After rebirth, I joined forces with my mortal enemy to seek revenge.

Pei Jiaoran blinked and curled his lips slightly. He moved forward a little, away from the hot body behind him.

"Very soon." Pei Jiaoran said with a smile.

As soon as he finished speaking, the other person's body pressed closer to her again, his arms firmly locked around her waist.

"You have got what you want, and so have I. When you hold great power in the future, I am willing to guard you with my spear."

Pei Jiaoran smiled even more after hearing this. She knew what Li Xiujing was referring to. She said in a gentle voice, "In history books, those who hold great power always have good assistants. You are not only a good match, but also a good assistant."

Li Xiujing said, "In the past, Huan Yuanzi had Xi Jiabin, and I also had Pei Qingjia. Yuanzi did not listen to Jiabin's advice, but I listened to Qingjia's advice, which led to my current situation." He hugged Pei Jiaoran tightly, as if he was holding the moon in his arms, "Compared to Huan Yuanzi, I am luckier."

"Erlang compares himself to Huan Xuanwu? How shameless." Pei Jiaoran sneered.

"Of course I don't have the ability of Huan Yuanzi. But I am more obedient than Huan Yuanzi."

Li Xiujing rested his forehead on Pei Jiaoran's back, his arms around her waist. He could clearly feel the breath of the person in his arms gradually calming down.

He actually wanted to ask her how she considered the future. Whether he was included in her plan. If she ascended to the position of Zhongshu Ling, how would she redistribute the benefits with the Li family.

But he felt that there was no need to ask these questions. They each had their own positions. He was in charge of the Shen Ce Army, and she was an important official in the government. Even if they were lovers or allies, they had their own bottom lines to uphold. How could she answer such questions? Whether it was false words or sincere words, it was embarrassing and a hidden betrayal.

She has come to this point with great difficulty. The poor do not like her, and the noble families look down on her. The operation of the government affairs of the province and the calculations in the party struggles are all consuming her energy. Why should I let her add to her troubles? And my position in the Shen Ce Army is mostly not tolerated by those people in the Southern Court.

Pei Jiaoran, who was hugged by Li Xiujing, noticed the faint disappointment from the person behind her, and pursed her lips. She remembered what Cui Shao and others said when they were at Zhaofu Temple. Or rather, it was a blatant threat to her.

Of course, she knew that the reason why the eunuchs were so domineering was that they could command the Shen Ce Army. But Li Xiujing was not born in a good time. The land in the world was seriously annexed, and the equal-field system collapsed, so that the government soldiers were weak and the glory of the Twelve Guards of the Southern Court was gone. From the once famous reputation, it has become what it is now.

The main forces of the Northern Yamen were from the Left and Right Shen Ce Army, which was the imperial army under the direct control of the emperor, and was responsible for protecting the security of the capital, the capital, and the Guanzhong fortress. Similarly, the expedition against the vassal states and the barbarians also fell on the head of the Shen Ce Army. Moreover, the Shen Ce Army's supplies and promotions were of the highest standard.

The relationship between the eunuchs' power and the Shen Ce Army is inseparable. In order to limit the power of the generals of the Shen Ce Army, there are eunuchs with higher powers such as the Shen Ce Army Lieutenant and the Shen Ce Zhong Hujun. The officers of the Shen Ce Army are under their control, so naturally they can also take charge of the Shen Ce Army.

Li Xiujing is naturally a typical example.

Born in a noble family, he had no successor in the court. Although he could enter the government through his family's influence, he was desperate. He could only join the Shen Ce Army and accumulate military merits by shedding blood and sacrificing his life time and time again.

It can be said that if Li Xiujing had not joined the Shen Ce Army back then, his career would not have been so smooth.

Cui Shao and others disliked Li Xiujing because of the conflict between Shandong and Guanlong, and they were not in the same system due to the internal factional struggles. In particular, Li Xiujing's special status in the Shen Ce Army not only became a stain in their eyes, but also made it impossible for them to regard him as one of their own.

The fact that he served the Shen Ce Army alone is enough to completely deny him.

But Cui Shao and his people forgot that she and Li Xiujing were the ones who shared weal and woe. She and them were only temporarily together because of their interests, and they might not be able to travel together in Zhuyu in the future.

Thinking of this, Pei Jiaoran smiled silently.

Although her movements were subtle, Li Xiujing still noticed it.

"What are you laughing at? Is there something happy happening again?" Li Xiujing asked.

Pei Jiaoran raised his eyebrows, "The sunset at Zhaofu Temple is quite beautiful. When you and I are free in the future, we can go and see it together."

"Okay." Li Xiujing nodded.

Li Xiujing stood up and extinguished the candle, and his lips fell on the bright and smooth face that was exposed to his vision. His soul and flesh burned even more fiercely.

The crowing of cocks dispersed the morning mist. After breakfast, the two men headed straight to their respective official residences.

After finishing his business in the Secretariat and the Ministry of External Affairs, Pei Jiaoran went straight to the Council of State Affairs.

In addition to the eight prime ministers, today's Council of Ministers also includes other important ministers who do not hold the title of prime minister.

After looking at everyone, Pei Jiaoran walked to his seat, put on his clothes and sat down.

Jia Gonglu stroked his beard and said with a smile: "Today, I invite you all to the government hall. First, His Royal Highness the King of Wu will leave the palace to set up a government office, and he will arrange the staff in the government office. Second, Ran Gan sent an envoy to ask how the poetry and books that our dynasty sent to them are prepared."

"Replying to Mr. Jia, I have been collecting various classics from private booksellers on the orders of Mr. Pei, and have made considerable progress." Speaking of this, the Minister of the Ministry of Rites sighed, "It's a pity that some ancient books were destroyed in the wars between the Northern and Southern Dynasties. Occasionally, there are rare copies, which are also collected by aristocratic families and regarded as family assets. If we can use them as copies while collecting books, the ancient books can be circulated in the world. On the one hand, it can enrich the collection of our Hongwenguan, and on the other hand, it can also change the order of schools."

Pei Jiaoran looked up at the Minister of the Honglu Temple and was slightly surprised. She really couldn't imagine that this Minister Cao actually had such an idea. After all, the other party was willing to gamble with Li Xiujing and ended up losing Wang Youjun's calligraphy.

"This is a good thing. I didn't expect that Cao Siqing would have such an idea to collect books from the people." Although she was not from an aristocratic family, she had a lot of classics at home. With her basic political literacy and experience in re-establishing schools in Heshuo, she blurted out the standard answer.

"But ancient books are all valuable. Not to mention the time and effort required to transport them, the cost of maintaining the books alone is a considerable expense. I think it won't be too late to discuss this in a few years."

It is true that the support of the family is talent, but the cost of cultivating talent is to invest a lot of resources. For example, the monopoly of classics and experience in governing the country are all passed down by word of mouth within the family.

Pei Jiaoran looked around and narrowed her eyes. She instantly understood who had instructed Cao Siqing to say this.

Books should not be preserved, as three hundred years of chaos were enough to destroy a large number of precious ancient books. Of course, all those that were handed down to the world were gone, but the aristocratic families regarded the books as treasures and would naturally try every means to preserve them.

There is no emperor who would not want to make a large number of ancient books circulate in the world again. But whether it can be done is another matter.