Overlord's Road to Ancient Emperors

December [-]th, frosty, cold and windy early in the morning, the door of the palace was wide open, boxes of luggage were brought out and loaded into the carriage, and the fed horses waited patiently at the door, and from time to time they played a few belts. Sneezing with white mist.

Li Xu came out wrapped in a cloak, followed by eight guards, and a tall guard wearing a mask was a few steps behind, holding a girl wrapped in fur in his arms, and several little maids followed closely with their bundles. After that, they got into the carriage at the door one by one.

It was just dawn, and the team moved slowly. Not long after they walked out, they saw all civil and military officials standing on both sides of the road, as well as common people who came to see the prince off.

Compared to the day of Li Xu's wedding, there were not many fewer people, but the atmosphere was completely different. At this time, everyone looked solemn and worried, and when they saw the motorcade approaching, they immediately knelt down and saluted.

Standing on the carriage, Li Xu saw a black head at a glance. When he first came to South Vietnam, there was no one to welcome him. This also shows that his hard work in the past few years has not been in vain.

He said: "This year's winter is more severe than last year's. Everyone should prepare for the cold. If you have difficulties at home, you can go to the government. When I come back next year, I hope everyone can welcome me here."

Some people cried out suppressedly. They all knew that King Shun was going to Beijing for trial this time. The common people didn’t know about power struggles. They only knew that the emperor issued an imperial decree to recruit King Shun to Beijing for review. return.

Many people thought of the efforts made by King Shun in the past few years and the changes in their lives. They couldn't accept the situation of Nanyue changing masters. Some people shouted: "My lord, we must guard our house and wait for your return. If you don't come , and the rest don't even think about coming in!"

"Yes, yes! We only recognize you as the master, and we can't change it to anyone else!"

Some officials want to reprimand them, how can they have the final say on the master of this fief?Whoever the emperor wants to control South Vietnam has this right. Anyone who dares to resist is disrespectful and will be beheaded.

Li Xu waved his hands to calm everyone down, and said loudly: "Thank you for your understanding and support. The king's family has lived comfortably in Nanyue these past few years. Thanks to your care, don't worry, this king has a clear conscience. It’s all unfounded, the clean ones will clear themselves, and this king will definitely come back!”

The cries became louder and louder, and even the officials wiped away their tears silently. They knew that the more unwarranted the crime, the harder it was to get rid of it.What's more, the prince was kicked out of the capital at the beginning, how many people were waiting for him to see the joke.

"It's getting late, this king is leaving, everyone go back, work hard, live a good life, good days are all made out of." After Li Xu finished speaking, he got into the carriage, put down the curtain, and stopped looking at the movement outside .

The possibility of coming back this way is very small. Li Xu received news two days ago that the emperor's health became worse after the winter, and it is really hard to say what will happen after entering Beijing.

The team went out of the city and walked along the road to the pier. When everyone saw the huge ship displayed on the seashore that could not be seen as far as the eye could see, they all gasped.

Some people in the team have never seen so many big ships neatly arranged on the vast sea, which doubles the visual shock.

Eunuch Lu and his entourage were too frightened to speak. They went ashore from this pier that day. They only felt that Minzhou was busy with commerce and trade. In the winter, there were still many ships going to sea. But the ships they saw today were obviously different from merchant ships. scary.

Eunuch Lu came out from the palace all the way, seeing that King Shun had only brought a few dozen personal soldiers with him, thinking that there was no one in the palace, he despised King Shun more and more in his heart. Seeing this scene, he knew that he was wrong It's not that King Shun is empty, but that there are too many people.

There are hundreds of boats on the sea, and if every boat is full of people, it will be a disaster. He hurriedly caught up with King Shun, bent down and asked, "Your Majesty, I wonder how many soldiers you plan to bring to Beijing?" ?”

Li Xu glanced at him, and asked indifferently: "Is there no limit to the number of people in the royal decree?"

"Yes, but it has always been a rule that a vassal king can only bring a thousand soldiers at most when he goes to Beijing, and only 100 soldiers when he enters the city." Eunuch Lu reminded him kindly.

Li Xu shrugged his shoulders and said confidently: "There are just too many boats here. In fact, there are not many people. There will be no more than 1000 people at all times. Moreover, the river in the north freezes in winter, and sea boats can't enter the inland river. These boats will stay in the river. At sea, you will not go ashore, so you can relax."

Eunuch Lu really wanted to ask, since there were not many people, why did they bring so many boats northward?But he had an intuition that this question should not be asked, so he put away his worries.

Li Xu took people aboard the main ship. Unlike other large ships, the main ship was more like a passenger ship. The decoration was extremely luxurious and warm. Even if they lived on the ship for a year or so, they would not feel monotonous.

Liu Shu ordered people to put their luggage into different cabins. There are few people in their palace, and one boat is enough for one person to live in one room. However, there are no more rooms for Father Lu and the others. They were driven to an old boat at the end.

"Eunuch, the lord obviously doesn't want to see us." A follower looked at the ferocious South Vietnamese soldiers all around and said.

"Hehe, so what, the prince won't be arrogant for long." Eunuch Lu said in a low voice.

"Hey, why are there so many people behind? They seem to be boarding the ship too, and they have also carried a lot of luggage." A follower standing on the deck exclaimed.

Eunuch Lu walked over, and sure enough, many people suddenly appeared on the originally calm pier. These people seemed to be the servants and bodyguards of the big family, and they were boarding the boat behind in an orderly manner.

Eunuch Lu stopped a soldier and asked, "Dare to ask this general, are those behind you also going to Beijing with the prince?"

Seeing his polite attitude, the little soldier burst into a smile, and replied politely: "If you go back to your father-in-law, I only heard that some people want to take this opportunity to go to Beijing with the prince. After all, there are accompanying sergeants, so don't be afraid of being intercepted by pirates." , the prince is benevolent, so he is naturally willing to protect the people in the fief."

Eunuch Lu saw that those boats were loaded with a lot of goods, presumably merchants went to Beijing to do business under the protection of King Shun, so he didn't take it seriously.

Li Xu was also standing at the bow of the boat watching the bustling scene. Liu Shu waited on the side, looking at the rising sun, and asked, "My lord, is it really okay to take them with you? Maybe it will delay the trip."

The corner of Li Xu's mouth curled up, "Do you know why they followed me to Beijing at this time?"

"Didn't you drop by? They're all for bringing goods to Beijing for business, right?"

Li Xu shook his head and said, "This route is already very safe. They also have their own boats and guards, so they don't need the protection of the palace, and the Chinese New Year is coming. No one would choose this time to send a large number of people to Beijing to do business."

"Why is that?"

"The Zhong family sent someone to pass a message to the king, whispering, he said, if there is not enough manpower in the capital, you can go to the Nanyue Trading Company and ask for money, goods or people. They specially sent people to the capital to support the king. "

Liu Shu was stunned for a moment, and then happily said: "I didn't expect them to be quite loyal. Originally, the servants were also worried about the lack of manpower. With them, there is no need to be afraid of this."

"This is their good intentions. This king will not expose them until the moment of crisis. There is no need to involve them."

"My lord is kind. It is because you treat them well that they will repay you so sincerely. In the past, the slaves always thought that you were too kind to them. Now that I think about it, the slaves are too small. Kindness can always be rewarded. .”

Li Xu never felt that he had treated anyone kindly. He only did what he wanted to do, and he also gained benefits from it. No one owed him anything, but it was an unexpected joy to have today's kindness.

"Order to go on, the ship will dock in Yangzhou after three days, and then the king will take the people to go overland, and the rest of the navy will continue to go north and wait in Bozhou."

Liu Shu asked in a low voice: "Is the lord going to join General Kou?"

Li Xu nodded. He finally received a letter from Kou Xiao last night. The letter didn't mention much about what he did these days. It only said that the matter is not over yet, and it will take about ten days before he can go back. He probably counted the imperial decree They will arrive in South Vietnam around the New Year's Eve, and they will send a letter back.

When Li Xu heard about him, he decided not to wait any longer, and wrote back to him, asking him to go all the way north and meet at Yingchuan. Yingchuan is located in the middle of Dayan. If Kou Xiao and the others travel fast, they should be able to meet them. Arrived at the same time.

"Then why are you going to Yingchuan? We can totally bypass that place."

"Since it's a place related to this king, I should go and see it, not to mention not wasting time, just drop in."

Liu Shu didn't understand what to see in a place that had just been occupied by the rebels, and King Shun's reputation in Yingchuan was definitely not good. If someone deliberately led the public opinion, the prince might be in danger.

Li Xu saw that the ships at the end of the team were all loaded with goods, and then each ship had more than 100 people on board. These people flooded into the capital together, and there were many things they could do.

"Let's set off." Li Xu turned around and entered the cabin, listened to the loud and clear horns outside, and fell asleep on the bed.

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The days on the boat were boring, but fortunately Li Xu only stayed on the boat for three days. After three days, the fleet arrived at the seaport outside Yangzhou Prefecture, and Li Xu took his people off the boat.

Eunuch Lu caught up from behind and asked anxiously, "My lord...Your Highness, why did you suddenly change to land?"

Li Xu looked back at him, and replied with a half-smile, "I am seasick, it's better to travel by land."

Eunuch Lu couldn't tell that Li Xu was seasick at all. In fact, Li Xu also overcame the problem of seasickness. It was just a random reason. He was just a eunuch. Does he need to explain it to him?

"But my lord, going overland will definitely delay the time. The emperor told you that you have to get to the capital as soon as possible."

Li Xu ignored him and took the people into the carriage that had been prepared earlier. Eunuch Lu wanted to ask more questions, but two fierce soldiers stopped him, and they blocked Eunuch Lu back without saying a word.

Eunuch Lu wanted to take the water route by himself, but he couldn't guarantee that King Shun would not assassinate him on the way, otherwise, if he was allowed to arrive in Beijing first, then King Shun would be charged with delaying the trip. He deliberately delayed the time because he was afraid of going to Beijing for fear of sin.

Father Lu had no choice but to continue walking with the team. It was already the twelfth lunar month, with rain and snow falling everywhere. It was very torturous to travel in such weather, and often they could not find a place to stay. Many South Vietnamese soldiers were frozen sick.

Seeing this, Li Xu slowed down, gave each soldier a dozen drinks, and told them to drink a few sips when they felt cold. He also changed all his cotton-padded clothes into down jackets, and being fully armed made it easier for everyone. Try to rest in big towns, if you can’t meet them, you will definitely find a place with people to stay, but this way, the journey time will be longer, Lu Gonggong is anxious, but he also knows that winter travel is difficult, he alone The eunuch is not physically strong, not to mention there is a golden branch and jade leaf in the team, this arrangement is undoubtedly the best.

A month later, the team arrived in Yingchuan City safe and sound. By this time, the Lantern Festival had passed. I don't know whether the celebrations in Yingchuan had passed or had never happened before, and the streets were a little deserted.

Li Xu arranged for the team to be stationed outside the city, and entered the city with a few people by himself. Because of the uncertain whereabouts on the road, he hadn't heard from Yingchuan for a long time, and he didn't know if the problem here had been resolved.

Just after passing a street, a young man dressed as a sophomore rushed out from the end of the street, grabbed Liu Shu's arm and said loudly, "These masters are from other places? Do you want to stay in a hotel? Our Yuelai Inn is The best inn in the city, with plenty of hot water, delicious food, and very clean."

Liu Shu took a closer look, hey, he was still a familiar face, he was a member of the Anbu under Ye Changqing, and the so-called Yuelai Inn should be their stronghold in Yingchuan.

He pretended to hesitate for a while, and asked loudly: "Is it really as good as you said? If you are not satisfied, we will not pay a copper coin."

"Don't worry, Mr. Bao is satisfied!"

Following the man and turned a few streets, Li Xu finally saw the Yuelai Inn. Although it is not far away, it is not in the center of the city.

After entering the door, Li Xu caught sight of the man standing at the entrance of the hall. He was wearing a blue brocade jacket, a black coat, and a buckskin cap on his head. The fluffy fringe made him a few years younger. He looked like a young master who didn't know much about the world.

But as long as you meet his eyes, you will know that you have guessed wrong. This man's gaze is as sharp as a wolf's tiger, sharp and menacing, as if he saw a mountain of corpses and a sea of ​​blood at a glance, which makes people feel inexplicably cold.

Li Xu stopped in his tracks. He felt that Kou Xiao had changed a bit. Kou Xiao was also a ruthless person before, but most of the time he had a cynical and rogue temperament. At this moment, what he saw was a cold and emotionless human figure. weapon.

But maybe it was his illusion, because in the next second, the ice cube laughed, with a naughty, naughty smile, and strode towards Li Xu.

He stretched out his hands, hugged Li Xu into his arms, took a deep breath, and said reminiscingly: "I miss you so much, I'm going crazy!"

Li Xu expressed his disbelief. A man who disappeared after just getting married has a negative credit score.

Li Xu felt his steady and powerful heartbeat, and the worries he had been worrying for a while finally came to the ground, he pushed Kou Xiao away, put his hands into his sleeves, and asked sternly: "General Kou, what crime should you be responsible for leading troops out without permission? "