On the way back, it started raining continuously.
After leaving Taoyuan County, the road to Beijing began to become extremely muddy.
The carriage that Emperor Jing was riding got stuck in the mud several times. Guo Tianyang could only follow down and push the carriage with the driver, which was miserable.
However, after finally entering the outskirts of the capital, Emperor Jing felt even worse.
People are mixed here, cars and horses are running rampant, everything is chaotic.
The carriage they were riding in was continuously blocked on the road.
The driver kept shouting with the people in front of him. Emperor Jing sat in the car, feeling increasingly depressed.
Guo Tianyang also lowered his head and dared not say anything.
Suddenly the carriage shook violently, and then the driver's screams came from outside.
Guo Tianyang hurriedly leaned out to investigate the situation, only to see that the carriage had fallen into a mud pit, and the coachman lost his grip and fell off the carriage.
Half of his body was soaked in the pit, and he kept complaining while covering his forehead.
"This ghost place! I should stay in the county!"
A group of hooligans dressed in rags around him burst out laughing when they saw his miserable state.
Guo Tianyang also frowned and quickly urged the coachman to get up and continue on his way.
This place is not like Taoyuan County, the order is extremely poor, and there is a mixture of fish and dragons.
The coachman promised, and tried his best to flop a few times in the pit. He might have broken a bone, but he couldn't get up.
The laughter around him intensified.
Guo Tianyang had no choice but to endure the irritation in his heart and get out of the car to help the driver.
After returning to the car, just as he was about to start his journey again, Emperor Jing suddenly spoke.
"No need to take the bus, just walk back."
"Master, it's still raining, so you can't get wet."
Emperor Jing pointed outside and said, "Is riding a car faster than walking? You look at the potholes on the road. Every step you take makes you sink. You're afraid you won't be able to go back tomorrow."
"Coachman! Go back."
After saying this, he ordered Guo Tianyang to hand over twenty taels of silver.
The coachman was overjoyed and drove away with a lot of thanks.
Guo Tianyang was speechless. As he watched the carriage going further and further away, he suddenly missed Taoyuan County.
How did they build that road? Why is my city so clean?
As the center of Jingguo, the capital city can do such a poor job!
The front is not far from the inner city, but the road is still winding and sewage flows across it.
The people were very casual, and some garbage and feces were dumped directly at the door, spreading along with the rain.
A few children playing in the rain didn't care. They chased and fought in the sewage. They picked up handfuls of water and tossed it around each other.
The air was filled with an unmistakable fishy smell.
Emperor Jing looked at the inner city not far away, his eyes full of deep worry, and he sighed.
"I originally thought that after unifying the world, I would implement benevolent policies and lighten the corvee, and the people's lives would naturally become rich. Now I have simplified things. I didn't expect that I am far inferior to a small county magistrate. It's ridiculous, it's really ridiculous!"
Guo Tianyang quickly consoled him: "Your Majesty has the power to dominate the world, how can a mere small county compare?"
Emperor Jing didn't say anything. He looked around for a while and then walked towards the inner city.
After walking for a quarter of an hour, the two of them entered the inner city. At this moment, Emperor Jing's whole body was soaked and his boots were covered with mud.
Guo Tianyang followed panting, especially since he was carrying twenty kilograms of tea leaves.
Emperor Jing was always in the army, with excellent physical strength and fast pace.
Guo Tianyang was panting from exhaustion and almost didn't catch up. He kept cursing the damn environment all the way.
After entering the inner city, he breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly said to Emperor Jing: "Your Majesty, there is a stronghold of the inner guards in the inner city nearby. I will contact the carriage and the road behind will be easy."
Emperor Jing nodded and looked around. Although the road had been smoothed out a lot, it still looked muddy and the unpleasant smell was still lingering in the air.
Looking at the mess in front of him, Emperor Jing fell into thinking again.
...
At this time, Li Yansong, the chief assistant of the cabinet, was reviewing the memorial, and the other cabinet elders were also performing their respective duties, constantly reviewing the issue of Qian Gu's punishment.
At this time, a petty official ran into the cabinet office.
With a anxious expression, he took out a red paper envelope from his waist.
"Mr. Li! There is news from His Majesty!"
All the ministers in the public room raised their heads in astonishment.
Li Yansong stopped writing, quickly stood up, took the envelope and read it, then raised his head and said happily: "Masters! Your Majesty has returned to the palace!"
Cabinet bachelors Zheng Qiao and Zhang Dongxiang were overjoyed when they heard this.
The emperor is finally back! He left a letter and left the palace privately, while the prince oversees the country but ignores government affairs!
The day is finally over! And much faster than imagined.
Li Yansong faced the clerk and said, "Send someone quickly to inform the police officers who went to Hengjiang Mansion that they can come back."
The clerk nodded, turned around and ran out again.
Li Yansong said happily: "Everyone, I'm going to see the driver. Is anyone going with me?"
Zheng Qiao and Zhang Donglian nodded hurriedly: "Let's go together! Let's go together!"
The three of them rushed to the imperial study room in a hurry, and Guo Tianyang was already waiting at the door to greet them.
"Please come in, you three. Your Majesty has been waiting for you for a long time."
Li Yansong and the other three looked at each other, and then said to Guo Tianyang, "Thank you, Eunuch Guo."
Then he went straight to the imperial study.
In the imperial study room, memorials were piled up in front of Emperor Jing's desk.
Li Yansong and the other two people had originally intended to launch an attack to investigate, but when they saw this scene, they immediately looked at each other.
In the end, it was Li Yansong who spoke first, "Your Majesty! Why did you leave without saying goodbye? The courtiers are going crazy."
Emperor Jing wrote on the memorial stroke by stroke without raising his head.
"I just want to go out for a walk."
"Masters, look at these memorials. How did the prince supervise the country these days? What did the ministers in the court do!"
Emperor Jing's voice seemed slow and slow.
Li Yansong was instantly stuck. He wanted to continue complaining, but when he mentioned the prince...
Zheng Qiaoqi said: "Your Majesty, in the past few days, the prince... has never gone to court..."
"Where are others? What have they done in the past few days? As important ministers of the DPRK, you don't know how to take care of him?"
There was anger in Emperor Jing's voice.
"Your Majesty, it's not that I don't care about you... I really can't do anything about it." Zhang Dongxiang said in a face to face, "It's either a headache or a pain in my feet. I'm sick every day. The imperial doctor can't find anything wrong when I go to see him." It’s just uncomfortable.”
"We really have no choice..."
"In the past few days when His Majesty was away, the prince also built a tiger and leopard garden. In addition to fighting animals, he rested in it every day to recuperate."
"besides....."
Zhang Dongxiang has a short temper, and the more he talks, the more excited he gets. The other two cabinet ministers can't hold him back even if they want to.
I could only listen to his constant complaints in a cold sweat.
Emperor Jing's face gradually darkened...
...