Tang Dynasty, my wife Wu Zetian

Chapter 92 The Forgotten Concubine
Li Zhi walked briskly from the side hall into the Ganlu Hall.

"Your Majesty, we pay our respects to you!" Gao Youdao and the other four bowed their heads in greeting.

Li Zhi walked to the dragon table and sat down, raising his hand and saying, "Gentlemen, there is no need to be so polite. Please stand up. I have asked you to come here because I want your help with something."

Several people stood up. They rarely saw the emperor and, unlike the ministers, they seemed nervous and embarrassed.

Du Yijian was the most nervous, his legs trembling slightly.

Li Zhi said slowly, "I've been feeling unwell lately, as I'm sure you've all heard. I need to recuperate for a while, so I need someone to help me with these memorials and imperial edicts."

Everyone said in unison: "We will do our utmost to help your majesty!"

Li Zhi waved his hand and said, "Everyone sit down and talk. Now I will assign you tasks."

After expressing their gratitude, several people walked to the table and sat down.

Li Zhi said slowly, "You will be divided into two groups. Ministers Gao, Lu, and Du will form one group, and Ministers Yuan and Guo will form another. Each memorial will be reviewed cross-wise. If they are unanimously approved, they will be sent directly to the main hall, and I will stamp them with my seal."

"If any party believes there is a problem, please send it to the main hall and I will make the decision. In addition, all memorials regarding official transfers will also be selected and sent to the main hall."

After listening to what the emperor said, the five people understood everything.

They were equivalent to the emperor's examiners, selecting those parts of the memorial that were worthy of discussion and handing them over to the emperor for his decision.

As for the parts without problems, they were passed directly, saving the emperor a lot of time.

This undoubtedly made the five of them feel relieved.

For young people like them who have just entered the officialdom, if the emperor really asked them to make confidential decisions, they would feel frightened.

The thick memorial was quickly divided into five parts and placed on the table for five people.

Du Yijian and his two companions used red pens, while Yuan Wanqing and his two companions used black pens. As long as they thought there was no problem with the content of the memorial, they could tick it.

Memorials with double checks were divided into one category, and those without double checks were divided into another category, and all of them were sent to Li Zhi's main hall.

Du Yijian picked up a memorial, spread it out and took a look. His breathing suddenly became faster.

It turned out that this was a memorial submitted by the governor of Xiangzhou, saying that there was a cult organization called "Gezhaohui" near Xiangyang County, which had been growing stronger recently, and requested the court to suppress the "Gezhaohui".

Du Yijian was from Xiangyang. In the third year of Yonghui, he failed in the imperial examination and returned to Xiangyang in despair. He was almost captured by the "Ge Zaohui" and taken to the mountains to serve as a military advisor.

In the fourth year of Yonghui, the "Gezhao Society" followed Chen Shuozhen in rebellion. After Chen Shuozhen was suppressed, the "Gezhao Society" also disappeared.

Unexpectedly, a few years later, it would make a comeback.

Du Yijian took a deep breath and put a small red tick on the memorial.

The five people all silently reviewed the memorials. Li Zhi observed each of them for a moment, then walked out of the right side hall and headed towards the Forbidden Garden.

To the north of the Forbidden Garden, east of the Wei River, and south of Yongtai Gate, there was originally a temple, but now it has been converted into a military office.

This guard office is the new office of the Nei Lingwei.

When Wang Jishan was appointed as the General of the Internal Guard, he applied to Li Zhi for a place to serve as the guard office.

Li Zhi was surprised at the time that Xue Rengui had been setting up the Inner Guard for so long but had not even established a guard office, which could be considered dereliction of duty.

All we can say is that every inch has its own strengths and weaknesses.

People like Xue Rengui may be good at fighting on the battlefield, but they are not suitable for doing these delicate tasks.

Now that Li Zhi wants to delegate power, he naturally has to do a good job in intelligence work.

What happened last night greatly increased his trust in Wang Jishan, so he decided to go to the Internal Guard Office to take a look.

Although the Inner Guard Office did not have a plaque, the security was extremely strict.

As soon as Li Zhi approached, he was discovered by the inner guards. At Li Zhi's signal to keep quiet, these people did not dare to make a sound.

Li Zhi passed through the gate and the courtyard and soon arrived at the outer hall of the guard office. When the guards along the way saw him, they all knelt on one knee without making any sound.

Li Zhi quickly arrived at the door of the outer hall. When he was about to enter the house, he suddenly heard a scolding voice coming from inside.

"Why did I transfer you from the Jinwu Guard and Qianniu Guard? To let you mess around here? The Neiling Guard is not the Qianniu Guard. Anyone who wants to mess around, get out of here!"

It was Wang Jishan's voice.

"But General, the Nei Lingwei have more work to do, but their treatment is no better than that of the Qianniu Guards. My brothers are not motivated to work!" A general questioned.

When Li Zhi heard this voice, it seemed a little familiar. After thinking carefully, wasn't it Cheng Wuting's voice?

Unexpectedly, he was also transferred to the Inner Guard by Wang Jishan.

Wang Jishan said coldly, "Why are you so anxious? The Inner Guards were just established not long ago, and their treatment is based on the standard of the Qianniu Guards. However, there is one thing that is completely different from the Qianniu Guards."

All the generals asked, "What?"

Wang Jishan said, "Of course it's an opportunity to make merit! Think about it, the Qianniu Guards stay in the palace every day, how can they have the opportunity to make merit? But the Neiling Guards are different. The Sage often asks us to do things, and if we do things well, isn't that a merit?"

As soon as he finished speaking, a clear voice came from outside the door.

"Well said. As long as you do your job well, I will not hesitate to reward you."

Li Zhi strode into the hall.

All the generals knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, we pay our respects to you."

Li Zhi walked to a chair and sat down, raising his hand to signal everyone to stand up.

"General Wang is right. The Inner Guard was established not long ago, and many aspects are still imperfect. I will improve two points for you now."

One general asked happily, "Your Majesty, are you going to increase our salaries?"

Wang Jishan glared at the general. If Li Zhi had not been there, he would have kicked him.

Li Zhi smiled and said, "That's right. The first rule is to increase your salaries by 20%. Your work is more dangerous, so naturally you deserve more rewards!"

The generals were overjoyed and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Li Zhi added, "Besides this, I will also define your responsibilities. You have two main tasks: first, gather intelligence for me, and second, deal with foreign spies lurking in the Tang Dynasty!"

Wang Jishan hesitated and said, "Your Majesty, to achieve the second point, I'm afraid the manpower we have now is not enough."

Li Zhi waved his hand and said, "Don't worry, I will raise you to the standard of the Twelve Guards. You can set up all the offices and personnel, including the Yifu and Waifu."

Wang Jishan was very happy.

He is now only the Lieutenant General of the Inner Guard. If the Inner Guard is of the same rank as the Twelve Guards, his power as the Lieutenant General will be almost the same as that of the General of the Twelve Guards.

He believed that the emperor would not suddenly send a chief officer to such an important department, and the position of General of the Internal Guard was most likely reserved for him.

"I will fight to the bitter end and live up to your grace." Wang Jishan bowed his head. The other generals were also delighted and bowed in unison.

Their thoughts are similar to Wang Jishan's.

The general is Wang Jishan's, and they don't have big appetites, so they can accept generals, lieutenant generals, etc.

It was past noon when we returned to Ganlu Temple.

A large number of memorials had piled up on the desk, divided into three piles. The majority of them were double-checked, there were more than a dozen controversial memorials, and four memorials on the transfer of officials.

It took Li Zhi less than two quarters of an hour to finish processing all the memorials. He walked to the right side hall and saw Gao Youdao and the other four still working hard, looking energetic.

At this moment, Li Zhi actually had the illusion that he had become a black-hearted boss.

He shook his head and smiled, ordered the eunuch to pour tea for the five people, turned around and left Ganlu Palace, and headed towards the harem.

He hadn't had such free time for a long time. He looked up at the white clouds in the sky, let his mind go, walked to a pavilion, and ordered someone to serve him a meal.

After dinner, I lay down on the railing, looked at the blue sky, and fell asleep unknowingly.

He slept for more than an hour. After waking up, Li Zhi walked along the Jinshui River.

After running for a while, he looked up and saw a magnificent palace standing in the distance. It was the Chengxiang Palace where Concubine Xiao Shufei used to live.

Chengxiang Hall has an excellent view. It faces the Jinshui River to the east and is surrounded by pavilions in an orderly manner.

At this time, the golden sun was setting in the west and the sky was gradually getting dark. By the Jinshui River, a group of palace ladies gathered around the pavilion, discussing the situation of this year's imperial examination.

These palace ladies usually have nothing to do in the palace, so they are particularly interested in all kinds of gossip outside the palace, especially romantic stories.

Beside the river bank, tender branches swayed, and between two willow trees stood an easel. Liu stood beside the easel, concentrating on painting a sunset picture.

This painting was not easy to come by. She had to choose a fixed scene, stand there every day, and wait for the moment of light at sunset before she could paint a few strokes.

She had been painting for eight days straight, but she hadn't even finished half of a picture.

The palace maids around her all felt that this noble lady was a little abnormal, and the other concubines were thinking of ways to please the king.

Liu, on the other hand, did not try to win favor at all, but was very active in paying her respects to the empress, almost wanting to do so eight times a day.

Apart from paying her respects at the Lizheng Palace, she was busy with all sorts of weird things, as if she had forgotten that she had a husband who was the emperor.

What was even more surprising was that they found that Liu was actually very content. She always had a smile on her face, spoke softly, and was gentle to every servant.

As time went by, these palace servants also felt that it was nice to follow such a master, basking in the sun and chatting about gossip on weekdays.

Of course, when meeting eunuchs and palace maids from other palaces, you are bound to be ridiculed a few times, but you can just bear it.

At this time, the sun had completely set and only some afterglow could be seen.

Liu pounded her shoulders, told Yuzhu to put away the painting, and went to the pavilion to drink tea.

"Madam Chong'ai, I heard that the results of this year's imperial examination have been announced again. Do you know who the top scorer is?" A palace maid asked her with a smile.

Liu smiled and said, "Who knows? He must be a talented person anyway."

The palace maid laughed and said, "It's a pity that the lady gave birth to a prince. If it was a princess, that would be much better. She could marry the number one scholar to her husband."

At this time, Yuzhu packed up the easel and walked over. When she heard everyone teasing Liu Chong'er, she immediately started protecting her master.

"Humph, you dare to say such obscene words! I think you want to be beaten by Her Majesty the Queen again!"

When the palace maids heard her bring up the Queen, they dared not say a word.

Suddenly, a palace maid came running over, her face shining brightly as if covered in gold powder. She shouted from afar, "Madam, the Saint is coming... The Saint is coming..."

All the palace people showed surprise and joy, but Liu was the only one who showed a bit of panic, muttering, "Isn't Zhong'er getting into trouble again?"

Yuzhu hurriedly said, "Don't worry, my lady. His Royal Highness Prince Chen is extremely intelligent and was praised by the Saint a while ago. He will be fine."

Liu calmed herself down and quickly returned to Chengxiang Hall.

Li Zhi was already sitting in the hall, waiting, admiring the scroll on the table. When he saw her come back, he smiled and said, "Chong'er, are all the paintings on this table yours?"

Liu first solemnly greeted him, then stepped forward and whispered, "These are all paintings brought over from the Hanlin Academy. Only a small part of them are my inferior works."

Li Zhi said, "Which ones did you draw? Show me."

Liu pointed at three of the paintings, all of which were landscapes, depicting scenes of the imperial palace.

Her painting skills are indeed not very high, but she is very patient and careful. Each painting is carefully crafted and takes more than ten days to complete.

Therefore, in Li Zhi's opinion, her painting skills are not bad.

Li Zhi looked up at her without saying a word.

Liu blushed and lowered her head, "Everyone, is there anything dirty on my face?"

Li Zhi smiled and said, "Nothing, I just suddenly discovered that my concubine seems to have become more beautiful."

In fact, Liu had a good appearance, otherwise she would not have been favored by Emperor Gaozong of Tang.

It was only because she worked for a long time and had no time to take care of herself, so when Li Zhi first met her, he classified her as having an average appearance.

When they met again this time, perhaps because Li Zhi still had the impression of her when he first met her, comparing the two, he suddenly felt that she was not that bad.

After hearing this, Liu Chong'er was so surprised that she didn't know what to say for a moment.

Li Zhi said with a smile, "Chong'er, serve the meal. I will stay at your place tonight."

Liu was even more surprised and hurriedly left the inner hall, ordering someone to serve her food. She almost fell down because she walked too fast.

After the meal, Li Zhi painted with Liu for a while and showed off his sketching skills. Liu looked at him with a little more admiration.

At night, the lights in the hall were turned off and the gauze curtains were lowered. Li Zhi took off his clothes and got on the embroidered bed, but saw Liu Chong'er lying on the bed, trembling slightly.

Li Zhi was stunned and asked, "Chong'e, what's wrong with you?"

Liu's face was pale. She wanted to say something, but her lips moved a few times and no sound came out.

Li Zhi stared at her for a while, then suddenly thought of something and smiled, "You're too nervous, aren't you?"

Liu nodded vigorously.

Li Zhi held her in his arms and said with a smile, "Then I will talk to you first..."

After the two talked for a while, Liu calmed down and stopped trembling. The whispers soon disappeared, and only bursts of panting were left in the tent.

(End of this chapter)