Volume 1 Princess Taiping Grows Up Chapter 21: General Chapter Year 2
People of this era got up very early. When the sky was just getting light and still dark blue, the entire palace had already woken up.
Shangguan Wan'er rubbed her eyes and came to the main hall of Chengxiang Palace. She sat beside her and watched her mother help clean up the table. She also helped Xiaohe place three rectangular sheepskin mats in the hall.
After a while, Li Yuechen and her two sisters came out and started practicing yoga together.
Since coming here, Shangguan Wan'er can see the three of them doing this strange exercise every morning.
The speed is very slow, and one posture often has to be maintained for a long time, but you can see the beauty of the body after it is stretched to its fullest.
She squatted beside him, curled up into a small ball, supporting her chin with her hands, blinking her bright big eyes, and observing curiously.
It was not until the sun came out completely that Li Yuechen and her two sisters stopped and prepared to eat.
Eunuch Fu brought some hot Hu pancakes and corn porridge and placed them on the table.
Li Yuechen sat cross-legged in front of the table, tore off a small piece of Hu pancake and put it in his mouth, then turned around and waved to Shangguan Wan'er beside him.
Seeing her movements, Shangguan Wan'er stood up and walked over: "What do you want, Your Highness?"
"Come!" Li Yuechen stuffed the remaining half of the Hu pancake into her hand.
Zheng, who was standing next to him, immediately refused after seeing this: "Your Highness, you can't do that. She..."
"She's still a child, she can't go hungry." Li Yuechen interrupted her directly, then turned around and raised her chin to Shangguan Wan'er, "I'm a princess, listen to me!"
Shangguan Wan'er bowed obediently: "Thank you, Your Highness!"
"Eunuch Fu, Xiao He!"
"exist!"
Li Yuechen waved his hand and asked them to come over, and whispered: "In the future, you two can also take an extra Hu pancake in the morning to fill your stomach. But you must not let others know about this!"
Eunuch Fu bowed and said, "Your Highness is so kind. I thank you for your kindness!"
Xiao He beside him also bowed his head and saluted. Li Yuechen waved his hand and said, "No need to be polite. Remember! This cannot be known to others! If I find out that you are showing off outside, I will be angry!"
"Yes, I understand!"
"Yeah." Li Yuechen waved his hand and asked them to leave.
Shangguan Wan'er looked at the three-quarters of the Hu pancake in her hand and tore open another half: "I want to share it with my mother..."
"No!" Zheng next to her stopped him, "This is His Highness..."
"No problem!" Li Yuechen drank a mouthful of corn porridge and stood up, "I need to practice in the morning, eating too much is not good."
Princess Xuancheng beside her smiled and said, "Chen'er is very kind!"
"Yes." Princess Yi Yang nodded in agreement.
"Sisters, please keep this a secret for me!"
Princess Yiyang nodded and said, "Don't worry, Chen'er. We also came from the Ye Ting Palace and know the lives of servants."
Li Yuechen nodded and stopped talking, then got up and went outside to practice in the yard.
In fact, she knew very well that such things would be harder to keep secret the more she repeated them, but it didn't matter.
Now her character is no longer a secret in the palace. Even if the servants know about it, the most they can do is sigh and say how good it is to be with the princess.
No one would use this to attack her, and as for Li Zhi and his wife , they probably wouldn't say anything.
Li Yuechen came to the yard, got into position and started practicing. Now he had basically memorized all the moves taught by Liu Rengui.
All that remains is continuous practice to comprehensively train your body and strengthen your muscles and bones.
Shangguan Wan'er stood at the door, nibbling on the Hu pancake in her hand while watching Li Yuechen practice.
The clothes of the royal princess are all made of the finest fabrics, so every punch and kick of Li Yuechen can make a "whoosh" sound in the air, which is very pleasing to the eye.
But after she had read for a while, she was called back by her mother to read and write. Before leaving, she looked into the yard a few times with some reluctance.
She has lived in the Ye Ting Palace since she could remember. Now that she has a person of the same age who is very kind to her, she naturally has a different feeling.
…
Li Yuechen considered that he might be in the spotlight a bit as he was working on both the curved plow and punctuation marks during this period, so he decided to stay quiet for a while.
Every day I don’t think about anything except writing Journey to the West.
As time goes by, the weather gradually changes from hot to cold, and people's clothes begin to become thicker.
In November, Japan sent envoys to the Tang Dynasty to pay tribute again, and Li Zhi received the envoys in Hanyuan Hall.
Out of curiosity, Li Yuechen still ran to the screen on the side of the court to take a look.
It's a pity that I didn't see the samurai hairstyle seen in Japanese dramas. Instead, they all looked like the animated version of Nezha, with two small buns on both sides of their heads, which was really a bit funny.
Li Yuechen did not continue to pay attention to this matter.
At the end of the month, my fourth brother's title was changed. He was originally Prince of Yu, but was changed to Prince of Ji.
Not only was his title banned, his name was also changed by removing the middle character "Xu" and changing to "Li Lun".
This name made Li Yuechen secretly shake his head, feeling that it didn't sound nice and should be changed to Jie Lun.
…
The whole family was in a good mood recently, but bad news soon happened again.
On the third day of the twelfth month, Li Zhi, who was in the Purple Palace with Wu Zetian reviewing memorials, received the news that Li Ji had died of illness!
Li Zhi and his wife hurriedly threw down the memorial and took a carriage to the mansion to take a last look.
Li Yuechen was stunned for a moment when he heard the news, put down the pen in his hand, and sighed slightly.
After coming to this era, I learned a lot of things that I didn’t know before. This general really made great contributions to the Tang Dynasty!
Even though there were many famous generals during the reign of Emperor Taizong, this old general was still one of them that could not be ignored.
Now that the hero has passed away, it is a regret for the Tang Dynasty.
Li Yuechen raised his hands and bowed in the direction of the Duke of England's Mansion to express his respect.
The mourning hall had been set up at the Duke of Ying's mansion. Looking at Li Ji, who was lying stiff on the bed, Li Zhi cried bitterly.
This veteran general experienced three dynasties in his life, fought for the Tang Dynasty in all directions, and it can be said that he watched Li Zhi grow up.
Moreover, after Li Zhi came to power, he helped him depose Wang Liwu and regain imperial power. He was one of his closest and most trusted people.
Li Zhi ordered the suspension of court for seven days in the mourning hall, posthumously conferred him the title of Grand Marshal, and gave him the posthumous name "Zhenwu". He also granted him a coffin and allowed him to be buried in Zhaoling Mausoleum!
Seven days later, Li Ji's funeral was held. Li Zhi brought Crown Prince Li Hong and daughter Li Yuechen to the old city of Weiyang Palace. They stood on the city wall and cried bitterly while watching the carriage carrying the coffin.
Li Hong next to him also had red eyes. He had been the crown prince regent since he was eight years old, and had a lot of work dealings with the old general, so they were very familiar with each other.
“Cough cough cough…”
Li Zhi was already in poor health, and he cried so hard that he couldn't catch his breath and started coughing violently.
His body went limp and he sat back.
"His Majesty!"
Wu Zetian, who was standing next to him, reacted quickly and helped him sit down slowly, preventing him from falling down.
Then she kept stroking his chest to help him breathe more easily.
Li Yuechen also ran over and patted his back: "Grandpa! Breathe in! Breathe in!"
Li Zhi's face turned red from holding his breath and he took deep breaths.
Zhang Chengxin turned back and shouted, "Quickly call Mr. Liu over!"
“Ahem…”
After coughing for a while, Li Zhi finally recovered. He sat on the ground, gasping for breath with tears streaming down his face.
Li Yuechen finally breathed a sigh of relief and raised his head and said, "Eunuch Zhang, go and prepare some hot tea!"
“Yes!”
Zhang Chengxin agreed and turned around to prepare tea. Li Yuechen half-knelt beside him and continued to pat Li Zhi's back.
Only when a cup of hot tea was served did Li Zhi nod and pat Li Yuechen's shoulder gently: "Chen'er, I'm fine. Mei Niang, you don't have to worry."
"I was so scared!" Wu Zetian heaved a sigh of relief and sat down on the ground with him.
Li Yuechen, who was standing next to him, took the tea, took a sip, and then passed it to Li Zhi: "Grandpa, it's not hot."
Li Zhi nodded while panting, took it and drank it slowly.
"Your Majesty is in poor health and should not be so sad. You need to calm down as soon as possible!" Wu Zetian beside him advised.
"Yes, I know..." Li Zhi nodded and answered weakly.
Li Ji's passing made the good mood that was originally at the end of the year disappear into thin air.
The emperor was in a bad mood, and it seemed that a shadow was cast over the entire sky of the Tang Empire.
…
Looking at the red walls and green tiles of the Daming Palace covered with white snow, Li Yuechen, who was standing in the front yard of Chengxiang Palace, raised his hand and caught a falling snowflake.
The almost transparent snowflakes gradually melted in the white and tender palms until they disappeared.
Shangguan Wan'er came out with a bowl of hot tea and said, "Your Highness, it's cold outside the palace. You'd better not stay outside for too long."
After staying here for a few months, her originally thin body has changed a lot.
The only thing that remains unchanged is the pair of big eyes that are still bright.
Li Yuechen took the hot tea she handed over and nodded to show that he understood.
However, he was still thinking about how to make Li Zhi feel better. If he kept holding it in every day, he would get sick sooner or later.
After much thought, she realized that the only thing she could do as a princess was to work hard on her family relationships.
Given her current level of favor, Li Zhi should still be willing to listen to her.
After deciding what to do, Li Yuechen turned around and went back to the palace, picked up a pen and started drawing.
In the afternoon, he handed the finished drawing to Eunuch Fu and said, "Go to the craftsman supervisor and ask them to make it as soon as possible. This thing should not be difficult."
“Yes!”
Fulai agreed, took the blueprint and left. Li Yuechen put on his cloak and went to Yanying Hall.
When I entered the hall, I saw Li Zhi sitting beside the hall as usual, boiling tea on a small stove and fiddling with a health ball in his hand.
But looking at his expression, it was obvious that he looked a little lonely.
Today, his fourth brother Li Lun also came to see him, but he was a taciturn person and not very good at communicating, so he could only sit next to him in silence.
Seeing Li Yuechen coming over, Li Zhi showed a smile on his face: "Chen'er is here, come and sit down!"
Li Yuechen came and sat down next to him: "Grandpa, are you feeling better today?"
"It's no different from usual." Li Zhi smiled, "It's okay, Chen'er, don't worry about Grandpa."
Looking at his expression, he doesn't look like there's nothing to worry about, right?
Although he complained in his heart, Li Yuechen still raised his head and said, "My son, I want to ask Grandpa for a reward."
"oh?"
Li Zhi seemed to find it a little strange, raised his eyebrows and turned his head to look over: "What do you want?"
"Can you not hold a banquet on New Year's Eve this year? My family and I will have a meal together. On the first day of the New Year, we can have the ministers come to the palace to pay tribute?"
Hearing her words, Li Zhi did not answer, but turned his head to look at Wu Zetian with a puzzled look.
Wu Zetian next to her was also a little confused. It has been a tradition since ancient times for the emperor to hold a banquet and stay up all night with his ministers on New Year's Eve. Why would her daughter make such a request?
"Why is this?" Wu Zetian asked.
Li Yuechen had a sincere expression and answered seriously: "You two adults are busy all year round. I just want... at least on New Year's Eve, when the family is together, to let you and your parents really relax for a moment! Even if it's just for a moment!"
Hearing this, Li Zhi looked at Wu Zetian with a smile on his face.
The mother also looked at her daughter with satisfaction, but shook her head. Just as she was about to speak, she was interrupted by Li Zhi.
"Okay! Just do as Chen'er said!"
"Your Majesty, this..."
Li Zhi waved his hand in a domineering manner: "No problem! I am the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty! Such willful behavior does not need anyone else's concern!"
Li Yuechen grinned, revealing a row of neat teeth, raised his hands and said, "Grandpa is mighty!"
Now Li Zhi also understood the meaning of this action. He also raised his hands and gently clapped them together with her small hands, making a crisp "pa" sound.
Wu Zetian, who saw this scene later, shook her head helplessly, but the smile on her face remained unchanged, and she continued to pick up the pen to review memorials.
"Grandpa, I have made a new item. Can you let me arrange it for New Year's Eve this year? " Li Yuechen asked.
Li Zhi was in a good mood and waved his hand casually: "Sure!"
"Grandpa is so mighty!" Li Yuechen cheered and threw herself on him, and the father and daughter started playing around.
Li Lun, who was standing next to him, seemed to be somewhat envious, but his introverted personality prevented him from taking any action.
Li Yuechen pushed the knocked-down Li Zhi to the ground, turned his head and said, "I alone can't hold Grandpa down, brother, come and help me!"
After hearing his sister's order, Li Lun finally plucked up the courage to come over and help, and the three of them started playing together.
Wu Zetian, who was reviewing memorials nearby, felt overwhelmed when she heard them arguing.
I wanted to get angry, but when I turned my head and looked at the warm scene of adults and children playing together, I finally shook my head and let them be.
After playing around for a while, seeing that Li Zhi seemed a little tired, Li Yuechen quietly pulled her fourth brother, stood up and poured Li Zhi a cup of tea for him to rest for a while.
Li Zhi took the teacup and turned his head to look at the brother and sister. He suddenly said, "Lun'er, it seems that you should also learn the art of riding and shooting. Look, Chen'er is almost taller than you now ."
Li Lun turned his head and took a look, and found that it was true. Li Yuechen was now at the level of his eyebrows.
I still remember when my sister was just born I went to see her by myself. She was so tiny, but I never expected that she is almost the same size as me now.
Wu Zetian, who was standing next to him, nodded in agreement after hearing this: "That's true!"
Li Yuechen complained in his heart, "When I first said I wanted to learn martial arts, you were very opposed to it, and now you just say these four words. The preference for boys over girls in ancient times was really serious!"
Li Yuechen, who felt that she was treated unfairly, wanted to resign. She really didn't want to see her mother, who, as a woman, favored boys over girls.
