It was the beginning of July, the hottest day of the year, and the sun was scorching the earth like fire, and the air seemed to have melted and flowed like water in mid-air.

The streets of Zhongdu are exceptionally quiet, not a single pedestrian can be seen, and even stray dogs are hiding in the shade and sticking out their long tongues to gasp.

Dozens of soldiers defending the city stood in the city gate cave sweating profusely, although they were not exposed to the direct sun, but the city gate cave was extremely hot, and every soldier was sweating profusely.

At this moment, there was a sudden sound of horses' hooves in the distance, and the soldiers guarding the gate were in good spirits, and they all looked into the distance, only to see a group of Sui cavalry rushing towards this side, and when they approached, it turned out to be three cavalrymen with six war horses.

I saw that each cavalry was wearing red armor, and even the helmet was red, which was the clothing of the cavalry for eight hundred miles to rush the message, if there were no more than three people, then the cities were not allowed to block it, and the capital was no exception, and the soldiers defending the city hurriedly dodged the road.

In a moment, three messengers rushed to the city gate, and a soldier at the head of the city asked in a loud voice, "What is the good news?" Did Goguryeo win the war? ”

One of the messengers shouted: "That's right, Goguryeo has surrendered, and we have captured Pyongyang!" ”

This news was long-awaited by the defenders, and when it suddenly arrived, all the soldiers at the head of the city cheered almost at the same time, and the soldiers threw their helmets high and hugged each other excitedly, and in the midst of a cheer above and below the city, three cavalrymen rushed into the city at a gallop, only to hear them shouting all the way: "The latest battle report, Pyongyang has been conquered, Goguryeo has surrendered!" ”

"Conquer Pyongyang, Goguryeo surrenders!"

The news spread in the city like wings, the entire capital city was boiling, the scorching sun finally couldn't stop the enthusiasm of the people, and the streets and alleys were crowded with people running out of their homes.

More and more people were infected by the joy of victory, men, women and children beat gongs and drums on the streets, sang and danced, and celebrated the victory of the Goguryeo Campaign.

In the Qi Palace, Princess Lu Qing, who was taking a nap, was awakened by the sound of gongs and drums outside, and she quickly got up and asked, "Lixiang, what happened?" What's going on outside? ”

"Madame, I'll go and inquire."

Lixiang walked out quickly, and after a while, she ran in, and said excitedly: "Madam, great news." ”

"Look at your smile and your face is blooming, what's the good news?"

"It's all being said outside that we won a big victory in Goguryeo, and Goguryeo surrendered!"

"Ahh

Lu Qing was suddenly pleasantly surprised, that meant that her husband was going back to Beijing, four months after parting, Lu Qing missed her husband very much, the Sui army had been defeated in Liaodong, and her heart was full of worries.

At this time, a little maid ran into the courtyard, curtsed in the courtyard and said, "Mrs. Qiqi, there is a messenger outside, saying that there is a letter from the prince." ”

"Quick! Fast! Fast! Give me a tidy hair. ”

Lu Qing was suddenly a little in a hurry, she not only wanted to read the letter, but also wanted to ask about her husband's situation.

Not long after, Lu Qing and several sisters appeared in the outer hall, and the messenger knelt down on one knee and saluted: "See the princess for your humble duties, see the ladies!" ”

"Excuse me, please get up!"

A messenger soldier took out the letter from the arms of Zhang Xuan, the king of Qi, presented it with both hands, and a maid stepped forward to take the letter and handed it to the princess, Lu Qing wanted to ask about the situation first, so he handed the letter to Wu Niang, and she asked with a smile: "When you set off, where was the prince?" ”

"Back to the princess, when I set off from my humble position, the handsome man was in the city of humble luxury, and now I should take a boat to Qi County."

"How is he doing, haven't he been feeling sick in the past few months?" Lu Qing asked with concern again.

"Da Shuai is in good health, but he is a little tired, he has lost a lot of weight, and his skin is tanned."

Lu Qing nodded, and Pei Zhizhi next to him asked, "Does the prince have a message?" ”

"Nope! There are only a few letters to the two ministers, and they will have to send them later. ”

"You've worked hard all the way!"

Lu Qing turned around and instructed the housekeeper's wife, "Give them thirty taels of gold!" ”

The soldiers were overjoyed, kowtowed and thanked them, Lu Qing asked them to send them down, at this time, Wu Niang handed the letter back to Lu Qing and said with a smile: "I can't read some of the content in it, let's return it to the eldest sister!" ”

"God is mysterious, what can't be seen in the family letter."

Lu Qing opened the letter and read it for a while, and the letter smiled and said, "There are really some things that can't be shown to everyone, so be it!" I'll cut that part out and circulate the letter to everyone. ”

Pei Zhizhi said with a smile: "If you can't watch it, forget it, anyway, it will be home in four or five days at most, as long as the person returns safely, we don't care about anything else." ”

The other two agreed, and Lu Qing didn't insist anymore, and said with a smile: "It's weird hot here, let's go back first!" ”

The four of them stood up and returned to their respective courtyards in the back house.

Lu Qing returned to the room, read the letter carefully twice, her face showed a trace of gloom, thought for a moment, she sat down at the table and picked up the pen to write a note to her father, she put the note in the envelope and sealed it, handed it to Li Xiang and said: "You go to the front yard and hand the letter to the housekeeper, and ask him to send someone to my mother's house." ”

Lixiang saluted, took the letter and hurried away.

Lu Qing sat back in her seat, secretly annoyed in her heart, in fact, she also knew about this matter, she had reminded her brother, but she didn't expect the consequences to be so serious, she was going to talk to her father

In the evening, Lu Zhuo's carriage slowly stopped in front of the steps of the gate of the Qi Palace, the housekeeper was already waiting on the steps, and when he saw Lu Zhuo's carriage coming, he hurriedly ran forward and opened the door, and saluted, "The princess has been waiting for Lu Gong for a long time." ”

Lu Zhuo nodded, "Lead the way!" ”

Generally, it should be a nephew who comes to greet important guests, but Zhang Xuan's son is still young and has no brothers, so he can only come out to greet the big housekeeper, although it is a little rude, but no one will really care.

Lu Zuo followed the housekeeper to the inner hall, Lu Qing was already waiting in the hall, although they were father and daughter, but they were also monarchs and ministers, Lu Zuo could not be rude, stepped forward and saluted respectfully, "Weichen see the princess!" ”

Lu Qing waved his hand, "Today is not an informal meeting, just a family affair, father, please sit down!" ”

"Thank you!"

Lu Zhuo relaxed a little, sat down below, and a maid served him tea, Lu Zhuo wanted to ask about the child, but he found that his daughter's face was a little unpleasant, so he swallowed back the words that came to his mouth.

The father and daughter were silent for a while, and after a while, Lu Qing asked in a low voice, "Did my father and Uncle Xifang have any conflicts in the past?" ”

Uncle Xifang's name is Lu Wanfeng, the eldest person in Lu Zuo's generation, he is seventy years old this year, he has two sons, the second son is Lu Chu who served as the prime minister in Luoyang, and the eldest son died of illness at a very young age.

"How can I have a conflict with my uncle? We have always gotten along very well, and if it wasn't for his home remedies, your brother would probably not be able to keep it, and I've always been very grateful to him. ”

Lu Zhuo was a little puzzled, and asked suspiciously, "What do you ask Uncle for?" What happened? ”

Lu Qing took a sip of tea and asked very calmly: "Since there is no contradiction, why did my father get rid of the fame of the eldest uncle and eldest grandson?" ”

Lu Zhuo's face suddenly became gloomy, he understood, it was for Lu Han's business, Lu Han was Lu Wanfeng's eldest grandson, his face became more and more ugly, and he said for a while: "Did your uncle write to you?" ”

"Uncle didn't write a letter, he didn't know that his grandson had fallen off the list, but King Qi wrote to me."

Lu Zuo's eyes widened, this matter actually involved King Qi, what is going on?

He thought about it for a while, and suddenly understood that there must be a political enemy secretly suing him behind his back, who could it be?

Lu Zhuo turned countless thoughts in his heart, thinking of Cui Junsu, although Cui Junsu himself has no contradiction with him, but Cui Junsu was born in the Boling Cui clan, since the Boling Cui clan was suppressed by the Fanyang Lu clan, there is a deep rift between the two families, for the benefit of the family, Cui Junsu is very likely to give himself a knife in the back, not to mention that Cui Junsu also went to Goguryeo last month.

Lu Zhuo identified Cui Junsu and gritted his teeth with hatred, but Lu Qing said lightly: "Don't care how King Qi knows about this matter, but this incident has happened, hasn't my father thought about how to deal with the aftermath?" ”

"Aftermath?"

Lu Zuo shook his head disapprerovingly, "He is my grandson, and he is leading the trouble, I am a righteous annihilation, what do I need to do well?" ”

"It's not this problem, but my father's sabotage of the imperial examination, this is the first imperial examination, the significance is not trivial, my father did not get the consent of the king of Qi, nor did he consult with the ministers of the Xiangguo, so he used his power to remove the second place in the imperial examination directly, the king of Qi was very angry and very disappointed."

Lu Zhuo was speechless for a long time, this matter was indeed before the list was submitted to the political cabinet, and he secretly instructed Zhao Shichang, the waiter of the Ministry of Rites, to remove Lu Han's name, although Su Wei and Pei Ju later knew about this matter, but the wood was already in the boat, and everyone didn't want to offend him, so they acquiesced.

Now that King Qi was furious, Lu Zhuo also realized that the matter was a bit of a big problem, and after a moment of silence, he asked, "His Royal Highness the King of Qi has sent you a letter!" What does he want me to do? ”

Lu Zhuo suddenly realized that his daughter came to talk to him about this matter must be Zhang Xuan's intention, and he wanted to solve the matter privately, so how to solve it privately, he wanted to know Zhang Xuan's attitude.

Lu Qing glanced at his father, and said slowly: "King Qi told me in the letter that Lu Han has learned well, has strong leadership skills, and is steady and down-to-earth, it is not easy to get the second place in the examination, but my father removed him, which is likely to make the Lu family lose a future prime minister." ”

Lu Zhuo was suddenly upset, he interrupted his daughter's words and said: "This incident has happened, I don't want to explain anything, you don't have to blame me anymore, I just want to know how King Qi is going to punish me now?" ”

Lu Qing took a deep look at his father and said to him: "King Qi gave his father two choices, one is to resign from the official due to illness, and the other is to transfer to Jianghuai as an official, and my father chooses by himself." ”

The atmosphere in the room was very depressing, Lu Zhuo lowered his head and didn't say a word, this was a concession given to him by Zhang Xuan for the sake of Weng Zuo's son-in-law, Lu Zhuo also knew this, but Lu Zhuo had a strong heart for fame and fortune, he couldn't let him resign and go home, he was silent for a long time, Lu Zhuo asked in a hoarse voice: "What do I want to do in Jianghuai?" ”

"I don't have an exact answer, but King Qi seems to have mentioned Jiangdu."

Lu Zhuo was stunned, did he let himself serve as the Taishou of Jiangdu? But Jiangdu is still in Chen Ling's hands, how can he take office?

Lu Ju was a little confused for a while, and at this time, he remembered something again, if he was transferred to the south, what would happen to the Lu family's status in the center of the imperial court? And what about their own leaders of the Hebei Shi clan?

But this kind of question, it seems that his daughter can't answer it, Lu Zuo glanced up at her daughter, only to see that she had a tired face, and she had the intention of chasing away customers. (To be continued.) )