How could my childhood sweetheart be the current empress?

The spy investigation has finally come to an end.

After this incident, the Izumo killer organization lurking in Dayan was also uncovered and wiped out by the imperial court.

At the same time, the imperial court also had evidence of collusion between the Prince's party and the Izumo Province.

In the following period, the empress sent out the Plum Blossom Guards to conduct a round of purges against the Prince's party members, which made the Prince's party members panic-stricken and their power was greatly reduced.

The person who was most happy to learn about this would be Prince Jing, who had an army of 400,000 men under his command.

Although Prince Jing also had the intention to rebel, he disdained to collude with organizations of other countries. In his view, that was an act of betraying his ancestors.

So when the Prince's party was purged by the Empress, Prince Jing was so happy that he couldn't stop smiling.

……

At the same time, in the imperial study room.

"Your Majesty, in summary, the mission you assigned to me has been completed."

Xu Chengling bowed and spoke to the woman in dragon robe who was lying on the bed with her chin in one hand and a lazy look on her face.

Her jet-black hair was casually draped behind her, and her slightly childish and tender face showed that she was not very old. However, what was inconsistent with her age was the calmness in her lazy eyes... probably.

Seeing that His Majesty was looking at him intently, Xu Chengling felt a lot of pressure.

Sometimes he had an illusion that the person in front of him was not an empress, but a lively and lovely girl next door.

It's an illusion, it's all an illusion. This must be a trap set for him by the Empress.

You know, it's not easy for someone to become an emperor. The royal family has no shortage of acting skills, and the expressions on their faces are only shown when necessary.

"Yes, I understand."

Yan Qiaoling, who was lying on her side on the bed, nodded slightly, and couldn't help but sit up and stretch a little, showing off her slender figure, whether intentionally or unintentionally.

The short-haired woman wearing a golden kite headdress stood by and did her duty conscientiously, staying by the empress's bedside without moving a step.

"As expected of you, my dear minister, you have completed the task assigned by me very well, and also eliminated the Izumo organization lurking in Dayan. How should I reward you for such a great achievement?"

Yan Qiaoling blinked her beautiful eyelashes and looked at her lover whom she hadn't seen for a long time, missing him very much in her heart.

For security reasons, she originally assigned Xu Chengling the task of investigating the Izumo spies lurking in the capital. Unexpectedly, he also uncovered the organization behind the spy.

Not only that, Xu Chengling also obtained evidence of collusion between the Prince's Gang and the Izumo organization, which gave her a reason to liquidate the Prince's Gang.

It can be said that he exceeded his assigned tasks and accomplished a great feat.

"Your Majesty has given me good guidance. This is what I should do."

Xu Chengling said calmly, while not forgetting to flatter the empress.

Although he completed the mission alone, His Majesty still made some contributions, such as sending him to carry out this mission.

"Let me think about it, what do you want?"

Yan Qiaoling frowned slightly, thought about it seriously, and said with a smile:

"My dear minister, you have already reached the first rank, the highest-ranking official in Dayan. Above you, I'm afraid there is only..."

"I am loyal to Your Majesty and have always worked diligently. I never have such thoughts in my mind!"

Xu Chengling was immediately frightened and broke out in a cold sweat, and quickly bowed to express his meaning.

Seeing that Xu Lang was frightened by her, Yan Qiaoling couldn't help but smile secretly. She was just scaring him for fun.

"Of course I know you have no such intention. Since official positions cannot be rewarded, let's find another way."

Yan Qiaoling thought for a moment, then looked at the short-haired woman standing next to her, as if she had thought of something.

So she couldn't help but say:

"My dear, why don't I give you the Snow Flying Kite as a reward?"

"..."

Xu Chengling and Xue Yuan were both stunned.

Especially Xue Yuan, she was standing there fine, but suddenly she was going to be given away by His Majesty?

"My dear, Xue Yuan is a skilled martial artist and is also very beautiful. How about giving her to you as a concubine? What do you think?"

Yan Qiaoling smiled slightly and said to Xu Chengling in front of her.

Xu Chengling couldn't help but look at the short-haired woman next to the empress, only to see that she was also looking at him with a confused look on her face.

Be honest, which man would not be attracted by a beautiful woman who has great martial arts skills and a good personality?

Although he already has beauties like Niangzi, Tongxin and Xia Chan in his house, what you can't get is always the best. It would be a lie to say that he is not moved.

"???"

Xue Yuan was bewildered. Seeing Xu Xiangguo's fixed eyes, she wondered if he would really agree to it.

She looked at His Majesty beside her again and thought, Your Majesty, are you serious about giving her away?

No, she shouldn't be a concubine or something. At least, she should be a wife.

But Xue Yuan thought about it and realized that His Majesty Ji Xue had already married him as his principal wife, so if she married him she would only be able to be a concubine.

Xu Chengling swallowed and said slowly:

"Your Majesty, I already have a lovely wife at home. I am loyal to her and have no second thoughts. Please forgive me for refusing this reward."

Xue Yuan couldn't help but feel relieved when she heard this, but for some reason, she felt a little lost in her heart.

Compared to being a guard, it seems like marrying the young and handsome Prime Minister Xu is not a bad feeling to be kept by someone.

"I see. I didn't expect you to be so loyal to Ling'er. I am deeply moved."

Hearing his words, Yan Qiaoling was deeply moved.

Of course she knew that the "beautiful wife" Xu Chengling mentioned was actually referring to herself. After all, he had always treated his sister as himself.

How could Yan Qiaoling not be moved by his loyalty to their relationship?

So she decided that if she was going to give a reward, she should give a big one.

Yan Qiaoling thought for a moment and said to Xu Chengling:

"Since you don't want a beauty, I will give you something else, such as the imperial sword passed down by the previous emperor, which can behead tyrants and treacherous ministers."

After saying that, she asked Xue Yuan to fetch the imperial sword left by the late emperor.

There are only two of this sword in the entire Dayan, one in the hands of Gongsun Da Niang and the other in the hands of the Empress.

After a while, Xue Yuan took out a sword with four big characters "Shangfang Sword" engraved on the scabbard.

Xu Chengling looked at the imperial sword in Xue Yuan's hand and couldn't help swallowing.

The Imperial Sword is equivalent to giving him the power of life and death. He can chop off anyone's head at will.

Although this imperial sword can behead tyrants and treacherous ministers, it was bestowed by the emperor after all, and in theory it was ineffective against the emperor.

But the ministers under the emperor could kill anyone they wanted without reporting to the emperor later.

"Your Majesty, I cannot afford such a huge reward and cannot accept it."

Xu Chengling directly refused. As the saying goes, if you want to kill someone, make him crazy first.

The empress suddenly bestowed him with an imperial sword, obviously intending to allow him to do whatever he wanted. Since ancient times, the consequence of abusing privileges has ended with one's head being lifted off his neck.

"If you don't want the Imperial Sword, then what do you want?"

Yan Qiaoling couldn't help but frown slightly, thinking to herself, if you don't even want the Imperial Sword, then what else do you want?

Don't you want her?

That's not impossible.

Xu Chengling thought for a while, and then said:

"Your Majesty, I want a gold medal to protect you from death."

Chapter 182 Her Kingdom

"You want a gold medal of immunity from death?"

Yan Qiaoling suppressed her smile, thinking that your precious Ling'er is your greatest golden ticket to immunity from death.

"My dear, if you have the Imperial Sword and the other party has a golden medal of immunity from death, can you use the Imperial Sword to cut him?"

She thought about it for a while and then asked Xu Chengling this question.

This question is like the question of between a spear and a shield. Which is more powerful, a spear that can penetrate anything, or a shield that can block anything?

I thought Xu Chengling would be stumped by my question, but he shrugged and replied calmly:

"This is easy. There is only one gold medal for immunity from death. Just kill those who don't have it."

"I see. What you said is indeed correct."

Yan Qiaoling suddenly understood and couldn't help but secretly raise a mysterious smile at the corner of her mouth.

During the time of the previous emperor, several emperors awarded golden medals of immunity from death to some meritorious officials. Today, the descendants of these meritorious officials still have the golden medals of immunity from death bestowed by the previous emperor.

Among the descendants of these heroes, there are some people that Yan Qiaoling wants to get rid of, but they hold golden medals of immunity from death, which makes Yan Qiaoling very distressed.

Since those who have the golden medal of immunity from death cannot be beheaded, why not just behead those who don't have the golden medal of immunity from death?

Seeing the smile on His Majesty's lips, Xu Chengling thought to himself, this is bad. The skills he taught His Majesty will probably not be used on himself in the future.

"Your Excellency has done a great service in this investigation of espionage. Since you want a gold medal to protect you from death, I will grant you one."

Yan Qiaoling nodded and signaled Xue Yuan to get a golden medal of immunity from death.

At this moment, Xue Yuan couldn't help showing a trace of emotion on her face. She leaned close to His Majesty's ear and whispered:

"Your Majesty, the previous emperor has abolished the golden medal of immunity from death. There is no such thing as a golden medal of immunity from death now."

"Ah...why didn't you say so earlier?"

Yan Qiaoling was stunned after hearing this. She didn't even know about this.

No wonder the current prime minister, who holds such high position and power, does not even have a golden medal of immunity from death. It turns out that this was abolished by the previous emperor.

What should she do? Wouldn’t she be able to give the reward?

Xue Yuan thought about it and came up with a solution, so she proposed to His Majesty:

"Your Majesty, since the death-free gold medal was abolished by the late emperor, let's change to something else, such as the death-free gold certificate. Anyway, whether this thing is useful or not is up to you, Your Majesty."

After all, the golden medal of immunity from death and the imperial sword are privileges granted by the emperor to meritorious officials, and all rights of interpretation belong to the emperor.

The golden medal of immunity from death was granted by the late emperor to meritorious officials. What does it have to do with the current emperor? To put it bluntly, the so-called golden medal of immunity from death is only useful for the sake of the late emperor's face.

Yan Qiaoling felt that what Xue Yuan said made sense, so she said to Xu Chengling:

"My dear, I don't have any extra death-free gold medals on hand at the moment. Please wait a little longer until the blacksmith in the palace has forged one and then deliver it to your house."

"Everything is subject to His Majesty's orders."

Xu Chengling bowed and replied.

"Before that, my dear, please take this imperial sword with you for self-defense. It won't be too late to return it after you receive the golden medal of immunity from death."

Yan Qiaoling ordered Xue Yuan to hand the imperial sword to Xu Chengling.

He wanted to refuse, but then he thought that since His Majesty had given him a reward, he would be losing face for His Majesty if he refused again.

"Then I thank your Majesty."

Xu Chengling thanked His Majesty and took the imperial sword in his hand.

Looking at the scabbard in his hand engraved with the royal dragon pattern and the four big words "Shangfang Sword" on it, Xu Chengling couldn't help but have the urge to draw his sword.

But he quickly suppressed the thought.

Pulling out the Imperial Sword in front of His Majesty would be tantamount to beheading the tyrant. But don't you think about who bestowed the Imperial Sword upon you? Do you want to stop caring about your head?

"By the way, Your Majesty, this is back to you."

Xu Chengling remembered something and placed a gold medal engraved with "Imperial Order" on the desk in front of the empress.