My lord, your plan is too obvious

On the fifth day of March, Xiang Zhenzhen left the capital.Ruohua sent her to the gate of the city, and asked someone to choose two brocades for her to take home.

"If my brother is free, I will often go home to visit my parents. My mother always misses you." Xiang Zhenzhen said before getting into the carriage.

"I know, I will choose a time to return to Tingzhou after a while," Ruohua helped Zhenzhen into the carriage, "Be careful on the road."

"Brother, pay more attention to your body."

After Zhenzhen left, Ruohua returned to Prince Yan's Mansion.For some reason, although Xiang Mansion is his mansion, he always feels that Yan Wang Mansion makes him feel more familiar and at ease.

On the night of March [-]th, Ruohua heard from Odan that Si Nian and his party seemed to be approaching the capital.It just seems that because of some wounded soldiers, the trip was delayed a little, and it may take more than a day to enter the capital.

The next day, Ruohua got up, dressed and washed as usual, but when he walked to the gate of the palace, suddenly a familiar figure came into view.

Ruohua was stunned for a moment, and just stood at the door, staring closely at Si Nian's back.

Obviously these days when I think of Si Nian, I feel irritable, but when I really see him again, I feel that all the irritability, awkwardness, and bewilderment have disappeared. I only feel a long sigh of relief, as if I fell from a high place and was caught by someone. Steadily caught the general peace of mind.

Si Nian also seemed to sense someone approaching behind him, so he turned around.Seeing that it was Ruohua, he couldn't help but raise the corners of his mouth.

Ruohua is still wearing the red headband she gave him, and the boy seems to have grown taller after not seeing him for two months.That's right, after the seventeenth birthday, it's time to grow your body.

Si Nian stepped forward, and hugged Ruohua, who was still a little dazed, into his arms:

"I am back."

Ruohua was caught off guard and pulled into a warm chest. Si Nian's voice came from his ears and wandered in his body.The simple four words made his nose sore.

Subconsciously, he stretched out his arms and hugged Sinian back.

Si Nian also froze for a moment, he didn't expect that Ruohua would take the initiative to hug him back.But Ruohua's action also made him lead the soldiers out of the customs these days, the fatigue and pain and the longing every day and night turned into soft warmth. Sure enough, this person is his light in the long cold winter.

"Okay, it's time to go to court." Although Si Nian enjoyed Ruohua's rare embrace of him so obediently, he still had to go to court to report on the war today.

When Ruohua heard Si Nian's words, she realized that she seemed to be hugging him tightly.With a flush on his face, he hurriedly pushed Sinian away, and jumped into the carriage as if fleeing.I kept annoyed in my heart: What are you doing?

And Si Nian chuckled when he saw Ruohua fleeing like a rabbit in a panic.

The two got into the carriage, but Si Nian didn't speak, but looked at Ruohua with a smile intentionally or unintentionally.

Ruohua always felt that he was stared at by Si Nian, so he wanted to say something to divert his attention:

"Didn't it mean that there will be more than a day before I can come back?"

"It's true that the army will take more than a day. I rushed back yesterday overnight."

"Why?" Logically speaking, since it is already a big victory, even if it is two days late to return to the court, it should not be a big problem.And according to Si Nian's temperament, he would definitely not be in a hurry to come back to receive the reward.

Si Nian's eyes fell on Ruohua, looked up and down, and then chuckled in a meaningful tone and said:

"Guess what?"

Ruohua was tickled by Si Nian's eyes looking at him and his completely different tone from usual. Could it be because of... himself that Si Nian came back in such a hurry?

Ruohua was taken aback by her own thoughts, and then looked at Sinian with a guilty conscience.Did not speak.

Si Nian saw that Ruohua's face turned a little red, and he didn't dare to look directly at him, so he made a guess.Although he did rush back overnight because he wanted to see Ruohua sooner, but... let's say some things together on that day.

"King Mao was in a hurry to return to the palace, so I came back with him."

Hearing Si Nian's explanation, Ruohua couldn't help but blush even more.What was I thinking about just now.

The two walked all the way to the palace, and when they entered the main hall, Ruohua clearly felt that the eyes of the ministers in the court were all looking at Sinian.

As soon as the two of them stood still, King Mao also stepped into the hall.When Yuyue passed by Ruohua, her gaze seemed to linger on Ruohua for a moment.

Ruohua wasn't too guilty. Although he suggested King Mao take the initiative to clean up the army, there was indeed no chaos on the border at that time. As for the surprise attack by the Northern Qi later on, no one could have expected it.

And this time the emperor will definitely reward him again when he comes back, so Ruohua is not worried that King Mao will be angry with him.

It's just that after this time, Mao Wang will not take the initiative to win him over for the time being.Ruohua breathed a sigh of relief, he hadn't considered what Qi Guang said, if King Mao got involved again at this time, it would be even more difficult for him.

Sure enough, after going to court, the emperor first talked about pacifying the border.

"Yu'er, how did you experience leading the troops this time?"

Yuyue took a step forward, saluted and said:

"Father, in this confrontation with the Northern Qi Dynasty, it was my minister who was slack at the beginning that led to their surprise attack and broke into our army's position. But after that, my minister also used his own way to deal with him. A small group of elite troops surrounded the Northern Qi army camp from the rear, burned their food, grass and stables, and seriously injured them. Then the emperor cut off his supply team, and the Northern Qi army ran out of ammunition and food. We sent military divisions to negotiate with them. The border of our country has been pushed to the Luohe River north of Bailing. The Northern Qi also agrees to other requests made by us."

After King Mao finished speaking, the emperor's face was full of joy and relief.Then he asked Xiang Si Nian:

"King Yan, is what Yu'er said true?"

Si Nian took a step forward: "Northern Qi was defeated by our army this time thanks to King Mao's bravery and proficiency in military tactics."

"Yu'er has indeed done a very good job this time. It has not been a day or two since Northern Qi has harassed me at the Chuping border. I am very pleased to have taken it down in one fell swoop this time."

Ruohua thought in his heart that it was obviously after Si Nian went to the rescue that the war turned around, but the emperor's words were obviously biased towards King Mao, and Si Nian's credit was hardly mentioned at all.

"For Yu'er's great achievement this time, one pearl, twelve gold pieces, and five jade pendulums will be rewarded. In addition, the [-] elite cavalry troops in the Ministry of War will be in charge of King Mao himself in the future. If it is not my relative's permission, no one else can intervene in the deployment."

The court was in an uproar, even Yuyue herself didn't think about it.

If the first few rewards were nothing more than rewards of money and wealth, but in the end, the adjustment of the fifteen elite cavalry was directly handed over to King Mao, which was equivalent to giving King Mao real military power.

The emperor who wants to monopolize the power so much will hand over the military power of these elite cavalry to King Mao. Even if King Mao is successful in pacifying this time, the dragon's heart is happy, and he will not be so hasty to give up the military power just because he is happy out of...

Ruohua looked at the emperor, saw Si Nian who was still standing aside, and had an idea in his mind - could it be that the emperor made this decision because Si Nian had led these fifteen cavalrymen?

If so, what happened between the emperor and Si Nian.How could the emperor be so suspicious?

Just when Ruohua was still in doubt, the emperor spoke again:

"Yan Wang also did a good job this time, but what do you want?"

"My brother just wants to ask for some precious medicinal materials in the Tai Hospital."

The emperor didn't seem to expect that Si Nian was just asking for some medicinal materials, he was slightly taken aback and said:

"You can go and ask for whatever medicinal materials you want in the Tai Hospital. You have worked hard this time, and you will be rewarded with 50 taels of gold. You can also pick two of the horses that were just selected into the palace a few days ago and bring them back to your house. Bar."

"Thank you, Brother Huang." Si Nian saluted, and then stood back to his seat.

The emperor gave Si Nian a lot of rewards, the two tribute horses alone probably cost a thousand taels of silver, but compared with the rewards given by King Mao, the bias in it can be seen after a little thought.

The emperor had no intention of promoting Si Nian to Prince, nor did he give him more power.

Then the emperor looked at Qi Guang again:

"A few days ago, the brochures submitted by various places all said that the promotion of the scientific examination was very effective. It is already the middle of March. I don't know how the preparations for the inner study election are going?"

"Report to Father," Qi Guang said with a salute, "I have sent official documents to various places, and in five days, the local scientific examinations will begin. It's just that the candidates for inspections in various places are still being selected."

"The inspector really needs to think more about it. Do you have a candidate?"

"There are already a few people, but I believe that the inspectors need to be capable and upright, so as to prevent fraud and favoritism from happening again, so I need to observe again."

"Prince is careful, it is indeed right to entrust this matter to you," the emperor said very happy, "After the person is selected and reported, let him go as soon as possible."

"Yes, Father."

Ruohua knew that if he accepted, the position of inspector would probably be his own.Now that the local scientific research has begun, a decision must be made in these two days.This opportunity is indeed beneficial for him to learn more about the current situation among the people, and with the support of the crown prince, there should be no major problems.

only……

Ruohua looked diagonally forward, wondering if Si Nian would agree to take over the next position.

In the morning, because of his wild thoughts, he didn't dare to look directly at Sinian.Although only his back can be seen now, Si Nian seems to have lost some weight, and his originally broad shoulders now look more capable.The wide sleeves of the robe covered most of the hands, but the exposed knuckles seemed to have obvious scars.

It is not easy to calm down the border this time.Although swords have no eyes on the battlefield, some injuries are normal.But Ruohua still felt a little aggrieved, this person probably suffered a lot during this trip, why should he be treated like this when he returned to the court.

After coming down to court, Si Nian and Ruohua walked out of the hall. Ruohua wanted to tell Si Nian something that Qi Guang had asked him to do inspections, but Si Nian asked him to go to the Ministry of Rites first.

Ruohua waited in the Ministry of Rites for a while, and Si Nian came back.

"Are you injured?" Ruohua saw Si Nian's hands, and thought that he might also be injured, so he went to get the medicinal materials.

"It's all minor injuries." Si Nian approached Ruohua, and reached out to touch the hair tie, "You really look good with this."

When Ruohua heard the word "good-looking", she blushed and turned her head away, and said somewhat stammeringly: "Well...what's good-looking, it's not from a girl's family."

Seeing the boy's awkward look, Si Nian chuckled, put the herbs in his hand on the table, and then leaned on the table to look at Ruohua:

"You look better than the girl's family."

Ruohua's face turned even redder, especially since Si Nian kept staring at him. This unclear sentence made him a little at a loss, so he found a topic as if to avoid:

"What medicine do you want?"

"This time on the way, I met a wandering doctor and asked for Zhang Ke's prescription for dispelling body cold. There are several herbs in the palace."

"Cold?" Ruohua sized up Si Nian, he didn't feel cold even in a cotton coat in winter.

"It's for you, didn't I write you a letter?" Si Nian folded his arms and looked at Ruohua with a smile in his eyes, "The scenery in the northern country is really magnificent, I think you will like it, after you recover, choose a time to take you there."

Ruohua thought of the sentence that Si Nian mentioned in small print in his letter, "A thousand miles of Cangfeng Mountains will not return to people, and a hundred feet of rivers and stars will let you come" and the scene in his dream, coughed lightly, turned his head and lowered his head. After a cry, he didn't speak again.

Why on earth is this person being so nice to me...