Tang Dynasty, my wife Wu Zetian

Chapter 219: Revisiting Zhaoling
Zhaoling Mausoleum.

Li Ji followed Ling Ling to Changsun Wuji's stone chamber, waved his hand, and asked Ling Ling to leave.

Zhang Sun Wuji was writing something behind his desk. When he heard footsteps, he looked up and asked without saying a word, "Has the plan to split up Su Bi changed?"

Li Ji said, "Yes."

Changsun Wuji put down the pen in his hand, and without asking in a hurry, he walked to a wooden cabinet, took out two tea cakes, walked to the stove, and started to make tea.

After Li Ji visited him last time, he specifically greeted the Ling Ling and asked him to prepare more daily necessities for Changsun Wuji, and all expenses would be charged to the Duke of Ying's Mansion.

So there were many more things in Changsun Wuji's stone chamber, including freshly picked Anxi spring tea.

Li Ji walked to the chair where he sat last time and waited quietly for Changsun Wuji to make tea.

After waiting for a long time, Changsun Wuji handed him a cup of tea.

Li Ji said, "Thank you very much."

Changsun Wuji poured himself another cup, sat down next to Li Ji, and said slowly, "Tell me, what's going on right now?"

Li Ji then told Wang Jishan and others about how Lu Dongzan sent Niangbo Jinniao and Dabowu to pretend to surrender, but Wang Jishan and others saw through the plan.

Zhangsun Wuji praised: "Wang Jishan is worthy of being the General of the Imperial Household, chosen by Your Majesty. He is indeed sharp-minded."

Li Ji asked, "What do you think about this?"

Zhang Sun Wuji pondered for a long time, then slowly said, "There is something that I find very strange."

"What's the matter?"

"Niangbo Jinniao and Dabo Wu are two people, but Lu Dongzan is only one person."

Li Ji immediately understood the meaning of his words.

If Lu Dongzan was detained by the Niangbo tribe, Dabowu would never have come to the Tang Dynasty, and vice versa.

Lu Dongzan is a hostage, how can both sides trust him?
"Will he send one of his sons as a second hostage?"

Zhang Sun Wuji said, "It's even more impossible. Niangbo Jinniao and Dabo Wu are not on good terms. The two hostages are of completely different weight. Who would be willing to suffer a loss?"

Li Ji said, "That makes sense."

Changsun Wuji continued, "So we can infer that Lu Dongzan's place of house arrest is not in either tribe, but most likely somewhere between the two tribes, under the joint supervision of both."

Li Ji frowned and asked, "Does it matter where he is imprisoned?"

Chang Sun Wuji said slowly, "Of course it's important. If I don't explain it clearly, you guys must still be thinking about killing Lu Dongzan, right?"

Li Ji's expression grew more serious as he said, "Wang Jishan's plan is indeed to kill Lu Dongzan."

"What is he going to do?"

"Accept the two men's false surrender on the surface, and secretly inform the two major tribes of Lu Dongzan's plan. As soon as the people of the two tribes discover Qin Ling's army, they will definitely kill Lu Dongzan!"

Changsun Wuji shook his head and said, "It's useless."

Li Ji frowned and asked, "Why?"

Changsun Wuji took a sip of tea and said slowly, "Do you think someone like Lu Dongzan would put himself in danger?"

"You mean..."

"Think about it, even if Qin Ling led the Tibetan army stationed in Tianzhu to attack Suobi, defeating Suobi would be easy, but how could we save Lu Dongzan?"

Li Ji nodded.

Even if Qin Ling secretly sent a group of people to rescue Lu Dongzan, Lu Dongzan might be killed if there was any mistake.

"So Lu Dongzan has other means of self-protection?" he asked.

Changsun Wuji said, "Of course, if I'm not mistaken, he has bribed people from both tribes. Once the war breaks out, these people will rescue Lu Dongzan and find a place to hide until Su Bi is defeated."

With Lu Dongzan's power, it was very easy to bribe the people of the Subi tribe. As long as he promised to let them serve as tribal leaders in the future, there would always be ambitious people willing to work for him.

According to Wang Jishan's plan, even if Su Bi discovered Qin Ling's army, he could at most avoid being ambushed.

However, the two major chiefs of the Subi tribe were not there, and they were facing Qinling, so they were bound to lose the battle.

Li Ji said in a deep voice, "How about we tell the Subi tribe that there's a traitor among them?"

Chang Sun Wuji said, "They may not believe it. Besides, when we investigate the traitors, we will have already alerted the enemy. Those traitors have already rescued Lu Dongzan."

Li Ji asked, "Then what do you have in mind?"

Zhang Sun Wuji said, "I just said it. A man like Lu Dongzan would never put himself in danger. He must have a lot of backup plans. Killing him is almost impossible."

Li Ji asked, "Then what do you think we should do now?"

Changsun Wuji said slowly, "The original plan remains unchanged. What we want is for the Subi to rebel. As long as they can hold out for a while, our army will be able to attack Tubo!"

Li Ji nodded and said in a deep voice, "The best way is to let Niangbo Jinniao and Dabo Wu return to the Subi tribe."

Changsun Wuji smiled and said, "That's right."

Li Ji said, "Then I'll arrange it right away. Do you have anything else to say?"

Changsun Wuji shook his head and said, "No more."

Li Ji said no more, finished the tea in the cup, stood up and walked away.

……

In early April, a spring rain fell for four consecutive days.

On the fifth day, the sky finally cleared up.

Niangbo Jinniao sat in the carriage, lifted the curtain, and looked at the wide official road full of pedestrians and horse teams coming and going, feeling deeply moved.

This was her first time in the Tang Dynasty and also her first time in Chang'an City.

Although she had not yet reached Chang'an, the scenery along the way had already deeply shocked her. What shocked her was not the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty, but the population of the Tang Dynasty.

In Xiqiang, the most important factor in measuring a country's strength is not its army, but its population. Only with talented people can one have an army.

The reason why Tubo was so powerful was that they had a large population and could mobilize countless troops at any time.

However, compared with the Tang Dynasty, the population of Tubo pales in comparison, and compared with the city-states of the Tang Dynasty, the city of Lhasa also becomes ordinary.

No wonder even someone like Lu Dongzan was forced to that point, Niangbo Jinniao sighed secretly.

Dabo, who was sitting opposite her, didn't think so much.

She was only focused on eating along the way, and her already bloated body seemed to have become even fatter, which made Niangbo Golden Bird extremely disgusted.

Just then, a voice came from outside.

"We've arrived at Chang'an City."

The Niangbojin bird stretched out its head and looked outside.

In an instant, a magnificent and huge city appeared in sight.

Niangbo Golden Bird had been shocked so much along the way that she had become accustomed to it now.

She stared at Chang'an City, thinking about how to gain the trust of the Emperor of Tang when she met him later.

The inner guards were responsible for escorting her, and the carriage was exempted from inspection and entered Chang'an directly through the side door.

We headed north along Anhuamen Street, entered the imperial city from Hanguang Gate, got off the carriage, and then entered Taiji Palace from Guangyun Gate.

After entering the palace, Cheng Wuting led the two of them north along a corridor that seemed to have no end.

After walking for an unknown amount of time, I finally passed through the corridor and arrived at the Forbidden Garden.

Cheng Wuting brought the two of them to the Inner Palace. As soon as they arrived at the hall, Niangbo Jinniao saw a familiar figure.

Subiranya.

Niangbo Jinniao was not surprised. She knew that the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty would definitely doubt her identity and would definitely ask Lan Ya to identify her.

"Niangbo Golden Bird, greetings to Queen Lan Ya." The golden bird performed a Suobei etiquette.

Dabowu also bowed.

"Chief Golden Bird, my chief, I never thought that I would see you two again one day." Subilaya said with a smile.

The golden bird said in a deep voice, "Queen Lan Ya, I was wrong to betray the previous queen. Now I have decided to submit to the Tang Dynasty. I hope we can forget the past and work together to deal with Tubo."

Lan Ya smiled slightly and said, "Let me introduce you two first. This is General Wang from the Internal Affairs Office."

Jinniao had long known about the existence of the Nei Ling Mansion from Cheng Wuting. He performed a rather unstandard Tang Dynasty salute and said, "Jinniao greets General Wang."

Dabowu followed suit and saluted. Her bow was even less standard, with her hands clasped together, more like a Buddhist gesture.

Wang Jishan said calmly, "No need to be so polite, you two. You accepted Lu Dongzan's trust and risked your lives to travel thousands of miles to Chang'an. I admire you very much."

Jinniao's expression changed slightly, his lips trembled, but he quickly regained his composure and did not lose his composure.

Dabowu lost his patience and turned his head, as if trying to find a way to escape.

However, the gate had already been blocked by the inner guards.

The golden bird said in a deep voice, "We surrender sincerely. If General Wang doesn't believe us, please kill us. I'm afraid that no one will surrender to the Tang Dynasty in the future."

Wang Jishan said, "We just received news that half of the Tibetan army in Tianzhu quietly left Tianzhu and headed towards the Great Snow Mountain. Does Chief Jinniao know where they went?"

To the north of the Great Snow Mountain is Subi, and to the south is Tianzhu.

Niangbo Jinniao's face was pale, her whole body was trembling slightly, and she couldn't say a word.

Dabowu was a little slow to react, then roared, "Are you telling the truth?"

Wang Jishan said coldly, "You are already a prisoner, why would I lie to you?"

Dabowu was extremely angry and shouted in Suobei language: "Lu Dongzan, how dare you lie to me? I will not forgive you!"

Subiranya sneered, "Why don't you forgive him? It won't be long before your tribe is wiped out by him, and your time as the tribe leader will be over."

Dabowu said anxiously, "Queen Lan Ya, if you let me return to Subi, I will definitely kill Lu Dongzan and support you as the queen!"

Lan Ya said nothing and glanced sideways at Wang Jishan.

Dabowu finally realized that the Tang people had the final say and quickly said, "General Wang, I am willing to submit to the Tang Dynasty. This time I mean it!"

Wang Jishan asked, "How can I trust you?"

Dabowu gritted his teeth and said, "I swear in the name of my ancestors!"

Wang Jishan snorted and said nothing.

Lan Ya said softly, "General Wang, the Dabo tribe has always been trustworthy. Since the chief is willing to swear in the name of our ancestors, it should be true."

Wang Jishan frowned and thought for a while, then said, "Well, considering Queen Lan Ya's plea, I'll trust you this time. Come, take Niang Bo Jinniao away..."

Niangbo Golden Bird hurriedly said, "I also wish to swear in the name of my ancestors to submit to the Tang Dynasty!"

Wang Jishan said nothing and looked at Subilaya.

The golden bird saw that Lan Ya was very trusted by the Tang people, so it knelt before her and kowtowed, saying, "Queen Lan Ya, what happened back then was all my fault. Please, considering that the Niangbo tribe is also your people, help me plead for mercy."

Lan Ya helped her up and sighed, "I know it's because of my mother's misrule and arrogance that you defected to Tubo. You haven't been too harsh on the Sunbo tribe over the years. I believe in you."

The golden bird cried, "Thank you, Queen. From now on, the Niangbo tribe will always obey your orders."

Lan Ya smiled and said, "Very good. From now on, you will follow me and submit to the Tang Dynasty together."

(End of this chapter)