At dusk, more than 300 horsemen and horses slowly stopped at a place a few miles away from the north side of Dongzhi Gate. Zhu Qiming turned over and dismounted, and walked north alone.

He was wearing a new silver armor, helmet, short sword at his waist, a cluster of red tassels fluttering in the wind on the top of his head, and his handsome face was full of heroism against the backdrop of his sassy and heroic posture.

Located in the southeast of Guozijian and northwest of Dongzhimen, it is the only sparsely populated remote area in Beijing, scattered with scattered dwellings under the cover of sparse forests.

Directly in front of Zhu Qiming, a simple but fairly compliant three-room five-frame house sits beside a straight dirt road, surrounded by patches of evergreen or deciduous trees, most of which are higher than the roof.

This is Lu Xi's home.

Turn into a trail and walk a few steps before you see a half-man-high wooden fence in front of you. Pushing open the hidden fence gate, I caught a glimpse of the middle-aged servant woman of the Lu family going out and poking her head out, and returned to the house with laughter and laughter.

A moment later, Lu Xi greeted the door and bowed, and Zhu Qiming hurriedly returned the salute.

When he entered the house with Lu Xi, he saw Mrs. Lu stepping forward, her face was extremely kind, "Your Highness." ”

"Master."

This is the third time Zhu Qiming has come to the Lu family, and it is also the third time he has seen Mrs. Lu. In Zhu Qiming's memory, Mrs. Lu always inadvertently shows her virtuous lady with a gentle tone, elegant smile, and gentle movements, and the residual charm is often covered by her dignified dress and the leisurely self-satisfaction of being happy to teach her husband and children.

The servant lit the candle, brought a small blanket and put it at Zhu Qiming's feet, and then bowed away with a smile on her face.

Zhu Qiming knelt down on the blanket and bowed four times to Lu Xi and his wife. Lu Xi and his wife immediately bowed twice, and then both returned two bows.

After the ceremony, Lu Xi invited Zhu Qiming to sit down and called the servant woman to serve tea.

Zhu Qiming resigned again and again, refused to take a seat, and finally sat opposite Lu Xi and his wife as he wished.

His gaze lingered on the faces of Mr. and Shi Niang for a moment, and then slowly moved to the side of the West Pavilion. It was Lu Xiyu's boudoir, and the door was closed at the moment, and there was no movement inside, and no light was shining through.

"Earlier, I heard that His Highness refused to lead the army to the battle, I was quite pleased, I thought that this matter had been turned over, but later there was news that His Highness asked for war, I don't know why His Highness finally responded to this errand?"

Lu Xi's tone revealed a hint of vicissitudes. A few wrinkles climbed on his forehead early, presumably the errand of the Hanlin Academy is not easier than that of the Ministry of Rites, perhaps, the prince's west seat should not have been able to serve as an official of the imperial court, with the ups and downs of a prince's fate, the ups and downs of the sea can not help themselves, after all, the gains outweigh the losses!

"The will of God is hard to disobey!"

Zhu Qiming's mood was far from being as indifferent as his tone, his eyes were still staring at the wooden door of the West Pavilion, there was a sparse curtain outside the door, the sparse curtain was decorated with wooden beads, and when the breeze passed, there was an occasional crisp sound wafting in, which made him feel excited.

"Is Your Highness for the sake of the notes that impeached me? Your Highness is confused! The traitors use this to blackmail His Highness, and if there is the first time, there will be countless times, isn't Your Highness at the mercy of others! ”

Lu Xi stared at the talented place under his feet, his eyes were full of anger, and his face lost the gentle and elegant gentleman's style in the past.

"Why are you talking to Your Highness like this?" Mrs. Lu blamed her husband, but her tone was very soft.

Zhu Qiming's gaze finally left the West Pavilion and cast himself into the twilight that was quietly descending outside the door. "Master, Mr. has taught you a great lesson."

Over there, Lu Xi's face softened slightly, "I've thought it through, Your Highness's expedition this time won't be good." If you win, I'm afraid it will attract more suspicion; In case of defeat, the sword has no eyes, and the consequences are unimaginable! ”

Zhu Qiming turned his head to look at the West Pavilion again, and wanted to peek through the wooden door to see the appearance of the person in the boudoir at the moment, but unfortunately, he did not have an extra pair of see-through eyes.

"Students understand. However, a prince can let go of many things, and the end may not be as unbearable as Mr. said, but some things can never be let go, and once they are put down, they will be lost for life! To do this, students are willing to take risks. ”

There was a slight sound in the West Pavilion, and as soon as Zhu Qiming's eyes lit up, he wanted to stand up and take a look at Lu Xi and his wife in front of him, so he had to settle on his seat.

Lu Xi and his wife looked at each other blankly, as if they did not understand Zhu Qiming's meaning. After a moment, Lu Xi sighed lightly, "Alas! His Royal Highness is dressed in military uniform, and it seems that he is going to leave for the north immediately, the three armies have moved, and it is too late to say anything now! ”

Mrs. Lu followed Zhu Qiming's gaze and glanced back at Xige, and then turned around, "Xiyu is not young, I'm afraid it will be inconvenient to come out to say goodbye to His Highness, please forgive Your Highness." ”

Looking at Mrs. Lu, seeing that her face was reflected in the candles in the room, and there seemed to be a little helplessness hidden in the faint smile, Zhu Qiming stood up straight. "Master, Sister Xi Song is Xiao Wang's companion, and when Xiao Wang returns in triumph, she will definitely invite Sister Xi Song to return to the other courtyard."

Mrs. Lu got up with Lu Xi, looking dazed. "Now that the Empress Dowager is ignoring everything, I'm afraid that the identity of the companion of the evening rumor will be gone. Didn't the Queen Mother choose another companion for Her Royal Highness? ”

"The emperor himself said that when Xiao Wang returns triumphantly, he will let Sister Xiyu return to the other courtyard as a companion."

Mrs. Lu was still at a loss, "That Zhou's family ······" Before she finished speaking, she immediately paused.

"The emperor only mentioned the sister of the evening ballad, but did not mention others, the Son of Heaven said a word, and no one can disobey the holy will!"

Lu Xi didn't seem to care much about his daughter's companion status at all, and stood there thinking about his thoughts. The puzzled look on Mrs. Lu's face gradually faded, and she still smiled as usual, without revealing any other deep meaning. Only the light laughter of the servant woman floated over from afar, indicating that there were still people in this room who cared very much about the message delivered by Zhu Qiming.

"Mr. Wang, take care, Mrs. Wang!"

"The north is a bitter cold land, and the war is dangerous, I hope Your Highness will cherish yourself!"

Zhu Qiming took one last glance at the closed wooden door of the West Pavilion, turned around and walked out of the gate, walked quickly to the fence, and stopped to look back at the Lu Mansion.

The twilight has sunk, and the moon is shining in the sky. In front of the door of the house, you can vaguely see the figure of Lu Xi and his wife saying goodbye, but on the other side of the West Pavilion, I wonder if the curtains under the moonlight have been opened? Are there a pair of incomparably clear eyes looking deep at the departed person who is about to go on an expedition?

It returns on the day, and the month is this month, but it has shifted in time. There seems to be a vague longing in my heart, a dream of the night moon, and the tenderness of the spring breeze, then there may be a different life!

Pushing open the fence gate, he hurried across the path and stepped into the dirt road, when he saw a close guard leading a white horse to meet him.

"Get on the horse!"

Tang Ji gave an order, and then rode his horse back and forth among more than three hundred guards, but under the bright moonlight, a blurred figure with cold light floated around.

Zhu Qiming stepped on the white horse and wanted to give an order, when he suddenly heard the call of a servant woman on the path.

"His Royal Highness the King of Yue, please stay!"

He turned his horse's head and headed for the path.

The servant woman trotted to Zhu Qiming's mount and raised her right hand high, "Your Highness, the rope of the Buddha beads earlier may have rotted, so ······ Mrs. invited a string of Buddhist beads for His Royal Highness, hoping that the Buddha would bless His Highness to return safely! ”

"I'm sorry for you!"

Zhu Qiming laughed heartily, reached out to take the Buddha beads, hurriedly put them on his wrist, and immediately issued an order.

The sound of hooves suddenly rose, and more than 300 riders and horses quickly formed a wriggling flow of people on the dirt road.

The cavalry took advantage of the moonlight to travel south, but did not dare to let their horses gallop for fear of bumping into passers-by who were traveling at night, so they could only slow down all the way, and only turned east after a long time.

When I came to the front of Dongzhi Gate, I saw that the lights were bright in front of the city tower, and dozens of people stood on both sides of the city gate with lanterns and torches. First, a middle-aged man who seemed to be an imperial chamberlain walked to the middle of the city gate and bowed down to salute, "The celebrant and eunuch Xu Shijie see His Royal Highness King Yue." His Royal Highness took the Dongzhi Gate, shouldn't he go in the direction of Miyun? Please stay with His Royal Highness the King of Yue, Father is about to come here to discuss with His Royal Highness about the eunuchs in charge of the army. ”

Father? A eunuch in the hall even called Wang Zhen his father?

Zhu Qiming reined in his horse and waved his hand to signal everyone to stop. Tang Ji rode close to Zhu Qiming and said softly: "Your Highness, no one in Beijing knows where we will leave Beijing from, presumably at this moment, there are internal officials on duty at the nine gates of the capital, it seems that the master of ceremonies is still not worried about us, so he wants to send someone to keep an eye on us!" ”

"This king is still not worried about the inner eunuch!" Answering in a low voice, Zhu Qiming stared at Xu Shijie coldly, "This king may not necessarily go to Miyun, maybe he will go to Liaodong, is it what you should ask about the military?" The emperor has an order, and there are no eunuchs in this king's army, so you can't resist the decree! ”

"Please don't be angry, Your Highness, Father may bring the latest will."

"Ridiculous! The Son of Heaven is full of words, how can he change his order every day? How dare you be pretentious, so bold! ”

With Zhu Qiming's broken drink, Xu Shijie shuddered, "Your Highness, here······ It is also on order, please don't embarrass Your Highness. ”

Raising his eyes and looking at the city tower, seeing that all the defenders on the city tower were standing there in line, watching the things below, Zhu Qiming waved his hand resolutely and issued an order.

So, more than 300 people instigated war horses and forcibly broke into the city gate, Xu Shijie hurriedly flashed to the side and made way for the passage.

The inner road of the city gate probably has a sound insulation effect, and where the sound of hooves sounds, it is suddenly deafening.

The cavalry soon left Dongzhimen. The moonlight shrouded the land, and the outside of the city was empty, and there was no one around, and everyone urged the horses to speed up and gallop along the official road.

Tang Ji followed closely by Zhu Qiming's side, "Your Highness, if you offend Wang Zhen, I'm afraid you will be in big trouble again when you return to Beijing." ”

Zhu Qiming pondered for a while, and felt that it didn't matter if he offended Wang Zhen and caused him some trouble, but once he made a compromise, he accidentally let a group of unreliable internal officials in the army and leak the military aircraft, it would be too sad!

The defeat of Zhao Gang may be a lesson from the past! Well, the 5,000 elites led by Zhao Gang have been attacked repeatedly, which is very strange, and it is necessary to find an opportunity to investigate this matter carefully in the future to see if there are any hidden secrets in it.

Thinking of this, Zhu Qiming ignored Tang Ji's worries, and ordered everyone: "Non-stop, even if you stay away from the suburbs of Beijing, rush to the designated place to camp!" ”