Ming Empire

Chapter 2 Gifts
Cao Yue left the Qianqing Palace, said goodbye to Wang Chengen who sent him out, and then walked outside the palace.

Just as he was walking out of the Qianqing Palace area, suddenly a little boy in a yellow robe ran up to him and blocked his way.Cao Yue was wondering when an eunuch not far from him knelt down with a plop, "I've seen the third prince!"

It turned out to be Zhu Cijiong, the third son of Emperor Chongzhen, so Cao Yue had no choice but to go forward and salute.

Zhu Citong is only ten years old this year and has not yet been canonized.

"General Cao, excuse me," Zhu Cijiong put his hands behind his back like a little adult, and signaled Cao Yue to excuse him. After Cao Yue got up, he said in a dignified manner: "General Cao, please come with me. I have something to ask." I will ask you."

"What orders does the third prince have?" Cao Yue looked at Zhu Cijiong suspiciously.

But Zhu Cijiong just pretended to be mysterious, and motioned Cao Yue to follow him.

Cao Yue hesitated for a moment, and had no choice but to keep up with Zhu Cijiong who had already walked towards a palace.When he walked into the side hall with the door half-closed and saw Yun'er, Princess Kunxing's maid Aimee Zhu, Cao Yue realized that it was Aimee Zhu who was looking for him.

"Sister Huang, I have summoned General Cao," Zhu Citong after entering the palace, with a look of excitement on his face, ran in front of Auntie Zhu who was waiting inside, and shouted, "Sister Huang, please let me go!" He told us about the process of breaking Shengjing this time."

Following into the hall, Cao Yue, who was exchanging salutes with Xiaoyun, smiled wryly when he heard Zhu Cijiong's words.

However, Cao Yue was not angry, but instead had a kind of unspeakable joy, a special feeling that could not be expressed in words.

"I've seen Your Highness the Princess," Cao Yue bowed to Aimee Zhu, and then to Zhu Cijiong again, "I don't know if the third prince and the princess have called the minister over, what do you want to tell me?"

Today's Cao Yue is not as embarrassed as he was that day. He is dressed in a decent white tight-fitting jacket and a scarf on his head.

Aunt Zhu, who was worried, also blushed when she saw Cao Yue's handsome and free-spirited appearance, and returned the gift with a guilty conscience, and said eagerly: "I heard that the general entered the palace today, and my brother and I are waiting here. , I want to wait for the general... come and tell us about the last time you led the army to break through Shengjing, and hope the general will not blame us for being abrupt, okay?"

Today's Auntie Zhu is wearing a light pink skirt and her hair is combed into a simple girly makeup. She is very beautiful and charming, which makes people feel bright.When she said this, she blushed pretty, with a shy look, as charming as she could be.Cao Yue's heart was beating fast, seeing Zhu Yuyu so charming and charming in front of him, his mouth was dry and he couldn't express his excitement.

"Princess, you're welcome," Cao Yue stammered a bit, "I'm fine... I'm fine. If the princess and the third prince are interested, I'd like to tell you about the process of this battle!"

When Cao Yue spoke, he stared at her from time to time, and Auntie Zhu couldn't help being a little complacent, and her voice became softer and softer, "Then please invite the general inside, and let's sit and talk together."

At this moment, Zhu Cijiong, who had been watching from the sidelines, interjected with a smile: "Sister Huang, why are you blushing? Are you shy seeing General Cao's handsome appearance? Hee hee, Sister Huang has never Never blushed in front of people!"

This made Cao Yue stunned for a moment, stunned for a while, and Zhu Yu's face flushed instantly, she couldn't help spitting, and stretched out her hand to hit Zhu Cijiong, "Smelly Jionger, it's just you talking nonsense, if you are so mischievous again, I will still be so naughty." care about you!"

Then, pretending to be angry, he turned around and covered his face with his hands.

Seeing his sister like this, Zhu Cijiong became more and more happy. He couldn't help running away and laughing again: "The emperor is shy, the emperor is shy. I must have seen General Cao's handsomeness and wanted him to be a son-in-law." , hee hee, I'll go tell father and queen."

"Chou Jiong'er, you are still talking nonsense, see if I don't tear your mouth apart," Zhu Aimee became furious, and finally couldn't help it, she rushed forward to tear Zhu Cijiong's mouth, and after Zhu Cijiong fled a few steps, she finally caught him.

Zhu Cijiong hurriedly begged for mercy, and admitted his mistake to Aimee Zhu with his mouth guarded, saying that he was talking nonsense, and told Sister Huang not to be angry.

Seeing Zhu Cijiong begging for mercy, Auntie Zhu let him go angrily, but she didn't dare to go back to Cao Yue's side.Her little face was still red, and Zhu Cijiong's nonsense made her lose all confidence, and she didn't know how to face Cao Yue.

Seeing the appearance of the two siblings, Cao Yue was of course dumbfounded. He looked at the maid Yun'er standing beside him with her head bowed in disbelief, and couldn't help asking: "Sister, am I here?" inappropriate?"

"The general should call me Yun'er, I'm younger than the general." Seeing Cao Yue talking to her, Yun'er raised her head, took a deep look, and said in a low voice: "The princess and the third prince are the best, they often like this Frolicking, General, just ignore it."

"Then thank you, sister Yun'er," Cao Yue immediately changed his words. At this time, Zhu Cijiong ran to him with small steps, and he immediately stopped talking.

Zhu Cijiong looked up at him, and said loudly: "General Cao, today we want to hear about how you led the army to break through Shengjing. You are so brave. Sister Huang and I admire you very much. We saw you on the street that day. You escorted Prince Li, who was a slave, to pass by."

"I didn't recognize the third prince and princess that day." Cao Yue wasn't as panic-stricken as before, and spoke casually: "If you want to hear it, I'll tell you about it, but I'm leaving the palace soon, so I won't stay any longer." In the palace, I will be accused again."

"If someone accuses you, it's fine for us to ask you for a question," Zhu Cijiong said indifferently with the appearance of a young adult, and then said to Aimee Zhu who came over: "Sister Huang, do you think so?"

Auntie Zhu nodded lightly, took a quick glance at Cao Yue, then lowered her head immediately, and said softly, "General Cao, let's talk when the time comes. Yun'er is going to prepare hot tea and bring some snacks!"

"Yes, princess," Yun'er agreed and left.

Cao Yue followed Zhu Yuxi and Zhu Cijiong into the inner hall.

Only now did he realize that the Forbidden City today seems to be very different from what he saw in later generations. He visited the Forbidden City several times in later generations, but he just couldn't feel where he was now or the specific direction.

After walking to the inner hall, Aimee Zhu sat down on one side, and Zhu Cijiong leaned beside Aimee Zhu without any image, and Cao Yue sat down at the bottom under Aimee Zhu's gesture.

After the nervousness and panic at the beginning, Auntie Zhu also got rid of the embarrassment of being teased by her younger brother, and she beckoned Cao Yue to sit down shyly, telling Cao Yue not to care about their identities, but to say whatever she wanted to make this lone army raid a success. Just tell them what happened to Beijing. "General Cao, we are just curious and want to hear how you defeated Jiannu."

Zhu Cijiong on the side also nodded his head and echoed: "Yes, yes, what Huang Jie said is right, we are very curious about how you defeated Jian Nu and broke through Shengjing, General!"

"It's all a coincidence," Cao Yue began to tell with a smile, telling the whole process in brief words, of course, some things that can't be said are also skipped.However, after talking like this for a full 10 minutes, Aimee Zhu and Cijiong Zhu talked about it with gusto, and the two also cooperated with Cao Yue to express their emotions from time to time to express their surprise.

After the lecture, Cao Yue also got up to say goodbye: "Third Prince, Princess, I will take my leave!"

"Are you leaving now?" Auntie Zhu couldn't hide her disappointment, and looked at Cao Yue blankly.

Zhu Yu's appearance made Cao Yue's heart beat faster again, but in the end he still bit the bullet and said: "I have been in the palace for so long, I should go back, otherwise people will say that it is not good to cause trouble. The court officials have impeached him many times."

"Okay then!" Aunt Zhu was a little sad, lowered her head and said softly: "I heard from my father that you will go to Datong to take up your post in the near future, so I can only wish you a smooth journey today. I hope that you can come back in the future." Beijing."

"I will definitely come back," Cao Yue smiled at Auntie Zhu, "Maybe I will stay in the capital often in the future."

Auntie Zhu didn't know what to say for a while, and finally looked deeply at Cao Yue, then lowered her head.

Cao Yue couldn't see Zhu Aimee's expression clearly, seeing Zhu Cijiong's curious expression, he also smiled at the little prince and said goodbye again.

Xiaoyun sent Cao Yue out of the hall, led him through an empty corridor, and came directly to a side door, signaling Cao Yue to go out from here.

When Cao Yue thanked him and was about to leave, Xiao Yun took out something from his bosom and handed it to Cao Yue: "General Cao, this is a gift from the princess, you should take good care of it!"

Saying that, he stuffed it into Cao Yue's arms, turned around and ran away.

Cao Yue took it subconsciously, and after staying for a while, he opened it, and it turned out to be a piece of exquisitely crafted jade pei, carved in the shape of a phoenix, and tied with a red thread.The texture of this piece of jade is very good, crystal clear, and slightly warm, I don't know if it's just like this, or because Xiaoyun put it in his arms just now.

How could Auntie Zhu give her a gift suddenly? Cao Yue, who didn't have much emotional experience, couldn't react all of a sudden, and was dazed with the jade pei.He didn't think about deep-seated things right away, but thought about what gift he should give in return.

He kept some of the things he snatched from the Jiannu Palace in Shengjing, and he immediately thought of finding a more suitable thing from there, and when to give it to Aimee Zhu.

Holding the jade pei, and thinking of Aimee Zhu's pretty appearance today, Cao Yue felt something soft in his heart.He went back and forth to look at Yu Pei for a while, hehe smirked a few times, then looked back at the Forbidden City full of palaces, and left the palace.

(End of this chapter)