"Let him come to the imperial study!"...
After a while, Shen Lian arrived at the door of the imperial study room covered in dust.
"The humble minister fulfilled his mission and beheaded Hesar and his followers, and pushed their bodies off a cliff. This is Hesar's token!"
Zhao Hao took a jade plaque engraved with Mongolian inscriptions, looked at it, nodded and said: "Well done, from now on, I will make you the commander of the Imperial Guards, and you will follow me in all matters big and small."
"Thank you for your kindness, Your Majesty, and for serving Your Majesty. Shen Lian is so devastated that he will not give up even if he dies!"
Shen Lian looked excited and kowtowed three times.
"Your Majesty, I have a small request. I wonder if you can grant it?"
"speak!"
Zhao Hao probably guessed his request and pretended not to know, just to give him the biggest surprise.
"Wei Chen has two sworn brothers of life and death. Can I allow them to come to serve the emperor under my command?"
"Are you talking about Lu Jianxing and Jin Yichuan?"
Zhao Hao made it clear at this time, which seemed unpredictable and could serve the purpose of intimidating Shen Lian.
Sure enough, Shen Lian's face was full of shock: "You can't hide such a trivial matter from the Emperor. The Emperor is really aware of everything!"
"Haha, I'm just better informed!"
At this time, a young eunuch hurriedly came to report a piece of news.
"Your Majesty, a maid came to report that there was a commotion in Shouning Palace."
Shouning Palace was where Princess Chun'an lived. Zhao Hao was shocked and quickly called Shen Lian and Wang Chengen out.
In the Shouning Palace, seven or eight eunuchs and several palace ladies surrounded Princess Chun'an with bright wedding clothes in their hands.
"Princess, Prince Wala is coming to get married tomorrow. Please put on your wedding clothes early to avoid being hasty tomorrow."
An old eunuch about fifty years old said with a smile.
Zhao Wen shrank her body and fought against these people.
"I don't want to marry Wala, I want to see the emperor!"
"boom!"
These words immediately aroused the displeasure of the old eunuch, and the Buddha dust in his hand hit the table hard.
"Princess, the Queen Mother has promised the Wala envoy on this matter, so you can't help but disobey!"
Zhao Wen's beautiful eyes were full of grievance and despair, and she squatted helplessly in the corner and choked.
"Go, take off her clothes and put them on for us!"
The leading eunuch gave instructions to the maids.
"You can't treat the princess like this!"
A maid from Shouning Palace stood in front of Zhao Wen, but was pushed against the wall by the eunuchs and fainted on the spot.
“Haruka!”
Zhao Wen wanted to check the maid's injury, but the eunuchs refused.
"The Emperor has arrived!"
At this juncture, a clear declaration sounded.
A group of people hurriedly turned around and went out to greet him: "Minions (servants) come to see the emperor!"
According to the normal etiquette, they should also add "Long live my emperor, long live my emperor", but because they have the support of the Queen Mother, they don't have much respect for the emperor in their hearts.
However, they were a little curious. It was almost bedtime, why did the emperor come to Shouning Palace.
In the past, didn't the emperor not care about Shouning Palace?
"Get flat!"
Zhao Hao knew that they were the Queen Mother's people and wanted to take the opportunity to punish these people.
But now there is no suitable reason, so I can only endure it for now.
"Brother Imperial, you are finally here!"
Zhao Wen's eyes sparkled, and she threw herself in front of Zhao Hao in three steps.
Although he showed joy, the tears in the corners of his eyes told Zhao Hao that he had been bullied just now.
"Imperial sister, have you ever cried?"
"No...no!"
Zhao Wen is very smart. She knows that the emperor's brother is controlled by the queen mother. If anyone complains to the emperor about the queen mother in public, the queen mother will definitely accuse her brother afterwards.
Zhao Hao gently patted her shoulder and said softly: "Wenwen, if you are wronged, you must tell me. Brother Huang will make the decision for you!"
"Really not!"
Zhao Wen forced out a smile in response.
At this time, Chunxiang woke up from the coma.
She didn't have as many scruples as the princess. She started by saying, "They wanted to force the princess to marry to Wala, and they also forced her to put on wedding clothes. I stopped her and they beat me."
These words angered the leading eunuch Li Zhong, and he immediately glared at Chunxiang fiercely: "You are a cheap maid who talks nonsense and slaps your mouth!"
With a move of his hand, Sanxi's little eunuchs were ready to slap Chunxiang.
"Be bold!"
Zhao Hao became angry and let out a loud roar, which scared the young eunuchs and shrank back.
"I am the emperor, how can I allow you to issue orders here?"
"Your name is Li Zhong, right? How dare you treat me like nothing, who are you loyal to?"
Li Zhong was shocked. He initially thought the emperor was a loser, but he didn't expect that the emperor even knew his own name.
"Your Majesty, you have misunderstood me!"
"Did I misunderstand you?"
"I stand next to you and you are so arrogant. It shows that you don't take me seriously at all. Commander Shen, how should such people who despise the imperial power be punished according to Daxia law?"
Shen Lian immediately stepped forward: "He should be punished by being cut in half!"
Hearing this, Li Zhong's expression changed slightly.
However, he had the support of the Queen Mother and was not very afraid.
"Your Majesty, this old slave has served the royal family for more than twenty years. He has worked hard without any merit. You just find an excuse to kill this old slave. Aren't you afraid of chilling the hearts of the people in the world?"
Zhao Hao actually had no intention of actually killing him. ...
This old eunuch was the most famous person next to the Queen Mother after Yu Huatian. Killing him would be an open confrontation with the Queen Mother.
With the current strength, it is not enough to challenge the Queen Mother, so I have to keep a low profile first.
"What you said seems to make sense, but I must give you a small punishment and a big admonishment today. If you lie down and accept twenty punishments with the rod, I will forgive you."
After all, he is the emperor, and it would not be appropriate to move the Queen Mother out for such a trivial matter.
Li Zhong hesitated for a moment, then walked to a stool and lay down.
"Commander Shen, give him punishment!"
"As you command!"
Shen Lian found a long stick and hit Li Zhong hard on the buttocks.
"Pah, pah..."
Hit after hit, Li Zhong's skin and flesh were bruised.
The other eunuchs and maids were so frightened that they didn't dare to express their anger.
This is exactly the effect Zhao Hao wants.
Kill the chicken to scare the monkey, and no one will dare to come to Shouning Palace to show off.
Shen Lian used ten levels of strength with each stroke. After twenty strokes, Li Zhong was still alive and only had half a breath left.
Finally, the young eunuchs made a simple stretcher and carried him away.
"Remember, if anyone dares to bully the princess again, I will kill you all!"
"I don't dare! I will resign first..."
At this moment, Zhao Wen and the maid Chunxiang finally breathed a sigh of relief. While they were excited, they began to worry again.
"Brother, they are the Queen Mother's people. If you beat them half to death, won't the Queen Mother punish you?"
"I am the emperor, don't I even have the right to punish a slave?"
Zhao Hao said angrily, and then comforted softly: "It's okay Wenwen, I will take care of this matter. You just need to remember not to be bullied again in the future!"
"Also, I have canceled your marriage for you. No one can force you to marry Wala!"
Zhao Wen had not enjoyed such care for a long time, and tears of happiness flashed in her beautiful eyes.
"Brother, thank you!"
If no one else was present, she really wanted to throw herself into her brother's arms and enjoy the warmth of family affection.
"Okay, let's rest early, I want to go back to the palace too!"
On the way out of Shouning Palace, Zhao Hao was still a little worried.
After all, he couldn't be by his sister's side to protect her all the time. It's possible that the Queen Mother would be forced by Wala's pressure and secretly send someone to send her out of the palace.
"Commander Shen, I will give you three days to find two female guards with excellent martial arts skills for me. They will be of great use to me!"
"Wei Chen accepts the order!"
After Shen Lian readily agreed, he looked troubled: "However, a person with outstanding martial arts skills must be arrogant..."
"Haha, don't you just need money?"
Zhao Hao smiled and interrupted Shen Lian: "I will ask the inner treasury to allocate ten thousand taels of silver to you immediately."
"Your Majesty is wise!"
Shen Lian now admires the emperor more and more, and the other party understands before he even expresses his feelings.
The silver deposited in the palace treasury is exclusively for royal use and is different from the national treasury.
Zhao Hao brought Shen Lian and Wang Chengen to the inner treasury gate.
The official in charge of the inner treasury, Treasurer Liu (equivalent to a treasury manager or cashier), and his subordinates quickly kowtowed.
