Female martial arts fanatics only love to fight, while men fight for their lives.

49

When Lou Xiao stood up after the kneeling ceremony, the expression on his face had completely changed.

In front of so many strangers, she became the aloof, inaccessible Duke of Zhenguo, who was deeply loved by His Majesty.

Because Lou Hong looked particularly serious due to her makeup and dress, Lou Xiao, who was the first person standing under His Majesty's throne, was able to completely dominate the situation, with an aura that was not inferior to any person who had been in a high position for a long time.

After the kneeling ceremony, the Queen opened the banquet. Thousands of banquets were prepared inside and outside the palace for the officials and common people who came to celebrate, showing that Her Majesty was willing to share the joy with the people.

The officials' families and foreign envoys who got up early to pay their respects could drink and laugh to their heart's content, while the empress moved to the harem to accept congratulations from her servants, children and relatives.

Lou Xiao and Lu Huan were chosen to accompany him. After they knelt down to thank him for his kindness, Xiao Zhengze stuck to Lou Xiao with a smile on his face, pretending that Lu Huan didn't exist.

Following the empress back to the harem, Xiao Zhengze felt much more relaxed along the way. He pointed out to Lou Xiao one by one the newly renovated scenery to celebrate Her Majesty's birthday.

The Shoushan stones presented from the distant Yizhou, as well as the palace lanterns and ribbons hung on the eaves of the trees, the patterns on them are so profound and so rare.

If it weren't for his explanation, Lou Xiao really wouldn't be able to understand it. Even Lu Huan beside him listened to it. His eyes, which had been originally lowered, swept across the various new things in the palace following his words.

"The position of the Queen is still vacant. All the servants and your family have prepared a lot of programs to please the Royal Sister. The Duke of Zhenguo will be blessed with a feast for the eyes."

With outsiders around, Xiao Zhengze didn't dare to call her by her nickname, and said jokingly,

Seeing that Lou Xiao didn't take it seriously, he moved closer and whispered to Lou Xiao, "Li Huaiqing was almost able to sit in that seat, but..."

Lou Xiao made a "hush" gesture, signaling him to be quiet, "Don't say anything about the affairs of the harem."

Xiao Zhengze closed his mouth in dismay, wanting to say, "You've only been practicing calligraphy with him for a few days and you've already subconsciously come to protect him?"

At that time, Li Huaiqing's name was well-known throughout the capital. With the strong support of the aristocratic families, it was said that his position as queen had already been decided before the throne was decided.

The late emperor also appreciated his talent and appearance, but kept him as a reward for the victor.

However, they did not expect that after the imperial sister defeated a group of sisters and brothers in a bloody battle and ascended the throne, the much-feared aristocratic family was neglected, and there was no further news about Li Huaiqing's whereabouts.

No one dared to mention it in front of the empress, so Li Huaiqing was left alone, not daring to leave the capital, and there was no intention of re-employing him.

When rumors spread that he would be the future queen, he never refuted a word, so everyone agreed and he was very willing.

In Xiao Zhengze's eyes, he is sinister, audacious, deep-minded, and good at playing with people's hearts.

There is no good word to describe it.

The imperial sister didn’t fall for Li Huaiqing’s trick, but what about Lou Xiao?

She refused to talk about it, so she must have had some feelings for him.

Xiao Zhengze regretted for the umpteenth time not letting Ji Heng kill him. He was truly a nuisance and would take away Lou Xiao's heart if he wasn't on guard.

He was angry and thought about how to get rid of Li Huaiqing without making a sound. He even went to the harem.

When seeing many royal children kneeling down to congratulate His Majesty on his birthday, he was distracted.

For men who have senior sisters in the harem, Lou Xiao cannot look at them without a smile.

She listened to her senior sister laughingly talking to some waiter amidst the congratulations, and lowered her head to quietly taste the wine and dishes for her senior sister.

She pretended not to see the occasional glances directed at her, but her expression became increasingly cold. She sat with one hand leaning on the chair under the Queen's throne, looking like a cold-faced evil spirit.

Although Lou Xiao often came to the palace to accompany the emperor, it was the first time for many people in the harem to see her.

Who doesn't like beautiful men and women? The harem is lonely and there are many men and women who don't care about sex. But now with the empress in front of them, they can only steal a glance at her for various reasons, but no one dares to speak.

Lou Xiao picked up a cup of freshly brewed green tea, but suddenly stopped halfway.

She raised her eyes and glanced around sharply, only to see that everyone in sight lowered their heads or pretended to be indifferent and averted their gazes, and very few of them looked at her.

The empress was listening to the auspicious words that were changing in various ways. There were not many descendants of the late emperor left alive, so she was now happy to play the role of a sister with deep affection.

While listening to a long birthday speech from an unknown relative, she whispered to Lu Huan whether the things he brought back were well preserved.

"Yes, Your Majesty. You have granted me permission to carry it with me, waiting for you to review it." Not knowing why she brought it up here, Lu Huan glanced at Lou Xiao and saw that she was not surprised at all, which meant she had known about it for a long time.

Lou Xiao looked at Lu Huan and the almost invisible guard commander behind His Majesty, and wanted to say something, but was suppressed by the Queen's words, "Xiaoxiao, don't be nervous."

When Lu Huan heard the Queen calling her by her nickname, he was surprised and amused. However, Lou Xiao didn't want to pay attention to him. She just said to the Queen, "Your Majesty..."

something wrong.

"The children of Prince Jin congratulate His Majesty on his long life! May His Majesty live forever and enjoy a long and prosperous life!"

The child's voice was sharp and attracted attention. The Queen was really attracted by it. She looked at the chubby baby who could hardly walk and was led to kneel by the old nanny beside him.

She held out her hand and called them, "Come, come to Auntie Huang. Is this the child of the Jinwang family?"

Her attention was all on the baby, and the old nanny beside them helped the baby closer to the queen, with one hand hidden in her sleeve.

Lou Xiao sat upright, ready to strike. The gold and jade bead pendants on her hair crown remained motionless, ready to take action if anything went wrong.

As he was on guard, he saw Lu Huan and the guard leader also staring at the old lady, and he felt something was wrong...

No...it's not just her!

In an instant, when the baby from King Jin's family threw himself into the Queen's lap, the old nanny beside her drew a dagger from her sleeve and rushed towards the Queen who was one step away from her.

"There's an assassin! Protect His Majesty!"

Screams and the sound of cups breaking were heard, and Lu Huan and the guard leader attacked at the same time.

At this time, Lou Xiao also turned over and attacked, but not at the old lady.

When everyone's eyes were on the old lady, tens of millions of needles were pumped out from the corner, like drizzling rain, invisible and silent, shooting towards the empress on the throne.

Lou Xiao grabbed the heavy embroidered dress robe with one hand and took it off. The cloth, which was embroidered with a lot of density because of her favor, was extremely tight and spread out like a big umbrella.

As she turned over, she gathered all the needles she saw into her robe, blocking their tendency to stab the queen.

When she threw down her outer robe covered with acupuncture needles with a dark face, Lu Huan and the guard leader had just captured the old lady.

I felt a sense of fear at her sudden movement and the dense, hair-thin needles on her robe.

It was a chaotic moment. Lou Xiao took a step forward to chase the person who shot the needles, but stopped urgently, turned back and looked at his senior sister to inquire.

"Lu Huan! Give it to her!"

The empress, who was the first to calm down, gave an order that was puzzling, but Lu Huan immediately took out a long sword from his long robe and threw it to Lou Xiao without hesitation.

"Capture them with all your strength! If anyone resists, kill them without mercy!"