My Chinese ancestors

Chapter 694 The Last Late Autumn
The Western Expedition Army returned, with the vanguard entering Yanjing and the rear troops still in the Western Rong grasslands.

However, right now, inside and outside Yanjing, or the entire Yanzhou, is in an extremely lively atmosphere on this day.

The streets and alleys were filled with people. The food vendors watched the food in the steamers and pots dwindle away, and their faces were so smiling that they could hardly return to their original state.

There were still many people crowding the streets from other directions of the city, and the already hot autumn weather was getting even hotter.

The crowd was crowded with figures, and each head was looking up, staring at the direction of the South City Gate.

"When are we going into town?"

"It should be soon. The civil and military officials as well as the Queen and the Crown Prince are outside the city. Your Majesty will definitely have a few words to say when he returns."

"I heard that we also lost many soldiers."

"There are always casualties in war... Alas, I just don't know whose family will hang the white flag."

"But, being able to kill the emperor of the Western barbarians means my death was not in vain."

"That's what I thought."

The northern capital is the military and political center, but it has not reached its limit. The vast land is still the basis for the expansion of the city.

In the next ten years or so, it will probably surpass the giant cities of Luyang in the Central Plains and Shengkang in Wuzhou.

After the development of Zhuge Liang, Xun Yu, and now Di Renjie, Yanzhou in the north has surpassed the two giant cities in terms of trade and population in the nearly three years since Su Chen was away.

The prosperous trade boosted the business of the North, and a large number of shops, restaurants, taverns, and workshops outside the city expanded at an alarming rate.

By the time the news of the triumphant return of the Western Expedition spread three days in advance, almost everyone in the city was in action before dawn today.

The newly appointed Jingzhao Yin Zhao Sutang sent all the 1,000 police officers and constables from the government office to the streets to maintain order, and even transferred a group of people from the Ministry of Justice to help.

Only then was the streets in the south of the city kept somewhat orderly.

However, one or two thousand yamen runners and constables were still not enough in the face of the huge crowds.

As a capital of a country, there is never a shortage of wealthy families and dignitaries. Family members would send servants early on to book private rooms in restaurants and teahouses on both sides of the streets in the south of the city.

The host would then invite a few friendly guests, boil a pot of wine, or make a pot of tea, and chat with friends about some rare things in the West that they had heard from others.

……

Compared with the noisy streets in the city, outside the south city gate, armies were rising and falling, converging along the official road from Longyang County.

The soldiers and horses that arrived at the city gate made way for the souls of the fallen heroes, allowing their comrades holding the urns to go first into the city, then go out of the east gate to the Fengbei Forest to hand them over to their families, and then their names were carved one by one in the Fengbei Forest for worship.

The people in the city first shouted: "Enter the city!!"

Soon after, the noise subsided again, and countless figures and eyes fell on the urn in the arms of the soldier with armor stained with knife marks.

The last time the emperor returned victorious from his expedition against the Japanese pirates in the East China Sea, he also let the bodies of the fallen soldiers go first.

This time, the line of people holding urns was very long, and they entered from the south gate in three columns. We couldn't see the end of the line even after passing several streets.

In the silence, there was a sudden buzzing noise.

"How many soldiers died?"

"At least fifty or sixty thousand?"

"Nonsense! Your Majesty has five elite divisions with only a little over 100,000 men. If 50,000 or 60,000 of them are killed, how powerful would the Western bandits be?"

"Perhaps Your Majesty has included the Western Rong people, the Shengnu people, the Qiang people from Xiliang, and the Yue soldiers from the south."

"If some soldiers from each tribe died, we could make up this number. Otherwise, if they were all elite soldiers, we wouldn't be able to fight this battle."

After a while, the team carrying the coffin walked away in silence. Amid the noisy murmurs, the people on the street heard the sound of orderly and heavy footsteps coming from the street other than the city gate.

The sun is pouring down.

Countless gazes intertwined, a black tide surged into the city and spread across the streets.

It was a team of three rows like a long dragon. With their heavy footsteps, the armor leaves made a clashing sound under their fur coats.

The armies of Bingzhou, Yizhou, Qingzhou, Youyan, Tang and Qin, wearing different armors, carrying shields, with ring-handled swords hanging from their waists, the soldiers looked straight ahead with solemn expressions, walking straight towards the imperial city out of the sight of the people.

After experiencing the non-stop fighting in the West, every soldier was filled with murderous aura, which made it difficult for the civilians watching the excitement to breathe.

There were also those who were not afraid. A young girl waved at the soldier who was about to approach her in the crowd and said, "Brother! Take a leave and go home tomorrow. Mother has made some delicious food for you!"

In the team, the young soldier who always looked straight ahead couldn't help but glance sideways. When he saw the girl shouting at him, the corner of his mouth couldn't help but curl up.

The number of soldiers entering the city was less than a battalion, and the rest of the soldiers returned to the barracks to rest. They even gave quick leave to some soldiers in special circumstances, such as a young couple who had been separated for a long time.

Others will be granted leave one after another after the previous ones come back, allowing the soldiers to take turns going home to visit their families.

Soon, the carriage entered the imperial city. Su Chen suddenly stopped the soldier driving the carriage and asked it to stop. Under the puzzled gaze of the Queen, Su Chen walked out and asked Wu Zixun to pass a message to the soldiers following behind.

"The court meeting will be held in three days. Everyone go back and have a good rest."

"I also need to rest for a few days." Su Chen turned around and said to Su Chen who was about to follow him into the palace: "Chen'er doesn't need to come with me."

Su Chen glanced at his mother and bowed politely. He wanted to inform his father about the capture of the rebels, to get his father's praise, and to recommend General Yue to his father. Unfortunately, his father must have been tired after nearly three years of fighting.

"Yes, father. I'll take my leave first." Even though he was young, he had people like Yue Fei and Xun Yu to teach him, and considering the previous attack, Su Chen had obviously matured a lot, like a little adult.

The generals behind him naturally understood that Su Chen was also a human being and needed to have some intimacy with the person next to him.

They smiled, bowed and said goodbye, then left in groups. Some went straight to the restaurant, while more returned to their own residences.

The Xiang Mansion in the city was quiet and pleasant. The hot sunlight passed through the window lattices and shone into the room through the gaps.

Amid the annoying chirping of cicadas, Yu Ji hummed a southern tune and fanned a two-year-old child in the cradle with a palm-leaf fan.

Suddenly, a maidservant's voice rang out from outside: "Madam, the general is back."

The hand that was fanning the palm-leaf fan trembled, and Yu Ji slowly stood up. The fan also fell to her feet unconsciously. She reacted, lifted her skirt slightly and walked out of the bedroom quickly.

She stood under the eaves, staring blankly ahead.

At the crescent-shaped gate leading to the backyard, a familiar figure with a bun, holding a city-breaking halberd, and leading a black horse was grinning at her.

Yu Ji raised the back of her hand to wipe the tears that slid down her cheeks, then laughed along with the man and said in a choked voice, "My king... you rode the black horse into the backyard again."

As gentle as it was at the beginning.

……

The atmosphere in Yanbo Tower was weird. Several young ladies turned pale with fright and were then driven out of the room.

"Women are better at home, don't get involved with women outside. Come on, let's drink first!"

Zhang Fei pulled Guo Jia and called Li Bai to rush into the nearest restaurant, drove away the prostitutes they had called, and asked the brothel owner to send ten jars of good wine.

The miserable Li Bai and Guo Jia could only keep drinking for them by the black man in front of them.

"Who comes to a brothel just to drink?"

The madam complained in her heart but didn't dare to say it out loud.

……

On the long street, Zhao Yun and Guan Yu returned to their mansions respectively. Zhao Yun was a clean and honest man. There were not many servants in his house, and there were not many luxurious decorations in the mansion. Only his wife in the backyard had a dressing table made of the finest wood.

When he pushed open the door of the bedroom, a figure rushed towards him, put his arms around Zhao Yun's neck, and hung his whole body on him.

Another good fight!
……

At Lu's residence, Lu Bu asked his wife to take off his armor, happily picked up his son, called Lu Lingqi who was sitting on the guardrail swinging her feet, and then took Yan's hand.

"Come on, I will take you to the street to watch the Western Expedition Army enter the city!"

Lu Lingqi made a face on the guardrail: "We have followed our mother and seen..." Before she finished speaking, she suddenly jumped to the ground, took her mother's arm, and pushed Yan to her father's side: "My daughter will stay at home to take care of my brother, mother, you and father can go out for a walk."

"Ghost clever!"

The general who had killed many people on the battlefield smiled gently at this moment, and even tapped Lu Lingqi on the forehead. However, afterwards, the family walked out of the house neatly and took a carriage to the most prosperous West Market in Yanjing for shopping. It was said that there would be a lantern festival there at night.

……

The back garden of the palace.

Li Wangqiu held a handkerchief in her hand and walked back and forth outside her junior sister's queen's bedroom countless times. It was not certain how deep her feelings for Su Chen were, but she definitely missed men.

The noise in the bedroom is a little quiet, I don’t know what’s going on.

So she became even more anxious.

Occasionally, a few cool breezes blew in the corridor, squeezing through the gaps in the slightly closed window frames, and in the room, the quiet candlelight swayed gently.

Fang Xuejun took off her cumbersome phoenix robe, took the warm water from the palace maid, and gently placed the basin beside the bed. She blinked her eyelashes as she looked at the man lying on the dragon bed with his eyes closed.

Then she wrung out the towel and wiped his face, neck, and hands. She then gently took off his boots and washed Su Chen's feet.

These were supposed to be done by the palace maids, but Fang Xuejun didn't let them do it.

After doing all this, she also took a pair of small scissors to trim the messy beard of her sleeping husband.

Occasionally, the soft white hands paused. Fang Xuejun stared blankly for a while, then gently pulled out a few white hairs from his beard.

She trimmed her husband's beard and hair, and there were already a lot of white hair and beard in her hands. For some reason, Fang Xuejun felt a little sour in her nose.

"Your Majesty, do you have to do everything yourself? Do you have to do it all by yourself? It must be very hard to fight outside..."

Looking at the emperor's armor thrown on the ground, he touched the marks of sword and knife on it with his fingers, his lips trembled slightly, and tears fell on the armor leaves.

Su Chen was lying on the dragon bed, having already fallen into a deep sleep from exhaustion.

Know...know...

Outside the window, the withered yellow cypress leaves are falling off the branches. This is the last late autumn.

(End of this chapter)