Tang Dynasty, my wife Wu Zetian

Chapter 108 Empress Wu's Silkworm Relationship
In the eastern suburbs of Chang'an City, outside Chunming Gate, there is an altar five feet high and five feet wide with steps on four sides.

This altar is called Xiannongtan, where the emperor prayed to the god of agriculture and prayed for good weather and harvest in the country.

Early that morning, Li Zhi led his ministers to hold a ploughing ceremony at the Xiannongtan Temple.

There is a thousand acres of land next to the altar, which is used as registered land.

Li Zhi had to first climb the Xiannong Altar and pray to the Xiannong, asking the Xiannong to bless the Tang Dynasty with good weather and a good harvest.

The standard for offering sacrifices to the God of Agriculture is to use the Tailao ritual.

The Tailao ceremony was the highest-level sacrificial ceremony in ancient times, with a cow, a sheep and a pig as sacrifices.

After offering sacrifices to the God of Agriculture, Li Zhi stepped down from the altar and began the ploughing ceremony himself.

The Minister of Agriculture handed over the imperial plow and hoe, and there were twelve people who accompanied Li Zhi to plow the land.

They are the twelve officials with the highest positions and titles in the imperial court.

Li Zhi needed to push the plow three times, and the others needed to push more times according to their ranks. The lower the official position, the more times they needed to push, up to a maximum of nine times.

When Li Zhi presided over the Xiannong Ceremony, Wu Meiniang also presided over the Silkworm Ceremony in the harem.

All the ladies in the palace had to follow Empress Wu in worshipping the silkworm goddess Leizu and picking mulberry leaves to feed the silkworms.

The Canlei Temple is located in the Forbidden Garden, and there is a mulberry forest next to the temple.

The eunuchs and palace servants were collecting mulberry leaves and bringing them to the mulberry room in the temple.

There are five mulberry rooms in total, with dozens of tables in each room. The ladies all sit behind the tables, feeding the silkworms with mulberry leaves.

For these ladies who are usually unable to carry anything on their shoulders or hands, today is a rare day for them to work.

Some were very interested, some looked disgusted, and some took the opportunity to chat and whisper with other ladies.

Xu Jin sat behind a desk, looking around, when suddenly an idea came to his mind. He ordered someone to bring paper and pen, and wrote a poem about silkworms.

Not only that, she also sketched out the scene of the Xiannong ceremony in her mind, thought about it carefully for a long time, and wrote another poem "Fenghe Xiannong Fu".

After finishing, she put it away carefully.

This poem was a backup draft. If Li Zhi wrote a first agricultural fu, she could use this fu to write a rhymed fu.

Of course, if the emperor had not written the Xiannong Fu, her poem would have been destroyed immediately.

Concubine Zheng standing by was not as elegant as her.

She was very afraid of these little silkworms. When feeding them, she would throw a whole piece of silkworm leaf into the basket and let the silkworms eat it by themselves. She didn't dare to touch the bamboo box at all.

Liu Chong'e was the only lady among the nobles who was truly devoted to the worship. She fed each silkworm meticulously and attentively.

If a silkworm is listless and unwilling to eat leaves, she will take it in her hands and examine it carefully.

Wu Meiniang fed the silkworms first and left the mulberry house.

As soon as she left, Concubine Zheng stood up immediately, patted her clothes, as if she was afraid that silkworms would crawl onto her body, and then left quickly.

Other ladies also left in twos and threes.

For most ladies of noble birth, the silkworm-raising ceremony was just a formality. Given the conditions in their homes, they did not need to do needlework themselves on a daily basis.

Wu Meiniang came to the side hall to rest. She washed her hands and changed her clothes, then leaned lazily on the couch and closed her eyes to rest.

A palace maid handed her some cakes and preserved fruits, but she had no appetite at the moment and waved her hand to order the maid to take them away.

"Your Majesty, hasn't returned to the palace yet?" she asked Lady Jiang.

Jiang Shang Gong said, "It should be soon."

At this time, Zhang Duohai hurried in and whispered, "Your Highness, news just came from the Dali Temple that Di Renjie has pried open Gongsun Yang's mouth. He not only revealed the whereabouts of the tax, but also Zhangsun Quan."

Li Zhi ordered the Changqiutai to cooperate with Di Renjie in investigating the case, so the Changqiutai also sent a eunuch to follow Di Renjie and participate in the interrogation of Changsun Yang.

Wu Meiniang's eyes flickered slightly. "So, Changsun Quan is indeed involved in this case?"

Zhang Duohai said, "That's not the case, but Chang Sunquan seems to be very interested in the tax. The condition for him to help Chang Sunyang kill Shi Hedan is that Chang Sunyang tell him the whereabouts of the tax."

Wu Meiniang asked, "Did Chang Sunyang tell him?"

Zhang Duohai said, "Before Di Renjie arrested Chang Sunyang, Chang Sunquan had already learned the whereabouts of the tax money from Chang Sunyang."

Wu Meiniang pondered for a moment, frowned, and said, "Strange, could it be that tax money is Changsun Quan's goal?"

Zhang Duohai said, "Judging from Di Renjie's attitude, he seems to think that Zhang Sunquan has other motives. Oh, and Di Renjie has also found out something."

Wu Meiniang tilted her head and asked, "What's the matter?"

Zhang Duohai said, "Di Renjie found out that the five prefectures in Hebei Province, where the head tax was collected, happened to be the fiefdom of Princess Xincheng."

Wu Meiniang's heart moved, and she wondered, "Could it be that Zhangsun Quan is dissatisfied with the court for this reason?"

Zhang Duohai said, "It's very likely. The five states originally only paid taxes to the Princess's Mansion, but the court suddenly imposed a head tax on them, and because of Chang Sunyang, they collected it twice. It's only natural that Chang Sunquan, young and resentful, would go astray."

Wu Meiniang hummed. From this perspective, it was normal for Zhang Sunquan to focus on the tax, because in his view, that money originally belonged to the Princess's Mansion.

Zhang Duohai smiled and said, "Your Highness, it seems that Zhang Sunquan is preparing to leave Chang'an and go to Luoyang to withdraw the money."

Wu Meiniang nodded.

As long as Changsun Quan took out the money, it would be irrefutable evidence, and the emperor would not tolerate him no matter what his reasons were.

"Have you got your eye on him?"

Zhang Duohai laughed and said, "He was watching closely. That idiot Changsun Quan only chose two people to accompany him. They happened to be Wu Niang and that kid Si Gongtai."

Wu Meiniang was suspicious by nature. She stared at him and said, "Such a coincidence, he wouldn't have noticed anything, right?"

Zhang Duohai smiled and said, "I don't think so. I think it's because of Shi Hedan's incident that Zhang Sunquan trusts them the most."

Wu Meiniang nodded, and a hint of sadness suddenly appeared on her face.

This expression rarely appeared on her face. Zhang Duohai asked curiously, "Your Highness, what's wrong with you?"

Wu Meiniang said calmly, "After all, Zhangsun Quan is the consort of Xincheng. His Majesty likes this girl the most. It must be difficult for him to deal with her husband personally."

Zhang Duohai said, "There's nothing we can do about it. Changsun Quan committed suicide on his own. Even if Wu Niang hadn't been there, the Palace Office would have reported this to His Majesty."

Wu Meiniang said, "I don't care whether Changsun Quan lives or dies, but Princess Xincheng has a strong temper. If she does something extreme, it will only make Jiulang sad."

Zhang Dahai smiled and said, "That's true. If Your Majesty is too worried and his headache relapses..."

Wu Meiniang glanced at him coldly.

Zhang Dahai quickly knelt on the ground and kowtowed, saying, "I made a mistake... I made a mistake..."

Wu Meiniang waved her hand and said, "Stop kowtowing. Go and ask Princess Xincheng to come see me."

Zhang Duohai agreed and quickly retreated. After a while, he came over with Princess Xincheng.

Princess Xincheng bowed expressionlessly and said stiffly, "I wonder why the Queen wants me here?"

Among the ladies of the imperial family, she was the only one who dared to speak to Wu Meiniang like this.

In fact, the two had a dispute when Wang Liwu was deposed.

Zhangsun Quan and his wife also opposed the dethronement of Queen Wang and the enthronement of Wu Meiniang as queen.

Changsun Quan was upset because Queen Wang had done nothing wrong, while Princess Xincheng was upset because Wu was her father's concubine and she found it hard to accept.

Princess Xincheng, as the daughter of Empress Zhangsun, was loved since childhood. After Li Zhi ascended the throne, he held her in the palm of his hand.

When Queen Wang was in charge of the imperial palace, she had conflicts with her, and Queen Wang was also quite wary of her.

Wu Meiniang became the queen. Because of the dethronement of King Wu and the fact that Princess Xincheng was the daughter-in-law of the Changsun family, the two became enemies.

At the beginning, Emperor Gaozong of Tang was also in a difficult situation. When the two women had a conflict, he did not help either of them.

Empress Wu then changed her strategy and did not argue directly with Princess Xincheng. Instead, she showed weakness everywhere.

As a result, Emperor Gaozong of Tang really began to favor Wu Meiniang.

Princess Xincheng was even more indignant. She was straightforward and had a strong temper, and she could not learn to show weakness like Wu Meiniang.

Once, the two quarreled, and Princess Xincheng put her hands on her hips and cursed Empress Wu. Emperor Gaozong of Tang happened to see this and scolded Princess Xincheng.

Princess Xincheng was angry and aggrieved, so she began a cold war with her brother and rarely entered the palace, except once during the royal family banquet on the official day.

On the day of the banquet, she wanted to give her brother a chance to admit his mistake, so she went down the stairs.

Unexpectedly, at the banquet, Li Zhi did not pay much attention to her, as if he treated her as an ordinary member of the royal family.

Princess Xincheng believed that Empress Wu had instigated the conflict between the siblings. She returned home and cried bitterly, vowing never to enter the palace again.

Now that Empress Wu suddenly called her over, she naturally didn't look happy.

Wu Meiniang was silent for a while, then said, "Xincheng, do you know what Zhangsun Quan has done recently?"

Princess Xincheng's eyes flashed with anger, and she asked, "What do you want to do now?"

Wu Meiniang said sternly: "It's not what I want to do. You should ask your husband, Changsun Quan, what he wants to do!"

Princess Xincheng shouted angrily, "If you dare to lay a hand on him, I will never let you go!"

Wu Meiniang snorted and said, "I'll just remind you once. Go back and have a good talk with him. If he's willing to turn back, maybe he can still save his life."

Princess Xincheng said coldly, "Do you want him to submit to you and help you deal with Zhangsun Wuji? Don't even think about it!"

Wu Meiniang shook her head and said, "I have said this. It's up to you whether you want to listen or not. You can leave now."

Princess Xincheng glared at her fiercely and left angrily.

(End of this chapter)