The chief eunuch quickly removed the outer silver gauze lampshade and carefully trimmed the wick with scissors.
Chu Yi stretched out his fingers to tease the parrot twice before continuing, "I remember Gu Ce. I met him several times in the palace when I was a child. Gu Ce was a man who would rather break than bend."
When Gu Ce was alive, he was stationed in Yangzhou all year round and only returned to Beijing to meet the emperor during court visits and to report on his work.
When Chu Yi was six years old, he met Gu Ce for the first time. At that time, Gu Ce was in his early twenties, with a face as beautiful as jade and a cool and elegant demeanor.
A young eunuch said with emotion in Chu Yi's ear that everyone in the world praised Gu Ce as "white as snow on the mountains, bright as the moon between clouds", which was really true.
At that time, the Seventh Prince's uncle was shooting arrows in the palace. The arrow missed and almost hit him. Gu Ce caught the stray arrow and only shot off a few strands of Chu Yi's hair.
If Gu Ce had not taken action, the arrow would not have been fatal, but it would have scratched Chu Yi's face.
The Seventh Uncle felt no guilt at all. He even said that he had heard that Gu Ce was the best archer in the world and could shoot an arrow through a willow tree from 200 steps away. He asked Gu Ce to shoot an arrow for him to see.
The late emperor ordered Gu Ce to shoot arrows. Gu Ce offered to blindfold himself, but one arrow shot at the seventh uncle, also shooting off a few strands of his hair.
The late emperor was furious, but he could do nothing about Gu Ce, because the arrow that Gu Ce shot with his eyes blindfolded almost hit the target from 300 steps away, which drew cheers from the whole hall. Everyone praised him and congratulated the late emperor for having such a good general.
With thousands of people united in this scene, even the late emperor found it difficult to punish Gu Ce.
Chu Yi remembered what happened when he was six years old, and he also remembered what happened when he was ten years old.
When he was ten years old, the State of Yue invaded. The previous emperor wanted to negotiate peace with the State of Yue. Someone in the court proposed to send a hostage to the State of Yue to show sincerity.
Even though Chu Yi was young at the time, he knew that the hostage sent to the State of Yue would be him, so he was very concerned about the war situation between the two countries at that time.
At that time, Duke Wei and other nobles such as Gu Ce all advocated war, but Gu Ce surrendered to the Kingdom of Yue without waiting for reinforcements. The Kingdom of Yue occupied Yangzhou and was quite unstoppable.
The pro-war factions, such as the Duke of Weiguo, were slapped in the face by this. The aristocratic families headed by the Yuan family and the Wang family became even more arrogant, and they also pulled a group of fence-sitters to the pro-peace camp.
The peace faction thus gained the upper hand.
Duke Weiguo and his men were ultimately outnumbered and could only watch helplessly as the late emperor issued an order to negotiate peace.
After that, the late emperor formally proposed peace talks with the Kingdom of Yue, compensated the Kingdom of Yue with 10,000 taels of gold, 20,000 fine horses, and the Huangshui Ocean area east of Dajing's territory, and sent him to the Kingdom of Yue as a hostage.
Before that battle, the national strength of Dajing and Yue was comparable, and they were evenly matched. After this battle, Dajing fell into a disadvantage.
And he was gone for a full eight years.
Whether it was at that time or in the following eight years, he had repeatedly pondered the "Battle of Yangzhou" in the dead of night...
Chu Yi didn't move for a long time, he lowered his eyes and stared at the two words "Gu Ce" on the memorial.
The candlelight next to him reflected in his dark pupils, flashing an unknown light.
"Chirp?" The colorful parrot was unwilling to be lonely. When Chu Yi didn't move, it took the initiative to rub its cheek against his hand.
Chu Yi's thick and long eyelashes trembled. Looking at the lively and noisy little guy under his finger, he suddenly thought of Gu Yanfei's cat named Qingguang who had rubbed against him in the same way.
His fingers moved again, touching the parrot's small, soft head, gently, just like he had teased the kitten that day.
The emperor watched this scene with great interest. He didn't expect that his son actually liked playing with birds.
"Father, let's do as Gu Jian wishes." Chu Yi suddenly said meaningfully.
"All is up to you!" the emperor said without a second thought, his smile kind and indulgent.
After trimming the wick, the eunuch put the silver gauze lampshade back on, not surprised at the emperor's attitude.
The emperor was always easy to talk to when facing the eldest prince. As long as the eldest prince said something, the emperor would agree. He just wanted to hand the world over to the eldest prince immediately.
If it weren't for the strong opposition from more than half of the ministers in the court, the emperor would have appointed a crown prince long ago.
Occasionally, the emperor would say to himself with emotion that he just wanted to be an idle emperor who played with birds and walked dogs.
Chu Yi smiled slightly and said, "I want to go to the Ministry of War."
This time, before the emperor could speak, the parrot mimicked the emperor's words again: "I'll listen to you!"
The parrot's call was still as loud and clear as ever, making Chu Yi chuckle. Even the emperor laughed out loud after a moment of daze.
Since Chu Yi returned to Beijing in October, the emperor had told him that he could choose any of the six ministries and go wherever he wanted to gain experience. But Chu Yi had never agreed and it was not until now that it was decided.
The emperor was in a good mood and personally fed the colorful parrot some colorful millet.
When the parrot has something to eat, it becomes quiet, and its head moves as it pecks at the food.
Chu Yi looked at it eating and thought: Since she likes the cat, she should like the parrot too...
As he was thinking, he heard the emperor's gentle voice: "Chuyi, do you want to raise a parrot?"
Chu Yi stared at the parrot for a while, and finally shook his head.
Not suitable.
A parrot in a cage is not for her.
Thinking of that elegant and free-spirited girl, the corners of Chu Yi's lips curled up, and his black jade eyes brightened a little.
Thinking of this, the emperor's heart moved, he put his fist to his lips, cleared his throat and said: "Chuyi, although Chu You is your uncle, he is about the same age as you, and his marriage is already arranged..."
"You are eighteen, not young anymore. Do you have any girl you like?"
The emperor leaned forward and looked at Chu Yi with burning eyes, wishing he would give a name right now.
The chief eunuch had no doubt that as long as the eldest prince could give a name, the emperor would be able to write an imperial decree to grant the marriage right away.
"..." Chu Yi's eyelashes fluttered gently twice, and a charming smile appeared on her lips, which was set off by her sparkling eyes, so beautiful that it made people's heart palpitate.
He said nothing, but clenched his right fist and knocked lightly on the imperial desk, meaning that the emperor could write the note.
"Okay, okay." The emperor naturally understood the meaning of his son's action, and he kept saying it, with a hint of joy in his eyes and eyebrows.
“Okay, okay!”
Amid the parrot's repetitive and noisy cries, the chief eunuch took the emperor's note and went out to the Ministry of War in person.
Since the emperor had given the order personally, the Ministry of War naturally did not dare to neglect it and immediately issued a new transfer order.
So, that night, Gu Yuan received the transfer order from the Ministry of War.
He was transferred from the Shenjiying to the Luanyiwei, and was promoted to the fourth-rank pacification envoy.
Being a royal guard is definitely an honorable job. Being close to the emperor, they are responsible for the emperor's travel ceremonials and protection. It can be seen how heavy the responsibility is.
Moreover, this time Gu Yuan was promoted from the fifth rank to the fourth rank. This level is extremely critical, which is equivalent to crossing the distance from "soldier" to "general" at once.
This is a great joyous event for everyone.
However, when Gu Yuan received the transfer order, he couldn't smile at all, and even felt a little disappointed.
Over the years, he had been determined to follow in his father's footsteps and fight on the battlefield. Although the Imperial Guards were glamorous, they had to revolve around the emperor, which meant they were trapped in the small space of the capital.
He wanted to go to the battlefield to kill enemies and expand territory.
At this moment, the sky has completely darkened and the night is as dark as ink. The full moon of the fifteenth day of the twelfth lunar month hangs high in the night sky, and the silver moonlight adds chill to this already cold night.
At some point, snowflakes like catkins began to float down from the sky, and a few snowflakes landed on Gu Yuan's cheeks and eyelashes.
Gu Yuan didn’t feel the cold at all. He felt a little stuffy and listless.
He walked back dejectedly holding the "hot" and "heavy" new transfer order.
After turning around, he saw Gu Yanfei standing about ten feet ahead with a smile on his face.
In the heavy snow, Gu Yanfei was wearing a thick red cloak trimmed with rabbit fur, which made her face look even smaller.
"Sister," Gu Yuan hurriedly walked towards Gu Yanfei and raised his hand to help her put on the hood of her cloak. "Winter in the capital is much colder than in Huaibei. Be careful not to catch a cold."
"Let me see." Gu Yanfei stretched out his hand towards him, as if it was a matter of course.
If she wanted it, Gu Yuan would give it to her.
Gu Yanfei took the transfer order and read it from beginning to end. Her thick eyelashes flickered, the corners of her lips curved into a subtle arc, and her smile was bright.
If it was the Duke of Weiguo who transferred my eldest brother from the Jiuxiao Camp to the Shenji Camp, then the only person who could transfer him to the Luanyi Guard would be the emperor or... the eldest prince Chu Yi.
interesting.
If this was really done by Chu Yi, then my brother would not stay in the Luanyi Guard for long. Chu Yi is not the kind of person who would keep a tiger like a cat in a rich and powerful nest.
Although she was thinking about it, she didn't say anything about it. After returning the transfer order to Gu Yuan, she just said, "Brother, let's go to the martial arts arena."
Gu Yuan looked at Gu Yanfei in confusion.
Gu Yanfei pointed in a direction with a smile, his eyes sparkling against the backdrop of snowflakes, and said loudly: "Let's get the bow."
"Brother, now that you have changed your job to serve the emperor, you must have a good bow."
Without waiting for Gu Yuan to figure out the relationship, Gu Yanfei had already grasped Gu Yuan's sleeve with skillful movements and pulled him forward with big strides.
Gu Yuan obediently followed Gu Yanfei forward, and the brother and sister went to the martial arts field again.
The martial arts arena was quiet, empty and desolate at night. At first glance, there was no one else except a sleepy night watchman.
There were only a few lanterns lit sparsely in the martial arts arena, and the light was dim.
The brother and sister crossed the martial arts arena and walked towards the Zhengqi Hall next to the west side of the martial arts arena with a clear goal. From a distance, they saw that the door of the Zhengqi Hall was closed and locked.
However, Gu Yanfei didn't care at all and kicked forward with his right foot neatly.
The door was kicked open, and one of the doors, along with the lock, fell to the ground with a loud noise, which even shook the snowflakes on the ground into space.
(End of this chapter)
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