Tang Dynasty, my wife Wu Zetian

Chapter 153 Li Zhi's Warning

Dali Temple, back house, study.

"Grrrrrr!"

The tea has boiled and steam is coming out of the spout.

Xin Mao stretched out his hand that was originally holding the tea clip, but just when it was halfway extended, it stopped in mid-air.

"You said the queen gave birth to another son?" He could not hide the disappointment on his face.

Sitting opposite him was Lai Ji, who nodded solemnly and said, "This is the third one, the same as Empress Wende."

Xin Maojiang sighed, picked up the teapot with a teacup, and poured a cup of tea for Lai Ji.

"Empress Wende gave birth to seven children, but only three of them were princes. Our queen also has three princes out of her four children. It seems she is blessed by heaven."

Lai Ji looked depressed and didn't speak for a while.

General Xin Mao asked, "Prime Minister, did you come to me just to tell me this news?"

Lai Ji said in a deep voice, "My right eyelid has been twitching non-stop lately. I always feel like something bad is going to happen, so I want to find someone to talk to about my feelings."

General Xin Mao laughed and said, "Why don't you go find Prime Minister Han?"

Lai Ji shook his head and said, "He has a bad temper and is not a good person to discuss things with."

General Xin Mao bowed and said, "Thank you for coming to see me. If you have anything to say, please speak frankly."

Lai Ji was silent for a while, picked up the teacup, blew a breath of hot air, and then slowly spoke:
"Brother Xin, what do you think of Lord Changsun's recent behavior? Do you think he's truly withdrawing from the court, or does he have other plans?"

Xin Maojiang did not answer immediately.

He first poured himself a cup of hot tea, then poured out the tea leaves in the pot, poured in clean water and tea powder, and put the teapot back into the charcoal stove to boil it again.

Lai Ji watched him make tea silently, without urging him, and waited patiently.

After a long moment, Xin Maojiang slowly said, "If someone who loves tea suddenly asks him to drink water, do you think he can get used to it?"

Lai Ji's eyes flickered: "You mean, he has other plans?"

General Xin Mao pondered and said, "Grand Marshal Changsun has stood firm in the court for decades. It's impossible that he didn't have a backup plan. In my opinion, he has made two preparations."

Lai Ji asked, "Which two hands?"

General Xin Mao said, "If His Majesty truly no longer wants to use him, and Her Majesty the Queen no longer troubles him, even if he is unwilling, he will have no choice but to retire."

Lai Ji sighed, "Indeed, throughout the Six Dynasties, so many powerful officials rarely had a good end. Being able to retire peacefully was the wisest choice."

General Xin Mao said, "If Her Majesty the Queen refuses to let him go, then General Changsun will surely have a backup plan and will strike back with a desperate counterattack."

Lai Ji turned the teacup and stared at the vortex formed by the tea.

"Brother Xin is indeed very insightful. I only hope that since Her Majesty the Queen has been blessed by heaven and has the blessing of having a child, she will stop going too far."

Xin Maojiang also sighed.

They were all on Changsun Wuji's big ship. Once the storm came, none of them could escape and all would be dragged into it.

……

Wu Meiniang had an exceptionally good physique and began to get out of bed and move around the day after giving birth.

Li Zhi came to the Lizheng Hall and saw her walking around in the room. He quickly went over and supported her.

"Mei Niang, even though you had a normal birth this time, you still need to rest in bed for a few more days and you can't get out of bed at will!"

Wu Meiniang smiled and said, "Your Majesty, don't worry too much. I've asked the imperial physician, and he says that after lying down for twelve hours, you can get up and walk around. It will also be good for your health."

Li Zhi helped her back to the couch and said, "Don't worry about your recovery. There's still half a month until the wedding day. Just lie down and rest for three days to avoid any accidents."

Wu Meiniang looked into his eyes and said softly, "I will obey your command."

Li Zhi then instructed, "I have ordered Imperial Physician Meng to prepare medicinal food for you to help you recover. Even if you don't like it, you must finish it."

Wu Meiniang smiled and said, "I will definitely finish eating."

Li Zhi stood up and said, "Then I will go to attend to official business. By the way, the King of Yue has returned to Chang'an. I plan to send Xiaoji to the King of Yue's mansion. What do you think, Mei Niang?"

The last sentence, seemingly spoken casually, made Wu Meiniang's face stiffen for a moment.

She then smiled and said, "Xiaoji is someone close to His Majesty, how could I have any objection?"

Li Zhi patted her hand and said, "Take good care of yourself and don't think about other things." Then he turned and left.

The footsteps gradually faded away. Wu Meiniang looked towards the gate and remained silent.

Zhang Duohai waved his hand, dismissed the servants in the room, and came to Wu Meiniang's side, whispering: "Your Highness, why did the Saint send Xiaoji out of the palace? Did he find out about our plan?"

Wu Meiniang sighed and said, "Judging from your Majesty's expression and words just now, he must have found out about your investigation into Xiaoji." Zhang Dahai's face changed and he said, "What should we do then? Should we continue with the plan?"

Wu Meiniang's brows were tightly furrowed, her fingers were pinched until they turned white, and her facial expression kept changing.

Zhang Da Hai rarely saw her with such an expression, so he held his breath and did not dare to disturb her thoughts.

After a long while, a crying sound was heard in the next room. It was the newborn Li Xian crying.

Wu Meiniang tilted her head slightly, moved her ears, and her expression finally returned to calm.

"Your Majesty should have just warned me not to interfere in Xiaoji's affairs. If it was Changsun Wuji who started the trouble, the responsibility would not be on me."

Zhang Duohai said hurriedly: "That's right, we just spread the news, which is kept secret by gods and ghosts, and even saints may not know about it."

Wu Meiniang thought for a moment and said, "Just in case, we need to change the plan. We can't tell Zhangsun Wuji the news."

Zhang Duohai asked, "How do we let him know?"

Wu Meiniang said, "Direct his attention to the King of Yue and let him find out for himself. Also, go to the Wu residence and have Lady Liucheng take a generous gift to visit Li Zhen's wife and congratulate her on the birth of her daughter."

Lady of Liucheng County was Wu Shun's title.

Zhang Duohai wrote down everything and asked, "Your Highness, do you have any other instructions?"

Wu Meiniang waved her hand and said, "Go ahead."

Zhang Duohai quickly left the bedroom, called a few confidants, arranged a few things, and then headed towards Changle Gate, preparing to go to Wu Mansion in person.

As luck would have it, when he arrived at the gate of Changle, he ran into Wang Fusheng again.

Zhang Duohai bowed to him, and with a turn of his eyes, he found that Wang Fusheng had hidden his right hand behind his back, and he didn't know what he was holding in his hand.

"My humble servant greets Eunuch Wang." He said with a smile.

Wang Fusheng asked, "Is Young Supervisor Zhang going out of the palace to do some business again?"

Zhang Da Hai smiled and said, "Exactly. I'm doing an errand for Her Majesty the Queen."

Wang Fusheng leaned slightly aside and said, "In that case, go and do your work."

Zhang Duohai smiled and said, "Then I'll take my leave." When he passed by Wang Fusheng, he suddenly turned his head and looked behind him.

Unexpectedly, Wang Fusheng seemed to be prepared and hid his right hand in front of his chest again.

As his elbow moved, Zhang Duohai vaguely saw that it was a black wooden box. He didn't know what was hidden in the box that made Wang Fusheng so nervous.

"Eunuch Wang, what are you holding in your hand? Could it be the tribute from the local area? It's so precious?" Zhang Duohai asked tentatively.

Wang Fusheng snorted coldly, "This is not your business." He left quickly.

After leaving Changle Gate, Wang Fusheng went straight to Ganlu Palace, where Li Zhi was sitting waiting for him.

"How is it? Have you found any clues?" Li Zhi asked.

Wang Fusheng took a few steps closer and opened the black box in his hand. Inside was a small clay figurine with a ferocious appearance, resembling a ghost or god, with a huge head and an ivory sword in its mouth.

Li Zhi looked at the clay figurine and said, "It seems to be exactly the same as what you dug up yesterday."

After Princess Gao An reported the incident involving the palace maid yesterday, Wang Fusheng immediately went to dig out the things buried by the well.

Buried was a black wooden box, and inside the box was a clay figurine that looked like a ghost.

The clay figurine has Wu Meiniang's birth date and eight characters on it, which is a common talisman used in the palace.

The palace maid was a low-ranking maid in Guizhenyuan. After being taken to the Ye Ting Prison, she was tortured and interrogated, and finally confessed everything.

It turned out that she was instructed by Xue Baofu to take advantage of the chaos in Lizheng Hall when Empress Wu was giving birth to bury the talisman in the corner of Lizheng Hall, thereby secretly assassinating Empress Wu.

Xue Baofu was one of Li Zhi's four wet nurses. As soon as Empress Wu became the empress, she used her to establish her authority and banished her from the palace.

So she held a grudge and secretly planned for a long time. She took advantage of Wu Meiniang's weakest moment and ordered the palace people to take revenge.

Li Zhi looked at the clay figurine and said in a deep voice, "Did you find this in Xue Baofu's house?"

Wang Fusheng said, "That's right. A Taoist priest was found in Xue Baofu's home and has been detained."

Li Zhi nodded, picked up his pen, and drafted an imperial edict. He said, "Send it to the Ministry of Personnel. Remove Xue Baofu's title and make him a commoner. Exile him to Xiangzhou."

Wang Fusheng accepted the order and said, "Your Majesty, won't you tell Her Majesty the Queen about this?"

Li Zhi shook his head and said, "She has a bad temper and has just given birth, so her health is not good. Don't let her get sick from anger. I will handle it."

Wang Fusheng bowed in agreement, sighed inwardly, and thought, "Since Wu gave birth to this third son, her position in His Majesty's heart seems to be becoming increasingly secure."

(End of this chapter)