Controlling mountains and rivers since the Warring States Period

Chapter 372 Daytime
When Huo Qubing went on his expedition,
It was late spring of the second year of Yuanding.

When he returned, it was still the height of summer.

"There's nothing to fear about the Xiongnu."

"The small kingdoms of the Western Regions are not worth mentioning!"

"They're gone in one hit!"

When the emperor held a welcoming banquet for him, the Marquis of Champion said the following.

While locked in a cage, the Loulan king, who had been brought back with him, heard about it and could only silently weep.

He could only console himself:
Those who had never witnessed the might of the royal army and were still jumping around in disarray have already become victims of the Han army's blades.

He was able to save his life because he surrendered in time and had a long-standing friendship with Jiaonan.

Why pray for so much?

Therefore,
At the banquet, when the Han emperor asked the king of Loulan to perform a Western Regions dance for him, the latter did not refuse.

The emperor watched with delight as the King of Loulan sweated profusely on the stage, diligently trying to please the Han emperor and his ministers. Then he said to Huo Qubing:
You look much better!

"This pleases me even more than defeating the Xiongnu and deterring the Western Regions!"

For this,

Huo Qubing simply laughed and said, "To forbid me from running around is worse than taking my life!"

The emperor didn't take it seriously, thinking that the Marquis of Champion was in a good mood because he had won a battle, and that this had cured most of his serious illness.

On the second day,
For no apparent reason, Huo Qubing began visiting people everywhere.

He first beat up Li Gan, scolding him for not knowing right from wrong and daring to lay a hand on his own uncle.

Li Gan innocently clutched his head and wept bitterly.

This happened several years ago?

Moreover, His Majesty had already punished him at that time, along with the Prince of Liang and the Marquis of Champion, and afterwards he put him in a sack.

Now that this old matter has been brought up again, he's getting beaten up again. Why should he get this beating?
But Huo Qubing just stood there with his hands on his hips, grunted, and went off to deal with his other enemies.

When he got home
The news that the Marquis of Champion had "suddenly fallen ill and started beating people everywhere" had spread throughout the entire city of Chang'an.

His wife, Princess Weichang, simply held her cousin's hand with concern and asked him if he had hurt his hand.

After all, this was the great hero she had admired since childhood, the one she was willing to wait until she was old to marry Huo Qubing after he finished the Battle of Mobei and "destroyed the Xiongnu"!
How could we let him get hurt just because of a mere bystander?
Huo Qubing said nonchalantly, "These are the hands of my who kill with swords and knives, how could they be so delicate?"

"Go and call Shan'er here!"

Huo Shan,

He is the child of Huo Qubing and Princess Wei Chang, and is not yet three years old.

This kid looks a lot like Huo Qubing.

At an age when he could walk and jump, he was chubby and fleshy. When he came over and called out "Father," the flesh on his face would tremble a couple of times.

Huo Qubing solemnly lifted him up, looked him over from left to right, and reached out to pinch his hands and legs.

Huo Shan thought her father was playing a joke on her, and laughed heartily, as if she were about to lay an egg.

result,

Just as Huo Guang, who had come to see his elder brother, was moved by this heartwarming scene of fatherly love and filial piety,

Huo Qubing suddenly put his son on his lap and slapped him twice.

Huo Shan covered her bottom, stunned, and stopped laying eggs. Instead, she curled up into a ball, like a small, helpless child weighing fifty pounds.

Huo Guang said with heartache, "Brother, why did you have to go to this?"

Huo Qubing didn't reply, but silently savored the two slaps he had just received, muttering to himself:
"No wonder that guy likes to beat people up like that."

"It really does feel great!"

Princess Wei Chang stepped forward again with heartache, pulled the child out of Huo Qubing's arms, and gently stroked her husband's palm.

Huo Shan had thick skin and a tough build.

Don't hurt his dad's hand!

At last,
Huo Qubing went to see Wei Qing.

"uncle!"

He said directly to the Grand Marshal and General of the Han Dynasty, "See you later!"

I'll be waiting for you on the other side!

Wei Qing was completely confused by what he said, thinking that his nephew's health had improved this time, but his mind had gone mad.

But before I could ask any more questions,
Huo Qubing turned and left.

Two more days,

The once vibrant champion suddenly became thin.

His health deteriorated very quickly.

Symptoms that appear during the day
He couldn't handle it at night.

Even when the emperor had the physician hung up and beaten, he couldn't prevent this sudden and terrible news.

Fortunately, Huo Qubing was very carefree.

He appeared to be perfectly healthy and even asked his wife and brother to bring him a map so that he could see what the world looked like on his deathbed.

With the addition of the Qin-Xia envoy, this map is more complete and detailed than the one in Weiyang Palace that the emperor treads on every day.

The Xia envoy supplemented the geographical and national conditions of southern India;
The Qin envoy painted over the existence of Rome, and also included Egypt, which belonged to another vast continent.

As for the seas to the east and south, there are scattered islands.
That territory belonged to the states of Qi and Wu.

"This is the world that belongs to the Chinese people..."

"Such a vast place, and I've only been to the northern deserts and the western regions, what a pity!"

Fortunately,

After you die,

"That spirit or deity will probably take me to see these places, right?" The relatives and friends beside him, unaware that Huo Qubing had already made preparations to face the new world, simply wept.

And when Hou, the champion who had amazed an era, closed his eyes...
Even the emperor couldn't help but weep.

His eldest princess soon went to the palace to see him after the funeral and expressed her unwillingness to remarry.

"Having married such a hero, how could I possibly be interested in anyone else?"

"I just want to raise Shan'er well so that he can inherit his father's ambitions."

The look on her husband's face as he looked at that map on his deathbed was one of longing and sorrow!
As the son of the Marquis of Champion, Huo Shan is determined to fulfill his father's dream and conquer every place on that map!
The emperor felt a pang of sympathy for his daughter's choice, but he also thought that her actions were commendable.

Therefore, he promised not to arrange any more marriages for his daughter.

……

"Your wife is wonderful!"

"She is still a princess of the Han Dynasty!"

Underworld

The ghosts and spirits who witnessed this scene, including Huo Qubing, were so moved that they wiped away their tears.

The reputation and conduct of this Han princess
She was in no way inferior to the princesses of the Tang Dynasty in later generations.

The latter frequently interferes in politics and cheats on her husband;

The former frequently cheated on her husband and interfered in his politics.

He spent his entire life in a constant state of busyness.

A typical example,
She was Princess Guantao, who had supported two emperors, her brother and her nephew.

Her daughter, Empress Ajiao, was no less remarkable.

Although this person was deposed by His Majesty the Pig Prince a long time ago,
But they're living a very comfortable life right now—

He lived alone in Nagato Palace.

With talented scholars like Sima Xiangru praising it,

There are even lovers who are willing to dress up as men for her and stay with her forever.

Aside from not being able to flaunt their status openly, their actual standard of living might even be higher than when they were empresses!

Therefore,
When a princess of the Han Dynasty expressed her desire to remain a widow for love,
Even the emperor, who doted on Huo Qubing even more than his own son, was surprised.

Huo Qubing, the one directly involved who died, naturally felt even more smug.

However, compared to the love and romance of the mortal world,
He became more focused on the promise he had made to the spirits.

When he returned to the Central Plains via the Hexi Corridor, the Marquis of Champion's health was already failing.

Many people worried that he wouldn't make it back, but Champion Hou wasn't worried at all.

He simply ordered someone to fire a whistling arrow into the Haomen River beside him.

In the dead of night,

The ghost that had once harassed the Marquis of Champions emerged from the ethereal dream and asked him in a very friendly tone:
"The Champion Marquis of the Great Han!"

"Which whistling arrow did you fall into the water, the silver one or the gold one?"

Huo Qubing said, "No, what I dropped was the iron whistling arrow that was stuck in your head!"

"You are such an honest and good child!"

then,

The spirits, moved by his plight, decided to reward him and take him to the underworld.

But Huo Qubing refused and made demands of the spirits without any politeness.

"Let's discuss such a reward another time!"

"I want to go back and say goodbye to everyone."

With a whistling arrow above its head, the seemingly gruesome ghost thought for a moment and decided to grant his request.

Anyway, it's just going back to say my last words.

He can lend a hand with this small matter.

"Also, I'd like to know what the afterlife looks like!"

"Of course this is no problem!"

Speaking of this,

He Bo straightened his chest.

After all, when it comes to expanding territory, he is second to none!

then,

Upon hearing that the afterlife extends west to Qin, south to Xia, and even reaches the Eastern Sea and the State of Qi, Huo Qubing nodded in satisfaction.

He felt that such a large place
That's enough for me to live a carefree life.

Therefore, the Marquis of Champions left the mortal world without any regrets.

just,

When the Marquis of Champions expressed his desire to visit Western Qin, the ghosts and gods suddenly changed the subject.

What do you mean I can only go by myself if I want to?

"That's not what you told me!"

The demon on the throne grumbled and mumbled:
"I was just saying I could go to those places..."

"You must understand that the dead and the spirits are not the same thing!"

"My power and might as a spirit are limitless!"

The more they talked,
He Bo became increasingly self-righteous.

He puffed out his chest again.

(End of this chapter)