Tang Dynasty, my wife Wu Zetian

Chapter 4: Crown Prince Li Zhong
The wooden boards had been removed, and the door of Lengning Hall was open. Queen Wang and Concubine Xiao supported each other and stood at the door of the hall.

Zhang Duohai, with her round belly, was confronting the two of them, with several eunuchs under Wang Fusheng in between.

"You bunch of little bastards, you even dare to disobey the order of Her Majesty the Queen. Do you want to die?" Zhang Duohai cursed in a shrill voice.

A eunuch said tremblingly, "Grand Eunuch Wang has gone to see the Saint. Junior Eunuch Zhang, please have mercy and don't embarrass us lowly people."

Queen Wang had already done her makeup again. She held her neck high and said, "Zhang Da Hai, you look so majestic now!"

Zhang Duohai said with a forced smile, "Wang, you're just a commoner now, what are you yelling about? Humph, you treated me like a dog and humiliated me back then, and I'm going to get my revenge today!"

"How are you going to ask for it?" A voice came from a distance.

Zhang Duohai turned around and was so frightened that he trembled and knelt on the ground.

The person who came was Li Zhi.

When Queen Wang and Consort Xiao saw Li Zhi coming, they both bowed to the ground and said in a mournful voice, "I pay my respects to you all."

Li Zhi strode into the courtyard and raised his hand, saying, "Everyone, get up."

The two girls helped each other to stand up and looked at Li Zhi with hope.

Li Zhi said calmly: "Zhang Dahai, there is nothing for you to do here, go and serve the queen!"

Zhang Duohai kowtowed repeatedly and said, "Yes, yes." Then he left in shame.

"Your Majesty, please forgive me!" Concubine Xiao Shu suddenly rushed over, hugged Li Zhi's legs, and cried bitterly.

When Queen Wang saw this, she also wanted to imitate her, but in the end she couldn't bring herself to do it. She just stared at Li Zhi without blinking, her eyes full of pleading.

Li Zhi patted Xiao's shoulder and said, "You guys just stay here and rest assured. I'll think about it." He ordered someone to pull Xiao away.

Concubine Xiao Shu refused to let go and said sadly, "Your Majesty, even if I am guilty, my two daughters are innocent!"

Li Zhi said: "Don't worry, I will release them. You can finally rest assured."

Xiao then let go and was pulled away by the eunuchs, and Li Zhi left quickly.

The next morning, Li Zhi issued three edicts.

The first one is to change the names of "Left and Right Guards" to "Left and Right Thousand Oxen Guards" and "Left and Right Marquis Guards" to "Left and Right Golden Guards".

The second one was to appoint Xue Rengui as the Inspector of the Thousand Oxen Guards, the General of the Central Army, to be his personal attendant.

The third step is to release the two little princesses imprisoned in the Ye Ting.

Wang Fusheng knew that once the emperor saw the two little princesses, there would be hope for Queen Wang and Xiao to be rescued.

So he went to the Secretariat in person, watched the Secretariat's officials draft the imperial edict, and then followed him to the Ministry of Personnel to urge its review.

After the three edicts were stamped with the seals of the two provinces, he took them back to Ganlu Hall, where Li Zhi personally stamped them with the imperial seal. He then immediately sent the edicts to the Secretariat for execution.

The Ye Ting Si was managed by the Ministry of Justice.

Wang Fusheng personally followed the officials from the Ministry of Justice to the Ye Ting Si and finally brought the two little princesses back to Ganlu Palace.

Princess Yiyang was seven years old and Princess Gaoan was six years old.

The two children were originally pretty and delicate, but after being detained in the Ye Ting Si for more than ten days, they became very haggard.

When the two little girls saw Li Zhi, they were like birds flying into the forest, hugging Li Zhi's thighs tightly and calling "Father" and "Father" non-stop.

The rules of the Tang Dynasty imperial palace were not very strict, and relatives could address each other freely. Princes and princesses could directly address the emperor and empress as "father and mother," and their biological mothers as "Aniang."

Princess Gao An wiped her tears with a runny nose and said, "Father, please release my mother as well."

Li Zhi touched her little head and said, "Your mother is now free. You can visit her anytime."

Princess Gao An cheered and rubbed her head against Li Zhi's thigh.

Princess Yiyang was a year older and more sensible, so she asked, "Father, can my sister and I still live with our mother in the future?"

The two sisters originally lived with Concubine Xiao Shufei in Chengxiang Palace. Now that Concubine Xiao Shufei has been demoted to a commoner and lives in the cold palace, they have nowhere to live.

At this moment, Li Zhi even thought of restoring Concubine Xiao Shufei's position as concubine, but then he changed his mind and gave up the idea.

His every move would be speculated by the court officials.

If he rashly restored Concubine Xiao Shufei's position as concubine, the court officials would think that he was compromising with the aristocratic families, and all the previous efforts of Emperor Gaozong of Tang would be in vain.

"If you want to be with your mother, you can live in Leng Ning Palace, as long as you are willing." He said. The two sisters looked at each other, both very happy, and said in a crisp voice: "I am willing."

The cold wind whistled, blowing the branches and willows. The frogs in the pond seemed to have hibernated. The water surface was silent, and the icy river water and withered lotus leaves presented a withered beauty.

This was the first time Li Zhi had visited this pond. He had been wandering around the palace these days, but he had only left his footprints on one-tenth of the land.

The imperial palace is too big. Some people say that the inner court is a cage. At least for now, this cage seems quite spacious.

Suddenly, Li Zhi noticed a boy of about eleven or twelve years old in the distance. He came to the Shanshui Pool Pavilion stealthily, hid behind a rockery, and looked around.

Li Zhi was standing behind a tree. The young man didn't see him, but he seemed to be looking for someone, his eyes fixed on a stone bridge in the distance.

Li Zhi was very surprised because the young man was Crown Prince Li Zhong. Why was he running here instead of staying in the Eastern Palace?
Having said that, this young man is quite pitiful.

His original mother was a lowly palace maid, who was later adopted by Queen Wang and was subsequently promoted to the position of crown prince.

Now that Queen Wang has been deposed and Queen Wu has come to the throne and already has two sons, his position as crown prince is destined to be abolished.

At this time, a palace maid in her thirties, dressed simply, passed by a stone bridge carrying a wooden bucket full of water.

The young man showed a look of joy and shouted loudly: "Mother, Mother!"

The palace maid was shocked. She looked in the direction of the sound and soon found Li Zhong. Tears could not stop flowing from her eyes.

Suddenly, she turned her head and looked around. Li Zhi hurriedly hid behind a tree and was not discovered by her.

The maid made sure no one was around before she came to the rockery. She pulled Li Zhong inside and cried, "Prince, how could you come to see me? If anyone sees us, your position as crown prince will be in danger!"

Li Zhong's eyes were also filled with tears. He sobbed, "I missed my mother so much that I couldn't help but come here. Besides, everyone in the palace is saying that my father wants to make Wu Lang the crown prince. I have nothing to be afraid of."

The palace maid's surname was Liu. She was the lowest-ranking concubine in the imperial palace and one of the emperor's eighty-one wives.

When Li Zhi was the crown prince, she was still a maid. After being favored by Li Zhi, she gave birth to Li Zhong.

However, she was of low status and much older than Li Zhi. After Li Zhi ascended the throne, he only gave her the title of Imperial Concubine. In comparison, other concubines with children were at least given the title of Talented Lady.

However, Liu was very content because the emperor did not forbid her from meeting the prince, so she placed all her hopes for the rest of her life on her son.

She has been with Li Zhong since she was a child. Sometimes she can only watch from afar, but she has no regrets.

Every time Li Zhong grew taller, she would sew new clothes for her. Although these clothes eventually remained empty in the closet and were never worn by Li Zhong, she never stopped.

She had only a few clothes left, and they were all covered with patches.

Fortunately, Li Zhong has been filial since childhood, and after knowing that she is his biological mother, he is particularly close to her.

Until three years ago, Queen Wang, who had no children, decided to adopt Li Zhong and support him to become the crown prince.

From then on, Queen Wang forbade Liu from getting close to Li Zhong.

On several occasions, Liu hid far away to see her son, and Queen Wang found out. She then sent her to the most remote mountain and water pavilion in the palace, and instructed the eunuch in charge to assign her more work so that she would have no time to see the prince again.

Li Zhong grew older and began to understand things. One time, he secretly came to the Shanshui Pool Pavilion to see Liu, but was scolded by Liu and told not to come again.

Liu did this for her son's future. She knew that if Queen Wang knew about this, she would probably adopt another prince and appoint a new crown prince.

Since then, Li Zhong has never come again.

Liu often dreamed of her son and sat alone crying, but she never went to look for her son again.

She asked for nothing more, as long as she knew her son was safe, she would be content.

Liu hugged her son tightly and cried, "I've heard too. The Sage deposed Queen Wang and appointed Queen Wu as his new queen. My poor son, why did this happen?"

Li Zhong laughed amidst his tears, saying, "I'm actually very happy. The Queen won't let me see my mother. I hate her. I wish she were deposed. Then I can see my mother again."

Liu cried, "Silly child, without Queen Wang, your position as Crown Prince will be lost!"

Li Zhong wiped Liu's tears and said with a smile, "I don't want to be the crown prince. I'm happy as long as I'm with you."

Liu burst into tears and hugged her son tightly.

At this moment, a "click" sound came from outside, and Liu exclaimed, "Who is it?"

Li Zhi coughed and walked out from behind the cliff.

"It's me."

(End of this chapter)