Tang Dynasty, my wife Wu Zetian

Chapter 515 The Sacred Heart is Unfathomable

After leaving the palace, Pei Xingjian still felt somewhat bewildered.

He originally thought the emperor would never use him again, but then the emperor entrusted him with an important task.

This shows that his previous guesses with Kuddi were completely wrong; the emperor's thoughts were truly unfathomable.

He shook his head, unwilling to think about it any further. Rather than trying to figure out what the emperor was thinking, he decided to do the job assigned to him well.

After he was appointed Protector-General of Yingzhou, the emperor discussed the detailed plan with him.

This plan suited his taste perfectly; it was essentially a scheme to sow discord between Silla and the Mohe, causing the two countries to fight, so that the Tang Dynasty would have a chance to intervene.

Li Zhi's plan was only a general direction: to use the Mohe's return of the Eight-Order Prefecture to provoke conflict between the two countries.

Pei Xingjian needs to come up with a specific implementation plan himself.

This was not difficult for Pei Xingjian; when he returned home, he had already come up with three plans.

Kudi had been waiting in the main hall. When Pei Xingjian returned, she went forward to help him change his clothes while asking, "What does His Majesty want with you in the palace?"

Pei Xingjian glanced at her and said, "His Majesty has appointed me as the Protector-General of Yingzhou."

"Is...it true?" Kudi's eyes widened.

Pei Xingjian said calmly, "Of course, His Majesty's thoughts are beyond our comprehension."

Kudi frowned and pondered for a moment before asking, "Does Her Majesty the Empress know about this?"

Pei Xingjian shook his head and said, "Then I don't know."

Kudi said, "Then I will go to the palace and tell Her Majesty the Empress about this matter, and see her reaction. Only if she agrees can I be at ease."

"Whatever you want," Pei Xingjian waved his hand.

He is now focused on completing the new plan the emperor has given him and is less concerned about the empress's thoughts.

Kudi was granted the title of Lady Huayang and had the right to enter the palace for an audience. She immediately went to the Lizheng Hall to pay her respects to Wu Meiniang.

When she mentioned that Pei Xingjian had been appointed Protector-General of Yingzhou by the Emperor, she noticed a momentary unease on Empress Wu's face, indicating that the Empress was unaware of the situation.

Wu Meiniang made no attempt to hide anything and asked, "Why did His Majesty suddenly appoint Duke Pei as the Protector-General of Yingzhou? Do you know the reason?"

Kudi shook her head and said, "I don't know either."

Wu Meiniang nodded, her face no longer showing any unusual expression, and smiled at her, saying, "In a few days, it will be the end of the year. There will be a palace banquet. You should come along."

Kudi smiled and said, "Thank you for your kindness, Your Highness."

A fine sheet of Xuan paper was crumpled into a ball and thrown on the ground, where it bumped into another ball of paper.

This was the eleventh crumpled piece of paper that Wu Zetian had thrown away.

After Kudi took his leave, she began to practice simplified Chinese characters, but she was clearly somewhat distracted and was not very satisfied with her writing.

Zhang Duohai stood motionless, knowing that picking up the crumpled paper at this moment would incur the Empress's wrath.

Another crumpled piece of paper was thrown into the air, rolling all the way to the doorway, where a hand picked it up.

Wu Meiniang's phoenix eyebrows furrowed, and she was about to lash out, but when she looked up, she saw that the person who came was wearing a bright yellow round robe and a black cloak. It was Li Zhi.

"Your Majesty," Wu Meiniang greeted.

Li Zhi unfolded the crumpled paper, glanced at it, and laughed, "Meiniang, these words are written quite well, why did you throw them away?"

Wu Zetian remained silent.

Li Zhi pulled her to sit down on the couch and asked, "What's wrong? Are you in a bad mood?"

Wu Meiniang looked up at Li Zhi and asked, "Is Your Majesty going to appoint Pei Xingjian as the Protector-General of Yingzhou?"

Li Zhi nodded: "Yes."

Wu Meiniang said, "Liu Renyuan was doing a good job as the Protector-General of Yingzhou and did nothing wrong. Why did Your Majesty suddenly replace him with Pei Xingjian?"

Li Zhi waved his hand to dismiss the servants before slowly speaking: "Because Liu Renyuan had received favors from Zuo Rong and was not good at strategy, I had Pei Xingjian replace him."

Wu Meiniang was incredibly intelligent, and she immediately understood the unspoken meaning in Li Zhi's words.

"Your Majesty wishes to take the Mohe?"

“Yes, Yingzhou Island is a mining island of our Great Tang Dynasty. How can we allow the Mohe people to occupy half of it?” Li Zhixuan raised an eyebrow.

Wu Meiniang said, "Then Your Majesty could also send Xue Rengui."

Li Zhi glanced at her helplessly and said, "Meiniang, didn't you say you had already let go of Pei Xingjian's past actions? Why are you still targeting him?"

Wu Meiniang turned her head away and said in a low voice, "I can let bygones be bygones, but I must vent my anger about what happened back then. I just taught him a lesson, and His Majesty entrusted him with an important task. Where do you expect me to put my face?"

Li Zhi laughed and said, "So, you encouraged me to grant him this marriage just to teach him a lesson?"

Wu Zetian acquiesced.

Li Zhi said helplessly, "Now that the marriage has been arranged, you've had your revenge, so please let him go, okay?"

Wu Meiniang glanced at Li Zhi and said, "Your Majesty has already said so much, if I still disagree, it would be unreasonable. However, there is one thing I don't understand, and I hope Your Majesty can answer it."

"Okay, you ask."

Wu Meiniang opened her narrow phoenix eyes and stared intently at Li Zhi, saying, "When I asked Yuan Gongyu to impeach Pei Xingjian back then, why did Your Majesty protect him?"

"Is that all you wanted to ask?" Li Zhi was taken aback.

Wu Meiniang said, "Yes, I just can't understand this matter."

Li Zhi immediately looked troubled. At that time, he had no interaction with Pei Xingjian, so it was really hard to justify suddenly giving him an important position.

I never expected that even after so much time has passed, Wu Zetian would still remember it so fondly.

"Your Majesty, can't you tell me?" Wu Meiniang asked with a resentful expression.

Li Zhi's heart stirred, and he said, "It's not that I don't want to tell you, it's that I'm afraid you'll be unhappy."

Wu Meiniang said, "As long as Your Majesty is willing to tell me, no matter what the reason is, I promise I will not be angry."

Li Zhi touched his nose and said, "Because Consort Xiao once mentioned Pei Xingjian to me and praised him highly, I sent someone to investigate him and found that he was indeed a good person."

Wu Meiniang said, "Is that all?"

“That’s how it is.” Li Zhi spread his hands and said, “At that time, we needed talented people, so I wanted to give him a chance to see if he was a talent or a mediocre one.”

Wu Meiniang couldn't help but snort, saying, "His Majesty really listens to what Consort Xiao says without question."

Li Zhi said, "Look, you said you weren't angry, but now you're angry again."

Wu Meiniang didn't argue, but smiled slightly and got up to help Li Zhi make honey wine.

……

After returning to the Pei residence, Kudi went to the study and saw Pei Xingjian writing something behind the desk. She went over to take a look, but Pei Xingjian covered the paper.

"What? I'm your wife, and you won't let me see it?" Kudi said discontentedly. Pei Xingjian said seriously, "This is official court business; it's better if you don't look."

Kudi said, "If I don't want to see it, I don't want to see it. I just went to see Her Majesty the Queen."

"Hmm, what did she say?" Pei Xingjian asked.

Kudi said, "She doesn't seem to know, so don't be too happy yet. If she goes to His Majesty to speak, you might lose your position as Protector-General of Yingzhou again."

Pei Xingjian smiled calmly: "No."

"how do you know?"

"Because His Majesty is going to do something that even the Empress cannot stop him."

Kudi thought it made sense, so she didn't argue with him and said softly, "So we're going to Yingzhou Island next month?"

Pei Xingjian asked in surprise, "Us?"

Kudi said, "Of course it's us. I'm your wife. If you're going, I'll naturally go too."

Pei Xingjian said irritably, "Nonsense! When Xue Rengui went out to fight, did you ever see him take his wife with him?"

Kudi laughed and said, "I don't care about anyone else, I'm definitely going with you. If you don't allow it, I'll wait for you to go first, and then I'll follow you."

Pei Xingjian rubbed his forehead helplessly and sighed, "Fine, whatever you want."

Kudi laughed and said, "Since I'm going with you anyway, I can't hide what you're going to do from you. You can show me now, right?"

He craned his head to look again.

Pei Xingjian still objected: "No way!"

Kudi stared at him for a while, then suddenly bit Pei Xingjian's ear. Pei Xingjian was in pain and quickly reached out to pry her head off.

As soon as he moved his hand away, Kudi glanced at the plan and laughed, "So it's a plan to deal with the Mohe people."

Pei Xingjian rubbed his ears and glared at her, saying, "You crazy woman!"

Kudi reached out and gently rubbed his skin, smiling as she said, "It's not my fault. Who told you not to show it to me?"

At this moment, the steward knocked on the door and came in, bowing and saying, "My lord, the Inner Guard Wang Jishan is requesting an audience and is waiting in the outer hall."

Pei Xingjian was startled and abruptly stood up, saying, "Please ask General Wang to wait in the main hall."

A short while later, Pei Xingjian arrived at the main hall, exchanged greetings with Wang Jishan, and cupped his hands, saying, "General Wang, what brings you here?"

Wang Jishan said, "I am acting on His Majesty's orders to do my utmost to assist Protector Pei in dealing with the Mohe. Recently, the Inner Guard discovered something that may be useful to Protector Pei."

"What is it?" Pei Xingjian asked.

Wang Jishan said, "As far as I know, Jin Renwen met with Fuyu Fuxin before leaving Chang'an."

"That Baekje man?"

"Yes, Buyeo Bok-shin once served the Silla people. It's not surprising that he met Kim In-moon by chance and exchanged a few words. However, according to my men's surveillance, Buyeo Bok-shin has shown two changes since meeting Kim In-moon."

"What two points?"

"First, he was originally quite dissatisfied with the court because of his low official rank, and he usually drowned his sorrows in alcohol and did not interact with many people. But after meeting Jin Renwen, he suddenly started visiting other people everywhere."

Pei Xingjian nodded: "Anything else?"

"He suddenly had a lot of money on him, the source of which was unknown."

Pei Xingjian smiled and said, "It seems this person has been bribed by Jin Renwen."

Wang Jishan said, "That's what I think too. Now that His Majesty has put Protector Pei in charge of this matter, I've come to ask Protector Pei for instructions."

Pei Xingjian quickly said, "General Wang, you are too kind. In my opinion, this person may still be useful in the future, so it is best to keep him for now."

Wang Jishan said, "Alright, then I'll just keep an eye on things without intervening. Oh, right, there's one more thing I need to tell Protector Pei."

"What's the matter?"

Wang Jishan then told them about the rumors spread by the Shiwei people that the Tang Dynasty was going to attack the Mohe.

Pei Xingjian frowned and said, "Why would the Shiwei people suddenly spread such rumors?"

Wang Jishan said, "His Majesty believes that the Mohe people are behind this, trying to test whether the court intends to attack the Mohe."

Pei Xingjian's heart stirred upon hearing this.

The moment the Mohe people started spreading rumors, the sage replaced the Protector-General of Yingzhou. This was probably done intentionally to show the Mohe people.

He couldn't immediately discern the deeper meaning behind the emperor's actions. There was nothing he could do about it; he had spent a long time in Anxi and lacked understanding of the Mohe and Silla peoples.

"General Wang, may I ask what the original Protector-General Liu's relationship was with the Mohe people?"

Wang Jishan said, "Liu Duhu has a very close relationship with the Mohe people."

Pei Xingjian closed his eyes and pondered for a while, then said to Wang Jishan, "General Wang, I have been staying in Anxi for a long time and am not familiar with the Mohe and Silla. Do you have any notes from the two countries?"

Wang Jishan said, "The Inner Guard has records from various countries. I will send someone to deliver the records from the Mohe and Silla later."

Pei Xingjian readily replied, "Thank you."

Honglu Temple, Mohe Inn.

Zuo Rong and Ye Bo both stared intently at Qi Si Bi Yu, who was deep in thought with his eyes closed.

Last night they received news that Liu Renyuan had been dismissed as Protector-General of Yingzhou and replaced by Pei Xingjian.

Although the Mohe people were not familiar with Pei Xingjian, they knew that he had defeated the Abbasid Caliphate and was one of the most outstanding generals of the Tang Dynasty.

They had just let the Shiwei people spread rumors when the Tang Dynasty replaced the Protector-General of Yingzhou. There must be some connection between these events.

After a long while, Qi Sibiyu opened his eyes and said in a deep voice, "There's no mistake, Your Highnesses, the Tang Dynasty is going to attack us."

Jo-yeong was startled and said, "Could it be that they are just deliberately intimidating us to make us return the land of Silla?"

Qi Sibiyu shook his head and said, "No, if it were just a deterrent, they would have dismissed Liu Renyuan and let Zhao Chiman succeed him as the protector. They wouldn't have specially sent Pei Xingjian to the Japanese island."

Ye Bo was furious and wanted to say something harsh, but he held back. Although he had only been in Chang'an for a few days, he had already grown a lot.

Zuo Rong remained silent for a long time, his expression changing several times, before finally revealing a resolute look.

"Yebo, return to the tribe immediately and tell your father about this. Tell him to prepare to deal with the Tang Dynasty and send envoys to form an alliance with the Shiwei and Silla."

Yebo was stunned and said, "It's fine to seek help from the Shiwei, but the Silla army is so weak, why would we want to form an alliance with them?"

Jo-yeong said in a deep voice, "To fight against the Tang Dynasty, we must unite all forces. Silla was forced by the Tang Dynasty to relocate to the Japanese islands, and they must also harbor resentment. They are precisely the ones we can win over!"

Ye Bo said, "Understood."

The next morning, Ye Bo, accompanied by two attendants, left Chang'an through Chunming Gate and headed back to the Mohe.

(End of this chapter)