Volume 1 Princess Taiping Grows Up Chapter 52: Fu Lai Returns
In this era, most people living in inland areas are landlubbers. Even though there is the Luo River in Luoyang City, except for those who participate in the dragon boat race every year, there are basically few people who can swim.
Naturally, Li Zhi and Wu Zetian could not swim, and they had never thought about swimming.
So this time Li Yuechen decided to unlock some new skills for the two of them, and the next day she went to the Clothing Bureau to ask them to make swimsuits.
As for the choice of fabric, let the Fashion Bureau take care of it.
After all, there is nothing that can be done about it. In this era, there are not as many chemical fabrics as in the future, so it is definitely impossible to make the highly elastic swimsuits of the future.
The design drawn by Li Yuechen was also very simple. The swimming trunks for Li Zhi were in the shape of large beach shorts.
Just make yourself and your mother Wu Zetian the kind of swimsuit that you want.
Actually, she originally wanted to make it a bikini style, but considering the ethical issues of that era, she decided not to do so.
Although she comes from a fairly open era, if she were to wear a bikini here, it would definitely be a typical example of being immoral.
…
I have to say that the efficiency of the Clothing Bureau is quite good. It only took one day to produce the design drawn by Li Yuechen.
After getting the goods, Li Yuechen ran excitedly to Renshou Hall.
"Grandpa and Mom, the swimsuits are ready. If you have nothing to do today, let's go swimming." Li Yuechen ran in and said directly.
Li Zhi, who was lying in the rocking chair, nodded: "Well, Mei Niang, have you finished dealing with the memorials?"
"There are still some, and they will be finished soon." Wu Zetian agreed and continued to review the memorials.
Li Yuechen waited for a while while playing with Li Zhi nearby.
After everything was settled, the group headed to Anfu Hall, planning to go directly there after changing their clothes.
When changing clothes, Li Yuechen threw the swimming trunks to Li Zhi, and pulled her mother into the inner hall.
Li Zhi, who was outside, grabbed his beach shorts and looked at them, then asked loudly, "Chen'er, where's your shirt?"
Li Yuechen poked his head out from behind and said, "Grandpa, I'm a man, what use is there for a shirt?"
Li Zhi thought about it and started to change his pants.
After a while, Wu Zetian's voice was heard from the inner hall: "You stupid girl, how can you wear such clothes outside?"
"Well, we are going into the water anyway, and no one will see us. Is mother afraid that grandfather will see us?"
Li Yuechen's heart was also filled with helplessness.
You said that you were never shy when you showed half of your chest in court. It was okay to show your breasts, but you felt shy when showing your legs?
Nowadays, the breasts of women from wealthy families are getting lower and lower, which is really not much worse than the suspender low-cut dresses of the future.
After hesitating for a long time, Wu Zetian finally put on her swimsuit reluctantly.
However, an order was also issued that only palace maids were allowed in the Jiuzhou Pool, and even eunuchs were not allowed to be present.
Even the chief eunuch Zhang Chengxin was kicked out.
Originally, Li Zhi thought she might be making a big deal out of nothing, but when he saw Wu Zetian walking out shyly in purple swimsuit, he was stunned for two seconds and felt in his heart that she was doing the right thing.
After all, this kind of swimsuit can visually lengthen the legs and make the overall body proportions look more attractive.
This also made Li Yuechen admire Wu Zetian's secret to maintaining her youthful appearance. Now she is in her fifties, but her skin is still fair and firm, and still looks smooth and rosy. No one knows how she did it.
Li Zhi's figure was not bad either. Although he didn't have eight-pack abs, his belly was not very obvious. He looked like one of those middle-aged wealthy men who took good care of himself.
But one thing is that, perhaps because of his Xianbei ancestry, he is actually whiter than his mother Wu Zetian.
Seeing the swimsuits on his daughter and wife, Li Zhi smiled and said, "No wonder... Such clothes are really not suitable for outsiders to see."
Li Yuechen didn't care about that. She waved her hand and said, "Okay, there are only palace maids outside. Let's go!"
All the way to Jiuzhou Pond, Wu Zetian was actually fine, after all, there were palace maids along the way.
On the contrary, Li Zhi, although a grown man, still felt a little embarrassed walking along with his upper body naked, feeling the burning gazes of the palace maids.
Thanks to the thick beard on his face, it is not very noticeable.
But the emperor was the emperor after all, and he quickly adapted to the situation, walking forward with his head held high, following Li Yuechen.
We soon arrived at Jiuzhou Pond. After all, it was running water, connected to Luo River outside the imperial city, so the water was quite clear and the water quality was also very good.
"Go down directly?" Li Zhi asked.
"No, Grandpa, you'd better warm up first."
"Warm up?" Li Zhi didn't know what it meant.
So Li Yuechen guided them to do a set of radio gymnastics before letting them officially go into the water.
It is worth mentioning that in order to make it easier to get into the water, at Li Yuechen's request, Li Zhi tied his hair into a ponytail. With his handsome face, he looked like an artist.
After getting into the water, Li Yuechen began to teach them the simplest breaststroke.
Actually, I originally wanted to teach the dog paddle, but considering that the movement was not very elegant, I decided to teach the breaststroke.
The first and most important thing is to get used to the fear of choking on water. Li Yuechen is very experienced in this regard.
In fact, it is impossible for people to overcome fear! But they can get used to it!
Coincidentally, Li Yuechen was a person who was used to living with fear. After all, she had climbed a cliff of nearly a thousand meters with her bare hands before, so she could be said to have a lot to say in this regard.
After telling them not to be afraid of choking on water, I started teaching them the movements.
It turns out that Li Zhi and Wu Zetian both seemed to have good talent in sports. It only took them about half an hour to learn how to swim in the water.
Of course, it might have looked better if Li Yuechen, this wave shark, hadn't been swimming around them .
Being able to swim in the water in the summer, Li Zhi and his wife felt a lot cooler, and their originally irritable mood was calmed down a lot.
The two men stood in the shallow water, with only their necks exposed above the water, and took a short rest.
Li Zhi used his hand to stroke the braid behind his head, and threw it behind him with a shake of his head, smiling slightly: "It really feels much cooler after playing in this pool for a while."
"Yes, I'm afraid it's almost the same as taking a hot spring bath in winter." Wu Zetian laughed beside her.
As they chatted, they watched Li Yuechen lying on the water, her hands motionless, only her two white and tender legs swaying gently, allowing her to float on the water.
"I never thought that Chen'er is so good at swimming." Li Zhi smiled and shook his head, "Strange, strange..."
Wu Zetian raised her eyebrows and said, "I guess he had already secretly gone into the water to play, but we just didn't know about it."
"It is possible." Li Zhi nodded in agreement.
…
After swimming for an entire afternoon, the three of them came out of the pool just as the sun was about to set, ready to take a shower and change clothes.
Li Yuechen really felt refreshed. It turned out that swimming was the right thing to do in summer.
After taking a shower and changing clothes, Li Yuechen lay in her rocking chair, drying her wet hair.
While drying my clothes, I was thinking the feasibility of hair dryers in this era.
Although it is unlikely that there will be a small hair dryer in the future, it is still possible if it is a large hair dryer.
Theoretically, as long as you make a stove and use a blower to blow out hot air.
At worst, you just need to stay away from the air outlet, and there is no need to worry about burning your hair or anything.
Otherwise, washing your hair in winter would be too troublesome.
When it comes to washing, the first thing that comes to mind is soap, but how is it made?
Li Yuechen remembered that he had learned it, but it had been so long that he couldn't remember it for the moment.
After all, it has been too long, and I only have fragmentary memories of many things and cannot recall them completely.
…
Li Yuechen spent a lot of time in Jiuzhou Pool throughout the summer.
Not only Li Zhi and his wife, but also her two sisters and Shangguan Wan'er were pulled over to swim with her.
At first, the two sisters were embarrassed to face Li Zhi in their Sukusu swimsuits, but after getting used to it, they were able to swim freely.
The only downside is that swimsuits of this era are not very durable and will break down after a few uses.
But it doesn’t matter, it’s the Royal Family, so we still have this little bit of stuff.
Li Yuechen spent the entire summer swimming, and a lot of things happened in the court.
Hundred Family Surnames was officially promoted and became the latest children's enlightenment reading material.
Before that, it was usually "Thousand Character Classic" or "Jijiupian", which was still a little too profound for children.
Once the Hundred Family Surnames came out, even though the aristocratic families were unwilling to promote it, they had to admit that this thing was indeed very useful for educating children.
As the Hundred Family Surnames became more popular, the four words "Princess Taiping" began to be known by more and more people.
Although the original health ball is still popular in Chang'an and Dongdu, that thing is just for fun and no one is interested in who invented it.
But later, the Princess Plow and punctuation marks made Li Yuechen known to all the civil and military officials in the court.
Today's Hundred Family Surnames has let everyone who has seen this article from all over the country know that it was written by the current princess.
Li Yuechen knew that there must be many noble families who hated her to the core, but there was nothing she could do, after all she was a princess.
The reaction from the aristocratic family has little to do with her. What Li Yuechen cares about now is collecting the fruit peels.
That’s right, after a whole month of June, Li Yuechen started collecting fruit peels, intending to use them as fertilizer.
In early July, Gao Kan from Anshi City brought news that the situation in Goryeo had basically stabilized.
But during this period of time, he has been arguing with Silla, asking them to hand over An Shun.
However, Silla seemed to be trying to use this incident to gain some benefits or something else, and kept hesitating and refusing to hand it over.
Gao Kan then submitted a petition requesting to send troops to Silla.
However, Li Zhi refused on the grounds that the recent drought made it unsuitable to send troops.
Li Yuechen, who was listening to the news, nodded. She also thought that it was not appropriate to send troops at this time.
The Silla side could only shout a few times at most, and if they really wanted to fight, they didn't have the courage.
Li Yuechen’s own idea is that if they want to shout, let them shout. We should recuperate first. If he dares to take action, it will not be too late to beat him up.
Li Zhi seemed to have the same idea, so he did not allow Gao Kan's request to send troops, but let him stay there and appease the remnants of Goryeo.
…
In mid-July, the palace received news that Fulai would be back soon, and it was estimated that he would be back in three days at most.
He also brought back several hundred kilograms of canned lychees.
Li Zhi was very happy when he received the news. He could finally eat lychees!
Originally, Li Yuechen was thinking of finding someone to find a place outside the city to ferment compost, but now that Fulai is back, he can just leave this matter to him.
Three days later, Fulai returned to the palace.
The first thing to do after returning is to meet the emperor, and Li Yuechen also went to Renshou Hall.
Fu Lai came in and immediately bowed respectfully: "This servant greets the Saint, Your Majesty, and Your Highness the Princess!"
"No need to be polite!" Li Zhi raised his hand, spinning the health ball in his hand quickly, and it was obvious that he was in a good mood. "Fulai, how many cans did you bring back this time?"
"Your Majesty, I have brought back more than 930 kilograms, nearly 1,000 cans."
Li Zhi nodded: "Not bad, not bad..."
Then he gave him some random things as reward for his hard work, and Fu Lai bowed to express his gratitude.
Li Yuechen jumped over the table and came in front of Fulai, circling around him.
Fu Lai was a little confused: "Your Highness, is there anything wrong with this servant?"
"Yeah, it's a lot darker." Li Yuechen nodded with a smile.
"Uh..." Fulai was slightly stunned, then he said boldly, "Your Highness has grown a lot taller."
Li Yuechen looked down at herself and said, "Is there? Forget it. I just came back. I'll have a good rest for two days and then get ready to do things."
“Yes!”
Li Zhi waved his hand: "Go down!"
After Fulai left, Li Zhi couldn't wait to ask Zhang Chengxin to bring a few cans of food so that he could taste them with his wife and daughter.
After opening the wax-sealed porcelain jar and soaking it in sugar water, the crystal-like lychees appeared before your eyes.
Li Zhi couldn't wait to scoop one out with a spoon and put it into his mouth. He closed his eyes and enjoyed it for a while before slowly swallowing it.
Li Yuechen next to him raised his eyebrows and thought, "Is it really that serious? It's just a lychee."
But then I thought about it, after all, it was not easy for the emperor to eat this thing in that era, so it is understandable.
Wu Zetian was not much better than him, she also enjoyed the taste of lychees in her mouth.
Li Yuechen was relatively casual. Firstly, she didn't like sweets very much. Secondly, she had eaten this thing before and it didn't seem novel to her like they did.
What she was thinking at this moment was how much money she could make if she could sell this batch of canned food?
Or if it is possible in the future, is it worth it to set up a canning caravan specializing in lychees?
After all, there are still many things Li Yuechen wants to do in the future, and it is foreseeable that a lot of money will be needed in the future.
Therefore, finding ways to make money is the top priority now, and more importantly, as long as Li Zhi can see his ability to make money, maybe the tax law can be reformed.
In this way, there is no need to worry about the problem of floating households.
Of course, if you think about the reform of the tax law, you will know that it will involve many issues and it is not something that can be resolved with just a few words.
But it doesn’t matter. These things can be done slowly and gradually.
Thinking of this, Li Yuechen smiled, scooped out a lychee with a spoon, and threw it into his mouth!
