Volume 1 Princess Taiping Grows Up Chapter 25: Joy on Earth
Li Zhi and his wife took Li Yuechen out of the Xuanzheng Hall through the back door, and after returning to the Yanying Hall, they ordered someone to make tea.
Li Zhi sat on a folding chair, leaning against the back, with both legs stretched forward to stretch his body.
I have been sitting on the dragon chair since four or five in the morning, and now I feel a little sore in my back.
I was even thinking about whether I should modify the dragon throne and add a backrest at the back.
Seeing the folded scroll in Li Yuechen's hand, he reached out and grabbed it: "Is this the latest chapter of Journey to the West?"
"yes……"
Li Yuechen is still immersed in the lesson he was taught, and is a little dazed.
In this era, there were no page-turning books like those in later generations. Most books were still scrolls and folded volumes.
The jing folding volume is the kind of memorial written by ministers. It can be opened page by page, or it can be directly pulled open into a long strip.
The golden mirror that Li Yuechen looked at when he was a child was also this kind of thing.
"It's finally written. I've been waiting for many days." Li Zhi said as he opened it and started reading.
Of course, he read faster than he wrote, and he finished reading in a short while, but there was obviously something wrong with his expression.
Li Yuechen probably knew the reason for this, mainly because she had changed a lot of the content in a rather abrupt way.
After all, there are many erotic and seductive scenes in the original novel, and it would be too inappropriate for a little kid like her to write those things.
Therefore, many places had to be forcibly deleted and modified. The scene where Zhu Bajie watched the spider spirit taking a bath was only mentioned briefly, and many of the subsequent erotic scenes were replaced with dialogues to increase the word count.
Li Zhi instinctively felt that something was wrong, but he couldn't put his finger on it. He just felt that the quality of this performance had declined a lot.
After reading it, Li Zhi handed the manuscript to Wu Zetian and started playing with the health ball again.
"Chen'er has made great contributions. Just tell me what reward you want!" Li Zhi leaned back in his chair and played with a health ball, looking like a big boss.
The reward I want is that you never doubt me!
Although she thought so in her heart, she still had to put on a cute look on the surface: "I don't want any reward for now, I just want my parents to play with me."
Li Zhi nodded: "Okay, in that case, Mei Niang and I will not care about government affairs tomorrow, and will just play with Chen Er!"
"Your Majesty is pampering her again!" Wu Zetian beside him reminded.
"It's just one day, no problem!" Li Zhi waved his hand indifferently. Now he likes this daughter very much, so it doesn't matter if he takes a day off to play with her.
But he could say that. After all, Li Yuechen had to play the role of a sensible child, so he shook his head and said, "Grandpa, there is no need to do this. I have to practice in the morning. You can just play with me tomorrow afternoon!"
"Well, you can persevere! Well done, you are worthy of being my daughter!" Li Zhi touched her head.
Wu Zetian, who was standing behind her, raised her hand and patted her forehead twice, saying, "Okay, now whatever my daughter says is good."
"Mei Niang too, finish dealing with the memorials tomorrow morning and play with Chen'er in the afternoon!" Li Zhi gave the order in a domineering manner.
"Okay, okay, I'll obey your command!" Wu Zetian nodded helplessly.
…
After leaving Yanying Hall, Li Yuechen also breathed a sigh of relief. It seems that my character is preserved, as long as I am not suspected.
Then he waved his hand and said, "Eunuch Fu, go to the craftsman supervisor and ask them to make a few round thin sheets and send them to us before noon tomorrow. They can be made of copper or iron!"
Eunuch Fu was a little confused: "I wonder what specific requests your highness has?"
"It's about the size of a copper coin, just make a hole in the middle!" Li Yuechen replied, "Bring a piece of linen and some chicken feathers when you come back."
What Li Yuechen wants to make is very simple, that is shuttlecock.
Shuttlecocks actually already existed in those days, but no one in the palace played with them, and they were more like sandbags than shuttlecocks.
Fu Lai took the order and left, and Li Yuechen returned to Chengxiang Palace.
It happened that Zheng was teaching Shangguan Wan'er calligraphy, and Li Yuechen also calmed down and followed her to practice.
After seeing the words written by Shangguan Wan'er, Li Yuechen looked at his own handwriting and asked, "Should I also learn calligraphy like this?"
Zheng raised her head and said, "Your Highness, please forgive me for speaking frankly, but it is better not to make any last-minute changes to calligraphy."
"But is it easy to imitate others?" Li Yuechen asked.
Seeing her being so straightforward, Zheng nodded cautiously: "That's right."
Li Yuechen nodded: "I just feel that this style seems incompatible with our Tang Dynasty..."
"Most fonts have a smooth feel, but your highness's font is sharp and there is indeed a noticeable difference," Zheng replied.
"Forget it, my parents have already seen it, so there's no need to change it!" Li Yuechen shook his head to indicate that he had given up.
After all, it is difficult to change a habit. Besides, it is not like Li Zhi and his wife haven’t seen it before.
If I suddenly change my style now, it might make them think too much.
"I really like your style, Your Highness!" Shangguan Wan'er next to him suddenly said.
"Shut up! How dare you talk to His Highness like that..."
Li Yuechen smiled and said, "It's okay, children can say whatever they want. But Wan'er, if it's okay for me alone, you can't act like this in front of outsiders."
"Yes, I remember!" Shangguan Wan'er replied.
Zheng next to her blinked her eyes twice. It seemed that this prince really liked his daughter.
Could it be that the dream I had a few years ago was going to come true for His Highness?
…
At dusk, Eunuch Fu finally came back.
Li Yuechen saw the light begin to dim, so he put down his pen and raised his head and asked, "Why are you coming back at this time?"
"Your Highness, the craftsman said that it will be finished today, not tomorrow at noon. I will be waiting for you."
As Eunuch Fu answered, he spread out his hands, revealing a handful of chicken feathers and five flattened copper pieces: "Does this meet your Highness's requirements?"
Li Yuechen took it and looked at it: "Well, it should work. Bring me a copper coin."
Taking the copper coin handed over by Fulai, Li Yuechen wrapped it with a piece of linen, and then passed the cloth through the copper pieces.
Then wrap a bunch of chicken feathers and cloth together and tie them tightly with thread.
I weighed it in my hand and it feels about the same, but I still have to try it to know how it works.
"Your Highness, what is this?" Shangguan Wan'er beside him looked curious.
Li Yuechen waved at her: "Follow me out, we'll know at a glance!"
As he said that, he took off his large coat and threw it into Xiaohe's hand , revealing the short shirt underneath.
"Your Highness, don't do that. In case you catch a cold..."
“It’s getting hot right away!”
As soon as he finished speaking, Li Yuechen had already run into the yard outside.
After all, playing shuttlecock while wearing clothes with very long hems is purely asking for trouble. If it gets dirty, it's no big deal, you don't have to wash it yourself anyway.
The key is that if you accidentally trip yourself, it would be a big disaster.
Shangguan Wan'er, who was curious, followed out. Eunuch Fu and Xiao He were also curious, so they just watched from the side.
Li Yuechen didn't care about them. He weighed the shuttlecock and gently threw it into the air. When it fell, he kicked it with his foot.
The shuttlecock flew up and fell down again. Li Yuechen raised his leg again and the shuttlecock flew up again, repeating the cycle over and over again.
Eunuch Fu and the others next to them suddenly realized that this is how they play!
However, that was not all. As the shuttlecock was kicked into the air again, Li Yuechen slightly turned sideways, and this time he directly raised his right leg from the outside and kicked the falling shuttlecock again.
Then it's alternating between inside and outside, kicking back and forth between left and right legs.
Shangguan Wan'er, who was standing next to her, found it very interesting . She cracked a smile, jumped twice on the spot, and then applauded her.
Li Yuechen smiled at her: "Go on!"
As the words fell, the shuttlecock drew a parabola in the air and flew towards Shangguan Wan'er.
Seeing the flying shuttlecock, she subconsciously raised her leg to kick it.
He actually kicked it, but he didn't get the direction right, so the shuttlecock flew straight into the air and then fell straight down.
"Be a little gentler." Li Yuechen instructed from the side.
Shangguan Wan'er had no time to say anything. She just watched the shuttlecock about to fall, took a big step forward, and kicked it again.
This time the kick hit the target and flew right towards Li Yuechen, but it was obviously a little higher.
Li Yuechen jumped up on the spot, raised her hand to block it, let it fall, and then kicked at her again.
This time she didn't catch it, and the shuttlecock fell to the ground, brushing against her sleeve.
"Your Highness, I'm sorry, I'm stupid..."
"No problem, go pick it up and continue!" Li Yuechen smiled and waved his hands, "It's good enough to be able to do this!"
When Zheng finished cleaning the table and walked out of the hall, she saw the princess and her daughter playing shuttlecock back and forth in the yard.
His daughter was sweating profusely, her hair was sticking to her skin, and the surface of her long skirt was covered with dust spots.
However, there was no trace of fatigue in her eyes, and her face was filled with a brighter smile than ever before.
Behind the two children were clouds dyed red by the setting sun, giving their faces a hint of orange.
…
The next morning, Shangguan Wan'er, who had changed into a long dress, had a rather unhappy expression on her face.
Li Yuechen asked her while inviting her over to eat: "You had this expression when you were practicing with me just now? Didn't you sleep well?"
Shangguan Wan'er shook her head: "I got my skirt dirty yesterday and was scolded by my mother..."
"I see. I didn't think it through..." Li Yuechen smiled. "Never mind. Let's eat first!"
As he spoke, he tore off half a piece of Hu Bing and gave it to her.
Li Yuechen does . After practicing yoga, she eats a few bites of food, then drinks two mouthfuls of corn porridge before going to practice.
Shangguan Wan'er looked a little pitiful after being scolded, and she looked really cute.
The morning passed as usual, with everyone doing their own things.
Shortly after lunch, Li Zhi brought Wu Zetian to Chengxiang Hall to fulfill his promise from yesterday and play with his daughter.
And it wasn't just him who came, his four brothers were also called over.
Together with his two elder sisters who lived with him in Chengxiang Palace, the whole family in the capital was completely gathered together.
Li Zhi held the health ball in his hand and said with a smile: "How do you want to play, Chen'er?"
"Please lift up your skirts first!" Li Yuechen said with a smile.
Li Hong, who was standing behind him, lifted his skirt and asked, "Does Chen want to play Cuju? But there are not enough people..."
"It's not Cuju! Just follow me!"
As Li Yuechen spoke, he led them into the yard and asked them to stand in a big circle.
Then he took out the shuttlecock and began to introduce the rules.
Li Zhi and others were seeing this thing for the first time, so they just did what she said.
After listening to the introduction, Li Yuechen started first. After kicking twice, he kicked directly to Li Zhi.
His eyesight was indeed not good, and he could only see a blurry object flying towards him.
But no matter what, he was skilled in archery and horse riding when he was young, so his reaction is still not slow.
The kick was very accurate, but the direction was not well controlled, so it went astray.
When Li Xian saw someone coming towards him, he took a step forward and kicked Wu Zetian.
Although she became the queen, as the former captain of the palace women's polo team, her skills had not declined much.
Seeing the shuttlecock coming, he kicked it back like Li Yuechen did.
In this way, the family began a happy shuttlecock kicking activity.
Because I wasn't used to it, I kept falling to the ground at the beginning, but after I got used to it, the number of times I fell to the ground became less and less.
During the performance, Li Yuechen also demonstrated various fancy kicking techniques, such as using the knee or chest to push and then continue kicking, or small and large kicking moves.
The one who had the most fun was Li Zhi. When he saw the shuttlecock coming, he was obviously excited.
So he wanted to imitate what Li Yuechen had just done, jumping up and butting his head with it to look cool.
As a result, due to misjudgment of the distance, the shuttlecock did not hit the forehead, but fell right on the bun!
Moreover, the chicken feathers got tangled with the hair and hung on it for a moment.
The eunuchs and palace maids nearby instantly avoided his sight. Some looked up at the sky, some looked down at the ground, and some turned their heads to look at Taiye Lake.
Only Li Yuechen laughed seemingly heartlessly: "Hahahaha...Grandpa, don't move. Let big brother help take it down."
Wu Zetian next to him also covered her mouth and chuckled, as if she was very happy about Li Zhi's embarrassment.
Li Zhi didn't care. After taking it off, he shook his head and said, "Come again!"
…
After playing for about an hour, Li Zhi and Wu Zetian left, sat down on the chairs next to them, took a sip of the brewed tea, and watched the children play.
"After all, I'm just getting old..." Li Zhi shook his head.
Wu Zetian smiled and said, "It can last for more than an hour. Your Majesty is still strong."
Li Zhi didn't say anything, just smiled and shook his head.
Looking at the children who were sweating while playing, the expression on his face seemed very relieved.
Li Zhi turned the health ball in his hand and suddenly said, "This scene is something I have never experienced since I was a child..."
Wu Zetian beside him was silent for a moment: "Not now? Today is a happy day, Your Majesty should not think about unhappy things."
It is normal for Li Zhi to have such an exclamation. From childhood to adulthood, the only person he had a really good relationship with was Sizi.
As for the other brothers, the eldest brother Li Chengqian rebelled, and the fourth brother Li Tai often threatened him.
As for those illegitimate brothers, they don’t even meet each other often, let alone play together.
"It was not until I had Chen'er that I truly understood the meaning of 'a house full of children and grandchildren'..." Li Zhi smiled and took a sip of the teacup.
Wu Zetian smiled and said, "Doesn't this just prove that Your Majesty is blessed? You have many children and grandchildren, and you enjoy the happiness of the world..."
While Li Yuechen was playing shuttlecock with her brothers and sisters, she kept observing Li Zhi and Wu Zetian next to them.
Judging from the satisfied and relieved expressions on their faces, my operation today was really good!
