More than ten days after King Luling returned to Beijing, the court was still calm, and the news never leaked.

This time, Xue Shao and Wu Zetian really did the "confidentiality work" to the extreme.

But in private, Wu Zetian has let Cen Changqian, Di Renjie, Li Zhaode and Lou Shide, important prime ministers, meet King Luling one by one. The intention is obvious, Wu Zetian wants to know clearly what these prime ministers think, and ask for their support.

It is worth mentioning that every time Wu Zetian arranges these meetings, Xue Shao will be present. Although he rarely made a statement, his attendance was like a strong "military certification" for such a meeting, which made these prime ministers subconsciously think that the army also supported the return of King Luling.

That way, things are really much easier.

In fact, the return of King Luling has multiple meanings. Wu Zetian wanted to settle the disputes between the two factions of Li and Wu in the court by changing the king of Luling as the prince, and to achieve the goal of continuing to consolidate his rule.

Now that almost all the ministers in the court are standing under the two banners of the emperor and Wu Chenghe, Wu Zetian suddenly showed the third banner and announced that he was the real victor, and the other two factions would definitely be shocked, so as to express doubts and even strong opposition.

When you think about it, it's easy to understand. It's like a group of employees and working brothers who have been working hard with a boss for several years, and suddenly the boss and the company are all gone overnight, and then all the elders and working brothers are packed and sent to another company, and everything starts from scratch. The achievements of the past are all ancient, and the future is unpredictable, who will not have a little idea?

Therefore, King Luling must keep it strictly secret before returning to Beijing, otherwise it is likely to cause a huge shock in the court. Secondly, even if Wu Zetian's ability to control the imperial court is now perfect, she can't insist on making decisions on the issue of King Luling. If he wants to make him the prince, Wu Zetian has to work hard to win the support of the prime minister and important ministers.

At this time, the role of Xue Shao, the supreme commander of the army, is really crucial. With him by his side as an iron-clad ally, Wu Zetian was bold and strong, and in the meetings of individual lobbying prime ministers, he won the support of the prime minister by an overwhelming advantage.

Now that the prime minister has taken the lead, the ideological work of the remaining important ministers of the six Shangshu and the nine temples and nine Qings will be easier to do.

At this time, the news of King Luling's return was finally no longer a secret. The matter of his imminent entry into the East Palace is only one ceremony away.

This important event that was enough to cause a major earthquake in the court was handled by Wu Zetian and Xue Shao in a calm and unhurried manner. Many people wake up to it only after the fact - ah, what a big deal!

Wu Chenghe, who has always been well-informed, was the last to know this time.

He was on the verge of collapse.

This time, Wu Chengsi did not rush into the palace to find his aunt to plead, but ran to Princess Taiping's mansion with a large amount of money and gifts for the first time to discuss countermeasures with his future in-laws.

Xue Shao and Princess Taiping had long expected him to have this trick. So Princess Taiping took her children to live in the palace temporarily, and Xue Shao played missing.

Wu Chengsi came six times in a row, each time bringing more gifts than the other, and the last time he came, he actually brought ten carts, which were full of gold, silver and silk.

However, there was still only Chen Xian'er, the wife of Yipin's order, who received him, and the words that returned to him were the same as the previous five times, "The husband goes out and doesn't know when he will return, King Wei forgives the sin, please bring the gift back!"

Wu Chengsi finally gave up, and his mind cleared up - "I'm finished!" ”

This time, it's completely over.

After returning home, Wu Chengsi called his brother Wu Sansi, got drunk in front of him, and then said: "This time it is really a rest!" ”

"Why did my brother say that?" Wu Sansi asked.

Wu Chenghe's tears came out, and he cried: "This time, it was the Divine Emperor and Xue Shao who secretly joined forces and caught us off guard. The return of King Luling and his entry into the East Palace has been supported by the vast majority of important ministers, and we are the last to know. I didn't hesitate to put down my dignity and go to see Xue Shao, wanting him to help me fight back, but Xue Shao didn't miss Qin Jin's friendship at all and closed the door to me. Ay...... What a break! ”

Wu Sansi's expression was serious and silent.

"Why don't you speak?" Wu Chengsi asked.

Wu Sansi said lightly: "The overall situation has been decided, what can you say?" ”

"You! ......" Wu Chengji was almost angry, "how can I have a brother like you?" ”

"Brother, you're just too impatient." Wu Sansi was much calmer, and said indifferently: "The younger brother has already advised the elder brother many times, and this kind of thing is to fight for power and succession, so you can only simmer slowly with patience." Otherwise, it is possible to touch the bottom line of the emperor and thus lose completely. ”

"You know how to put some afterthought!" Wu Chengsi was angry.

Wu Sansi sighed and said, "When the two concubines of the previous emperor's heir fell into the witch Gu case, the younger brother once persuaded the elder brother not to meddle in this matter. Because the God Emperor will never be easily appeased. But the elder brother just didn't listen, and he had to force the imperial heir to a desperate situation and enter the Lijingmen Prison. The result? ”

"......" Wu Chengsi gritted his teeth and was silent.

Wu Sansi sighed again and asked himself: "As a result, this move touched the bottom line of the Divine Emperor and Xue Shao at the same time, and the two of them actually appeared at the Lijing Gate at the same time. Then, not only was the imperial heir not executed, but a branch of the king of Luling was born. Well, now that my brother and the imperial heir have been fighting for so many years, both sides have not won to the end, but they have cheapened the big waste of King Luling! ”

"What's the use of talking about it now?" Wu Chenghe's eyes were straight.

"Of course it works." Wu Sansi said indifferently, "At least I won't do similar stupid things like you again." ”

"You?! ...... "Wu Chenghei was angry and took the case.

Wu Sansi also stood up, bowed his hand and turned to leave, "Take care, brother, little brother go!" ”

Looking at the back of his brother swaggering away, Wu Chenghe's face gradually turned red, and even his eyes were red.

In the end, he couldn't hold back, and a mouthful of dirty blood spurted out, and he fell to the ground and knocked over the food table. Wine and delicacies were scattered all over the ground, and it was a mess.

At this moment, Xue Shao was in Xia Guan's official office, holding an important meeting.

This is the most important meeting of the year for Xia Guan. In today's parlance, it's called the "Annual Meeting." In addition to all the officials of Xia Guan and the generals of the Sixteen Guards, all the commanders of the more than 200 military palaces in the country, that is, the highest military commanders in various places, were all present.

Hundreds of people gathered together to listen to Xue Shao, the supreme military commander, and lecture.

The generals of the Zhuwei and the officials of Xia Guan in the dynasty are no strangers to Xue Shao. But for the local Zhichong Commander, Xue Shao is like an ethereal god in the clouds, and it is really not easy to see him.

Over the years, the events and victories that Xue Shao has experienced have been passed down by word of mouth by the people, and they have almost become legends and myths. Especially after the battle of Qinghai Lake captured the Tubo Zanpu crossbow, Xue Shao's image among the people has been far superior to the two door gods Qin Shubao and Wei Chi Jingde, and has been exaggerated as the reincarnation of various gods and Buddhas.

One of the most widespread myths is that Xue Shao is the "reincarnation of Vedas".

Wu Zetian admires Buddhism, and "Wei Tuo subdues demons" is a well-known allusion among the people.

The Tripitaka records that Wei Dao Bodhisattva often has the Dafa wheel of the three continents in the world of Suva, the 18th is the general body, and the 54th is the prime minister. In the temple, Veda Bodhisattva often shows people in the image of a military general. He wears a phoenix-winged helmet, a dark cloud soap on his feet, and yellow chain mail, and often stands behind the Maitreya Buddha as the protector of the Dharma.

At the beginning, Liu Huaiyi compiled various Buddhist scriptures to build momentum for Wu Zetian, advocating that she was the daughter of the reincarnation of Maitreya Buddha, and was destined to become the empress to rule the world. Now there is a similar version of the legend for Xue Shao, and the image of Xue Shao is still the "patron saint" around Maitreya Buddha. In this way, these two folk legends are really unified before and after, and people can't help but believe it.

In this day and age, the power of religion is anything but extraordinary.

It is no exaggeration to say that many of the Commanders who are here today came to the Xia Guan meeting with a "pilgrimage" heart.

Of course, Xue Shao also heard these legends, and his first reaction in his heart was: This can't be a joke made up by Xuan Yunzi, right?

After the crusade against Bai Tieyu in Suizhou, Xuanyunzi won the honorific title of "Shengying" in the Suizhou area, and had an incomparable high prestige among the local good men and women.

With this precedent, Xue Shao felt that the rumors of "Wei Tuo's reincarnation" were really like something done by Xuan Yunzi!

After all, rumors are just rumors, Xue Shao, the "reincarnation of Wei Tuo", not only does not eat fast and does not recite Buddha, but also has a belly full of male thieves and female prostitutes. After pondering the legend of "Wei Tuo's reincarnation" for a while, Xue Shao couldn't help but think of the women's Taoist temple between the clouds and mountains, as well as the damp big bath bucket and the bright moon hanging on the top of the forest outside the window.

"What should I do, I seem to miss Xuanyunzi a little?"

It's really itchy in my heart.

But Xue Shao could only endure it, because he now had to sit upright in front of hundreds of powerful men, and solemnly admonish them without being angry.

One of the most important precepts was to announce the return of King Luling.

This is a major event that has happened in the imperial court in recent years, second only to the empress's accession to the throne. The more than 200 military governments in the Liangjing Pass concentrated nearly half of the troops in the Great Zhou Dynasty, and what Xue Shao had to do was to ensure that every lieutenant in every military government was highly subordinate to the will of the imperial court in terms of ideology, and uniformly obeyed the command of the Xia officials in action.

The stability and support of the armed forces is a powerful guarantee for the government of the DPRK. The work that Xue Shao is carrying out now is as important as Wu Zetian's efforts to win the support of the prime minister and important ministers.

When Xue Shao came home after a busy day, it was already evening.

Princess Taiping received him and began to quip, "Yo, the great god Wei Tuo is home!" This time it must be hard to subdue demons and subdue demons? ”

"Not really. The demons are dancing around, but they exhaust me to death. Xue Shao said a serious nonsense, and suddenly remembered, "Why did you go home?" ”

Princess Taiping smiled mysteriously, "You are busy in the official office, haven't you heard about the big devil?" ”

Xue Shao was stunned, "What do you say?" ”

"Wu Chengsi suddenly had an emergency and vomited blood!" Princess Taiping's vivid hands patted, her neck straightened, her eyes rolled her tongue and spit out, "Then, that's it!" ”