female concubine

As soon as the blue color of the Dragon Boat Festival was withdrawn, all the inside and outside of the Chu Palace were replaced with white silk, and because the country was still in war, all funerals were simplified except for the standard etiquette, and the court was abolished for five days. , bestowed posthumous title Gonghui, and the crown prince led his ministers to the palace to express their condolences.

Came from the East Palace to pay homage, the crown prince specially changed into Qi Fai made of coarse linen, the Palace of Chu rang with the joy of "entertaining corpses", and there was constant crying and howling during the period.

The crown prince walked into the mourning hall, knelt down without hesitation, sobbed emotionally while blaming himself for his mistakes, the accompanying minister couldn't bear it and stood up to dissuade him.

"His Royal Highness cherishes the memory of his brothers in the body of the crown prince. If you want to come to Chu Wangye, you will also be grateful to His Highness."

The crown prince cried with red eyes, wanted to get up but his legs were weak and he couldn't stand up. He had to be supported by the minister and walked to the memorial tablet. Immediately, he saw the corpse wrapped in a quilt beyond recognition in the coffin, which almost scared him back.

After wiping away a few tears, Wei Kai walked out of the mourning hall and looked around, "Why don't you see Princess Chu in the coffin today?"

Several female envoys in the palace turned to Qi Fu, "All blessings, Your Highness, my concubine has been traveling around the old and new cities for the past few days, and she was exhausted yesterday."

Wei Kai turned around and almost forgot that not only the king of Chu died, but also Xiao Youqing's father died in battle. The woman lost two mountains at the same time, and her uncle and elder brother went to the battlefield before the funeral. There is nothing more than this.

"I'm going to see my sister-in-law."

The female envoy was a little embarrassed, "Your Highness is a man of gold, and it is a great blessing for the Chu Palace to receive His Highness's condolences, so how dare you worry about His Highness..."

Wei Kai turned cold, "You are just a maid, you are not even counted as a palace servant. This palace is both a king and a brother. I am guarding the family. Is it your turn to intervene as a maid?"

The female envoy immediately knelt down when she heard this, "The slaves dare not, it's... the princess told the slaves to say so."

Wei Kai looked down at him and then walked towards the courtyard in the northeast of the palace.

"Youqing has met His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

Xiao Youqing was wearing cut-off scorpions, and she was much thinner than before. Now her eyes were red and swollen from crying, and she was so distressed that Wei Kai hurried forward to help her up.

I saw Xiao Youqing retracting his hand, and took a step back when he stood up.

Wei Kai withdrew his hand that was stunned in the air, smiled awkwardly, and said coldly: "Women have three principles of obedience, and there is no special way. Women who do not cut twice are still saying that they are not two days, not two days." Do you know who Princess Chu wears this cut-off bra for?”

Seeing that the visitor was not kind, Xiao Youqing still had a look of gloating, and said coldly: "Anyway, it's not for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

Wei Kai's face changed drastically, "You..."

Just when Wei Kai was about to answer with his hands behind his hands, a little bun staggered into the room, staring at them with big round eyes.

"mother."

Wei Kai was startled by the childish call, and saw that the child was wearing a cut scorpion, so he understood what was going on.

Xiao Youqing quickly pulled Xiao Baozi behind him.

Wei Kai snorted coldly, "Your Majesty didn't like Sixth Brother when he was alive, as for this child..."

Xiao Youqing's disgust came from the bottom of his heart, "It's not enough to mutilate your siblings, can't you even let your nephew, who is a minor, be spared?"

Wei Kai touched the sackcloth on his sleeve, "How dare I touch the person your majesty wants to protect? But I don't think that your majesty can violate the etiquette, nor do you think that your majesty can abolish me in the eyes of those admonishers and set up a concubine." Sun."

Xiao Youqing squatted down, hugged the child into his arms with red eyes, "Youqing has nothing now, only him."

Seeing her like this, Wei Kai immediately softened his heart, "Qingqing..."

"Your Highness will be the heir to the throne in the future, so you should be cautious in what you say and do. In such an occasion, please respect yourself."

Wei Kai lowered his head and laughed suddenly, "I won't touch your mother and son, as long as you settle down and don't care about it."

------------

In mid-June, in order to stabilize the morale of the army, the imperial court still ordered Shen Yi'an to serve as the commander of the three armies, and Xiao Xianfu was appointed as the deputy marshal of the army and horses. Song Xia fought again.

Xiao Xianfu saw that Xiao Yunze had a murderous look in his eyes during the last few days of fighting, so he said worriedly: "The enemy army is in disarray, don't act rashly, now brother only has your son left."

Xiao Yunze picked up an enemy soldier beside him and threw them into the air, knocking back several of them, and stared at the commanding platform ahead with red eyes.

"As a son of man, how can you not avenge the murder of your father?"

The situation in Xixia was out of control because the Wuzang tribe of Liangzhou army did not obey the command.

"Don't kill him..." Before the words fell, the enemy general was cut off from the horse and his head fell to the ground.

Xiao Xianfu knew that the Wuzang clan was a big family in Xixia, and if he could be captured alive, he might be able to use it as a bargaining chip.

But this cut also disrupted Xia's army, the attacking cavalry pulled their ropes and retreated, and the retreating soldiers of the Wuzang tribe scattered Wei Mu Shanxi's army.

At the end of June, the Song army won a great victory and regained Qingzhou. In July, Huanzhou was regained again. In mid-July, Xixia sent envoys to discuss peace.

As soon as the news of the enemy's peace talks came out, there was a debate in the court. The crown prince was sitting in the palace of Zichen, and the Privy Council, which usually stood in the hall, was not here today. Only the prince knew that Chengzhi was at this moment. He was accompanying the emperor to feed the fish in the back garden of the inner palace.

"The Khan of Xixia was critically ill, and Wei Mu Shanxi withdrew his army without being defeated. I received news from Xixia Xizuo before the start of the war. Mu Danxi tried his best to fight because of the death of Wei Guogong, and secondly, he wanted to use the victory to stabilize the family status and fight for Khan's eldest son."

"However, his daughter ran away from marriage and joined the army. If it were me, how could a person who took [-]% of the country's military strength be unafraid, so he could only fight quickly. Wei Mu Shanxizhen fought with him before. But what I didn't expect was that even my secret deployment in Huanzhou failed to prevent him, he is indeed a rare and handsome talent." The emperor sprinkled the last pinch of fish food in his hand into the pond, picked up Han Baoduan Wiping his hands with the handkerchief he was wearing, "How could the Gyeongju battle be lost so miserably with equal numbers of troops!"

The emperor walked back to the gazebo and put his hand on the guardrail, "How can the foundation of the ancestors be defeated in my hands? Xixia has constant internal troubles, and the court of my Wei family is not open and secret."

The emperor sighed, "Does Han Qing think that my father is too indifferent?"

Han Si followed behind the emperor, and replied respectfully: "The official family is the father of the people in the world. The king is in the front and the father is in the back. The hardest thing in life is to have both."

"The peace talks are finalized, and the army will return to the court in a few days. This crime is inevitable for Shen Yi'an. What do you think of this military talisman?"

"He will hand it in." Han Bo folded his sleeves and lowered his head, "Because Xiao Erlang also took out [-], His Majesty still has [-] in his hand, and Jiangning has [-] troops stationed in the south."

The emperor squeezed the guardrail and narrowed his eyes, "The command failed..." He put his hands behind his back, "Unknowingly, I have passed nearly a year, the older you are, the less you want to make troubles, but the less you want to make troubles, the less you can get." peaceful."

"Your Majesty wants to avenge the Battle of Gyeongju?"

The emperor walked out of the pavilion with his hands behind his back, walked slowly along the pool, lowered his head and smiled and said, "Casualty and injury are inevitable in a battle between the two armies. bring disaster upon the subjects."

"It has always been my long-cherished wish to expand the frontiers and lands, but when I really came to the world, I realized that there are some things that are close at hand, but you can't reach them in your life. Keeping them is far more difficult than seizing them."

Han Bang followed behind the emperor and said in a low voice: "I feel difficult because I have worries in my heart. It is the act of a sage to have worries. Faint people don't care about anything, and mediocre people don't care about it."

The emperor stopped suddenly, "I want you to be the prince's mirror and assist me well."

Han Si lowered his hands and raised his hem, knelt down on his knees, "Minister, obey the order."

In July of the 11th year of Jianping, Han Si, the capital of the Privy Council and the East Palace Zhijing banquet, gave lectures to the crown prince.

---------------------------------

In mid-July of the 11th year of Jianping, Song and Xia negotiated a peace agreement. The Xia army withdrew from the border between Song and Tu.

"Uncle handed over the military talisman first before going to plead guilty to His Majesty. Uncle has lived and died for the court, and has been in charge of the front office for many years. Your Majesty will not embarrass Uncle."

Shen Yi'an knelt in front of the prince, "King Chu is dead, there is nothing that can threaten His Royal Highness, His Highness...Will you abandon your minister?"

Wei Kai froze for a moment with his clenched hands, and immediately got up and walked forward to help his uncle up, "What are you asking, my uncle taught me how to ride and shoot like a father like a teacher, how could I know that?" Do something unrighteous?"

"With His Highness's words, I will die without regret."

Before the celebration dinner started, Shen Yi'an handed over the soldier's talisman and pleaded guilty in front of the Chuigong Hall, and his naked arms were covered with horizontal and long scars.

"Your Majesty has an order. As the commander-in-chief of the three armies, he underestimated the enemy and led to the defeat. I think it is because of the meritorious veterans of the two dynasties that he was pardoned for the death penalty for his meritorious service in recovering this time. He will be dismissed from his title and official position. Yu family thinks about his mistakes." The servant who conveyed the oral order Stepping up to help him up, "Your Majesty also asked the villain to tell the villain that the failure of the command caused the death of the general and the prince. It is for the sake of His Royal Highness and the saint that your Majesty does not mention the matter of the King of Chu to save you from death. In the future, His Highness the Crown Prince will be in trouble, and I hope you will remember this kindness."

Shen Yi'an knelt down again, kowtowed heavily and said, "Sinner, thank you for your grace."

Shen Yi'an's voice came to the Chuigong Hall, which said that the Changchao Hall is not as empty and majestic as the Chongzheng Hall. The sun shines through the windows into the hall, which is warm and peaceful. The old man who just received the minister stepped down from the throne and sat bowed On the steps of the palace.

Zhao Ci walked out from the Xiduo Hall, "Why are the officials sitting on the steps? The ground is hard and cold." Seeing that the emperor was indifferent, he handed over the booklet he had copied in his hand, "Huangcheng Sizuo."

The emperor raised his head and stretched out his hand, but before receiving it, he retracted and sighed: "Don't look at it."

In the 11th year of Jianping, the former Deputy Marshal of Hexi Bingma was named Marquis Wu'an. General Guide guarded Qingzhou, and Zhang Huai, the commander of Yixiangdu, moved to Xizhou for the defense of Dr. Yiwei and led the Jingsai army to Tun Xizhou.