At the east gate of Yunjing, more than a dozen horsemen galloped in, but some sharp-eyed people on the side of the road still recognized their identities, because he noticed that the word "Jinghai" was written on the flag in the hands of the flag-holding soldiers.

However, when this group of soldiers from the east turned into the alley from the royal street, a woman appeared at the entrance of the alley unexpectedly, and for a while, the horse's frightened front hooves were raised, and there was a neigh, and the middle-aged general led by the leader hurriedly tightened the reins in his hand, which avoided a disaster.

But the sudden fright caused the woman to fall to the ground, and the middle-aged general hurriedly jumped off the horse to help.

"Girl, are you alright?"

"Why is the military master so flustered, if there is any more deviation, this girl will probably die under the military master's hooves today." The woman stood up complainingly, looking the middle-aged general up and down, her handsome appearance with neat stubble and weather-carved side face looked mature and steady.

"It's all because I was careless that I startled the girl." The middle-aged general said apologetically.

"Okay, pay attention next time, I'm not hurt, you can leave quickly." She kept dusting her clothes with a handkerchief. The gorgeous clothes do not look like ordinary cloth women.

"Okay, since the girl said so, I will retire first, if the girl finds another injury on her body later, she can come to me in the mansion of Yanbo Hou in Jingxi...... Dare to ask the girl's name. ”

"Flowers month by month." The woman thought for a moment.

"Month by month girl, okay, I remember." The middle-aged general made a gesture and got on his horse again, and looked at her again as if he didn't look at her before turning around.

"Yan Bohou Mansion?" Hua Zhuyue pondered in her heart, coupled with the person's age, she hurriedly turned her head and shouted: "General is not Jinghai Yan Bohou!?" ”

Luo Wenzhao didn't answer her, he smiled slightly, "There will be a period after the month-by-month girl, drive!" ”

The group set off again, the sound of the horse's hooves was much softer than before, and Hua Zhuyue looked at the back of the group in the distance, and a trace of lonely grievances surged in his heart, and the flower family ...... It used to be so proud.

Soon, the horses of Luo Wenzhao and his party stopped in front of the Chongyang Gate of Nangong, and the soldiers of the Imperial Forest Army guarding the city gate were overjoyed when they saw Luo Wenzhao: "Master Hou! ”

Luo Wenzhao, who was on the horse, jumped sideways and jumped off the horse, he happily patted the shoulders of those soldiers, "Don't say anything, after the rotation tomorrow...... Come to my house for a drink. ”

"Haha, Master Hou really hasn't changed at all, and he is still as good as he was to us at the beginning." The soldiers cheered.

The soldiers guarding Chongyangmen are almost the same brothers he worked with when he was on duty here ten years ago.

It's just that time flies, the years change, and the joy of the year has long been polished by life and experience, replaced by stability and profundity engraved in the bones. I'm afraid that only the moment of reunion of old friends like today will vaguely reveal the laughter that has been there in the years.

Then, Luo Wenzhao and his entourage tied their horses outside and walked in the direction of the cabinet and the military department inside.

Now, it has been ten years since Luo Wenzhao went to the east to take charge of the Jing Navy. Ten years of governing the army, the rivers and seas are surging, and today's Jing Navy has already become a more loyal and combat-effective existence than the Dongyuan Army back then, and the relationship with Mingjiang is also very harmonious, in the past ten years, there has never been a border provocation in the east, and the tribute of Mingjiang has been delivered on time, which has a lot to do with Luo Wenzhao's strict management of the army.

He came to Beijing this time to report on his work, and secondly, to take advantage of the New Year to meet his sister and His Majesty.

Outside the Yongning Palace, Cao Fu lifted the warm curtain of the hall with hurried small steps, he gasped, bowed and said, "Your Majesty, Yan Bohou is back." ”

"Wen Zhao!" Concubine Hui on the side couldn't help but be overjoyed.

"Where are the people?" Emperor Ning was also very happy. "Announce quickly."

Cao Fu said with a smile on his face: "Eh, Yan Bohou is handling affairs at the Nangong Military Department, and the slave is going to call." ”

"Don't worry, you just wait there, let him get it slowly, and come to see me when it's ready, he hasn't been to Yunjing for several years, this ...... There must be a lot of affairs to deal with. Emperor Ning intimately instructed.

"Yes." Cao Fu hurriedly retreated.

At this time, Emperor Ning patted Concubine Hui's hand and said, "...... When was the last time Wen Zhao came to Beijing? ”

"Three years ago, I came in a hurry and left the next day." Concubine Hui blurted out, quite helplessly complaining

"Oh, don't be in such a hurry to leave this time, stay, and enter the palace together on Chinese New Year's Eve the day after tomorrow." Let's keep the New Year together. ”

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Concubine Hui said happily, but then she seemed to remember something, and a trace of thought flashed in her eyes, and she slowly spoke: "Your Majesty...... Let the prince come too. ”

"Don't let him come, hmph, I did such a big wrong thing, how could I forgive him so easily." Emperor Ning gambled.

"Your Majesty......" Concubine Hui said earnestly, "This matter can't be blamed entirely on the crown prince, after all, he is also on the battlefield for the first time, and the Yuan army is the army of tigers and wolves, even the prince of Beiyang, who has been trained in the north since childhood, will inevitably lose Qinzhou." ”

"Speaking of Lu Ziyu, I also have doubts in my heart, Zhice has liked to play with him since he was a child, I think this kid can't do anything to escape, I will send someone to summon him back to Beijing tomorrow morning, and everything will be known at that time." Ning Di pondered.

"Yes, the concubines don't believe it either, but Your Majesty, you have forgiven the prince, and you should let the prince come that year." Concubine Hui said with a slight smile, "Even if you let him go back to Taimiao at that time, this year, the family must be together, but don't chill the child's heart." ”

Emperor Ning pursed his lips and glanced at Concubine Hui, and said helplessly: "Do what you say...... I don't care. ”

"The concubine obeys." Concubine Hui said happily.

At first warm, the eve of the year is approaching, and the depression that shrouded the hearts of Daning's subjects after the defeat has gradually been wiped away little by little by the peach charms and New Year's paintings in the streets and alleys.

In the early morning of the next day, the officials who got down from the morning court looked in a good mood, the war in the north and the peace affair were finally over, and they had finally waited for their own New Year's Festival after a hard year, and it was time to take a good rest.

"Lord Liu, the prince was defeated and imprisoned, and the princess who was harmed was not allowed to come out of the Yuansu, everyone was talking very much behind their backs, and it didn't matter if they didn't see the prince when they were married, but today is the last time he went to court a year ago, and the prince still hasn't come." As soon as a vermilion-robed official walked out of the door of Nangong, he couldn't help but discuss.

"What's so strange about this, didn't Your Majesty say that the Taimiao Temple on the outskirts of Beijing will be punished for kneeling for three months." The purple-robed official said disapprerovingly.

"Since King Chang replaced the crown prince in power, he has handled all affairs very well, do you think it will be...... His Majesty has already moved to abolish the prince, and wants to take this opportunity to test King Chang's ability. ”

"Lord Zhang is cautious." The purple-robed official turned his face sideways and said with a serious expression, "Your Majesty's thoughts are not something that you and I can guess as courtiers. The day after tomorrow is Chinese New Year's Eve, so Master Zhang should go home early to see how the New Year's goods are prepared. ”

In front of King Chang's mansion, a carriage stopped, and Mu Zhixun, who was dressed in pro-dynasty clothes, took a breath of cold air and walked down from it rubbing his hands.

"Today's weather...... It seems to be cold again. ”

"Isn't it, Your Highness, I thought there would be no snow a year ago, but looking at it like this, there will be a heavy snow tonight."

As soon as King Chang entered, he smiled and chatted with the housekeepers and servants who were cleaning the courtyard, but the temperature outside was too cold, and he didn't say a few words before he went into the warm pavilion inside the house.

"Your Highness is back." A soft and concerned female voice came from the back room, and the flowers with moth eyebrows slowly walked out one by one, and the golden hairpins and jade hairpins and delicate makeup between the buns looked quite like princesses.

"Well, have you had breakfast?" Mu Zhixun asked casually.

"Not yet? Isn't this just waiting for His Highness to come back and eat together? Hua Zhuyue smiled.

"I'm going to stop eating first, I still have something to go out, you can eat first." Mu Zhixun took off his court clothes as he spoke, and asked the maid to change him into the usual clothes he wore on weekdays.

"I'll do it." Hua Zhuyue took the belt from the maid's hand.

Mu Zhixun, who stretched out his arms, looked at the way Hua Zhuyue carefully changed his clothes in the mirror, and the corners of his mouth couldn't help but leak a satisfied smile, he thought that if he didn't expose Zheng Guan for her, how would she make a fuss, but he didn't want to be much more honest since he came back from his envoy to Yuansu, and never mentioned those letters to himself again, "Hey, woman...... It's a woman after all. Mu Zhixun sighed secretly in his heart.

"Alright." The flowers are full of eyes and admire the figure in the mirror of Mu Zhixun with admiration.

Mu Zhixun, who didn't want to be proud, turned around and hugged her, put his chin wantonly on her neck, and whispered, "Wait for me to come back." ”

“…… "The flowers are delicate month by month.

Mu Zhixun was satisfied with the neckline and walked away.

It's just that...... He really shouldn't forget. The best thing for the people in the Jade Slave Jiaoli is to act on the spot.

Sunset West Mountain, at this moment located in the southwest corner of Yunjing City, the prison seems to be more lifeless, the people who are locked up here are the death row prisoners of Gyeonggi, every autumn after a large number of people, originally under the jurisdiction of the Criminal Department, but since the Taizong Dynasty, for the convenience of the imperial power, it was handed over to the Litigation and Prison Department of the Front Division of the Palace.

The dim light penetrated through the gaps in the heavy iron door, and the expressionless Mu Zhixun walked in with his feet raised, the wet cold and pungent smell made him raise his cuffs to cover his mouth and nose. He was followed by a man in a cloak who could not see clearly.

"Your Highness, go this way." The jailer guard bowed in front of him.

The cells came into Mu Zhixun's eyes, and the prisoners inside were all scarred and black-faced. This is the first time Mu Zhixun has come here, and those prisoners who are traitors are not as crying as they imagined, and the quiet and terrible prison only occasionally hears the sound of dry grass when the prisoners move their bodies.

"They didn't say anything." Mu Zhixun asked.

"When I first came in, they shouted louder than the other, this person, as long as he was tortured and confessed, he would be like this, I guess he knew that he would become smart after he was gone, so it was better to save some effort." The warden replied.

"Where is Zheng Guan?"

"The palace marshal is inside, living in the best cell, cleaning three times a day, and the meals are all sent directly from the palace marshal's mansion, the little ones dare not have a trace of slackness, maybe one day Your Majesty will be happy, and the little ones will still count on the palace marshal to mention it." Speaking of which, the little ones have been on duty here for decades, and they have seen a lot of high-ranking officials who have come in, but they are different from those ordinary prisoners outside, and they will be released again nine times out of ten. There was a big official before, almost all of them were killed, but the next day they received the order to restore their original positions, but they were pitiful of those few small officials who were tortured, and then they were all assigned to the frontier, and now I don't know whether they are dead or alive, so the little ones have not dared to offend the officials who came in since then, let alone our own boss, hehe. ”

"Why do you talk so much?" Mu Zhixun said coldly.

"Little damn it...... Damn the little ones. The guard hurriedly covered his mouth.

Soon, the two came to a dry and spacious cell, and after the heavy cell door was opened, Mu Zhixun waved his hand at the guard and the man behind him and walked in.

"The little one understands...... Small retirements. The guard stooped and walked out.

Mu Zhixun looked up and down at Zheng Guan, who was sitting on the bed board and didn't know whether he was sleeping or drowsy, except for his hair being a little messy and his prison clothes were a little thin, his complexion still looked good.

"The marshal...... Great work. Mu Zhixun wiped the dust off the bed board and sat next to him.

When Zheng Guan heard the voice, he had just opened his eyes, and he made a gesture to salute, "The minister has seen His Highness." ”

"Get up."

"Your Highness."

"Your Majesty has already sent someone to summon Lu Ziyu back to Beijing." Lu Ziyu looked around the cell casually and whispered.

"This ......" Zheng Guan's words were a little flustered.

"Why didn't Lu Ziyu die? Or is there something wrong with the person you sent? Mu Zhixun frowned.

"That night, he was about to intercept and kill, but his lieutenant suddenly led someone to kill him and rescued him."

"What about the lieutenant?" Mu Zhixun said vigilantly.

"Dead."

"Who else knows about this?"

"The former secretary of the palace, Marquis Yu Xiaoping, but he was killed in the attack on the camp."

Mu Zhixun nodded thoughtfully.

"Are you sure about the Imperial Forest Army in the palace?"

"Yes, the imperial forests in the city are all old subordinates of the ministers, as for the imperial forests on the outskirts of Beijing...... I've all taken them to the battlefield in the north before. ”

"Okay." Mu Zhixun stood up satisfied, he played with the fine dust in the light and said: "On the prince's side, the person I arranged has already gone, and there are many dreams at night, success or failure...... Just tonight. ”

"Your Highness......" Zheng Guan immediately stood up, the chains in his hands made a rattling sound, and his round eyes looked a little excited.

"This is not a place for discussion, the replacement of you has been brought, you can go back to the house with me first." As he spoke, Mu Zhixun took out a key from his sleeve and opened the chain for Zheng Guan.

"Yes."

In the palace, while the light after sunset had become dim, in King Chang's study, Hua Zhuyue was rummaging through the letters that originally belonged to her one by one between the bookshelves and the dark compartment, and the housekeeper told him that His Royal Highness usually put important things in the study. And the reason why she dared to look for it like this was because the butler, who had already fallen under her pomegranate skirt, was now outside the door to cheer for her.

"Hello Heye." The servant who passed by outside the study greeted the butler.

"Okay, okay, let's get to work." After the butler perfunctorily took the servant away, he looked around his head a few times again boredly, thinking that King Chang did not return to the house until late at night every day, his heart couldn't help but relax his vigilance, and he actually squinted against the pillar for a while.

"What are you doing here?"

I don't know when, Mu Zhixun's figure has already dangled in front of the housekeeper, followed by an unknown black-robed man.

"Small...... The little one is waiting for His Highness to come back, because he wants to ask His Highness about the reply to the gift list of each family on New Year's Eve this year. The panicked butler couldn't help but shudder, and hurriedly found an excuse, "Or...... Your Highness will go with me to the front hall to look at the list of gifts from each province. ”

"Forget it, you can do it yourself, is there anything else?" Mu Zhixun said coldly.

"I didn't ...... Nope. ”

"Go ahead." Mu Zhixun waved his hand, "I don't have to come to the study in the future." ”

"Yes...... Be. ”

Watching Mu Zhixun push the door and enter the study, the housekeeper's heart almost rose to his throat.

But the scene he imagined didn't happen. The candlelight illuminated the study, and two figures appeared, and the flowers hiding in the bookcase held their breath and did not dare to make a sound.