Chapter 704 824: Mother, Is She Also Jiaer's Aunt?

In the cold winter, snow fell thousands of miles outside the Great Wall.

Yingcheng was almost buried under the snow, but in the cold weather of December, the city was very lively. Smoke rose from the houses and stalls, full of the breath of life.

Two years ago, Yingcheng was still a dilapidated scene with a declining population, but as King Wei led the army, almost all 80,000 barbarians of Jinxia were killed, and they fought all the way to Haiyan Pass in Jinxia and confiscated all the people and horses of Jinxia in Haiyan Pass.

This battle not only hurt Jinxia, ​​but also cut off Jinxia's idea of ​​continuing to commit crimes, in exchange for peace on the border of the Song Dynasty.

With peace, there is an opportunity for development.

In just over two years, coupled with the tilt of the court's policies, Yingcheng has gradually restored people's livelihood.

From the beginning of the year to now, there has been civil unrest in Jinxia. The Jinxia court went to war with the Beidi tribe. This war involved several small tribes around the Beidi tribe and affected hundreds of thousands of Jinxia people. The outbreak of the war caused a shortage of daily necessities in the Jinxia war zone.

Shortage means huge profits. With huge profits, there is a rampant smuggling business on the border between the two countries.

Because the Song Dynasty needed to develop, it almost took a laissez-faire approach to the smuggling business.

This led to more and more merchants coming to Yingcheng, and the scale of Yingcheng also became larger. In its heyday, there were as many as three or four thousand merchants gathered in the city.

Unfortunately, the overall strength of the Beidi tribe was far from that of the Jinxia court. Therefore, more than two months ago, the Beidi tribe was wiped out by the Jinxia court. Then the Jinxia court carried out centralized governance and appeasement of the original war zone, so that the local daily necessities gradually returned to normal levels.

Without the temptation of huge profits, the smuggling business began to decline, and fewer and fewer merchants came to Yingcheng.

However, with the flow of people, Yingcheng still had a prosperous scene during the day.

On a snowy day, there were few pedestrians on the street, but the vendors were still shouting hard.

At 10:00 noon, a sound of horse hooves rang out on the street.

A brave guard, riding a warhorse, holding a gong in his hand, shouted loudly after the gong sounded: "General Chang En has ordered that the whole city will be under martial law and the checkpoints will be closed immediately."

"General Chang En has ordered that the whole city will be under martial law and the checkpoints will be closed immediately."

"Ding Ding Ding"

The sound of the gong was very crisp. Whether it was the pedestrians on the street or the people in the shops and houses on both sides of the street, they all stretched their necks, pricked up their ears, and cast their eyes over.

In the barracks stationed in Yingcheng, in the central army tent.

Chang En sat at the top, his bright armor made him look extraordinary and heroic. He was no longer the innocent and simple boy in the mountains. More than two years of military life made him accustomed to life and death and grew into a qualified general.

On the left and right sides below were Cui Shuang, Song Shiming, and the people from the Li, Gan, and Xiao families who came from Xiangyang, such as Xiao Yi and Gan Yao.

At this moment, their eyes were all on the scout in the tent.

According to the scout, Jinxia's Haiyan Pass had recently sent more soldiers and horses, and the defense was more strict.

After listening to this, Xiao Yi frowned and said, "Jin Xia has just quelled the civil strife. Could it be that they want to invade our Song Dynasty again? It seems that the King of Wei still didn't scare them last time."

"These barbarians are still determined to destroy us. Although the Eastern Army was defeated last time, the Western Army was not too damaged. Instead, they took advantage of Longyou. Now that the internal troubles have been solved, it is not impossible for them to attack again while we are still not recovered." Song Shiming said in a deep voice.

"We can hurt them the first time, and naturally we can hurt them the second time. If they dare to come again, I will definitely deal with them severely." Cui Shuang said with a fierce expression.

"No matter what they want to do with the reinforcements, we can't slack off. The most important thing now is to find out who is the commander-in-chief of Haiyan Pass this time, and then report to the court and let the prince make the decision." Chang En said carefully.

The generals nodded.

Chang En said, "The prince told me that if the enemy doesn't move, I won't move. Before the order from above comes, we just need to guard the border and don't act rashly."

"Yes."

"Report--"

Just then, a soldier walked in quickly, raised his hand and saluted: "General, General Han and his men are here."

"General Han?"

When Xiao Yi and Gan Yao heard this, they turned their heads and showed doubts in their eyes.

Obviously, they were not familiar with this General Han.

Chang En and Cui Shuang were happy, and the former said, "Please come in quickly."

Soon, a tall figure walked into the military tent.

Chang En saw the person coming, and hurriedly came down from the top, stepped forward and held the person's hand, and smiled: "After receiving General Han's letter last time, I was looking forward to you. Finally, you are here."

The reason why Chang En treated him like this was because the person coming was Han Wu, who was not only an old man who had followed Chen Mo for a long time, but also a relative of Han Anniang.

Han Wu exhaled a white mist, rubbed his hands in the cold, and said: "I'm sorry to have kept you waiting for a long time. The heavy snow blocked the road and it was cold, so it took some time. Fortunately, the baggage was transported without any problems."

"No delay, no delay, sit down quickly." Chang En invited Han Wu to sit down, and then shouted to the outside of the account: "Come on, add a brazier."

Han Wu sat down next to Cui Shuang. The two had known each other for a long time. Cui Shuang poured Han Wu a glass of strong liquor and said: "It's cold here in Youzhou. Come, drink some wine to warm yourself up."

"Thank you."

"Why are you and I being polite? How is your prince doing well recently?"

"Your Majesty has moved to Tianchuan, and I haven't seen him for a long time. I guess everything is fine." The strong drink entered his throat, and Han Wu felt his body warm up.

"By the way, what exactly is the baggage you brought from Xiangyang this time?" Cui Shuang asked curiously.

"Oh, it's a newly developed bow and arrow in the weapons workshop. I heard it was made by the prince. It's called a compound bow. It's more powerful than the God's Arm Crossbow. When the prince was still in Xiangyang, he told me that this bow was made by the prince. The first batch will be shipped to the border first," Han Wudao said.

"Compound bow?" Chang En was stunned, and then said: "Let's go and have a look."

…

Tianchuan.

It is also snowing in the capital. Compared with the north, the weather is not that cold, the snow is not as deep, and the snow has stopped.

The midday sun shines over the square imperial city, seeming to dispel the biting cold wind and bring a touch of warmth to the palace.

But the maids and eunuchs who greeted him in the outer city of the palace still tightened their necks, and before the nobles arrived, they secretly held their hands up to their mouths to enjoy the heat.

"Da da da"

A group of elite soldiers came trotting from the end of Xuanwu Avenue. As they ran, the armor leaves rubbed against each other, making a crisp sound.

Immediately afterwards, carriages appeared at the end of the avenue.

Whether it was the palace maids, eunuchs, or the royal guards of the imperial city, they all stood ready.

When these carriages arrived at the outer city, they did not stop and walked straight towards the inner city. The maids and eunuchs could only trot behind the carriages.

Lin Xuelan, Yuzhu, and Xingyao were in the carriage of a carriage. Xingyao slightly raised the curtain of the carriage window and looked at the majestic imperial city outside the carriage. He trotted after the palace maid and eunuch who did not dare to fall behind and was afraid of making the slightest mistake. , his eyes couldn’t help but be a little dazed.

In the past half month, Xingyao had not left the Wei Palace, so she only had an imagination about Chen Mo's position in the Song Dynasty, and did not have a clear sensory understanding.

But now, I have a certain sensory understanding for the time being.

As a courtier, you can take your wife and concubines into the palace to see the wintersweet. You can also drive a carriage directly in without getting out of the car.

When they arrived at the entrance to the inner city, the carriage stopped.

Xingyao, Lin Xuelan and Yuzhu got out of the car. It’s not that the carriages from the Wei Palace cannot enter the inner city.

Instead, Emperor Yong'an came to greet him personally with Queen Zhao.

"I have met Your Majesty, the Queen."

"My wife has met Your Majesty and the Queen."

Chen Mo took Wu Mi's hand, came to Emperor Yong'an and Queen Zhao, raised his hand and saluted.

"King Wei, Princess Wei doesn't need to be polite." Emperor Yong'an raised his hand and glanced behind Chen Mo. Almost all of them were young and beautiful Huaxin young women, but he knew that they all belonged to King Wei. He didn't dare to look at the concubine's room, and quickly turned his gaze back.

But at this moment, a childish voice came from Emperor Yong'an's ears.

A pink two-year-old child took Queen Zhao's hand and said to Wu Mi, "Mom, is she also Jia'er's aunt?"

The maid who was taking care of Chen Jia turned pale at this moment. As soon as she lost consciousness, Chen Jia ran away from her and ran ahead.

Queen Zhao was stunned.

Wu Mi was also startled and quickly stepped forward to hug Chen Jia: "Jia'er, what nonsense are you talking about? Why don't you salute His Majesty and the Queen?"

Chen Jia was stunned and didn't move. He didn't know what saluting meant. When he was in Prince Wei's Mansion, others were always respectful to him.

The expressions of Chen Mo's concubines also changed inexplicably at this moment.

Just when Chen Mo was thinking about how to explain, Queen Zhao suddenly walked up to Chen Jia, knelt down and said with a smile: "This must be the young prince, he is so good."

She also touched Chen Jia's head, then turned back to Emperor Yong'an and said, "Your Majesty, can I accept the young prince as my godson?"

Emperor Yong'an's mood was not much better. After all, this was a big loss of face, but in front of everyone, he could only pretend to be calm and laughed dryly: "I also have this idea, but I don't know about King Wei and Princess Wei. Do you mind?"

Before Chen Mo finished speaking, Wu Mi smiled and said: "Your Majesty, what are you talking about? It is an honor for Jia'er, my wife and the prince that Jia'er can win the favor of the Queen. It's too late to be happy, so why would you mind. "

Chen Mo smiled and accepted it as acquiescence.

In this way, this matter is in the past.

Chen Jia also climbed up the pole and hugged Queen Zhao who was squatting in front of her. She didn't need any instructions and just called out sweetly: "Godmother."

Chen Mo: "..."

Wu Mi: "..."

Queen Zhao: "..."

Emperor Yong'an pretended not to care.

He coughed lightly and said: "King Wei, Princess Wei, let's move to the wax plum forest. The scenery of the wax plum forest is beautiful now, and it's just right for fun."

Chen Mo and Wu Mi nodded, and the group headed towards the wax plum forest.

Chen Jia was led by Queen Zhao.

Lin Xuelan in the back breathed a sigh of relief inexplicably. She was so nervous just now.

…

Royal Garden, inside the Wintersweet Forest.

The winter plum blossoms in December are really beautiful.

Goose-yellow flowers are dotted on the branches in an orderly manner. The breeze blows and the bright light sways slightly, casting mottled tree shadows on the snow.

Wintersweet is not as colorful as the flowers in spring, nor is it as graceful and graceful as the lotus, nor is it as colorful as the chrysanthemum.

But in this world of ice and snow, it has a different simplicity and elegance.

In his previous life, Chen Mo had also seen winter plums.

But that was in a park in the city, not as many as now, and the background of the winter plum forest at that time was all high-rise buildings, and there were modern facilities such as marble seats and street lights next to it. The two did not match at all, and there was no beauty like now.

The plum blossoms are fragrant and fragrant.

When they came to the winter plum forest, Queen Zhao put Chen Jia down.

Although the winter plums are beautiful, Queen Zhao, who is in the palace, has long been tired of them and has no novelty. She wanted to find an excuse to leave, but Emperor Yong'an asked her to take the Princess of Wei and others for a walk.

On the contrary, Emperor Yong'an found an excuse to leave after staying with Chen Mo and others for a while, leaving Queen Zhao to accompany him.

Queen Zhao bit her red lips, and at this moment, she felt a little wronged.

It's okay that His Majesty is getting colder and colder to her.

It was you who told me to try not to be alone with the King of Wei, why now...

But in front of outsiders, she still has to force a smile.

Queen Zhao wore a gorgeous red skirt with exquisite golden piping and tassels, which made her look more elegant and luxurious, which matched the snow scene very well.

Her unique temperament was like a touch of bright red in the snow, which was fascinating.

At least at this moment, Chen Mo's wives and concubines were slightly inferior to her.

Of course, this is not a comparison of appearance, but an overall feeling.

Wu Mi couldn't help but smile and said, "The Queen is so beautiful."

Queen Zhao's face was like delicate white jade, and she blushed slightly when she heard it. She chuckled and said, "Princess Wei praised you. Princess Wei is much more beautiful than me."

As she said that, she stepped forward and held Princess Wei's hand: "Princess's hands are so tender. It seems that the King of Wei is a man who loves his wife."

In Queen Zhao's view, it is right to build a good relationship with Princess Wei.

"The prince is indeed very good to me." Wu Mi smiled slightly, tilted her head to look at Chen Mo, with a touch of tenderness in her eyes.

Chen Mo smiled back and asked Ruyan to pay attention to this side. He took the children to play on the other side.

There is no taking pictures in the Song Dynasty.

We came to the Winter Plum Forest just to see something new.

It is beautiful.

But after looking at it for a long time, we are a little tired.

In less than half an hour, the girls were a little bored.

Queen Zhao invited them to sit nearby, eat some snacks, drink some hot tea, and take a rest.

The girls nodded in agreement.

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