The Grand Tutor had been waiting here for quite some time, and finally saw General Zhengning and Princess Yongxi coming on horseback. Naturally, he went to greet them, after all, they were now great heroes.
And she was a woman. As a woman who could do this, she was definitely not an ordinary person. She smiled and greeted him: "Welcome General Zhengning to return triumphantly."
Xiao Man was not arrogant, and looked at the Grand Tutor, "Master Grand Tutor is so polite now."
The Grand Tutor was somewhat amused and looked at Xiaoman: "It seems that after three years of fighting and killing, Princess Yongxi is still the same. The Emperor has been waiting for you for a long time. Let's go to the palace."
Xiaoman nodded: "Thank you, Master Taifu, for leading the way to the chicken. By the way, Yongxi got the news that Prince Xiao and Princess had returned three days ago. I wonder where they are now?"
Hearing this, the Grand Tutor was a little embarrassed, but he still answered quickly: "I really can't answer this question for you. The King and the Queen left Kyoto three days ago."
After leaving, Xiaoman frowned, but then she thought of her sister Qian Jiujiu's character. It was really possible that she would leave on the same day she came back. It was really mean of her not even waiting for her.
Forget it, let's run away after seeing the emperor! Xiaoman thought so and soon arrived at the palace. This time, the emperor did not hold a palace banquet to welcome Xiaoman and others.
Instead, he directly conferred rewards in the court. Xiaoman didn't care about these at all. The emperor looked at Xiaoman and said, "By the way, Yongxi, you are a girl."
"You have made such an incredible contribution to our court. What do you want?"
Xiaoman raised an eyebrow, glanced at the emperor, and quickly said what she wanted: "Your Majesty, are all conditions really acceptable?"
The emperor nodded without hesitation: "Of course any conditions are acceptable, as long as you say so."
As soon as the emperor finished speaking, he heard a minister object: "Your Majesty, this is not appropriate, what if General Zhengning makes excessive demands
Xiaoman curled her lips and said nothing. She didn't want to be an official in the court, and she didn't want to be with these old guys who were scheming against each other every day!
He glanced at the emperor and said, "Your Majesty, look, Yongxi hasn't even spoken yet! He's already started to object, but this matter is very important to Yongxi."
"Yongxi still has to speak up. Please ask the emperor to grant Yongxi the freedom of marriage. Yongxi's future husband needs Yongxi's nod."
The emperor was stunned for a moment, and so were all the ministers. That was right, marriage was too important for a woman. And now Princess Yongxi had made such a great contribution.
It is certain that many people would set their sights on Princess Yongxi, but no one expected that Princess Yongxi was actually smart and had thought of this first.
The emperor had a lot of grievances in his heart, he originally wanted to take advantage of today's reward to directly make Yongxi a noble concubine, now that Prince Xiao and Qian Jiujiu have left.
At this time, Yongxi would not go against his wishes, because if he did, it would be disobeying his order. But he didn't want to force Yongxi in this way.
Because he felt that he might lose Yongxi forever, so he asked Yongxi what she wanted. Unexpectedly, Yongxi actually brought up this matter.
In other words, he missed this opportunity. Unless he slapped himself in the face, if he used the royal decree to suppress Yongxi in the future, he would be breaking his promise.
Moreover, this condition is the best in every aspect. Because this group of ministers will not let Yongxi serve as an official in the court, and offering a thousand and ninety-nine is already a last resort.
Moreover, Qian Jiujiu can enter and leave the court at will because of Mu Yexiao's support, but Xiaoman does not have this condition! The emperor is thinking wildly.
Xiao Man has spoken again: "What's wrong? Your Majesty, is this condition difficult?"
The emperor immediately came back to his senses: "That's not the case, but I'm surprised that you would ask for this."
Xiaoman smiled and said, "That's a good request. I don't want you to suddenly get angry and give me a marriage certificate. If I marry a stranger, wouldn't that be fatal?"
This statement made many ministers dissatisfied. Their daughters and wives were married in this way. Marrying a stranger is a matter of life and death? Then what are they
However, at this time, everyone wisely chose not to speak. The emperor was helpless and agreed, then looked at the person standing next to Xiaoman.
He was handsome and looked a lot like the Gu Xiangning that Mu Yexiao had mentioned. He looked at Xiaoman and said, "Yongxi, is this person next to you your military advisor Gu Xiangning?"
Xiaoman nodded; "Exactly, he is Gu Xiangning."
Only then did Gu Xiangning bow to the emperor again: "Gu Xiangning greets the emperor."
During the three years of war, the name Gu Xiangning was not unfamiliar to the ministers of the court. They knew that this man was a talented person.
The Grand Tutor, who was proficient in both civil and military affairs, stood up naturally at this time and looked at the emperor: "Your Majesty, Gu Xiangning is a talented person. Such a person will naturally serve as an official in the court."
The emperor also took the opportunity raised by the Grand Tutor to look at Gu Xiangning and said, "I wonder if Mr. Gu has this intention?"
Gu Xiangning frowned, glanced at Xiaoman, and then spoke: "Your Majesty, Xiangning has been away from home for some time, and has entered the court as an official."
"Xiang Ning needs to pay respect to the elders of his family before he can make a decision. Please forgive me, Your Majesty."
The emperor was quite angry that one after another of them refused to serve as officials. He did not want to say anything to the rest of them and just asked Xiao Xiangzi to read the imperial edict.
After rewarding all the people, the emperor was about to retire from court to have a good talk with Xiaoman when suddenly Prime Minister Ren stood up.
"Your Majesty, I have a report to make."
The emperor frowned. What was going on now? Couldn't he wait until tomorrow to discuss it? Now he was anxious to talk to Xiaoman and ask how Xiaoman had been doing in the past three years
But some blind people just jumped out, which is simply outrageous. However, the Prime Minister has already spoken, and we can't stop him from speaking.
He could only hold back his anger and looked at Prime Minister Ren: "Present it."
The eunuch quickly took the memorial and the emperor opened it and took a look. His face suddenly changed and he looked at Prime Minister Ren fiercely: "Prime Minister, what do you mean by this?"
Prime Minister Ren was very surprised. Their emperor had loved his people like his own children and hated evil like an enemy since he came to power. If he saw such evil deeds, he would definitely be furious.
How come the facts are so different from what he imagined? He was actually angry at me? Looking at the emperor's furious face, I knew he was really angry.
Prime Minister Ren's legs went weak. Although the emperor in front of him was his nephew, Prime Minister Ren still felt guilty because he had not given his nephew any help from beginning to end.
But it has come to this point. Since the memorial has been submitted, there is absolutely no room for maneuver. In this case, let's just go all the way.
Xiao Man absolutely could not stay, so he kowtowed to the emperor and began to speak: "Your Majesty, everything I have said is true."
"If you don't believe me, General Zhengning is here too. I believe she won't lie."
Xiaoman originally had a blank expression on her face, as if these things had nothing to do with her. But when she heard what Prime Minister Ren said, she turned her head and looked at Prime Minister Ren.
"I wonder what Prime Minister Ren wants this general to prove?"
Prime Minister Ren was stunned for a moment. If she really did this, would she admit it? If it were him, he might have already thought of a way to deny it.
Letting his subordinates take the blame for him can also help him strike a blow against his enemies. However, thinking of the evidence in his hands, Prime Minister Ren began to look forward to it again.
Expecting Xiaoman to deny it, so that he could throw out some evidence to refute his denial, he looked at Xiaoman expectantly and said, "General Zhengning, I want to ask you something."
"When you conquered Ningguo, didn't you massacre two cities and kill hundreds of thousands of people? Even the soldiers of your own country called you the Demon General?"
Xiaoman thought Prime Minister Ren was going to talk about something, but it turned out to be this matter. When he sat down to talk about these things, Xiaoman thought about the consequences, but what was done was done.
As for the title of Demon General, Xiao Man really didn't know it. He glanced at Gu Xiangning next to him and said, "Brother, does anyone call me Demon General?"
Gu Xiangning coughed twice: "Yes, you scared a lot of people."
Xiao Man got the answer, and then looked at Prime Minister Ren: "Prime Minister Ren, you are right, it was my order to massacre the two cities. As for the title of Demon General, I really don't know."
"But I am sure that I have such a title. It's just that when two armies are fighting, life and death are unpredictable. Are you now going to hold me responsible for the lives of those enemy countries?"
Prime Minister Ren was stunned for a moment before he spoke: "Although they are from an enemy country, they are just ordinary people. You did such a cruel thing, which means you are also a cruel person."
"You are so cruel, you are not fit to continue to lead the Great Zhou army."
Xiaoman instantly understood what Prime Minister Ren meant and glanced at the emperor: "So that's how it is. Prime Minister Ren, you think too much. I don't have any idea about being an official in the court."
"I originally thought that after meeting the Emperor today, I would leave to look for my sister, the Princess. I just didn't expect that I would be forced to leave today. Whatever, I didn't care anyway."
"I don't want to be a general. I will take my leave now."
After finishing speaking, Xiaoman turned around and left. Gu Xiangning frowned, glanced at Prime Minister Ren, then glanced at the emperor: "Then I will also take my leave."
After saying that, he went straight after Xiaoman and soon caught up with Xiaoman: "Xiaoman, why don't you explain?"