Great Tang princess

Chapter 14
After the sun went down, the sky was still not darkened.

The Daming Palace has become brighter, with countless lanterns hanging in every corner of the palace.

A lot of candlelight makes the Linde Hall, the protagonist of the night, brightly lit. If the color is not a little monotonous, it may not be much worse than the night market in later generations.

All the officials, big and small, had already put on their court clothes, and began to enter the hall in an orderly manner.

Officials usually wear ordinary clothes when they go to court, with round necks and narrow sleeves, which is very convenient.

It's just that there are relatively strict rules on the color, for example, people who are above the third rank wear purple, and those above the fifth rank wear red...

However, there is no color distinction for the court clothes for major events. Regardless of the grade, they are all different shapes of black black gauze hats, matched with a bright red court dress.

The whole body of this kind of court dress is bright red, only the collar and cuffs are black. Depending on the grade, it will also be equipped with different fish bags, swords, ribbons and other decorations.

Of course, swords are made of wood.Except for Qianniuwei, no one can dangle in front of the emperor with a real knife and gun.

When Li Yuechen and his elder brothers followed Li Zhi and his wife to Linde Hall, what they saw was a bright red.

Not to mention, the New Year's Eve at least looks very festive.

If anyone wears this thing when they usually go to court, then be prepared.Either to remonstrate with the emperor to death, or to impeach someone to death.

Of course, the most fearful thing is that the gang of old guys at Yushitai wear this thing to go to court, which probably means that the emperor is going to be sprayed.

When the emperor came, the ministers saluted together.

Li Zhi raised his hand with a smile and waved: "All lovers are welcome! Today's New Year's Eve, we will celebrate the New Year here together!"

Then Xu Jingzong and Li Ji and other ministers with high qualifications and status took the lead to congratulate Li Zhi and Wu Zetian on the new year.

This evening was fairly relaxed, and after talking about a few words, they all joined the table.

The Royal Gala in this era is relatively boring. Although the palace bands are indeed good-looking, compared to the Spring Festival Gala with various programs in later generations, this program with only singing and dancing is indeed much more monotonous.

So Li Yuechen felt bored after watching it for a while, and happened to be a little hungry. When Li Zhi started to do it, he quickly took a piece of steamed cake to eat.

Now she is still young and can sit with her old mother Wu Zetian.

The four elder brothers don't have this kind of treatment. They can only sit at the bottom, each with a table, which is almost the same as the treatment of ministers.

However, not all of this party was singing and dancing performances. At about eleven or twelve o'clock, the emperor and ministers all began to recite poems again.

Li Yuechen, who felt a little dizzy when he heard this, opened his mouth and yawned, rubbed his eyes and turned his head, "Mother, I'm sleepy."

Wu Zetian touched her little face: "Should I observe the old age today, and still be as usual?"

Li Zhi on the side had a doting smile on his face: "Children are prone to sleepiness, Xiao He, you should take Chen'er back to sleep first."

"Here!"

Xiao He, who was waiting beside her, agreed, knelt down and picked up Li Yuechen on her back, and left.

Li Yuechen was really sleepy, and when he returned to Chengxiang Hall, he could hardly keep his eyes open.

After being put on the bed, she probably sensed that Xiao He was helping her remove the jewelry on her head, and said in a daze, "Remember to call me at the court meeting tomorrow..."

Xiao He agreed as she took off her headgear: "Don't worry, Your Highness."

If possible, Li Yuechen would actually like to sleep until dawn, but she hasn't seen the grand court meeting on the first day of the new year, so she wants to see it tomorrow.

……

As a child, she can go back to sleep at any time, but it is more miserable for her brothers and ministers.

By the time the banquet was over, it was almost time to be ugly, so they hurried home to rest for a while, got up after less than an hour of sleep, and rushed to the palace again.

Li Yuechen had already woken up at this time, probably washed his face, asked Xiao He to tie his hair into a ponytail, and then hurried to the Xiangluan Pavilion on the side of Hanyuan Hall.

When I came over, I happened to see the ministers walking in from Danfeng Gate.

Because it was not yet dawn, there were quite a few Jinwu guards holding torches to guide them.

What I want to see today is not only the ministers who usually go to court, but all the officials in Chang'an.

Even officials from other places would come to congratulate the emperor on this day, and if they couldn't come because of something, they had to send envoys to bring gifts.

In addition, the surrounding dependent countries also sent envoys to pay tribute with gifts on this day, which can be said to be very lively.

So when Li Yuechen came over, he saw that the square in front of Hanyuan Hall was densely packed with torches, connecting to the outside of Danfengmen, which looked like a fire dragon.

The officials lined up in order according to their grades, and walked from Longwei Road to the gate of Hanyuan Hall.

The fully armed Qianniu bit compared the portraits and various materials of each person, and at the same time conducted body searches and other procedures to ensure that they were not carrying weapons.

Li Yuechen, who had watched Xiangluan Pavilion for a while, entered the main hall from the side and hid behind the screen.

After a while, the gate of the palace opened, and the ministers entered one by one.

Li Yuechen showed half of his head, and saw that Minister Xu Jingzong's face was obviously haggard, so he nodded sympathetically.

It has to be said that this kind of era is troublesome, and even veteran officials of this kind of grade have to toss about like this.

From last night to now, he was obviously exhausted to death, but he still wanted to come out with a red face.

After the ministers stood still, Li Zhi and Wu Zetian also came out.

Li Zhi tidied up his gorgeous crown clothes before slowly sitting down, but Li Yuechen suddenly discovered that he actually had a health ball by his hand!
Wu Zetian behind the bead curtain didn't even put it down, just holding two iron balls and spinning them slowly in his hands.

Zhang Chengxin flicked the whisk in his hand, took a step forward, took a deep breath, and announced loudly: "Up—toward—"

Under Li Yuechen's shocked gaze, the ministers first knelt together and shouted in unison: "Long live my emperor!"

Then he stood up and started dancing, the movements were not uniform, basically they danced separately, chaotic.

Then Zhang Chengxin shouted loudly: "Goodbye——"

The ministers bowed together again, and then shouted in unison: "Long live!"

After shouting, they stood up and danced, because everyone's movements were different, so it looked like a group of demons dancing wildly.

Some movements are small but fast, and they look like they have Parkinson's.

And some movements are so large that they even hit the people next to them, which looks like Mongolian wrestling.

Some movements are not only exaggerated, but also very fast, and it seems that they can find a certain sense of rhythm.

Zhang Chengxin estimated the time: "Three salutes—"

As his voice fell, the ministers knelt down again and said in unison: "Long live!"

After Li Zhi raised his hand and said, "Everyone is exempt from courtesy", Xu Jingzong, who was a little out of breath from this set of etiquette, picked up his wat board.

After coughing a few times and lowering his throat, he began to read a parallel prose that Li Yuechen could not understand, Li Zhi probably could not understand, and even Xu Jingzong himself might not be able to understand.

This kind of parallel prose for New Year's greetings is very demanding, and it is not enough to write casually. It is often necessary to quote scriptures without any mistakes.

Coupled with the accumulation of all kinds of profound rhetoric, it often makes the self-sufficient and extremely difficult to understand.

Even Li Yuechen, who was hiding behind the screen, felt his head was as big as a bucket and his eyes were dizzy.

After finishing reading with difficulty, I congratulated the emperor on the new year again before turning around and leaving.

In this way, their mission is over and they can go home and rest.

Thanks to the fact that Empress Changsun has passed away, otherwise, this process would have to go to the Empress Dowager to go through it again.

After walking out of the palace, Xu Jingzong took a deep breath, feeling a little tired and unable to hold on.

Li Ji next to him quickly reached out to support him: "Is Mr. Xu okay?"

Xu Jingzong, whose face was a little pale, waved his hands: "No problem, I just need to go back and sleep for a while..."

Their mission is over, but Li Zhi's work continues.

After the ministers went out, the next batch of officials with lower ranks came in and went through the process just now.

By the time the officials in the capital had finished their New Year greetings, the sun was completely angry and the sky was bright.

Here, officials from other states and counties also started the process of meeting the emperor.

After they finish their work, there will be foreign envoys with gifts waiting behind them...

In short, today Li Zhi's side may be difficult to finish before noon.

Li Yuechen couldn't help but turned his head and asked, "Is it like this every year?"

Eunuch Fu nodded: "Yes!"

Li Yuechen shook his head, looked up at Li Zhi who was sitting on the dragon chair, and said to himself: "No wonder the saint is so tired!"

Originally, she was still thinking about what the court would be like on the first day of the new year, but she didn't expect that batch after batch of officials would come to congratulate her.

The key point was that this process was very troublesome, and Li Yuechen couldn't bear to watch it any longer, so he yawned and turned around to leave.

Before noon, go back and catch up on sleep.

……

After the congratulations, the ministers walked out of the Hanyuan Palace one after another. Officials from different states and counties were still greeting each other and chatting about interesting things they encountered in different places.

"Brother Sun, long time no see. The term of office will expire next year. I think it will not be far before I get promoted."

"Don't dare! I heard that Brother Wang is in office with strict laws and regulations, and he is very appreciated..."

In addition to bragging about business among the officials, many people also found the pair of iron balls that Wu Zetian was holding in his hand sitting behind the bead curtain.

So the officials speculated whether the two iron balls beside Li Zhi were also being played with in their hands.

To some extent, the emperor's preferences can be regarded as the weathervane of officials, so it is natural to inquire more.

However, this thing is not really a secret, and soon, the matter of the health ball spread to the ears of various officials.

It wasn't until noon that the grand court meeting came to an end.

Li Yuechen was woken up by Xiao He, and after washing his face, he felt much better.

In the next few days, everyone can take a good rest.

Li Zhi and Wu Zetian had dinner with the children at noon, talked about the outlook for the new year, made the children obedient, and read more books...

However, after waiting for a long time, Li Yuechen didn't see that they had any intention of handing out lucky money, so he secretly wondered if something went wrong.

Although it is said that it is a holiday, there are many major national affairs. After lunch, the couple went back to deal with government affairs.

What Wu Zetian meant was that he had to catch up today, because he had to go back to his natal home on the second day of the Lunar New Year tomorrow.

My grandmother, Mrs. Rong Guo, is still alive today. Although she is ninety-one years old, she is in good health in all aspects.

Li Yuechen and his elder brothers also go back to visit with his mother Wu Zetian every year.

Even in normal times, Wu Zetian was busy with work, so the maids and eunuchs would take her to visit the mansion from time to time.

But to be honest, Li Yuechen was reluctant to go.

It's not that she hates her. In fact, she quite likes this grandmother. She always smiles and looks kind, and treats her very well.

But the key problem was that when she went to visit, eight out of ten times she would run into He Lan Minzhi, Li Yuechen's nominal cousin.

This guy is now twenty-five or six years old, and he is a handsome man with a handsome appearance!

Even if Li Yuechen looked at it from a man's aesthetic point of view, he had to admit that he was indeed a handsome guy!
This seems to be quite normal. In this era, Li Yuechen has read in many books that the Xianbei people are all good-looking.

He Lanminzhi's father is also from Xianbei, so he should have inherited the good-looking gene.

Speaking of it, many books say that Emperor Sui Yang was also very handsome, but it is hard to say whether it is true or not.

Having said that, what really made Li Yuechen a little unbearable was that this cousin and Mrs. Rong Guo were lovers!
That's right, a ninety-year-old woman and a teenager in her mid-twenties are lovers!
This is no longer a problem of old cows eating tender grass, it is simply eating seeds, okay?
When Li Yuechen found out about this incident by accident, ten thousand muddy horses really rushed past in his heart.

She was a little confused, whether it was a problem with the times or a problem with the family.

Perhaps it seemed to them that they were still very young at the time, and they must have not started to remember things, nor would they understand.

But to be honest, the scene at that time kept Li Yuechen awake for several days, and it was not so easy to reshape the broken three views.

Of course, she didn't say anything nonsense, just pretending that she really didn't remember.

Through her observation, her old mother Wu Zetian knew about this.She didn't say anything, and there was no need for her to jump out.

And to be honest, Mrs. Rong Guo is really kind to her granddaughter. As for her private life, Li Yuechen is not interested in criticizing her.

After eating at noon, Li Yuechen thought about it, and instead of going to play with his four brothers, he went to accompany his two older sisters, Xuancheng and Yiyang.

Although the two of them have regained their status as princesses now, Li Zhi's attitude towards the concubine is basically the same as giving them away for phone bills. Don't expect him to care.

Considering the first day of the new year, in order not to make the two sisters feel lonely, Li Yuechen still went to play with them, which moved the two sisters for a while.

　There is no definite evidence as to when the worship method of "Long live my emperor, long live, long live" in the TV series appeared.However, there is a saying that appeared during the Wu Zetian period.In addition, many historical materials say that on the first day of the new year in the Tang Dynasty, the officials would indeed dance, so it is integrated here.

　　Regarding the fact that He Lanminzhi had an affair with Mrs. Rong Guo, there are indeed records in the old Tang books, but it is hard to judge whether it is true or not.It's just that based on the records of Wu Zetian and Princess Taiping, the author thinks this possibility is quite high.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)