Chapter 82 I beg Your Majesty to take back this statement
The lights in the Purple Palace were brightly on. Shangguan Wan'er stood solemnly at the bottom of the stairs, reporting to Wu Zetian that Xu Shide knew about the incident but did not report it.

"Your Majesty, according to Zhao Ji's statement, Xu Shide entered the Chongwen Pavilion of the Eastern Palace a year ago as a proofreader, but he did not pay attention to the case of the crown prince and Li Gui. Instead, he made friends with Wu Xiaojie, a scholar of the Chongwen Pavilion. He felt that there seemed to be something wrong."

Shangguan Wan'er was also a non-stick pan. She only said "it was stated" and "he felt" without mentioning herself at all.

Wu Zetian put down the red brush in her hand and chuckled, "Oh? It seems that this Zhao Ji is still capable. He really has some of Di Huaiying's true teachings."

The Queen seemed to have known about Xu Shide and was not surprised.

Shangguan Wan'er was surprised to see Wu Zetian's reaction.

According to her expectations, Wu Zetian should be furious, or at least suspect Xu Shide, but the empress's attitude was surprisingly calm.

Wu Zetian's subsequent words revealed the reason:

"Xu Shide reported this to me yesterday. He suspected that Wu Xiaojie had a connection with the King of Yue. His original intention was to follow the clues and find out the relationship between Li Xian and the King of Yue's traitorous son Kui Gui. The result will be known soon."

Shangguan Wan'er was surprised again when she heard this. She never expected that she would be caught behind. She regretted not meeting Zhao Ji two days earlier.

She took a deep breath, calmed herself down, and then asked, "Since the inner guards have a plan, I wonder how Zhao Ji should be ordered to act. Your Majesty, please let me know."

Wu Zetian hesitated for a moment and asked, "Where is Zhao Ji now?"

"I'm waiting for your order outside the palace." Shangguan Wan'er replied.

"Go and call him in." Wu Zetian ordered.

Afterwards, Shangguan Wan'er brought Zhao Ji in from outside the hall, and Zhao Ji bowed to the ground.

Wu Zetian waved her hand, and the palace servants immediately understood and left the hall, leaving Shangguan Wan'er alone.

When Zhao Ji saw this situation, his eyelids twitched and he had a bad feeling in his heart.

"Stand up." Wu Zetian raised her hand to signal Zhao Ji to stand up.

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

When Zhao Ji stood up, he glanced at Wu Zetian and found that she was staring at him, so he quickly lowered his head again.

Wu Zetian's words seemed to carry a chill from the Ninth Heaven: "On the day you took office as the Eastern Palace, Di Renjie went to see you specially. What did he say?"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Ji suddenly broke out in a cold sweat.

He tensed up and said, "Your Majesty, Lord Di went to see His Royal Highness the Crown Prince that day, and I just happened to meet him."

"Quibbling! Someone saw you walking with Di Renjie for several moments, how do you explain it?" Wu Zetian said angrily.

Zhao Ji knelt down hurriedly and defended himself repeatedly: "Your Majesty, please forgive me. It has been several months and I cannot remember the specific words. But Lord Di told me to do my best to assist the prince. In addition, Lord Di guessed that it was Your Majesty's will that I was transferred to the East Palace."

Wu Zetian hesitated for a moment after hearing what Zhao Ji said, and then shouted: "Then you can tell Di Renjie what I have given you, right?"

"Your Majesty, it's unfair! Even if I had ten thousand guts, I would not dare to do so. I have never revealed a single word to Lord Di." Zhao Ji hurriedly defended himself.

These were all true. Seeing that Zhao was fairly honest, Wu Zetian did not make things difficult for him.

"Humph, I don't think you dare." Wu Zetian's tone calmed down, "Get up."

Zhao Jichang felt relieved. He wiped the cold sweat from his head, stood up and stood respectfully.

When Shangguan Wan'er saw Wu Zetian questioning Zhao Ji in this way, she was really worried for him.

However, Wu Zetian's questioning was not over yet: "You have been in the East Palace for so long, have you found out any connection between the Crown Prince and the King of Yue and his son?"

"Your Majesty, I am incompetent and have not been able to find any connection between the prince and the rebellion." Zhao Ji replied with his head down.

When Wu Zetian heard this, her expression changed again, and she asked sternly, "Did they not find out, or were you instructed by Di Renjie to cover up for the prince?"

When Zhao Ji heard this question, his face suddenly turned pale.

However, he immediately showed a look of deep sorrow and prostrated himself on the ground again.

He looked up at Wu Zetian and said bitterly, "Your Majesty! I was personally promoted to the Right Thousand Oxen Guard when Your Majesty reviewed the troops in Nanyuan on April 12, the first year of Shengli. Since then, I have been serving Your Majesty for more than three years."

"I am only 23 years old, with dull talent and insignificant achievements. But now I have been promoted to the right hand of the emperor, and promoted to the general of the prince's palace. I have been promoted more than ten levels in a few months. This is all due to your majesty's grace. I can't repay you even if I die!" "And Di Renjie has only been reinstated for a few months, and I have only known Di Renjie for a few months, and we have only been together for a few dozen days. Why do you say that I was instructed by him to cover up for the prince?"

"If a king is not discreet, he will lose his subjects. Your Majesty, what you just said is not the way a king should talk about his subjects. I beg Your Majesty to take it back."

After saying this, Zhao Ji bowed all the way.

Shangguan Wan'er, who was listening, was horrified and stood still with her cherry-like mouth slightly open and eyes full of disbelief.

She seemed to be hallucinating, and the person standing below the stairs did not seem to be a young and promising general, but an old bureaucrat who had been up and down in the officialdom for many years.

Wu Zetian saw Shangguan Wan'er's reaction and turned around to ask, "Are you impressed?"

Shangguan Wan'er quickly lowered her head and pretended to be dead, not daring to answer.

Wu Zetian turned her gaze back to Zhao Ji, and said in amazement, "What a sharp tongue you have! It's a pity that you don't go to Zuo Su Zheng Tai to be an imperial censor."

"I am deeply terrified." Zhao Ji apologized again.

Seeing Zhao Ji still kneeling, Wu Zetian said gently, "Stand up and answer."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Zhao Ji stood up again.

Seeing that Wu Zetian's attitude had changed, Zhao continued to talk about the prince: "Your Majesty, I have just asked you whether the prince has any relationship with the King of Yue and his son. I have not verified the facts. If I have lied, I would rather die."

Wu Zetian asked again, but her tone was much gentler: "But Wan'er just said that you suspected Xu Shide of making friends with Wu Xiaojie, so you knew that Wu Xiaojie was an old colleague of the King of Yue. Why did you say that you were unable to find out the connection between the Crown Prince and the King of Yue and his son?"

Zhao Ji replied: "Your Majesty, I have not yet discovered the identity of Wu Xiaojie, the former colleague of the King of Yue. I only guessed that his identity was unusual. The reason why I suspected him was because of Xu Shide."

"Xu Shide is the head of the Inner Guards. He has been in the Eastern Palace for a year, but he has not been doing his job. He has been trying to make friends with Wu Xiaojie. This shows that Xu Shide already knew Wu Xiaojie's identity. If he intended to follow the clues, why has there been no progress in a year? It is really suspicious."

"That's right." Wu Zetian narrowed her eyes slightly, a hint of thought flashing across her face.

Zhao Ji continued, "I dare not deceive your majesty. To be fair, the scholars of Chongwenguan are appointed by the court, and the prince cannot influence them. Even if it is confirmed that Wu Xiaojie is indeed an old colleague of the King of Yue, it can only mean that Wu Xiaojie is secretly lurking in the East Palace and harboring evil intentions. It cannot mean that the prince has any connection with the King of Yue and his son."

After Zhao Ji finished speaking, he secretly glanced at Wu Zetian and saw that the empress was lost in thought.

After a moment, Wu Zetian looked heavy-hearted and nodded: "Alas, what you said makes sense."

Wu Zetian changed the subject and asked Zhao Ji another question: "Mr. Zhao, do you know who your words and actions today reminded me of?"

Zhao Ji bowed his head and replied: "I am stupid and don't know what your majesty means."

"Every word and action you took today was very much like Di Huaiying," Wu Zetian said with a smile.

His words were sharp and logical, and when he spoke to the prince at the end, there was some of that flavor.

Zhao Ji was stunned again when he heard this, but he had just taken the elective course "Psychology of Wu Zetian" with Di Pangpang. He didn't learn anything else, but he knew that when the empress was angry, she would say Di Renjie and the old thief. Speaking of Di Huaiying here, he was probably in a good mood.

"How dare I be compared with Di Gong." Zhao Ji also changed the way he addressed Di Renjie back to Di Gong.

Wu Zetian paid no attention to Zhao Ji's humble words and continued, "How could I not know Di Huaiying? His talents and character are incomparable to ordinary people. How could you not be impressed by him even if you stayed with him for more than ten days, let alone dozens of days? It's a good thing that you can make some progress by following him."

For some reason, Wu Zetian seemed proud of this.

"There are countless civil and military officials in the court who have been recommended by Di Renjie and have served as his subordinates. Should I not employ any of them? If everyone is like Di Huaiying, I will feel relieved." Wu Zetian continued to talk to herself.

Zhao Ji originally wanted to follow the emperor's lead and praise Di Renjie again, but after thinking it over carefully, he held back.

Enough of words today. Wu Zetian praised Di Renjie as much as she wanted, but she herself could not say anything else.

Wu Zetian continued, "However, upon closer inspection, what you said about Xu Shide is indeed somewhat suspicious. You should continue to keep an eye on him and see what he is planning behind the scenes. If you find out, I will reward you handsomely."

"We can't relax on the Crown Prince either. I only hope that Mr. Zhao can be as impartial and just as he was today. I just want to know whether the Crown Prince has any connection with the King of Yue and his son."

"I will do my best to live up to your majesty's trust." Zhao Ji responded respectfully.

"Okay, I'm tired, you can leave." Wu Zetian waved her hand.

The stone in Zhao Ji's heart finally fell to the ground. He let out a long sigh and slowly walked out of the hall.

(End of this chapter)