Volume 1 Princess Taiping Grows Up Chapter 49: Forbidden Marriage
Under normal circumstances, if there was a possibility of a fire in the palace, Li Zhi should have sought refuge immediately.
But now, my first reaction was to go and see if something happened to my daughter.
Zhang Chengxin was afraid of danger, so he directly called on Qianniu Guards to follow Li Zhi and Wu Zetian towards Anfu Palace.
Not only them, but many other palace maids and eunuchs also thought there was a fire and quickly brought buckets of water to put out the fire.
After Li Zhi and Wu Zetian came over, they saw a group of eunuchs and palace maids rushing over here with water.
Before he could speak, Li Zhi suddenly sniffed: "What's that smell?"
Zhang Chengxin next to him also sniffed it carefully, his expression became interesting, and he leaned over and said, "Your Majesty, it seems to smell like... barbecue."
The beautiful face of Wu Zetian behind her suddenly fell, and she took big strides and walked into the Anfu Hall.
Li Zhi suddenly laughed, took the health ball from Zhang Chengxin, and walked in while dribbling it.
As you enter the gate of Anfu Hall, you will see Li Yuechen, acting like a man, sitting on a stool with a big horse and a golden sword, fanning the barbecue grill in front of him with a round fan in his hand.
The palace maids squatted in a circle beside them, and so did Princess Xuancheng and Princess Yiyang.
They were all drooling over the cooked lamb skewers on the grill and didn't even notice the emperor and empress came in.
Seeing this scene, Wu Zetian shouted: "You little bitch! What are you doing again?"
The palace maids were startled and quickly stood up and saluted, and the two sisters did the same.
Li Yuechen raised his head and smiled: "My parents are here!"
Then he waved his hand and said, "It just so happens that today I have researched a new food. You two adults, please wait for a moment and share it with me!"
"you……"
Wu Zetian was about to curse when she was stopped by Li Zhi.
He took two steps forward, squatted in front of the grill and sniffed: "This tastes good!"
"That's right," Li Yuechen laughed, "This is what I have gained after 49 days of dedicated research."
As he spoke, he applied some more fragrant oil with the brush.
In an instant, a fragrant smell filled the air, making Li Zhi swallow his saliva.
Li Yuechen picked up a kebab and blew on it: "Grandpa, try it."
Li Zhi nodded, took it, looked at it, and then took a light bite.
He nodded immediately: "Yeah! It tastes great!"
Li Yuechen smiled, picked up the roasted chicken wings and handed them to Wu Zetian: "Mother, try some too."
Wu Zetian still had a gloomy face, but she still took it and looked at it. After trying a bite, although her expression did not change, her eyes clearly revealed surprise.
"This roasted lamb tastes really good. How did Chen'er come up with this idea?" Li Zhi asked.
Li Yuechen looked proud: "This is nothing. When the kid develops new food in the future, that will be amazing!"
As he spoke, he sprinkled a handful of cumin on the mutton skewers, and then sprinkled some chopped cornelian cherry on it.
"Grandpa, try this. It tastes very different from what you had just now!"
Li Zhi took it and tasted it, his eyes lit up: "Indeed!"
Then he stood up and handed the mutton skewers in his hand to Wu Zetian: "Mei Niang, try it too, it's really delicious!"
Wu Zetian took it and tasted it. After taking a few bites, she nodded: "It is indeed delicious..."
But then he turned around and continued to lecture her: "Even so, how could you make the Anfu Hall so smoky!"
Li Yuechen explained with a smile: "Mother, you don't know that sometimes you have to pay a price to eat delicious food."
"Chen'er is right!" Li Zhi nodded in agreement.
"How can your majesty spoil her so much?" Wu Zetian finally exploded, and even Li Zhi joined in the rebuke, "How can a princess of a country be so frivolous in this palace? As a father, shouldn't your majesty teach her a lesson?"
Li Zhi was stunned for a moment, then nodded: "Mei Niang is right. Chen'er, next time you do something like this, you must inform us in advance!"
"Yes, I obey your command!" Li Yuechen answered with a smile, easily resolving Wu Zetian's lesson.
"you……"
Wu Zetian opened her beautiful eyes wide, stretched out her hand and pointed at Li Yuechen, then stared at Li Zhi, breathing heavily angrily.
Li Yuechen walked over with the roasted fish and hugged her waist: "Okay, mother, don't be angry. This time I know I was wrong. Come, have some fish!"
Li Zhi also nodded beside him: "Yes, Mei Niang, don't get angry. I just taught her a lesson! This won't happen again, ah!"
Wu Zetian stared at Li Zhi with her eyes wide open, but she couldn't say a word.
"Yes, yes, this won't happen again!" Li Yuechen tickled the area around her waist and handed her the fish, "Mother, eat the fish!"
"Go! Stay away from me!" Wu Zetian said with her head down, then after thinking about it, she took the fish from her hand.
After all, it does smell delicious.
Then Li Yuechen sat down and continued grilling. He asked Xiaohe to bring a few stools for the two of them to sit on, and then he started grilling with all his efforts.
This grill is quite large and can grill a lot of food at a time.
After a while, Li Zhi and his wife, Li Yuechen and her two sisters all sat together and started eating.
After learning for a while, Zhang Chengxin was sent over by Li Zhi to be in charge of the barbecue.
"call--"
Li Zhi took a sip of amber sake and took a bite of the lamb kebab in his hand.
"Well, I never thought that eating some barbecue under the night sky could make me feel so much better!" Li Zhi expressed his thoughts.
Wu Zetian, who was standing next to him, looked a little tipsy. She glanced at Li Yuechen and said, "If you have this much time, you might as well study hard..."
"What mother taught me is right. Please rest assured, the child will not be left behind." Li Yuechen coaxed her while raising the Sanlejiang in her hand and clinking glasses with Li Zhi.
Seeing that the father and daughter didn't take her words seriously at all, Wu Zetian felt helpless.
"correct!"
Li Yuechen waved his hand and said, "Eunuch Zhang, please send someone to invite my brothers over. This delicacy should be shared!"
Li Zhi nodded: "Chen'er is right, go!"
“Yes!”
Zhang Chengxin agreed and quickly asked the eunuch outside to call people, while he continued to be in charge of the barbecue.
While grilling, he asked, "Your Highness, how is the heat? Should I add seasoning?"
"Wait a moment!" Li Yuechen turned his head and took a look. "If you're not sure, just take a bunch and try it. It's okay."
"Thank you, Your Highness!"
…
About twenty minutes later, Crown Prince Li Hong and his companions also came over. After paying their respects to Li Zhi and his wife, they joined in the evening barbecue.
In fact, barbecue itself is nothing special. It did exist in this era, but the royal family never did it.
After all, it was an era of strict ethics and morals, and the royal family generally relied on their status and would not do such things.
But Li Yuechen is not just about barbecue from the future, the key is that the family sits together and eats barbecue.
This was quite rare for royal members of this era.
Li Hong originally wanted to use his status as the eldest brother to teach Li Zhi a lesson , but since Li Zhi was already sitting here eating, he had no choice but to sit down and eat with him.
The second brother Li Xian was different. He praised Li Yuechen while eating, and couldn't help but get up to look at the barbecue grill.
"Yuechen, I should prepare a set of this equipment at home later. It's really good." Li Xian praised.
Fourth brother Li Lun nodded: "I think so too."
In fact, the person who was most deeply touched by this scene was Li Zhi.
He and his sister Sizi were raised by Emperor Taizong Li Er since childhood, and had a very ordinary relationship with his other brothers.
And now, seeing her children, both legitimate and illegitimate, gathered together to eat barbecue, play and laugh together, she couldn't help but smile.
At this moment, he couldn't help but think of his two sons who were now serving as vassal kings outside.
For a moment, Li Zhi couldn't help but think that perhaps some practices since ancient times were wrong.
Especially Li Yuechen, who could hardly sit still. Sometimes she would run to her brothers to play with them, sometimes she would squat between her two sisters to play with them, or she would run to Li Zhi and Wu Zetian to play...
Li Zhi looked up at the starry sky and felt more and more that his decision was right.
…
It's true that you can't eat much barbecue, let alone alcohol and drinks.
After obtaining Li Zhi's consent, Li Yuechen also gave some rewards to the palace maids and eunuchs in her Anfu Palace. Shangguan Wan'er received a lot and ate skewers with her mother Zheng in the back.
It was not until almost midnight that the family dinner came to an end.
Only after his sons stood up and left did Li Zhi and Wu Zetian walk back side by side.
"This girl is really capable of making trouble..." Wu Zetian said with a smile.
Li Zhi took her hand and smiled: "To be honest, I have never imagined such a scene before."
Wu Zetian looked down at her hand, and bent her fingers to join his. "What do you mean, Zhinu?"
"In the past, I always followed the ancestral rules in treating my children... Now it seems that the ancestral rules are not necessarily correct!"
"Chen'er does have a lot of wonderful ideas, but..."
Li Zhi shook his head: "It's not just Chen'er. Today I realized that since ancient times, the way emperors have treated their children... is all wrong!"
Wu Zetian turned her head and looked at him, as if she wanted to say something.
But if you think about it, maybe he's right.
"In the future, I can rest assured with Hong'er and Chen'er around." Li Zhi suddenly said.
"Don't talk nonsense, Zhinu!" Wu Zetian taught him, "You are still fine now!"
Li Zhi grinned: "Okay, okay, no more nonsense..."
Under the night sky, a middle-aged couple walked hand in hand in the Ziwei Palace. Zhang Chengxin and Qianniu Wei followed behind them slowly, moving forward leisurely.
…
The next morning, after practicing yoga and eating breakfast, Shangguan Wan'er leaned over and said, "Your Highness's barbecue tastes delicious!"
"Then let's continue if we have the chance." Li Yuechen said with a smile, "Maybe I can sell barbecue when my shop opens."
Of course, it's talk, but in reality it's unlikely.
There was a curfew in the Tang Dynasty
But that’s not necessarily the case. If it were in a red-light district like Pingkangfang, business might still be booming.
The curfew does not mean that people are not allowed to go out, but that they can only move around within the neighborhood and cannot go to the main streets.
However, if possible, Li Yuechen still hopes to make some reforms to this system in the future.
After all, this system restricts business development too much and is difficult to boost economic development.
Li Yuechen started practicing while thinking, and the morning passed in the blink of an eye.
After having some Hu pancakes and mutton in a basin for lunch, he continued reading and writing in the afternoon. However, he suddenly remembered the house deed sent by Princess Qianjin and decided to go and take a look at his future shop.
After all, the canned food will not really go on sale until the end of the year. It is not good to leave a store idle for such a long time. It is better to think about what can be sold now.
Thinking of this, Li Yuechen took Shangguan Wan'er and Xiaohe out of the palace again. Just like last time, he asked the Jinwu Guards who were responsible for protection to wear casual clothes, and then took a seemingly low-key carriage to Nanshi.
Passing through the hustle and bustle along the way, the carriage finally stopped in front of a shop on the street in Nanshi.
Li Yuechen lifted the curtain and took a look. The shop was not small, with two floors, and it was now closed.
It's a decent place, not the best in the city center but pretty close.
The plaque above the gate read "Li's Spice Shop" and it had not been taken down yet.
Shangguan Wan'er leaned forward and asked, "Is this your Highness's shop?"
"Well," Li Yuechen nodded, "Wan'er, what do you think we should sell first before the canned food is ready?"
"Isn't it good to sell incense?" Shangguan Wan'er asked back.
Li Yuechen thought for a moment and said, "It's not impossible. In a place like this, it's unlikely to lose money no matter what you sell. After all, the geographical location is right here."
Having said that, her future-oriented thinking always makes her feel that there should be a product that can take off to the sky.
Just as I was thinking about it, I heard something like someone arguing in front of me, and the voice sounded very familiar.
Li Yuechen poked his head out to look in confusion, and sure enough, it was Liu Huang again. No one knew who he had a conflict with this time.
Pulling his head back from the window, Li Yuechen came to the front of the carriage, opened the curtain a little and looked forward, wondering if he could also see the excitement today.
Maybe after arguing for a while, the two sides will start fighting again.
However, the scale of the fight today is not large, so even if there is a fight, it might be a one-on-one duel between Liu Huang and the opponent.
But unexpectedly, Li Yuechen was ready to watch the show, but when the other party suddenly said something, Liu Huangju took two steps back and admitted defeat.
This made Li Yuechen feel a little strange. Liu Huang's grandfather, Liu Rengui, was now a prime minister, and most of the playboys should be able to afford to offend him.
But now he's giving in? Who is so awesome?
At this time, the person on the other side said something and turned away.
Liu Huang seemed to sigh slightly, and turned his head inadvertently, and found that the princess in the carriage next to him was looking at this side and waving at him.
Liu Huang came over curiously and said, "Greetings, Princess!"
"No need to be polite." Li Yuechen asked casually, "Who is the other party? Can you not beat him or can you not afford to offend him?"
Liu Huang smiled bitterly: "Your Highness, you don't know that the other party is a forbidden marriage family!"
