The first day of the first lunar month is also called the Day, which is the beginning of the new year. The New Year dynasty will be held as usual. All officials and ministers congratulate Wu Zetian on the New Year. Wu Zetian will also deliver New Year's greetings and issue amnesty at the same time.

The morning court ended after dawn and officially began its five-day vacation. This was also the most anticipated moment of the year by the ministers of the Tang Dynasty.

But for the palace guards, the New Year's Day holiday is not a big impact. They still report on the same page as usual. However, in less than two months, the annual polo competition is about to begin. Polo teams are training extra hard, hoping to get a good result in the competition.

In the morning, in the wide polo court of the palace, at least seven or eight polo teams were actively training. The polo team led by Li Zhen started training before dawn. In fact, during Li Zhen's busy schedule, the polo team's training was still not stopped. Everyone was holding back their energy and hoped to enter the top ten.

There was another person in training today, and Li Zhen also pulled Zhang Li into the polo team. Zhang Li is also a famous polo expert in Dunhuang. He is the main force of the Shazhou polo team, but he withdrew from the Shazhou polo team because he wanted to participate in the martial arts competition, but Li Zhen pulled him into his polo team.

'Bang!'

Accompanied by a crisp striking sound, Li Linfu swung the polo, and the polo flew out a diagonal line to the right. Zhang Li urged the horse to run quickly, and a backhand shot from forty steps away. Pei Kuan, who was defending, was transferred to the left. He couldn't recover, and the polo shot accurately into the hole on the wooden board.

"Good ball!" The guards watching around suddenly burst into applause and cheer.

"Good fight, come back!"

Li Zhen threw the polo far to Jiuzhi, "This time the fat man organized an attack!"

Everyone did not respond. Li Zhen was stunned and looked back and saw a large group of palace maids and eunuchs standing by the court, surrounded by two women. An elderly man wearing a phoenix crown was Wu Zetian, the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, and Shangguan Wan'er was accompanied by Shangguan Wan'er.

Li Zhen was startled and quickly turned over and dismounted, stepped forward a few steps and knelt on one knee, "I'm not good at judging him to see His Majesty the Emperor!"

Wu Zetian smiled gently and said, "I happened to talk about the polo competition with Shangguan, so I came over and checked out. Commander Li, you played very well."

"Thank you for your praise, I am guilty of being accused of taking responsibility."

Wu Zetian nodded, "I remember you are from Dunhuang!"

"That's right, Bei Zhi was born and raised in Dunhuang."

"Dunhuang is good, the Buddhist atmosphere is very strong, and I really want to go and see it!"

At this time, Li Zhen suddenly remembered the Maitreya statue. He wanted to find an opportunity to tell Gao Yanfu in the past two days. After all, Gao Yanfu is responsible for this matter, but when he met Wu Zetian, and it seemed that she was in a good mood, could she mention it by the way?

He hesitated for a moment and said carefully: "Your Majesty, I went to Jingtu Temple to fulfill my wish yesterday, but unexpectedly met the abbot of Dayun Temple in my hometown."

"Is that so? What did he come to Luoyang for?" Wu Zetian asked lightly.

Shangguan Wan'er next to her also felt strange. Why did Li Zhen suddenly mention the abbot of Dunhuang Dayun Temple? Isn't this a bit abrupt?

She interrupted Li Zhen and smiled and said, "Commander Li, there are two months left to polo competition. The Master hopes that you can enter the top ten and there will be a heavy reward at that time."

"The humble position will not disappoint Your Majesty and Shangguan Sheren!" Even though he said that, he was a little disappointed. Shangguan Sheren did not give him the opportunity to talk about Dayun Temple.

But Wu Zetian was so smart that she could see the disappointment in Li Zhen's eyes. She became a little interested and asked with a smile: "You said just now that the abbot of Dunhuang Dayun Temple came to Luoyang, why did you mention him?"

Li Zhen quickly clasped his fists and said, "Because this matter has something to do with Your Majesty, it actually has something to do with a low position. I have just joined the official position and don't know the rules very well. I really don't know if I should be in front of Your Majesty?"

"Oh? It actually has something to do with me. Commander Li will tell me what's going on?"

Li Zhen donated him the stone wall to Dayun Temple, and built the Maitreya statue from Dayun Temple. Now he was forced to stop work due to shortage of funds. He finally said sincerely: "Building the Maitreya statue is the wish of all Dunhuang people, but because Dunhuang suffered from military disasters and drought this year and the people were in trouble, Master Lingyin could not bear to add burden to the people of Dunhuang anymore, so he traveled thousands of miles to Luoyang to raise funds..."

Wu Zetian said a little displeased: "Why didn't he go to the government? Is the local government unwilling to contribute funds?"

"Report to Your Majesty, it costs a lot of money to build the Maitreya statue. The government wants to provide disaster relief and help the people, but it really can't afford much money and food."

Wu Zetian pondered for a moment and said to Shangguan Wan'er: "Building the Maitreya statue is a good thing. I will take the lead and donate 3,000 guan in my personal name. Wan'er will spread this matter again so that those rich clans can express their feelings."

Li Zhen was overjoyed and took the opportunity to say, "Report to Your Majesty, if the money raised exceeds the cost of building the Maitreya statue, can we use the remaining money to repair the dilapidated Buddhist caves in Mogao Grottoes?"

Wu Zetian smiled, "It is my merit to be able to do a little bit of strength for Mogao Grottoes!"

Wu Zetian slowly left surrounded by the palace maids, but Shangguan Wan'er stayed. She blamed Li Zhen a little and said, "Why did you tell Your Majesty about this?"

Li Zhen sighed and said, "Bizhi was born and raised in Dunhuang. He knows that it is difficult to build and protect Mogao Grottoes. If he can take this opportunity to contribute some effort to Mogao Grottoes, even if he offends the emperor, Beizhi will be willing to take responsibility."

Shangguan Wan'er stared at him for a while, laughed silently and said, "You are the first one to raise money from the emperor. Even Xue Huaiyi dare not be so direct. You are lucky. The emperor is in a good mood today. Go and do serious business for me. Don't think about such a bad way anymore."

"Shangguan Sheren, why is this a wrong way? At most, it is not doing its job properly." Li Zhen said with a smile.

Shangguan Wan'er deals with a group of old-fashioned people all day long, and few people are slick in front of her. She is also quite happy and pretends to be angry and says, "If you dare to be slick in the future, I will not cut your tongue with a knife."

As she said that, she couldn't help but cover her mouth and laughed. She gave Li Zhen a blank look, turned around and left. Li Zhen looked at her back and walked away, and couldn't help but sigh, "Duan Li Guanjue, I see You Lian!"

Li Zhen turned around and saw everyone staring at him blankly. He couldn't help but laugh and scold, "Why are you stupid? The emperor said just now that you will get a reward for scoring to the top ten. I will train me well. It's the fat man's turn. Xiao Ye will kick him off!"

When everyone thought of the Lord’s promise, they were immediately energetic and devoted themselves to the hard training.

They practiced until the afternoon. Seeing that everyone was a little tired, Li Zhen whispered: "I'll end today and continue training tomorrow!"

Everyone turned over and dismounted and walked towards the side of the court. At this time, Li Zhen saw Zhang Xi wave to him on the side of the court, with a nervous expression, so he urged the horse to meet him, "Brother Zhang, is there anything wrong?"

"Young Master, something happened to your eldest sister!" Zhang Xi said anxiously.

Li Zhen was shocked and asked anxiously: "What happened?"

"I don't know the specifics. Qiu Niang came to me just now and asked me to find you back. She is waiting for you outside Xuanren's gate!"

Li Zhen was immediately anxious and turned around and said to everyone: "Everyone, I'll take a step first."

Everyone surrounded him, "Old Li, what happened?"

"I don't know either. It seems that something happened to my eldest sister. I have to go back immediately."

Jiuzhi was also anxious, "Old Li, I'll go with you."

Without any time to say anything, Li Zhen turned his horse's head and ran out of the imperial city. Jiu Zhi also turned over the horse and followed closely behind. Soon, they left the imperial city from Xuanren Gate to the east and saw Zhao Qiuniang from afar.

Li Zhen urged the horse to run up, "Sister Qiuniang, what happened to my eldest sister?"

"Let's talk while walking, go to Linzhi Temple!"

"Linzhi Temple?" Li Zhen was stunned. How could it be Linzhi Temple? Could it be... related to Aunt Meng?

They urged the horse to go to Linzhi Temple, and then Zhao Qiuniang said to Li Zhen: "You butler came to see me early in the morning and said that Aunt Meng did not come back last night. Your eldest sister and brother-in-law went to Linzhi Temple to ask for someone. As a result, your brother-in-law was beaten by them, and your eldest sister was also arrested by them and said that she wanted 3,000 guan to redeem the people. I have asked Zhang Wei to negotiate and tell them not to do anything randomly!"

Li Zhen's murderous intent suddenly arose, and he clamped his legs and rushed towards Linzhi Temple. Hanoi's old man dared to capture his eldest sister, and he was really tired of living.

Linzhi Temple is located in Lidefang. The temple is close to the high wall of the imperial city. Li Zhen has been to this temple many times. Wei Tuaner's treasure hiding place is in this temple. At this time, Li Zhen has calmed down. He knew that the old man from Hanoi was Xue Huaiyi's lackey, and the conflict between him, Li Zhen and Xue Huaiyi has intensified. Could it be Xue Huaiyi who used Linzhi Temple to attack him?

Outside Linzhi Temple, more than 20 Zhao Qiuniang's subordinates were gathered, all of whom were guard soldiers. They all changed into the black gold-edged guard uniforms of the guards and were wearing leather armor. When Li Zhen arrived, Zhang Wei took the lead in greeting him. He clasped his fists and saluted: "Join the commander!"

"How is the situation?"

Li Zhen restrained his anxiety and asked, "Have you seen my eldest sister?"

"Weizhi has met the abbot of Linzhi Temple. They said they had no intention of violating the laws of the Tang Dynasty, but it is natural to repay the debt. As long as we can hand over the three thousand guan to the temple in time, they promise not to hurt Sister Quan."

"Who are their abbots? Is Hanoi's old man?" Li Zhen asked again.

"No! It's her apprentice, a middle-aged nun, named Zhiwen."

"Come with me!"

Li Zhen turned over and dismounted and led more than 20 inner guard soldiers to the gate of the temple. There were several young nuns hiding from the gate. Seeing their large group of people coming towards the gate, they were so scared that they ran into the temple, "Master, they are here!"

With a loud bang, the gate of the temple was knocked open. Li Zhen led a large group of guards to break into the temple with murderous aura. They strode towards the inner courtyard. At this time, a middle-aged nun led a group of nuns, young and old, blocked their way.

"What do you... want to do?"

The middle-aged nun seemed to want to scold them, but when she saw a gold medal appearing in Li Zhen's hand, the famous double-headed eagle logo on the gold medal, her tone immediately softened, and the other party came someone they could not afford to offend.

Li Zhen took back the gold medal, squinted his eyes and looked at her, "Are you the abbot of this temple?"

"Old Ni Zhiwen is the abbot."

She hurriedly took out a pledge book, "This is your family's promise to pledge three thousand guan, black and white..."

Before she could finish her words, Li Zhen snatched the donated book, tortured it to pieces, and said coldly: "I just got the news that the nun of Linzhi Temple planned to assassinate the emperor and take it down for me!"

Several inner guard soldiers rushed up, pressing Old Ni to the ground like an eagle catching a chicken, tied it up with a rope, and Xiaosol made Old Ni shout like a pig killer: "I'll let people go! Let them go! Let them out quickly."

In just a moment, Li Quan was taken out by several nuns. When she saw her brother, she ran over crying. Li Zhen saw that she was not injured, but she looked frightened. Soon, Aunt Meng was also carried out by two nuns on stretchers. She was in a bad condition and her cheeks were swollen, as if she had been beaten.

Li Zhen was not sympathetic to Aunt Meng's self-inflicted self-inflictedness, but these bastards actually dared to capture his eldest sister, which made him furious. He slapped the abbot nun twice and ordered: "Take her back for questioning!"

A group of nuns were so scared that they could avoid it from afar. No one dared to come forward. The old nun cried and wailed, "Go and find the master to save me! Go and find the master!"

At this time, another group of young nuns came out, surrounded by an old nun wearing a golden silk robe and a golden crown. She was about sixty years old, but she was well maintained, with white skin and red skin. A pair of thick ears occupied half of her face, which seemed to be a bit precious.

"Amitabha, why are you so innocent? Why do you want to arrest people?"

Li Zhen knew that she was the Hanoi demon nun who had caused trouble in the city. He walked up to him and said coldly: "We are the inner guards of the Tang Dynasty. Today we received a secret report. The nun of Linzhi Temple planned to assassinate the emperor. We want to thoroughly investigate this matter."

The old Ni Ni's face suddenly changed drastically. The crime was too serious and they could not afford it. She quickly clasped her hands and said, "Amitabha, the donor has no evidence, why did he speak nonsense?"

“No evidence?”

Li Zhen sneered and pointed at the arrested old nie and said, "Take her back and torture, do you think she will not confess? As for the evidence, the Neiwei will thoroughly search Linzhi Temple in the afternoon, and I believe that there will be conclusive evidence."

Li Zhen turned around and waved his hand, "Take it away!"

Everyone walked quickly towards the gate. Hanoi Old Ni was so scared that his voice trembled, "Principal Lee, stay!"

Li Zhen stopped and turned around and looked at her strangely, "Do you actually know me?"

"How can you not know Commander Li at the foot of the imperial city?"

Hanoi Old Ni completely surrendered. She did not dare to mention Xue Huaiyi, so she stepped forward and begged hard, "I beg Commander Li to give us a chance to make up for the mistakes he had committed."

Li Zhen knew that Linzhi Temple had a deep relationship with Xue Huaiyi, and he didn't want to alert the snake for the time being. The assassination charge was just to scare and threaten them. He pondered for a moment and said, "If you can explain the situation, maybe I will give you a chance."

He then turned around and ordered, "Let her go!"
To be continued...