Volume 1 Princess Taiping Grows Up Chapter 73 Barbecue
The place where Li Yuechen and others were located happened to be a tributary of the Luo River. It was not too wide and the water was relatively clear.
Looking around, except for the relatively flat official road, most places are lush and green.
The air in the New Year carries the fragrance of earth, and the occasional chirping of insects and singing of birds around can easily make people feel happy.
The only thing that was a bit inconvenient was the soldiers responsible for protection around them.
These loyal soldiers have completely surrounded the vicinity, forming a circle with a diameter of about 200 meters.
Outside the encirclement, there were other people gathered in groups of three or five on both sides of the canal, chatting and laughing as they prepared to wash their hands.
It is not difficult to tell from the gorgeous clothes they are wearing that they all come from powerful families.
Fulai directed several young eunuchs who were accompanying him to take down a few bamboo poles from the carriage and prepare to set up a curtain.
In this era, if someone with a little money or status went out for an outing, if there were women in the group, they would usually use bamboo poles to set up a curtain to cover the back and the sides.
Li Yuechen waved his hand: "Don't bother, just leave it as it is."
"But Your Highness..."
"Even if we cover our backs, the people on the other side can still see us, right?" Li Yuechen asked. "Besides, there are soldiers everywhere around us, so there's no need to do that."
Fulai looked at Princess Xuancheng and Yiyang again.
Princess Yiyang smiled and said, "Just listen to Chen'er. I think so too."
Since the eldest sister had spoken, Li Hong, who had wanted to insist, stopped talking. He just shook his head helplessly and said with a smile, "If your parents were here, you would still be so presumptuous!"
"That's even more unnecessary." Li Xian came over, wiping his wet hands. "By then, I'm afraid there won't be any outsiders within a mile."
Li Xian took the towel handed over by the eunuch next to him and said, "Chen'er is always like this. He never seems to mind being seen by outsiders."
"Hi. " Li Yuechen shook off the water drops on his hands, "Why should I be afraid of being seen? Then wouldn't it be for nothing that I am so good-looking?"
Li Hong was choked: "Hey! I know you are good-looking, but there is no need to brag about yourself, right?"
"Hahaha..." The others all burst into laughter.
The two princesses next to them also covered their mouths and chuckled. Shangguan Wan'er held back her laughter and her shoulders twitched.
Li Yuechen directly asked the servants to start a fire, and took out the prepared chickens, ducks and rabbits to start roasting.
Soon, several bonfires were built by the river, and the meat that had been marinated with seasonings was placed on the fire and roasted.
As the smoke filled the air here, many people on the opposite side and in the distance looked over here in surprise.
During the Shangsi Festival, people rarely go out to barbecue outdoors. Usually, they bring some smoked meat and Hu cakes from home, or at most bring a teapot to boil some tea outside.
This kind of barbecue directly in the wild is still rare. It’s better to say that no one has ever thought about it at all.
Barbecueing outdoors is quite troublesome these days, and you need to prepare a lot of things in advance.
Seeing the smoke filling the air, many people outside the encirclement touched their chins and nodded, saying to each other that the royal family really knows how to enjoy themselves...
However, they did not see that the center of the area was indeed a strange sight.
To outsiders, it seemed that the servants were responsible for roasting the food, while the princes and princesses were waiting to eat it.
However, the actual situation was that Li Yuechen was in charge of the main grilling, while Li Hong and several other princes helped with curiosity and excitement, and the two sisters watched from the side.
Instead, the servants were driven aside, staring at Fulai blankly, asking with their eyes what they should do.
After all, Li Hong and his friends had never grilled meat themselves, so this was something very new to them.
Now that my parents are not around, I don't have to be as restrained as usual and can play freely.
After a while, Li Xian and Li Xian's faces were covered with smoke and ash brought up by the hot air.
Coupled with sweating, when he wiped his face with his hand, his whole face turned black in an instant.
If you didn't see his luxurious clothes, you would probably think he was a refugee.
Fulai was very experienced and asked his servants to watch and learn from him.
After all, the novelty of the princes might wear off at any time, and by then these servants will have to take over.
Li Hong at least maintained his dignity as the eldest brother. Although he tried it himself, he did not go too deep.
It was different for the others. Li Lun even saw that the fire was about to go out, so he picked up a small wooden stick to stir up the fire, and his sleeves were almost caught on fire.
Li Hong originally wanted to teach him a lesson, but Li Yuechen wiped his face with his black fingers, and he instantly turned into a big tabby cat.
“Hahahaha…” Li Xian and Li Xian laughed heartily, and their two sisters also held back their laughter.
"How dare you!" Li Hong yelled, pretending to be angry, "Chen'er, how can you be so ignorant of etiquette?"
Li Yuechen chuckled: "Why should we be polite to siblings?"
While speaking, she reached out and wiped his face.
Li Hong was completely furious. Without saying a word, he squatted down and wiped his hands in the ashes, then grabbed Li Yuechen.
Li Yuechen, who was originally planning to hide, thought for a second and pretended to run, but was caught by Li Hong.
Li Hong seized the opportunity and rubbed her face with his black hands: "You also let me taste this!"
In an instant, Li Yuechen's fair and tender face turned dark. Instead of getting angry, she laughed, stretched out her hand and wiped , then turned around and ran away.
Li Hong chased after him from behind, and Li Yuechen came to Li Lun and rubbed his face a few times while he was not paying attention.
"you……"
Li Lun, who was not much older than her, didn't care about that and grabbed her with his backhand.
Li Yuechen ran forward quickly: "Second brother, help me!"
"coming!"
Li Xian agreed, raised his two black hands and grabbed Li Hong, while not forgetting to hit Li Xian in the face first.
In an instant, almost everyone joined the war and the situation became chaotic.
Princess Yi Yang looked at them and seemed a little worried about being seen by others, so she looked around with some concern.
However, because the soldiers' encirclement was so large, the people on the other side could see that there was a fight, but they couldn't see it very clearly.
What's more, no one dared to stare for a long time. At most, they would look up and take a look when they heard the noise here, and then go about their own business.
Despite this, she still stopped Li Yuechen who was running over.
He bent down and smiled slightly, "Chen'er, we are outside the palace now, so we should not..."
Before he finished speaking, Li Yuechen raised his hand and smeared a few black marks on the faces of his two sisters, one on each side.
“Hahaha…” Li Yuechen laughed loudly. “Since we’re out here to play, we should have fun!”
"Chen'er you..."
The two sisters also joined the melee.
…
Fu Lai and others nearby looked embarrassed, not knowing whether they should watch or not.
Xiao He looked around, turned her head and said to Fu, "Why don't we ask them to expand the scope a little bit..."
Fulai nodded in agreement and was about to do it when he saw Li Yuechen stopped by the river, and Li Xian and her two sisters squatted by the river and started washing their faces.
Li Yuechen just sat on the ground and giggled. Li Hong and others squatted beside him, breathing hard to calm their accelerated heart rates.
Although no one said a word, they couldn't help laughing when they looked at each other again.
Invisibly, the distance between brothers and sisters has become much closer.
Li Yuechen also knew the principle of knowing when to quit, so after , he thought the barbecue was almost done, so he turned around and went back to check.
The barbecue on the rack had turned golden brown, and the fat dripped into the fire, making a sizzling sound.
As Li Yuechen sprinkled the seasoning, a fragrant smell instantly filled the surroundings.
A soldier suddenly came over and saluted respectfully: "Your Highnesses, there is a man who wants to see you. He calls himself Liu Huang..."
"Well, let him come over." Li Yuechen smiled, "This is a good timing."
“Yes!”
The soldier agreed and turned to leave. After a while, he saw a young man in a light green patterned silk coat walking towards him.
Liu Huang is only six years older than Li Yuechen, so they can barely be considered the same age.
"Greetings to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and all the princes!" Liu Huang bowed respectfully.
"No need to be polite." Li Hong smiled, "You are Senior Brother Chen'er, there is no need to be too fussy in private."
"Thank you, Your Highness!"
Li Yuechen waved at him: "Come, come, smell it and see if it smells good. Cut a piece and try it later. If it tastes good, I'll send some to Master later."
"Okay!" Liu Huang agreed.
As soon as I came here, I smelled the aroma of meat in the air , and I couldn't wait to try it.
After roasting for a while, Li Yuechen thought it was almost done and told people to start eating.
The servants accompanying Li Hong and others took out their knives, cut pieces of meat and handed them over respectfully.
When they had everything in their hands, Li Yuechen pulled off a delicious chicken leg with force: "Wan'er, come here!"
"Thank you, Your Highness." Shangguan Wan'er happily took the chicken leg and started eating.
After pulling off a chicken leg for Liu Huang, he pulled off a duck leg and started eating it.
As for the rabbits, Li Hong and his friends had already divided them up almost entirely, so he decided not to join in the fun.
"I didn't expect this barbecue to be so delicious!" Li Xian praised while eating.
Nonsense, with so many strong-tasting seasonings, how could it not be delicious? Li Yuechen secretly complained in his heart.
In fact, the taste of this barbecue is really ordinary, but for these royal members who are used to eating delicacies from land and sea, eating this thing occasionally is fresh and naturally delicious.
Liu Huang also nodded: "Your Highness's cooking skills are amazing!"
Li Yuechen smiled and said, "Then I'll go back to Master's house and try it next time."
"Then I would like to thank Your Highness first. Aung will definitely be happy."
…
After eating the barbecue and chatting for a while, it was almost time to set off back to the palace.
Liu Huang came here on horseback, and after saying goodbye, he went back on horseback with his friends.
The carriage swayed slowly towards the palace under the protection of the soldiers. Perhaps because they were full, the two sisters and Shangguan Wan'er seemed a little sleepy.
Li Yuechen was full of energy. Feeling the shaking carriage, he wondered whether he should make a four-wheeled carriage.
When I was traveling in Europe, that thing was basically used as a taxi.
Moreover, compared with a two-wheeled carriage, a four-wheeled carriage has much greater driving stability and carrying capacity.
It seems that my country did not develop four-wheeled carriages until the Qing Dynasty. Li Yuechen could probably guess the reason.
Europe is basically plains, while our roads are rugged, with countless mountains and low-lying areas, and the road surface and tires are big problems.
Of course, the biggest problem is still steering. In this era, four-wheeled carriages were also used to pull heavy objects.
But it is simply to install four wheels on the frame, and steering can only be done by brute force, which is extremely troublesome.
Li Yuechen had ridden in a four-wheeled carriage himself, so it was certainly easy to solve this problem.
But even if it is made, it can probably only be used in the city. The broken roads outside the city... I'm afraid it will be difficult to use.
Looking up at her two sisters who were dozing with their eyes closed, and then at Shangguan Wan'er beside her, Li Yuechen decided to give it a try.
Many things are considered useless when they are first invented, but this is not a reason.
Li Yuechen felt that as long as he really made the four-wheeled carriage, someone would always find a way to solve the rest.
However, to make this thing you can't do it by yourself. Not only do you need the cooperation of a craftsman supervisor, you also need a lot of materials.
So I can only mention this to Li Zhi. In this era, as long as the emperor opens his mouth, nothing can be accomplished.
It’s decided. I’ll go talk to my father Li Zhi and ask him to make a four-wheeled imperial carriage for him first.
By then, those dignitaries will definitely want to own such a four-wheeled carriage, and maybe I can make a lot of money!
At the same time, I have made invisible contributions to the development of science and technology... I am so great!
The convoy slowly entered the imperial city. After the carriage was stable, Li Yuechen gently patted the two sisters: "Sister, sister, wake up."
"Um?"
Princess Yiyang opened her eyes and asked, "Back to the palace?"
"Yes, I'm back." Li Yuechen nodded, then turned around and said, "Xiao He, take Wan'er back first. We still have to go and pay our respects to our parents."
"Yes!" Xiao He agreed.
Li Yuechen jumped off the carriage and went to Renshou Hall with her two sisters and four brothers.
Entering the hall, Li Zhi, who was sitting at the desk, raised his head and smiled: "You're all back? Just in time, have some tea."
After the children bowed and greeted each other, they sat around the table.
Only Li Yuechen raised her legs and sat on the armrest of the rocking chair, and put one arm on Li Zhi's shoulder: "It's a pity that my parents didn't go with me today."
"Why do you say that? Is there any auspicious sign coming?" Li Zhi seemed to be in a good mood and asked jokingly.
"I didn't see any auspicious signs, but the barbecue was extremely delicious." Li Yuechen's eyes were curved with a smile.
Seeing her happy smile, Li Zhi also picked her up and put her on his lap: "Really? Then why didn't you bring some ?"
"It's been a long journey, and the food has already gone cold. How can we feed it to grandpa and mom?" Li Yuechen answered with a serious look on his face and big eyes. "But don't worry, grandpa. The brothers all wanted to taste it for grandpa and mom, so they ate a few more bites!"
"Puff..." Li Hong, who was drinking tea, choked on the water and started coughing.
Then Li Zhi and Wu Zetian also burst into laughter, obviously amused by her.
