Tang Dynasty, my wife Wu Zetian

Chapter 265 The Emperor's Special Hobby

While Wang Fusheng was talking to Qin Shaojian, a eunuch came to Lizheng Hall to report that Lu Chengqing and Du Zhenglun wanted to see him and were waiting in Ganlu Hall.

Li Zhi had no choice but to leave Lizheng Hall and return to Ganlu Hall to meet the two.

The two reported on the final stage of the land system reform.

News has come from Lingnan Province and Hebei Province that the land system reform has been successfully promoted in the two places. In other words, the land system has been reformed throughout the country.

After Li Zhi encouraged them for a few words, the two of them took their leave.

Wang Fusheng had quietly returned to the palace. He walked to the throne in small steps and said softly, "Your Majesty, the matter of Shanchiyuan has been thoroughly investigated."

Li Zhi tilted his head and asked, "Oh, who is the one who sang Changmen Fu?"

Wang Fusheng said, "It's not clear who it is, but it's not the two imperial ladies."

Li Zhi frowned slightly and asked, "Are there any other imperial concubines in the palace?"

Wang Fusheng whispered, "No more."

Li Zhi asked curiously, "Who is that person singing Changmen Fu in the mountain and pond courtyard?"

Wang Fusheng said, "Young Supervisor Qin is already investigating. He should be able to find out the truth in two or three days."

Li Zhi pondered for a moment, but a hint of curiosity grew in his heart. He waved his hand and said, "No need to check. I will go and see tonight to find out who she is."

In mid-May, the bright moon is like a huge ice plate, quietly suspended in the air.

Li Zhi leaned against the wall, looked up at the quiet moonlight, and recalled the sad song of Changmen Fu in his mind.

The palace looks very different to different people.

As the person with the highest authority in the palace, Li Zhi has been seen with nothing but flattery, sweet words and laughter in the palace over the past few years.

The cold and cruel side of the palace has never been seen except when Wu Meiniang wanted to intoxicate the two daughters of Prince Xiao at the beginning.

Therefore, this sad and graceful song of Changmen Fu had a great impact on his heart and made him unforgettable.

What kind of woman could sing such a sad song? Li Zhi was full of curiosity and sympathy for the woman.

Just as he was thinking to himself, the low and melodious sad melody penetrated the wall and reached his ears again.

"What a beautiful woman! She walks carefree and carefree. Her soul wanders away and does not return, her body withered and she lives alone..."

Li Zhi did not intend to listen to the end this time. He turned to the wall and continued: "I go out in the morning and come back in the evening, I enjoy eating and drinking and forget about others."

In an instant, the sound behind the wall disappeared.

Li Zhi smiled and said, "My lady on the other side of the wall, can you hear me?"

There is no reply.

Li Zhi asked a few more questions, but there was no response from the other side.

Wang Fusheng whispered, "Your Majesty, since she is here tonight, if we go to Shanchiyuan now, we should know who she is."

Li Zhi looked up at Mingyue and said slowly, "It's really a shame to know her identity in this way. Let's go." He walked away.

Wang Fusheng followed with a smile.

The emperor was obviously very fond of the woman and might even take her as a concubine, which was exactly what he would like to see.

He immediately sent a eunuch to tell Qin Shaojian to stop the investigation to avoid catching the woman and spoiling the emperor's interest.

On the second night, Li Zhi came to the secret garden again. After waiting for a while, he heard the woman's sad and melodious music again.

This time he listened quietly, and only after the woman finished singing did he speak up and say, "Hey, do you really want to see the king?"

After waiting for a long time, there was no response. Just when Li Zhi thought that the other party had left again, a soft and pleasant voice came from behind the mountain wall.

"Do not want to."

The woman's voice was not loud, but fortunately it was quiet all around, so Li Zhi finally heard it.

He smiled and asked, "If you don't want to, why do you want to sing Changmen Fu?"

After a long while, the woman asked, "Who are you?"

Li Zhi said, "I am a Qianniu Guard. I heard your singing while on duty yesterday, so I took the liberty to talk to you. Please forgive me."

There was another long silence before the woman said, "You've neglected your duties. Aren't you afraid of being punished by your superiors?"

Li Zhi smiled and said, "Don't worry, my superior is my relative, so I often slack off."

The woman said, "Then you must be from a noble family?"

Li Zhi laughed and said, "Not really. My ancestors fought in a few battles under the late emperor and received some favors. What about you? Who are you?"

The woman said, "Do you know where I am?"

Li Zhi said: "I know, Shanchiyuan."

The woman said, "Since you know, why are you asking more questions? Who else could the woman from Shanchiyuan be?"

Li Zhi felt particularly pleased when he heard her harsh tone, which was a bit reprimanding. It had been a long time since he had heard someone talk back to him like this.

All I can say is that after being an emperor for a long time, he will have some special hobbies.

"Okay, I'm asking too much. You haven't told me yet, why are you singing Changmen Fu?"

The woman said, "Someone taught me this. This song is very much to my liking. Sometimes I can't help it, so I hide here and sing it."

Li Zhi asked curiously, "What do you think? Are you worried about something?"

The woman said "hmm" in a voice so low that it was barely audible.

Li Zhi said, "Can you tell me about it?"

The woman said nothing.

Li Zhi laughed and said, "Is it because the man you like has someone else in love, that's why you are so worried?"

The woman uttered a "Pah" and said, "Don't talk nonsense. I'm worried about my family."

Li Zhi said, "Is your family sick?"

"No, he...he..." The woman's voice was choked with sobs and a hint of tears.

Li Zhi said softly, "If you have any trouble, you can tell me, maybe I can help you."

The woman asked, "Why are you helping me?"

Li Zhi smiled and said, "Your singing is very beautiful. Consider it as my reward for listening to your music."

The woman said, "You are such a weird person. When others hear me singing this song, they all stay away from me, but you actually think it sounds good?" There was no crying tone in her voice anymore, but instead there was a hint of smile.

Li Zhi smiled and said, "Fish and bear's paw, each has his own preferences."

The woman asked curiously, "You can't have your cake and eat it too, right?" Li Zhi smiled and said, "Don't worry about the details. Anyway, I think your music is beautiful, so I'm doing you a favor as a reward."

The woman was silent for a moment, then said softly, "In this deep palace that's like a prison, you're the second good person I've met."

Li Zhi was slightly taken aback and said, "Don't you like the palace?"

The woman whispered, "If it weren't for looking for my little brother, I would rather die than stay in a place like this."

Li Zhi asked, "Are you entering the palace to look for your brother?"

The woman said, "Yes."

Li Zhi's heart sank.

Judging from the woman's conversation, she seemed to have read some books, but she was definitely not from a noble family, and it was even less likely that her brother could enter the palace as a guard.

Then there is only one possibility left, to enter the palace after being castrated.

Li Zhi sighed and asked, "How old is he and what is his name?"

The woman said, "His name is Zhu Shun, he is thirteen years old this year, and he entered the palace after being castrated in the seventh year of Yonghui." Her voice was sad.

In the seventh year of Yonghui, which was the second year of Li Zhi's arrival in the Tang Dynasty, Li Zhi felt even more depressed. He asked, "Can you tell me your story?"

The woman was silent for a moment, then asked, "Did you know that in the sixth year of the Yonghui reign, the imperial court was fighting in Liaodong and collected a tax from the people of Hebei?"

Li Zhi felt a lump in his throat and said, "I know."

The woman said, "Because of corrupt officials, the imperial court collected taxes twice, causing the people of the five prefectures of Hebei to suffer..."

As she told the story, Li Zhi finally realized that he had not handled the Hebei incident perfectly.

At that time, due to the corruption of Chang Sunyang, many people from the five states of Hebei became refugees and headed towards Chang'an City.

Li Zhi ordered people to provide relief to the victims in three counties north of Chang'an and relocate them to Anxi Tingzhou.

However, not all refugees from the five states came to Chang'an. Many refugees went to Henan, among whom was a family surnamed Zhu.

The Zhu family was originally a scholarly family, and their ancestors had served as officials in the Sui Dynasty.

Zhu's father took the imperial examinations many times but failed each time. The family business had long since declined, and he became depressed and fell ill.

At that time, the imperial court's tax revenue came in, and the Zhu family's last remaining savings were taken away by the government. Zhu's father didn't even have money for medicine.

In order to pay for her husband's medical treatment, Zhu's mother had to borrow money from monks. Later, she could not pay it back, and the monks took away her house, so she had to become a refugee.

Zhu's father vomited blood and died on the way.

The Zhu family has three sons and two daughters. Zhu's mother can't take care of them all by herself, so how can she take care of five children?

On the way to exile, two sons and one daughter starved to death, leaving only the eldest daughter and the youngest son alive.

Zhu's mother knew that if her two remaining children continued to follow her, they would only die, so she reluctantly sold her eldest daughter.

The money from the sale was snatched away by other refugees. When she went to chase the money, her young son was also abducted. The Zhu family was eventually destroyed.

The youngest son was sold to Chang'an. Because of his fair skin and cleverness, he was sold to the outer courtyard of the Eunuch Supervisor. He passed the Eunuch Supervisor's assessment and was sent into the palace.

Two years later, Zhu's mother, who had been working as a cook for a wealthy family in Xingyang County, was suddenly approached by a gate guard, who gave her a large sum of money, saying that a eunuch in the palace had asked him to pass it on to Zhu's mother.

After asking carefully, Zhu's mother found out that her youngest son had actually entered the palace.

With the money, she found her eldest daughter and redeemed her from the wealthy family. The mother and daughter returned to their hometown, Lucheng County, together.

With the help of the county lieutenant, Sun Quan, the mother and daughter finally returned to their normal lives.

After the eldest daughter settled her mother, she came to Chang'an alone to look for her younger brother.

Ordinary people had no way of entering the palace to find someone, so she had to go to the outer courtyard of the palace and sell herself as a palace maid.

She was beautiful, had a sweet voice and sang beautifully, and was eventually chosen to enter the palace.

However, after the eldest daughter entered the palace, she was assigned to Shanchiyuan. Not only could she not find her younger brother, she was also bullied by other palace people.

After a year, I felt as if I was locked in a cage, unable to get any news about my younger brother. I was so sad that I sang this sad song at night.

After listening to this, Li Zhi remained silent for a long time.

The eldest daughter of the Zhu family asked, "Are you still listening?"

Li Zhi said: "Yes."

"Why don't you speak?"

Li Zhi sighed, "I feel so overwhelmed, I don't know what to say."

The eldest daughter of the Zhu family said softly, "You are indeed a good person. It's a pity that there are too few good people in this palace."

Li Zhi couldn't help but ask, "Why did those palace servants in Shanchi Courtyard bully you?"

The eldest daughter of the Zhu family said quietly, "The women here all dream of being favored by a saint. They regard each other as enemies and bully each other. I am of low birth, so I am the easiest to bully."

In fact, there is another point. She has good looks and a nice voice, which easily arouses the jealousy of other women.

Li Zhi said, "What's your name?"

The woman said, "My name is Zhu Zhenlian, what's yours?"

Li Zhi said: "Li Shuitai."

Zhu Zhenlian smiled and said, "After talking to you, I feel much better. Thank you very much, Li Shuitai. I'm leaving now."

Li Zhi said: "Wait a minute, I have two more questions."

Zhu Zhenlian said, "Just ask?"

Li Zhi said, "After you returned to Lucheng County, did you feel that your life had changed at all?"

Zhu Zhenlian was silent for a while, then said, "The Saint granted Lucheng County a three-year tax exemption, and everyone's life has become a little better. Otherwise, even with the help of County Lieutenant Changsun, my mother and I would not be able to resume our normal livelihoods."

Li Zhi added, "Now that the tax exemption period has ended, how can the people of Lucheng County survive?"

Zhu Zhenlian said, "Due to those three years, everyone has recovered. Besides, there has been no war in the past few years, and life has gradually improved."

"Corvée labor was exempted

Li Zhi breathed a sigh of relief and asked, "One last question. Who did you learn this Changmen Fu from?"

Zhu Zhenlian sighed, "It was Yang Yunv. When she sang this song, she was much sadder than me. I couldn't help crying every time I heard it."

Li Zhi nodded secretly and said loudly, "Madam Zhu, don't worry, I will definitely help you find your brother."

He walked out of the garden.

(End of this chapter)