lady, please calm down

Chapter 397 Lonely deep in the palace, spring is late, and dusk is reflected in the west end of the palace

February 24, mid-mao hour.

Before dawn, Jiarou had already gotten up and sat in front of the bronze mirror to dress up.

Kuo Yun, the Huaibei maid who entered the palace with Zhuan Yun, carefully helped Jiarou comb her long black hair into a bun.

Before putting on the hair crown, Kou Yun helped Jiarou apply light powder and lightly stroked her eyebrows. She has been serving Jiarou for more than a year and is well aware of His Highness's dislike of heavy makeup, so she still applied light makeup as usual.

"Your Highness, it's ready."

After being reminded by Kou Yun, Jiarou slowly opened her majestic red phoenix eyes, but this time she looked at the bronze mirror, seemingly dissatisfied, and then said unexpectedly: "The makeup seems a little too light. Kao Yun, bring me the lipstick."

Kao Yun was startled and couldn't help but purse her lips and chuckle. She found the jade lipstick produced in Huaibei from the makeup package, unscrewed the cap, and leaned over to help Jiarou apply her lips.

However, Jia Rou pulled away slightly, raised her hand to take the lipstick from Kou Yun's hand, and simply said: "I will do it myself."

The lipstick in her hand at the moment is the 'zodiac' series of lipsticks from Yurong Fragrance Cosmetics.

Due to limited supply, this high-end product of lip balm is extremely difficult to obtain, and it has become a symbol of the status of noble ladies and young ladies in Qizhou and Zhou Dynasty.

But this kind of top-quality lip balm that you can't even buy in the market has a complete set of twelve in various colors and numbers in the Jiarou makeup kit.

Naturally, King Chu ordered someone to send this object to him last year, but Jiarou never used it once. What happened today?

Chenshi.

Tokyo, which had woken up early, was filled with unspeakable excitement.

The news of King Chu's great victory on Hebei Road has been sent back for many days.

Since the disaster in Phnom Penh began last year, officials have been worried and sleepless at night.

The people in Tokyo still have fresh memories of the fall of Dingwei City more than ten years ago, and they are even more shocked every day.

Now, all worries disappeared, and the excitement brought by the army's victory slowly came to mind.

Early in the morning, the shops on both sides of the wide Royal Street outside Xuande Gate were carefully swept before dawn, and the doors were hung with red silk.

Many merchants have set up long tables in front of their doors, offering incense and candles, as well as wine and food.

Incense candles are used to commemorate Ding Weizhong's family members who died in vain.

Food and wine are given to the soldiers in bowls and pots of wine to welcome the heavenly army.

The long banquet filled with fireworks stretches along the main street until Wansheng Gate.

Yesterday afternoon, the King of Chu led his army to the capital. In order to cooperate with the court's welcome, they stationed outside Wansheng Gate all night.

Chen Shizhong.

Jiarou and hundreds of officials went out to welcome Wanshengmen.

After a simple ceremony, the army entered the city.

At Chen Chu's strong request, the soldiers entered the city first, and he held them back, while the officials had no choice but to follow behind.

At the same time, a king's flag with the character "Chu" opened the way and passed Wansheng Gate first.

Inside the gate, the people who had been waiting for a long time burst into cheers as soon as they saw Wang Qi.

But then, the people seemed to be grabbed by the throat, and the cheers suddenly stopped.

However, they saw that behind the king's flag were white flags, followed by draft horses with white flowers tied around their necks. On the carriage behind the horses, there were neatly arranged black lacquered wooden boxes.

At the front, an old pawn leading a horse raised his hand and threw out a handful of paper money.

Under the paper money flying all over the sky, the old soldier shouted in a long and sad voice: "The loyal and brave man has returned."

Inside the Wansheng Gate, I don’t know who took the lead first. The people on both sides slowly knelt down to greet the fallen heroes. Then the crowd of kneeling people gradually extended into the city until the end of the long street.

There was no more noise around.

"The loyal and brave son, the soul returns~"

"A loyal and brave son is buried in his hometown"

In the early spring morning and afternoon, the desolate shouts of the old soldier penetrated Tokyo.

This prosperous and elegant imperial capital, but lacking some courage and bravery, also looked solemn at this moment.

After the bones of the soldiers who died in battle, it was still not the army of the King of Chu.

In other words, it was just part of the army, a square formation of less than a hundred people.

One thing they all have in common is that they are missing a certain body part.

Someone had his entire arm broken, and his empty sleeves were swinging back and forth in the warm spring breeze.

Someone was missing a calf and was walking in the queue on crutches.

No matter how injured they were, the soldiers with resolute faces tried their best to keep the queue in order.

Two teams passed by one after another, and the cruelty of the fighting on the battlefield was self-evident.

Even if you win a great victory, there will still be casualties.

After the wounded, there were sets of golden armors held up by wooden frames. The golden armors being paraded through the streets by sergeants also had cloth strips indicating their identities.

On the armor that was at the front but was also the most severely damaged, it was written: Wanyan Zongbi died on the fourteenth day of the first month of the second year of Xuanqing.

This set of armor was pulled out from under the war supervisory platform that was set on fire three miles east of Fucheng. It was originally torn into pieces, so it was not easy to put it back together.

Behind Zongbi's armor is the armor that originally belonged to Wanyan Xiebao: Wanyan Xiebao died on the 29th of the first month of the second year of Xuanqing.

This formation displayed more than a dozen sets of armors of the middle and upper-level Jin people, including many murderers who had come to Tokyo to rape and plunder.

When the team marched along Niuxing Street in Wanshengmen to the intersection of Yujie, Dong Tianbao, the owner of Dongji Satin Village, saw the Zongbi armor. His blood surged and he fainted.

When his children and grandchildren hurriedly rescued him, the team showing off the golden generals' armor had passed. It was the King of Chu and a group of soldiers who passed by his shop.

Dong Tianbao stood up tremblingly, and with dozens of his family members, they knelt beside the imperial street and cried sadly.

He was fifty years old and cried so hard that he fainted several times.

When the neighboring shops saw this, they did not come forward to dissuade or offer help. They just said: Let Old Dong cry. He has been holding this breath in his heart for more than ten years. Now that the King of Chu has avenged his family, he naturally feels sad. self.

Fourteen years ago in Ding Wei, Dong Tianbao's father, eldest brother and two brothers, who were still Zhou people at that time, were all killed by the Jinren's butcher's knife.

Afterwards, Dong Tianbao only knew that the gold general responsible for searching for women's belongings near his home after the city was breached was called Wanyan Zongbi.

I originally thought that with the power of the Jin Kingdom, there would be no hope of revenge in this life.

But he didn't expect that the King of Chu actually took his life on the battlefield and did not let the old golden dog die a good death!

It was not uncommon for Dong Tianbao to have a similar experience. For a time, there was a lot of crying on both sides of the imperial street.

At the northwest corner of the intersection, on the third floor of Fengle Building, Tokyo's top club overlooking the city, Cai Hua lay on the window and had a panoramic view of everything happening on the street.

When Chen Chu passed by below, his charming eyes never paid attention to anyone else, and their eyes followed his figure from beginning to end.

I don't know when a faint smile appeared on the corner of my mouth.

Cai Hua did not need a series of cumbersome procedures to enter the city. After arriving in Beijing with the army yesterday, she entered the city first and stayed at the Prince Chu's Mansion on Suimian Street.

The two people standing behind her were Ru'er, who didn't take her with her when she went to Hebei, and Bai Lu, who had stayed at the palace in Tokyo.

When the two of them saw Cai Hua's appearance at this time, they couldn't help but look at each other and smile. Our Lady Cai is harsh and strict with others when she works outside, but once she meets the prince, her gentleness is so gentle to everyone else. Feel numb.

Chen Chu's figure gradually faded away. When Jia Rou's royal carriage with bright yellow curtains appeared in sight, Cai Hua instantly retracted her smile and said lazily as if talking to herself: "After this battle, the prince's reputation is at its peak. Even if we destroy this princess, there is nothing wrong with replacing her."

This is not completely unreasonable. The most intuitive feeling among the people about Jin Dasheng is that the King of Chu helped all the people to vent their long-standing grievances.

At the same time, the King of Chu's idea of ​​being "a strong city for the country and a barrier for all people" was deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.

But in the eyes of other courtiers and military leaders, being able to defeat the Jin people means that the Huaibei Army has gradually become possible to sweep the world.

Who dares to have other thoughts easily?

On the way back to Beijing from Fucheng, Chen Chu had received two secret letters.

One is the begging letter of the tycoon Cheng Biyong of Jingxi Road. He had been entangled with Feng Shuangyuan, the governor of Jingxi Road, for nearly two years. After hearing that the King of Chu had won a great victory in Hebei, he suddenly realized his mistake.

No more mention of helping Jiarou to "clear the emperor's side".

In the begging book, the "treacherous and sycophantic boy" who originally "controlled the government and slaughtered the scholars" became the mighty King of Chu who "gave talents from heaven and hoped to revive China". And I hope that I can use my sinful body to do my best for the King of Chu and Daqi.

Chen Chu couldn't read it back.

The other secret letter was an autographed letter from Zhe Keqiu, the leader of the Western Army, Linfu Road Jiedu envoy. He mentioned that Linfu Road had obtained Huaibei wheat seeds and had a great harvest last year. Zhe Keqiu wanted to go to Huaibei to express his gratitude in person. .

If this happens, it will be intriguing.

Since the founding of the Qi State, Zhe Keqiu has never been to even Tokyo. When the Qi court awarded a reward, he would at most send his eldest son Zhe Yanwen to thank him on his father's behalf.

It is understandable that a local military leader would not dare to leave his nest lightly.

But when he came to the Central Plains for the first time in more than ten years, his first stop was not to meet Jiarou, but to Huaibei to meet the King of Chu.

It seems that in the Battle of Hebei, the tyrannical combat power displayed by the Huaibei Army, as well as many shocking phenomena such as the "glacial burst", also frightened the leaders of the Western Army.

Zhe Ke's request to marry him was not only an attitude, but also a desire to further his relationship with Huaibei.

That's why Cai Hua said, "If the princess is deposed, the prince can take her place."

But these words shocked Bai Lu behind him. Can such treacherous words be said casually?

Ru'er, on the other hand, has been around Cai Hua for a long time and is used to the shocking words that pop out of the latter's mouth from time to time. But to Ru'er, it sounds like Sanniang's worries are useless.

So she whispered behind Cai Hua, "Sanniang, the big things in the world are the affairs of men like the prince. What you should pay attention to is the heirs of our family. Now, Sister Rao and her children are all running around the yard, the little princess and the little marquis I can also call you mother."

This is to remind Cai Hua that no matter how noble our prince is, you are still a woman with no children, so you have nothing to worry about when you give birth to a child.

Ru'er's worries are absolutely correct. Even though the prince and the third wife are inseparable now, as they get older in the future, the child they conceived together will be the biggest and strongest bond between the couple.

How miserable a woman in her old age would be if she had no heirs in a deep house!

"You think I don't want to?"

Of course, Cai Hua could understand what Ru'er meant. She turned around and scolded her when she was slightly annoyed. Ru'er shrank her neck and didn't dare to say anything anymore. Cai Hua then lay down at the window and looked at the long line of people below. The smile disappeared from her face, and she felt melancholy and aggrieved. I had already worked hard enough and made everyone else tired and sick. What else could I do!

On the same day, after a tedious and grand process, Jiarou gave a banquet, and Chen Chu, Fan Gongzhi, Cai Yuan, Zhang Chunxiao and other important officials had lunch in the palace.

After the meal, before he had time to say a few words to Cai Yuan, Chen Chu was called to the Xuande Hall for a solo.

At the beginning of Shen Shi.

When Chen Chu followed Huang Doudou into the palace, sunlight poured in through the wide open door, and a bright carpet happened to be laid out under his feet.

The tall and tall figure was all bathed in warm light, and the armor around him reflected the bright light, and the whole person seemed to be painted with a layer of gold.

Very dazzling.

But the eyes that looked directly at him were brighter than the sun.

Jia Rou saw Chen Chu's lips move, but in a dazed state, she still looked at Chen Chu steadily.

"Your Highness~"

"Your Highness?"

"Ahem, Your Highness!"

"Well"

After reacting, Jiarou was panicked for a moment and quickly lowered her eyes, but she didn't know whether it was because of nervousness or other reasons, but her heart was beating unsatisfactorily.

Even when she lured Chen Chu into the palace and wanted to subdue him with a female wrestler, she had never been so nervous.

In the spring afternoon, the warm sunshine, like smoke, filled the cold and empty palace.

Xuande Hall seems to be much warmer than usual today

Jia Rou calmed down her mood for a moment, but did not dare to look at Chen Chu again. She pretended to stare at the official document on the imperial case, and finally said: "Thank you for your hard work, King Chu."

"It doesn't matter."

"Has everything in Hebei been arranged properly?"

"It's ready. Ruan Xianfang, the former prefect of Hejian Prefecture in the Kingdom of Jin, has entered Beijing with the army. This person is related to whether the Han officials in Jin Kingdom can return to their hometowns. They need to be properly placed."

"."

The return of Ruan Xianfang to Qi was of great symbolic significance. In fact, Chen Chu could have arranged his duties privately after communicating with Cai Yuan and Fan Gongzhi.

But during the Qi-Jin National War, Jiarou showed great common sense. Instead of holding back, she gave him all the support she could.

So Chen Chu planned to take care of her face, go through the process, and make some symbolic inquiries.

But he didn't want to. After waiting for a few breaths, he didn't hear Jiarou's answer and couldn't help but look up.

However, they saw that Jiarou was staring at a pile of official documents on the imperial case without focus, as if she was distracted.

"Your Highness!"

Chen Chu called out again, Jiarou came back to her senses and said hurriedly: "I am here, what's the matter?"

Chen Chu was speechless and had to repeat what happened to Ruan Xianfang.

This time, Jia Rou listened carefully, pondered for a moment, and then said: "Let the King of Chu discuss this matter with Fan Xiang and Cai Shangshu, and let me know the result."

"Alright."

Seeing that Jia Rou was so obedient, Chen Chu picked some innocuous matters to talk to her about, so that Jia Rou could also get some sense of participation in this national war.

Jia Rou was sometimes fascinated by what he heard, and sometimes she was distracted unknowingly. Those red and phoenix eyes would always stop on Chen Chu's face unconsciously.

Speaking of which, Jia Rou hated Chen Chu a little at first after the two of them accidentally got into trouble.

But after learning that the pearl had a dark knot, she had to rely on Chen Chu to cover up the matter.

Until she secretly gave birth to her daughter, Jia Rou became more and more certain that if she and her daughter wanted to live well, they must rely on Chen Chu.

Even if we don't talk about the many military leaders in Qi State, even the courtiers in the court who are vaguely sympathetic to the Liu family will probably criticize her verbally and writtenly if they know that she has an unmarried daughter.

For the sake of the court's reputation, it is not completely impossible for those courtiers to secretly kill their mother and daughter.

The world is so big that it will be difficult for them, mother and daughter, to have a place.

Fortunately, the King of Chu, who has unlimited joint and several responsibilities, can only cover the sky with one hand in Qi. This point that originally dissatisfied Jiarou the most has now become her protective umbrella.

If the above is based on rational thinking, the reversal of Helian Weilun's incident on the 17th of the first lunar month gave Jiarou an emotional experience of the matter between her and Chen Chu for the first time.

How arrogant Helian Weilun was that day!

She even dared to say, "please go to Huanglong Mansion to marry our emperor as Qin and Jin". At that time, she was angry, but there was nothing she could do.

But the news of the victory that Huang Doudou hurriedly brought into Daqing Hall almost made Jiarou cry on the spot, and then she gained confidence!

Jia Rou still remembers the shocked and stunned expressions of the courtiers in the hall when she said she wanted to cut out the tongue of the golden messenger.

That day, she personally told the news that the King of Chu defeated the Jin army in Hebei.

The only pleasant experience in her life was brought to her by King Chu.

Although the military and state affairs had nothing to do with the love between children, while Jiarou let out a sigh of relief, she subconsciously felt like she was being protected by him.

People who have been fearful and unloved since childhood are most likely to become addicted to the so-called 'security'.

Furthermore, everyone in the world admires Qiang. The envoy of Jin dared to say, "Jin Qi became Qin and Jin." Isn't it because the Jin country is strong?

If Qi Jin really gets married, given that the Liu family of Qi has not yet found an heir to take over the throne, the marriage will almost turn Qi into a dowry.

Rather than being stared at by barbarians, it is far better to submit to the King of Chu. If a baby boy is born in the future, as long as he can be persuaded, he can completely change the situation and support the future child to the throne.

It is better to have a child who is half of the Liu family than to have the country completely fall into the hands of someone else.

In the Xuande Hall in the evening, Jiarou's thoughts were flying, and she was already thinking about what would happen more than ten years later.

".In this peace negotiation, firstly, the father and son of the two countries will be removed; secondly, the two prefectures of Hejian and Shenzhou will not be returned; thirdly, the more than 12,000 prisoners of war imprisoned in Fucheng will need to be redeemed by the Jin Kingdom in gold and silver. Of."

Chen Chu had already talked about the upcoming peace negotiation from the war, but when he raised his eyes, he found that Jia Rou was staring at him in a daze.

Although Jia Rou often acted like a doormat in front of him, she was generally very responsive. What happened today?

She was distracted again and again, even a little stupid. Could it be that she was stupid for three years after being pregnant?

Chen Chu looked out the window and saw that the sky was already dim, so he stood up at the right moment and said, "Your Highness, it's already late, I'll take my leave first."

This sentence brought Jiarou back to her senses instantly. Her originally dazed expression suddenly became serious, and her slightly pouted cheeks seemed to indicate that she was angry.

At this time, Huang Doudou led the palace people inside to light the lamps, but as soon as they entered the palace, they heard Jia Rou scold, "Who allowed you to come in!"

Huang Doudou was startled and saw that Chen Chu was standing there without saying anything, so he quickly led the people out of Xuande Hall.

The light in the hall gradually dimmed, and Chen Chu could no longer see Jiarou's face clearly from more than ten steps away. He couldn't help but wonder: "Your Highness, what's going on?"

After the examination, there was silence for a few moments before Jiarou tried her best to hide her emotions and answered: "Did the King of Chu have nothing else to talk to me about except state affairs?"

After that, Jia Rou stood up and slowly walked out from behind the case. She didn't stop until the two of them could clearly see each other.

But the resentment in his words could no longer be hidden, "Your legitimate children were still under the age of 10, so I made them princesses and marquises. Even your concubine's daughter, I also made them county princess. But you still I have a daughter, but she is not included in the genealogy and cannot be seen by anyone. Now she doesn’t even have a name.”

Jia Rou raised her eyes and glanced at Chen Chu, feeling aggrieved and about to cry, her voice gradually lowered, "Don't you want to take a look at our child? She is so beautiful, and her voice is very loud when she cries, and her legs and feet are very strong. , her eyes are very bright. Zhuan Yun said, her eyes are like yours."

(End of this chapter)