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◎Ginger soup for the soldiers, winter robe for Zhang Su◎

After staying in Wuwei for three days, the emperor was about to set off on September 17th.

However, Emperor Xingwu did not plan to return to the capital directly. Instead, he planned to take this opportunity to travel east from Wuwei to Jizhou and inspect the important cities in the north along the way.

Before setting off, Emperor Xingwu ordered Meng Ji, Marquis of Wuwei, to be the new general of Liangzhou, Ge Dayong to be the deputy general of Liangzhou, and the former deputy general of Liangzhou, Hou Wanzhong, to be promoted to the first-rank commander of the Southern Camp. He would accompany the emperor on a border patrol before going to Beijing to take up his post.

Furthermore, 30,000 imperial soldiers had perished in the campaign against the Hu. Border troops needed to maintain their strength, so Emperor Xingwu selected soldiers from the imperial army he had brought with him to supplement the 100,000-man Liangzhou border force. With the remaining imperial troops, Emperor Xingwu would accompany him on patrols along the border with 10,000 cavalry. General Cao Guang would lead nearly 60,000 infantry back to the capital along the same route. Cao Guang would also escort a dozen captive Western Hu generals, including Bormu, to the capital, awaiting the arrival of envoys from the Western Hu royal court for peace talks.

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In late October, when the imperial carriage arrived outside Datong City in Jinzhou, it was hit by a strong northwest wind. Qingyang, lying on the imperial carriage pulled by six horses, could feel the body of the carriage shaking from time to time. It was not an ordinary bump, but a large movement caused by the horses being blown off the main road by the wind and then being whipped back by the coachman.

The wind blew in through the gaps, causing Qingyang to shrink back into the quilt. He then looked at his father worriedly.

Emperor Xingwu wore a blue silk robe with a dragon pattern, lined with mink fur and a layer of cotton in the middle. Although the imperial carriage could not withstand such a strong wind and the charcoal basin in the carriage seemed to be of little use, Emperor Xingwu did not feel cold at all. He leaned his upper body against the edge of the couch, stretched out his long legs, and flipped through the important memorials sent from the capital in his hand.

Hearing his daughter lower her head, Emperor Xingwu looked back and said with a smile, "Do you regret it now?"

Qingyang: "No regrets, I like being with my father, and he promised to take me on a tour of the country."

Emperor Xingwu said: "Yes, yes, Father, I will definitely do what you promised. This year, we will first inspect the north, and then inspect the south when we have time in a few years."

The carriage shook again. Qingyang was a little worried about his three brothers, who were ordered by their father to ride on horses and follow outside, especially his fourteen-year-old third brother. "Father, let my eldest brother and the others get on the carriage to avoid the wind. They don't train like the soldiers all year round, so they shouldn't catch a cold."

Emperor Xingwu said: "No, we'll be in the city in just a dozen miles."

Qingyang couldn't persuade her, so he sat up wrapped in a quilt and read the letter his mother had sent her along with the memorials. In addition to the letter, his mother also gave her four sets of winter clothes, ranging from silk quilted socks to fox fur cloaks and mink coats, for fear that she would be cold.

Emperor Xingwu glanced at the letter in his daughter's hand, not wanting to read it anymore. He said, "Read it out loud. I'll listen to it too."

Qingyang was puzzled: "Hasn't Father seen it?"

Emperor Xingwu: "You've seen it before, why do you want to see it a second time?"

Qingyang: "I miss my mother...it turns out that my father misses her too."

The little princess learned to smile mischievously, and Emperor Xingwu looked indifferent, thinking that he must miss Concubine Li more than his daughter. Unfortunately, Concubine Li was not understanding of romance. She neither wrote to him nor sent him clothes separately. The winter clothes he and his three sons received were all new winter clothes made by the Shangyi Bureau this year, and sent by the imperial concubine.

They read letters and discussed memorials, and then chatted for a while. More than ten miles passed in the low conversation between the father and daughter. All the civil and military officials of Datong went out of the city to welcome the emperor. When the carriage door opened, Qingyang sat neatly in clothes beside her father. She saw a group of officials kneeling outside, and one of them quickly pressed down the official hat on his head.

The wind was too strong, so Emperor Xingwu showed up and then asked his ministers to go back to their duties, and then go to the official post station to meet him at noon.

The Datong official post station, which was usually used to receive visiting officials, had already made preparations to receive the emperor. The guards sent by Fan Zhong were on guard in advance. The imperial carriage first stopped in front of the main gate of the official post station. Emperor Xingwu tied a cloak and put on the hood for his daughter, and wanted to carry his daughter in person to prevent her from being blown by the wind.

Qingyang: "I'm not cold, I want to see my brother and the others."

Only then did Emperor Xingwu put his daughter on the ground.

Qingyang held on to the bottom edge of his hood, which could be blown off by the wind at any time, and looked behind him. He saw that his eldest brother, second brother, and third brother who were walking towards him had their faces blown white, and the third brother's eyes and nose were a little red.

Emperor Xingwu also noticed this and ordered He Yuanjing: "Tell the kitchen to prepare a pot of ginger soup and send a bowl to each prince and princess."

Qingyang glanced at the soldiers behind the imperial carriage who were also blown by the wind, tugged at his father's sleeve, and whispered something in his father's ear when he lowered his head.

Emperor Xingwu laughed and teased his daughter: "You are kind-hearted, but who will pay for so much ginger?"

Qingyang: "...a pound of ginger costs five coins, which can make about fifty bowls of ginger soup. Ten thousand soldiers only need two hundred pounds of ginger, which is one thousand coins. Father, just give the order. I will give you one ounce of silver after I get the purse."

The three Qin Hong brothers, who were a little far away, saw their sister say something to their father, and their father threw his head back and laughed loudly. He laughed so hard that he choked on the wind and then turned his head to stop.

Qin Hong was both envious and sad. It seemed that he had never been able to make his father laugh so happily because of him.

Qin Bing wanted to know what joke his sister told. Just as he was about to speak, the third brother came up from behind and used him to shield the wind tremblingly.

Fortunately, Emperor Xingwu did not linger at the door for too long and took his daughter in first.

Everyone went to their own rooms to rest first. This time, Emperor Xingwu got a courtyard of his own, and the four brothers and sisters lived in the courtyard next door. Qin Hong still lived in the upper room, Qin Bing and Qin Ren lived in the east wing, and the little princess lived alone in the west wing.

The official post station had limited space, so Prince Qin Liang, the Prince Consort Fu Kui, and Zhang Su lived in another courtyard, while Deng Kun lived with his father Deng Chong.

The ginger soup they were given was prepared by the government post and was cooked and delivered quickly.

The 10,000 cavalrymen were all scattered in the four camps of Datong City. After traveling for such a long time against the wind, the soldiers went into the barracks and refused to go out. They either put their sleeves in and stamped their feet to keep warm, or got into bed early to keep warm, and then got up to chat after they recovered.

As they were chatting, someone came from the kitchen to tell the brothers who were accompanying him to go to the kitchen to drink ginger soup.

The soldiers were very happy: "In the past, during the cold winter, we could only drink ginger soup occasionally. Now life is so good, even when we are patrolling the border to protect the emperor, we can drink ginger soup."

"In order to please the Emperor, Datong is even giving us special care?"

The big man who was ladling soup for the soldiers heard this and laughed, "No, we just received the ginger too. It seems that Princess Qingyang was worried that you would catch a cold from the wind all the way, so she asked the emperor for this favor for you."

The cavalrymen of the Beijing Camp immediately expressed their gratitude to Princess Qingyang. After expressing their gratitude, they naturally brought up the stories they knew about her. For example, some saw Princess Qingyang chatting with the soldiers guarding the camp in a friendly manner, some saw Princess Qingyang's eyes turn red when she comforted the wounded soldiers in Wuwei, and some saw Princess Qingyang helping to clean the wound of a soldier who couldn't wait for a military doctor...

The husband, who seemed to be listening to a story, suddenly interrupted and said, "Princess Qingyang is only nine years old, right? Can she clean wounds?"

The people of Da Qi may not know how many princes the current emperor has and how old they are, but they have all heard that the emperor received the auspicious sign of a noble princess being given by heaven on the day he ascended the throne. So as long as they know that this year is the year of Xingwu, they will know how old the little princess is. The difference is at most a difference in her age in lunar years or lunar years.

Jing Bing: "Of course, our princess was awarded a golden waist badge by the emperor when she was three years old, which allowed her to walk freely in the front court. The princess learned the skills of cleaning and bandaging wounds in the Imperial Hospital."

"Not only that, the princess can also ride a horse and shoot arrows, and I heard she has also learned swordsmanship."

"Oh, that's really impressive! I'm not good at riding a horse, shooting arrows, or using a sword or a gun, so I can only be a cook."

.

Datong is an important border town, and Emperor Xingwu will stay in Datong for three nights.

After a long journey, Qingyang slept very soundly on the first night and woke up at almost noon. The little princess, who was used to getting up at dawn in the palace, rarely slept so long.

After washing up, Qingyang Sui waited for her eldest brother to pay his respects to the emperor, and let her second and third brothers go to sleep.

Emperor Xingwu was too lazy to argue with his second and third sons about getting up, so the three of them went straight to have breakfast. When they were almost done, Fu'an came in in a panic, saying that the third prince had a burn on his forehead and suspected he had caught a cold.

Emperor Xingwu immediately sent for the imperial physician, and then took the crown prince and the little princess to the next courtyard.

There were two bedrooms in the east wing. When the father and his two sons arrived, Qin Bing had already put on his clothes and was guarding Qin Ren's kang.

Qin Ren was awake. Seeing his father, brother, and sister, he forced a smile and said, "I'm fine. I'll be fine after a little more sleep."

Qingyang touched his third brother's forehead with heartache.

Emperor Xingwu wanted to dislike the spoiled son of his third son, but he was also worried that his spoiled son would become seriously ill. In the end, he just said, "Alright, you can sleep as long as you want while you recover. I won't scold you."

Qin Ren smiled more sincerely.

The imperial physician came hurriedly, and after a comprehensive examination, he said it was probably just a common cold and prescribed a medicine.

Emperor Xingwu took the two older children away, and the little princess insisted on staying to accompany her third brother.

"When we set off again, I will tell our father to let my third brother ride in the same car with me." Qingyang comforted his third brother.

Qin Ren could only whisper to his sister, "Actually, I'd rather go directly back to Beijing from Datong than go to Jizhou."

Qingyang: “…”

Fuan brought over breakfast, followed by Zhang Su who came to visit after hearing the news.

Qin Ren sat against the head of the kang, his weak posture seemed to make him unable to eat by himself, so Fu An stood by the kang with a bowl and fed his master one spoonful at a time.

Qingyang watched for a moment, then turned to look at Zhang Su. Seeing that he was wearing the same cotton-padded battle robe as the other soldiers, he frowned and said, "Didn't the emperor reward you with two robes? Why aren't you wearing them?"

The warm robes that my father awarded to Zhang Su and other noble sons were silk robes with fox fur linings, which were better at keeping out the cold than cotton robes.

Zhang Su: "...Your Highness, I was walking in the official post station and didn't feel cold."

Qin Ren swallowed his porridge and revealed his true identity: "You didn't wear it during the march either."

The little princess immediately widened her eyes.

Zhang Su: "...The wind and sand in the north are too strong. I cannot bear to ruin the robe given by the emperor."

Qingyang: "Stop quibbling. I know you don't like to be seen. You want to share the hardships with the soldiers who follow you."

Zhang Su lowered his eyes.

Qingyang could send ginger soup to the soldiers to keep them warm, but fur winter clothes were too expensive. Even though she was a princess, she could not afford to send them to all the soldiers, including her father.

After the third brother fell asleep, Qingyang sent Fu'an to Zhang Su's room to get his two imperial robes, and then asked the skillful Qinfang to help alter them into coarse cloth. This would keep Zhang Su warm and not make him stand out among the soldiers in coarse cloth robes.

After the robe was finished, it was still sent to Zhang Su by Fu'an.

Zhang Su: "...I'd like to ask the eunuch to thank the Third Prince on my behalf."

Fuan: “…”

Really, who are they to each other? They are even playing dumb with him!

【Author’s words】

Here I come, 100 little red envelopes, see you tomorrow~

P.S.: I sorted out the timeline this afternoon. It is expected that the little princess will enter her teenage years around the Dragon Boat Festival. Don’t worry, all changes will happen naturally.