There is still one last day before the Xiao family meeting.

The mistress of the empire, pacing back and forth in the dormitory, saw her willowy eyebrows, a beautiful white cheek, crumbled tightly, as if restless.

"Holy. ”

Wei Yuhong, the governor of Hongyingfang, took a step forward and reported: "Xiao Dachuan, the head of the Dragon Vein family, entered the palace again today, visited the Zongwu Academy, and had a secret conversation with Elder Qingwei for an hour. ”

"What about the ministers?" asked the empress coldly.

"According to the report from the Hongying envoy sent by his subordinates, the courtiers are quite looking forward to the Xiao family's meeting this time, and ......" Wei Yuhong hesitated for a second.

"Go on. The empress said coldly.

"Yes. Wei Yuhong gritted her teeth and said, "Some...... A small number of important ministers in the court thought that His Majesty would set up a crown prince after this Xiao family sacrifice......"

"Hehe, Wei Yuhong knows a lot of things, why bother to be obscure?" the empress sneered: "The important ministers of the court you are talking about are the "Xiang Party" who supports Princess Lingqiu, and the "Military Party" who supports the second princess. ”

Wei Yuhong's face changed slightly, and she involuntarily took a step back.

In fact, the empress knew all about the things of courtiers forming parties for personal gain, clinging to and standing in line, but it was the first time she heard her say the "Xiang Party" and "Military Party" in person, and this was the first time.

"Wei Yuhong, I've always been curious. The empress walked over with a pair of long legs, and looked at each other with interest: "Which party do you belong to?"

Wei Yuhong shuddered, and immediately knelt down: "Your Majesty Mingjian! The minister is loyal to Your Majesty, loyal to the only master of heaven and earth, Empress Xuanyue, and he definitely does not dare to have any dissent!"

"Okay, Wei Yuhong. The empress gently stroked the tips of the other party's hair, and her tone was a little gentle: "You are loyal to me, I naturally know, you can rest assured, when the world is decided, I will definitely return you a fair and honest daughter, okay?"

"I ......"

Wei Yuhong's cheeks flushed, and after a while, he said, "Your Majesty! The minister is willing to serve you as before!"

"No need. The empress said with a cold expression: "The minister has already told you, the past is over, you and I can only be a monarch and a minister from now on, and ...... I already know your intentions, so why should you embarrass yourself?"

Wei Yuhong's body was shocked, and she said astringently: "Your Majesty...... Why did Your Majesty say that?"

"You like Xiao Di, this kid, he is something you grew up watching, but you like him, and it's not just a simple master-apprentice relationship, which I have already seen. ”

The empress said as she spoke, not waiting for Wei Yuhong to refute, and waved her hand: "Tomorrow's clan meeting, according to the ancestral system, the guards of the forbidden army are not allowed to step into the Holy Beast Garden, just in case, I want you to lead your subordinate rainbow shadow envoys with more than three grades of strength to ambush outside the Holy Beast Garden, in order to deal with the unexpected——"

"Don't worry, if you help me on my last errand, I will consider transferring Xiao Di back from Western Xinjiang, and how you develop with him at that time is your business. ”

Wei Yuhong's eyes shook, and after a long silence, he bowed his head and said, "This trip, minister...... I won't give up!"

"Very well, that's it. The empress waved her hand lightly: "You stand down." ”

"Your Majesty, there is one more thing, the minister doesn't know whether to talk about it or not......" Wei Yuhong said.

"If you feel that it is necessary for the next big picture, say it, and if it is not necessary, put it in your heart. The empress said.

Wei Yuhong nodded, gritted his teeth and said, "Fang Caichen forgot to tell you that in the past few days, there have been some unprecedented voices among the courtiers......

"Hmm, unprecedented voice?" the Empress showed great interest.

"Yes. Wei Yuhong said: "Some officials began to talk about Li Guoshi's feats, and they admired him very much, and they were full of praise for Her Royal Highness the Fourth Princess's punishment of rape and elimination of evil in Leiyun Prefecture, and even ........"

Wei Yuhong looked at the empress's face and said in a very low voice: "I even said in private that I hope that the fourth princess will be the emperor and Li Guoshi will be the ...... The prince of the country. ”

The empress's phoenix eyes froze, and she turned her back, unable to see her expression clearly.

Wei Yuhong felt as if time had stopped suddenly, and she was terrified!

After a long time, the empress said: "Write down the names, words and deeds of these officials, and hand them over to me before leaving for the Holy Beast Garden tomorrow, and——"

"You know this, don't tell anyone else, retreat. ”

"The minister obeyed. Wei Yuhong got up and said goodbye.

A faint sigh resounded through the hall.

Above the empty hall, only two people remained.

One is the lonely and arrogant Empress Xuan, and this sigh naturally comes from her.

And the other is-

"Gonggong Qiu, do you want to say anything?" said the empress to the old eunuch in the corner, who was silent and like a stone statue.

"Your Majesty, the old slave definitely doesn't dare to talk about political affairs!" Qiu Huaili said in fear.

"Father-in-law Qiu, you have watched me go from a girl who does not look bad in the world to the position of the Ninety-Five, and have served me with all your heart for nearly thirty years...... One of my most trusted people. ”

"Thank you for your Majesty's appreciation!" Qiu Huaili was inexplicably moved, calmed down for a few seconds, and said: "The old slave thinks that Li Guoshi's loyalty to His Majesty far exceeds the friendship of monarchs and ministers...... I will never do anything to be sorry for Your Majesty!"

Sure enough, as soon as these words came out, the empress's cold face suddenly eased a lot.

"Maybe it's my fault, Li Guoshi is loyal to me, even you can see that I still have a trace of suspicion about him, it's really ......"

The empress shook her head: "In the past few days, Liu Liang's secret agent in Dongchang, in the observation of the imperial palace, can he find any abnormalities?"

Of course, Qiu Huaili knew what the empress wanted to ask, so he immediately opened a scroll and said, "Back to Your Majesty, Dongchang has reported that Princess Lingqiu has been in retreat and cultivation in the Imperial Superintendent all day long, and has never gone out to meet any foreign ministers, so she must be preparing for the clan meeting......"

Hearing this, the empress's face showed a little smile: "Lingqiu, this child, knows that mistakes can be corrected, knows the general situation, understands the overall situation, and deeply comforts me." ”

"Hmm. Qiu Huaili continued: "His Royal Highness has also practiced swords in the Sword Dancing Flat all day long, and the Lingxue swordsmanship in one hand has reached the highest realm, but it is only ......."

"Just what?"

The empress frowned slightly, and became serious: "Who has she ever met?"

"No, no. Qiu Huaili gritted his teeth and said: "His Royal Highness has stayed in the mansion from beginning to end, and has not had contact with any foreign ministers during this period. ”

The empress knew that this old servant would never deceive people, so she nodded reassuringly, and asked curiously: "Third Highness, where is Yanshuang?"

Qiu Huaili said: "Princess Yanshuang is also as usual, reading and writing, embroidering female red, but it is his gentleman, Chen Feng is cultivating more and more hard. ”

The empress was pleased: "Well, this Chen Feng is a commoner boy, he can marry the daughter of my Xiao family's royal family, and give birth to an heir for him, how dare he not work hard?"

"Yes, but there is a person who recently visited the Third Princess's Mansion and presented a wedding gift for the Third Princess in advance, which was very unexpected by the old slave. Qiu Huaili said thoughtfully.

"Who?" asked the empress.

Qiu Huaili said with deep eyes: "Zhang Xiang's son, the first on the list of new talents in the rivers and lakes, Zhang Lingchen." ”

"What? This kid has come to the imperial capital?" the empress was slightly surprised, and then said: "That's it, this kid is different from Zhang Ningfu, although he has the talent of the heavens and the earth, but he has no intention of going to court, he should be satisfied with being a rich man among the people, and it has no impact on the overall situation." ”

"Yes. Qiu Huaili said.

Day 2.

Before dawn, Qiu Huaili was alone, and went to the Fourth Princess's Mansion in a hurry.

Hearing the sound, Li Ran came out directly, listened to the other party's story, and was shocked: "Thank you father-in-law for speaking for Li again, but I only talked to His Second Highness about the Mobei War that day." ”

Qiu Huaili shook his head: "National Teacher, you ...... Do you know, these are actually trivial matters, you secretly ordered your fiefdom private army, rushed to the imperial capital, and settled in the Gyeonggi camp, which has been discovered by Liu Liang's spies, who sneaked into your private army, stole the letters you sent, and wanted to borrow my hand and present them to His Majesty, testing her reaction......"

Li Ran said nervously: "Where is the letter now?"

Qiu Huaili whispered: "I have already destroyed it in advance." ”

"Father-in-law. Li Ran said with a sincere face: "It's still the same sentence, if he and I Li Ran soar into the sky, I will not be unkind to my father-in-law." ”

"Don't talk about that, our family...... Our family just doesn't want Your Majesty to be sad, since you appeared, Your Majesty hasn't been so happy for a long time. Qiu Huaili sighed with emotion: "You better hurry up and find a way, although I destroyed the evidence, but this matter, Liu Liang will definitely make a big fuss, I know him too well, he never stands in line, he will only win His Majesty's trust and favor!"

"That's fine. Li Ran smiled and said: "As long as I grasp the opportunity, this matter will become a good thing completely." ”

"What does the national teacher mean?" Qiu Huaili was stunned.

"The people of the East Factory have been suffering for a long time. ”

Li Ran smiled mysteriously, "From tomorrow onwards, there is no need for Liu Liang to exist, and the top and bottom of the East Factory are respected by his father-in-law." ”

After speaking, he waved his hand, and a kind-looking short and fat eunuch walked out of the room, it was-

Deputy Director of the East Factory, Wang Zhong!

Next to him, there was a tall and honest young eunuch, who was the personal guard of the national teacher, Er Niu.

"Anyway, it's time for ♀ the national division to catch up with Your Majesty. ”

Li Ran said with a deep gaze.

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