"Minister Shen Yuzhou visited Your Majesty, and this time I returned to Beijing, and I hereby present a letter of surrender to Northern Xinjiang for Your Majesty, and ask Your Majesty to read it."

Shen Yuzhou presented the letter of surrender of the king of Northern Xinjiang, and stood on the side of the emperor's book case with his eyes down.

The young man behind the bookcase was wearing a bright yellow dragon pattern regular clothes, and his figure was a little thin. Looking closely, there is a six- or seven-point similarity between the eyebrows and Xiao Yunjiao.

"Good!" The young emperor Xiao Xunguang's face was full of joy, "General Shen is worthy of being the pillar of my Dongsheng. ”

"General Shen has worked hard all the way, have you seen Old General Shen and the old lady since you came back?"

Shen Yuzhou replied respectfully, "Back to Your Majesty, the stakes are very high, and after the minister entered the city, he went directly to the palace to meet him, and he has never seen his father and mother." ”

Xiao Xunguang nodded, "General Shen has done his duty for the country, and I should reward you, but the edict still needs to be discussed with Yue Xiang and Cui Xiang, and then handed over to the door before it can be promulgated, so General Shen has to wait for two more days." ”

As soon as the conversation changed, Xiao Xunguang said again: "But I have already prepared a reward in private, and someone is coming-"

As soon as the words fell, a group of palace people came in with mahogany brocade trays and stood in a straight line in the study.

"Come on, come on, General Shen will watch it with me, this is what I and the imperial sister selected for the general." Xiao Xunguang was a young man in the end, and pulled Shen Yuzhou to stand briskly in front of the tray held by the palace people.

"Thanks to Your Majesty's love, it is a great honor for you." Shen Yuzhou slowly followed behind Xiao Xunguang.

"The general took a look at this string of coral Buddha beads, and the imperial sister also deliberately went to Yongning Temple to open the light, thinking that it would be the best for the old lady."

"But I think the general will like this spear, I chose it for the general, so why don't you give it a try?"

Although the thirteen-year-old emperor said that he lived in a temple, he couldn't get rid of his child's heart, and when he saw his brother who was admired by the young man, he naturally couldn't hide his thoughts, and gave away most of his treasures.

After looking at the treasure in the tray, Xiao Xunguang waved his hand to signal the waiter to retreat, and he took advantage of the turn to mysteriously stuff Shen Yuzhou with a hard and flat thing.

Shen Yuzhou glanced at it quickly, and the thing in his hand was black all over, like jade but not jade, and there were a few traces of ink stains fainting in the luster-

But it's an unremarkable pebble.

After the little emperor finished offering the treasure, he pulled Shen Yuzhou and said a lot of things about the border pass, until the twilight gradually rose, and he remembered to let people out of the palace.

It's just that in the corner where no one is paying attention, a little eunuch in gray also turned around and went to a place that no one cared about after seeing Shen Yuzhou leave the imperial study.

......

Shen Yuzhou went out of the palace gate and got on the horse, and went back to the Shen Mansion directly. As soon as the door of the house is closed, it should be a scene of family reunion.

At the beginning of the lanterns, a few colorful clouds suddenly appeared in the courtyard of the four directions. There was no family banquet in the Shen Mansion, but the ancestral hall was opened, and the head of the family, Shen Tingshan, was taking a group of family members to pay respects.

Shen Yuzhou knelt on the left back side of Shen Tingshan, his back was straight, and his figure was straight.

"The descendants of the Shen family, live up to the family motto, triumph today, and tell the ancestors. Blessed by the ancestors, he will encourage himself every day, punish the small, and keep the mountains and rivers of Dongsheng stable. ”

With bursts of green smoke, Shen Yuzhou solemnly inserted the incense lit in his hand into the copper lotus-patterned three-legged incense burner.

Bowing to their ancestors again, everyone in the Shen family withdrew from the ancestral hall in an orderly manner, leaving only Shen Tingshan's father and son.

"Did you see the eldest princess when you entered the city?"

"I happened to meet the princess's carriage out of the city."

"What my father told you three years ago, now you have to think again."

"The choice my son made three years ago will not change now." Shen Yuzhou paused and said, "The glory of the Shen family, my son will do everything he can to maintain it." ”

Shen Tingshan looked at his son, who had not seen him for three years, and spoke for a long time: "The northern frontier has fallen, there is King Jing in the south, the world is peaceful, and it is time to hide the good bow." ”

Shen Yuzhou's posture was respectful, and the words he said were sonorous, "My son would rather be a sword than a good bow." ”

"Oh?" The corners of Shen Tingshan's eyebrows raised slightly, "But I don't know who you want to hold this sword?" ”

"For my country and for those I protect."

The night was thick, and the wisps of clouds scattered in the air occasionally blocked the nearly round moon.

The nameless stream of the mountain behind Yongning Temple reflects the moon that comes and goes, and the silver-white scales shine, and it is even more cold in the mountains in this winter.

Xiao Yunjiao sat alone in the soft tent by the stream, with a cushioned rattan chair waiting for its guests.

The footsteps came from far and near, and the person who came didn't wait for Xiao Yunjiao to speak, and sat down on the empty chair.

"I thought the general wouldn't come." Xiao Yun opened his mouth quietly.

The person who came was Shen Yuzhou.

"It's cold in the mountains at night, and the princess is still wearing a little thinner." Shen Yuzhou said.

Tightening the thick cloak on his body, Xiao Yunjiao turned his head to look at the man who was wearing only a black narrow-sleeved round-necked robe beside him, and the corners of his mouth were slightly raised.

I don't know who wears it thinner.

"It's really surprising that the general is busy with things, and he can still think about the main palace."

Shen Yuzhou looked at her side face, under the moonlight, her contours were very soft, and her white and tender cheeks seemed to have a layer of light. It was almost the same as the delicate little princess in his memory, but she had lost some weight, and the corners of her eyes and eyebrows couldn't hide her worries.

His gaze was too straightforward, and Xiao Yunjiao couldn't help but speak: "This palace took great pains to invite the general, but it was not for the general to stare at the palace here. ”

"Your Majesty can you make it clear to the general?"

Shen Yuzhou shook his head, "Does the princess mean that Your Majesty shot down the deer that was brought back to the palace in the hunting garden last year, or the red coral tree that the southern border paid tribute to the year before last?" ”

Xiao Yunjiao couldn't help but rub the corners of his throbbing forehead, "That's what he said?" So how did you get here? ”

"The coral Buddha beads rewarded by His Majesty are said to be specially selected by the princess for the use of the Buddha by the mother, but the mother has always worshiped the three Qings, and the princess knows it."

"And when she entered the city, the princess had told the minister about Yongning Temple, plus this thing...... If you can't comprehend it again, then Weichen is stupid. Shen Yuzhou's outstretched palm was the inky pebble.

Xiao Yunjiao was noncommittal, "This palace is here to listen to the wind and watch the moon with the guests." ”

"The doorman in the princess's mansion is naturally knowledgeable and knowledgeable, knowing that the princess loves this winter mountain forest and moon scenery, so he left the mountain Qinghui to the princess for exclusive enjoyment."

After Shen Yuzhou finished speaking, he looked at Xiao Yunjiao with interest, and it was no surprise that the little princess who turned her head was a little pink at the ear at the moment.

On the way back to Beijing, Shen Yuzhou heard many rumors about the eldest princess in front of him.

Extravagant, coquettish, willful, moody. It's a far cry from the princess he remembers.

Three years is really too long, long enough to make a bright and lively little princess become an eldest princess under one person.

But one thing doesn't seem to have changed, that is, once she can't say herself, she will turn her head away, and her cheeks will be red with annoyance.

"Your Majesty is young, and the family is rampant." Xiao Yunjiao still didn't look at him, and opened his mouth to get down to business, "I'm afraid General Shen will be in a dilemma when he returns to Beijing this time." ”

Shen Yuzhou rubbed the round ink-colored stone in his hand, "Don't be embarrassed." ”

"Oh?" Xiao Yunjiao turned around slowly, "Young sovereign minister, has the general already weighed the result?" ”

Shen Yuzhou got up and stood behind Xiao Yunjiao, and stuffed the pebbles that he had been playing with for a long time into her hand, "Chen has never hesitated. ”

The inky stone is round and smooth, and it has the temperature of a man's palm. Xiao Yunjiao held it in his hand and looked at it for a long time, but his mind drifted far away.

When she was young, she loved to run behind Shen Yuzhou's ass, and she only called Shen Yuzhou her brother when she had a big brother. Once he was entangled by himself and couldn't help it, so he touched this stone by the stream and gave it to her, and said that this was the spirit bead of the river god, and tricked her into holding it in her arms and not daring to move, for fear that the aura of this "spirit bead" would be dispersed and the river god would leave......

Now she used the stone to call the man here quietly, but he put it back into his hand......

"Princess?"

Shen Yuzhou's voice pulled Xiao Yunjiao back from her messy thoughts. She tucked the stone into her cuffs, "I hope General Shen's heart is the same." ”

She stood up, took two steps toward the stream, crouched down and plunged her hand that had just held the stone into the icy water.

The bone-chilling stream washed away the burning heat of her palms, and her beating heart gradually stabilized.

Withdrawing his hand and throwing off the water droplets at will, Xiao Yunjiao stood with Shen Yuzhou face to face, "Dongsheng has been founding the country for more than 50 years since my great-grandfather, and now it can be said that the wind and rain are smooth and the people are stable. Northern Xinjiang has also been pacified by the general, which is a sign of national peace and security. ”

"But even if the Xiao family has been on the throne for more than fifty years, they are still constrained by those families, and General Shen should have the same feelings as this palace."

The Shen family was born as a military general, a meritorious service, and a lot of military achievements, but he was still regarded as a shallow-rooted person by the family like the royal family. The children of the Yue, Lu, Wang, and Cui clans occupy more than half of the important positions in the court, and it is really difficult to say or do something in the court.

"This palace said bluntly, I invited the general to come here today to ask the general to help me...... and Your Majesty. ”

In a word, not a plea, not a command, as if it were just saying that the moon was hazy tonight. Xiao Yunjiao's eyes were hiding bright starlight, like the brightest stars in the sky, and fell on Shen Yuzhou's eyes.

Her hands hidden in her sleeves were clenched tightly, nervously waiting for an answer from the person in front of her—as if waiting for a verdict.

Shen Yuzhou suddenly remembered that when she was a child, she always begged herself to help with this and that, one moment it was to bring her the new fruits outside the palace, and the other time it was when her homework was not completed, and he pleaded with her husband for a while......

At that time, she was not as cautious as she is now, always pulling the corners of his clothes and pouting, her big eyes were still wrapped in crystal tears that could not fall, and she looked like "I will cry to you if you don't agree".

The princess standing in front of him now tilted her head and pretended to be strong......

It's also hard to refuse.

"I am willing to go to the soup for Your Majesty and the princess, and I will not give up."

As the words fell, the little princess's eyes curled into the shape of his memory—albeit only for a moment.