Tang Dynasty, my wife Wu Zetian

Chapter 312: Forbidden Area in the Palace
The night was very dark, the moon was hazy, the stars were dim, and dark clouds covered the night sky.

A luxurious carriage was traveling on the official road in the western suburbs of Chang'an City, followed by two teams of riders.

The ruts were deep, but there were only two people sitting in the car, because one of them was a big man and weighed as much as three adult men.

This person is none other than King Jiang Li Yun.

Li Yun had been wearing a gloomy face since he left the palace. After returning to the palace, he took his most trusted officials and left Chang'an City in a carriage.

The subordinates of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty were also court officials. In a sense, they were equivalent to the emperor's eyes and ears.

When King Li You of Qi was plotting a rebellion, it was his subordinate, the Chief Clerk of the Palace, Quan Wanji, who first reported it.

Therefore, it is not easy for a prince to cultivate an official he trusts.

Sitting next to Li Yun was the chief clerk of Prince Jiang's mansion, who was from the Wang family of Langya and was the same clan as Li Yun's mother. He was Li Yun's most trusted official.

Seeing Li Yun's silence, Wang Zhubu couldn't help but ask, "Your Highness, what happened after you entered the palace? Doesn't His Majesty believe that it was Prince Deng who spread the rumors?"

Li Yun said in a deep voice, "His subordinates, the Palace Office, should have already found out. He wasn't surprised when I mentioned the name of King Deng."

Wang Zhubu asked, "Then why do you seem so worried?"

Li Yun clenched his fists and hammered his knees hard, saying, "He insisted on taking me to the Princess' Courtyard. I accidentally revealed my flaws. I'm afraid he's already suspicious of me."

Wang Zhubu's face changed and he asked, "What flaw?"

Li Yun gritted his teeth and said, "It's all that stinky girl's fault. She actually kept the jar I gave her..."

Wang Zhubu was startled at first, but then he said soothingly, "It's been over ten years. There shouldn't be anything left in that jar."

Li Yun waved his hand and said, "It's not because of this. I just suddenly understood why she didn't die and is still alive today!"

"why?"

Li Yun gritted his teeth and said, "That stupid girl said she couldn't bear to eat the rock honey I gave her. I don't know how long it took for her to eat it each time. The amount of medicine in each rock honey is very light, and it's not very effective when taken separately. This must be the reason why she didn't die of the poison!"

Wang Zhubu nodded and said, "No wonder."

Li Yun waved his fist and said, "I was shocked and angry at the time, unable to conceal my emotions. I panicked for a moment and the emperor saw me!"

Wang Zhubu was silent for a long time, then whispered, "Since that's the case, why not be patient for a while and wait a year or two before taking action!"

Li Yun said coldly, "I can't wait! When she was saved by Sun Simiao, you advised me to be patient, saying that it wouldn't be too late to take action after she got married and left the palace. Now she is finally leaving the palace, and the plan has been in place for so long, and everything is going smoothly. You still want me to be patient?"

Wang Zhubu sighed, "You should know how powerful the emperor is. The King of Huainan has just been dealt with. Do you want to be next?"

Li Yun snapped, "I'm avenging my mother! Are you comparing me to a loser like the King of Huainan?"

Wang Zhubu bowed and said, "Your Highness, please forgive me. What I meant is that since you have revealed your flaws in front of His Majesty, if Princess Changshan suddenly dies, he might suspect you!"

Li Yun snorted, "Di Renjie has been transferred away. The emperor has no one to rely on. Even if he suspects something, he won't be able to find any evidence. Besides, even Sun Simiao wouldn't be able to identify that kind of medicine. Others will simply think she died of an acute illness."

Wang Zhubu was silent for a moment, then asked, "How do you know Sun Simiao couldn't recognize it?"

Li Yun snorted, "When Sun Simiao treated her, didn't he also treat it as a strange disease?"

Wang Zhubu said, "That's because she'd been poisoned for over ten years. No one knows what changes the poison had undergone in her body, so Sun Simiao couldn't see it."

Li Yun said, "I know. That's why I went out of the city to find him and confirm it with him again."

Thirty miles west of Chang'an City, there is a garden.

This place is far away from the official road, rarely visited, and the scenery is not good, so few people would build a garden here.

This garden was built by King Jiang. The reason why he built such a garden was very simple, because his biological mother's tomb was on the mountain to the north of the garden.

His mother died before Taizong and was originally buried on a hill near Zhaoling.

But he didn't want his mother to fight with those palace women in the underworld after her death, so he asked for permission to move his mother's tomb here.

In a sense, Jiang Wangjian's garden is a mausoleum, where servants wear mourning clothes all year round to keep vigil for his mother.

The hall in the center of the garden is also arranged like a mourning hall. There is a movable panel in the northwest corner of the hall. When the movable panel is opened, there is a row of stone stairs leading down.

At the bottom of the stone stairs is an underground prison where a white-haired old man is imprisoned.

The environment inside the prison is not bad. It is fully equipped with various furniture and a huge medicine cabinet filled with precious medicinal materials.

There is also a bookshelf opposite, which is filled with countless medical books. Although it is not as large as the palace collection, the number is still quite astonishing.

The old man was sitting on a chair, flipping through a medical book. On the table in front of him was a pile of medicinal herbs.

When King Jiang arrived outside the stone prison, he smelled a strange smell mixed with medicine and decay. He took out a silk scarf and blocked his nose with it.

The old man saw Queen Jiang and asked hurriedly, "Your Highness, is the princess dead? Are you here to set me free as agreed?"

King Jiang snorted and said, "Old Chao, the princess's wedding is still ten days away. Aren't you too impatient?"

The old man smiled bitterly and said, "It's not that I'm anxious, it's just that I've been imprisoned by you for more than ten years. I don't have many years left to live. I just hope to leave here and take care of my affairs after my death."

King Jiang said coldly, "It was you who made this thing that killed my mother. Shouldn't you repent here?"

The old man sighed and said, "I had no choice at that time."

King Jiang snorted and said, "Don't worry, as long as you can help me get revenge, I can let you go. However, I have a concern now."

The old man looked up and asked, "What are you worried about, Your Highness?"

"Then Sun Simiao is in Chang'an. I was worried that your medicine wouldn't work, so he cured you!"

The old man surnamed Chao said, "Please rest assured. Sun Simiao's ability to treat illnesses may be even greater than mine. However, the magic of this poison is that it will trick doctors into thinking it's a heart disease. If they treat it accordingly, the patient will die within two days."

King Jiang said, "Okay, as long as you can hide it from him, I will definitely let you out."

Wang Fusheng walked in front holding a lantern, while Li Zhi followed silently behind.

Just now, Gao Youdao and two other people went to the palace and conveyed the words of Prince Deng Li Yuanyu to him.

After hearing this, Li Zhi felt uneasy and took a walk in the harem.

Prince Deng's words, coupled with Li Yun's strange expression in the Princess Courtyard, made Li Zhi feel uneasy.

According to Prince Deng's words, Concubine Wang was indeed killed by Concubine Zhao. Then it makes sense that before leaving Beijing, Concubine Cui suggested that Emperor Taizong banish Concubine Zhao to the cold palace.

But the question is, Concubine Zhao and Concubine Wang are like sisters, so why did Concubine Zhao want to kill Concubine Wang?

Also, how did Concubine Zhao kill Concubine Wang without being discovered?
Both of them are Yin Fei's people. What role does Yin Fei play in this?
Just as Li Zhi was pondering, a eunuch came running over from a distance and bowed to him, saying, "Your Majesty, Her Royal Highness the Queen is in Ganlu Palace. Please come over."

Li Zhi had no choice but to suppress his thoughts and return to Ganlu Palace.

When I arrived outside the bedroom, I heard low sobbing sounds coming from inside.

Li Zhi stepped into the hall and looked up. Not only Wu Meiniang was there, but also Princess Gao An and Princess Yi Yang. Princess Gao An's eyes were red and swollen, and it was she who was crying.

Seeing her come in, Princess Gao An ran over quickly, hugged Li Zhi's legs tightly, and cried, "Father, this is so scary!"

Li Zhi asked hurriedly: "What's wrong?"

Princess Gao An cried incessantly without saying a word.

Wu Mei Niang said, "Your Majesty, they found a skeleton in the harem!"

Li Zhi was startled and looked at Princess Yi Yang. He saw that her face was also pale and she seemed frightened.

Li Zhi walked to the couch and sat down, pulled his two daughters to sit on his knees, put his hands on their shoulders, said a few words of comfort, and then raised his head.

"What's going on, Mei Niang, tell me in detail."

"It's like this..." After Wu Meiniang's explanation, Li Zhi finally understood the situation.

The place where the bones were dug up was the secret garden of the two princesses, and it was also the place where Li Zhi met Zhu Zhenlian.

Because of Prince Deng's incident, Empress Wu began to investigate the palace's past events.

It was accidentally discovered that the secret garden of the two little princesses was actually the Baoning Palace of the former Concubine Yin.

Concubine Yin De was the biological mother of the fifth prince Li You. Because of Li You's rebellion, Concubine Yin was implicated and was sent to the cold palace.

Later, several new concubines who lived in Baoning Palace either dug up skeletons or encountered ghosts, and some palace servants were even scared crazy.

Taizong felt that this place was unlucky, so he ordered the palace to be demolished and a mountain and water pond to be rebuilt here, blocking the original location of the Baoning Palace.

Unexpectedly, the two little princesses discovered this place by accident and regarded it as their own secret garden.

Empress Wu was worried that something might happen to the two little princesses, so she ordered the entrance to the rockery to be sealed, forbidding anyone to go there again.

The two little princesses were naturally unwilling, so they bravely went to ask Empress Wu, and Wu Meiniang told them the origin of this place.

Princess Gao An was very timid. When she heard that it was related to ghosts, she decided to abandon this stronghold.

However, she also made a request to Empress Wu, hoping that some flowers in the small garden could be transplanted to the Princess's Courtyard.

Empress Wu did not hesitate and agreed readily.

So the two little princesses took people to move the flowers in the small garden.

There was a patch of plum blossoms that were in full bloom, so the two men ordered people to transplant the flowers. However, while digging the plum blossoms, they actually dug up a skeleton.

The two were frightened and came to find Li Zhi together. When Empress Wu heard the news, she was afraid that Li Zhi would misunderstand, so she also came.

After listening to Wu Meiniang's explanation, Li Zhi sighed and said, "This Yin Concubine is really a bit weird. The Queen is right to do so. Let's seal off that place and make it a forbidden area."

Li Zhi comforted the two little princesses for a while, ordered people to send them back, and then told Wu Meiniang what King Deng had said.

Wu Meiniang pondered for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, you are very busy with government affairs. Since this matter is related to the harem, why not let me help you share your worries?"

It is early January now, and government affairs are indeed more numerous than usual.

Besides, Li Zhi didn't have much time and had a lot of things to finish, so he really had no intention of focusing all his energy on this matter.

"Alright, I'll have to trouble you, Queen."

That night, Wu Meiniang stayed in Ganlu Palace to serve the emperor.

Early the next morning, after having dinner with Li Zhi, she returned to Lizheng Hall and began to investigate the harem secret.

Wu Meiniang was experienced in palace fighting and knew that Concubine Zhao and Concubine Wang were both Yin Fei's people. One of the two women died suddenly, and the other was banished to the cold palace. Yin Fei could not escape responsibility.

If we want to investigate this matter, it would be right to start with Concubine Yin.

It happened that the two little princesses came to the palace when Concubine Yin came and found a dead body.

The palace maids and eunuchs in the harem were often killed because they knew things they shouldn't have known.

The more secretive the death, the greater the secret known.

The body had been dead for so long without being discovered. It must have known some important secret, so it was buried under the flowers.

The first thing to determine was the time of death of the body, so she immediately ordered the body to be sent to Shang Pharmacy for careful examination.

There was no coroner in the palace. According to common practice, any death would be examined directly by the imperial physician.

Highly experienced imperial physicians naturally did not want to touch corpses, so young imperial physicians who had just joined the Shang Pharmacy were usually responsible for the examination.

At this time, the people with the least experience in Shang Pharmacy were Fei Shisan and Meng Shiyi.

The skeleton was placed in a dark room in the west corner of Shang Pharmacy.

Fei Shisan sat lazily on the side and snorted, "What bad luck! We are imperial physicians, not coroners, and yet they let us do this kind of thing!"

Meng Shiyi was carefully examining the corpse with tools in hand. His eyes sparkled as he smiled and said, "This skeleton must have been dead for over 20 years. Hehe, it's very valuable for research!"

Fei Shisan said unhappily, "Brother, why are you always interested in these dead people?"

Meng Shiyi said as a matter of course: "Because they don't allow research on living people, so they can only study dead people. Hey, actually, I really want to find a living person and do some research on him."

Fei Shisan snorted, "If you dare to do this, I will tell Master, and Master will not forgive you!"

Meng Shiyi didn't say anything. After a while, he suddenly exclaimed "Huh".

Fei Shisan asked, "What's wrong?"

Meng Shiyi said in a deep voice: "The cause of death cannot be found on this female corpse."

Fei Shisan became interested and came over to examine it. He was surprised and said, "We still can't find the cause of death."

Whether it was poisoning or being killed by a sharp weapon, clues can be found on the bones.

If the death was caused by suffocation, it can also be judged by the color of the dentary bones, hyoid bones, cervical bones, etc.

But then again, after all, he had been dead for more than 20 years and only a skeleton was left. There must have been some special method of killing that could not be detected.

Fei Shisan laughed and said, "As expected of an imperial palace, even a dead female corpse is eerie."

Meng Shiyi looked at the fingers of the female corpse and said, "Junior brother, look, this female corpse is missing a finger."

Fei Shisan leaned over, took a closer look, and let out a "tsk".

"The finger was cut off before he died. The edges are rough. I'm afraid someone must have hammered it with a stew pot. How pitiful!"

The two checked again, and suddenly a eunuch came to tell them that the queen had summoned them for an audience.

(End of this chapter)