bluestone

On the eighteenth day of the first lunar month, three days after Qingming left Xishan City, an imperial decree from the Imperial Capital arrived here.

"By God's blessing, the emperor's imperial edict said: General Han has been in the army for many years. He is brave and skilled in battle. He has repeatedly made military exploits and is famous. He is now called back to Beijing to receive a reward. The [-] troops from the town will accompany him. He will set off immediately without delay. This is yours!"

"Sir, lead the order."

Han Tuo took over the imperial decree.

The father-in-law hurriedly stepped forward to congratulate him, "As expected of being a descendant of the Han family, a hero is indeed a young man. Now, Young General Han has been appreciated by the sage, and this time he returns to Beijing, he is sure to skyrocket!"

"Thank you, Eunuch. It's just that there is something Han Tuo doesn't know. I don't know if you can answer it?"

"Major General, please speak."

"After the Xishan bandits were wiped out last year, the Holy Majesty has already conferred a reward once. I don't know why you have to go back to Beijing to confer the reward again?"

"This... our family is only acting according to the order, and we dare not assume the holy will." The father-in-law was at a loss for words, so he could only answer like this.

"Well, I'm sorry to bother you, Eunuch." Han Tuo said politely.

"Come on, take Eunuch down to rest."

"Yes."

The father-in-law walked to the door, stopped suddenly, turned to look at the young general, hesitant to speak.

When Han Tuo saw him, he hurriedly said, "I don't know if my father-in-law has anything else to convey to Han?"

The father-in-law hesitated for a moment, and said: "When our family left Beijing, there were rumors in the palace that the emperor intended to call the prince back to Beijing, but I don't know if it is true or not. At this time, it has nothing to do with the young general. Go, the old slave thought it was a coincidence, so he simply told the Major General that he had heard it, and hoped that the Major General would not be offended."

"Where, thank you for reminding me, father-in-law."

The father-in-law went down with the soldiers to rest.

"Prince?" he muttered.

Speaking of it, he has always been vague about what happened back then, because he fell into the pool and was rescued and fell seriously ill. Although he did not forget the memory of that night, he did not remember it clearly.

After he recovered from his illness, the old man also explained to him that His Royal Highness did not intend to push him into the pool on purpose, so that he should not hold grudges against the prince.

Of course, these are just polite words.The old man always thought that he provoked the prince on his own initiative, which made the prince push him angrily, but he was recovering from a serious illness at the time, so he couldn't remember clearly, and the prince didn't say the reason, so what happened, except for the two of them Other than that, no one can tell.

Later, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was relegated from Beijing, and the incident was over.

"Thinking so much about what to do is just a trivial matter. It's been so many years, and it's not a big deal if I think about it. If the prince is a good king, I will serve him faithfully; it doesn't matter if he doesn't get along well. , the big deal is to go back to Xishan City to garrison, when the sky is high and the emperor is far away, he can't see me, and I can't see him, neither will interfere with the other."

After making arrangements and taking care of everything, Han Tuo led [-] soldiers on the way back to Beijing.

A group of people dragged and dragged for a month, finally arrived one kilometer outside the imperial capital, and settled down in camp.

Han Tuo, along with Lao Wei and others, went to Beijing to face the saint with his father-in-law.

It was just after mid-February at this time, and the festive feeling of the New Year had not completely faded away, but obviously there were some other things that could be discussed in the bustle.

For example: the prince returns to Beijing.

More than a month ago, it was just a rumor circulating in the palace, but now that it is completely confirmed, it has become the focus of discussion in the streets and alleys.

"Unexpectedly, after so long, the crown prince is finally coming back~"

"No, if I don't mention it, I will almost forget about it. It's hard for the emperor to remember his son."

"It's been ten years, and I don't know what His Highness the Crown Prince looks like?"

"Don't say we don't know, maybe even the emperor himself doesn't know what his son looks like!"

"Impossible. If you don't know his appearance and exact circumstances, how can you bring him back? It's not that the emperor has no sons. Instead of finding a prince who doesn't know the situation, it's better to establish a new son who knows everything about him as the prince!"

"What you said makes sense. What we saw was that the emperor relegated the crown prince from the capital. Maybe in fact, he wanted to hone the crown prince's talent!"

"But there's no need to be relegated from Beijing for tempering, right?"

"Who knows what's going on! How can we plain-headed people see through the affairs of the Tian family?"

"It's, it's..."

Han Tuo and his party were not too high-profile, but they still attracted the attention of many people. Some people even said that he was the prince. Anyway, the prince's limelight completely overshadowed the fact that General Han returned to Beijing.

After all, Young General Han returned to Beijing every year, but it was the first time His Royal Highness heard that he was going back to Beijing after ten years.

They didn't walk fast, and they naturally heard all kinds of discussions in the streets and alleys.

The monkey took a few quick steps, stood side by side with Han Tuo, and said in a low voice, "Boss, is the prince they are talking about the one who kicked you into the lotus pond ten years ago?"

"What? Are you interested?" Han Tuo gave him a sideways glance.

"Of course I'm interested. It's unimaginable to kick you into the water, boss! If possible, I really want to meet that prince and see if he has a bull's head and a horse's face or a tiger's fist. leg?"

"Stinky boy, you owe it to me to clean up, right? I don't mind asking you to return to Xishan City immediately to contribute." His tone was dangerous.

"Don't, don't, boss," the monkey quickly waved his hands and shook his head, "I'm not joking with you~" He said, and even gave him a wink.

"You're kidding, I'm not kidding."

When the monkey heard this, he quickly covered his mouth and retreated to his original position, for fear that Han Tuo would really send him back in a fit of anger, which would be a real loss.

A moment's quick talk is not as important as watching a movie for a long time!

He followed his father-in-law to the imperial study with ease.

The father-in-law stepped forward to report.

After a while, a father-in-law with a higher status came out of it.

"Young General Han, long time no see, how are you doing?" the father-in-law greeted familiarly.

"I'm sorry to trouble Eunuch Hai, everything is fine with Han Tuo." Han Tuo replied politely.

"That's good. Your Majesty is waiting. Young General Han can follow me in." Eunuch Hai made a "please" gesture.

Han Tuo stepped forward and followed him into the imperial study.

"My minister Han Tuo kowtowed to my emperor, long live, long live, long live." Han Tuo saluted respectfully.

"Retire without courtesy."

"Thank you, Lord."

Han Tuo stood up, looked directly at Tian Yan, calm and composed, without any timidity.

The emperor also took it for granted, without any intention of blaming him.

"Is it okay over there in Xishan City?"

"Return to the emperor, everything is fine in Xishan City, but the Rong people are afraid of something unexpected." He said, and took out a memorial.

Eunuch Hai took it and presented it up.

When the emperor was flipping through the memorial, Han Tuo carefully looked at the emperor's face.

Han Tuo would go back to the Imperial Capital every year, and every time he came back, he would attend at least one palace banquet with the old general, and he was familiar with the emperor's appearance, but looking at it today, he felt somewhat inexplicably familiar, but he couldn't remember where to look. Been to similar people.

"In your opinion, what impact will this change of the Rong clan have on Da Zhou?"

When the emperor's voice came, Han Tuo looked away, lowered his head slightly, and replied: "The spies report, this time, the person who conspired to usurp the position of patriarch is called Dake, who is the younger brother of the current clan leader. Li has a high status, is brave and good at fighting, and is full of ambitions. I think that within three years, the Rong people are very likely to invade the border of Dazhou, so we should prepare early, just in case."

"If you were to garrison Xishan City, would you have the confidence to repel the Rong people?"

"I will live up to my holy hope." Han Tuo's expression was firm, the corners of his lips slightly raised showed his confidence, and his black pupils were shining brightly.

"Okay, it is indeed the old general Han who personally cultivated the heir, and he is indeed the descendant of the Han family!" The emperor's face was full of admiration.

The emperor also saw Han Tuo's performance in the past few years, so he was naturally quite satisfied.

"Han Tuo." The emperor leaned back in his chair relaxedly, with a much more amiable tone.

"The minister is here."

"The old general is getting old, and now he looks old and strong, but the fatigue and old injuries in the early years are not without it. Maybe in a short time, you will take up his responsibility and protect the great Zhou Dynasty as General Han. You , Be mentally prepared."

"Chen, I understand." Han Tuo said solemnly with a solemn expression.

"It's good to understand. In addition, the prince's self-willedness back then almost caused you to lose your life..."

"Your Majesty, I have long forgotten about that matter." Han Tuo interrupted him with a natural expression, not caring about what happened back then.

"I knew that Han Tuo is not a stingy person," the emperor smiled, without any irritation at being interrupted, "I have already issued an order to recall the prince, and in ten days, old general Han will return with him. Now, go to the outskirts of the city to pick them up and return to the city, they are all young people, getting to know each other in private will be good for you to get along with each other in the future!"

"The minister leads the order."

"Go out."

"Yes." Han Tuo bowed and silently exited the imperial study.

After leaving the Imperial Study Room, Han Tuo went back to the Han Mansion, changed his clothes, and went to the Fangcao Pavilion.

The so-called Fangcao Pavilion is actually a brothel.

Fang is for women, and grass is for men.

Masculinity is quite common in Dazhou, especially in Huajie and Liuxiang, and most of them are male favorites who are not in the elegant hall, and they serve others with sex; Everyone, but still recognized by some.

This Fangcao Pavilion can grow in such a place where every inch of land is expensive, not only because of its backing that no one dares to mess with, but also because of its elegant and stylish environment.

Although it is a brothel, there is a distinction between prostitutes and prostitutes. In Fangcao Pavilion, prostitutes are the lowest existence. Not only do they not last long, but their pay is not higher than that of prostitutes. If there is no other choice, no prostitutes will want to surrender themselves. Status, become a low-level whore.

Of course, since it's a brothel, it's not like there aren't any prostitutes, it's just that it's much more low-key.

You Lan is the number one lady in Fangcao Pavilion and Fanhua Pavilion. She is proficient in playing piano, chess, calligraphy, painting and dancing.

Such a temperamental beauty naturally attracts countless high-ranking officials and celebrities.

What was circulated outside was the anecdote that she had a close personal relationship with Major General Han Tuo, and was openly cited by Han Tuo as a confidant.