After a while of strolling around the house, it was almost noon. Princess Taiping said that she had made an appointment with the queen of heaven to call Xue Shao to the harem for dinner and a family banquet today.

Xue Shao couldn't help but feel a stir in his heart, since I returned from the Northern Expedition, I haven't had a private meeting with Wu Zetian. Now, not only do I have a lot of things to tell her, but she probably has a lot of questions for me.

Golden opportunity.

Princess Taiping drove back to the palace, and Xue Shao accompanied her all the way. The Xuanwu Gate in the north of the palace was still walking, and Wu Zetian set up a banquet in the Xianju Hall to greet Princess Taiping and Xue Shao.

Xue Shao went in to see that Li Zhi was really not there.

Wu Zetian is the queen, but in the harem, he has always advocated frugality, and today's family banquet is relatively simple to prepare, at least compared to Princess Taiping's diet. It's just that the focus of such a family banquet is not the meal itself, and the three people present all know it.

Everything was normal during the banquet, Princess Taiping and Xue Shao both behaved decently, Wu Zetian was also relatively easy-going, and the three of them only pulled some homely things and talked about some trivial matters related to marriage. After the banquet, Princess Taiping found an excuse to leave the table very interestingly, leaving Xue Shao and Wu Zetian to sit alone.

"Xue Shao, it's been some time since you returned from the Northern Expedition. I should have received you a long time ago, but some things have delayed until today. Wu Zetian didn't go around in circles, and said straight to the point, "You talk to me first, what you have gained from what you have seen and felt in this Northern Expedition, and what experience and lessons you have accumulated." ”

"Yes."

Xue Shao agreed to the promise, and started from the day he changed his face and joined the army as a pawn. Before the three armies moved the grain and grass, he talked in detail about the logistics supply and baggage transfer of the army, introduced the life of ordinary soldiers in the barracks, and some rules of behavior and anecdotes in the army.

Although Wu Zetian is shrewd and capable, she is a woman after all, and military affairs are her natural shortcomings. Listening to Xue Shao talk about these military details that she had never known before, she was both interested and eye-opening, so she listened quite seriously and was quite interested.

Xue Shao carefully grasped the proportions and tried his best to describe his military experience in a neutral tone. When he talked about joining the Three Swords Brigade to patrol Shuodai Erzhou, and then the whole army was wiped out and the defeated soldiers fled with the people, Wu Zetian expressed some of her surprise with a frown, and seemed to express some dissatisfaction with Xue Shao's involvement in such danger, but she didn't express much.

When Xue Shao talked about the surprise attack on the black sand, Wu Zetian finally spoke, "Xue Shao, your reckless behavior has frightened Taiping, such a thing is not for you to do." I know that you are ambitious and earnest, but the Tang Dynasty has strong national strength and military might, and you can't afford to let you, the king of the dynasty, go to risk in person in exchange for a victory. ”

Xue Shao hugged his fist, "The minister knows it." The minister will pay more attention in the future. ”

"Now that the matter is over, I will no longer blame you." Wu Zetian said, "As the queen of the Tang Dynasty, I am very happy to see that you have made such a special contribution as a general. But as a mother, I don't want you to do something like this again and make Taiping frightened. ”

"The minister knows it."

Wu Zetian nodded, "Your marriage with Taiping is approaching, so put everything else aside for the time being, just take care of the marriage and be your concubine." ”

"Yes......" Xue Shao agreed, but his heart was suddenly bursting, thinking to himself what Wu Zetian meant by saying these words, was he implying that he wanted me to leave the army?

"The Northern Expedition army has not yet returned to Beijing, and the imperial court's reward for the Northern Expedition generals is still being discussed." Wu Zetian really mentioned this matter and said, "But a few days ago, His Majesty has already ordered you to reward you heavily, so I have discussed with the prime ministers to reward you for your meritorious deeds in advance." ”

"Thank you." Xue Shao clenched his fists and worshipped, but his heart was secretly tightened...... Are you finally going to pronounce a sentence on me?

"The views of the prime ministers coincide with mine." Wu Zetian said, "They also feel that although you have made great contributions in this battle, it is reasonable to promote your martial arts." But given that you and Princess Taiping are about to get married, it is no longer appropriate to continue to serve as the leading general. Therefore, we agreed on the meritorious deeds you have made, and you will be promoted to the rank of the fifth rank of the middle doctor. However, you must cut off the right guard Yifu Zuo Lang who served during the Northern Expedition and the original left Fengchen Wei Qianniu prepared for the ministry officer, and promote your original military department staff member Fang Lang's inspection officer to the military department member Wailang. What do you think? ”

"......" Xue Shao couldn't close his mouth open, and he was stunned for a while.

Sure enough, I was stripped of all my military attache positions, and I became a complete ...... Civil service!

"Are you dissatisfied?" Wu Zetian frowned and said, "It will take at least eight years for ordinary officials to be promoted by two ranks. You were originally just a staff member of Nan Cao, the Ministry of War, but now you have been promoted to a staff member outside the Ministry of War, and you have directly replaced Yuan Wanqing. Do you know that Yuan Wanqing was promoted from a staff member to a staff member, but it took nearly ten years? ”

Xue Shao took a deep breath and pressed the emotions in his heart, and bowed his hand: "Thank you, the queen." ”

"Hmm......" Wu Zetian let out a long hum in a nasal voice and said, "Xue Shao, I know that you must have something in mind." But since the imperial court has arranged it in this way, there must be a reason for the imperial court. Since you are a soldier, you should know that the military orders are like a mountain, and obedience is essential. ”

"Yes, the minister absolutely obeys the orders of the imperial court!" Xue Shao bowed his hand, but said in his heart: In addition to obedience, can I still bargain with the imperial court?

"In addition, the promotion to be a member of your military department is really the result of my personal efforts for you." Wu Zetian said, "Although it is inconvenient for you to join the army again after you marry Taiping, you still have to be responsible for the affairs of the army." Yuan Wanqing is too old to do a good job of speaking about martial arts. You have resigned from your military post and replaced him as a member of the military department, and you can be justifiably and wholeheartedly responsible for running the martial arts academy. What do you think? ”

Xue Shao thought to himself, your old man has talked about this, can I still refuse?

"The queen is wise. Chen, too, wants to make a big show in the martial arts academy and make some achievements. Xue Shao replied.

"That's fine." Wu Zetian finally nodded with a little satisfaction and said, "Xue Shao, everyone who is an official has his own duty. Be sure to do your job wholeheartedly. Don't take care of things that shouldn't be taken care of, and don't talk about things that shouldn't be discussed, so as not to suffer unnecessary disasters. Did you write it down? ”

"Yes, the minister wrote it down."

When Xue Shao replied, his heart was already slowly sinking. Listening to Wu Zetian's tone, it is clear that he is warning himself not to intervene and worry about those things that he "can't control", which is probably an allusion to the imperial court's handling of the aftermath of the Northern Expedition!

Xue Shao thought about it again, maybe Wu Zetian wanted to officially start to marginalize Pei Xingjian, and take advantage of the opportunity of the Northern Expedition to promote the new army leader to replace him. And this new army leader who is about to take office is likely to be Cheng Wuting. Because long before the expedition, at the end of Xue Shao's roasted tail banquet, Wu Zetian gave Xue Shao such a hint.

Now, it's time to find out.

Everyone knows that Xue Shao is Pei Xingjian's protégé, and Wu Zetian wants to squeeze out Pei Xingjian and promote Cheng Wuting, which is emotionally difficult for Xue Shao to accept. So Wu Zetian first gave Xue Shao a preventive injection and asked him not to care about those "unmanageable" things.

"Well, you have to get along with Taiping more recently and spend more time with her. During the days you went on the expedition, she suffered like she had never suffered in her life. As her husband, you have to know how to be merciful. Wu Zetian changed his tone and started to talk about the family routine, and said, "The marriage between the two of you is generally presided over by the imperial court, but some details must be personally inquired about and handled by the two of you." I heard that Taiping recently came up with another bad idea to dig a swimming pool in the house, and the household department and the general were superintendents, so they urgently requisitioned more than 17,000 people to work day and night. I wondered, what kind of swimming pool needs to use so much manpower and material resources to build a huge palace? ”

Xue Shao smiled bitterly, since Wu Zetian deliberately diverted the topic and stopped talking about political affairs, he had to accompany him. So he briefly told Wu Zetian about the pool.

Wu Zetian just smiled after hearing this, "Taiping is playful." It is better to do less of this kind of thing in the future, and if you can dissuade it, you must try to discourage it. After all, it is not a good thing to work for one's own selfishness and lose money. ”

"The minister knows it."

"It's okay, you go!" Wu Zetian waved his cloud sleeves lightly, then got up and took a cup of tea and drank it lightly.

With a wave of her cloud sleeves, Xue Shao felt like Sun Wukong who had been hit by the iron fan princess banana fan, and flew thousands of miles away in an instant.

From this moment on, Xue Shao felt that he was more than 108,000 miles away from the ideal in his heart and the political core of the court.

On the surface, the addition of two ranks of loose officials and the promotion of ministry officials are a rare blessing for anyone who is an official.

But Xue Shao was not happy at all, because all this ...... None of what he wanted!

At this moment, Xue Shao's heart was almost shouting-Wu Zetian, why don't you ask me about my experience after the surprise attack on Heisha? For example, the inside story of the Shuozhou Defense War and the merger of the state, such as the current situation of the grassland tribes that I saw on my personal mission to Du Jinshan, as well as the detailed process of the battle of Yu Du Jinshan and the grassland pattern after the war?

Isn't it all important? …… Don't care about what you shouldn't care, don't talk about what you shouldn't talk about, how could you use such a sentence to block everything I want to say to you and the court?

……

Xue Shao's mood and face were gradually becoming gloomy. Wu Zetian is such a meticulous person, but she turned a blind eye in her eyes, and let Xue Shao retreat silently.

The moment the door closed behind him, Xue Shao felt as if a door of fate had also closed to him. The road from Rong seems to have been cut off from now on......