Volume 1 Princess Taiping Grows Up Chapter 9 Two Sisters
After the ceremony, the matter was settled.
Li Zhi happily agreed to Liu Rengui's request to retire and conferred him the title of Champion General!
This is a third-rank official, but a casual official with no real power and no need to work. It is just a standard of post-retirement treatment.
Starting from tomorrow, Li Yuechen will take a carriage out of the palace every morning and go to Liu Rengui's home to practice martial arts.
As for why it is not in the palace? Because it is too troublesome.
The front palace is the second ministry of the Secretariat, where officials work, which is inconvenient.
As for the harem, if a man wants to enter, he needs to go through many complicated procedures. In a place like the Linding Hall where royal banquets are often held, he is absolutely not allowed to move around freely after entering, otherwise he will be hacked to death without any negotiation!
Normally, only women and androgynous eunuchs can enter the harem easily. Even if the crown prince and other princes want to enter the harem to see the queen, they have to report in advance.
After returning home at night, Li Yuechen asked Eunuch Fu to find two small oval wooden pieces, and personally drew two small cartoon eyes with a brush, and asked him to give them to Si Yi tomorrow.
Li Yuechen got up early the next day and wanted to eat something to fill his stomach.
At this time, tea was not very popular in the north, and daily drinks were generally dairy products, such as yogurt.
However, as a northerner, Li Yuechen always felt uncomfortable if she didn't swallow something dry, so she asked Eunuch Fu to get her a steamed bun, which made her feel better.
Looking at the sky, the sun has just come out, it’s almost time to set off.
When they followed Eunuch Fu out of the harem, they were surrounded by thirty Jinwu Guards wearing armor and holding swords at their waists.
Looking at the carriage pulled by two tall black horses parked outside the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Li Yuechen walked over.
Xiao He got on the carriage first, then carried her up, and Eunuch Fu followed behind.
After entering the carriage, a Jinwu Guard sat on the carriage frame, gently whipped the horse, and the carriage began to move.
The speed was not fast. The other Jinwu Guards surrounded the carriage and followed it.
Li Yuechen was more or less a little excited. After all, this was his first time out of the palace since he was born.
Although she was born in Luoyang, she was held by her mother Wu Zetian the entire time when she returned to the Daming Palace, and had no time to observe the situation outside.
The road surface in Chang'an City is relatively flat, but since the carriage does not have any shock-absorbing equipment, it still feels a bit bumpy.
The Daming Palace is outside the city of Chang'an. After exiting the Jianfu Gate, you can directly enter the streets inside the city.
Liu Rengui's house is in Yongningfang. Li Yuechen thought for a moment, isn't it not far from the legendary red-light district Pingkangfang? Maybe I'll have a chance to go and see it in the future!
Thinking of this, the right corner of Li Yuechen's mouth curled up slightly, revealing a smile.
Eunuch Fu and Xiao He next to them looked at each other and saw a hint of doubt in each other's eyes.
The little princess usually looks so adorable when she smiles, so why does this smile now look so... vulgar?
Of course, they only dare to think about this in their hearts. If they dare to say it out loud, it means they are simply tired of living.
Since entering Chang'an City, Li Yuechen could hear all kinds of noisy sounds in the city.
But it was not as noisy as in later generations. Come to think of it, in that era there were no small vendors who dared to hawk their wares on the streets, so the streets were relatively quiet.
But I am still very curious about the Chang'an City that existed a thousand years ago.
Li Yuechen stood up without saying a word and wanted to lift the curtain to look outside.
"Your Highness, please don't..." Eunuch Fu wanted to stop him.
"I'll just take a look!" Li Yuechen said nothing and directly opened the curtain.
Although I was mentally prepared, I still couldn't help but open my eyes wide after seeing the scene outside.
Oh my god! Is this road too wide?
Just looking from the window on this side, it is almost twenty meters wide, and it is estimated that the width of the entire road is close to forty meters!
The road surface is made of compacted loess, but there is still some dust flying around that is visible to the naked eye.
Since the carriage was surrounded by armored Jinwu guards, pedestrians nearby walked as close to the sides as possible.
Moreover, Li Yuechen discovered that these pedestrians did not even look in her direction. She didn't know whether it was because they were afraid or for some other reason.
People came and went on the street, wearing colorful clothes, just like people shopping in later generations.
but……
To be honest, Li Yuechen originally wanted to see the city and the beautiful women, but after seeing them, she was a little disappointed.
The road is quite wide, but there are vermilion walls on both sides, and the beauties on the road...
Regardless of whether they are beautiful or not, they are all quite scary. Their faces are painted pale, with two obvious blushes, and they really look like puppets in horror movies.
However, because it was winter, both men and women were wrapped up tightly, so I couldn't see the scenery I wanted to see.
Feeling somewhat bored, Li Yuechen lowered the curtain and continued to sit down waiting for the carriage to stop.
After an unknown amount of time, the carriage slowed down noticeably, and after turning a few corners, it stopped completely.
The voice of the Jinwu Guard in charge of driving came from outside: "Your Highness, we're here."
"Um."
Li Yuechen agreed, and Eunuch Fu went out first. After getting off the car, Xiao He followed and then he carried her down.
When I looked up, I found that I had arrived at the door of a house.
There was no plaque above the door, it was empty, but there were two lances on both sides of the door.
Liu Rengui, who was dressed in casual clothes, was already waiting at the door. When he saw her coming down, he bowed and saluted: "Greetings, Your Highness the Princess!"
Li Yuechen quickly ran over and helped him up: "How can a master bow to his disciple? There is no need to do this in the future!"
"The princess is worth a lot of money, so etiquette cannot be abandoned..."
"Alright, Master!" Li Yuechen quickly interrupted him and said, "Let's go in quickly."
“Okay, okay…”
Liu Rengui didn't seem to expect the princess to be so familiar. Hearing her say that, he quickly made way for her: "Your Highness, please!"
After entering the house, Li Yuechen looked around curiously and found that the house was indeed not small, but not as big as he had imagined.
According to observation, it can be divided into the front hall, the middle hall and the back hall.
There is a garden on the side of the back hall, which contains a small artificial fish pond and a rockery made of stone.
On the side close to the back hall, there is a stone slab protruding, and next to it are several stone locks of different sizes and weapons such as lances.
I think this should be a place like a martial arts training ground.
Arriving at the pavilion in the middle of the garden, Liu Rengui turned his head and said, "The princess is still young and her body is not yet formed. She needs to start with the basics."
Li Yuechen nodded obediently: "I will follow Master's instructions!"
As a professional extreme athlete, Li Yuechen is familiar with exercise, but she knows nothing about martial arts, so she just does whatever Liu Rengui tells her to do.
Seeing that the princess was not only obedient but also humble, Liu Rengui nodded and began to formally teach her the martial arts moves in the martial arts arena.
According to him, practicing routines can strengthen the bones and lay a good foundation for the body.
Li Yuechen is still too young and not suitable for using weapons or other weight-bearing equipment.
Li Yuechen himself doesn't care. After all, the purpose of practicing martial arts is to exercise the body. As long as it can achieve the effect of exercise, it is enough.
At noon, we had lunch at Liu Rengui's house and continued practicing in the afternoon.
What surprised him was that the Although she had a thin layer of sweat on her body, she still persisted at a leisurely pace.
And judging from his expression, he didn't seem to be impatient at all, which made the old general look at him with admiration.
After eating, I rested for a while, drank a cup of yogurt, and continued practicing.
At three or four o'clock in the afternoon, today's practice is over.
Li Yuechen bowed respectfully and left, getting on the carriage and heading back to the palace.
The carriage went all the way back to the gate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and Li Yuechen got off. He casually asked the eunuch next to him, but knowing that Li Zhi and Wu Zetian were still busy, he did not go over to disturb them.
After returning to Chengxiang Palace, Xiao He immediately boiled water to prepare for the princess's bath, while Eunuch Fu ran to the Clothing Department to retrieve the one-piece teddy bear pajamas that had been ordered yesterday.
After taking a comfortable bath, drying myself, and changing my clothes, I saw that Eunuch Fu had already brought back the pajamas.
I reached out and picked it up to take a look. I felt like if I slept with this thing on, I would definitely suffocate to death!
This is made of real fur, and it has a layer of oily sheen on it. It loses some of its cuteness but adds a touch of authenticity.
I put it on and tried it on, and it was really warm!
Especially when the hat is put on, the two furry round ears matched with the cartoon eyes drawn on small wooden pieces really give it a cute feeling.
After putting it on, I saw Eunuch Fu and Xiao He standing there with an expression on their faces trying to hold back laughter, their shoulders shaking.
Looking at the reaction, you can tell that it's almost like that. Anyway, it's just to make Li Zhi and Wu Zetian happy. There's no need to pursue anything else too much. It's good enough as long as the effect is achieved.
After dinner, Li Zhi and Wu Zetian, who had finished their work, asked if Princess Zhang Chengxin had returned.
The reply was that he had returned and had wanted to come over to pay his respects, but when he heard that he was busy, he did not come. Li Zhi and Wu Zetian immediately decided to go over to see him.
Usually, Li Yuechen would fall asleep after the couple finished their work, so today, while it was still early, he planned to go over and take a look.
Inside Chengxiang Hall, Li Yuechen, who had just finished a set of yoga, heard that Li Zhi and Wu Zetian were coming, so she quickly changed into her teddy bear pajamas and asked Eunuch Fu to go outside and watch over them.
After a while, Li Zhi and Wu Zetian came over and walked into the hall. Xiao He immediately bowed and said, "Greetings to the Saint, Your Majesty..."
"No need to be polite." Li Zhi waved his hand, "Where is Chen'er?"
Xiao He looked behind the door and said, "I didn't see it..."
In fact, Li Yuechen asked Xiaohe to do this on purpose. After all, Li Zhi was in poor health. If she didn't remind him, he might get scared and have a heart attack, which would be a big trouble!
Seeing Xiaohe's appearance, Li Zhi and Wu Zetian also reacted and walked into the hall as if nothing had happened.
As soon as one foot stepped in, Li Yuechen suddenly jumped out, opened his arms and shouted in a cute little voice: "Awoo——"
Li Zhi, who was well prepared, was of course not scared, but when he turned his head and looked, he burst out laughing at the same time as Wu Zetian.
Then he reached out and picked her up: "Huh? Where did this little bear cub come from?"
Li Yuechen struggled slightly while still shouting: "Awoo——"
Seeing her funny look, Li Zhi burst into laughter and carried her into the hall.
Wu Zetian at the back also covered her face and chuckled, but as a woman, she found this thing funny but also somewhat novel.
After entering the hall, Li Zhi sat down on the couch, then reached out and took off her hat, revealing a little face that was covered with a layer of sweat.
"oops!"
Li Yuechen exclaimed in surprise and stuck out her tongue, but then immediately called out in a friendly manner: "Hello, Grandpa and Mom!"
As he said this, he unbuttoned his shirt. This thing was really hot to wear.
"Chen'er, are you tired from practicing martial arts today?"
"Not tired! Chen'er will have to protect Grandpa and Mom in the future!"
Li Zhi reached out and touched her head, then turned his head and said, " She is very clever and eccentric , just like a rhinoceros."
Wu Zetian next to him said, "Your Majesty, please don't spoil her because of this!"
Although she said that, the smile on her face showed that she was in a good mood and loved her daughter very much.
This is the effect Li Yuechen wants. I will be a cute and obedient baby, and you two should not be suspicious of me. We will each do our own things and have nothing to do with each other.
Anyway, I have no interest in being an emperor, especially in front of the future empress, so I have to behave well.
Just live your life happily as a princess, eating and waiting for death, and don't get involved in any weird things.
After all, he has the soul of an adult. Li Yuechen is quite good at making people happy. All he needs to do is be a happy person.
After taking off her teddy bear pajamas, Li Yuechen ran to Wu Zetian to play with her again.
Li Zhi beside him asked, "Chen'er, what reward do you want for today's banquet? Have you thought about it?"
Li Yuechen, who was playing on Wu Zetian's lap, was stunned for a moment, nodded and said, "I've thought about it. I hope Grandpa can let the two sisters in the Ye Ting Palace come back."
Li Zhi didn't show any displeasure on his face. Instead, he stroked her head and asked, "What's the reason?"
Li Yuechen slowly got off Wu Zetian's legs, blinked her big eyes and said, "Chen'er doesn't know what the two sisters did wrong, I just know that we are all grandpa's daughters, and we are all family. Grandpa and mom are busy on weekdays, I hope grandpa will allow the two sisters to play with me."
This is the reason why Li Yuechen made the choice after careful consideration. I am not doing it for anything else, I just want someone to play with me.
Hearing her say this, Li Zhi looked at Wu Zetian beside him.
Seeing her nod gently, Li Zhi smiled and said, "Okay, in that case, let them come out tomorrow, restore their princess status, and play with Chen'er!"
Li Yuechen threw herself on him and kissed him on the face: "Thank you, Grandpa."
This time, he didn't forget about his mother, and he turned around and hit her too: "Thank you, mother!"
The couple laughed and started playing with her again...
At night, Li Zhi and Wu Zetian stayed in Chengxiang Hall and slept with their daughter.
When they got up early the next morning, they moved very gently, for fear of waking up Li Yuechen who was still sleeping.
Li Yuechen slept until almost sunrise, and after washing up, he continued to practice martial arts at Liu Rengui's house.
