In front of the palace gate of the inner palace, a team of guards were arrayed there, the sword was out of the sheath and the arrow was ready to fly, the palace gate behind them was tightly closed, and the city wall above was also heavily guarded, and a general in full armor stood on the city gate with the handle of his sword in his hand, and a pair of eagle-like eyes scanned around, monitoring the wind and grass in any place around.

Zhao Yan strode to the palace gate, when he saw this kind of scene in front of him, he smiled coldly, and the guards around him didn't need his orders, they rushed forward and shouted: "King Yue enters the palace to meet the empress dowager, open the palace door!" ”

The soldiers guarding the palace gate just received an order from above, saying that they were not allowed to enter the palace gate, but they didn't know that it was Zhao Yan who was going to stop, so when they heard that Zhao Yan was going to enter the palace in front of them, they all showed hesitation, because Zhao Yan's prestige in the army was unparalleled, whether it was the more and more prosperous military academy soldiers, or leading the army to attack the Liao State and forcing the Liao State to sign the Luanhe Alliance, all of which made the soldiers in the army extremely awe-inspiring, plus Zhao Yan's special identity, So they didn't know for a moment whether to get out of the way or continue to block.

When the general standing with his sword at the head of the city saw Zhao Yan, his resolute face was also stunned, and then he hurriedly turned around and went down to the city, then opened the palace gate to separate the soldiers in front, walked a few steps and saluted Zhao Yan with both hands in fists: "Students see the school governor!" ”

Looking at the general in front of him, who was less than thirty but looked extremely stable, Zhao Yan also felt a little familiar, and after thinking for a moment, he finally spoke: "You are Xu Sheng, a student of the second session of the military academy?" ”

"I didn't expect the school governor to remember the students, if it wasn't for the school governor's encouragement, I'm afraid there would be no end today!" This Xu Sheng heard Zhao Yan call out his name, and he was even more excited at the moment, his always old-fashioned face was also a little flushed, and even the corners of his eyes were a little moist. This also shocked all the soldiers who knew Xu Sheng around, is this still the iron-faced and ruthless Xu Sheng and Xu Yan King they know?

Zhao Yan didn't expect to meet a student of the military academy in front of the palace gate, speaking of this Xu Sheng, he also had some impressions, his grades in the military school were not very good, and he was almost dropped out of school because of his poor grades, but Zhao Yan after seeing Xu Sheng. I think that this student still has the potential to become a general, after all, the academic performance of the military school does not tell everything, and some people can become a generation of famous generals on the battlefield even if they don't know the art of war at all.

Although Xu Sheng is not smart, he has a resolute and calm personality, which is also a necessary quality for a general, so Zhao Yan took the initiative to keep him and encouraged him not to be discouraged, and later Xu Sheng successfully graduated from the military academy and was assigned to the Western Army. At that time, the Western Xia had been destroyed, but the Western Regions and the north were lit from time to time with war, Xu Sheng relied on his resolute and steady character, grew up step by step in the army, and also made countless contributions to the Great Song Dynasty, becoming the most dazzling group of generals among the graduates of the military academy, but he did not expect that he would come back from the northwest, and also entered the forbidden army in the capital.

"Xu Sheng? You are from the Xu family. And the Xu family seems to have been friends with the Gao family for generations, right? Zhao Yan suddenly thought of something at this time, and couldn't help but ask.

"This ...... Enlightened Inspector. Our Xu family has indeed been friends with the Gao family for generations, and my mother is the cousin of the Empress Dowager. Xu Sheng spoke again, speaking of which, he was able to be transferred here to guard the palace gate of the inner palace, thanks to his relationship with the Empress Dowager Gao, but with his character, he didn't want to go through such a back door. It's just that he was forced by the elders in the family, so he had to follow the family's arrangement and come to the inner palace to serve.

"I see, no wonder you are so trusted by the Empress Dowager, but now I want to enter the palace. Are you going to block or let go? Zhao Yan's face sank at the moment and said, although Xu Sheng is his student, he is also a person with a deep relationship with the Gao family, so Zhao Yan is not sure that the other party will let him go, but if Xu Sheng really does not let him go, then the rift between him and the Empress Dowager Gao will be deeper, and the contradiction will be even more irreconcilable, and even he himself will not be able to predict what will happen in the future.

Xu Sheng didn't know in advance that the person he wanted to stop was Zhao Yan, and now hearing Zhao Yan say this, it also made him show a very tangled look on his face, Zhao Yan is the person he respects the most in his heart, and the Empress Dowager Gao is not only his aunt, but at the same time, their Xu family also has extremely complex interests with the Gao family, so no matter who encounters this situation, I am afraid it will be difficult to make a choice.

"Open the door!" Xu Sheng stood in front of the palace gate and hesitated for a long time, and finally suddenly shouted an order to the soldiers behind him, although he had not been in the capital for a long time, he had established his prestige with an extremely strict drill style, so as soon as his order came out, almost no one dared to have any objections, and the heavy palace gate was opened again, and the soldiers in front of the door also gave way to a road.

Seeing that Xu Sheng actually chose to get out of the way, this made Zhao Yan quite surprised, and then he was a little moved, because Xu Sheng's concession would definitely be blamed by the family behind him, and at the same time, it would be difficult to be trusted by the Empress Dowager Gao in the future, but he still chose to stand on his side, and it had nothing to do with any interests, just out of a kind of respect for the teacher from students.

Thinking of the above, Zhao Yan was also even more moved, and immediately stepped forward and patted Xu Sheng's shoulder, without saying anything, because any words were superfluous at this time, and then he didn't make any more stops, strode through the palace gate and entered the inner palace, and this news was also quickly sent to the Empress Dowager Gao by some inner attendants.

"What? Xu Sheng at the palace gate actually let Zhao Yan in? Empress Dowager Gao was also shocked when she heard the news, because she knew that Xu Sheng was her cousin's son, and he was extremely capable, so she arranged to guard the palace gate on the wall of the inner palace, and she also knew that Xu Sheng also graduated from the military academy, but in her opinion, although the military school was founded by Zhao Yan, it was also from the imperial court, so she didn't take this matter seriously.

But now it seems that the students who graduated from the military academy seem to have very deep feelings for Zhao Yan, in this way, I am afraid that her previous estimate of Zhao Yan's strength is very wrong, even if only half of those students who graduated from the military academy respect Zhao Yan as much as Xu Sheng, then the strength in Zhao Yan's hands will be extremely amazing, if Zhao Yan is really forced to rebel, I am afraid that she will have no generals to send?

Thinking of the above, Empress Dowager Gao immediately felt a cold that penetrated deep into the bone marrow, and even an inexplicable fear grew from the depths of her heart, she suddenly found that her move to seize power this time seemed to be a little too reckless, although there was the support of Lu Huiqing and Sima Guang, but for the army, she did not have the slightest foundation, on the other hand, Zhao Yan was through the military academy, and has spread his influence all over the army, although the Great Song Dynasty has always emphasized literature and light on martial arts, but as long as people with a little brain know, Only by mastering the army can we truly gain an invincible foothold.

"Queen Mother, King Yue walked straight here through the palace gate, no one dared to stop him, now he is about to enter the main hall, do you want to see him?" At this moment, one of the chamberlains beside the Empress Dowager Gao asked anxiously, this chamberlain was a close confidant of the Empress Dowager Gao, and he naturally knew very well about the Empress Dowager Gao's seizure of power, and even participated in it personally, and now when he saw Zhao Yan break in, he was naturally very anxious.

"What's the panic, King Yue won't eat you again!" Seeing the flustered appearance of the chamberlain, Empress Dowager Gao couldn't help but stare at her eyes and reprimand, at this time she still remained calm, when she decided to seize power, Empress Dowager Gao had already prepared for the worst, so I saw her immediately instruct again, "Order someone to open the palace door and wait for the arrival of King Yue, the mourning family wants to take a look, what is Zhao Yan going to do?" ”

After entering the inner palace, Zhao Yan no longer dared to stop him all the way, and soon he came to the Kunning Hall where the Empress Dowager Gao lived, the Empress Dowager Cao lived here, and Zhao Yan also came to the Kunning Hall many times to ask her for peace, but after Zhao Shu died, the Empress Dowager Cao moved to the palace at the rear, and it was replaced by the Empress Dowager Gao, and since then, Zhao Yan has never been here.

Seeing the door of the Kunning Palace, the palace maids on both sides were also lined up on both sides when they saw him, Zhao Yan was not polite to this, and strode directly into the main hall of the Kunning Palace, only to see the Empress Dowager Gao sitting on the main hall in full costume, staring at him sharply, but Zhao Yan keenly found that behind the Empress Dowager Gao's sharp gaze, there was a little imperceptible weakness.

"Sons see the queen mother!" Zhao Yan did not show any loss of etiquette after entering the main hall, but slowly walked in front of the Empress Dowager Gao and saluted, although the Empress Dowager Gao was not his biological mother, but the etiquette should not be abolished.

"Excuse me!" Seeing that Zhao Yan was still saluting herself according to etiquette, Empress Dowager Gao couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, and then said in a calm voice, because this marked that Zhao Yan was not ready to make any out-of-the-ordinary moves, which was definitely great news for her.

"Thank you!" Zhao Yan said calmly, at this time, he was very calm, and he was like beating Lu Huiqing just now because of his anger, which made Empress Dowager Gao unable to guess his intention for a while.

"King Yue, I don't know if you entered the palace today to meet the mourning family, but what is the matter?" At this time, Empress Dowager Gao asked again, she didn't mention the fact that she had let the palace door be closed just now and wanted to block Zhao Yan from the door, not to mention the fact that she took away the power to handle government affairs in Zhao Yan's hands.

Seeing that the Empress Dowager Gao asked knowingly, Zhao Yan couldn't help but sneer in his heart, but he still said very calmly on the surface: "Erchen entered the palace today, there are a few things that I want to discuss with the Queen Mother, I wonder if the Queen Mother has time to listen?" (To be continued......)