Zhao Defang's road to the virtuous king

"What madam said is true." Defang took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, and continued, "After Taizu escaped from the capital, he ate and slept all the way. On that day, Emperor Taizu went to the outskirts of Quyang, sat on the side of the road and took out a dry food and water bag. Just as he was about to fill his stomach, he heard a cry for help coming from a little distance away. Emperor Taizu immediately got up and ran to that place, only to see a man covered in blood lying on the ground, surrounded by four men with knives. The man grabbed a woman and was about to do something absurd. The woman cried, but she was powerless to fight back. Seeing this, the Emperor Taizu yelled and stopped. The four men were stunned, and looked Taizu up and down. He knew that he didn't have any money from his desolate appearance, and then asked him not to mind his own business. The woman begged Taizu to save her, but was slapped by the thief. The stick knocked down one person, and the thieves saw it, and immediately raised their swords to chop off at Taizu, but they were no match for Emperor Taizu, and they died under Taizu's stick in just over 20 strokes. After asking, I found out that this woman was also surnamed Zhao, named Jingniang, and she was seventeen years old. She was originally from Yongji, and later moved to live in Wu'an with her parents. This trip was to visit relatives in Quyang with her father. On the road, he encountered bandits who robbed her property and even tried to do wrong things to her. Her father died under the sword of the bandits to protect her. Now that her father is dead, he is a weak woman who does not know how to return home. Taizu couldn't help but look at the crying Jingniang Feeling pity in my heart, thinking that there are more than a few thieves along the way in this troubled world, and it is thousands of miles away to return to Wu'an from here. If Jingniang turns back alone, there will be no accidents, so Emperor Taizu said to Jingniang He personally escorted her back to Wu'an, Jingniang thanked Taizu after hearing this, so Emperor Taizu cremated her father for Jingniang, and went to Wu'an with the ashes in her arms. They are called brothers and sisters. Along the way, Taizu took good care of Jingniang. The two often chatted and laughed. Taizu often talked about his ambitions. , During the journey of thousands of miles, Taizu saw the chaos everywhere and the people suffered. He was heartbroken and determined to join the army to quell the chaos and do something great. Emperor Taizu sent Jingniang to Wu'an's home. Jingniang's mother and daughter hugged each other and cried. The ancestor was going to leave that day, but Jingniang's mother and daughter stayed with her, saying that she would prepare a table of food and wine to thank her benefactor in the evening, so Taizu no longer refused, and decided to leave at dawn the next day. But it was difficult to sleep, so she went to her mother to tell her thoughts, Jingniang's mother was also grateful to Emperor Taizu, and wished her daughter had such a heroic and courageous husband, so in the early morning of the second day, Jingniang came to Linyuan dressed in plain clothes He went to Taizu to express his love, and was willing to entrust him with him for life. Taizu was very surprised when he heard this, so he said to Jingniang: "The good girl is not my glue stick, and she was originally a gift of loyalty. If it is an affair now." How is it different from those thieves? Besides, it is not for a gentleman to repay favors."

Concubine Di heard this and said, "Your Majesty, Taizu acted chivalrously, but Jingniang fell in love with her. It is not easy to express her love. If Taizu replied like this, Jingniang must be very sad, right?"

"Yes, Emperor Taizu is full of righteousness, with lofty ambitions, and no love for children." Defang sighed, "Jing Niang wept silently when she heard this, and Emperor Taizu comforted her for a long time, and decided not to stay longer. The Emperor Zu wrote a poem on the outer wall of Jingniang's house, Madam, do you know what the poem is?"