Chapter 597 Return to Beijing
Two days later, the eleventh day of the first lunar month.
At dawn, martial law was imposed at the south gate of Daning Capital, and citizens were not allowed to enter or leave.
The city guards wearing yellow armor surrounded the city gates, making it impossible for anyone to get in or out. More than a hundred golden dragon flags fluttered in the wind, and the scene looked quite spectacular from a distance.
"Eunuch Li, how long will it take for Master Wei to arrive?"
Standing on the city wall, Ning Wenjun, dressed in a dragon robe, turned his head to look at Li Huaizhong who was standing beside him.
He did not call the old eunuch who had assisted three generations of emperors "Old Li" like Ning Yongnian did.
Li Huaizhong's attitude towards this new master was also slightly cold.
"Your Majesty, Lord Wei sent a message a quarter of an hour ago saying that he has arrived in Shanyang County. He should be arriving soon now."
"Um."
Ning Wenjun nodded, his eyes falling on a group of civil and military officials not far away, his expression somewhat complicated.
All the main officials of Daning, including the emperor, are here now.
And the person they were waiting for was just a thief who killed the prime minister.
Who could have imagined that in just two years, Daning would have undergone such tremendous changes. It is no exaggeration to say that it has been a complete transformation.
The mountains and rivers are broken and the wind blows the catkins; my life is ups and downs like duckweed in the rain.
Alas, in times of great contention, the ups and downs are truly unpredictable.
“.”
Ning Wenjun sighed in his heart and stopped talking. He just looked silently at the official road in the distance until a line of smoke and dust appeared in his sight.
"Is it them?"
"Return to the Emperor."
Li Huaizhong, who had a better eye, nodded slightly: "It is the Wei family's carriage."
"good."
Ning Wenjun shook his sleeves and took a deep breath.
"Let's go, follow me down the city wall."
"Let's go and welcome Master Wei."
"I, Wei Changtian, greet your majesty."
One stick of incense later, outside the South City Gate.
In the glow of the morning sun, Wei Changtian met the new emperor of Daning for the first time.
Strictly speaking, it was he who actually supported Ning Wenjun to come to power.
Therefore, Wei Changtian definitely would not have performed the kneeling ceremony, and he didn't even bend his waist, he just bowed his hands and left it at that.
Of course, Ning Wenjun would not be unhappy about this.
"Master Wei, Lord Wei, Madam, thank you for your hard work on the journey."
Smiling and nodding, Ning Wenjun's eyes swept over everyone in the Wei family, including Yang Liushi and Li Zimu, and finally fell on Wei Changtian.
The tall city gate behind him slowly opened with a rumbling sound.
Just like in ancient times, the city gates of Daning Capital also have a main gate and two side gates.
On weekdays, ordinary people could only enter and exit through the side gate, and only the army and the emperor could use the main gate.
But now that Ning Wenjun had the main gate opened, it was undoubtedly a public acknowledgement that Wei Changtian's status was not inferior to his.
"Master Wei, please."
Ning Wenjun slightly moved aside, and the civil and military officials behind him immediately moved to both sides of the road, leaving a passage large enough for several people to walk together.
"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your grace."
Although he said "thank you", Wei Changtian's expression remained calm.
He took a step forward and walked side by side with Ning Wenjun towards the already open city gate, followed by a group of palace maids and eunuchs holding various ceremonial objects.
Wei Xianzhi and his group followed slowly from a distance.
The calyx is light golden and the petals are evenly white.
The wind from heaven follows the emperor and blows all over the nine-layered city.
A solemn atmosphere enveloped the heaven and earth. At this moment, it seemed as if everyone was shorter than Ning Wenjun and Wei Changtian.
If the "opening of the main gate" just now was a roundabout way, then Ning Wenjun's invitation to Wei Changtian to enter the city together was directly confirming the latter's status with action.
I don’t know whether it’s in accordance with etiquette or not, but no one dares to say “no”.
Wei Changtian is probably the first "commoner" in history to walk side by side with the king of a country in public.
But in fact, for him, this was just a small scene.
What happened to the emperor? Not only did he kill an emperor himself, but the other empress also called him "master".
If this gets out, the whole world will probably be in an uproar. Shaking his head to stop these messy thoughts, Wei Changtian turned his head to look at Ning Wenjun who seemed a little nervous.
"His Majesty."
After a moment's silence, he withdrew his gaze and said calmly, "With a powerful enemy at hand, you don't need to mobilize so many troops."
"this."
Ning Wenjun obviously didn't expect Wei Changtian to say that, but he reacted quickly. After a moment of hesitation, he smiled and replied:
"You are right, sir. I will pay attention next time."
“.”
Good man, you are quite flexible. Are you also going to endure hardships?
"Your Majesty, you should understand what I mean."
He complained in his heart, but his face remained calm.
Wei Changtian turned his head to look at Ning Wenjun and said slowly: "Da Ning still belongs to the Ning family, not the Wei family."
"As the Emperor of Daning, you don't have to be so servile to me, and you don't have to worry that I will take away your Ning family's eternal foundation."
"If I really wanted to do that, you'd be dead by now, wouldn't you?"
“.”
The dragon robe trembled slightly. Wei Changtian's words without any preparation made Ning Wenjun pause, and the smile on his face became extremely forced.
Although he was supported by the Wei family to come to power, the Daning court is now basically controlled by the Tongzhou Club.
But which emperor would be willing to be a puppet all his life?
Therefore, Ning Wenjun must have a bigger plan, but he dare not show it now due to his weak strength.
But at this moment, Wei Changtian directly exposed his thoughts and seemed to be encouraging him to do so?
"Master Wei, I don't understand what you mean."
Ning Wenjun replied with some difficulty. His momentum was already much weaker than Wei Changtian's.
"If you don't understand, then you don't understand."
Wei Changtian glanced at the new emperor who was very different from Ning Yongnian in every aspect, and suddenly changed the subject.
"Your Majesty, I killed Ning Yongnian, do you hate me?"
“.”
"Sir, you are joking."
Ning Wenjun should have anticipated that Wei Changtian would say this and had already prepared an answer.
But the tense atmosphere at the moment still made his voice tremble a little.
"Your Highness, you have killed the evil king, which is a good deed to eliminate evil in the world. I, I am not grateful enough, so what else can I say?"
"But he is your father after all."
Staring into Ning Wenjun's eyes, Wei Changtian interrupted, "As the saying goes, the hatred for killing one's father is irreconcilable. Your Majesty, have you ever thought of taking revenge?"
“.”
In his original answer, Ning Wenjun should have said something like "killing relatives for the sake of justice" at this time.
However, when he saw Wei Changtian's eyes, he suddenly felt that these words were meaningless, so he did not say them after all.
For a moment, the scene fell into a brief silence, with only the distant sound of music echoing in the wind.
"His Majesty."
Not letting the silence last too long, Wei Changtian turned around and looked forward.
"Do you know what your father's last words were before he died?"
“.”
Ning Wenjun suddenly raised his head with an extremely complicated look.
And Wei Changtian quietly asked himself and answered himself in this gaze filled with various emotions:
"He begged me to protect Daning."
"I agree."
"So, Your Majesty, I will help you defend Liangzhou and repel the invading enemy."
"Before that, I don't want you to have any small thoughts. You can fight the enemy together with me."
"After the enemy is defeated."
"If you still want to seek revenge on me, I'm always here to help you."
“.”
The morning glow cast golden light, and Ning Wenjun's breathing became more rapid.
But when the two of them walked across the suspension bridge over the moat and entered the capital through the main gate, he gradually regained his composure.
"Okay, I understand."
The word "I" carried more weight than before, as if it was not until this moment that Ning Wenjun finally became the emperor of Da Ning.
(End of this chapter)
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