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Xie Jin said that when she went back to Xie’s house for a few days, one was to be filial to her parents, and the other was that Ning Yun was about to give birth. Xie’s father and son were busy with official duties, and Mrs. Xie was afraid that the servants would not take good care of her, so she always took care of her by herself. Xie Jin also wanted to be a mother Share one or two.

So the so-called "a few days" lived until the end of the first month, when Ning Yun gave birth to a pair of twins.

Jiang Zhao asked Gao Sheng'an to bring a gift to Xie's house to congratulate, and by the way reminded Xie Jin to go back to the palace, but Xie Jin shirked it under the pretext of taking care of the children.

In the end, it was Jiang Zhao who went out in person and brought the man back to the palace.

The ninth day of February was the Empress Dowager's funeral. Jiang Zhao didn't know what he had planned, so he invited Lin Guan into the palace to set up an altar to sing sutras. Xie Hui has been busy recently because of this.

Since the end of the year, good news has been coming in. First, there are continuous reports of success at the border, and there is a great momentum to advance to the Nanman royal court. Later, the Xiliang Kingdom, which was shocked by the fire from the other side, sent a peace letter to Dameng, resolutely fighting with the Nanman. Draw boundaries.

At the beginning of February, the imperial envoys sent by Jiang Zhao to various local and state capitals to investigate and collect evidence against Zhao’s party members also returned to Beijing one after another. Wang Yin, handing over the responsibility of impeachment and purge to him, can be regarded as taking the initiative to give him a step down.

Ever since Qin Duan took the lead to lead the officials to dismiss the court, Wang Yin's attitude was the most resolute. Even if Qin Duan compromised later, Wang Yin was determined to go his own way and refused to seek advice from him. Even Lin Guan's name was useless to him.

Jiang Zhao had a headache for him, and wanted to give up on him directly and promote Gao Jing, Yu Shi Zhongcheng.

Gao Jing and Xie Yuzhe had a good relationship, and once vouched for him in front of the late emperor, he was despised by the late emperor, and was demoted three ranks in a row. Later, when Jiang Zhao ascended the throne, after learning about what happened, he was grateful for his righteousness and promoted him back.

Now that Xie Yu has returned to the imperial court, he and Gao Jing are still close friends, both of them are naturally loyal to Jiang Zhao.

In other words, Gao Jing is Jiang Zhao's man, and he is also a person who is fully capable of taking over the duties of the chief of Yushitai. However, he opposed Jiang Zhao's proposal and proposed to let him persuade Wang Yin.

Jiang Zhao was too lazy to care about these things, so he let him go, and reserved a place for Wang Yin as he wished.

This time it was also Gao Jing's suggestion to ask Jiang Zhao to hand over the affairs of the Zhao family to Wang Yin. Jiang Zhao didn't know how he persuaded him, but Wang Yin took over the errand in the end, and Jiang Zhao was relieved. tone.

Although she didn't like Wang Yin's ignorant and stubborn character, he was Taizong's legacy after all. If Jiang Zhao really wanted to relegate him, his reputation would be bad after all.

After all these matters were resolved, Jiang Zhao was in a good mood, and even though the Empress Dowager had a ghost sacrifice, she felt a little less lonely.

During the day, she went to listen to the monks of Huguo Temple singing scriptures for the Queen Mother, and at night, she went back to Xihe Palace, met with Xie Jin and copied scriptures for the Queen Mother herself, and planned to go to Huguo Temple to worship in a few days.

Xie Jin knew the purpose of the scriptures, so he copied them with care, but Jiang Zhao showed his absent-minded appearance after a while.

"If you're tired, go and rest first. I'll copy some more for you. The Empress Dowager will not blame you."

Xie Jin looked up at her, thinking that she had been busy during the day and felt sleepy at night.

Jiang Zhao shook his head, put down his pen and reached out to hold her wrist, "Let's go out for a while."

"It's late at night, where are you going?"

"You'll know when you've gone. It's not too late to copy the scriptures another day. You also said that mother will not blame you."

Jiang Zhao pulled her up, didn't forget to get the cloak for Xie Jin to fasten, then took her hand, waved away Yuan Xiang who wanted to follow, and led her along a small path familiarly.

Jiang Zhao walked fast with long legs, Xie Jin focused on following her, and didn't pay much attention to the surrounding environment. It wasn't until she got more and more familiar with the walk that she suddenly realized that this path actually led to Gong Zhengsi.

But in the middle of the night, Jiang Zhao naturally wouldn't lead her to Gong Zhengsi. The small courtyard where Yiren lived together.

Last year when Liu Xifeng returned to seclusion, Xu Yiren was promoted by Jiang Zhao to be the new Gongzheng. Xie Jin knew that she was busy with affairs, so she rarely went to Gongzhengsi to meet and disturb her. Looking back now, she hadn't seen her for several months up.

Just as she was thinking, Jiang Zhao led her to stop, Xie Jin took a closer look and found that she had already arrived at the gate of the small courtyard.

"Sister Yiren has a new residence. I told them not to arrange people to come here. It is now an empty yard." Jiang Zhao explained to Xie Jin softly with a gentle voice, and then stretched out his hand to push open the courtyard door.

I have lived in this small courtyard for several years, and it was the place Xie Jin was most familiar with. Even though it was dark and there was no moonlight, every step she took, she knew the surrounding structure clearly, so she held Jiang Zhao behind her back. .

"Be careful where you step, there are a few potholes in the yard, be careful not to twist your feet."

Xie Jin instructed softly, and took Jiang Zhao to the door of the room she used to live in, and said with a smile: "This place has been empty for so long, it's hard to say how dirty it will be, and I ran here in the middle of the night just to pounce on my face." Gray?"

Having said that, he still stretched out his hand and opened the door.

Unexpectedly, there was no dusty smell coming from the room. Jiang Zhao explained behind Xie Jin: "The house is vacant, but I have ordered people to come and clean it frequently, so we can live here tonight."

She closed the door behind her back to block the cold wind, walked forward and hugged Xie Jin from behind, and whispered in her ear: "Do you still remember, last year today, I came here to look for you."

"Of course I remember." Xie Jin nodded, and couldn't help feeling a little sad.

At that time, they were just pure sisters, and she even had something to do with Yuan Qi, how could she have imagined that a year later, it would turn into such a situation.

Jiang Zhao brushed her long hair away with fingertips, and kissed the back of her neck lightly. Xie Jin couldn't help shrinking her neck, turned around and put her hands on her shoulders, preventing her from approaching, "Stop making trouble, it's so dark here , let’s light the lights first.”

"No need to light the lamp." Jiang Zhao said in a low voice, and bent down to hug her up.

Jiang Zhao walked towards the bed in the dark, but was pinched by Xie Jin on the waist, and asked her half-threateningly: "You brought me here in the middle of the night, just to do this kind of thing?"

"Of course not." Jiang Zhao hissed coldly, stood still, and said aggrievedly, "Who do you take me for?"

Xie Jin didn't like her, patted her upper arm, motioned her to put herself down, snorted coldly and said: "I don't care if you want to say that the good time is just right or you can't help yourself, today is the queen mother's birthday. Ji, you'd better be honest."

Jiang Zhao pouted, put her down from his arms, and followed her to the table step by step, watching her light the candle.

The room still kept the familiar appearance in Xie Jin's memory. The palace people cleaned it carefully, and there were not too many traces of disturbance. Xie Jin looked around, and finally looked into Jiang Zhao's eyes with grievances, and couldn't help laughing out loud. Come.

"What are you laughing at?" Jiang Zhaoben turned up his face, trying to show the majesty of the emperor.

Xie Jin reached out to grab her face, squeezed it lightly a few times, and asked, "Why did you suddenly bring me here to recall the past?"

Jiang Zhao's eyes moved slightly, he didn't dare to look directly at her, so he hesitated a few words.

"What did you do to apologize to me?"

Her reaction was so suspicious that Xie Jin stopped smiling, and guessed very seriously: "A few days ago at home, some wives visited Auntie, and I vaguely heard them mention that although His Majesty doesn't love men, the draft It can still be held as usual, could it be that His Majesty has made a decision and plans to draft?"

"What draft?" Jiang Zhao froze, and quickly shook his head in denial, "Who spread this rumor? Why didn't I know there was such a thing as the draft? You can't listen to wind and rain."

She grabbed Xie Jin's hand, rubbed it on her face twice, and whispered: "You can't doubt my heart for you."

This is true, but Xie Jin never believed it, and she said it just to tease Jiang Zhao at this time, but seeing that she was really wronged, she still couldn't bear it, touched her face and said: "It's just a joke Well, how could I doubt you?"

Fearing that Jiang Zhao would make use of the topic again, she quickly changed the subject, "So you brought me here tonight, don't you really have something to say to me?"

"I have something to say, but I'm afraid it will make you angry."

Jiang Zhao sat on the chair according to Xie Jin, and squatted down on her knees, just like she used to rely on Xie Jin in every fragile moment when she was just Ah Zhao.

Xie Jin didn't urge her to speak, and reached out to stroke her temples, smoothing her black hair.

After a long while, Jiang Zhaocai spoke slowly again: "Actually, it's about Yuan Qi. You also know that since that incident happened, I have removed him from the post of the imperial guards. It is said that he is unstable and embarrassing." Actually, it's mostly my selfishness, I'm afraid that the two of you will inevitably meet each other in the palace, and your old relationship will rekindle or something."

As she was talking, she looked up at Xie Jin carefully, and seeing that she didn't show any special expression, she continued: "He is the son of Yuan Zhengyi, the left general under my uncle's command. My uncle is very optimistic about him, so I let him go to the border. Experience, if you can accumulate military exploits, can be regarded as a channel for promotion, but it is far more dangerous than being in the palace."

Speaking of this, her voice lowered, "Yuan Qi's performance in this battle against the Nanman was indeed brave, and my uncle also wrote a letter, asking me to put aside my prejudice against him and reward him truthfully."

Xie Jin nodded, and said with a soft smile: "Selfishness is selfishness, you should not refuse this kind of request."

Of course Jiang Zhao would not refuse. Whether it is governing the country or the army, she pays special attention to a clear distinction between rewards and punishments. As long as she is not in a daze, she will not make a fuss about it, so as not to chill people's hearts.

And what she was struggling with was not here.

"I'm definitely not guessing at your thoughts about him now, but when the war is over, uncle will definitely take him back to Beijing to ask for credit, and then he will naturally know the real reason why he was expelled from the palace."

Jiang Zhao pursed his lips and said his thoughts seriously, "I won't make trouble for you two, but he is someone you liked after all, instead of waiting for him to come to you and let you see For my narrowness and selfishness, it is better for me to take the initiative to confess and ask for leniency."

Her eyes were shining, she raised her head slightly to look at Xie Jin, quietly waiting for a verdict.

However, Xie Jin's expression was always calm, and he didn't have any special reaction after she finished speaking. He just pinched her cheek and said softly: "Get up and sit, how old are you and still act like a baby, wait until your legs are numb gone."

Jiang Zhao obediently sat beside her, wanted to say something, but didn't know how to speak, so he could only hold Xie Jin's fingers and knead them repeatedly, hoping that she could understand his suffering.

"I already knew what you said." Xie Jin glanced at her and said calmly.

She had always known that Jiang Zhao's temper was a bit twitchy, and Xie Jin was not surprised that she still had a grudge against Yuan Qi, and was even pleased with her confession, thinking that she had made some progress.

"I told you a long time ago that I have nothing to do with Yuan Qi, and you don't need to use your fantasies on me. Today is the last time. If I hear Yuan Qi from you again in the future, you Just stay in the palace by yourself, I will take Ah Yuan back to live in Xie's house, and it will not delay her going to the palace with Youer to go to school every day."

Xie Jin's face was still calm, but his tone was very fierce. Jiang Zhao was so frightened that he shrank his neck and stretched out his fingers to pull her sleeve, "I really didn't suspect anything, it's just that I did a lot of thoughtless things. Things, I'm afraid you will..."

"So what?" Xie Jin asked step by step: "So I feel bad for you, alienate you, hate you?

Jiang Zhao, if I can really treat you like this for Yuan Qi, I should let Taifu Lin give me the title of pilgrim. "

She stood up, looked around the familiar bedroom again, and walked out.

Walking to the door, seeing that there was no movement behind him, he turned his head and glared at Jiang Zhao, "It's very cold here, and there's no popularity here. Are you really planning to stay here for one night?"

Jiang Zhao woke up like a dream, quickly stood up and followed, after hearing the soft words, he promised again and again that he would not mention Yuan Qi in front of her again, and said with some grievances: "If it really counts, no one is better than me. I don't want to mention him."

Chilling her all the way, seeing that he was going back to Xihe Palace, Xie Jin finally calmed down and softened his expression.

"Azhao."

She turned around and looked at the person who had been following her closely, and said with a serious expression: "I can't say too touching words to make you happy, but I hope you can understand that if there is a day when I really have a estrangement with you, then it will be too late. It will only be a matter between you and me, and will not be related to any outsiders, of course, I do not hope that day will come."

After finishing speaking, without waiting for Jiang Zhao to respond, he took a deep look at her, then turned around and went back to the bedroom first.

Jiang Zhao stood there for a long while, frowning and thinking, until Yuan Xiang came to her with a lantern, and said cautiously: "It's cold in spring, thank you for letting your servants come to welcome your majesty. It's late at night, your majesty should go back and rest."

"Xiao Yuanzi." Jiang Zhao looked up at him, and said coldly, "Go and find out who is spreading rumors about the draft in the palace, and anyone involved will be given a warning and dealt with. If the culprit is found, no matter who it is, stick to death."

"The slave obeys the order." Yuan Xiang hurriedly agreed.

Jiang Zhao walked two steps forward with his hands behind his back, and turned back to order: "I will only have one woman in my life, and in the future, if someone makes nonsense to arrange me, I will just cut my tongue and deal with it. You can finish the matter well and don't need to report it."

"The slave obeys the order!"

Yuan Xiang hurriedly responded again, and was frightened into a cold sweat by her gloomy expression. Seeing that she finally finished giving her orders and went to the bedroom, she quickly followed with a lantern.