Liu Ji was watching the various rescue troops flocking to the city tower, and sat tiredly on the chair that Cao Jinxi brought. It was too dangerous just now. As long as the reinforcements were about to take another step, the city gate would be broken.

What people really did not expect was that the rebels' earth cannon had just blasted open the city gate. If Cheng Tinghua had not led the guards to defend the city gate, he would probably not have sat here again.

Soon, noisy footsteps came from the bluestone stairs. In addition to Yang Luchan, Dong Haichuan, there were also Kuilun, the commander of the Tiger Gun Camp, Bayanbatu, the commander of the Shanpu Camp, Sha Huihui, and the commander of the Han army in the Green Camp. What surprised Liu Ji was Prince Rui, wearing a five-clawed dragon robe. He rushed to Liu Ji excitedly and burst into tears, crying and said, "The Lord has suffered, but the servant has come late."

Liu Ji doesn't have much contact with Prince Rui on weekdays, but he didn't expect that his acting ability is so strong. After this turmoil, Liu Ji already felt that he had made some mistakes and should be encircled by these princes. Liu Ji grabbed Prince Rui's hand and said, "It's still Prince Rui who is loyal to me. This turmoil is thanks to loyal ministers like the prince. I will not treat you badly."

The two of them were playing the role, and Cao Zhenyong reminded next to him: "Your Majesty, I just caught Prince Huai Mianxin, Prince Duan Mianyu, Prince Su Jingmin, Prince Ke Chengshuo, and others. The head of the matter, Prince Ke and others have escaped. Will the whole city be searched?"

Liu Ji then let go of Prince Rui Rui Ryan's hand and asked Cheng'an: "Every city gates can be kept strictly."

Cheng'an quickly knelt down and replied, "Everything has been guarded. I have let the rebels enter the city before. I really don't know that now I have escorted the escort who opened the city gate without authorization here to ask the emperor to send him down."

Liu Ji laughed and helped Cheng'an up and said, "You can investigate. If it is an unintentional mistake, you can ignore it. Now you must first look at the city gates and not leak a traitor. You can go to patrol each gate immediately and remember not to leak another person."

After Cheng'an left, Liu Ji ordered the battalions to start a search in the city, and specifically reminded the generals who led the team not to disturb the people, and those who commit crimes should be taken down and investigated immediately.

******************************

Three days have passed since the rebellion. Liu Ji, who usually has to take a short rest in the afternoon, tossed and turned on the bed and couldn't sleep. This spring is an abnormal season, and it is still April in the Gregorian calendar, but the weather is as boring as summer, which makes Liu Ji unable to calm down at all. He sat up from the bed, and the wide bed suddenly made him feel annoying, and even took an extra time to get out of bed. The little eunuch who originally thought was well-behaved also made Liu Ji impatient, so he pushed the eunuch away and put on his own clothes.

The outside room was a study room surrounded by nanmu windows. She sat in front of the desk with a pile of memorials. She originally planned to review the memorials. As soon as she picked up her pen, she looked at the memorials on the desk and became stunned. She felt unreasonable and irritable. She walked out of the imperial study room, and a cool breeze blew from the garden outside. Liu Ji took a deep breath, and the air was filled with the fragrance of magnolia, which made the depression in her heart suddenly smooth. Thinking of the rebellion three days ago, Liu Ji fell into deep thought again.

Because the city gate was blocked in advance, the rebel prince was soon caught. But his mood was not happy because of capturing these princes. Liu Ji has been summarizing himself these days. After he came here, he quickly expanded the connection between China and the outside world and strictly governed corrupt officials. These actions obviously touched the interests of many people. Because the matter was carried out too quickly, it finally caused the turmoil three days ago. The behavior of the rebels can be said to represent a counterattack by conservative forces. Liu Ji was asking himself, can he guarantee that there will be no similar situation for the second time?

With the question in his mind, Liu Ji picked a flower that had already faded from the garden. The color of yesterday remained on the withered petals. This reminded him of an old saying, "The fullness brings harm and humility benefit. What the blooming flowers are waiting for it is the fate of withering. No wonder Lin Zexu would say, "The sea is full of rivers, and tolerance is great. The wall stands thousands of feet high, and no desire is strong." Perhaps he should take some ease-up approach, after all, you must first have stable imperial power to discuss the current drawbacks of reform. Liu Ji's mind began to linger in how to maintain the existing achievements and ease the current tense situation.

After passing through the garden, he walked forward. The scenery of the palace along the way and the eunuchs who were hiding from both sides reminded Liu Ji that this was a huge dynasty. Liu Ji walked forward aimlessly, and he didn't know where he should go.

I haven't walked through this leisurely for a long time, with only the guards and Eunuch Cao following far behind. There was nothing in my mind. I didn't think about the bank that Lei Lutai was nervously organizing, the Jiangning weaving factory that Mao Hongsui was expanding, the trading company that Bingjian was preparing, the rebellious Zhang Geer back to Xinjiang, the flood of opium, the two steam engines transported to China, and there were more things, and Liu Ji didn't want to think about it.

The eyes were full of majestic figures of the ancient imperial city. The eaves from front and back stabbed towards the sky at different angles. The backbone was filled with statues of the dragon's nine sons. The red walls and golden glazed tiles were paired with shocking colors under the pure blue sky. The towering buildings made people feel small. The ancient and thick towering palace seemed to be in this blue sky all the time, and it would never change.

I don’t know how long I had been in the imperial city, but the people behind me were afraid to call Liu Ji. Maybe they knew that the emperor was in a bad mood today and did not dare to come up to cause trouble. Liu Ji also ended up relaxing.

Liu Ji's relaxed thoughts wandered in history. He remembered the Shang Yang reforms that had happened in ancient China. Although Shang Yang created a powerful Qin Empire, he personally ended up being a tragic situation of dismembering five horses. Nine hundred years later, Emperor Yang of Sui initiated the imperial examination and dug a canal, laying a solid foundation for the prosperous Tang Dynasty, but died in the second lifetime. Emperor Yang of Sui was so similar to Qin Shihuang who unified the writing and built the official road nine hundred years ago.

Before he knew it, Liu Ji didn't understand why he walked to the Shoukang Palace. When the two little eunuchs guarding at the door saw Liu Ji coming, they quickly bowed and let him go to the door.

Liu Jie walked to the gate with his hands behind his back. On a few tall and dense cypress trees outside the gate, the branches shaking. He knew that there were still guards hidden in the dark. They faithfully fulfilled their will to forbid the Empress Dowager to travel at will, and made great contributions to this unrest.

Seeing the tall eaves of Shoukang Palace, Liu Ji hesitated for a long time and finally walked in.
Chapter completed!