The settlement Qiu Che said at the end of the poisoning
was not really implemented, because the next day Li Qingwu remembered what he had done last night, so he lay in bed and refused to get up.
Qiu Che was so angry that even after she had to grind like this, it was all gone.
At Chenshi, news of several people outside the city returning to Beijing early on the grounds of missing their relatives also reached the palace. The prince took the initiative and held a palace banquet for them to cleanse themselves from the dust.
When the imperial edict and the Queen Mother's promotion decree were sent to the princess's residence, Qiu Che was combing Li Qingwu's eyebrows and hair on a whim.
Wu Yiqi was promoted to the third rank of General Zhenyuan, and Qiu Che was promoted to the second rank of Minister of Rites.
The women's soldiers were each rewarded according to their military merits, and every household was rewarded in the same reward system as the men, without any mistakes.
It can be seen that the people in the Ministry of Rites are really afraid that Qiu Che will take advantage of him and read a book again. After all, Qiu Che has become the immediate boss of the Ministry of Rites.
As the leader of the Detachment of Women, Yu Yan was also awarded the title of General Weiyuan of the third rank.
Although she is one level lower than Wu Yiqi, she is the first military general to be awarded a title as a woman. In addition, she has never held any title before, so she is too prominent and attracts attention. This level is actually the most suitable for her.
Yuming said and couldn't help laughing: "Master doesn't know that these ministers were still arguing about how to reward the women's army and the master a few days ago."
"I heard from the Queen Mother that the Crown Prince's intention is quite unpleasant. Reluctantly, it seems that he does not want to give the master a reward, but who told His Majesty to give it a year ago? This reward must be given even if it is not given."
Li Qingwu also smiled and subconsciously turned around and said: "If it is true. In theory, if you want to reward your merits, you should be given the title of a first-class general..." At
the age of nineteen, as a woman, she led the troops to repel the Northern Hungarians, but even Prince Zhao could not do it in battle. thing.
Qiu Che patted her shoulder and motioned her to stop moving her head, so Li Qingwu really stopped moving.
She raised her lips and combed Li Qingwu's hair into a simple bun with some skill. She said in a calm tone: "You praise me. Without the help of Prince Zhao for many years of experience, I would not be able to achieve great things - not to mention if Prince Zhao is only two years younger." At ten years old, without the pain of the early march, he may not be able to defeat the Northern Hungarians himself. "
Li Qingwu said helplessly: "I just complimented you a few times, but I don't really think so."
Qiu Che thought for a while and said. She said: "Okay."
She didn't care about her promotion again, and just asked Yu Ming on the side: "When is the palace banquet?"
Yu Ming inadvertently glanced at the ambiguous red marks on Li Qingwu's neck. , the roots of his ears were red, and he immediately looked at his nose and heart, and replied: "Today is the You hour."
At You hour, the two of them changed their clothes and appeared in the palace together on time.
Although they are still a couple in name, it stands to reason that the current law does not approve of two women being together.
Even if there is no real reconciliation, the moment Qiu Che's identity changes from a man to a woman, it actually represents the end of the engagement.
This year, many people have secretly speculated about their relationship, but most people feel that they have never reconciled because they have no time and are busy with the war.
At first, no one was optimistic about Qiu Che, a woman who disguised herself as a man and deceived the emperor. They were just waiting to see her fall into the quagmire overnight.
As a result, the Qiu family was directly sent to prison and exterminated by her, but the other party not only came out of the prison unharmed, but also climbed up two levels a year later.
She suddenly transformed into the only female high-ranking official in the dynasty.
The only second one is Jade Inkstone, who has just been named General Weiyuan.
Many people can't help but make small calculations behind their backs and want their sons to find out.
What if Qiu Che is blind and falls in love with one of them? It's not a loss even if you marry into your wife.
Women still have to get pregnant and give birth to children, and sooner or later they have to step back behind the scenes to support their husbands and raise their children. When the time comes, canât her position be manipulated in secret so that her husband can take over?
It's a pity that no one thought that Qiu Che didn't like men at all -
some people may have guessed, but they didn't dare to believe it.
But all the discussion stopped abruptly after they walked into the palace banquet door hand in hand.
After not seeing each other for a year, Princess Pingyi still looked as innocent and lively as before. When she saw them from a distance, her eyes immediately lit up, she jumped down from her seat and ran straight to the ground.
"Sister! It's been a long time since you came to the palace to see Shu Shu!" After she said that, without waiting for Li Qingwu's reply, she looked at Qiu Che next to her and said, "Brother-in-law! My mother and concubines all said that you went to war... Are you done with the battle now?"
Li Qingwu smiled and rubbed her head and said, "It's over."
Behind him, Concubine Xu Xian also walked over slowly.
Compared to her domineering appearance a year ago, she is no longer as arrogant as before.
Although his aura was still as good as anyone's, there was a strong sense of exhaustion in the smell emanating from his body.
She smiled slowly and shouted: "... Mr. Qiu, Your Highness."
Her attitude was much kinder than before.
Qiu Che glanced at her flat belly, then quickly and calmly looked away, nodding: "Let's all sit down and talk."
The night before she left for the expedition, news of Concubine Xu Xian's pregnancy spread throughout the palace.
But she remembered that Li Qingwu told her later that the child Xu Xianfei was not born.
For some unknown reason, the child had a miscarriage. From then on, Concubine Xu Xian was in a trance.
But soon after, it returned to normal, but it was just that the spirit was not as good as before.
Several people took their seats one after another.
The surrounding gazes seemed to be dimming slightly.
Pingyi pestered Li Qingwu, and the two sisters whispered for a while, making Li Qingwu giggle.
During this period, Concubine Xu Xian was sitting on the side, looking at the other party softly, with a somewhat restrained smile on her lips.
Not long after, Wu Yiqi and others arrived, as did the prince and queen - except for the emperor who claimed that he was seriously ill and could not come, all the important ministers and other figures also came.
The prince sat down under the empty dragon chair. After the eunuch finished reciting the speech congratulating the army on their triumphant return, he waved his sleeves expressionlessly, signaling the palace banquet to begin. Everyone was free to do as they pleased.
As soon as these words came out, many people stood up hesitantly and raised their glasses to toast Qiu Che.
Qiu Che didn't want to take a sip at first, but she remembered that Yang Qiu once scolded her for being too cold and unreasonable, which was why she was trapped in a situation where she was surrounded on all sides.
She hesitated for a moment, and finally just took a sip meaningfully.
After a few sips, his face turned cold again and he stopped accepting the toast.
Others can only leave.
They couldn't catch Qiu Che, and they didn't dare to punish Yu Yan, a female general who Qiu Che had brought out personally and who didn't look easy to mess with when she had a cold face, so they all had no choice but to surround Wu Yiqi.
As it happened, Wu Yiqi loved to be in the limelight, so he gave her a look to show his gratitude and went to have a drink happily.
Li Qingwu was still laughing next to him: "How can you be so understanding of human nature? What's the difference between understanding and not understanding?"
Qiu Che said, "Really?"
Then he said casually: "I don't like drinking with strangers. When you get drunk, you can't predict the consequences."
Anyway, Wu Yiqi has already mastered his drinking skills, and he won't say anything he shouldn't say to others when he is drunk, so let him Let him go.
Li Qingwu was stunned.
She suddenly remembered the time in her previous life when she rushed back to celebrate Qiu Che's birthday.
Qiu Che... Was he drunk at that time so he didn't treat her as a stranger, or was he drunk because he didn't treat her like a stranger?
Qiu Che's hand under the table suddenly touched her little finger, bringing her thoughts back.
"...What's wrong?"
Qiu Che leaned over slightly and whispered: "Do you think His Majesty is really seriously ill?"
Li Qingwu pursed his lips with a strange expression: "I think... yes."
"Huh?"
"There are some things that I didn't have time to tell you."
Li Qingwu first looked around quietly to make sure that no one could hear their whispers in the noise, and then said softly, "Your Majesty's illness. It's not formed naturally."
Qiu Che narrowed his eyes slightly and glanced at Li Qingwu's face.
"Actually, there is still more to say...but it's not convenient to say it here."
Li Qingwu felt a little guilty: "What are you looking at me for?"
Qiu Che smiled: "Nothing. Let's talk about other things - don't you think the prince is a bit strange? "
Li Qingwu: "What do you mean?" Qiu Che rubbed the cup in his hand, lowered his eyes, and thought of the figure who had just followed the prince, and whispered: "...It's nothing. It's not convenient to say something
here."
Just one look and I couldn't help but laugh.
The prince, who had been paying vague attention to them, frowned when he saw this, and took a sip of wine rather irritably.
After the banquet, in order not to be disturbed by being chased, Qiu Che took Li Qingwu, quietly avoided the eyes of others, and left the palace alone.
This year's winter seems to be extremely cold, and there is a little snowfall while walking on the road.
The two of them went to hide from the snow under the eaves of a street shop and looked at each other, looking particularly relaxed and content among the hurriedly passing crowds.
Their expressions were relaxed, as if they were chatting about daily life, but what came out of their mouths were words that would shock people: "Isn't Concubine Xu Xian's child really an accidental miscarriage?"
Li Qingwu nodded almost invisible and said softly: "Master Yang helped to investigate, and it was the prince who did it..."
Concubine Xu Xian was arrogant and domineering for more than a day or two. At the beginning, the prince once said with an angry look, "Today I am in despair, and tomorrow you will be reduced to this, you will also be punished in kind."
Later, it turned out to be tit for tat.
However, this tooth must be a bit harsh, and it will directly hurt Concubine Xu Xian and make it difficult for her to conceive in the future.
This is undoubtedly terrible news for a concubine whose family is prestigious enough to ascend to the throne and is short of heirs.
Qiu Che raised his eyebrows slightly: "Then what's the matter with His Majesty's illness you mentioned?"
She had previously suspected that Li Shi's illness was extremely strange, and it was possible that someone had tampered with it.
...After all, there is more than one person who hates the emperor so much that he quickly gets rid of him.
There were many people at the palace banquet, but now it was safer to bring up this topic on the street.
"It's me..." Li Qingwu paused and said a little subtly, "I gave him poison."