Since Wu Mei was canonized as Zhaoyi, a three-legged trend has formed in the harem. In addition to wooing eunuchs and palace maids as eyes and ears, Wu Zhaoyi also began to take action to win over courtiers.

Wu Zhaoyi thought to herself: Doesn't Queen Wang have the support of her uncle and Taiwei? I'm going to have it too.

After asking for instructions and getting Li Zhi's approval, Wu Zhaoyi met with Wei Weiqing Xu Jingzong in the east chamber of the Liangyi Palace.

After the two sides saluted, Wu Zhaoyi said, "Master Xu, please take a seat." When Xu Jingzong heard the loud and pleasant voice, he couldn't believe his ears and asked, "Master?" The old minister dare not be! ”

Wu Zhaoyi smiled and said: "When I first entered the palace, I studied under Dr. Tangtai of the Inner Literature Museum, and Dr. Tangtai was a student of Mr. ”

Xu Jingzong breathed a sigh of relief, sat on the crescent stool and smiled: "I see, but the old minister still doesn't dare to be the title of master, but he can be called Mr!" ”

Wu Zhaoyi said: "Mr. Xu, Taizong once had an interesting conversation with you, do you remember?" ”

Xu Jingzong replied: "Spring rain is as precious as oil, nourishing all things, farmers love spring rain to moisten crops, but pedestrians hate spring rain muddy roads." The autumn moon is like a mirror, shining in all directions, talented and beautiful women love to play and enjoy poetry under the moon before the flowers, but robbers and thieves hate the brilliance of the autumn moon to hinder their actions. Therefore, it is difficult to reconcile the mouths, and people cannot avoid right and wrong! ”

Wu Zhaoyi nodded and praised, and said, "Well said." Mr. Xu is only eight years old, rich in five cars, and was in charge of Wenhan with Wei Zheng in Wagangzhai back then, but people have already become famous and drove to the west, but Mr. is always excluded and trampled, why? ”

Xu Jingzong said: "The old minister is stupid, and I ask my mother to guide me!" ”

Wu Zhaoyi said: "Wei Zheng is a mirror chosen by Taizong, and only one mirror is enough, this is Wei Zheng's luck!" Although the gentleman is also talented, he is not lucky. Mr. is His Majesty's former minister of the East Palace, and it is supposed to be prosperous, but the reality is very different from the dream, why? ”

Xu Jingzong said: "Please continue to advise." ”

Wu Zhaoyi said: "Because you are not from a famous family, you are informal, and you are not a person in a certain circle, so it is so." So how do you change that? ”

Xu Jingzong arched his hand and said: "The old minister listens!" ”

Wu Zhaoyi said: "Contact the Hanmen clan and break the monopoly of the Guanlong nobles on the government." ”

Xu Jingzong said happily: "Yes! Niangniang's words went to the heart of the old minister. ”

Wu Zhaoyi said: "Mr. Xu, in the future, we will work together to tide over the difficulties together!" ”

Xu Jingzong arched his hand: "However, there is a lady echoing in the inner court, and the old minister will definitely do his best to fight against the Guanlong nobles in the outer court." At the end of the meeting, Xu Jingzong slowly withdrew from the East Chamber.

Pan Changshou brought an incense plate, on which was placed a handful of Xiangfei bamboo and green silk folding fans and a gold leather belt, and said: "Zhaoyi's little heart, please also ask Mr. Xu to smile!" Xu Jingzong shirked a little, and then accepted it with a smile.

Li Tao is one of the twenty-four heroes of Lingyan Pavilion, after being canonized as a commonplace, Li Zhi ordered the master craftsman Yan Liben to re-paint him, and Li Zhi personally made the preface after the painting.

Wu Zhaoyi saw it next to her and asked to meet Li Tao, saying that Li Tao was her old friend and wanted to catch up with the old days. After Li Zhi asked the reason, he agreed with a smile.

Li Tao entered the East Chamber, sat on the crescent stool after saluting, and asked curiously: "I heard that Niangniang wants to catch up with the old minister, I don't know where this old one came from?" ”

Wu Zhaoyi replied with a smile behind the curtain: "In the summer of the ninth year of Zhenguan, where is Sikong, do you remember?" ”

Li Tao recalled for a while, patted his head and said: "Look at the old minister's forgetfulness, remember, could it be that Niangniang is the second daughter of the warrior Wuyue?" Wu Zhaoyi replied: "Exactly, Sikong has a good memory, and it can be understood at one point." ”

Li Tao said: "Oh, eighteen years have passed, and the chick of the year has become Zhaoyi Niangniang, the vicissitudes of life, as if a world away!" Wu Zhaoyi said: "I want to think about it back then, thank you Sikong for escorting my father's coffin to Wenshui County." ”

Li Tao replied with a smile: "The effort of raising your hands is not enough to worry about!" ”

Wu Zhaoyi clapped his hands, and Pan Changshi took out an incense plate, on which was placed a handful of ivory silk folding fans and a three-beam Jinxian crown made of new silk, and gave it to Li Tao.

Li Tao got up to excuse himself, and Wu Zhaoyi said with a smile: "Eighteen years ago, if there was no Sikong protection, how could our family arrive at Wenshui's hometown safe and sound?" This kind of fate is not shallow, please don't shirk it! ”

Li Tao had no choice but to accept it, Wu Zhaoyi asked him to try whether the hat was suitable, Li Tao put on the Sanliang Jinxian crown, and said in surprise: "It is just right, and the size of the old minister's hat and clothing also knows it?" ”

Wu Zhaoyi said: "Your Majesty regards Sikong as the Great Wall of the country, and recently personally wrote a preface to Sikong's portrait, which shows the weight of Your Majesty's responsibility!" I hope that Sikong will do his best to assist His Majesty to stabilize the country, think about what His Majesty thinks, and worry about His Majesty's worries! ”

Li Tao replied: "Thank you for your advice, the old minister dares not to be unsatisfied?" Then he slowly exited the Liangyi Palace.

Although Wu Zhaoyi only met with two courtiers, he was not too many soldiers, and these two courtiers played an important role in the later struggle.

Li Tao made a statement at the critical moment, and Xu Jingzong helped organize the six King Kongs of the pro-martial faction, which is a later story, and will not be pressed for the time being.

Let's say that Queen Wang and Concubine Xiao Shufei were bumped into by Li Zhi for punishing Wu Zhaoyi, and they were reprimanded, and they had to apologize to Wu Zhaoyi.

Wang and Xiao set up a banquet in the Baifu Palace, sang and danced, invited Wu Zhaoyi to come to drink and have fun, and then prepared to play some tricks at the banquet.

Wu Zhaoyi took Pan Changshi, Ah Hong, and Ah Zi to the banquet. Wu Zhaoyi knelt on the flower mat, and there was a sheep's head red agate cup on the incense table in front of him, and the same cup in front of Wang and Xiao, which was a treasure of tribute from the Western Regions.

Zhu'er holds the white porcelain wine poured into the wine, the wine note is engraved with a kingfisher, there is a hidden button under the bird's tail, the wine injection is divided into two layers, after pressing the button, the wine is injected into the upper layer of the wine, and the wine is not pressed down on the layer. Queen Wang poured poison *** into the upper layer in advance to melt, and this poison could not be tested with silver needles and ivory.

Zhu'er quietly pressed the button when she served wine to Wu Zhaoyi, but Su Changshi, who was standing on the side, had seen this white porcelain wine injection and was paying close attention to Zhu'er's movements. Pan Changshou took out a silver needle and put it into the agate cup, but it did not change color, indicating that the test was non-toxic, so he picked up the cup and prepared to taste it.

Su Changshou quietly stretched out his little finger to indicate that it was poisonous, and Pan Changshi saw it at a glance, so he put down the agate cup and stretched out his little finger by the way. Wu Zhaoyi lowered his eyebrows and saw it, immediately understood, and nodded.

At this time, Shang Shi led his subordinates to prepare to serve the food.

Wu Zhaoyi got up and walked to the palace and said to the queen: "Zhaoyi's concubine Wu said: Today is the Shangsi Festival, and drinking in the palace is too old-fashioned, and there is no fun, why not follow the ancient sages and sages to the Qingming Canal to bend the water and repair the purification?" ”

Queen Wang raised the agate cup and said, "Sister Zhaoyi, let's have a drink before we go." The day before yesterday, it was this palace that blamed you, this palace regretted it very much, reflected on itself, and asked my sister to forgive me, and this palace drank first as respect! ”

Wu Zhaoyi said: "The queen is slow, the queen punished the concubine for a reason, how dare the concubine complain?" Since the queen intends to release her suspicions, let's go outside to drink and write poems together, first, you can pray for blessings and eliminate disasters, and secondly, the sisters can also stretch their muscles and bones, and feel comfortable! ”

Queen Wang thought to herself: Just go, but you can't turn over the palm of the palace, so she agreed. Wu Zhaoyi secretly smeared the rouge on the agate cup to make a mark, and then handed it to Ah Zi. Everyone went to the West Sea Pool together.

A section of the Qingming Channel, which is injected into the West Sea Pool, is twisted and curved, forming a nine-curved ileum, which is just suitable for carrying out the activity of meandering water.

The concubines sat on the Yin seat, the palace maids and eunuchs stood behind, and Cui Curtain, Jin Zhi, and Ah Zi stood upstream of the Qingming Canal with a wooden case, and an agate cup was placed on the wooden case.

The musicians of the Taile Department play the silk and bamboo orchestra and beat the drum tee.

The green curtain was put first, and she carefully put the wooden case into the canal water, and the agate cup flowed downstream, not stopping in front of Wang and Xiao, but in front of Wu Zhaoyi.

When the queen saw it, she shouted in her heart that it was not good, she had been tricked! There is no way to accurately deliver that cup of poisonous wine to Zhaoyi now, and if it flows in front of him, it will not end well!

Wu Zhaoyi looked at it, there was no mark on the agate cup, picked it up and drank it with confidence, and then chanted a poem under the accompaniment of the silk and bamboo orchestra: "Sad and sad, you don't need to cry when you get married." I wish to have one heart, and the white head will not be separated. The bamboo pole is curling, and the fish tail is so curling! Men are heavy-minded, why use money knives? ”

Queen Wang said with a smile: "What a song "Baitou Yin", Zhuo Wenjun, a talented woman in the Western Han Dynasty, saved her love with Sima Xiangru with this poem!" ”

The drum struck three more links, Jin Zhi put it into the wooden case, and the agate cup flowed to the queen and stopped.

Zhu'er has been paying attention to the order of the cups, and whispered to Queen Wang: "Non-toxic, please feel free to drink it." Queen Wang whispered: "Change a white porcelain wine injection and use good wine, so as not to injure good people by mistake." ”

Queen Wang picked up the agate cup and tasted the spring storm wine, and chanted poetry while drinking: "The peach blossoms in the upper garden are bright, and the concubine Lan is in spring." Inoue Xintao steals his complexion, and the tender willow on the eaves is light. Come to see the dancing butterflies in the flowers, and listen to the warblers in the trees. Why should the forest be asked far away, and the outstanding romance is famous. ”

Everyone applauded. Beat the drum tee again, Ah Zi put it into the wooden case, and the agate cup flowed to Xiao Shufei's side and stopped. Concubine Xiao Shu was already trembling with anger, and secretly scolded the queen for being stupid, this glass of wine is obviously poisonous, how can she drink it? But everyone is watching, how can it be excused?

Concubine Xiao Shufei bent down and leaned down, her hands trembled, trembling slightly, she didn't reach the wine glass, but she pressed the wooden case and sank it, and the agate cup was also poured, and the wine spilled into the ditch.

Yu'er hurriedly came over and picked up the wooden case and wine glass, took it and changed it, and poured the wine again for Concubine Xiao Shufei. Queen Wang asked with concern, "Is my sister okay?" ”

Concubine Xiao Shufei felt her gaffe, and said with a smile, "It's okay." Then he took a sip of wine to suppress the shock, adjusted his breath, and chanted a poem under the accompaniment of music: "Evil! I want to know you and live a long life. There are no tombs in the mountains, the rivers are exhausted, the thunder and earthquakes in winter, the rain and snow in summer, the heaven and the earth are combined, and you dare to be with you! ”

This is the oath poem of the mountain league and the sea written by Xu Pingjun of the Western Han Dynasty to Liu Aiji, Wang and Wu were slightly shocked after hearing it, and they were very touched! Then, the next round of meandering water began until the joy was over.

Wu Zhaoyi told Li Zhi that the silver needle could not be tested, Li Zhi was shocked, and immediately sent someone to investigate the picking and preparation of herbs such as Chuanwu, Caowu, and aconite, and finally found that there was indeed *** sent to the Baifu Palace. Li Zhi asked Shang Yao to strengthen the monitoring of poisons under the orders of the imperial and imperial doctors, and at the same time trusted Wu Zhaoyi more.

Wang, Xiao and Wu fought for a few rounds, feeling deeply overwhelmed. Queen Wang said: "Your Majesty is partial to Wu Zhaoyi in her heart, it seems that we can't fight her on the table, we can only work hard in secret." ”

Concubine Xiao Shu said: "Whenever you want to do it, Your Majesty will suddenly appear and act as a messenger to protect the flowers, there must be a mole." The queen should pay more attention to her subordinates and insert more eyeliner into the Chengxiang Palace! ”

The weather was getting hotter, Wu Zhaoyi got up early to water the flowers, carrying a lotus canopy kettle, and watering the flowers in the flower garden in front of the hall. Water irises, roses, tulips, and begonia flowers first, and then large peonies.

While he was watering, a green branch suddenly popped out under the green leaves, almost touching his hand, which frightened Wu Zhaoyi to scream, took a few steps back, and the lotus pot also fell.

The green branch curled up again, bending and coiling, crawling and crawling.

Wu Zhaoyi took a closer look, and it turned out to be a green snake with a triangular head spitting out letters, obviously a poisonous snake. The little monkey came over and said, "This is called the Bamboo Leaf Green Snake, which is found in the Qinling Mountains, but I have never seen it in the palace." ”

The little monkey brought a pair of tongs, cleverly grabbed the bamboo leaf green snake, and put it in the bamboo basket to cover it. Wu Zhaoyi's face was gloomy, her delicate body trembled, and she had a premonition that the struggle was intensifying step by step, and there were more and more unknown dangers, and they were irreconcilable.

Wu Zhaoyi mobilized the palace maids and eunuchs to inspect and sort out all the flowers and trees inside and outside the Chengxiang Hall to see what poisons there were and remove them immediately.

At night, subordinates are required to be vigilant, supervise each other, and report anything abnormal immediately.

After a busy day, Wu Zhaoyi was tired and wanted to fall asleep on the bed, but she always felt restless, so she ordered Hongzhu to open the sheets and mattress to take a look.

After the red bead was uncovered, he suddenly screamed, it turned out that there were a lot of scorpions and centipedes densely gathered on the bed, and if people fell asleep tiredly, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Wu Zhaoyi was also startled, and understood that there was a traitor in Chengxiang Palace, so he had to mobilize the palace maids and eunuchs to check all the beds and banquets in Chengxiang Palace, and clean the corners and cracks of the wall once, until the lights were bright in the middle of the night, and he couldn't sleep.

The next day, Wang and Xiao met in the secret room, and the contact person Xiaoyue came to report: "I heard that Ye Ping and Xiao Xiong said that yesterday the Chengxiang Palace tossed for a day and a night, but Wu Zhaoyi was safe and sound. ”

Wang and Xiao looked at each other and said, "Our plan is very thorough, after such a big setback, we should always succeed once!" Could it be that Wu Zhaoyi has become an iron cloth shirt, and she can't help all kinds of poisons? ”

Xiaoyue said: "The iron cloth shirt must not have been practiced, Wu Zhaoyi's luck is good." The slave maid has a plan, which will definitely make Wu Zhaoyi take off a layer of skin even if he doesn't die. ”

Wang and Xiao were pleasantly surprised: "What scheme? If you can do it, you will be rewarded! ”

Xiaoyue wanted to speak and stopped, Queen Wang took out a string of pearls and gave it to Xiaoyue, Xiaoyue put it in her arms, and said with a smile: "The slave is a southerner, I know a Wuxi Dongxie Barbarian witch, who is good at witchcraft Gu disgust, and can use poisonous insects to make people fall into Gu, so that they die unknowingly!" ”

Wang and Xiao were overjoyed and said, "Where is the witch now?" You go and ask her to come to Jingshi to cast spells, money is not a problem! There will be a big reward after the deed! ”

Xiaoyue replied: "The witch is still in Wuxi, and the slave is willing to go and announce the order, and order her to leave immediately." The queen nodded in agreement, sent Xiaoyue out of the palace, and rode a carriage to the south to summon witches, escorted by guards along the way.

After walking for more than a month, Xiaoyue arrived at Wuxi and met Xie Jiangli, the witch of the Eastern Xie Man.

Xie Jiangli enjoys a high reputation in the Wuxi area, about forty years old, wearing a fine lace right shirt on the upper body, a pleated skirt on the bottom, a silver crown on his head, hollow silver earrings on his ears, a dignified appearance, and can sing and dance.

Xiaoyue read out the queen's order, and after Xie Jiang took the order, he said: "In the prosperous place of Beijing, I'm afraid it will be difficult to find poisonous insects, please allow the grass people to linger in this deep mountain and wild forest for a few days, collect centipedes, scorpions, toads and other poisonous insects to make a few jars of poisonous Gu before going on the road!" ”

After a few days, Xie Jiangli took the Three Altars of Poison Gu and Xiaoyue on the road together. When she arrived in Beijing, Empress Wang arranged Xie Jiangli to live in the mansion of the Lady of Wei, rewarded her with rich money, and ordered Xiaoyue and Yun Ying to follow Xie Jiangli to learn how to administer poison Gu.

After Xiaoyue and Yun Ying learned how to administer the poison Gu, they returned to the palace to teach the eyeliner Ye Ping and Xiao Xiong who were lurking in the Chengxiang Palace.

The method of using Gu is actually very simple, which is to put the excrement of the poisonous Gu into the enemy's meals and drinking water wells. The excrement contains insect eggs, which will grow when eaten in the stomach, and then the enemy will be slowly tossed to death by poisonous insects.

This method is not afraid of silver needle detection, nor is it afraid of slave tasting, so it is not easy to be discovered.

The management of Shang Shan Kitchen and Shang Chef who provided meals for the harem concubines was very strict, from procurement, selection, washing, to side dishes, seasonings, main meals, and offerings, all of which were supervised and inspected, and the history of supervising food was recorded.

When passing the meal, the eunuchs and palace maids walked in turn, supervising each other, and there was no chance of poisoning at all.

Therefore, Ye Ping and Xiao Xiong could only put Gu down in the well water.

There are several wells in the Chengxiang Palace, but Wu Zhaoyi's eating habits have always followed Li Zhi's, and the water used for drinking water is Longshou Canal water. The water of the Longshou Canal is flowing living water, and it cannot be released. Well water is mainly used for bathing, washing pants and watering flowers.

After many observations and stepping points, Ye Ping and Xiao Xiong took advantage of the fact that no one was there and put Gu down in the well.

Wu Zhaoyi is pregnant again, and she is more concerned about her diet, and even uses Longshou Canal water to wash fruits. But the nurses who raised Li Hong were not so careful, they sometimes drank boiling water boiled with well water, boiled tea, and ate fruits washed with well water, so Li Hong's health went wrong later.

After a while, Wang and Xiao found that Wu Zhaoyi was still safe and sound, and they were very anxious, and sent Xiaoyue and Yun Ying to the Lady of Wei Mansion to ask Xie Jiangli if there was any other way to deal with the enemy.

Xie Jiangli said: "The grass people also have the technique of disgust to subdue the enemy, and using this technique can make the enemy restless and infected with evil diseases!" The elderly are insane, children die for no reason, young and middle-aged people drink and fight, indulge in excessive desires, and finally the family is ruined! ”

Xiaoyue and Yun Ying were overjoyed, and asked Xie Jiangli to teach this technique. Xie Jiangli also said: "This technique requires the preparation of paulownia wood, peach wood or silk cloth, and the setting up of an altar to sacrifice the curse and the application of magic to take effect. Every time you cast a spell, it will take a lot of physical and mental energy on the grass people! ”

Mrs. Wei Liu took out a box of silver and put it in front of her, and said with a smile: "I also ask the mage to do his best to cast a spell curse, as long as it can achieve a little effect, money and the like are not a problem!" ”

Xie Jiangli accepted the money, smiled happily, and instructed Xiaoyue and Yunying to go to the West Market to buy paulownia wood, peach wood and silk cloth.

After buying it back, Xie Jiang left Xiaoyue and Yun Ying to make puppets and puppets, and made many puppets, which were kept in wooden boxes for later use. He also asked Xiaoyue to go back to the palace and ask for the name and birth date of the enemy, and then cast a spell on a certain day.

On the murder day, Xie Jiangli set up an altar in the courtyard to pray and pray, and placed tributes and puppets and puppets with birthdays written on the desk. Then burn incense and worship, dance to invite the gods, chant the Dharma and chant the mantra to the puppets, offer tea and flowers, burn spiritual talismans, and then insert three needles in the hearts of each puppet, and finally dance to pray to the gods.

After the prayer ceremony, Xie Jiangli handed over the puppeteers and puppeteers to Xiaoyue and Yunying, and asked them to take them back to the palace and bury them under the floor of the bedroom of the Chengxiang Palace, under the floor tiles of the corridor and in the wall of the well.

After Ye Ping and Xiao Xiong received the task, they took advantage of the time period when Wu Zhaoyi led people to ask the queen for peace, and buried the puppeteers and puppets in the designated position of the Chengxiang Palace.

Knowing that the puppet had been buried, Wang and Xiao Xing were elated, waiting for the news of Wu Zhaoyi's illness and Li Hong's untimely death.

A month has passed in the blink of an eye, Wu Zhaoyi and Li Hong are alive and well, and there is no abnormal situation, at most, they suddenly woke up in the middle of the night when they heard cats and dogs barking, and got up and walked around.

Wang and Xiao studied the scourge of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty together, decided to blame Wu Zhaoyi, ordered Xiaoyue and Yun Ying to make a few puppets, write the eight characters of Wang and Xiao's birthdays, and then find a way to bury the puppets in the hidden corner of the Chengxiang Palace.

When the arrangements were made, Queen Wang went to see Li Zhi and said, "Recently, there is a demonic aura above the Chengxiang Palace, please allow the concubine to take someone to search, and the monster will definitely be found!" ”

Li Zhi said: "I have a headwind, if I want to live longer, you don't have to fight openly and secretly, and be jealous!" Do you want to learn to be tolerant, tolerant, and understand? ”

The female Shi Qiuju heard it and hurriedly ran to the Chengxiang Hall to report the news.

Wu Zhaoyi hurriedly mobilized the palace maids and eunuchs to look for monsters, focusing on searching the corners and cracks that they usually don't pay attention to, and sure enough, they found a few puppets and threw them into the furnace to burn them. Wu Zhaoyi sighed and said: "Hey, when will the days of deceit and secret arrows in the palace be a head!" ”

At this side, Queen Wang said to Li Zhi again: "The concubine takes Empress Hexi Deng Sui as an example and takes Zhaoyi into the palace to serve Your Majesty, how can she be jealous of her?" The concubine leads the harem, sits on the women's ceremony, assists in the promotion of the king, and the concubine will be rewarded if she is virtuous, and she will not dare to hide it if she has a mistake. I heard that Zhaoyi secretly cursed the concubine with a puppet, so I wanted to go to the Chengxiang Palace to find out, but if it was not, it could also return Zhaoyi's innocence. ”

Li Zhi hesitated and waited for a while before deciding to go with Queen Wang to have a look. When they arrived at the Chengxiang Palace, Queen Wang sent the palace Zheng Luoxia and the inner temple Boyu Wenjian to lead their subordinates to search, and Wu Zhaoyi stood aside and watched coldly.

As a result, I searched for a long time, and I didn't see any monsters in every corner. The queen was nervous, and her heart was full of confusion. Li Zhi said impatiently: "Wu Zhaoyi is innocent, queen, what else do you have to say in front of the facts?" What a vexatious mess! ”

The queen returned to the Hall of Hundred Blessings in disgrace, dejected. From then on, Li Zhi believed in Wu Zhaoyi more than in Queen Wang!