Return of the Swallow

Li Qitian's face was ferocious, frightening the spies, Xiong Jinshui and other chamberlains into silence. They buried their heads tightly and did not dare to look at the Holy Master's face.

It doesn't matter if they see it now, if something goes wrong in the future and the Holy Emperor loses face, wouldn't it be the fault of those who know about it?

Li Qitian was pacing with his hands behind his back, his expression gloomy.

At this moment, a happy voice from a young chamberlain suddenly came from outside, "Your Majesty, the eldest maid from the Queen Mother's palace came and said that the Queen Mother heard that Prince Zhongshun and Duke Dingguo defeated the Tatars so quickly that they The Queen Mother is very happy to have driven out of the Great Zhou Dynasty. The Queen Mother will hold a banquet in Ci'an Palace today to celebrate the victory of the war. I asked the Holy Emperor if he has some free time and can we have a family banquet together."

Celebrate, celebrate! What’s there to celebrate! Isn't it normal that Pang Xiao and Ji Zeyu were able to drive the Tatars out of Zhou Dynasty? If it had been him, he might have been faster. How could he be worthy of so many people's praise?

Li Qitian's face turned dark, and after a long time he said patiently: "I understand."

The little chamberlain didn't know that Li Qitian had just lost his temper, and thought that he was also happy to regain the lost ground, so he happily agreed at this time, turned around, and hurried to deliver a message to Ci'an Palace.

Xiong Jinshui, who was kneeling on the ground, tensed up all the muscles in his body. I'm afraid that the emperor will take it out on them in the blink of an eye. It's good to give them a beating, but it's possible to drag them out and behead them.

Li Qitian gritted his teeth and endured for a long time before suppressing his anger. He cannot show his anger and jealousy outside, otherwise he will lose his status. If he wants to be a wise prince, he must be able to tolerate his ministers, which is his greatest advantage.

As soon as the time was right, Li Qitian took Xiong Jinshui to Ci'an Palace.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he walked in front of the palace gate, he saw lanterns and colorful lights everywhere in the courtyard of Ci'an Palace. At first glance, Li Qitian thought he was celebrating the New Year.

At the palace gate, the maids of Ci'an Palace saw Li Qitian from a distance and quickly ordered one person to tell the Queen Mother. The others knelt down to salute.

"Slave, please see Your Majesty."

Li Qitian strode into the courtyard of Ci'an Palace with a cold face. Sure enough, there were bright red ribbons and flowers tied with satin hanging above the heads of the courtyard. Even the palace ladies, who usually wore low-key clothes, began to wear red and green today.

It can be seen how much people who have been living under the shadow of war now attach great importance to this news, and how much they admire Pang Xiao at this time.

The people in the palace who lived with him day and night were like this, and the people didn't know how lively it would be.

Li Qitian became even more angry when he thought of ordinary people worshiping and loving Pang Xiao as a god of war, even forgetting that he was the emperor of the Zhou Dynasty.

When it comes to Pang Xiao, he always has to deal with it one by one. From Tianjizi's calculation of the Emperor Star to today's big and small affairs, Li Qitian has almost become numb when it comes to Pang Xiao, but when faced with the situation in Ci'an Palace , Li Qitian was left unwilling.

Because these ignorant women who don't know anything about the situation won't understand at all when you try to reason with them. Instead, they will make themselves angry.

"Brother Imperial, you are here." After hearing the news from the palace, Li Helan came out quickly and bowed his knees. His face with exquisite makeup looked very festive.

Li Qitian suppressed his anger and responded with a "yes".

Li Helan said with a smile: "The Great Zhou Dynasty is finally in peace and prosperity. It's all thanks to the emperor's brother's willingness to give Alan a chance."

Li Qitian glanced sideways at Li Helan, "I thought you would mention Pang Zhixi."

Li Helan's face looked unhappy for a moment, but she had always been able to control herself well in front of Li Qitian.

"Brother Huang is joking, Ji Lan is the consort."

"As long as you understand, don't be so entangled with Pang Zhixi like before. Even though all his family members are dead, he really loves the Qin family. You don't know it yet." Li Qitian suddenly stopped. Step by step, he told Li Helan the news that he had just learned not long ago, "The Qin family has given birth to another pair of twins."

Li Helan's eyes widened suddenly, her steps stopped, and she said in disbelief: "Brother Imperial... Aren't their twins dead?"

"Yes, but the Qin family is good at giving birth to children, and gave birth to a pair of twins for Pang Zhixi." Li Qitian felt very sad, and couldn't help but be mean in his words, "You have been married to Ji Lan for so long, and she gave birth to two twins. Four, look at you again? We are all women, why can't you do it?"

Li Helan's face turned red, her teeth bit her lip, and she looked up at Li Qitian as if in disbelief.

Li Qitian felt strangely comfortable when he saw Li Helan like this. All the way into the main hall.

The concubines and queens of the harem all gathered here. Everyone was dressed in bright and attractive clothes, and they all saluted Li Qitian when they saw him.

Li Qitian glanced at the flower-like concubines, especially those dressed more festively than the New Year, and the boredom in his heart was about to reach its peak.

The queen knew Li Qitian best and knew that he had always been jealous of Pang Xiao, so she had no intention of coming today. But she couldn't help but listen to the Queen Mother's orders, and she couldn't make Li Qitian's thoughts public. Seeing Li Qitian's expression at this moment, his heart skipped a beat and he quickly retreated without leaving a trace.

"Queen Mother." Li Qitian saluted the Queen Mother.

The Queen Mother wore a peacock blue home-coat, and a set of golden cicadas on her head. Her whole face was rosy, as if she had suddenly become ten years younger. When he saw Li Qitian, he helped his son up with his smiling hands.

"Get up, get up. Your Majesty is very capable and arranged the right people. The Tatars were driven out so quickly. When the Ai family heard the news, they were very happy. Let's celebrate happily today. Your Majesty Don’t just focus on government affairs, just take this opportunity to take a rest?”

When the queen heard what the queen mother said, she knew that Li Qitian would not be happy. She lowered her head and thought carefully about how she should leave early.

Li Qitian suppressed his impatience and said a few words to the Queen Mother.

The Queen Mother said with emotion: "After all, we are all in a friendship to conquer the world together. Although the Ai family looks at Pang Zhixi a little arrogant at times, in the end he is still capable of fighting. How does the Holy One plan to reward him this time?"

The tight string in Li Qitian's heart had been touched several times as early as when Oh accompanied the Queen Mother to continuously discuss matters on the front line. Now after hearing this sentence, I finally broke out after enduring it for a long time.

"He was just acting at his best and did what was within his bounds. If this courtier did something within his bounds and came to me to ask for a reward, how would I deal with it?"

Li Qitian's tone was too cold, and the whole side hall was still laughing and joking. As soon as he said this, the silence was audible.

The Queen Mother blinked hard several times before she completely suppressed her shock at being humiliated by her son in public. Only then did she realize belatedly that she seemed to have misunderstood the Holy Intention.

The Queen Mother smiled awkwardly and said: "The Emperor is right. The Ai family has lived in the palace for a long time. After all, their experience is limited and they don't understand some things. If there is something wrong, the Emperor should not blame it."

The concubines lowered their heads. No matter how stupid they were, they knew that no one could make the first move at this time. Once they did, they might not have a chance to turn around in this life.

Li Qitian looked around, scanning the concubines present one by one with dissatisfaction, and finally his eyes fell on the Queen Mother.

"My mother has indeed lived in the palace for a long time and doesn't understand anything. She should know what internal strength is and not be involved in politics, right? I don't care about the incident in the past with my mother's clan. I think she has forgotten it, right?"

The Queen Mother's expression changed dramatically, and her hands began to tremble.

"Yes, what the emperor said is absolutely true. The Aijia are old and don't understand many things. The Aijia just care about the emperor, so they say more."

Li Qitian sneered, "Really? The queen mother's health is important, you should think more about yourself. Ci'an Palace also has a small Buddhist hall. Later I will have people decorate the hall in a way that the queen likes. You can stay there if you have nothing to do. Staying in the Buddhist hall, eating fast, reciting the Buddha's name, copying scriptures, and calming down can lead to peace of mind, don't you think?"

Li Qitian has grounded the Queen Mother!

The queen buried her head lower, for fear of meeting Li Qitian's eyes.

But Li Qitian didn't care what these concubines thought of him. He smiled and said: "You too, you have nothing to do to cultivate your moral character. The court is not rich now, and the national treasury and internal funds are tight due to the war. You are good, you only know how to dress up as a monster. Qiao Qiao is walking around and has nothing to do even after eating? Just do more needlework when you have time, or recite the Buddha's name with the Queen Mother. If you have nothing to do, stop walking around and cause trouble!"

"I obey the decree!" All the concubines knelt down and saluted.

Li Qitian stood up and dusted off the non-existent dust on his robe, "I'm busy with government affairs, so I'll leave first."

How dare the Queen Mother ask about the family banquet? The emperor had just said that he should be frugal, so he did not dare to eat at this family banquet. The queen mother said that she was tired, and then told everyone to disperse.

The queen left Ci'an Palace all the way and breathed a sigh of relief when she returned to her own Kunning Palace.

"Your Majesty, I heard that Princess Zhongshun gave birth to a pair of twins for Prince Zhongshun."

"Who did you hear that from?"

"It was said by the little chamberlain who serves the Emperor unintentionally."

The queen raised her hand and waved away the eldest maid, and smiled helplessly.

No wonder the emperor is acting so abnormally today, it's because he can't hide his jealousy.

Thinking of Pang Xiao, the queen couldn't help but think of the time she spent with Pang Xiao on the other side of the suspension bridge that day.

Looking back now, it was simply a dream.

But based on her understanding of Li Qitian, how could he relieve his anger after just losing his temper?

Next, the emperor will definitely do something to Pang Zhixi.

And she was just a harem girl, so she couldn't help at all with these matters.

Pang Xiao and Ji Zeyu used their swords to expel the Tatars, and drove the Tatars out of the Tianyu Pass. The news spread throughout the capital.

For a time, Prince Zhongshun and Duke Dingguo were equally famous. Even the child Huang Kou knew that when he grew up, he would be a loyal minister who was as brave and good at fighting for the country and the people as Prince Zhongshun.

People's opinions were probed by spies and reached Li Qitian's ears one after another. He felt that his patience had almost reached its limit.

We can't give Pang Xiao another chance to show off!

"Tell Pang Zhixi, don't chase after the poor criminals. They've all been driven out, so don't show off your abilities!"