Tang Dynasty, my wife Wu Zetian

Chapter 144 The Little Prince and Empress Wu

The night was dark and the clouds were low.

It rained during the day, but the clouds did not disperse. There was a hint of coolness in the July evening breeze.

This is a government office. The people living nearby are very dissatisfied with it because every night, bursts of howling of wild beasts can be heard from the office.

Stables Office.

It was originally a place for raising cattle, sheep and other livestock. However, during the Zhenguan period, the emperor issued an order to move all the wild animals in the tiger garden to this place.

Here is a lion, which was a tribute from the Parthian Empire five years ago, and a tiger, which was presented by the Kang Kingdom this year.

The two beasts were kept in different pens.

However, as soon as the lion roars, the tiger will follow suit, disturbing the sleep of nearby residents.

Suddenly, bursts of animal roars were heard, and the lions and tigers started shouting in the air again.

A man in a round-necked brown shirt walked silently along the dark path, carrying a wooden barrel filled with mutton.

If you want to silence the two wild beasts, feeding them meat is the best option.

The man's name is Kang Sun. He is in his forties and a Sogdian. He has been working as a clerk in the stable office for six years.

He was gentle, enthusiastic, and hardworking. Everyone in the stable office respected him and respectfully called him Lao Kang.

Lao Kang came to the outside of the animal pen carrying the meat. The tiger in the pen had already smelled the scent and ran over, letting out a low roar.

In the dark night, its eyes are like two bright pearls, emitting a terrifying light.

Lao Kang scolded with a smile: "Don't rush me, I'll feed you right away. You beast, you eat better than humans. Can't you be a little more well-behaved and stop disturbing everyone, okay?"

The tiger growled in response.

Lao Kang laughed and said, "Then I'll take that as your agreement. If you dare to make a fuss again tomorrow, I'll pee on the meat and then give it to you!"

The tiger remained silent this time, for the meat had already been thrown in through a small opening in the pen.

As Lao Kang fed the meat, he looked up at the moonlight and suddenly sighed, "I wonder how long this kind of life will last."

"It won't be long, today will be the last day." A voice came from behind him.

Lao Kang turned his head suddenly.

I saw a person walking out of the darkness.

This man was extremely fat and round like a ball. He was wearing a particularly loose and luxurious robe, and he had a hint of majesty.

"Who are you and how did you get in?" Lao Kang asked.

The fat man said calmly: "You don't need to know who I am, you just need to know who you are."

Lao Kang's face changed and he asked, "What do you mean by that?"

As he was speaking, four big men came out from behind the fat man. They were all wearing black clothes and had fierce expressions.

The fat man fiddled with his fingers slowly and said, "Should I call you Old Kang, the Tang Dynasty official, or Kang Sun, the Tibetan spy?"

Lao Kang suddenly turned around and ran towards the animal pen behind him. After a while, one of his hands had already reached the door of the pen.

He seemed to want to open the door and let the tiger out.

"Whoosh whoosh!"

Several crossbow arrows were fired.

Lao Kang was hit by a crossbow in both legs and fell to his knees. A rope was thrown over and wrapped around his neck, dragging him back.

Several men in black tied up Lao Kang tightly. One of them asked, "Young Supervisor, do you want to check the order from the Stables Office again?"

The fat man was Zhang Duohai. He waved his hand and said, "Don't bother. These informants are very special and never move. The people in the Stables Department should all be clean."

Zhang Duohai ordered his men to escort the Tibetan spy to the secret prison of Changqiutai, and then went straight back to the palace to report to Wu Meiniang.

When he arrived outside the Lizheng Hall, he heard voices begging for mercy from inside.

Zhang Duohai entered the palace cautiously, only to hear a palace maid shout, "Your Highness, please forgive me. I will never dare to do it again."

Wu Meiniang sat on the phoenix couch and said coldly, "Will there be a next time? If His Majesty's body is damaged due to your negligence, even if you die a hundred times, it will not be enough to atone for your sin."

It turned out that Wu Meiniang's belly had been getting bigger recently, so she no longer prepared medicinal soup for Li Zhi personally, and handed it all over to the palace maids.

The palace maid was careless for a moment and gave the wrong medicine.

Although the wrong medicine was non-toxic, it was harmful to the headache. Wu Meiniang was furious and interrogated him in the palace.

"Come here, drag this slave away and give her fifty lashes."

Zhang Da Hai was shocked when he heard this.

After being beaten with fifty sticks, the palace maid would probably be unable to get out of bed for at least three months. If she caught a cold, she might die immediately.

"Your Highness, please spare me, Your Highness, please spare me!" the palace servant shouted.

At this moment, a small figure ran in from outside, bowed to Wu Meiniang and said, "Mother, considering that this is her first offense, please be lenient with her."

The person who came was the fifth prince Li Hong.

Wu Meiniang was unmoved and said calmly, "Aren't you doing your homework? What are you doing here?" Li Hong said, "I have finished my homework."

Wu Meiniang held her temper and said, "Mother is disciplining the palace maids. This matter concerns your father's health and cannot be taken lightly. You can go now. You have nothing to do here."

In the palace, there are only two people who can make her patient, one is Li Zhi and the other is Li Hong.

Li Hong was very stubborn despite being young. He said, "Mother, please reduce the thirty strokes and use twenty strokes as punishment."

"Li Hong, are you teaching me how to do things?" Wu Meiniang raised her voice a little.

Li Hongdao said, "I have recently been studying the Analects of Confucius. I heard the teacher say: 'Serve your parents with advice. If they do not follow your advice, you should still respect them and not disobey them. Work hard without complaining.'"

Seeing him confront Empress Wu, Zhang Duohai felt both worried and respectful for him, thinking, "As expected of a dragon, he's incredibly courageous."

Wu Meiniang was both angry and amused, and asked, "When did you start reading the Analects?"

Li Hongdao said, "Teacher Guo has seen that my child has been learning quickly lately, so he occasionally talks to him about something, and he learns to remember it."

Wu Meiniang asked, "Have you ever heard him say this: A father should not speak of his son's virtues, and a son should not speak of his father's faults?"

Li Hong was stunned for a moment and said, "I've never heard of it."

Wu Meiniang smiled and said, "This is a sentence from the Book of Rites. When you have read it thoroughly, come and discuss this with me."

Li Hong whispered, "Yes," but did not retreat.

Wu Meiniang asked, "What else do you have to say?"

Li Hong lowered his head and said, "No more."

Wu Meiniang said, "Then leave immediately and review your lessons."

Li Hong said, "I beg you, mother, to punish the palace maid leniently."

Wu Meiniang said with a stern face: "What we just said was in vain? You are young now, don't meddle in the affairs of adults."

Li Hongdao said, "I just thought that my mother's generosity might bring some blessings to my unborn brother."

Wu Meiniang glanced at him and said, "Who told you that I'm carrying a boy?"

Li Hongdao: "My father said so."

Wu Meiniang was stunned for a moment, her eyes gleaming as she smiled and asked, "Did your father really say that?"

Li Hong nodded his head.

Wu Meiniang smiled slightly, touched her belly, and said, "Well, let's just do some good deeds for this child. Drag him away and only give him twenty strokes of the cane."

The palace maid said gratefully, "Thank you, Your Majesty the Queen, and thank you, Your Majesty the Prince of Dai."

Seeing that his goal was achieved, Li Hong took his leave and left.

Zhang Duohai then came to Wu Meiniang and whispered, "Your Highness, the spies from the Stables Department have been captured."

Wu Meiniang nodded and asked, "Which one is it?"

Zhang Duohai said, "Including the old man Mi and his son, this is the ninth one."

After Wu Meiniang dealt with Mi Erlang, she ordered the Changqiutai to search for Tibetan spies in Chang'an City.

She felt that since Lu Dongzan had left behind a spy, he would definitely not leave only one, so she had been secretly investigating the matter.

Although these people had been hiding in Chang'an City for many years, they all had one thing in common: they all came to Chang'an with Lu Dongzan in the 14th year of Zhenguan.

Therefore, as long as we dispatch Hu people from Yongzhou Prefecture to investigate those who came to the Tang Dynasty in the 14th year of Zhenguan, and then conduct a careful investigation among these people, we will be able to get results.

Wu Meiniang asked, "Have all the names on the list selected by Yongzhou Prefecture been checked?"

Zhang Duohai said: "We have checked everything, there shouldn't be any fish that have slipped through the net."

Wu Meiniang shook her head and said, "That's not necessarily true. If they forged a false official certificate, you wouldn't be able to find out."

"Then shall I investigate further?" Zhang Duohai asked tentatively.

Wu Meiniang waved her hand and said, "No need. Searching without any clues will not only lead to no arrests, but will also cause chaos in Chang'an. Send all the captured people to the Nei Ling Mansion."

Zhang Dahai's face changed and he said, "Your Highness, why are you sending him to the inner court? This is the person we worked so hard for several months to capture."

Wu Meiniang glanced at him and said with a smile, "Look at your potential. Do you think that if you give it to Wang Jishan, he will take the credit for himself?"

"Ah, that's true. He probably doesn't have the courage." Zhang Dahai said with a smile.

Wu Meiniang said slowly, "You must remember that the Changqiutai, like the Sigongtai, are both agencies responsible for gathering intelligence for His Majesty. Only the Neilingwei has the authority to apprehend foreign spies."

Zhang Dahai whispered, "I know."

Wu Meiniang turned her head to stare at him and said, "If you want Changqiutai to be preserved forever, you must remember your responsibilities and mission."

Zhang Duohai said, "I don't understand. If that's the case, why did you send me to capture those spies?"

Wu Mei Niang said, "This is to let His Majesty know that you are still useful and can make up for the shortcomings of the Imperial Household Department. However, you cannot compete with the Imperial Household Department for credit."

Zhang Duohai bowed and said, "I understand. I will escort him to the inner court tomorrow."

Wu Meiniang waved her hand and said, "Step back."

(End of this chapter)