Tang Dynasty, my wife Wu Zetian

Chapter 120 Three Little Princes

"Mei Niang, what are you doing?"

Early in the morning, as soon as Li Zhi arrived at the Lizheng Hall, he saw Wu Meiniang kneeling on the ground with a scroll in her hand.

Wu Meiniang lowered her head and said, "I beg Your Majesty to depose me from the position of Queen, take Concubine Wang back to the palace, and enthrone her as Queen."

Li Zhi hurriedly helped her up and said, "Mei Niang, I have absolutely no such intention. I went to see her only to investigate the case. Please don't worry."

Wu Meiniang looked up at him and said, "Investigate the case?"

Li Zhi then told her about Liu Sheng's case.

After hearing this, Wu Meiniang secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

As long as Li Zhi didn't take the initiative to see Queen Wang, she was not afraid and said softly, "So that's how it is. Please don't blame me for being silly."

Li Zhi took her hand and walked into the house, saying softly, "You don't have to worry about anything, just focus on taking care of your baby."

After Wu Meiniang sat down, she suddenly said, "Oh, there's something I've forgotten to tell you all."

Li Zhi said: "Oh, what's the matter?"

Wu Meiniang said, "When we were paying homage to Zhaoling Mausoleum a while ago, Princess Linchuan came to see the two little princesses and said a lot of good things about the Xiao family."

Li Zhi frowned and said, "Princess Linchuan is the daughter of Concubine Wei, right?"

Wu Meiniang said, "That's right. When I went to see Concubine Wei, I also met Wei Hongji."

Li Zhi said in a deep voice, "You mean to say that Wei Hongji is helping Xiao Rui to deepen the relationship between the two little princesses and the Xiao family?"

Wu Meiniang said, "I don't know if this was orchestrated by the Xiao family. To protect the two little princesses, I have issued an order to forbid Princess Linchuan from entering the palace."

Li Zhi nodded, held her hand and said, "You did the right thing. I will ask you to help me with the affairs of the harem in the future."

The news that Li Zhi went to see Wang quickly spread throughout the harem.

The concubines reacted differently.

Concubine Zheng was quite resentful towards Wang and was not very happy about this.

Liu Chong'er was more afraid that Wang would return to the palace and take away her son Li Zhong.

Xu Jin was the most indifferent. Apart from Li Zhi and her father Xu Xiaode, there was almost no external affairs that could affect her mood.

At noon that day, Xu Jin came back from the plum garden to admire the flowers and saw Princess Gao'an and Princess Yiyang lying on a couch, playing Bo.

Just as Xu Jin was about to walk over, she suddenly heard Princess Gao An snort, "Third brother is too domineering. I won't play with them anymore."

Princess Yiyang said, "Then let's play by ourselves and call Xiaoji and the others."

Gao An pursed his lips and said, "Except for Xiaoji, the others were clearly deliberately giving us the edge when they played with us. It wasn't fun at all."

"So you still want to play with your third brother and the others?" Princess Yi Yang joked.

"No! But if he apologizes to me, I can play with him!"

Xu Jin came over to the two of them, sat down next to Princess Yiyang, and said with a smile, "What are you two talking about?"

Princess Gao An complained, "Madam Xu, the third brother bullied us and wouldn't let my sister and I play Cuju with them."

Xu Jin asked in surprise, "Didn't you play together four days ago?"

Princess Gao An grumbled, "That's when they have Cuju lessons. They won't let us play after school on weekdays!"

Xu Jin was stunned and asked, "Do they play Cuju on weekdays?"

Princess Gao An said, "Of course we play, we play every night, right in the West Pond Courtyard of the East Palace!"

Xu Jin asked, "Didn't the teacher leave them any homework?"

Princess Gao An snorted, "I don't know. They definitely didn't do it seriously, right, sister?"

Princess Yiyang nodded and said, "I heard from Wulang that my second, third, and fourth brothers haven't made much progress in their studies recently."

Xu Jin's heart trembled, and he asked, "Didn't Wu Lang play with them?"

Princess Gao An laughed and said, "Wulang actually wanted to play with them, but his brothers didn't dare to because they were afraid that mother would come and discover their secret."

Wulang is the fifth prince Li Hong, and the mother they are talking about is Empress Wu.

Xu Jin vaguely realized that this matter was serious.

In order to strengthen the physical fitness of the princes, the emperor gave them an additional lesson in Cuju.

Nowadays, Cuju has caused the princes to become playful. Li Zhi will definitely feel very uncomfortable when he finds out.

Xu Jin pondered for a moment, thinking that this matter concerned the education of the princes and the future of the Tang Dynasty, and immediately gave instructions to a eunuch.

"Go see what everyone is doing."

Soon, the eunuch reported back that Li Zhi had just returned from Lizheng Hall and was handling official business in Ganlu Hall.

Xu Jin ordered her personal maid, "Die'er, go wait outside Ganlu Palace. If His Majesty finishes his official duties, please ask him to come over."

Die'er said, "Yes." She came to Ganlu Palace and waited outside the palace.

More than an hour later, Li Zhi walked out of the hall.

Die'er hurried over, bowed, and said, "This servant greets you all."

Li Zhi recognized her as Xu Jin's attendant and said with a smile, "It's you, Chongrong, is there something you want to talk to me about?"

Die'er lowered her head and said, "Madam Chongrong, please ask everyone to come over."

Li Zhi nodded and walked to Penglai Palace.

When I entered the hall, I suddenly heard a crisp sound. I came to the main door and looked inside. It turned out that Xu Jin was teaching Princess Yi Yang to read.

Li Zhi listened outside for a while. Princess Yi Yang was reading "Instructions for Women".

Despite her young age, she spoke clearly and read fluently, showing signs of a young talent. Li Zhi waited until she finished reading word for word, then walked into the hall and applauded, saying, "Not bad, Yiyang has made great progress in her studies recently."

Princess Yi Yang smiled sweetly and jumped into Li Zhi's arms.

Li Zhi held her and sat down, then smiled at Xu Jin and said, "Chongrong asked me to come here, is there something wrong?"

Xu Jin said, "I also heard about this from Yi Yang. Yi Yang, why don't you tell me about it?"

Princess Yiyang nodded and complained, "Yeah, my second, third, and fourth brothers have been obsessed with Cuju lately and have started to slack off in their studies."

Li Zhi frowned and asked, "Is there such a thing?"

Princess Yiyang nodded seriously and said, "The doctors who lecture at Chongwenguan are almost out of control. I've said a few words to them, but they've still been aggressive."

Li Zhi said in a deep voice, "Fu Sheng, pass on the order to have Erlang, Sanlang, and Silang come to see me with their recent work."

Wang Fusheng agreed and went.

Li Zhi continued to talk with Xu Jin and Princess Yiyang.
After more than half an hour, Li Zhi suddenly became aware of something. He turned his head and saw a head poking in from the door, secretly observing the room.

Li Zhi's face darkened and he said, "Everyone come in!"

There was a chaotic sound of footsteps, and three princes in yellow jackets came pushing and shoving each other and stood in a row in front of Li Zhi.

The second prince was named Li Xiao, the third prince was named Li Yong, and the fourth prince was named Li Lian.

Li Xiao and Li Yong were both born to ordinary palace maids and had never been favored by Emperor Gaozong of Tang, so they were very afraid of their father.

Only the fourth prince, Li Lian, had been favored because of his biological mother, Concubine Xiao Shufei, and had a more lively personality. It was he who had just peeked in.

When Concubine Xiao Shufei and Queen Wang were fighting, it also affected the princes.

Li Lian was quite clever at a young age. He ate and played with his two brothers, and the three of them had a very good relationship, which isolated Li Zhong.

After the king was deposed and King Wu was enthroned, the biological mothers of the three men were stripped of their positions and lived in Daji Palace near the Eastern Palace.

The sympathy they felt for each other also made the relationship between the three of them closer, and they were basically inseparable.

Li Zhi looked at the three people's timid eyes, his expression softened a little, and said, "How are your studies going recently?"

The second prince, Li Xiao, was taciturn and a bit dull, while the third prince, Li Yong, was the strongest and too impulsive. Neither of them dared to speak casually.

"Father, we have completed all the assignments assigned by the teacher carefully." The one who responded was the fourth prince Li Lian.

Li Zhi said, "Have you brought all your homework? Let me take a look."

Several eunuchs entered the hall and presented the three people's homework to Li Zhi.

Li Zhi first picked up Li Xiao's homework.

The handwriting was quite good, with both poetry and explanations. After reading it carefully, he nodded and rolled it up again.

When he checked Li Yong and Li Lian's homework, his face suddenly darkened.

The three of them are about the same age and their homework content is also similar.

It can be seen at a glance that many of Li Lian's homework was copied from Li Xiao.

Not to mention Li Yong.

There were three types of handwriting on his homework, one was Li Xiao's and the other was Li Lian's.

The last one is his own, the font is crooked and looks like a dog's crawl.

It was obvious that he even asked the other two for help in copying homework.

Li Zhi's face was as gloomy as water, and he looked up at Li Yong.

Li Yong was so scared that he knelt on the ground without saying a word.

Li Zhi glanced at Li Lian again, and Li Lian's round little face showed a flattering smile, as if he still wanted to get away with it.

Li Zhi snorted, "Except for Erlang, the remaining two of you all copied your homework, right?"

Seeing that he couldn't fool people, Li Lian finally knelt down with his head hanging down.

Li Zhi said in a deep voice, "It seems that letting you play Cuju was a wrong decision. From now on, you should just study hard as before."

Li Yong said anxiously, "Father, we don't dare to play anymore. Please let us play Cuju."

Xu Jin advised at the right time: "Your Majesty, the princes are still young, why not give them another chance."

Li Zhi snorted, "If it weren't for your concubine Xu's plea, I would never have forgiven you this time. You all must study hard for me from now on. If you dare to copy homework again, you'll be punished!"

Seeing that they had not been deprived of their Cuju skills, the three of them said in unison, "Yes!"

Li Zhi waved his hand and said, "Go ahead."

……

Wei Mansion Water Pavilion.

Xiao Rui sat in the water pavilion, drinking tea calmly, while Wei Hongji stood in front of the fence by the water, looking at the water without saying a word.

Wei Hongji suddenly turned around and said, "Liu Sheng has been taken away by the Dali Temple, aren't you panicking at all?"

Xiao Rui smiled and said, "I didn't participate in this matter. At most, I helped him pass a message to the dancer. The person who delivered the message has left Chang'an, so Di Renjie can't find me."

Wei Hongji asked, "What if Liu Shengruo betrays you?"

Xiao Rui smiled and said, "He won't. With the example of the Jingzhao Du family, no one will do something as stupid as Du Chong."

Wei Hongji nodded, walked to the chair and sat down, saying, "What are you going to do next? Di Renjie doesn't seem that easy to deal with."

Xiao Rui sighed, "I really underestimated this man. He should stay out of the spotlight for now. When Liu Rengui and Di Renjie come to investigate the Ministry of Personnel, we can act accordingly."

(End of this chapter)