Tang Dynasty Hidden Guards

As night fell, Xue Wei and Yuan Min stood hand in hand by the window, silently gazing at the night sky outside.

"Old Xue, things are not as simple as you think. You were not given the Hidden Guard Gold Medal just because you are Princess Taiping's son. If that were the reason, the gold medal would have been given to Chongjian long ago, not you."

Xue Wei remained silent; he was also pondering this question.

Yuan Min glanced at him and said softly, "She is the emperor, or as you would say, she is a chess player. She is planning for the next thirty years. She will not make such an important decision lightly."

Your mother is a bridge, and the guardian of this bridge is not necessarily her son. It could also be a stakeholder, such as a member of the Li or Wu family, or even Li Longji or Wu Chongxun.

It was your poem that caught her attention. She realized you could also be a candidate, so she set challenges for you: killing Gao Jian was a test of your wisdom, and playing polo was a test of your courage and will.

But I believe that simply completing these two tests is not enough for her to give you the gold medal, because your loyalty hasn't been tested, nor has your patience, and even your destiny. I think that for her, destiny is probably the most important, and... this kind of test will take at least a year.

A thought suddenly struck Xue Wei, and he blurted out, "If we include the Blackwater Prison, it'll be exactly one year!"

Xue Wei and Yuan Min looked at each other, both stunned. An unbelievable thought arose in their minds at the same time: Could it be the Emperor's will to throw Xue Wei into the Blackwater Prison?

Xue Wei survived being forced to drink arsenic, and the emperor, wanting to test him further, released him into the Blackwater Prison.

If it truly was the Emperor's will, then without the Emperor's tacit approval, no matter how much money Yuan Min offered, the Dali Temple would not dare to pave a single bluestone slab for Xue Wei.

This also explains why Wu Sansi didn't dare to kill Xue Wei that year, and why it was Zhang Changzong who released Xue Wei.

There are no such coincidences in the world. If no one had given him a hint, Zhang Changzong would never have thought of Xue Wei in prison.

Why did Shangguan Wan'er have Zhou Yinfeng use poisoned needles to stab Xue Wei? They couldn't understand Shangguan Wan'er's motives.

Now, they vaguely understood that Shangguan Wan'er had seen through the Emperor's intentions. She wanted to prevent Xue Wei from becoming a candidate for the Hidden Guard. She must have made a deal with Wu Sansi to push Wu Chongxun forward.

Zhou Yinfeng's assassination attempt failed, and Princess Taiping questioned Shangguan Wan'er before she promised not to do it again. She was very afraid that the Emperor would find out about her killing Xue Wei, so she was very guilty.

"So you believe that involving you in the Li Chongrun case was actually the Emperor's intention, and not Wu Sansi's revenge?"

Xue Wei nodded. "I just remembered something. The Emperor arranged for Chongjian to marry Wu Sansi's daughter, and it was only with great difficulty that the hatred between him and Princess Taiping was resolved. How could Wu Sansi possibly frame me again and exacerbate the hatred between him and Princess Taiping just because of a few drunken ramblings? That doesn't make sense."

"That's still not right. Since you've already become one of the Emperor's chosen hidden guards, why did Wu Sansi dare to force you to drink poison?"

Xue Wei's mind raced, and he suddenly realized, "It's Wu Chongxun! He must have arranged for someone to poison me; he's eliminating his rival."

Yuan Min was filled with rage, "This person is so vicious!"

"I survived being forced to drink poison, but by a twist of fate, the emperor took even closer attention to me. In order to further test the will of heaven, she ordered me to be thrown into the Blackwater Prison."

"What if you really die?"

"So what if she's dead!" Xue Wei sneered. "She wouldn't care whether her own grandson lives or dies, why would she care about me, her grandson's grandson?"

Two exceptionally intelligent individuals, step by step, uncovered the whole truth.

…………

Wu Jizhi was severely injured, but Wu Sansi's revenge did not come as expected. Xue Wei seemed to have been forgotten all of a sudden, and everything around him became quiet.

It was unusually quiet, so Xue Wei continued preparing a birthday gift for Yuan Min.

Yuan Min's birthday is March 19th, and there are still three days left, so he decided not to go anywhere and instead focused on drawing chibi versions of Yuan Min in his room.

Yuan Min has been extremely busy these past few days. She had turned down many shop-related matters because of Xue Wei's situation, and now these matters have piled up and she needs to deal with them.

On March 18th, around noon, Yuan Min rushed into Xue Wei's room like a whirlwind and placed an invitation in front of him.

"My grandfather is throwing a big birthday banquet for me tomorrow at the Yuan residence. You're coming too!"

Xue Wei picked up the invitation and looked at it. It wasn't an invitation sent by her grandfather, Yuan Chen, but rather one written by Yuan Min herself.

"I knew it! Why would your grandfather invite me?" Xue Wei laughed self-deprecatingly.

Don't get angry over such a small thing!

Yuan Min wrapped her arms around his neck, kissed him hard on the cheek, and smiled, "You are the most important person to me. It's enough for me to treat you. I invited eight people in total, seven of them close friends, but you are the only man among them."

Xue Wei laughed and said, "Your friends, sisters, and family are people I've never met before. They'll be entering your real life tomorrow, and I'm really looking forward to it."

"Actually, you've seen them before. They all came when we got married, but you didn't bother to get to know them back then. Now that you're very famous, they really want to see you."

"You want to see that Young Master Tianjue?"

Xue Wei hated this nickname. Although the government had abolished it, it was still circulating among the people.

Yuan Min covered her mouth and laughed, "It's not just polo, but also the poems you wrote. I showed Dugu Jiao your poem 'Night Rain in Bashan,' and she was so moved that she cried."

Xue Wei suddenly understood, "Are all your friends daughters of noble families from the Guanzhong region?"

Yuan Min nodded. "Yes, actually, it's not just women, there are also many outstanding men you can get to know."

"Is there anyone who likes you?" Xue Wei asked in a low voice.

Yuan Min smiled without saying a word, and Xue Wei immediately understood, "There must be quite a few!"

Yuan Min clung to his arm and said coquettishly, "You'll find out tomorrow, but you're not allowed to be jealous. Many people like me, but they won't be as despicable and shameless as Wu Chongxun, nor as brazen as Cui Shi. If I get married, they will never bother me again."

Xue Wei nodded. "You are currently unmarried and have excellent qualities in all aspects. It's normal for men to like you. That's their freedom. The key is yourself."

"I understand, don't worry! I would never do anything to make you uncomfortable."

..........

Yuan Min was leaving after having lunch with Xue Wei. Tomorrow was her birthday, and she was very busy today, so she really didn't have time to spend with Xue Wei.

"Qingling will come to pick you up tomorrow afternoon. Be a good girl and wait here."

Yuan Min smiled and kissed Xue Wei on the cheek. Just as she was about to leave, Xue Wei grabbed her hand and handed her a wooden box. "This is for you. Happy birthday!"

"What is this?" Yuan Min asked in surprise.

"Go back to the car and open it again. If you have any questions, I'll tell you slowly later."

"Okay! I'm going now."

Yuan Min left happily with the gift in hand. Xue Wei walked to the window and looked down at her carriage. He felt a little heavy-hearted. He knew that the Yuan family would definitely not welcome him tomorrow and would not give him a good face, including Yuan Min's mother. But he didn't care. He had to face what he had to face.

Yuan Min sat in the car and carefully opened the box. Inside were six booklets, each about two inches in size, all bound with thread after being punched in holes. This was the first time she had ever seen such binding.

Each booklet has a title on its cover: "Minmin Does Morning Exercises", "Minmin Can Cook", "Minmin Practices Martial Arts Diligently", "Minmin Loves Reading", "Minmin Loves Cats", and "Minmin's Daily Life".

Yuan Min was stunned. Apart from "Minmin Loves Reading" and "Minmin's Daily Life", she had never heard of the others.

She slowly flipped through the pages and saw her dressed in palace attire, cooking in front of a round pot she had never seen before, holding a notebook with the words "recipe" written on it.

Then I saw her standing in a square, with a building with many windows behind her and a tall flagpole with a red flag hanging on it. She was doing side exercises with one hand on her waist and the other hand raised high.

I also saw her holding a bow and arrow and seriously shooting arrows. In front of her was a curtain with many small balls hanging on it. She was shooting at the balls, but she was holding the arrows upside down, with the arrowheads pointing at her own eyes.

There was also a scene of her strolling in the rain under an umbrella, with an adorable black cat perched on it, its paws clasped together in a pleading manner, accompanied by the caption, "I don't eat much, please adopt me!"

Each picture is full of life's little pleasures, making people both annoyed and amused.

Xue Wei's drawing skills have clearly improved. He drew her in an exaggerated and cute way, but it was definitely her. Although most of the content was imagined, every expression and movement of hers was so natural. Xue Wei captured her essence.

As she looked at the book, Yuan Min's eyes slowly reddened, and tears streamed down her face. After carefully reading the last volume, "Minmin's Daily Life," she realized that Xue Wei had been preparing these six volumes with one hundred and twenty illustrations for a long time, and she didn't know how much effort he had put into them.

She wiped away her tears, hugged the box to her chest, and murmured, "Thank you for the best birthday present I could ever have!"