At sunset, Xue Shao walked up to the Dragon Tail Road of Hanyuan Hall with a wooden box wrapped in red cloth. It was still Qianqi who was guarding here, but unlike before, they no longer had any interrogation of Xue Shao, but bowed with their fists in unison.

"General!"

Xue Shao smiled slightly, "Brothers, have worked hard. Is the Queen Mother in there? ”

"In!"

Xue Shao said: "This wooden box contains the head of the bandit leader Li Xiantong. Would you like to check it out? ”

"The subordinates don't dare." The Qianqi soldiers hurriedly said, "General, please come in, the Queen Mother is waiting for your good news." ”

"Rules are rules, you still have to check them." Xue Shao signaled, "Come!" ”

The Thousand Cavalry Guards had no choice but to step forward and inspect it carefully, and as usual, they accepted Xue Shao's saber, asked him to take off his boots, and conducted a simple body search on him, and then apologized again and again and respectfully invited Xue Shao in.

"Remember, no matter who is going to enter the audience in the future, it is essential to carefully unload the sword and search the body." Xue Shao said, "Including me and Princess Taiping. ”

"Subordinates remember!" The Thousand Cavalry Guards present all blushed, because they had been very lax in their body searches when they followed Wu Yougui in the past.

The people who can come to meet the queen mother are either princes and nobles or prime minister Shangshu, and the thousands of horsemen under the command of Wu Yougui generally do not search for other people's bodies, at most they just glance at them and make a look. If you can't offend, you can't offend, and if you can't offend, you won't offend, this is the "trick" that Wu Yougui taught them to be able to eat a good meal in Beiya.

Xue Shao was about to go inside, and a person came behind him, and he was in the distance in the sound of the urn.

"This new official is different! Take the blame for being resolute and resolute, and change the rules on the first day! ”

Xue Shao looked back and saw that it was Wu Chenghei.

Bothered to pay attention to him, Xue Shao prepared to go inside.

Wu Chengsi smiled and said, "Come, this is the sword of this pavilion, you put it away first, and then search your body carefully." But don't let this pavilion bring any forbidden objects or sharp weapons into the house. ”

The Thousand Cavalry Guards were stunned in embarrassment.

"What are you doing in a daze, come and search!" Wu Chengsi deliberately said loudly, "This is a new rule that your general has just established, do you dare to disobey the order?" ”

Xue Shao turned around and said lightly: "This is not a rule I just established, but a pre-imperial ban that has existed since Li Tang founded the country. At that time, the eldest grandson Wuji forgot to unload his sword and enter the palace because of urgent matters, and was almost beheaded on the spot by the Imperial Forest Army. His Majesty Emperor Taizong personally came forward to guarantee that he would be exempted from the crime, so the eldest grandson Wuji was still severely punished. ”

"Xue Ju Ma Bo Gu has a good memory, and it is really better than the average!" Wu Chengsi was a little smiling, "Isn't it fun to teach this pavilion a lesson in front of such a sergeant?" ”

Xue Shao smiled faintly, "It's very boring." ”

"You! ......" Wu Chengsi suddenly became angry.

"Search. Ben will personally supervise here. Xue Shao was still very calm, "Even the close-fitting underwear must not be let go, otherwise you will commit a serious crime of dereliction of duty, which is enough to sentence the head of the military court!" ”

"Yes!"

After receiving such a tough order from Xue Shao, where did the sergeants dare to delay, and stepped forward to touch Wu Chenghe's whole body, and he really didn't even let go of the corners of his underwear.

Wu Chengsi had goosebumps all over his body, and he was angry, anxious and tickled, so he let out a roar that was both crying and laughing, and angry, "Enough! Are you enough?! …… Hahahehehe...... Bastard, it's unreasonable! I am the ...... Hey, hey, haha! ”

Xue Shao turned around and left, and couldn't help but smile and mutter, "I'm going to be hehehahaha-what kind of official is this?" ”

In the imperial study, Wu Zetian was waiting for Xue Shao with anger and expectation.

Someone wants to kill himself, Wu Zetian is actually not strange at all. After so many years of ups and downs, she has experienced everything. Although these few small assassins in front of her were not enough to make her angry, this incident made her feel quite faceless.

Because, the assassination occurred at the juncture when she was actively moving towards the emperor's throne, and at the base camp of Luoyang, the divine capital that she had been running for many years, she thought that "the people were loyal to the people and praised the people", or at this very moment when the people were watching during the Shangyuan Festival. Originally, she wanted to take the opportunity to shape her image of being close to the people and enjoying with the people, and after she returned to power, she issued some important new policies to benefit the people to buy the hearts of the people and consolidate her position.

Everything was well planned, but I didn't expect it all to be messed up by the assassins!

What's more, in the process of "messing up", there is also a good nephew Wu Yougui who was personally raised, who helped the assassins create chaos and harmed many militiamen. Now this wolf-like complaint outside the gate of heaven and the rumors and rumors in Luoyang City are all soldiers, which is simply a manifestation of the court's missteps and the incompetence of the army, and it is simply a slap in the face of her Wu Zetian - isn't it annoying and ashamed?

Therefore, pinning his hopes on Xue Shao to succeed in the murder as quickly as possible and stabilize the hearts of the people of Luoyang has become Wu Zetian's most urgent desire to remedy this major loss. Otherwise, she would not have risked the disapproval to hand over all the military power in the city to Xue Shao alone. In fact, she didn't need so many troops to get a few murderers, in addition to being too anxious, she hoped to express her tough attitude and strong confidence with the help of this move.

Xue Shao is here.

Wu Zetian stood up for the first time before Xue Shao paid homage, "Caught?" ”

"Li Xiantong's head is here, and Chen Te is here to die!" Xue Shao offered it with both hands.

Wu Zetian let out a long sigh of relief, and a long-lost smile appeared on his face, "Thank you for your hard work." ”

"The things that are within the courtier's duty should be."

"Come on, take the thief's head and chop it up and feed it to the dogs!" Wu Zetian pointed to the box and ordered, which shows how much she hates this troublesome Li Xiantong.

"Queen Mother, slow down!" Xue Shao suddenly stopped.

Wu Zetian was slightly curious, "Why?" ”

Xue Shao said: "This head may still be of some use. ”

Wu Zetian waved his hand to signal the waiter to step back, and asked, "What's the point?" ”

Xue Shao put his head aside and said, "Li Xiantong secretly joined the Mengjin Water Owl in his early years, and he is quite influential in the green forest. Later, the Turks rebelled, and in order to seek a way out, he secretly took refuge in the Turkic mastermind Yuanzhen. The Queen Mother must already know these things, right? ”

Wu Zetian nodded, "Go on." ”

"This time, Wei Yuanzhong was ordered to crack down on the water lords, which was quite effective. The strength of the water lords has been greatly reduced, and it stands to reason that they should hide or flee in order to preserve their strength. Xue Shao said, "But they did the opposite, and chose to assassinate the Middle Palace to fight for the fish and the net." This is so abnormal! ”

Wu Zetian took a breath of "sizzle", obviously awakened by Xue Shao, "This palace only thinks about the chaos in front of Zetian Gate, but ignores this layer - you go on!" ”

"Based on Chen's understanding of Yuanzhen and Li Xiantong, and then carefully analyzed and inferred, Chen thought that this assassination was likely to be the prelude to another southern invasion of the Turks!" Xue Shao said.

Wu Zetian's brows were already tightly furrowed. Getting up and leaving her seat, she began to pace back and forth in thought.

A moment later.

"Your reasoning is not unreasonable. In other words, we should rather believe in what is there than what is not. Wu Zetian said, "Now that Li Xiantong has fallen, how can the Tang Dynasty not be investigated if Yuanzhen's plan is exposed?" In this case, wouldn't the two countries be at war again? ”

"Li Xiantong is Yuanzhen's eagle dog, if this assassination can be successful, it will be a small profit for Yuanzhen." Xue Shao said, "Even if Li Xiantong fails now, Yuan Zhen can flatly deny that he doesn't know any Li Xiantong." After all, Li Xiantong was a Tang and not a Turkic. ”

Xue Shao's words reminded Wu Zetian again, a fine light flashed in her eyes, she looked at the wooden box and said, "This palace probably understands, what you said is useful." ”

Xue Shao smiled slightly, "The Queen Mother is wise!" ”

"In two months, it will be the most important Nowruz festival of the Turkic tribes, which is equivalent to the Spring Festival in the Central Plains." Wu Zetian said, "The imperial court is preparing to send a group of envoys to the grassland with gifts to make holiday condolences and promote the bilateral alliance. Now it seems that this head can also be given to Yuan Zhen. It is said that there are people with evil intentions who falsely claim that it was the Turkic Xiaozuo who assassinated the Middle Palace in Luoyang, in an attempt to sow discord and set off a war between the two countries. ”

Xue Shao bowed, "In this way, Li Xiantong's assassination is just a purely personal act of revenge." The government and the opposition will not speculate that the people will be in turmoil, and the army will not arouse a strong feeling of inviting war. The Turks, on the other hand, will also think that we have already seen through their strategy and have no name, so they will temporarily stop the military plan of the southern invasion that may be launched this time. ”

"Wonderful." Wu Zetian sighed heavily, "Although we all know that the ambitions of the Turkic wolves are untamable, and the bilateral peace is quite fragile, but now we need peace too much. Even if it's false, temporary. ”

Xue Shao nodded, there are some things that don't need to be broken, now what Wu Zetian hopes most is that there will be no war at the border, so that she can let go of her hands and feet to solve domestic problems.

"Alas......" At this time, Wu Zetian really took a long breath, and gradually smiled and smiled, "Xue Lang, you are so handy in seeking the country and the army, you are really a capable minister of the society and a blessed general of the court!" ”

"The Queen Mother praised it."

At this time, Wu Zetian's henchman came to report that Prime Minister Wu Chenghei asked to see him.

"Queen Mother, please retire." Xue Shao prepared to dodge.

"You don't have to go." Wu Zetian's face was a little unpleasant, "He didn't have anything else to do, he came to excuse Wu Yougui's intercession." ”

"This ...... You'd better avoid it, right? ”

Wu Zetian waved his sleeves to signal that Xue Shao didn't need to say any more, and sat down dignifiedly, "Tell Wu Chengsi to come in." ”

Wu Chengji came in, bent down and bowed ninety degrees, "The nephew sees the Queen Mother." ”

"No courtesy." Wu Zetian's voice was quite indifferent, "What's the matter with you?" ”

"This ......" Wu Chengsi raised his eyes to look at Xue Shao and motioned to retreat the idlers.

"Say something if you have something. It's okay, you step back first, Xue Shao and I have something important to discuss. Wu Zetian obviously didn't plan to give him face.

Wu Chenghe's face was red and white, and he had no choice but to say, "Nephew...... It's okay. ”

"Don't you say that this palace also knows, it's here to intercede for Wu Yougui, right?" Wu Zetian said coldly.

"Uh......" Wu Chengsi lowered his head, neither daring to admit nor deny.

"Regardless of whether you are here for this or not, this palace can tell you the truth in front of Xue Shao today." Wu Zetian's tone was very tough, and he said, "Wu Yougui is not worthy of being a thousand horsemen, he doesn't have this ability." Let him continue to be in charge, not only will he mislead the country and the king, but sooner or later he will also lose his own life! ”

"Yes, my nephew understands!" Wu Chengsi touched such a hard nail, where did he dare to say more, and he promised in a panic.

"He has been a thousand horsemen for so long, and the imperial guards have made repeated mistakes, and this palace has tolerated them many times. Unexpectedly, this time, he actually let the assassin directly threaten the lives of the palace and His Majesty the Emperor. Wu Zetian said, "Do you know why those assassins were so bold?" - It's because they know that the thousand horsemen who guard the safety of the middle palace are an incompetent waste! If it weren't for Xue Shao's clear understanding and efforts to turn the tide this time, maybe the palace would have moved!! ”

"Yes, yes, yes......" Wu Chenghe's cold sweat came down, and he only bent over and nodded frequently, not daring to say more nonsense.

"Now the palace has let Xue Shao regain control of the thousand horsemen, and hand over all the military power of the Luoshui army to him." Wu Zetian said, "This palace just wants the people of the world and all the foreign countries to see, Xue Zizhenguo, who dares to attack?!" ”