In mid-January of the eleventh year of Baoda, a group of people finally arrived at the outskirts of Jinling.
After nearly eight months, I returned to the capital again, walking on the familiar bustling streets, looking at the tall walls, the wide and straight streets, and hearing the Jinling Wu accent familiar to the people on the streets. Li Yuan was really impressed. Deeply touched.
In the large car next to her, Peng Qingying lifted half of the car curtain, revealing a pair of clear and expressive eyes looking at the streets of Jinling City in amazement, and kept making sounds of surprise from her mouth.
You must know that the size of Xizhou City, the center of power in the Dongxi Land, is only slightly larger than a state-controlled city in the Southern Tang Dynasty. After arriving in Langzhou, Peng Qingying was already extremely surprised by the scale and architecture of Langzhou City. Langzhou City was equivalent to two Half of Xizhou City, and both the market size and population have exceeded Peng Qingying's imagination.
On the way, Li Yuan told Peng Qingying that the size of Jinling City, the capital, was more than three times larger than Langzhou, but Peng Qingying didn't believe it. At this moment, just after crossing the Changgan Bridge and entering the south gate and walking for several blocks, Peng Qingying had already realized how grand the scale and grandeur of the capital city described by Li Yuan was.
"Qingying, is Jinling City what you imagined?" Li Yuan immediately leaned over and asked with a smile.
Peng Qingying shook her head slightly and said: "It's totally different. It's definitely not what I imagined. This city is really big, but why do I feel a little cold? There are a lot of people here, but the people here look very cautious. Look. The walking people look like they are not very happy."
Li Yuan smiled slightly, Peng Qingying's feeling was very keen. The capital of a country can be said to be grand and prosperous, but there is indeed an air of coldness in the prosperity.
Because ordinary people are not the masters of this grand city. The real masters live in tall palaces, high walls and deep houses. Ordinary people are just enslaved objects in this city, poor people who are subject to the high pressure of the imperial power. Perhaps this lack of freedom is what Peng Qingying feels.
Peng Qingying looked at the fast horses galloping on the broad street from time to time. Although the indifferent knights did not dare to disturb the carriages of Li Yuan and others with high flags, they were so shocked that the people around them gave way and frowned: "Didn't you tell me? Except for emergencies, are Pegasus generally not allowed to ride on the streets in the city? This is the capital city. Is the capital city inferior to our Langzhou City? What if Pegasus accidentally injures someone? I suddenly don’t like Jinling City. Although It’s gorgeous and grand.”
Only then did Li Yuan realize that there seemed to be something unusual in Jinling City today. Along the straight road from the south gate to Yujie, every moment, three or five soldiers in armor would fly by without any scruples, but there were no tattoos on their bodies. On the emergency military situation sign, Jinling Yin would have come out to get people in the past.
But after thinking about it, he decided not to cause trouble on this trip, so he laughed dumbly and said: "Well, we don't live here. We just brought you here to have a look. Our Langzhou City is not like this. In fact, Jinling also has the beauty of Jinling. You can only feel the good things these days and don't think about these messy things. This is not your home."
Peng Qingying paused, turned around and smiled sweetly: "Well, you're right, I won't talk any more."
Li Yuan nodded and smiled: "Be good, I will take you back to your old house in the west of the city to stay. The environment there is very good. After you have settled in, I will find out where your brother lives and reunite you brothers and sisters. My business is done. After that, I will take some time to accompany you to visit the good places in Jinling City. Fengxian Temple in Qingxifang, Willow Bank of the Qinhuai River, and scenic spots in Jinling are all good places."
"Okay." Peng Qingying winked at Li Yuan, put down the car curtain and retracted her face.
Under the leadership of the Ebony Special Forces, the Wuping Guards Cavalry surrounded Li Yuanhao and marched along the straight street to Yinhong Bridge in the west of the city. When they passed the gate of Fengxian Temple, the rumbling drums of Jinling City sounded. It was already dusk. Listening to Li Yuan felt deeply about these familiar drum sounds. Back then, he walked to these majestic rhythms from the palace to the military government office and returned home.
The old house next to Binglinggong Temple stood quietly in the dusk. The grass in front of the house was trimmed and the ground was swept clean. The lantern in front of the porch has been lit, and the big words "Li's Mansion" on the lantern are clearly legible. Everything is just like it was when I left last year. It seems that the servants who stayed behind took good care of the house.
When the servants in the mansion learned that their master had returned,
After hearing the news, more than ten maids and servants left behind hurried to the gate of the mansion to greet them, and welcomed Li Yuan and others into the mansion to settle down. Li Yuan took Peng Qingying back and forth through the house. Everything in the house remained the same as when he left.
The residence for the maids in the back house has been sealed since Li Yuan and his family left. When Li Yuan returned to Beijing last time to marry Emperor Zhou E, he specially ordered two maids to ensure the daily cleaning of the back house. Now you can move in directly, and the rest of the courtyard is no different. .
Only the courtyard is a bit decadent. Without the care that Liu and Wang Jingyao spend every day in the courtyard, the flowers and trees have died, the plum branches are leaning sideways, the water in the pond has become dark, and the long grass in the corner of the courtyard is knee-deep. Lost the sophistication of the time. If the two of them knew that this was the case, they would be very sad.
After settling Peng Qingying, Li Yuan gave some secret instructions to Xu Kuangheng and Wu Muteqin. After the two were ordered to leave, Li Yuan called the servants who stayed at the old house to ask about the situation.
What Li Yuan is most worried about is that some people will come to harass him while he is away from Jinling, but according to them, there is no nuisance. Father-in-law Zhou Zong only brought people to visit twice, but he only checked in the back house to see if the residence was in good condition and tidy before leaving. He also rewarded the maids and servants with all their money and materials.
When Li Yuan heard this, he was filled with emotion, and the old and kind face of Zhou Zong appeared in his eyes. This father-in-law was really good to him. Since they met in Yangzhou, this old man has always been as caring and enthusiastic about him. When it comes to time travel, In this era, who Li Yuan is most grateful to is undoubtedly Zhou Zong.
Not to mention how much help he had given him by marrying him, but Li Yuan sometimes felt that Zhou Zong filled a gap in his heart to some extent. Nowadays, Li Yuan has an adoptive mother, brothers, wives and concubines, some of whom are like sisters and some are like sisters. He only lacks the care of his father's love.
Thinking of this, Li Yuan felt hot in his heart. He wondered how the old Taishan, who was over sixty years old, was doing these days. Besides, he had important matters to discuss with him, and he wished he could go to the Zhou Mansion to see him right away. But Li Yuan knew that he had to be careful with every move he made after entering Beijing, especially the order in which he met people must not be reversed.
This time I returned to the capital without being summoned. Before meeting the emperor, I could not contact anyone first. Otherwise, I would have given Yushitai the best excuse and would be asking for trouble.
It was getting dark, and Peng Qingying took on the role of hostess, leading a group of maids and servants to order the kitchen to cook food and prepare wine. They were very busy, but Li Yuan knew that it was impossible for him to eat this dinner at home. When the food and wine were served, Li Yuan was ready to take a shower and change clothes, and was preparing to go out with a dozen personal guards.
Li Yuan wanted to see the emperor, and he wanted to see the emperor as soon as possible after he came back to settle down. This was not only an act of avoiding suspicion as a military envoy, but also the etiquette of a courtier. Whether the emperor would see him or not was another matter, but Li Yuan had to go to the palace to ask for an audience.
More than a dozen riders rode slowly on the busy street, holding high the banner of the Governor of Langzhou, and soon arrived in front of the palace. He dismounted and went to the palace gate to hand over his name card. How could the imperial guards who guarded the palace dare to stop him? They bowed to greet Li Yuan and then let him into the palace and announced the news to the palace at the same time. When Li Yuan was led by a young Huangmen outside Chengxin Hall, he learned that the emperor and the queen were listening to music in Rouyi Hall, and a chamberlain came to invite Governor Li to see them.
Under the guidance of the chamberlain, Li Yuan walked through several long corridors and headed straight to Rouyi Hall. The lights in Rouyi Palace are bright, and dozens of chamberlains are waiting in the cloister of the palace door with their hands down. Stepping on the red carpets on the corridor, they walk silently to the hall. A few corridors away, you can hear the sound of silk and bamboo. Melodious sound.
Arriving at the door of the main hall, several personal chamberlains stood waiting at the door. A chamberlain came forward to greet him and whispered a few words to Xiao Huangmen who was leading Li Yuan. The chamberlain came forward and saluted: "Master Li, Your Majesty is waiting for you, please let me know."
Li Yuan cupped his hands and said, "Thank you."
The waiter returned the greeting and turned around and entered the hall. After a while, the sound of silk and bamboo in the hall suddenly stopped. Soon after, a rickety figure appeared at the door. When Li Yuan saw this familiar face, he hurriedly stepped forward and saluted: "Liu Shaojian, Li Yuan This is so polite!"
The person who came to the door was none other than an old acquaintance, Shaojian Liu. He had silver beard and hair, a stooped figure, and his face was still rosy.
"Oh my, how can this old slave deserve the great gift from Governor Li!
Governor, come into the palace to see you, Your Majesty and the Queen are waiting for you! "Shaojian Liu was also very excited, but he still kept a smile and returned the courtesy, turning his body to one side and making a gesture of invitation.
Li Yuan bowed and asked Liu Shaojian to go first. Liu Shaojian didn't say much and walked into the hall first. Li Yuan followed him in, straightened his clothes outside the screen in front of him, and then walked out quickly from the side of the screen. Under the gaze of more than a dozen chamberlains and maids, he quickly entered the brightly lit hall.
"Your Majesty, Li Yuan, has an audience with Your Majesty and the Queen, and I would like to express my sincere greetings to Your Majesty and the Queen." Li Yuan bowed respectfully and bowed.
"Okay, Pingshen, get up quickly. Young Prisoner, give Li Yuan a seat."
The emperor's angry voice sounded above his head, Li Yuan thanked him again, saluted, and straightened up. A chamberlain brought a brocade stool and placed it beside Li Yuan.
"Li Yuan, why are you back in Beijing? I don't remember that I didn't summon you back? The chamberlain came to tell the time. I still didn't believe it. I didn't expect that it was really you." Li Jing sat on the soft seat of the dragon couch and looked at Li Yuan with a smile. .
Li Yuan hurriedly cupped his hands and said, "I should have returned to the capital to express my gratitude long ago, but the continuous wars forced me to stay in Langzhou to deal with the aftermath. Your Majesty was so kind to me and generously rewarded me, but I was unable to express my gratitude in person, and I feel very uneasy. Now. Now that the situation in Chu is considered stable, I would like to return to Beijing to see His Majesty and express my gratitude to His Majesty in person."
Li Jing laughed and said: "I see, it doesn't matter if I come back to Beijing for a walk. I haven't seen you for so long, and I also want to see you. Yesterday, I talked to the queen about you, a famous general in our dynasty. I didn't expect that today you would Back. Good, good back."
Li Yuan breathed a sigh of relief and said in a deep voice: "Thank you, Your Majesty. Although you are busy with state affairs, you still always remember me. I am so grateful."
Li Jing smiled and said, "Don't be so grateful. You made great contributions in the Xizhou War. You took the land of Dongxi for me, and then defeated the Han army to protect the Chu territory. You strengthened the prestige of the Tang Dynasty. A few months ago You also saved my prince. It is you who I want to be grateful to.
I am confident that I have good vision. Queen, look, I made an exception when I promoted Li Yuan to be the governor. At that time, many people said that Li Yuan was young and thought that I had broken the rules. How about now? I, the youngest governor-general and governor of the Tang Dynasty, have a handsome appearance. Not only are I good at both civil and military affairs, but I also lead my troops in every battle without success. I can hardly remember the feats I have accomplished. I am afraid no one will know how to do it now. That's all. "
From the corner of his eye, Li Yuan glanced at Queen Zhong, who was sitting two feet away from Li Jing. He happened to meet Zhong's meaningful gaze. He was startled and quickly looked away. But I heard Mrs. Zhong teasing: "Yes, your Majesty's vision is naturally unparalleled! But your Majesty has said this matter more than a dozen times..."
