Tang Dynasty, my wife Wu Zetian

Chapter 450 The Victory-Presenting Army Returns

As evening fell, the moonlight shone on the wide streets of Chang'an, creating a silver carpet.

The wheels rolled, and a carriage moved slowly down the street, its wheels rolling over a silver carpet.

When the Imperial Guards came to patrol, they saw the golden fish-shaped tally and the palace gate pass that the coachman had shown, and they respectfully withdrew.

Before long, the carriage stopped outside the gate of a grand mansion. Under the moonlight, the two large characters "An Mansion" on the lintel shimmered with a faint glow.

Just as the carriage was about to enter the mansion through the second gate, a voice came from inside the carriage.

"Wait a minute."

A delicate hand pulled back the carriage curtain, looked around at the street, and after a while, released the curtain and said, "Enter the mansion."

The carriage quickly entered the courtyard of the second gate.

Jin Yan had just leaned out of the carriage when she saw her husband hurrying over from the corridor.

"Madam, what brings the Empress to the palace?" An Lie helped Jin Yan down from the palace.

Jin Yan glared at him and said, "Look how scared you are. Her Majesty the Empress isn't a tiger. Are you afraid she'll eat me up?"

An Lie chuckled awkwardly and said, "Isn't it strange? Ever since you were conferred the title of First-Rank Lady by the Emperor, you have often attended banquets in the palace, but this is the first time that the Empress has invited you to the palace alone."

"Don't think too much."

Jin Yan waved her hand and said, "It's because at the last Grain Rain banquet, I mentioned some old stories about my time as governor in Baekje. Her Majesty the Empress was interested and specially invited me over today to inquire about them in detail."

An Lie nodded and walked alongside her toward the bedchamber. After a few steps, he slapped his forehead.

"Oh, I almost forgot, someone is looking for you and is waiting for you in the study."

Jin Yan asked, "Who?"

An Lie said, "A monk named Dao Chen said he was an old friend of yours in Baekje."

Jin Yan's expression changed slightly, and she asked, "Where is he?"

“I’ve put him in the study. Is there something wrong with him?” An Lie noticed that his wife’s expression was off.

Jin Yan said in a deep voice, "He is Fu Yu Fu Xin's most trusted confidant."

An Lie was taken aback and said, "Then I'll take some men and tie him up right away!"

"Wait a minute." Jin Yan pulled him back, pondered for a moment, and said, "When I entered the mansion just now, I felt that someone was watching outside the mansion. Now it seems that it should be the Inner Guard."

An Lie snorted and said, "It must have been this guy named Dao Chen who brought this here."

Jin Yan knew that her identity was special and that she needed to be extra careful when dealing with the remnants of Baekje.

The best way is to call in the inner guards outside and have them arrest Dao Chen.

But she also knew Dao Chen's character well. There must be a reason why he suddenly left Fu Yu Fu Xin and sneaked into Chang'an to find her.

She pondered for a moment, then said to An Lie, "Have someone guard the study to prevent him from escaping, but don't arrest him either."

"What about you?"

Jin Yan smiled slightly: "I'm going to catch up with my former colleagues outside the mansion."

The two immediately split up and went their separate ways.

Jin Yan left the mansion again, this time through the main gate. Her eyes swept around the street, and she clasped her hands together, making a strange gesture.

This is a hand gesture used by inner guards to communicate, representing a meeting.

Sure enough, as soon as she made the gesture, a lean man emerged from the darkness, cupped his hands to Jin Yan, and said, "This humble servant Xie Tong greets Madam Jin."

Jin Yan said calmly, "Why are you monitoring me outside my residence? Are you trying to arrest me?"

Xie Tong hurriedly replied, "This humble servant dares not. We were merely tracking a suspicious person. When we arrived here and saw that it was your residence, we dared not enter and could only wait outside."

Jin Yan asked, "Does the General know about this?"

Xie Tong said, "This subordinate has already sent someone to inform the General, but there has been no reply yet."

"Come in with me." Jin Yan turned and entered the mansion, and Xie Tong had no choice but to follow.

The two walked one after the other down the corridor and quickly arrived outside the study. An Lie had already brought seven or eight burly men who blocked the study door and windows.

Jin Yan stopped at the door and said to Xie Tong, "The person inside is Fu Yu Fu Xin's subordinate. He must have a reason for coming to see me. I'll go in and talk to him. Listen carefully outside."

Xie Tong hurriedly replied, "Yes."

“Madam, shall I accompany you inside?” An Lie asked worriedly.

Jin Yan shook her head and said softly, "It's alright. I roughly know why he came to find me. There won't be any danger."

He pushed open the door, entered the house, and then closed the door again.

Anlie was a Sogdian. His study was different from the study of the Tang people. There were no calligraphy or paintings on the walls, only some strange little ornaments placed in the display cabinet.

Dao Chen was standing in front of the counter, examining the ornaments.

Seeing Jin Yan enter alone, he turned around and looked her over for a while, then sighed, "I thought you would come in with a group of servants and tie me up."

Jin Yan didn't stand on ceremony with him and asked directly, "What do you want with me?"

"I've come to give you a credit!" Dao Chen's eyes flashed.

"Oh?"

Seeing her calm expression, Dao Chen raised an eyebrow and said, "You don't believe me?" Jin Yan walked to a chair and sat down, saying calmly, "I've also inquired about the situation in Japan recently, and I haven't heard any news of your annihilation, so I guess you've already surrendered to the Japanese."

Dao Chen frankly said, "That's right, we did indeed surrender to the Japanese."

Jin Yan glanced at him sideways and said, "So you're afraid when you see our Great Tang destroy Goguryeo, and you want to betray the Japanese and submit to the Great Tang?"

Dao Chen said in a deep voice, "His Majesty sent me here because he truly wants to submit to the Tang Dynasty. However, it's not because we have wronged the Japanese or want to betray them. It's just that these Japanese are too despicable; they don't treat us like human beings!"

Jin Yan raised an eyebrow: "What do you mean?"

Dao Chen said, "When Silla withdrew its troops, we were surrounded by the Japanese. In order to survive, we agreed to Zhong Da Xiong's offer to surrender."

"However, he told us that we must not let anyone know that we have already sided with Japan. In this way, we can become a surprise force in the future."

"To hide us, he made us hide during the day and only move at night, hiding like rats every day, and he didn't give us enough food. Everyone could only eat one meal a day, and it was all raw food. We couldn't even light a fire. Some soldiers starved to death, and some died of disease!"

Jin Yan said bluntly, "If you had been willing to submit to the Tang Dynasty back then, you wouldn't have ended up like this."

Dao Chen did not refute, but continued, "After several months of marching, we were transferred by them to Iwami and Nagato to help them mine silver."

Jin Yan asked in surprise, "Mining?"

Dao Chen looked somber and said, "Yes, because too many able-bodied men died in Japan, there was a shortage of miners, so they treated us as miners and made us dig for them."

According to the previous agreement after the defeat, the Tang Dynasty had the right to mine the largest silver mine in Iwami for five years.

Later, when the Tang Dynasty was at war with Goguryeo, Liu Renyuan received a warning from the court that the Japanese were plotting something, so he suspended mining.

Today, the largest silver mine in Iwami is being mined by Baekje people under Bokshin's command.

Dao Chen continued, "Brother Zhongda took all the silver we dug up and gave it to Hayato, wanting to join forces with them to deal with the Tang Dynasty."

Jin Yan's heart skipped a beat, her expression becoming more serious as she asked, "Hayato agreed?"

Dao Chen said, "At first, Hayato did not agree. Later, Nakadai made a condition: after conquering Kyushu, he would hand it over to Hayato to govern, and the Kazumi clan would live in harmony with the Hayato clan."

Jin Yan gave a cold laugh.

She understood the nature of the Japanese very well. She knew that Naka no Oo was only offering such good terms because of pressure from the Tang Dynasty. Once the threat from the Tang Dynasty was gone, he would definitely annex the Hayato tribe.

Unfortunately, the Hayabusa tribe is very short-sighted and only cares about immediate interests, so they might actually agree.

Dao Chen continued, "Brother Zhongda devised a plan to deliberately spread rumors that his soldiers were constantly deserting, thus luring the Tang army to attack."

"At that time, when Brother Zhongda's army confronts the Tang army head-on, we will launch a surprise attack on their flank, while the Hayato tribe will outflank them from the rear. In this way, the Tang army will surely be defeated!"

Jin Yan sneered, "They have a good idea. Do you think those useless Japanese soldiers under Brother Zhong can stand against the elite Tang army head-on?"

Dao Chen said, "If we follow Brother Zhong's plan, even if the Tang army wins, it will probably suffer considerable losses."

He's trying to gain leverage for himself.

If the Tang army could still win even without their allegiance, then the Tang Dynasty might not accept their submission.

Jin Yan thought for a moment and said, "I will pass on your words to the Emperor. Is there anything else you would like to say?"

Dao Chen gazed at her: "Princess, in consideration of our past cooperation in dealing with Buyeo Uija, please put in a good word for us before His Majesty the Tang Emperor."

Jin Yan sighed, "If I had known this would happen, you should have stayed in Chang'an. Why did you have to return to Baekje?" She then got up and left the study.

Outside the study, besides Xie Tong and An Lie, there was another person present: Wang Jishan, the Grand General of the Inner Palace.

He had a keen sense of smell, and as soon as he heard that someone was looking for Jin Yan, and considering that the emperor had recently asked him about Fu Yu Fu Xin, he knew that something was wrong, so he came over in person.

Jin Yan curtsied and said, "This humble servant greets the Great General."

Wang Jishan returned the greeting with a cupped hand and said, "Madam, there is no need for such formalities. Please come with me to the palace so that I can report this matter to His Majesty."

Jin Yan agreed, gave An Lie a few instructions, and then entered the palace with Wang Jishan.

When we arrived at Taiji Palace, the bright moon was high in the sky, and it was already the hour of Hai (9-11 PM).

The two followed the palace road to the Ganlu Hall. After announcing their arrival, they entered the inner hall and explained the situation to Li Zhi.

"You're saying Hayato colluded with the Japanese and wanted to rebel against the Tang Dynasty?" Li Zhi raised his eyebrows.

Jin Yan said in a low voice, "That's what Dao Chen said. Based on my understanding of Hayato, they are greedy for short-term gains and could indeed do such a thing."

After listening to this, Li Zhi fell silent.

When Buyeo Boksin's Baekje army suddenly disappeared, he guessed that it was the Japanese who were behind it. However, he did not expect that Hayato was also colluding with Naka no Ōe.

Li Zhi always treated Hayato as local natives oppressed by the Japanese.

Unexpectedly, they shared the same nature as the Japanese.

"Lady Yan, go and tell Dao Chen that the Tang Dynasty has accepted their surrender and that he should go to Junzhou to follow Liu Renyuan's orders."

"Yes!"

The following day, Li Zhi issued an imperial edict to the Ministry of War, ordering Jiang Ke to lead 20,000 Tang troops to withdraw from Goguryeo, proceed to Jungju, join forces with Liu Renyuan, and then attack Jungdae-hyeong and the Jungju people.

Not long after the decree was issued, Wang Fusheng came to Li Zhi's side.

"Your Majesty, news has come from the Ministry of War that Grand General Li's surrender entourage has crossed the Chan River and will enter the capital this afternoon."

Li Zhi raised his head and smiled, "They're finally back. Issue an imperial decree that a banquet be held tonight in Chengqing Hall. I will personally welcome them back!"

(End of this chapter)