Chen Tu led the prince into the west room. The room was not as messy as he said, and the kang was tidy.
Chen Tu greeted him solemnly, "I am your subordinate, paying my respects to the Crown Prince."
"No thanks." Gu Yanxi sat down on the kang, his eyes falling on Chen Tu who was always respectful, "Is there anything unusual in the north?"
"Your Highness, I just went to the north not long ago. Everything seemed normal, but I felt something was wrong, but I couldn't put my finger on it." Chen Tu knelt down and apologized. "I didn't do my job well, please punish me, Your Highness."
"Inside or outside the pass?"
"Outside the Great Wall, inside the Great Wall is a place of exile. Except that there are more people exiled this year than in previous years, there is nothing unusual."
The fact that more people were exiled than in previous years was already a big problem. Gu Yanxi lowered his eyes. The emperor was getting older and more suspicious. Even he, who was often praised by the emperor as a talented person in the royal family, had to scratch his face to avoid suspicion, didn't he
The Daqing Dynasty had very strict requirements for officials, one of which was that those with disfigured appearances were not allowed to enter the court, let alone sit in that position. Ever since his face was disfigured, several princes no longer had their previous guard against him, and used all sorts of means to win him over.
In the past two years, the fighting between the princes has become increasingly serious, and more and more people have been implicated. This is definitely not a good phenomenon for the Daqing Dynasty. The emperor may not be aware of this, but he is just unable to stop it.
Thinking of those things, Gu Yanxi felt annoyed, but no matter how annoyed he was, he had to endure it. If they didn't fight, how could he push his good father in
I've endured it for so many years, that's enough.
"I will send someone north, and you will hand over the matters outside the pass to him."
Chen Tu was shocked. "May I ask, Your Majesty, did I do something wrong?"
"Keep a close eye on the interior of the country. Report any disturbance to me immediately."
Chen Tu felt relieved. "My Lord, are you worried that someone might collude with others?"
"Not only that." Gu Yanxi's brows became more and more cold. In the past two years, many officials have been exiled to the north. Thinking carefully, most of them are military generals. If they unite and are used by someone, or if they have other ideas...
I don’t know which prince was behind this, but his ambition is obvious. The emperor is really old.
"You must stay here every five months or so. Also, you should pay more attention to the Hua family in the north. If the people in the north can't solve the problem, you should help them."
"Yes, I will remember that." Chen Tu looked up at the prince, then quickly lowered his head again, "Would the prince like to meet us?"
"I will be back here in a few days, we'll talk then." Gu Yanxi tapped the edge of the kang with his fingers, "Send a message to the people in the north, I want to see them when I get there."
"Yes." Seeing that the prince had no other instructions, Chen Tu bowed and left, and soon brought in hot water to help Gu Yanxi wash up.
After a good night's sleep, the wind and snow stopped the next morning, but Hua Zhi clearly felt that today was colder than yesterday.
Chen Tu made a hot breakfast for the few people and prepared some dry food. After sending them out of the village, he looked back and saw that all the people who had closed their doors before came out and looked at Chen Tu with burning eyes.
Chen Tu touched his nose and said, "The prince said he would return here in a few days."
One person couldn't wait to ask, "Did the prince say he wanted to see us?"
"I haven't said it yet, but the prince has made new arrangements for us."
Those who were originally a little discouraged immediately pricked up their ears when they heard it.
"I'm afraid there will be changes inside the pass. From now on, we only need to take care of the things inside the pass. Someone else will take over the things outside the pass."
"yes."
Lu Huazhi behind had always been riding with Gu Yanxi. She had gotten used to it and even developed a little attachment to the body temperature behind her, but only a little.
A little earlier than expected, the group finally arrived at their destination.
The vast territory is divided into inside and outside because of the tall city walls. It is like a target and a bright light, telling the returning people that as long as they arrive here, they have returned to their own country.
This pass has blocked enemies who wanted to enter the pass countless times. Even after the founding of the Daqing Dynasty, when the war had ceased for more than a hundred years, this place has not been ruined. The people exiled here have only one thing to do: reinforce this pass.
Hua Zhi was used to prosperity, and this was her first time coming to such a desolate and desolate place. Her excitement about seeing her relatives faded a little. This was an era of cold weapons, and this city was built with blood. When the order sounded, this place became a sea of blood and corpses.
No matter victory or defeat, achievements are made by stepping on corpses.
She hoped that she would never see it with her own eyes in her lifetime, and she also hoped even more urgently that the Hua family would stay away from here.
Gu Yanxi looked down at her and rode into the city.
Because this is an important pass, entry and exit are strictly checked, and a receipt is required to exit. Fortunately, the line was not long, and soon it was the group's turn, and several people got off their horses.
The captain of the city defense team looked at Gu Yanxi several times. This man felt too dangerous to him, so he subconsciously became wary.
Hua Zhi saw that Mr. Lu did not show the token as before, and she stood in front of him.
The captain was obviously more willing to face her. "Are you two together? You look like strangers. What are you doing here?"
"My relatives are here, I came to give them something." Hua Zhi turned around and pointed at the large and small packages on the horse, "Most of them are warm clothes such as cotton-padded jackets, sir, just check them."
The captain motioned for the other two to check. When they found the package containing the medicine, Hua Zhi took out two bottles and handed them over. "This is frostbite medicine. It's very effective. Sir, you may want to try it. If it works well, I'll bring a few more bottles next time."
If we talk about the most common disease in the north, frostbite ranks first. Once it occurs, it is easy to relapse and it is difficult to get really well. Few people are not troubled by it.
The situation is even more serious for these soldiers who guard the city gates every day. The backs of their hands are swollen and black. Even though they are used to this discomfort, no one wants to get rid of it.
The captain stuffed the medicine bottle into his arms, stepped aside and waved his hand to let them enter the city.
When the group walked away, a soldier whispered, "Boss, aren't you worried that they are spies?"
"Who would choose such a blind man as a spy?" The soldier leader poured some medicine on the back of his hand and spread it, then handed the bottle to the people around him, "Apply some to everyone. Just for the sake of these medicines, I believe they are really here to send gifts to their relatives. Only relatives would care about them in this way. I hope this medicine is really useful."
"That's right. It's so itchy that I can't sleep well at night."
After entering the city, Gu Yanxi asked Hua Zhi to get on the horse and led the way. Hua Zhi wanted to say something, but she couldn't invite anyone to ride with her, so she simply accepted it. She now had the mentality of "too many lice don't itch, too many debts don't worry."
"Has Mr. Lu been here before?"
"I've been here before." Gu Yanxi turned around and looked at her. "The exiles usually live in the South City. We can go there directly."
There was no way Hua Zhi would disagree. With her personality, she couldn't wait to get here.
PS: I fell ill and had a splitting headache.