Tang Dynasty, my wife Wu Zetian

Chapter 231 Empress Wu Wants to Kill

After Li Zhi rested for a night in the Hot Spring Palace, he returned to Chang'an City in a carriage the next morning with his concubines, princes and princesses.

Li Zhi and Wu Meiniang sat together in the imperial carriage, and Crown Prince Li Hong and Princess Gao'an also sat in the carriage.

Princess Gao An was feeling sleepy and dozing off on Li Zhi's legs. Li Hong, who was standing next to her, was flipping through a booklet with a serious look on his face, his eyebrows tightly furrowed.

Li Zhi glanced at him and asked, "Hong'er, what are you looking at?"

Li Hongdao said, "Father, I am reading Zuo Zhuan, and I am reading the story of Mi Shangchen."

When Wu Meiniang heard this, her face changed drastically, and she hurriedly asked, "Who taught you to read Mi Shangchen?"

Li Hongdao said, "Guo Yu, the Xima, taught me how to read it."

Wu Meiniang was shocked and furious. She said to Li Zhi, "Your Majesty, Guo Yu has evil intentions and wants to corrupt the Crown Prince. I implore you to order his punishment."

It was the first time that Li Zhi saw Wu Meiniang lose her composure like this. Her eyes were red and she was shaking with anger.

This is not surprising, because Mi Shangchen was also a prince, the prince of Chu during the Spring and Autumn Period, and the eldest son of King Cheng of Chu.

Because King Cheng of Chu wanted to make another son the crown prince, Mi Shangchen led his troops to surround the palace and forced his biological father to hang himself.

Li Zhi raised his hand and said, "Mei Niang, don't be nervous. Our Hong'er is not Shang Chen."

He turned to look at Li Hong and said, "Hong'er, do you think Guo Xima should be punished?"

Li Hongdao: "No punishment should be given."

Li Zhi laughed and asked, "Why?"

Li Hong said, "In fact, when I first read about Mi Shangchen, I was also very angry. I asked Guo Xima why the sages' scriptures recorded such a cruel thing."

Li Zhi hummed, then asked, "Then how did he answer?"

Li Hongdao said, "Guo Xima said that Confucius wrote the Spring and Autumn Annals to record both good and bad deeds. His purpose was to praise good deeds, persuade the people, and denounce bad deeds as a warning to future generations. Recording Mi Shangchen's evil deeds was to make his crimes infamous for eternity and serve as a warning to future generations."

When Wu Meiniang heard this, her expression eased a little.

Li Zhi nodded and smiled, "Mei Niang, you can finally rest assured now."

Wu Meiniang blushed slightly and said, "Your Majesty, please forgive me for making you laugh, but I think Hong'er is still young and doesn't need to learn these things too early. You can let him learn the Book of Rites first."

Li Zhi looked at Li Hong and said, "Hong'er, what do you think?"

Li Hong glanced at his mother and said, "I still want to learn Zuo Zhuan."

Zuo Zhuan records many true and interesting stories, which are more attractive to children like Li Hong.

Li Zhi smiled and said, "Since he likes it, let him continue to learn, Mei Niang, what do you think?"

Wu Meiniang nodded.

Li Hong said happily: "Thank you, father, thank you, mother."

At this moment, the carriage suddenly stopped. Li Hong was standing in front of the two of them and almost fell down. Fortunately, Li Zhi was quick to catch him.

Princess Gao An swayed, opened her eyes, and said drowsily, "Father, have we arrived in Chang'an?"

Li Zhi lifted the curtain of his carriage, looked out the window at the wilderness, frowned, and said, "Not yet."

At this moment, Wang Jishan approached on his horse, dismounted, knelt on one knee, and said, "Your Majesty, there are people blocking your carriage ahead."

Li Zhi was shocked. He had walked back and forth on this official road countless times, but this was the first time he encountered someone stopping the imperial carriage.

"Bring them here."

"Yes!"

After a while, several civilians were brought over. One of them was over sixty years old, and the rest were young people.

Those people were very frightened. They came to the imperial carriage and immediately knelt down and kowtowed. Two of the younger ones were trembling all over.

Li Zhi said, "You are stopping the imperial carriage to file a complaint, right? If you have anything to say, stand up and speak."

Several people continued to kowtow without saying a word.

Li Zhi frowned and said, "Wang Qing, what did you do to them? Why are they so scared?"

Wang Jishan hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, I didn't threaten them. It's just that they didn't know your identity before they stopped you. They just thought you were an official, so they were so scared."

Li Zhi nodded. This was not surprising. Ordinary people could not tell the difference between the emperor's ceremonial guard and the officials' ceremonial guard.

What's more, Li Zhi often went back and forth to the Hot Spring Palace and ordered that travel be kept simple, so it was natural that they could not tell the difference.

Li Zhi immediately got off the imperial carriage and wanted to go over to help the old man up. Wang Fusheng hurried forward and helped him up first.

"Old man, gentlemen, please get up. There is no need to be afraid." Li Zhi said gently.

Seeing Li Zhi's kind face, the old man's fear subsided a little. He bent down and said, "I, I didn't know it was the Saint passing by. I offended the Saint. Please punish me."

Li Zhi smiled and said, "Don't be afraid, old man. Since you are stopping my carriage on the official road, you must have some grievance. You can tell me what you want."

The old man still lowered his head and said, "I, we...we..."

Li Zhi said: "You can speak freely. If there is any injustice, I will help you to make the decision."

The old man looked up at Li Zhi, then finally gritted his teeth and said, "Your Majesty, we are all farmers from the nearby Majiazhuang. A dozen days ago, a group of rogues came to the village. They rode their horses and trampled on the fields at will. When someone tried to stop them, they shot at them with bows and arrows, injuring several people."

Li Zhi's face froze, and he asked in a deep voice, "Do you know their names?"

The old man said, "I don't know their names, but I heard them mention the word Helan during their conversation. It must be the surname of one of them." Empress Wu, who had been sitting in the carriage listening, suddenly became restless. She quickly got off the carriage and asked, "How old are they?"

The old man said, "The oldest should be around twenty, and the youngest is about fifteen or sixteen."

Wu Meiniang's face turned pale, and she turned sideways to Li Zhi and said, "Your Majesty, I am guilty."

Li Zhi just raised his hand without looking at her, and said to the old man, "Old man, can you go to Wannian County to report to the authorities?"

The old man hesitated to answer.

Another young man mustered up his courage and said, "Saint, we've reported this to the authorities, but they've always kicked us out. We really have no other choice, so..."

Li Zhi raised his hand and said, "It's alright. I don't blame you. It's my fault that you suffered these losses. Go to the Dali Temple and find the Dali Temple Minister Di Renjie. Let him make the decision for you."

The young man was stunned and said, "Saint, can't you just make the decision for us?"

The old man slapped him on the back of the head and scolded him in a low voice: "You kid, the saint is so busy, how can he have time to deal with our trivial matters? Everyone, kneel down and kowtow to the saint."

Everyone immediately knelt on the ground and kowtowed continuously.

Li Zhi raised his hand and said, "Everyone, get up! Hurry and go to the Dali Temple. Di Renjie will definitely help you make the decision."

Everyone kowtowed a few more times before getting up and leaving. Li Zhi ordered Wang Jishan to send a few people to follow them to prevent any accidents.

The imperial carriage continued to return towards Chang'an City. Along the way, Li Zhi had a gloomy face and did not say a word. Wu Meiniang, who was standing beside him, lowered her head and looked quite aggrieved.

Li Hong and Princess Gao An both noticed that the atmosphere was not right, so they sat quietly in the car, exchanged glances, and did not dare to speak.

The imperial carriage quickly returned to Taiji Palace. Li Zhi and Wu Meiniang only said, "Meiniang, don't interfere in this matter," and then returned to Ganlu Palace.

Wu Meiniang watched Li Zhi's back as he walked away, and silently took Li Xian and Li Xian back to Lizheng Hall. She had her two sons taken away, and then ordered people to close the hall door.

Zhang Duohai already felt a deep fear. He knew Empress Wu's temperament best and was afraid that she was now thinking of killing someone.

"Do you admit your guilt?" Wu Meiniang stood facing the wall with her back to the crowd, and there was no emotion in her voice.

Almost in an instant, all the eunuchs and palace servants in Lizheng Hall knelt on the ground.

"We (the servants) acknowledge our guilt!"

Wu Meiniang said coldly, "I have asked you many times whether the people in the Wu Mansion behave properly outside the palace. What have you always said to me?"

Everyone put their heads to the floor and no one dared to say a word.

Zhang Duohai felt a huge crisis because Wu Meiniang asked him the most questions, and every time he said that the people in the Wu family were very well-behaved and did not cause any trouble.

This was not a lie on his part, nor did he have the guts to deceive the Queen.

According to information obtained by his subordinates, Wu Sansi and Wu Chengsi were both well-behaved.

Although Helan Minzhi was somewhat arrogant and often clashed with others, his targets were always children of noble families, and he had never been heard to bully ordinary people.

Could it be that his subordinates are just being perfunctory?

No, they probably don't have the courage.

At this moment, he heard footsteps slowly approaching him, and every step taken by Empress Wu seemed to be stepping on his heart.

Zhang Duohai could feel Empress Wu's anger from the sound of her footsteps.

What happened just now was equivalent to a slap in the face to her in front of the emperor, and she would never let it go easily.

The footsteps soon stopped, and Zhang Duohai could see the tip of Empress Wu's shoe, and then he felt a kick in the head.

"Zhang Dahai, do you have anything else to say?" A cold voice came from above his head.

Zhang Duohai gritted his teeth and said, "Your Highness, I think there is something fishy about this matter."

Wu Meiniang said nothing.

Zhang Duohai said hurriedly: "The appearance of those peasants is too coincidental. Your Majesty often goes to the Hot Spring Palace. If someone is interested..."

Wu Meiniang interrupted coldly, "Do you think His Majesty is easy to fool?"

Li Zhi did not deal with the matter immediately, but instead sent Di Renjie to investigate in order to prevent this situation.

Zhang Duohai said hurriedly: "Even if it's not a conspiracy, just based on the old man's one-sided statement, it can't prove that it was done by Helan Xiaolangjun."

"Are you trying to say that the old man is lying?"

Zhang Duohai said stubbornly, "It's also possible that the old man heard it wrongly, and it wasn't the young master's doing."

Wu Meiniang's footsteps gradually faded away. After a while, her majestic voice came from afar.

"Then go and investigate. If it's really Helan Minzhi who did it, you can't be a Junior Supervisor anymore."

Zhang Duohai hurriedly said, "Yes, yes, I'll check it out right away!" and stood up quickly.

When they reached the door, Empress Wu said, "Only investigation is allowed, no interference is allowed."

Zhang Duohai lowered his head, accepted the order, and left quickly.

Wu Meiniang had regained her composure at this time. She knew very well that anger could not solve the problem. The key was how to remedy it.

She pondered for a moment and said to Jiang Shanggong, "Go to Wu Mansion and tell mother not to stop the people from the Dali Temple if they come to arrest Helan Minzhi."

Jiang Shang Gong agreed and said, "Yes." She left the hall.
Wu Meiniang then turned to the palace maid Yuping and said, "Go and invite the Crown Prince over."

(End of this chapter)