Tang Dynasty, my wife Wu Zetian

Chapter 230 The Emperor's House
Gao Youdao brought Wang Jishan to the study, and they sat down as host and guest.

Wang Jishan no longer held back and said straight to the point, "College student, I came to see you because of Du Fu."

Gao Youdao asked, "What happened to him?"

Wang Jishan then told Du Fu about the Arab spies who had come to him.

Gao Youdao's face changed drastically after hearing this.

"Has he been bribed by the Arabs?"

Wang Jishan said in a deep voice, "It's not clear yet, but their relationship is getting closer and closer. If we continue to leave it alone, we can't say for sure."

Gao Youdao asked, "Can we stop it now?"

Wang Jishan said calmly, "If you insist, I can agree to it."

Gao Youdao sensed something was wrong with his words and said, "General Wang, if you have anything to say, could you please state it directly?"

"Okay, then I'll be frank. I discovered these spies in Anxi, but I never took any action against them. Instead, I spent a lot of energy monitoring them. What do you think I did for that?"

Gao Youdao was stunned: "Why?"

Wang Jishan said in a deep voice, "Because I want to know the purpose of the Arabs coming to Chang'an, so that I can deduce what they intend to do and then report it to Your Majesty."

"Right now, our dynasty is fighting in Tibet, and the Arab army has also entered Tibet. We don't know their purpose yet. If we can get some secrets, perhaps we can help the frontline generals make more accurate judgments and avoid more casualties."

Gao Youdao also understood at this time.

If we directly prevent the Arabs from contacting Du Fu, it will definitely alert the enemy and all the arrangements made by the Internal Affairs Office will be in vain.

After a long silence, he said, "So what are you going to do, and what do you need me to do?"

Wang Jishan held up three fingers.

"We have three options right now. First, arrest the Arabs directly. Second, allow the Arabs to contact Du Fu and secretly investigate their intentions. Third, let Du Fu cooperate with us, pretend to be an insider for the Arabs, and gather Arab intelligence."

Gao Youdao hurriedly said, "I think the third option is the best."

Wang Jishan said slowly, "If we choose this option, someone will need to contact Du Fu and explain the situation to him."

Gao Youdao finally understood why the other party told him so much.

He took a deep breath and said, "I'll go talk to him."

Late at night, Gao Youdao lay in bed, hugging Du Rong, wondering whether he should tell his wife about Du Fu.

Suddenly, Du Rong in his arms moved slightly, looked up and said, "Husband, mother is ill. I want to go back to the Du Mansion tomorrow."

Gao Youdao asked, "Are you sick? Have you consulted a doctor?"

"I've been asked, but I just have a cold. My brother has been very busy lately and doesn't leave the court until after 9pm every day, so I have to take care of him."

Du Fu originally had one wife and four concubines. His wife was Su from Wugong. On the day the Du family fell, Su came to negotiate and asked Du Fu to divorce his wife.

Later, when Du Fu was drunk, three of his four concubines ran away. Du Fu was so angry that he drove away the last one as well.

So he is single now.

Gao Youdao said, "Alright, I'll take a day off tomorrow and go visit my mother-in-law with you."

Du Rong hurriedly said, "Aren't you supposed to help His Majesty review the memorials? How can you easily ask for leave? I can go alone."

Gao Youdao smiled and said, "It's okay. Lu Zhaolin also took leave a while ago, so it didn't have much impact. There are five people in the side hall, so it doesn't matter if I'm missing. His Majesty won't blame me."

Du Rong thought he was taking leave for her sake and said with emotion, "Husband, you are so kind."

Early the next morning, the couple took a carriage to the Du Mansion.

Du's mother's condition is not serious, but she has been bedridden because of depression and lack of enthusiasm for taking medicine.

She was very happy to see Du Rong and the other person coming to visit her. She chatted with them for a while, and after she felt a little better, she began to complain.

"Hey, Rong'er, you have to help me persuade your brother this time."

"What's wrong, brother?"

Du's mother said with a bitter face, "That child has been acting stubborn again. He hasn't had a peaceful day for a few days and is now mumbling about how he wants to bring Du Zhenglun down. How can I not be worried?"

Du Rong frowned and asked, "Brother, do you still want to take revenge on Du Zhenglun?"

Du's mother said, "Yes, he didn't think about it. He's a fourth-rank official, respected by the saints, while he's not even ninth-rank. He can crush him to death with just one finger. Why bother fighting him?"

Du Rong stamped her feet and said, "Brother, how could you do this? You clearly promised us that you would serve as a good official in the Secretariat!"

As Du's mother spoke, she covered her face and wept, saying, "Sometimes, I really want to just ignore everything and go downstairs to find his father."

Du Rong hurriedly advised, "Don't overthink it. I will definitely try to persuade you, brother."

Having said that, Du Rong also knew that Du Fu would not listen to what she said, so she could only hand over this difficult task to her husband.

Gao Youdao also suits his taste.

He vaguely felt that Du Fu's sudden desire for revenge on Du Zhenglun was related to the Arab spies.

Du Fu left the yamen very late, and did not return home until he won the card at 11:00 PM.

He looked very tired. When he saw Du Rong and his wife coming to visit, he didn't show much expression. He went into the house to greet Du's mother and then went to the kitchen to prepare dinner.

Gao Youdao followed him to the kitchen, leaned against the eaves of the door, and silently watched Du Fu light the fire.

"Gao Chengfeng, do you have anything to say to me?" Du Fu said coldly.

Gao Youdao was promoted at the beginning of the year. Although his actual official position was still the proofreader, his rank was promoted to the eighth rank, Chengfenglang.

Gao Youdao said in a deep voice: "I heard that you want to deal with Du Zhenglun again. Auntie is very worried about you, so I asked me to persuade you."

A strange smile appeared in Du Fu's eyes. He said, "Persuade me? I'm about to finish my work. What right do you have to persuade me?"

Gao Youdao frowned and said, "Is it done?"

Du Fu chuckled and said, "Gao Youdao, do you know why I come home so late every night?"

Gao Youdao said, "I'm just finding it strange. Officials from the two provinces are indeed leaving their offices late, but it shouldn't be this late."

Du Fu sneered, "That's right. Other officials left the yamen at 10:00, but I have to work for an extra hour."

"Is someone deliberately making things difficult for you?"

Du Fu said, "No, the Imperial Concubine once sent a eunuch to the Secretariat to question me. Thanks to her, no one in the Secretariat dared to make things difficult for me."

"Then why did you leave the court an hour later than others?"

Du Fu snorted and said, "I asked for it."

"what?"

"You should know that the imperial court has been deploying troops in Tibet recently, and logistical supplies are very difficult. The officials in charge of this matter, the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Central Secretariat, have to compile over a hundred logistical supply lists every day."

Gao Youdao, involved in confidential matters, naturally understood the logistical challenges. Judging from Du Fu's tone, it seemed he'd taken on this chore, hence his late hours. "Brother Du, you took this on because of Du Zhenglun, didn't you?" Gao Youdao asked tentatively.

Du Fu said coldly: "You are right, I took the initiative to take this matter just to deal with him!"

Gao Youdao stared at him and said, "Do you want to cause logistical chaos and have His Majesty deal with Du Zhenglun?"

Du Fu snorted and said coldly, "How could I, as an official of the Tang Dynasty, do such a thing? Gao Youdao, you are humiliating me!"

Gao Youdao felt relieved when he heard him say this.

"If that's not the case, how can you use this incident against Du Zhenglun?"

Du Fu put a piece of firewood into the stove and said slowly, "Some time ago, I met a businessman and learned some news from him."

"What news?" Gao Youdao's eyes flashed.

Du Fu said, "According to him, a strange thing happened recently in the Anxi Protectorate. A large batch of supplies was transported from Chang'an, but mysteriously disappeared."

"Missing?"

"Yes, that batch of supplies included a large amount of food and fodder, tens of thousands of horses, and camels. After entering the Anxi Protectorate, it disappeared. All prefectures, counties, and military towns did not receive this batch of supplies."

Gao Youdao asked, "What does this have to do with Du Zhenglun?"

Du Fu hummed, "The person in charge of transporting this batch of military rations and horses in the Ministry of Revenue is Du Zhenglun."

"So you suspect Du Zhenglun of embezzling these supplies?"

Du Fu said sternly, "It's not suspicion, it's certainty! I took advantage of the opportunity to contact the Ministry of Revenue and tried every possible way to get information out of the Ministry's official."

"They do know about this, but no one knows where the supplies went. They're all furtive and secretive, obviously having been warned and silenced!"

"Do you suspect they were silenced by Du Zhenglun?"

"Yes, is there any other possibility?"

Gao Youdao was silent for a moment, then slowly said, "Brother Du, don't you find it strange? How could a Western Region merchant know such a confidential matter?"

Du Fu said, "He said that on his way from Anxi, he heard the people of Anxi talking about it."

Gao Youdao said coldly, "Do you believe this? If it was really Du Zhenglun who did it, would everyone know about it?"

Du Fu's face changed and he said, "There's no reason for him to lie to me!"

"Let me ask you, since you met him, has he ever asked you for any information? Or is he particularly interested in any intelligence?"

Du Fu's expression suddenly changed, as if he had thought of something.

Gao Youdao said slowly, "Brother Du, you are a smart man, but you were blinded by hatred. You should understand now, right?"

Du Fu's face darkened as he asked, "Are you trying to say that they're deliberately using Du Zhenglun as an excuse to get information from me?"

"What do you think?"

Du Fu was silent for a long time, then gritted his teeth and said, "No wonder they're always asking about the Secretariat. Gao Youdao, who are they? Tibetan spies?"

"No, they are Arab spies."

……

October 3rd, light snow.

Hot Spring Palace, Kowloon Hot Spring.

With a "splash", Li Yong jumped into the pool, splashing a large amount of water.

After a while, he popped his head out of the water and looked at Li Zhi. Seeing that his father did not scold him, he immediately started playing with water happily.

Today is the "Minor Snow" in the 24 solar terms, and the whole country is on holiday.

Li Zhi brought his family to the Hot Spring Palace to soak in the hot springs.

The princes took baths with him, while the princesses took baths with Empress Wu and the concubines.

In the imperial family, family affection is the most precious thing.

Li Zhi could not guarantee that there would not be fratricide in the future, but at least he could leave them with some beautiful and harmonious memories while they were still young.

Li Zhi was washing Li Xian's body, while Li Xian was being held by Li Hong, looking at this side curiously.

After a while, after Li Xian finished washing, Li Zhi helped Li Xian wash.

Li Xian was too young to go into the water alone, so Wang Fusheng and other eunuchs tied several sheepskin balls on him before letting him into the pool.

With the buoyancy of the sheepskin ball, Li Xian floated on the water and had a lot of fun.

At this time, Li Zhi didn't know what made Li Xian uncomfortable when he was washing his hair. Little Li Xian started crying loudly and couldn't be comforted even after a long time.

Li Zhi had no choice but to let Wang Fusheng take him to Wu Meiniang and let her coax him.

I have to say, I was so busy taking care of so many children when I brought them here that I didn’t have time to soak in the hot springs myself.

When Li Zhi was about to go into the water to soak for a while, another eunuch came to report that Wang Jishan was outside asking to see him.

Li Zhi waved his hand and said, "Let him wait a moment."

After saying that, he went into the water, closed his eyes, and immersed his whole body in the warm spring water, with only his head exposed.

Although Li Hong is young, he already acts like an older brother. He stays by Li Xian's side to prevent his younger brother from getting into any accidents.

Li Zhong stayed obediently beside Li Zhi and, following his example, sank into the water, leaving only his bald head exposed.

Li Yong and two other people were playing in the water with a sheepskin ball. They didn't dare to disturb Li Zhi too much, so they played from a distance.

An hour later, Li Zhi got up and left the pond, put on a large silk scarf, went to a warm room, and summoned Wang Jishan to meet him.

After a while, Wang Jishan came to the warm room, greeted him, and said, "Your Majesty, I have discovered the purpose of the Arab spies."

Li Zhi said: "Oh, what is their purpose?"

Wang Jishan said, "All they were looking for was news about Tubo, such as how many troops our dynasty had entered Tubo, and what follow-up policies we would implement after we conquered Tubo."

Li Zhi said: "So, they are still planning to attack Tubo?"

Wang Jishan said, "I think they are trying to find out our strategic goal of sending troops to Tibet, so that they can send people to negotiate with the Tang Dynasty to divide up Tibetan territory."

Li Zhi pondered for a moment and said, "Don't touch them for now. If it's true as you said, the Arabs should send an envoy soon."

Wang Fusheng said, "Yes."

In addition to war, there is also diplomacy between major powers.

At present, the Tang army has not yet gained absolute advantage on the battlefield, so Li Zhi must leave a way to resolve the Tubo issue through diplomacy.

(End of this chapter)