Volume 1 Princess Taiping Grows Up Chapter 17: Improving Favorability
When the last sentence came out, Li Zhi and Wu Zetian both turned their heads and looked at him with slight surprise.
The eldest brother Li Hong behind him also raised his head, with a hint of surprise in his eyes.
This poem is actually very inferior, it is even hard to say whether it can be called a poem.
But after all, it was written by a child of four or five years old. It is really very good to be able to write such a poem!
Wu Zetian raised her eyebrows, then suddenly smiled: "Not bad!"
Father Li Zhi also nodded: "Chen'er is talented! If he goes to the Imperial College..."
"I'm not going!" He was interrupted by Li Yuechen before he could finish his words.
Are you kidding me? Going to the Imperial College to study obscure stuff like the Four Books and Five Classics all day long?
I am a princess and I don't have to take the imperial examination in the future. Instead of learning that thing, I might as well go out and start a family and live a life of idleness and waiting for death.
"Oh? Why is that?" Li Zhi seemed a little curious.
"I just want to concentrate on practicing martial arts and protect my grandparents in the future." Li Yuechen replied.
The couple looked at each other, but did not continue the topic and continued strolling with her.
We walked all the way to the corner, which was opposite Yanshoufang, and further ahead was the Hanguang Gate of the Imperial City.
Looking forward from here, the entire Chang'an city is almost in sight.
Under the deep blue night sky, most of Chang'an City was brightly lit.
People were laughing, the wind was blowing gently, and one could see the flags hanging outside some taverns dancing up and down rhythmically.
Snowflakes fell slowly, covering the city walls, roofs and bridge railings with a layer of moisture.
Pedestrians coming and going on the street were in groups of three or five, laughing and making loud noises. Neither the snow nor the cold could stop them from enjoying the only day of the year without a curfew.
You can see various stalls on both sides of the street in the square, and there are people standing around.
On the Qingming Canal at your feet, countless river lanterns are floating on the water, dotted like beautiful stars.
Looking at the scenes before his eyes, Li Yuechen couldn't help but sigh in his heart. No wonder so many people said that the Tang Dynasty was good. It would be great if this scene could last forever.
It is still early now. Li Yuechen took a look and found that the imperial city is quite spacious and can basically meet the needs of activities.
So he gently pulled Li Zhi's beard and said, "Grandpa, shall we play Eagle Catches Chicken?"
Li Zhi looked puzzled: "What is that?"
Li Yuechen gave him a brief explanation and also took her mother Wu Zetian to give a demonstration.
If it was an ordinary day, it would be fine, but since it was proposed by his most beloved youngest daughter, Li Zhi immediately said that there was no problem.
…
Whether for Li Zhi and his wife or for his brothers and sisters, today is an extremely unforgettable Lantern Festival.
That night, in the imperial city, Li Zhi and his family were happily playing the game of "Eagle Catches Chicken".
Li Zhi was the eagle and Wu Zetian was the hen, followed by four sons, two illegitimate daughters, and Li Yuechen at the end.
In fact, it was quite awkward when I first started playing, but people have a certain adaptability, and once they let go, they can get into it.
It's like when some people go to a nightclub for the first time and see the people next to them dancing, they always feel a little ashamed and are embarrassed to dance along.
But after a few drinks, and with your friends pulling you along, you'll be completely drawn into it.
The same was true for Li Zhi and others, who were all a little embarrassed at first.
Then Li Yuechen leaned out from the back of the team to cheer him on and told him to catch it quickly.
Once you really start playing, your emotions are aroused and you become immersed in the game.
Li Zhi attacked continuously from both sides with bared fangs and claws. Wu Zetian opened her arms and moved left and right from time to time to block his attack route.
I, Wu Zetian, was actually quite capable. According to herself, she was once the captain of the palace women's polo team.
At the beginning, Li Zhi looked a little embarrassed, but now that the event has started, he has completely relaxed.
He pretended to attack from the left, and when Wu Zetian was returning to defense, he suddenly rushed over from the right and grabbed the shoulder of Li Yuechen at the back.
“Hahaha… catch one!” Li Zhi laughed and picked her up and spun her around twice.
Then he put her aside and went to catch other people.
Of course, Wu Zetian would not go all out. After all, Li Zhi had poor eyesight, so she would inadvertently let him go so as not to lose face.
Soon Li Zhi captured two more illegitimate daughters. This time, he was not as cold as usual. Instead, he touched their heads and said, "In the blink of an eye, they have grown so big..."
If it were in other places, the number of people behind Wu Zetian would be getting smaller and smaller, and it would be more difficult to catch her.
However, on the city wall with limited width, the smaller number of people made it easier for Li Zhi to perform.
The fourth brother, Li Xulun, was caught first. The third and second brothers had good physical strength and reaction, and they managed to escape several times.
However, the eldest brother, Li Hong, had been in poor health since childhood and could not hold on any longer.
Because they were slow, they were eventually caught one by one by Li Zhi.
When all the chicks were caught, Li Zhi suddenly opened his arms, hugged the old hen, and then turned around twice on the spot.
Wu Zetian didn't seem to expect him to do this suddenly. After being picked up and turned around twice, she was still a little dazed.
Li Zhi raised his hand and pinched her face and laughed out loud, like a child who was very proud of himself after successfully playing a trick on someone else.
When Li Yuechen saw this scene, a line of lyrics suddenly popped up in his mind: I am still the same boy as before, without any change!
I have seen various speculations on the website before, which seemed to interpret the female emperor Wu Zetian from various angles.
However, Li Yuechen believes that she cannot interpret it from historical records because this country has been a patriarchal society for thousands of years since records began.
As an outlier like her, it is difficult to get an objective evaluation of her even in official history.
Touching her cheeks that had been pinched twice, Wu Zetian looked at Li Zhi in front of her and suddenly said softly: "I am old."
Hearing her words, Li Zhi was stunned for a moment, then laughed: "I am old too, right?"
He turned his head to look at the children who had turned their heads away because of the scene just now, and waved to Li Yuechen, who was the only one still looking at him with a smile: "My children are all grown up now."
Li Yuechen came to Li Zhi with a smile: "Grandpa's heart is not old!"
"You are so smart!" Li Zhi reached out and tapped her head gently.
As the time approached midnight, more and more sky lanterns floated up from the ground and slowly flew into the sky.
These flying sky lanterns are stacked on top of each other, some high and some low, like living stars.
Under the dancing flames in the sky is the brightly lit city of Chang'an.
In the tavern and on the street, men and women looked up and watched the flames carrying their hopes and dreams fly up into the sky little by little.
Behind a secluded street in the neighborhood, a man and a woman saw that no one was paying attention to them, so they kissed each other passionately.
Li Yuechen, who saw this scene on the city wall, smiled slightly. It seems that no matter what era, there will always be people who dare to challenge the rules.
Seeing his daughter suddenly laugh, Li Zhi squatted down, picked her up and asked, "Chen'er, why are you laughing this time?"
Li Yuechen raised her little arms and put them around his shoulders: "I am laughing because you two adults are making me happy!"
Wu Zetian glanced at her and said, "You are so young, but you know how to flatter others. I don't know who taught you that."
Li Zhi, who was standing next to him, waved his hand and said, "This is Chen'er being filial. How can you call it flattery?"
Wu Zetian turned her head away after being taught a lesson: "Your Majesty, please don't spoil her because of this!"
That night, several brothers and sisters seemed to have seen another side of Li Zhi that he would never show in normal times.
But they all knew that the one who could do all this was the youngest sister.
Normally, everyone of them liked her very much, but today, they really got to see her power!
…
After the Lantern Festival, Li Zhi was obviously in a good mood and was smiling every day.
Even when he was accompanying Wu Zetian in reviewing memorials, he would hum a little tune from time to time. When he was really bored, he would go over to touch her hair or poke her lower back with his fingers to tease her.
This caused Wu Zetian to roll her eyes at him whenever she had nothing to do these days, always with a helpless expression on her face.
However, it is obvious that the speed of reviewing memorials has increased a lot.
Li Yuechen still gets up every morning to practice yoga, read books, practice calligraphy, and in the afternoon she does some routines to exercise.
Occasionally, he would go to his master Liu Rengui's home to ask him to correct any mistakes in his practice. Every now and then, he would go to Mrs. Rongguo's home to chat with the old lady.
After dusk, I basically play with my two sisters for a while, chat with each other at night, and then go to bed early.
I had nothing to do that day, so I came to play with my second brother Li Xian. As soon as I entered the door, I saw him and the third brother fighting cocks again.
However, it is not the estrus season now, and the two big roosters are obviously not in good shape. They occasionally touch each other as if they are playing a fake match.
Li Xian was a bit bored. Seeing Li Yuechen coming, he trotted over and asked, "Little sister, do you want to come and play too?"
Li Yuechen shook his head, came to the two big roosters, squatted down and looked at them for a while, wiped his saliva and said, "I don't know how they taste."
Li Xian next to her was shocked. He originally thought that she was squatting and watching because she was interested in the fighting cocks, but he didn't expect that she actually wanted to eat them.
…
Time passed day by day, and in the blink of an eye it was March.
In the evening, Li Yuechen came to visit the couple as usual. Li Zhi asked, "Chen'er, it will be the Waking of Insects in two days. There will be a spring ploughing ceremony tomorrow. How about you and Hong'er accompany me?"
"Okay!" Li Yuechen nodded in agreement.
Spring ploughing can be considered a legal holiday in the Tang Dynasty, but due to different climates in different places, it is impossible to completely unify it.
Every year during the spring ploughing season, the emperors of the Tang Dynasty would go to the villages outside the city to read parallel prose in the fields, and then personally drive the cattle to do the work, in order to set an example.
Strictly speaking, this is also a relatively large festival. Not only the emperor but also civil and military officials will attend. It is a relatively grand event.
…
The next day, Li Yuechen got up early, ate something, and went outside to wait.
The emperor's departure from the palace was a grand and troublesome affair. There were over a hundred people in the ceremonial guard alone, plus the various troops and civil and military officials who accompanied him, basically there were over a thousand people.
The location for the Spring Ploughing Ceremony is different every year, but it is basically held in the farmlands outside the city of Chang'an.
When we rode in a carriage out of Chang'an City and arrived at the venue of the event, we saw that a temporary platform more than ten meters long and wide had been built.
The stage was surrounded by imperial guards, with civil and military officials on both sides, and an old ox with a big red flower tied on its head.
Li Yuechen stood with Crown Prince Li Hong at the front of all the civil and military officials, watching Li Zhi and Wu Zetian reading parallel prose on the stage, which might be difficult for them to understand.
In short, the general meaning was to wish for a good harvest or something like that. After it was finished, there was a burst of gongs and drums, and someone nearby harnessed a plow to an ox. Li Zhi and Wu Zetian went to the field themselves and drove the oxen to start working.
However, Li Yuechen next to him raised his eyebrows in confusion.
What the hell is this? Didn't the Tang Dynasty invent the curved plow? Why are they still using this straight plow?
The curved plow was still in use in many places more than a thousand years later. Li Yuechen not only knew about it, but also operated it himself.
At that time, the old farmer said that this thing has existed since the Tang Dynasty, and he also lamented that it was amazing that it could be used for more than a thousand years.
But if you think about it carefully, the Tang Dynasty lasted for hundreds of years after all, so maybe it was invented in the later period?
Thinking of this, Li Yuechen suddenly smiled. Well, this is another opportunity to improve his favorability!
After the spring ploughing ceremony, Li Yuechen returned to the palace and immediately found paper and pen and began to draw the design.
I have used this thing myself and am very familiar with it. I thought about it carefully, drew it back and forth a few times, and finally got it done.
It was already dusk when the painting was finished. Li Yuechen was not in a hurry, but waited until the next day before bringing Eunuch Fu to the Craftsmen's Supervisory Office.
After saying hello to the supervisor, he called in carpenters and asked them to make the curved plow according to his drawings.
This thing is very simple in structure and it is basically a piece of cake for the carpenters here.
Then he asked the blacksmiths to make plowshares, and told them to inform him as soon as they were finished.
Although he didn't know what the little princess was planning to do, the supervisor immediately ordered his subordinates to start working.
The next day at noon, Eunuch Fu came in with a finished curved plow and said, "Your Highness, the craftsman supervisor just sent over the finished product. Please have a look at it, Princess."
Li Yuechen stuffed the Hu Bing under his command into his mouth in a few bites, clapped his hands, stood up and walked over.
Then he simply grabbed it with both hands and raised it up to look around.
Eunuch Fu at the back almost had his eyes popping out, he had brought this thing back personally and knew it was definitely not light for a child.
But now Li Yuechen, who is only four or five years old, can lift it up easily, and judging from his expression, it doesn't seem to be very strenuous, which really makes him feel a little puzzled.
Li Yuechen had never paid attention to this aspect. She habitually ignored how a child of four or five years old could easily lift objects weighing more than ten kilograms.
The scene in front of her looked a bit weird. Li Yuechen held up a thing bigger than herself in both hands and looked left and right, observing and comparing each detail to see if it was the same as she remembered.
After taking a look, he found that it was no different from what he saw more than a thousand years later, and then put it down: "Let's go to Yanying Palace!"
