Born short-lived

When he was on the road, Zhou Zirong tried his best to "delay" things. On the way, he sometimes encountered a "path-cutting robber" and a "bandit blocking the road".

When he finally arrived in Huajing step by step, it was only a day after Dong Sheng arrived.

Li Chongwen had sent him a secret letter earlier, and he was going to wait for him at the gate of the city gate, but he had no choice but to judge that there were many people in the inspection team, and nine out of ten were other people's eyes and ears.As an important minister of the imperial court, Li Chongwen couldn't show his face in this situation, so he privately ordered an old prince Zhou's former department to go to the gate of the imperial city to "receive the wind" for him.

Zhou Zirong saw the man in court uniform standing in front of the crimson gate from a distance, pulled the rein and reined in the horse, turned his head and said to the envoy of the inspection team in the carriage: "My lord, General Qi has been waiting at the city gate for a long time. Xi will go and have a look, and I hope you adults will wait for a while."

The emissary had already been a little impatient with all the excuses he had made along the way, but General Qi was an old minister who had gone through two dynasties anyway, so he was not ashamed of his face, so he lifted the curtain of the car and looked out, squinting With a pair of drooping triangular eyes, he looked at General Qi in the distance, and then turned his small eyeballs to look at Zhou Xi in front of him. His eyes flashed brightly, and he smiled with his wrinkled mouth: "Little General Zhou!" Wait a minute, I haven't seen Lao Qi for quite some time, otherwise we don't have to wait, we will go meet with you."

Zhou Zirong was slightly taken aback, and then he smiled back calmly: "Your Excellency is right."

The messenger's eyes glanced up at the young man sitting on the tall black-maned spirit horse. There seemed to be an inexplicable meaning hidden in the water-sheared eyes, but it was all contained in the shadow under the sword eyebrows. , making people more and more incomprehensible.

The envoy stretched out his hand forward: "Please, General Zhou."

Zhou Zirong seemed to have no intention of avoiding the taboo, so he followed the convoy of the inspection team to the gate of the city to meet General Qi.

General Qi also seemed to have expected it a long time ago, and he was not surprised by a group of old people who were guarding the regiment beside Zhou Zirong, and smiled heartily: "Hey, I haven't seen Xiaoxi for a long time, have you ever missed your Uncle Qi?"

Zhou Zirong asked his attendant to take the horse aside, and he went forward to salute, with the same smile still on his face, which made people feel that the starry eyes were full of the warmth of young people: "Xi naturally I miss Uncle Qi, I wonder if Uncle Qi is still healthy these days?"

These words were obviously nonsense, General Qi was five and three thick and hulking, he was almost sixty years old and his face was still flushed, he clapped his chest with his big hand like a cattail fan and said, "Be tough!"

In fact, several adults in the inspection team had little contact with General Qi on weekdays. After all, since Zhou Haiping died, General Qi has slowly started to work hard in the direction of disarming and returning to the fields. To put it bluntly, it has stopped.In addition, Zhou Zirong has always advocated keeping a low profile, so the Zhou family has nothing to take care of in the court.

So this time Zhou Zirong had a rare request from him, and he was naturally happy to hear it.

The old guys have always looked at each other for nothing, one side scolded the old man in their hearts, and the other side scolded the old fox in their hearts, and there was really nothing to say on the surface. After a simple greeting, General Qi still turned his attention back to the old man. On Zhou Zirong's body.

"You are getting stronger and stronger." General Qi laughed, and hit Zhou Zirong's chest with a casserole-sized fist. He covered it back, and before he could say anything, General Qi pulled him into his arms again, and patted his back hard, "Your father is gone, uncle is taking care of you."

General Qi patted the back of his neck lightly, slipped a note into Zhou Zirong's back collar without any trace, then squeezed his shoulder and said, "Be careful in everything."

Zhou Zirong also patted him on the back, indicating that he understood.

After walking into the imperial city for a while, Zhou Zirong took advantage of the fact that the inspectors behind him were not paying attention, and took out the note while pretending to scratch it, and carefully stretched it out in his palm—"The prince has returned to Beijing. The imperial decree from Xinjiang has not yet arrived, and the princess's cabinet has been involved in politics for several months, so please be cautious and cherish everything."

Dong Sheng's matter was finally saved, but why did the princess get involved in politics?Isn't it always flowing water and not asking about world affairs?

It seems that Jiang Kun really did a lot during their absence.

Zhou Zirong raised his eyes to look at the heavy guards in front of the palace hall not far away, put the small note into his mouth calmly, and swallowed it quietly.

The father-in-law from the inner city greeted him with a smile on his face, and led them to the side hall to rest for a while. I know what I know, and I don't want to delve into it.

The servant brought him the court clothes, and the father-in-law took the tray containing the court clothes from the servant, and bowed forward with a smile on his face: "General Zhou, change your clothes, Your Majesty is still waiting for that."

Soon there was a summons from outside the hall.

"Zhou Zirong, king of Northern Zhao, is summoned to the palace for an audience—"

As soon as Zhou Zirong boarded the high platform in front of the hall, he saw the familiar figure of Yu Xia from a distance, and felt a little unreal for a while. It seemed that he had lost a lot of sight after not seeing that person for half a year. Above the crowded court hall, it seemed a little thin.

Zhou Zirong's heart swelled for a while, he bowed and walked to the front of the hall silently, paid a respectful salute, and then climbed up the hall step by step according to the singing tune of the eunuch in charge of ceremonies.

Dong Sheng's gaze has been glued to him quietly since he went to the palace, Zhou Zirong seemed to have sensed it, and raised his eyes slightly, and happened to meet Dong Sheng's eyes, and saw him making a silent mouth-shape—— thanks.

Zhou Zirong's heart trembled, and he hurriedly looked back.The crown prince specially wore the royal robes of the upper hall today. The black brocade robe was embroidered with the pattern of the rising sun of the sky with silver thread. The neckline, cuffs and hem were all turned upside down with silvery white edges, and there were darker cloud patterns on the top. It just matched his tanned skin under the scorching sun of northern Xinjiang.

The little prince with fair skin and tender flesh turned dark and pretty after returning from a war.

"Chen Zhou Xi, see Your Majesty, long live my emperor, long live, long live." Zhou Zirong knelt down on the ground, made another salute, and prostrated himself on the ground waiting for the queen's response.

The queen was sitting on the dragon chair, carelessly peeling a grape in her hand, without looking at the people kneeling on the ground, and she didn't panic until she slowly put the crystal-clear grape flesh into her mouth to chew and swallow. He said calmly, "Ai Qing is flat."

Zhou Zirong bowed his head and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty."

The empress stared at Zhou Zirong with a smile on her face: "Ai Qing, you and A Sheng are both meritorious in defeating the enemy. They are the heroes of Huaxu, and they should be rewarded according to the law. It was delayed because of the war in northern Xinjiang." In time, I really feel sorry for Zhou Aiqing."

Zhou Zirong lowered his eyes, his tense face remained motionless, and his voice seemed to be overflowing with sincerity, which was very moving: "I am a minister of Huaxu, and a minister of your majesty. It is a matter of eating the king's salary and dying the king. It is the duty of the minister to protect the frontiers of the enemy and the state, and the minister dare not claim credit."

When things got to this stage, the most important thing was to ensure that he was able to get out of the body. This was obviously the queen's test, and Zhou Zirong certainly wouldn't rush to hit the knife's edge.

Dong Sheng's eyes were fixed on him for a moment, and his eyes became darker and darker. His fists were hidden in the wide sleeves, and they were clenched tighter and tighter, and the palms were painful from fingers.

The queen curled her lips in silence, and there was a shadow in her slender fox eyes.She didn't answer Zhou Zirong's words, but turned to Dong Sheng and said, "A Sheng, what about you? This expedition to northern Xinjiang is really not easy, so you really don't want anything?"

Of course Dong Sheng knew where she was going. Some people believed that he was supporting the army in northern Xinjiang. Even if he returned to Beijing quickly to show his loyalty, the empress still had a heart for military power in northern Xinjiang.

Although the heart of defending the family and the country cannot be more true, it is impossible to say that Dong Sheng has no idea about Beijiang. Otherwise, Hua Xu will have a lot of talents, and he would not have taken the initiative to petition to go to Xinjiang. Northern Xinjiang meets.

However, Dong Sheng still had to admit that he underestimated the enemy. He originally thought that as long as Beijiang won the battle, Jiang Kun would have nothing to do with him, but he still miscalculated.

The bamboo basket fetched water in vain, and right now he has nothing extravagant to do except to protect himself and Zhou Zirong.

Without further ado, Dong Sheng knelt down on the ground respectfully, kowtowed and said: "I thank Your Majesty for your kindness. How can you talk about rewards for defending your family and the country? Defeating the enemy depends on your Majesty's blessings. I will never dare to ask for credit .”

The queen clicked her tongue, threw the grape skins in her hand, smiled, and said coolly: "Okay, you don't want to lose those gold and silver fiefdoms that I rewarded you."

The queen clicked her tongue again and continued: "Originally, I wanted to seal off five thousand households in the northern border, but you would have to travel a hundred and eight thousand miles to see that remote place in the northern border. That's all, five thousand households were picked for you outside Huajing City, so don't be picky."

Dong Sheng kowtowed heavily again: "I thank the Lord for your kindness."

The queen watched him prostrate on the ground, with a half-smile still on the corner of her mouth, and said in a deep voice, "After all, what the crown prince wants to inherit is not the few small fiefdoms, but my thousands of miles of land, isn't it?"

Dong Sheng was shocked all over, secretly tensed his face, and remained silent with his neck stuck.

The queen straightened her waist, breathed a sigh of relief, and smiled again: "Speaking of which, Mr. Jiang, you told me that the princess is good at studying classics and history, and you asked her to go to the cabinet to help with government affairs. How is it now?"

Dong Li, who was hiding among the courtiers and the royal family like a transparent person, was stunned for a moment when he heard the words, and lowered his head in trepidation, his heart was beating wildly - the queen rarely mentioned her in the court, the last time the queen When talking about her in this way, it is said that she was still seriously ill when she was young.

And this was a matter that was tacitly understood by everyone, but suddenly the empress brought it up in person, causing the court hall to be filled with subtle gasps.

This can be regarded as a blatant "acquiescence" to seize the heir.

Originally, the empress had always disliked the princess' involvement in politics, but now she turned a blind eye, which shows that the matter in northern Xinjiang really annoyed her.

I'm afraid he also wants to use the power of the princess to extinguish Dong Sheng's flames.

Jiang Kun stood up from the train, with a smile on his face: "The little princess is very smart, and she can understand everything at once."

Dong Li was so nervous that his lips turned white, and he tightly clutched his trembling hand.

"That's right," the empress smiled, seeming to be pleasantly surprised, "Then... Ah Li, tell me how to reward General Zhou Donghai for his meritorious service in defeating the enemy?"

Dong Li's mind went blank for a moment, and he carefully raised his eyes to look at the empress on the throne, only to find that the empress was also looking at her.

——Ever since Dong Li was five years old, the empress never called her Ah Li again.

And no matter how ignorant Dong Li was, he understood at this moment that the voice of Ah Li was not meant for himself, it was just the empress taking the opportunity to warn the prince.

Dong Li swallowed a mouthful of saliva, her heart felt sour, but after all, she had been used to it for many years, and she still maintained a cautious and serious look on her face, and very slowly stood up from the royal family.

[The author has something to say: In fact, the little princess is quite pitiful. 】