Tang Dynasty, my wife Wu Zetian

Chapter 229 The Inner Guards Visit

When Wang Jishan left Li Zhi's bedroom, he glanced at Wang Fusheng and gave him a wink.

When Wang Fusheng saw Li Zhi reading a memorial, he quietly left the bedroom.

When I arrived outside the hall, I saw Wang Jishan standing under the corridor in the distance, looking at this side.

Wang Fusheng walked over and asked, "General Wang, do you want to talk to me about something?"

Wang Jishan bowed to him and said, "I do have something I would like to ask Supervisor Wang for advice on."

"Is it related to Tibet?"

"No, it's just a personal matter."

In fact, when the Nei Ling Fu was first established, the two were quite at odds. Later, because Wang Jishan took the initiative to make concessions and allowed the Si Gong Tai to participate in Tibetan intelligence affairs, the relationship eased a lot.

Having said that, the two of them simply stopped being hostile to each other. They only interacted with each other on a work-related basis and had no personal relationship.

So Wang Fusheng was quite surprised to see the other party actively seeking his help. He smiled and said, "General Wang, if you have any questions, just ask."

Wang Jishan said, "I'd like to ask you about Du Fu."

"Du Fu?" Wang Fusheng was even more surprised and asked, "Why are you suddenly asking about him?"

Wang Jishan said slowly, "This matter is related to the Arab spies. A while ago, Deputy Protector Pei of the Anxi Protectorate sent someone to the inner and outer prefectures of Liangzhou with a message about a suspicious merchant caravan from the Western Regions."

"After investigation, the Outer Prefecture Commander discovered that these people were likely Arab spies, trying to gather information about the Anxi Protectorate."

"I sent a message to the captain, telling him not to act rashly but to just watch from the shadows. If these people are planning to return directly to the Western Regions, arrest them immediately. If they are heading towards Chang'an, let them go for now."

"Not long after, they arrived in Chang'an, secretly gathering intelligence about the Tang Dynasty and attempting to develop insiders in the confidential departments. Du Fu was one of the insiders they were developing."

Wang Fusheng's heart trembled, and he said in a deep voice: "Du Fu is the Secretary of the Central Secretariat. If he is bribed by the Arabs, they will be able to obtain a lot of confidential information!"

Wang Jishan said, "That's right. We in the Internal Affairs Office usually have two ways to deal with this situation. First, arrest them directly and deny them the opportunity to learn secrets. Second, use their own tactics to learn the secrets of the Arab Empire."

Wang Fusheng was surprised and said, "I understand the first point, but how do we achieve the second point?"

Wang Jishan smiled slightly and said, "Generally speaking, spies sent to enemy countries have undergone rigorous training. Even if they are caught, they will not reveal any information from their own country."

"That's right." As the director of the Palace Bureau, Wang Fusheng was also familiar with this.

Wang Jishan continued, "However, the spies they developed were different."

"You mean, using spies to gather intelligence?"

"That's right." Wang Jishan nodded. "When developing insiders, foreign spies inevitably leak some information about their own country. Especially when assigning them tasks, it's easier to get a glimpse of their intentions."

Wang Fusheng said, "So you'll allow them to develop insiders, then capture them and torture them for useful information."

Wang Jishan admitted, "That's right."

Wang Fusheng snorted secretly, not satisfied with Wang Jishan's approach.

He was well aware of the fragility of ordinary people. When foreign spies offered various prices, such as money, beauty, high positions and generous salaries, not many people could resist the temptation.

In order to achieve their goal, the Nei Lingwei allowed these people to be seduced and then arrested them on the charge of communicating with the enemy country. This was too cruel.

Wang Jishan seemed to read his thoughts and said in a deep voice, "Sometimes, in order to obtain a secret, my inner guards have to sacrifice the lives of several soldiers. This is a struggle between nations, and there can be no mercy."

Wang Fusheng was stunned for a moment, then nodded and said, "General Wang is right. So you plan to use the same method to deal with Du Fu?"

Wang Jishan sighed, "If it were anyone else, there wouldn't be any need to go through so much trouble, but after investigating Du Fu, I discovered that his experience is incredibly complicated."

Wang Fusheng saw his expression and smiled slightly, saying, "Yes, this person has had a rough life, and the situation is indeed complicated."

Wang Jishan said slowly, "Although he is just a child of a poor family, his cousin is the niece of the Saint. I also heard that Zheng has a good relationship with him."

Wang Fusheng said: "Zheng's relationship with him is due to Gao Youdao's face. This person's most important connection is Gao Youdao and his wife."

Wang Jishan bowed and said, "I don't know how to deal with this person at the moment, so I came to ask for advice from Supervisor Wang."

The Sigongtai is responsible for the intelligence work in Chang'an City. No one knows the connections and relationships between the major families better than Wang Fusheng.

Wang Fusheng pondered for a moment and said, "Gao Youdao is highly regarded by the sage and is indeed talented. He is very likely to be made a marquis or a prime minister in the future. So I suggest you go talk to him and say hello to him."

Wang Jishan's eyes flickered slightly, and he said, "Okay, thank you for your guidance."

The cross street south of Zhuque Gate is filled with stalls.

It was not easy to get a stall here. The Tang Dynasty had a strict Lifang system, which strictly prohibited setting up stalls on the streets of Chang'an City.

However, due to the issue of lunch for the officials, if they were asked to leave the Suzaku Gate, run to the nearby Lifang to eat and then return, the time would be too tight.

During the Zhenguan period, officials asked the emperor for permission to set up stalls south of Hengjie Street.

The stalls could only be opened at noon each day and had to be closed after the evening drum sounded. Although the stalls were not open for long, the officials were generous and had big appetites, so the merchants who set up stalls in this area could make a lot of money.

Ma Sanyuan set up a "Hu Bing" stall here. His Hu Bing was different from that of ordinary people. It contained mutton and was more expensive.

If you sell mutton Hu Bing elsewhere, the business may not be very good. Ordinary people still prefer the ordinary Hu Bing which is delicious and cheap.

It is just right here. Officials don't care about the trivial things, as long as they taste good.

Just as it was noon, officials began to emerge from the Suzaku Gate one after another, and the vendors immediately started shouting loudly.

Ma Sanyuan shouted for a while and suddenly caught a glimpse of three young officials walking towards him.

"Ah, Professor Gao, Proofreader Lu, Proofreader Du, are you three still following the old rules?" he greeted them warmly.

Du Yijian said, "That's right. Two pancakes for me and Brother Gao, and four pancakes for Brother Lu."

Lu Zhaolin was from Hebei, and his appetite was completely different from that of people in the south of the Yangtze River.

The three of them sat down at the stall, and Ma Sanyuan made each of them a bowl of mutton bone soup.

This is where he is smart.

Now that the weather is cold, he uses the leftover sheep bones to make soup, which costs almost nothing. As long as you come to eat Hubing, you will get a bowl for free.

As a result, business did improve a bit.

Gao Youdao and the other two were indeed very cold. They put their cold hands on the soup bowl and drank a mouthful of mutton soup, and immediately felt warm all over.

Suddenly, someone at another stall shouted, "It's snowing."

The three of them were startled. Du Yijian stood up and walked out of the stall, looking up at the sky, only to see a white dot falling on his face, so cold, it was indeed a snowflake.

"Hey, it's already snowing before the 'Minor Snow' season. I'm afraid it's going to be very cold this year." Du Yijian sighed.

Lu Zhaolin said, "Auspicious snow indicates a good harvest. There's nothing wrong with some snow." He was from Fanyang and felt a sense of familiarity when he saw snow.

Gao Youdao was thinking that Chang'an was cold, and it might be even colder in Tubo. He didn't know how difficult it was for the soldiers fighting on the front line.

As the three were drinking soup, a man came from a distance, bowed to them, and sat down next to them.

The person who came was General Wang Jishan of the Internal Guard.

The three of them immediately stood up to return the greeting.

After a while, the three of them finished eating the Hu pancakes and drinking the mutton soup, then parted ways on the street and went home.

When Gao Youdao was returning to the mansion, he suddenly heard someone calling him from behind. He turned around and saw that it was Wang Jishan.

"College student, would you mind saying a few words?" Wang Jishan strode up.

When Gao Youdao saw the leader of the inner guards coming to him alone, he had a bad feeling.

"General Wang, do you have anything to ask me?"

Wang Jishan asked, "Can I go to your house and talk to you?"

Gao Youdao felt even more depressed. He nodded and took Wang Jishan back to his home.

Although the Gao Mansion was not large, it had more than a dozen servants, all of whom were sent by Princess Chengyang.

Princess Chengyang was living in another state with her husband, so she did not attend her daughter's wedding. She only sent a dozen servants and some living expenses to show her gratitude.

Du Rong didn't want it at first, but stayed after Gao Youdao's persuasion, thus avoiding further deterioration of the relationship between mother and daughter.

Newly married couples are always very loving.

As Gao Youdao walked into the courtyard, Du Rong ran over from the inner courtyard, holding up her dress, and shouted from afar, "Husband, it's snowing, you're cold..."

Before he could finish his words, he saw Wang Jishan behind Gao Youdao and was startled. He quickly stopped, straightened his clothes, and walked over in small steps.

Gao Youdao introduced her, "Madam, this is General Wang from the Internal Affairs Office."

Du Rong bowed and said softly, "General Wang, you are polite."

Wang Jishan bowed and said, "Thank you, Madam Gao."

Gao Youdao pulled Du Rong aside and whispered, "He wants to talk to me about something. Let's go to the study to talk. Don't come in to serve tea."

Du Rong hurriedly asked, "What's the matter?" She also knew that the visit from the Internal Affairs Office would not bring good news.

Gao Youdao said, "I don't know either. I'll tell you after I finish talking to him."

(End of this chapter)