Come on, Your Highness

After the palace banquet on New Year's Eve, Emperor Tiangan usually returns to the Qingzheng Hall alone.

The court has already been sealed, and there is no memorial to be approved, but it is still early before the break, so he couldn't help asking: "Is there any urgent memorial in the northern border?"

Now the only thing that can reach directly to the emperor's imperial court is the war in the northern border.

Huang Gonggong said: "Back to the emperor, there is no rush, but the congratulatory form from His Royal Highness has arrived."

Every important festival or the emperor's birthday, all officials must play a congratulatory table to show their loyalty and blessings.

It was already too late for Xiao Hong, but the emperor didn't care.

Emperor Tiangan sat in the warm pavilion and found that there was a letter besides the congratulatory form.

There are too many days in a year when hundreds of officials submit congratulatory forms. This kind of paper, which is similar to the official form, is usually written by He Zhuangyuan. After polishing it, it becomes an excellent form, which Xiao Hong can use .

Emperor Tiangan took a rough look, and then put it aside. As long as he didn't think about the bad things between the two, he felt that the two of them were both civil and military, and they were simply examples of how the monarch and his ministers complement each other.

pity……

He sighed, opened the letter, and Xiao Hong's unique and kind expression came into view.

The first thing is to greet his father, His Majesty the Great Emperor, have you eaten and slept well?

"My son is away, and I miss you all the time. During the Spring Festival, there should be no one to bother you with bad things, right? You should take advantage of this time to take care of yourself. As for the war, don't worry, with your son here, Daqi will definitely be able to take care of you." Victory! By the way, Lao Huang is his son's supervisor, you can't hide it from me, hehe."

"It's really getting more and more presumptuous, dare to peep at Yuqian blatantly?" Emperor Tiangan cursed, but there was no sullen look on his face, but a smile in his eyes.

He glanced at Eunuch Huang beside him, and immediately lowered his face: "Huang Ji."

"The slave is here."

"Are you getting more and more bold, dare to disclose my diet and daily life to the prince?" Emperor Tiangan looked at him in a low and displeased manner, with dangerous eyes.

Eunuch Huang was so frightened that he almost lost his soul. He quickly knelt down and shouted for grievances: "Your Majesty, how dare you, my slave. I have received His Royal Highness's instructions, but I have never dared to reply. I am worried and don't know what to do. Come back, after all, your majesty, you had a cold two days ago and refused to eat!"

Emperor Tiangan fell silent when he heard the words, and looked at Eunuch Huang with a bad expression.

Eunuch Huang looked cautiously: "Your Majesty?"

"I'm cured."

"Yes, yes, the servant should not worry His Highness the Crown Prince?" Eunuch Huang asked thoughtfully.

Emperor Tiangan nodded solemnly, and then snorted coldly: "March and fight, you can't be distracted for a moment, and you still have time to worry about these things. You tell him, if you get a wound on your body, come back and see how I deal with it!"

Hurt each other, who is afraid of whom?

Eunuch Huang said silently, "Yes..."

Emperor Tiangan immediately felt relieved, and after thinking about it, he urged: "You can write now."

"The slave follows the order..."

After Eunuch Huang went down, Emperor Tiangan spread out the letter in his hand and continued to read.

"Although Guancheng has been defended, Shicheng has fallen, and now I am afraid that it has become a hell on earth. As the prince, I watched the people suffer and became the souls of the Huns. I am really angry! I can't wait to lead the army to attack and retake the city. Kill the enemy! But the time and place are right and the people don’t occupy the frontier. As the commander, I can’t act on my will, so I can only bury this hatred in my heart. But I swear to you, in this life, the soldiers of Daqi will definitely step into the court of the Huns, Great Qi's army is powerful in all directions!"

Xiao Hong's handwriting is ugly and he is used to it, but when he writes here, the sharpness and anger flow out of the scribbled pen, which shows his anger and unwillingness.

This anger was even stronger than Jiangzhou knowing what the Lu family did, because it was invaded by foreign enemies and killed his people, but he was powerless and unable to protect them!

Fortunately, although he is young and vigorous, he is not reckless and impulsive.

Emperor Tiangan was relieved, but also distressed.

Going straight to the court of the Huns and making them bow their heads as ministers, this is a great cause that every emperor hopes for.

Xiao Hong really dared to think, but Emperor Tiangan shook his head.

Then I wrote some trivial things, a little bit of what I saw and heard, and it seemed that the feeling of resentment and grief was relieved a little.

In the end, it was to ask for credit for the Zhenbei Army, especially the Zhenbei Prince's Mansion, the female general of the Xuan family. Emperor Tiangan did not expect Xiao Hong to praise a woman like this.

"My son once thought that all women in this world are weak and delicate dodder flowers that cannot stand upright. They are beautiful when viewed from a distance, but tiring to get along with them. People have to stay away from them. But Xuan Ling made my son feel that the prejudice in the past was too much. Narrow. In the world, there are shy and timid little girls who want to refuse and welcome, but there are also strong and generous, brave and resolute big girls. Xuanling is like the poplar tree in the north, which cannot be blown down by wind and sand, and cannot be bent by ice and snow. Such a daughter, father, the king of Zhenbei must also be an open-minded person, and my son admires it, but it is a pity that I will not wait for me, so I can't see him."

Compared with other generals, Xiao Hong spent a lot of ink on Xuan Ling, which shows that he was really shocked by Xuan Ling.

Xiao Hong couldn't see King Zhenbei, but Emperor Tiangan suddenly had the same idea as his concubines, wanting to meet the daughter of the Xuan family.

Think about it, Xiao Hong has never looked directly at any woman, whether it is the daughter of the Wang family, the girl of Xi'an Bo, or the daughter of the Marquis of Yongning, what he values ​​is only their family background.

After getting entangled with He Xichao, he didn't even want that bit of family background.

And Xuan Ling was the first girl he liked and didn't reject.

Even if the emperor didn't feel that Xiao Hong had that kind of meaning from the letter, he couldn't help but look at Xuan Ling differently.

At this time, Guancheng is also celebrating the New Year.

Guancheng is adjacent to the north of the Fortress, the wilderness is bold and unrestrained, and there are many soldiers. Unlike the capital city, they celebrate the New Year not indoors, but outside.

Before Xiao Hong left the capital, the bonfire-roasted whole lamb he had been dreaming of was finally realized.

On a large open space, the blazing flames in the middle rushed to the sky, reflecting the magnificent colors of the sky, bringing a warm and enthusiastic New Year atmosphere.

There are small bonfires around the huge bonfire, plucked sheep, and gutted lambs are placed on these bonfires. The oily skin and meat smell ten miles away, and the open seal The aroma of the wine made the soldiers around swallow their saliva.

After removing his clothes, the big shirtless man was holding a mallet, and the general's drum was beating loudly.

Several generals were encouraged by their lieutenants to perform, playing drums, guns and punches, or howling a few times with their voices bright, causing bursts of applause and sighs.

No one is joking, just trying to make a fuss.

Xiao Hong was invited to participate, and Xuan Ling, who had been recuperating in the palace except seeing Shen Changze, did not refuse.

No matter how sad this girl is behind others, she has always been calm and strong in front of others.

She didn't need sympathy or comfort, she silently licked her wounds.

Xuan Ling's whole body is plain, her long hair is tied into a ponytail with a piece of white satin at the back of her head, and a thin braid is wrapped around her forehead. There is no decoration, and she looks capable and refreshing.

She sat on the ground among a group of men, but she was not obtrusive at all. Looking at the lively appearance of the soldiers in front of the campfire, she drank water quietly with a smile on her lips.

She actually wanted to drink, but was suppressed by the fellow next to her, and even the mutton was only given a pitiful small piece.

It's really small, just a little bit bigger than a fingernail.

She glanced at her in disgust, and Ah Yue said helplessly: "Miss, this servant stole it for you behind the back of the imperial physician, if they see it..."

In fact, Xuan Ling had no taste at all, so he suddenly wanted to give it a try, and he just said, "Eat it."

"Lingling, wait a little longer, the wound is healed, uncle will cut you the best and tenderest one, so you can eat as much as you want." The old general next to him comforted him.

Xuan Ling twitched the corners of his mouth and smiled a little: "Okay."

Now that she is inconvenient to move, and unable to drink and eat meat with the soldiers, she is a little bored, and suddenly thinks of His Royal Highness who came from afar.

Xiao Hongneng came to support two days in advance overnight, and even dared to attack the Xiongnu with thousands of cavalry pretending to be an army of [-]. This courage made Xuan Ling admire.

Seeing Xiao Hong for the first time, Xuan Ling found that this person was really different from what he had imagined.

Leaving aside the fact that he was tall and handsome, he won the hearts of the maids in Zhenbei Palace.Wearing a battle robe, his unstoppable mighty aura, if not for the nobility exuded by his gestures, would have made him look like a general who was born in the army, but the northern border of the windy and sandy wilderness was very suitable for him.

So with a glance, he saw Xiao Hong not far away who was gnawing mutton and holding up a wine jar, and a pile of mutton bones had been left in front of him... In the cold wind, he was chic and heroic, and he really adapted well.

In comparison, the frail scholar around him seemed more difficult.

Even the weak Xuan Ling didn't wrap up like this ball, and showed his face from the beginning to the end.

The hand was only stretched out when receiving the mutton handed by the prince. Xuan Ling looked at it carefully, it was as thin and white as jade, slender and fragile, the wind and sand in the north could not support such a warm hand.

Compared with him, Xuan Ling's rough and wide hands were hard to see as they were calloused by the long sword.

Of course, what surprised her even more was that the mutton handed to him by the crown prince was finely picked, and the surgeon was His Highness the crown prince himself, and Xiao Hong directly threw the bones into his own mouth...

This is the first time Xuan Ling has seen a prince with such a peculiar style of painting.

Of course, she has only seen such a prince.

But this is not blatant, He Xichao's appetite is not big, and he can't eat too much greasy food, so Xiao Hong only gave him a little occasionally, and the two chatted and laughed, very warmly.

Next to him were two eunuchs who waited on him, busy up and down, not paying attention.

It was only when Xuan Ling looked carefully that he discovered the clue.

He Xichao's name has been heard even in the northern borders, even though Wen Zhuangyuan doesn't care much about the ranks of the army.

When Xuan Ling first saw it, he thought it was too small. His Royal Highness is crazy and still has such a frail scholar who runs away in the wind.

What are you doing here, to warm the bed?

Don't blame Xuan Ling for thinking this way, the barracks are full of men, and this kind of brothers and sisters are often seen.

What's more, He Xichao is really good-looking, young and tender, His Royal Highness really takes good care of him and takes good care of him.You can't take women with you when you go to war. Such a person is indeed suitable.

However, when He Xichao led these civil servants, in just half a month, they found out the food and military supplies in Guancheng, re-booked and sorted them out, added these sent by the army, and arranged all the logistics and official duties. After the ground was in order, Xuan Ling immediately felt ashamed of his dirty thoughts.

He Xichao guaranteed that the soldiers would have nothing to worry about except going to battle to kill the enemy.

Who wouldn't want such a military division to fight?

It's a pity that it is not without reason that such a young age can be admitted to the number one scholar.

It was really a wise choice for Xiao Hong to bring him here, it's okay to be weak, but you must hold on and don't fall down.

Xuan Ling glanced at He Xichao several times, feeling a little pity, it would be great if this person could stay in the north.

Xuan Ling's eyes fell on He Xichao, which caught Xiao Hong's attention.

He looked along and saw Xuan Ling holding up the water bag and lifting it towards him.

Today's Zhenbei Army is headed by her after Shen Changze's death. Even though the imperial court did not seal Xuanling's specific military rank, she is the daughter of Zhenbei King, and she has this prestige after guarding Guancheng.

Xiao Hong raised the wine jar in return.

At this time, cheers erupted from all around, and a brave general in the Zhenbei Army came out under the coaxing of the crowd, and said to Xiao Hong, "His Royal Highness, it's not very interesting to just drink and eat meat on New Year's Eve. The Northern Expeditionary Army came from afar, and the two armies are not familiar with each other. We, the Suppressing Northern Army, have always used martial arts to make friends. We sincerely invite several generals to compete with each other, and I ask His Royal Highness for your permission."

Before Xiao Hong could speak, the Northern Expeditionary Army started booing.

"What does General Xuan think?" Xiao Hong asked.

Xuan Ling said: "If the last general is not injured, I will definitely ask the crown prince for advice."

This can be described as arrogant, but it caused the Zhenbei Army to cheer loudly, their female general is so mighty and domineering.

"Gu also feels the same, then wait for the general to recover." Xiao Hong smiled heartily.

Civil officials from the capital also sat together.

Watching the contest between the generals in the arena, even though they are all frail scholars, their blood is boiling with excitement.

As soon as the smell of alcohol is on, poetry flourishes.

Many well-known poems and essays that have been passed down for thousands of years were born today.

After all, the Zhenbei Army suffered heavy losses, and several heroic generals were lost in this defense of the city.

Naturally lose more and win less.

The applause from both sides continued, and the bonfire burned more and more enthusiastically.

However, the busier it is, the more lonely the local people are.

After the victory was decided again, Xuan Ling suddenly heard a general beside him sigh regretfully: "This Marquis of Yongning's Gu family's boxing skills are indeed powerful, but if Shen Changze is still here, he won't lose to him."

It was just a casual sigh of emotion, but unexpectedly, the strength that Xuan Ling had built up with great difficulty collapsed in an instant.

All the cheerfulness and indifference in front of people today turned into tears, floating in the eyes.

During the New Year, the person she loves the most is not around and cannot come back.

She poured a mouthful of water on her back, but choked her mouth full. She coughed and let the tears flow down.

Ah Yue took out a handkerchief and wiped her face and skirt, and wiped away the tears without a trace. No one knew that she had really cried.

He Xichao was holding the stove in his hand, looking at this scene, he suddenly turned his face to Xiao Hong and said in a low voice: "You go and have a look, it's time to send her back."