A bright moon hangs between the two mountains inside and outside Changgan, gradually rising above the stone city wall.
In the huge Jiankang City, the lights gradually went out. Apart from the soldiers patrolling back and forth, there were very few pedestrians on the streets. The hustle and bustle of the day slowly dissipated under the falling night.
.
Even Jiankang City, the most prosperous city in the south of the Yangtze River, has a time to rest at night.
The lights inside and outside the Donghua Gate and Xihua Gate on the east and west sides of the palace city were first extinguished, indicating that the officials on duty in the government office had also returned late at night. The lights in Hualin Garden on the north side of the palace city flickered for a moment and also disappeared from sight.
among.
A shadow engulfed the figure standing in the corridor of the royal study, but soon a light was lit and he hurriedly ran up from behind the figure to drive away the darkness. An eunuch held up a lantern and bowed and said: "Your Majesty, it's getting late.
Your Majesty, do you want to rest?"
Standing in the corridor was none other than Nanchen Emperor Chen Xu. He watched quietly as the lights that once illuminated Jiankang City gradually dissipated. Chen Xu said nothing, the evening breeze gently blew his sleeves and beard, and his eyes slowly
Slowly, the bright moon in the distance gradually moved to the north, and I didn't know what I was thinking.
"Your Majesty..." the eunuch shouted again carefully, and at the same time, he gently shook the lantern in his hand, making the light and shadow in front of Chen Xu feel intertwined.
"I understand, please step back first." Chen Xu waved his sleeves impatiently.
The eunuch responded hurriedly, but did not dare to really leave. He just turned around and took a few steps back, letting Chen Xu's figure be swallowed up by the darkness again. Although His Majesty rarely gets angry for no reason since he ascended the throne, he is in a bad mood these days.
Everyone can see that the king's heart is like a needle in the sea, its depth is unpredictable. Who knows what will happen to your majesty when he is angry. He may even lose his head.
It is said that when the report of the Luliang war came a few days ago, His Majesty smashed all the porcelain bottles in the imperial study, and the imperial study took a whole day to clean up.
If it wasn't his turn to be on duty today, he wouldn't be able to push it away. Even if he had a hundred courages, he wouldn't be willing to come here at this time and cause trouble.
Chen Xu didn't seem to notice the eunuch's movements. He just stared closely at the overlapping mountains on the northern horizon. After a long time, he slowly turned around and walked back into the light cast by the lantern in the eunuch's hand.
Without looking at the eunuch who was already sweating profusely without realizing it, he walked straight to the imperial study.
On the screen in front of the imperial study room, there is a map of Dachen hanging. On the map, you can clearly see that the two Huaihe Rivers, especially the land of Luliang, are heavily marked with ink pens.
Clear footsteps rang in a hurry, and several eunuchs serving Chen Xu raised their heads in surprise. A petite figure rushed out from the darkness and jumped directly into Chen Xu's arms: "Dad——"
"A-Ning!" Chen Xu frowned, but he still reached out and hugged the girl. His frown subconsciously relaxed, "A-Ning, why are you here?"
"Daddy, why don't you rest? Mom said it's getting late and you should go to bed." The girl was only thirteen or fourteen years old, pretty and charming, with eyes as bright as stars, staring straight at Chen Xu.
, it seems that she will never give up until Chen Xu answers this question.
Several eunuchs lowered their heads at this time to hide the relieved expressions on their faces. Your Majesty loves your daughters more than your sons in your life - perhaps because your Majesty's sons do have their own headaches.
This filial piety and knowledge are not as good as those of several princesses - and among so many daughters, the one who is most favored is Princess Ningyuan.
With Princess Ningyuan around, His Majesty would hold it back even if he wanted to get angry. Even Princess Ningyuan always called Chen Xu "Daddy" instead of "Your Majesty" or "Father", and His Majesty never cared about this.
I have no opinion, it seems that this title makes His Majesty more happy.
"Then why don't you rest?" Chen Xu squatted down so that he and his daughter were at the same height, and said with a smile. At this time, Chen Xu did not look like a king of a country at all, but a kind father.
Princess Ningyuan wrinkled her little nose immediately and said angrily: "Sister Le'er has to let me memorize twenty lines of "Chu Ci" today before she can sleep. Dad, you don't know how many "Chu Ci" there are.
It’s hard to recite, but my mother is still standing next to my sister, so...so..."
Chen Xu couldn't help laughing, and stretched out his hand to scratch his daughter's nose: "So you, little girl, just escaped directly?"
"Yes!" Princess Ningyuan said categorically, "My father is too kind to be like my mother and sister!"
Chen Xu chuckled and shook his head: "Then what if dad also asks you to endorse?"
"Then..." Princess Ningyuan bit her finger and stamped her foot angrily, "Then you are all bad people, and I won't play with you anymore!"
"Puch!" Chen Xu finally couldn't help laughing, and the eunuchs around him also raised their sleeves to hide their smiles.
Looking at his daughter who skipped school and fled to the Imperial Study Room, Chen Xu couldn't help but laugh or cry. He simply stretched out his hand to hold his daughter: "Well, if you don't want to endorse it, how about watching my father handle some documents here?"
"Okay, as long as it's not an endorsement!" Princess Ningyuan nodded hurriedly.
Chen Xu turned his head and said in a deep voice: "Go and tell Shi Ji and Lechang that I will watch Ning Yuan study today."
Princess Ningyuan smiled and turned around with her hands behind her back, while Chen Xu slapped her little head hard: "Aning, don't do this again!"
"Don't worry, Dad!" Princess Ningyuan nodded solemnly, but her eyes were wandering and were no longer on Chen Xu.
Chen Xu sighed softly: "I don't know how your sister will settle accounts with me tomorrow."
Saying this, Chen Xu still smiled and picked up two snacks prepared early in the imperial kitchen and handed them to his daughter. However, before he could speak, Princess Ningyuan curiously pointed to the two portraits hanging on both sides of the map:
"Dad, why are these two people hanging here?"
"Because the two of them are very important to our elder Chen." Chen Xu said after careful consideration of his words. He didn't want his daughter to know about the turbulent storm, let alone get her involved in it.
"Then are these two enemies of daddy?" Princess Ningyuan's eyes widened in surprise, "If they are enemies of daddy, daddy don't be afraid of them. I will help daddy beat them. I will beat them all over the ground to find teeth!"
Chen Xu, dumbfounded, reached out and touched Princess Ningyuan's head: "An Ning, don't worry, don't be afraid, they are not, not to mention... when the enemy comes, it will be your father who will protect you, so how can you let you protect your father?
"
Princess Ningyuan waved her little fist: "Humph, how do you know that I can't protect you?"
Chen Xu did not answer in a hurry. Instead, he raised his head and looked at the two portraits and murmured: "I am not your enemy, but your enemy... is also difficult to deal with."
On the two lifelike portraits, "Wu Mingche" was written on one side and "Xiao Mohe" was written on the other side.