Tang Dynasty, my wife Wu Zetian

Chapter 280 Wufu Manor
Xunfeng Hall, East Courtyard.

The melodious singing echoed in the house.

Li Zhi clapped his knees and nodded his head to the melody, his mind immersed in the beauty of the music.

Zhu Zhenlian's voice is actually slightly worse than Concubine Zheng's, but her singing style is different, especially some Hebei folk songs, which are simple, natural and sincere.

Li Zhi was listening to such a little song at the moment.

After the song was finished, Li Zhi opened his eyes, with a hint of curiosity in them.

"Zhenlian, the style of this song seems to be different from the folk songs you sang before."

Zhu Zhenlian smiled and said, "Your Majesty guessed correctly. This song is a ditty I learned from a Qin-Han woman in my neighborhood. It seems to be a Qin-Han song."

Li Zhi's eyes flashed: "Qin Han?"

Zhu Zhenlian blinked and said, "Your Majesty, do you know Qin Han?"

Li Zhi has always been most interested in topics related to history. He said, "Hey," and laughed:

"You're testing me. During the Han Dynasty, the lands of Silla and Baekje were divided into the Three Han: Mahan, Jinhan, and Mouhan. Many of the people of Jinhan claimed to be remnants of the Qin Dynasty. They migrated here to avoid forced labor, hence the name Qinhan."

Zhu Zhenlian said happily, "That's right. The grandfather of that Qin Han woman moved back to Hebei from Baekje during the Sui Dynasty."

Li Zhi asked in return, "Do you know how Baekje and Silla were formed?"

Zhu Zhenlian shook her head: "I don't know."

Li Zhi said slowly, "Silla is the country that was formed when Jinhan and Muhan merged into one of the Three Han states mentioned earlier. As for Baekje, it was established when the Buyeo people moved south and destroyed Mahan."

Zhu Zhenlian thought for a moment and said, "So, in Baekje, there are both Buyeo and Mahan people?"

Li Zhi said seriously, "Yes, the ruling class of Baekje was the Buyeo people, and the common people at the bottom, like Silla, were all from the Three Han. So sometimes they would be close to Goguryeo, and sometimes close to Silla."

This is also the reason why Goguryeo and Silla have always wanted to annex Baekje.

The people of Silla and the lower classes of Baekje spoke the Samhan language, while the ruling class of Baekje spoke Buyeo, which was similar to Goguryeo.

Baekje was equivalent to a combination of two countries. It was a miracle that it did not split.

At this time, the eunuch came to report that the queen had sent someone to inform Li Zhi that she was preparing to leave the palace.

Li Zhi said: "I understand. Tell the Queen to be careful and pay attention to the fetus in her belly."

Today is Wu Ruyi's birthday. Wu Meiniang has always loved this younger sister. A few days ago, she asked Li Zhi for permission to leave the palace to celebrate Wu Ruyi's birthday.

Wu Meiniang was less than four months pregnant, and although her belly was bulging, it did not affect her travel, so Li Zhi agreed.

The banquet was held in a manor in Wu Mansion in the east of the city.

Wu Meiniang's carriage left the Xuanwu Gate, went out of the city from the Guangtai Gate of the Forbidden Garden, and then circled to the east of the city.

The route he took was exactly the official road that Li Zhi usually took to go to the Hot Spring Palace.

On the Guangtai Gate city wall, Wang Jishan watched the queen's carriage go away and waved behind him.

"Pass the order down, let the soldiers rest today, and don't disrupt the phoenix carriage and cause Her Majesty the Queen to be displeased."

In recent days, the Internal Guards have been searching for Baekje spies outside the city and have made some progress.

According to reports from residents in the east of the city, some suspicious people have appeared frequently in the east of the city recently.

The Internal Guards limited their search to the eastern part of the city, but today they encountered the Queen leaving the palace, so they had to rest for a day.

At this moment, a general came up to the city wall and bowed to Wang Jishan, saying, "General Wang, I am honored."

Wang Jishan was surprised when he saw the other person.

"General Li, how come you have time to return to the palace?"

The person who came was Li Yuanfang, the General of the Inner Guard.

Although Li Yuanfang was an inner guard, he was assigned by the emperor to serve Di Renjie. He did not need to report to the inner guard office on weekdays, nor did he need to obey Wang Jishan's orders.

Li Yuanfang said, "General Wang, Minister Di sent me here to tell you that we have discovered a spy."

Wang Jishan's eyes flickered: "Where is the spy from?"

"We're not sure which country it is, but it's probably a spy from Liaodong."

Wang Jishan's heart moved, and he said in a deep voice: "General Li, please explain the details to me."

Li Yuanfang leaned over and said, "Can we talk while we walk? Minister Di wants you to send a troop to accompany him in capturing the spy."

Wang Jishan hesitated for a moment, then issued an order to mobilize 500 inner guard cavalry.

A quarter of an hour later, he and Li Yuanfang rode side by side, leading 500 cavalrymen, and left the Forbidden Garden.

Along the way, Li Yuanfang explained the situation to him.

Let’s start with Zheng, and then talk about the woman named Jin Yan, who stole Zhou Daowu’s fish seal and faked her death to escape.

Zhou Daowu was the Right Guard General stationed in Beijing. Stealing his official seal would not be of much use.

Di Renjie quickly recalled Zhou Daowu's previous position as Deputy Governor of Yingzhou. The Yingzhou Governor's Office was responsible for intimidating the Liaodong states, and only the Liaodong states would be interested in the seal of the former Deputy Governor of Yingzhou.

This is why Di Renjie suspected that she was a spy sent by a country in Liaodong.

After hearing this, Wang Jishan was certain that Jin Yan was a spy from Baekje and was closely related to the plans of Baekje, Goguryeo and Khitan to deal with Yingzhou.

Zhou Daowu served as the deputy governor of Yingzhou for five years. He must have had confidants under him. By using his official credentials and seal, he could obtain a lot of confidential information from these old subordinates.

Wang Jishan asked in a deep voice, "Does Di Shaoqing know where that female spy is?"

Li Yuanfang said, "We found several witnesses. Someone saw a woman covered in mud on the official road east of the city. Judging from the direction she was walking, the most likely place she was going was the Wu family's manor east of the city."

"We also learned from the young King of Wu that a few days ago, Helan Minzhi invited him to the East City Manor and said that the manor had recently acquired a famous dancer. Di Siqing suspects that the dancer is Jin Yan!"

A light flashed in Wang Jishan's eyes. He raised his hand and ordered the entire team to stop.

Li Yuanfang hurriedly tightened the reins and asked in surprise, "General Wang, what's wrong?"

Wang Jishan pondered for a moment and asked, "Where is Di Siqing now?"

Li Yuanfang said, "He and County Magistrate Changsun are riding in the young King of Wu's carriage. They should have arrived at the Wu Mansion Manor."

Wang Jishan looked at him and said, "General Li, please go find Di Siqing immediately and tell him not to pursue this case any further. Leave the rest to me."

Li Yuanfang's face changed and he asked, "Why is this?"

Wang Jishan said nothing, just stared at him.

Li Yuanfang stared at him for a long time, sighed secretly, and said with a cupped hand, "Well, I'll go tell Di Shaoqing right away."

The Nei Lingwei were the emperor's most trusted guards, and they had the highest authority in handling cases.

Since Wang Jishan said so, the Dali Temple had no choice but to give in.

He whipped the horse's butt and rode away.

After Wang Jishan saw him walk away, he instructed a general behind him, "Lead the troops and return to the guard office immediately."

The general took the order and left without saying a word.

Wang Jishan, accompanied by only a few personal guards, chased after Empress Wu's carriage.

The Luan carriage was not moving fast, and was soon caught up by Wang Jishan.

After Wang Jishan reported the matter, he was taken outside Wu Meiniang's carriage and told the situation to Empress Wu.

"You mean to say that there is a Baekje spy in that manor?" Empress Wu's sweet voice came from behind the curtain.

Wang Jishan bowed and said, "Your Highness, that is exactly what is happening."

Wu Meiniang hummed, and said, "Then you should quickly arrest this man. I will have the carriage parked outside the manor and wait for your news."

Wang Jishan said in a deep voice, "Your Highness, please forgive me. I cannot arrest this person now."

The curtain of the carriage swayed. Empress Wu stretched out a hand, pulled open the curtain, and looked directly at Wang Jishan.

Although she didn't say a word, she put great pressure on Wang Jishan.

Wang Jishan lowered his head and explained, "Your Highness, when we, the Inner Guards, deal with spies, sometimes we don't arrest them directly, but instead use them to our advantage."

Wu Meiniang's phoenix eyes flickered a few times.

"Do you have any plans?"

Wang Jishan said, "Your Highness is wise."

Wu Meiniang lowered the curtain and said calmly, "I won't ask about your plan. I just want to know why you came to see me."

Wang Jishan said, "Although I intend to use the trick, the woman is still dangerous, so I want to persuade Your Highness not to go to the manor today."

"So, you are here to spoil my fun?" Empress Wu's cold voice came from the car.

Wang Jishan was startled and whispered, "I dare not."

Empress Wu said, "You knew her identity, yet you couldn't protect me? You've done a good job, sacrificing my time with my family so you can relax, right?"

Wang Jishan smiled bitterly to himself. This Queen was indeed not easy to deal with.

Empress Wu continued, "Besides, if you want to take advantage of her, you can't arouse her suspicion. If I suddenly don't go, won't it arouse her vigilance?"

Wang Jishan saw that the queen was using both soft and hard tactics. Now that things had come to this point, if he tried to stop her, it would only make her furious.

"Then please allow me to go with you."

"now it's right."

Empress Wu immediately changed her attitude and said with a smile, "As the Empress of the Tang Dynasty, how could I be frightened by a spy? General Wang, my safety is in your hands."

Wang Jishan bowed and said, "Yes!"

(End of this chapter)