snowstorm

The big ship crossed the Yangtze River very steadily.Xie Qiao ate the candy given by Lu Jue, and grabbed Lu Jue's arm again, feeling much better.But in Lu Jue's eyes, Xie Qiao's little face was so pale that it seemed that he was going to faint in a second. When the boat sailed to the middle of the river, Xie Qiao's lips were even bloodless.

Lu Jue saw that Xie Qiao's hands holding his sleeves trembled slightly, and the backs of his hands turned white, and he blamed himself for a moment, so he simply took Xie Qiao into his arms and patted him on the back, trying to make him feel better.At this time, Xie Qiao seemed to have something buzzing in his head, which made his scalp numb, and even his eyes began to blur.At this point, I couldn't think about anything.

In his previous life, as the Son of Heaven, he had to sit in the palace most of the time and rarely traveled, and even if he traveled, he tried to avoid waterways as much as possible.But the Yangtze River is right there, and sometimes he has to go somewhere as the emperor, and the waterway is unavoidable. At that time, maybe as he got older, he was used to the sinister heart, and his hands were stained with blood from all kinds of people In the end, his mind was tempered to be as firm as a rock, so when he walked the waterway, although he was still afraid and afraid, although he still felt uncomfortable, it was not as uncomfortable as when he was younger.

Now he has turned into a nine-year-old child again. The heart disease and fear accumulated by adults for a lifetime are suddenly poured into a child's body. Such a small body can't digest it at all, so he is in such pain.

Fortunately, no matter how wide the river is, there is a shore. When the boat finally reached the other side and entered the ferry, and Xie Qiao finally stepped on solid ground, both he and Lu Jue breathed a sigh of relief.

In winter, the riverside is windy, and the banners of Dasheng flutter in the wind along the riverside, making the sound of hunting.As soon as Xie Qiao got ashore and was staggered by the river wind, Lu Jue simply held his hand to prevent him from falling.

The people in the palace had been waiting on the shore for a long time, and when they saw Lu Jue, they hurried up to greet Lu Jue and saluted cautiously.

"Lord Lu has worked hard all the way. Your majesty's special servant is waiting here, and your horse is ready." The palace man was respectful to Lu Jue, but when he saw the child beside Lu Jue, he paused and said, "This... The young master's carriage has also been prepared, please get on the young master. His Majesty is waiting in the palace."

Lu Jue frowned slightly and then spread out. He glanced at the palace man, and immediately hugged Xie Qiao, with a warm smile on his face: "You can see clearly, there are no young masters here, this is Your Highness. Your Highness I feel unwell and need someone to take care of me. I will just take a carriage with His Highness."

People in the palace are always the best at watching people. This palace man can easily see the white jade-like face of this master, no matter before or after the change, no one in Jinling City would dare to provoke him. With a sudden jump, he quickly bowed his head to Xie Qiao and confessed: "This slave has no eyes, please forgive me, Your Highness!"

Xie Qiao glanced at him indifferently, then turned her head away and hid her face in the side of Lu Jue's neck.Lu Jue patted the back of Xie Qiao's jet-black head without forcing it, and without looking at the palace servants, he carried Xie Qiao into the carriage.The golden armored soldiers followed behind them silently and dutifully.

The palace people stood dumbfounded by the river, at a loss.Now he finally believed that His Majesty really took the kinship with him to bring back the prince who was living and dying abroad.It's only been a short time since the change in the palace, and they haven't figured out the temperament of the new lord at all.But it was rumored by everyone in the palace that the new master was cruel by nature, merciless and ungrateful.After all, on the day the new lord entered the palace, the blood in Concubine Qian Guifei's palace had seeped into the floor tiles so much that it couldn't be washed clean.

Generally, the imperial concubine will die with a glass of poisoned wine or a three-foot white silk. After all, she is a royal, and she must die with dignity.But this new owner has no regard for decency at all.He just gave Concubine Qian an unseemly death, and even the body of Concubine Qian was not buried in the imperial tomb.

Such a new emperor has been enthroned for less than three months, and he sent people to find the prince whose life and death were unknown and no one cared about him. How could the palace people believe that the new emperor brought him back because of his brotherhood?

Royal people, the bones are cold, the blood is cold, this is the truth that the palace people have seen too many generations.

But this time, it happened to be different.This seemingly cold-blooded and ruthless new emperor actually took his brother back because of his kinship.

If it was just for the sake of cutting grass and roots, the new emperor's most trusted Lu Jue would not defend him like this, let alone call him His Highness in public.To be called His Highness is to be a real royal person, and the Highness Lu Jue recognizes, that—that is, the Highness recognized by the new emperor.

The palace man looked at the river flowing eastward, and shook his body. This time, the job fell on him because the eunuch trusted by His Majesty couldn't get away because of something.Although he didn't get it right this time, it made him see some things clearly, which was a great blessing for people like them who were begging for life in the palace.

……

The carriage drove through the gate of Jinling City, and then went all the way to the palace.

It is already early morning, and Jinling City has already begun to bustling. The vibrant and warm smoke mixed with the fragrance of grass and trees rushes into the car. Xie Qiao lifted the curtain of the car, and the bright and lively buildings and pedestrians poured in under the morning light. In Xie Qiao's eyes, Xie Qiao felt both familiar and unfamiliar.After all, it seems like a lifetime away.

Human voices, the aroma and heat of hot food, the rumble of carriages, the fresh and fishy smell of fish... Sounds, smells, and sights flooded all of Xie Qiao's senses like thousands of horses. Feel the real, warm, fresh real.

The first time was when he actually grabbed Lu Jue's warm skirt in the snowstorm in Jizhou.

Seeing that he was watching seriously, Lu Jue leaned over to watch with him.

"Is Jinling City, your hometown, nice?" He asked the same question again, with a warm smile on his lips.

"It looks good." Xie Qiao nodded.

He glanced at Lu Jue, and said again: "It's not as good as you."

Lu Jue was taken aback for a moment, and finally remembered what he had said about teasing Xie Qiao in the inn, so he gave a soft "cough" embarrassingly, and couldn't help but pat Xie Qiao's head.Thinking of what happened just now, he was afraid that Xie Qiao would misunderstand the new emperor, so he said: "Don't misunderstand your majesty about what happened just now, your majesty is an upright person, he only brought you back because of his kinship. He brought you back , just want to take good care of you."

"He has just ascended the throne, and the people in the palace are not very familiar with him, so there are many misunderstandings. Today I thought it would be Yang Su, the eunuch next to him, who came to pick us up. I think he was caught by something, so he had to send this Someone is coming to pick you up."

"En." Xie Qiao listened to Lu Jue's defense to his brother, and nodded obediently, but his mind was full of thoughts.

Lu Jue was right, his elder brother Xie Zheng is indeed an upright person, he is free and unrestrained, he is the least like the Xie family, the blood of the Xie family - including his Xie Qiao's, is indeed They were all cold, but Xie Zheng's blood was hot.

Xie Zheng is the most special son of heaven, he is like the sun, attracting people to follow, once people decide to follow, they will not rest till death.

Of course Xie Qiao knew that his elder brother, Xie Zheng, really regarded him as his younger brother, and regarded him as his most beloved younger brother until death, and never had any suspicions.In his last life, he said that he would never forget his brother's kindness to him, and he will never forget it. In this life, it is naturally the same.

Therefore, he knew Lu Jue's love and admiration for Xie Zheng, but he didn't even have the position and qualifications to be jealous.

……

The closer you get to the palace gate, the less human voices become.The Dasheng Imperial Palace stands tall and majestic in the morning light, with the unique elegance and delicacy of southern architecture.At this time, the gate of the palace was wide open, and the soldiers guarding the gate had received orders in advance, so the carriage drove directly into the palace without Lu Jue showing his face.

Xie Zheng was reading a volume of military books in the imperial study while waiting for someone, with a steaming breakfast on the desk.Someone outside announced that the person had arrived, Xie Zheng stood up suddenly, put the book of war on the table casually, and strode towards the outside of the hall to welcome him.

Lu Jue took Xie Qiao's hand and stepped up the steps step by step, reaching the last step. As soon as Xie Qiao raised his head, he bumped into Xie Zheng's sharp and bright eyes.

There was warmth in those eyes.

"Joe, you're back."

Xie Zheng's voice was clear and sonorous, like swords colliding.

In the previous life, after he entered the palace, Xie Zheng greeted him out of the hall in the same way, and also said such a sentence, but at that time he was too defensive, so he didn't answer.

Xie Zheng has always been slow and careless in terms of emotions, and he didn't care at that time, or he didn't realize that he should care at all, so he directly took Xie Qiao's hand and entered the hall. Being pulled into the hall by Xie Zheng, he could only stare to express his dissatisfaction.However, Xie Zheng never noticed that Xie Qiao was dissatisfied at that time.Only Lu Jue followed behind and bent over with a smile.

Xie Zheng's voice seemed to overlap with that of the previous life, and once again it seemed like another life.

Xie Qiao looked at his brother's fresh face, and his eyes turned red.Be it the last life or this life, Xie Zheng is his only relative in this world who is connected by blood.

He asked Bo Liang himself, not many people cared about him, he didn't give much sincerity, and he didn't get much sincerity.Xie Zheng is one of them.

"Brother, I'm back." Xie Qiao looked up at Xie Zheng and said.

A hearty smile appeared on Xie Zheng's handsome face. His big hands rumpled Xie Qiao's black hair vigorously, took Xie Qiao's hand, and said, "It's good to be back. Let's go to eat!" After entering the hall, he turned back : "Huaiyu also come together!"

Lu Jue responded with a smile and entered the hall.

Outside the hall, a round of red sun is rising into the sky, and the warm winter sun shines on Lu Jue's jade-like back.The little maid who happened to pass by was blinded.

……

"Your Majesty, the situation in the palace is not stable enough. Your Majesty has to find some trustworthy palace servants to take care of your Highness." After eating, Lu Jue said to Xie Zheng.

"It's fine for outsiders to call you His Highness, why do you call him Your Highness?" Xie Zheng smiled and said, "Gu's younger brother is naturally your younger brother." He lowered his head and asked Xie Qiao: "Qiaoer, this brother is an orphan. The most important brother, he escorted you all the way home, do you want him to call you His Highness, or call you by your name?"

"Of course it's a name." Xie Qiao squinted her eyes, revealing an extremely pure and well-behaved smile: "Brother Huaiyu is the same as my elder brother, just call me Qiaoer."

Lu Jue consciously said something serious: "..."

"As for the palace servants, this is easy," Xie Zheng said, "When Yang Su came back, Gu asked him to pick some trustworthy palace servants for Qiao Er. And the teacher, Gu also found them for Qiao Er."

"Who?" Lu Jue asked.

Xie Zheng smiled and said, "Li Mingbei."

Xie Qiao shook his left hand under the table in horror.