Tang Dynasty, my wife Wu Zetian

Chapter 85 Li Zhi's Headache

Outside Chang'an City, Xinglongdi Store.

There were post stations between the major cities in the Tang Dynasty. People came and went at the post stations, and there were often inns next to them.

Xinglongdi Store is a store on Tongguan Road.

At night, the darkness is very dark, the wind is clear and the moon is high.

With a "click", a slender iron blade stretched out from the gap in the window and lifted up the window bolt.

"Squeak", the window was pushed open.

A dark shadow sneaked into the room silently, slowly pulled out a dagger from his waist, and walked silently to the bedside.

At this moment, a flash of fire appeared in the room and four candles were lit around.

The black shadow turned around and saw three officers and a servant standing in the corner of the room. The person he wanted to assassinate, Di Renjie, was sitting on a chair drinking tea.

Di Renjie raised his glass towards him and said with a smile, "You came really late. You made me wait for most of the night."

The black shadow was horrified and was about to run to the window when a large net fell from above his head and tied him up tightly.

Two Dali Temple bailiffs came forward and dragged him in front of Di Renjie, shouting, "Behave yourself!"

The servant was Di Shun. He said with a grin, "Ah Lang is truly a master of foresight. They really did send someone to assassinate you."

Di Renjie said calmly, "I already have evidence of their crimes. If they don't kill them, aren't they just sitting there waiting to be killed?"

Di Shun kicked the man in black and shouted, "Tell the truth, who sent you?"

The man in black ignored him and just stared at Di Renjie. He said with a smile, "In our line of work, we would never betray our employers. Give up."

Di Renjie said, "I know you are a gold hunter, collecting gold in exchange for people's lives. I can see that you have already been involved in human deaths."

The man in black grinned and said, "Smart, you are my sixth prey and also the most valuable one. It's a pity that I couldn't chop off your head."

Di Shun kicked him in the face and cursed, "Our A-Lang is the Shaoqing of the Dali Temple. Do you think you can kill him?"

The man in black glared at Di Shun and snorted, "No wonder a head is worth two gold cakes. What a pity! I should have asked for more."

Di Renjie knew that this kind of person was not afraid of death, and there was no point in talking to him. He waved his hand and said, "Take him away and lock him up. Hand him over to Wannian County tomorrow. This kind of person needs the Bad Guys to deal with him."

When the man in black heard the word "bad people", his expression changed slightly.

The next morning, Di Renjie continued on his journey.

He knew that this mission was dangerous, so he brought a total of twenty yamen runners for protection, leaving only three of them by his side. The others hid in the dark, just to lure the snake out of its hole.

There were no more setbacks on the way back to Chang'an.

Di Renjie ordered several yamen runners to send Lie Jinlang away and took the others back to the Dali Temple.

According to regulations, he needed to report to General Xin Mao first and then enter the palace to meet the emperor. Unexpectedly, General Xin Mao was not in the Dali Temple, but was out handling a case.

Di Renjie was very curious. At the level of General Xin Mao, he usually would not handle other cases except those assigned by the emperor. Why would he go out in person?

When I asked, I was surprised.

It turned out that a huge armed fight broke out in Chang'an City, killing three people and injuring more than twenty others.

Those who died were all children of wealthy and powerful families.

The sage personally intervened in such a major case, so not only the Chang'an County Magistrate and the General of the Jinwu Guard, but also General Xin Mao and the Minister of Justice went there.

Di Renjie asked anxiously, "What kind of case is this? Why is it so serious? Didn't the Jinwu Guards intervene in advance?"

"Well, the case happened at the Huaiyuanfang Polo Club. They were playing polo, but it suddenly turned into a fight. Two people were trampled to death by horses' hooves, and one was hit on the head with a moon staff. The club was in chaos at the time, and many spectators were injured in the stampede."

The person who answered was a forty-year-old temple official named Yuan.

Di Renjie asked again, "Who are the two people playing polo?"

Genji Cheng sighed, "Who else could it be? On one side is the Du family of Jingzhao, and on the other side is the Du family of Huanshui."

Di Renjie took a deep breath.

In fact, he had always been worried that the Jingzhao Du family would bear a grudge and take revenge after Du Zhenglun dug Du Gu.

I didn't expect the revenge to be so fierce.

At this point, Di Renjie knew that he could not help much in the past, let alone resolve the feud between the two families, so he said nothing more and went to the palace.

When he arrived at Ganlu Palace, Di Renjie paid his respects to Li Zhi, then looked up at Li Zhi. Seeing that the emperor looked pale and had a sad look on his brows, he couldn't help feeling a little worried.

Li Zhi asked, "Mr. Di, has the case in Sanmenxia been fully investigated?"

Di Renjie bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I have thoroughly investigated this matter. This incident was committed by a Jiangnan noble family. The main envoy is named Huan Daoquan, from the Longkang Huan clan."

He handed over a memorial. After reading it, Li Zhi was silent for a moment and said, "Is this Huan Daoquan a descendant of Huan Wen?"

Di Renjie said, "Your Majesty, Huan Daoquan is a descendant of Huan Wen."

After listening to this, Li Zhi shook his head secretly.

Because of the Sima family's incompetence, during the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the Jiangnan aristocratic families took turns to control the government, and the emperor became a decoration.

Saying "Wang and Ma share the world" is actually praising the Sima family.

After the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the Southern Dynasties changed regimes four times, but they were unable to break free from the control of the aristocratic families. The aristocratic families in the south of the Yangtze River gradually declined and only cared about their families but not the country.

After Yang Jian conquered Jiangnan, he despised the Jiangnan nobles very much. Based on the five teachings in the "Book of Documents", he compiled classics, toured Jiangnan, and spread Confucianism.

However, the Jiangnan nobles remained unchanged and soon rebelled.

By the Tang Dynasty, the Jiangnan aristocratic families had become marginal figures in the court, and the only one with some influence was the Lanling Xiao family.

Thinking of this, Li Zhi asked, "Why did Huan Daoquan want to sabotage the plan to destroy the reef?"

Di Renjie said, "Your Majesty, the reason is very simple. It's to make money."

Li Zhi was stunned and asked, "Making money?"

Di Renjie said, "Yes, they have been secretly raising the price of rice since last year, hoping to make a profit. However, when the news of the imperial court's intention to build the Sanmenxia Dam came out, the price of rice plummeted, and they couldn't sell the rice they had."

"They wanted to spread rumors this way, making people think the Sanmenxia Dam would not be broken through, which would naturally cause rice prices to rise again, and they could make a fortune."

Li Zhi shook his head and said, "As expected, they only care about family interests and ignore the country. I have witnessed the style of the Jiangnan nobles."

Di Renjie hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, not all Jiangnan nobles are like this. I was able to successfully solve the case thanks to the help of the Jiangnan nobles."

Li Zhi asked curiously, "Oh, who helped you?"

Di Renjie said, "It's the Huan family, the Huan family of Zhi County. They learned of Huan Daoquan's actions and began to secretly monitor him. When I investigated, they took the initiative to provide evidence to me."

Li Zhi nodded and said, "It seems that there are still loyal and righteous people among the Jiangnan nobles. Very good. I will issue an edict to reward them."

Di Renjie bowed and said, "Then I will take my leave."

When he reached the door, Di Renjie suddenly turned around, bowed deeply, and said, "Your Majesty, I'm sorry to overstep my bounds. You don't look well. Please pay more attention to your health!"

Li Zhi smiled slightly and said, "Don't worry, Mr. Di. I will pay attention to it. You can go."

After Di Renjie left, Wang Fusheng couldn't help but say, "Everyone, Di Shaoqing is right. You've been overworked these past few days. You should take a break."

Li Zhi glanced at him, seeing his face full of worry, and said with a smile: "Well, there have been so many things happening these past few days that it has really made me busy and dizzy. I will go to the harem to stretch my body."

He got up and left Ganlu Palace.

In March, the weather is warm and the willow catkins are flying.

As Li Zhi walked along the bank of the Jinshui River, he looked at the willow catkins dancing in the sky and suddenly asked, "Fusheng, has Cheng Zhijie returned to Chang'an?"

Wang Fusheng said: "Probably not."

Li Zhi nodded, stood by the river, looked up at the river surface, and at this moment, a gust of wind blew, and Li Zhi felt a buzzing sound in his head, and bursts of tingling came from deep in his scalp.

Li Zhi covered his head, slowly squatted down, and showed a look of pain.

Wang Fusheng was shocked and hurriedly supported him, shouting, "Oh no! The Saint's headache has come back! Quickly call in Imperial Physician Meng!"

Lizheng Hall, a side hall.

Wu Meiniang was holding a book, studying a new medicinal food with a focused look on her face.

Zhang Dahai suddenly ran over, and before he got close, he shouted, "Your Highness, this is bad, the Saint's headache has come back."

Wu Meiniang was startled and dropped the book in her hand to the ground. She asked anxiously, "Is it serious? Has the imperial physician examined it?"

Zhang Duohai said, "The imperial doctors Meng and others have all gone, but His Majesty has fallen into a coma, and it seems to be more serious than last time."

Wu Meiniang's face turned pale and red. She took a deep breath, slowly picked up the book on the ground, and said coldly: "You said yesterday that Yang Yuchen and Sun Simiao arrived in Chang'an today?" Her voice had returned to calm.

Zhang Dahai swallowed and said, "It should be."

Wu Meiniang said in a deep voice: "Okay, follow me out of the palace, I will go to pick them up myself."

Zhang Dahai's face changed and he said, "Your Highness, aren't you going to visit His Majesty? Just let me do this!"

Wu Meiniang stared at him with her phoenix eyes, and said word by word, "I don't know any medical skills, so what's the point of going? Only by finding Sun Simiao now can we truly help Your Majesty!"

Zhang Duohai didn't dare to persuade him anymore and said hurriedly, "I will go and arrange the carriage right away."

(End of this chapter)