Chapter 125

 

After a night of indulgence, the next day Chen Jingzong still got up early and went to the guard station in the dark before dawn.

During this battle suppressing rebellion, Daxing Left Guard not only made military exploits, but also lost more than a thousand brothers. Now it was time to reward them based on their merits. Chen Jingzong wanted to ensure that every soldier, whether alive or gone, would receive their fair share of rewards.

He and Fu Gui each rode a horse, and after leaving the city, they let off their speed and galloped away.

After running for two miles, a lantern suddenly appeared in the middle of the road ahead, emitting a dim yellow light.

On this cold and desolate late winter morning, although there were not barren mountains and ridges outside the city, there were also bare fields all around. Most of the people were still sleeping soundly in their beds. Suddenly, a lamp appeared on the road, how could it not look creepy.

Fu Gui had goosebumps all over his body. He subconsciously tightened the reins and slowed down: “Master, is it a human or a ghost in front of us?”

Chen Jingzong ignored him and rode close to the lantern. When there were still four to five horses away from the lantern, he recognized it. It was neither a human nor a ghost. It was his eldest brother!

He thought he got up early enough, but how long had it been since eldest brother came here, and when did he get up?

Chen Bozong was wearing a thick mink fur cloak.

He was a civil servant and always rode a carriage when going to the government office, he rarely wore a cloak. Yu Xiu knew that he was going to make this trip this morning, so she took out the mink cloak given by his mother.

Even so, Chen Bozong still stood on the leeward side of the horse. It wasn’t until a horse came running in front and he guessed it was the Old Four’s horse that he asked his attendant to light the lamp.

The brothers bumped into each other and walked to the roadside together, talking in low voices.

Chen Jingzong: “Why are you here?”

Chen Bozong: “Yesterday, Father met with General Ling in the cabinet. General Ling mentioned the ambush encountered by your Daxing Left Guard in Baihe Ridge, and the possibility of someone in the Jinwu Vanguard collaborating with the enemy. Later, the Grand Princess accompanied you home, and it’s not appropriate to stay for a long time. It’s also not easy for Father also to ask you, so he asked me to wait for you here to avoid people’s eyes.”

Chen Jingzong: “This matter is not urgent. I originally planned to find an opportunity to tell you in a few days. Look at how weak you are. Don’t go out of the city in the dark in the future, or you will be robbed by someone pretending to be a bandit.”

The old man was majestic in the court, but the whole family had to bear the risks with him. It was fine during the day, but he was afraid that someone would use some unsavory methods.

Chen Bozong: “Stop talking about unnecessary things and get serious.”

Chen Jingzong: “I will only explain it once. If you believe it, you can believe it. If you don’t believe it, I won’t explain more.”

Chen Bozong: “Understood. First, why do you suspect that someone will collaborate with the enemy before the imperial court’s victory?”

Chen Jingzong: “Grandmother gave me a dream to warn me. It’s ridiculous, I know. But facts have proved that the old woman is wise!”

Chen Bozong: “…be more serious.”

Chen Jingzong: “I am very serious. This question has been answered. Next one.”

Chen Bozong shook his head and said helplessly: “General Ling suspects that Jinwu Vanguard wants the rebels to kidnap you to deal with Father. What do you think?”

Chen Jingzong: “The rebels captured me to threaten the imperial court to withdraw their troops. The man in Jinwu Vanguard probably just wanted to take my life through the hands of the rebels.”

Chen Bozong frowned: “Who has such a big personal enmity with you?”

Chen Jingzong: “Qi Jin, last year’s martial arts competition demonstration. Because of me, Jinwu Vanguard didn’t even make the top three. Since then, when he saw me alone, his eyes looked weird.”

Chen Bozong: “He is so narrow-minded that he would even betray the imperial court for such a trivial matter?”

The implication was that he felt that his brother’s reasons were too far-fetched.

Chen Jingzong could only say this, and it was impossible to involve Hua Yang: “If you don’t believe me, I can’t help it. Anyway, I will be wary of Qi Jin, and I advise you to be careful of him too. Of course, let’s put aside the matter of suppressing the rebellion for now, unless the old man really think that the Empress Dowager would stand unswervingly on his side, and really think that his words could clear away the suspicion that General Ling and I were colluding to frame Jinwu Vanguard.”

Chen Bozong: “Don’t worry about this. Without irrefutable evidence, Father will not expose Jinwu Vanguard, let alone implicate General Ling.”

Chen Jingzong: “Then there’s nothing more to say. You should go back quickly. I have to continue on my way.”

Chen Bozong grabbed his brother’s arm and patted his chest and shoulders: “Are you injured?”

His younger brother was away at war, and their mother was worried day and night. Sometimes she would be telling them completely unrelated things, but suddenly her eyes would turn red.

His father would not show it, but Chen Bozong knew that his father must also be thinking about his younger brother.

Chen Jingzong stayed still, but when Chen Bozong patted for the third time, he suddenly winced: “The sword wound here has not completely healed.”

Chen Bozong quickly retracted his hand.

Chen Jingzong: “Tell Mother not to worry too much. If she really felt sorry for me, just return the money I gave to her yesterday. It’s best to return it quietly and don’t let Grand Princess know.”

Chen Bozong:……

Chen Jingzong laughed loudly, strode to his mount, turned around, held the reins and said to his brother standing by the roadside: “Go back, don’t go out of the city if it’s not important!”

After saying this, he urged his horse to leave, and Fu Gui quickly caught up with him.

The night quickly swallowed up the figures of the master and the servant.

Chen Bozong listened to the sound of horse hooves getting farther and farther, shook his head, and got on his horse.

In the evening of that day, Chen Tingjian came back from the cabinet after dark.

Chen Bozong deliberately waited for his father to have dinner before asking to see him.

The father and son then went to the study.

Chen Bozong conveyed his brother’s guess to his father.

Chen Tingjian touched his beard and asked his eldest son: “What do you think?”

Chen Bozong said: “Although the reason given by Fourth Brother sounds far-fetched, Qi Jin is indeed the most suspicious of the entire Jinwu Vanguard. It’s more likely that his collaboration with the enemy is not for personal grudges with Fourth Brother, but to obstruct your reforms. If this is the case, there may be support from other officials behind Qi Jin.”

Chen Tingjian looked out the window.

If all this was Qi Jin’s personal doing, this person was too vicious. If Qi Jin was just instructed by other officials, those officials really picked the right person. If he questioned Qi Jin without enough evidence, where would Empress Dowager Qi stand? The emperor was too young, and Empress Dowager Qi made the decision for the emperor in many matters. If Empress Dowager Qi was alienating him, how could the reform continue?

Chen Tingjian believed in Empress Dowager Qi’s fairness. If the evidence was conclusive, Empress Dowager Qi could even justly kill Qi Jin, her own nephew.

The problem was the Old Four couldn’t explain how he guessed that someone would be collaborating with the enemy. No matter who looked at it, it just seemed that Ling Rucheng deliberately played a trick to promote his son and frame Qi Jin.

Chen Bozong suddenly said: “Father, we should be glad. No matter what, fortunately Fourth Brother was on guard, otherwise the battle at Baihe Ridge…”

Chen Tingjian’s face darkened.

If the Old Four was unprepared and led only 5,000 men from Daxing Left Guard into the ambush at Baihe Ridge, with his temper, how could he be willing to be captured?

“I’ll leave the investigation of Qi Jin and Jinwu Vanguard to you. Remember to be cautious and don’t alert the enemy.”

Chen Tingjian was too busy and could only leave the matter to his eldest son, who was could already be trusted with important matters.

Chen Bozong solemnly agreed.

.

The New Year was about to come, and just before the officials went on vacation, the imperial court swiftly and resolutely charged the eight vassal princes of Henan with joining in rebellion.

The chief conspirator, Prince Yu, and the rebel general Guo Jixian were all executed. The other vassal princes and clans were all demoted to common people. Except for a little land that was enough for them to live, all other private properties were confiscated.

At the same time, Emperor Yuanyou also sent letters to other vassal princes. It seemed to be telling the grievances of Henan vassal princes for bullying him when he was young, but in fact it was a wake-up call for those vassal princes, warning them to be honest and not to follow in the footsteps of the eight vassal princes of Henan.

Although Hua Yang stayed in the grand princess mansion to mourn, Wu Run had his own way of conveying news from the streets to her.

In addition, her aunt Eldest Princess Anle also came over from time to time.

“Once something happened to Prince Yu, Nan Kang has become completely honest. She will definitely not dare to provoke you again in the future.”

Sitting in the Nuan Pavilion, Princess Anle sighed.

Hua Yang was her niece, but Prince Yu and Nan Kang were also her nephew and niece. Although she and the late emperor were not born from the same mother, and there was a layer of blood separation between her and these nephews and nieces, in the end it was all children she watched grew up with her own eyes. Suddenly it became messy like this, one of them died and one could no longer be proud, Princess Anle felt strange in her heart.

At this time in her previous life, Hua Yang was not interested in Nan Kang, but now she took the time to ask: “How is she doing now?”

Princess Anle: “Like you, she’s staying at home in mourning. Fortunately, your mother is kind and didn’t took her anger on her. The title Grand Princess that should be given to her were still given, and the Marquis Jing’an Mansion has not been affected for the time being.”

Hua Yang nodded. Prince Yu did something wrong, but Nan Kang didn’t have the courage to rebel. As long as she didn’t do stupid thing like thinking of avenging her brother, she could still live without worries.

After having lunch with Hua Yang, Princess Anle took her leave.

Only then did Chen Jingzong come from Liuyun Hall to see Hua Yang.

The day after tomorrow was New Year’s Eve. In previous years, the couple would celebrate it with everyone in the Chen family. This year, it was just the two of them, and they couldn’t even set off firecrackers, so it would inevitably look deserted.

Chen Jingzong: “If you want to go out, we can sneak out in the evening. The streets have been quite lively recently.” The national mourning only lasted for three months, and it had been lifted long ago.

Absolutely impossible, Hua Yang didn’t even bother to response.

Chen Jingzong looked at her skirt and asked with concern: “Does your stomach still hurt?”

Hua Yang’s menstruation came in the morning. It wasn’t painful at all, but she just couldn’t cheer up with anything.

Chen Jingzong carried her to the bed in the inner room and tucked her in with a quilt to prevent her from getting cold.

Hua Yang asked: “Why don’t you go home secretly? It’s New Year’s eve, so at least you should see Mother.”

Chen Jingzong: “She has the old man by her side, two pairs of sons and daughters-in-law, and enough grandchildren to fill a table. She doesn’t lack me. Besides, you’ve lived in Lingzhou for two years without insisting on returning to the capital. Am I more delicate than you?”

Hua Yang: “It’s because I’m too far away. If your hometown is also in the capital, even if I don’t go back to the palace, I will go back here to live by myself for a while.”

Chen Jingzong said proudly: “Fortunately, it’s far away. You have no choice but to look at me every day, and you fall in love after kept looking at me.”

Hua Yang: “Dream on, I don’t like someone like you.”

Chen Jingzong smiled but said nothing.

Hua Yang glared at him: “Are you stupid? You are still happy if I don’t like you.”

Chen Jingzong opened the quilt, lay down, then held her in his arms.

Hua Yang: “Don’t move around.”

Chen Jingzong knew that she was afraid of soiling her skirt and mattress, so he held her in one position, kissed her fair forehead and said: “I just like the way you don’t like me, just like you don’t like that black cloak you just gave me, just like you only joined the army for peace talks and meritorious service, and it has nothing to do with me. Even when you sleep close to me at night, it’s only because you treat me like a hot water bottle.”

Hua Yang:……

Why he sounded more and more pleased with himself as he speaks?

The author has something to say:

The lotus bowl: The princess doesn’t like prince consort, so I was put on the table every day for decoration.

Silly fish: The princess doesn’t like prince consort, so she uses me to isolate herself from prince consort.

Shu brocade: …..

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