The bright moon leaves the branches startled by magpies, and the breeze sings the cicadas in the middle of the night.
When dark blue began to appear on the horizon, the soldiers of King Mo's army had already stood up to organize their troops.
Lou Hongfang led the army to set off at dawn and returned to Chongqing. Xia Chu changed into men's clothes and went to the city with Xiao Mubai in person, preparing to go to Mo Mansion to pick up General Zhao out of the city.
Generally speaking, the wear and tear of the closed dock was not serious. At first, Li Fei wanted to use it as a stronghold to expand her territory along the way.
Therefore, the people in Fengwu did not know that they were in danger until they were detained on the tower yesterday.
But the crisis was resolved in just one day. When Xia Chu and Xiao Mubai entered the city, the morning market was already bustling with people.
It was as if nothing happened yesterday.
When Xia Chu and Xiao Mubai went to Mo Mansion, General Zhao was preparing to leave the mansion. Mo Jiazheng persuaded him to have breakfast before leaving.
"Then Magistrate Lao Mo has added two more sets of bowls and chopsticks." Xia Chu Yingying said with a smile and walked into the front yard.
When Mo Jia saw Xiao Mubai who was coming in behind him, he quickly bowed in response, and while Old General Zhao didn't refute, he hurried down to give orders.
"It's just a few steps away, why do I need you to pick me up?"
General Zhao looked at Xia Chu who had changed into men's clothes and couldn't bear to reject his words.
Although he felt that Mojia was being disturbed, he still followed Xia Chu's wishes.
I originally thought she was a grandson, so I already felt pity for him running around so much at such a young age. Now that he knew he was still a granddaughter in his prime, General Zhao felt even more sorry for him.
He looked at Xiao Mubai who came forward to greet him. He originally thought that the prince was outstanding in his literary and military skills, but now he felt that he was not pleased with him no matter how he looked at him.
"Boy, did you know this when he borrowed troops last year?"
Xiao Mubai was startled by his sudden change of attitude and asked, "The reason why we sent troops to help last year was definitely not for personal affairs between our children."
General Zhao stared at him with burning eyes and continued to ask: "What about this year?"
Xia Chu took Old General Zhao's arm and coughed lightly: "I was the one who dispatched the cavalry this year..."
The meaning in Old General Zhao's eyes became deeper and deeper: "The personal relationship between the prince and Yun Yi is really very good, and they are even willing to give each other a gold seal."
Xiao Mubai glanced at Xia Chu and said solemnly to him: "Yes, please feel free to leave General Zhao to my care."
"She has just arrived..." Before General Zhao could finish his words, Xia Chu saw Mo Jia approaching with sharp eyes and took the opportunity to interrupt. While pushing him away, he said: "Prefect Mo is ready. Let's go and use it quickly." Let’s eat.”
Mojia did come up to him. General Zhao had no choice but to swallow what he said, exchanged greetings with him, and went to the flower hall.
Xiao Mubai followed Xia Chu in two steps and asked in a low voice next to him: "You and General Zhao stayed in the room for so long yesterday and didn't say anything about us?"
Xia Chu held his forehead in pain: "How can I have time to talk about this? He called my father a bastard for more than an hour and tried to persuade me."
Xiao Mubai couldn't help but pinch his eyebrows after hearing this. This breakfast in Mo Mansion was probably the most frightening meal he had ever eaten.
Not long after General Zhao learned that Xia Chu was a daughter, he met the boy who came to serve his cabbage the next day.
This attitude is naturally not much better.
Even Mojia noticed the inexplicable and strange atmosphere. When he learned that General Zhao was going to lead the army to the new city, he picked a topic and asked, "General Zhao, aren't you going back to Beijing?"
Since then, Zhao Xingwen's body has been sent all the way back to Chang'an.
Previously, because of the unresolved war, Old General Zhao was unable to do anything else. Now that the fighting has subsided, if the letter asked the Zhao family to wait, he would still be able to pay his respects in time.
"No, it won't take long. The former Shi's army will have to be reorganized, and someone will be stationed in the new city. Although the war has settled, there are still many things in the army."
Xia Chu stood up and gave Old General Zhao another bowl of lean meat porridge: "The new city has been retaken and the army has been stationed. Many things have to be started again. Grandpa needs to take care of himself. Take your time and don't rush."
He knew that the real reason why General Zhao didn't want to return to Beijing was that he couldn't bear to have a white-haired man send a black-haired man away again.
In the past fifteen years, General Zhao has returned to Beijing three times in total. The first time was to attend the funeral of Zhao Lansheng, the second time was to propose marriage to Zhao Xingwen, and the third time was to quell the chaos.
To him, the capital should be a sad place.
Mojia didn't mean any harm in his words. He just felt that General Zhao was getting old and now that the borderland was peaceful, he should return to Beijing to enjoy peace and happiness.
Although the news of Zhao Xingwen's death was known throughout the capital, it was not widely publicized in the army.
Therefore, Mojia still knows nothing about this matter.
He didn't know why he just made a conversation. He originally thought it was a good thing, but after asking, the weird atmosphere before was much better, but then a sad atmosphere filled the air, making him dare not continue any more. Word.
During the rest of the meal time, only General Zhao and Xia Chu were left expressing their deep affection and warm words.
After breakfast, although General Zhao asked Mojia to stop, he followed him respectfully and sent the three of them out of the city before resigning and leaving.
The Zhao army was already ready to go and was waiting outside the city. Before leaving, General Zhao led Xiao Mubai to say something. After Xia Chu was sent away, he had to go to the army to meet with Yan Jianghong and Deng Qizhong. , Shan Xiangpeng and the other two said goodbye.
After Zhao Jiajun left, Xia Chu and Xiao Mubai got on their horses, followed by Han Sa, Raven, Su Qian'an and Wuma Huacai.
As for Bian Ding, he naturally hid in the darkness. Fortunately, Jiang Yan and others accompanied him and followed him secretly, so he was not lonely.
"What did grandpa say to you alone?" Xia Chu asked Xiao Mubai curiously. Her and Xiao Mubai's good horse was slightly faster, and the other four were following behind.
"For my grandson-in-law's request." Xiao Mubai answered quite naturally, but Xia Chu didn't believe it at all.
"If you asked me, would you deliberately send me away?"
"Maybe I'm afraid you'll be shy." Xiao Mubai smiled.
Old General Zhao and Old General Qiao also experienced the cold wind blowing together all afternoon outside a leaky tea shed on the official road between Khitan and Chongqing.
Naturally, he was well aware of the plans of the two emperors.
This incident had nothing to do with Xia Chu before, but now that General Zhao knew that Xia Chu was a daughter, he inevitably remembered the emperor's golden words back then.
The matter of deceiving the emperor can be reduced to a minor matter.
But back then, the emperor had personally promised that if Zhao Lan gave birth to a girl, the prince he would choose in the future would be the crown princess.
In fact, it was decided back then that if Xia Chu was a girl, she would be Xiao Mubai's designated crown princess, so that they could grow up together as childhood sweethearts.
(End of chapter)