Ma'am, is there someone out there?

In the tenth year of Changqing, winter.

On the Golden Luan Hall, there are many officials wearing brocade robes.But the triumphant military general is dressed in military uniform, with awe-inspiring righteousness.

"Be flat."

Emperor Changqing raised his hand, and his eyes fell on the most conspicuous person in front of the hall for a long time.Lu Chen got up, felt Emperor Changqing's gaze, raised his head, and looked at Emperor Changqing.Lu Xuanyi smiled, but he didn't know what he was thinking.

All the officials in the hall lowered their heads, and no one dared to raise their heads easily to meet the emperor's gaze, after all, it was an offense to Tian Yan.

He stood up and walked down the steps covered with gold and silver silk embroidered red blanket step by step, until he walked in front of Lu Chen.They are almost the same height, but standing face to face, they are clearly separated.One is covered with a black armor and quilt, the other is wearing a golden dragon costume, the other is wearing a Rakshasa ghost mask, and the other is wearing a tasseled crown.

One indifferent, one gloomy.

Two completely different lives were doomed at a fork in the road several years ago.

Lu Xuanyi watched him for a long time before slowly saying: "Aiqing has made great contributions to the country in defending the frontier, but what kind of rewards do you want? I am happy today, and I will promise you everything."

"Thank you, Your Majesty, I don't have any rewards you want." Lu Chen replied quietly, neither asking for credit, nor taking the opportunity to flatter the emperor to praise the emperor, but speaking in a calm and unhurried manner.

"If the emperor really wants to reward his ministers with something, why not give more silver and subsidy to the soldiers at the border."

"Aiqing is really high-spirited and considerate of the soldiers. It's no wonder that the soldiers under him are loyal to Aiqing." Lu Xuanyi's strange words, before Lu Chen responded, all the officials under him were awake.Could it be that he was afraid of General Lu?The officials who thought they had guessed the answer had their own thoughts for a while.

The generals who went to court with Lu Chen quietly clenched their fists, sweating for their chief.

"The emperor was joking."

I am afraid that Lu Chen is the least nervous person in this court.He replied with a slight smile: "Your Majesty, all the soldiers here are your subjects and your people."

"Ai Qing is right, absolutely right." Lu Xuanyi clapped his hands exaggeratedly, turned around, and ordered the household servant to come out, and the servant who suddenly called his name plopped down on his knees.

"When General Lu lists out the list of battles, you will follow the list. Each person's salary will be doubled, and the family members of the martyrs will be subsidized by 20 taels of silver. Those who have the rank will be doubled."

"Lu Chen, you're satisfied now." Emperor Changqing turned his head to look at Lu Chen again, and called him by his name this time.

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Lu Chen's tone was still uneven, but he said in his heart, he still needs to buy more money, otherwise there will be no way for those families who have lost their strong laborers to live.

Lu Xuanyi sized up the few generals behind Lu Chen. Some of them looked familiar, but most of them were familiar faces, and almost all of them were brought together by Lu Chen in the army.But... It seems that Lu Chen's lieutenant general is missing.

"The young generals you brought are all very energetic. I think they can all be promoted. Oh, by the way, don't you have a capable lieutenant general?"

Lu Chen answered calmly and calmly: "The lieutenant general Zhao Zhuang you mentioned is now guarding the border. There is no room for loss at the border, and the Mobei camp needs to be on guard at all times. I only brought more than a thousand soldiers to Beijing. At that time, under the command of Deputy General Zhao, he was on strict standby. The Huns are cunning, but they can't let down their vigilance at all, isn't your Majesty right?"

Lu Xuanyi clapped his hands and applauded.

"What Ai Qing said is very true. It is indeed a blessing to Chen Chao, and a blessing to me, to have such hard-working soldiers!" Lu Xuanyi turned and walked up to the stage. The five-clawed golden dragon on his crown was majestic.

"Tonight there is a banquet in the palace to celebrate the triumphant return of General Lu!"

Lu Xuanyi said loudly, but his eyes were only on Lu Shen.Emperor Changqing only saw him who was out of place in this civil and military court.

The harem does not know what happened in the previous dynasty.In Yushu Palace, there was a faint smell of medicine, which was covered by the overly fragrant scent of powder.Concubine Rong Gui, who had been exempted by the Queen Mother from paying her respects in the morning, got up early and was sitting in front of the bronze mirror doing her makeup.

Her complexion was particularly rosy, but there was anxiety in her eyes.

Concubine Rong asked the maid serving beside her: "Did you go to court early?"

The maid patiently replied: "Your Majesty is not there yet." This was already the fifth time Concubine Rong asked this morning.

After hearing the answer, the hope that flashed in Concubine Rong's eyes dropped again, and she twisted her handkerchief anxiously.Her father, Marquis Wen An, has already returned to the capital, and he also went to court today.Concubine Rong sent out a letter yesterday, asking Marquis Wen An to come and visit her after the morning court today.

It's just, why haven't you come yet?

In fact, it wasn't that Marquis Wen An was slow today, it was Concubine Rong who was anxious and anxious to discuss business with Marquis Wen An, and couldn't wait for a moment.

"Your Majesty, your medicine is ready." The court lady carefully brought out a bowl of dark concoction. The strong smell of medicine could not even overpower the overly fragrant smell of powder and dew in this room. Concubine Rong saw the medicine A trace of impatience and worry appeared on his face.

"Leave it alone, I will drink it later." Concubine Rong stared at the maid coldly, "I want no bird to fly out of this Yushu Palace. Don't blame Ben Gong for being cruel if word of the matter spreads."

With a plop, the palace maid hurriedly knelt down, begging for mercy and saying she didn't dare.They still remember the last court lady who was dealt with by Concubine Rong. They were the ones who threw the body out in the middle of the night. If Concubine Rong caught the wrong place, they might be the next one.

"It's good to know, if there's nothing else, just go down." Concubine Rong knocked on the table with her finger, "Go, wait outside the palace gate, Lord Hou is here, report immediately."

After Concubine Rong finished giving her orders, she glanced sideways at the bowl of black concoction, felt sick in her heart, and quickly covered her mouth with a handkerchief.

The palace maid who was terribly frightened hurried out of the room and ran all the way to the gate of Yushu Palace. As long as Marquis Wen An came this way, the guardian could see it from a distance.The maid leaned in front of the palace gate, and saw the old eunuch of the Palace of Compassion and Ning leading a handsome man through the gate of Yushu Palace, the direction was the Palace of Compassion and Ning of the Empress Dowager.

The maid felt very strange in her heart, how could a strange man come to this harem?Even Marquis Wen An could not enter and leave the harem casually.The maid looked at the man from a distance and thought, he is really good-looking.The maid clutched the silk in her hand, compared to the emperor, the maid felt that this man's appearance made her more happy.

His eyebrows are handsome and his body is sober.The little palace maid was so excited that even Marquis Wen An came, but she didn't notice.

Marquis Wen An obviously also saw the man brought in by the old eunuch.He stroked his beard, stared at the man's back with a puzzled expression, and bumped head-on with the Ouchi guard who was coming towards him without noticing.

"Sorry for offending Lord Hou."

The first guard Qi Lu hurriedly cupped his fists and apologized to Marquis Wen An for his subordinates.

"It's okay, good morning, Master Qi." Marquis Wen An let go of his worries and began to chat with Qi Lu.

The first-class bodyguards patrolling the palace were responsible for the safety of the emperor, and they all selected the best children in the capital.Qi Lu is the best among these big internal guards, he is excellent in civil and martial arts, and also has a dignified appearance.

Qi Lu smiled all over his face: "Master Hou is also early. Master Hou is going to visit the imperial concubine."

Marquis Wen An smiled: "That's right, that's right. I've been away from the capital for many years, and the old man misses my mother a lot. Look, my lord, didn't I come to visit my mother after morning exercises?"

Qi Lu stepped aside and asked Marquis Wen An to go first with a very respectful attitude: "I have important matters to attend to, so I won't waste Lord Marquis's time, please."

After pushing back several times, Marquis Wen An entered the gate of Yushu Palace, and the first guard Qi Lu restrained his respectful smile, revealing something meaningful.

"My lord!" His subordinate reminded.

"Let's go." Qi Lu waved his hand, and a group of people went eastward, while the old eunuch Wang Gonggong of the Palace of Compassionate Ning led the handsome man to the Palace of Compassionate Ning.

That handsome man was none other than Shen Qing.

Before dawn in the morning, Shen Qing got up and got everything ready, and then woke up Lu Chen who was going to the morning court at five o'clock.Shen Qing was afraid that if he got up so early to go to court, he would starve Lu Chen to death by the time of the next court, so he prepared breakfast early, and even Lu Chen's court clothes were neatly placed on the bedside.

"I'll wait for you at the palace gate later." Shen Qing fed Lu Chen and said.

Lu Chen shook his head: "Go on to sleep. You get up so early to prepare breakfast, and you will be tired later. I will go in a sedan chair, and you don't need to pick me up."

"Good boy, I'm not tired." Shen Qing kissed the corner of Lu Chen's mouth, "Anyway, I'm fine, I'll pick you up from get off work later."

"What is off work?" Lu Chen didn't understand.

"After get off work is the morning court." Shen Qing explained casually, "After the morning court, we will take that dog official Liu Shiren to the cash drawer to get the silver. After taking the silver, Madam, I will show you another property of our family."

Lu Chen didn't know what he said: "Another property?"

Shen Qing smiled: "That's right, the dowry that your wife and I have set up by ourselves is just waiting to be handed over to the general!"

"What dowry?" Lu Chen pressed his neck, unable to stop his curiosity.

"I'll tell you later." Shen Qing shook his head, never saying anything.

"Cut, pretend to be mysterious." Lu Chen rolled his eyes at him, thinking he probably knew what Shen Qing was talking about.With Lu Chen having so many soldiers to feed, relying on the court alone is not enough, Shen Qing is worried about how to make money to support these soldiers every day.

He brought more than ten thousand people back to the court, but only allowed two thousand to enter the capital, and the rest were led by Zhao Zhuang. Before entering the official road of the capital, they took the mountain road and entered a remote valley near the suburbs of the capital to hide.

Lu Xuanyi was suspicious. If he brought too many soldiers into Beijing, he might cause trouble, so it was better to hide his troops just in case.The situation in the capital is changing day by day, and Lu Chen doesn't want to bring his soldiers into the tiger's mouth.

Lu Chen understood what Shen Qing said in his heart, but he didn't reveal what he said. If Shen Qing wanted to make a mystery, let him do it.

Lu Chen smiled slightly, feeling very happy in his heart, especially proud.Seeing him laughing, Shen Qing couldn't help but bite him.

"See you later." Shen Qing whispered.

It's a pity that when Lu Chen left the court and exchanged pleasantries with a group of bureaucrats, he left the Forbidden City without seeing Shen Qing at all.Lu Chen stood in front of the palace gate with an uneasy expression on his face, how dare he lie to him?

No, Shen Qing would not lie to him about this kind of thing.Where did Shen Qing go?

Lu Chen was leaning against the big tree angrily, but he saw a man suddenly standing in front of him.Lu Chen raised his head and looked at the man with surprise.

Lu Chen hesitated: "Who are you?" Why are you somewhat similar to Shen Qing?

-

Is she the queen mother?

After entering the Palace of Compassion and Ning, and entered the hall, Shen Qing immediately saw the woman sitting on the right seat with kind eyebrows and kind eyes, and the young woman sitting next to her was also dressed plainly.It's just that no matter how plain the makeup looks, it can't hide the extravagance of the whole body.

The plain clothes are worth a lot of money at a glance.