Harue Kagetsu: Chapter 129

The tenth day of the fifth lunar month is the day when Li Mu class teacher returns to the dynasty.

The Taishi Ling said that the tenth day of the first lunar month was an auspicious day.

People who fled the war have moved back to Jiankang, and life has settled down again. The Hundred Days Festival of Emperor Taikang has also passed, and the capital is exempted from filial piety.

The days of war, displacement, and national mourning, when the panic was so suppressed that it was almost breathless, finally passed, and the city soon returned to its original liveliness. The market is north and south, with a wide range of goods. The imperial street leading to Taicheng is straight and spacious. In the high-rise buildings on both sides of the Huaihe River in the south of the city, accompanied by the sound of boats constantly passing in and out of the river, silk and bamboo play, cheers and laughter float out from it, and circle both sides of the river, all day long.

The news of Li Mu's return to the capital was scrambling to pass the news. The army was still on the way, and since a few days ago, almost everyone knew about it.

Many people still remember the year when Emperor Xingping was still alive. After the imperial court won the Jiangbei victory against Beixia, the army entered Jiankang, and the emperor himself went out of the city to meet the meritorious soldiers headed by Gao Qiao in front of the King's Terrace and reward the army. scene.

On that day, those who belonged to the nobles led by the Gao family still remember it freshly to the people who were fortunate enough to witness the grand ceremony with their own eyes.

Today, that grand occasion will be repeated.

The empress dowager and the little emperor would personally go out of the palace and go outside the city to meet and reward the soldiers who made great contributions to the rescue of the national disaster.

The difference from the previous time was that this time, the protagonist of this grand ceremony was no longer Gao Clan and the same noble family as Gao Clan, but Li Mu, who could only be ranked after the noble family that day.

Grand Sima Li Mu is the protagonist of the upcoming ceremony of rewarding the army.

No one dares to imagine what the current Southern Dynasty would have been like if he hadn't returned to the army in time to go south. He deserves any honor and praise.

But from the perspective of the royal family, correspondingly, this is also the first time that Gao Yongrong and the young emperor walked out of the palace, the Empress Dowager and the supreme emperor of the empire appeared in front of the public for the first time.

Therefore, the court and its attention. Since three days ago, officials of the Ministry of Rites have been busy in the eastern suburbs, starting a whole set of tedious etiquettes such as seating arrangements, rehearsal for welcoming troops, and so on. Even the insertion of a flag is not allowed to be divided by half a point.

On this day, Luoshen rides alone in a Chinese chariot, followed by the imperial car with the empress dowager and the young emperor in front, escorted by guards of honor and guards, followed by civil and military officials, and kneeling on both sides of the road. During the pilgrimage, pass through the imperial city, exit the south gate, and come to the outer mound of the southern suburb where the royal family used to worship the sky, which is also the place of the army today.

This vast and flat field has always been solemn and solemn because the emperors of all dynasties have come here to worship the sky, carrying the sustenance of good weather, national prosperity and peace.

This is even more so today. As far as the eye can see, the wilderness is surrounded by flags fluttering in the wind.

When the queen mother took the young emperor and sat on the king's platform in the middle of the knelt of the civil and military officials, the military guards and the guards of the central army were already neatly arranged in their respective positions, and the people and the king were allowed to come to the ceremony. The table is separated.

The seat of Luoshen was arranged on the seat next to Gao Yongrong, with an excellent view, and everything in front of him was unobstructed.

She was dressed in fancy clothes and sat under the canopy. After she was seated, she focused her attention on the field at the end of the line of sight in front of her, hoping to see Li Mu's figure soon. More than ten meters below the stage, in the corner of a group of officials who were driving, there were two eyes. After she took her seat, they passed through the human wall and fell on her from time to time.

Gao Yongrong sat next to the young emperor, with a solemn expression, his eyes wandering forward and left and right.

Today's ceremony of rewarding the army first proposed by her is of course in order to comply with the people's hearts and gather morale, and Li Mu is also an unprecedented courtesy.

However, even Li Mu, who turned the tide and made great contributions to the Southern Dynasty, still had to perform the courtesy of his ministers in front of the young emperor.

So, isn't this an excellent opportunity for the sergeants and the people of the world to witness the supremacy of the royal family with their own eyes?

Gao Yongrong's eyes slowly passed by the flags that covered the sky and the sun in the distance, the rows of Chinese warriors guarding the King's Terrace, and behind the warriors, the crowd of people seemed to be connected to the black heads of the ocean. …

And she and the son by her side are the supreme masters of all this.

Looking back from a distance, he glanced at the ministers of civil and military affairs who were standing in front of the stage. Gao Yongrong saw at a glance the Badong Inspector Shi Rongkang who had just come to Jiankang a few days ago.

As a reward for his dedication to Xu Mi, today, he is also authorized to come here to watch this grand ceremony.

He was standing behind a group of officials, in a corner, which was not conspicuous originally.

But Gao Yongrong noticed Rong Kang at first sight.

She noticed that the man's eyes seemed to be spying somewhere on her side.

Following his two lines of sight, she turned her face slightly and saw Luoshen sitting under the canopy, her eyes looking straight ahead.

Gao Yongrong narrowed his eyes slightly, and when Rong Kang cast a peeping glance at Luoshen again, he stared at him with a warning in his eyes.

Rong Kang quickly met her eyes, stunned for a moment, seemed a little guilty, and quickly lowered his eyelids and looked away.

Gao Yongrong remained calm and looked at Bo Dongfang, who had just entered the capital a few days ago. Suddenly, he heard the sound of a ritual officer shouting a reminder of the arrival of the army in the distance. Fang looked forward and stared attentively.

At the sound of the majestic hooves of horses galloping in his ears, Luoshen saw a long black line spread out on the horizon in the distance.

The black line moved, mighty, and came in this direction. It was soon clear that it was formed by countless soldiers like a phalanx on the battlefield. Under the leadership of the first iron armored cavalry, they were walking in this direction with neat steps.

The ground beneath his feet, as if following the arrival of this army, began to tremble slightly.

The air around the mound suddenly became frozen.

All of them turned their heads and looked at this invincible army, which had won one battle after another, and had not lost a single battle so far, with their eyes filled with unconscious awe. in the wilderness.

The tremor of the earth stopped.

Li Mu wore a head armor and a battle armor, and with three hundred heroic and majestic soldiers behind him, he turned from his horse and walked towards the King's Platform.

He got closer and closer, and the rays of the sun reflected a gleam of light on the armor on him and the soldiers behind him.

In Luoshen's eyes, he was like a god, coming towards him.

She opened her eyes wide, suppressing her heartbeat, which was almost pounding out of her chest, and stared at him without blinking.

Li Mu stopped on the ground a few feet away from the King's Terrace, raised his eyes, and looked at Luoshen.

Looking at each other for a brief moment, but it also made Luo Shen feel satisfied, and a slightly sad and sweet feeling surged in his chest.

Even if there are fewer gatherings and more separations, just one glance, such a glance, is enough.

She knew that he was also missing her.

Li Mu withdrew the brief glance at his wife, and under the gaze of countless pairs of eyes around him, with the soldiers behind him, he turned towards the boy on the stage who was clearly frightened by the military appearance just now. Said: "My minister, Li Mu, was instructed to quell the religious rebellion in the southeast. I admired the prestige of the imperial court, and the lieutenant soldiers of the army did not hesitate to help. Fortunately, I did not disgrace the mission and restored the southeast. Wu Cang, the leader of the chaos, has been slaughtered. Your Majesty, please take a look!"

His voice fell, and the soldiers behind him separated to both sides, only to see more than a hundred soldiers pushing dozens of trucks forward, opening the hood, revealing boxes of treasure. There was a ceremonial official singing loudly by the side, a total of hundreds of boxes of gold and silver.

The surrounding people saw so much dazzling gold and silver from a distance, making a sound of amazement.

The reason why the rebellion of Xu Mi in the upper reaches was successfully quelled was also because he persuaded Yang Xuan to surrender in time, but at this moment, he did not mention it at all, as if he had nothing to do with him.

Sitting close, Luoshen saw that the elder sister secretly squeezed the hand of the young emperor, as if secretly urging him to keep the emperor's manners in front of the courtiers, and then called Pingshen.

"Li Qing has worked hard and made great achievements. These gold and silver must have been collected by the people in the past years. The so-called take from the people and use it for the people just fills the national treasury to make up for the deficit previously consumed by this war, Da Sima. What do you think?"

Li Mudao: "Let's follow the arrangement."

With a smile on his face, Gao Yongrong stood up slowly, looked around, and said loudly, "All officers and men, at the time of the national disaster, you stepped forward and made great contributions. Now that you have triumphed, Your Majesty welcomes the army here, the imperial court. It will also be rewarded according to merit.”

"You are loyal to your liver, righteousness, and courage, and you have the highest glory. It is a model for all generations. I hope that from now on, you will continue to be loyal to my Dayu. This is Your Majesty's wish, and it is also my Dayu's luck!"

Cousin's voice still echoed in Luo Shen's ears, and was immediately drowned out by the shocking cheers from the surrounding people.

This rewarding army, the scene is huge, the monarch and the minister are in harmony, on the surface it seems so exciting.

At the critical moment, Li Mu, the great Sima Li Mu, who turned the tide on his own strength and helped to straighten the half of the country that Dayu was about to overthrow, deserved a lot of credit.

In the Xiao family, although the emperor is young, it is fortunate that the empress dowager is wise and benevolent. It is a blessing for the country to have such an empress dowager to assist the young emperor.

Many people who were fortunate enough to have personally experienced the ceremony of rewarding the army in the daytime, in the next long period of time, mentioned today's grand scene with relish and unforgettable.

…

During the day, Li Mu never showed up in front of Luoshen again.

Luoshen knew that he had something to do, so after the army was over, he returned home first.

Night falls. She took a bath early, and added spices to the bath water. After bathing, she got up from the fragrant soup, wiped her hair and skin, and put on the smoky purple that she had chosen a few days ago that best complemented her snow skin. Soft Luoshang skirt, sitting in front of the dressing table, combing his shiny and beautiful long hair.

When the long hair was dry and combed, he got up and moved to the beauty's couch, leaning there, holding a book in his hand, while watching casually, listening to the movement outside, and gradually becoming ecstatic, suddenly worried that he would not It was not beautiful enough, and the brilliance was not moving enough, so he threw the book and went back to the dressing table, knelt down and sat down, holding a bronze mirror in one hand, showing his face, and a slender jade finger in the other hand, picking one from the jade box Xiao Mo used rose juice and the finest spices to make mouth lip balm, and was just about to put it on her lips to make her face look more bright and charming, when suddenly, her hand stopped on her lips.

Through the mirror, she saw a figure behind her.

A man, who did not know when, quietly turned into the inner room, stopped by the folding screen, and looked at her back.

She turned her head slowly, her eyes were watery, she turned to look forward to the streamer, and stared at the person behind her.

"Lang Jun..."

She called him.

Li Mu's eyes were dark, his Adam's apple moved slightly, and he immediately strode towards her, walked behind her, knelt down and sat down, his arms stretched out from behind, wrapped around her waist, and hugged her into his own. arms.

Luoshen's back was soft, sticking to his chest still wearing the armor.

The hard and cold iron armor made her body tremble slightly.

Li Mu then hugged her tightly, buried his face deeply in her flowery hair, motionless.

Luoshen seemed to smell the strong male breath mixed with iron and blood emanating from the man behind him.

Her eyelashes trembled, and slowly, she closed her eyes, the slender neck, as if she could no longer support her head, leaned softly on the broad shoulders of the man behind her, her hands also Weakly softened, the mirror slid to the ground along a light cloud-like skirt covering her legs.

Li Mu hugged her like this, didn't say anything, didn't do anything else, time seemed to freeze. After a long time, he finally released her slowly, hugged her whole body back, and let the petite her sit on his lap, facing him, with a greedy gaze that did not hide his desire. , looked at her closely.

He didn't do anything yet, but he hugged her like this. At this moment, under the gaze of his two eyes, Luoshen's face gradually showed a shallow blush, his breathing gradually became rapid, and his chest also rose slightly.

She suddenly remembered that there was only a little grease on her lips, and he came before she could evenly spread it. I'm afraid it looks a little ugly. He hurriedly raised his hand to cover his mouth, not letting him see it, and lowered his head to look for the mirror whose hand had escaped just now, but his hand was caught by him.

Li Mu's eyes were fixed on her lips. He lowered his head and slowly pressed his face toward her. With a hoarse voice, he said in a low voice, "I'll eat it for you..." before he finished speaking, He held her lips.