In the middle of the twelfth lunar month, the army finally returned to Beijing in triumph.
The weather was very good that day, with a clear blue sky. The young emperor led all the civil and military officials to personally welcome him outside the city gate.
Chen Jingzong followed Ling Rucheng on horseback, and the eldest princess of Huayang was in the front in her carriage.
When the carriage stopped, Wu Run walked to the front of the carriage and helped the princess get out.
The young emperor had already cast his eyes over to see his sister, who was wearing a plain white dress and had a face without makeup that looked thinner than when she left Beijing. Thinking of the hardships and risks on the battlefield, the young emperor could not help but feel distressed. If he were older, he could lead the army himself, and his sister would not have to suffer this hardship.
He walked over quickly.
They are all children of the late emperor, and because of their different status, their mourning periods are also different.
For example, Huayang, she was a married daughter and needed to mourn for her father for a year.
As a son, the Shaodi should have mourned for three years. But he was also the ruler of a country, so how could he really neglect state affairs for three years? Therefore, the new emperor mourned for the previous emperor by using days instead of months, and twenty-seven days was enough.
The young emperor, who had already taken off his mourning clothes, wore an indigo dragon robe today. His face was as handsome as jade, and his figure was slender, almost as tall as Huayang.
Huayang saw the shadows of his father and mother in his younger brother. In terms of facial features, Huayang had never seen anyone more handsome than his younger brother.
"My little brother has grown taller. He looks really good in this outfit."
The officials were still far away, and Huayang touched his brother's shoulder, feeling both relieved and appreciative.
If his younger brother had not done those foolish things in his previous life, Huayang would feel even more proud at this moment, and would think that his younger brother had no shortcomings!
"Sister, you've lost weight again." The young emperor looked at his sister carefully for a moment, and said out of concern: "Sister, your face has become a little rough after living in the open air all day long."
Huayang: …
She kept smiling and signaled her brother to go and comfort generals including Ling Rucheng.
The young emperor had already made preparations to comfort the soldiers today. He left his sister for the time being and walked calmly towards Ling Rucheng.
After he left, hundreds of officials, led by Chen Tingjian and other cabinet ministers, came forward to pay their respects to the princess.
Huayang said "No need to be polite" and his eyes fell on his father-in-law Chen Tingjian.
The army returned late, but the victory report had already been reported back to the capital. Since Chen Tingjian knew that Prince Yu and other vassal kings had surrendered and his own fourth son had won several military exploits, he had nothing to worry about. His face was still as elegant and gentle, and his beautiful beard that grew to his chest and abdomen was still well-groomed.
"This battle went so smoothly. In addition to General Ling's skill in commanding troops, the Princess herself supervised the battle and boosted morale, which also played an important role."
Chen Tingjian bowed slightly and praised.
Hua Yang smiled and said, "You are too kind, Lord. I did not do anything. It is all the credit of the soldiers."
In this situation, it was inappropriate for her to address Chen Tingjian as her daughter-in-law.
After saying this, she and all the officials walked behind her brother, watching him speak to each general with ease, and finally raised his voice to commend the hundreds of thousands of troops.
After returning to the carriage, Huayang asked Chaoyun to take out the small peep mirror in the carriage. While admiring himself in the mirror, he frowned and asked the two maids beside him: "The emperor said that my face has become rough. Tell me the truth, is it true?"
Chaoyun, Chaoyue: ...
How could the emperor say that!
"Princess, don't worry. The emperor is just too concerned about you. Simply saying that you have lost weight is not enough to express his concern, so he racked his brains to come up with something else. Think about it, you have been sitting in a carriage or staying in a tent. You haven't been outside for a few days, so how could you become rough?"
"Yes, we brought a box of facial cream with us on this trip, and we used it every time. Princess, if you don't believe me, just touch it yourself. Your face is more tender than a peeled lychee."
Huayang was half-believing and half-unbelieving.
Chao Yun smiled and whispered, "What we say is useless. Ask the Prince Consort tonight."
Huayang glared at him, but finally put the mirror down.
The army stayed outside the city, and the generals followed the young emperor into the palace to attend the banquet and receive rewards.
Huayang went to the Qianqing Palace to see his mother.
Empress Dowager Qi had been waiting for a long time, and the mother and daughter had to have a long talk after a long separation.
Huayang did not tell his mother about the hardships and inconveniences he had encountered along the way. He only talked about the war, including the burial of tens of thousands of soldiers outside Wuduo Mountain.
Empress Dowager Qi sighed and said, "It is all the fault of Prince Yu, Prince Jing and other vassal princes. If they had behaved themselves, why would our officers and men have to fight against each other?"
Huayang recalled how all the kings of Henan were deposed in his previous life, and he felt a little relieved.
Empress Dowager Qi: "Is the Prince Consort injured?"
Huayang: "I was stabbed a few times, but I have recovered from the journey. Mother, don't worry about me."
Empress Dowager Qi laughed: "You sound very open-minded."
Huayang snorted when he thought of Chen Jingzong's scoundrels.
During the first few days after Chen Jingzong was injured, she was worried every day. She would look over every time he took a breath. Later, she found out that Chen Jingzong was pretending many times, so Huayang was too lazy to pay attention to him.
"Mother, how is the palace doing lately?"
"Very good. The court affairs are in charge of Elder Chen, and everything is in order. Not long ago, the Ministry of Rites also proposed several reign titles and sent them to me. Your brother chose 'Yuanyou', and it will be used after the New Year."
Almost every emperor of this dynasty used only one reign title, and the people would call the new emperor Emperor Yuanyou.
Huayang thought that her brother used the same thing in his previous life, but she would never let the things that happened in the third year of Yuanyou happen again.
.
It was not until the end of the previous dynasty's celebration banquet that Emperor Yuanyou brought Chen Jingzong and Qi Jin to the Qianqing Palace to pay their respects to Empress Dowager Qi.
Because Emperor Yuanyou was still young, Empress Dowager Qi would live with Emperor Yuanyou in the Qianqing Palace until Emperor Yuanyou got married and took power at the age of 18.
Chen Jingzong was Empress Dowager Qi's son-in-law, and Qi Jin was Empress Dowager Qi's nephew from her mother's side. Both young commanders were handsome and had made military achievements in the process of suppressing the rebellion.
Empress Dowager Qi was very happy and gave them some words of encouragement.
She asked Qi Jin to go back to the Marquis' Mansion first, and kept her daughter and son-in-law for a while. She said to Huayang, "The Prince Consort is fighting on the battlefield, and his family must be very worried about him. You can go back to Chen's Mansion with the Prince Consort first, and do your filial duty as a child before returning to the Princess' Mansion to mourn."
He was polite, and Huayang directly responded to his mother, then said a few words to his younger brother, and then took Chen Jingzong out of the palace.
Chen Jingzong followed her into the carriage.
Military officers of this dynasty do not have to observe mourning when encountering a funeral, but they still have to observe some etiquette and rules of mourning. For example, at the celebration banquet just now, Chen Jingzong did not drink alcohol or eat meat.
"What reward did the emperor give you?"
The carriage was moving steadily, and Huayang asked Chen Jingzong casually.
Chen Jingzong: "Either promotion or reward. I was promoted to commander by the late emperor at a young age, which is a high enough position. The emperor rewarded me with three thousand taels of silver."
Huayang: "Your achievements are all thanks to your parents' care and support. Don't forget to show your respect to them later."
Chen Jingzong: "I am the commander because of your face. Should I also show my respect to you?"
Huayang: "Okay, give one thousand taels to the elders and one thousand taels to me, and you can keep the rest."
Chen Jingzong: "They say men become bad when they have money. You left me so much, aren't you afraid that I will let you down?"
Huayang: "As long as you are not afraid of being beaten, you can do whatever you want outside."
Chen Jingzong raised his eyebrows: "Just a beating? I thought you were going to divorce me."
Hua Yang: "The specific punishment depends on how much you have wronged me."
Chen Jingzong held her in his arms and kissed her: "The thing I feel most sorry for you in this life is probably that I was not polite when we first got married."
Hua Yang glanced at him and said calmly: "You are only in your twenties, it is too early to talk about this life now."
Chen Jingzong: "Okay, we'll settle this account when we're in our seventies or eighties."
Huayang didn't comment and wiped the place on his face where he had kissed with a handkerchief.
Just as she finished wiping, Chen Jingzong kissed her again.
Huayang suddenly remembered what his brother said, and said nonchalantly: "You are really unrefined. My face has become a lot rougher due to the wind recently, but you still like to kiss it."
Chen Jingzong was stunned for a moment, looked at her fair and tender face, and then touched it again and again with his fingertips covered with a thin layer of calluses: "Where is it rough?"
Huayang didn't say anything.
Chen Jingzong thought she was just being picky: "If you're so rough, wouldn't our faces turn into bark?"
Huayang looked at his face, then tried to touch it, and there was obvious disdain in his eyes.
Chen Jingzong: …
The two large bottles of facial cream that his third brother gave him last year had been used up long ago. He spent his birthday outside this year, and he didn’t know whether his third brother had prepared anything for him.
When they arrived at the Chen family, Chen Tingjian, who had changed into casual clothes, brought his family out to welcome his distinguished daughter-in-law.
Huayang greeted everyone and said to Chen Jingzong, "You stay with your father and mother. I'll go to Siyi Hall first."
As Chen Jingzong said, the two of them had already had an affair together during the old lady's funeral, but in front of everyone in the Chen family, Huayang still had to abide by the mourning etiquette that she should observe at this time.
Chen Jingzong nodded and sent her back to Siyitang first, and then to Chunhetang to accompany his family.
Chen Tingjian, Chen Bochong and Chen Xiaozong had already met in the palace. At this time, the one who missed Chen Jingzong the most in Chunhe Hall was Sun.
Sun held her youngest son's hand and was about to take off his clothes in public to see with her own eyes whether her beloved son was hurt.
Chen Jingzong: "I'm really fine, why are you crying?"
Sun wiped her eyes and argued: "You went out and earned me a thousand taels of silver. I am so happy!"
Chen Jingzong: "You are so happy in vain. I really didn't want to show my filial piety to you. It was the eldest princess who insisted that I show my filial piety."
Sun slapped him on the butt!
Chen Jingzong took the opportunity to sit back next to his third brother Chen Xiaozong.
Wanyi and the other children all laughed. It was so rare to see that their fourth uncle, who was so old, was still being beaten by their grandmother.
After the laughter died down, Chen Tingjian said, "Okay, as long as you come back safely, the princess is still waiting, you should go back quickly."
Sun felt a little reluctant but didn't say anything. The eldest princess was still in mourning, and the daughter who had lost her father was the most heartbreaking thing right now.
Chen Jingzong nodded and glanced at his two brothers meaningfully before leaving.
We are all brothers, who can’t understand what he means
When Chen Jingzong took Huayang back to the main courtyard, he saw two boxes in Fugui's arms.
Chen Jingzong took it and put it in the car.
"What is this?" Huayang asked curiously.
Chen Jingzong: "My eldest and third brothers owe me a birthday present."
He opened the boxes one by one.
Chen Bochong gave a military book, and Chen Xiaozong gave two large jars of face cream.
Chen Jingzong was very disgusted: "Third brother, he uses this kind of thing like a woman, and he even wants me to learn from him."
He said in a tone that he would never use it even if he died, but Huayang remembered the completely different touch on his body and face.
She smiled and said, "When Third Brother gets old, he will probably be as elegant as our father. You, may really become an old tree bark."
Chen Jingzong: …
(End of this chapter)