Tang Dynasty, my wife Wu Zetian

Chapter 102 The Most Favored Princess

The Tang Dynasty was a martial dynasty. A commander of the Zhechoufu, who commanded about a thousand people, was a fourth-rank official, equivalent to a local governor.

The twelve generals of the guards were also high-ranking officials of the third rank, equal to the prime minister's rank.

However, since the new emperor ascended the throne, the civil officials have always suppressed the military generals in the Tang Dynasty due to the dominance of Zhangsun Wuji and the assistance of Chu Suiliang.

In the court, except for Li Ji, military generals did not have much say.

Even foreign wars were still decided by Zhangsun Wuji, Chu Suiliang and others.

Now that Zhangsun Wuji has retired and Chu Suiliang has been sent out, Yuchi Gong and Cheng Zhijie are being reused, and the status of the Tang Dynasty's military generals has finally been restored.

The military generals had been suppressed for too long, and once released, they liked to cause trouble and often got drunk and caused trouble.

The Secretariat has recently received frequent impeachments from the Censors.

Li Yifu was very busy about this and often had to go to Cheng Zhijie and Yuchi Gong to negotiate.

Fortunately, although these two people were a bit fierce, they were reasonable and most of the problems were solved.

That afternoon, Li Yifu was about to leave the yamen and go home when another clerk came with a memorial to report that a gang fight had occurred in Dayefang.

Li Yifu took it and saw that a few gangsters were arguing with some young ruffians from Kyoto.

If it was an ordinary fight, Yongzhou Prefecture could have handled it, and there was no way the Censor would have reported it to the Secretariat.

the reason is simple.

Those gangsters were of great influence. They were retainers of the son-in-law Changsun Quan, so the Wannian County officials did not dare to arrest them. That's why they were reported to the censor.

The clerk asked, "Sir, should we take the memorial to Ganlu Palace?"

Li Yifu said in a deep voice: "No need, just keep it."

Changsun Quan married Princess Xincheng, the emperor's most beloved sister. Li Yifu did not want to embarrass the emperor with such a trivial matter.

……

Late at night, Xincheng Princess Mansion.

Behind the curtain, Princess Xincheng was sleeping soundly, but her husband, Changsun Quan, was sweating profusely and muttering something in a low voice.

Suddenly, Changsun Quan opened his eyes abruptly, screamed, and sat up straight.

"It's not me, it's not me, don't come looking for me!" he kept shouting.

Princess Xincheng was woken up by him. She rubbed her eyes, sat up, and looked at her husband's frightened expression with confusion.

"Husband, what's wrong with you? Are you having a nightmare again?"

Zhang Sunquan glanced at his wife, his frightened expression gradually easing. He lowered his head and sighed, "Princess, I'd better sleep in a separate room from you from now on, so as not to disturb you all the time."

Princess Xincheng said angrily, "Don't say that. You and I are husband and wife, and we sleep separately. If my brother knew, he would definitely blame me for being so harsh on you."

Zhang Sunquan sighed and said, "I'm afraid my nightmare disorder is incurable."

Princess Xincheng hurriedly said, "I heard that the Medicine King Sun Simiao has come to Chang'an City. I will invite him to the Princess's Mansion to take a look at you. He will definitely be able to cure you."

Chang Sunquan suddenly became very frightened and waved his hands, saying, "No, no, I'm not sick. I don't want to see a doctor."

Seeing her husband's madness, Princess Xincheng cried, "If I had known this would happen, I shouldn't have let you go to Hebei."

Changsun Quan lowered his head and remained silent.

At this moment, a palace servant walked quickly into the bedroom and whispered, "Princess, there is an official named Chang Sunyang outside who wants to see the prince consort."

Princess Xincheng frowned and said, "My dear, what have you and Chang Sunyang been doing recently? Why did he come to the princess's mansion in the middle of the night? He's acting so sneaky."

Zhang Sunquan said, "There's nothing I can do. My eldest cousin hasn't been taking care of things lately, so when the clan members get into trouble, they all come to me."

Although he was only in his early twenties, he was of a very high generation and was the cousin of Changsun Wuji.

Princess Xincheng said helplessly, "You are just too stubborn. Even Zhangsun Wuji doesn't care about things, so why do you care?"

Zhang Sunquan sighed, "We are all relatives, so let's help if we can. I'll be back soon, you can rest first."

I put on my shoes, put on a coat, and walked all the way to the study.

Zhang Sunyang was pacing in the study with his hands behind his back. Seeing Zhang Sunquan finally coming, he said anxiously, "Uncle Quan, you're finally here."

Chang Sunquan tightened his coat, closed the door, and said slowly, "Erlang, you are really brave. You dare to break the curfew at this time of night. Aren't you afraid that Yuchi Gong will chop off your head?"

Chang Sunyang said anxiously, "Isn't there anything I can do? Being killed by Yuchi Gong is better than being ruined by that old bastard Liu Rengui!"

Chang Sunquan ordered tea to be served, and after it was served, he asked, "What happened?"

Chang Sunyang sighed, "Liu Rengui has been thoroughly investigating the Ministry of Revenue lately. I'm afraid he'll find out about my affairs sooner or later." Chang Sunquan said, "You always say you've committed a crime, but you refuse to explain it clearly every time I ask you. What's going on?"

Chang Sunyang was silent for a long time, then walked up to him and whispered a few words into his ear.

Zhang Sunquan's expression suddenly changed. He said, "You are too bold, aren't you? You dare to do such a thing?"

Chang Sunyang smiled bitterly and said, "It's no use regretting now. Liu Rengui has already found one of my subordinates."

Chang Sunquan asked, "Did the clerk give you away?"

Chang Sunyang shook his head and said, "No, he died in Sifangdi Inn."

Chang Sunquan's face changed color and he asked, "Did you kill him?"

Chang Sunyang said anxiously: "No, I also want to kill him, but Liu Rengui has been sending people to monitor me, so it's difficult for me to do it!"

Changsun Quan's eyes flashed, but he didn't say anything.

Chang Sunyang said, "Uncle Quan, everyone in the clan knows that you are the most chivalrous person. You must help me!"

Chang Sunquan asked, "How do you want me to help you?"

Chang Sunyang said, "Help me kill someone. Once that person is dead, Liu Rengui won't be able to do anything to me."

Chang Sunquan frowned and said, "You want me to help you kill someone?"

"Uncle Quan, I know you have a bunch of capable people under your wing. If you can just send one of them and have him hide after he succeeds, I will be forever grateful to you."

Chang Sunquan asked, "Who is that person? Is he involved in what you did?"

Chang Sunyang said, "His name is Shi Hedan. He was the one who approached me first, and we conspired to do this. After the deed was accomplished, he resigned from his official position, and I gave him a large sum of money. He now owns a large house in Xuanyangfang and lives the life of a wealthy man."

Chang Sunquan asked, "Is he the translator that Chu Suiliang forced to buy the mansion?"

Chang Sunyang said, "That's him."

Chang Sunquan pondered for a while and said, "Let me think about it."

Chang Sunyang said anxiously, "You must think about this as soon as possible. If Liu Rengui finds out about him, everything will be over for my nephew."

Chang Sunquan asked, "Have you used up all the tax money?"

Chang Sunyang said with a bitter face, "I only used 10% of it. I didn't dare to use the rest! Oh, sometimes I really regret it. What did I need so much money for?"

Chang Sunquan said calmly, "If you trust me, tell me the whereabouts of the tax money. I will help you hide it so that Liu Rengui won't find it."

Chang Sunyang showed a vigilant look and said, "Uncle Quan, you are not also planning to take that money, are you?"

Chang Sunquan sneered, "The princess is actually granted 5,000 households. Do you think I'm short of money?"

Chang Sunyang stared at him for a while, then smiled and said, "Okay, as long as Uncle Quan helps me kill Shi Hedan, I will tell you the whereabouts of the tax and give you 30% of it."

Chang Sunquan glanced at him and said, "I don't necessarily need to know the whereabouts of the money. It's just that I treat others with sincerity, and I hope that others will treat me with sincerity as well."

Chang Sunyang bowed and said, "I understand. Then I'll rely on Uncle Chuan for everything."

The next morning, in the main hall of the princess's mansion, Changsun Quan, with a serious expression, kowtowed to Princess Xincheng who was sitting on a chair.

"Your Highness, I pay my respects to the Princess."

According to etiquette, the prince consort of the Tang Dynasty had to pay his respects to the princess every day.

Of course, if the couple is harmonious, the princess will not make things difficult for her husband and will try to avoid these empty formalities.

However, Changsun Quan still did this every day.

In the princess's mansion there are eunuchs and female officials sent by the Internal Affairs Supervisor and the Six Shang Bureaus.

Changsun Quan knew very well that there were spies of the Queen among these people. If he violated the rules, the Queen might use this as an opportunity to attack the Changsun clan.

So he never dared to be careless.

After the formalities, Princess Xincheng stepped forward to help her husband put on his court robes and said softly, "Are you going to attend the regular court today?"

Chang Sunquan nodded and said, "The Saint has not attended court for many days. Today's court meeting may last a long time. I will be back later."

Princess Xincheng said, "Let me take you to the palace, and I'll go in to see my sister as well."

Princess Xincheng had her own sedan chair, which allowed her to enter and leave the palace without having to go through the entrance check, making it extremely convenient.

Chang Sunquan shook his head and said, "No, I can ride faster on horseback. You should get some more sleep. I woke you up last night, so I'm afraid you didn't sleep well again."

Princess Xincheng smiled gently and said, "Okay, I'll listen to you."

(End of this chapter)