Tang Dynasty, my wife Wu Zetian

Chapter 346: The Great General Who Destroyed a Nation
When Li Zhi and Wu Meiniang returned to the palace, it was almost the hour of Xu.

Li Zhi knew Wu Meiniang's temper very well. She would never go to see Zhangsun Wuji without any reason.

Li Zhi did not ask any more questions. After she fell asleep, he hugged her slender waist like a willow and held her in his arms.

"Mei Niang, tell me the truth, why did you go to Changsun Mansion in the afternoon?" He asked, looking at Wu Meiniang's long eyelashes.

Wu Meiniang knew he would definitely ask, so she explained in a calm voice, "I told Your Majesty that day that Helan Minzhi's plea for Xiao Siye made me feel a little scared."

"If Changsun Wuji hadn't been the first to suspect Xiao Siye, the consequences would have been disastrous. I am even more grateful to him for this."

Wu Meiniang did not lie when she said this.

If Changsun Wuji had not indirectly helped the Wu family in the matter of Xiao Siye, she would never have gone to find Changsun Wuji, nor would she have given him the opportunity to put aside their past grudges.

"So, are you willing to let go of your grudge against him?" Li Zhi asked.

Wu Meiniang raised her head and said softly, "Isn't this exactly what Your Majesty expected?"

"That's the best." Li Zhi smiled slightly.

Behind the green gauze curtain, bursts of noise soon came.

The next morning, after Wu Meiniang helped Li Zhi put on his clothes, Li Zhi left Lizheng Hall.

Wu Meiniang sat in the bedroom, looking through the supplies transferred from the Luoyang Palace while waiting for Zhangsun Quan to come and see her.

In fact, a long time ago, Wu Meiniang had been secretly planning to encourage the emperor to move to Luoyang.

For this purpose, she also secretly transferred many harem supplies to Luoyang Palace in advance to avoid chaos when the time comes.

It was not until this tour that she and Li Zhi finally went to Luoyang Palace. From Li Zhi's expression, she understood that it was impossible for Li Zhi to move to Luoyang Palace.

Wu Meiniang was a person who never wasted.

He immediately issued an order, not only sending people to bring back the things that had been sent to Luoyang Palace before, but also to bring back all the useful items stored in Luoyang Palace.

The booklet in her hand was the list of accounts that was transported from Luoyang Palace.

As she was flipping through the pages, the female official Yu Ping entered and said to Wu Meiniang, "Your Highness, Consort Yang wishes to see you."

Wu Meiniang raised her hand and said, "Please ask her to come in."

Soon, Concubine Yang walked into the hall and paid her respects to Empress Wu.

Wu Meiniang asked her to sit down and asked her why she came.

Yang Cairen lowered her head and whispered, "Your Majesty, His Majesty issued an edict last month, allowing Prince Qi to leave the palace and establish his own residence. However, it has been so long, and the Ministry of Rites has not yet prepared the detailed etiquette for leaving the palace, so I came here to ask."

When a prince leaves the palace, there is a complicated etiquette process, which is usually coordinated by the Ministry of Rites and the harem.

Seeing that the Ministry of Rites was delaying the matter, Concubine Yang felt that it was because of her low rank that the Ministry of Rites was deliberately neglecting her. Filled with grief and indignation, she came to Empress Wu for help, hoping that the Empress would put pressure on the Ministry of Rites.

"Don't worry, sister. The Ministry of Rites dares to be so negligent in the affairs of the prince. I will never sit idly by. You go back first and wait for my news." Wu Meiniang soothed in a gentle voice.

She was just about to recommend Li Jingxuan to be the Minister of Rites, and the incident between Yang Cairen and the third prince just gave her a reason.

Yang Cairen thanked her, bowed and left.

Wu Meiniang continued to flip through the book in her hand. After a while, Zhang Duohai came to report that Princess Xincheng wanted to see her.

Wu Meiniang knew that it was Zhangsun Wuji who asked her to come over, so she put down the booklet and said, "Princess, please come in."

After a while, Princess Xincheng came into the palace and paid her respects to Wu Meiniang.

"Sister, there's no need to be so polite. Please sit down and talk." Wu Meiniang raised her hand to signal.

Princess Xincheng was impatient and got straight to the point. "Sister-in-law, last night, my eldest cousin came to the mansion and told me and me about an old story from the court. I found it quite interesting, so I wanted to share it with you."

Wu Meiniang's eyes flashed slightly, and she said, "The king's uncle is knowledgeable and the stories he tells must be interesting." She winked at Zhang Duohai.

Zhang Duohai waved his hand, dismissed all the servants, and then left as well.

When he closed the door, he just heard a word from Princess Xincheng.

"This story begins with the destruction of Gaochang Kingdom..."

……

Two days later, the sky was clear and cloudless.

Due to the cold weather, Li Zhi has been handling official business in his bedroom recently. Today, as the weather is good, he chose to work in the Linhu Palace.

Wang Fusheng stood carefully by the side, serving tea, pouring water, arranging books and grinding ink.

After a long while, Li Zhi finally finished dealing with the government affairs on the table, stretched himself, and asked, "Fu Sheng, what time is it?"

Wang Fusheng said, "It's just past three quarters past Si."

Li Zhi drank a sip of tea and seeing that it was still early, he came to the water viewing platform of Linhu Palace to admire the scenery on the water.

Suddenly, the water rippled and a black-sailed boat came from a distance.

Li Zhi blinked, thinking he had seen it wrong.

Although Nanhai Pond is connected to the other two ponds, its water surface is wide enough for navigation.

However, none of Li Zhi's concubines liked to ride in a boat, so over the years, he had never seen anyone sailing on the water.

Li Zhi stared at the black-sailed boat and saw it slowly approaching him.

There was a girl in a green lotus skirt on the bow of the boat, with a garland on her head, and a beautiful temperament. She was rowing the boat towards Li Zhi.

The woman was beautiful, not inferior to the concubines in Li Zhi's harem. Moreover, she was young, only 28 years old, and looked even more pure and lively.

After a while, the girl rowed the boat to the shore of Li Zhi. She bowed to Li Zhi across the fence and said, "Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you."

Li Zhi asked, "Who are you? Why have I never seen you before?"

The girl was stunned for a moment, then laughed and said, "Your Majesty, don't you recognize me?"

Li Zhi looked at her carefully and felt vaguely familiar with her.

The girl was afraid that Li Zhi would not recognize her, so she took off the wreath on her head, turned around on the spot, and smiled sweetly.

Li Zhi finally recognized her and said with a smile, "It's Minrou. She's grown so big now."

The girl was Helan Minzhi's sister, Helan Minrou.

"Your Majesty, come up quickly, I will take you to a place." Helan Minrou waved at him.

Li Zhi said, "Wait a minute, let me ask you first, where did you get this boat from, and why are you rowing on the South Sea Pond?"

Helan Minrou said, "My aunt gave me this boat to carry His Majesty across."

Li Zhi was stunned for a moment and said, "Mei Niang?"

Helan Minrou nodded and said with a smile, "Your Majesty, please come up quickly. Your aunt is waiting for you in front."

Li Zhi hesitated for a moment, then stepped over the fence and jumped onto the boat. Wang Fusheng and two eunuchs followed.

Helan Minrou immediately swung the two oars, changed direction, and rowed towards the distance.

Seeing that she was so young, yet she was able to control the boat so steadily, Li Zhi couldn't help but laugh and said, "Minrou, can you row a boat?"

Helan Minrou explained, "My mother taught me. She loves water and often takes me and my brother to play on the Wei River."

Li Zhi smiled and nodded.

Helan Minrou glanced at Li Zhi and saw him standing at the stern with his hands behind his back, gazing at the water. She asked, "Your Majesty, do you like water too?"

Li Zhi waved his hand and said, "There's no need to be so distant. You are Mei Niang's niece, so just call me uncle. Of course I like water, otherwise I wouldn't be working in Linhu Palace."

Helan Minzhi smiled sweetly and said, "Uncle, let me tell you a little secret."

Li Zhi tilted his head and smiled, "Oh, what secret?"

Helan Minrou put her hand to her lips and whispered, "My mother told me that my aunt fell into the water when she was a child, so she's very afraid of water." Li Zhi was stunned for a moment and said, "Really? I didn't notice it when I was crossing the river with her on the boat."

Helan Minrou chuckled and said, "My aunt rarely shows it. On weekdays, she never takes a boat unless it is necessary."

Li Zhi thought about it carefully and realized that when they were crossing the Puzhou Ferry, Wu Meiniang did call him into the cabin and refused to stand outside.

"Minrou, do you know anything else about your aunt's secret?" Li Zhi asked.

"Well, let's think about it. My aunt likes Feibai calligraphy, a painting technique called sketching, horseback riding, kicking balls, archery, winemaking, medicinal food, and bathing..."

Li Zhi was stunned when he heard this. He knew some of these hobbies, such as sketching, which was taught to her by Li Zhi. Li Zhi also knew about calligraphy, winemaking, and medicinal food.

But unexpectedly, Wu Meiniang also liked riding, archery, bathing, and playing Cuju.

"Minrou, how do you know all this?"

Li Zhi was very curious. Although he had spent such a long time with Wu Meiniang, it seemed that he knew less about her than this little girl.

"My brother told me all this." Helan Minrou's voice suddenly became low.

"Helan Minzhi?" Li Zhi murmured.

"Uncle, can I ask you for a favor?" Helan Minrou looked over with pleading eyes.

"Tell me, what do you want me to do for you?" Li Zhi said with a smile.

"My brother has been under house arrest by my aunt for a year. He has been like a lost soul recently. He often sits on a chair, not saying a word and not eating much. If this continues, I'm afraid my brother will die of depression." Helan Minrou said pitifully.

Li Zhi frowned and said, "He made a mistake and was confined by your aunt. If he looks like this because of this, it only means that he has been spoiled too much."

Helan Minrou said anxiously, "Brother, you made a mistake and were grounded, that's what you deserve. But his mental state is depressed, not because of the grounding."

"why?"

"Because he felt his aunt loathed him."

"Just for this?"

"Yes, my brother values ​​aunt's evaluation of him the most. He has been studying hard and learning horse riding and archery, all for the sake of getting aunt's praise!"

Li Zhi thought that the entire Wu Mansion was spoiled towards Helan Minzhi, and only Wu Meiniang was strict with him, so he only cared about Wu Meiniang's evaluation.

"Minrou, is your brother usually very nice to you?"

Helan Minrou nodded vigorously and said, "When I was in the Helan family in Jiangnan, many people bullied me, but it was my brother who protected me."

"now what?"

Helan Minrou said seriously: "Brother has always been very good to me, it's the same now as before."

Li Zhi was silent for a moment, then said, "You want me to speak up for your brother, right?"

Helan Minrou nodded repeatedly and said, "Actually, I can see that Auntie doesn't like my brother, just because Uncle doesn't like him. As long as Uncle praises my brother a few times, Auntie will treat him better."

"Then do you know why I don't like you, brother?"

Helan Minrou hesitated for a moment, then lowered her head and said, "Because my brother once made a scene in the palace and offended Her Royal Highness the Princess."

Li Zhi smiled and said, "Okay, for your sake, uncle will help him this time."

Helan Minrou's face was full of joy. She said, "I'll dance the Tuozhi dance for my uncle someday. My aunt even praised me for my good dancing!"

Li Zhi smiled and said, "Okay, then uncle will be waiting."

Helan Minrou was so excited that she rowed the boat faster.

After a while, he controlled the boat and arrived at the West Sea Pool, and then sailed to the North Sea Pool.

A stone bridge suddenly appeared in the distance, and behind the bridge was a four-story ship.

Because the bow of the boat was too high to cross the bridge, it stopped on the other side of the stone bridge.

As the small boat approached, Li Zhi saw a familiar figure on the bow of the big ship. It was Wu Meiniang.

Li Zhi observed carefully this time and found that although Wu Meiniang was standing at the bow of the boat, she was some distance away from the eaves.

It seems that Helan Minrou was right, she is actually very afraid of water.

After the small boat passed under the bridge, it quickly came to the side of the big ship. The big ship lowered a gangplank, and Li Zhi and his companions were able to board.

Wu Meiniang had already brought her entourage to the first floor to welcome Li Zhi.

After Li Zhi entered the first-floor cabin, he felt that the ship was spacious, similar to the tower ships he had seen before, but its exquisiteness and luxury far surpassed those of the tower ships.

"Mei Niang, where does this ship come from?" he asked as he looked around the cabin.

Wu Meiniang led him to the second floor, talking as they walked.

"This boat was originally in the Luoyang Palace, but was only transported to Chang'an last year. It has been anchored in a small bay on the Jinshui River ever since. Normally, no one cares for it. A few days ago, while strolling in the back garden, I discovered it and found it quite interesting. I ordered it cleaned up, and today I will show Your Majesty around."

Li Zhi's heart moved.

If it weren't for what Helan Minrou said just now, he might have believed what Wu Meiniang said.

Wu Meiniang is afraid of water and would never take the initiative to go boating with me for no reason. There must be some reason behind this.

He nodded calmly and quickly went to the second floor. He was even more impressed by the exquisiteness of the ship and asked, "What is the origin of this ship?"

Wu Meiniang smiled and said, "Your Majesty, do you know the ship Yang Guang took when he went south of the Yangtze River?"

Li Zhi was startled and asked, "Is this the dragon boat Yang Guang rode on?"

Wu Meiniang said: "It is not the dragon boat that Yang Guang rode, but the 'Xiang Chi Boat' that Empress Xiao rode. This boat is a spare boat, so it has been kept in Luoyang Palace."

After Yang Guang completed the construction of the Grand Canal, he ordered people to use the tower ships to rebuild four large ships.

He rode one boat himself and named it Dragon Boat, and the other, slightly smaller, was ridden by Empress Xiao and named Soaring Chi Boat.

In addition, there were two spare ships that were originally planned to be used for transfers on the road. Later, because Yang Guang was anxious and could not wait for the two ships to be repaired, he set off early.

Therefore, these two spare large ships were left in the Luoyang Palace.

Later, Yang Guang was killed and the world was in chaos.

Yang Guang's spare dragon boat was destroyed during the war, but Empress Xiao's spare Xiangchi boat escaped the disaster and was only slightly damaged. It has been docked in the bay of Luoshui.

Wu Meiniang continued, "Later, this ship fell into the hands of Hou Junji. It was not until Hou Junji participated in the rebellion of the Eastern Palace and was executed that the ship became idle again."

Li Zhi asked in surprise, "Hou Junji, who destroyed Gaochang?"

Wu Meiniang smiled and said, "That's right."

In the 16th year of Zhenguan, Hou Junji conquered Gaochang Kingdom and was imprisoned for taking Gaochang Kingdom's treasures for himself.

Although Li Shimin issued an order to release him, offsetting his merits and demerits, Hou Junji was secretly dissatisfied. He felt that it was unfair that he had made great contributions but received no reward.

Since then, Hou Junji has become domineering.

He was appointed as the governor of Luoyang at that time. Seeing the beautiful boat, he took it for himself and ordered the craftsmen to repair it. He often took the boat to travel on the Luo River.

Once, Li Shimin went to Luoyang Palace for a visit, and someone reported this to Li Shimin.

Li Shimin said to Hou Junji at that time.

As long as a person indulges in extravagance and greed, he will go to destruction. A king like Yang Guang lost the world because of this, let alone ordinary people?
This was obviously a warning, which frightened Hou Junji. Later, he participated in Li Chengqian's rebellion and was executed. The ship was once again ownerless.

This ship is made of the best wood and has top-notch forging technology, so it has not decayed after more than ten years.

When Wu Meiniang told the story of the ship, the two of them had already reached the top floor of the ship.

This was originally Empress Xiao's bedroom, and was later renovated by Hou Junji. There are maps hanging on the wall and a sand table on the table.

(End of this chapter)