bluestone

June

The Zhenxi Army arrived at the Imperial Capital first, but Qing Ming did not go out of the city to greet them, and directly ordered the Zhenxi Army to station outside the city, and General Han went back to the residence to rest first.

As for the celebration banquet and reception banquet, they will be held together after the Suiyuan army and King Gudan arrive at the imperial capital.

five days later

The Suiyuan army returned to the capital, and on the day King Gudan arrived in the capital, the prime minister went to greet him.

On the second day after resting for one night, a reception banquet was held, and General Han, King Gu Dan, and Lu Yunshu all came.

Chengqian Hall

"The emperor is here~"

Everyone knelt down to greet him.

Qingming walked from the gate of the main hall to the dragon chair directly in front of him. When he passed by Han Tuo, his eyes wandered for a moment, and his footsteps did not stop.

Han Tuo returned to Beijing for five days, and Qing Ming only saw him once, and that was when he went to court to report on his duties on the second day after returning to Beijing.

Sitting on the high dragon chair, Qingming couldn't see clearly, only knew that he was darker again, and the murderous bloody aura on his body was much stronger.

When he looked up at him, he just looked at the monarch in an ordinary way, and those eyes became deeper and deeper with the experience of time, and he couldn't see any emotion through those eyes.

On the high platform, on the left are the independent tables of Han Tuo and Lu Yunshu. Old General Han is at home and doesn’t care about government affairs, so naturally he doesn’t participate in this dinner; on the right is the table of Gudan Wang Mulei, who is also alone, like a lone wolf , exuding a dangerous aura, his deep light-colored eyes aimed at Lu Yunshu who was opposite him from time to time.

Lu Yunshu kept his head down, staring at the table in front of him, as if he was thinking about the art of war, he didn't know what he was thinking.

Qingming sat on the dragon chair and said loudly: "Today's banquet is mainly for two things: one is to welcome the return of Han Tuo, General of the Western Expedition, and Lu Yunshu, the military commander of the Suiyuan Army; The Great Zhou’s national prestige has shocked the world of Kyushu, and officially incorporated the Northwest into the territory of the Great Zhou. These two events are happy events, and we hereby celebrate them.”

Everyone shouted "The emperor's grace is mighty!"

Then, the song and dance began.

Qingming looked at Han Tuo who was sitting not far from him, "General Han has worked hard these years, I respect you a glass." After speaking, he drank the wine in the glass.

Han Tuo got up immediately and said respectfully, "Everything I do is my duty, I can't afford such a big gift." Then, he raised his glass in return.

From the beginning to the end, he kept his eyes down and never raised them.

Qingming looked at the person who had never looked at him, his eyes dimmed, and he suddenly asked, "I heard that General Han married a wife in the northwest, and now he is returning to Beijing with the army, why didn't he go to the palace to attend the dinner?"

"My wife is seven months pregnant, and now she is having a baby at home. Please forgive me for not coming here." Han Tuo said this, with a soft smile on his lips unconsciously.

Hearing this, Qingming's face was a little pale, but fortunately his complexion was a little fair, but it wasn't so obvious; the smile he showed afterwards hurt his eyes even more.

Not wanting to look at him anymore, he toasted hurriedly and congratulated him, then stopped looking at him.

And at the moment when he withdrew his gaze, Han Tuo looked up at him and finally couldn't help revealing some hesitating emotions.

In a flash.

He disappeared when he took his seat again, and Qing Ming, who was looking away, couldn't see it.

"I heard that the lord of Xishan City has made great contributions to the extermination of the Rong people in the past few years. General Han's award has been sent to the Han Mansion as early as three days ago, and the Guo family has not yet awarded the reward. The girl returned to the capital with the Zhenxi Army, and I just took this opportunity to award one or two rewards."

After Qingming spoke, Dong Gui sang very colorfully, "Guo Xiaoxiao, the daughter of the Guo family in Xuanxi Mountain City, has an audience~"

The singing and dancing stopped temporarily, and after a while, a heroic young woman walked in outside.

Guo Xiaoxiao walked into the hall and knelt down in the middle of the hall to salute.

"You don't need to be too polite." Qing Ming said with a smile.

When Guo Xiaoxiao heard the voice, she felt that it sounded familiar. She raised her head subconsciously and looked up. After seeing the man's face clearly, she opened her eyes wide, as if frightened, the corners of her mouth trembled slightly, and she couldn't say a word for a long time.

Dong Gui was about to yell at him.

Qingming waved his hand, smiled and said, "Miss Guo, are you still on your feet?"

Guo Xiaoxiao just woke up from a dream and kowtowed to thank her.

After the simple award, Qing Ming did not let her leave, but asked someone to add a chair beside Han Tuo, "I heard that General Han and Miss Guo are old acquaintances, so General Han will take care of Miss Guo."

After arranging Guo Xiaoxiao, Qingming looked at Lu Yunshu who had been looking down at the table.

"I haven't seen you for a few years, and Yun Shu has matured a lot, so I finally didn't study the art of war at this dinner." Qing Ming joked.

Lu Yunshu didn't speak, and was still sitting there in a daze.

Qing Ming was a little surprised, and called again, "Yun Shu?"

Lu Yunshu still didn't respond.

Qingming winked at Dong Gui.

Dong Gui walked up to Lu Yunshu's side and touched him lightly. Lu Yunshu came back to his senses and stood up in a panic to plead guilty, almost knocking over the cup and saucer on the table.

Qingming raised his eyebrows slightly, "Is Yunshu unwell? Do you want to ask the imperial doctor to take a look at you?"

"No, no, it's just that I didn't sleep well last night, and my mind was a little distracted. Thank you, Your Majesty, for your concern." Lu Yunshu quickly adjusted his expression.

"It's good that you're fine. You must have grown a lot in the past few years. The reward is nothing to you. I heard that you participated in the management of military affairs in the Suiyuan Army and did a good job. I plan to order you to enter the Ministry of War. , What do you think?" Qing Ming asked for his opinion.

Lu Yunshu's face turned pale instantly, as if he had heard something terrible, he immediately knelt on the ground in horror, "Yunshu knows that he is not worthy of such a great responsibility, please take it back!"

Qingming was taken aback by his actions, frowned and said, "You don't want to be an official in the court?"

"I have been away from Beijing for nearly six years, and I have never served my parents. In addition, there are many capable people in the court, so there is no shortage of Yun Shu. Therefore, I request that I not enter the court for a while, and ask the emperor to help me." He did not speak too much.

Qingming stared at him for a moment, feeling that this matter was not as simple as he said, but he also knew that it was not the time to ask, so he could only agree, "In this case, it is as you wish, but I can only give a reprieve." Years, one year later, if you don't have a better reason to refuse to enter the court, I will punish you for disrespect, so think about it."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

"Go back and sit down. Seeing that you are skinny, you must have suffered a lot in the south. When you return to Beijing, let Huanggu make up for you."

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your concern."

Lu Yunshu got up and sat back behind the table.

Beside, Guo Xiaoxiao talked with Han Tuo in a low voice.

"Brother Guo, Qing..." She subconsciously wanted to call him "Young Master Qing", but suddenly remembered his identity, and quickly changed her words, "It's the emperor, do you think the emperor has changed a lot?"

When Han Tuo heard this, the hand that was pouring the wine trembled, poured the wine outside, immediately put down the jug, pretending nothing happened, and said casually, "He is the emperor now, so it is naturally different from before."

"Is that so?" Guo Xiaoxiao felt that what he said made sense, but felt that something was not right, and then asked, "By the way, didn't you have a good relationship with him before? Now you have a good relationship in private Bar?"

Han Tuo was silent for a long time, then said quietly: "He is the king, I am the minister, that's all."

Guo Xiaoxiao wanted to ask again, but noticed his expression when he stared at Qingming, and then couldn't ask a word.

Over there, Qingming had already started talking with Gudan King Mulei.

"I don't know how long King Gudan plans to stay in Dazhou this time?"

Mu Lei put down the small wine glass in his hand, finally looked at Qingming, pursed his lips and said, "Whenever you want, you will leave."

"Oh?" Qingming narrowed his eyes slightly, trying to find out his true meaning from his expression, but he couldn't see anything.

"I don't know what you want, you might as well just say it, so that the peace talks can go smoothly." Qing Ming said with a smile.

"Don't be in a hurry, just discuss slowly. However, regarding the peace talks, my king has a request."

"King Gudan, please speak."

"I hope that on the day of the peace talks in the imperial capital, I will have Mr. Lu Yunshu and Mr. Lu as my companion..." Mu Lei hadn't finished speaking when he heard a voice of refusal from the opposite side.

"No, I don't agree." Lu Yunshu stood up and refused loudly, with an agitated expression, he even forgot what the occasion was and the etiquette.

Qingming glanced at Lu Yunshu who had been away all night, looked at Mu Lei, and asked, "Your Excellency also heard that Yun Shu hasn't returned from home for nearly six years. If he wants to serve his parents, he probably doesn't have much time to spend with him." The Gudan King is playing, and the hospitality is not good enough."

Although Qing Ming didn't know what was going on between the two of them, he still favored Yun Shu and rejected Mu Lei according to his wishes.

"It doesn't matter. If possible, I hope to live in Lu Xiang's residence. I have admired Lu Xiang for many years, and I can take this opportunity to ask for advice. This will not hinder Mr. Lu's filial piety, and it will be convenient for me to ask for advice. I can kill two birds with one stone." Why not do it?" Mu Lei offered to propose.

"Isn't that good? After all, the defense of the prime minister's mansion is not as good as that of the palace. What should we do if something happens?"

"Emperor Zhou, please don't worry about this. The king's guards will protect him. If something happens, the king will take responsibility."

Listening to their conversation, Lu Yunshu's face lost all color, and his eyes were full of bewilderment, as if he had been greatly frightened.

The other party has already said so much, and it's hard to refuse anymore, but he can't bear to see Yun Shu lost so far, so he can only look down at Prime Minister Lu, "What do you think, Prime Minister?"

Lu Xiang couldn't see Lu Yunshu's expression clearly from below, he only heard some conversations between King Gu Dan and Qing Ming, and he also knew how important this peace talk was to Da Zhou and Gu Dan.

He stood up and said respectfully, "I have no objection."

"Let's leave it at that for now." It was the last word.

Lu Yunshu staggered unsteadily and almost fell down, but fortunately Dong Gui had quick eyesight and quick hands to support him in time.

"Where's the imperial physician?" Seeing that his expression was extremely bad, Qing Ming hurriedly called for the imperial physician.

The imperial physician came up to examine Lu Yunshu's pulse, and after a long while, he said, "My Majesty, Mr. Lu is overly worrying and suffering from depression. Fortunately, it is not too serious. The old minister prescribes a medicine, and after drinking it for a while, it will be all right, but I just need to rest more recently. "

Qingming waved his hand, and the imperial physician withdrew.

"Since Yun Shu is unwell, let's go back first."

Lu Yunshu shook his head and smiled weakly, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your concern, Yunshu is fine, just take a rest, it will be fine."

Qingming saw that he was determined, so he couldn't persuade him anymore, after all, he knew his own body well.