The Return of the King: A Generation of Prodigies

"I'm going to Kangning Palace now. I'll have to trouble the Emperor to come over and rescue me later." Shen Tianjiao stood up. "Yan Mingde must lead his troops out of the capital tonight. The situation is urgent right now. The battlefield is changing rapidly. Any delay will lead to many variables. We can't afford to gamble in this situation."

"Okay." Li Rui's expression also became serious. Although he had never fought on the battlefield, he had read many military books. The most important thing in fighting a war is the opportunity to fight. If the opportunity is missed, there is a possibility of total defeat.

The reason why he had previously obstructed and refused to send troops was because he simply did not believe that the loser Li Bin had such great ability to lead an army of 200,000 to rebel.

But judging from Shen Tianjiao's attitude and the intelligence he received, this matter might not be groundless. Perhaps Li Bin is not as useless as outsiders think. He is just pretending to be a pig and eating the tiger, waiting for the opportunity to counterattack.

After all, this was the trick he used back then to deceive everyone and eliminate his brothers and enemies one by one.

"You need me to recall my father-in-law to the capital and let him take charge." No matter how much he feared the Marquis of Zhenbei and the Shen family, the first person Li Rui thought of when encountering problems was the Marquis of Zhenbei.

Faced with Li Rui's rare reliability, Shen Tianjiao did not feel relieved, and still felt disgusted as usual.

Li Rui's approach of "turning to Zhong Wuyan when there's trouble and to Xia Yingchun when there's nothing to do" applies not only to her, but also to her father and brothers.

Shen Tianjiao was extremely disgusted with Li Rui's fickle behavior, which was to always use people to his advantage and not to his advantage.

"No, my father cannot leave the North yet. Only my father can deter those jackals, tigers and leopards in the North."

"There is civil unrest in our country right now. We cannot give those people any chance. Once they find an opportunity, we may be powerless to fight back, and then Yunli Nation will be in danger."

"Okay, I'll listen to you." Li Rui understood that if he wanted to keep his kingdom, he could only listen to Shen Tianjiao.

Shen Tianjiao took two steps and stopped. "I have one more thing to trouble the emperor. Please lend me Aunt Yuhu. I will return her to the emperor after I leave Kangning Palace."

"Hmm?" Shen Tianjiao's request startled Li Rui. "Don't you have enough people around you? What do you need her for?"

"There are a lot of people around me, but they are all little girls with clumsy tongues. They can't argue with those sharp-tongued people in Kangning Palace." Shen Tianjiao handed her hand to Qiong Niang, who supported her, and the two of them smiled unconsciously.

The Aunt Yuhu that Shen Tianjiao was referring to had been serving the late emperor for decades. She was deeply favored by the late emperor. Although she was only a palace aunt, her status was unmatched. Not to mention the civil and military officials, even the princes and concubines in the palace had to be respectful and respectful when they saw her.

Even when the late emperor was on his deathbed, he did not forget to prepare a way out for her. In addition to leaving her a golden medal of immunity from death left by Emperor Gaozu, it is said that he also had a secret decree from the late emperor in his hand.

It was for this reason that after the late emperor passed away, she was not sent out of the palace, but was kept by Li Rui and raised in Zhenghe Hall.

Li Rui hesitated for a moment, then nodded in agreement. "Okay, Huang Chunhua, go get Aunt Yuhu and have her go to Kangning Palace with the Queen."

When Shen Tianjiao, Qiong Niang and Chunchao appeared outside the gate of Kangning Palace, they saw Aunt Yuhu with a little girl already waiting there.

"Aunt Yuhu." When Shen Tianjiao saw Aunt Yuhu, she stepped forward and shook Aunt Yuhu's hand without waiting for her to greet her.

"This old servant is here to greet Her Majesty the Empress..." Before Aunt Yuhu could even finish her greetings, Shen Tianjiao stopped her. "Aunt, there's no need to be so reserved. I haven't seen you for a long time, but you're still in great shape."

"This is all thanks to the Emperor and the Empress." Aunt Yuhu had a faint smile on her face, which made people feel comfortable.

The original incarnation, Shen Tianjiao, had always liked Aunt Yuhu, who was calm and composed and always had a gentle smile on her face.

"No way, you are lucky, aunt." This was the first time Shen Tianjiao met Aunt Yuhu after her rebirth. Like her original self, she also liked Aunt Yuhu very much. Apart from anything else, her aura was unmatched.

"The Queen looks well." Aunt Yuhu took Shen Tianjiao's arm back in hers, and the two walked forward side by side.

Although the two had only met a few times before, Aunt Yuhu still liked Empress Shen Tianjiao very much. She was capable and sensible, gentle and dignified, and knew when to advance and retreat. But she was a little too old-fashioned and steady.

When she saw the Empress again today, she felt her eyes brighten. The Empress, who was so bright and charming with a radiant smile, was like two completely different people compared to before, which made her even happier. After all, the Emperor was marrying up. Such a beautiful woman should not be trapped within these palace walls for her entire life.

"Today, A Jiao asked Aunt Yuhu to come. She really has a difficult matter and needs your help." Seeing that they were about to enter Kangning Palace, Shen Tianjiao had to inform Aunt Yuhu in advance to avoid the two of them failing to cooperate well and letting the empress dowager take advantage.

"Eunuch Huang has just said that the Emperor was afraid that the Empress Dowager would embarrass the Empress, so he specially asked this old servant to protect the Empress." When Aunt Yuhu first heard Huang Chunhua's purpose of asking her to come to Kangning Palace, she was surprised for a moment. The Emperor and the Empress had been at odds for a long time, and she didn't know what the Emperor was up to today.

Shen Tianjiao lowered her head and smiled, "The emperor didn't ask you, Aunt Yuhu, to protect me. He asked you, Aunt Yuhu, to protect the country of Yunli."

"What do you mean, Your Majesty?" Aunt Yuhu, who keenly sensed the seriousness of the situation, looked at Shen Tianjiao with a panicked look.

"Don't panic, it's not a big deal. Li Bin has rebelled with an army of 200,000. I've already sent people to quell the rebellion, but today in the court, the Minister of War, Yuan You, was inactive and opposed me at every turn, refusing to cooperate. So, I've dismissed him from his position. The Queen Mother summoned me here just to discuss this matter."

"The Queen Mother is unhappy, and it's okay for her to scold me a few times, but the war at the front is urgent, and she's waiting for me to take charge of the situation. I can't delay any longer, so I invited you here."

If Shen Tianjiao hadn't been afraid that Yan Mingde wouldn't be able to lead his troops out of the capital tonight and miss the opportunity to fight, she could have dealt with the Empress Dowager, it would just have taken some more words.

"After so many years, she still can't change her spoiled and domineering character." Aunt Yuhu shook her head and sighed helplessly. She shouldn't have been soft-hearted at the beginning. It's too late to regret now.

"Don't worry, Your Majesty. This matter concerns the safety of the country. I will spare no effort. Whatever the Queen Mother says later, just listen. I will handle the rest."

After hearing what Aunt Yuhu said, Shen Tianjiao really breathed a sigh of relief. Everyone in the palace knew that Empress Dowager Liu was vicious, domineering and difficult to deal with. It was an indisputable fact. Even if Li Rui came and the two of them joined forces, they might not be able to deal with her. Now that Aunt Yuhu was here, she could rest assured.

As they were talking, they arrived at Kangning Palace. Before Shen Tianjiao even stepped foot into the palace, she was stopped by someone. "Your Majesty, the Queen Mother has just taken medicine and is resting. She has instructed that if you come, you should kneel at the palace gate first. She will summon you in when she wakes up."

What a big show of power! It seems that Empress Dowager Liu was really mad this time. In the past, when she tortured Shen Tianjiao, she would at least save some face and only use tricks behind the scenes. She would never expose her despicable means in public and accuse herself of mistreating her daughter-in-law. But today, in a hurry, she didn't even care about her own face.

The person who was talking to Shen Tianjiao was Nanny Shi, who served beside Empress Dowager Liu. She was Empress Dowager Liu's dowry and had been with her for many years. She had become very arrogant and looked down on everyone except Empress Dowager Liu.

"How dare you, a servant like you, order the Empress Dowager in such a tone? The Empress Dowager is your master, but isn't the Empress your master too?"

"You're rebelling! Whoever dares to be so arrogant in Kangning Palace, I'll..." After seeing that it was Aunt Yuhu standing in front of her, Nanny Shi swallowed back the second half of her sentence, 'tear your mouth apart'.

"It seems that the Queen Mother is really old and can't even discipline the servants serving her. Since she can't discipline them, I will do it for her." Aunt Yuhu turned around and saw the little girl following behind her. She felt a little regretful. If she knew that she would encounter such a thing, she should have brought a more capable old nanny with her. Now it seems that she has to ignore her status and come in person.

Chunchao, who had seen Aunt Yuhu's thoughts, came out cleverly. She bowed to Aunt Yuhu and said, "Chunchao is here."

Aunt Yuhu looked at Chunchao and nodded with satisfaction. She was worthy of being someone close to the Queen, she was very smart.

"Chunchao, slap your face ten times."

"I obey your command." Chunchao turned around immediately and slapped Nanny Shi in the face without hesitation before others could understand what was going on.

Just now, when Aunt Yuhu looked back at the little girl beside her with an embarrassed look on her face, Chunchao already knew that she was going to ask someone to shut up Nanny Zhangshi.

It was obvious that the little girl had just entered the palace and had never been trained or seen the world. It was obviously inappropriate to let her be in charge of Nanny Shi's mouth.

It would be even more inappropriate to let Aunt Yuhu come in person to punish the servant, so Chunchao jumped out at the first moment.

However, Chunchao was still very happy to beat Nanny Shi. Usually, Nanny Shi relied on the Queen Mother and did not bully her master, but she was sarcastic and made things difficult for her master.

Today, he beat Madam Shi openly and justifiably. If it weren't for the wrong occasion, Chunchao would have laughed out loud.

Compared to Chunchao, the ones who felt more relieved were Shen Tianjiao and Qiong Niang. Not only had they suffered a lot from Empress Dowager Liu, but they had also suffered a lot from Nanny Shi.

She was obviously very angry and aggrieved, but she still had to look at her owner and couldn't do anything to her. She was so vomited that she almost died.

There is nothing in the world that can make people feel happier than seeing their enemies in trouble. Shen Tianjiao raised her head and stole a glance at Aunt Yuhu next to her. In addition to being satisfied, she also felt a little grateful towards this powerful teammate.

Everyone here was in a good mood, but they felt sorry for Nanny Shi who was beaten. Chunchao was also a martial artist and knew how to hit people so hard that the injuries were invisible but still made the person suffer terribly.

Nanny Shi was beaten but she didn't dare to say a word and could only endure it silently. Her look of being so angry that she had to endure it made Shen Tianjiao laugh so hard that her stomach hurt.

After ten slaps, there were only some red marks and slight swelling on Nanny Shi's face. If you didn't look closely, you couldn't tell that she had been beaten.

"Okay, the punishment is over. Just kneel here and reflect on your actions. This time I just gave you a slap in the face. If you dare to be disrespectful to the Empress again next time, you will not be allowed to stay in Kangning Palace." Aunt Yuhu didn't even glance at Nanny Shi, and she helped Shen Tianjiao go in directly.

Empress Dowager Liu, who had been furious ever since she heard the news that Shen Tianjiao had attended court today and dismissed the imperial gardens, was now sitting there drinking cooling tea.

She sent Nanny Shi to stop Shen Tianjiao and make things difficult for her. Her purpose was to establish Shen Tianjiao's authority and tell her who was the boss in the harem. With her as the queen dowager, it was not the turn of Shen Tianjiao as the queen to step forward.

But the more she drank the fire-reducing tea, the more her anger didn't subside. Instead, it only intensified. She thought about how much she had endured in her life, all for the sole purpose of being the most powerful person in the world.

Now she is the empress dowager, but her authority is limited to the harem. It is something she dare not even think about to attend court meetings. But how can Shen Tianjiao not only attend court meetings, but also interfere in court affairs and dismiss officials? It makes her so angry that she wants to die.

And Shen Tianjiao knew that Yuan You was her man, but she dismissed Yuan You without any scruples. Isn't this obviously going against her?

Queen Shen Tianjiao is becoming more and more disobedient. It seems that it is time for her to come out and give Shen Tianjiao some advice, so that Shen Tianjiao can weigh her own weight and put herself in the right position.

"Queen Mother."

"Get out! Didn't I tell Yan Qingjing to be alone and no one is allowed to disturb her?" Empress Dowager Liu, who was already furious, didn't even open her eyes to see who was coming, and started scolding directly.

"The Queen Mother has been really irritable lately. As one ages, it's time to cultivate one's character, calm one's temper, and worry less. On weekdays, when you have nothing to do, plant some flowers and plants. This can not only cultivate one's sentiments but also nourish one's character. Not worrying too much will lead to a long and healthy life."

The sudden sound made Empress Dowager Liu stunned. She was too familiar with this voice. It was engraved in her bones and she would never forget it. It was a nightmare that she could never get rid of.