How could my childhood sweetheart be the current empress?

The palace was silent late at night, and candles were still lit in the imperial study.

A woman in a dragon robe sat at a desk, with memorials piled up like a mountain in front of her.

At this moment, there was a box in front of her. Inside the box was a half-eaten cake. On the box was a small note with neat handwriting saying:

Happy birthday, my lady.

The handwriting on it was still so familiar. Yan Qiaoling couldn't help but put down the memorial in her hand. Her eyes became moist and a rare smile appeared on the corner of her mouth.

Because she had been working day and night during this period, she even forgot that today was her birthday.

She couldn't help but remember that a year ago, she also forgot her birthday, and her sister sent her a cake.

But compared with the last time, the cake this time was not burnt and its appearance was more beautiful.

"Time flies so fast. A year has already passed."

Yan Qiaoling's heart was filled with emotion as she murmured.

In the blink of an eye, a year has passed. When I think about it carefully, a lot has happened this year.

The thing that she regrets most is that she can't be with the person she loves.

But Yan Qiaoling also understood that there was nothing that could be done about it. Just as he had once told her, there must be sacrifice in order to gain.

She gained power, but also gave up the opportunity to be with him. However, it was precisely because of the power that she was able to protect the one she loved.

Yan Qiaoling always believed that everything she did was worth it, and she had already realized this.

It should have been like this...

But when she saw the cake that the man had carefully prepared, something in her heart was touched and her eyes became red.

She picked up the cake and took a bite, reluctant to finish it all at once.

The cake was soft and sweet, but for some reason, when I took a bite, a sour feeling fermented on my taste buds.

Yan Qiaoling has always appeared strong, but only she knows that she is not that strong.

Whenever she thought of her lover being with her sister, she couldn't help but feel a pang of pain in her heart and a feeling of emptiness in her heart.

It was obvious that she was the one who came first, fell in love with him first, and promised to be with him forever, but in the end, her sister got there first and got the man who should have belonged to her.

But Yan Qiaoling couldn't blame her sister, because all this was her plan, but it was also because of this that she had to give up her lover to her sister, which made her so miserable.

Yan Qiaoling couldn't help but shed tears while eating the cake he made himself.

Xue Yuan stood aside without saying anything. She could actually see that His Majesty was thinking about Prime Minister Xu again.

As His Majesty's personal bodyguard, she had heard His Majesty talking in his sleep more than once, constantly calling out Prime Minister Xu's name.

"Your Majesty, if you miss him, why not go see him?"

Xue Yuan couldn't help but say to her.

Rather than seeing His Majesty missing him too much, it would be better to go see him in person to help ease the feeling of missing him.

Yan Qiaoling had thought about this before, but she shook her head and sighed:

"I would like to, but I haven't finished reading these memorials. They concern the future development of Dayan, so I must personally review and approve them."

It’s not that she didn’t want to see Xu Chengling, but she was too busy recently and couldn’t get away.

These are the reforms proposed by Xu Chengling. In order to successfully implement these reforms, Yan Qiaoling has almost no time to do other things.

The effort behind the implementation of a reform is unimaginable.

But Yan Qiaoling believes that all her efforts are worth it. She wants to build Dayan together with Xu Chengling. After that, she can return the kingdom to her sister and stay with her lover forever.

She had been looking forward to this day, the day when she would meet Xu Chengling.

……

Under the empress's strong attitude, several important reforms were implemented.

There were bound to be various obstacles in the process, but with the strong intervention of the empress, these obstacles were resolved one by one.

In order to implement the reforms, the empress used almost every means, and those ministers who opposed the reforms eventually met with misfortune.

Those who wanted to oppose, after seeing the people around them encounter unexpected accidents one after another, gradually realized that the current empress was not easy to mess with, so they had to shut up.

Among them, of course, the Plum Blossom Internal Guard Operation is indispensable.

At the same time, the Meihua Internal Guard was also investigating another matter, which was the rebel forces lurking in the capital.

"I heard that the imperial court is searching for the whereabouts of the rebels recently. If anyone is found to be harboring rebels, it will be a capital crime."

In the small courtyard of the Prime Minister's Mansion, the little vixen, who was lying comfortably on a folding chair, spoke lightly.

Xu Chengling couldn't help but frowned slightly when he saw the little vixen who came to the Xiangguo Mansion to eat and drink for free again.

If he remembered correctly, the person lying on the folding chair at this moment seemed to be the number one rebel wanted by the court, the white-haired witch herself.

"Master, do you want to kill me?"

Xu Chengling shrugged helplessly and said that if the court found out that he was sheltering the top rebel, he would be sentenced to death.

Luo Xinlian waved her hand at him and said with a smile:

"Don't worry about this kind of thing. Even if you find out, you will definitely have a way to deal with it."

"So, what's your purpose in coming to me?"

"Of course I'm here to eat and drink."

Luo Xinlian spread out her hands and said shamelessly.

Xu Chengling was too lazy to continue paying attention to this little vixen. As long as she didn't cause any trouble, it would be fine.

What's more, he had to thank the other party. If the other party hadn't passed on his power to him, he might have been in danger several times.

It is precisely because of this skill that Xu Chengling can stand here safely.

Luo Xinlian couldn't help but stretch and sat up from the chair. She looked around and there was no one else except the two of them.

So, Luo Xinlian looked at Xu Chengling in front of her and couldn't help but say:

"Master, I came here this time because I actually have another matter to discuss with you."

"what's up?"

"The plan to assassinate the empress."

"hiss……"

Xu Chengling couldn't help but gasp. She really never stops until she says something shocking. How could she say something like assassinating the empress in public?

He quickly looked around, looking a little nervous. Fortunately, there was no one around. If someone heard him, he would be in trouble.

"Master, don't worry. If anyone approaches here, I will be the first to know."

Luo Xinlian smiled slightly and said that it was normal for him to be so nervous. After all, he still had to lurk beside the empress and act as a hidden chess piece.

But no matter what, Xu Chengling is also on their rebel side, so it is necessary to communicate this plan with him.

"In a few days, the empress will go to Lingyin Temple to burn incense and worship Buddha. That will be a good opportunity to assassinate her."

Luo Xinlian spoke lightly.

Chapter 271: Take That Little Girl First

Xu Chengling looked at the little witch in front of him. She was a ruthless person who dared to assassinate the empress openly.

But she does have the capital. Looking across the entire capital, there are only a handful of people who can fight with her.

You must know that even when Xia Chan and Xue Yuan used their swords together, they were no match for Luo Xinlian.

But this might be an opportunity. He has already learned the time when the White-haired Witch will take action. If he tells the empress in advance, wouldn't he be able to set a trap and capture the White-haired Witch?

But Xu Chengling soon shook his head. It might not be easy to catch the white-haired witch with her skills.

If her plan to assassinate the empress was exposed, she would definitely guess that there was a traitor inside, and then investigate further and she would definitely find out that he was the culprit.

By then, his identity as a double agent would be exposed.

So Xu Chengling thought about it, and said to the little demon girl Luo Xinlian in front of him:

"Master, I don't think this plan is appropriate."

"What's wrong?"

Luo Xinlian frowned slightly.

"Think about it. Since the empress is going to burn incense and worship Buddha, she will definitely bring with her guards with strong martial arts skills. Besides, there are many people in the temple. If innocent people are hurt, it will affect the reputation of the rebels in the capital."

Xu Chengling said in a deep voice, analyzing the problems of this plan for her.

Luo Xinlian thought about it carefully and felt that what Xu Chengling said made sense. Her original idea was to let the evil monk set fire to Lingyin Temple, and then she would take advantage of the chaos to assassinate the empress.

But if they do this, the rebels' reputation will be ruined, which will be detrimental to their future actions.

"Well, it seems that this plan really doesn't work, so let's think about it again."

Luo Xinlian shrugged and said that after listening to Xu Chengling's advice, she gave up the plan to assassinate the empress.

Seeing that the other party had given up the plan, Xu Chengling couldn't help but secretly breathe a sigh of relief.

"Master, you won't secretly inform the Empress of this plan, right?"

At this time, Luo Xinlian couldn't help but look towards him and asked with a weird smile on her lips.

She deliberately told Xu Chengling this plan, in fact, she had another purpose, which was to test whether he would stand on the side of the rebels.

If this plan is exposed, it means that Xu Chengling is not their companion, but the enemy of the rebels.

Moreover, Luo Xinlian had a backup plan. Even if her plan was exposed, she could use that person's teleportation array to leave the scene. The purpose of her doing this was just to spy on Xu Chengling's position.

"Master, if you don't believe me, why did you deliberately reveal the plan to me?"

Xu Chengling couldn't help showing a hint of anger, looking at Luo Xinlian in front of him, frowned and said:

"Since you can't trust me, our cooperation ends here."

"Oh, Master, don't be angry. Of course I believe you, otherwise I wouldn't have revealed this plan to you."

Luo Xinlian quickly changed her expression and said with an apologetic smile.

The rebels can have their current size thanks to the secret funding from the old prime minister. It can be said that the Prime Minister's Mansion is the major financier of the rebel organization, and she dare not anger this financier.

Without the financial support from the Prime Minister's Office, the rebels' actions in the capital would be difficult to advance.

However, recently, Luo Xinlian heard that Prince Qin had found a new financial sponsor, who was said to be a powerful figure in the capital.

And the rebel organization has reached a cooperative relationship with that big shot and is plotting something big.

As for Luo Xinlian, she seldom interacts with Prince Qin and basically acts alone. She usually does her own thing and achieves her goals in her own way.

"Master, why would a martial arts master like you help the rebels?"

Xu Chengling couldn't help but ask her a question. He couldn't understand why a peerless master like Luo Xinlian would help the tyrant to commit atrocities.

In response to this, Luo Xinlian just spread her hands and replied calmly:

"The reason is actually very simple. I owed Prince Qin a favor, so I just wanted to repay him."

This reason was even more ordinary than Xu Chengling had imagined, but looking at Luo Xinlian's attitude, it seemed that she was unwilling to continue answering.

In fact, Xu Chengling had a rather bizarre idea, which was to win over Luo Xinlian to his side and make her his assistant.

The reason why he thought this was that he didn't want to meet Tongxin's master as an enemy on the battlefield in the future. For Tongxin, both parties were very important people to her.

If you want to deal with a martial arts master of Luo Xinlian's level, relying solely on cold weapons is not enough. If you can use firearms, maybe there will be a way to deal with her.

My lord, times have changed.

"Xiaobai, don't run!"

A tender voice suddenly sounded, and then a white shadow suddenly broke into the yard.

Looking closely, it turned out to be a white kitten, which jumped into Xu Chengling's arms, meowing coquettishly.

At this moment, an agile figure climbed over the wall of the yard with extraordinary skills.

"Found it, Xiaobai, so you are here."