After finishing Li Zhi's birthday gift, Li Yuechen was not completely free yet, as there was another thing waiting for her to do.
Li Yuechen came out of the court, stretched and yawned, and entered the Anfu Hall. What he saw was a golden rice field.
The rice in this period is slightly longer than the future planting period, but not much longer, only about a hundred days.
Now the rice ears have turned golden yellow, and it is almost time to harvest.
Li Yuechen himself knew that even if the experiment was successful, it would not be able to immediately solve the food problem in Guanzhong, but at least it could give people hope.
If chemical fertilizers can be promoted on a large scale starting next year, at least other surrounding states and counties will have surplus food for disaster relief.
After arriving at Linbo Pavilion and sitting down, Shangguan Wan'er had already walked out of the hall holding a bowl of yogurt.
"Your Highness, the rice ears have now turned golden. My mother said that Your Highness should be happy now."
Li Yuechen smiled, took the yogurt from her hand, took a sip, and smiled slightly: "To be precise, I will be happy after the harvest."
Then he patted her head again and said, "It doesn't matter. At this point, unless there are ghosts and gods at work, the result is predictable."
Shangguan Wan'er took the empty bowl from her hand and said, "Your Highness is blessed with great fortune and is a Taoist. Ghosts and monsters dare not cause trouble in Your Highness' territory."
Li Yuechen smiled and reminded: "Don't say anything careless, this is the imperial palace, not my territory!"
"But hasn't the Saint already bestowed this place upon Your Highness?" Shangguan Wan'er asked, tilting her head.
"You will understand in the future." Li Yuechen stood up and returned to the hall.
Shangguan Wan'er tilted her head in confusion and thought for a while, then turned her head to look at the golden rice ears, stood up and followed him in.
…
In the Renshou Hall, Li Zhi, who was lying on a rocking chair, suddenly opened his eyes: "The rice in the Anfu Hall is almost ready to be harvested, right?"
"It should be in the next few days," Wu Zetian nodded, then turned her head and asked, "Does Zhinu really want to do this?"
Li Zhi kept the health ball in his hand, turned his head and smiled: "When did Mei Niang become so cautious? It's not like her usual style."
"It's not like that, it's just..." Wu Zetian shook her head, as if she didn't know how to continue.
"I know you are worried about Chen'er." Li Zhi smiled, "Don't worry, Chen'er won't let you and me down."
Hearing what he said, Wu Zetian nodded.
Then the two of them stood up, walked out of the hall side by side, and headed towards Anfu Hall.
When they were almost at Anfu Hall, Zhang Chengxin took two quick steps and was the first to arrive at the gate of Anfu Hall, shouting in a sharp high voice: "The Saint has arrived——"
Li Yuechen, who was practicing calligraphy in the inner hall, was frightened by the sharp sound and threw out his calligraphy with one stroke.
Seeing Fulai Xiaohe hurriedly getting up to go out to greet them, she couldn't help but complain in her heart.
Why do you two always come to me when nothing happens? If there is anything, just send someone to notify me and I will come over, right?
Of course, no matter how much you think about it, you still have to get up and go out to greet him.
When he arrived outside the hall, Fulai, Xiaohe and others came to greet him with greetings, including his two sisters.
Li Zhi also walked in and raised his hand to the people who were saluting: "No need to salute."
Li Yuechen put on his clogs and came to the couple: "What do you want me to do today?"
The two of them didn't mind her impoliteness. Li Zhi even raised his hand and pinched her cheek: "I didn't give you any instructions. I just came here on a whim to take a look."
"Are you looking at the children or the rice ears?" Li Yuechen asked with a smile.
"You little clever girl!" Li Zhi poked her on the face with a smile.
Li Yuechen smiled and waved his hand to disperse the servants. He and his two sisters stayed behind to chat with the couple.
The couple sat down in Linbo Pavilion, looking at the golden ears of rice in front of them with expressions of satisfaction.
"It will be time for harvest in a few days, right?" Li Zhi asked.
"Yes..." Li Yuechen nodded, "But I think that before the results come out, grandma and grandpa should keep a calm mind..."
Li Zhi grinned: "It's already so obvious, what's there to worry about?"
"Hehe... I think it's better to be cautious..." Li Yuechen replied with a grin.
What Li Zhi said was not wrong. The rice ears have grown to this size. Unless someone comes and burns them today, the result is already determined.
The only thing that is unclear is how much the output has increased. We will have to wait for the results to come out and do the calculations to find out.
Li Zhi turned his head and looked at his two illegitimate daughters: "You have been watching these days. How do you think the rice ears are growing?"
Princess Yiyang replied: "Chen'er is gifted, so there won't be any problems."
Princess Xuancheng lowered her head and said, "I have never seen rice ears in the outside world, so I don't know."
"It's really boring to be in the palace all the time." Li Zhi nodded, "When you're free, you and Chen'er should go out of the palace more often."
"yes!"
Then Li Zhi stood up and waved his hand: "Okay, go back."
After saying this, he walked out side by side with Wu Zetian.
Li Yuechen and her two sisters were about to say goodbye, when Li Zhi suddenly turned back and said, "Chen'er, go for a walk with me!"
"good."
Li Yuechen agreed and followed.
Just as he was about to take two steps, he turned back and waved to Fulai and Xiaohe: "You guys go back and take a rest."
“Yes!”
The two of them agreed but did not follow out.
Li Yuechen followed the couple slowly towards Jiuzhou Pond. Zhang Chengxin knew what they might talk about, so he didn't follow too closely, just hanging about five or six meters behind them.
Along the way, Li Zhi and his wife were chatting about random things, either the scenery or the latest condition of the rice ears.
Li Yuechen expressed his understanding of this.
The emperor and the empress read memorials in the palace every day. Such a life was actually quite boring.
Occasionally, being able to stroll around Kyushu Pond, or go to Taoguang Garden to admire the flowers and feed the fish is already a good entertainment activity.
But the only thing I'm a little curious about is that usually such activities are just for the two of them, and I don't know why they had to drag me over today.
But as a little girl, it was her duty to share the worries of her parents. Li Yuechen walked between the two of them, holding their hands and jumping around.
He answered both of their questions calmly.
Walking and chatting, the family of three went up to the Glazed Pavilion.
Li Zhi leaned his arms on the fence, looking at the sparkling water, and suddenly turned his head: "Chen'er, have the people below deceived you recently in terms of accounts or other aspects?"
"Don't worry, Grandpa. They wouldn't dare to do that!" Li Yuechen patted her chest proudly. "I'm a princess of a country. How dare they deceive me?"
"It's hard to say..." Li Zhi smiled, "I am still the emperor, aren't there many people who deceive their superiors and subordinates?"
Hearing this, Li Yuechen fell silent.
Are you crazy? Why are you telling me this? Are you expecting me to give you some advice or something?
Li Zhi didn't seem to care whether she listened or not, and continued to speak to himself: "I know Chen'er is kind-hearted and treats the people below him very well, but you have to understand. To control people, you must use both kindness and severity! You can't always show kindness..."
Listening to Li Zhi's muttering, Li Yuechen couldn't help but look towards his mother, Wu Zetian.
But she seemed not to care at all, just staring at the shimmering water, as if there was something on the water that attracted her attention.
"And you have to learn how to use people wisely, be flexible, and pay attention to balance. Whether you like it or hate it, you need to hide it..."
Listening to Li Zhi's increasingly strange muttering, Li Yuechen frowned and wanted to interrupt him several times, but didn't know how to say it.
After about ten minutes, perhaps because he was a little thirsty, Li Zhi stopped.
Licking his lips, Li Zhi suddenly smiled when he saw his daughter tilting her head and looking at him with a puzzled expression: "Why do you look like that?"
Li Yuechen moved his eyes left and right: "My child... is a little confused."
"Tell me about it." Li Zhi raised his hand.
"You asked me to read The Imperial Code earlier, and now you are teaching me the art of being an emperor. What exactly do you two adults want to do?"
After thinking for a while, Li Yuechen asked his doubts.
After all, what happened today was too weird. It felt like Li Zhi was going to pass the throne to her.
But what did I do? The only thing I could really use was probably fertilizer, right?
How could he go against the ancestral system and pass the throne to himself? Li Yuechen himself didn't believe it anyway.
Coupled with the Emperor Fan some time ago, the couple's attitude towards her now really made her confused.
I might as well stop pretending today and just get straight to the point and ask clearly.
Li Yuechen’s thoughts were very straightforward. Tell me clearly what you want to do, and let me die with a clear mind!
In response to their daughter's question, the couple looked at each other and laughed at the same time.
Li Zhi did not answer directly, but waved to Zhang Chengxin : "Go get some yogurt, and then call Honger!"
“Yes!”
Zhang Chengxin agreed and turned to leave.
In less than five minutes, a palace maid came over with a tray carrying a pot of yogurt and placed it in the pavilion. When she was about to pour it, Li Zhi waved his hand and said, "Go down!"
The maid agreed, bowed, and left.
Seeing the two of them sitting at the table, Li Yuechen walked over, poured three cups of yogurt, put them down, sat next to Li Zhi, and waited for his answer.
After drinking a mouthful of yogurt, Li Zhi turned his head and said, "Chen'er, if I make you the crown prince, what will you do?"
Hearing this, Li Yuechen almost fell down, thinking he had heard it wrongly.
However, both of them looked at her seriously, waiting for her answer.
After two seconds of silence, Li Yuechen suddenly opened her arms and hugged Li Zhi, touching his forehead with hers, and then said to herself, "It's not hot!"
Li Zhi smiled and pushed her away: "Don't play around, I'm serious!"
"Really?" Li Yuechen sat down. "How can a woman like me become the crown prince?"
"Don't think about it, just tell me what you would do." Li Zhi waved his hand.
Li Yuechen raised his hand and saluted: "Please allow me to refuse, Grandpa!"
"Why?"
"Since you are the crown prince, it means that you will become the emperor one day, right?"
Li Zhi nodded.
"But what's good about being an emperor?" Li Yuechen asked back, and then said, "Let's not talk about the distant past. Take the last emperor for example. He got up earlier than the roosters and slept later than the dogs every day. He was exhausted from heavy work and his hair turned white with worry. Look at grandpa. Even with the help of grandma, he still got up earlier than the roosters and slept later than the dogs. He was exhausted from heavy work and his hair turned white with worry."
At this point, Li Yuechen raised his hands to support his chin, with a worried look on his face: "If I become an emperor one day, I will get up earlier than the chickens and sleep later than the dogs. In the midst of heavy things..."
"Shut up!" Wu Zetian couldn't help interrupting, "Get to the point!"
"Uh..." Li Yuechen scratched his hair after being taught a lesson, "Being an emperor is too tiring, I don't want to do it!"
Li Zhi kept smiling: "Chen'er, don't keep playing dumb with me. I believe you know how powerful the emperor is."
"So what if I know?" Li Yuechen took a sip of the yogurt. "The greater the power, the greater the responsibility. You must govern your country. If you are not careful, you will be cursed forever! As a princess, I will not feel guilty even if I live a life of idleness and do nothing. But if I become an emperor, it is my duty to govern the Tang Dynasty well. If I don't govern well, a thousand years later, everyone who mentions me will call me a tyrant... Why bother?"
Hearing this, the couple looked at each other and burst out laughing at the same time.
Li Zhi picked up the yogurt and took a sip: "Chen'er is very young, but he is very clear-headed."
"In my opinion, he has no ambition!" said Wu Zetian next to him, but the smile on her face clearly showed that she agreed with Li Zhi's words.
Li Yuechen didn't want to explain anything about the couple's comments. He half leaned against the railing and drank yogurt, looking like he was about to give in.
After a while, Li Hong followed Zhang Chengxin.
Entering the pavilion, he immediately bowed to his parents, then turned his head and said, "Yuechen, how can you be so rude in front of your parents?"
"That's why it's so indecent here." Li Yuechen waved his hand.
"you……"
Li Zhi smiled and waved his hand: "Okay, Hong'er, I asked you to come here today because I have something to discuss."
"Master, please give me your orders." Li Hong bowed.
"Sit down first." Li Zhi pressed his hand down, "I plan to let Chen'er serve as an official in the court. What do you think?"
"Huh?" Li Hong and Li Yuechen raised their heads at the same time, looked at each other, and saw confusion in each other's eyes.
Li Hong had no idea what had just happened. This happened suddenly.
Li Yuechen was even more confused. He just asked me if I wanted to be the crown prince, and I said no. Now he suddenly wants me to serve as an official in the court? What's wrong with him?
"Grandpa, how can a girl like me serve as an official in the imperial court?" Li Yuechen stood up and said, "Besides, I am stupid, really..."
Li Zhi waved his hand and interrupted: "Whether you are stupid or not, I can judge for myself!"
"I……"
" What Chen'er said just now makes a lot of sense. One should do his job well when in a position." Li Zhi said with a smile, "If you are allowed to serve as an official in the court, you will definitely do your best and be loyal to the Tang Dynasty!"
"No……"
"Yes!" Wu Zetian beside him also echoed, "Chen'er said, the greater the power, the greater the responsibility. With such a sense of responsibility, Your Majesty can rest assured!"
Looking at the couple singing the same tune, Li Yuechen felt as if he had been cheated again.
Rather, today's event does not seem to be a spur of the moment decision, it must have been planned for a long time.
In other words... I don't know how long ago I have been trapped in this couple's routine!