After leaving Hangu, we entered the famous Xiaohan Road. This important road connecting the Wei River Valley and the eastern Central Plains is called "Ghost Viewing Sorrow", which shows how difficult and dangerous it is. The path is narrow and narrow, and it often passes through high mountain cliffs.

If there is heavy snow, traffic will be cut off, and you can only wait for the snow to melt before you can continue your journey.

Zhao Bohu's convoy left Hangu at the end of November in winter and headed west, and did not return to the outskirts of Haojing until the beginning of spring in the next year. In the Western Zhou Dynasty, people carved wood into wheels, and it was difficult to travel long distances, which can be seen from this.

The Royal City of Haojing was right in front of them. This was the first time for all the soldiers of the Zhou Dynasty to see the royal capital. They saw the city wall stretching for dozens of miles bathed in the golden morning light, towering and majestic. They imagined the wealth in the royal city.

It was so prosperous that everyone wanted to ride their horses into the city to appreciate it, and the speed of travel could not help but speed up.

But Ji Hu's mood was completely different from everyone else's. The so-called "fear of hometown" means that when he was thousands of miles away from home, he felt homesick, but when he was about to come back, he felt a drum in his heart. After all, he ran away willfully.

, the father is afraid that he will be punished severely, and the queen is also indispensable. A severe scolding is inevitable, and maybe he will be slapped and banned from the East Palace for several months. When he thinks of this, he feels irritated and scared at the same time, as if he is sitting on pins and needles.

.

Zhao Bohu's mood was similar to his. He was worried about his father's illness. The closer he got to home, the more uneasy he became, fearing that some bad news was waiting for him.

In the distance, a large group of people were standing outside the city gate. A king's flag embroidered with the word "Zhou" was fluttering fiercely in the breeze. It was the ministers sent by King Zhou Yi to welcome the crown prince and the king's envoys in triumph. Ji Husong

After taking a breath, it seemed that his father had no intention of hitting him anymore.

Suddenly, a strong figure left the group of people, ran quickly to the tallest and most gorgeous chariot, and shouted: "Your Highness, I am here to greet you!"

As soon as Ji Hu lifted the car curtain, it turned out to be the eldest father of Grand Tutor Guo Gong. Xu had not seen him for a long time. When he saw him, tears filled his eyes: "Your Highness, you are finally back! I have been worried about you day and night. Now it's good

Yes, I’m back safely ------"

Ji Hu felt hot, jumped out of the car, helped Ji Changfu, lowered his head and said, "Master, it's my fault that the student has made you worry!"

"It's good to come back, it's good to come back!" The eldest father said, shaking his beard: "I have just come back from the north. I heard that the prince is coming back today, so I came here to greet him!"

"Okay, Duke Guo, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has returned in triumph, how can you behave like this?" Zhou Gongding slowly walked over and bowed deeply to Ji Hu: "Your Majesty ordered us to come to greet the Crown Prince and first go to the Ancestral Temple to pay his respects.

With news of the victory of our ancestors, we will go to the palace again to see you."

"Are my father, queen, and queen all well?" Ji Hu asked.

"Everything is fine. Your Majesty was going to come to greet the prince in person, but unfortunately the second prince was ill and could not come. Oh, he is the son of Empress Ji Jiang. The prince has a younger brother!" Zhou Gongding rushed to answer.

Ji Hu's expression moved slightly and he said "hmm" imperceptibly. Zhao Bohu slowly came down from the second carriage, bowed deeply to Duke Guo and Duke Zhou, and asked directly: "Two uncles, do you know what I am?"

Is father okay?"

Duke Guo had a troubled expression on his face: "This------I just returned to Haojing, and I didn't have time to visit him." He glanced at Duke Zhou, who understood and immediately answered: "Master Zhao Gong has been suffering from illness for a long time, your Majesty.

We sent several doctors from the palace to take a look, but there was still no improvement. I also went to check on him, and Lord Zhao couldn’t even get out of bed. Young Master, you’d better go back and take a look as soon as possible------"

Zhao Bohu felt his whole heart sinking. He hurriedly said goodbye to Ji Hu and urged the coachman to rush towards the city------

In the early spring, the King's City of Haojing was a bustling scene. Some of the willow branches in the streets and alleys had begun to spit out new green teeth. The Jews were swaying in the wind like dancing girls covered with green gauze. In the afternoon, both sides of the avenue were a hundred feet wide.

The side was crowded with spectators, and the people gathered together to discuss the prisoner presentation ceremony of the great victory that had just ended. Since the time of King Mu of Zhou Dynasty, this was the most fruitful war with Chu.

Sergeant Cheng Zhou, who was wearing red clothes and black armor, was the protagonist today. When they escorted the prisoners to parade through the streets, the people all raised their arms and shouted: "The Zhou army is mighty!" The sugar cookies Zhou Gongding distributed along the street were passed around by a pair of hands, and people were excited.

He took a bite of the cake and said, "This is also eating Chuzi meat!"

However, people did not know that the real backbone of this southern expedition did not appear in Xianjie's team, but drove the chariot directly into a quiet house to visit his terminally ill old father.

When Zhao Bohu saw his father for the first time, he couldn't believe his eyes. In less than a year, his father turned from a slightly fat middle-aged man into a skinny and haggard old man, with a sallow complexion.

His gray beard and hair were as dry as unkempt grass. He knelt down in front of his father's bedside and burst into tears: "Father, the unfilial son Tiger is back. Why are you so sick? Father ------"

When Duke Zhao saw his eldest son, a glimmer of surprise and relief flashed in his eyes. He motioned his son to sit in front of the couch with his trembling hands like firewood. He gathered his strength and said: "Hu'er, you have won and returned to court. My father can't help but be overjoyed."

.Don’t be sad, destiny has its own destiny, and I know it in my heart as a father. The reason why I have been struggling until now is because I have something to entrust to you."

"Father must rest in peace and leave everything to his son to take care of. Don't worry about it anymore."

Duke Zhao signaled his second son to lean on the couch railing, closed his eyes and thought for a while, then tried to open his eyes and said, "Did the prince know about the incident of 'Feng Shui sinking a baby' back then?"

"My son has never told me, so His Royal Highness should not know." Zhao Bohu didn't know why his father suddenly mentioned this matter.

"Alas -" Duke Zhao sighed: "After the prince decided to join you in the southern expedition, the queen and the king discussed it and decided to falsely claim that the prince was rebellious and contradictory, which offended the king and was punished and banned from the East Palace. I didn't want this matter to spread, but someone

Digging out the year

Regarding the incident of "Feng Shui Shen Ying", it is said that the prince argued with the king because he knew the true situation at that time, and thus angered the king. The more rumors spread, the more evil it became. After Empress Ji Jiang gave birth to her son, many people said that the king would depose the queen and the prince.

Let the second prince, my father, be your heir instead."

Zhao Bohu was very surprised: "Is this happening?" He did not expect that there would be such undercurrents in Haojing City this year.

"The queen secretly ordered me to find the source of the rumor. It was originally very difficult because everyone in the country knew what happened back then. But by chance, I still found that the retainers of Zhou Gongding's house seemed to be intentionally spreading rumors, so I kept it in mind.

The rumors spread so widely that they finally angered the king and arrested dozens of gossips in the city. The queen also punished some people in the palace and finally suppressed them."

"Zhou Gong Ji Ding?" Although Zhao Bohu had already had a premonition, he was still a little surprised when he heard this name: "He is the Duke of the country in this life, and he should spare no effort for the stability of the country. Why did he do this?"

"Hu'er, everyone has selfish motives. After all, he is deeply tied to the interests of the late King Xiao, and it is impossible for him to fully gain the king's trust. Do you understand?" Zhao Gong continued: "After learning that you were assassinated in Tonglu Mountain,

I also sent people to Qi State to contact the Gao family and learned that Wang Zixi was not restless in Yingqiu and was recruiting dead soldiers everywhere. And when you left Hangu, you just sent a dozen people to the south. Is this the case?

Coincidence?"
Chapter completed!