When they got out of the mountains and entered the main road, Zheng Miao's personal guards took the colorful flags, yellow bells, axes, golden gourds and other items from the car and arranged them in strict accordance with the Han court rituals. But at the order of Zheng Miao, who was sitting on the imperial carriage, drums and music sounded and they slowly advanced towards a large city in front.
The team was well-organized and looked heroic, attracting passers-by to stop and watch, and they all wondered where the army came from.
After walking for another half an hour, the city that was vaguely visible on the horizon was now in sight. Qiu Yizi, who was walking beside Zheng Miao's imperial carriage, straightened up on the back of the Ferghana horse under his crotch and looked forward into the distance. Sure enough, he saw two big words on the plaque on the city wall - Fuzhou!
Under the city wall, just as the scout had reported, there was also a group of soldiers lined up to welcome them.
At this moment, Qiu Yizi felt inexplicably uneasy, so she called Wang Laowu over and ordered him, "Laowu, run to the city and say that the Third Prince is coming down, and ask who is there to greet him?"
Wang Laowu was born with a pair of "speedy legs". In a blink of an eye, he had already run back and forth and reported to Qiu Yizi: "It was said that the second prince of Lingnan went out of the city to welcome him."
Qiu Yizhi waved his hand to signal Wang Laowu to leave, and then said to Zheng Miao: "I remember that the second prince of Lingnan is named Zheng Yu. I wonder if Third Brother recognizes him?"
Zheng Miao shook his head. "The imperial court has already designated the candidate for the crown prince of Lingnan as his eldest son, Zheng Nuo. This Zheng Yu is the second son and a concubine's son, but he has been made a duke. I just haven't heard of him having any extraordinary talents. He lives in Lingnan all the time, and I have never met him."
But Lin Shuhan took a half step forward and said, "Since we are here, we should make the best of it. Since the King of Lingnan has sent the prince to greet Your Highness, Your Highness should go over and say a few words. It would also be good to test his true intentions."
Lin Shuhan and Zheng Miao traveled together, chatting and making witty remarks along the way, which made Zheng Miao realize that this famous "Mr. Bansong" was not a pedantic scholar who could only sing about the wind and the moon, but was actually a famous scholar who was well-versed in ancient and modern times and had real talent and knowledge.
Therefore, after listening to Lin Shuhan's suggestion, Zheng Miao nodded and said, "Mr. Lin is right. We are going south on behalf of the emperor and we cannot fall behind. Let's go forward now." After that, Zheng Miao gave an order and the team started slowly again, marching towards Fuzhou city with an awe-inspiring majesty that should not be underestimated.
When he was still a hundred steps away from the city gate, Zheng Miao clearly saw a team of more than a hundred people lined up at the foot of the city, holding drums, music and flags to welcome him. The leader was riding on a tall horse, smiling at him. The man was fat and his face was full of flesh, which almost made his duke robe burst. Fortunately, the horse under his crotch was strong, otherwise it would have been crushed by his weight.
When the man saw Zheng Miao's procession approaching, he quickly and clumsily dismounted from his horse, trotted laboriously to the front of Zheng Miao's imperial carriage, bowed and said, "I am the second son of the King of Lingnan and the Duke. Zheng Yu is here on behalf of your father to welcome the Second Prince, the Imperial Envoy!" His attitude was extremely respectful.
Zheng Miao was not a proud person. Seeing this, he quickly got out of the car, gently helped Zheng Yu up, and said, "Oh, it's you, brother. I've heard of your name for a long time, but it's a pity that I can only meet you today." After that, he bowed to Zheng Yu as a return gesture.
Zheng Yu's face immediately showed an expression of fear and trepidation: "What are you talking about? Your Highness the Third Prince is going to shorten my life, right?" As he spoke, he bent his fat body and saluted Zheng Miao.
Zheng Miao helped Zheng Yu up for the second time and said, "Brother, what are you talking about? According to the royal family's seniority system, you are the third and I am the sixth. I call you 'brother' and it is only proper for me to pay my respects to you. How can you say that it will shorten your life?"
Zheng Yu is in his thirties this year. Among the third-generation descendants of Emperor Shenzong, except for Zheng Rong's eldest son Zheng Xin and Zheng Gui's eldest son Zheng Nuo, he should indeed be ranked third according to age; and before Zheng Miao, besides these three people, there is also a second brother Zheng Sen and Zheng Cheng, the eldest son of Heluo King Zheng Hua, so he is ranked sixth.
Unexpectedly, Zheng Yu bowed deeply again and said, "The barriers between the imperial family and the outside are strict. I am just the son of a vassal king in a remote village, while the Third Prince is someone who has a say in front of the emperor. Maybe he can make further progress in the future. How dare I act arrogantly in front of the Third Prince?"
Zheng Miao has now been granted the title of a prince, but he has not been granted a fiefdom or a title. The so-called "going one step further" means that he will inherit the throne and ascend the throne to become an emperor. However, whether it is true or false, right or wrong, making false statements about this matter is itself a serious crime of rebellion.
So Zheng Miao did not answer, nor did he help him up, but said: "I have been ordered by the emperor, let's do the business first and then chat about the past!"
Zheng Yu stooped and glanced at Zheng Miao. Seeing that his handsome face was extremely serious, he finally didn't dare to say anything more. He took the opportunity to kneel down and shouted loudly: "Zheng Yu pays respects to the emperor on behalf of my father, King Zheng Gui!"
Zheng Miao said sternly, "Your Majesty, be well! This time the Emperor sent me as an imperial envoy to mourn the death of the Princess of Lingnan. I wonder where the Prince of Lingnan is now?"
Zheng Yu crawled on the ground and replied, "My father was heartbroken over the loss of his wife and fell ill. He is now recuperating in his villa in the mountains. I am unable to come and meet the Third Prince, the Imperial Envoy. I hope you will forgive me for my impoliteness."
Zheng Miao nodded and said, "The Emperor knows that Prince Lingnan is busy with state affairs and is not feeling well. He has issued another decree. Please lead the way and take us to deliver the decree to Prince Lingnan."
Zheng Yu replied, "The villa where my father is staying is deep in the mountains, more than 200 miles away from here. The mountain road is rugged and difficult to travel. I am afraid it will be difficult to get there in one day. I would like to ask your Highness the Third Prince to go to Fuzhou City to rest first, and then set off early tomorrow morning. I have prepared water and rice supplies along the way. I am afraid it will take another three or four days to meet my father."
Zheng Miao was stunned when he heard this, and thought: Since my group of people entered Lingnan Road, our every move has been closely monitored by the King of Lingnan. Under such circumstances, even if the King of Lingnan is proud of his status and does not want to show up in public, he should at least move to the city to wait. Continuing to recuperate in the villa in the mountains is too disrespectful to the imperial edict, the imperial envoy, and the emperor.
However, the Third Prince Zheng Miao was originally a gentle and calm person. After the experience of the past few years, he became extremely shrewd. He responded calmly and said, "Since the uncle is not in the city, I don't think there is any need to go into the city. Your Majesty, you also know that you have always governed the family with military law. If you knew that I had not completed my mission and went into the city to rest without permission, wouldn't you scold me? I also brought my military belongings with me. I think there is still room near the city gate. Why not set up my camp here and spend the night?"
Zheng Yu hurriedly said, "How can this be possible? Besides, a banquet has been prepared in Fuzhou City, waiting for His Highness the Third Prince to come in. If His Highness passes by but does not enter, wouldn't it disappoint us?"
Qiu Yizhi, who had been silent for a long time, listened to the fat pig-like Zheng Yu talking nonstop for a long time. Suddenly, he wanted to test him and said, "The imperial envoy has the emperor's order. According to the Han custom, he can only stay in the post station when he goes out to do business. There is no rule to go into the city privately to handle unrelated matters. The second prince keeps forcing himself. Isn't it difficult for the third prince to do his job?"
Zheng Yu was startled when he heard this. He turned his head and looked Qiu Yi up and down several times. He saw that although Qiu Yi's clothes were neat, they were not gorgeous. Judging from his age, he should be the follower of the Third Prince Zheng Miao. He thought: It is said that the Third Prince is gentle and kind, and it is true when I see him today. But how could such a master have such an rude servant who dares to confront the prince head-on
However, he changed his mind and thought: the court often mentioned "Taizu's precedent". If he taught this kid a lesson now, he would not be refuting this ignorant follower, nor would he be refuting the Third Prince behind him, nor would he be refuting the imperial power of the court, but he would be refuting the entire Han orthodoxy.
Zheng Yu's fat face turned red, and he managed to utter, "Who are you? How can you interrupt us when we are talking?"
From Zheng Yu's few short sentences, Qiu Yizi had already seen that this man was nothing but a sycophantic, outwardly powerful but actually weak, so he sneered and stopped answering.
When Zheng Yu saw his arrogant expression, he immediately felt a fire of anger burning in his belly. Although he couldn't lash out on the spot due to Zheng Miao's face, he was already thinking in his mind: how should he punish this rude boy when he got to his territory
But Zheng Miao laughed and said, "Brother, what you said is biased. This man is Qiu Yizi, the son of the emperor who was adopted by our father. Although he has no affection for us, he has the affection for us. The affection between father and son is no less than that between us brothers. He is very casual when talking to us brothers."
Zheng Yu was shocked again after hearing this, and quickly looked at Qiu Yizi from head to toe several times again. Suddenly he found that although his clothes were not gorgeous, they were very neat. The more he looked, the more he looked like a hidden young hero. So he said seriously: "So this is the Lord Yi in front of the emperor? I didn't recognize you, please forgive me." As he said this, he bowed deeply.
Seeing this, Qiu Yizhi whispered to Zheng Miao, "Why did Third Brother reveal my identity so easily?"
Zheng Miao smiled and said softly, "You made such a big fuss in Jiangnan. Maybe the reputation of the King of Lingnan is not worse than mine. It would be good to tell them about it and scare them."
Qiu Yizhi glanced at Zheng Miao, walked to Zheng Yu calmly, bowed in the same way, and said: "Your Highness, please stand up. I am just a country boy who was lucky enough to be loved by the emperor. What the second prince just taught me is that among you royal relatives, I naturally have no right to speak. I have learned my lesson."
Zheng Yu straightened his chubby body and answered, "No, no, no. Your Highness Yi is a man of both civil and military talents. Even in a remote border area like Lingnan, he is well-known. Last year, the Japanese pirates caused chaos and our Lingnan suffered greatly. However, the Japanese pirates were very powerful and we tried our best to drive them out of our jurisdiction. But I didn't expect that Your Highness Yi could defeat the enemy with fewer troops and repeatedly defeated powerful enemies. Even my father often compares His Highness Yi to me and asks me to learn from him!"
While listening to Zheng Yu's not-excessive flattery, Qiu Yi thought to himself: What Zheng Miao said is indeed true. The King of Lingnan has sharp ears and eyes, and he knows even my small battle record clearly. He should be even more aware of the actions of other parts of the court.
While he was thinking, he saw Zhao Chengxiao came forward, bowed to Qiu Yizi, and said, "Sir, the terrain here is good, shall we set up camp here?"
Qiu Yizi's eyes turned, and he said, "You are the imperial guard brought from the capital by the Third Prince. Although you were my subordinate before, you don't have to obey my orders in everything! For this matter, you should ask the Third Prince!"
Zhao Chengxiao was an honest man. He didn't know what Qiu Yi meant by this. He stood there confused and didn't know how to respond. (To be continued)