Tang Dynasty, my wife Wu Zetian

Chapter 30 Li Zhi incognito
Empress Wu has issued an order that no one is allowed to spread what happened in Qiumi Garden.

However, there are tens of thousands of people living in the inner court of the imperial palace, which means tens of thousands of ears and tens of thousands of mouths, and any slight disturbance cannot be concealed.

Concubine Zheng and Xu Chongrong already knew about this matter, but they did not want to conflict with Empress Wu, so they did not pursue it.

Wang Fusheng refused to let go of the opportunity.

After receiving the news, he did not report it to Li Zhi immediately, but served carefully on the side.

Li Zhi was reviewing memorials, and Wang Fusheng looked up from time to time, secretly observing his expression.

He planned to wait until Li Zhi was in the most upset mood before reporting.

Just then, the eunuch's announcement came from outside.

"Her Majesty the Queen requests an audience."

Li Zhi looked up and said, "Please let the Queen in."

Wang Fusheng cried out in his heart, but it was too late to report it.

Wu Meiniang walked into the hall, bowed to Li Zhifu, and said, "Your Majesty, I have something to report."

Li Zhi smiled and said, "Queen, there's no need to be so polite. What do you have to tell me?"

Wu Meiniang glanced around, and the eunuchs and palace maids in the hall all retreated tactfully.

Wang Fusheng suddenly smiled and said, "Is the matter that Your Highness wants to tell us related to Madam Helan?"

Wu Meiniang glanced at him and said, "Eunuch Wang is right."

Li Zhi asked curiously, "What exactly is it, Fu Sheng? Do you know?"

Wang Fusheng was about to speak when Wu Meiniang spoke first, "Your Majesty, this is about my sister, so I should speak for myself."

Li Zhi nodded.

Wu Meiniang slowly walked to Li Zhi and said, "Everyone, do you still remember Princess Honghua?"

Li Zhi said, "It must be the princess from the royal family who married Tuyuhun."

Wu Meiniang said, "That's right. She also came to Chang'an with the Tuyuhun envoys. My mother and her grandmother have a very good relationship. My mother's birthday is tomorrow, and my sister suggested inviting her. When we went to see her, she made a request to my sister."

Li Zhi said, "What's your request?"

Wu Meiniang said, "She hopes to invite another foreign envoy for my mother's birthday."

Li Zhi was surprised and asked, "Who does she want to invite? Could it be the Queen of Dongnu?"

Wu Meiniang smiled and said, "That's right. She also said that she hopes to provide a room for her to talk to the Queen on her birthday."

Li Zhi thought for a moment and said, "She wants to win over the Eastern Women's Kingdom and fight against Tubo together."

Wu Meiniang smiled and said, "I think so too. My mother dares not make a decision on her own, so I asked my sister to come to the palace and inquire about this matter."

Li Zhi smiled and said, "That's a good thing. You can agree to her request." After a moment's hesitation, he added, "Mei Niang, you should also go home incognito tomorrow."

Wu Meiniang smiled and said, "I understand. Jiulang wants me to meet Princess Honghua."

Li Zhi clapped his hands and said, "That's right. You can tell her that our Tang Dynasty is currently fighting the Western Turks. We can only send a maximum of 5,000 troops to help them, and we also need them to provide military supplies."

Wu Meiniang smiled and said, "I will remember this."

Li Zhi added, "You could also suggest that she win over more Qiang tribes and unite to fight against Tubo, even under our banner."

Wu Meiniang nodded in agreement.

Wang Fusheng suddenly said, "Your Majesty, Madam Helan..."

Wu Meiniang interrupted, "Eunuch Wang, I haven't finished speaking yet, why are you so nervous?"

Li Zhi glanced at the two of them and noticed something was wrong.

"Mei Niang, are you hiding something from me?"

Wu Meiniang bowed and said, "I would like to ask for an order from Your Majesty."

Li Zhi said, "What's the order?"

Wu Mei Niang said, "I beg Your Majesty to cancel my sister's imperial decree and title during the grand court meeting on New Year's Day."

Li Zhi was surprised and asked, "Why is that?"

Wu Meiniang said, "When my sister came to the palace to ask me about Princess Honghua, my nephew Helan Minzhi started arguing with Gao An in Qiumi Garden."

Li Zhi's face changed drastically, and he asked anxiously, "How is Gao Anke doing with Helan Minzhi?"

Wu Meiniang was stunned and whispered, "I went to see Gao An. Her face was reddened by Minzhi, but everything else was fine. But there was also a eunuch named Xiaoji who was beaten by Minzhi. It was my fault for not disciplining him well. Your Majesty, please punish him as well." Then she knelt down.

Li Zhi let out a long breath.

Just a moment ago, he was really afraid that Helan Minzhi would do something bad to Princess Gao'an. But when he thought about it, Helan Minzhi was just a child and couldn't do anything bad now.

Li Zhi helped Wu Meiniang up.

"Mei Niang, don't blame me for not reminding you. You must discipline your nephew. Don't be lenient when it's time to beat him, or he'll cause trouble in the future!"

Wu Meiniang said, "I'll take note of this."

"How is Xiaoji injured?"

Wu Meiniang said, "I went to see him. He took a few hits on the face, but they were just superficial injuries. He's a well-behaved child. I'd like to promote him to the position of Imperial Household Minister. What do you think?" Li Zhi knew she was trying to compensate Xiaoji, so he nodded and said, "As you wish."

At this time he also figured it out.

Wu Meiniang first mentioned Wu Shun's help, and then talked about Helan Minzhi, because she was afraid that he would really revoke Wu Shun's imperial edict.

Regardless of whether Wu Shun really helped, Wu Meiniang did her best in the Tubo affairs and did share his worries.

This matter requires careful consideration.

He pondered for a moment and said, "Mei Niang, Helan Minzhi is no longer allowed to enter the palace. Your sister's title will be demoted to that of a county lady."

Wu Meiniang said, "Thank you, Your Majesty."

The next morning, the bright sunshine dispelled the dark clouds of the previous few days.

It is rare to have such good weather in Chang'an City in December.

Today is a special day, so early in the morning, Wu Meiniang came to Ganlu Palace to bid farewell to Li Zhi.

Li Zhi saw that she was wearing a pink wide-sleeved double-breasted shirt, a pomegranate skirt tied around her waist, and a white mink fur cloak draped over her shoulders. She looked like a lady of an official family, with a unique beauty.

Wu Meiniang bowed to him and said, "Everyone, I'm leaving now."

There was no need to attend the regular court today, so Li Zhi was more free than usual. When he saw Wu Meiniang's appearance, he also felt like leaving the palace.

It was not uncommon for the Tang Dynasty emperors to travel incognito.

Li Shimin often went to the homes of his ministers in disguise to chat and play chess with them. Sometimes, if he heard that there were filial sons or elderly people somewhere, he would go to take a look.

Emperor Gaozong of Tang was different from his father and was not so active.

However, he also went incognito several times. Last year, when Wang Liwu was deposed, he and Wu Meiniang went to visit Zhangsun Wuji together.

So when Li Zhi proposed to go out in disguise, Wang Fusheng, Xue Rengui and others did not say anything, but just went their separate ways to make preparations for the tour.

Xue Rengui found General Wang Jishan of the Jinwu Guard, and the two discussed for a long time, deciding on the security measures for the emperor before reporting back.

An hour later, Li Zhi was walking on the streets of Chang'an City.

At this moment, he had only one feeling in his heart: the streets of Chang'an City were really too spacious.

The distance between the two neighborhoods is more than 100 meters wide, enough for dozens of riders to ride side by side.

The road surface is compacted with loess. On both sides of the street are thick walls, and a large number of elm and locust trees are planted outside the walls.

When winter comes, the trees have withered and rustled in the wind.

There are twenty-five streets like this in Chang'an: fourteen east-west and eleven north-south.

These twenty-five streets divided Chang'an City into 108 districts and two markets, east and west.

At this time, Li Zhi was wearing a white round robe, a fu hat, and a white cloak, looking like a scholar going to Beijing to take the imperial examination.

Wu Meiniang followed beside him, still dressed as a lady of noble birth, except that she had a veil on her face, which added a bit of hazy beauty.

Behind them were Xue Rengui, Wang Fusheng, and Zhang Duohai, who was also pulling a carriage.

Around them, dozens of Qianniu Guards were in disguise, protecting them secretly.

Further away there was a team of Jinwu Guard cavalry, led by Wang Jishan himself. They seemed to be patrolling, but in fact they kept a distance of about 500 steps from Li Zhi.

Wu Mansion is located on the South Street of Pingkangfang, not far from the imperial palace. Besides, it is still early for the birthday banquet, so Li Zhi and the other man strolled leisurely.

Walking south along the street, when passing a crossroads, I suddenly saw a horse team galloping towards me.

The people on the horses had high noses, deep eyes, and were dressed in strange clothes, obviously they were foreigners.

Li Zhi had read the memorial from the Ministry of Revenue. There were a lot of foreigners in Chang'an City, with more than 50,000 verified by public inspection and countless illegal residents.

Along the way, I did see quite a few foreigners.

There were blond-haired and blue-eyed Qin people (the Tang people called the Roman Empire and the surrounding areas Daqin), black-robed Arabs, short and stout Japanese people, and even burly and strong black people.

However, most foreigners in Chang'an were very well-behaved and cautious.

This cavalry was different.

The people on horseback were extremely arrogant. They whipped their horses and laughed loudly, as if they were in their own country.

Li Zhi frowned and asked, "Who are those people?"

Xue Rengui looked at him for a while and said, "He should be a Tibetan."

Li Zhi and Wu Meiniang looked at each other and both thought that this trip was to deal with Tubo. This was really a coincidence.

Zhang Duohai snorted and said, "These barbarians really don't know etiquette. How dare they be so presumptuous in our Tang Dynasty!"

Xue Rengui said in a deep voice: "Perhaps they are not ignorant of etiquette, but rather arrogant and conceited."

Zhang Duohai laughed and said, "Guard Xue, you're joking. Tubo is a vassal state of the Tang Dynasty. What qualifications do they have to be so arrogant in front of the Tang Dynasty?"

Just as he was speaking proudly, Wu Meiniang suddenly glanced at him. He quickly lowered his head and dared not say a word.

Wang Fusheng suddenly said, "Hey, what a coincidence! They are also going to Pingkangfang."

Li Zhi looked up and saw the Tibetan cavalry turning into a bustling neighborhood ahead. A thought struck him, and he thought to himself, "So that's the famous Pingkangfang."

(End of this chapter)