Crossing the East Palace

"If you have enough military merit, this matter may be feasible."

When Tang Luojin said this, she didn't have any good intentions.

Tang Luojin knew what he was thinking at that time, and Ning Junchi also knew it.

Just like moths know the consequences of fighting the fire, but they still go towards the fire one after another without hesitation.

Ning Junchi knew that he was gambling, but, thinking that before Tang Luojin left Chang'an, she did not take the daughters of the Zhu family and the daughters of the Jiang family to the East Palace. Even without seeing Tang Luojin's face, Ning Junchi couldn't control his desire to gamble without hesitation.

Tang Luojin went to the Tubo border, and the military supplies on the Tubo border, etc., were handed over by Emperor Tianyuan to him, Anyang Hou Jiang Zishan and Hubu Shangshu.

Needless to say, Marquis Anyang, he is Jiang Hanyi's father, and now he betrothed his concubine daughter to Tang Luojin. Even if Tang Luojin didn't take her to the East Palace immediately, Marquis Anyang would definitely support the prince.

The Hubu Shangshu was personally selected by Emperor Tianyuan to be the most suitable person for this position. He was upright, but he had a shortcoming, that is, he was extremely stingy.

Under such circumstances, it might be possible for Tang Luojin to "woo" him and make this promise.

However, these "wooing" are nothing but trivial matters.In fact, as long as Tang Luojin said a word, Emperor Tianyuan could immediately replace him with someone who made Tang Luojin feel more at ease to take over the matter.

However, Tang Luojin didn't do that, but said those words, and even imagined what he looked like when he was sixteen or seventeen, and drew a picture for him.Even if some truths were too cruel, Ning Junchi couldn't help thinking, maybe?Perhaps, Xiaoqi has accumulated enough military achievements, and when he comes back, is he really willing to give up the marriage and be a couple with him for the rest of his life?

Ning Junchi sat in the study in the mansion, unfolded the painting that Tang Luojin had given him, and put it on the table, dazed.

What exactly does Xiaoqi want?

Military exploits, fame, status as a legitimate son, the throne?

The same thing, Ning Junchi slowly calculated in his heart.

He couldn't give Tang Luojin his military merits directly, but when Tang Luojin asked to see the military books in the Ning family's collection, he gave Tang Luojin all of them.What Tang Luojin couldn't understand, he also taught Tang Luojin one by one.And Tang Luojin's boxing, riding, and archery skills were all taught by him.

Originally, he only needed to teach the fur.But if Tang Luojin wanted it, he would not hide any secrets and give it all he had.

Fame, Ning Junchi thought, he didn't need to make a move, his Xiaoqi had already pushed his reputation to a very high position but not so high that the emperor would be suspicious.All he had to do in Chang'an was to help Tang Luojin and watch over the other princes - and this "small matter", many people had rushed to do it for Tang Luojin.

As for the throne, his Xiaoqi is now the prince.He is also the prince that Emperor Tianyuan valued.Even if there are other princes coveting, for his little Qi, with the respect of Emperor Tianyuan and the Empress Dowager, and the support of the Jiang family, Zhu family and other families, the throne is actually safe.

——Ning Junchi knew in his heart that as long as Tang Luojin came back from the Tubo border with military achievements this time, then, as long as Emperor Tianyuan didn't want to touch him, then that position would be in Tang Luojin's hands; Suspicion arose in him, and the gap between the father and son began to grow beyond control... As long as the Ning family supported him, Emperor Tianyuan would still be unable to move Tang Luojin.

Even, if this time, Tang Luojin really accumulated enough military merits, subdued trustworthy people, and quietly expanded the military power in his hands, maybe the Ning family wouldn't be needed, maybe.

Ning Junchi's heart was slightly astringent, he thought, he probably really thought about the intention of what Tang Luojin did before he left.

It is Ning Junchi's desire to be a couple forever.

And Tang Luojin was the remaining half of Ning Junchi's longing.No one can replace it.

Tang Luojin knew about this, so she gave him the bait, letting him know that as long as he had enough military skills, he might be able to be a "double" and not need others.However, this bait was too illusory, Tang Luojin didn't even make a firm promise.

But so what?

Like a moth going to a fire, how can it be stingy to burn your body.

Only blame, that bait is too deceptive.Even if he knows the various dangers involved, he will still be like a moth, regardless of his own safety.

Ning Junchi still remembered that his elder brother's other half once told him that in love, the person who is deeply in love always has to pay more.For example, the other half of the elder brother degraded himself and became a slave, just to be able to closely follow the elder brother.

Ning Junchi didn't know whether that person's actions were worthwhile, but what he remembered clearly was that since that person did this, his elder brother has been "handled" in the palm of his hand since then. up.

The matter of love is really unpredictable.

Rao is Ning Junchi, knowing that something cannot be done, he still does it.

Ning Junchi sighed deeply, and turned his gaze to the self-portrait of Tang Luojin.

It is a self-portrait, but it is not quite.

Because today's Tang Luojin is still a young boy, and the person in the painting is already a real young man of sixteen or seventeen years old - dressed in black clothes, with a flute, standing gracefully under the peach blossom tree.

Peach blossom petals fell lightly, and by coincidence, they landed on the cinnabar mole on the young man's forehead.

The young man slightly hooked his lips, and smiled in a half-smile, making people even more happy.

Ning Junchi just looked at the painting like this, and felt that it was worthwhile to do anything for it.

"My lord." Ning Junchi's servant Di Nian came in quietly, slapped a thousand, and said, "My lord, the empress has sent another court lady over."

Ning Junchi frowned slightly.

Di Nian lowered his head to the ground, and said: "The aunt sent by the Empress said, if you don't like the young master, you can send it away. There is only one thing, the young master should take a look at it anyway, maybe, maybe... ..." Did you catch your eye?

Whether it's the queen, or Di Nian's personal servants, they all know that Ning Junchi likes men.However, for so many years, no one has seen Ning Junchi get close to any man, and the handsome slaves in the family... It's not that there are no one. I haven't seen their young master be tempted.Whether it's the queen, Mrs. Yuehou, or these servants, they all have some doubts, whether it is the woman that my young master likes.

You know, except for that noble prince, their son, but no one is willing to get close to them.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but quietly raised his head, glanced at the portrait on the desk, his heart suddenly jumped, and his eyes widened.

Ning Junchi looked up at him.

Di Nian's legs trembled, and he knelt down.

"Damn the minion! Damn the minion!" Then he kowtowed "bang bang bang", bleeding from his head, and he didn't stop.

Ning Junchi stretched out his hand to caress the face of the person in the painting, and said, "Why do you deserve to die?"

Di Nian kowtowed for a moment, and boldly went to look at Ning Junchi. When he saw Ning Junchi's cold eyes, his heart felt cold, but he still said in a trembling voice: "The person in the painting, the one of that... The clothes... are worn by the young master on the night of Shangyuan Festival."

As for the person in the painting, if others don't recognize it, how can Di Nian not know who it is?Even when the man gave the painting to the young master, he just watched from the sidelines.

Ning Junchi was taken aback for a moment, then lowered his head to take a closer look, and sure enough, he found that the black clothes worn by the young Langlang in the painting were really familiar to him.And the black robe, worn on the young man, also felt a bit empty.

It is his robe.

Ning Junchi felt his heart tighten suddenly.

It was Xiao Qi, the grown up Xiao Qi, wearing his robe.

Such thoughts kept repeating in Ning Junchi's mind, and Ning Junchi suddenly had a thought.

"Get out!" Ning Junchi's voice was slightly hoarse, "Get out!"

Di Nian had followed Ning Junchi for many years, knowing that Ning Junchi was not as gentle and elegant as he had shown in front of the prince, but this time he was able to come out alive, kowtowed a few more times, and ran out scrambling.

As for the girl sent by the empress... I didn't dare to mention it again, and immediately sent her to the courtyard in the mansion where these girls were kept, and offered food and drink. ——But the son's face, they will never even think about seeing him in this life.

"You know that, don't you?" Ning Junchi said hoarsely, "You know, such a painting will make me want to do something to you, right?"

But even so, you sent this painting.

Still painted this painting by hand.

Does this mean that besides calculating and wooing, he can have more expectations?

It is said that the fragrance is far away and the smell is near. The princes have only heard of this sentence before, but have never experienced the true meaning of this sentence.But now, the crown prince is gone, and he still went to the dangerous border between Tubo and Datang. Apart from state affairs, Emperor Tianyuan just called these princes over and reprimanded them one by one with their homework.In addition to reprimanding, he did not forget to praise the prince.

This kind of differential treatment, even the sixth prince who was closest to Tang Luojin, couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable.

The sixth prince was taught by the Empress Dowager, and his temperament is similar to that of the Empress Dowager. He doesn't like to lie to those close to him.He felt uncomfortable in his heart, so he ran to the Queen Mother and expressed his thoughts.

"Grandson thinks, it's good for the father to like the seventh brother. The seventh brother has a photographic memory. He is the first prince. He is always wise, smart and thoughtful. He is indeed better than grandson in everything. But, but," The sixth prince pursed his lips, pulled the Queen Mother's sleeves and said, "But these grandchildren have known about it for a long time. The father still talks like this every day, and the grandson is still a little impatient to hear it. Some younger brothers have long been impatient. I am afraid that Father's words will turn their impatience into something else."

For example, the eyes of the second prince and the prince who had already understood a little and the ordinary prince but the other nine princes now had a fierce look in their eyes.The sixth prince felt that his father was doing this purely to instigate hatred for the seventh emperor, and it would bring great trouble to the seventh emperor!

The queen mother just smiled: "What's wrong with that?" Seeing the sixth prince looking at her with wide eyes in disbelief, she smiled, "If your seventh prince is far away on the border, he can make military achievements on the border and be able to parry him." Although it's hard work for some princes to frame and plot, but for him, is it really not good at all?"

The sixth prince came to understand a little bit, and pondered: "Grandmother said, did the father do this on purpose? Did the father want the seventh brother to become more and more powerful?" Want to train the seventh brother?

The queen mother smiled and said nothing.

Emperor Tianyuan did this because he wanted to train the crown prince. Of course, he also wanted other princes who coveted the position of crown prince. After not getting any sweetness from the crown prince, he would be able to submit to the crown prince from now on—even if he couldn’t, he would be able to be honest from now on. To be honest, it is also good to be willing to be a wealthy and idle king.

In this way, he can keep his most princes alive.

It's just that although the queen mother understands these words in her heart, it is difficult to say them to the sixth prince. The sixth prince she raised with all her heart is now a complete princeling. Turn around and tell the prince these words again.In this way, wouldn't Emperor Tianyuan's test be in vain?

The poor sixth prince didn't know the reason, thought he had got the real news, returned to his palace, wrote a letter, and sent it to Tang Luojin.

Tang Luojin didn't receive the letter until a month later.

Originally, Emperor Tianyuan wanted Tang Luojin to "join the army" as a child of an ordinary nobleman.However, Tang Luojin's appearance was too prominent, and there was a little cinnabar mole on his forehead, which made it even more difficult for him to hide it.

Although Datang is stable on the surface, there are always people who want to overthrow Datang and rebuild the motherland.They can go to Chang'an, but they can't enter the palace, and they can't kill the emperor's old son. How can they not kill a prince who went to Datang and the border of Tubo?

Therefore, since Tang Luojin left Chang'an, he went to Yungui. Although he had just left on the second day of his journey, he took more than [-] people and left first.But along the way, there were still constant interceptions.

Even with a veiled hat on his head, people can still recognize him.

Tang Luojin knew in his heart that among these people, except for some thieves who really opposed Datang, the rest were just people who wanted to fish in troubled waters and take the opportunity to kill him. I have never had any hobbies of extravagance and licentiousness, I have never liked child molestation, I have never been lustful and greedy for money, I have never had no talent, no virtue, no conduct, and I have never had unreliable mothers...Those who can be used to join him and join him as the crown prince There is no reason, he has none.Those who want his throne can only start from the root and simply kill him.

Without his life, how could the crown prince still belong to him?

Although this method is simple and crude, if it succeeds, it will be done once and for all.Therefore, there are indeed many people who want to use this method to get rid of the prince.Even if Emperor Tianyuan trapped those princes in the Zichen Palace every day, entering the palace early and leaving only after dark, it still wouldn't hinder the schemes of those who are interested in the prince.

Fortunately, Tang Luojin had anticipated this situation a long time ago. Although unfortunately he had experienced several assassinations, he was surrounded by loyal people with high force values. A month later, he arrived in Yunnan Guizhou intact.

Originally, when the prince came in person, many soldiers were excited and their morale was high. They wanted to see the prince's appearance and fight for the royal family and Datang.Unexpectedly, Tubo also knew that the prince was coming, and they clamored for war two days before the prince came here.

When Tang Luojin arrived, he had only one deputy to welcome him.

"Your Highness, please forgive me for being late!" The bearded lieutenant suddenly knelt down on one knee, his voice still hoarse with thirst.

Tang Luojin was on the horse, seeing that there was still blood on the lieutenant general's armor, he immediately got off the horse and helped the lieutenant up himself.

"Get up quickly." Tang Luojin said, "Going alone, I only brought 26 people with me. The rest of the troops and the food and grass donated by the East Palace will arrive in three days. The deputy general must not be anxious."

The deputy general heard that Tang Luojin also brought food and grass, and it was not the part given by the imperial court, but a gift from the East Palace. He immediately became happy in his heart, and said happily: "What your highness has done for my officers and men, I, Datang The soldiers know everything. If it weren’t for the barbarians calling for war today, there must be many soldiers coming to kowtow to His Highness at this time!”

Tang Luojin nodded slightly, and said, "Take Gu to the general's tent."

Even Emperor Tianyuan didn't expect that Tang Luojin would encounter a fierce battle when Tubo entered the palace and Datang just after arriving at the border.

The war went on and on for two years.

Originally, Tubo did not have so many soldiers and horses, but some soldiers who raised horses in Datang recognized that some horses were not produced by Tubo, but came from Turkic territory. When Prince Tang came, he gave a heavy blow.

The fourth and fifth princes of Tubo were called Prince Zhan Datang several times before the war.

Tang Luojin didn't shirk even once, and she won every time, but she was quite a gentleman, and every time she clicked to the end.

This time, when the fourth and fifth princes of Tubo asked to fight Prince Datang at the same time, Tang Luojin actually agreed.

General Liu immediately stopped him and said: "This is absolutely impossible! Among the barbarians, there are too many princes, and it is not a pity to die. But, Your Highness is my Prince Datang, and his status is extremely honorable. Comparable? Before, they only had one person, and it was okay for His Highness to go his own way. But this time... this time will definitely not work!"

Tang Luojin had been on the battlefield for two years, and her whole body became much stiffer. Hearing the words, she said directly: "Why not? Although I admire the style of a gentleman, I only want to go as far as I can. However, Tubo deceived people too much. With two enemies and one, with such a villain, how could Gu not go up and teach him a lesson? Besides, Tubo Zanpu really doesn’t care about the death of one son, so what if the two die together?”

What's more, the third Tubo prince had his leg injured in Datang.

General Liu recalled, his eyes were superb: "Your Highness means..."

"This battle has been going on for two years, so it shouldn't be delayed any longer." Tang Luojin poker-faced, pointing at the map, said, "I'm alone in the front to fight against him, General Liu is in charge, and Vice General Qin leads people to burn his food and grass !"

General Liu's eyes were bright.

Since the crown prince came, the war between Datang and Tubo has become quite "gentlemanly".No matter when the war started, it was done honestly and aboveboard, and he never made any tricks or cheating behind the scenes.

Although General Liu was discouraged at the beginning, after a long time, he also felt that this kind of "fair and honest" style of play was "normal". For two consecutive years, Tubo had been vigilant several times, and had never seen Datang's "surprise attack". I'm afraid I didn't think about it too much, although the food and grass were guarded, but since Tubo dared to send two princes to call for a fight this time, it was obvious that they really wanted to kill the prince during the call for a fight, and then fight Datang to the end. Come on, there will not be too many people guarding the grain and grass.

"Gu will hold them back." Tang Luojin spoke slowly, with firm eyes, "It's just that the soldiers are very fast. General Liu and Vice General Qin will hold them back slowly, but you must be fast!"

The next day, the Tubo prince continued to call Prince Zhan Datang.

Tang Luojin really took up the challenge.

Only this time, Tang Luojin was still dealing with the two of them slowly at the beginning, as if she was beyond her powers.However, when the fireworks were lit up in the Tubo camp, Tang Luojin no longer obeyed the "gentleman's way", and took advantage of the flustered expressions of the two, immediately attacked and beheaded the two of them.

"The crown prince is mighty! Datang will win!"

Tang Luojin held the heads of the fourth and fifth Tubo princes, turned around and galloped away.

When the Tubo soldiers realized that they wanted to kill Tang Luojin with bows and arrows, the densely packed soldiers standing on the city wall in Datang had already shot down those people's bows and arrows with bows and arrows.

And Tang Luojin was wearing an armor outside, and a soft gold silk armor inside, only his left arm was scratched, and he came back intact.

Tubo immediately divided its troops, some went to inspect the food and grass, and some wanted to besiege the small town where the soldiers of Datang were located.

Tang Luojin had just beheaded the heads of the two princes of Tubo, and now the two heads were hanging on the city wall. The soldiers of Datang suddenly became imposing, and first killed the opponent's morale with bows and arrows. During the time of the Tubo soldiers, the city gate was wide open, and the Datang soldiers surrounded it one by one.

After this battle, Datang killed more than [-] people from Tubo and drove Tubo to a distance of [-] li.

Emperor Tianyuan was overjoyed when he heard such good news, and said "good" several times.

In Chang'an City, the expressions of all the princes changed.

This battle took two years. In this war, Tang Luojin always adhered to the "way of a gentleman" and refused to attack or cheat.This kind of style made many courtiers and princes laugh at him.However, when Tang Luojin turned around and used his reputation as a "gentleman's way" to defeat Tubo, these people couldn't laugh anymore.

Tang Luojin followed up with a letter, saying that he wanted to build a new city on the border—only with a new city can those sites be firmly established—East Palace paid 8000 taels of silver for this.

The corner of Emperor Tianyuan's mouth twitched, he could only grit his teeth and give out ten thousand taels of silver.Both the emperor and the crown prince of Datang made a big head, and the rest of them naturally did not dare to neglect. For a while, a lot of money was raised for the construction of a new city on the border.

However, who should send these silver taels and the materials needed to build the city?

Ning Junchi stood on top of the hall, his hands trembling slightly.

The author has something to say: Tangtang didn’t like uncle right away~~ When he sent the painting, he didn’t promise anything, he just wanted to drag Ning Junchi for three years with an “upright calculation”~~ Ning Junchi He could guess what Tangtang meant, but as to whether to do it or not, it was Ning Junchi's own business.

Full of warmth and desire for lust, at this moment, Tangtang still can't guarantee that she can live to the end. In fact, she doesn't have much pursuit of feelings... But, people will always change~~