After two months and seven days, Mingyue and his group finally returned to the capital of Song State.
Since everyone had no place to stay in Kyoto and there were indeed too many people, they split up and found an inn to wash up and rest, and then went to the palace gate under the leadership of Mingyue.
Speaking of it, General Zhou and others who set out later than Mingyue had returned to Kyoto more than a month ago, and have now been rewarded and promoted according to their merits.
Mingyue, on the other hand, was just a military advisor with no token in his hand, but it was his first time entering the palace, and he had to explain his identity to the guards in front of the palace gate.
Fortunately, Mingyue's identity was indeed special and she had a good reputation, and Qin Xingye had specially reminded her, so when she just revealed her identity, the appearance of the three words "Song Mingyue", the eyes of the defenders suddenly changed.
"So you are Military Advisor Song," the guards' attitude suddenly became very respectful, not daring to look Mingyue in the eye, and their voices became much gentler: "Military Advisor Song, please wait here first. His Majesty said that if you come back, we must report to you as soon as possible."
Mingyue raised her eyebrows slightly, a little surprised. She didn't expect Qin Xingye to give such an order.
But she still nodded to the guard and said, "Thank you for your hard work."
"This is what I should do. I don't deserve any blame from the military advisor." The defender shook his head calmly, his cheeks flushed with excitement.
Mingyue was even more surprised and felt that the attitude of this defender was strange.
Little did they know that General Zhou and others were her die-hard fans and brainless blowers. In the more than a month since they returned to Kyoto, Mingyue's abilities had been praised to the sky by them, and she was completely deified.
Now the story of how Military Advisor Song easily captured four or five cities of Wu State while chatting and laughing was circulating throughout Kyoto. It was no wonder that the defenders had a strange attitude, after all, the fact that they were talking to the person they admired was enough to make them excited.
Seeing the guards trotting into the palace, Mingyue turned around and whispered to the bandits about what to pay attention to when they met His Majesty later.
Before Mingyue could finish her words, she heard footsteps behind her. At the same time, all the guards knelt down and said in a loud voice, "Your Majesty, long live your Majesty."
Mingyue was stunned and turned around in disbelief, only to see Qin Xingye wearing a bright yellow dragon robe.
As the Emperor of Song, he actually came to the palace gate to pick her up in person. What an honor was this
Mingyue just doesn't want to be too special, for fear that a tall tree will attract the wind. Especially since she is a woman, she should be more cautious to avoid being criticized.
"Welcome back, my military advisor Song." Qin Xingye smiled at her with a dazzling smile on his face.
Mingyue came to her senses and immediately knelt down with the guards: "Your humble servant Song Mingyue pays respect to His Majesty. Long live His Majesty."
The bandits behind her finally reacted and followed their boss to kneel on the ground, shouting "Long live the boss!"
Qin Xingye took two steps at a time and took Mingyue's wrist to help her up when she just knelt down. He frowned and said, "Song Ming, Song Mingyue, why do you have to be so polite to me?"
Perhaps some time ago, Qin Xingye had finally recovered from the fact that Mingyue was a woman, and the two of them had somewhat restored their previous relationship of both boss and friend. Their correspondence was also very frequent, and most of the content was about people's livelihood and national affairs, occasionally mixed with some ordinary greetings.
However, Mingyue did not confuse their private relationship with their public relationship. After all, there is a difference between the monarch and his subjects. If she wants to go further on this path, she must not let people attribute all her achievements to matters between men and women.
Qin Xingye and she can only be king and subject.
Mingyue used some skill to pull her hand away from Qin Xingye's hand, lowered her head and said, "Your Majesty is so kind, I am so humbled." Qin Xingye looked at the back of her head, pursed his lips slightly, and clenched his hands into fists in his sleeves.
It has changed, everything has changed.
She is not Song Ming, and he is no longer Tan Ziyu. For an emperor, friendship is a luxury.
Sitting in this position, you are destined to be alone.
Qin Xingye laughed at himself, put his clenched hands behind his back, and looked up at the bandits: "Are these your bandits? They all look extraordinary, no wonder they have made great achievements so many times."
The group of bandits were not happy at all after hearing such joking words, and they all lowered their eyes in frustration.
Yes, they are bandits and robbers, and what Your Majesty said is just the fact.
When Mingyue heard the word "bandit soldiers", she frowned slightly and corrected him, "Your Majesty, they are my brave and skilled soldiers, not bandit soldiers."
The bandits, who had been dejected, now all looked up at the bright moon in surprise, with bright light in their eyes.
The boss said they were not bandits, they were her personal soldiers.
The boss's personal soldier! This life is worth it.
Even if they did not get promoted, even if they returned to their hometown and became farmers in the future, the time they spent following the boss would be worth reminiscing for the rest of their lives.
Qin Xingye also looked at Mingyue with some surprise. He thought she hated these bandits very much. Otherwise, why did she always let them rush to the front and why didn't she ask for credit for them
However, just as Qin Xingye was thinking this, Mingyue knelt on the ground again, looked at him with a frank look and said, "I came to see Your Majesty today to ask for a favor. I want to ask for merit for my soldiers."
Qin Xingye was slightly stunned, the bandits widened their eyes, and the defenders nearby flashed envy in their eyes.
Before Qin Xingye could reply, Mingyue glanced at Zhang Hao among the bandits and said loudly, "Zhang Hao, step out."
Zhang Hao was stunned for a moment, but he stood up despite the shoves from his brothers: "Here."
"Zhang Hao, before the battle on the border of Wu State, he dug pits day and night for three consecutive days, setting up powerful traps for our army to capture Wu's heavy armored soldiers. In Shuncheng, Yucheng, Gucheng... he crossed the thousand-foot cliff and passed Kangyong Pass... and then followed me into the Wu Palace to capture the Wu Emperor." As Zhang Hao's contributions were revealed one by one, Mingyue looked up at Qin Xingye, "Your Majesty, I wonder what reward he should get?"
Qin Xingye looked at Zhang Hao, who was so moved that his eyes were filled with tears, with a complicated look. He also put away his original indifferent attitude towards these bandits and answered seriously: "According to the rules of the military camp, not only him, but also each of them will be rewarded according to their merits."
At this point, Qin Xingye walked towards the bandits, bowed to them, and said, "I apologize for the way I addressed you just now. No matter who you were in the past, after you have done so much for the Song State at the risk of your lives, you all deserve to be called heroes."
The bandits were so stunned that they had no time to react.
(End of this chapter)