Volume 1 Princess Taiping Grows Up Chapter 2 Royal Dinner
On the other side, in the Hanxiang Hall, Li Zhi, who was wearing a dragon robe, was so angry that his vertigo recurred. His eyes could not see clearly again, so he lay on the Hu bed next to him, leaned on the queen and closed his eyes.
Wu Zetian raised her hand to rub his head and said softly to comfort him: "They are still young anyway, there is no need to be so angry about this matter..."
At this time, I heard a messy sound of footsteps outside the door, as if someone was jogging towards this side.
Li Zhi, who was already irritated, was about to start cursing when he saw Xiaofu trotting in, shouting as he ran: "Saint! Great joy, great joy!"
"Asshole!"
Li Zhi, who was already furious, cursed: "What's there to be happy about?"
Eunuch Fu noticed that the atmosphere was not right, and when he saw Wu Zetian rubbing his head, he knew that he was sick, but he still bowed to the ground: "Saint, Madam, the princess has spoken!"
Hearing his words, Li Zhi opened his eyes suddenly: "What did you say? The princess spoke?"
"Yes, Saint! The princess has spoken!" said Eunuch Fu with a happy smile on his face.
Wu Zetian beside her was also very excited. If Li Zhi hadn't been leaning on her, she would have stood up. "Where is Chen'er now?"
"Reporting to Her Majesty, it's in the Linde Palace!"
Li Zhi immediately stood up and waved his hand: "Come on, let's go to Linde Hall!"
…
Li Yuechen, who was standing on the top of the Linde Hall, was looking at the setting sun and thinking about what to say when he saw Li Zhi.
Through studying over the past few years, he has also learned a lot of things, for example, in the Tang Dynasty, there were many ways to address father.
For example, "Yeah Yeah" and "Grandpa" are both used to address father. The most shocking thing is that "Brother" can also be used to address father .
When talking about one's parents to other people, one usually calls them "adults".
The court etiquette of the Tang Dynasty did not seem to be as strict as shown on TV. At least she had discovered over the years that Li Zhi rarely called himself "I" in private, and usually called himself "I" or "I".
Moreover, it was not until the third year after coming into this world that I found out that "Emperor" is a written language and almost no one calls him that.
Having said that, he could roughly imagine what the scene would be like in a while.
I haven't spoken for three years. Judging from how much these two people love me, I might cry with excitement.
After a while, a team of Jinwu Guards came running over and stood on both sides. Li Yuechen turned his head and saw Li Zhi and Wu Zetian jogging over.
Li Zhi was wearing a dragon robe, without even wearing the black rabbit-ear hat on his head, and he and Wu Zetian ran over one after the other.
He came to Li Yuechen and squatted down, with an excited expression on his face, "Chen'er, can you speak now?"
Looking at his excited expression and the tears in his eyes, Li Yuechen, who had been an orphan for decades, seemed to have something touched in his heart.
She smiled adorably and called out in a baby voice, "Grandpa!"
Hearing this, Li Zhi suddenly burst into laughter: "Good, good, good! Good!"
As he said that, he stretched out his hand to pick her up, but he grabbed nothing!
Wu Zetian, who was behind him, immediately supported him and raised her head and said, "Chen'er, your brother has vertigo and can't see clearly. Please walk forward a few steps by yourself."
"Yes! Mother!"
Li Yuechen agreed, took two steps forward, came into Li Zhi's arms, and put her arms around his neck.
Li Zhi laughed and hugged her in his arms, then stood up and turned around twice. It seemed that his bad mood just now disappeared as his little daughter began to speak.
Li Yuechen also laughed and kissed him on the cheek.
Although part of the reason for doing this is to feel the love of family, the biggest factor is to live a good life in the future.
After all, as the saying goes, the imperial family is the most ruthless. If you want to be a favored little princess, then the most important thing is to be a little cotton-padded jacket that can make Li Zhi and Wu Zetian happy.
As long as I take good care of this little cotton-padded jacket, I will definitely be able to live a good life with everything I want in the future!
Li Zhi was suddenly stunned after being kissed, because no other child had ever done this to him since he was a child, and he was unable to react for a moment.
But then he laughed and picked up his little daughter in his arms and held her high.
Li Yuechen felt a little dizzy, but didn't say anything and just smiled happily.
Eunuch Fu, who came later, breathed a sigh of relief. As long as Li Zhi was in a good mood, he would definitely not be angry because of his recklessness just now.
After holding her for a while, Li Zhi seemed to feel a little tired, so he handed Li Yuechen to Wu Zetian and asked her to hold her.
Li Zhi was obviously in a good mood. He turned around and waved his hand, saying, "Pass the decree. Today the princess has spoken. This is cause for celebration. A banquet will be held in the Linde Hall tonight for all the officials!"
The eunuch behind him bowed with both hands, bent over and said, "Yes!"
Wu Zetian seemed a little worried: "Your Majesty is not feeling well, I'm afraid..."
"No problem, no problem!"
Li Zhi seemed to be in a good mood. He smiled and waved his hands to show that he didn't care.
Wu Zetian did not say anything else, but lowered her head and touched Li Yuechen's face: "Chen'er, call me mother again."
"Mother!" Li Yuechen called out obediently.
Wu Zetian smiled widely: "Good boy!"
Looking at the smile on her face and the slightly tearful eyes, Li Yuechen felt relieved temporarily. It seemed that the future empress still liked him very much.
It was already dusk, and after the order was given, many eunuchs rode away at a rapid speed on their horses.
The emperor is going to hold a banquet, so naturally he has to notify all the ministers to come and attend the dinner.
Then Li Zhi snatched Li Yuechen from his wife's arms, walked back to the palace alone to rest and attend the dinner in the evening.
Wu Zetian followed behind with a doting smile on her face.
After returning to the palace, Li Zhi finally let go of Li Yuechen: "Mei Niang, I'm a little tired, let me rest for a while."
"Then I'll accompany you..." Wu Zetian said.
"No need, just talk to Chen'er more." Li Zhi smiled and shook his head, then went back to rest.
After watching Li Zhi leave, Wu Zetian sat down, hugged Li Yuechen in her arms, and shook her two little hands: "Chen'er is really a lucky star. Your grandfather was almost sick today because of anger!"
"Mother, why does my brother look like this?" Li Yuechen asked curiously.
Although she hadn't spoken a word over the years, she occasionally overheard the gossips of the palace maids and eunuchs, and knew a little about what was going on.
Li Zhi had always been in poor health. When he fought against Goguryeo a few years ago, he had originally planned to lead the army in person.
Finally, he was persuaded by Wu Zetian, because he could not see anything when he had an attack, and he would need someone to serve him on the battlefield, which might delay the opportunity to fight.
According to Li Yuechen's observation, Li Zhi might not just be suffering from vertigo, but might even have high blood pressure.
Therefore, starting from a few years before she was born, most government affairs were generally handled by her mother, Wu Zetian.
Li Zhi usually watched from the side and didn't ask much about most things. He focused on resting.
Without interfering in government affairs, Li Yuechen found it hard to imagine what could have made him so angry that he had a seizure. Could it be that he had lost the battle on the front line?
Hearing her question, Wu Zetian's beautiful face showed a trace of helplessness, and her soft and crisp voice became low: "It's not your second brother and third brother..."
After her complaints, Li Yuechen blinked her cute big eyes and roughly understood what had happened.
Simply put, there was a person in the court whom Li Zhi liked very much, named Wang Bo.
Although this man is young, he is extremely talented. Now, at the age of less than 20, he has already read a lot of books and can speak eloquently.
Even Li Zhi had praised him as a genius of the Tang Dynasty! Two years ago, as a compiler of the Prince of Pei's Palace, he was highly regarded by his second brother Li Xian.
But just yesterday, the second brother Li Xian and the third brother Li Xian were gambling on cockfighting. Wang Bo not only did not dissuade them, but he cheered them on and even got inspired to write an "Exhortation to the King of England" to add to the fun.
As a result, this matter was reported to Li Zhi today. Li Zhi was so angry that he scolded him for being a crooked talent and fired him on the spot!
After hearing this story, Li Yuechen felt like laughing. These two cowards must have something wrong with their brains. They just wanted to have a cockfight, but they actually let outsiders watch.
It is easy for the actions of royal family members to be magnified and misinterpreted. But you two are so bad. Not only are you lazy and don't study hard, but you also gather together to gamble. No wonder Li Zhi is so angry.
Thinking about this matter logically, Li Zhi should not be angry about the matter itself.
Children cockfighting itself is not a big deal, but this article can easily be misinterpreted as an attempt to sow discord between the King of Pei and the King of Ying.
Not to mention that the person who wrote this article was not an ordinary person, but a genius of the Tang Dynasty who was full of knowledge!
Thinking of this, Li Yuechen shook his head secretly with regret in his heart.
No matter how talented he is, young people are still young people after all, and they are playful. Perhaps he himself did not expect what consequences this article would cause.
In the final analysis, it’s just two words: courting death!
Although she thought so in her heart, she opened her eyes wide, pretending not to understand, and asked cutely, "Will the two brothers be punished by Grandpa?"
Wu Zetian smiled and said, "It's better to lock them up for a few days and let them reflect on themselves. Look at how old they are, and yet they are still so ignorant!"
Having said this, she gently touched Li Yuechen's head and said, "Chen'er, don't be like them in the future!"
Li Yuechen nodded cutely: "Yeah!"
But he was secretly criticizing Li Zhi in his heart. No matter how small the matter was, he shouldn't be so angry that he got high blood pressure, right?
If something else happens in the future, aren't you afraid that it will all be over in a flash?
Li Yuechen decided that she would come and accompany Li Zhi when she had time. It was not easy for him to have a father in this life, so she would try to let him live a few more years.
…
In the evening, Li Zhi held a banquet for his ministers in the Linde Hall. It was hot at night in the summer, but there was still a cool breeze by the Taiye Lake.
Originally, Li Yuechen thought that holding a dinner party was a very troublesome thing in this era without electricity.
However, after coming here, I found that perhaps because the air was good in this era, the moon was extremely bright, and there were so many lanterns hanging in the Linding Hall that I couldn't even count them.
Although it is definitely dimmer than electric lights, the brightness is really beyond imagination.
Li Yuechen was also carried out by Wu Zetian and sat in the main seat, watching the ministers below salute and greet the emperor and empress.
During the Tang Dynasty, kneeling was not a popular ritual most of the time. Generally speaking, kneeling was only performed on particularly grand occasions, such as the grand court meeting on New Year's Day.
This kind of banquet, which is held to celebrate the princess's speaking, is usually accompanied by bows and salutations.
Because it was not a formal banquet, the ministers below did not wear official uniforms, and were basically in casual clothes.
One thing that made Li Yuechen feel uncomfortable was that there were no chairs during this period and the tables were relatively low. Both the emperor and his ministers knelt on a mat similar to tatami.
The generals on the right were mostly sitting cross-legged, and palace maids were dancing in the wide corridor in the middle.
There was also a group of musicians playing various instruments and singing as background music, including quite a few blond-haired and blue-eyed foreigners.
In this era, foreigners were collectively referred to as Hu people. However, in Li Yuechen's opinion, whether it was the Hu people or the ministers below, not only were they unknown, but it was also easy for them to fail to recognize them.
Because adult men in this era had to grow beards, and those without beards were eunuchs, so at first glance everyone had a big beard.
Li Yuechen, who was held in Wu Zetian's arms, didn't eat much. Most of his attention was on Hu Ji, who was among the palace maids.
Although the palace maids of this era mostly wore low-cut clothes and were dressed very openly, they were still far inferior to Hu Ji. Their white calves and belly were basically exposed, and they twisted back and forth with the music, like small electric motors.
Looking closely, there seem to be a few Hu people among the ministers below. I have heard before that there were many foreigners serving as officials in the court during the Tang Dynasty, and it seems to be true.
All the ministers were drinking and watching the dance happily, and they didn't seem to feel the slightest bit of restraint in front of the emperor.
The only one who kept a low profile was the prince who was sandwiched between Li Zhi and the ministers.
Li Xian and Li Xian ate the food in front of them without saying a word, and drank in small sips, fearing that Li Zhi would focus his attention on them.
After all, he had just been taught a lesson today, and he was very well behaved now.
Li Yuechen looked at the wine in the glass and wanted to taste it, but there was no way Wu Zetian would allow it now.
She could only stretch out her two tender little white hands, grab a piece of pastry made of something unknown, hold it in front of her head, and nibble on it in small bites .
This pastry was so bland, it was extremely unpalatable, and there was even a grain of coarse salt the size of a rice grain found in it.
Seeing the little princess slowly nibbling on a pastry that was almost as big as her face, most of the ministers below laughed and then praised Li Zhi.
What a bunch of sycophants... Li Yuechen pretended not to hear and continued chewing the cake, secretly complaining in his heart.
I...I don't I know I'm pretty? Do I need you to praise me?
Besides, does appearance matter? The key is temperament! How does that saying go?
I am the queen, shining with confidence!
