Tang Dynasty, my wife Wu Zetian

Chapter 34 Empress Wu's Majesty
The Wu Mansion has been expanded several times. The backyard has pavilions, towers, ponds and waterside pavilions, ancient rocks, and clear streams and pools, which are very elegant.

Du Bu followed Wu Yuanqing and walked around a rockery. Suddenly, he saw several people walking towards him. The one in front was a woman with a tall figure, phoenix eyes and thin eyebrows, and an elegant temperament.

Du Bu's eyes flashed with eagerness, and he said to Wu Yuanqing beside him, "Wu Shaoqing, I wonder who that lady is. Could you introduce her to me?"

Wu Yuanqing didn't answer. He walked over with a pale face, forced a smile, and bowed to the woman, saying, "Your Highness, Your Highness, why are you here?"

The person who came was Wu Meiniang.

After she and Li Zhi left the gold and silver shop, they went to Wu Mansion together.

Li Zhi did not enter the mansion, but only said that he would wait for her in the teahouse outside the mansion.

When Wu Meiniang entered the mansion to visit her mother, the disguised Qianniu Guards who were on guard in the backyard of the Wu Mansion discovered Du Bu and reported to her.

Only then did Wu Meiniang intercept it.

She looked at Wu Yuanqing coldly without saying a word.

Wu Yuanqing's forehead was sweating when she stared at him. Although he and Wu Meiniang were siblings, they were not born to the same mother, and he had treated his stepmother harshly.

Every time I see this sister, my heart is filled with fear. Now that she is the queen, this fear is becoming stronger and stronger.

Wu Meiniang said calmly, "It's my mother's birthday, so I have to come back."

She glanced at Dubu and her tone turned cold: "Who is this person and why did he bring him to the backyard?"

When Dubu heard that she was the queen, the light in his eyes quickly dimmed. He walked over quickly and performed a Tibetan etiquette.

"The Tibetan envoy pays homage to the Empress of the Tang Dynasty."

Wu Meiniang didn't look at him, but just stared at Wu Yuanqing, as if waiting for his answer.

Wu Yuanqing swallowed his saliva and said, "Your Highness, he is here to see Queen Dongnu."

Wu Meiniang said coldly: "Queen Dongnu? Why is she in the backyard?"

Wu Yuanqing hurriedly said, "My mother sent someone to invite him."

Wu Meiniang said "hmm" and did not ask any more questions. Finally, she turned her head and looked at Du Bu.

"Are you the Tibetan envoy Dubu?"

Dubu was slightly delighted and said, "I am Dubu. Has Her Majesty the Queen heard of my name?"

Wu Meiniang's eyes showed a hint of ridicule, and she said lightly: "I just looked at the list of foreign envoys."

That expression seemed to say, "How dare you let me know you?"

Du Bu looked at her arrogant appearance and felt a nameless anger in his heart.

He said with a serious face, "In the future, I will definitely let Her Majesty the Queen hear Dubu's name again."

Wu Meiniang seemed not to have heard and asked Wu Yuanqing, "Did mother invite him too?"

"No, no."

"Then take him to the front yard, and don't bring anyone else to the backyard to disturb your mother's peace." Wu Meiniang's face darkened.

Wu Yuanqing hurriedly said: "Yes!"

Du Bu suddenly said, "I am here to see Queen Dongnu. Please, Your Majesty, please give me some space."

Wu Meiniang glanced at him and said coldly, "Are you giving me orders?"

Dubu was startled, intimidated by her aura. After a long pause, he said, "I am looking for the Queen of Dongnu on the orders of the Zamp. I hope the Queen of the Tang Dynasty will give me some convenience."

Wu Meiniang said coldly, "When your king sees me, he must kneel at my feet and perform the ritual of ruler and subject. How dare you, a mere Tibetan envoy, threaten me? Who gave you the courage?"

Dubu gritted his teeth and said, "Although Tubo is a vassal state of the Tang Dynasty, it also has hundreds of thousands of elite troops. The Queen of the Tang Dynasty should not humiliate us Tubo!"

Wu Meiniang stared at Dubu and said, "The Tuyuhun King sent an envoy saying that your Tubo army is gathering at the Barong River, preparing to invade Tuyuhun, and hopes that the Tang Dynasty will send troops to assist."

Dubu hurriedly said, "Don't listen to the lies of the Tuyuhun people. They are stationed in Bailang City and have joined forces with the Bailang Qiang. They want to cross the Barong River and attack Tubo!"

Wu Meiniang said calmly, "Really? But you just said that you Tubo have hundreds of thousands of troops. How could Tuyuhun dare to attack you?"

Du Bu was shocked and realized that he had made a big mistake.

He was ordered to come to the Tang Dynasty this time with two purposes. The first was to find the Queen of Dongnu, find out her purpose for coming to the Tang Dynasty, and then force her to agree to the marriage.

The second was to show weakness to the Tang Dynasty and tell them that Tuyuhun was preparing to invade Tubo.

In this way, even if Tuyuhun also filed a complaint, the Tang Dynasty would find it difficult to distinguish the truth from the false and would most likely not help either side.

He was just indignant and did not show weakness. Instead, he threatened the Queen of the Tang Dynasty, violating the task assigned to him by Prime Minister Lu Dongzan.

Thinking of this, Dubu regained consciousness, knelt on the ground, and kowtowed, saying, "I was just a momentarily carried away by my own pride and boasted about myself. Please forgive me, Your Majesty."

Wu Meiniang looked down at him and thought to herself, "This man is quite patient. No wonder His Majesty spoke so highly of him just now."

Wu Yuanqing hurriedly said, "Your Highness, these foreigners are ignorant and impulsive. Please don't bother with them."

Wu Meiniang said calmly, "Take him away. No more outsiders are allowed to enter the inner courtyard."

Wu Yuanqing hurriedly said: "Yes, yes!"

Du Bu raised his head and stole another glance at Wu Meiniang, but he didn't dare say anything more. He just imprinted her image deeply in his mind and quickly left with Wu Yuanqing. Wu Meiniang returned to the back hall and continued talking to her mother and sister.

Mrs. Yang is a woman in her seventies. She doesn't have many white hairs because she takes good care of herself. When she saw her daughter come home, she was extremely happy. Her face was rosy and she was in great spirits.

Wu Shun was very unhappy when she learned that her status was downgraded from Lady of the State to Lady of the County.

The family was talking when a servant came to report that Princess Honghua was outside the door asking to see them.

Madam Yang was born into the royal family of the Sui Dynasty and was quite knowledgeable about etiquette. She thought it would be better for her daughter to go out of the palace incognito and not meet outsiders, so she wanted Wu Shun to greet Princess Honghua.

Wu Meiniang held her hand and said with a smile, "Mother, since she has a connection with my family, please let her in."

Madam Yang said happily, "It would be great if you are willing to see her. Please come in, Princess."

Princess Honghua, led by her servants, entered the house and bowed to Yang.

Yang stood up and returned the greeting, saying with a smile, "You are so polite, Princess."

Princess Honghua suddenly turned her gaze to Wu Meiniang.

Although she did not know Wu Meiniang, when she was performing the ceremony just now, everyone in the hall stood up, but this woman did not move.

Looking at her demeanor and temperament, Princess Honghua's mind flashed with light. She bowed to Wu Meiniang and said, "Li Ping greets Her Majesty the Queen."

Wu Meiniang smiled and said, "Have you seen me?"

Princess Honghua hurriedly said, "I have never met Your Highness, but with such elegance and grace, you are the only hero in the world."

Wu Meiniang chuckled and said, "Princess, you are too kind. Get up quickly."

Princess Honghua stood up slowly, and Wu Shun went over to help her sit down.

Wu Meiniang asked about her life in Tuyuhun.

Princess Honghua answered a few words, then suddenly burst into tears and said, "A peaceful life is always beautiful, but it's a pity that it will be destroyed soon."

Wu Meiniang frowned and asked, "Are you talking about the matter with Tubo? I've heard a little bit about it. It seems there's a dispute on your border?"

Princess Honghua said anxiously, "It's not a dispute, but a Tibetan army of 200,000 soldiers, about to set foot on Tuyuhun's land!"

Wu Meiniang frowned: "Two hundred thousand troops?"

"I dare not conceal anything from Your Highness. The Tibetan army of 200,000 has assembled on the north bank of the Baron River, ready to attack Bailan City at any time."

Wu Meiniang asked, "Isn't Bailan City owned by the Bailan Qiang?"

Princess Honghua replied, "Yes, it is precisely because the Bailang Qiang feared a Tubo invasion that they asked us for help."

Wu Meiniang pondered for a while and said, "It's useless for you to tell me this. Right now, the Tang Dynasty cannot help you."

Princess Honghua said, "I know that the Tang Dynasty is busy fighting against the Western Turks and has no time to care about other things. Our country only hopes to get support from the Tang Dynasty!"

Wu Meiniang asked, "What kind of support do you want?"

Princess Honghua glanced around.

Wu Meiniang stood up and said, "Mother, I'm going to go out and talk to the princess for a while."

Madam Yang said hurriedly, "You guys talk here, Shun'er and I will go out."

Without waiting for Wu Meiniang to refuse, he pulled Wu Shun away and sent the servants away.

Wu Meiniang asked Zhang Duohai to take a few people to guard the door and said to Princess Honghua, "There is no one here now. If you have anything to say, feel free to speak frankly."

Princess Honghua said, "Your Highness, you may not know that we have secretly joined forces with Bailang, Dangxiang, and the Eastern Women's Kingdom to jointly deal with Tubo."

"It's just that the Dangxiang and Dongnu have both made demands. They only want to be under the command of the Tang Dynasty and hope that the Tang Dynasty will send a general to serve as the commander of the coalition forces."

Wu Meiniang asked, "Who do you want us to send as commander?"

Princess Honghua hurriedly said, "Let His Highness and the Saint decide."

Wu Meiniang pondered for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Do you know the strengths and weaknesses of Tubo?"

Princess Honghua nodded and said, "I didn't know much about it at first, but it was thanks to Queen Dongnu that I learned about the Tibetan army's preparations."

Wu Meiniang asked, "How did she know that? Is it accurate?"

Princess Honghua said, "Queen Binju once personally infiltrated Tibet and conducted a year-long investigation, losing dozens of spies before she obtained this intelligence."

Wu Meiniang nodded: "It's not easy."

Princess Honghua said, "According to what she said, Tubo has an army of about 320,000 men, including 60,000 cavalry, all of whom are well-equipped, with five out of ten men wearing armor."

Wu Meiniang's heart trembled.

She didn't care about the large number of Tibetan soldiers. The Tang Dynasty often used the few to defeat the many. Fifty thousand Tang troops could sweep across any country because of their brave soldiers and excellent equipment.

Seven out of ten Tang troops were armored soldiers, and the number of Tubo soldiers was not far behind. This made Wu Meiniang more afraid than the number of their troops.

She stood up and said, "I can only relay these words to Your Majesty. I cannot be sure whether Your Majesty agrees or not."

Princess Honghua also stood up and bowed, saying, "Your Highness is willing to speak well of the Saint. Li Ping is already grateful."

(End of this chapter)