Li Rong and Pei Wenxuan walked out of the palace together. Li Rong just remembered: "Aren't we going to the government office today?"

"I had something to discuss with you," Pei Wenxuan explained, "and I just happened to hear that you were in the palace, so I came straight here."

"Oh?" Li Rong was a little surprised. "What brings you here in such a hurry?"

"Today, the court reported a great victory. The front line won a great victory." Pei Wenxuan said. Li Rong raised her eyebrows, and then heard Pei Wenxuan say, "There is a dispute over the list of generals that Xiao Su reported to receive the award."

Li Rong read this over and immediately understood.

Xiao Su was Concubine Rou's brother. He used to be from a poor family, but after a few years of education, he was promoted thanks to Concubine Rou's connections.

This time, Li Ming destroyed the Yang family and sent Li Chuan to the battlefield. By manipulating Li Chuan, he forced the aristocratic families to contribute, and it took a lot of effort to stabilize the situation in the northwest. As a result, Li Ming slowed down Li Chuan on the eve of his achievement and forced Xiao Su to replace him on the battlefield as the main general. The Shangguan family must still be angry about this.

The Shangguan family is a famous family with a history of hundreds of years, and they have many relatives in the court. In this confrontation with the Yang family, the major families in the court must have put in a lot of effort.

Xiao Su was born in a poor family, and was a sharp weapon used by Li Ming to suppress these noble families. Even if the list of winners he gave was not his, it was definitely impossible for them to be from noble families. The noble families had wasted such a great deal of money in the early stage, so how could they let go if they didn't make some money back now?

So now that the front line has won a great victory and this list is sent back, the aristocratic families will immediately start quarreling with Li Ming.

"So what do they say?"

Li Rong twirled a small fan in her hand, thinking, "They can't do anything to Xiao Su. Concubine Rou is in great favor. If they could, they would have done it long ago. They can only pick on the weak."

As he spoke, Li Rong remembered: "Which generals did Xiao Su report?"

"There are seventeen generals in total," Pei Wenxuan said, analyzing, "mostly they are from imperial examinations, poor families, or second-rate families."

"Is Qin Lin in there?"

Li Rong immediately asked, Pei Wenxuan shook his head: "He is not here, but Qin Feng is here. I heard the battle report and I think Xiao Su was afraid that Qin Feng's experience was too shallow, so he attributed his credit to his uncle. But we are all family, so it doesn't matter."

Li Rong responded. Qin Lin was still too young, and it was not good for him to come to the fore too early. But as long as the Qin family could gain a firm foothold in the northwest, it was only a matter of time before Qin Lin came to the fore.

"Well," Li Rong tapped the table, "I'm afraid the noble families will start to cause trouble for these ordinary generals. Your Majesty will not just stand by and watch."

"Yes," Pei Wenxuan replied, "After the court session, His Majesty called my second uncle over."

Starting with Pei Lizhi, the Pei family has been the core of Li Ming's support to fight against the aristocratic families. After Pei Lizhi passed away, Pei Lixian continued his path. Although his talent was not as good as Pei Lizhi, he still occupied the position of Nanyi of the Menxia Province.

Although this position was not like Pei Lizhi's position as the Left Prime Minister of the Shangshu Province, which oversaw the six ministries and had actual executive power, it also had the power to seal and review, and was very close to the emperor.

Li Ming called Pei Lixian over, probably to discuss how to fight with the aristocratic families for the big piece of melon of the northwest border.

Li Rong did not say anything. Pei Wenxuan sat aside and waited for a while before asking, "What do you think, Your Highness?"

"Today I had an argument with my mother."

Li Rong said calmly, "She wanted Chuan'er to marry someone from the Shangguan family, especially Shangguan Ya. She was very angry about the palace banquet yesterday and scolded Chuan'er and me."

"What does your highness say?"

Pei Wenxuan knew that Li Rong would not give in to Shangguan Yue so easily, so he asked Li Rong directly for her response. Li Rong said slowly, "I have explained the pros and cons to my mother. It is unnecessary for Chuan'er to marry Shangguan Ya, and it will only bring trouble. But she didn't seem to listen."

"It is impossible for the queen to hear that."

Pei Wenxuan took a sip of tea and said, "After all, Your Majesty is the daughter of Shangguan Clan and is inseparable from the Shangguan Clan. The war in the northwest border has caused a lot of bloodshed by the noble families in the court. If the Shangguan Clan is not rewarded with the Crown Princess as a reward to appease the noble families, I'm afraid that Shangguan Clan will feel unfair and Your Majesty will have to bear too much pressure."

Li Rong remained silent. Pei Wenxuan knew that Li Rong was thinking. After waiting for a while, he couldn't help but chuckled: "Why is Your Highness worried?"

Li Rong was quite puzzled. She raised her head and looked at Pei Wenxuan, who looked a little curious: "What?"

"In fact, this matter has nothing to do with Your Highness," Pei Wenxuan analyzed. "Let the noble families fight against Your Majesty. If the noble families win, they support the prince anyway, so it won't be a big deal. If Your Majesty wins, some of the people on the list recommended by Xiao Su will be ours, and we will make other arrangements for the rest. What does Your Highness have to worry about?"

Li Rong pondered for a long time, then she said slowly: "Do you really think that after the noble families arranged their people to the northwest border, their people will become our people?"

Pei Wenxuan smiled but said nothing, lowering his head to pour tea. Li Rong saw that he had no desire to answer, so she couldn't help but ask, "Why don't you say anything?"

"Your Highness, this is a question for you, not me."

"What do you mean?"

"Your Highness, in your previous life," Pei Wenxuan raised his eyes, his expression calm, "wasn't it just an aristocratic family?"

Ever since Li Rong became the eldest princess and Li Chuan ascended the throne, they were no longer on the same path.

"Is the power that Your Highness held in your previous life completely equivalent to the power that Your Highness holds?"

Li Rong was speechless.

Pei Wenxuan clasped his hands in his sleeves and smiled softly: "Only when I am alive, Your Highness has someone to defeat and needs the help of Your Highness the Crown Prince, will he always stand with Your Highness the Crown Prince. If one day I am gone, and the Princess is the only one in power in the court, the Princess's sharp blade may be pointed at Your Highness the Crown Prince."

Li Rong raised her eyes and looked at Pei Wenxuan. She looked at him quietly for a long time, and finally said, "Then, does your power belong to me?"

"I don't know about the future. But at least at this moment," Pei Wenxuan answered sincerely, "even Pei Wenxuan himself belongs to Your Highness."

Li Rong was slightly stunned. She looked at Pei Wenxuan's clear eyes. She knew that Pei Wenxuan was talking about political affairs, but she still couldn't help but her heart beating faster.

She turned her eyes away, looked out the window, stroked the patterns on the golden fan, and continued: "You contact Qin Lin, and send him any help he needs. As for the court, I will let Tuoba Yan secretly help the Qin family, but this matter will not be known to others. The relationship between the Qin family and me and the prince seems to be getting closer and closer."

"clear."

After Pei Wenxuan finished speaking, the two didn't say much. After a while, Li Rong turned her head and looked Pei Wenxuan up and down. After looking at him for a long time, she sighed, shook her head, and turned away.

Pei Wenxuan was bewildered by Li Rong's gaze and couldn't help but ask, "What does Your Highness mean?"

"Pei Wenxuan," Li Rong said helplessly, "Why is your promotion so slow?"

Pei Wenxuan heard these choking words, glanced at Li Rong lightly, and said as if nothing had happened: "Your Highness, it seems that you are still not favored enough, otherwise I should be promoted quickly."

"Look at your little mouth," Li Rong tapped Pei Wenxuan's hand lightly with her fan, "it's really annoying."

Pei Wenxuan laughed, ignored Li Rong, took the memorial himself, lowered his head and said no more.

In the next few days, Li Rong had people keep a close eye on the developments of all parties. There was an endless debate in the court about the rewards for the major generals on the border. The core was not about money, but about positions.

Each person has his own position. If one person gets a position, another person cannot get it. After the Yang family fell, everyone wanted to have a piece of the big piece of fat meat in the northwest. So every day they argued in the court. The noble families attacked the people nominated by Xiao Su. Every time Li Ming wanted to reward someone, they said that this person had problems. Li Ming insisted on rewarding him, but the Secretariat refused to issue an order. After the Secretariat finally issued an order, the Ministry of Personnel refuted it and said that there were also problems.

Li Ming was so angry that he smashed things in the palace all night. After the noble family proposed a list of reward proposals, Li Ming tore it up directly and refused to refute it.

The two sides were deadlocked for several days and quarreled every day in the court.

Pei Wenxuan was in the Shitai, although he was not a high-ranking official, he was Li Ming's core fighting force this time. After all, when it came to quarrels, Pei Wenxuan had no pressure at all to fight ten people alone. So every day when Pei Wenxuan came back, he was exhausted and fell asleep as soon as he lay down on the bed.

Li Rong didn't want to disturb him, but every time she returned to bed, she would hear Pei Wenxuan ask in a daze, "Are you back?"

"What did you do today?"

Li Rong didn't know whether he was awake or not, but she answered whenever he asked. She got enough sleep every day and was in good spirits, so she had plenty of energy to answer Pei Wenxuan's questions.

Her life was much more leisurely than Pei Wenxuan's. What she did most every day was to walk around, contact acquaintances, go to teahouses to listen to scholars' elegant conversations, and see if there were any talented people she could approach.

Perhaps her life was too boring, so after talking to her casually for a few words, Pei Wenxuan fell asleep.

Li Rong couldn't help but find it funny. She didn't know what Pei Wenxuan's habit was. He had to talk to her for a few words before he would go to sleep.

In a blink of an eye, the quarrel had been going on for five or six days. Li Rong called Shangguan Ya out and secretly asked her for the news. She guessed that the noble family would not quarrel anymore and would probably take real action.

They couldn't do anything to Xiao Su or Li Ming, so they picked one of these rewarded officials to make an example of them and make them give up.

If you want to choose someone to scare, of course you have to choose the hardest one among the soft persimmons and the one who occupies the best position.

Li Rong took a look at the list and guessed that the people these families were planning to move should be the Shannan Jiang family, whom Xiao Su valued the most, or at least some other people who were close to Xiao Su.

If the noble family touches Xiao Su's people, it is equivalent to touching Li Ming's people. Li Ming will definitely not let it go and will probably fight back fiercely. After a few rounds of this, when they are tired, Li Rong can come forward to secretly reconcile the noble family and Li Ming and choose a bunch of unrelated second-rate noble families to fill the positions.

Li Rong had planned well and had even prepared a list of candidates. However, on the night of the eighth day, when she was sleeping, she heard hurried footsteps outside.

It rained heavily that night, and the sound of the rain drowned out the sounds outside. Li Rong could only vaguely hear the interweaving of human voices and the sound of rain. She was still half asleep when someone raised his hand to cover her eyes and reminded her, "Turn on the lights."

Li Rong slowly came to her senses. Pei Wenxuan slowly let go of her hand, letting Li Rong adjust to the light. He stood up and said, "I'll go out and take a look."

Having said that, Pei Wenxuan put on his clothes, stood up and walked out.

When Li Rong saw Jinglan come in and turn on the light, she knew something must have happened. She didn't panic, but got up and put on her clothes. Just as she put on her coat, she saw Pei Wenxuan coming back.

His face was extremely ugly, and he held a piece of paper in his hand and said coldly: "The people from the Ministry of Justice have sealed up the Qin family."

Hearing this, Li Rong raised her head suddenly: "What?!"

"Yesterday afternoon, a memorial was submitted by Yu Shitai, implicating the Qin family in the Yang family case, colluding with the Yang family to form a partnership with the Rong State and betray the country. The Ministry of Justice handled it overnight, and a search warrant was issued by the Ministry of Justice, Yu Shitai, and the Dali Temple. At this moment, the South City Army has been dispatched to surround the Qin family."

"Then what are you still standing there for?!"

Li Rong shouted loudly and went outside, "Go to the palace immediately and report to His Majesty. I will bring people over right away."

"What are you bringing people over for?" Pei Wenxuan grabbed her and said anxiously, "If you go over, the relationship between the Qin family and you and the prince will be exposed!"

"If I don't go, they will have all the evidence after the search! Why would they care about being exposed or not?"

Li Rong stretched out her hand to push him away, without even having time to take the umbrella, she shouted and called for help to rush out.

Pei Wenxuan gritted his teeth, finally asked for a horse, and rushed into the palace with the token.

Li Rong led the group all the way to the Qin residence. When they arrived, they found that there was crying and shouting all over the place. The soldiers had surrounded the Qin residence tightly. Li Rong did not dare to go out rashly. She stood in the dark, observing the situation and thinking about countermeasures.

The heavy rain made the whole world foggy and it was impossible to see the surroundings clearly. Li Rong stood in the rain, feeling shocked and angry.

How did these people become interested in the Qin family?

Obviously, she had already secretly asked Tuoba Yan to take care of the people in the aristocratic families, and the Qin family was by no means as eye-catching as the Shannan Jiang family and others. No matter how you look at it, the aristocratic families should not start with the Qin family.

Li Rong took a deep breath and decided to ignore everything else and go up to buy time. But as soon as she moved, a hand suddenly stretched out and grabbed the hem of Li Rong's skirt. Li Rong turned her head suddenly and saw a hand reaching out from the bamboo basket next to her.

Li Rong flipped the bamboo basket over and saw a girl in her teens squatting inside. She was trembling all over and her face was pale. Li Rong instantly recognized her as the maid beside Qin Zhenzhen. Li Rong squatted down and said calmly: "I know Qin Lin and I am here to save you. Where is your daughter?"

The girl trembled her lips, raised her hand, pointed to the north, and stammered, "Run...run..."

Li Rong immediately understood what the girl meant. She stood up and led the group to chase in the direction she pointed.

Based on her understanding of Qin Zhenzhen, although Qin Zhenzhen was upright to the point of being naive, she was not stupid. She ran out so desperately, she must have known what happened and took something with her when she left.

After chasing for a while, Li Rong saw sword marks on the wall of the alley. Li Rong followed the sword marks all the way out and soon saw blood. The rain quickly diluted the blood. Li Rong tried hard to distinguish the rain, blood, sword marks and various traces of fighting in the dark.

These traces spread all the way to the end of the narrow alley. The end of the alley seemed to be where ordinary people used to store miscellaneous items. Those things were piled up half the height of the wall. Everyone subconsciously chased behind the wall.

Li Rong did not move. After looking around, she fixed her eyes on a wooden box in the middle of the miscellaneous items.

She stepped forward quickly and lifted the lid of the wooden box. At that moment, a cold light cut through the night rain, and a blood-stained sword was pointed directly at Li Rong's neck.

Li Rong looked at Qin Zhenzhen, whose body was covered in blood and whose face was pale. She seemed to have been seriously injured. She was breathing softly and was only a few feet away from Li Rong.

Qin Zhenzhen looked at Li Rong, holding the sword very steadily.

Li Rong looked down at the girl in front of her who looked like a beast, with a calm expression. After a long while, she spoke calmly: "Put the sword away."

"I came to save you."

"How can I trust you?"

Qin Zhenzhen spoke hoarsely, and Li Rong looked at her quietly without any panic: "If you don't believe it, just kill me directly."

Qin Zhenzhen didn't say anything. She clenched the sword in her hand. After a long time, she put away the sword and struggled to get up from the wooden box.

Li Rong held her up. Qin Zhenzhen had wounds on her body, and the wounds started bleeding when she moved. She pressed the blood on the wounds and panted, "Let's go."