu, get up and prepare a new portion of pregnancy-preserving medicine for the Empress."

"Understood." Fuqu, as if granted amnesty, cleaned up the remains on the ground and retreated.

A Jiao turned her gaze to the "herself" who was throwing a tantrum. The dark hair hung over the shoulders, the rosy cheeks looked as beautiful as if they had been brushed with rouge, and the willow-leaf brows were arched high—lively and arrogant.

She seemed to see the Tangyi Marquis Wengzhu from back then, who had not yet married Liu Che and was cherished in the palms of the Emperor and the Empress Dowager.

For some reason, A Jiao's eyes felt a bit sore. She moved her gaze away quite uncomfortably, masking the moisture in her eyes, and then spoke slowly, her voice softening involuntarily: "Liu Che, rest well. You must be extra careful in the early stages of pregnancy."

Having said that, she turned and left the bedchamber.

Liu Che stared at A Jiao's back until her figure disappeared from his sight. Only then did he withdraw his gaze and look down at his lower abdomen, raising his hand to place it gently upon it.

For himself at this moment, keeping this child was the best choice. If he and A Jiao were never able to swap back, then the child in his womb would be his hope.

If they could swap back, whether it was A Jiao or this child, he could just find a way to deal with them then.

Seeing A Jiao come out of the bedchamber, Liu Li hurriedly ran over to pull her, asking with concern: "How was it? How was it?"

A Jiao nodded with a smile: "He did not drink that bowl of medicine."

Liu Li also let out a sigh of relief: "That's good."

Mother and daughter looked at each other and smiled. If they didn't let Liu Che voluntarily give up this idea, even if they stopped Liu Che from drinking the abortion medicine this time, Liu Che would still have opportunities to harm the child in his womb in the future.

Only when he voluntarily gave it up and understood the importance of the child in his womb would he protect this child.

A Jiao took Liu Li's hand and asked: "What do I need to do next? Zheng Dangshi reported that the Yellow River construction is going very smoothly, and there are already over 100,000 commoners participating in the construction. It should be fully completed by the coming spring."

The sixteen disaster-stricken commanderies accounted for almost a quarter of the Great Han's commanderies and counties, showing the vast scale of this disaster.

Liu Li nodded and smiled: "This can be considered a good deed that benefits the country and the people."

It was already the fourth year of Yuanguang. She was not very clear about what major historical events happened this year; she could only know when the system displayed the events.

However, Liu Li knew that according to the historical progression, A Jiao was deposed in the fifth year of Yuanguang, and the Battle of Long City in the sixth year of Yuanguang saw Wei Qing achieve a great victory over the Xiongnu, thus pulling back the curtain on the Han-Xiongnu War, and Wei Qing and Huo Qubing stepped onto the stage of history from then on.

If A Jiao and Liu Che had not swapped, Wei Qing and Huo Qubing would definitely be threats to A Jiao. But now, Wei Zifu had not given birth to the Imperial Eldest Son, and A Jiao was the Emperor.

So as long as these two were loyal to the Emperor and the Great Han, they would still be the dual walls of the Great Han.

Since there was nothing major this year, Liu Li thought for a moment and said: "Let's make money." In the future, fighting wars and expanding the territory of the Great Han would all require money.

The national treasury accumulated by Han Wendi and Han Jingdi was actually very abundant, but it really could not withstand the foreign expansion policy of Emperor Wu of Han. It was very necessary to seize the time to make money while the treasury was not yet empty.

Liu Li never expected that she, a finance and trade graduate, would actually be able to use her major after traveling to the Great Han.

Speaking of making money, this reminded Liu Li of the very famous financial expert of the Western Han period, Sang Hongyang. It could be said that without Sang Hongyang earnestly helping Emperor Wu of Han make money in the rear, the national treasury would never have been able to keep up with the speed at which Emperor Wu of Han fought wars and expanded his territory.

"Sang Hongyang?" A Jiao raised her eyebrows when she heard Liu Li mention this name: "He once served as Liu Che's study companion and should be working in the Shaofu now."

Liu Li vaguely remembered that in history, Sang Hongyang was only officially put into a position of importance by Emperor Wu of Han when he was forty years old, which was simply a waste of this talent. If Sang Hongyang had been put into a position of importance earlier to carry out commercial reforms, the finances of the Great Han would not have reached the point of being empty.

She rubbed her hands excitedly: "Put him into a position of importance and let him make money for the Great Han!"

Sang Hongyang could be considered the founding father of their industry, and Liu Li was very interested in meeting this big shot. ===== CHAPTER 23 =====