Chu Qiao's pretty face immediately turned red. Seeing that the maids on both sides were all covering their mouths and laughing quietly, she quickly pouted and said, "What are you talking about!"
“Don’t laugh, don’t you see that Master Chu is shy?” Yan Xun suddenly turned around and pretended to reprimand the maids, but they laughed even louder. He could only helplessly spread his hands to Chu Qiao, “It’s over, they don’t listen to me.”
"Nonsense, I won't pay attention to you anymore."
Chu Qiao turned around and was about to go out to her room, but she heard Yan Xun laugh and picked her up from behind, laughing: "I told you I would send you back, you dare to disobey the military order, you really deserve to be beaten!"
After Yan Xun left, the room seemed to become colder. Chu Qiao was no longer sleepy in her room. Thinking of what had just happened, her face turned red. She tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep. She had no choice but to sit up, lean on the desk, and stare blankly.
When Yan Xun came back this time, something seemed different. Their relationship became closer, but some things gradually changed.
Thinking of what Yan Xun had just said, Chu Qiao smiled slightly. Never mind. Maybe she was overthinking it. All men are like this. No one likes his woman to fight on the battlefield and charge into battle. Now that he is stronger, he wants to protect her. She should understand him. He hoped that she could live a peaceful and happy life, like any other woman, drinking tea and appreciating flowers, wearing silk and satin, enjoying the service of servants, and living a life of luxury, just to make up for the suffering she had endured.
Although this kind of life is not what she wants, she should satisfy his wishes and understand his original intention. He was not excluding himself, he just wanted to protect himself.
After thinking like this for a while, Chu Qiao suddenly felt much more comfortable. Just as she was about to go to sleep, she heard footsteps outside. She opened the window and the cold air outside suddenly hit her. Rows of lanterns were moving towards Yan Xun's room, all in a hurry.
"Green Willow!"
Chu Qiao called out, and the little maid ran in sleepily, "Miss, what's the matter?"
"What's going on outside? Why are there so many people here at this late hour?"
"Oh, young lady, you don't know that His Highness is going to discuss military intelligence with the generals tonight. It seems that they are going to formulate a battle plan in the east. The generals have been waiting downstairs at the gatehouse for a long time."
Chu Qiao was stunned when she heard that. There was a strong wind outside the window, which blew away the clothes on her shoulders. Her long hair fluttered in the wind, making her look messy and thin.
"Oh, young lady, you have just recovered from your illness, how can you be exposed to the wind?" The little maid ran over and closed the window, and said anxiously, "Young lady? Young lady?"
"Ah?" Chu Qiao suddenly realized and said, "Oh, it's okay, you can go down first."
Lvliu was a little confused, "Is the girl really okay?"
"It's okay, go down and sleep."
"Oh," Green Willow agreed, "the girl should go to bed early too."
The lights in the study were on brightly. Chu Qiao looked at them for a while, then threw back the quilt and went to bed. Before falling asleep, she thought, maybe Yan Xun asked her to come back to sleep tonight because he wanted to discuss military intelligence? After thinking about it, I decided that it would be a good idea to go back and sleep. It was so noisy over there and I would definitely not be able to sleep.
She fell into a daze, half asleep and half awake. Suddenly, an unknown sense of confusion and fear slowly came over her in her dream. Her heart was like a floating boat, tossed between the waves, ups and downs, but finally calmed down little by little.
Chu Qiao woke up very early in the morning, and because she had something on her mind, she couldn't fall asleep. In three days, Yan Xun would leave. She felt uneasy in her heart. She got up early in the morning and ran to Yan Xun's room without washing her face, but was told that he had gone to the Sunset Military Camp last night and had not returned yet.
After dinner, Yan Xun still hadn't come back. With nothing to do, she sat in front of the desk in a daze. Her mind unconsciously began to analyze the distribution of Daxia's troops after the Northern Expedition, as well as the comparison of the two sides' intelligence, logistics, weapons and other aspects. A battle map naturally unfolded in her mind.
Just as she was thinking, Lvliu and Fengzhi walked in, laughing. Lvliu was holding a sign in her hand. When she saw Chu Qiao, she smiled and said, "Girl, look at what this is?"
Chu Qiao was stunned and looked up, only to see that it was a longevity tablet with her name and military rank engraved on it, and below it were densely packed small characters, all of which were auspicious words such as blessing for longevity.
"My longevity tablet?" Chu Qiao said with a smile, "Which of you two made this? Are you trying to make me happy?"
Lvliu was immediately delighted and said with a smile: "What? Fengzhi bought it."
"Bought it? Why would anyone sell this?"
"You don't know this, do you?" Feng Zhi was still young. He was the servant Yan Xun took in after Feng Mian left. He said with a smile, "Now the young lady is the savior of Beishuo City. Almost every family has a tablet of the young lady, and they worship her morning and night. The Zhongyi Hall in the south of the city collapsed. Recently, a wealthy family volunteered to fund its reconstruction, but they put the statue of the young lady there, right next to old Prince Yan. This is the first time a living person has been placed in the Zhongyi Hall. Seeing that it is profitable, small vendors have made tablets of longevity and jade pendants for the young lady and are selling them outside. Even some soldiers have bought jade pendants to carry with them!"
Chu Qiao was slightly stunned when she heard this, but she was not as happy as Feng Zhi and Lv Liu imagined. Instead, she gradually frowned. After a long time, she asked in a deep voice: "Besides my tablet, will they sell other tablets?"
Feng Zhi saw her serious expression and became a little anxious, so he whispered, "There are some, but they are clay figurines of Lord Lu Zhilu who sells the Second Army. The people took them home and burned them in the stove, or threw them into the toilet."
"Girl, are you okay?" Lvliu asked in a low voice.
Chu Qiao shook her head, "It's okay, you guys go down first, burn or throw away that thing, don't leave it in the mansion."
"Yeah." The two agreed nervously, turned around and went out.
Chu Qiao felt somewhat uneasy. This time Yan Xun used the tactic of besieging Wei to save Zhao and save Beishuo from the dire situation. His previous move to abandon Yanbei was unknown to the outside world. Logically, the people should be grateful to him. Why didn’t the people of Yanbei appreciate it?
There is a problem here, and it seems that we need to study it carefully.
Chu Qiao frowned. Her reputation was so high. Yan Xun was a bit better and probably wouldn't be suspicious, but the same might not be true for others.
It seems that we need to do more to build momentum for Yan Xun, and it is right not to interfere in military affairs. As she thought about it, she suddenly felt a chill. Did Yan Xun know about these things? If he knew, would he have other considerations for keeping himself away from the military? But thinking of this, she immediately dismissed the idea and shook her head with amusement. Is she crazy? How is that possible?
She opened the window and the snow outside had stopped. The tall and deserted Qingyuan Hall is located in the middle of a ten-mile lotus pond. It is a water pavilion built with top-quality nanmu wood. Surrounded by clear lake water and blue sky, the Xiangfei bamboo curtain is half-open and half-rolled, elegant and pure like orchid. There are no lotus flowers in this season, but the skillful palace maids have made lotus leaf silk flowers with white and green colored silk and let them float on the water. From afar, the leaves sway in the wind, and the lotus leaves are green, as if they were real. The scenery of the Huaisong Imperial Palace is as beautiful as that of the Bian Tang Jinwu.
The Qinyuan Hall was being renovated and rebuilt recently, so Nalan Hongye moved the court to the Qingyuan Hall. After the morning court session, she opened the curtain and walked out slowly, only to see Nalan Hongyu leaning against the golden dragon throne, sitting on his back with a long trail of saliva on his chin. He was snoring slightly, and it was obvious that he had slept for a long time.
Thinking of the looks of the courtiers as they left, the princess couldn't help but frown slightly. The eunuch saw this and hurriedly and carefully pushed Nalan Hongyu's shoulder, calling out carefully, "Your Majesty? Your Majesty?"
The young emperor woke up in a daze, frowning and about to get angry, when he suddenly saw his elder sister standing in front of him. He immediately became frightened, stood up shyly, rubbed his eyes, and whispered, "Imperial sister."
Everyone in the hall had left, leaving only Nalan Hongye and her brother and a young eunuch. Nalan Hongye frowned slightly, her tone was very calm, but there was an inexplicable tension. She slowly said, "Did the imperial sister tell you that you can't sleep in the court?"
The emperor lowered his head, like a child who had been caught doing something bad, and muttered, "I... I did."
"Then why do you still commit it?"
The young emperor lowered his head and admitted his mistake, "Sister, I was wrong."
Nalan Hongye raised her eyebrows, "Didn't the Imperial Sister tell you how to call yourself?"
"Hmm?" Nalan Hongyu was stunned, as if he couldn't understand what the princess meant.
The young eunuch quickly leaned close to his ear and whispered something. The emperor nodded immediately and said, "Sister, I, oh no, I was wrong. I know I was wrong."
"Since you know you are wrong, go back and copy the Daodeji ten times. You are not allowed to eat until you finish copying it."
"Ah?" The emperor's face suddenly fell. Nalan Hongye didn't even look at him, turned around and walked out. The hall was empty. The sun was shining brightly outside, and the wind blew from all directions, brushing against the Xiangfei bamboo curtain and sweeping past the golden bells under the curtain, making a tinkling sound. Nalan Hongye's dark blue court gown caressed the thick floor. It was embroidered with patterns of hundreds of birds, with gleaming gold threads and fine stitches, which showed the royal dignity and majesty everywhere.
"Princess," Aunt Yun was waiting outside. When she saw her coming out, she hurried over and put a soft cloak on her. It was already November, and even though the climate in Huaisong was mild, it was already cold when the wind blew in the morning and evening. "Princess, are you going back to the palace?"
Nalan Hongye shook her head. Today, Prince Changling and Prince Jinjiang were vague and evasive. They tried to cover up the East China Sea pirates, so she had to be on guard. She said in a deep voice, "Call Xuan Mo to the palace. I have something important to discuss with him."
"Yes." Aunt Yun quickly agreed and asked, "Princess, are you going to see Prince Xuan in Qingyuan Hall? Well, the emperor is still here..."
Aunt Yun was about to say something but stopped herself. Nalan Hongye followed her words and turned around to look back. She saw that the huge palace was filled with silence and desolation. The dark wooden floor made the palace look even more solemn and cold.
The young emperor sat alone on the steps with his head bowed. The sparkling beads on his crown hung on both sides, shining brightly. The sunlight shone through the bead curtains and shone on them, shining brightly. Following the rays of light, one could even see the dust flying in the air. The bright yellow dragon robe made his expression even more desolate, like a child that no one cared about.
However, his sadness and grief would ultimately only be because he had to copy the "Tao Te Ching" ten times, not because of the flood in Qiubei, not because of the bandits in the East China Sea, not because of the lawsuits in the Ministry of Justice, and certainly not because of the disputes in the court. As long as he finished copying the article, he would feel relieved, eat well, sleep well, and fight crickets. He would live a carefree and happy life, even though he was shouldering the heavy responsibility of a country.