The empress is wild and cool, and I'll help her secure her throne

All officials presented gifts, not only because they wanted to receive the empress's desired reward, but also because it was a time for various forces to compete with each other.

Some showed off their achievements, some showed off their wealth, and the gifts were all so colorful, it was so lively!

"Is that Xia Ruoxi?"

Xia Ruoxi stood up first and prepared to present a gift. All the civil and military officials present, as well as the people outside the city, looked over!

Even the royal family members sitting in the front row looked at Xia Ruoxi with a fixed gaze.

"Red Sleeve General Xia Ruoxi! The last general from the military attaché group to go on the expedition."

I don’t know how many people were sighing, even Ye Qianxuan frowned slightly.

Although the military officer group is large, there are very few generals, and the majority of them are Beijing officials.

Among the few generals, most of them were good at defense, while there were only three who were good at attacking cities and conquering territories - Liu Zaidao, Fan Yangqi, and Xia Ruoxi.

But now, two of them are gone.

Although Xia Ruoxi's military talent is average, she is selected as a general among the short men and can only be entrusted with important tasks.

This is not a good thing for Ye Qianxuan.

The higher Xia Ruoxi climbed, the more dangerous he would be.

She walked towards the wall of the imperial palace, holding a small brocade box in her hand. It was the gift she wanted to give to the empress!

When passing by Ye Qianxuan, Xia Ruoxi looked at Ye Qianxuan deeply, with no concealment of the resentment in her eyes:

"Ye Qianxuan, I will fight you to the death for the revenge of your needle and the hatred of losing my son!"

"Are you ready to die this time?"

Ye Qianxuan said calmly: "I'm not ready, but I want to ask you, are you ready to die?"

Ye Qianxuan took out the wooden meridian hairpin from his arms and held it in his hand.

"Is this the gift you want to give to His Majesty?"

Xia Ruoxi sneered repeatedly. It was just an ordinary wooden hairpin, without even a gift box. And he wanted to compete with his own gift?!

What a big joke!

"Thinking you can surpass me with this gift is simply a pipe dream!"

"I want to see if you can still be as stubborn as you are now when the Empress orders you to be killed!"

Xia Ruoxi sneered, then continued walking towards the palace wall!

"Is this the gift you prepared?" Duan Zhenggang also came over and frowned when he saw the hairpin in Ye Qianxuan's hand.

The spiritual energy in this hairpin is bound to the rhyme of Tao.

Therefore, only those who practice Taoism can see the rhythm of Tao.

But in the eyes of these martial artists, this is just an ordinary wooden hairpin.

"Yes." Ye Qianxuan nodded.

Duan Zhenggang was speechless for a moment, then reminded him, "Now if you let Mi Tongzhi arrest you and put you in the imperial prison, you still have a chance to survive!"

In his opinion, wanting to win the favor of the empress with such a wooden hairpin was simply nonsense!

Ye Qianxuan couldn't help but laugh out loud: "Don't worry, even if they give away mountains of gold and silver, it can't compare to the weight of this hairpin of mine!"

"What a loud tone!"

"This corpse tailor has gone crazy!"

"Eighty percent of it is!"

The civil and military officials around looked at Ye Qianxuan as if he were a madman.

If you were a royal noble, a martial arts master, or something like that, maybe someone would believe what you said!

But you're just a clever corpse-stitcher, yet you brazenly claim that other people's gifts aren't worth a shabby wooden hairpin of yours. Aren't you crazy or something?!

Duan Zhenggang also shook his head speechlessly and prepared to notify Mimiyan to make backup preparations.

Ye Qianxuan didn't say anything, but just held the Ziwu hairpin and looked at Xia Ruoxi who was climbing up the city wall.

"Your Majesty, this is my gift for the Thousand Autumn Festival!"

"May you be in good health, our country prosper, and live forever!"

Xia Ruoxi knelt on the ground and presented the small brocade box with both hands!

Empress An Luoyu nodded slightly, waved her hand, and signaled the blue bird to open!

Inside the brocade box, there was actually a county magistrate's seal!

The empress narrowed her eyes, picked it up and took a look. There were four words engraved on it: "Feng Dongcheng Seal".

"Fengdong City? Is this the seal of the city magistrate of Southern Wu?"

The empress looked at Xia Ruoxi.

"Yes! When I returned to the capital in triumph, I was stopped by the guards of Fengdong City!"

"I immediately led my troops to fight, but instead of surrendering, they dared to fight back!"

"So, I slaughtered the guards of Fengdong City, occupied Fengdong City, and incorporated it into the territory of my Dongzhou!"

As soon as these words came out, the whole audience was shocked!

Xia Ruoxi's gift is extremely generous and meaningful!

Expanding territory is the greatest wish of every emperor!

Now the territory of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty has expanded by another city, and it was all achieved by Xia Ruoxi, the only general who went to the expedition. The meaning is self-evident!

Xia Ruoxi not only gave a generous gift, but also demonstrated her irreplaceable position, so she should be the leader!

"General Xia was thoughtful. He didn't even report this to me when he returned triumphantly. Was he planning to give me a surprise?"

The empress asked calmly, her eyes were unreadable!

"Yes, Your Majesty, please forgive me!" Xia Ruoxi kowtowed deeply.

"What crime have you committed? Not only will I not punish you, I will even reward you!" The empress smiled faintly and said loudly: "Order! From today on, Xia Ruoxi is promoted to the rank of White Jade General and promoted to the third rank!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Everyone watched this scene, and many people looked at Ye Qianxuan!

Seeing how favored the Empress is towards Xia Ruoxi's gift, she will be promoted directly to a higher rank, and will most likely be the top candidate!

Once Xia Ruoxi gets the wish granted by the empress, Ye Qianxuan will die!

"Not yet in prison?"

Duan Zhenggang was a little anxious, and pulled Ye Qianxuan's arm and said.

Ye Qianxuan did not answer, but just watched quietly.

After Xia Ruoxi presented the gift, officials came to the city wall to congratulate her one after another!

"The Minister of Works sent a two-piece skincare set to Your Majesty. May Your Majesty live forever!"

"The Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue presents a copy of the exquisite geomancy map. May Your Majesty live forever!"

"The Ministry of Personnel's Deputy Minister sent..."

Except for the royal family, there is no particular order for giving gifts. Anyone who wants to give gifts can do so!

Soon, all the officials, from high to low, from the six ministries to the three temples, civil and military officials were sent off!

The Left Prime Minister and the Chief Chamberlain also presented their own gifts, but none of these gifts seemed as meaningful as Xia Ruoxi's gift!

The time soon came to the hour of Hai, and everyone had almost finished giving out their gifts.

Apart from the royal family, the only one left was Ye Qianxuan, the extra-staff corpse seamstress, who was still holding his wooden hairpin and had not handed it over.

Everyone looked at Ye Qianxuan as if they were watching a joke.

How can the gifts from a lowly corpse tailor be compared with the gifts from you gentlemen?

"What do you think, Ye Qianxuan, are you still going to be stubborn now?"

Xia Ruoxi came over and said coldly.

Everyone's gifts have been given out, and Xia Ruoxi feels that she has won the game. It's time to teach Ye Qianxuan a lesson.

"Haha! General Xia, this lowly fellow said that even if you give away mountains of gold and silver, they can't compare to the hairpin in his hand! It's really hilarious!"

There was a nosy seventh-rank official nearby, who acted like a lapdog and spoke to Xia Ruoxi.

Ye Qianxuan ignored them and walked towards the palace wall holding the Ziwu hairpin.

Xia Ruoxi looked at him coldly with a sneer on her lips!

The empress quietly watched Ye Qianxuan slowly walking towards her, her eyes fell on the wooden hairpin in his hand, her beautiful eyes could not hide her disappointment!

I asked him to find a special hairpin, and he found me this ordinary wooden hairpin?!

But when the Ninth Princess saw the Ziwu hairpin, she screamed without caring about her image, scaring everyone!

The Jinyiwei had their swords drawn, thinking there was an assassin!

Under the astonished gazes of the crowd, the Ninth Princess was speechless at first, then, like a cat whose tail had been burned by a pair of tongs, she jumped up and shouted:

"This... this is... a top-grade magical weapon! The Tianzong Ziwu Hairpin!"