Zhurou

The first reaction of the person being asked was not to answer, but to immediately look back at Zhao Mingzhi.

Not only him, but almost everyone in Sakon followed suit.

The messenger turned his head in the direction of the crowd, and when he saw Zhao Mingzhi, he was shocked. Before he could get closer, he rolled off his horse and hurriedly walked a few steps forward on his knees. Then he kowtowed, saying "Your Highness" while saluting. .

It turned out that this person was from the Huangmen of the inner court who went south to Caizhou with the emperor. He knew very well that this princess was unusual. He also knew that the emperor relied heavily on his eldest sister. At this moment, seeing Zhao Mingzhi in such a golden state, he actually dared to stand in person when the battle was fierce. Behind the city gate, it was really unexpected.

Afraid of doing the wrong thing and saying the wrong thing, he simply took the etiquette to the extreme for fear of leaving a bad impression.

Zhao Mingzhi didn't have time to think about all that. He immediately took a few steps forward and asked urgently: "When did your Majesty come? Who is guarding him? Where is Yang Zhongcheng? Where are the privy councilors?"

Then he asked: "Except for the city gate here, are there reinforcements in other places?"

The man didn't dare to raise his head, and just knelt down and said: "In order to let Your Highness know, His Majesty has set out a few days ago. Yang Zhongcheng is accompanying him to the north. There are also Imperial Guards and Western Army guards on the left and right. The other ministers and entourage are still halfway there, but they are not ordinary. Come back to Beijing with me..."

He added: "The subordinates really don't know about the troop deployment."

Although he had questions and answers, his words were very vague.

When he heard that Zhao Hong was indeed here, Zhao Mingzhi was shocked, panicked and happy.

In public, it was not easy for her to ask questions in detail. After a few words of comfort, she led the herald to find the general and the Kyoto government office.

And as this group of people entered the city, there was no doubt in the whole city. Although there were heavy casualties, the fact that a herald passed by the Di soldiers and came to the city gate already showed that the situation in the formation was good for the Jin army. It can be known that the emperor's north Returning to Beijing, amidst the misery, there was inevitably some hope.

Sure enough, there was no repetition on the battlefield. The Di people came quickly and were besieged here for many days. Once they were defeated, they retreated even faster.

Zhao Mingzhi was not on top of the city, so he could not clearly see the scene in the distance. He only knew that amid the shouts of death, the imperial chariot was moving towards the city gate more and more, but Di Bing's flag with the word "begging" was no longer raised.

She didn't want to leave, so she simply went out of the city to help clean up the battlefield outside the city.

The fact that the princess is behaving like this is obviously in the eyes of countless soldiers and civilians at the city gate.

By this time, almost every household in the city was on the battlefield. Knowing that the emperor was driving at the city gate here, and hearing the news that the Di soldiers had retreated, the news spread to ten, and then to hundreds, and everyone gathered here.

With the imperial army and the city guards blocking the way, everyone could not gather at the city gate, so they either looked for a high place or stayed close to it. They even more cleverly planned the path early, and went to the city gate first to take the only way to the inner city. Stand where you have the best view.

Thinking that there would naturally be more than one smart person together, the road from Liangmen Street to Zhouxiwazi was quickly filled with crowds of people, but there were many young and old, young and strong, and there were not many strong women.

The atmosphere among the crowd could not be called enthusiastic, but there was some subtle excitement.

Although everyone had never thought that the little emperor could turn the tide, seeing that Di Bing actually retreated today, they felt that there might not be some dragon veins in them. They also remembered that Zhao Mingzhi went out to work in the city every day, and they always felt that a sister like this was the emperor. The same father, same mother, same roots and same species, no matter what, they would not resemble the late emperor.

What happened today makes people unable to help but have delusional thoughts: maybe a blind cat will hit a dead mouse and find a way out.

At the turn of spring and summer, the weather was neither hot nor cold, and some people even moved a few small stools and sat aside, basking in the sun and chatting, waiting for the royal driver to enter the city.

Not to mention the hustle and bustle in the Kyoto Prefecture and inside the palace, half a day had passed. While the sky was still bright, countless formations were set up at the city gate, and Lu Xianzhang and others hurriedly changed their clothes and came.

Although it was extremely hasty, at this time, the etiquette could not be abolished, so Zhao Mingzhi led the Huangmen and palace people in Da Nei by himself, and Lu Xianzhang led the remaining civil and military officials in the city out of the city to greet them.

Just after leaving the city, Zhao Mingzhi was sitting in the carriage. He could only smell the smell of gunpowder smoke, blood, sand and mud, mixed with an indescribable stench coming through the window.

She leaned over to take a look, and saw that the area nearby had been sorted out, but if she looked a little further away, she could see a mountain of corpses, as well as countless rubbles, dead arrows, baggage, etc. placed behind.

In spring and summer, the air is already moist with rain. Fires that have been burning outside the city for a long time and countless torches are pushing up the temperature. The corpses and wreckage have been exposed for so long, giving off an indescribable smell.

Seeing this, the palace attendants who were waiting on the side quickly went to the incense burner in the corner to light incense. Another person moved to the curtain, looking like he wanted to lower the curtain, but did not dare to move for a long time.

Zhao Mingzhi had many thoughts. He first thought about the direction of the Di people's retreat and did not know where the thieves wanted to go. Even if the Jin army had no spare power to pursue them, after all, the enemy's strength was so strong, they could not just let it go. He also thought about the battlefield situation, with incalculable casualties and immeasurable losses. I don’t know how to deal with it; I think about my brother’s current status, he actually came here in person, traveled thousands of miles, traveled long distances, I don’t know what his body is like at this time, although it is impossible to achieve anything without hard work, but a child of several years old is sick and weak, and sees him day and night. The corpses all over the ground couldn't be called appropriate. Fourthly, I thought about how Pei Yong led the troops away, so today's situation must be something he had done. I just don't know how the court will treat it...

She was thinking about something. Although she felt the stench was very strong, she only covered her mouth and nose with a veil, but she didn't pay much attention to it. She didn't know that the palace people around her had always been like this. Especially after guarding the city recently, they saw her words and deeds with their own eyes. Her prestige was higher than before. Much heavier.

So at this time, everyone wanted to step forward and lower the curtains. Seeing Zhao Mingzhi looking out, they wanted to ask, but they were afraid of disturbing him, so they all stood aside and hesitated.

After a long time, when Zhao Mingzhi came to his senses, someone cautiously stepped forward and asked, "Your Highness, you came in a hurry, and the only smell of Yunxian in the car is the fragrance. Do you want to lower the curtain to block the outside smell to some extent?"

Only with Zhao Mingzhi's approval did everyone dare to take action.

When they arrived at the resting place of the royal chariot, they saw the ceremonial guards were placed far away.

Zhao Mingzhi's carriage was not as fast as his horseback riding. The officials in front had already arrived, but they were all waiting in a row, looking at the leader Lu Xianzhang.

The latter came forward first, and after bowing, asked the princess to come first.

Zhao Mingzhi naturally gave in and said: "The front court and the harem are not in contact with each other. State affairs should be given priority. There is no need to do this when participating in politics."

She nodded several times, and finally used her hand as a guide. Everyone was still hesitant, and even a few people came over to invite them.

Zhao Mingzhi refused several times but was unable to do so. For fear of wasting time, he finally had to move forward together. When he was about to reach the place, he saw several rows of imperial guards under the yellow fan. One of them was sitting on a high chair, wearing the emperor's formal attire and wearing a twenty-four-beam crown. Although he did not hold a jade gui in his hand, he was still like this. The dress is elegant and dignified.

Through the pendant crown and at such a distance, it was actually impossible to see the emperor's face clearly, let alone his expression and look. However, after all, he was his biological brother and sister, and he had watched him grow up. Zhao Mingzhi knew him best, and could only see him. The crown jade string was slightly swaying, and a pair of small hands were secretly huddled behind him. Although they were blocked from seeing the movement, they could not tell that those hands must be picking at the hem of clothes behind him.

Zhao Mingzhi stood on the spot, suppressing his anxiety, and looked at Zhao Hong's current figure with his eyes. He also guessed at his younger brother's complexion. He just looked at it. With his peripheral vision, he glanced at the guard beside him and felt that he looked familiar.

She has an excellent memory. Although she only met him once, when she thought about it, she remembered the origin of this person - he was a soldier beside Pei Yong when he returned to Beijing from Jingzhao Mansion.

Since this person is here, isn't Pei Yong nearby?

Thinking like this, Zhao Mingzhi couldn't help but look around quietly. He looked around again and again, but except for a few familiar soldiers from Jingzhao Mansion, he didn't see any shadow of Pei Yong.

While he was doubting, the civil and military officials in front had already begun to follow the instructions and came forward to salute, shouting "long live the mountain" again.

Zhao Mingzhi naturally followed the salute without mentioning it.

After the reception was completed and the auspicious time was counted, yellow flags and yellow fans opened the way outside, and the royal chariot finally drove into the city gate slowly from outside to inside under heavy guard.

Zhao Mingzhi's carriage followed behind him, but before he even got close to Jinmingchi, he saw crowds of people gathering from far and near on both sides of the road, in front of and behind the houses, and everywhere he could stand.

There were guards blocking the way, so no one could get too close, but they all stood on tiptoes and looked up.

This time, there were no curtains or fine steel plates to block the outside of the imperial chariot. Only the jade beads on the emperor's head were scattered and hanging loosely. And because the imperial chariot was extremely high, looking up from the bottom, only black cloud patterns could be seen. Wearing a yellow robe, or depending on the direction or angle, only makes people feel majestic and solemn, without paying attention to anything else.

As soon as the royal driver arrived, I don't know who started. The people on both sides shouted "Long live" one after another, and from near to far, first in scattered smatterings, and gradually into films, and then all the men, women, old and young in the street knelt on the ground and shouted "Long live".

Zhao Mingzhi's chariot followed behind. He could hear the shouts from all around, and saw the actions of the people. His emotions were really hard to express in words.

***

The guard of honor meandered forward, and it was already past Xu hour when they arrived at Ouchi.

Although Zhao Hong did not come alone, a large number of officials were still behind, and only Yang Ting, the censor, and others were following him. Therefore, he was not in a hurry to convene a large court meeting and only said a few words in the Chongzheng Hall.

As soon as the ministers dispersed, he shouted loudly: "The King's Office! The King's Office!"

Zhao Hong shouted, stood up and ran down the steps quickly without waiting for anyone to come forward.

The tiara on his body was really cumbersome and dazzled in front of his eyes, which made him upset. Zhao Hong only ran a few steps and stopped. He tore off the tiara above his head with one hand. Without even turning around, he threw the tiara onto the throne with his backhand. He still kept running, opening his mouth to say something else as he ran, but when he saw the imperial guards and palace servants standing on the left and right, he thought about his identity, but he immediately shut up. When he went down the steps, he slowed down and tried his best to hold on. He turned around and walked quickly towards the back of the palace.

As soon as he came out of the palace, he opened his eyes and looked around, and saw the royal office behind the palace, leading a few yellow men to trot towards him in a hurry, and explained in a distant voice: "Your Majesty! Your Majesty. official……"

Zhao Hong looked happy and asked anxiously: "I...I saw my sister before, she..."

Only when he was halfway through his words, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a crowd gathering not far away from the hall, with stars holding the moon, and one of them sitting upright.

Zhao Hong had no time to look at what the man was wearing or what kind of headdress he was wearing. He only knew that the face was familiar yet unfamiliar, and it was the sister he thought about day and night.

After being separated for many days, even though there were people from the Imperial Guard on the left and right, as well as many civil and military officials, in Zhao Hong's eyes, he was no different from being alone. He was frightened and terrified all day long.

Seeing Zhao Mingzhi at this time, he hesitated for only half a breath, and his eyes turned red. He no longer cared about the majesty and etiquette that the emperor should have, and his steps became faster and faster. When he reached the back, he was already trotting in a hurry. .

Zhao Hong was small and thin, and the fur hat he wore didn't fit very well. There was a slight drag on the bottom, and he almost stepped on it twice, but he didn't care at all. He only shouted "Sister" and ran towards Zhao Mingzhi.

He didn't run very lightly, but rather stumbled like a wounded animal.

Zhao Mingzhi was afraid that his younger brother would be injured, so he rushed forward to greet him. He hugged him in his arms, and then raised his head to look at Wang Shu.

The latter was quite alert and immediately led a group of attendants out of the hall.

Zhao Mingzhi was hugged so tightly by his younger brother that it was difficult to get up, let alone squat down, so he had to stand with his waist down. Soon, his waist and abdomen became wet, soaking through his outer shirt, causing his skin to stick to the inner shirt.

She felt so sad that she only held her brother in her arms at first, and her eyes were filled with tears for a while.

As the palace door was closed from the outside, only the sister and brother were left in the house hugging each other and crying.

Zhao Hong buried his head for a long time and finally straightened up. His left hand was holding the hem of Zhao Mingzhi's clothes and refused to let go. His right hand was wiping his eyes, wiping his tears with the back of his hand, and looking around, as if he had done something wrong, sobbing and asking. Said: "Sister, I am still the emperor right now, so...should I take my status into consideration? I can't...can't cry in front of others, yell, tell them to laugh at me..."

Zhao Mingzhi was startled and lowered his head to look. He saw that his younger brother's face was small, and his cheeks were a little sunken compared to when they were separated in Caizhou. He was obviously still a young boy, talking and acting like a young adult. At this time, the two of them were My eyes were swollen, and tears kept flowing down, like an endless spring.

But after crying like this, he could only shrug his shoulders slightly, and except for the very slight sobs that couldn't be suppressed, there was almost no sound.

His brother cried like this and asked such questions, which made Zhao Mingzhi want to comfort him, but he didn't know how to answer.

If he was just "Zhao Hong", she would comfort him in every possible way. Because she knew her brother's temperament and character, she would not be worried at all even if he allowed him to do whatever he wanted.

It just so happened that he was no longer just "Zhao Hong" at this time.

Zhao Mingzhi felt really uncomfortable. For a long time, he just held the person in his arms, patted his shoulder gently, and whispered: "Don't be afraid...it doesn't matter..."

As soon as she said it, Zhao Hong shed more tears. Not only that, but after sobbing a few times, he couldn't help it anymore. He buried his head for a while and started crying loudly. He kept shouting "Sister" and "Sister".