A few days later, Wu Zetian announced that the imperial edict of Xue Shao was granted the title of Grand Marshal and personally presided over a ceremony for the three Dukes to carry him.

Although the Three Dukes are empty positions, their status is extremely noble. In today's era, except for the respected royal family, they will generally not be awarded the Three Dukes' positions. Xue Shao was named the Grand Marshal as a relative at the age of 30, which is considered a miracle.

In fact, after Xue Shao returned from the Western Expedition, the court and the country had been discussing what kind of rewards Xue Shao would receive and what position he would stand after he returned to the court?

The Great Zhou inherited the spirit of the Tang Dynasty's martial arts and attached great importance to military merits. It is very common for generals to become generals and ministers with their outstanding military talents and grand military merits. Therefore, many people speculated that Xue Shaohui joined the cabinet and even replaced Wu Chengsi, who had just stepped down, as the new leader of the Political Affairs Hall.

So the facts in front of him surprised many people. Some people speculated that the queen was afraid that Xue Shao's military achievements were too great and the prestige was too high, so she did not allow him to be the prime minister to avoid threatening his position; some people speculated that Xue Shao did not want to be the master to be so powerful that he was shocked. He deliberately gave in and avoided suspicion, so he refused to be the prime minister.

But few people really know that this is actually a tacit understanding reached between Wu Zetian and Xue Shao.

No matter how high the status is and how powerful the power is, many things are actually involuntarily. Now, in the court, the two factions of "Holding Li" and "Holding Wu" are clearly distinguished. Wu Zetian is high and controls it in the middle. Therefore, it is not an exaggeration to be the "three major" factions.

If Xue Shao is now a prime minister, he will inevitably become the leader of the "Li Sect". The power of the Li and Wu factions will be unbalanced, and the result will be a threat to Wu Zetian's imperial power. In that case, Xue Shao will inevitably have a head-on conflict with Wu Zetian in the court.

The two tigers will suffer one of them when fighting each other, and the country and the country will suffer as a result. This is something that Wu Zetian and Xue Shao don’t want to see.

The struggle for power in humans is to live to the death, and there is no third choice. But now Xue Shao chose to use "concessions" to maintain an alliance with the Queen. It is true that the successor of the country is also very important, but Xue Shao believes that the stability of the monarch's power is the most fundamental factor of national stability. So he chose to give up the power of the prime minister and continue to integrate with the power of the monarch to serve as Wu Zetian's military guarantee.

As for those court officials of +4+4+4+4,m.■.c↗om, whether they support Li or Wu, Xue Shao does not want to participate for the time being. Although his bloodline has long understood his position, as long as he does not come forward or speak out, he will not put positive pressure on Wu Zetian. At least on the surface, all the choices are still in Wu Zetian's hands. In this way, Xue Shao and Wu Zetian will not have a direct conflict.

The political alliance between Xue Shao and Wu Zetian has long become the greatest security guarantee for this country. As long as this alliance does not break down, no matter what the battle between the Li faction and the Wu faction become, the country can continue to maintain stability.

This is the real big picture.

Xue Shao and Wu Zetian have always been able to maintain a high degree of consistency in such a situation.

Although Xue Shao and Wu Zetian had many conflicts and even had a fight, their "big picture" was always consistent. On this basis, both sides could understand how to make compromises and concessions at the right time. Therefore, their "cooperation" was maintained for so many years.

Xue Shao is very glad that he has the "historical cognition" that surpasses most people in this era. He also understands Wu Zetian himself and has a more accurate prediction of the future historical trends.

Xue Shao believes that these "cognitions" are his greatest wealth and the most powerful secret weapon. Without these cognitions, he will definitely not be able to make the right choices at many critical moments. In that case, his destiny and fate will definitely be even more desolate and miserable than Pei Yan.

For a long time, the court still had a great fight every day about the establishment of the crown prince. Xue Shao just watched coldly and ignored him. He also strictly restrained his "best friends" and did not allow them to be in it.

In addition to the established court and going to the official office to handle some official duties, Xue Shao spent the rest of his time with his wife, beautiful concubines and children at home, and then actively prepared for his marriage with Shangguan Wan'er.

He decided to organize the marriage with great fanfare, one to give Shangguan Wan'er and Mrs. Zheng a comfort, and the other to let the public understand that he "loves beauty but not the country", and was unintentionally involved in court disputes.

After Shangguan Wan'er's marriage was completed, Xue Shao would marry Yu Hongye again with a "high-profile" approach. The intention was like a slightest.

In order not to favor one or the other, Xue Shao proposed to Yu Hongye, Chen Xianer, Linlang sisters and Yue Nu all set up residences and live separately. As a result, they unanimously opposed it. Only when they lived together was considered a "family". Moreover, such a large-scale construction was too ostentatious and would have caused a lot of criticism, so it would be better to give up.

In the end, Princess Taiping came out to smooth things out together. The Duke of Zhao's mansion actually earned Mrs. Zhao, which was equivalent to a "benefactory gift" to marry Shangguan Wan'er. After the betrothal gift was given, it was Mrs. Zhao's private wealth, and Shangguan'er's mansion was Shangguan Wan'er's "mother's home". Think about it, Chen Xian'er was adopted by his uncle very early and had no "mother's home", and Yuenu and Linlang didn't have a "mother's home". Yu Hongye runs Ruoda's family business, which is his "mother's home". Now, do you want to build another mother's home for Chen Xian'er and others?

When Xue Shao heard this, he made sense, but he couldn't lose anyone if he had any flesh on his palms and backs. Especially Chen Xian'er and others had been with him for ten years, and they could not get tired of the old and old. So after thinking about it, Xue Shao ran to find Wu Zetian and asked for a "title" for the four concubines who had already married.

According to the laws of this dynasty, his wife of an official of the level of Xue Shao must be officially named "Lady of the Imperial Decree". For example, the wife of an official above the third rank will be named "Lady of the County", and the wife of a first rank official will be "Lady of the State". However, Xue Shao is the son-in-law, and his wife is a princess, and there is no need to be titled for him. Moreover, no son-in-law dares to take a concubine as blatantly as Xue Shao. Even if he occasionally "doesn't mind" sleeping with one or two maids, he has to hide it.

So now, Xue Shao’s situation is very special.

Wu Zetian made a decision after careful consideration. She was generous and named Chen Xian'er, Yue Nu and Linlang sisters "Mrs.", which was a treatment only for the wife. Shangguan Wan'er, who was about to marry, was named "Mrs. County Lady", which was one level lower than the Mars.

This higher level is considered a "special commendation" for Chen Xian'er and others to take care of their husbands and children for ten years. Although Shangguan Wan'er is one level lower, she was awarded a mansion and had a separate grand wedding, which was considered to have enjoyed a real "preference".

By doing this, it will probably be even.

Although Chen Xian'er and others did not care about such "title ban", Xue Shao's conscience was comforted. Moreover, he believed that this "extraordinary" reward could also divert the attention of some public, so that they could talk about my "private life". It would be better to make them feel that Xue was just focusing on his beautiful wife and concubines, and thus had no intention of politics.

In a nutshell, Xue Shao is using the guise of "romanticism" to continue to do his ability to keep a low profile.

As long as it does not harm others and arouses public anger, Xue Shao thinks it is okay to do more things like this.

It was winter in a blink of an eye, and Xue Shao and Shangguan Wan'er were about to hold a wedding. At this time, it was the season when "the extreme of Yin Qi is the first to produce Yang Qi", and the Winter Solstice. This is an important festival of the Great Zhou Dynasty. On this day, Wu Zetian would lead all civil and military officials to hold a ceremony to worship the sky in the suburbs.

Xue Shao naturally participated in this ceremony, and he has participated in such a ceremony more than once.

But something strange happened at this ceremony. Li Dan, the imperial heir who had always been the "Yaxian", and Li Chengqi, the imperial grandson who had been the "Three Fairs", were replaced by Wu Chengsi, the king of Wei and Wu Sansi, the king of Liang.

This is a particularly dangerous political signal. All the civil and military officials in the court are dumbfounded. Is His Majesty the Emperor going to make Wu Chengsi the crown prince?!

Xue Shao also felt that this "god turning point" was too strange. Wu Zetian had already revealed many signs before, wanting to make his son a throne. Why did the plot turn sharply this time?

There must be a reason!

After Xue Shao came back, he discussed with Princess Taiping. Since all the civil and military officials were confused, the reason must have happened in the near future and came from the airtight inner court!

Others may not be able to find out any news, but this is not difficult for Princess Taiping and Shangguan Wan'er.

Soon, Xue Shao smelled the "dangerous smell" floating out of the palace. It was the two concubines of the emperor Li Dan, Liu and Dou, who suddenly "evaporated from the world". The reason was that someone reported that the two concubines were cursed by the "art of disgust and victory" to curse the God Emperor.

Such a crime is very special. At present, the two concubines are mostly in danger of their lives and will not be seen. If they are to be expanded, the whole family of Li Dan and his family will suffer.

One of them was Li Longji's biological mother Pang.

It is not difficult to imagine that Wu Chengsi would definitely make a big fuss to criticize the royal heir Li Dan. Wu Zetian's performance at the Winter Solstice Ceremony also proved that she was indeed angry.

In such an era of "imperial power supremacy", the emperor's mood was a major political event.

The royal heir Li Dan can not be made the crown prince now, but he must not die. This is Xue Shao's innermost line.

A war seems inevitable.

Xue Shaoxin thought about it, but found that this was not only a great crisis, but also an excellent opportunity. As long as he used a "strange move" at the right time, it would not be difficult to save Li Dan's life and completely defeat Wu Chengsi in one fell swoop.

After hiding one's strength and raising one's low profile for so long, Xue Shao felt that it was really time for him to "take action".

[I am not in good health recently, and the update may be slightly slower. Please forgive me!]
Chapter completed!