Tang Dynasty, my wife Wu Zetian

Chapter 388: Empress Wu's Interrogation
It is said that Wu Meiniang was in a side hall, checking the poisoned honey, when a eunuch came to report that a thief had been caught.

Wu Meiniang came to the main hall and looked up. Not only Zhang Duohai had returned, but Helan Minzhi and Li Ji were also in the hall.

After listening to Zhang Duohai's explanation, he realized that it was the two of them who caught Zhou Zhi, so he praised Helan Minzhi a few words and nodded to Li Ji to show his approval.

Helan Minzhi said: "Aunt, Wang Hong has not been caught yet. Brother Li and I will go and catch him and bring him to you."

Wu Meiniang said: "Okay, you guys go ahead."

The two were ordered to leave.

Wu Meiniang walked to the phoenix couch and sat down. When she turned around, her eyes were cold and she stared at Zhou Zhi without blinking.

Zhou Zhi felt a surge of fear rising from his feet to his head, his entire body shaking like a sieve. He muttered, "Your Majesty, I, I was also bewitched..."

"Who is it?" Wu Meiniang asked coldly.

Zhou Zhi suddenly turned his head and looked at Zhang Duohai.

"Master Zhang, please don't blame me..."

Zhang Duohai was shocked and angry, glaring at him fiercely, his eyes almost popping out.

"You bastard, you're about to die, yet you still dare to defile me!"

Zhou Zhidao said, "Yesterday I came to see you. You gave me the powder and asked me to mix it into the medicinal food. Your Majesty, if you don't believe me, you can check. Yesterday I was in Lizheng Hall and met with Zhang Shaojian!"

Zhang Duohai was so frightened when he saw Wu Meiniang looking at him that he slid to his knees and said in a trembling voice, "Your Highness, don't believe him, I..."

Wu Meiniang slapped him in the face, stunning Zhang Duohai.

"He is stupid, are you as stupid as him? Do you think I will believe such a clumsy lie?" Wu Meiniang glared at him.

Zhang Dahai burst into tears of joy and said, "I am stupid, I am stupid!"

He leaned over and blew hard on Wu Meiniang's palm. He was very clear about the elasticity of his face. The slap just now must have hurt Empress Wu.

Wu Meiniang turned her gaze to Zhou Zhi and said, "Come here, dig out his eyes."

Zhou Zhi was horrified and shouted, "Your Highness, I, I am telling the truth..."

Wu Mei Niang said, "It's only just the beginning, and you're already scared? After I dig out your eyeballs, I'll cut off your nose, ears, and tongue."

Zhou Zhi shouted, "Your Highness, if you cut off my tongue, you'll never know who wants to harm you!"

Wu Meiniang said calmly, "There was someone similar to you before. Following the orders of that bitch Xiao, he tried to poison me. Do you know what happened to him?"

Zhou Zhi shuddered all over, and couldn't help but think of Empress Wu's cruel methods back then.

Wu Meiniang continued, "He's a stubborn man. No matter how severely he's tortured, he refuses to confess a single word. I later devised a method specifically for dealing with such stubborn men."

At this moment, Empress Wu's beautiful voice sounded like the whisper of a demon from hell.

Wu Mei Niang said, "My method is very simple. I dug out his eyes, cut off his nose, ears, and tongue, chopped off his limbs, and then soaked him in a wine jar."

"After only three days, his bones were softened by the wine. He held the pen between his teeth and wrote down everything I wanted to know. And you know what? When I ordered him to be executed, a smile appeared on his face."

"Zhou Zhi, if I remember correctly, you can also write, right?"

Zhou Zhi was so frightened that his heart and gallbladder were broken. He shouted, "I'll tell you everything. Don't soak me with wine!"

Wu Meiniang said coldly: "Who sent you to harm me?"

Zhou Zhidao: "It's a man in black, I don't know who he is!"

Wu Meiniang asked, "Then how do you know him?"

"It was in the spring of the thirteenth year of the Yonghui reign. He suddenly came to me when I was out of the palace shopping for miscellaneous items. I didn't know his identity, but I knew he was under thirty and spoke with a Sichuan accent."

"He only asked me to tell him the news from the palace. Each piece of information is worth one ounce of gold. If it's related to you, the reward is even higher."

"I was demoted to Xianchi Palace at the time and hadn't been promoted, so I agreed to his request."

"In the past two years, I also sold him some information, until..."

Wu Meiniang interrupted, "Among the information you sold him, was there anything related to me?"

Zhou Zhi said, "I've been demoted to Xianchi Palace, and even if I tried to find out about you, I couldn't! Oh, by the way, I once told him that you were collecting secret recipes for longevity and youth. Although it was an old story, he gave me a gold cake as a reward."

Wu Meiniang said, "Go on."

Zhou Zhidao said, "Until seven or eight days ago, he suddenly found me and asked me to help Wang Hong poison the medicinal food. If I succeeded, I would get a box of gold cakes. I was obsessed with money, so I agreed. That's all I know, nothing else!"

Zhang Dahai asked, "Where are you going after leaving the palace?"

Zhou Zhi hurriedly said, "He arranged a hiding place for me, located in an abandoned garden in Dayefang."

Zhang Duohai found out the location of the abandoned garden and ordered someone to tell Yang Yuchen to take people to search for it.

Wu Meiniang looked at Zhou Zhi and asked, "Do you know who is behind that black-clad thief?"

Zhou Zhi shook his head and said, "I don't know, I really don't know. How could he possibly tell me?"

He paused, as if thinking of something, and said, "But I guess it's a prince."

Wu Meiniang asked, "Why do you think so?"

Zhou Zhidao: "Because he said that after the saint was poisoned to death, his master would ascend the throne and appoint me as the Junior Eunuch..."

Wu Meiniang suddenly stood up and walked quickly to Zhou Zhi, saying word by word: "You just said that the saint was poisoned to death. Isn't it possible that your target is me?"

Zhou Zhi said in a trembling voice, "His, their purpose is to poison the Saint and put the blame on you."

Wu Meiniang's face changed drastically. She didn't bother to interrogate Zhou Zhi anymore and hurried towards Ganlu Palace. Yuping and others hurriedly followed her.

After Wu Meiniang left, Zhang Duohai approached Zhou Zhi and started beating him up, cursing, "You bastard, you almost killed me."

After fighting for a while, he ordered people to keep an eye on him and chased after Wu Meiniang.

Wu Meiniang hurried all the way to Ganlu Palace, only to see Wang Fusheng standing outside the palace, yawning.

She immediately breathed a sigh of relief, slowed down her pace and walked over.

Wang Fusheng hurriedly greeted her, saying, "Your Highness the Queen."

Wu Meiniang glanced towards the palace door and asked, "Is His Majesty in the room?"

Wang Fusheng smiled slightly and said, "I'm still playing chess with His Royal Highness the King of Yue."

Wu Meiniang asked again, "Since Your Majesty returned from Linhu Palace, has anyone brought you any food?"

Wang Fusheng was slightly taken aback and said, "No, Your Majesty ate a lot at noon and didn't pass on anything after returning to the palace. Your Majesty, is there anything wrong?"

Wu Meiniang waved at him, walked away a few steps, and said, "I have caught a thief who is trying to poison your majesty's food. Eunuch Wang, please be careful."

Wang Fusheng's face changed slightly, and he asked anxiously, "Who is behind this?"

Wu Meiniang shook her head and said, "I haven't asked yet. I came here to remind the eunuch that from now on, His Majesty's meals must be paid special attention to in case the thieves have other arrangements."

Wang Fusheng said in a deep voice, "Your Highness, rest assured. I will carefully inspect all meals and will not miss anything."

Wu Meiniang nodded her chin, turned around and was about to leave.

Wang Fusheng hurriedly asked, "Your Highness, won't you go and tell His Majesty?"

Wu Meiniang said, "Since Your Majesty is playing chess, I will not disturb you. Please tell Your Majesty that I will continue to interrogate the thief and report back to Your Majesty later."

Wang Fusheng responded, "I obey your command."

Wu Meiniang quickly returned to Lizheng Hall with her men and continued questioning Zhou Zhi. "Zhou Zhi, I want to ask you, did the thief only ask you to assist in the poisoning? Did he ask you to do anything else?"

Zhou Zhidao: "No."

Wu Mei Niang asked, "Did he ever tell you why he chose to poison the medicinal food? Was it just to frame me?"

Zhou Zhi said, "He said that only the medicinal food sent by Her Majesty the Queen was available, and that Eunuch Wang would not test for poison, so he chose to poison your medicinal food."

Wu Meiniang snorted and said, "Don't they know that my medicinal food is strictly inspected and I also taste it?"

Zhou Zhidao: "They said you will be fine after eating it."

Wu Meiniang was slightly startled and asked, "If it's poisonous, why am I fine after taking it?"

Zhou Zhidao: "I asked him, but he didn't let me ask any more questions."

Wu Meiniang frowned and looked thoughtful.

Zhang Dahai reminded him, "Your Highness, since it's related to poison, why not ask Mr. Sun to come over and check what the poison is?"

Wu Meiniang nodded and said, "Then you should go there in person."

After a while, Sun Simiao was invited over, and Wu Meiniang handed the bottle of poisoned honey to Sun Simiao for inspection.

Sun Simiao dipped some honey on a silver knife and roasted it over fire. After a while, the tip of the silver knife turned light blue.

Sun Simiao sniffed the tip of the knife, observed it carefully for a moment, and said, twirling his beard, "Your Highness, this should be a specially refined toxin, the main component of which is snake venom."

Wu Meiniang murmured, "Snake venom?"

Sun Simiao said, "Indeed, snake venom is usually not toxic if taken directly, so it needs to be mixed with other drugs to stimulate its toxicity."

Wu Meiniang nodded and asked, "Doctor Sun, the thief we caught said that I would be fine after taking this poison, but Your Majesty was poisoned after taking it. Why is that?"

Sun Simiao pulled at his beard, thought for a moment, and smiled, "When I was practicing medicine, I also met some extraordinary people who could resist most poisons."

Wu Meiniang asked: "Why were they able to resist?"

Sun Simiao put down the knife, picked up the honey, and said, "Generally speaking, as long as a person takes a certain poison and survives, the body will develop some resistance. Therefore, some people who have been dealing with poisons for a long time will have the ability to resist poison."

Wu Meiniang's face turned pale. "Are you saying that I'm able to resist this poison because I've been taking it all the time?"

Sun Simiao said: "That's possible."

Zhang Dahai said anxiously, "This is impossible. Her Majesty the Queen's diet is strictly controlled. The thieves would never have the chance to poison her again. How could they have poisoned Her Majesty for a long time?"

Wu Meiniang glanced at him and said, "Be quiet and listen to what Doctor Sun has to say."

Sun Simiao thought for a moment and said, "Your Highness, Young Master Zhang, in fact, many medicinal herbs in this world also contain toxins, but the amount of poison is very small and cannot be detected by testing, and it does not cause obvious harm to the human body."

Wu Meiniang's eyes flashed, as if she thought of something.

Sun Simiao looked at her and said, "Your Highness, do you usually take any special herbs?"

Wu Meiniang said, "I can tell you, but please keep it a secret for me."

Divine Doctor Sun said, "If Her Majesty the Queen has any request, this old minister will naturally not speak nonsense."

Wu Meiniang nodded, waved her hand to dismiss some servants, and then instructed Yuping: "Go and get my Seven Spirits Ointment."

Yuping quickly brought out an ordinary porcelain bottle.

Wu Meiniang handed the porcelain bottle to Sun Simiao and said, "This is a kind of health-preserving elixir that I have been taking recently. Can you take a look at it for me?"

The Seven Spirits Ointment is a secret medicine that Wu Meiniang secretly took to maintain her youthful appearance and longevity.

Because of the incident with the Fairy Jade Girl Powder, she didn't tell anyone this time, not even the people in the Wu Mansion knew about it.

Sun Simiao took it and sniffed it. Suddenly he exclaimed, "Huh?" He said, "There seems to be some red swallow ganoderma from Shu in here?"

Wu Meiniang praised: "You are indeed the Divine Doctor Sun. You are absolutely right. One of the main ingredients in the Seven Spirits Ointment is Red Swallow Ganoderma."

Sun Simiao nodded and said, "That makes sense."

Wu Meiniang asked hurriedly, "Is there anything wrong with this Chiyanzhi?"

Sun Simiao said slowly, "Your Highness, you may not know that this Red Swallow Ganoderma is associated with a poisonous creature called the Red Swallow Snake. The leaves of the Ganoderma carry the poison of the snake, but it is very mild and will not harm the body. Long-term consumption can even make people resistant to snake venom."

Wu Meiniang narrowed her eyes and said, "So, the thief deliberately made me take this Red Swallow Ganoderma?"

Suddenly she glanced at Zhang Duohai. It was Zhang Duohai who told her about Chi Yanzhi.

Zhang Da Hai shrank his neck and didn't dare to say a word.

Wu Meiniang asked, "Doctor Sun, how many places are there where this Red Swallow Ganoderma is grown?"

Sun Simiao said, "As far as I know, this plant only grows in Mao County, Shu."

Wu Meiniang nodded, stood up, bowed to Sun Simiao, and said, "Thank you, Dr. Sun."

Sun Simiao bowed in return and said, "This is my duty as an old minister."

At this time, in the abandoned house on Dayefang South Street, Wang Hong was leaning on the table, holding the bottle of poison in his hand, lost in thought.

Suddenly, there was a "click" sound, which seemed to be the sound of the iron door of the secret room being opened.

Wang Hong's face changed drastically. He shrank into the corner, opened the bottle of poison, and looked towards the door of the secret room with a wary look on his face.

The sound of "thump, thump" footsteps kept getting closer. After a while, a man came to the door. It was the man in black.

Wang Hong asked in surprise, "Did the plan succeed? Why did you come to see me so quickly?"

The man in black said calmly, "The plan has failed, Zhou Zhi has been captured, and I'm here to send you off."

Wang Hong's face turned pale instantly, and his hand holding the poison trembled continuously. He said, "I, I don't want to die yet..."

The man in black drew his sword and walked towards him, saying, "Now that Zhou Zhi has been captured, this place has been exposed. I can't let you die slowly. I need to send you on your way as soon as possible."

Wang Hong was stunned and asked, "He also knows this place?"

The man in black said, "Of course. Your Highness has been spending a lot of money lately, so he only gave me a box of gold cakes."

Wang Hong's face changed as he asked, "Did you also use this box of gold to bribe him?"

"good."

Wang Hong angrily said, "From the very beginning, you never intended to leave us alive?"

"Right."

Wang Hong's eyes were red as he asked, "You've been lying to me?"

The man in black said calmly, "If you want to blame someone, blame yourselves for being too greedy. Don't you think about it? Why would a master keep traitors like you around? Are you going to bite him back?"

Wang Hong angrily said, "You bastard, I'm going to fight you..."

Just as he was about to pounce, he saw a flash of a knife and felt a chill on his neck. He covered his neck tightly and could no longer make any sound.

The man in black picked up the box of gold and quickly left the secret passage. As soon as he walked out of the iron gate, he heard the sound of horse hooves coming from outside the yard.

"Quick, surround the yard completely and don't let a single bird out!"

"It came so quickly?"

The man in black was startled, looked into the distance to the south, and sighed, "Master, I'll go first." He put the knife to his neck and committed suicide.

(End of this chapter)