85Chapter 85 An Old Friend Comes

Jing Chen directly acknowledged Ma Zhuo's identity. He was indeed his childhood companion. When the Zhuo family was convicted, he was also exiled. Originally, Jing Chen could have left him alone because of his plea, but thinking that his family was full of old, weak, women and children, and needed him, a young boy, to take care of them, he declined the prince's kindness and followed him to a remote place.

Mu Hanzhang confirmed Ma Zhuo's identity, and his understanding of him was immediately improved.

Jing Chen's companion in those days was Zhuo Yunji, the eldest son of Minister Zhuo. It is said that he is extremely smart and can memorize everything he has seen. Before the Zhuo family was in trouble, the Mu family's family teacher often mentioned him.

"How can it be as powerful as the rumors say." Jing Chen shook his head helplessly. He was just good at talking to make the teacher happy, so he praised him a few more words in front of everyone. The family teacher of the Mu family was taught by the teacher of the Imperial College. Naturally, he would exaggerate the words of his mentor.

"That's right, he didn't memorize it!" Jing Shao followed up and echoed. When he was a child, he saw Zhuo Yunji copying the book he needed to memorize into his hands. He was caught by him once. The guy handed over a handful of candy before begging him not to tell anyone.

Mu Hanzhang smiled knowingly and turned to talk about what happened recently in the court: "The eldest prince asked to return to the court, and the memorial is still on the way." During this period of time, I managed some affairs for Jing Chen, and I realized how powerful this person is.

Jing Chen took a sip of tea and looked at Jing Shao: "What do you think?"

Jing Shao frowned. The Nanman Rebellion has not been settled yet, and Jing Rong, the coward, wants to come back with his tail between his legs. If things go wrong, it will fall on him: "He doesn't mind being embarrassed, and we can't stop him. But the father in Yunnan and Tibet will definitely not let it go... Anyway, I won't go."

"I didn't say you go." Jing Chen glared at him, turned to look at Mu Hanzhang, and asked what he meant.

"We can change someone else to go." Mu Hanzhang slowly stroked the rim of the cup. The eldest prince wanted to come back, and they couldn't stop the memorial. Everything depended on the emperor's opinion.

"Who?" Jing Chen had some thoughts in his mind, but he still had to listen to their opinions.

"It's most appropriate to let Yongchang Bo go. Maybe he can be given a title of marquis." Jing Shao sneered. Didn't Yongchang Bo's wife dislike the princess being given a title of marquis? Let her husband go to the battlefield to seek a title of marquis.

A few days later, the eldest prince Jing Rong's memorial requesting to return to the court was handed to Emperor Hongzheng.

"Waste!" Emperor Hongzheng threw the memorial to the ground in the court.

"Your Majesty, the southern barbarians are now arrogant. If you withdraw the troops suddenly, it may help their arrogance, and it will be even more difficult to deal with them in the future." The Minister of War said worriedly.

Since the death of the old prime minister, Emperor Hongzheng has not appointed a prime minister in these years. He has assigned the prime minister's duties to the six ministries. Those led by princes and dukes will be given to people with titles, and those without titles will be directly assigned to the ministers, so the words of the six ministers are still very important.

As expected, when Minister Sun said this, many people echoed him.

"Father!" The fourth prince Jingyu suddenly stepped out and bowed, "I heard that my eldest brother was infected with miasma in Yunnan and Tibet and has been sick for more than a month. Now that the weather is getting hotter, there are more and more snakes, insects, rats and ants in Yunnan and Tibet, which is very bad for my brother's health. Now that my brother is willing to give up the opportunity to make meritorious deeds, he must be physically unable to bear it!"

The fourth prince said it very emotionally, as if he really had a deep brotherly love.

Emperor Hongzheng was very satisfied with the fourth prince's performance of caring for his brother, and the sharpness in his eyes eased a little.

Jing Chen looked at the fourth prince who was almost in tears, his eyes slightly sank. When he was in Jiangnan, Gu Huaiqing showed him the letters sent by the court, and the intention of withdrawing the vassal state was more obvious than the last one. Now the eldest prince and Jing Yu's performance must be related to the situation in Huainan. He couldn't help but sneer in his heart. When there is a good job, he quickly gave up the bad one. Where in the world is there such a cheap thing?

Jing Shao secretly glanced at his own princess. Mu Hanzhang signaled him not to talk nonsense, so he lowered his head obediently and said nothing.

Emperor Hongzheng just kept silent, listening to the ministers arguing with each other. In general, one side felt that the southern barbarians were just a small group of bandits and it was not worth spending too much time, and the other side thought that the overall situation was more important and the prince's escape from the battlefield would damage his face. Hearing the word "escape from the battlefield", Hongzheng frowned again.

After everyone had stopped arguing, Jing Chen came out and slowly picked up the memorial that had been thrown down the steps. He carefully read the contents, lifted his hem, and knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, from what is written in the memorial, my eldest brother's health is not optimistic, so I beg you to allow my eldest brother to return to Beijing."

The fourth prince suddenly opened his eyes wide, somewhat incredulous of Jing Chen's reaction, and quickly thought about the purpose of his doing so. He glanced at Jing Shao who was looking down and silent, and then understood that Prince Rui must want to take over the conversation so as to recommend another person to fill this gap and prevent Jing Shao from being sent to Yunnan and Tibet. A sneer appeared at the corner of his lips. How could he let them do what they wanted?

"Your Majesty, it is natural for the eldest prince to return to Beijing, but the rebellion of the southern barbarians has not been quelled, and we must send someone who is good at using troops to lead the army, and it is better to fight quickly and decisively." Duke Mao hurriedly stepped out and said.

"Yes, Your Majesty, I think..." Yongchang Bo stepped out to speak, but Beiwei Hou took the lead and said, "I think Yongchang Bo is the most suitable."

Yongchang Bo's eyes widened immediately. He did not expect that Mu Jin, who rarely spoke, would suddenly push him out.

"My position is low and my words are not enough to intimidate the Nanman." Yongchang Bo said hurriedly. Before the expedition last year, the court had already argued that it was best for the prince to go to the expedition to attack the Nanman.

When Emperor Hongzheng heard this, he thought of the scene that Mrs. Yongchangbo made when she went to the Queen Mother. He suddenly felt unhappy and turned to his son, who was standing upright and almost blended into Panlongzhu: "Jingshao, you What do you think?”

Mu Hanzhang's heart tightened, and his hands hidden in the purple cloud-patterned court clothes secretly clenched into fists. The emperor asked this question because he was upset by this matter and wanted Jing Shao to go and fight quickly.

"I think that the small group of bandits in the Southern Barbarians is nothing to worry about. It is most suitable for people who have never led an army to practice." Jing Shao's implication is that the Southern Barbarians are just fighting in a small way. If you lose, you will lose nothing. Just send anyone who wants to train. In other words, it was made clear that he didn't want to go, and letting him go would be overkill.

As soon as these words came out, everyone in the Fourth Prince's faction suddenly changed their faces. The only prince in front of them who had not led troops was Jing Yu, and Yongchang Bo's face was even more pale. In order to save the Fourth Prince, they would most likely push him out. .

Jing Shao was used to being arrogant in the court, so Emperor Hongzheng only frowned slightly at his straightforward words, but did not rebuke him out loud.

"Uncle Yongchang has never led an army before." Dingnanhou said slowly, as if he suddenly thought of it. Marquis Dingnan is Jingchen's father-in-law. To avoid suspicion, he rarely speaks in court. However, since Marquis Beiwei has spoken today, he is no exception.

Subsequently, the court overwhelmingly suggested that Yongchang Bo go there, and even a few officials from the Fourth Prince's faction also agreed.

Emperor Hongzheng immediately decided on the matter, and ordered Yongchang Bo to go to Yunnan and Tibet three days later, and issued an order to summon the eldest prince back to Beijing.

"Empress, you have to stop this. The dangers in Dianzang are beyond the reach of a man of my age!" Mrs. Yongchangbo cried in Fengyi Palace.

"The Emperor has already issued an edict, what can I do?" Jihou was so angry that he slammed the table. Her brother really failed in success and failed in failure. Whenever he was asked to do something, he never got it done satisfactorily. Now it's even more so. I got myself involved.

"Mother, he is your brother, you can't ignore him!" Mrs. Yongchangbo held the handkerchief and sobbed.

After all, he is his brother, and Jing Yu still has to rely on some power from his uncle's family. He then got angry, and then he softened his tone and said, "Tell him to relax and go to Yunnan and Tibet to spend some time." , isn’t it true that General Zhengdong is still here, let him stay out of trouble, and I will find someone to replace him after a while.”

The fourth prince also said the same words to Yongchang Bo. The most important thing at the moment is to replace the eldest prince. Although the eldest prince does not really work with him, he is still a helper. After a while, Huainan will start a war. Fortunately, in Beijing Help him look after Jingchen and Jing Shao, but his uncle can't help with these things.

After the court was over, Jing Shao rushed to his princess: "I just saw Jing Yu's face turned green."

"Yeah." Mu Hanzhang responded and continued walking forward.

Jing Shao jumped in front of him dissatisfied, walking backwards while looking at his face: "Did I react quickly enough today?"

Mu Hanzhang glanced at him. After being together for a year, Jing Shao still didn't know what the expression of "asking for praise" was. He would only stare at the person with his eyes, thinking of what this person had done to him on the second day of their wedding. The way he handed over his pants, he couldn't help but curl his lips.

Because of his good mood over the past year, and Jing Shao's daily nourishment with various decoctions, that handsome face became three points more beautiful than before. In the bright sunshine of early summer, this smile was really indescribably charming.

Jing Shao was stunned and reached out to touch it, but suddenly he fell backwards with an ouch and fell into a cart of vegetables.

"Hahaha..." When Mu Hanzhang saw the vegetable cart and was about to give a warning, he fell into it and got up with a vegetable leaf stuck to his head. It was very funny and he couldn't help but laugh out loud.

The old man pushing the cart suddenly frowned, but he didn't dare to say anything when he saw the two of them were wearing court clothes. He could only look at the crushed vegetables with a distressed expression.

Jing Shao jumped up angrily, a pile of vegetable leaves falling from his body, and he looked angrily at his princess who was smiling happily to herself.

Seeing that he was angry, Mu Hanzhang gave the old man a few pieces of silver and asked him to leave quickly. Then he walked over, holding back his laughter, took off the green cabbage leaves from his head, and straightened the wrinkled court clothes: "What are you doing today?" He was so heroic in court that Yongchang Bo was almost frightened to death."

"That's right!" After hearing this compliment, Jing Shao immediately grinned. He didn't feel embarrassed about what he had just done, and went home happily.

As soon as he walked to the gate of the palace, he met Hao Dadao, whom he hadn't seen for a long time.

"Your Majesty, military advisor!" Although Hao Dadao has been granted the title of general, he doesn't have to go to court on weekdays, and he doesn't like to give gifts and move around, so he hasn't seen the two of them for a while.

"General Hao is such a rare visitor, please come in." Mu Hanzhang smiled. People he met on the battlefield were always much closer than those he met in the capital.

"No," Hao Dadao was a little embarrassed, "It's like this. My wife came to Beijing yesterday. She prepared food at home and wanted to invite the prince and the military advisor to have a meal and express their feelings."

"Sister-in-law Hao has come to Beijing. This is a good thing!" Jing Shao smiled. Seeing Hao Dadao's embarrassed look, it must be that the fat lady insisted on inviting them to go. It was unexpected, and Hao Dadao was henpecked. I had no choice but to bite the bullet and come over in person and wait at the door for them to come back from the next day.

"It's not easy for Madam to come to Beijing. We must have this meal," Mu Hanzhang chuckled. "General, go back and tell Madam first, and we will go over after changing our clothes."

Hao Dadao smiled honestly when he heard this, nodded quickly and went back to follow his wife.

Mu Hanzhang had a good impression of the generous fat lady. Thinking of her kindness in helping to wash the tiger, he asked Duofu to quickly prepare a generous gift. He and Jingshao changed into casual clothes and went to the general's mansion.

The general's mansion was not far from the Chengwang Mansion. Although it was not as luxurious as the prince's mansion, it was very magnificent and gorgeous compared to the private houses.

As soon as the two entered the door, they heard the fat lady's full-hearted shout: "Hurry up, the prince and the princess will be here soon, be quick!"

They couldn't help but smile at each other. This lady really couldn't stay idle anywhere.

"Sister-in-law, you take a rest for a while. The prince and the princess will be here soon. Why don't you go inside and dress up?" The two followed the servants to the door. Suddenly, a clear and pleasant voice came out. Jingshao's footsteps could not help but pause. He turned his head to look at his princess. Seeing that he was also surprised, he hurriedly took a step and stepped over the threshold.

There was a large pearwood table in the room, filled with various dishes. The Fat Lady deftly placed the dishes she had cooked on the table. Hao Dadao was ordered to get the hidden wine, and the servants were also busy. Only one person was sitting leisurely at the table, holding a cup of tea and looking at the two of them with a smile.