Tang Dynasty, my wife Wu Zetian

Chapter 395 Wu Meiniang's Skill
Many of the Wu family's descendants have unknowingly forgotten where their wealth and status came from.

Under the instigation of Wu Yuanzhong and the temptation of the title of Duke of Zhou, he followed Wu Yuanzhong to do this.

Wu Meiniang cut off the firewood from under the cauldron, making them realize that without her, Empress Wu, the Wu family would be nothing.

With this understanding, they will naturally turn against us for their own interests.

In just a moment, everyone pointed the finger at Wu Yuanzhong, including some elders of the Wu clan who had planned this matter with Wu Yuanzhong.

Someone is destined to take the blame today. In that case, it’s better for Wu Yuanzhong to take the blame than for me, right?
Wu Yuanzhong's face turned pale as death, and he finally realized Empress Wu's superb tactics. He knelt on the ground and kowtowed to plead guilty.

Helan Minzhi was amazed watching from the side. He was originally filled with anger and wanted to take revenge.

Seeing all the Wu family members kneeling on the ground and kowtowing continuously, I felt so relieved.

Wu Meiniang sat back down and raised her hand, saying, "Alright, everyone, get up. Since you have shown repentance, and considering that we are all from the same clan, I will not kill you all."

Everyone thanked him and stood up.

Wu Yuanzhong thought the matter was over, so he stood up as well.

Wu Meiniang glanced at him and said coldly: "Did I ask you to stand up?"

Wu Yuanzhong's face turned bitter, and he knelt down again, saying in a trembling voice: "Your Highness, I, I was also confused for a moment."

Wu Meiniang said coldly, "A moment of confusion can frighten the current emperor? Then what is the point of the Yonghui Law?"

Wu Yuanzhong's whole body began to tremble like a sieve.

The crime of frightening the prince can be serious or minor. To put it in a serious way, it is disrespectful and can be punished by death.

At this moment, a young man knelt on the ground and kowtowed, saying, "Your Highness, I persuaded my father to do this. I coveted the title of Duke of Zhou. Please punish me and spare my father."

Wu Meiniang turned her head to look at the man and recognized him as Wu Yuanzhong's son, Wu Yizong.

Wu Meiniang said: "This is a capital crime, Wu Yizong, you must think it through carefully."

Wu Yizong pressed his forehead to the ground and said, "Please, Queen, forgive me."

Wu Meiniang was silent for a moment, then slowly said, "Wu Yuanzhong, you have raised a good son. For his sake, I will spare your life."

Wu Yuanzhong was overjoyed and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty."

Wu Meiniang said coldly: "The death penalty can be avoided, but the living punishment cannot be escaped! I will ask His Majesty for permission to exile you to Japan. You will never have to return to the Tang Dynasty in this life."

Wu Yuanzhong screamed, fell over and fainted.

Wu Yizong said anxiously, "Your Highness, even if you want to exile my father, you can exile him to Lingnan. Don't let him go to Japan."

Wu Meiniang said coldly: "Do you think I'm easy to talk to? How dare you bargain with me?"

Wu Yizong didn't dare to say anything more.

With Wu Meiniang's swift and decisive handling, the storm was quickly settled and the banquet continued.

The gift that Helan Minzhi gave to Li Xian was also taken out by Wu Yizong.

It was a small mechanical bronze man that could dance. Although it was not very precious, it was really interesting.

After Li Xian got it, he couldn't let it go and quickly forgot about the unhappiness just now.

Although he didn't care, the atmosphere of the banquet was still affected.

Wu Meiniang was still angry. After finishing her meal, she consoled Madam Yang with some kind words and then returned to the palace with Li Xian.

On the way back to the palace, Wu Meiniang sat in the sedan chair and closed her eyes to rest.

According to her previous temper, if anyone frightened the mother and son, she would not let anyone involved in the incident go.

However, this time they are family members after all. If they are dealt with, they will not be able to see their ancestors in the future, so they have to swallow their anger.

She silently recited the meditation mantra three times before she calmed down.

I opened my eyes and looked into the car, only to see Li Xian lying by the window, admiring the scenery on the street.

Wu Meiniang said, "Xian'er, your mother didn't manage to host today's banquet. I will host another one for you tomorrow, in the palace."

Li Xian turned around and sat down next to her. He chuckled and said, "Mother, if you feel sorry for me, please promise me one thing."

Wu Meiniang thought he was just trying to be weird again and snorted, "Tell me about it first."

Li Xian said, "Could you please tell father to let Fourth Brother leave the palace and start his own residence? He could have done so last year!"

Wu Meiniang's anger, which had just been suppressed, showed signs of rising again. She raised an eyebrow and asked, "Why are you pleading for him?"

Li Xian said, "Because he often plays insect fighting with his children."

Wu Meiniang stared at him: "Is that the reason?"

Li Xian was not at all flustered and said with a smile, "Mother, my fourth brother will leave the palace and start his own household sooner or later. If you can help him mention it to father, he will think you are broad-minded."

Wu Meiniang's heart moved, and she thought to herself, "Xian'er said yesterday that Wang Fusheng went to Daji Palace. Could it be that His Majesty has already decided to let Li Lian open a residence?"

Thinking of this, he looked at Li Xian and asked, "Are you sure this is the only request?"

Li Xian nodded.

Wu Meiniang said: "Okay, I promise you."

Seeing his plan succeed, Li Xian smiled secretly and said, "Thank you, mother."

Wu Meiniang's eyes flickered as she slowly said, "Xian'er, yesterday I asked you to go back to Chongwenguan to study. Did you go back?"

Li Xian said, "Of course."

Wu Meiniang narrowed her eyes and said, "Then you should have returned to the palace with Xian'er?"

Li Xian smiled and said, "Yes, I left Chongwenguan first, and then waited for my brother near Chongwenmen. If you don't believe me, you can go and ask."

Wu Meiniang said, "That's strange. Xian'er said he saw Wang Fusheng going to Daji Hall after school. How come you didn't see him?"

Li Xian's heart skipped a beat, and he finally realized that he still had a loophole.

Wu Meiniang said coldly: "Xian'er said that Wang Fusheng went to Daji Hall. It was you who told him to say that, right?"

Li Xian shuddered, lowered his head, and pretended to be dumbfounded, "Why would I do this?"

Wu Meiniang said, "Of course it's for Li Lian. You deliberately let me know about this yesterday. If you bring up Li Lian again today, it will make me think that your father has already intended to let Li Lian open a government office. Naturally, I will go along with it and agree to your request."

Li Xian lowered his head guiltily when he realized his thoughts were guessed.

Wu Meiniang said calmly, "You are becoming more and more capable. You even dare to plot against me."

Li Xian quickly flattered her, saying, "Mother, you are so amazing! My little tricks couldn't escape your notice!"

Wu Meiniang said: "No one knows a child better than his mother. Even if you grow up and become smarter, you can't hide anything from me."

Li Xian said flatteringly, "That's right, I am just a little monkey and can never escape from your mother's grasp."

The phoenix chariot quickly returned to Changle Gate, passed through one palace gate after another, and returned to Lizheng Hall.

Because of the sudden change at the banquet, the two returned a little earlier than originally planned, and it was not yet 3 p.m.

Li Xian, Li Lingyue and Li Dan obviously did not expect that they would come back so early, and they were actually playing the "Four Seasons" game on Wu Meiniang's phoenix couch.

The game is that three people lie on Wu Meiniang's bed, covered with a quilt, and pretend that it is snowing outside and the wind is cold. They hide in the warm quilt and whisper to each other.

Just as the three of them were talking while hiding in the quilt, there was a "rustle" sound, and the brocade quilt was lifted up. A person was standing beside the bed. It was Wu Meiniang.

The three of them were stunned for a moment. Li Dan's eyes were filled with tears, and it seemed that he would burst into tears as long as Wu Meiniang spoke.

Fortunately, Wu Meiniang was a little tired today and didn't bother to argue with them. She just said, "Today is your brother's birthday. Go out and play with him."

The three of them were overjoyed. They held hands and left the bedroom together, and ran into Li Xian outside the palace.

Li Xian asked hurriedly, "Brother, why did you and mother come back so early? You almost scared me to death just now."

Li Xian was afraid that the bird head incident would scare them, so he did not mention it and just said a few perfunctory words.

The children were carefree. Li Xian quickly put the affairs of Wu Mansion behind him and played Cuju with his younger brothers and sisters.

Just as they were having fun, Princess Taiping suddenly stopped and shouted, "Yeah, yeah!" towards the palace gate, then ran over quickly.

Li Zhi walked through the palace gate, came over quickly, picked up Princess Taiping, and asked, "Taiping, where is your mother?" Li Lingyue said, "She is in the house."

Li Zhi nodded and said, "I'll go talk to your mother first. You and your brothers can continue playing."

He put Princess Taiping down and headed towards the bedroom.

Li Zhi came into the hall and saw Wu Meiniang lying on the couch, supporting her chin with one hand and closing her eyes to rest.

Li Zhi was surprised to hear that Wu Meiniang had returned to the palace early, so he came to take a look.

Seeing that she looked tired, he did not disturb her. He picked up a blanket, covered her with it, found a chair in the room to sit down, and started reading a book.

After a while, Wu Meiniang opened her eyes and saw Li Zhi reading in the hall. She glanced at the blanket on her body, smiled slightly, stood up and asked, "When did Your Majesty come?"

Li Zhi put down the book and said, "I just got here a while ago. Mei Niang, why are you back so early? Did your birthday party go well today?"

Wu Meiniang said as she brewed tea, "Something happened."

When Li Zhi asked what happened, Wu Meiniang did not hide anything and told him everything that happened in the Wu Mansion.

After hearing this, Li Zhi was surprised. He finally understood why she was so tired and asked hurriedly, "Is my mother-in-law okay?"

Wu Meiniang said softly, "I have comforted mother and explained the situation to her. She is fine."

Li Zhi nodded and said, "That's good."

Wu Meiniang said, "Your Majesty, I would like to exile Wu Yuanzhong to Japan. Is this possible?"

Li Zhi was stunned for a moment and asked, "Why did you exile him to Japan?"

Wu Meiniang hesitated for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, do you think my punishment is too severe? Then exile me to Lingnan."

"Wait a minute." Li Zhi raised his hand and said, "Mei Niang, from what you said, is exile to Japan worse than exile to Lingnan?"

Wu Mei Niang was stunned for a moment and said, "Yes, Japan is a remote island near the geographical end of the world. Exile there must be more severe."

After hearing this, Li Zhi felt something in his heart.

People of this period did not know that the earth was round, so they regarded Chang'an in the Tang Dynasty as the center of the world. The farther away from Chang'an, the more remote it seemed.

The people of the Tang Dynasty believed from the bottom of their hearts that the farther away from Chang'an, the worse it was.

In the past, the farthest place was Lingnan, but now there was an even farther place called Japan, so Wu Meiniang subconsciously regarded exile to Japan as the highest punishment.

Wu Yuanzhong was so frightened when he heard that he was exiled to Japan that he fainted.

From this we can see that in the future, Waguo could completely replace Lingnan and become the new place of exile.

Just as Li Zhi was lost in thought, Wu Meiniang said again, "Your Majesty, Silang is already thirteen years old, and seems to be old enough to start his own household."

Li Zhi was stunned for a moment before he remembered that Li Lian was indeed old enough to start his own government. He nodded and said, "If you hadn't reminded me, I would have almost forgotten. On the first and fifteenth day of February, I will issue an order for him to start his own government."

Time quickly arrived and it was the first day of February.

At the court meeting, Li Zhi discussed the governance plan for the Nine Provinces with his ministers.

The ministers did not know much about Japan and did not propose many plans.

Most people mean that they should just follow the original plan to conquer Tubo and copy the answers.

Simply put, it means setting up Kyushu as a military governor's office and sending military generals to garrison it.

In the end, Li Ji recommended Liu Renyuan to be the governor, but there were different opinions on the name of the Governor's Office.

Some people say that Kyushu should be established as Yingzhou Military Governor's Office, including Tamra.

Some people also say that Kyushu was set up as the Fuso Governorate. Fuso was a name given to the Japanese by the previous dynasty because there were many Fuso trees in the soil, so it was named after that.

Some people even directly proposed to name it the Wazhou Governor's Office.

Seeing that everyone had almost finished speaking, Li Zhi offered his own opinion, saying, "I think it would be better to name it Falcon State Governor's Office."

Yan Liben asked, "Your Majesty, why was it named Falcon State? Is there any significance to it?"

Li Zhi said slowly, "As far as I know, the original Kyushu was called Hayabusa Province. It was later destroyed by the Wa Kingdom and renamed Kyushu. We use the name Hayabusa Province to win over the local people."

Yan Liben smiled and said, "Your Majesty has considered this matter deeply. I have no objection."

Other ministers also echoed.

Zhang Jianzhi stepped out and said, "Your Majesty, if you want to win over the Falcon people, you can give priority to appointing people from the Falcon tribe when appointing officials to the Falcon Prefecture Governor's Office."

Li Zhi said: "Permission granted!"

Minister of Justice Dou Xuande said, "Your Majesty, Falcon State is remote and cold. I think it could be established as a new place of exile. Let the prisoners mine in Falcon State!"

Li Zhi had just come up with this idea after discussing it with Wu Meiniang that day, and he immediately waved his hand and said, "Approved!"

Then, Li Zhi also proposed to establish a government office for Li Lian at the court meeting.

It has become a common practice for princes to set up their own court at the age of twelve, so the ministers naturally would not object.

After discussing these two matters, Dai Zhide of the Honglu Temple reported a matter related to Baekje.

It turned out that Queen Bao suddenly led the Japanese army to withdraw from Baekje, and Buyeo Uiji's military strength was greatly reduced, and he suffered several consecutive defeats.

Now, they have been besieged in Gwangju City by Heichi Changzhi's army.

However, Buyeo Yici's final resistance was unexpectedly tenacious.

Heichi Changzhi attacked for ten days but was unable to capture the city, and the situation reached a stalemate.

Other county generals who supported Buyeo Uija were gathering towards Gwangju to rescue Buyeo Uija.

Once these troops arrived in Gwangju, the situation might change again, so Fuyu Fuxin sent someone to write a letter to Daochen in Chang'an, asking him to request support from the Tang army.

After hearing Dai Zhide's words, Li Zhi asked, "Do you think we should support Baekje?"

Dai Zhide said, "Your Majesty, I believe we should offer our assistance now. If Buyeo Boksin can unify Baekje as soon as possible, it will also be beneficial to us."

Hao Chujun stepped out and said, "Your Majesty, the main force of our army is currently deployed in Falcon State. The garrison at Xiongjin Port is less than 3,000 and I'm afraid they are unable to provide assistance."

Li Ji stepped out and said, "Your Majesty, I believe that since we have reached an agreement with Japan, we can gradually transfer the troops from Falcon State back to Ying State and Xiongjin Port to prevent a surprise attack from Goguryeo."

Li Zhi asked, "How many troops should be left in Falcon State?"

Li Ji said: "Leaving 10,000 troops is enough."

Li Zhi was a little worried, thinking that 10,000 people were too few. The Japanese had no martial ethics and might tear up the treaty and launch a surprise attack at any time.

"Just in case, let's leave 15,000 people behind and send more horses and weapons." He waved his hand.

Hao Chujun bowed and said, "I obey your order."

Li Zhi then asked about the situation in Honshu, Japan, and learned that Silla, Ezo, and Mohe were all sending reinforcements to Japan, and it was obvious that they were not going to give up the fat meat in their mouths.

There was also another new situation. Because all the Ezo troops were gathered in Japan, Sushen, the sixth in command, actually launched a surprise attack on Ezo's Beikui Island.

The Ainu people also had no intention of returning to provide assistance.

In their opinion, Mutsu is much stronger than Kita-kui Island, and it seems that they are ready to change their home.

Having said that, Queen Bao and Naka no Oe are still in a standoff. If this continues, it will become increasingly difficult for Japan to recover these territories.

Dai Zhide bowed and said, "Your Majesty, the situation in Japan is currently favorable to us. We should focus our attention on Baekje and help Yu Fuxin control Baekje as soon as possible."

Li Zhi looked at Wang Jishan, who immediately stepped out and said, "Your Majesty, I think there is no need to rush into the Baekje issue. We should observe the situation for a while longer."

Dai Zhide was stunned and asked, "What are you observing?"

Wang Jishan glanced at him and said, "Dai Siqing, Buyeo Boksin is not trustworthy. According to the information I have, he has secretly sent people to contact Goguryeo and has made some unfavorable moves against us."

Dai Zhide thought Wang Jishan was the inner guard and must be more informed than he was, so he kept silent.

Li Zhi waved his hand and said, "Let's follow Lord Wang's advice on this matter."

After discussing several important matters, the court meeting ended quickly.

After Li Zhi returned to Ganlu Palace, he immediately ordered someone to summon Wang Jishan to meet him and inquire about the situation in Baekje.

(End of this chapter)