On the twenty-eighth day of the twelfth month, Zhao Zun, accompanied by Han Lei and dozens of loyal trusted aides, braved the severe cold and, after twenty days of arduous travel, finally returned to the Capital City of the Da Jing Dynasty.
Standing outside the city, gazing at the towering city gate before him, a complex emotion surged in Zhao Zun's heart.
Since his father, the former Duke of Protecting the Nation, bravely died on the battlefield, he had been stationed at Beiguan. This sojourn had lasted four or five years, and every blade of grass, every tree, every brick, and every tile in the Capital seemed both familiar and strange.
His heart was filled with both the joy of returning home and endless reflections on the bygone years.
Despite being a hero who defended the border and returned to the capital, the Emperor did not personally go to the pavilion ten miles out, nor did he go out to greet Zhao Zun.
