Tang Dynasty, my wife Wu Zetian

Chapter 167 Empress Wu's Request
Xue Rengui and the other four left the camp together and came to the guest platform. They looked up at the platform and found that Li Zhi's seat was empty.

Li Zhen stepped forward and said in a clear voice, "Your Majesty has something to attend to and will leave for the time being. I will take charge of the remaining matters. Prime Minister Liu, it is better for you to announce the results."

Liu Rengui agreed.

The hunting results were no surprise, with the top five spots all taken by Datang, and Bili Du only hunted thirty-eight prey.

Li Kuge performed poorly. He hunted more than 40 animals last time, but this time he only caught 36.

Suddenly, Yuchi Gong became even more suspicious of Li Kuge and whispered to Li Ji, "Are you sure it's not Li Kuge?"

Li Ji said, "Judging from his clothes, it's probably not the case. However, if he's wearing another coat underneath, then it's hard to say."

After a while, the statistical results came out and the Tang Dynasty won with a huge advantage.

Li Zhen ordered his men to fetch the prey, place it on the fire, and hold a fire party.

After Li Ji and his companions drank a glass of wine with Li Zhen, they were about to leave the tent.

Li Zhen hurriedly said, "Generals, you are the heroes of today. You must drink a few cups with us. Why are you leaving?"

Cheng Zhijie said in a deep voice, "Your Highness, the King of Yue, we have important matters to attend to and need to see His Majesty. Please excuse me."

……

"You said there was a murder in Xiangzhou?" Li Zhi stood at the steps in Ganlu Palace and asked Di Renjie.

Di Renjie said, "Yes, not long ago, the Xiangzhou Judicial Officer reported that three murders had occurred in succession within Xiangzhou."

"Three cases?" Li Zhi was moved.

Di Renjie said, "These three cases occurred in the east, west, and south of Xiangzhou. Each case involved three to five victims. The bodies had one thing in common: their heads were smashed and their clothes were stripped off."

Li Zhi pondered and said, "The head was smashed, which means the murderer does not want their identity to be recognized."

Di Renjie said, "I thought so too. After the Xiangzhou Judicial Officer investigated, he found that although these people died in different places, their time of death was the same."

"Were they killed at the same time?" Li Zhi's eyes flashed.

Di Renjie nodded and said, "According to my deduction, the three murders are actually one, but the bodies were separated to prevent the public from knowing the death toll."

The criminal did not want to let anyone know the identity of the deceased and wanted to conceal the death toll. His purpose was obvious.

"Di Qing, tell me your conclusion!"

Di Renjie said, "According to my deduction, the deceased were part of a delegation. The murderer disguised himself as a member of the delegation and sneaked into Chang'an with ulterior motives!"

Li Zhi stared at him and asked, "Have you found out which delegation it is?"

Di Renjie said, "Judging from the fact that the envoys passed through Xiangzhou, they must have been from the Southern Barbarians. I went to the Honglu Temple to inquire, and they found only one envoy whose death toll matched the number."

"Who?"

"The Nanzhao envoys!"

Nanzhao was one of the Six Zhaos, and its name was Mengshe Zhao. Because it was located south of the Six Zhaos, the Tang Dynasty called it Nanzhao.

Li Zhi was startled, because the Nanzhao envoys were one of the five countries participating in the hunt.

"Fu Sheng, is the hunting competition over?" he asked, looking up.

Wang Fusheng said, "Your Majesty, it's past the twilight hour, so the results should be out by now."

Li Zhi said in a deep voice, "Send an order. Have the Inner Guard immediately seize control of the Nanzhao envoys. Act secretly and detain them. They will await further action."

Just as Wang Fusheng was about to take the order and leave, a eunuch came in quickly.

"Your Majesty, the five generals participating in the hunt are all outside the palace seeking an audience."

Li Zhi glanced at Di Renjie, walked to the table and sat down, then said to the eunuch, "Please invite the five generals in."

After a while, Li Ji and four others entered the hall together and bowed to Li Zhi.

Li Zhi raised his hand and said, "No need to be so polite, my lords. I wonder if the hunt was a success?"

Yuchi Gong said: "Your Majesty, the Tang Dynasty has won a great victory!"

Li Zhi asked again, "Did anything unexpected happen during the hunt?"

Li Ji and others were shocked after hearing this, wondering how the emperor knew this?
Yuchi Gong said, "Your Majesty, General Xue was shot by an arrow. I don't know which country's rats did it!"

Li Zhi hurriedly looked towards Xue Rengui and asked, "Xue Qing, are you injured?"

Xue Rengui bowed and said, "Thanks to your majesty's great blessing, I was able to dodge in time after hearing the sound of breaking air."

Li Ji asked, "Your Majesty, has something happened?"

Li Zhi said slowly, "Di Qing, you should tell the generals."

Di Renjie took the order and told everyone that the Nanzhao delegation was killed in Xiangzhou and a fake delegation pretended to enter the capital.

After hearing this, everyone was secretly surprised.

They all had people they suspected, such as the Turks, Khitans, and Tiele people, but no one suspected the Nanzhao people.

Yuchi Gong glanced at Li Ji and thought to himself, "This old fellow is really patient. I can't believe it was the Nanzhao people who did this. If this gets out of hand, it will only allow the person behind the scenes to succeed."

Li Ji said, "Your Majesty, this was most likely orchestrated by Tubo. Only they have the ability and motivation to kill the Nanzhao envoys!"

Li Zhi nodded and said, "That's exactly what I thought!"

Su Dingfang said: "Your Majesty, you can make this matter public, let other countries know about the Tibetan conspiracy, and then you can win the hearts of the people."

Li Zhi agreed with Su Dingfang's opinion.

Wang Jishan led the inner guards and quickly arrested all the members of the Nanzhao delegation. Several people tried to resist and were killed on the spot.

Di Renjie did not go home for dinner that night, but interrogated the Nanzhao envoys overnight.

Although several leaders were very tough, the other members still found a breakthrough and confessed.

They were indeed Tibetans, and it was they who shot the arrow at Xue Rengui.

On the fourth day of the first lunar month, Xue Rengui and Di Renjie went to the Honglu Temple together and told the envoys of various countries about the situation in detail.

After learning about the Tibetans' behavior, not only the Five Zhao States, the Indian State, and the Qiang people were shocked and angry, but even Bilidu and Li Kuge were secretly annoyed.

Li Kuge said angrily: "The Tubo rats are so rampant that they dare to frame our Khitan. Please ask General Xue to tell Tian Khan that as long as the Tang army attacks Tubo, our Khitan will definitely send troops to help!"

The Turkic envoy said: "We Turks are also willing to help in the war!"

The other Five Kingdoms and Tianzhu Kingdom also clamored to follow the Tang Dynasty and unite with other countries to eliminate Tubo. The most active were the countries surrounding Tubo.

They all thought that after destroying Tubo, they would not only be able to eliminate the danger, but also get a piece of meat to eat.

Queen Binju stood up and said, "Don't worry, everyone. I believe that the Khan will make the decision. We just need to support the Khan and obey his orders."

Xue Rengui raised his hand and said loudly: "After returning to the country, everyone can prepare for war and guard against Tubo attacks. If the Tang Dynasty intends to attack Tubo, we will notify you!"

The envoys from various countries agreed one after another.

On the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, the results of the Tang Dynasty officials’ performance evaluations from the previous year were announced.

Because the Ministry of Personnel had been investigated once, the newly appointed officials were very cautious.

As a result, the difficulty of assessment has increased sharply. Many people's assessment results are worse than last year, and many people have been downgraded.

Li Zhi was very satisfied with the result.

In the past, the Ministry of Personnel’s evaluation results were all very good, as if most officials were honest and good officials with noble morals. This was just a whitewash.

Only by identifying the problem and facing it can we solve it.

So he issued an imperial edict to commend the officials of the Ministry of Personnel and encourage them to maintain this pragmatic style.

That night, Li Zhi had been busy all day and came to Lizheng Hall. After washing up, he lay on the bed with Wu Meiniang in his arms.

After making love, Wu Meiniang leaned on his chest and whispered, "Your Majesty, can I ask you for a favor?"

Li Zhi stroked her hair and said with a smile, "Tell me, what's the matter?"

Wu Meiniang asked softly, "Can you transfer Guo Xiaoshen back to Chang'an?"

When Li Zhi heard the name Guo Xiaoshen, his heart moved.

Guo Xiaoshen was Wu Meiniang's brother-in-law.

Wu had three daughters: the eldest daughter Wu Shun, the second daughter Wu Meiniang, and the third daughter Wu Ruyi.

When Wu Meiniang was driven to Ganye Temple, Madam Yang was driven out of the mansion by the Wu brothers, and she fell seriously ill because she was worried about her daughter.

At that time, Wu Shun was not in Chang'an, so Wu Ruyi had been taking care of her seriously ill mother.

She was only fifteen years old at the time.

Not only did she have to take care of her mother, she also had to ask relatives and friends everywhere, hoping to bring some things and pass on a message to her sister in Ganye Temple.

Wu Meiniang's experience in Ganye Temple was extremely painful.

Because she was unwilling to shave her head and had no relatives to bring things to the temple to make arrangements, she was bullied by all the nuns in the temple.

Fortunately, Wu Ruyi was able to connect with the Guo family in Taiyuan and sent her some jewelry.

Wu Meiniang used these jewelries to bribe several young nuns, and later used the young nuns to get a Qianniu Guard, so that she could deliver a love poem to Li Zhi.

Therefore, in Wu Meiniang's heart, she cherishes her younger sister Wu Ruyi very much.

In order to repay her gratitude, Wu Ruyi later married Guo Xiaoshen from the Guo family of Taiyuan.

When Wu Meiniang was fighting with Zhangsun Wuji, the Guo family's position was quite ambiguous.

In order to prevent Wu Ruyi from being in an awkward situation in the Guo family, Wu Meiniang transferred Guo Xiaoshen out of Chang'an so that her sister could stay away from trouble.

Now that the dust has settled, it's normal for her to want her sister back.

What surprised Li Zhi was Wu Meiniang's attitude.

Guo Xiaoshen was just a minor official of the seventh rank. With the power of Empress Wu Meiniang, she could easily transfer him to the capital by just giving a greeting to Xu Jingzong and Li Yifu.

The promotion of officials below the fifth rank can be decided directly by the Council of State without the approval of the emperor.

In other words, Wu Meiniang could transfer Guo Xiaoshen back without Li Zhi's knowledge.

But she did not do so, instead she pleaded with Li Zhi.

This was obviously a statement to Li Zhi that she would abide by her duties in the future and would not take the initiative to interfere in the affairs of the previous dynasty.

Li Zhi was very satisfied to see that she was changing for the better. He smiled and said, "If I remember correctly, Guo Xiaoshen was serving as a judicial officer in Pingzhou, right?"

Wu Meiniang said softly, "Your Majesty remembers it correctly."

Li Zhi thought for a moment and said, "Then transfer him to the capital and make him the Secretary of the Dali Temple."

Wu Meiniang smiled sweetly and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty."

She turned over and sat astride Li Zhi, her long hair falling on Li Zhi's head. She looked seductive, as if she wanted to have a woman on top and a man on the bottom.

Li Zhi pulled himself together, turned her over and pressed her down, and started a new round of fierce fighting.

The next morning, Wu Meiniang ordered people to pick out some things from the private warehouse and prepare to send them to the Wu Mansion.

Zhang Dahai suddenly came to the outer hall and said, "Your Highness, the Lady of Liucheng County has come to the palace to see you."

Wu Meiniang said, "Please ask her to come in."

After a while, Wu Shun came to the hall wearing a festive pink long dress and a mink cloak.

As soon as she entered the hall, she began to take off her clothes and said with a smile, "It's warm here. I'm freezing outside."

Wu Meiniang handed her the heater and ordered someone to bring the things that were going to be sent to the Wu Mansion.

"I knew you were anxious, and I've already prepared the reward for you."

Wu Shun glanced sideways and saw four boxes of jewelry and other items.

This was not only a reward for the ladies of noble birth, but also money that Wu Meiniang took out from her own private treasury to subsidize her family's expenses for one year.

Wu Shun's eyes began to shine, and he smiled and said, "I didn't come here for these things. I came to tell you a good news."

Wu Meiniang asked, "Is it about my younger sister?"

Seeing that she knew, Wu Shun clapped his hands and said, "I told you, it was you who arranged for my younger sister to return to Beijing, but mother still didn't believe it."

Wu Meiniang instructed: "If she arrives home, bring her to the palace to see me immediately."

Wu Shun smiled and said, "I understand. I'll be leaving then." After bowing, he ordered his followers to take four boxes full of jewels and left with satisfaction.

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(End of this chapter)