Tang Dynasty, my wife Wu Zetian

Chapter 283 The Emperor’s True Intention!
Early in the morning, when Zhu Zhenlian was still sleeping soundly in bed, she heard bursts of noise coming from outside in a daze.

She slowly sat up, opened the curtain, and began to get dressed.

When the palace maids Cui Ying and others who were serving in the outer room heard the noise, they all came in.

"Hey, my lady, why are you dressing yourself again? Just ring the bell and let us come!"

Cui Ying walked quickly forward, complaining while helping her dress.

Zhu Zhenlian smiled and said, "It's okay. I feel more comfortable wearing it myself. I'm not used to being served by you."

Cui Ying snorted, "That won't do. If you feel comfortable, we will be punished. Please don't do this again in the future."

Zhu Zhenlian stretched out her hands and said helplessly, "Okay."

After a pause, he asked, "Why is there so much noise outside? Is it a festival today?"

Cui Ying smiled and said, "It's not a festival, but it's more lively than a festival. I heard that the front lines have won another victory. His Majesty is so happy that he has already issued an order to hold a banquet in Chengqing Hall tonight!"

Zhu Zhenlian asked curiously, "Where was the victory?"

Cui Ying said, "I heard that in Liaodong, the Khitans rebelled against the Tang Dynasty and allied with Goguryeo and Baekje to attack Yingzhou. They were severely beaten back by our Tang army!"

After hearing this, Zhu Zhenlian was shocked.

Yingzhou is not far from Cangzhou. The people of Hebei are well aware that Yingzhou is the most important gateway to Hebei. If Yingzhou is lost, the consequences will be unimaginable!
"Can you tell me the details?" she asked.

Cui Ying frowned and said, "I don't know for sure, maybe Wangxi knows."

After Zhu Zhenlian put on her clothes, she ordered someone to call Wangxi over and ask about the situation, but Wangxi didn't know either.

Zhu Zhenlian was quite disappointed. She walked to the door, put her hand on the eaves, and looked at the Moon Gate not far away, thinking: "I wonder if His Majesty will come today."

"Madam, it's time for breakfast." Cui Ying reminded.

"I'll be right there." Zhu Zhenlian nodded. Just as she was about to leave, she suddenly saw figures swaying at the Moon Gate and several people walked in.

Zhu Zhenlian's heart skipped a beat, thinking that the emperor had arrived. Unfortunately, it was not Li Zhi who came, but Yang Cairen.

Ever since Yang Cairen was released from Shanchiyuan, she has come to see Zhu Zhenlian every now and then.

The two women had a good relationship to begin with, and now after this experience, they are even closer, like real sisters.

Zhu Zhenlian hurried over, took Yang Cairen's arm, and said happily, "Sister Yang, you came really early today."

Yang Cairen smiled and said, "I have something to tell you, so I didn't even bother to have breakfast and came here early."

Zhu Zhenlian smiled and said, "That's perfect. I'm about to have dinner. Let's go together."

The two girls went to the dining room next door. Today's breakfast was snow fungus and lotus seed porridge.

This was originally a kind of medicinal porridge. Because the emperor often took medicinal food, the concubines also liked to eat this food as breakfast out of consideration for the emperor's health.

Yang Cairen was well-educated and kept quiet while eating. Zhu Zhenlian, however, was not so particular. While eating her porridge, she asked, "Sister Yang, what do you want to talk to me about?"

Yang Cairen swallowed the porridge in her mouth carefully, then opened her mouth slightly.

"Yong'er came to tell me yesterday about something that happened in Yingzhou, not far from your hometown. I thought you might be concerned about it, so I came to tell you."

Zhu Zhenlian was surprised and asked, "Are you talking about the battle in Yingzhou?"

Yang Cairen smiled slightly and said, "Have you heard about it?"

Zhu Zhenlian said happily, "I just heard someone mention it, and I was just about to find someone to find out the truth. Tell me quickly!"

Yang Cairen wiped the corner of her mouth with a handkerchief and smiled, "I heard from Yong'er that it was the Baekje who first attacked from the sea and fought a fierce battle with our army at sea. It seems that a general named Pan Feng led the navy and wiped them out."

"It's not Pan Feng, it's Pan Long!" A clear voice suddenly came from outside the door.

The two women turned around and saw Li Zhi striding in, wearing a bright yellow round robe.

The two women hurriedly stood up and saluted Li Zhi.

"Your Majesty, you came so early today!" Zhu Zhenlian pulled Li Zhi to sit next to her and was about to serve him a bowl of porridge personally.

Li Zhi raised his hand and said, "No need to serve. I ate before I came. I was also thinking about the Liaodong Campaign, which you believe is of great concern to me, so I came to tell you."

Zhu Zhenlian was even more delighted and said with a smile, "Your Majesty and my sister seem to have the same thoughts. I am flattered."

Li Zhi looked at Yang Cairen and said, "Are you here to tell Zhenlian about this, too? Who told you this? You even got the name wrong."

Yang Cairen's face flushed slightly, and she lowered her head and said, "I heard it from Yong'er. He should have been talking about Pan Long. I remembered it wrongly."

Li Zhi smiled and said, "That's not surprising. Sanlang is interested in these things. Go on, I want to listen too."

Yang Cairen whispered, "Your Majesty, please tell me. I'm afraid I've made a mistake again."

Li Zhi said: "It's okay. If you are wrong, I will point it out to you again."

Zhu Zhenlian pursed her lips and smiled, saying, "Sister Yang, just tell me."

Although Concubine Yang had been away from the mountain and pond for so long, the emperor had only visited her once and left without letting her sleep with him.

She also knew that this was a rare opportunity to get close to the emperor, so she stopped refusing and said softly, "The enemy is attacking from three directions. Aside from the sea, the strongest one is the Khitan in the north."

"On July 13th, 30,000 Khitan cavalrymen attacked Yanping Fort. Three days after the attack, Yingzhou Deputy Governor Gao Kan led his troops to support them. Together with the Yanping Fort defenders, they engaged the main Khitan force outside the city and won a great victory."

"The Khitans fled north, and our army pursued them. Near Baishan, they were ambushed by the Xi. The Khitans seized the opportunity to counterattack. General Gao Kan engaged them vigorously. During the fierce battle, another Tang army arrived from the northwest and attacked the Xi from the flank, causing them to fall into chaos."

Yang Cairen's voice was gentle and soft, and very pleasant to hear. She spoke very slowly, and after every two sentences, she would look at Li Zhi, observing his expression, for fear that she might say something wrong.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Zhenlian asked in surprise, "Where did this Tang army come from?"

Yang Cairen panicked slightly and said, "Yong'er only mentioned this army, but I don't know where it came from." Li Zhi continued, "This army was left by Gao Kan in the northwest to guard against the Xi people. They will only join the battle once the Xi people are dispatched."

Yang Cairen blushed and said, "Your Majesty, please speak for yourself."

Li Zhi did not refuse this time. He almost fell asleep while listening to Yang Cairen's story about the war. He did not feel any excitement at all.

"Although the Khitan, Goguryeo, and Baekje attacked Yingzhou together, they each harbored their own agenda and were not truly allies. Take Goguryeo, for example. When the Khitan and our army engaged in a fierce battle at Baishan, Goguryeo began to withdraw."

Zhu Zhenlian asked in confusion, "Why are they withdrawing their troops?"

Li Zhi said, "Goguryeo attacked the Tang Dynasty from the east. So after Baekje was defeated in the south, they got the news before the Khitan. Knowing that their plan had failed, they naturally withdrew their troops."

Zhu Zhenlian asked curiously, "The plan failed?"

Li Zhi said, "The three of them attacking Yingzhou are actually led by the Baekje army. They want to take the water route, avoid the Yingzhou navy defenses, and launch a surprise attack on Liucheng."

After hearing this, Zhu Zhenlian and Yang Cairen looked at each other.

The two women knew nothing about military affairs, and the more they listened, the more confused they became.

"Your Majesty, since the Baekje army wanted to avoid the Yingzhou navy, why did they fight with them?" Zhu Zhenlian asked.

Li Zhi said: "This involves intelligence. Simply put, we gave them a wrong coastal defense map, and they ran into our main force."

Zhu Zhenlian whispered, "It seems this victory wasn't easy."

Li Zhi said: "It is indeed not easy. In addition to the contributions of the soldiers on the front line, the Nei Lingfu, Dali Temple and Wannian County also have their contributions."

Zhu Zhenlian was stunned: "Why do the Dali Temple and Wannian County also have contributions?"

Li Zhi glanced at her and said, "The reason the Nei Ling Fu was able to deceive the enemy in the spy war was because the Dali Temple and Nei Ling Fu solved a case and arrested a Baekje spy."

He told the two women about Zheng Xuankai's case in detail, even explaining how Carpenter Zhang reported the case and how Zheng covered up the evidence.

After listening to this, Zhu Zhenlian frowned and said, "Although Zheng Xuankai didn't kill anyone, it's wrong for Zheng to arrest Carpenter Zhang and destroy evidence in order to cover up the case."

Li Zhi smiled and said, "If you have time, you can talk about this with the imperial concubine. Well, I have to go now." Then he stood up and left.

The two women went out together to see the emperor off.

After Li Zhi left, Zhu Zhenlian was about to return to the house, but she saw Yang Cairen staring in the direction the emperor left, lost in thought.

Zhu Zhenlian smiled and said, "Sister, His Majesty has left, let's go in."

Yang Cairen nodded and went back to the house with her. Then she waved her hand to send all the servants away and looked at Zhu Zhenlian with a serious face.

"Sister, what's wrong?" Zhu Zhenlian was stunned.

Yang Cairen lowered her voice and asked, "Do you know why His Majesty came to see you?"

Zhu Zhenlian was surprised and asked, "Didn't Your Majesty come to tell me about Yingzhou?"

Yang Cairen shook her head and said, "No, Your Majesty can talk about this kind of thing anytime when he comes to you. There's no need to come and tell you specifically."

"Then why did your Majesty come to see me?"

Yang Cairen said softly, "It's to tell you about Zheng Xuankai's case, and then let you tell Concubine Zheng."

Zhu Zhenlian opened her eyes wide, as if she didn't understand.

Yang Cairen said, "Have you noticed? His Majesty is very dissatisfied with Zheng's behavior."

Zhu Zhenlian nodded and said, "That's true, but Zheng did go too far."

Yang Cairen said softly, "Your Majesty wants to punish Zheng, but if he does it directly, the Imperial Concubine will lose face. If she becomes depressed, it may affect the unborn child."

Although Zhu Zhenlian didn't understand the affairs of the palace, she was not a stupid person. When she heard this, she suddenly understood.

"Your Majesty wants me to tell the Imperial Concubine about this matter and ask her to contact the Zheng family and ask them to apologize!"

Yang Cairen said, "That's about right. This way, the imperial concubine will look better."

Zhu Zhenlian sighed, "Ah, Your Majesty, it's not easy for you either. I'll go find Concubine Zheng right away."

Yang Cairen held her hand and reminded her, "Just relay the message. Don't express your opinion. If you're not careful, you might offend others."

"I remember it!"

Zhu Zhenlian immediately went to the main hall of Xunfeng Palace to pay her respects and chatted for a while.

It was not until the end that Zheng's case was told in detail to Concubine Zheng.

When Concubine Zheng asked her how she knew it, she told the truth, saying that the emperor told her that morning.

After hearing this, Concubine Zheng turned pale.

Zhu Zhenlian wanted to say a few words of comfort, but then she remembered Yang Cairen's warning, so she said goodbye and left the main hall without saying anything more.

On the second night, Yang Cairen came to tell her that Zheng Rentai, his father and his son, had all apologized to the emperor.

The emperor demoted Zheng Rentai by two ranks, and banished Zheng Xuanguo and Zheng Xuankai from Chang'an. Concubine Zheng also submitted a petition requesting an imperial decree, fining herself one year's salary.

In addition to the Zheng family, many people were implicated. Xu Ang was reprimanded and his son-in-law Zhou Daowu was demoted.

Di Renjie was commended and Wannianling Changsun Quan was promoted.

It was not until this moment that Zheng Xuankai's case finally came to an end.

　Happy Spring Festival everyone!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)