Tang Dynasty, my wife Wu Zetian

Chapter 90 Interrogation of Wu Meiniang

After Wang Fusheng entered Ganlu Palace, his heart sank.

Li Zhi was sitting behind the dragon throne, looking at him expressionlessly, while Wang Jishan was standing beside him.

Wang Fusheng sighed, knelt on the ground, and said, "I, the guilty minister Wang Fusheng, pay my respects to Your Majesty."

Li Zhi did not speak, but sat quietly on the dragon throne without saying a word.

Wang Fusheng secretly groaned, knowing that Wang Jishan must have told the emperor everything.

Not only that, I'm afraid he even said what I said.

After an unknown amount of time, Xiaoji walked in from outside. He glanced at Wang Fusheng first, then said, "Your Majesty, the Queen requests an audience."

Li Zhi waved his hand and said, "Let her in."

Wang Fusheng was shocked and realized that the emperor had been silent because he was waiting for the queen.

After a while, a series of light footsteps were heard and Wu Meiniang walked in.

When she saw Wang Fusheng kneeling on the ground, she was also startled and bowed to Li Zhi, saying, "I pay my respects to Your Majesty."

Li Zhi said slowly, "Very good. Now that the Queen is here, we can make things clear. Fu Sheng, do you have anything to say to me?"

Wang Fusheng gritted his teeth and said, "Your Majesty, I have acted presumptuously and suppressed the news of Your Majesty's awakening. Please forgive me, Your Majesty."

Li Zhi said: "Oh, then why did you block the news?"

Wang Fusheng hesitated for a moment, but Empress Wu had already spoken.

"Your Majesty, it was I who requested Wang Zhengjian to do this."

Li Zhi was silent for a while, then said, "Queen, please don't speak for now. I will ask you questions later."

Empress Wu's face turned pale and she lowered her head slightly.

Li Zhi said, "Fu Sheng, I know you suppressed the news because you wanted to work with the Queen to deal with the aristocratic faction, but why did you act on your own initiative and not report to me?"

Wang Fusheng lowered his head and said, "Your Majesty, I..."

Li Zhi said, "Wang Qing has already told me what you said. If you want to repeat it, there is no need."

Wang Fusheng glanced at Wang Jishan and gritted his teeth without saying a word.

Li Zhi said slowly, "Wang Qing, tell Wang Fusheng what you thought when he told you those words."

Wang Jishan bowed and said, "I obey your command."

He turned to Wang Fusheng and said, "Eunuch Wang, what you said at that time seemed reasonable at first glance, but I am a soldier, and soldiers don't need to have too many ideas, so I still told His Majesty everything."

Li Zhi said in a deep voice: "Fu Sheng, do you understand?"

Wang Fusheng's lips trembled, and he said, "I understand. I shouldn't act on my own and shouldn't overthink things."

Li Zhi said, "No, your biggest mistake is not this. If you were really just concerned about my health and worried about me being criticized, as you said, I wouldn't be so disappointed."

Wang Fusheng's heart suddenly clenched, and he knocked his head hard on the ground, saying tremblingly: "Your Majesty, I...I was wrong. I shouldn't have had selfish thoughts. I was disloyal. Please punish me, Your Majesty!"

Li Zhi saw that he called himself a "slave", which showed his fear. He sighed and asked, "What selfish motives do you have?"

Wang Fusheng said, "The Queen has leverage over me, so I agreed to her request."

Wu Meiniang trembled slightly.

Li Zhi glanced at her and asked, "Anything else?"

Wang Fusheng said anxiously, "Only this point, other than that, I have never deceived Your Majesty in any way!"

Li Zhi pondered for a moment and said slowly, "Okay, since you are willing to admit it honestly, I will forgive you this time."

Wang Fusheng suddenly raised his head and said in a daze, "Your Majesty, you won't punish me?"

Li Zhi said slowly, "What I hate most is concealment and deception, but considering that you have been with me for many years and that you are repaying Queen Wang's kindness, I can forgive you this time."

Wang Fusheng's eyes filled with tears, and he kowtowed, saying, "Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Wu Meiniang suddenly knelt on the ground and said softly, "I know my crime. Please punish me, Your Majesty." She had heard that many of Li Zhi's words just now were directed at her.

Li Zhi waved his hand and said, "All of you go down."

Wang Jishan and Wang Fusheng each bowed and left the hall. Li Zhi stared at Wu Meiniang, who was kneeling on the ground. For the first time, he saw her soft side. After a while, he slowly said, "Meiniang, do you know why I am angry with you?"

Wu Meiniang whispered, "Because I made those plans on my own initiative, hiding them from Your Majesty."

Li Zhi said, "I'm here to ask you, why do you want to deal with them?"

Wu Meiniang whispered, "Your Majesty, you should know that I am not a broad-minded person. Zhangsun Wuji humiliated me in this way, and I...cannot swallow this anger."

Li Zhi said, "So, you want to get revenge on him and trick him into making a mistake?"

Wu Meiniang said: "This is just one of the reasons."

Li Zhi said: "What else?"

Wu Meiniang raised her head, her dark eyes staring into Li Zhi's, and said, "Jiulang, I want to help you, I want to vent your anger for you!"

Li Zhi's eyebrows twitched for a moment, and he said, "Because of my headache?"

Wu Meiniang gritted her teeth and said, "It was that group of nobles who caused trouble in Chang'an. It caused Jiulang to work so hard and his headache to relapse. How can I forgive them?"

Li Zhi said slowly: "Is that all?"

Wu Meiniang's heart skipped a beat, and she asked anxiously, "Jiulang, you still don't believe me?"

Li Zhi slowly walked down from the throne, came to Wu Meiniang, stared into her eyes, and said, "Meiniang, you still haven't listened to my words!"

Wu Meiniang said anxiously: "Jiulang, I..."

Li Zhi interrupted, "How could I not understand your true intentions? You know I'm about to give up power due to my headache, so you're deliberately showing off your abilities to show me you can control the nobles. Then, I'll hand over power to you."

Wu Meiniang was horrified.

She thought that this thought was buried deep in her heart, and even Zhang Duohai might not be able to see it. Could it be that Li Zhi had seen it?
Li Zhi helped her up, looked her in the eyes, and said word by word, "Mei Niang, what should I do with you?"

Wu Meiniang suddenly sobbed, hugged Li Zhi tightly, and cried, "Jiulang, I was wrong. I won't dare to do it again. Please don't send me back to Ganye Temple. Don't destroy me, Jiulang!"

Li Zhi held her in his arms and said softly, "Mei Niang, you invited Sun Simiao here and kept making medicinal meals for me. I remember all of this, so I'll give you one last chance. If you still refuse to be satisfied, I'll have no choice but to..."

Wu Meiniang covered his mouth with her hand and begged, "Jiulang, don't say those words to me. I promise you, I won't have those thoughts again."

Li Zhi nodded, patted her shoulder, and said, "Go ahead and think carefully about what I just said."

Wu Meiniang looked up at him, her face as red as a pear blossom in the rain, her eyes full of gratitude.

"Jiulang, you should rest early. I'll take my leave now." She said softly and turned to leave.

……

In the long night, countless people were sleepless.

Zhang Sun Wuji stood by the window with his hands behind his back, looking up at the bright moon, and said slowly, "Why are the people from the Du and Su families still in the Forbidden Garden?"

Chang Sun Chong stood behind him and said, "Father, it must be that Wei Hongji didn't inform them and deliberately betrayed them."

Changsun Wuji just said "hmm" and said nothing.

Chang Sun Chong said, "The Du family's account has been settled. They must be deliberately trying to show us goodwill, but I don't know why the Su family was also thrown out."

Changsun Wuji said in a deep voice, "The late emperor once wanted to marry the princess to Yuchi Gong, but that black-faced ghost refused to divorce her. Do you know who Yuchi Gong's wife is?"

Chang Sun Chong asked, "Could it be the Shiping Su family?"

Changsun Wuji said, "That's right."

Chang Sun Chong's face changed and he said, "They want to involve Yuchi Gong."

Zhangsun Wuji shook his head and sighed, "Yuchi Gong is a brainless fool who acts without scruples. If he really causes trouble, Your Majesty will be in for a headache."

Chang Sun Chong snorted, "Giving His Majesty a headache isn't bad. If he doesn't fall, he won't think of your kindness, father."

Changsun Wuji shook his head and said, "Alright, this time things finally ended without any danger. Starting tomorrow, you move out. I want to be alone and have some peace and quiet."

Chang Sun Chong said anxiously: "Father, I..."

Changsun Wuji interrupted, "No need to say more, leave."

(End of this chapter)