The Return of the King: A Generation of Prodigies

When Chunchao returned to the palace, Shen Tianjiao was still practicing calligraphy.

"Master, are you awake?" Chunchao walked over and handed the delicious ginseng soup, which was almost dry, to Shen Tianjiao.

"What do you mean by waking up? I didn't sleep at all." Shen Tianjiao put down the wolf hair brush in her hand and took the ginseng soup handed to her by Chunchao.

Chunchao glanced at Shen Tianjiao worriedly and asked, "How about replacing this ginseng soup with calming tea?"

The war is imminent, and there are many things waiting for Shen Tianjiao to plan. If Shen Tianjiao does not get enough rest and has no energy, how can she cope with it?

Shen Tianjiao looked down at the ginseng soup in her hand and said, "Alright, let's change it."

Chunchao immediately took the ginseng soup from Shen Tianjiao and ran to change it for calming tea.

Shen Tianjiao drank her soothing tea, still thinking about how things were going. "Where is Wang Yunzhi? How is he?"

"Master, don't worry. Prime Minister Wang has arranged everything." Chunchao then repeated Wang Yunzhi's plan to Shen Tianjiao one by one.

Shen Tianjiao lowered her head and thought for a moment, then said, "Okay, let's do as Wang Yunzhi said. You will personally handle the emperor's affairs, and there must not be any mistakes."

"Yes, I understand." This matter is of vital importance, so Chunchao naturally does not dare to take it lightly.

"That day, dress up and go with us. If anything unexpected happens, you can intervene and resolve the problem in time."

No matter how well the stand-in imitates, it is not the real person after all. Shen Tianjiao is now worried that something will go wrong with Li Rui's stand-in during the ceremony of offering sacrifices to heaven.

After all, Li Rui had already memorized those etiquette and rituals, but this substitute had never experienced them once.

"Understood. Starting tomorrow, I will go to the Hall of Supreme Harmony to instruct him on the etiquette of the Heavenly Sacrifice Ceremony. There are still a few days left. Those things are not difficult to learn, so there shouldn't be any problems."

Chunchao naturally knew what Shen Tianjiao was worried about.

"Okay." Shen Tianjiao sighed. The next few days would be tense.

However, once this matter is over, Shen Tianjiao can breathe a sigh of relief and hand over state affairs to Shen Tingzhi for supervision. She can then focus on preparing for the multinational war.

Chunchao was just about to help Shen Tianjiao go to bed when he suddenly saw the cat in the house.

This made her panic. Her master always liked quietness and didn't like any small animals, especially cats.

Where did this cat come from? Why is it sleeping here?

"Master, what is this cat?"

"Oh, I just picked it up outside." Shen Tianjiao stretched her muscles and looked back at the kitten that was sleeping soundly.

"I will carry it out right away."

Although he didn't understand why Shen Tianjiao suddenly picked up a cat, Chunchao didn't dare to forget his responsibilities.

"Leave it here and don't worry about it. This cat is very friendly. Keep it. When Mu'er and An'an come back, they will probably like it very much."

The person who was originally very afraid of cats inexplicably developed a liking for the little kitten in front of him who was dependent on him.

"Yes." Chunchao glanced at Shen Tianjiao. She always felt that her master was weird today, as if something was different.

Shen Tianjiao drank the calming tea, but it didn't seem to have much effect. Not only did Shen Tianjiao not feel sleepy, but she became more energetic.

After tossing and turning in bed for a long time, Shen Tianjiao finally couldn't stand it anymore, so she threw off the quilt and got up.

Her current mentality is much different than that of her previous life. Ever since she came here, she has actually been in a state of anxiety and fear of loss.

Leading an army to fight a war has its own difficulties, and regulating a country has its own difficulties, but regulating a country is more difficult than leading an army to fight a war.

Being a regent not only requires wisdom, courage, and the ability to weigh the pros and cons, but also requires using imperial tactics to restrain the court officials.

In a word, being an emperor is not something that an ordinary person can do, and it is even more difficult to be a wise ruler throughout history. It requires a lot of effort and hard work, and the ability to deal with various emergencies. One must have a strong core that cannot be easily defeated.

It’s no wonder that emperors don’t live to a ripe old age, because they worry too much and spend too much effort.

She simply couldn't sleep at this moment. Although the task of dealing with Li Chaohui had been handed over to Wang Yunzhi, Shen Tianjiao couldn't just sit idle and do nothing.

She now needs to understand the structure of the entire imperial city and be fully prepared. This time, she must not let any of Li Chaohui's remnants go.

If there are still remnants of Li Chaohui left this time, this hidden danger will become a big trouble in the future.

Thinking of this, Shen Tianjiao found the structural defense map of the imperial city in the bookcase nearby, spread it on the table and began to study it carefully.

There is another person in the palace tonight who can't sleep just like Shen Tianjiao, and that person is An Ping.

But Anping couldn't sleep, not because she was worried about state affairs, but because her kitten was missing.

Maoqiu is a kitten picked up by Anping. The greenhouse where Anping is now located is in a remote area. Usually, apart from a few elderly ladies who take care of the flowers and plants here, no one comes here.

Although Anping had long since adapted to living quietly and silently in a nunnery, she was still a child who knew nothing about the world.

Now that she is no longer under the control of her master, her temperament has gradually changed.

She regained her lively and cheerful side as a girl, but this also meant that she needed someone's company and longed for normal interactions with others, rather than having to face flowers and plants all day long.

Although she could tell her troubles to the flowers and plants, she received no response. She needed a living person who could respond to her words, or the company of an animal.

Then Maoqiu appeared. It was a very thin and small little poor creature abandoned by its mother.

There are many wild cats in the palace. There are so many of them that they can be described as a disaster. After a while, there will be cat owners who are specifically responsible for expelling them.

For some reason, Maoqiu appeared at the door of the greenhouse at this moment.

It was a rainy morning. Anping got up early and went to the greenhouse to take care of the flowers she had promised to give to Shen Tianjiao.

When she reached the door of the greenhouse, she found Maoqiu, a poor little thing whose whole body was soaked by the rain and whose cries were very weak.

Anping immediately took rescue measures for it. She carried the fur ball back to the greenhouse and wrapped it in a small blanket.

Then I found some hot milk and fed it to it little by little with my fingertips.

The old lady who was in charge of taking care of Anping at the time said that it was absolutely impossible to keep this little thing alive, but Anping relied on his patience and unremitting efforts to keep the fur ball alive.

Not only did he keep it alive, but he also grew plump, cute and strong.

With Maoqiu's company, Anping's deserted, boring and lonely days have changed a lot.

She can play and have fun with Maoqiu every day. When she tells Maoqiu her secrets, Maoqiu always responds to her enthusiastically, no matter whether he understands her or not, and will not let her words be ignored.

During this period of time, Anping has treated Maoqiu as his own family, but now this family member is gone. How can Anping not be sad and worried?

Anping is almost regretting her decision now. When she was tidying up the greenhouse in the afternoon, she thought that Maoqiu was usually very well-behaved and would never run around, so she didn't close the door.

But this time, the usually well-behaved Maoqiu acted out of character and not only ran out of the greenhouse, but also disappeared without a trace.

After losing Maoqiu, Anping didn’t know how to live in the future.

In this palace tonight, some people are sleeping soundly and carefree, some are busy without sleep, and some are unable to sleep because of sadness. In short, it is very lively.

'Chun Niang' came out of Wang Yunzhi's house, but she did not go back immediately. Instead, she stayed outside for a long time until dawn, when she went back.

After returning home, "Chun Niang" did not rush to see Li Zhaohui. Instead, she washed up and had breakfast before going to see Li Zhaohui at a leisurely pace.

Because of the effects of those drugs, Li Chaohui, who used to have trouble sleeping for years, has been able to sleep until dawn often in recent days.

When Chunniang went in, Li Zhaohui had not woken up yet, so she sent the maid who was on night watch away and sat down to wait for Li Zhaohui to wake up.

'Chun Niang' waited in the room for half an hour before Li Zhaohui woke up.

Although her sleep quality has been very good recently, as long as she lies down to sleep, she will sleep until dawn. However, after waking up, she does not feel very energetic. Instead, her whole head is groggy and sometimes she has a headache.

Seeing that Li Zhaohui had woken up, Chunniang quickly stood up and walked to her bedside, "Master, are you awake?"

Li Zhaohui blinked his eyes, which were still a little hard to open, then looked at Chun Niang and asked, "When did you come back?"

"I just came back. Master, would you like some water?"

Chunniang helped Li Zhaohui up from the bed and helped her walk to the table and sit down.

Then "Chun Niang" turned around and took a coat for Li Zhaohui to put on.

Drinking the tea that Chunniang had poured, Li Zhaohui asked, "How's it going? Has he agreed?"

"Yes, agreed."

Chunniang was tidying Li Zhaohui's hair when she said, "Well, getting Prime Minister Wang to agree is not an easy task."

"Last night I went to the Prime Minister's residence and asked the doorman to report to me, but I stood outside for almost an hour before he agreed to see me."

"When I entered the Prime Minister's Mansion and met Prime Minister Wang, he had a cold face the entire time and didn't show me any kindness at all."

"Look at him like that, he's completely different from his usual self. He's intimidating without even getting angry."

"I was so scared that I stood in front of him for a long time without daring to say a word."

Upon hearing this, Li Zhaohui reached out and gently patted Chunniang's hand, saying, "Thank you for all the hard work."

"It's okay. What does it matter if I suffer a little injustice? As long as I can help the master and solve the problem, it's fine."

While Chunniang was speaking, she had already taken care of Li Zhaohui's hair.

"I mustered up the courage to tell Prime Minister Wang the whole story and swore to him that you had absolutely no part in his assassination."

"Su Chang didn't even ask for your opinion before he did that. It was his own will that caused this disaster."

"I have told him that you, my master, are worried and concerned about him. I spent a lot of time and effort to appease Prime Minister Wang and get him to listen to me patiently."

"I told him about the difficulties and hardships you're facing, how much you miss him and how much you care about him, and finally, the dreams you once shared."

"Prime Minister Wang sat there in silence for a full half hour. Finally, he said that for the sake of your long-standing friendship and the great cause that is about to be accomplished, he is willing to let bygones be bygones and work together with you to seize this opportunity to achieve your great cause."

"But Prime Minister Wang also said that he has a condition. When your great cause is accomplished, he wants you to promise to hand over the people of the Su family to him so that he can deal with them as revenge for the injuries he suffered today."

Li Chaohui's heart was tense, but it suddenly relaxed because of Chunniang's words. Although Wang Yunzhi had many grievances against her, she still had a place in the end.

There would be plenty of time to repair the cracks between them in the future. As long as Wang Yunzhi was no longer angry with her and was willing to help her with all his strength, everything would be fine.

As for the Su family, it is just an insignificant chess piece in her hand, which can be used or discarded.

"The conditions he proposed are not difficult to resolve. As long as this great cause is accomplished, let alone those people from the Su family, even if he wants to kill the Su family, I can give it to him."

Li Zhaohui is such a heartless and ungrateful person. To her, there is no distinction between good and bad people, close or distant, only between those who are beneficial to her and those who are not.

If it is beneficial to her, she is willing to do her best to maintain the relationship between them, and if it is not beneficial, she will ruthlessly abandon it.

Compared with the Su family, Wang Yunzhi is obviously more beneficial and useful to Li Chaohui, so she will give up the Su family, which is less valuable to her, in order to gain Wang Yunzhi's support.

Although Chunniang already knew the result, she was still a little shocked when she heard Li Zhaohui say it in person.

There is a reason why Li Chaohui went from being loved by thousands to being abandoned by everyone.

This woman is too cruel. She is so cruel that she has lost her original heart and only walks for the sake of interests. The fate of such a person is actually doomed from the beginning.

She was destined to fail and would never sit on the throne and become a king respected by all the people.

Because she is not worthy of her position, she has no regard for the people of Yunli at all, and only has a fanatical obsession and ambition for power.