C15 (1/2)
After stopping at the Cloud Perching City for a few days, they left for the north side of the canal and returned to the imperial city of Qianyuan City. In the past few days, Ning Dairong had come to Lu Chun a few more times and knew that he was very determined to leave the imperial court. After sending everyone on the boat, he sighed and led his men back to the Shadow Mountain Troops' encampment.
After riding on the boat for more than ten days, the group finally returned to the imperial city. The emperor led the royal family and the civil and military officials to welcome them from the outskirts of the city. The Emperor and the Empress saw their long-lost eldest sister and brother and were indescribably moved. The two Old Duke of Su and Gu, when they saw their daughter, they were even more filled with tears. That night, the emperor held a banquet at the Qianyang Hall to comfort everyone.
After the banquet ended, Lu Chun and Yu Chu Qing entered the palace and had a long talk with the Emperor. Only then did they return to the Marquis' Mansion.
On the second day, the emperor decreed that Lu Chun should be conferred the title of Grand Marshal of the Empire of Wei and the Grand Marshal of the Republic of Pillar. He also bestowed upon Lu Chun the title of the new Duke of Wei's Mansion before he ascended to the throne. Grand Princess Yu Chuqing once again took control of the Feng Xiang Army. Gu Jianyun and Su Loyi were still deputy commander-in-chiefs and strategists. Shi Kuan, Feng Se, and Mu Chi were promoted by one rank and transferred to the Feng Xiang Army.
The moment the imperial edict was issued, the entire imperial court was shocked. Although the marshal was the highest ranking military officer in name, he was not a three-phase military officer and no longer held the actual military power. However, the Duke of Wei was different. Since the founding of Great Gan, there were only a total of ten dukes. Lu Chun was the eleventh, and he was bestowed with an Alchemy Book.
Unlike the Great Ancestor's Duo Ying Lin Cheng, Ren Wuhui, and the Martial Emperor's Baili Chengping, these three were dukes, but they had long since gone into hiding and had not left behind any descendants. And the new Duke of Wei, Lu Chun, had his son, Lu Que. What's more, the Emperor had even given away his royal palace, which clearly showed the strength of his saint's family. Everyone could see that a peak-level noble family was slowly rising to prominence in the Great Gan City.
In the blink of an eye, it was already the third month of Taoliang. Lu Que had been in the Qianyuan City for more than a month, and during this month, the whole Qiangan Capital was filled with a sense of war, because of the return of Yu Chuqing and Lu Chun, which gave the Emperor more confidence. Ten days after the decree was issued, the Emperor ordered the Evergreen Army stationed in the capital to take over the defence of the Dragonfly Army.
Although he still hadn't found out who was behind Princess Tian Xiang's disappearance a few months ago, the one who took action against Princess Tian Xiang was undoubtedly Scarlet Deer, the Qian Huang Yu Yuan Xu had already begun his preparations against Lei Meng. However, this had nothing to do with Lu Que. Even if the general called Bai Yi came to visit his father, he did not inquire about the details.
In the past month, Lu Que had been studying literature and martial arts in the Manor every day in preparation for the test. Although Lu Que did not know what level he was at right now, according to his father Lu Chun, it was more than enough to take the test.
Lu Que could still remember the first time in his life that he saw a book with a thin, white paper. Ever since he was young, he had loved to read books, and whenever he had the time, he would find a few books that he had never seen before. Or he would compare them to the inscriptions of his predecessors on the pure white, snow-white paper. In the past month, Lu Que had only used a bamboo stick to write on the sand table. Now, he could use a brush to write well. Although he did not have the air of a scholar, his writing also revealed the sharpness of a teenager.
Lu Que, who had stayed in the mansion for a few days after lunch today, felt a little bored. Taking advantage of the lack of attention, he walked out the side door of the Mansion of the Duke of Wei's residence, intending to take a walk around the streets. When he first came to Qian Yuan City, he often went out, but every time he went out, there were servants and guards following him. This made Lu Que, who had always been at ease since childhood, feel impatient. It wasn't easy for him to come out today. Naturally, he wanted to take a good look around this city that was reputed as the number one city in the world, the Great Gan Capital.
Walking out of the side door of the Duke of Wei's mansion, it was a secluded alley. Usually, no one would walk inside. Lu Que took a few steps forward and decided to follow along the alley towards the main street. At the entrance of the alley, he noticed a young man, who was peeling the green bricks of the alleyway, peeking outside with his eyes.
Out of curiosity, Lu Que came up behind the young man and looked out. There were a few men wearing the clothes of servants looking around the main street as if they were looking for something.
”Ai!” Lu Que watched for a while and saw the men turn their gazes to the other side and pat the shoulder of the young man who was acting weird.
He hugged his head and squatted on the ground, begging for mercy, ”Brothers, your little bro's purse has indeed been taken away by the thief. Next time, next time, your little bro will definitely offer it up to you with interest, and I will not hold it back, please forgive my little bro for once. If everyone feels angry, you can hit me twice, but don't slap my face.”
Seeing the young man squatting on the ground with his hands clasped together and holding them above his head while mumbling some incantation, Lu Que was amused and could not help but laugh.
The youth crouched on the ground. Hearing the laughter behind him, he didn't seem to be very old. He carefully turned around and saw a youth who was about the same age as him standing behind him. His face showed embarrassment and anger.
”I say, you. No matter how you walk, there's no sound at all. I'm so scared that my heart is trembling. I don't even have half a life left. Tell me how you should compensate me.”
”My dear friend, you've been sneaking around my doorstep. I didn't take you to the officials, so why are you asking me to compensate you?” Seeing the clear and limpid eyes of the teenager in front of him, Lu Que knew that he meant no harm.
”Your house?” The young man circled the landing twice, ”You said this is your home? This place belongs to the Duke of Wei's mansion, are you Lu Que? ”
”Looking at your appearance just now, you seem to be avoiding those servants. If I were to yell here, I wonder where you would go?” Lu Que didn't answer the young man's question. Instead, he pointed with his finger and walked towards the few men on the other side of the street.
”Don't, don't, don't, please don't. Little brother knows he was wrong. Our families are friends after all. Brother Lu QIanxian won't just watch little brother make a fool of himself, right?” The youth secretly glanced at the big man walking towards the distance while cupping his hands towards Lu Que.
”I wonder who Brother Ren is?” Lu Que looked at the young man with a strange expression. His father was from a humble family. Although he was now part of the government, he didn't have many friends with the Wei and Lu family.
”Ai, Brother Lu, my name is Zhuge Yan.”
”Zhuge Yan, Zhuge Yan?” Lu Kai repeated his actions twice and suddenly, he understood.
The person in front of him should be the eldest grandson of the Imperial Assistant Minister, the Zhuge family. If that was the case, the two families could be considered to have been friends for generations. This Zhuge Yan's father, Zhuge Ju, should have been the strategist of the Sky Fire Legion.
There were also rumors in the capital. The son of the Residence of Yun was gentle like jade, he was a talent of the times; the son of the Gu family was calm and resolute, he was the choice of famous generals; only the eldest grandson of the Zhuge family lingered in the brothel at the age of fourteen, he was indeed a debauchee young master.
”Brother Zhuge, what are you doing?”
”Hai, don't mention it anymore. Originally, I was going to have a meal at the Hundred Treasures Pavilion. How could I have imagined that my purse would be stolen? Zhuge Yan also had a wry smile on his face.
”Brother Zhuge, you are the eldest grandson of Prime Minister Zhuge. Just tell the shop owner clearly. Don't tell me that they don't trust the credibility of the Crown Prince's Palace?” Lu Que felt incredulous.
”Don't you know where the Hundred Treasures Hall is? May I know the relationship between Hundred Treasures Hall and you? ” Zhuge Yan looked strangely at Lu Que.
Lu Que looked at Zhuge Yan blankly and shook his head.
Seeing that Lu Que really had no idea, Zhuge Yan sighed and said, ”This Hundred Treasures Pavilion is where the Grand Princess and her close friends gathered before she left the pavilion. Back in the day, before the Duke of Wei left for the battle, he had gathered with a group of generals for a feast in the Hundred Treasures Pavilion. As such, he was also known as the Hero Pavilion. Furthermore, all of the restaurant's dishes are from the palace menu. Every day, there will be a lot of customers, and the business will be extremely good. ”
”Then what does this have to do with me?”
”This Treasure House is the Grand Princess's property. It could be considered my bad luck. A while ago, a few young masters of the house of the Marquis started arguing at the Hundred Treasures Hall and attacked and destroyed quite a few things. The Grand Princess was infuriated, and she ordered her men to strip those unlucky fellows, making them the laughingstock of the capital. Afterwards, the Grand Princess ordered that anyone who causes trouble at the Hundred Treasures Store shall follow this rule. ”
”So you just finished your meal and ran off because you were afraid of being roamed?” Recently, Lu Que had been studying in the Mansion and didn't know about this. Hearing Zhuge Yan's words, he didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He felt that this Prime Minister's eldest grandson still owed him money.
”Brother Lu, look at how miserable I am. Don't laugh at me.” A wry smile appeared on Zhuge Yan's face as he pointed at his robes, which had been torn in several places just moments ago when he was escaping.
”This is not a big deal. Brother Zhuge, do you need to go into the mansion to change your clothes?”
”Ai, so what? I have experienced much more miserable than this.” After finishing her sentence, she took out a folding fan from somewhere and shook it with an air of elegance. If one did not see the description in front of him at this moment, he would appear to be an elegant and refined young noble. However, with the addition of that one fan, he looked like a beggar in his outer robes, causing others to burst out laughing.
”Brother Lu, where are you going?” Zhuge Yan stretched out half of his head to take another look outside. He was relieved when he saw that the few burly men had already left.