When I opened my eyes, there was a white curtain in front of me, and a large piece of sunlight was reflected on the top of the tent.

Immediately, the young woman's willow eyebrows were raised, and a fierce and vicious voice came from her ears, "Zhang Shiba, do you know how you came back last night?" ”

Zhang Huan only felt a sharp headache hit him, "Oh! It's meocre. ”

"Slacker, hurry up!"

Ping Ping dragged him up hard, "Get up and drink a cup of tea to sober up, have you forgotten what day it is?" ”

"What day?" Zhang Huan's mind was confused for a while, "Today seems to be the second day of the imperial examination." ”

"Today is your day in office, have you forgotten?"

"Ahh Zhang Huan sat up with a bone, he almost forgot, he is now the captain of the Yulin Army, yesterday the official Langzhong asked him to take office today, but he forgot everything.

"What time is it?"

"The hour has long passed, and just now an official came running and said you can go later." Pingping squatted on the ground while putting on his shoes, and complained: "You used to get up before dawn every day to swim in the river, but now it's good, you are actually drunk, and I heard that you are flirting with orchids, hey! I don't know what to say about you. ”

"I was happy yesterday, I drank a few more glasses, but I was a little out of shape." Zhang Huan smiled embarrassedly, he stood up and pulled up his hair casually, and tied it in a bun, but saw a bun of famous thorn invitations and the like on the desk.

"It was sent to you yesterday by many high-ranking officials."

Pingping walked in quickly with a basin of water, she looked at the invitations and smiled: "People outside say that you can swim in the water, you can swim a thousand steps, and you are famous in Beijing, just like the people of Chang'an are landlubbers." ”

"When the matter spreads to thousands of people, it will naturally go the same way."

Zhang Huan took the towel she handed over, washed his face, and his mind immediately cleared up, and then he turned over those famous thorns, 'The official servant Lang Xuan, Taichangqing Li Mian, Taifu Temple Secretary Yang Yan..... Zhang Huan's hand stopped, and he picked up one of the famous cards with a faint fragrance, "Zuo Xiang Pei Jun!" ’

He was invited to a family banquet on the seventh day of the first lunar month, isn't it today on the seventh day of the first lunar month? Pei Jun's invitation is naturally going, but what about other posts? Zhang Huan suddenly found a very headache, these waiters are all people with real power, since they all posted to invite, even if they don't go, they have to reply to the post to thank them, there are thirty or forty here, do you want him to run one by one? He had no servants.

Zhang Huan looked at Pingping, who looked innocent, and suddenly smiled: "Pingping, how about helping Zhang 18 run errands?" ”

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Wrote a bunch of thank-you speeches and threw them to Lin Pingping, Zhang Huan swaggered to take office, since ancient times, new officials are generally troublesome, first to go to the Ministry of Officials to note the name, and then go to the Ministry of Rites to learn etiquette, he is a military attaché, and he has to go to the Ministry of War for the record, and then go to the Weiwei Temple to receive weapons and armor, and then to the Taifu Temple to lead the horse, and finally go to the general of the Yulin Army to report, and when he is busy with these, it is already afternoon.

"Captain Li, I'm going back for lunch, you won't have anything to do in the future, whether you go home now or continue to stay here, it's up to you."

The person who led him through these procedures was a member of the ministry surnamed Lu, who was very enthusiastic about him and did his best, but he spoke a little meanly.

Zhang Huan's Yulin Army Guoyi Lieutenant is a fictitious position, there is not a single soldier under him, he can indeed go home after he finishes reporting, but his fictitious position is destined to be different, before he decides where to go, several eunuchs ran in a panic, "Who is Zhang Huan?" Who is Zhang Huan, who just took office today? ”

"Father-in-law, it's down there." Zhang Huan stepped forward to agree, but the chief eunuch grabbed him and said hurriedly: "Come with me, the Queen Mother wants to see you!" ”

"The Queen Mother?" Zhang Huan was stunned for a moment, this word was too faint in his heart, from childhood to adulthood, he heard and saw that the emperor and the minister, the minister, etc., when he grew up, he talked about the harem in the academy, and everyone was only interested in the princess and the county lord, and no one would mention the queen mother.

Zhang Huan then remembered that the queen mother of the Tang Empire was the Empress Zhang of the first emperor, the man of the moment who killed the prince and helped Li to ascend the throne, fifteen years have passed, and she has gradually disappeared from people's memory.

He had a few thoughts in his heart, but he couldn't figure out what the Queen Mother would do with him, maybe she was out of the limelight yesterday, and she just wanted to take a look?

Time didn't allow him to think too much, so he nodded and said, "Father-in-law, please lead the way, and I'll go with you." ”

The place where Empress Dowager Zhang lives is in the Taiji Palace, which is quite close to the West Inner Garden where Zhang Huan is currently located, enters the Xuanwu Gate, and the front is the Taiji Palace, before the Daming Palace is built, this is the main palace of the Tang Dynasty, where Gaozu Li Yuan and Taizong Li Shimin live.

With the completion of the Daming Palace, the Taiji Palace has gradually become a place for the elders and concubines to retire, Tang Xuanzong Li Longji returned from Shuzhong, and was also sent here by his son Li Heng, and finally died of depression.

The current Taiji Palace is the place of worship of the Empress Dowager Zhang, the Empress Dowager Zhang is more than fifty years old this year, but she is very well maintained, her appearance looks only thirty, her skin is fair and delicate, phoenix eyes and goose nose, and she can still see the beauty of her youth, but as she gets older, her cheekbones are slightly protruding, and her lips have lost their former plumpness and luster, becoming two thin pieces.

Empress Dowager Zhang was a woman with great power and hope when she was young, Li Heng was not in good health, she repeatedly overstepped her authority to interfere in politics, for which she formed a deep enmity with the then prince Li Yu, seeing that Li Heng was seriously ill and about to collapse, she brazenly launched a palace coup d'état, killed the prince Li Yu, and supported the king Li of Yue to ascend the throne.

But in the following ten years, the seven great families controlled the government, whether it was the emperor Li or she lost power, but just a few days ago, she issued the first decree in ten years, and named Cui Ning, the daughter of Cui Yuan, the right minister, as the lord of Qinghe, although it was at the request of the emperor, but it was a kind of temptation for her, whether what she said was still useful, things were unexpected by her, Cui Yuan not only immediately sent her daughter into the palace to thank her, but also wrote a special book afterwards, and was grateful for the reward she gave herself.

Just like a beggar who just found out that he was living on the Golden Mountain, Empress Dowager Zhang tasted it repeatedly for a few days before she slowly came to her senses, could it be that her power had never been lost?

At the court meeting on the sixth day of the first month, she recovered from her illness and did not have time to test her power, but then her confidant eunuch Zhu Guanghui told her that the emperor promoted a rival of Cui Xiangguo at the court meeting, and it was a concubine of the Zhang family, that is, this person, who had kidnapped the county lord of Qinghe not long ago.

In this way, Zhang Huan, the captain of the Yulin Army Guoyi who was personally named by the Li family, was set by her as a test subject to test her power.

"Yulin Army, Guoyi, Captain Zhang Huan, see the Queen Mother!" Through a bamboo curtain, Zhang Huan knelt down on one knee and bowed respectfully.

"When you see the mourning family, you dare to kneel only on one knee?" A cold voice came from behind the bamboo curtain.

Zhang Huan was stunned, he was neither humble nor arrogant and replied: "Back to the Queen Mother, the emperor has issued an edict in the fifth year of Qingzhi, and officials above the sixth grade can be exempted from kneeling when they see it, and they can give a long body salute. ”

Without waiting for the Queen Mother to get angry, Zhu Guanghui, the tall and fat eunuch next to him, suddenly snorted heavily, "A little Guoyi Lieutenant dares to contradict the Queen Mother, someone is coming!" ”

He was just about to order someone to drag Zhang Huan, but the Queen Mother waved her hand gently, "Wait a minute, the mourning family still has something to ask him." ”

A storm that was about to rise disappeared in an instant, and after a moment of silence, the bamboo curtain slowly rolled up, revealing a pale face, still without a smile, and the tone was still cold and piercing, "The mourning family heard that you had kidnapped the county lord of Qinghe, but is there anything wrong?" ”

At this time, Zhang Huan already understood that the Queen Mother was deliberately looking for her own trouble today, no matter how she answered, she would not obey her wishes, his waist was straight, and he raised his head and said: "The Queen Mother is afraid that she is mistaken, Zhang Shangshu has eliminated the misunderstanding with Xiangguo in this matter, and the Queen Mother will know when she asks Xiangguo!" ”

"Nonsense!"

Empress Dowager Zhang couldn't hold back the anger in her heart anymore, she scolded loudly: "Xiangguo is the prime minister's heart, and he doesn't care about you, but the county lord of Qinghe is sealed by the mourning family, how can you allow a concubine and a lowly official to be bullied at will, today the palace summoned you to let you know that I am the noble and lowly of the Tang Dynasty." ”

Empress Dowager Zhang's gaze became more and more fierce, her tone had changed from cold to stern, and as soon as she turned around, she shouted sharply: "Strip off his clothes and armor, and beat the mourning family out of the palace!" ”

Several guards stepped forward to catch Zhang Huan, "You don't need to work hard, I'll go by myself!" Zhang Huan raised his hand to stop everyone, he looked into the eyes of the Empress Dowager Zhang, and said with a slight smile, "Today's gift from the Empress Dowager is engraved in the heart of the minister, and it will be repaid to the Empress Dowager in the future." ”

Although his tone was gentle and his smile was amiable, as if he really wanted to repay the favor, the piercing gaze that burst out of his eyes, like an ice needle, made Empress Dowager Zhang feel excited, and she suddenly remembered that fifteen years ago, that person was also staring at her with this kind of gaze before he died, and he still appears in her dreams from time to time.

But Zhang Huan is just a small six-grade lowly official, and it is the touchstone she uses to test her power, so she doesn't have to take it to heart, Empress Dowager Zhang smiled coldly, "It's a pity that you don't have a chance, pass on the will of the mourning family, Zhang Huan, the captain of the Yulin Army, disrespects the Queen Mother, and should be beheaded according to the law, but if he reads his first offense, he can not be punished, and he ordered the officials to remove all his official positions and demote him to the common people." ”

"Queen Mother, slow down!" The Li family, who rushed to hear the news, was finally a step slower.

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