At the end of the month, the Northern Expedition led by the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty entered the Juyong Pass and marched to the southern foot of the Jundu Mountain. The Yongle year is completely over, and the first year of Wude is approaching.

The army was stationed near a tun fort at the foot of the military capital. Along the foot of the post road, the soldiers opened up a large cemetery; The bodies of the fallen soldiers who were brought back from the battlefield were buried here one after another.

At this festive moment, in addition to feeling the cold of deep winter, there is also an inexplicable atmosphere of fear.

On the side of the post road at the foot of the mountain, the heads of the captured enemy soldiers are placed in piles on the new cemetery, which reminds people of the "Jingguan".

It is said that the ancient cruel monarchs, after conquering a place, killed people like hemp, piled up corpses into a Jingguan to shock the world. This time, the Ming army placed the head of the enemy, in order to sacrifice the Ming soldiers who died in battle; The aura that can be displayed is really scary......

Today, the king of Zhao from Beiping, local officials, and envoys of various vassal kings came to greet him with pigs, sheep, wine and meat. In the Chinese army in the tunpu, the emperor Zhu Gaoxu held a banquet to entertain those people until late at night.

At the banquet, Duan Xue hated to sit beside Zhu Gaoxu. But before it was over, she left the lobby and went back to the courtyard at the back.

There is still snow on the surrounding rooftops, and the sky has cleared. As long as Duan Xue Hate raised his head, he could see the stars in the night. She wondered why the stars that were far away might be big, but she couldn't understand why they didn't fall...... Zhu Gaoxu is very close to her, and she still often feels that his heart is as deep as a mystery.

I don't know how long it took, the drunken Zhu Gaoxu walked into the courtyard with the support of the ministers Qi Tai and Hou Hai.

"Snow hate, beware of the wind and cold." As soon as Zhu Gaoxu came in, he suddenly shook off the two ministers and walked towards Duan Xue Hat.

Duan Xue hated to bend her knees, "The concubine bowed to the saint." ”

Qi Tai and the others looked at Zhu Gaoxu in surprise. Zhu Gaoxu smiled: "I wasn't drunk. But I wasn't drunk just now, and I didn't seem to have a lot of fun. ”

The two ministers hurriedly chimed in.

The three of them came to the room where Zhu Gaoxu lived together, and Duan Xue went to make tea. And Zhu Gaoxu sat down on a chair and asked Hou Hai: "Today, you went to receive Gao Sui and others, how did they react when they saw those heads?" ”

Hou Hai's voice said: "Back to the saint, I am not lightly scared. When the ministers saw the envoys of the vassal kings, their faces turned pale. ”

Zhu Gaoxu said: "It's good to scare them." The article written by Qi Butang is also good, sweeping three thousand miles north of the desert, razing the Tatar king's tent, and returning with a flag. ”

Qi Tai hurriedly bent down and said, "The minister just wrote it according to the truth." ”

Zhu Gaoxu's tone was faintly sighed: "It's a pity that the real merit is not so great, I see that this time, the Tatars did not hurt their muscles and bones at all." ”

Qi Tai said: "The courtiers all believe that the Holy Lord can dominate the world. Nowadays, no matter who is on either side of the court, they do not want to have such a thing as the 'Battle of Martyrdom' and the 'Battle of Crime' anymore. ”

Hou Hai hugged his fists and said: "The saint's martial arts are world-famous, but he forgave the life of the acting king, and only escorted the acting king's family to the Zhongdu Shouling, and the verdict has nothing to do with the kings." Today's kings and envoys are all grateful. In the recital sent by King Zhao, it was claimed that the Hu people did not dare to look south, and that the Zhao Wangfu no longer had to guard Beiping, so he asked to move the domain. In the opinion of the ministers, the kings feared the saint and did not dare to have two hearts. ”

Zhu Gaoxu snorted, leaned back in the chair and closed his eyes.

Seeing this, the two ministers clasped their fists and bowed: "The Holy One rests early, and the ministers retire." ”

By the time Duan Xue had finished making tea, the ministers had already left. She brought the teacup and put it on the table next to Zhu Gaoxu.

Zhu Gaoxu opened his eyes and said, "Mu Sheng, the prince of Qianguo, also has a daughter, although she is still young, she will be able to grow up in a few years. I promised Gao Sui to let Mu Sheng's second daughter be the princess of Zhao for him. What does Snow Hate think? ”

Duan Xue was a little surprised, and said, "For such a big thing, why should the saint ask about the concubine?" ”

Zhu Gaoxu didn't answer.

Duan Xue hated to be quiet for a while, and finally said softly, "The Holy Lord should ask the queen yes." ”

Zhu Gaoxu nodded and said, "You're right. I know that you know in your heart. ”

Duan Xue hated not to talk, but he had done all kinds of bad things with Duan Yang's family back then, and he was not ignorant of the world. Of course she understands what's involved!

The imperial concubine Mu Zhen is pregnant with the dragon seed and may give birth to a prince, and her father Mu Shenggui is the prince of the country and has no more grace in the Wude Dynasty; If the second daughter of the Mu family becomes the princess of Zhao again, the prosperity of the Mu family, I am afraid that there is no one in the court who can compare.

These interests are not the turn of Duan Xue to care about a concubine, but the queen Guo family should be very concerned.

Zhu Gaoxu picked up the hot tea, held it in his hand but didn't drink it for a long time, looked thoughtful, and sat under the light in a daze.

Duan Xue hated never cared about national affairs, but she also roughly understood at this time that what Zhu Gaoxu did was probably a combination of grace and power for the vassal kings? Mu Sheng is the favored minister of the new emperor, and once King Zhao marries the Mu family, he may be able to feel at ease.

At this moment, Zhu Gaoxu suddenly said: "The Luo clan who came back with us seems to be sick. Xue Hate asked someone to grab some medicine for her, so as not to let her suffer so much and not be able to survive in the end. ”

"Huh?" Duan Xue turned her head in surprise, looked at Zhu Gaoxu in a daze, and blurted out, "How did the Holy Lord know?" ”

Zhu Gaoxu smiled and shook his head, and said, "You go and see her, you don't have to serve me tonight." ”

Duan Xue hated and retired, walked out of the door, and returned to the next door to the wing room where she lived.

She opened a wooden door and walked into the place where Roche lived, and sure enough, she immediately smelled a pungent smell of medicine. Duan Xue hated and walked to the bed, Luo Shi opened his eyes and struggled to sit up: "Concubine De, slave maid ......"

Duan Xue hated to reach out and pressed her shoulder, and asked directly, "You don't care?" The Holy Came to see you? ”

Luo Che's pale face showed a puzzled look, and he shook his head and said, "No." But a father-in-law surnamed Cao came and asked the slave maid...... Can you sleep? When Gonggong Cao saw that the slave was sick, he asked about the symptoms and brought in a few packets of medicinal herbs this afternoon. ”

Duan Xue hated to hear this, and suddenly looked at this Luo clan through the light, and saw that she was really very handsome.

Luo said: "Gonggong Cao asked the slave maid, what does the eunuch surnamed Huang look like in the Tatar camp, and Gonggong Cao seems to know the eunuch surnamed Huang?" The slave maid said that the eunuch surnamed Huang was thin and had a pointed face. ”

Duan Xue nodded quietly, and couldn't help but think a little more in her heart at this time.

She has lived in the palace for a long time, and she also knows a lot of grievances in the palace. Cao Fu is Wang Gui's godson, and they should have no grudges with Huang Yan; However, the original eunuchs in the palace, Hou Xian, Wang Jinghong and others, should have old enmity with Huang Yan, so there were a lot of incidents.

Cao Fu asked Huang Yan, could it be to win over Hou Xian and other eunuchs in the palace? Wang Gui and Cao Fu, the eunuchs of the Han Palace, although they were extremely trusted by the emperor, their foundation in the palace was not as good as Hou Xian and others; So Cao Fu wants to show favor to Wang Jinghong and others?

And Zhu Gaoxu's attention to Luo may only be because of the eunuchs.

At this time, Luo's voice whispered: "If the slave can sleep, she must remember the grace of the concubine." ”

Duan Xue hated that she was clever, so she couldn't help asking, "I heard that you are not a woman from a common family, and your husband's family is an official in Datong Mansion?" ”

Luo said: "The slave maid's family is poor, just because her husband was admitted to the promotion and became an official. The husband cares very much about reputation and integrity, and the slave and maid end up like that, and it is better to die when they go back. Therefore, on that day in Kaipingwei, the slave and maid risked their lives to stop the holy car, but they wanted to do some rough work in the palace and live their lives. But I didn't expect Grandpa Cao to ......"

Duan Xue hated and nodded in response. She didn't like to talk in the first place, and the room quickly fell silent.

After a while, Luo's voice said faintly: "The slave maid's health is not good, and she did not serve the concubine well, which is the root of the disease left by childhood. When he was young, his slave and maid families were poor, and it was rare to eat meat a year, but he was greedy. One year on Chinese New Year's Eve, my mother got a piece of lard, and the oil residue left over after boiling it made food for me; I ate too much oil that time and vomited at night. Since then, the slaves and maids have not eaten meat for many years, so they have grown thin and small when they are young. ”

Duan Xue hated to listen silently, suddenly reached out and held Luo's hand, and said quietly: "You are so sick and sick, I will find an opportunity to go to the Holy Heaven and recommend you to go to bed." As long as the saint sees you, it will be very easy to eat and clothe in the future. ”

Luo hurriedly said: "The concubine is very kind, and the slave will never dare to forget it." ”

A few days ago, Duan Xue Hate had already confirmed, and there was no problem with Luo's identity.

At that time, some soldiers with Datong military status in the army returned to the guard, and Jinyi Wei sent someone to accompany him to Datong Mansion to deliver a letter from Hou Hai, the left envoy of the Imperial Division. Hou Hai informed the local officials and strictly ordered the people of Feng Chunhan's family to marry their daughter to Daniel Zhang, a well-known military household.

The eunuch Cao Fu sent Jinyiwei's men to Luo's hometown to secretly check the list of people who had been looted by the Tatars last year. The Jinyi Wei military general also found Mingmu and captured two fellow villagers of the Luo clan. A few days ago, two people met Luo and identified her. The Jinyi guards interrogated the others who had been rescued, and also confirmed Luo's suffering from enslavement on the grassland.

There are generals who are so meticulous in investigating a woman, just because Zhu Gaoxu said that he wanted to take her back to the Chinese army. Everyone didn't dare to go against the emperor's will, so they could only take great pains to ensure that the people around the emperor were fine.

Duan Xue hated that she didn't have a good impression of Luo, but tonight she suddenly felt sympathy, and felt that this woman's life was very pitiful, so she agreed to help her......

Early the next morning, the army pulled out the camp and continued to march in the direction of Beiping City. The number of officers and men in the army was constantly decreasing, and the officers and men of the guards who had been mobilized from all over the country were successively ordered to leave the army and return to their garrisons. In the end, the army that returned to the Beijing division only had about 100,000 cavalry in the Beijing camp.