Xue Shao entered the mountain forest and met Li Xian in a hurry, almost failing to recognize him.

Li Xian was only about forty years old, but he already looked like a fifty or sixty-year-old fat old man, and the white hair on his sideburns was clearly visible at night. His family members all sat in the car and didn't get down, and Xue Shao only said a few words to him and then asked him to board the car and go back to the palace.

The people set off and headed for Luoyang.

Xue Shao rode a horse and walked near Li Xian's car.

After walking out for about five or six miles, Li Xian lifted the window and whispered very uneasily: "Xue Gong, how far is it?" ”

This time he didn't call him "brother-in-law" again.

"It's coming. The king of Luling is safe to take the car. Xue Shao replied.

Li Xian was still uneasy, and his eyes showed fear, "Nothing will go wrong, right?" …… I mean, somebody's intercepting and killing or something? ”

"It's impossible." Xue Shao said indifferently, but his tone was categorical.

"That's good, that's good." Li Xian put down the curtain of the car.

At this time, a woman's voice came from the carriage, "Xue Gongshen's martial arts are powerful and powerful in the world, with his relatives winning but millions of heroes, why should the king be afraid?" ”

"The King" sounds like a thief, but now it is the exclusive title of the king.

"Yes, yes, Madame is very right!" Li Xian replied, and there was even a hint of "flattery" in his tone.

Xue Shao's brows furrowed slightly, it should have been Li Xian's wife Wei Xiang'er talking just now, right? …… This woman has far more eyes than her husband's heart, and has never been a fuel-efficient lamp!

After that, he went all the way to Luoyang and entered the palace, and then boarded the boat to prepare to go to the island. According to the arrangement made in advance, Xue Shao wanted to place Li Xian's family in the Ninghua Hall of Jiuzhou Pond to live temporarily. At that time, in addition to the family servants and servants brought by Li Xian from Fangzhou, only the two hundred thousand Niu Wei led by Cheng Boxian were stationed here.

From the moment he entered the palace, Li Xian behaved very restrained, even frightened. He seemed to have felt that the entire Nuoda Palace was shrouded in Wu Zetian's powerful aura, making it difficult for him to even breathe.

For the mother who dragged him off the throne and exiled him for many years, Li Xian was terrified from the bottom of his heart.

In contrast, Wei Xiang'er seemed much calmer. After boarding the boat, she walked out of the cabin and looked at the Taichu Palace in the vast night.

Xue Shao saw it with her own eyes, she raised her head with a smile on her face with her arms outstretched, and took a deep breath.

Her smile was full of relief, joy and longing.

Xue Shao also saw that years of exile had not made Wei Xiang'er as overly old as Li Xian, and she was still radiant and beautiful.

Putting aside the objective of grievances and love and hatred, Wei Xianger is indeed a beautiful woman with a natural fragrance. This was originally the innate capital that she was able to be selected to enter the palace to marry Li Xian.

Wei Xiang'er turned her head and saw Xue Shao, smiled charmingly and was ready to come forward to talk.

"Princess, please, go back to the cabin." Xue Shao made a preemptive strike.

Wei Xiang'er immediately stopped, but still smiled and said "yes" softly, and walked back obediently.

Xue Shao looked at Wei Xiang'er's back with his eyebrows slightly twisted, and said in his heart that Empress Wei and Princess Anle in history had created a lot of chaos. Now that I'm here, can you still afford to make big waves?

Later, when the ship docked, Xue Shao commanded the sergeants to escort Li Xian's family to the island, and then entered the Ninghua Palace, handing over the work of guarding to Cheng Boxian, the general of Qianniuwei.

Cheng Boxian didn't know what the task of this trip was at first, but when he saw Li Xian's family, he understood everything, and his expression became very solemn and nervous. He said to Xue Shao in private: "Xue Gong, this matter is so strict, even Cheng has just learned about it now!" ”

"The stakes are high, don't divulge them." Xue Shao said, "From now on, you and your subordinates must not leave the Ninghua Hall even an inch. Unless there is a holy decree or I am there myself, anyone else who dares to trespass on this island will be killed! ”

"Yes!" Cheng Boxian solemnly promised.

Xue Shao nodded, "I'll leave it to you first, I have to go back and report to the God Emperor." ”

"Congratulations to Xue Gong!"

Xue Shao boarded the boat again and left the island, and it was already dawn at this time. He sighed a little and took a nap on the boat for a while, then changed his military uniform and changed into court clothes, and went to the Vientiane Divine Palace to find Wu Zetian as if nothing happened.

Wu Zetian had already prepared a small banquet and was waiting for Xue Shao. Seeing him walk in, Wu Zetian knew that he had done it as soon as he saw his expression, and he was relieved and happy at the moment, and hurriedly gave Xue Shao a banquet.

After running around all night, Xue Shao was indeed hungry, and he ate and drank unceremoniously. Wu Zetian felt sorry for her son-in-law like an ordinary mother-in-law, and came up to personally serve him food and persuade him to drink.

After Xue Shao had eaten a lot, Wu Zetian asked, "Chengyu, is King Luling okay?" ”

"Overall, it's not bad, but it's a little old." Xue Shao replied truthfully.

Wu Zetian sighed softly and nodded, "Count, he is also forty years old." When his father was his age, he had already contracted a wind disease, and his health was not as good as before. Therefore, I was particularly worried about his health, and on several occasions secretly sent imperial doctors to Fangzhou to examine his health. ”

Xue Shao was slightly stunned, is there such a thing?

Wu Zetian smiled, "I'm not as vicious as you think. Over the years, King Luling's diet and daily life in Fangzhou have been implemented in accordance with the prince's specifications. The mansion where he lived was also specially built for him, and the pavilions and towers were not inferior to the court. Every time he gave birth to a child, I would send someone to congratulate him. ”

Xue Shao nodded and didn't say anything, but thought in his heart: The same son who was degraded and exiled, Li Xian was given to die in the house, and Li Xian enjoyed preferential treatment. In fact, if you really want to calculate it, Li Xian, who has been the emperor, is far more threatening to Wu Zetian than Li Xian, the crown prince who only has the experience of supervising the country and was demoted for rebellion. The palms and backs of the hands are full of meat, but the treatment gap is so big...... Therefore, I believe in Shangguan Wan'er's words more and more, it is very likely that Li Xian is not Wu Zetian's own son, but the illegitimate son of her sister Korean lady Wu Shun and Li Zhi!

"The matter of King Luling's return to Beijing needs to be kept secret for the time being. At the very least, let's talk about this New Year. Wu Zetian said again, "During this period, I have to think about it carefully. ”

"Yes, the minister knows." Xue Shao promised.

"You've worked hard this time, let's go back and rest first!" Wu Zetian said, "Taiping is benevolent, and the relationship with her brothers is deep. If it is convenient, I will send someone to ask you to enter the palace with Taiping and meet with King Luling to talk about the brotherhood and sisterhood. ”

"Yes. Retire! ”

Xue Shao left the Vientiane Divine Palace, and the whole person relaxed, feeling tired.

In this mission, Xue Shao's physical exertion was actually not large, but his spirit was tense and could not be relaxed at all. The return of King Luling to Beijing will definitely change the pattern of the entire court, which may be the beginning of a great upheaval, or it may be the imminent arrival of a great opportunity.

At this important juncture of historical turning point, both Xue Shao and Wu Zetian were under a lot of pressure.

Xue Shao returned home, and Princess Taiping was anxiously waiting for him to come back. Without waiting for Xue Shao to sit down, Princess Taiping asked eagerly, "Is the matter done?" ”

"It's finished."

"That's good, that's good." Princess Taiping was relieved, "I haven't slept after a hard night, I'll wait for you to rest, right?" ”

"Can I rest for your service?" Xue Shao laughed.

"Don't be serious. I'm really waiting, no kidding. Princess Taiping smiled and said, "I know you love the moon slave massage the most, but she misses that her son just went to Songshan to visit relatives, and now I will give you a back and rub your legs, and hum a little song for you to coax you to sleep, how about it?" ”

"That's good!" Xue Shao got up with a smile and walked to the bath, and said, "I still have to wait for Linlang to take a bath, and I have to listen to Xian'er play the piano when I sleep." ”

"Okay, okay, it's all up to you today." Princess Taiping smiled and said, "Great meritorious, you deserve this treatment!" ”

Xue Shao smiled, thinking that although Princess Taiping was not very optimistic about Li Xian's political talent, as Wu Zetian said, the brother-sister relationship between her and Li Xian was still relatively deep. Now that she sees Li Xian safely returning to the capital, she is happy from the bottom of her heart.

Later, Xue Shao took a comfortable bath in the bath, and Linlang's attentive service made him completely relaxed. After returning to the bedroom and lying down, Chen Xian'er played a tune like a wonderful heavenly sound, which soon made Xue Shao fall asleep.

This sleep was sound, and Xue Shao didn't wake up until dawn the next day. When he opened his eyes, he saw that Princess Taiping was sleeping soundly a foot away from him.

Xue Shao mischievously teased Princess Taiping's nose with the tips of her hair, and she woke up with a sneeze.

"Nasty!"

Xue Shao smiled, "When did you go to bed, I don't even know?" ”

"Seeing that you are sleeping soundly, I can't bear to wake you up." Princess Taiping stretched her waist and immediately came to her senses, "Let's enter the palace and go to see King Luling, right?" ”

"Don't worry, your mother will arrange it." Xue Shao said, "King Luling's return to Beijing is still confidential, you should be careful not to leak it." ”

"I don't need you to tell me, I know." Princess Taiping said, "I haven't seen you in years, and to be honest, I really miss my stupid brother a little." ”

"Silly brother?" Xue Shao suddenly smiled.

"He has been loving me since the day I was born. He's a little stupid, but he's never bad! Princess Taiping said, "Being born in the royal family is the worst of this, obviously they are relatives whose blood is thicker than water, and they have very deep feelings for each other, but they are always involuntarily alienated from each other, and even become opposing enemies." ”

Xue Shao was silent for a moment and said, "Your mother said something in the palace yesterday, which made me feel that her heart was actually very painful and sad. ”

"What?"

"She said I wasn't as vicious as you thought."

Princess Taiping's eyes turned red all of a sudden, "Tiger poison does not eat children." If there was a choice, what mother would want to hurt her child? ”

"Alright, alright, don't get excited." Xue Shao hurriedly hugged her into his arms and comforted her carefully.

Princess Taiping's mood slowly stabilized, and she suddenly said, "Xue Lang, thank you." ”

"Why do you say this all of a sudden?" Xue Shao was curious.

"I want to thank you for helping me dispel the idea of becoming a princess." Princess Taiping said, "Looking back now, I realize how terrible those thoughts were. I can't imagine that kind of thing anymore. All I know is that for now, I'd rather die myself than suffer the slightest harm to you and our children! ”