In the gloomy and dark prison, Wu Chengsi sat cross-legged on the ground, frowning, still thinking about the cause of the woman's death.
According to Wu Chengsi's memory, the woman was originally a nun who taught and practiced in Baiyun Temple. Later, she hooked up with Wu Chengsi, and the two arranged a tryst in the Buddhist hall.
Wu Chengsi was a man who was good at maintaining his personal image. He expressed to the outside world that he did not care for beauty and was dedicated to serving the country and the people. His fiancée was the most famous beauty in Chang'an City, but he had never married, and he had never taken a concubine.
For this reason, his reputation in the court was better than that of his cousin Wu Sansi and cousin Helan Minzhi. Both of them were out-and-out lustful ghosts, and Helan Minzhi was even more so.
All the prince's fiancées were raped.
But in fact, Wu Chengsi also loved beauty, but he loved power more. Not long ago, he accidentally discovered this woman in Baiyun Temple. Seeing her beauty, he struck up a conversation with her.
After the woman learned his identity, she greeted him with clever words, and the two hit it off.
Today was the third time that Wu Chengsi came to Baiyun Temple to have a tryst with this woman. However, as soon as he entered the Buddhist hall, he suddenly fainted. When he woke up, his soul was replaced by Wu Chengsi.
Recalling everything he saw in the Buddhist hall, Wu Chengsi used his strong reasoning ability gained from reading mystery novels for many years. After half an hour of careful analysis, he cleverly obtained the truth!
That woman committed suicide, there is no second possibility!
Thinking of this, he breathed a long sigh of relief, walked to the cell door, took a deep breath, and yelled: "Let me out quickly! I was wronged!"
If others yelled like this, the jailers would have served him with sticks in the morning. Wu Chengsi had a different status after all, so the jailers could only pretend not to hear and continue chatting and drinking.
At this moment, a burst of dense and staggered footsteps sounded. Wu Chengsi thought that he had succeeded in shouting, so he closed his mouth and looked towards the cell passage.
I saw more than a dozen men wearing red and black armor walking towards this side. The ones leading the way were the prison chief of Dali Temple and the chief registrar of Dali Temple.
"General, Duke Zhou is imprisoned here." After arriving outside the prison door, the chief clerk said to a military general with a big beard.
"Why don't you open the cell door yet?" the bearded general's voice sounded like a bell.
The jailer responded and ordered the jailer to unlock the door. The bearded man cupped his hands to Wu Chengsi and said: "Dong Zhou, the queen concubines you to see me."
A sudden thought occurred in Wu Chengsi's heart. He was going to see the Queen so soon, and he was really a little nervous. Fortunately, he was settled in the body of Wu Zetian's nephew, so he probably wouldn't see her violent and cold side.
After leaving the prison of Dali Temple, Wu Chengsi rode a carriage towards the imperial city under the escort of Qianniu Guards.
Through the car curtain, he finally had time to take a look at the humanistic features of the Tang Dynasty.
He saw people coming and going and busy traffic on the street. However, what surprised him was that there were no restaurants or shops on both sides of the street, only high walls.
What was even more surprising was that the street was over a hundred meters wide, several times wider than the streets of later generations. This was not only beyond his imagination, but also completely different from the ancient scenes seen on TV!
He hurriedly recalled Wu Chengsi's memory and looked through it, and couldn't help but sigh.
The craftsmen who designed Chang'an City definitely have obsessive-compulsive disorder!
The entire Chang'an City is designed as a square with a mesh structure, with fourteen streets running east to west and eleven streets running north and south, dividing Chang'an City into 108 miles.
Each lane is rectangular, with a door on each side, like a mini town with inns, restaurants, and shops.
There were two cities in the east and west, respectively called "Datang West Market" and "Datang East Market". During this period, they were equivalent to international commercial centers, gathering rare treasures from all over the world.
Many foreigners come to Chang'an City to buy things that they cannot buy at home. Among them, the West Market gathers businessmen from Kucha, Shule, Gaochang, Tubo and other Western Region countries. The East Market gathers Goryeo, Silla, and Japan.
Businessmen from Khitan and other Liaodong countries.
There was no problem for the cavalry to run on such a wide street, and the horse-drawn carriages passed naturally unimpeded and ran as fast as flying. Not long after, Wu Chengsi arrived outside the Zhuque Gate. Inside the gate was the imperial city, where most of the government offices, ancestral temples and inner court institutions were gathered.
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Entering the imperial city through Zhuque Gate, and exiting the imperial city through Dong'an Gate. Not long after, the carriage stopped outside a huge palace gate.
At the signal of the bearded general, Wu Chengsi got off the carriage and looked up, only to see three characters "Danfeng Gate" carved on the city gate.
Wu Chengsi was shocked. Although this Danfeng Gate, which is more than 70 meters long and 40 meters wide, is not as famous as the Xuanwu Gate, it is the largest gate in Chinese history!
The palace behind Danfeng Gate is the largest palace city in history, Daming Palace!
The area of one Daming Palace is equivalent to four Forbidden City. Moreover, Daming Palace is only a part of the Imperial Palace of the Tang Dynasty and belongs to Dongnei.
To the left of the Daming Palace and to the north of the Imperial City, there is a smaller palace called Taiji Palace, also known as Xinei.
After passing through the Danfeng Gate and walking along the royal road for more than 200 meters, there is a three-pronged palace in front of it, called Hanyuan Hall, also known as "Outer Court". It is generally only used for major celebrations.
To the north of the Hanyuan Hall is the Xuanzheng Hall, known as the "Chinese Dynasty". Before Emperor Li Zhi became seriously ill, he would listen to government affairs in this hall. However, he has now moved to the Jinluan Courtyard in the harem and rarely interferes with court affairs.
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On both sides of the Xuanzheng Hall are the Menxia Province, Zhongshu Province, Hongwen Hall, Hanlin Academy and other official offices. These yamen belong to the secretarial department, so they are located within the palace city.
The place where Queen Wu Mei handles government affairs is more than 200 meters north of Xuanzheng Hall, called Zichen Hall, also known as "Inner Dynasty".
Originally, the Zichen Hall was the place where Emperor Li Zhi handled daily affairs. When officials met the emperor here, they were called "entering the cabinet", which was a great honor.
Now, Li Zhi has left all these complicated government affairs to his wife, while he hides in Jinluan Villa to recuperate.
In addition, the Prince's East Palace is located in the Taiji Palace and is also responsible for handling some court affairs.
When Wu Chengsi was walking in the corridor of Zichen Palace, he saw a group of Qianniu Guards escorting a famous man in front of him, walking towards him.
This man is none other than Di Renjie, the man who arrested him and put him in jail!
After seeing Wu Chengsi, Di Renjie's eyes almost burst into flames as he stared at him.
Wu Chengsi waved his hand and said, "Mr. Di Ge, you misunderstood. In fact, I didn't kill that person."
Di Renjie ignored his strange address and stared at him without saying a word until he was escorted away by the Qianniu Guards.
…
Half an hour ago, Di Renjie arrived at the Zichen Palace first and met Queen Wu Mei in the palace.
As a small minister of Dali Temple, Di Renjie was personally received by the empress for the first time. Faced with the empress who controlled the government, he was not afraid and told everything he saw in Baiyun Nunnery.
"...The Queen, every word I say has been witnessed by my own eyes, and there is absolutely no lie. Please give me your holy judgment!"
On the throne platform, Wu Mei was wearing a yellow silk palace dress and a phoenix crown on her head. She had a gorgeous appearance. Although she was in her forties, she looked like she was only in her thirties because of her well-maintained appearance.
"Di Qing, I have heard Zhuge Sanyuan mention you several times, saying that you are good at solving unjust cases and have a good reputation among the people." Wu Mei said while flipping through the memorial.
Di Renjie was slightly stunned, wondering why the queen suddenly mentioned this.
"I just fulfilled my duties, I don't dare to praise you like a queen."
"This is the report reported by the imperial envoy. Yangzhou officials colluded with the gentry to seize people's land. You can investigate this case on my behalf." Wu Mei handed a memorial to the female officer next to her. After the female officer took it, she handed it to
To Di Renjie.
Di Renjie's expression changed slightly and he said: "But I am currently dealing with Duke Zhou..."
"You can put your case aside and I will let someone else handle it for you."
"But……"
"Farming is the foundation of the country, and the foundation is solid, and the country is peaceful. Which one is lighter and which is more important? Do you still need me to teach you?" Wu Mei raised her voice a little higher. Although her voice was pleasant, it was inherently majestic.
It was so high that everyone who heard it was frightened.
But Di Renjie remained calm and argued: "My Majesty, this case is about to be investigated. I'm afraid I won't be distracted from handling other cases. Please send someone else to do it!"
"Di Qing, are you going to disobey my will?" Wu Meifeng raised her eyes and stared at Di Renjie.
Di Renjie took a deep breath and said loudly: "I have always respected the empress and would never dare to disobey her will. However, what Duke Zhou did is outrageous. If I cannot bring him to justice, where is the justice in the world? The court
Where does the law exist?”
"Bold Di Renjie, how dare you speak to the empress in such a tone?" the female official next to Wu Mei scolded.
Wu Mei raised her hand to signal the female officer to shut up, and asked: "What on earth did he do to make you so angry? Come and listen to me."
Di Renjie took out a piece of complaint paper from his sleeve, raised his hands in the air and said, "Your Majesty, you will know at a glance."
Wu Mei glanced at the female officer next to her, who stepped forward to take the paper and handed it to her. After reading all the contents on the paper, Wu Mei's hands trembled, but she quickly regained her composure.
"Di Qing, you have solved many unjust and wrongful cases over the years and have made great contributions. I have decided to promote you to the rank of Shaoqing of Dali Temple. As for this case, let the people from the Criminal Department be responsible for it, okay?" Wu Mei said gently.
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"I beg your pardon that I cannot accept this case..."
"How outrageous!" Wu Mei stood up and shouted angrily: "Someone, take Di Renjie to prison."
She turned against her so quickly that Di Renjie was frightened, but he did not ask for mercy and allowed the guards to take him away.
"Your Majesty, Duke Zhou has arrived outside the palace." The female official said in a low voice.
Wu Mei propped one elbow on the dragon table, gently rubbed her forehead with her fist, closed her eyes and said nothing.
After a moment, she waved her hand and said: "Put him back in prison, and then go to the Minister of the Ministry of Punishment... no... to have an audience with the minister of Dali Temple."