On this day, the weather was fine, and the sky was clear without a single cloud.

Chu Li led seven or eight ministers including Shangshu of the Ministry of Rites to ride out of Beijing on horseback and greet the envoys from Beiliang who came to congratulate him on his birthday at the welcome pavilion ten miles away from Kyoto.

It was supposed to be a good hour, and after waiting for about half a cup of tea, the envoys of Beiliang arrived, but after waiting for a full two quarters of an hour, no one came, and Chu Li had little patience.

Sensing his impatience and afraid that he would turn around and leave, the Ministry of Rites Shangshu hurriedly said, "Wait a little longer, the envoy of Beiliang will be here in a while." ”

As soon as the words fell, a voice came from there, "I heard the sound of horses' hooves, and I ran very quickly!"

The Ministry of Rites Shangshu said, "It must be the envoy of Beiliang who has arrived." ”

While appeasing Chu Li, he asked everyone to prepare, don't be lazy and lazy, and let the Beiliang envoys see the joke.

Everyone was waiting for the battle, and those who didn't know thought that there was going to be a war, and after a while, the sound of horses' hooves was getting closer and closer.

People who practice martial arts are deaf and clear-sighted, and from a distance, Chu Li saw a group of people riding over, obviously not the envoys of Beiliang.

In fact, I want to know that if Beiliang is really in such a hurry, there is no need for them to wait here for half a day, and people will enjoy the beautiful scenery of the Great Zhou all the way, which will stimulate the ambition of annexing the Great Zhou and collecting thousands of miles of rivers and mountains.

When the others approached, the Ministry of Rites Shangshu saw the leader clearly, and his eyes widened, "It's too ...... Prince?"

Isn't it the prince, the python robe that symbolizes the identity of the prince, it can't be more dazzling in the sun.

Seeing someone, the horseback team slowed down, and the prince was expressionless, but the general who followed behind him was greatly surprised, "It's just that the bandits have returned, and the emperor has sent so many ministers to welcome the prince's return?"

There were several ministers of the court, and their official ranks were higher than the generals who spoke, and they were ten miles away from Beijing to greet each other, and they were not afraid that the gold flakes on their faces were too thick!

The Ministry of Rites Shangshu got off the horse and said, "The emperor sent the prince to lead the ministers to greet the envoys of Beiliang here. ”

The prince nodded, and ran away with a clip on the horse's belly.

Behind him, a group of generals and officers and soldiers followed, and the horses' hooves trampled on them, kicking up a puff of dust.

Gu Shi was also in the queue to greet him, and the emperor was afraid that the Ministry of Rites would not persuade Chu Li, so he arranged Gu Shi together, Gu Shi was Minglan's father, and Chu Li had to give his father-in-law a few thin faces.

But when a group of officers and soldiers rode by, one of them stared at him several times.

Gu Shi also noticed, and the minister beside him asked, "Is it a junior from the side branch of Jingningbo Mansion?"

"I don't recognize it. ”

Gu Shi shook his head.

If it was a junior in Jingningbo's Mansion, he would definitely let him join the command of Muyang Hou, how could he run into General Wang's army.

Gu Shi didn't think much about it, and put this matter behind him, he never thought that such a small soldier would almost kill him.

It is only ten miles away from Beijing, and it is a flat road, and the horse will soon return to Beijing, and the prince will take the two generals straight to the imperial study to inform the emperor of the situation in Chongzhou.

At that time, the emperor was reviewing the fold, and the father-in-law came in and said, "Your Majesty, the crown prince is back, and there are two capable generals under General Wang, waiting outside the palace to be summoned." ”

The emperor was stunned for a moment and said, "Let them in." ”

These days, Chongzhou has not sent a fold, and the emperor does not know the situation in Chongzhou.

He folded his hand shut, and the prince came in with his head held high, and he knelt down with the two generals to salute the emperor.

"Flat. ”

The emperor's voice was mellow, and he couldn't hear joy or anger.

The crown prince got up, and the two generals were still kneeling, choking and saying, "Your Majesty, General Wang was poisoned. ”

The emperor glanced at the crown prince without a trace, and then said, "For such a big matter, why didn't you send someone to send a piece of music to tell me?!"

General Wu pleaded guilty and said, "The Queen Mother's birthday is imminent, and the prince is afraid that he will send the music into Beijing, and the people will be panicked, so he will suppress the matter, and after the Queen Mother's birthday banquet, let the body of General Wang be sent back to Beijing." ”

General Wang is a confidant of the Zhao family, and he is also a confidant of the Queen Mother, who lost such a general before the birthday banquet, how could the Queen Mother be in the mood for her birthday?

The emperor nodded and said, "There is nothing wrong with the prince's arrangement, this time the bandits are meritorious, and they will be rewarded!"

The crown prince and the two generals Xie Sheng'en.

The two generals did not return to Beijing for a long time, missing their wives and children at home, so the emperor asked them to go back, leaving the prince to interrogate.

The crown prince even killed General Wang, and he told the emperor how much he knew, "There is really a problem in Chongzhou, those mountain bandits are well-trained, and they have stricter military regulations than the generals and soldiers in the army. ”

It's right not to act rashly, the emperor said, "General Wang is dead, and the two confidant generals have followed you back to Beijing, who is in charge of military affairs now?"

The prince replied, "It's General Zhou Cheng, the deputy general under General Wang. ”

General Zhou?

The emperor thought about it carefully, and then remembered that such a person was coming, with a rough temperament, strong and powerful, and seemed to have two personal relations with the king?

No matter what, if he can break the arm of the Zhao family and the queen mother, the prince will make a great contribution.

If there is a mistake, it will be punished, and the meritorious service should be rewarded, and the prince can abandon the Zhao family, and the emperor is very pleased, so he will naturally not be stingy with rewards.

The crown prince looked at the emperor and said, "Father, mother, she ......." ”

The emperor's brows sank, "You want to intercede for Concubine Shu?"

The prince's heart ached, after all, it was his mother, but the things she did were really not worthy of the mother's honor in the world.

The prince lowered his brows and said, "Erchen doesn't dare." ”

The emperor was very satisfied with the prince's knowledge of current affairs, and waved his hand and said, "Stand down." ”

The prince respectfully withdrew from the imperial study, he originally planned to go back to the East Palace directly, but after thinking about it, he still went to find Empress Zhao...... No, it should be Zhao Shufei.

The queen has moved from Fengluan Palace, where she has lived for more than ten years, to Changle Palace.

This palace was picked by Li Guifei for Empress Zhao, originally called Changchun Palace, Li Guifei felt that this name was not good, and asked the emperor to change its name to Changle Palace.

The emperor approved it.

Changle Palace......

Seeing these words, the eldest princess will think of her daughter's title, the county lord of Changle.

The county lord of Changle died because of Princess Qingrou, and if he didn't see it once, he would be heartbroken, and he hated Queen Zhao and the Zhao family even more.

This trick is not ruthless.

Entering Changle Palace, seeing Concubine Zhao Shu's haggard appearance, the prince was distressed, but he was quickly replaced by that hatred, "Erchen has only been away from Beijing for a few days, why did the queen mother lose her posterior position?"

Empress Zhao's fists tightened and said, "Don't mention this matter again!"

The prince really didn't mention it.

Concubine Zhao looked at him and said, "Why did General Wang die?!"

The news is really well-informed......

The father and the emperor didn't know, but the mother concubine actually knew in the harem, which was really ironic.

The prince shook his head, "Erchen didn't know, the Chongzhou mountain bandits were incorporated into the army, and after the sons returned the original wealth and grain looted by the mountain bandits, General Wang planned to leave Chongzhou, and Erchen put wine for him to practice...... He's dead. ”

Thinking of that scene, the prince trembled all over, as if he was frightened.

"Erchen was afraid that someone would assassinate him, so he arranged the affairs of the army and returned to Beijing, and General Wu and General Liu led their own troops to escort Erchen back to Beijing. ”

What the prince said and what Zhao Shufei knew was nothing new, Zhao Shufei said, "There is nothing wrong with you going to Chongzhou this time, returning the things handed over by the mountain bandits to the people of Chongzhou, collecting the hearts of the people and building prestige, which is a good thing for you to stabilize the position of the prince." ”

The prince listened to the teachings, but he never again took them to heart as before.

He knows very well that his weight in the hearts of the Zhao family is far less than that of Zhao Yi, not to mention the Queen Mother.

He can't rely on anyone, he can only rely on himself.