Volume 1 Princess Taiping Grows Up Chapter 22 Gradually Becoming a Daughter Slave
This fight finally pulled Li Zhi out of the sadness of Li Ji's death.
Li Yuechen was very happy. Two days later, Fulai came back with a lot of things.
"Everything that Your Highness ordered the craftsmen to build has been completed. Please review it."
Looking at the stand in front of him, Li Yuechen opened it and placed it in the middle of the hall, then asked Fulai and Xiaohe to support the large round table top on the open stand.
That's right, the table.
In this era, people eat separately. This year on New Year's Eve, Li Yuechen planned to have dinner with his family.
Li Yuechen squatted below and watched the nail align with the groove on the lower left side before letting them put it down.
Then I came out and shook the table. It was OK, quite stable.
Then I picked up the folding chair next to me, opened it and sat on it to try it out, and it felt really good.
This thing is not difficult at all technically, the key is whether you can understand it through.
The chair is made of wood, and the bracket connection can be done with a small iron rod, which is very simple.
Fulai brought in a copper stove from outside. There was a hole at the bottom for charcoal fire, and it seemed like there was a basin connected to the top.
Shangguan Wan'er looked at Li Yuechen curiously as he took it and looked at it carefully. She couldn't help but ask, "Your Highness, what is this?"
"Hot pot!" Li Yuechen smiled and placed it in the middle of the round table. "After this year, we'll make a smaller one. This one will be with Grandpa."
Shangguan Wan'er didn't seem to understand, but she still nodded obediently.
Li Yuechen turned around and touched her head: "The specific use will be revealed when I demonstrate it to you!"
After being touched on the head, Shangguan Wan'er lowered her head and murmured softly, "I am one year older than Your Highness..."
"Yes, I know."
Li Yuechen didn't seem to understand what she meant, and didn't ask any more questions. She waved to Fu Lai and said, "Eunuch Fu, the day before New Year's Eve, ask the Shangshi Bureau to freeze the fresh mutton and cut it into thin slices. The meat should be half fat and half lean."
"Yes!" Fu Lai agreed and indicated that he would remember it.
After explaining everything, Li Yuechen stood in front of the round table with her hands on her hips, looked at the copper pot on the table and nodded.
Sure enough, in winter, the whole family sits together and eats hot pot!
To be honest, I want to eat dumplings on New Year’s Eve, but let’s talk about that later, let’s eat hotpot first!
The atmosphere of the New Year in ancient times was always very strong, and the biggest reason for this was probably the lack of entertainment.
Li Yuechen still likes this kind of atmosphere very much. Although entertainment will be developed in the future, the relationship between people will feel more distant.
Ordinary people are like this, let alone orphans like Li Yuechen. During the Chinese New Year, he basically skied in various places, feeling the wind and freedom while observing the ruggedness and loneliness of the snow-capped mountains.
…
In the court, all the civil and military officials stood on both sides, holding tablets in their hands, standing there, no one knew what they were thinking.
Li Zhi, who was sitting on the dragon throne, turned his head and looked at Wu Zetian behind the pearl curtain, and they smiled at each other.
"Yesterday, the princess said that New Year's Eve is a time to reunite with family, and suggested that I cancel the New Year's Eve banquet and let the ministers come to congratulate on the first day of the New Year... I think what she said makes sense. I wonder what your opinions are?"
After hearing Li Zhi's words, almost all the ministers raised their heads slightly and looked at the emperor on the dragon throne in disbelief.
After all, this has been the rule for so many years. It is too sudden to suddenly say that you want to cancel it.
But to be honest, most of the court officials supported it in their hearts, if for no other reason than because it was too tiring.
We come here on New Year’s Eve to have dinner and watch singing and dancing, and in the second half of the night we have to get up again before we can even sleep for an hour to rush over to celebrate.
It’s okay for the younger ones, but the older officials really can’t stand such torture.
In fact, young people also support it in their hearts. After all, they have to drink to have fun during the New Year. But in front of the emperor, they dare not drink as much as they want!
Why?
I was afraid that I would get drunk in front of the emperor and say something stupid. If I made the emperor unhappy during the New Year, I would be unhappy for the rest of the year.
Young and old alike expressed their support in their hearts; no one stood up to oppose. The court was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.
But they all turned their heads at the same time and looked at the old guys from the Censorate.
Those people in the Censorate felt the gazes from all around them and were also worried in their hearts.
They are all quite old, and they actually support this kind of thing in their hearts.
But this is a decision that goes against tradition after all. From the perspective of work content, they should stand up and say a few words at this time.
Imperial Censor Zhao Renben raised his arms slightly, covered his face with his tablet, and secretly turned his head to look at his colleague next to him. They exchanged glances.
They looked at each other and asked whether they should stand up and say a few words symbolically.
But if the emperor were to take back his decision after being scolded by them, wouldn't there be more trouble in the future?
For a moment, several people in the Censorate were in a dilemma.
Looking at their dilemma, Li Zhi felt very happy and took a deep breath.
If this wasn't happening in the imperial court, I'd probably have stood up and danced.
Seeing that they were still struggling, Li Zhi stood up and said, "Since none of you have any objection, then this matter is settled. Let's adjourn the court!"
After saying that, he stood up and left hand in hand with Wu Zetian. Zhao Renben put down his tablet and subconsciously raised his head: "Your Majesty..."
"Retreat - to the court -" Zhang Chengxin's sharp high-pitched voice instantly drowned out his words, filling the entire court.
The ministers also turned around in unison and walked out of the hall, as if they were afraid that Li Zhi would go back on his word.
Normally, no matter whether it was a national affair or the emperor's words and deeds, the different factions and the emperor would always argue for a long time, but today, everyone maintained the same tacit understanding!
"Ha ha ha ha……"
After walking out of the hall, Li Zhi, unable to hide his good mood, burst into laughter. Normally he was criticized by the Censorate, but today he finally got some relief.
Wu Zetian was also laughing beside him: "Your Majesty, did you see Zhao Renben's expression just now?"
"Wonderful! Wonderful! Hahahaha..."
The couple walked towards Yanying Palace hand in hand and laughed, leaving behind a series of happy laughter.
…
In the blink of an eye, it was New Year's Eve. Since Li Zhi agreed to follow Li Yuechen's arrangements this year, the dinner was arranged in Chengxiang Hall.
When the sun set, the four brothers and two sisters had all arrived. Li Zhi and Wu Zetian still had some memorials to deal with, so they had to come later.
Inside the Chengxiang Hall, a round table has been set up, surrounded by chairs that are just the right size for the number of people.
Charcoal was burning under the copper pot on the table, and the white soup in the basin above had begun to bubble.
Unfortunately, there was no chili pepper in that era, so Li Yuechen felt that this hot pot lacked soul.
However, the sesame sauce with various seasonings added to it is barely acceptable.
Plates of mutton slices cut into a mixture of fat and lean were placed on the side. They were a little thicker than the ones cut by machines in the Future Hotpot Restaurant, but not much thicker.
As for vegetables, there are only cabbage and tofu. Because it is winter now, there are no greenhouses and no good preservation technology, so there is very little to eat in winter.
Li Yuechen asked his brothers and sisters to sit down first and started chatting around the table.
"Does Yuechen want to sit down and eat together?" Li Hong asked.
"Will the two adults be angry?" Li Xian said as he opened and closed the chair in his hand repeatedly, having a lot of fun.
Princess Xuancheng propped her chin on the table with both hands: "No, the two adults have always liked the things made by Chen'er."
Li Hong nodded: "But this thing is indeed novel, I didn't expect there is such a way to eat it."
Especially when I saw Li Xian playing with the folding chair, I also thought that the chair was quite interesting.
After a while, Li Zhi and Wu Zetian finally finished reviewing the memorials and came to Chengxiang Hall. The children stood up and saluted at the same time.
"Okay, okay, no need to be polite." Li Zhi took off his shoes and walked into the inner hall with a smile. Seeing the bubbling hot pot on the table, he felt a little confused.
"Chen'er, what is this?"
"This thing is called hot pot. Normally, we eat separately, but I think it would be better for the whole family to eat together." Li Yuechen smiled, revealing a row of bright teeth.
Li Zhi understood what she meant and nodded, saying, "Haha, this is quite novel."
Li Xian, who was standing next to him, raised his head and said, "There are more novelties here. My two lords, take a look at this. It is similar to the Hu stool, but more interesting."
Looking at the folding chair he was fiddling with, Li Zhi and Wu Zetian also felt curious. This thing was not difficult at all and the principle was clear at first glance.
But because no one had thought about it in this regard before, this is why the little daughter appears to be quick-witted.
Wu Zetian smiled and said, "This thing is indeed more comfortable than kneeling."
"My two elders, please take your seats quickly. It's getting late and it's almost time to start the banquet." Li Yuechen reminded.
Li Zhi nodded and sat in the main seat side by side with Wu Zetian, and the other children sat around them.
Looking at the various meats, cabbage and tofu on the table, it seemed difficult to start eating, so he turned around and asked, "Chen'er, how do you eat this?"
As he spoke, he picked up the sesame sauce in front of him and was about to take a sip to taste it.
Li Yuechen suppressed his laughter and stopped him, "Grandpa, this is a sauce, don't drink it straight away."
Then he gave a brief introduction on how to eat hot pot and waited for Li Zhi and Wu Zetian to start.
The couple also found it a bit novel, and following Li Yuechen's instruction, they picked up a piece of mutton with chopsticks and threw it into the soup. After waiting for less than ten seconds, they took it out and put it into their mouths with sesame sauce.
"Hmm! It tastes great!" Li Zhi nodded and commented, "Mei Niang, try it too!"
Wu Zetian next to him also tried it and said: "Indeed, it tastes great!"
They both started eating, and the children were no longer polite and started throwing the mutton slices on the plates into the pot with their chopsticks.
As soon as the color changes slightly, take it out and dip it in sesame sauce and put it in your mouth.
The novel taste instantly filled everyone's mouth, making them open their eyes wide.
Only Li Yuechen still felt unsatisfied. There was nothing he could do about it. Hotpot without chili was truly soulless.
At the beginning, everyone was relatively restrained and behaved well as usual.
However, it was inevitable to sit at the same table and eat and chat. When the conversation became more lively, Li Zhi asked for some wine.
The sake specially supplied to the palace is called sake, but it is actually amber in color.
Although Li Yuechen had never drunk it, he sniffed and could not smell any alcohol. He thought that the alcohol content of this thing was probably not as high as beer.
In the family, only the two sisters and Li Hong and Li Xian were old enough to drink, and the remaining three children were still young, so each of them was poured a glass of Sanle juice.
After a few drinks, Li Zhi started talking more.
“Although there is no singing and dancing this year, it is indeed happy for the family to sit together.”
"That's true. It feels more like the New Year than in previous years," Wu Zetian agreed.
Perhaps because there were no ministers watching and there was no need to worry about being scolded by the censors, the atmosphere was obviously much more relaxed.
Even the couple joked with each other.
"Your Majesty, your beard is covered with sauce." Wu Zetian said with a smile.
Li Zhi smiled and waved his hand: "No problem, let's talk after we finish eating."
Li Zhi's face was flushed with sweat from eating so much that even his clothes were open.
Wu Zetian smiled and helped him straighten his messy collar: "You look like a saint now."
"It's better if it doesn't look like that!" Li Yuechen next to him interrupted.
"Chen'er! Don't talk nonsense!" Wu Zetian turned her head and scolded.
Li Yuechen looked up and said, "That's how it is! What's the benefit of being an emperor? The two adults are busy every day, and their hair has turned white because of various major events! If they were in an ordinary family, Grandpa and Mom would definitely be much happier than they are now!"
After hearing her words, Wu Zetian did not continue to scold, but turned her head and looked at Li Zhi.
Li Yuechen said these things intentionally, just taking this opportunity to instill in his brothers the idea that being an emperor is actually very tiring, and to seize every opportunity to avoid fratricide in the future.
"Grandpa is in poor health and should be resting, but now he still works hard for state affairs every day. The ministers may not feel sorry for him, but I do!" Li Yuechen acted angrily.
Wu Zetian was about to speak when Li Zhi held her shoulder.
He was obviously very fond of this filial daughter, with a smile on his face: "I know that Chen'er is filial, but you are still young and don't know the importance of state affairs. You will understand when you grow up."
Li Yuechen pouted and turned her head away, looking unhappy.
Wu Zetian also smiled: "Chen'er, if you feel sorry for us, don't get angry. I promise you on behalf of my grandfather that I will play with you often in the future, okay?"
Hearing this, Li Yuechen turned back, still with a stern face, and asked stiffly: "Are you serious?"
Li Zhi, who was standing next to her, thought she looked so cute and burst out laughing. He nodded repeatedly, "Really?"
Li Yuechen then nodded and said "hmm" seemingly reluctantly.
Although she was throwing a tantrum, it was because she felt sorry for them, so the couple not only did not scold her, but also coaxed her.
Li Zhi obviously liked his daughter more in his heart. He directly hugged Li Yuechen and let her sit on his lap to coax her.
"Okay, okay, Chen'er, don't be angry. Come, let Grandpa get you some tofu..."
The brothers and sisters nearby saw Li Zhi's humble look and wanted to laugh but didn't dare to, and their faces turned red as they tried to hold it in.
