Tang Dynasty, my wife Wu Zetian

Chapter 297 Please take me to Wu Mansion!

The wheels rolled on the official road outside Chang'an City.

It snowed a few days ago and it hasn't completely melted yet.

There was a thin layer of snow on the tops of the trees along the road, as if they were wearing small white hats.

Zheng Mingyu sat in the car for more than an hour and felt stuffy and uncomfortable.

Lu Wanjun was weak and could not stand the wind, so the car windows were closed tightly, making the journey quite monotonous.

Lu Wanjun also noticed that her husband was feeling uncomfortable, so she spoke to him, "Who is sitting in the car behind you? Why did you bring it with you?"

When Zheng Mingyu returned from the yamen, he brought a man in black with him and said he would take him to Chang'an.

Lu Wanjun had no interest in other men's affairs, so she didn't ask much at the time. Now that she was bored on the journey, she just happened to use this as a topic of conversation.

Zheng Mingyu explained, "Maybe he's a runaway slave from Prince Zheng's palace who stole something from his master."

Lu Wanjun asked curiously, "Then why bring it with you?"

Zheng Mingyu lowered his voice and said, "When interrogating him, he said that he was not a fugitive from the Zheng Palace, but that he knew a secret, and that's why he was being hunted by the Zheng Palace."

Lu Wanjun was slightly surprised: "What secret?"

"He refused to speak and insisted that I take him to the Dali Temple before he would speak."

Lu Wanjun frowned slightly and asked, "What secret is it, and why is he hiding it?"

Zheng Mingyu leaned back and said with a smile, "I'm curious too, but I'll find out when we get to Chang'an."

There were many pedestrians on the official road, and there was a tea stall about a mile ahead of the two of them.

Drinking a cup of hot tea in this kind of weather is a very comfortable thing.

However, the only two tables in the tea stall were now occupied by a group of gangsters wearing conical hats.

There were seven or eight people in total, with their hats pulled down low and straw raincoats draped over their shoulders. Everyone was armed with a sword, and they looked like they were not someone to be trifled with. Their eyes were all directed towards the official road.

They had finished their tea long ago and didn't even order new tea, but Dr. Tea didn't dare to chase them away. He had a worried look on his face, and he didn't know how long this group of people would sit there.

The Jianghu man sitting in the east seat was about forty years old, with a strong build, and seemed to be the leader of several people.

He sat on a chair with his arms and legs spread out, his big hand like a palm-leaf fan pressing on the hilt of a sword stuck in the ground, his eyes flashing with a cold light.

Next to him was a fat man. In the middle of winter, he was wearing a thin short coat, revealing his fat belly.

When the fat man saw Zheng Mingyu's carriage approaching, he whispered to the leader, "Boss, that's the carriage."

The man with the sword just said "hmm", clenched his hand, grasped the sword handle, stood up and left the tea stall, and walked to the side of the road.

The others also stood up and left the tea stall. Three of them stood behind him, and the other four stood on the other side of the official road.

The fat man leaned close to the sword-wielding man's ear and whispered, "Boss, this place is less than ten miles from Chang'an. We might run into the Jinwu Guards patrolling here."

The swordsman glanced at him and said coldly, "At this point, you're not going to tell me that you're scared and don't want to do this anymore, are you?"

The fat man smiled and said, "How can that be possible? But the other party is too powerful. I'm worried that we may be able to get the money but not spend it."

The sword-wielding man said in a deep voice, "We just need to kill the target and not provoke the car owner. Once the mission is completed, we can go and hide in Lingnan. Could it be that Zheng would chase us to Lingnan just for a random acquaintance?"

The fat man whispered, "Then we must act quickly. After chopping off the target's head, we will immediately go to Shangzhou and ask the employer for the commission."

The man with the sword nodded and gestured to everyone.

The meaning of this gesture is that you should act without saying anything else. There is only one target, and you are not allowed to hurt anyone else.

A moment later, the carriage of Zheng Mingyu and others slowly approached.

The man with the sword suddenly strode to the center of the road, blocking the middle of the official road to prevent the other party from riding their horses at high speed and leaving them behind.

Zheng Mingyu had few followers, only four, all of whom were the Jinwu Guards in the palace.

These four people were originally responsible for the guards of Xunfeng Palace, but because Concubine Zheng loved her brother dearly, they were sent to Zheng Mingyu and went with him to Fuping County to take up their posts.

These four people were also carefully selected. They were originally soldiers of the Jinwu Guard and had participated in wars. They were transferred to Chang'an because of their outstanding performance.

As soon as they saw the man with a sword blocking the way and the gangsters on both sides, they knew something was wrong.

One of them said in a deep voice, "You are responsible for protecting Alang and his wife. Gao Laoer, you come with me to deal with those people."

As soon as he finished speaking, he spurred his horse and rushed towards the man with the sword, followed closely by another Jinwu Guard.

The crossbow arrived before the man, and with two "whoosh" sounds, two crossbow arrows shot towards the man with the sword.

When the sword-wielding man saw that it was a military crossbow, he cursed inwardly, "Damn it! These powerful bastards are so well-connected that even their servants have military crossbows!"

In a hurry, he could only use the horizontal sword to block the vital parts in front of his body. With two "puff" sounds, he was hit by a crossbow in the abdomen and thigh.

The fat man saw that the boss was seriously injured. If they continued to fight, even if they killed the target, they would find it difficult to escape. He shouted, "Get out of here!"

He walked over to the man carrying a sword and went into the woods beside the road.

They chose this place to attack, intending to escape through the woods if they missed.

Zheng Mingyu finally heard the noise, poked his head out, and asked, "Guard Wang, what's going on?"

The guard who was in charge of the operation had already returned on his horse and bowed to Zheng Mingyu, saying, "They are just a few thieves. Don't worry, Alang."

Zheng Mingyu frowned and said, "This is Chang'an, where did these thieves come from?"

Suddenly, I heard a voice behind me.

"They are coming for me." It was the man in black who was rescued by Zheng Mingyu.

He was not as relaxed as Zheng Mingyu and his wife along the way. He kept the car windows open and observed the surrounding situation.

When he saw the man with a sword blocking the road just now, he knew that trouble was coming. He was thinking about whether to escape, but he didn't expect that the guards around Zheng Mingyu were so powerful and even had crossbows!
Zheng Mingyu looked at him and said, "Zhou Er, you said those people were coming for you?"

The man in black said in a deep voice, "Yes, my dear, please be careful. You may run into trouble later. The people in Prince Zheng's Mansion will not let you off easily!"

Zheng Mingyu frowned and asked, "What secret do you know that King Zheng wants to kill you?"

Zhou Er hesitated for a moment and said, "My dear, you saved me twice. It's not that I don't trust you. However, you are a member of the Zheng family of Xingyang, so please forgive me for not speaking frankly."

Zheng Mingyu snorted coldly, "What's wrong with the Zheng family of Xingyang? Did our Zheng family do something against heaven and earth that you hate us?"

Zhou Er sighed, "That's not what I meant. You've saved me twice, so I can't hide it from you anymore. This secret I know might be related to your Zheng family."

Zheng Mingyu was surprised and asked, "What do you mean?"

Zhou Er whispered, "That's all I have to say. I dare not trouble you any more on the rest of the way. I will go to Chang'an by myself to avoid causing you any more trouble."

Zheng Mingyu stared at him closely and said, "Will you tell the truth when I take you to the Dali Temple?"

Zhou Er smiled bitterly and said, "Actually, I deceived you. I didn't want to go to the Dali Temple, but to the Wu Mansion."

Zheng Mingyu was furious when he saw that he was being played around by the other party. He asked angrily, "Why did you lie to me?"

Lu Wanjun suddenly said, "Husband, he probably felt that Zheng's relationship with the Wu family was not good, so he didn't tell the truth."

When Tuesday heard this, he lowered his head, obviously being struck by the truth.

Zheng Mingyu was so angry that she laughed and said, "My sister has no conflicts with Her Majesty the Queen in the palace, but people outside are saying that my sister and the Queen are not on good terms. It's ridiculous!" Zhou Er opened his mouth, but stopped talking.

Zheng Mingyu snorted, "If you don't want to tell me, then that's fine. But I never give up halfway. I'll send you to Wu Mansion!"

Zhou Er stared at Zheng Mingyu in a daze and bowed to him.

"Thank you, my dear!"

The carriage continued to move forward. Zheng Mingyu was much more careful on the rest of the journey, and he would stick his head out from time to time to check the situation on the official road.

After marching for a quarter of an hour, Zheng Mingyu suddenly saw a cavalry group approaching from a distance and exclaimed happily, "General Li!"

The leader of the cavalry was Li Yuanfang.

Hearing the noise, he rode over. Seeing that it was Zheng Mingyu, he smiled and bowed, "County Lieutenant Zheng, your courtesy."

Zheng Mingyu was actually not very familiar with Li Yuanfang. He had only seen him a few times with Di Renjie, so he could barely be considered an acquaintance.

At this moment, he didn't care whether he was familiar with the other party or not, and asked, "Where are you going, General Li?"

Li Yuanfang said, "A case occurred in Luoyang, and the Minister of the Temple of Heaven sent me to investigate."

"Is it an emergency?"

Li Yuanfang said, "It's not urgent. What's going on, County Magistrate Zheng?"

Zheng Mingyu bowed and said, "General Li, I'm in some trouble. Can you give me a ride?" He told Li Yuanfang what had happened on the roadside.

When Li Yuanfang heard that there were thieves nearby, he flew into a rage and said, "What a bold thief! Fine, I'll take you to Chang'an."

Not only did he escort Zheng Mingyu, he also sent a team to the scene of the fight to check the situation and track down the thieves.

With Li Yuanfang personally escorting them, they had a smooth journey and soon arrived at Chunming Gate.

Zheng Mingyu parted ways with Li Yuanfang outside the door and brought Zhou Er to Pingkangfang and Wu Mansion.

Zheng Mingyu originally thought that Zhou Er was from the Wu Mansion, but unexpectedly, the guard at the Wu Mansion did not recognize him at all.

After Zhou Er whispered a few words with the guard at the Wu Mansion, the guard's expression changed drastically and he went in to report.

After a while, Helan Minzhi came out in person, ready to take Zhou Er into the mansion to talk.

Zhou Er said to Zheng Mingyu, "Mr. Zheng, if you want to know the details, please come in with me."

Zheng Mingyu couldn't resist his curiosity, so he gave Lu Wanjun a few instructions and followed the two of them in.

After nearly two quarters of an hour, Zheng Mingyu finally came out with a very strange expression on his face.

After he got into the carriage, Lu Wanjun waved her hand in front of him and asked, "Hey, why are you standing there in a daze? What was the secret that Zhou Er mentioned?"

Zheng Mingyu's face was very solemn, and he whispered, "Let's talk about it when we get home."

Not long after the two men's carriage left the Wu Mansion, another carriage drove out from the second gate of the Wu Mansion and headed straight for the palace.

Not only Wu Shun and Helan Minzhi were sitting in the carriage, but Zhou Er was also in it.

The carriage soon arrived outside Changle Gate. Although Wu Shun had the convenience of entering and leaving the palace, he could only go in and out by himself and could not bring anyone with him, so he had to ask someone to pass the message.

After a while, a eunuch came over and conveyed the queen's order, allowing the three to enter the palace.

The three of them passed through Changle Gate with their family records and soon arrived outside Lizheng Hall.

Zhang Duohai had already been waiting outside the hall and led them to the main hall.

Zhou Er looked up and saw a beautiful woman in gorgeous clothes sitting in the hall. She had willow-shaped eyebrows and phoenix eyes, and a dignified demeanor. He quickly knelt on the ground and kowtowed.

"I am Tuesday, here to meet Her Majesty the Queen!"

Wu Meiniang ignored him and asked Wu Shun, "What's the urgent matter that you need to see me about?"

Wu Shun walked up to Wu Meiniang and whispered, "Sister, Tuesday was originally the guard of the Yang Mansion in Luoyang..."

The Yang Mansion in Luoyang is Madam Yang's maiden home and the residence of Wu Meiniang's maternal grandfather, Yang Da.

Yang Da died early, and the Yang family gradually declined and could not afford to support so many guards. Therefore, Zhou Er left the Yang Mansion and became self-reliant.

Zhou Er originally lived a relatively peaceful life, but his brother Zhou Da was too hot-tempered and always relied on the remaining power of the Yang Mansion to act recklessly in Luoyang.

As a result, he came into conflict with a young man from a prominent family in Luoyang, fought with him, and was seriously injured.

The government ruled that the two parties were fighting each other, so no compensation was awarded.

In order to save his brother, Zhou Er had to borrow money from everywhere, but unfortunately the money he borrowed was still not enough for Zhou Da's medical treatment.

At this time, the Shaofujian opened a pawnshop in Luoyang, allowing people to use objects as collateral and borrow money from the pawnshop at very low interest rates.

Zhou Er used his family's land deed as collateral to borrow thirty strings of cash for a period of six months. He figured he could repay the money if he worked hard for half a year.

As a result, not long after he borrowed the money, someone came to his door and gave him another thirty strings of cash, asking him not to go to the pawnshop to repay the money.

Zhou Er lived in the suburbs of Luoyang, and the land deed was worth less than 20 strings of cash. He thought this was a good deal, so he agreed.

Later, when the deadline came, he did not repay the money, and the pawnshop quickly sent someone to take away his land deed.

Unexpectedly, not long after, the title deed was returned.

Not only him, but many people in similar situations are also like this.

Then news came out that the pawnshop was founded by the prince, and that the prince was so kind that he did not collect people's land deeds. So people began to praise the prince, and more and more people went to the pawnshop to borrow money.

After another month or two, the pawnshop suddenly changed the rules again. If there was any violation, the mortgaged items would be taken back.

Originally this was a very normal thing, but since there was a precedent, the people were no longer willing to accept it. The reputation of the prince immediately turned bad, and they all blamed the prince for changing his mind every day and being dishonest.

It was not until this time that Zhou Er realized that someone was deliberately targeting the prince.

He remembered the kindness of his former master and decided to go to the Wu Mansion to report the situation and tell Empress Wu.

As a result, not long after leaving Luoyang, he was chased by someone. He finally escaped to Fuping County and wanted to seek help from the Fuping County Government, where he met Zheng Mingyu.

After Wu Meiniang heard Wu Shun's explanation, a cold light flashed in her eyes and she asked Zhou Er, "Is your real name Zhou Er?"

Zhou Er hurriedly said, "Your Highness, my real name is Zhou Tong. I am the second child in my family, so everyone calls me Zhou Er."

Wu Meiniang said, "You are a grateful person. I like people like you the most. You will stay in the Wu Mansion from now on. I will ensure that you will be rich and prosperous for the rest of your life. I will also send someone to help heal your brother's illness."

Tuesday was so happy that my head was banging loudly.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Wu Meiniang waved her hand and said, "Minzhi, take him back. Big sister, you go too."

Wu Shun hurriedly asked, "Mei Niang, the mastermind behind this is King Zheng. How are you going to deal with him?"

Wu Meiniang said calmly: "Now that we know who it is, there is no need to worry. Leave the rest to me."

Wu Shun knew his sister's tactics well and said, "Well, we'll be leaving. If there's anything you need us to do, just let us know."

He said goodbye and left with Helan Minzhi and Zhou Er.

(End of this chapter)