Tang Dynasty, my wife Wu Zetian

Chapter 358 The Imprisoned King
It was the height of summer in June and the weather was scorching hot.

At this time, it had been more than half a year since Li Zhi returned to Chang'an.

The palace life in the past six months has allowed Zhang Da Hai to regain her previous figure, and she seems to be a little fatter than before.

Zhang Duohai dragged his fat body all the way from Honglu Temple back to Lizheng Hall.

He was prone to sweating, and today was particularly hot. When he returned to Lizheng Hall, his entire body was soaked as if he had fallen into water.

The stench of sweat wafted from his body, and the palace servants and eunuchs around him could smell it from a distance.

Under such circumstances, it would be difficult for Zhang Da Hai to meet the queen.

He first took a cold shower in a spacious room.

After taking a shower, he asked Wang Hong to wash his feet.

His feet smelled even worse than sweat, but Wang Hong didn't dare show any disgust and rubbed his feet with a smile on his face.

When Wang Hong was wiping his feet, Zhang Duohai deliberately splashed water on his face.

After washing her whole body clean, Jang Da Hae came to the Iljeong Hall wearing a brand new set of clothes.

Wu Meiniang had just taken a nap for a quarter of an hour and was sitting on the couch in meditation.

Zhang Da Hai didn't dare to disturb him and stood aside.

Wu Meiniang opened her eyes and asked, "Have all the envoys from various countries arrived?"

She usually asks questions after she finishes her meditation, but today she asked in advance, which shows her concern for this matter.

"Your Highness, almost all the countries in Liaodong, big and small, have come. Only the envoys from two countries have not come!"

"Which two countries?"

Zhang Duohai said: "One is Goguryeo, and the other is Ezo!"

Wu Meiniang frowned and said, "Ezo? How come I've never heard of it?"

Zhang Duohai laughed and said, "I haven't heard of it either. It seems to be a small country near Japan. It has never come to pay tribute to the Tang Dynasty."

Wu Mei Niang asked, "Which minister in the court knows the Ezo best?"

Zhang Duohai thought for a moment and said, "It should be General Li."

Wu Meiniang said, "Then please ask Li Taiwei to come over."

More than an hour later, Li Ji arrived at Lizheng Hall.

Wu Meiniang received him in the main hall and treated him with great respect. When Li Ji saluted her, she stood up and returned a half-salute.

"I apologize for the inconvenience of asking Mr. Li to come over," she said with a smile.

Li Ji bowed and said, "I dare not. I just don't know why Her Majesty the Queen has asked me to come here."

"Mr. Li, please sit down and talk."

Wu Mei Niang gestured for him to be seated, and then said, "I heard that envoys from all the countries have arrived in Chang'an, all for military matters, except for two countries."

Li Ji said, "Yes, the envoys from Goguryeo and Emishi did not come."

Wu Mei Niang said, "I have heard of many countries, but I have never heard of Emishi. Could you, Lord Li, tell me about this country?"

Li Ji pondered for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, this country is located among the islands north of Japan. It's cold there, making it extremely difficult to survive, so they have a strong endurance. They have fought against Japan for hundreds of years without being destroyed, so they have their own way of survival. Moreover, they once attacked Goguryeo."

Wu Mei Niang was surprised: "They dared to attack Goguryeo, so they must be quite powerful."

Li Ji laughed and said, "They are a very closed nation and were unaware of the power of Goguryeo. The army that attacked Goguryeo consisted of only a thousand men and was annihilated by the local governor of Goguryeo."

"It was only when Goguryeo and the Japanese came into contact that we learned they were Ainu."

Wu Meiniang asked: "How many troops do they have?"

Li Ji pondered, "In a country like this, any adult male can go to war. According to Goguryeo, they must have tens of thousands of troops, otherwise they would not be able to resist the Japanese."

After hearing this, Wu Meiniang nodded her chin.

Although this country is backward and barbaric, it also has the ability to commit crimes.

After resolving her doubts, Wu Meiniang asked Li Ji to withdraw. She summoned Zhang Duohai and instructed him, "Send someone to tell Minzhi to let him and King Wu focus the investigation on the Ainu people."

Zhang Duohai asked curiously, "Your Highness, don't we need to investigate the Goguryeo people?"

Wu Meiniang glanced at him and said, "Liu Rengui is in Yingzhou. Do you think he won't investigate after knowing this?"

With Liu Rengui's ability, if it was really done by Goguryeo, he would definitely have investigated it earlier than Li Ji and Helan Minzhi, two young boys.

Instead of distracting them, it would be better to just give them a suspect and let these two young people try their luck.

Zhang Dahai understood her meaning and said with a smile, "That's right. I will send someone to pass on the message right away."

Wu Meiniang was not wrong. After the weapons were robbed, Liu Rengui had been paying attention to the matter.

He garrisoned Yingzhou for a long time, responsible for implementing the Tang Dynasty's strategic plan to eliminate Goguryeo on the front line.

The current emergency situation also gave him a headache.

In the study of the Governor's Mansion, Liu Rengui was holding the secret report just sent by the Inner Guard in his hand, his brows furrowed.

"Governor, what's wrong?" Liu Renyuan asked.

Liu Rengui said, "I just received news that the envoys sent by the Japanese Kingdom have arrived in Chang'an. In addition, Silla, Mohe, Shiwei and other countries have also sent envoys."

Liu Renyuan said: "Then it shouldn't be them."

Jiang Ke said, "That's not necessarily the case. It's also possible that a certain country did this and, fearing our suspicion, deliberately sent envoys to explain."

Liu Rengui said solemnly, "The problem now is that two countries have not sent envoys."

Liu Renyuan asked, "Who is it?"

Liu Rengui: "Goguryeo and Ezo!"

Liu Renyuan was stunned and said, "Ezo? How come I haven't heard of it?"

Jiang Ke said: "Ezo is a country to the north of Wa."

Liu Renyuan was surprised and asked, "How did you know?"

This kid has only been here for a few days, and he knows more than him?

Jiang Ke smiled and said, "I only saw this name when I was looking through an old document in the Governor's Office's warehouse."

Liu Rengui: "We can ignore the Ezo issue, but Goguryeo is right next to us. We must find out if this matter is related to them!"

Like Li Ji, he had been planning for several years to destroy Goguryeo and did not want the emperor to turn around and attack Japan.

Jiang Ke said, "Since the envoys from all countries have gone to Chang'an, we only need to wait for His Majesty's decision. Why is the Governor-General making such an unnecessary move?"

Liu Rengui glanced at him and said, "General Jiang, you must remember that generals stationed at the border often understand the actual situation better than those in the imperial court and can make choices that are more beneficial to the country. If this incident was truly the work of Goguryeo, and you and I were completely ignorant of it, leading to Your Majesty making an incorrect decision, then both you and I would be guilty of dereliction of duty!"

Jiang Ke was slightly startled, then bowed and said, "I understand." Liu Renyuan asked, "Commander-in-Chief, Goguryeo is different from Japan. They've long since broken with us, so I'm afraid they won't cooperate with our investigation."

Liu Rengui said in a deep voice: "To investigate this matter, there is no need to send anyone to Goguryeo. We only need to do two things."

"Which two things?" they asked in unison.

"First, you two will each lead a group of troops into Goguryeo territory and put pressure on them! Next, I will write another letter to Quan Gaisuwen!"

……

The capital of Goguryeo was called Pyongyang, also known as Pyeongyang City.

The city got its name from the word "Ping".

The surrounding area is open and flat, with a panoramic view of the fertile plain.

However, in recent days, Pingyang City has fallen into chaos.

Spies from various countries were wreaking havoc in the city with extreme rampage, and there were officials bribed by the spies to help cover up for them.

Pingyang City was originally a big city in Liaodong, and various countries had spies in Pingyang City.

The situation at this moment was as if a pot of boiling water was poured into Pingyang City, and the spies in the city began to move.

Their goal is the same, which is to find out whether the robbery of Tang Dynasty weapons is related to Goguryeo!
During the investigation, more than a dozen lives had been lost and fires had broken out in four locations.

Like Chang'an, Pingyang City was prosperous in the north, so it became the focus of spies and became very chaotic.

In contrast, the remote south of the city is peaceful and undisturbed.

At night, the moon is bright and the stars are sparse.

Inside a palace in the south of the city, a man was walking quickly along the corridor.

The palace is not big, but it is heavily guarded. Looking down from the air, the entire palace is surrounded by soldiers.

In the entire Pingyang city, apart from the royal palace, there is no place more heavily guarded than this place.

The reason is simple. The person living in this palace is the king of Goguryeo, the Treasure King!

The Treasure King is named Gao Baozang.

As a king, he could only live in such a small house. The palace that should have belonged to him was occupied by Quan Gaisuwen and his son.

The palace was in great disrepair, with few attendants and officials forbidden from entering.

The man walking in the corridor was an exception.

He was not only an official of Goguryeo, but also a relative by marriage, named Ancen, the younger brother of Queen Go Bojang.

Led by a servant, An Cen soon arrived at a large house.

The room was dimly lit, and there stood a man and a woman. The man was about thirty-seven or thirty-eight years old, with a thick black beard, and the woman was about thirty years old, with a beautiful face.

These two people are King Baozang and Queen An.

When An Cen saw them, he fell to his knees and cried, "My king, my queen, you have suffered."

The Treasure King helped him up and said with a sob, "It's rare that you still care about us."

Queen An winked at the attendant and asked him to guard behind the door. Then she closed the door tightly and asked An Cen, "Are you not discovered?"

An Cen said, "Recently, spies have been rampant in the city, and the whole place is in chaos. Quan Gaisuwen is very angry and is busy catching spies, so he won't notice this place."

The Treasure King asked in surprise, "What happened?"

An Cen said, "The Tang people sent a batch of aid to Baekje, but it was robbed at sea, and two hundred Tang soldiers died. The Tang emperor was furious and assembled a large army in Liaodong. The other states were very frightened and suspected that Goguryeo was responsible, so they sent spies to investigate!"

The Treasure King asked, "Did Quan Gaisuwen do this?"

An Cen shook his head and said, "I don't know either, but looking at the situation, it's most likely him!"

Treasure King Niang stumbled a few steps and said blankly, "This traitor, Goguryeo will really be destroyed in his hands!"

Queen An said with a blazing gaze, "Your Majesty, this is an opportunity!"

Treasure King was stunned and asked, "What opportunity?"

Queen An said, "We can ask An Cen to gather evidence and report Quan Gaisuwen to the Tang Emperor, leading the Tang army to destroy this villain!"

Treasure King's face changed. "If the Tang army comes, will you still leave? Isn't this colluding with foreign enemies?"

Queen An said anxiously, "How can we defeat this villain without external help? If the Tang people conquer Goguryeo, they will have to rely on you to govern. This is better than being trapped here forever!"

An Cen also advised: "Your Majesty, Quan Gaisuwen will become king sooner or later. If you don't seek help from the Tang people, Goguryeo will also perish!"

The Treasure King sighed and said, "At this point, this is the only way."

Queen An warned, "An Cen, you must be careful when investigating. Don't get caught. Otherwise, both the king and I will be in danger!"

An Cen promised: "Don't worry, sister, I will be cautious!"

Queen An took out a silk handkerchief and said to the Treasure King, "Your Majesty, please write a letter in blood. If An Cen can find evidence, he can use this letter to find the Tang people."

The Treasure King trembled and said, "Blood, blood letter?"

Queen An took out a dagger and cut her snow-white wrist with it. Blood immediately flowed out of the wound.

"Your Majesty, please write it with my own blood!"

King Baozang nodded, dipped his finger in Queen An's blood, and quickly wrote a letter in blood. Queen An took out a small seal, which was King Baozang's royal seal, stamped it, and handed it to An Cen.

An Cen put away the blood letter, bowed to the two of them, and left.

However, when he pushed open the door, he felt a chill on his back, as if he had fallen into an ice cellar.

It turned out that there was a large group of people standing behind the gate, and the person leading them was none other than Goguryeo’s Molizhi and Quan Gaisuwen!

An Cen looked back at King Baozang and Queen An, and saw that they both looked pale. He took a deep breath and forced himself to salute Quan Gaisuwen.

"Your subordinate An Cen pays respects to Mo Lizhi."

Quan Gaisuwen, dressed in military armor and with a murderous look on his face, said grimly, "An Mo Ke (Mo Ke is equivalent to the General of the Central Army), I must have issued an order prohibiting any officials from entering the palace. Even if you are a royal relative, you should not be here!"

An Cen said, "The King heard that the Tang army was increasing its troops in Yingzhou and was worried about the country, so he summoned me to inquire!"

Queen An shook the Treasure King's arm, asking him to cooperate vocally, but the Treasure King kept his mouth shut and said nothing.

Quan Gaisuwen entered the house and said sternly, "That's not an excuse. Even though you're the emperor's uncle, if you broke the law, you're still guilty of the death penalty!"

Queen An scolded, "That's just your order, not the law of Goguryeo!"

Quan Gaisuwen grinned and said, "In Goguryeo, my word is law!"

The sword was unsheathed, the blade flashed, blood splattered, and An Cen fell in a pool of blood.

(End of this chapter)