The towering city towers stood in the morning light. Chenzhou Gate was bustling with people early in the morning. The smoke of war in Huainan could not affect the market in Tokyo too much. The vegetables, meat and various supplies of the entire city depended on the trade from villages near and far, and there were also merchants from various places entering and leaving Tokyo.
At this time, an old eunuch wearing a futou and a robe rode to the Chenzhou Gate. When he arrived at the city gate, he could only dismount and wait for the crowd to slowly pass through the city gate. There were especially many people in the morning. There were two rows of armored soldiers standing inside and outside the city gate. Anyone they thought was suspicious would be checked. Others had it easier. They could enter by paying taxes to the officials according to the types of goods they carried.
A man like the old eunuch Cao Tai, with gray hair on his temples and no hair on his mouth, looks like a eunuch from head to toe. No soldier was willing to pay attention to a eunuch, and everyone pretended not to notice.
A few days ago, when the Queen's procession returned to Tokyo, this eunuch who often walked around the Queen was nowhere to be seen along the way. He must have been sent to do something else. But as a eunuch in the palace, he would not be away for too long and would definitely return to Tokyo soon.
As soon as he entered the city gate, Cao Tai suddenly heard someone calling him: Eunuch Cao.
Cao Tai turned around and saw Jingniang and the little Taoist nun Qingxu. He had seen her in Chenzhou and was very familiar with Qingxu. He hurriedly led the horse over. Jingniang said, "The queen has recovered recently, right?"
I went to Shouzhou and just found out when I returned. Cao Tai said kindly.
Jingniang didn't say much and said directly: Envoy Guo asked me to bring Qingxu and follow Eunuch Cao into the palace to let the Queen see him.
That would be great. Cao Tai said, but he hesitated for a moment, looked around, and whispered, if you have anything you want to present to the Queen, you can give it to the Zajia first. You have to be searched when entering the palace. This is the rule. He emphasized that even ministers with long-standing meritorious service will be searched when entering the outer hall to check if they have weapons. This search is relatively simple; but if someone enters the inner hall, they will be searched very carefully, for fear that people outside will bring poison into the palace. The Zajia will not be searched, and there are several doors that are managed by the Zajia people.
Cao Tai was such a smart and experienced eunuch, he just came back and happened to meet them halfway, and they suddenly took the initiative to ask to see the queen. Cao Tai could figure out with his toes that it was not that simple.
Unexpectedly, Jingniang shook her head indifferently and said: There is nothing.
Cao Tai then asked no more questions and asked them to mount their horses and follow him north.
When they reached the north gate of the palace, Jingniang and Qingxu were taken to a house by the eunuchs. Then a dozen palace ladies came in, closed the door, and drew a curtain in the room. One of the older ones said, "Take off all your clothes, not a single piece left." Also the hairpins on your head and all the ornaments on your body.
Qingxu was seen covering his chest with his hands, looking at the middle-aged palace woman who was speaking with innocence and shyness.
But this pitiful expression did not impress the palace lady. The palace maid snorted coldly: "Don't pretend. I have seen many concubines every year. I have seen ladies from noble families. They are all women. What's so great about you? Your breasts are so small and flat. Do you think I would be interested in seeing you?"
Qingxu became furious upon hearing this.
The other people nearby had already started searching their bags. From Qingxu's cloth bag, they took out a handful of yellow rune paper. The maid flipped through it and saw that it was full of scribbled runes, so she threw it aside. Another maid was holding Jingniang's hairpin and looking carefully at the direction of the light to see if there was any mechanism.
After they were examined, Qingxu followed Jingniang out in a gloomy mood. Seeing this, the eunuch Cao Tai smiled with relief.
The three of them entered the Zide Hall silently through the back door. There were several rooms outside the Queen's bedroom, where palace maids and eunuchs were on duty. Cao Tai asked Jingniang and others to sit and wait in a room, and he ran in to report.
Fu Zhen lazily lay on a couch and read a book. A group of palace maids were beside her, some fanning her, and some gently pounding her legs and waist. Cao Tai came forward and knelt at her feet, saying respectfully: "Your Majesty, I have returned from Huainan."
When Fu saw Cao Tai, she sat up, raised her hand and waved it gently, and the people around her hurriedly bent down and backed out.
Get up and speak.
I thank you. Cao Tai lifted the hem of his robe, got up from the ground, bowed and said, Jingniang and Qingxu have come to the palace. I have seen the emperor and Wang Pu.
Cao Tai explained the matter in a few words, paused, and when he heard that the queen did not ask any questions, he continued: The emperor only asked the queen to reward Guo Dushi with some money and property. The emperor said that Huainan needed a good general, and we will commend him for his previous achievements after the battle. The current situation in Huainan is that Shouzhou has not yet been captured, and the royal army of Zhou Chao has already gone down Qingliu Pass and just occupied Chuzhou; Zhao Kuangyin, the chief military officer in front of the palace, performed the best in these battles and was deeply appreciated by the emperor.
First, Li Gu's vanguard crossed the Huai River in Zhengyang, approached Shouzhou and defeated the Southern Tang army that had formed a battle array outside the city; but tens of thousands of Southern Tang reinforcements attacked Zhengyang, and Li Gu was afraid of being attacked from both sides, so he withdrew from Shouzhou to guard the floating bridge. Later, the government thought that Li Gu had missed the opportunity to fight, so he handed over the military power to Li Chongjin
Fu's eyebrows slightly raised when she heard this. She remembered that when she was on the way to Chenzhou, she heard that the emperor would use Li Gu as the vanguard, so she wanted to suggest that Li Chongjin be appointed instead. But she didn't say anything for other reasons. Unexpectedly, the emperor still used Li Chongjin.
Cao Tai continued: The Tang army in Zhengyang was defeated, and more than 10,000 people were killed. Later, the emperor decided to move Shouzhou southward, and first ordered Zhao Kuangyin to lead the cavalry to attack Tushan, a Tang army stronghold downstream; Zhao Kuangyin lured the Tang army at Wokou and defeated 10,000 Tang soldiers.
After the victory at Wokou, the emperor immediately ordered Zhao Kuangyin to lead the cavalry to attack Qingliu Pass. The Southern Tang defender Huangfu Hui led his troops into Chuzhou City. Later, when he tried to leave the city to fight, he was killed by Zhao Kuangyin and seriously injured. The imperial army took advantage of the situation and occupied Chuzhou. Zhao Kuangyin sealed up the wealth in the city and handed it over to the emperor.
Fu thought: Shao Ge'er didn't get any property when he attacked Hou Shu, and he even took the captives to extort money from Shu, which was very despicable; while Zhao Kuangyin got all the property, but he returned it to the state treasury intact. Comparing the two, it was really obvious who was better. Zhao Kuangyin's ambitions were definitely higher than Shao Ge'er's, but she still liked people like Shao Ge'er more.
Cao Tai finished his report in a short while. He always spoke briefly and concisely about the most important things. But he stood there without moving. Fu then said: Let Qingxu and others come in to see me after an incense stick.
Yes. Cao Tai then bowed and left.
Fu supported her head with her fists and thought for a while. She was sure that in the eyes of the emperor, a capable general was more important than anything else. Li Chongjin could even command the troops of the enemy.
After a serious illness, Fu felt that she understood the emperor more clearly. Perhaps a woman really needs to look at a man without any emotion to truly understand him.
Sooner or later, the world will be unified, but no one can tell how long this process will take. Fu could sense that the emperor was in a hurry. He did not want to leave such great achievements to future generations, but wanted to accomplish all the great things in civil and military affairs himself.
He was also very wise. He abandoned all his prejudices and did everything to ensure the combat effectiveness of the Zhou army in order to expand the territory and conquer the world. Everyone's future was based on whether they could fight and establish military achievements. The emperor gave his ministers an accurate idea: as long as they could fight, everything would be fine. Only in this way could the Zhou army's soldiers be eager to fight and have high morale.
Therefore, Fu thought that Shao Ge'er said some inappropriate things in Chenzhou last time, but it didn't matter. As long as he could perform well in the Huainan battlefield, just like he did in the battle against Shu, the emperor would not care about him; and Shao Ge'er was a man who had made contributions in the Battle of Gaoping. If the emperor thought he was a good general, everything would be fine.
Not long after, two women, one tall and one short, walked into the palace. They were Jingniang and Qingxu.
But Qingxu did not come forward and was left far away. Jingniang came up with a stack of yellow paper to greet him. Fu looked at her with a smile, glanced at Qingxu who was left behind, and said: Stand up.
Jingniang raised her head and glanced at Fu. Fu remained calm and thought to herself: This woman is even braver than a man.
Jingniang looked at the many books piled on the cabinet next to her, and Fu Shi also had a book in her hand. She pointed at the pile of books and said: Please allow me, Queen.
Fu thought she was very strange, purely out of a feeling, and different from other people's behavior when they met the queen, at least she didn't say a single unnecessary word. Fu calmed down and looked at what she wanted to do, and nodded slightly.
Jingniang picked out a Historical Records from the pile of books, and then walked to the queen, but put the book aside. She took out a piece of talisman paper and pointed to the symbols on it: This is one, two, three.
Fu suddenly found it interesting and nodded again.
Then Jingniang pointed to one of the places: from top to bottom, there are three numbers. The first is the page number, the second is the line number, and the third is the word number. After that, she flipped through the book, found a word, and said: 崤.
Fu suddenly realized, and his eyes lit up slightly.
Jingniang said again: How about I write down these ten symbols
Fu shook his head and said: I remember.
Now Jingniang was surprised and couldn't help saying: I just said it once. Fu smiled and said: Remember it. In the palace, no one dared to let me say it a second time.
Jingniang moved closer and whispered: "Guo Dushi said that it was just in case, and if there is any important matter in the future, he will report it to the Queen. In case of emergency, Qingxu will be sent to the palace to teach the Queen the method of inner alchemy and breathing. If there are four numbers in the third place of these yellow papers, this one is a report."
Fu asked: Do you have a piece of paper with four numbers on it
Jingniang shook her head: No, today I was ordered to tell the Queen this method.
Fu nodded, thought for a moment and said, "On the 26th of every month, Cao Tai will go to the East Market to buy some items for me. If he has anything to say, I will send someone to the East Market to find Cao Tai in the next two days."
Cao Tai's purchase of things for the queen was actually a reward job, because the things bought specially would generally be at least several times more expensive, a behavior she tacitly approved of.
Qingxu. Fu smiled and waved to the little nun in the distance, her love and affection evident in her words.