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

The planned trip to Wanfo Temple was interrupted by a sudden summons from the palace.

The letter arrived late, and Li Huaiqing had already packed everything and was sitting in the spacious carriage of the Li Mansion, waiting for her arrival.

After the agreed time, the butler sent by Lou Hong apologized and expressed his regret that the Duke of Zhenguo could not come.

Without explaining the reason, Li Huaiqing lifted the curtain with his folding fan, and nodded with a smile at the butler who came to report.

After getting into the carriage, he gritted his teeth in obscurity, thinking that he had been stood up.

good very good.

Lou Xiao felt that it was not a big deal, so she did not feel any psychological burden when going to the palace.

As usual, he accompanied his senior sister to review memorials. The chefs in the imperial kitchen enjoyed serving this master very much and never wasted any food, which made them feel extremely satisfied.

The hardworking queen chatted with her quietly, "I heard that you had a very pleasant conversation with Li Jia Huaiqing?"

Lou Xiao: "Who? Li Huai? No, just chatting for a while."

Queen: "It is rumored throughout the capital that you two have fallen in love and have pledged your lives to each other."

Lou Xiao: "How could I not know? Besides, he is not in love with me!"

She doesn't like worldly affairs, but she can still tell who is sincere and who is not.

Moreover, "He has a lot of tricks on his mind, and it's a bit tiring to get along with him."

The Queen laughed, "How come you say that the number one young master in the capital has no merits? Are all the people in the capital blind?"

If it's really that good, why didn't you let him enter the palace? Your throne is still vacant!

She only dared to say this in her heart, but couldn't say it out loud.

But who is the Queen? Besides, she is my junior sister who grew up under my watch, so I can tell what she is thinking from her little expression.

"He is great in every way, but it's a pity that he is from the Li family." Having her own achievements is not a big deal, but the family behind him makes her a little wary.

Her father was burdened by the aristocratic families all his life. Although he was a king, not everything could go as he wished. Most of the court officials were controlled by the aristocratic families, and as a monarch, he always felt that there was no one available.

Taking advantage of the fight for the throne, the father and daughter managed to turn the tables.

She also took the opportunity to kill some ministers who had ulterior motives, such as the former Duke of Zhenguo.

The almost collapsed family lintel made the remaining ministers tremble with fear, which led to the seemingly stable court today.

If Li Jia Huaiqing obtains the throne of Feng Jun, the power of the aristocratic family will probably make a comeback.

But if he falls in love with Xiao Xiao──Empress Xiao Zhaocheng thought, it seems that the Li family still does not want to leave the power circle of the capital.

She was not worried that her junior sister would be bewitched by him. No matter how good Li Huaiqing was, no matter what tricks he used, he would probably fail against her junior sister.

She knew her junior sister's personality very well. She couldn't tell if she was cold and indifferent or just heartless.

She had always had many romantic interests since she was a child, but she had extinguished them all by herself. Her heart was as hard as steel and could not be shaken.

When I was in the mountains, I only knew how to practice martial arts.

"By the way, how far have you progressed in martial arts now?" She remembered that when she came down the mountain, her young junior sister had just finished a competition and was crying loudly.

"That's it...it's fine as long as it's enough." Lou Xiao looked up and down, hesitant.

Lou Xiao started learning with the intention of self-preservation in mind, but with her master's devilish training, she felt that her martial arts were heading towards an unscientific level.

She studied foolishly for many years, defeated her master's friends and enemies one by one, and then participated in a competition with the old man.

The victory was tragic, and she felt both happy and sad, because her master said that he had nothing more to teach her.

The master led her to the highest level of martial arts, fulfilling her lifelong wish, and she passed away with satisfaction.

She didn't want to get involved in the love and hatred of the martial arts world, and learned to retire to the countryside, but she couldn't escape the imperial edict of her senior sister.

“Enough…?” The Queen was not satisfied with her reply. If it were someone else, they would surely kneel down in fear and trepidation.

But she was his junior sister, and Xiao Zhaocheng only knew that she was a martial arts genius, but he had no clear idea to what extent.

Lou Xiao was the only one who was tortured to death in the sect. As a princess, Xiao Zhaocheng did not suffer any hardship in learning martial arts, and did not understand much about the martial arts world.

"It's okay to protect my senior sister," she took the chicken soup sent from the kitchen, smelled it, and put it aside.

There were few things she didn't eat. Xiao Zhaocheng frowned and didn't continue. Instead, he asked, "Is there a problem?"

She nodded, and the queen's face suddenly darkened. "Someone! Call the people from the imperial kitchen!"

That bowl of soup was originally prepared for her!

The young queen stepped forward from the throne, "Are you feeling unwell? Imperial physician!"

"Senior Sister, I'm fine," she smiled and hugged her arm, "Let me test the poison in the future, and I guarantee that no one can harm you!"

"Nonsense..." The Queen slapped her lightly, "You don't have to do this kind of thing."

────

Xiao Zhengdu staggered into the palace and happened to meet the chief eunuch beside the empress, Wen Xing, who was dealing with the palace servants in the imperial kitchen.

He said that he had received a favor from Liu Guijun and handed the empress a bowl of tonic soup with added ingredients.

He watched from the side for a while as if he was watching a good show. "Is your Majesty in the upper study?"

Wen Xing bowed and replied, "The Lord Zhenguo is accompanying you, please allow me to report."

Duke Zhenguo... Xiao Zhengdu's eyes flashed with a hint of blue, he just wanted to meet her!

The empress was still chatting with Lou Xiao when she heard about Xiao Zhengdu's arrival, "My eleventh brother is a playful boy with some foreign blood in him. Don't be scared."

Got it, mixed blood.

Lou Xiao said that nothing could scare her. She stood up and straightened her clothes. She couldn't be so casual when there were outsiders around.

Following the eunuch's voice asking where he was going, a tall figure dressed in a dark blue dragon robe walked into the upper study.

He has a fair and delicate complexion, black and straight eyebrows, deep eye sockets, and if you look closely you can see that his eyes are black with a hint of blue. He has a straight nose and a smile at the corners of his lips.

His black hair was slightly curled and neatly gathered in a golden crown. Due to the large amount of hair, a few strands fell to the corners of his eyes, making his look charming.

He first paid his respects to the empress in a proper manner, and then looked at Lou Xiao with a half-smile, "This... is the Duke of Zhenguo who is famous in the capital, right?"

Lou Xiao's expression was calm, "You Shan Wang is too polite."

"Weren't you hunting in a farm outside the capital? Why did you suddenly come back?" The queen sat back on the throne and continued to flip through the memorials.

Xiao Zhengdu was one of the few princes who was still alive and well after the new emperor ascended the throne. It was because of his foreign blood that he had never had a chance to take the throne.

He doesn't seek power and there's nothing wrong with him except that he likes to play.

"I heard there was some fun, so I came back to take a look," he said with a grin, "What a coincidence! I just happened to run into the real boss!"

He is talking about himself, right?

For some reason, Lou Xiao felt that his expression was a little funny.

Seeing that she had no surprise at his appearance, Xiao Zhengdu moved closer so that she could see more clearly.

"Ms. Lou, who do you think is prettier, me or Li Huaiqing?"