"High-ranking internal officials, it's already late at night, and this person is only somewhat suspicious. Let's go to the internal guard station first and interrogate him in detail!"
Walking out of the gate of Taipingfang, Li Yan saw Eunuch Gao looking impatient and suggested.
"this……"
Eunuch Gao agreed with the cautious attitude, but he was more aware of Empress Wu's urgency about this case. He waved his hand to a chamberlain behind him. The man understood and hurriedly entered the palace to report.
Sure enough, as soon as everyone arrived at the gate of the imperial city, a chamberlain came to them with an order in hand, saying: "The Queen has an order, and Li Wuwei has worked hard to hand over the suspect immediately!"
Li Yan showed confusion: "I haven't tried it yet..."
Eunuch Gao lowered his voice and said with hints: "Li Wuwei, this matter is of great importance. During the interrogation, if this woman reveals something that is not suitable for others to say..."
Li Yan suddenly realized: "I understand, thank you Gao Naiguan, then this suspect..."
Eunuch Gao smiled: "Leave it to us!"
"No! Don't send me to the Queen!"
Madam Ye prayed along the way.
As long as Li Yan interrogates her in the end, there is still a possibility for her to escape.
But when she saw several eunuchs escorting her to another prison car, her face suddenly turned pale, but she did not dare to struggle. She could only look ashen and tremble.
Li Yan watched the group of people go away, stomping his feet in anticipation of what was going to happen next, the contest between the two saints.
It's a pity that we can't be like those historians, wearing invisibility cloaks and recording by the side. It's a pity.
Fortunately, he knew that some of the two saints must not sleep well tonight, so Li Yan returned to his house humming a song and fell asleep.
…
"Okay! Li Yuanfang did not disappoint me!"
When she received the news, Empress Wu, who had just finished her work and was about to rest, immediately got up and dressed and came excitedly.
The reason why she has been unable to convince the prince is because this matter is completely unreasonable.
Although politicians have no regard for morality at all, the world is vast, the truth is the greatest, and the right and wrong of good and evil are still deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.
It's just that those in power can often use many means to cover up the truth, rather than completely reversing the rules of black and white.
When that happens, morals deteriorate and order collapses, it is often the onset of troubled times, and the public will be trampled to pieces.
Therefore, as a ruler, Empress Wu must at least maintain a semblance of fairness.
She thought she had caught the prince.
Look, you are not clean either. You pretend to be a ghost to scare people and blaspheme ghosts and gods. After all, Wu Minzhi is a first-class Duke of the country. What kind of behavior is it for a noble prince to do this?
It is better for everyone to take a step back, Wu Minzhi will be exiled and strangled, the prince's great revenge will be avenged, and the past will be over.
Empress Wu came to the palace's violent chamber happily.
The wrongdoers were whipped, worked or punished in other ways here. Such a place was suitable for interrogation.
Empress Wu had just walked in, and when she saw Madam Ye's uncontrollable look of horror, she knew that this woman was right, and said calmly: "Who asked you to pretend to be a ghost to scare Duke Zhou?"
Madam Ye said: "I don't have any... Please forgive me, Queen... Please spare my life!"
Empress Wu's eyes suddenly became sharp: "You really know me. I see that you are good-looking. Did you ever serve Ouchi?"
Madam Ye didn't expect that her bottom would be revealed as soon as she addressed her, and she immediately regretted her decision.
When Empress Wu came in just now, the chamberlain did not shout. Empress Wu was wearing a plain short coat and long skirt with dark patterns, which did not look like a queen. She should not be overly frightened and directly beg for mercy.
Empress Wu saw that she was extremely flustered and took advantage of the situation to add fuel to the fire: "Are you an old man from Shaoyang Hospital?"
Lady Ye was stunned.
"Huh?"
Empress Wu immediately felt that something was wrong. Her reaction was extremely fast and her tone changed very naturally: "It seems that you still dare not frame the prince. You have been punished in Yeting Palace before?"
This short sentence directly made Madam Ye break her guard.
She cried bitterly: "The queen forgives, the queen forgives, the sinful girl was born in the Yeting Palace, and she serves you wholeheartedly, and she will never disobey at all!"
Empress Wu's heart sank.
The Yeting Palace is located in the Taiji Palace. It is where the palace ladies live and where the female family members of criminal bureaucrats work.
The key is that the prince has no control over that place.
The only thing that can be controlled is...
She instinctively didn't want to believe it, so she looked at Mrs. Ye again: "What's your surname?"
Mrs. Ye said: "Sin's surname is Qi, and my father once served as the county magistrate of Runzhou."
Empress Wu had an excellent memory and nodded slowly: "I remember your father. He was imprisoned because of the Yundan case."
Madam Ye burst into tears: "Yes, my father is guilty, he has failed the emperor's kindness, he has failed the emperor's kindness..."
Empress Wu composed herself, with a subtle tremor in her voice, and finally asked: "Tell me, who are you?"
Lady Ye replied: "The guilty girl is the inner guard of plum blossoms."
Wu Zetian's hands behind her back were squeezed tightly.
Of course she knew about the existence of Plum Blossom Guards.
After Sun Wuji, the third chief of the inner guard, committed suicide, the inner guard was immediately dismissed by Li Zhi. Some were demoted, some were demoted, and some were transferred to outsiders, but one cabinet leader was retained.
The cabinet leader was responsible for supervising the ministers and making sure that Changsun Wuji kept his word in the court. The ministers only dared to say bad things about the emperor and did not dare to say anything wrong about him.
Since then, the more covert Meihua Neiwei has been established.
Empress Wu didn't know why the saint gave this name. Was it to commemorate the deceased Empress Wende, or to mock her uncle Changsun Wuji?
Empress Wu was not familiar with the internal personnel and specific operations. Once she wanted to ask, but was blocked by the saint.
She knew that she could not intervene in this organization and it belonged to Li Zhi alone.
When it comes to suppressing their ministers, the two of them have the same interests.
The Meihua Internal Guards took advantage of the leaderless situation of the Guanlong Group and continued to instigate divisions, making the ministers suspicious of each other. Invisibly, the emperor's dignity became more and more important, and the ministers became more and more afraid to obey the emperor.
But this time, the plum blossom inner guard pointed the finger at her.
"Sage, was it you all along?"
It is said that the authorities are confused, but the bystanders are clear.
Empress Wu, who was in power before, was temporarily confused and only stared at the prince.
But once it was revealed, the cause and effect were immediately clear.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! She looked towards the bedroom and bit her lip.
Gradually the bite drew blood.
…
Bedroom.
The huge cauldron in the temple is spewing the soothing incense from the Western Regions, mixed with the strong and bitter medicinal aroma, forming a strange smell.
Li Zhi stared at the bed screen, immersed in his own thoughts, and coughed lightly from time to time.
The paintings on the bed screen are not mountains, rocks, flowers and birds, but a family outing in the countryside.
Queen Wende's eldest son, Sun, died of illness when Li Zhi was nine years old. In the last few years, her health was very poor and she never had the chance to take him out to play.
Listening to his brothers Li Chengqian and Li Tai telling how their mother-in-law played with them when they were young, Li Zhi was very envious. Later, he asked an artist to paint this painting specifically and admired it all the time.
Empress Wu walked in and looked at Li Zhi.
Just at this moment, Li Zhi also turned his attention.
Eyes facing each other.
Empress Wu's anger subsided like the tide.
By the way, he also brought along the question he had prepared.
"Your Majesty, it's time to rest!"
She calmed down, walked forward, helped Li Zhi slowly lie down, pulled up the thin quilt and covered him, stretched out her slender fingers, and rubbed his head.
"Without Mei Niang, I can't sleep..."
Li Zhi showed a comfortable expression and gently leaned his head in her arms.
Where Li Zhi couldn't see, Empress Wu's eyes kept flickering.
What is her biggest advantage as a queen?
In the opinion of the foreign minister, maybe it was the temptation of the little mother, or maybe she was able to give birth.
Four sons and two daughters, if Li Zhi had not become ill later, he could still have regenerated, which is much better than the infertile Queen Wang.
Some people would also say that in terms of work ability, Empress Wu's diligence was indeed the best among all empresses in history. Not only did she help Li Zhi handle government affairs, the empress also overfulfilled her tasks.
For example, in ancient times, farming and weaving were the foundation of a person's life. Men farmed and women weaved. The emperor presided over the plowing ceremony, while the queen was responsible for the silkworm kissing ceremony.
This etiquette is very complicated, but very important. One year before the death of Empress Wende's eldest son, Qi disease recurred, and she still dragged her sick body to perform the silkworm ceremony.
Queen Wang was so lazy that she was unwilling to go in person, forcing Li Zhi to ask his ministers to do it for him.
Later, the "History of the Song Dynasty" also stated that "according to the precedents of farmers, officials were sent to take charge of affairs." Since the previous dynasty could fish, we can also fish.
In comparison, Empress Wu kissed silkworms five times and did it herself. This crazy number of times would have killed other queens.
This is a standard workaholic.
But Empress Wu knew very well that the reason why she was made queen by Li Zhi was none of the above reasons. The biggest reason was that her family background was very poor.
Compared to Queen Wang, who was a descendant of Wang Sizheng and was accepted and supported by the Guanlong family, Concubine Xiao Shu was backed by the Xiao family of Lanling and the Jiangnan gentry. The Wu family was born in a poor family. It was only the merit of the warrior Xun generation that led to Li Yuan's abdication.
, no one is taking care of you, and it is completely insufficient to cross the class.
In the shadow of the high-ranking gentry of the Tang Dynasty, this relative power was extremely shabby.
But Li Zhi valued this, and after experiencing the fear of being ignored by Changsun Wuji, he chose to let her become the queen.
As a result, Wu Minzhi now wants to become bigger and stronger?
If he doesn't die, who will die?
"It was indeed my fault..."
After Empress Wu finished thinking, she spoke softly: "Your Majesty, I have something to ask of you!"
Li Zhi raised his head slightly and said equally gently: "Mei Niang, if you have anything to say, just say it."
Empress Wu said: "Mr. Ci devoted himself to the Buddha during his lifetime and followed the Dharma in his daily life. Now that the Buddha statue has been in the imperial city for a long time, he can walk the streets to pray for blessings and hold Dharma meetings."
She sighed: "He Lanmin did evil things and did not have the compassion of his grandmother at all. I am afraid that my compassionate spirit in heaven will not be stable. If this is the case, I will be guilty of a serious crime.
Li Zhi nodded: "People say that mother and daughter are connected, and the beautiful mother is kind and filial. This is the most appropriate measure. On the day when Mrs. Rongguo turns seven, a Dharma assembly will be held!"
Empress Wu was determined, knowing that the scandal would end here and would not involve her mother, so she added: "He Lanmin is so arrogant and unethical, and has committed numerous crimes. Let him be exiled to Leizhou first, and then order him to commit suicide!"
Li Zhi frowned: "But he continues your Wu family's incense..."
Empress Wu said: "My brother's descendants have been exiled in Lingnan for a long time. We should feel repentant and take them back to renew our incest."
Li Zhi nodded again: "Mei Niang's move is an example of righteousness and annihilation of relatives. I just wronged you. Once this matter comes out, the position of Queen of Heaven will have to wait."
The muscles in Empress Wu's cheeks twitched fiercely, and the hand massaging Li Zhi's head became softer and gentler: "As long as I can share your Majesty's worries, I am not in a hurry, I am not in a hurry..."
Li Zhi hugged her: "Go to sleep! Go to sleep!"
The couple, who had known each other for nearly thirty years and been married for twenty, fell asleep in each other's arms.