At dawn, the sun rises from the east as usual, and its soft light repeatedly breaks through the last darkness before dawn, shining on the iron walls of Jinyang. Soon, the sky was filled with layers of bright and colorful morning glow. In the woods outside the city, there are already clear sounds of birdsong, and I don’t know how many early morning bugs have been eaten.
It was still early, and there were already some people waiting to enter the city gathered under the main gate of East City. On the tower, the young captain on duty rubbed his eyes, glanced around at the people waiting politely below, showed a look of satisfaction, yawned, and called to his subordinates: "Get ready to open the door!"
"There's a situation!" At this time, the sentry on the tower shouted a warning.
"what happened?"
"Captain, look!" the sentry pointed to the east.
After running up to the tower in a few steps, the captain looked into the distance to check the situation. Soon, his expression changed. To the east of the city, the view is very wide. Although it is far away, one can clearly see an army walking towards Jinyang City in neat formation.
"Report immediately!" Upon seeing this, the captain ordered decisively: "Be alert!"
The guards on top of the city suddenly unsheathed their swords and cocked their arrows. The atmosphere suddenly became tense, and the people below also noticed that something was wrong and dispersed, fearing to avoid it.
When the army approached, the captain of the city gate was confused. There were only about two hundred troops outside the city. They were all dressed in Hedong Army uniforms. They were clearly our own people, and they did not carry any weapons. Suppressing the suspicion in his heart, the captain shouted loudly: "Stop whoever comes! Who are you?"
The leader below was Zhang Yanwei. When he heard the question, he stepped out of the queue and shouted: "This general is Zhang Yanwei, the Marquis of Yu, the capital of the Longqi Army. We have important business to come to the city and ask to see the King of Peking."
Hearing what he said, the captain's face remained doubtful. He pondered for a moment and replied: "If General Zhang enters the city, there is nothing wrong with him. But the soldiers you lead, please forgive your humble position and do not dare to let them go. Please also ask the general to disperse the people." !”
Hearing such an answer, Zhang Yanwei's face suddenly changed slightly, and he couldn't help but mutter in his heart: Didn't I say that everything has been arranged?
Feeling a little irritated in his heart, Zhang Yanwei couldn't help but raise his voice and continued: "We really have something important to do! Brothers in the city, please open the city and let us go! I'm afraid you won't be able to bear the responsibility if we delay something important!"
The captain on the tower was still loyal to his duties, and his tone became tougher. He said coldly: "Please forgive me, General Zhang. I dare not start my humble duty because of my humble duty! General, please stop and send everyone away. Otherwise, don't blame me for being rude to my humble duty." !”
Apparently, the captain of the city gate had determined that something was wrong with Zhang Yanwei and others. After warning him, he immediately asked his archers to draw their bows and aim at Zhang Yanwei and others. When Zhang Yanwei saw this, he immediately cursed in his heart: What have you done? Even the "door waiter" can't be arranged well!
"Let them enter the city!" During the tense confrontation up and down the tower, a lazy voice rang in the captain's ear.
Turning around, he saw that the battalion commander had arrived in person. The captain was shocked and asked him, "What did you say?"
"I said open the door and let them into the city!" the battalion commander said again, this time it was clearly heard by the captain.
The captain's expression changed and he pointed at the city: "But they -"
Faced with the doubts of his subordinates, the battalion commander did not listen to his nagging at all and interrupted him forcefully: "How can a small captain like you be allowed to hang out here because of the matters above? They didn't bring weapons. Even if they were allowed to enter the city, they wouldn't be able to do anything. What could happen? Open the door!"
Accompanied by a dull sound of opening the door, the heavy city gate finally opened. Zhang Yanwei, who was already suffocating under the city, did not care about anything else and immediately led the people in and ran directly to the Peking Palace.
...
In the backyard of the palace, where the mistress Li lives, the mother and son are having breakfast. Liu Chengyou comes here every day to have breakfast. The third brother Liu Chengxun was also there, but the eldest brother Liu Chengxun didn't come, probably because he was too busy in the past few days.
"Erlang, eat an egg." Mrs. Li, with a kind face on her face, peeled an egg for Liu Chengyou herself and gently placed it on the plate in front of him.
"Thank you, mother!" Liu Chengyou took a mouthful of millet porridge and said in a loud voice.
"You, although simplicity is a virtue, don't be too harsh on yourself. You are still young, and your father and brother will take care of the military and political affairs. Don't work too hard. During this period, I have seen you lose a lot of weight!" He Ai Her eyes fell on Liu Chengyou, and Mrs. Li muttered softly.
In Liu Chengyou's impression, Mrs. Li has always been a very wise and reasonable woman. Liu Chengyou's overthinking character made him sensitive to Li's words. "Let father and brother do the hard work", is this a hint to myself?
He raised his eyes to look at Mrs. Li, but met the concerned look in his mother's eyes, which should not be faked. He breathed a sigh of relief, and Liu Chengyou nodded towards Mrs. Li: "It's the son's fault for making his mother worry. I will pay attention to it."
With Li's wisdom, he couldn't see Liu Chengyou's intention of perfunctory with him, but he sighed helplessly: "Eat the eggs! It's almost cold."
Picking up the peeled egg between two fingers, it was tender and smooth, with a few wisps of heat still floating around. The eggs are pigeon eggs, which are good for nourishing the kidneys and replenishing essence...
"I want it too!" Liu Chengxun, the third brother on the other side, couldn't help but spoke to Mrs. Li, looking at Mrs. Li eagerly, as if he needed care. Mrs. Li would not favor one thing over another, so she picked up an egg with a smile and started to move her hands.
"Second brother, when will you take me to the military camp?" Liu Chengxun is still young, but he is the liveliest among the three brothers. At this time, he couldn't sit still and looked at Liu Chengyou expectantly.
"With father's consent, I will take you there!" Liu Chengyou replied calmly.
Hearing this, Liu Chengxun's face suddenly turned bitter. He stuck out his tongue at Liu Chengyou and muttered: "Forget it then, it's better to sneak out..."
"What did you say!" His words were heard, but Mrs. Li next to her opened her eyes slightly and stared at him angrily.
"No, it's nothing!" Liu Chengxun immediately shook his head and said with a sly smile.
Liu Chengyou looked at his third brother. He was a thirteen-year-old green boy, full of childishness, with a tiger-like head and a strong body. He was a good prospect for a military commander. Looking at this young man, Liu Chengyou's thoughts couldn't help but drift away.
He vaguely remembered that there was a record in the history books, to the effect that Guo Wei led his Ye army southward to the "Qingjun side", and Emperor Yin died in the suburbs of Beijing. As the country cannot be left without a master, please appoint the emperor's younger brother to honor him. The Queen Mother refused because her younger brother Xun was seriously ill, and she paid a visit to him. As expected, she proposed to establish Liu Yun as Liu Zhiyuan's adopted son. Later, Liu Yun was deposed and killed. Liu Chengxun also died the next year, but he did not explain whether it was due to illness or other reasons.
At this time, looking at the lively young man in front of him, Liu Chengyou's heart became a little colder.
As his thoughts were wandering, a burst of noise suddenly came from outside the palace. Even in the deep courtyard of the palace, one could vaguely hear the shouts of some "King of Peking".
Everyone in the hall suddenly looked at each other, and Li's phoenix eyebrows were raised, and she ordered an inner court steward who was waiting on her: "Go and ask what's going on!"
Liu Chengyou put down the chopsticks in his hand, picked up a silk handkerchief, and wiped his mouth, looking very calm.
Weiji, the steward who went out to inquire hurriedly returned and reported nervously: "Madam, a large number of soldiers and civilians have gathered outside the palace, and they are clamoring to meet the king!"
"Is there such a thing? I want to go take a look!" After hearing this, Liu Chengxun became interested and said excitedly that he wanted to join in the fun.
"You stay here! You are not allowed to go anywhere!" As a result, Li suppressed her with one sentence.
Liu Chengyou, on the other hand, stood up and bowed to Mr. Li in a leisurely manner, going to see the situation. Paying attention to Erzi's calm expression, Li's concentration on her eyebrows gradually dissipated, she looked outside the hall and breathed a sigh of relief.
Turning around, he began to teach the restless third son a lesson.
