The Dongchen Kingdom is vast, with its capital in Lidu. Compared with Tianji, the imperial palace is full of exotic styles.
When Chu Xuan and his men led their troops to attack Lidu, the emperor had passed away, the crown prince had not yet ascended the throne, the fourth prince had died in battle, the royal family of Dongchen had either fled or surrendered, and the palace was in chaos.
Chu Xuan ordered his men to arrest all the outsiders and capture the prince alive. From then on, the Dongchen Rebellion came to an end.
Lu Yanluo followed Chu Xuan and slowly walked up to the highest city wall of Lidu. The two stood side by side, overlooking the entire Lidu.
Under the city wall, the people huddled in the corners, looking at the soldiers coming and going in panic.
Chu Xuan stared at it intently, feeling sorry for it: "When the country prospers, the people suffer; when the country perishes, the people suffer. This war ultimately left the people of Dongchen homeless and suffering."
Lu Yanluo was silent for a moment, then slowly spoke: "Since ancient times, the winners have always been kings and the losers have always been like this. Now that we have entered Lidu, we are treating the people with great kindness. On the contrary, if it was Wangjing that was captured today, I'm afraid there would be corpses everywhere by now. The suffering is only temporary. When they return home, everything will be fine."
Chu Xuan turned his head to look at Lu Yanluo, and there was only this person's figure in his dark eyes: "Ever since I was seriously injured and rescued by Wen Jie that day, you and I have been busy fighting one after another. It seems that we haven't had a good talk for a long time."
Lu Yanluo lowered her eyes and smiled: "What does Your Majesty want to say?"
Chu Xuan tightened his fingers and pursed his lips nervously: "I asked you that day, I have done a lot of wrong things in the past, can you forgive me? At that time, you didn't answer me in person, but I heard your voice. You said that as long as I am alive, you will forgive me."
Chu Xuan stared at Lu Yanluo closely: "A Luo, I survived, and now the war is over, can you tell me in person that you really forgive me, right?"
Lu Yanluo raised her eyes and suddenly met Chu Xuan's eyes, and remained silent for a long time.
A heavy atmosphere slowly spread between the two of them. In the silence, Chu Xuan's heart tightened.
Lu Yanluo stared at Chu Xuan. Past events came to her mind one after another and she still felt aggrieved.
No matter the cold treatment after the marriage or the harsh words afterwards, including the unexpected encounter when they were children, for Lu Yanluo, it was all the entanglement between Chu Xuan and the original owner.
Moreover, Chu Xuan has a noble status and has never suffered any hardship or suffering in this relationship. How can he compare to the suffering that "Lu Yanluo" once endured?
She was drugged on her wedding night and lost her virginity innocently. She was then thrown into Yunyayuan where no one cared about her. She suffered the pain of pregnancy alone, and finally died in an unclear manner.
Lu Yanluo didn't dare to easily say forgiveness to Chu Xuan on behalf of the former "Lu Yanluo", as she would feel that she was mistreating that poor woman.
Time passed little by little, and Lu Yanluo never spoke. Chu Xuan's little bit of expectation was gradually lost in the fierce wind.
After a long while, Lu Yanluo closed her head and left silently without saying a word of forgiveness.
On the city wall, Chu Xuan stood alone, distraught, his eyes following Lu Yanluo's departing back until he could no longer see her.
A sigh followed. He thought this was a chance between him and Lu Yanluo, but he never expected that after life and death, the wall separating the two of them was still there.
"Brother." Chu Chen walked up to the tower briskly, patted Chu Xuan on the shoulder, and said with a teasing look on his face: "What's wrong? Did you make my sister-in-law angry?"
When Chu Xuan saw his nonsensical brother, he snorted and didn't want to waste his breath talking to him.
Chu Chen seemed not to notice his brother's disdain. He turned around and leaned against the city wall, mocking Chu Xuan: "Tsk tsk tsk, our great Tianji Kingdom's Night King, the invincible general, never thought that one day he would suffer a setback."
“Chu Chen, I think you are a little itchy.” Chu Xuan raised his hand and was about to hit someone. Seeing this, Chu Chen screamed: “Sister-in-law! My brother is going to hit someone!”
Although he knew that Lu Yanluo had already left, Chu Xuan still rebuked Chu Chen fiercely and signaled him to shut up.
Chu Chen dodged with a wry smile and looked at Chu Xuan with a grin: "Brother, I found that my sister-in-law is a good person. You have to hurry up and don't let her run away."
The two brothers walked side by side, talking and laughing as they briskly walked down the city wall.
After the army had rested for ten days, the special envoy from the capital finally arrived in Lidu with an imperial edict to reward the three armies.
"Your Highness." The eunuch said in a flattering voice, "Your Majesty has ordered His Highness the Night King to lead his troops back to the capital immediately. Your Majesty is waiting for His Highness the Night King outside the Xuande Gate."
The emperor was anxious. The Dongchen Rebellion had been put down, but Chu Xuan had not returned to the capital yet, and he still held most of Tianji's military forces in his hands. If Chu Xuan rebelled at this moment, no one would be able to stop him.
Chu Xuan understood the emperor's plan very well. The army had not yet returned to the capital, so the talk of rewarding the troops was nothing more than sending people to monitor him.
I am afraid that after returning to Beijing, the first thing the emperor will do is to take back the military power.
Chu Xuan sneered in his heart: "My father has given the order, so I will obey it and return to the capital immediately!"
It took the army twenty days to travel from the capital to Zhongzhou. This time, they not only escorted the royal family of Dongchen, but also brought back boxes of gold, silver and jewelry from Dongchen. They stopped and walked along the way, and it took a full month and a half for Chu Xuan and Lu Yanluo to return to Wangjing City again.
Outside the Xuande Gate, the emperor and all the cabinet ministers stood there, watching Chu Xuan and the countless soldiers behind him getting closer and closer.
There was no joy of victory in the emperor's eyes, but rather a meaningful look.
He saw the figure of Emperor Taizu in Chu Xuan, which made him very unhappy. The scene of Chu Xuan killing Concubine Lin that day appeared in his mind again.
After a moment, Chu Xuan swiftly dismounted from his horse and handed his sword to the eunuch waiting beside him in front of everyone.
He knelt respectfully before the emperor and said loudly: "Long live the emperor. Long live the emperor. I have fulfilled the emperor's orders and conquered Dongchen. Today I come to report to your majesty and return the tiger talisman."
Although the emperor was afraid of Chu Xuan, he had to show an eager smile in front of his son who had just returned victorious in public: "My son, get up quickly! God bless our Tianji. This battle is a victory, and I will definitely reward all the soldiers according to their merits!"
Everyone knelt down in unison and said, "Long live the emperor!"
After welcoming back the returning soldiers, the emperor announced that he would return to the palace.
In the imperial study, the emperor looked at Chu Xuan who was standing respectfully below him, and spoke slowly: "This time you led the troops to fight and resolved the crisis in the northern border, which is a great achievement, but the matter of you killing Concubine Lin has not been settled yet. Considering the relationship between you and me as father and son, I will consider your merits and demerits to be offset. This time, I will neither punish you nor reward you. Are you willing?"
Chu Xuan sneered in his heart, lifted his robe and knelt down: "I, your son, thank you, father."