spend time

Chapter 472 Entering Beijing
"Princess, we have been walking for half a day, let's take a break!"

"No need to rest, keep going."

"If people can endure it, the war horses also need to rest for a while, eat some grass and drink some water. Otherwise, if we rush on this journey, these hundreds of horses will be exhausted by the time we reach the capital." Song Yuan continued to advise.

Jiang Shaohua was silent for a moment and asked everyone to dismount and rest for half an hour.

The guards were all tall and strong, and they could handle such an urgent journey. Chen Jinyu, Yin Zhu, Tu Bai and the other two were a little tired. They rode horses all day yesterday, and today they sat in the carriage. The war horses ran fast, and the team was left behind by nearly 20 miles. At this speed, the team will be at least two days late to arrive in the capital.

Jiang Shaohua had no intention of slowing down and waiting. After resting for half an hour, he rode away again.

She couldn't help but be anxious.

Counting the time, it has been nearly a month since Emperor Taihe fainted. The situation in the palace is unclear, and the court is tense. She wishes she could grow wings under her armpits and fly directly to Emperor Taihe's dragon bed.

Hurrying on the road in such a hurry, the horses swept past like the wind. Occasionally, people walking on the official road would hear the sound of the horses' feet from afar, and would quickly move to the side of the official road and look around.

"Who is this? Why is he traveling in such a big way?"

"Three horses for one person! This is too extravagant!"

"They haven't even put up their flags yet. With so many aristocratic families in Daliang, who knows where this group of people came from?"

"Wait! The leader is actually a young girl!"

The horses galloped, smoke and dust rose up, and it was impossible to see what the girl in the lead looked like. However, the power of the horse galloping was frightening.

Someone gasped, "It must be Princess Nanyang!"

There are many noble ladies in Daliang families, but few of them have so many elite soldiers and guards around them. Apart from Princess Baohua and the two princesses who have noble status in the palace, there is only Princess Nanyang.

In the past two years, the new grain in Nanyang County has been promoted rapidly, and five to six out of ten people in the north have started to grow the new grain. In addition, the reputation of Nanyang County Princess Jiang Shaohua, who prevented the plague and saved Pingzhou, has become well-known in the north.

The merchants walking together beside the pipeline all came from the relatively peaceful and prosperous south. They were no strangers to Princess Nanyang.

Everyone watched Princess Nanyang and her group go away until they disappeared, then they all sighed, "A girl can be so majestic and powerful. When men like us see her, we can only bow our heads and kneel in worship."

"A vassal king cannot leave his territory at will without an imperial decree. Where is Princess Nanyang going? She is not going to the capital, is she? I heard that in the past six months, several bigwigs in the capital have been fighting each other and have even fallen out with each other. Why is Princess Nanyang going to the capital instead of enjoying a comfortable life in Nanyang County?"

"Hey, it's not your or my turn to worry about this. We are going to Nanyang County to buy grain and plant fruit and vegetable seeds. Don't waste time, let's go!"

A few merchants joked with each other and then continued their journey together.

This is also a new trade route that has emerged in the past year. Merchants from the south go to the north to buy grain, fruit and vegetable seeds, and transport them to the south for sale. Because Nanyang County has a very high grain yield and a wide variety of fruit and vegetable seeds, many of which are new varieties that have never been seen in the south.

Merchants who saw the business opportunity came here smelling the scent of getting rich.

There is no need to go into details about these trivial matters.

Jiang Shaohua and his party were galloping along the way. If they missed the posthouse, they would camp outdoors. They were so aggressive that the refugees on the road avoided them from a distance and did not dare to provoke them.

After traveling like this for ten days, they arrived at the capital.

……

The moment the tall city gate came into view, Jiang Shaohua finally breathed a sigh of relief, tightened the reins, and asked everyone to rest on the spot. Song Yuan rode forward alone and negotiated with the gate guard.

Jiang Shaohua's eyes swept across and fell on the face of the guard at the city gate.

When he came to Beijing more than two years ago, the gate officer of this place was a member of the Zuo family. Later, Zuo Yue did something stupid and detained refugees who fled to the capital as rioters. After the incident, he was angrily reprimanded. However, with the strong protection of Prime Minister Wang, he was fined one year's salary and retained his official position.

Until this year, General Zuo was held accountable and Zuo Yue was also implicated. He was transferred to another place by the Ministry of War on the pretext of something.

The current city gate guard was a stranger. He put away his bad habit of taking bribes immediately after seeing the name card Song Yuan took out, saluted Jiang Shaohua respectfully, and turned around to shout to open the city gate.

Jiang Shaohua had no time or desire to greet a gate guard, so he jumped on his horse and rode into the city gate.

Many people actually knew about Emperor Taihe's fainting. However, the palace had issued a blockade order. Those who knew had to pretend they didn't know. Ordinary people had no idea that the sky above their heads was crumbling. Besides, the court disputes had nothing to do with them, and no matter how chaotic the outside world was, it would not reach the capital.

The streets are still bustling and lively, with people coming and going, everyone with a smile on their face.

Jiang Shaohua's anxious heart calmed down after seeing this scene. There were many people on the street, and the speed of riding horses slowed down.

"Is the princess going to the palace now?" Song Yuan asked in a low voice.

Jiang Shaohua thought for a moment and said, "I will go back to the palace first, submit the letter to the palace, and wait for the Empress Dowager to summon me."

No matter how anxious you are, you have to remain calm.

Song Yuan responded and turned to pass on the order. A group of personal guards followed their princess and rode all the way to the Nanyang Palace.

The Prince of Nanyang's Palace was quite close to the Imperial Palace, and it took the group half a day's walk to reach the palace.

An unexpected figure appeared outside the main gate of Nanyang Palace.

Song Yuan was a little surprised and quickly glanced at Jiang Shaohua: "Princess, it's Mr. Zheng."

Jiang Shaohua looked at the familiar figure of the young man from afar, and raised the corner of his mouth sarcastically: "I'm afraid that the Zheng family has received the news as soon as this princess entered the capital."

Otherwise, how could Zheng Chen come so quickly?

The handsome young man standing outside the palace, with his hands behind his back, looked at Jiang Shaohua on his horse from a distance.

After not seeing each other for more than two years, they have all grown up and have embarked on their own chosen paths. Unfortunately, the paths they chose were completely different, and they went in opposite directions after passing each other.

The 17-year-old boy was tall and long-legged, with a handsome face and outstanding demeanor, enough to make all the girls waiting to be married blush.

The girl on the horse looked haggard due to the haste of the journey, and her hair was ruffled by the wind. Her pair of dark eyes became sharper. When they looked at each other, anyone with a weak mind would be so pierced that they dared not raise their heads.

Jiang Shaohua, you finally broke your oath and came to the capital.

Now that you've come this time, stay forever and don't even think about leaving.

Zheng Chen bowed his hands slowly and said, "Your Highness, I am Zheng Chen. I greet the Princess of Nanyang. It has been more than two years since we last met. How is the Princess?"

Jiang Shaohua rode forward, and did not rush to dismount. He just sat high on the horse and looked down at Zheng Chen naturally: "Mr. Zheng, are you here to convey the Empress Dowager's oral instructions?"

……