Tang Dynasty, my wife Wu Zetian

Chapter 264 Outside the Palace Wall
After Wu Meiniang became pregnant, her life returned to the time when she was pregnant with Li Xian.

Li Zhi would come to spend some time with her every morning.

Because Madam Yang was old and it was inconvenient for her to enter and leave the palace, Wu Meiniang asked Li Zhi for permission to let Wu Ruyi take over the prenatal education, and Li Zhi readily agreed.

That morning, when Li Zhi came over, the Wu sisters were talking, and a little girl about thirteen or fourteen years old was sitting next to them. She was Helan Minrou.

Li Zhi sat next to Wu Meiniang, listening to Wu Ruyi talk about some interesting things in Chang'an City, and Helan Minrou would occasionally interject.

The deep palace is like a high wall, separating the inside and outside of the palace into two worlds.

In Li Zhi's impression, Li Zhong and Li Ji were still just children. When they entered the palace on weekdays, Li Zhi would only ask them about their homework and did not know anything else about them.

It was from Wu Ruyi that Li Zhi discovered that the two of them had a side that he was completely unaware of.

The two of them had just turned sixteen, but they were already very famous in Chang'an City.

Li Zhong is famous for his filial piety.

Every three days, he would go to the palace to pay a visit to Liu Chong'e, rain or shine, without interruption.

The eldest prince was also very caring towards his maternal uncle's family and often visited his grandparents.

Li Zhi thought about it carefully and realized that Li Zhong was indeed the prince who paid his respects to him most frequently, but he was too busy on weekdays and didn't pay any attention to it.

I vaguely remember that when Li Zhong first started his government, he beat up two teachers, which led to his bad reputation.

At that time, many officials submitted memorials to impeach him, hoping that Li Zhi would strengthen his discipline.

However, since then, people have gradually discovered that King Chen actually respected his teacher very much and would personally visit his teacher when he was sick.

Unconsciously, public opinion has quietly changed.

The Tang people attached great importance to filial piety. Although Li Zhong was of noble status, he was able to abide by filial piety and did not bully others by taking advantage of his power. Therefore, he was very popular among the people of Chang'an.

Compared with Li Zhong, Li Ji became famous for his music.

Although he was still young, he could already play more than a dozen musical instruments at a very high level, and his mansion also kept many music masters as guests.

Thanks to the promotion of these Qingke, the young King of Wu became quite famous for his elegance.

In addition, he had a close relationship with Li Zhong and was inseparable. With their reputations reinforcing each other, both of them became the talk of the town among the people of Chang'an.

It sounded like both boys were growing up well, and Li Zhi felt quite relieved.

But as he continued listening, Li Zhi suddenly felt that he could not completely believe what Wu Ruyi said.

Because in her words, Helan Minzhi actually had a good reputation, such as being both civil and military, and being suave and romantic, and was very popular among the people of Chang'an.

Regardless of whether it was true or not, it was fresh and interesting to listen to them talk about these things, so Li Zhi sat beside them and listened with a smile.

Wang Fusheng was not very interested in these things.

He stood in the corner of the hall, looking at the door from time to time. Not long after, he saw a eunuch coming to the door and winking at him.

Wang Fusheng quietly left the inner hall and came to the door. He asked the eunuch, "Is Young Supervisor Qin here?"

The eunuch said, "Young Eunuch Qin has gone to the Eunuch Supervisor's office. Please go and see him."

There are tens of thousands of eunuchs in Taiji Palace, but the only person in the entire harem who dares to ask Wang Fusheng, the chief eunuch, to meet him is Qin Shaojian.

Even when Zhang Da Hai was at his most arrogant, he didn't dare to do this.

Wang Fusheng did not show any displeasure. After giving instructions to several eunuchs, he walked towards the Eunuch Supervisor.

Qin Shaojian is the oldest eunuch in the harem.

When Wang Fusheng entered the palace, he was a eunuch beside Emperor Taizong Li Shimin, and his status was second only to the chief eunuch Zhang Ananda.

After Taizong's death, Zhang Ananda was buried with him.

At the beginning of the new emperor's reign, Wang Fusheng was promoted to the position of Junior Eunuch for his meritorious service in following the emperor. The Chief Eunuch at that time was Junior Eunuch Qin.

A new emperor has new ministers, and eunuchs are also ministers.

Although Wang Fusheng was young, thanks to his relationship with the emperor, he replaced Qin Shaojian in just a few years, and the latter was demoted to Shaojian.

Not only that, another young eunuch, Zhang Duohai, was very arrogant in the harem because of Empress Wu's favor, and did not take Qin Shaojian seriously at all.

This eunuch with the longest seniority in the palace had to retreat behind the scenes and manage remote courtyards such as Shanchiyuan.

On weekdays, he seldom went to the Eunuch Supervisor to report for duty, and did not compete with these two young juniors, enjoying his leisure time.

Because of this, Wang Fusheng rarely sees this old senior on a daily basis.

Two days ago, Li Zhi heard a woman singing in Princess Gao'an's secret garden and asked Wang Fusheng to investigate.

However, after a day of searching, Wang Fusheng found nothing. In desperation, he had to ask Qin Shaojian for help.

Since he was asking for help from the other party, Wang Fusheng naturally did not dare to put on airs. He took small steps and quickly came to the Eunuch Supervisor.

After walking through two corridors, he arrived at Qin Shaojian's office, where he saw four young eunuchs standing outside the door, bowing to him together.

Wang Fusheng waved his hand and asked, "Is Mr. Qin in the house?"

A young eunuch smiled and said, "We're waiting for you, Grand Eunuch." He opened the door and invited Wang Fusheng in.

The house was filled with thick incense and smoke.

On a brocade couch lay an old eunuch with gray hair, coughing from time to time. Two young eunuchs beside him were massaging his legs.

Wang Fusheng took two steps forward and bowed, saying, "Mr. Qin, I apologize for the inconvenience of inviting you here."

The old eunuch looked up and said, "Ah, Eunuch Wang is here. You two little bastards, why don't you help me up and greet me?" He was about to stand up tremblingly.

Wang Fusheng walked over quickly, held down Qin Shaojian, and said with a smile: "Mr. Qin, please lie down quickly. I am your child, how can I ask you to come to me for formalities? It would be embarrassing." There are rules for eunuchs.

Apart from official position, seniority is the most important. If someone is disrespectful, he will be despised by other eunuchs.

Qin Shaojian smiled slightly, his old face, which looked like an orange peel, relaxed a little. He said with a smile, "You are too polite, Wang Dajian. If you have any instructions, just tell this old man."

Wang Fusheng whispered, "You are in charge of the Shanchi Courtyard, right?"

The smile on Junior Eunuch Qin's face vanished, and he narrowed his eyes and asked, "Could it be that some bastard from Shanchi Courtyard has offended Senior Eunuch Wang, and you've sent me here to call him to task?"

Wang Fusheng hurriedly said, "You're worrying too much. Actually, two days ago, the Saint heard a woman singing. She might be from Shanchiyuan, so I'm asking you about it."

Young Supervisor Qin said in a hoarse voice, "I was wondering why you suddenly sent someone to Shanchi Courtyard to inquire about the news. So it's about this matter."

Wang Fusheng said, "I didn't mean to bother you, but it's just that the kids down there can't do anything right and can't reply to the Saint, so I'm bothering you."

Qin Shaojian waved his withered arms and said with a smile, "Very good, very good. Since this is the Saint's mission, I will find out as soon as possible."

He asked Wang Fusheng in detail about the time and place where the emperor met the woman.

Wang Fusheng answered all the questions and asked, "How long will it take you?"

Qin Shaojian suddenly coughed a few times, and a young eunuch raised his spittoon.

After he coughed up a mouthful of phlegm, he said breathlessly, "You know, there are quite a few people in the Shanchiyuan Palace. It may take three or two days."

Wang Fusheng whispered, "Then it might be a little late."

Junior Supervisor Qin said calmly, "This old servant is really not very efficient at his job. How about this? You appoint a new Junior Supervisor to replace me. Maybe in less than a day, you can find out the truth."

Wang Fusheng said, "Don't misunderstand me. What I meant is, can we first check on the two imperial concubines so that we can reply to the Saint first?"

Qin Shaojian frowned and asked, "Are you talking about Zheng Yunu and Yang Yunu?"

"Exactly."

“Why do we need to check them?”

Wang Fusheng said, "The song that woman sang seemed to be Changmen Fu. I don't think ordinary palace ladies would sing this song."

Qin Shaojian shook his head and said, "No, it can't be them."

Wang Fusheng was slightly surprised and asked, "How did you know?"

Qin Shaojian narrowed his eyes and said, "I'm not completely dizzy or deaf. I still know what the two imperial ladies did."

Hearing him say this, it seemed that he had been sending people to monitor the two imperial ladies.

Wang Fusheng was silent for a moment, then slowly said, "I wonder if Mr. Qin knows that His Royal Highness Prince Qi has been visiting Shanchiyuan quite often recently?"

A cold light flashed across Qin Shaojian's dim eyes as he stared at Wang Fusheng.

Wang Fusheng looked at him calmly.

"Mr. Qin, you should be well aware of everything in the harem. The two ladies in Shanchi Courtyard were originally Queen Wang's people. I have absolutely no ill intentions in asking these questions."

Qin Shaojian waved his hand and the two young eunuchs went out.

When there were only two people left in the room, Qin Shaojian spoke in a low and hoarse voice.

"Yes, it was me who tacitly allowed His Royal Highness Prince Qi to enter Shanchiyuan and secretly covered for him."

Wang Fusheng asked, "Why did you do this?"

Junior Supervisor Qin smiled faintly and said, "Grand Supervisor Wang, do you remember that one day in November of the sixth year of Yonghui, the Saint came to Shanchiyuan quietly without anyone else."

Wang Fusheng's heart trembled.

At that time, the emperor had just suffered a headache and his temperament changed drastically. He did not allow them to follow him and wandered around the palace.

He was very frightened at the time and could only follow behind silently. Fortunately, the saint gradually recovered and no major problems occurred.

"Of course I remember."

Qin Shaojian said slowly, "Then you should also know that the sage accidentally saw Liu Yunu meeting King Chen, and then Liu Yunu was named Chongyi."

"When the Crown Prince went to look for Liu Yunv, I tacitly agreed. If I had interfered with this, there would be no Liu Chong'er today."

Wang Fusheng stared at Qin Shaojian in a daze, vaguely understanding what he meant.

He tacitly allowed the Third Prince to meet Yang Yunv because he hoped that something similar would happen again.

However, he couldn't understand why Qin Shaojian did this.

Junior Eunuch Qin seemed to see his confusion and squinted his eyes as he asked, "Grand Eunuch Wang, do you remember what the first thing you learned when you entered the palace was?"

Wang Fusheng was stunned for a moment, then whispered, "Remember, the first thing you learn is what a eunuch is. 'Eunuch' means the inner palace, and the humble servants serve the venerable. An eunuch is a humble servant beside the venerable."

Qin Shaojian said in a hoarse voice, "Indeed, no matter how high our official positions are, we must not forget the hierarchy. No matter how low the rank of the imperial concubines is, they are still respected. It is our duty to help them, and we must not forget it."

"Besides, I have served three generations of emperors. Emperor Gaozu had more than forty concubines, and Emperor Taizong had more than thirty. But the current Saint has less than ten, and several are still imprisoned in the Shanchi Courtyard. Of course, I hope they can go out and serve the Saint!"

Wang Fusheng was stunned for a long moment, then sighed, "I failed in my duty."

Qin Shaojian had been talking for such a long time that he looked a little tired.

"Does Chief Supervisor Wang have anything else to ask?"

Wang Fusheng bowed and said, "No more. I'll leave the matter of that woman to Mr. Qin." He turned and left the house.

(End of this chapter)