Tang Dynasty, my wife Wu Zetian

Chapter 5 Why are there only these few in my harem?
After inheriting Yuan Zhi's memories, Li Zhi carefully searched through the memories related to the women in the harem.

As a result, Haraji was so focused on his career that he only had seven women.

Apart from Wu Meiniang, Queen Wang and Concubine Xiao, there are only four left: Concubine Zheng, Concubine Xu, Concubine Zheng and Concubine Yang.

It was not until this moment that Li Zhi realized that he had forgot one person, that was Liu Gongren.

However, she had been forgotten by Haraji, and there was no trace of her in his memory.

When Liu saw Li Zhi, she was frightened and knelt on the ground and kowtowed repeatedly. She seemed to say something, but her words were unclear and could not be heard clearly.

On the other hand, the young man Li Zhong used his thin body to block his mother and shouted, "Father, I no longer want to be the crown prince. I only beg you not to punish me!"

Li Zhi smiled and said, "Who said we should punish your mother? You are a very filial child, not bad." He touched his head.

Li Zhong was stunned. As far as he could remember, he had never seen his father with such a friendly attitude.

Li Zhi saw that Liu was still trembling and said, "Help your mother up quickly."

Li Zhong hurried to help Liu, but Liu's legs went weak, either because she was too excited or too frightened, and she couldn't stand up.

Li Zhi sighed and said, "Well, I won't disturb your reunion as mother and son." He turned and left.

The unexpected meeting with Liu made Li Zhi think of his pitifully small harem.

Now that Concubine Xiao and Queen Wang are gone, there are only four left. Among the four women, Concubine Zheng and Concubine Yang are the most beautiful, followed by Concubine Xu, and then Concubine Zheng.

Concubine Yang and Concubine Zheng were both maids serving Queen Wang. Queen Wang wanted to use them to deal with Concubine Xiao Shufei, so she gave them the opportunity to get close to the emperor.

It’s a pity that the two women were useless. Even after they became pregnant with the prince, they still couldn’t defeat Concubine Xiao Shufei, so Queen Wang turned to Wu Meiniang.

After Queen Wang and Concubine Xiao were demoted to commoners, the two women were also implicated and demoted to the rank of concubines, the same level as Liu.

However, Concubine Zheng and Concubine Xu were not involved in the palace fighting and lived in peace.

So now these two are the only ones Li Zhi can find.

Xu Jieyushi was the younger sister of Li Shimin's concubine Xu Hui. Although she was not stunningly beautiful, she had excellent literary talent. She was calm by nature and was good at reciting poems and composing couplets. She could be considered a poetry friend of Wu Meiniang.

As for Concubine Zheng, she was Haraji's earliest concubine.

She was born into the Zheng family of Xingyang. She was gentle and virtuous, and was highly respected by Yuan Zhi. Unfortunately, she was in poor health and was always bedridden.

When Li Zhi was thinking about which of the two people to look for, Zhang Duohai ran over like a ball.

"Everyone, Her Majesty the Queen has sent me to inform you that Concubine Zheng is seriously ill and wants to see you." Zhang Duohai said breathlessly.

Li Zhi frowned. Although Concubine Zheng was in poor health, she had been under the care of the imperial physician. How could her condition suddenly worsen?

Wang Fusheng suddenly said, "Everyone, the Imperial Concubine's illness came on suddenly. Just to be on the safe side, why don't you let me go and see her first?"

"Forget it, I'd better go and take a look myself." Li Zhi shook his head.

Concubine Zheng's palace is very remote, located further west of Xihai Lake. It can only be seen by passing a large area of ​​osmanthus trees.

This hall is called Xunfeng Hall. It was originally an attic in the palace for appreciating osmanthus flowers, and was later expanded into a palace.

Li Zhi strode into Xunfeng Hall. As soon as he turned into the inner room, he heard a scream. "Ahhhh!"

"Sister, please bear with it. Everyone and the imperial physician will be here soon." Another soft voice comforted.

Li Zhi looked into the room and saw a haggard woman lying on the couch, holding her stomach with a look of pain on her face.

Beside the bed stood another woman in palace dress, with a gentle complexion and pretty features. She was another concubine of Li Zhi, Concubine Xu.

When the eunuchs saw Li Zhi coming in, they all greeted him. Only then did Concubine Xu notice that the emperor had arrived and performed standard court etiquette.

"I greet you all."

Concubine Zheng also struggled to get up. Li Zhi quickly walked over and supported her. "You are so sick, there is no need to be polite."

Concubine Zheng's face flushed red, and she said in a trembling voice, "Everyone, I am in unbearable pain and cannot complete the ceremony. I hope you will forgive me."

Li Zhi sighed and said, "Stop talking nonsense. Lie down and rest. I will summon the imperial physician to see you immediately."

Concubine Xu said softly, "Everyone, Her Royal Highness the Queen has gone to call for the imperial physician, who should be here soon."

Li Zhi nodded and said, "My Lady, what happened to you? Why are you suddenly in so much pain?"

Concubine Zheng bit her lip and whispered, "I don't know either."

Li Zhi frowned, and it was not like he didn't know, but rather he didn't want to say it, or he didn't dare to say it.

Could it be related to the palace fighting again? Just then, the eunuch came to report that the imperial physician from the Shang Pharmacy had arrived.

The palace medical department of the Tang Dynasty was composed of two departments: one was the Imperial Medical Bureau under the Taichang Temple, and the other was the Shangyao Bureau under the Palace Province.

The Shang Pharmacy was dedicated to treating the royal family, and all staff in the bureau were respectfully titled imperial physicians.

The director of the Imperial Pharmacy was named Meng Shen, the 31st generation grandson of Mencius. At the age of thirty-something, he had become the chief imperial physician and was quite skilled in medicine.

Empress Wu went to invite Meng Shen in person, and he came in person. After entering the hall, he paid his respects to Li Zhi.

Li Zhi asked, "Didn't the Queen invite you? Where is she?"

Meng Shen replied, "Her Majesty the Queen and I came outside the palace together. When she heard that Your Majesty had arrived, she said, 'Now that Your Majesty is here, I can rest assured. I have other matters to attend to. I would like to ask Imperial Physician Meng to explain them to Your Majesty on my behalf.'"

After hearing this, Li Zhi was not surprised.

Ever since Wu Meiniang gave birth to two sons for Yuan Zhi, she became somewhat arrogant. Whenever she was wronged, she would hide from Yuan Zhi and wait for him to coax her.

Li Zhi didn't say much and immediately asked Meng Shen to treat Concubine Zheng.

Meng Shen placed a silk scarf on Concubine Zheng's jade-like wrist and took her pulse with his fingers.

He examined the patient for a moment, his expression becoming extremely solemn. He bowed to Li Zhi and said, "Your Majesty, I have a few words to say in private."

After hearing this, Concubine Zheng's face turned pale: "Everyone, can you accompany me for a while?"

Li Zhi's eyes moved between the two of them.

Meng Shen must have noticed something and wanted to report it privately, but Concubine Zheng stopped him, as if she didn't want Meng Shen to tell her what he had discovered.

Or maybe Concubine Zheng knew why she was like this, but didn't want the imperial physician to tell her, so she wanted to confess to him in person.

Li Zhi pondered for a moment, waved his hand, and ordered everyone to leave the inner room.

Seeing Concubine Zheng trembling all over, he felt quite pitiful. He held her in his arms and said, "Concubine, if you have any grievances, please tell me. I will take care of it for you."

Concubine Zheng stared at him blankly, her eyes slowly turning red: "Everyone, it's been a long time since you hugged me like this."

Li Zhi felt even more compassion for her when he heard her grievances. He smiled and said, "I will come to see you often and hug you like this often."

Concubine Zheng buried her head in his chest and sobbed. Her tears flowed like a dam bursting, soaking Li Zhi's chest.

Li Zhi sighed secretly, wondering what injustice this woman had suffered that made her cry like this.

"My dear, I have made a big mistake. Can you forgive me?" Concubine Zheng asked with sobs.

Li Zhi patted her shoulder and said, "As long as it's not something that harms the world, I won't blame you."

Concubine Zheng raised her head, her face as tearful as a pear blossom in the rain, and said intermittently: "Everyone, I, I lied to you... Actually... I got sick... myself..."

Li Zhi was slightly surprised: "Why do you do this?"

Concubine Zheng's tears started to flow again. She said, "Everyone, are you angry?"

Li Zhi laughed and said, "You hurt yourself. I'm just heartbroken, how could I be angry? I'm just a little confused as to why you did this."

Concubine Zheng held Li Zhi's arm and said quietly, "Everyone, I did this to avenge the Xiao family."

Li Zhi frowned and asked, "Revenge her?"

Concubine Zheng lowered her head and said, "I heard that you released the two little princesses. I was worried that you would restore your position as Concubine Xiao, so I resorted to this desperate measure."

Li Zhi said, "I still don't understand. Even if you want to take revenge on the Xiao family, what's the point of falling ill?"

Concubine Zheng hesitated and said, "If the imperial physician had reported to you alone just now, he would probably have said that I had consumed a large amount of saffron and had dysentery. If I had consumed foods that were too cold, I would have suffered from the abdominal pain I am experiencing now."

Li Zhi's face changed and he asked, "Have you ever taken saffron?"

Concubine Zheng nodded, and suddenly there was a lot of sweat on her forehead. She had been trying to endure the pain just now, but now she seemed to be unable to bear it anymore.

"Yes, yes, I, I..."

"Alright, stop talking for now." Li Zhi raised his hand to interrupt and shouted, "Imperial Physician Meng, please come in and see the imperial concubine."

Meng Shen, Concubine Xu and others walked in together. Meng Shen took the pulse again and said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, I need to give the imperial concubine acupuncture immediately."

Li Zhi stood up and said, "Alright, hurry up and treat the imperial concubine. I'll be waiting outside."

(End of this chapter)