Mountains and rivers are waiting for you to return

Chapter 187 Pei Nai returns to Beijing
Twenty-three days have passed since we set out from the Valley Kingdom.

Pei Nai, Luo Yuanying, Ju Liancheng and their group finally arrived at the outskirts of Chaoyang City.

The bodies of Ju Yan and Zhou Yuliang had been collected and placed in jade coffins in the Valley Country. In order to allow their families to see them for the last time, the alliance team commissioned someone to perform the embalming process.

Even though Ju Yan and Zhou Yuliang had been dead for more than a month, their jade coffins did not emit the peculiar smell of rotting corpses.

The jade coffin was stored in a carriage and was pulled back by them.

Also because the carriage was moving slowly, it limited the overall speed of the team. Therefore, it took them a full twenty-three days to travel a distance that would have taken more than ten days at a gallop.

There were guards and several rows of officials waiting outside the city gate, including Gu Jinheng's subordinates Lin Shengtao and others.

Pei Nai heard a different kind of noise in the city, and rode his horse forward a few steps.

When the scene inside the city came into view, Pei Nai was stunned.

She looked at the sea of people and asked, "What are you doing?"

"The people are welcoming Lord Ju Yan with the courtesy of a hero and martyr. There is another reason. People all know that you are back, and they are gathering on the streets today to welcome you." Luo Yuanying replied.

Pei Nai shuddered, "But I participated in the Dengyun Heroes Conference as Tang Mingzhi. Tens of thousands of people in Chaoyang City have seen me. How can I explain this to the people?"

"You don't have to worry about this. I have arranged it. People now believe that you did not die after the battle of Yagu ten years ago. You were just angry with me and didn't want to return to Beijing. In order to avoid any further entanglement with me, you changed your appearance and lived in seclusion in Huayun Village with General Han and others. After that, in order to get the Hunxi Whip back at the Dengyun Heroes Conference, you returned to Chaoyang and temporarily lived in Lord Ju's house, acting as the daughter of Lord Ju's wife's sister." Luo Yuanying explained.

"Brilliant!" Pei Nai could only sigh at how complete this story was, it even matched the lies she made up at the Dengyun Heroes Conference.

She suddenly remembered something, "But Mingzhi's death cannot be concealed from her family no matter what, right?"

Luo Yuanying nodded, "However, Tang Mingzhi's family is not large, and Madam Ju has forgotten about this matter. Although Tang's father was in pain for a while, he gradually accepted it. He will keep it a secret."

Pei Nai looked at the crowd inside the city gate, sighed, and led the team forward.

After they entered the city gate, the dragon bells rang in the city to mourn the martyrs, for Ju Yan and all the Tianyao warriors who died in the Battle of Yunxuan and the counterattack of the Valley Kingdom.

The guards blocked both sides of the main street, blocking the enthusiastic people and leaving a path for their team.

When men, women, young and old saw Pei Nai, there was a great noise and excitement.

Many people carried children on their shoulders and held flowers in their hands, throwing them into the middle of the road.

Occasionally, one could discern a few hoarse shouts from the crowd, "Well done, Madam Yingwu!"

"Destroy the Wu tribe barbarians!"

"Zhu Bei Qiang Pei Nai!! Well deserved!"

All of this was still normal. Then Pei Nai heard a man on the second floor of the teahouse shouting, "Forgive Lord Duan Ding! He must know he was wrong!"

This voice caused everyone to laugh. A loud-voiced man in the crowd below shouted back, "You must be Duke Duan Ding's agent! I support General Wan Yue Blood Whip Han!!"

There was another round of laughter, and someone else echoed loudly: "I support it too!"

Pei Nai was so amused by them that he couldn't hold back his smile and tried to keep a steady expression.

The team walked all the way to the gate of Ju Mansion.

Ju Liancheng and Luo Yuanying brought the carriage carrying the jade coffin into the mansion. Zhou Yuliang's jade coffin would later be delivered to his family by Gu Jinheng's subordinates.

Pei Nai needed to enter the palace to meet the emperor first, so he rode slowly and continued forward.

After walking for a long time, the sea of people still did not end. When they arrived outside the main gate of the palace, a girl's voice sounded from behind. She seemed to be shouting with all her strength: "General Pei! You can definitely defeat Qingyun Tianji!!"

There were waves in Pei Nai's eyes.

She turned around, located the girl by the sound of her voice, and smiled at her.

When they arrived at the main entrance, Pei Nai dismounted from his horse amidst the support and walked into the palace gate.

The chief eunuch was already waiting here. He bowed and said, "The emperor is waiting for you in the palace. General Pei, please follow me."

It was inconvenient to ride a horse in the palace, and Pei Nai was unwilling to break this rule, so he took the palace sedan chair instead.

The sedan chair had a sunshade roof, and two gold-thread and colorful cloth woven knots hung from the front corners, swaying slowly and irregularly as the sedan chair moved.

Finally arriving at Qianming Palace, the eunuch's voice was piercing and burning, "Pei Nai, the Independence Army of the Pei Family, is here!"

She walked in with familiarity, stepped onto the stairs, and what caught her eyes was a golden dragon flying in the clouds with a bright yellow print.

Xiao Mingyi was sitting in the main seat reviewing memorials. When he saw her come in, he waved to the guest seat, "Are you tired? Sit down first and have some tea."

His attitude was as if Pei Nai had never left Chaoyang, just as usual.

However, he promoted Han Ruize and Shao Liran, but was wary of her, so it was inevitable that a gap developed between the two of them.

This time when she entered the palace, she faced the same treatment as before, but she had a different feeling.

The edge of the dragon robe almost reached the ground. She had never felt that this bright yellow would bring such an oppressive feeling.

He stood between her and Xiao Mingyi, preventing her from seeing him clearly.

The maids served her tea.

Pei Nai sat in his seat, took a sip of tea, and asked him, "How are you and Yi Xi preparing for your wedding? When do you plan to hold it?"

"The Ministry of Rites is preparing. There is no rush. We will have to wait until the war is over."

Xiao Mingyi's eyes were still on the memorials. Suddenly, his brows furrowed, he made a few marks on a memorial, and then threw it aside. It seemed that the content on it made him dissatisfied.

Having said this, I'm sure Xiao Mingyi can guess why she came.

Pei Nai got straight to the point and said, "You must have heard about Yue Cang and the Western Border Allied Forces' gathering. We also need troops. The current Pei Family Army, the border guards, and the garrisons in the western states combined are probably far from enough."

Xiao Mingyi put down his pen and looked at her calmly from his seat.

Pei Naigeng continued, "But Gu Jinheng, Han Ruize and I cannot mobilize the armies of other branches and vassal states. It is not legitimate. We need your order to gather all the combat power of the East Border Alliance to fight the enemy together."

"Okay." Xiao Mingyi replied.

He waved his hand, and a eunuch came in from outside the hall, holding a rolled-up imperial edict in his hand and reading it out.

Pei Nai was a little surprised. Did Xiao Mingyi figure it out?
She stood up from her chair, took two steps forward, and knelt to receive the order.

The eunuch immediately began to read, "By the grace of Heaven and the Mandate of Heaven, the Emperor proclaims: The daughter of the great general Pei Hao, Lady Pei Nai, who was a valiant and heroic lady, inherited the power of the Three Mountains to chase the Northern Spear and killed the enemy commander Xi Han Dao in a crisis. She led the army to wipe out more than 300,000 barbarian enemies. Her achievements are great, her name is worthy of our ancestors, her benevolence is well known, and her blessings spread to all nations. She saved the emperor, supported the throne, and prolonged the fate of the country. She has given me the grace of rebirth and upbringing, and I have never been negligent in my filial piety. I hereby appoint her as Empress Dowager Yiwu and give her the honor of serving the emperor. I decree this."

Pei Nai stood there in a daze, extremely confused.

She asked Xiao Mingyi directly: "What do you mean? You want to trap me in the palace and not let me go to the front line?"

　Today's double update
　　
　
(End of this chapter)