Tang Dynasty, my wife Wu Zetian

Chapter 305 Empress Wu's Apology

In the Lizheng Hall, Wu Meiniang was practicing calligraphy again.

Whenever she was feeling restless, only calligraphy could calm her down.

She already knew that Zhang Zhong had arrived in Chang'an and was on his way to the palace.

However, she still doesn't know what happened in Changshou Village.

She likes to have everything under control.

However, at this moment, the development of the situation was completely out of her control, which made her feel full of crisis.

At this moment, Zhang Duohai entered the hall quietly and stood aside with his head lowered. He said, "Your Highness, Zhang Zhong and Sun Simiao have already entered the Suzaku Gate. There is no news from Shouzhou yet."

Although Wu Meiniang said nothing, the air in the hall seemed to become even more tense.

Wang Hong suddenly walked quickly into the hall with a joyful expression on his face and said, "Your Highness, Yang sent someone to deliver a letter to the palace."

Wu Meiniang finally raised her head.

It was obvious that Di Renjie told his wife about the situation, and then Yang sent someone to pass the news to the palace.

This case was originally the one she entrusted Di Renjie to investigate. She was very relieved that Di Renjie remembered to pass the news to her at the critical moment.

"Hurry up and present it." She glanced at Wang Hong and stretched out a hand.

Wang Hong walked forward with the letter and placed it in Empress Wu's hands. Empress Wu picked up the letter, scanned it quickly, and her eyes changed several times.

She didn't say anything, and Zhang Duohai and Wang Hong both held their breath and didn't dare to breathe heavily.

After a long while, Empress Wu ordered, "Wang Hong, summon the Lady of Liucheng County to the palace for an audience immediately. Duohai, go to Chengtian Gate to find Di Renjie and the others. Try to delay them. I believe Di Renjie will cooperate with you."

The two of them took their orders and left.

Not long after, Wu Shun hurried into the palace and asked Wu Meiniang, "Sister, why are you so anxious to summon me to the palace?"

Wu Meiniang looked at her without saying a word.

Wu Shun smiled and said, "Don't look at me like that. I haven't done anything lately!"

Wu Meiniang asked coldly, "Have you ever mentioned the formula of my motherwort powder to anyone?"

Wu Shun was stunned for a moment, a sullen look appeared on his face, and he lowered his head.

It turns out that in addition to using the anti-aging powder herself, Wu Meiniang also often sent a few bottles home for her mother, sister and younger sister to use as well.

After using it several times, Wu Shun found the effect to be excellent and asked her for the formula of the powder.

Wu Meiniang refused to tell at first, but after being pestered by her, she told her a few main ingredients and asked her to keep the secret.

However, Wu Shun had a carefree personality. Once, he held a tea party at home to entertain the ladies of the capital.

All the ladies thought she looked radiant recently and wondered if she had any secret.

In her pride, she mentioned the anti-aging powder that the queen had given her, and gave it a nice name, called the Fairy Jade Girl Powder.

Empress Wu was skilled in preserving her youthful appearance, and her skin was even better than that of a girl in her twenties. This was known to all the ladies in the capital, and they were secretly envious of her.

After listening to Wu Shun, I realized that it was because of this magical powder.

These ladies of Chang'an usually valued their appearance the most. After learning about the existence of this thing, they naturally flocked to it and asked how to prepare the Jade Girl Powder.

Wu Shun remembered his sister's instructions at first, but later, amid the praises of the women, he forgot himself and told them about several main medicines.

After this incident, nothing happened and Wu Shun forgot about it. It was only when his sister mentioned it that he remembered it.

When Wu Meiniang saw her expression, she knew that it was indeed her who told the story. She glared at Wu Shun with red eyes.

Wu Shun also realized that he was in trouble. He took his sister's hand and cried, "Mei Niang, it's my fault. If you are angry, just slap me a few times!"

Seeing her like this, Wu Mei Niang felt neither hatred nor resentment. She simply said, "I have to go and apologize to His Majesty now. I don't have time to hit you. Please go back."

Wu Shun was startled and asked anxiously, "Sister, what happened?"

Wu Meiniang said, "I'll explain it to you later." She walked out of the hall and headed towards Ganlu Hall.

Li Zhi had already finished dealing with today's state affairs and was sitting in his bedroom, looking through this year's evaluations of officials.

Wang Fusheng came up to him and said, "Your Majesty, Minister Di Si requests an audience, and he has also brought Sun Fengyu, Zhang Zhong, the King of Huainan, and the Lady of Yan."

Li Zhi looked up and asked, "Has Zhang Zhong been caught?"

Wang Fusheng said, "Yes, he came to Chang'an this morning and was captured by officers from the Dali Temple outside the residence of Lady Yan."

Li Zhi smiled and said, "Di Renjie's method really works. Let's go and meet this otherworldly master!"

Just as he was getting up to change his clothes, another eunuch came to report that Empress Wu was asking to see him outside the palace.

Li Zhi smiled and said, "The Queen's news is quite fast. Please ask her to come in."

After a while, Wu Meiniang, wearing a purple palace dress, with her hands clasped in front of her, entered the bedroom with a solemn expression.

Li Zhi smiled and said, "Mei Niang, you've come just in time. Zhang Zhong has been apprehended. Let's go and listen to Di Renjie explain the case."

Wu Meiniang bent her knees, knelt on the ground, folded her hands and bowed, saying: "I have come to apologize to Your Majesty."

Li Zhi was startled and was about to go over to help her up, but suddenly his heart trembled and he stopped with his hand half extended.

"Mei Niang, this matter doesn't really have anything to do with you, does it?" Li Zhi asked in a deep voice.

Wu Meiniang's eyes were slightly red, and she said quietly: "Your Majesty, this matter is indeed caused by me. Please punish me!"

Li Zhi took a deep breath, sat back on the couch, and said in a deep voice, "What's going on? Please explain clearly."

Wu Meiniang asked, "Your Majesty, do you still remember the motherwort powder I used?"

Li Zhi said: "Of course."

During the years since Li Zhi came to the Tang Dynasty, he hardly felt Wu Meiniang's age increase, so he was naturally curious about her method of maintaining her youthful appearance.

Wu Meiniang did not hold back from him and explained to him in detail the preparation process of the motherwort herb powder.

Although Li Zhi felt it was a bit extravagant, deep down he also hoped that Wu Meiniang could remain beautiful forever, so he didn't say much.

Wu Meiniang whispered, "That day, Divine Doctor Sun said that I smelled like Rhizoma Cibotii, because this medicine powder contains Rhizoma Cibotii as its main ingredient!"

Li Zhi remained silent, as this was getting closer and closer to his guess.

Wu Meiniang continued, "I don't know how the main ingredients in this powder I use have spread outside the palace. The ladies of Chang'an have been following suit and secretly sending people to buy these herbs, causing the prices of these herbs to become increasingly expensive!"

This is the influence of the Queen of the Tang Dynasty.

Not to mention that Empress Wu had the secret to maintaining her youthful appearance, even if she was not good at it, as long as she liked to use cosmetics, it would attract other ladies to follow suit.

This is what is meant by "leading by example, following suit".

The same is true for the emperor. If the emperor has any hobbies, it will become a trend in Chang'an.

The greater the power, the greater the influence.

Under the leadership of Empress Wu, medicinal herbs originally used to treat diseases became cosmetics for noble ladies. How sad it is.

After listening to this, Li Zhi was silent for a long time, then stood up and pulled Wu Meiniang up.

Although Wu Meiniang was indeed wrong in this matter, she did not do so intentionally, which was much better than the worst case scenario that Li Zhi had originally imagined.

"Mei Niang, is there anything else besides this?" he asked.

Wu Meiniang shook her head and said, "Your Majesty, I only ordered people to purchase Huangqi. I don't know anything else."

Li Zhi nodded and said, "Alright, let's ask Zhang Zhong himself about the rest."

The two of them entered the outer hall through the side door together.

Li Zhi ordered someone to move a small chair next to the dragon throne and let Wu Meiniang sit on it. He then summoned Di Renjie and others to meet him.

A moment later, Di Renjie, Sun Simiao, Zhang Zhong, Li Mao, Lady Yan, Guo Daozhen and others all entered the hall.

After everyone finished their greetings, Li Zhi raised his hand and ordered them to stand up. When the Prince of Huainan was about to stand up, Li Zhi said coldly, "I didn't ask you to stand up!"

Li Mao had no choice but to kneel down again.

Li Zhi ordered Wang Fusheng to give Sun Simiao a seat, and then his eyes turned to Zhang Zhong.

Zhang Zhong looks very similar to Sun Simiao. Judging from his appearance alone, it is hard to believe that he is already around a hundred years old.

However, his complexion was not as rosy as Sun Simiao's, and he had an otherworldly temperament, very similar to Guo Daozhen.

Zhang Zhong was also different from the others. When he saw Li Zhi looking at him, he looked at him calmly, his eyes calm, neither sharp nor fearful.

Li Zhi nodded secretly, then looked at Di Renjie and said, "Mr. Di, has this case been solved?"

Di Renjie bowed and said, "Your Majesty, the case is now completely clear."

"Well, go ahead." Li Zhi sat up straighter. Di Renjie glanced at Empress Wu first, and seeing her smile and nod, he no longer had any concerns. "Your Majesty, this matter started because of Huang Qi..."

Originally, Huangqi was very rare and only found in Changshou Village, Shou County.

Since Zhang Zhong discovered Changshou Village, the villagers of Changshou Village often took Huangqi to Shou County to sell in exchange for food and clothing.

Changshou Village is located in a remote and difficult place to reach, and one has to pass through many dangerous peaks. It is easy to fall and die on the cliffs, so it is difficult for outsiders to find it.

Fortunately, although Huangqi is a top-grade medicinal material, the demand for it is not large, and its price is slightly higher than that of ordinary angelica.

No one is willing to risk their life to go to the longevity village to collect them.

Empress Wu sent people to Shou County to purchase Huangqi. The quantity was small and it did not have much impact at the beginning.

More than a year later, many people suddenly appeared to buy Huangqi, causing the price of Huangqi to soar, almost catching up with ginseng.

When there is profit, it will arouse people's greed.

Seeing that the harvest of Sophora flavescens was so profitable, many herbalists took the risk and came to Changshou Village to collect Sophora flavescens, tempted by the huge profits.

The villagers of Changshou Village have been isolated from the outside world for a long time. They are very simple and honest. When they see outsiders entering the village, they do not stop them, but instead entertain them for free.

Seeing that the villagers were friendly, the herbalists would bring some daily necessities as a reward every time they entered the village.

After a period of peace, Huang Qi's huge profits finally brought trouble to the village.

When Di Renjie said this, he looked at Li Mao.

"King Huainan, you should tell me the rest."

Li Mao's face turned pale as he whispered, "I heard from a Qingke that selling Huangqi was very profitable. I was struggling financially at the time, so I turned my attention to the Huangqi in Changshou Village..."

Because of the land system reform, all the land that Li Mao had occupied in recent years was taken away by the government. He did not have much fiefdom and needed to increase his income.

He discussed it with the magistrate of Shou County, and together they came up with a charge, saying that Changshou Village had not paid taxes for a long time, which was a violation of the law and should be punished.

In fact, before Zhang Zhong discovered Changshou Village, the village had always been self-sufficient and had not been registered with the government office, so it had no way to pay taxes.

Later, Zhang Zhong discovered that all the villagers in Changshou Village were registered and there was no shortage of taxes every year. This charge was too far-fetched.

At this time, the magistrate of Shou County was no longer Lu Qiqing, but a new magistrate who was timid and did not dare to disobey the King of Huainan.

Following Li Mao's instructions, he used this as a crime to force Changshou Village to move to another abandoned village.

The villagers refused, so he asked the county lieutenant to arrest them all. The two sides fought for several months, and eventually most of the villagers were relocated.

There were also some villagers who refused to leave their hometown and were unable to fight against the government, so they all jumped off the cliff in the end.

Li Mao didn't know what happened next, so Zhang Zhong continued to tell the story for him.

It turned out that when the incident happened in Changshou Village, Zhang Zhong happened to go to Luoyang to visit his disciple Guo Daozhen. When he returned to Changshou Village, he found that the village had been occupied by someone.

When Zhang Zhong saw this scene, he blamed himself and thought that it was because of his discovery of Changshou Village that the disaster was brought to the villagers.

He entered the Huainan Palace as a Qingke, intending to persuade the Huainan King to return Changshou Village to the villagers.

However, after interacting with the King of Huainan for a period of time, he realized that it was impossible to persuade this person.

He recalled the pawnshop he saw in Luoyang, and came up with an idea. He went to Luoyang to find Guo Daozhen, hoping that his apprentice would cooperate with him.

Guo Daozhen was originally from Changshou Village. After learning about this, he immediately agreed to assist Zhang Zhong to complete the plan.

Zhang Zhong heard from other Qingke that the King of Huainan and the Crown Prince were not on good terms, so he persuaded the King of Huainan to use the pawnshop incident to discredit the Crown Prince.

At the same time, Guo Daozhen went to Chang'an and approached the Wu Mansion, claiming to have the magic of divination and calculated that the prince would be in trouble.

When the time was ripe and the pawnshop incident had already fermented, Guo Daozhen went to Chang'an again, approached Empress Wu, and used Taoist magic to point out the person who framed the prince.

In this way, as long as the spearhead is pointed at the King of Huainan, the power of the Queen and the Prince can be used to overthrow the King of Huainan.

Guo Daozhen was also able to gain Empress Wu's trust through this incident.

At that time, we can find reasons to persuade Empress Wu not to use Huangqi as medicine, so that the price of Huangqi can drop, and the problem of Changshou Village can be completely solved.

When Li Zhi heard this, he couldn't help but look at Di Renjie.

Just as Di Renjie guessed, the person behind the scenes really wanted to deal with King Huainan, and had other purposes in approaching Empress Wu.

Zhang Zhong had no power in his hands, but he was able to use the opponent's force to counter the opponent's force. It was not easy for him to come up with such a clever method.

Zhang Zhong knelt on the ground and said, "Your Majesty, this matter was all planned by the hermit. Guo Daozhen was just following his master's orders, and Lady Yan was repaying a favor. This matter has nothing to do with them. Please forgive them, Your Majesty."

Lady Yan hurriedly knelt and said, "Your Majesty, Mr. Zhang was only trying to rid Shou County of harm and had no intention of offending the Crown Prince. Please be lenient with him!"

Li Zhi said with a stern face, "I know his intentions are good, but because of him, Chang'an has been in chaos, bringing great potential harm."

Sun Simiao bowed and said, "Your Majesty, Zhang Zhong's actions were indeed a bit extreme, but his original intention was to do good for the people of Changshou Village."

He had followed the emperor on tours and knew that the emperor valued the people very much.

Li Zhi said, "Lord Sun, this matter is of great importance and involves the crown prince. If severe punishment is not given, it will surely lead to serious consequences."

Sun Simiao was stunned and stopped talking.

At this time, Empress Wu suddenly stood up, bowed in front of Li Zhi, and folded her hands on her knees.

"Your Majesty, this matter was caused by me. I am willing to take responsibility. I also ask Your Majesty to be lenient with Zhang Zhong and Guo Daozhen!"

Seeing her reaction, Li Zhi secretly praised her for her cleverness.

Someone must take responsibility for this matter, otherwise it will surely give rise to ambitions in some people and cause endless trouble in the future.

Wu Meiniang is the most suitable person to take this responsibility. She was at fault in the first place, and if she took the initiative to confess, she could also restore some of her reputation.

She is the queen and the mother of the prince. If she takes the blame for the crime, the punishment can be reduced to the minimum, which is the best choice.

However, since this involved legal matters, Li Zhi couldn't make a final decision. He looked at Di Renjie and said, "Mr. Di, since the Empress is willing to take responsibility for this matter, can you give Zhang Zhong and Guo Daozhen a lighter sentence?"

Di Renjie bowed and said, "Your Majesty, the primary culprits in this matter are the Prince of Huainan and the officials of Shou County. Although Zhang Zhong acted excessively, his situation is sympathetic. Furthermore, Her Majesty the Empress should shoulder the responsibility for him. I believe this is feasible!"

Li Zhi said happily, "That's the best."

When his gaze turned to Prince Huainan, his eyes became sharp.

"Li Mao, do you have anything else to say?"

Li Mao gritted his teeth and said, "I have committed a grave crime and am willing to accept death. I have only one request."

Li Zhi said, "Speak."

Li Mao glanced at Di Renjie and said, "I only ask Your Majesty to execute me and not humiliate me again!"

Li Zhi was stunned for a moment, not understanding what he meant. However, he had never intended to humiliate him. He waved his hand and said, "Okay, I can promise you."

Li Mao said, "Thank you, Your Majesty."

Li Zhi glanced sideways at Wu Meiniang and said, "Meiniang, please get up. This incident started because of your use of the anti-aging powder. From now on, you are not allowed to mix this substance again. You will also be responsible for all the aftermath of Changshou Village. Do you have any objections?"

Wu Meiniang said solemnly: "Thank you, Your Majesty. I will obey your order."

Li Zhi turned to look at Di Renjie again and said, "Mr. Di, what do you think is the appropriate way to deal with Zhang Zhong?"

Di Renjie thought for a moment and said, "Why not punish Zhang Zhong by having him open a clinic in Shou County and treat the people for free for ten years?"

Li Zhi said, "That's very good."

When Zhang Zhong heard this, he opened his eyes wide with a look of disbelief. He could never have imagined this would be the result.

He glanced at Sun Simiao and saw him nodding at him with a smile. He sighed, knelt on the ground, and kowtowed, saying, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your kindness!"

Li Zhi said in a deep voice, "Huainan King Li Mao and the Shou County officials must be severely punished according to the law. Di Qing, the conclusion of this case is now in your hands."

Di Renjie bowed and said, "I obey your command."

Li Zhi waved his hand, ordered everyone to leave, and then left through the side door with Wu Meiniang.

A few days later, the verdict of the Dali Temple came out and the emperor also approved it.

Because multiple lives were involved, King Huainan Li Mao was ordered to be executed in the autumn.

The magistrate of Shou County was also sentenced to death according to the law, and two other officials involved in the case were exiled to Lingnan.

There were less than ten days left until the end of the year, and no one had expected that such a major case would suddenly occur.

With the spread of various sources, the inside story of the case quickly spread.

Reactions from both the ruling and opposition parties varied.

Some officials and royal family members were frightened, while others were relieved.

The people of Chang'an City were very happy. This case had little to do with them and was the perfect topic for New Year's conversation.

(End of this chapter)