The full moon banquet of Xue Shao's eldest daughter was very grand. Wu Zetian was present in person, and almost all the civil and military officials in the capital came, just like the state banquet during the heavy solar terms and the Shuowang Dynasty.

In front of all the guests, Wu Zetian asked the attendants to read out the emperor's holy decree, and the eldest daughter of Xue Shao and Princess Taiping was named the county lord of Ningjin.

According to the Tang Dynasty regulations and laws, except for the crown prince's daughter-in-law, the daughter-in-law of other princes and princesses are all county lords. But there are not many county lords who have just been given the full moon.

According to the practice of the Tang Dynasty, women generally do not take a big name before leaving the cabinet (even daughters of the level of Princess Taiping are the same), so "Ning Jin" has become everyone's name for her. Xue Shao is not used to this, how can his baby daughter not even have a name? But it sounds like "Ning Jin" is not bad, and it has a little homonym with his brother Qiyu. So Xue Shao naturally gave his baby daughter this name - Xue Ningjin.

Wu Zetian likes her daughter, and everyone in the palace and even outside the world knows it, which is the most direct expression of her doting on Princess Taiping. Now that Princess Taiping has also given birth to a daughter, Wu Zetian is even more happy and liked. On the day of the birthday banquet, she hugged the little county lord of Ningjin almost every moment, and she was reluctant to let go when she was toasted and congratulated by the courtiers.

The little county lord of Ning Jin was not polite, except for crying and shouting about her grandmother, who shook the world, and urinated on her twice. Wu Zetian was not angry but overjoyed, saying that this was a great blessing.

The lively banquet was over, and the guests dispersed one by one. In Princess Taiping's mansion, only Xue Shao's brothers, the two in-laws, and then Wu Zetian.

Wu Zetian still tirelessly coaxed the little county lord for a long time, until she fell asleep, and then let the nurse carry her to serve.

At this time, Xue Shao was listening to his younger brother Xue Xu's report on the gift list of today's guests. Xue Shao didn't care what kind of treasures those guests had given them to play with, he just wanted to know if there were a few "special" people who came today.

When Xue Xu read Cheng Wuting's name, Xue Shao interrupted: "He didn't come himself, did he?" ”

"Nope." Xue Xu replied, "It was said that it was inconvenient to go out due to the occasional cold, and he sent his younger brother, the prince to wash the horse, Cheng Wuzhong, on behalf of him to congratulate him." ”

"The prince washes the horse, Cheng Wuzhong." Xue Shao groaned lightly, thinking in his heart that now the prince's east palace is empty, and the prince's horse washing is naturally an official position that can't be more empty. In other words, it is a more important official position, and I am afraid that most of it will not be guaranteed.

Xue Xu continued to recite, Xue Shao was a little impatient after listening for a while, and asked directly: "Did the Black Tooth Changzhi send someone to congratulate him?" ”

"I don't think so." Xue Xu said, "When the foolish brother swept his eyes, there was no name that was connected by four words. ”

Xue Shao couldn't help laughing, "There are a total of sixteen generals in the Sixteen Guards of the Tang Dynasty, and a total of fourteen of them have come to congratulate me, and only the Black Tooth Changzhi, the general of the Zuoying Yangwei, has not come." ”

Xue Xu was stunned for a moment, and whispered: "Foolish brother heard that the second brother had a quarrel with him a few days ago, and he almost met in battle...... If he comes, it's a bit abnormal, isn't it? ”

Xue Shao suddenly turned his face, "Read your book well, what do you do about these things?" ”

"The foolish brother lost his words, and the second brother forgives his sins!" Xue Xu hurriedly bowed down and pressed his forehead to the ground.

At this moment, a voice sounded at the door, "I have heard for a long time that the Fenyin Xue family is strict and the most filial piety, and when I see it today, it really lives up to its reputation!" ”

"Queen Mother!" Xue Shao hurriedly got up to greet him.

"No need to be polite." Wu Zetian walked over with a smile and said, "This palace came uninvited, and I bothered your brothers." ”

"What did the Queen Mother say?" Xue Shao said with a smile, "I have nothing to do, I just heard him say something about his parents' shortcomings." ”

"As the saying goes, Taoist ugliness should not be publicized." Wu Zetian said with a smile, "There are outsiders here, Xue Xu, why are you still kneeling?" Hurry up!

Xue Xu was still kneeling and said: "The minister returns to the Queen Mother, the eldest brother is like a father, how the elder brother scolds Xue Xu is deserved, not a family ugly." Besides, the Queen Mother is not an outsider! ”

"This kid is smart, I like it." Wu Zetian smiled, "Xue Shao, it seems that you have to give the order before he dares to get up." ”

"Silly boy, why don't you get up and salute the Queen Mother?" Xue Shao said angrily, "Reading stunned you!" ”

Xue Xu hurriedly got up, bent over with a flushed face, "The minister pays a visit to the Queen Mother...... There are many rude ministers, I hope the queen mother will forgive her sins! ”

Wu Zetian smiled, "Xue Xu, this palace has heard many times in the deep palace that you and Xue Ji are great talents who are side by side in the Guozi Prison. Some people even say that both of you are expected to become the second Tianwen Sect from the Xue clan in Fenyin after Xue Yuanchao. It stands to reason that you should be high-spirited and suave. How did you get back home, like a little mouse in a cat's nest? ”

"This ......" Xue Xu was speechless, and his face turned even redder.

"Get out!" Xue Shao let out a low snort.

"Yes......"

Xue Xu obediently went out.

Wu Zetian smiled, "Xue Shao, I didn't expect you to be quite majestic at home." ”

"Nope." Xue Shao also smiled, "It's just that my parents died early, and the three of us brothers fought each other for their lives." Xue Xu is the youngest, and he is quite dependent and in awe of his two brothers, just like his father. Therefore, if my eldest brother and I don't keep a straight face and be more vicious, he will not get used to it. ”

"It's kind of interesting." Wu Zetian said with a smile, "In this way, the flesh and blood relationship between the three of you brothers is not ordinarily strong. This palace heard that you transferred all the ancestral properties of Lantian County to Xue Xu's name, and also gave him a lot of gold silk grain and rice every month, so that he could study and study in the Guozi Prison with peace of mind. Is there such a thing? ”

Xue Shao smiled embarrassedly, "It's just a little trivial family matter, the Queen Mother, your old man's news is really well-informed." ”

"It's not that this palace is deliberately informed. Your family affairs, Mo is not a family matter of this palace? Wu Zetian said, "Shouldn't the palace itself care more about its own affairs?" ”

"The Queen Mother is right." Xue Shao bowed his hand, "Minister, thank you for your concern!" ”

"I'm out there." Wu Zetian smiled slightly, "Sit down and talk." ”

"Thank you."

"This is in your own home, thank you?" Wu Zetian smiled, "Don't be too polite and polite. Today, I, an old woman, want to talk to my son-in-law about family life. ”

"The son-in-law is happy to accompany him." Xue Shao smiled, "Mother-in-law, please speak." ”

Wu Zetian smiled and said easily, "Xue Shao, you have been married to Taiping for a few years, and your children have already given birth to a pair. But have you ever thought about it, since you got engaged, you have been mixed in the military, and there has been no stop in the southern and northern wars. ”

"Yes." Xue Shao nodded, "I'm ashamed that I have rarely had time to spend with the princess. ”

"Yu Guo, you have made great merits. Yu family, you are too indebted. Wu Zetian said, "The court employs people to be close to human feelings." It is indeed unfair to let you, a weak-crowned son who has not been married for a long time, be out on the battlefield for many years. ”

Xue Shao already knew what Wu Zetian wanted to say, it was nothing more than what Princess Taiping had mentioned, and he wanted to take off his robe and return to the court to be an official.

He didn't rush to argue, and listened to what Wu Zetian wanted to say first.

"Xue Shao, how about you return to Chaojing?" Wu Zetian has never liked to detour in front of his courtiers, especially in private.

Xue Shao pondered for a moment and said, "The minister has also thought carefully about this question. In terms of public and private, the ministers are willing to return to the court to take office. However, the minister was a little relieved that he could not go down to Shuofang's border defense. ”

"How can you rest assured?" Wu Zetian said, "In the past year or so, the palace has received reports from Xiazhou and Shuofang, saying that the border defense there has been very stable. Shuo Fangjun was once an army led by Pei Gong, and later carefully trained by you, and it has long been a strong soldier and a strong general, and the soldiers must win every battle with their lives. Now, with the reclamation of Yinchuan Juntun, there is more abundant grain and grass, and the supply is worry-free. The palace is all over the Tang Dynasty frontier, and the most impregnable one is none other than Shuo Fang. ”

"Queen Mother, on the surface, Shuo Fang is indeed very stable." Xue Shao said, "But there are also deep worries buried in it, which makes it difficult to completely rest assured." ”

"What's the concern?" Wu Zetian asked.

"One, the dragons have no leader." Xue Shao said, "It has been too long since the minister left Shuofang, and there has been no formal transfer of military power. In this way, the generals under the command of the ministers are prone to rebelliousness and disobedience to each other. In normal times, nothing would have gone wrong. Once a war breaks out and there is no unified command, they will fight separately and run into walls everywhere. ”

"Makes sense." Wu Zetian nodded approvingly, "Thousands of troops are easy to obtain, but one will be hard to find." No matter how strong a soldier is, he needs to command properly to win every battle. ”

Second, the minister once led his troops to defeat the Turks many times, and the Shuofang army was regarded by the Turks as a thorn in the eye and a nail in the flesh. They will definitely come to Xingshi for revenge. Xue Shao said, "It's not that the minister has to be so arrogant, once the minister leaves the Shuofang army, there will be no one there who can fight against Ashid Yuanzhen." As soon as they raise up their divisions to attack, our army will inevitably suffer. ”

"You're not arrogant, you're reasonable." Wu Zetian smiled slightly and said, "The ministers in the court may not know everything. But everyone in the army knows that you are like Yuanzhen's natural enemy and nemesis. Even the envoys sent by the Turks said in person that Ashide Yuanzhen is invincible in the grasslands, but as long as he encounters you, he will inevitably fail. Even last time, Yuan Zhen raised 200,000 troops in Nanya, Heisha, and was about to invade the south, but he was retreated by a letter from you. You are the nightmare of all the prairie people, this sentence was once said by Pei Gong, right? Now it has been relayed to the palace by the Turkic envoys. ”

Xue Shao couldn't help but be slightly stunned, "Turkic envoys? ”