Tang Dynasty, my wife Wu Zetian

Chapter 22 Empress Wu's Bed
Concubine Zheng had a talent for music since she was young. With the careful training of her family, her piano skills were not only unique in the harem, but were also on par with the piano masters in Chang'an City.

She played a few pieces of music every night, hoping that the sound of the piano would turn into a thread and attract the king.

It was raining heavily tonight, and the sound of the piano was blocked by the rain, so I lost the desire to play. I leaned lazily on the couch, eating grapes and watching Princess Gao An playing with a kitten.

Princess Gao An had moved in a few days ago. At first, she was always crying, but later, when she saw that Concubine Zheng was very kind to her, she regained her usual spirit.

Seeing Princess Gao An running after the kitten, sweating profusely, Concubine Zheng said softly, "An'er, stop running. It's cold, don't catch a cold."

Princess Gao An giggled, ran to Concubine Zheng's arms, opened her little mouth, and said coquettishly, "Mother, I want to eat too."

Concubine Zheng laughed and scolded, "You little greedy cat." She stuffed a peeled grape into her mouth.

At this moment, a palace maid rushed into the hall and said happily, "Madam, everyone is here!"

Concubine Zheng suddenly stood up, quickly went to the bronze mirror, adjusted her makeup, then grabbed Princess Gao An and ran out of the hall.

In the corridor, two rows of eunuchs holding lanterns were leading the way, followed by four eunuchs holding cloud umbrellas. Under the umbrella was a man in a yellow cloak, who was Li Zhi.

Strangely, Li Zhi was holding the young eunuch's hand.

"My concubine greets you all." Zheng pulled Princess Gao'an to bow, and the palace maids and eunuchs behind them followed suit.

"Everyone, get up."

Li Zhi raised his hand and took Xiaoji's hand and walked straight into the hall.

Only then did Concubine Zheng and Princess Gao An stand up and follow him into the hall.

When Princess Gao An saw Li Zhi sitting on the couch and the child standing next to him, she immediately felt a little jealous.

She ran to Li Zhi, squeezed between his knees, called out "Father" sweetly, and turned to make a face at Xiaoji.

Xiaoji blushed slightly and lowered his head.

Li Zhi said, "My Lady, this child is called Xiaoji. He is a poor child. He likes to hear you play a piece of music. Please play it for him."

Concubine Zheng's eyes flickered, and she smiled at Xiaoji and said, "Xiaoji, which song do you like to listen to?"

Xiaoji clenched his hands, lowered his head and said, "You, Youlanqu."

Concubine Zheng exclaimed, "Ah!" and said with a sweet laugh, "Is it the Jieshi tune of Youlan?"

Xiaoji nodded repeatedly.

Princess Gao An suddenly pouted and said, "Father, why did you ask my mother to play music for him?"

Li Zhi said, "His mother is dead. This is the piece she often played when she was alive. He secretly learned the musical notation for this. It was not easy."

Princess Gao An said "Oh", thought of her biological mother, and lowered her head.

Concubine Zheng sighed, "Poor child, Xiaoji! After I finish playing, I'll write down the music score for you. Can you recognize it?"

Xiaoji nodded repeatedly.

Concubine Zheng smiled and said, "That's good. Come, close the doors and windows."

After the doors and windows were closed tightly, the sound of rain outside the window became much quieter.

Concubine Zheng sat in front of the zither, and with each stroke of her fingers, a clear, gentle, and slow-paced melody slowly sounded.

The beginning of this song is deeply sad, gentle and desolate, which makes people feel infinite sorrow.

As the melody changes, the pitch becomes higher and the sound becomes clearer. At the end of the song, the piano sound is clear and melodious, bright and open-minded, giving people a feeling of seeing the dawn after passing the night.

With her superb piano skills, Concubine Zheng played a piece that was sad but not hurtful, clear and open-minded.

Li Zhi's previous sadness disappeared under the guidance of the music, and he felt only peace and tranquility in his heart.

Turning around, I saw Xiaoji was infatuated and crying silently.

Princess Gao An felt a sense of sympathy for him because of her biological mother. She went over and took his hand, saying, "Xiao Ji, stop crying. I'll play with you from now on."

Xiaoji showed a panic expression and looked towards Li Zhi. Li Zhi smiled and said, "Xiaoji, you and Gao An go to the side hall to play together. I will have a few words with the imperial concubine."

Just as Xiaoji was about to cross his arms and leave, Princess Gao An had already pulled him along, saying, "Come on, come on, I'll take you to see something fun."

The two boys left the hall.

Li Zhi glanced at Wang Fusheng, who understood what he meant and gestured to the other eunuchs and palace servants, and they all left the hall.

Concubine Zheng guessed that Li Zhi wanted her to sleep with him, and her heart was pounding, filled with joy but also a bit of worry.

Li Zhi asked, "My Lady, are you feeling better now?"

Concubine Zheng said: "I am already well, but..."

Li Zhi said, "What's wrong?"

Concubine Zheng whispered, "I haven't asked a concubine to serve me for many days. I'm so happy that you suddenly came to Xunfeng Palace today, but I'm worried about the Queen..."

Li Zhi waved his hand and said, "You don't have to worry. I'm on the Queen's side. Besides, I don't need anyone else to decide who I want to sleep with me." The Tang Dynasty harem actually had a sleeping system, but it imitated the Zhou Dynasty and was too outrageous.

First, the harem must be fully staffed with one hundred and twenty-two concubines.

Each cycle lasts from the beginning of the month to the fifteenth day. The concubines are ranked from low to high according to their ranks. During the first twelve days, nine women serve one emperor.

The second round is from the 16th to the end of the month, and the rankings are arranged in reverse order from high to low.

The Queen was the only one who could sleep alone with the Emperor, and only on the 15th and 16th days.

No emperor would be willing to have such a system.

When Concubine Zheng heard Li Zhi say this, she had to suppress her uneasiness and went forward to help him take off his clothes.

After a while, the candlelight went out and the gauze curtain was lowered. From behind the gauze curtain, bursts of panting sounds were heard.

The next morning, Li Zhi returned to Ganlu Palace for his regular court session.

After the court meeting, he came to Lizheng Hall, but saw Wu Meiniang reading a book.

"Why are you all here so early today?" Wu Meiniang had a smile on her face, without any trace of strangeness.

Li Zhi smiled and said, "There's not much to do at court today, so I came over to see you. What book are you reading?"

Wu Meiniang showed him the "Chef's Dietary Therapy Notebook" in her hand.

Li Zhi just nodded without saying anything more. When he looked up, he found that there seemed to be a piece of clothing hidden under the small stool on the couch.

"Mei Niang, what is a few times?"

Wu Meiniang smiled and said, "Nothing."

Li Zhi became even more curious, so he leaned over to take a look. He felt that it looked familiar, and said, "It looks like a red silk skirt. Bring it here for me to see."

Wu Meiniang took out the skirt and asked quietly, "Do you still remember this skirt?"

Li Zhi took it in his hand and took a look at it, and he already knew the origin of this item.

When Wu Meiniang was in Ganye Temple, in order to remind Haraji of her, she gave him a poem titled "Ruyi Niang".

After reading it, Yuan Zhi ordered someone to give a pomegranate skirt to Wu Meiniang to express his love.

The silk skirt in the box was exactly the pomegranate skirt that Haraji had given her.

Li Zhi understood.

Wu Meiniang seemed to be indifferent to what happened last night, but she had already laid a gentle net, waiting for herself to fall into it.

He sighed and said, "It's hard for you to keep it. I'll give you another one in a few days."

Wu Meiniang said quietly: "It is enough for me to have this. Whenever I see it, I will remember that you saved me from the fire. Even if you forget me in the future, I will have no regrets." Tears fell from her eyes.

Women's tears are indeed a powerful weapon.

Li Zhi knew that she intended to do so, but he still felt a little more pity for her. He held her in his arms and said, "How could I forget you? Don't let your imagination run wild."

That night, Li Zhi stayed in Lizheng Hall.

Wu Meiniang tried her best to please him, and during the lovemaking, she discovered something strange.

Li Zhi's sexual intercourse was very different from before, and the effectiveness of the several techniques she used to be good at was greatly reduced.

After a moment's thought, she guessed that in order to please Li Zhi, Concubine Zheng had studied many seductive techniques and made Li Zhi addicted to sex.

This made Wu Meiniang feel quite threatened. The next day, she did not even look at the cook's notebook. Instead, she ordered someone to find the secret booklet and study it carefully.

In the next few days, thanks to her "efforts", Li Zhi really stayed in Lizheng Hall.

It was not until the last day of November that Li Zhi visited Penglai Palace.

Xu Jin was worried that he couldn't hold on, so she didn't take the initiative to ask for sex. Instead, she carefully advised him. Li Zhi also felt that he had been too absurd in the past few days, so he hugged her and fell asleep.

The moonlight was bright and silver light was shining. A horse team walked under the moonlight and arrived outside the Chunming Gate of Chang'an City.

A young man rode his horse to the foot of the city and shouted, "Open the gate."

The evening drums had stopped early, the city gates were locked, and the captain of the gates stood on the city wall and shouted, "The city gates are closed. No one is allowed to knock on the door. Anyone who violates the rules will be shot!"

The young man shouted, "I am Jin Renwen, the Silla envoy and the General of the Left Guard of the Tang Dynasty. I have urgent military information and must enter the city immediately to attend the New Moon and Full Moon Court tomorrow. If I miss this important border defense mission, can you afford it?"

The captain at the city gate was surprised and said, "Please put the fish token and the letter of credence into the basket for inspection." He ordered his men to lower the basket.

Jin Renwen put the fish token, the letter of credence and the staff into the basket.

The captain of the city gate checked and confirmed that everything was correct, so he ordered someone to report to the Secretariat.

After waiting for more than an hour, a reply finally came. The order was not to open the door, and Jin Renwen was hoisted onto the city wall in a basket.

(End of this chapter)