Chapter 84: The Pit-Father Plan

In the Yinyang School, there were many sayings about the Five Emperors of Antiquity, and these Five Emperors of Antiquity were the objects that Liu Che had to sacrifice to every year, among which the Yellow Emperor of Antiquity was the idol Liu Che worshipped.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have held six Fengshan sacrifices on Mount Tai during his reign.

Ancient records state that many Sons of Heaven in the past would climb Mount Tai for Fengshan sacrifices, but only the Yellow Emperor climbed Mount Tai for Fengshan sacrifices and met the Heavenly God on Mount Tai. The Yellow Emperor learned immortal arts from the gods, governed the disasters of the world, and could even slay demons and monsters. So, the great wild boar Son of Heaven learned from the Yellow Emperor and wanted to climb Mount Tai for Fengshan sacrifices.

The result can be imagined. Emperor Wu of Han, who held six Fengshan sacrifices on Mount Tai, did not meet any gods until he died. Of course, these are later stories.

Now, Chu Fu's theory can be said to have hit Liu Che's heart hard. Plus, although he himself had never seen a god, his daughter was protected by gods, which was enough to prove that there were gods in this world.

In history, Emperor Wu of Han toured the east dozens of times in order to seek immortality, just to find the legendary Penglai Immortal Island. So when witchcraft appeared, he firmly believed that this thing could harm people.

Under the subtle brainwashing of Chu Fu and Liu Li, Liu Che, who didn't dare to try at first, believed that Chu Fu's witchcraft could let him and A Jiao switch.

His heart was happy in the end.

"A Jiao, now with Chu Fu's help, we can finally switch back." At night, when only the two of them were in the bedchamber, Liu Che stared at A Jiao with burning eyes.

A Jiao only curled her lips shallowly, her expression indistinguishable from joy or anger.

"Are you not happy?" Liu Che condensed her, not wanting to miss any change in her expression.

A Jiao moved her gaze away with a worried look, not looking at him.

She was still the same as before, writing all her thoughts on her face. Liu Che thought so in his heart. "Are you worried about what will happen after we switch back?" Liu Che stepped forward, raised his hands and held her shoulders tightly, making her face him.

"Shouldn't I be worried?" A Jiao asked back, sneering: "For more than a year, I have interfered in government affairs, making you very unhappy, right? After we switch back, how do you plan to deal with me?"

Liu Che was slightly stunned. Honestly, when he learned that he and A Jiao could switch back, he hadn't thought about how to deal with A Jiao. Now that A Jiao had brought it up, Liu Che had no way to answer.

A Jiao reached out and pushed Liu Che's hand away, using a very sad tone: "No matter how you plan to deal with me, I hope you don't hurt A Li."

"What are you talking about?" Liu Che hurriedly said: "A Li is my daughter, how could I bear to hurt her?"

"That's good." A Jiao breathed a sigh of relief: "Then after we switch back, even if you want to kill me, I will have no complaints."

"Am I such a person in your heart?" Liu Che was dissatisfied.

Isn't he? A Jiao sneered in her heart, but her expression gradually became heavy: "After switching back, you don't plan to kill me?"

Liu Che's eyebrows tightened. He reached out and hugged A Jiao's waist, "You are my Empress, why would I kill you?" Except for when they first switched bodies, he had murderous thoughts towards A Jiao. After a year of wrong-position interaction, Liu Che's murderous thoughts had disappeared.

At least so far, he had never thought about killing A Jiao. After they switched bodies back in the future, she could still be his Empress.

A Jiao asked hesitantly: "You... won't depose the Empress?"

"Naturally not." Liu Che said: "You will always be my Empress."

A Jiao couldn't tell whether his words were sincere. After all, she had heard too many lies from his mouth, and she had long been unable to distinguish them.

Just when Liu Che wanted to look carefully at the expression on A Jiao's face, A Jiao suddenly reached out and hugged Liu Che tightly in her arms. She seemed very moved: "Liu Che, it was my fault before."

Liu Che raised his eyebrows unexpectedly, then tilted his head and leaned into A Jiao's arms, whispering: "Tomorrow we will let Chu Fu perform witchcraft and let us switch back."

In a place Liu Che couldn't see, A Jiao slowly revealed a smile, she nodded: "Okay."

The next day, Liu Che secretly summoned Chu Fu to the side hall and asked her about some details of the witchcraft altar. Chu Fu said: "Little Lord, if you want to draw out the Yang energy in your body, you need to use a wooden puppet as a guide and place the wooden puppet in the extreme Yin position of the Jiaofang Hall, which will naturally eliminate the Yang energy in your body."

Liu Che nodded after listening, but felt that this method was not appropriate: "I want to transfer the Yang energy in my body to the Son of Heaven, and let the Yin energy in the Son of Heaven's body come into my body. How should I do that?"

Chu Fu looked at Liu Che, then lowered her eyes and pretended to think for a while before saying: "Yin and Yang transformation requires making wooden puppets of both the Son of Heaven and the Little Lord, and placing them in the Taiji Bagua Array."

Liu Che had seen that Taiji Bagua diagram of Chu Fu in the 'Classic of Changes'. That volume of bamboo slips had very obvious theories of Huang-Lao Daoism and the Yinyang School, and he didn't like it very much. But there were many records about celestial phenomena in that book, and he also knew about Yin and Yang from it.

According to the 'Classic of Changes', all things in the world are produced by two forces, Yin and Yang.

Chu Fu: "Placing the wooden puppets representing the Little Lord and the Son of Heaven on the Qian and Kun trigrams, absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, can one peek at the heavenly secrets."

Liu Che asked: "Why are they the Qian and Kun trigrams?"

This hit Chu Fu's specialty, and she answered with ease: "The Qian trigram is heaven, located in the due south, which is pure Yang Qian. The Kun trigram is earth, located in the due north, which is pure Yin Kun."

Liu Che was confused after listening, but felt that what she said seemed to make sense. So he pretended to understand: "So that's it, what should I do next?"

Chu Fu: "Little Lord, since you want to reverse Yin and Yang, you must place the puppet representing the Son of Heaven on the Kun trigram, and the puppet representing the Little Lord on the Qian trigram. You also need to stick the black fish talisman representing Yin on the Son of Heaven's wooden puppet, and the white fish talisman representing Yang on the Little Lord's wooden puppet. In short, all preparations must be opposite, mutually infiltrating, Yin has Yang, Yang has Yin, to complete the Yin and Yang reversal."

So profound, it looks so reliable!

After Liu Che heard Chu Fu's theory, he was even more certain of her ability, so he asked: "How long do you need to prepare these things?"

Chu Fu: "Because there is only the slave, Little Lord, give the slave three days to prepare."

Liu Che laughed: "Good, you go

Liu Che laughed heartily: "Good, you go back and prepare well. If you need anything, just ask me. If you succeed, you will be heavily rewarded."

"Thank you, Xiaojun." After Chu Fu bowed to Liu Che, she turned and walked out of the main hall, only to unexpectedly see Princess Ling at the entrance.

Liu Li clapped her hands gently in praise: "Impressive."

Chu Fu smiled slightly: "The Princess flatters me."

"Can your theory of Yinyang transformation from just now really succeed?" Liu Li had been hiding outside and overheard Chu Fu's answer regarding the divination; she had almost believed that such a method could truly allow Liu Che and A Jiao to swap back.

Chu Fu's answer remained the same as before: "Sincerity leads to success."

At this, Liu Li didn't know what to say. After all, the matter of an Emperor and Empress swapping bodies was something that couldn't be explained by science in the first place. What if, by using Chu Fu's so-called Taiji Bagua method, they really could swap back?

Liu Li thought of this possibility, and a foreboding feeling arose in her heart. What if this "pit-the-father" plan she had devised backfired?

"What is the Princess worried about?" Chu Fu lowered her eyes to look at the little princess standing before her: "Are you worried that His Majesty and Xiaojun will really swap because of this?"

Liu Li was indeed worried about this in her heart. Hearing Chu Fu's question, she nodded subconsciously: "Yes." Only after answering did she feel something was wrong, and she suddenly looked up at Chu Fu: "You..."

Chu Fu said candidly: "Fu is not stupid. Even if the Princess deliberately concealed it before, judging by Xiaojun's attitude now, Fu has already guessed a thing or two."

Liu Li tilted her head and stared at Chu Fu's expression for a long time. Her gaze was open and honest, as if she were trying her best to express her choice to Liu Li.

After a long while, Liu Li raised a smile: "As the saying goes, do not doubt those you employ. Since Sister Chu Fu has spoken so candidly, I will not hide it from you either; it is indeed so."

Only then did Chu Fu's hanging heart settle

down. She hurriedly expressed her stance: "Princess, as long as you can save my clansmen, from now on, I, Chu Fu, will be at the Princess's disposal."

Liu Li slowly reached out her hand toward Chu Fu. Chu Fu stared at Liu Li's small hand for a long time, not understanding what the Princess meant by this.

Liu Li pursed her lips and stepped forward to take Chu Fu's hand: "It's a deal, then. I will help you save your clansmen."

Chu Fu subconsciously gripped Liu Li's small hand in return. Unaccountably, a wave of softness stirred in her heart. Perhaps it was because this Princess Ling of the Great Han was more worthy of her loyalty than Liu Ling, the Huainan King's Wengzhu.

"Princess, rest assured. The practice of using a puppet to replace a person is indeed witchcraft and will not be effective according to the Heaven and Earth Eight Trigrams, so the Princess need not worry that the Son of Heaven and Xiaojun will truly swap. True Yin-Yang transformation, as I said before, requires reaching the state where 'things turn into their opposites'."

Hearing Chu Fu say this, Liu Li finally felt relieved: "Alright, then go and prepare."

With this "pit-the-father plan," Liu Li not only wanted Liu Che to experience the feeling of being wrongly accused due to the Witchcraft Calamity, but also wanted to bankrupt the Huainan King's so-called rebellion plan.

Although doing this was a little unfair to our "Wild Boar" Emperor, if after this incident A Jiao could let go of her obsessions from her past life, it would not be a bad thing.

True rebirth is about letting go of the past and being full of hope for the future, not like A Jiao is now, just muddling through and unable to forget the resentment and pain of her past life.

Chu Fu needed three days of preparation. During these three days, the daily lives of A Jiao, Liu Che, and even Liu Li remained the same.

Liu Li went to the Imperial Academy for classes every day without fail. Today, she learned Liubo Chess with her classmates and felt it was quite fun. After returning to the Jiaofang Hall, she mentioned Liubo Chess during her meal, which piqued Liu Che's interest.

After finishing dinner, Liu Che told Su Wen to go to the Wenshi Dian and bring over the Liubo Chess set that the Son of Heaven kept in his bedchamber. Liu Che said with great interest: "I'll play a game with A Li in a while."

This Liubo Chess was a type of military board game popular during the Warring States period; people often used the game to simulate military formations. The version popular in the Western Han was "Big Bo." Liu Li had only learned the rules of the game today, so facing an old hand like Liu Che, she was bound to lose.

"Father Emperor, isn't this bullying?" Liu Li said with dissatisfaction: "I only learned about this thing called Liubo Chess today; I'm a complete beginner."

By this time, Su Wen had already brought the set of chess pieces that Liu Che liked.

Liu Che held the game pieces in his hands, and Liu Li looked over with great curiosity. It was obvious that the set Liu Che treasured was much more valuable than the one Liu Li had played with her classmates during the day.

The chessboard was made of fine rosewood, and the pieces were made of very beautiful jade, in two shapes: rectangular and cubic.

"So beautiful." Liu Li looked at those crystal-clear jade pieces and found she loved them.

Liu Che set the board down and arranged the pieces one by one. He raised an eyebrow and said: "Come, I will teach you how to play."

Liu Li hurriedly moved to Liu Che's side: "Okay, okay." She reached out and picked up a black piece; the icy touch made her unable to put it down.

Seeing her like it so much, Liu Che raised an eyebrow: "When A Li learns well and beats me, I will give this set of game pieces to A Li."

Upon hearing this, Liu Li looked at Liu Che with sparkling eyes: "Really? Father Emperor cannot go back on his word."

"A monarch never jokes."

Under Liu Che's guidance, Liu Li played several games with him, but all ended in failure. However, after figuring out the patterns of Liubo, Liu Li discovered that this game was somewhat similar to the later Xiangqi (Chinese chess).

She quietly checked with the 【Encyclopedia】 and learned that some research suggested Liubo Chess was actually the ancestor of Xiangqi. The modern way of playing Xiangqi actually evolved slowly over the ages in ancient times, and the version closest to modern Xiangqi was from the mid-Tang Dynasty.

Liu Li blinked her eyes, raised her hand to press on the board, and said: "Father Emperor, in a few days, I will give you a gift as well." She would wait until the witchcraft matter was over; if Father Emperor was still Father Emperor, she would make a set of Xiangqi to give to Liu Che.

Compared to the way Liubo Chess was played, she felt Liu Che should like Xiangqi even more.

But the focus of Liu Che's attention at this moment

was: "You want to give me a gift?"

Liu Li nodded: "Yes."

Liu Che carefully recalled the recent events and suddenly realized that this was the first time A Li had offered to give him a gift without him needing anything.

With this thought, Liu Che was overjoyed: "What is it?"

"It's a secret for now." Liu Li looked mysterious: "Let's make it a birthday gift when Father Emperor's birthday arrives."

There are unofficial historical records stating that Emperor Wu of Han, Liu Che, was born on the seventh day of the seventh month in the seventh year of the Houyuan era of Han Wendi. In the "Stories of Emperor Wu of Han," it is said that before Liu Che was born, Han Jingdi dreamed of Liu Bang, and Liu Bang said this child could be named "Zhi."

So, before Emperor Wu of Han became Crown Prince, his name was Liu Zhi. It wasn't until he was invested as Crown Prince that Han Jingdi said: "Zhi means Che."

Only then was his name changed to Liu Che.

This story has been passed down to modern times, and many people affectionately call Liu Che "His Majesty the Wild Boar."

After all, "Zhi" means pig.

Liu Li thought of this allusion and lowered her head, smiling secretly. If Liu Che knew that thousands of years later, his descendants and subjects would call him "His Majesty the Wild Boar," what would he think?

Of course, the current Liu Che knew nothing about the future. He was more puzzled: "Why must it be a birthday gift?"

Liu Li blinked her eyes: "When it's a birthday, naturally one should..." Her words suddenly stopped, and she remembered that ancient people were different from modern ones; unless one was an elderly elder, there was no such thing as celebrating a birthday for young people.

On their birthday, ancient people were required to eat vegetarian food to show gratitude for their parents' gift of life. In this era of the Great Han, where filial piety was paramount, this was especially true.

Liu Li changed her words: "Because this gift requires preparation, so I have to wait for a while."

Although he hadn't received the gift yet, Liu Che's mood was exceptionally good. He raised an eyebrow: "In that case, I shall wait for the gift A Li will bestow."

Liu Li nodded: "Mm-hmm."

It is ironic, come to think of it, that the Emperor Wu of Han, who was so heartless and unfaithful in history, was actually born on the Qixi Festival, a day that symbolizes love.

However, Liu Li had already been in the Great Han for a full year. Last year on the seventh day of the seventh month, it seemed there was no Qixi sacrifice, which meant that at this time, the Qixi Festival was not yet celebrated.

Returning to her bedchamber, Liu Li took out her small to-do list notebook from the cabinet, flipped the page, and wrote in the notebook: Give Father Emperor a set of Xiangqi.

She flipped through the previous content; she had already written down several to-do items.

1: Improve paper-making technique. √

2: Grow cotton.

3: Plant rice on a large scale in the Southwest Yi region.

4: Discover nickel ore in Nanyue and manufacture copper-nickel alloy.

5: Change stone coal to honeycomb briquettes.

6: Printing technique.

7: Gunpowder.

8: How the Steel Was Tempered.

9: Refine fine salt.

15: Give Father Emperor a set of Xiangqi.

Liu Li looked at the things she had written down. She hadn't expected that in this year, she had only completed the improvement of the paper-making technique, and there were still so many things she hadn't even started.

It's fine; she was only seven years old now. Take it slow; there was still time.

Liu Li put the notebook away, then turned and lay on the bed, blinking her eyes as she stared at the bed frame above her.

After the witchcraft case was over, if everything remained unchanged, she would start completing the plans she had listed one by one.

Three days later, Chu Fu had prepared everything for the Yinyang transformation and even specifically had Liu Che inspect the items. Liu Che fiddled with the puppet in his hand and asked in confusion: "How do I distinguish which person these two puppets represent?"

In Liu Che's view, these two puppets looked exactly the same, with no difference.

Chu Fu said: "This servant needs to know your and His Majesty's birth dates and hours, and also needs your personal belongings as tokens to be placed inside the puppets. In this way, the puppets will become the substitutes for His Majesty and Xiaojun."

"What do you mean by personal tokens?"

"It can be something you

never leave your side, or a strand of your hair."

When Liu Che heard that hair was needed, he frowned. After all, one's body, hair, and skin are gifts from one's parents; how could one easily cut off hair?

Chu Fu said: "Xiaojun, only in this way can the puppets represent you and His Majesty."

"Understood." Liu Che thought for a moment; in order to swap bodies back with A Jiao, a strand of hair was just a strand of hair.

A Jiao was not in the Jiaofang Hall now, so he had to wait for her to return. Liu Che took out a dagger, grabbed a strand of black hair in his hand, steeled his heart, cut it off, and handed it to Chu Fu.

Chu Fu took the hair Liu Che handed over with both hands, removed the head of the puppet, and stuffed the hair Liu Che had given her inside.

Liu Che watched Chu Fu's actions, and inexplicably, his brow twitched, and he had a vague, bad premonition in his heart.

Chu Fu reattached the puppet's head. Seeing Liu Che's unclear expression, she hurriedly said: "Xiaojun, rest assured, only after the birth date and hour are carved on it can this puppet represent you."

Only then did Liu Che's expression gradually improve, and he responded sullenly.

A Jiao returned from the Xuanshi Dian. Upon learning that hair and birth dates were needed, she was very cooperative; she took off her hair crown, let her hair down, and also cut a strand of hair to hand to Chu Fu.

After Chu Fu put the hair away, she prepared to carve the two people's birth dates and hours onto the puppets.

Liu Che asked in surprise: "Why is it that the puppet holding His Majesty's hair is being carved with my birth date and hour?"

The hand Chu Fu held the carving knife with paused. A flash of panic crossed her face, and then she looked up and asked in return: "Is that not correct?"

Liu Che paused, then suddenly realized: "Is this what you meant by mutual infiltration, yin within yang, and yang within yin?"

Chu Fu looked solemn: "Yes, Xiaojun, you have already fully penetrated the method of Yinyang transformation."

Liu Che smiled with satisfaction.

A Jiao, who was on the side: "..."

Chu Fu finished carving the remaining birth dates and secretly breathed a sigh of relief in her heart. She had almost been exposed just now; she had long forgotten which puppet corresponded to whom.

Placing the puppets and fish talismans accordingly on the Bagua array, Chu Fu wrapped the items up and asked Liu Che again: "Xiaojun, the altars I asked you to prepare earlier, have you prepared them?"

Liu Che nodded: "Yes, the altars in the due south and due north positions are both prepared."

Chu Fu: "Please take me there."

The altar in the due south position was underground in the Jiaofang Hall. A Jiao also wanted to follow and take a look, but she was stopped by Chu Fu: "His Majesty cannot follow."

A Jiao stopped her steps very cooperatively and watched Liu Che and Chu Fu enter the underground altar of the Jiaofang Hall.

After they had all left, Liu Li quietly leaned over and asked in a low voice: "Is the situation from the past life similar to the current one?"

Hearing this, A Jiao curled her lips: "Similar, but also not quite."

In her past life, when facing the puppets, her heart was extremely uneasy. Finally, when Chu Fu asked her for Liu Che's hair, the unease in her heart reached its peak.

So she randomly took the hair of an attendant, pretended it was Liu Che's, and handed it to Chu Fu.

This time, they had basically restored the process of the past life. The difference was that this time, the hair was real.

Liu Li reached out and held A Jiao's hand tightly, saying: "Don't worry, this kind of puppet witchcraft is all fake. The reason Father Emperor had headaches in the past life was most likely because he was sick with a cold; it was entirely a coincidence."

"Mother, don't forget, Chu Fu is a female physician and knows how to read physiognomy. Perhaps she saw that Father Emperor had caught a cold at the time, which is why she used silver needles to pierce the head of the puppet. And didn't you also say that the hair inside the puppet wasn't Father Emperor's?"

A Jiao nodded and smiled: "Thank you for the explanation, A Li. I'm not afraid anymore."

Liu Li had said so much to A Jiao just to hope she wouldn't believe in this nonsense witchcraft. No matter how Chu Fu messed with the puppets, it wouldn't harm the actual bodies.

She pursed her lips and said: "Next, it will depend on your acting."

A Jiao responded deeply: "Mm."