When he opened his eyes, there was a white curtain in front of him, and a large area of ​​sunlight shone on the top of the tent. Zhang Huan turned his head slightly and saw a young woman's face, with her eyebrows and eyes as dark as she was. Is it Jing Niang?

Then the young woman raised her eyebrows and heard a fierce and evil voice in her ears, "Zhang Shiba, do you know how she came back last night?"

Zhang Huan felt a severe headache coming, "Oh! It's Pingping."

"Lag, get up quickly!"

Pingping dragged him up hard, "Get up and have a cup of tea to wake up, have you forgotten what day is today?"

"What day?" Zhang Huan's mind was confused, "Today seems to be the second day of the imperial examination."

"Today is your day, have you forgotten?"

"Ah!" Zhang Huan sat up all over. He almost forgot that he is now the commander of Guoyi, the doctor of the Ministry of Personnel asked him to take office today, but he forgot everything.

"When is it now?"

"The time has passed long ago. An official came just now and said you can go later." Pingping squatted on the ground while putting his shoes on him, and complained: "You used to get up before dawn to go swimming in the river. Now, you are drunk. I heard that you are flirting with Hu Ji. Alas! I really don't know what to say about you."

"I was happy yesterday. I drank a few more drinks and it was a bit out of control." Zhang Huan smiled embarrassedly. He stood up and tied his hair up and tied it up, but saw a bunch of famous thorn invitations on the table table.

"That was sent to you by many senior officials yesterday."

Pingping walked in quickly with a basin of water. She looked at the invitations and said with a smile: "Everyone outside said that you can swim, you can swim a thousand steps, and you are famous in Beijing, just like people in Chang'an are all landslides."

"The story spread to thousands of people, so it naturally left."

Zhang Huan took the towel she handed over, washed her face, and immediately woke up. Then he looked through the famous priests, "Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, Li Mian, Taichang's Minister, and Yang Yan, Taifu Temple Minister.

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’ Zhang Huan’s hand stopped, and he picked up one of the famous posts with a faint fragrance, ‘Left Prime Minister Pei Jun!’

He was invited to the family banquet on the seventh day of the first lunar month. Isn’t the '7th day of the first lunar month' today? Pei Jun naturally wanted to go for invitations, but what should I do with other posts? Zhang Huan suddenly discovered an extremely troublesome thing. These ministers and ministers were all people with real power. Since they all posted to invite them, even if they didn’t go, they had to reply to thank them. There are at least 30 or 40 families here. Do you still have to go to the run one by one? He has no servants and followers.

Zhang Huan looked at Pingping, who looked innocent, and suddenly smiled and said, "Pingping, how about helping Zhang Shiba run errands?"

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He wrote a bunch of thanks and threw them to Lin Pingping. Zhang Huan took office in a big way. Since ancient times, it has been a common problem for new officials to take office. First, he had to go to the Ministry of Personnel to call the name, then go to the Ministry of Rites to study the ceremony. He is a military officer and has to go to the Ministry of War to register, then go to the Weiwei Temple to collect weapons and armor, then go to the Taipu Temple to lead the horses, and finally report to the headquarters of the General of the Yulin Army. When he finished all this, it was already afternoon.

"Master Li, I'm going back for lunch, and you'll have nothing to do in the future. It's up to you to go home or stay here."

The person who took him through these procedures was a member of the Ministry of Personnel, named Lu. He was very enthusiastic about him and did his best in doing things, but he was a little mean in his words.

Zhang Huan's Yulin Army Guoyi Captain was a void position, and he had no soldiers under his command. After he reported, he could indeed go home. However, his void position was destined to be unique. Before he could decide where to go, several eunuchs rushed over in a panic, "Who is Zhang Huan? Who is Zhang Huan who just took office today?"

"Father-in-law, that's right." Zhang Huan stepped forward and agreed. The eunuch grabbed him and said anxiously: "Follow me, the Queen Mother wants to see you!"

"Empress Dowager?" Zhang Huan was stunned for a moment. This word was too indifferent in his heart. From childhood to adulthood, he heard and was always emperor, minister, minister, etc. When he grew up, he talked about the harem in the academy. Everyone was only interested in princesses and princesses, and no one would mention the empress dowager.

Zhang Huan then remembered that the empress dowager of the Tang Empire was Empress Zhang, the former emperor. She was a stolen figure who killed the prince and supported the Li family. Fifteen years have passed, and she has gradually disappeared from people's memories.

He had a few thoughts in his mind, but he couldn't figure out what the Queen Mother would do for him. Perhaps she was so popular yesterday that she just wanted to take a look?

Time didn't allow him to think too much, so he nodded and said, "My father-in-law, please lead the way, I'll go with you."

The place where Empress Dowager Zhang lives is in Tai Chi Palace, which is quite close to the Xi Nei Garden where Zhang Huan is currently located. When you enter Xuanwu Gate, there is Tai Chi Palace in front. Before the Daming Palace was built, this was the main palace of the Tang Dynasty, where Emperor Gaozu Li Yuan and Emperor Taizong Li Shimin all live here.

With the completion of the Daming Palace, the Tai Chi Palace gradually became a place for elders and concubines to take care of their elders. After Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty, Li Longji was also sent here by his son Li Heng, and finally died of depression.

The Tai Chi Palace is the place where Empress Dowager Zhang is supported. Empress Dowager Zhang is over fifty years old this year, but she has excellent care and looks only about thirty years old. Her skin is fair and delicate, and her phoenix eyes and goose nose can still be seen. However, as she grows older, her cheekbones are slightly protruding, and her lips have lost their former plumpness and luster, becoming two thin pieces.

When Empress Dowager Zhang was a woman with strong power when she was young, Li Heng was in poor health, so she repeatedly overstepped the power and interfered in politics. For this reason, she formed a deep hatred with the then crown prince Li Yu. Seeing that Li Heng was seriously ill and was about to die, she brazenly launched a palace coup, killed Prince Li Yu, and promoted the throne of the King of Yue Li.

But in the next ten years, the seven major families controlled the government affairs, and both the Emperor Li Shi and she lost their power. But just a few days ago, she issued the first imperial edict in ten years, and named Cui Ning, the daughter of Right Prime Minister Cui Yuan, the princess of Qinghe. Although it was at the request of the emperor, it was a test for her. Whether what she said was useful was beyond her expectations. Cui Yuan not only immediately sent her daughter to the palace to thank her for her, but also wrote a special letter afterwards, and she was grateful for the reward she gave her.

Just as a beggar just discovered that he actually lived on a mountain of gold, Empress Dowager Zhang savored it for several days before slowly recovering from his senses. Has his power never been lost?

On the sixth day of the court meeting, she had just recovered from her illness and had no time to test her power. But then her confidant eunuch Zhu Guanghui told her that the emperor promoted a rival to the Prime Minister Cui at the court meeting, a concubine of the Zhang family, who was a man who kidnapped Princess Qinghe not long ago.

In this way, Zhang Huan, the commander of the Yulin Army Guoyi, who was personally granted by Li, was designated as a test subject to test his own power.

"Zhang Huan, the commander of the Yulin Army Guoyi, met with the Empress Dowager!" Zhang Huan knelt down on one knee through a bamboo curtain and saluted respectfully.

"When you see the Ai family, how dare you kneel on one knee?" A cold voice came from behind the bamboo curtain.

Zhang Huan was stunned. He replied neither humbly nor arrogantly: "Report to the Empress Dowager, the Emperor has issued an edict in the fifth year of Qingzhi. Officials above the sixth rank can be exempted from kneeling when they meet with them. They can only be polite to show their respect. I am now in the sixth rank military post, but I still have given the highest etiquette in the army to the Empress Dowager. Please give it a clear review."

Before the empress dowager was angry, the fat eunuch Zhu Guanghui next to him suddenly snorted heavily, "A little lieutenant Guoyi dared to contradict the empress dowager, someone came!"

He was about to order someone to drag Zhang Huan, but the empress dowager waved her hand gently, "Wait a minute, the Ai family has something to ask him."

A storm that was about to storm disappeared in an instant, and after a moment of silence, the bamboo curtain slowly rolled up, revealing a pale face, still without a smile, and his tone was still cold and stunning, "I heard that you kidnapped Princess Qinghe, is that true?"

At this time, Zhang Huan already understood that the Queen Mother was deliberately causing trouble for herself today. No matter how she answered, she would not be able to do what she wanted. His waist was straight and he raised his head and said, "The Queen Mother probably made a mistake. Zhang Shangshu has eliminated the misunderstanding with the Prime Minister. The Queen Mother will know when she asks the Prime Minister!"

"All nonsense!"

Empress Dowager Zhang could no longer stop the anger in her heart. She shouted loudly: "The Prime Minister is the Prime Minister and he doesn't care about you, but Princess Qinghe is my personal disciple. How can you allow you, a concubine's son, to be bullied at will? Today, I call you here to let you know the nobleness and humiliation of my Tang Dynasty."

Empress Dowager Zhang's eyes became more and more fierce, and her tone had changed from cold to strictness. She turned around and shouted sharply: "Strip off his armor and beat the Ai family out of the palace!"

Several guards stepped forward and wanted to capture Zhang Huan, "No need for you to work hard, I'll leave by myself!" Zhang Huan raised his hand to stop everyone. He looked at Empress Dowager Zhang's eyes and smiled and said, "I will engrave the gift of the Empress Dowager today and will be rewarded to the Empress Dowager in the future."

Although his tone was gentle and his smile was as friendly as if he really wanted to repay his kindness, the cold gaze that burst out from his eyes, like an ice needle, made Empress Dowager Zhang shudder. She suddenly remembered that fifteen years ago, the man stared at him with this kind of eyes before he died, and still often appeared in her dreams.

But Zhang Huan was just a small sixth-rank low-rank official, and she was the touchstone used to test her power. She didn't have to take it to heart. Empress Dowager Zhang smiled coldly, "It's a pity that you no longer have the chance to pass on the will of Ai's family. Zhang Huan, the commander of the Guoyi army of Yulin Army, disrespects the Empress Dowager and should be executed according to the law. But considering that he was first offended, he would not be punished. He ordered the Ministry of Personnel to remove all his official positions and demoted him to common people."

"Empress Dowager, wait!" Li Shi, who rushed over after hearing the news, finally slowed down one step.

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Chapter completed!