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

Although their good days were disturbed, Her Majesty the Queen was magnanimous and even asked the old couple with a smile what was going on.

When he heard the word "private mine", his face darkened.

After the old couple knelt down and reported the truth, she only asked one question, "The so-called private mine is just hearsay, do you have any evidence?"

Lu Huan paid full attention, his body moving towards the kneeling old couple, eager to know more details.

He was a military man with countless soldiers under his command. Apart from food and silver, what he cared about most was military equipment and weapons.

He also knew the difficulties of the Ministry of War. It was said that the current mineral resources were not good, which led to the poor production of military equipment.

But the sword he brought back showed that someone had a mine that could make good things. Now it seems that he had opened a private mine without telling the authorities.

"I have read a few books and know when to act. I dare not deceive His Majesty. But if I have real evidence, I will not be able to go to the capital alive and see His Majesty.

But the private mining is something that all of us villagers know about, but we don’t dare to speak out for self-protection.”

The old couple couldn't help wiping away their tears, but they quickly straightened up and assured, "Every word I said is true! If I lie, I will be struck by lightning!"

I dare not say it clearly, but it is impossible for the entire village of young and middle-aged people to be abducted without resistance. The most likely possibility is that some of them went there voluntarily.

The fact that this old couple could afford to support their two children to study literature must mean that they were well-off and did not have to work in a private mine.

So their children were indeed taken captive, and the rest...

The old couple may be exaggerating, but they love their son so much that they are willing to take the risk if they can be lucky enough to rescue him.

"This is a serious matter and cannot be ignored. Marquis Wu'an! You should settle the people down and make long-term plans after your longevity."

The old couple was confused by Her Majesty the Queen’s attitude. Should she conduct a thorough investigation or let it go?

They hesitated and dared not stand up. Lou Xiao comforted them at the right time, "Marquis Wu'an is a good minister who guards the border. You don't have to be afraid of him. Even if you are a man with great power, you dare not make any waves in his hands."

She never mentioned the two elders' hesitation. Anyone who dared to doubt His Majesty's orders would always be displeased.

Marquis Wu'an ordered his men to send the people down and settle them down. The empress had no interest in watching the performance.

So he stood up and continued his tour. When he passed by Lou Xiao, he held her hand and patted her, whispering, "You are too soft-hearted."

This is obvious.

"Your Majesty won't be really angry, right?" She helped the Queen onto the sedan chair and looked up and asked,

The empress gave her an ambiguous smile and entered the sedan chair. The canopy of fine gauze covered half of the empress's face, and the dragon and phoenix embroidered on her body made her eyes wide open, making it impossible to look directly at them.

────

After touring the capital, the empress's procession returned to the palace.

Later, the palace celebrated and only important officials were allowed to enter. The palace had forgotten about the assassin and was filled with joy and peace. Officials, envoys, and concubines presented gifts one after another.

I racked my brains, thought hard, and tried my best to be original and different from others so that His Majesty would remember me.

Lou Xiaoguang knew that his gifts were really shabby. The Ruyi Shou Buddha, celebrity paintings and calligraphy, gold and silver jewelry, jade and precious stones were just ordinary things.

The envoys from the surrounding small countries presented good horses, giant corals, swords inlaid with colorful stones, and beautifully woven carpets...

Her name is Lin.

Although she was confident that she had learned well and was worth considering, she still felt a little guilty.

Jiubai whispered beside her, "Miss, Master Hong not only ordered someone to bring your calligraphy, but also prepared a red sandalwood crane birthday screen, saying it's for emergency use."

What Lou Hong prepared was standard, neither too eye-catching nor too shabby, just ordinary, in the hope of achieving neither merit nor demerit.

I was afraid that something might go wrong for her, so I kept it a secret so that she could have emergency response measures in case of unexpected situations.

Lou Xiao asked her, "You've been keeping it a secret, so you're going to obey him in everything? Why don't you follow Old Taishan back home?"

Jiubai blinked and said innocently, "Didn't you ask me to learn the rules... Why are you blaming me now..."

She felt very aggrieved, and when Lou Xiao tapped her nose in a joking manner, she knew that the young lady was teasing her again.

When Lu Huan presented the golden roof obtained from the Beimo King's tent, the atmosphere was tense and only she was left - the newly crowned favorite of the Queen, who had not expressed anything yet.

The Queen smiled and deliberately asked her, "Duke Zhenguo, what gift will you offer?"

Lou Xiao straightened his expression and said righteously, "Everything I have was given by Your Majesty, how dare I give it back. That's why I specially copied the calligraphy. If it's crude and unreadable, I hope Your Majesty won't blame me."

She was probably the only one in the whole court who dared to say this. For a moment, everyone who was offering gifts was silent. They all wanted to see how she dared to speak and take Lin's calligraphy as a gift.

The Queen did not take it as an offense. "Show it to me. If it is not well written, I will punish you."

Lou Xiao signaled Jiubai to present the invitation she had written, which was then taken by the servant Ling Yu and placed in front of the imperial desk.

The queen opened the book and her eyes lit up at first. Then she read it word by word, nodded repeatedly, and praised,

"I can see that you practiced seriously."

She asked Ling Yu to unfold it for all the officials to see, "Come and take a look, everyone. How is it written?"

Lou Xiao looked at her own handwriting without saying a word. It was Li Huaiqing who taught her stroke by stroke at Fengbo Pavilion. He could see her problem at a glance and naturally find a solution.

It was still difficult for her to write well in just a few days.

She was only copying a few lines on the copybook. If she were asked to write on the spot, she would be exposed immediately.

She listened to the endless flattery in her ears, such as "the strokes are vigorous, the style is elegant and spicy," "the grandeur and strength are strong,"

She was not happy at all.

She knew her own abilities, and while her calligraphy was decent, it was not as good as the praises of many experts who passed the imperial examinations.

If there were any clever people in the court, they would have seen the undisguised style of Li Huaiqing in her handwriting, but it was very obvious that it was not written by Li Huaiqing.

Thinking back to the rumors in the capital before, the Duke of Zhenguo and Li Huaiqing were very close, it seems to be true.

The handwriting of the Duke of Zhenguo himself might be ordinary, but Li Huaiqing's is different.

So he praised with some sincerity, but he didn't expect it to have the opposite effect.

The Queen listened to the praises, with a smile on her face but not in her eyes. She asked Ling Yu to put it away.

The two sisters did not look happy, but the Queen's shout of "Reward!" silenced the officials who were praising sincerely.

"The Duke of Zhenguo first killed the assassin and then presented a good calligraphy, which deeply touched my heart. But I don't know what reward I should give you at the moment. Why don't you tell me if there is anything you want?"

Wasn't this mentioned in advance?

Lou Xiao was stunned for a moment after coming to terms with the absurdity of "calling a deer a horse".

She had never felt anything for the things the empress had given her. She had grown up in Yunwu Mountain and had not yet been blinded by the wealth of the capital.

Gold, jade or stone make no difference.

When asked this suddenly, she really didn't know what to ask for.