Volume 1 Princess Taiping Grows Up Chapter 48 BBQ
Since the emperor gave the order personally, the execution was naturally very efficient.
Soon, fast horses set out along the national highways, delivering the emperor's orders to the local states and counties.
Notices were also posted outside the imperial city, attracting a crowd of people to watch.
Although most of them are illiterate, some educated people will help read out and tell them what the words mean.
After hearing the notice, the people around were all shocked. They never thought that marriage between blood relatives would have such a result.
As a result, the news quickly spread throughout the entire Dongdu through word of mouth.
The emperor issued an order that any engagement between blood relatives that had not yet taken place should be canceled directly and the betrothal gifts returned.
If you are already married, you can divorce if you want. If you don’t want to divorce, it is best to marry a concubine and let her give birth to children.
Li Yuechen was very happy with this result. She had originally thought that she would have the chance to raise this issue with Li Zhi again in the future.
Unexpectedly, I found it out myself while investigating genetic diseases. It was really a coincidence.
It has to be said that Liu Shenwei's investigation was very thorough. Li Yuechen thought that he could praise him next time they met.
…
In the Anfu Hall, Li Yuechen put down the pen in his hand, raised his arms and stretched.
Shangguan Wan'er suddenly turned her head and asked, "Your Highness, do you still remember what you promised me last year?"
Li Yuechen was stunned for a moment: "Of course I remember! Don't worry!"
Hearing her answer, Shangguan Wan'er smiled and nodded, then turned around and ran out happily.
Then Li Yuechen waved Xiao He over and asked, "What did I promise her?"
"This..." Xiao He was also a little stunned, "How could this servant know what Your Highness has promised?"
With a "pa" sound, Li Yuechen raised his hand and slapped himself on the forehead, and began to think about what he had promised her.
Seeing her like this, Xiao He asked tentatively, "Your Highness, if there is nothing else, I will leave first. I still need to prepare some bamboo for making rice dumplings."
"Zong?" Li Yuechen was slightly stunned. "It's almost the fifth day of May?"
"Yes, today is the second day of the Chinese New Year." Xiao He replied.
Li Yuechen waved his hand: "Okay, go ahead!"
Now she remembered that she had promised Shangguan Wan'er last year that she would let her be the king of herbs during the Dragon Boat Festival this year.
When Li Yuechen arrived outside Anfu Hall, he saw Shangguan Wan'er looking for grass stems everywhere. Her pair of white and tender hands were covered with dust, but she didn't care at all.
Li Yuechen waved his hand: "Wan'er, come here! Today I will teach you the secret method to be invincible in fighting against hundreds of herbs!"
Shangguan Wan'er hurried over and said, "Your Highness, we need to talk about this when we get back. We can't let anyone else hear it."
"It's okay, there's no one around!" Li Yuechen smiled, then put his arms around her neck.
Perhaps she didn't expect Li Yuechen to suddenly attack her, Shangguan Wan'er just stood there in a daze, allowing her to put her arms around her neck and pull her over.
Li Yuechen leaned close to her ear and whispered, "The method is very simple. Just soak these grass stems in water overnight!"
Shangguan Wan'er, who was blushing because of her action, was stunned. She raised her head slightly, looked at Li Yuechen's smile close to her, and asked in a daze: "Is it so simple?"
"Yeah!" Li Yuechen nodded with a smile, "The secrets behind many things are so simple!"
…
Three days passed in the blink of an eye. That morning, Li Yuechen took Shangguan Wan'er and her two sisters to practice yoga and then had a quick breakfast.
After telling Xiao He to go to the craftsmanship supervisor and have someone make a barbecue grill for him, he prepared to go out and practice.
Just as they arrived outside the palace and hadn't even started to practice, the chief eunuch Zhang Chengxin suddenly came over and said, "Your Highness, the emperor has issued an edict that we should all go to the tower of the imperial city to watch the dragon boat race today."
"Okay, I'll be there right away." Li Yuechen agreed and called Xiaohe to help her comb her hair.
At Xiao He's strong request, she still combed her hair into a high bun, made a small gift, and put on an extremely complicated hairpin dress.
After all, it would be okay at normal times, but today on the city wall, it would be hilarious if the people of the whole city saw the princess with disheveled hair.
Li Yuechen didn't want to embarrass Li Zhi, so she could only let it go .
I arrived at the gate of the imperial city early, and several brothers were already waiting there.
Seeing that his second brother Li Xian had his back to him, Li Yuechen raised his finger to signal the other brothers to keep quiet.
Then he trotted a few steps quickly, jumped up on the spot, and threw himself on Li Xian's back: "Second brother!"
"Ouch!"
Li Xian was startled, but the next moment he quickly reached out and grabbed his sister on his back to prevent her from falling.
"Girl, are you trying to scare me to death?" Li Xian scolded with a smile.
Li Yuechen slid down his back with a smile: "Hey, aren't you trying to give Second Brother a surprise?"
"Yuechen had better stay calm today. If the people of Dongdu see the Tang princess in this state, my royal family will be embarrassed." Li Hong taught with a stern face.
The fourth brother, Li Lun, smiled slightly and said, "Don't worry, brother. Yuechen is not someone who doesn't know the importance of things."
"Yes!" The third brother next to him also chimed in, "Yuechen will definitely not cause trouble today."
Li Hong laughed directly: "You guys are teaching me a lesson?"
"I dare not, I dare not..." Li Yuechen deliberately put on a serious look and bowed to answer.
But it was probably because she had just fallen on Li Xian's back that the hairpins on her head loosened, and when she lowered her head, several of them fell off, clanging all over the ground.
“Hahahaha…” The brothers and sisters all covered their mouths and laughed.
Xiao He, who followed along, quickly ran over to help put the fallen hairpin back into her hair.
When Li Zhi and Wu Zetian came over, they saw the children playing and teasing each other, and they couldn't help but smile.
Especially for Li Zhi, most of his brothers and sisters were dead, so seeing the children playing and fighting with each other made him feel more deeply than others.
Seeing the couple coming, the children all stood still and saluted solemnly.
Li Yuechen also pretended to be serious and saluted, but immediately raised his hands and made a heart shape with his hands above his head, which made Li Zhi's smile not diminish and his beard tremble.
"Okay, now that we are here, follow me up to the city wall and watch the dragon boat race!" Li Zhi announced with a wave of his hand.
First, a large number of Qianniu Guards climbed up the city wall, and then Li Zhi also went up with his wife and children.
When we arrived at Duanmen, we saw that the other side of Luo River was already full of people who had come to watch.
On the side closer to the imperial city, there are court ministers and their families, most of whom are familiar faces.
And in the Luo River under the Tianjin Bridge, there are already nine long dragon boats lined up in a row.
The contestants were shirtless, revealing their muscular bodies and large tattoos.
Li Yuechen had given Xiaohe some simple scientific knowledge before, and it seemed that these tattoos were all meant to scare away monsters in the water.
Seeing the emperor appear on the city wall, the ministers and people on both sides of the Luo River saluted and shouted "Long live the emperor".
Li Zhi smiled and raised his hand, motioning them to stand up.
The dragon boat race was not an event organized by the royal family, but was held spontaneously by the people, so the emperor obviously had no intention of interfering. He just took the children to watch the fun.
For most people, it was just a show of fun. After all, on the other side of the Luo River, most people couldn't actually see clearly what the emperor looked like.
All that could be seen was a man wearing a yellow-orange uniform with a pattern of a baoxianghua flower on it and a black hat on his head.
Li Zhi inherited his father Li Shimin's character to a certain extent. He would never wear the troublesome imperial crown if possible.
Even when she was in the Renshou Hall, she didn't even wear the Yishan crown; a golden hairpin was enough.
Perhaps because the emperor came to watch, the strong men on the dragon boat were ready to go, and one of them even spat on his palm twice.
Every few meters along the bank of the Luo River, there was a big drum, and strong men were ready to fight.
As the host threw the rice dumplings in his hand into the Luo River, the big drums on the bank of the Luo River started to beat one after another, and the "dong dong" sound was endless.
The dragon boats lined up on the Luo River also rushed forward one after another, and the oars in the men's hands quickly inserted into the water and slid.
The dragon boat moved forward quickly to the rhythm of the big drum, and people on both sides of the Luo River raised their hands to cheer and shout for encouragement.
Li Yuechen turned her head and saw Li Zhi holding a health ball in his hand with a smile on his face, as if he was satisfied with the people under his rule.
Then he turned his head and looked through the gap in the middle of the parapet at the people below who were shouting and cheering. He couldn't help but think in his heart, it would be great if this situation could continue forever.
She knew very little about history, but there was one word that even she, a history novice, had heard of - the Anshi Rebellion.
She didn't know the details, she only knew that it happened during the late reign of Emperor Ming of Tang and the mastermind was named An Lushan.
Li Yuechen couldn't help but sigh when he thought that the scene he saw now might very likely become a living hell in the future.
The only lucky thing is that there are still many years before that happens, and I should have enough time to prevent it from happening.
Now, just let yourself grow up happily and peacefully.
Thinking of this, Li Yuechen also raised his fist to cheer for the contestants below.
…
The morning passed quietly with the dragon boat race. Li Zhi seemed to be in a good mood and rewarded the winning team with some silk.
In the Tang Dynasty, silk could be used as currency, which was no different from directly handing out cash.
At noon, Li Zhi, in a good mood, held a family dinner in Renshou Hall, but the food was not hot pot, but Hu Bing and mutton in a basin.
Now Li Zhi seems to be accustomed to eating with his family at the same table, and today's family dinner still follows this model.
In the afternoon, Li Yuechen and her two sisters returned to Renshou Hall and saw Shangguan Wan'er competing with other palace maids in the herb-picking contest.
With the secret method taught by Li Yuechen, Shangguan Wan'er became invincible and became the King of Herbs in this session.
Seeing Li Yuechen leaning against the pillar of Linbo Pavilion and looking over here , Shangguan Wan'er trotted over and said, "Your Highness, I have no rivals today!"
"Well, then you are very awesome!" Li Yuechen nodded with a smile.
"Hehe..." Hearing her compliment, Shangguan Wan'er lowered her head and laughed.
At this time, Xiao He brought back the barbecue grill with two eunuchs: "The item your highness wanted is ready."
Li Yuechen nodded: "Put it down, I'll treat you to meat tonight!"
Taking advantage of the good light in the afternoon, Li Yuechen went to read and practice calligraphy while asking the people from the Food Bureau to cut the mutton into a mixture of fat and lean and put it on bamboo skewers.
After years of practice, Li Yuechen's calligraphy skills have improved significantly and he has developed his own style.
However, this kind of characters that resemble the Slender Gold style are always a bit out of place in this era.
It was indeed beautiful, and even Shangguan Wan'er said she wanted to learn it, but unfortunately Zheng stopped her.
In her opinion, Li Yuechen is a princess after all, so it doesn't matter if her handwriting does not conform to the public's aesthetic standards.
But Shangguan Wan'er, it would be better for her to learn the rounded fonts that are popular in this era.
It’s just that kids of this age tend to be a little rebellious, and sometimes they would practice secretly when Zheng isn’t paying attention.
In fact, Li Yuechen's calligraphy is not the real Slender Gold style. After all, it was modified from hard pen calligraphy.
But perhaps it is because the different styles of soft and hard pens are integrated invisibly that the structure looks more beautiful and the brush strokes are sharper.
Seeing that it was almost dusk, Li Yuechen put down his pen, stretched, and prepared to take a break before starting to barbecue.
After the sun went down, lanterns were lit outside the main hall and on Linbo Pavilion. Coupled with the extremely bright moonlight at that time, visibility was quite good.
Li Yuechen found some charcoal and started to spread it on the barbecue grill. Then he told Xiao He to go to the Shangshi Bureau and get the things he had asked them to prepare.
Tonight we prepared not only lamb skewers, but also chicken legs, chicken wings and fish.
Don't ask what kind of fish it is, because we don't know! The fish was cut into slices, put on bamboo sticks, and served with the lamb skewers.
Seeing that Li Yuechen seemed to be grilling the meat himself, Xiao He was a little worried: "Your Highness, these things should be left to..."
"Stop talking nonsense and wait!" Li Yuechen simply waved his hand to drive him away, then started to light the fire.
Sitting on the stool, Li Yuechen started to light the fire, and then fanned himself quickly with a round fan.
A lot of smoke began to spread, and the charcoal was ignited in a short while, turning red.
Seeing that the heat was about right, Li Yuechen placed the lamb skewers in his hand on the grill and started grilling them.
Shangguan Wan'er squatted aside and asked, "Why did Your Highness bake it yourself?"
"Because no one can bake the food the way I want!" Li Yuechen smiled and continued fanning herself with a fan.
On the other side, in the Renshou Hall, Li Zhi was about to invite Wu Zetian to have dinner when he saw Zhang Chengxin jogging in.
“Saint, Madam!” Zhang Chengxin’s face was slightly panicked. “There is a lot of smoke rising from Anfu Hall. I don’t know what happened!”
"What?" Li Zhi stood up suddenly. Wu Zetian beside him also looked anxious. "Is there a fire?"
"It shouldn't be." Zhang Chengxin said, "I didn't see any open flames, but..."
Li Zhi waved his hand and said, "Stop talking. Come with me and take a look!"
