Eight days later, the team that returned from Beiliang and escorted Fuqu Muqian arrived in Pingcheng, and Helian Ding, who had attacked Tuyuhun and obtained countless cattle, sheep and horses, also returned to Pingcheng.

It's been a long time since Heijo has been so lively, and even Tuoba Tao has opened a curfew, allowing the lights to be lit up at night to celebrate the victory.

With Su Hejun returning to Pingcheng, in addition to the Beiliang royal family who "plotted chaos", there was also the abdication edict of Fuqu Bodhi, who did not withstand the pressure in his heart and finally chose to become a monk.

Queen Meng didn't seem to be able to accept this blow and couldn't afford to get sick, but Beiliang's affairs were heavy, and there was no time for the "Queen Mother" to recuperate, so Empress Dowager Meng could only drag her sick body and Yuan Poqiang around, and try her best to fight for the rights and interests of Beiliang in front of Wei.

Bei Liang is different from Xia and Beiyan, it has always been very rich, and has long controlled the road from the Western Regions to the Central Plains, the relationship between the horse thieves and the government on the entire trade route is complicated, and there are factors that use each other in it, if Bei Liang can not find a suitable way to completely integrate into the system of Wei, even if Bei Liang goes to the country, there will be countless hidden dangers in the future, not to mention anything else, the bandit trouble of turning the people into thieves is enough to give Wei a headache.

Yuan Poqiang did not return for a long time, and faintly hoped that the imperial court would make him the general of Zhenxi, but neither Hanchen nor Xianbei ministers in the court wanted Yuan Poqiang to guard the Western Regions for a long time, he was the royal family of Nanliang, even if he made great contributions, if he was allowed to develop in his homeland for a long time, it was difficult to guarantee that he would not raise tigers.

For a time, the wind in the middle of the dynasty surged, all eyeing the position of the general of Zhenxi, Tuoba Tao has been vigorously developing commerce in recent years, the caravan of Wei has developed in the direction of the southeast and northwest, and has obtained a huge amount of wealth, the Western Regions produce gold, gems, spices, and BMWs, and it has always been a holy place in the minds of merchants.

In contrast, Mulan is a woman's thing, but it has become less concerned. A woman from a poor family, no matter how strong she is, can play a limited role, except for some stubborn old stubborn people who have always opposed women as officials, most of them are waiting for Tuoba Tao to make a decision with a bystander attitude.

Cui Hao and other ministers strongly admired Mulan as an official. The Han people value "filial piety", and Hua Mulan has half Han blood, and its example is enough to "raise filial piety and honesty", and the opportunity for the reform of the military government is on this female general, and the ministers headed by Cui Hao naturally spare no effort.

No matter how lively it was outside, He Mulan, Adan Zhiqi, Hu Lihun and others only lived a leisurely life in Huafu. During this period, Di Ye flew into the city too loudly, and Arman Zhiqi and Hu Lihun went out to watch it once curiously, and they couldn't help but be surprised when they came back.

"I actually brought back such a small princess, and said that it was possible to kiss, Your Majesty...... Really...... Good appetite......" Turro Daman showed an indescribable expression.

"Some people say that the princess named White Horse will marry Di Yefei in the future." Hu Lihun's face was also very strange, "Why didn't I know that Di Yefei was so good?" ”

"Don't talk nonsense, I shouldn't have seen Princess Charming, and the people who don't know her age are spreading falsehoods." Arman Zhiqi hurriedly explained for Di Yefei.

"There are a lot of things like this in the countryside."

"Heijo has been really lively lately......"

Chen Jie looked around the quiet Huwei General's Mansion a little uncomfortably, on weekdays, this General's Mansion was full of people, chickens and dogs jumped, and the people living in Changping Fang were used to it.

But once there is a big victory, and there are more powerful figures in Heicheng, the past is the past, and it will always be quickly forgotten.

For this, Hemulan is very comfortable.

"This is thanks to Di Yefei and a few people, who have made me clean for many days." He Mulan took a bite of the raisins and various preserved fruits that Su Hejun brought back to her from Beiliang, and only felt that this kind of day could not be better, it was simply a half-day of leisure.

"Yesterday, some people secretly sent us a basket of ginseng as thick as a wrist, and it scared us to death......" Tuluo Daman scratched his head, "Is there so much ginseng in that place in Goguryeo?" ”

If you can't live in the future, can you dig ginseng?

"It is estimated that the kid came out of the palace of Goguryeo, doesn't he mean that he arrested all the Goguryeo kings' families?" Shan Zhiqi smiled as if he was still dividing the spoils of war in Montenegro: "It's too exaggerated for you to use a basket, it's just a basket." ”

"Fire Chief, have you seen anything good after so many years of fighting?" Hu Lihun looked up at He Mulan curiously, the latter thought about it and shook his head: "I really don't know, it's usually Na Luo Hun and Chen Jie who deal with the spoils of war, and when Yuan Fang comes, it is Yuan Fang who registers and makes a book, and it should be the most of all kinds of weapons." ”

For Xianbei military households, good weapons are not bought with money, a good weapon is enough to pass on the family, and it can also make the dilapidated family immediately gain great merit in the army with the power of the armor and divine soldiers, so a military household like Na Luohun cares most about all kinds of weapons and armor.

Later, when Tuoba Tao gave He Mulan gold, silver, and grain, he also gave a lot of weapons and armor.

Hu Lihun and others are also from military households, and they can't help but show envy. For people in the prime of life like them, things like Korean ginseng and preserved fruits are far less tempting than divine weapons.

Seeing that they were all a little moved, He Mulan was also in a good mood, and together with great interest, he sent someone to tell Yuan to let go of the arsenal: "I don't have any ginseng and deer antler specialties to send you, why don't you go to the arsenal with me, and you can choose a suitable weapon and a suitable armor to go back, what about Shan Zhuo?" ”

He Mulan shouted, and Ardan Zhuo, who was teasing the fish at the other end of the water pavilion, immediately said "hey" and trotted all the way.

"Ah Danzhuo is not young, it is the most critical time to learn martial arts, and he will use a sword in the future, so he might as well set it now."

The most pitiful thing for a poor military family is that they learn whatever the family heirloom weapon is. For example, Mulan's wooden warehouse, Chen Jie's iron lance, and most people's knives.

is like Di Yefei who uses a double halberd, that's because his family is a high-chariot military household, and his weapons are self-made, and he can usually be a blacksmith to subsidize his family, so he is not a poor family.

"What's so embarrassing?" Hu Lihun's eyes widened, "Huo Chang Mo didn't think that the brothers came to Beijing to eat, drink, and benefit!" ”

"Come on, didn't you bring me some good wine, too? Be polite to me. He Mulan took a look, "The rock and the night lion armor can't be given to you, and I can't use other weapons, so I can put it away, go and pick it!" ”

She glanced at Chen Jie and Na Luohun beside her, "You guys also go and pick." ”

These two people knew about He Mulan's style, and they did not shirk it, and thanked them generously. Shan Zhuo was a child, and when he heard that this powerful aunt was going to give him good weapons and armor, he immediately cheered.

Tuluo Daman only looked at Shan Zhiqi with his eyes, and when he saw him nodding, he also laughed and rubbed his hands: "Great, my bow is about to break!" Is there a good bow in the fire captain's arsenal? ”

"Yes!"

He Mullan stood up and led the group to the arsenal. As soon as he entered the arsenal, Yuan Fang opened the door, only to see that the walls of the sword and famous swords were almost blinding, the open space was full of weapon racks, swords, guns, swords and halberds, as for the longbow hanging on the bow frame, not to mention, He Mulan himself was good at bowing and arrows, and the bow that could be picked down by her was amazingly powerful.

Hu Lihun and the others were as happy as if it was a holiday, and they couldn't get out when they plunged into the pile of weapons, He Mulan took Shan Zhuo's hand, touched his bones and joints, recalled his future size, and looked for the right one for him in a pile of armor.

Just when there was a shouting in the arsenal, Yuan Fang suddenly entered the warehouse, walked to He Mulan's side, and said in a low voice: "The palace summoned you to the palace, it is the will of the Empress Dowager Dou. ”

He Mullan was shocked.

"Empress Dowager Dou?"

"Yes, aren't you?"

At this time, He Mulan's hand was already very good, but people outside didn't know that her hand was already good, if she blocked it with "physical discomfort", she had a life-saving grace for Empress Dowager Dou, and she should be able to prevaricate.

It's just that it's not good after all.

Empress Dowager Dou never ordered military generals or civil servants to enter the harem before, and even if she received her, she would go to the front palace, and she did not shy away from summoning her at this time, naturally because she was sure that He Mulan was a woman, and there was no need to avoid anything at this time.

He Mulan thought about it, and finally shook his head.

"Empress Dowager Dou is not an unreasonable old man, there must be something looking for me, I will go to the palace to see."

She and Shan Zhiqi explained the situation, asked them to stay and tell Yuan Fang, and then went back to the main courtyard alone, and after touching the purple clothes she wore that night in the room, she still opened the cabinet and changed into court clothes, and still dressed as a man and rode into the palace.

When he arrived at the gate of the palace, there were already palace people waiting at the door, and He Mulan almost rushed to the harem with the curious eyes of a group of palace guards, but when he arrived at the harem, the eyes of all kinds of visits did not end at all, and even just started......

When did the young man come to Ci'an Palace, where Empress Dowager Dou lived? Even if the palace changed in the array, most of the resistance were sturdy eunuchs, and now He Mulan, a man who obviously did not look like a eunuch, stepped into the harem, which was enough to make many young palace maids peek behind the pillars.

"Sister, who is that general?"

The little palace maid who secretly stretched out half of her head covered her heart asked the older palace maid beside her.

"Why can he go directly into the harem?"

"That's what you say?"

The older maid didn't raise her eyelids, "That's a woman." ”

"Woman? Sister, you lied to me! ”

The little palace maid's eyes widened.

"I'm obviously wearing court clothes! Can a woman be an official? ”

The old palace maid is called "Auntie", in fact, it is enough to be "Grandma", she herself came from the age of Huaichun, how can she not know the thoughts of the little palace maid, stretched out her index finger to her forehead, shook her head and sighed: "You have no news in the harem, how can you know that your daughter's family can also be an official now." Not to mention the newly sealed female officials in the palace, there is the Yucui envoy of the Shaoqing of Honglu Temple, and the martial one is the general Huwei who has just passed, Hua Mulan......"

"He's Mulan?" The little palace maid covered her mouth and gasped: "That's not the ...... that Princess Helian hugged before"

Many women in the harem used this to criticize Helian Mingzhu, saying that she was shameless, and many palace people also saw it with their own eyes, so they didn't dare to say much about it, but they were also disdainful in their hearts.

But if Mulan is a woman......

Does Helian Mingzhu know, or does he not know?

"Women can be generals, and I'm not surprised that a man can be a queen one day." The old maid pursed her lips.

"You also died of the heart of a personal friend, a calm person like the Queen Mother will not give you a chance. Even if it's to save a little life, I don't have more dreams like this......"

"Oh......"

Let's say that He Mulan entered the Ci'an Hall with a bunch of strange eyes, and the Empress Dowager Dou in the Ci'an Palace had already been waiting for her, and when she saw her come in, she hurriedly handed the little prince in her hand to Wang Muyun beside her, and stepped forward to help He Mulan in a few steps.

"Good boy......" Empress Dowager Dou looked He Mulan up and down, and suddenly wiped away her tears, "It turns out that you are actually a woman!" As soon as I got the news, I wanted to summon you into the palace, but I was afraid of causing trouble for you, so I didn't dare to summon you in until the news was quiet. How much hardship does a woman have to endure when she joins the army......"

She rubbed Hermulan's slightly rough palm a few times, and the love in her eyes was even worse: "It's hard for you to let you carry my old woman all the way down the mountain." ”

Since He Mulan exposed her identity as a woman, there are unbelievers, curious people, disdainful people, and many people who accept it silently without change, but there are not many who feel sorry for her like Empress Dowager Dou as a nephew in the family.

Even if there may be five points of posturing this time, He Mulan's heart is also warm, she is originally a person who is affectionate, and she immediately shook her head when she heard the words.

"Although it is hard in the army, Mulan is willing to defend her family and the country, and it is Mulan's honor to serve the king."

"Good...... It's a good ......" Empress Dowager Dou patted He Mulan's hand, and then saw that her skin □□ out of her neck was black, and her heart was even more sad.

She was a typical palace lady, and the hardest time in her life was when she was assigned to the palace and began to do hard labor, and even then, she was not as rough as Hermulan's skin.

"You come with me to the back, undress and show me......"

Empress Dowager Dou suddenly said something that surprised He Mulan, and her eyes almost fell off.

"Queen Mother...... You're ......"

"I heard that you have a lot of old diseases, and now that you are young, you can still do the same thing, and when you are old, the wounds on your body will change when it rains on a cloudy day." Empress Dowager Dou chattered like she treated her own juniors: "I know what you think, you have been a man for so many years, I'm afraid you think the same as men, thinking that these wounds are all glory, no big deal, just like Your Majesty, but the body is your own, if you don't take care of yourself, who else can take care of you?" ”

She tugged at Mullan's hand firmly and forcefully.

"You come with me to the back, undress and take a look, I have a lot of wound medicine here, some of which are given by Kou Daochang, and some of which are scarred and muscle-growing. You have a square personality, even if you recover your daughter's body, you won't have a close friend to remind you of this, your aunt heard that she has returned to her hometown again? Then no one cares about you......"

He Mulan obviously has a thousand strengths, but being held by this old man's wrist at this time is like being restrained, but she doesn't dare to struggle, because Empress Dowager Dou has not been in good health since the palace change, and can only be pulled to the apse with a ridiculous pace.

Wang Muyun hugged the little prince, his mouth opened in surprise into a circle, He Mulan smiled bitterly and winked at her, and the figure disappeared into the front hall.

The apse of Ci'an Hall is where Empress Dowager Dou rests, and even the concubines with low positions have not entered here. Empress Dowager Dou seems to have been prepared, there are no palace people in the apse, and a furnace of incense is lit in the empty hall, which seems to be Buddha incense, with a peaceful taste.

"The spring is cold, you don't have to take off/naked, leave a small coat, I'll take a look. My wife is so old, don't be embarrassed. ”

Empress Dowager Dou let go of He Mulan's hand and took out a lot of medicine from a chest of drawers.

"When the color was good before, I couldn't stand the slightest scar on my body, and my heart was soft, and I couldn't see the palace people being punished and screaming all night, but I prepared a lot of medicine......"

She laid out the bottles and cans, and asked her with a side face:

"Do you have a maid in your house?"

“…… Not. ”

"How can that be a good life? You can't let the guards wipe the wounds on your back, right? You have been injured for so many years, did you deal with it yourself? ”

"Ahem, except for some urgent self-handling, most of them are really taken care of by the guards......"

He Mulan's face turned a rare red.

"But I rarely get hurt."

"It's also a shame that you've been hiding it for so many years."

Empress Dowager Dou smiled.

He Mulan was a little overwhelmed by such an enthusiastic Empress Dowager Dou, and couldn't help but think of other aspects.

Could it be that there are still people inside and outside the palace who don't believe that she is a woman, so Empress Dowager Dou personally checks it out?

But in addition to the fact that she is a woman, how many promising generals have ruined their future with such a terrifying reason? Is it not necessary at all?

Although He Mulan, who was open-hearted, didn't understand what the Empress Dowager Dou was doing this, she still unbuttoned her shirt out of trust and love for the Empress Dowager Dou.

Tunics, tunics, tunics, trousers......

The clothes fell one by one, revealing He Mulan, who was only wearing a small coat, and the ugly scars all over his body fell into the eyes of the Empress Dowager Dou.

Rao is Empress Dowager Dou is well-informed, and when she saw the scar on He Mulan's body, she couldn't help but cover her mouth and take a step back, and the admiration on her face was even worse.

"Good boy, good boy, just look at your scars, and know how you won your fame, the twelve changes to fame are well deserved, and I owe you a lot of Da Wei!"

He Mulan looked at the scars on his arms and thighs disappretently, he didn't think it was ugly before, but now he has some meat, and it looks a little hideous.

"Fighting is also for my own survival, not to mention that I have gained a lot, not to mention that I owe or owe."

Empress Dowager Dou nodded.

"It is precisely because of your humility that Your Majesty and I trust you so much."

She stretched out her hand and pinched Hermulan's chest and waist curiously, with a strange expression on her face: "...... Why do you ...... So sturdy? ”

He Mulan avoided his body uncomfortably, and didn't dare to complain that in fact, his chest had begun to have a little flesh, all because of his shoulder injury and his recent inability to move more.

She is really afraid that her muscles will be gone, and she will be so middle-aged that she will not be able to see people!

"This ...... Probably because the army has exercised a lot......"

He Mullan stretched out a finger and scratched his face.

"I was born skinny ......"

Empress Dowager Dou stretched out her hand and touched the scars on He Mulan's body one by one, as if she wanted to draw these scars with her heart, and when He Mulan had already shown an awkward expression, she finally put away her hand and shook her head regretfully.

"Some injuries are fine, and those that are injured in the joints must be well cared for. You can take all these medicines back with me and use them until the color of the scars is all lighter......"

"It's too troublesome, Queen Mother, I'm used to it......"

Empress Dowager Dou took out a few particularly delicate bottles from the medicine bottle, put them in the box and handed them to He Mulan.

"This is Yizhi!"

He Mulan had a bitter face, remembering the little girl who had to rub her face a while ago, but she only felt that one head was two big, but she didn't dare to disobey the kindness of the Empress Dowager Dou, so she could only continue.

'What the hell did she tell me to do?' ’

The second monk of He Mulan stared at the Empress Dowager Dou with the expression of "poor child, how did you suffer so much" in the hall, and she was rummaging through the cabinets in the hall to find fabrics and jewelry suitable for her skin color......

He Mulan's whole body stiffened a little.

She...... Isn't it, or don't disarm and return to the field?

When a general can still wear a general's uniform all day long, if she returns to the field after being disarmed, the "loving heart" of the Empress Dowager Dou, who is bored in the palace, will rise for a while, and the next order is to let her wear those colorful women's clothes......

He Mulan couldn't help but shudder.

"Cold? Put your clothes on and don't freeze! Empress Dowager Dou urged He Mulan to get dressed, but she didn't find any suitable materials in the back hall, and after He Mulan got dressed, she pulled He Mulan with one hand, and didn't forget to hold the wooden box containing the medicine jar in the other, and led her back to the front hall.

"Spring-summer, autumn-winter! Go and open my cloth library, and take all kinds of Yunxia brocade on Liu Songgong! And Ziqi, makeup satin! Take one horse of each color! ”

Empress Dowager Dou gave an order, and the two female officials walked out of the Ci'an Hall without changing their faces, and went to the matching hall to get cloth for the Empress Dowager Dou.

He Mulan stood stupidly in the middle of the hall, with a wooden box stuffed in his hand, and after a while, another palace man knelt on the ground with all kinds of precious silk and satin to count Hermulan.

Empress Dowager Dou is old, but Tuoba Tao's way of treating women has always been "bestowed", he has no aesthetics, and a lot of tender old colors are given, Empress Dowager Dou has always been generous, and the female officials around her are wearing bright clothes, but some fabrics are impossible for female officials to wear, and they are all taken out at this time and given to He Mulan.

He Mulan was not only "flattered", he was simply so frightened that he was still confused when he left the Ci'an Palace.

Does Empress Dowager Dou want to play and cultivate?

Oh my God, pray she's just a whim, don't just brush it up every day!

Ahh

Who's going to take this pile of material! She really doesn't need it!

***

Empress Dowager Dou saw He Mulan away, and then Shi Shiran returned to the apse and said to a certain screen in the hall:

"Are you dead?"

After the Empress Dowager Dou said this, a beautiful woman in red came out from behind, with bright eyes and bright teeth, and a beautiful color, it was Helian Mingzhu.

Seeing that there were still tears under her eyes, and her lower lip was already bleeding from the bite, she couldn't help but reach out and touch the top of her head, and sighed: "Silly child, even if Mulan is a man, she is not a good match for you." His heart is too big to fit these children's affections. Even if she is a woman now, I am worried about her future destiny, and the people who fall in love with her, whether they are men or women, are too pitiful. ”

"The Queen Mother's ......"

Helian Mingzhu covered her face in embarrassment.

"I ...... I ......"

"You don't have to say anything, think about it. She doesn't know anything now, it's good for you, for her, for Your Majesty. You're bitter enough, so why make her feel sorry for you? ”

Empress Dowager Dou stretched out a Supa.

"Be good, wipe your face, and walk out with your head held high. Now everyone knows that Mulan is a woman, and those foul words about you are self-defeating, raise your head to show people, and slap their faces! ”

That's the excitement.

Helian Mingzhu answered and took Supa, but in her heart she remembered that when she was in the same room with Mulan, she cleaned up herself in front of her, but the other party did not covet the time when she was greedy for her color.

It was precisely because of the other party's "gentlemanly behavior" that made her moved.

So that's how it was...... Did she keep flattering the blind to show her?

If Mulan knew her thoughts, wouldn't it be even more ridiculous?

Helian Mingzhu bit her lower lip again, only to feel a tingling pain between her lips, which pierced straight into her heart, and all the thoughts of her daughter who were full of heart were wiped out and became a hollow.

"Don't cry......" Empress Dowager Dou sighed again and again, "Seeing you crying, my old wife is also sad." ”

"Queen Mother, I don't want to marry Your Majesty, and I don't want to marry someone else, I'll accompany you, can I be a female official?" Helian Mingzhu Pear Blossom raised her head with rain.

"I will accompany you, just like the lady of the Wang family, I will go out of the palace at the age of twenty-five, and I will not marry......"

"You...... Ay! ”

Empress Dowager Dou stomped her foot.

"I have a day like a dead lamp, why do I need you little girls to accompany me! Besides, Your Majesty really likes you, so he keeps chasing you and doesn't let go, there are so many women in the world, why does he stare at you whether to marry her or not? Why can't you two enemies understand it! ”

Helian Mingzhu's tears fell even more urgently, and he didn't know how to explain his thoughts at all.

"Your brother has returned to Pingcheng, think about it again, think about how to go in the future." Empress Dowager Dou looked at Helian Mingzhu's crying face with a headache, and only felt that these little children had broken her heart.

The harem is difficult, but is it so good elsewhere?

As a princess of the dead country, sometimes she doesn't even have as many choices as her female official Yucui.

Not to mention......

In contrast, it is much better to have a grandson, at least at a young age, and it is not yet time for these things.

"Queen Mother! Dowager! Have you seen the prince's brother? ”

With a delicate expression and a sweet voice, the crescent moon walked briskly into the Ci'an Palace, stretching out her head to find her favorite Granny Dou.

"I can shoot a bird now! He promised me a horse like him when I could shoot the bird myself, but I didn't find him when I went to the East Palace! ”

Empress Dowager Dou looked at the crescent moon with an expectant face, and only felt that her head hurt even more.

"That's it, children and grandchildren have their own children and grandchildren, I don't care about the old woman!" 166 Reading Network