Great Tang princess

Chapter 17

When the last sentence came out, both Li Zhi and Wu Zetian turned their heads in surprise.

The eldest brother Li Hong behind him also raised his head, with a little surprise in his eyes.

This poem is actually very unpopular, and it is hard to say whether it can even be called a poem.

But after all, it was written by a four or five-year-old child, and it is indeed very good to be able to write such a poem!
The old lady Wu Zetian raised her eyebrows, and then suddenly smiled like a flower: "Not bad!"

Father Li Zhi also nodded: "Chen'er is talented! If you go to the Imperial College..."

"I'm not going!" He was interrupted by Li Yuechen before he finished speaking.

What are you kidding, go to the Imperial College to study the obscure Four Books and Five Classics all day long?

As a princess, my mother doesn't have to take the Jinshi exam in the future. Instead of learning that stuff, it's better to go out and start a mansion as soon as possible and then eat and die.

"Oh? Why?" Li Zhi seemed a little curious.

"My child just wants to concentrate on practicing martial arts and protect grandpa and grandma in the future." Li Yuechen replied.

The couple looked at each other, but they didn't continue the topic and took her for a walk.

All the way to the corner, this corner is facing Yanshoufang, and going forward is the Hanguang Gate of the Imperial City.

Looking forward from here, the entire Chang'an City is almost clear at a glance.

Under the dark blue night, almost half of Chang'an City was brightly lit.

People laughed, and the wind blew leisurely, and one could see the banners hanging outside the doors of some restaurants flying up and down rhythmically.

The snowflakes fell slowly, covering the city walls, roofs and bridge rails with a layer of moisture.

Pedestrians coming and going on the street laughed and made loud noises in groups. Neither the snow nor the cold could stop them from enjoying the only day of the year without a curfew.

You can see that there are various stalls on both sides of the street in the square, and there are crowds of people standing around.

On the Qingming Canal at the foot, countless river lanterns float on the water, and the stars are very beautiful.

Looking at the scene in front of him, Li Yuechen couldn't help sighing in his heart. No wonder many people said that the Tang Dynasty was good. It would be great if this scene could last forever.

It's still early, Li Yuechen took a look and found that the imperial city is quite wide, which can basically meet the needs of activities.

So he lightly pulled Li Zhi's beard: "Grandpa, how about we play eagle and chicken?"

Li Zhi looked puzzled: "What is that?"

Li Yuechen roughly explained it to him, and at the same time took his wife Wu Zetian to make a demonstration.

It's okay if it's normal, but since it was brought up by his beloved youngest daughter, Li Zhi immediately said it's okay.

……

No matter it is for Li Zhi and his wife or for several brothers and sisters, today is an extremely unforgettable Lantern Festival.

That night, in the imperial city, Li Zhi's family happily played eagle catching chickens.

Li Zhi is an eagle, Wu Zetian is an old hen, followed by four sons, two concubine daughters, and Li Yuechen at the end.

In fact, it was quite embarrassing at the beginning, but people have a kind of adaptability. Once they let go, they can get involved.

This is like when some people go to a nightclub for the first time and see the people next to them twisting, they always feel a little ashamed and embarrassed to follow suit.

But after a few glasses of wine, and then let your friends pull and twist it halfway, you will completely sink into it.

The same is true for Li Zhi and others, who were a little embarrassed at first.

Then Li Yuechen stuck his head out at the end of the team to cheer him on and told him to catch him quickly.

When you really start to play, your emotions are mobilized, and you are invested in it.

Li Zhi continued to attack from both sides with his teeth and claws, Wu Zetian opened his arms and moved from time to time to resist his attacking route.

My old lady Wu Zetian is really not bad in physical ability. According to her own statement, she was the captain of the court women's polo team back then.

At the beginning, Li Zhi's expression was a bit awkward, but now that the event started, he completely let go.

Pretending to attack from the left, taking advantage of Wu Zetian's gap in defense, he slammed in from the right and grabbed Li Yuechen's shoulder at the back.

"Hahaha... grab one!" Li Zhi laughed and picked her up and turned her around twice.

Then he put her aside and went to catch others.

Of course Wu Zetian wouldn't go all out. After all, Li Zhi had bad eyesight, so he would inadvertently release water to prevent him from losing face.

Soon Li Zhi caught two more daughters of concubines. This time, instead of being indifferent as usual, he patted their heads uncharacteristically: "In a blink of an eye, they have grown so big..."

If it is in other places, the number of people behind Wu Zetian will be less and less, and the difficulty of arresting people will increase.

But on this limited-width city wall, the number of people is small, which makes it easier for Li Zhi to play.

The fourth child, Li Xulun, was caught first, and the third and second child had good physical strength and reaction, and escaped several times.

However, the eldest brother Li Hong couldn't hold on because he was not in good health since he was a child.

Because the speed was slow, Li Zhi finally caught them all one by one.

When all the chickens were caught, Li Zhi opened his arms and hugged the old hen in his arms, and then turned around twice on the spot.

Wu Zetian didn't seem to expect that he would do this suddenly, and was still a little dazed after being picked up and turned around twice.

Li Zhi raised his hand and pinched her face and laughed, like a child who is proud of succeeding in teasing others.

Li Yuechen, who saw this scene, suddenly had a line of lyrics in his heart: I am still the boy I used to be, without any change!

I have seen various conjectures on the website before, and it seems that Wu Zetian, the empress, is interpreted from various angles.

However, Li Yuechen believes that she has no way to interpret it from the historical records, because this country has been a patriarchal society for thousands of years since it was recorded.

And she is such an outlier, even in the official history, it is difficult to get an objective evaluation.

Touching his cheek that was pinched twice, Wu Zetian looked at Li Zhi in front of him, and suddenly said softly: "The concubine is old."

Hearing her words, Li Zhi was stunned for a moment, and then laughed again: "I'm old too?"

He turned his head to look at the children who turned their heads away from the scene just now, and waved to Li Yuechen who was still smiling and said, "The children are all grown up too."

Li Yuechen came to Li Zhi with a smile: "Grandpa's heart is not old!"

"You are the only one who is clever!" Li Zhi stretched out his hand and tapped her head lightly.

As the time approached midnight, more and more Kongming lanterns floated up from the ground and slowly flew into the sky.

These flying Kongming lanterns are stacked on top of each other, some are high and some are low, just like the stars that come alive.

Under the dancing flames in the sky, there is the brightly lit Chang'an City.

In the wine shop, men and women in the street looked up one after another, watching these flames carrying their hopes and dreams fly into the sky little by little.

Behind a remote street in the square, a man and a woman saw that no one was paying attention to them, so they kissed together forgetfully.

Li Yuechen who saw this scene on the city wall smiled slightly. It seems that no matter what era, there will always be people who dare to challenge the rules.

Seeing his daughter laughing suddenly, Li Zhi knelt down and picked her up and asked, "Why is Chen'er laughing this time?"

Li Yuechen hugged his little arms and put them on his shoulders: "I'm laughing because the two adults are happy with me!"

Wu Zetian next to her glanced at her: "I can flatter horses at a young age, and I don't know who taught them."

Li Zhi who was next to him waved his hand: "This is Chen'er who is filial, how can you say he is sycophant?"

Wu Zetian who was taught the lesson turned her head: "Your Majesty, don't spoil her because of this!"

That night, the brothers and sisters seemed to see another side of Li Zhi that he would never show at all.

But they all knew that it was the youngest sister who could do all of this.

Usually, each of them likes her very much, but today, they really saw her energy!
……

After the Lantern Festival passed, Li Zhi was obviously in a good mood, smiling every day.

Even when accompanying Wu Zetian to review memorials, he hummed a little song from time to time, even when he was really bored, he would go over to tease her hair, or poke her back with his fingers to tease her .

This made Wu Zetian roll his eyes at him when he had nothing to do these days, always with a helpless expression on his face.

But obviously, the speed of approving memorials has been accelerated a lot.

Li Yuechen still wakes up every morning to practice yoga, or read books, practice calligraphy, and in the afternoon, he plays routines and exercises.

Occasionally go to Master Liu Rengui's home to ask him to correct any mistakes in practice, and go to Mrs. Rongguo's home to chat with the old man every now and then.

After dusk, I basically fight with the two sisters for a while, chat with each other at night, and then go to bed early.

I had nothing to do this day, so I came to play with my second brother Li Xian, and as soon as I entered the door, I saw him pulling the third brother to fight cocks.

But now it's not in estrus, the two big cocks are obviously out of shape, and they occasionally touch each other as if they were playing a counterfeit match.

Li Xian was a little bored. Seeing Li Yuechen coming, he trotted over: "Would you like to come to play, little sister?"

Li Yuechen shook his head, squatted down next to the two big roosters and looked at them for a while, then wiped his saliva: "I don't know how it tastes."

Li Xian next to him looked shocked. He originally thought that she was interested in fighting cocks while squatting and watching, but unexpectedly she wanted to eat them.

……

Time passed day by day, and it was March in a blink of an eye.

In the evening, Li Yuechen came to see the couple as usual, Li Zhi asked: "Chen'er, in two days it will be Jingzhe, and the spring plowing ceremony will be held tomorrow, how about you and Hong'er accompany me?"

"Okay!" Li Yuechen nodded in agreement.

Spring plowing can be regarded as a statutory festival in the Tang Dynasty, but because of the different climates in different places, there is no way to completely unify it.

The emperor of the Tang Dynasty would go to the village outside the city to read parallel prose every spring when plowing, and then drive the cattle to operate it himself, which can be regarded as a leading role model.

Strictly speaking, this is a relatively big festival. Not only the emperor, but also all the civil and military officials will go there. It is a relatively grand event.

……

The next day Li Yuechen got up early in the morning, ate something casually and went outside to wait.

The emperor went out of the palace in a very large and troublesome battle. There were hundreds of people in the guard of honor alone, plus the accompanying troops and ministers of civil and military affairs, there were basically more than a thousand people.

The place where the Spring Plowing Ceremony is held is different every year, but it is basically various farmlands outside Chang'an City.

After leaving Chang'an City in a chariot, when they came to the event venue, they saw that a platform with a length of more than ten meters and a width had been temporarily built here.

The area around the platform has been surrounded by the forbidden army, the ministers of civil and military affairs are lined up on both sides, and there is also an old scalper with a big red flower tied to his head.

Li Yuechen stood in front of the civil and military officials together with Prince Li Hong, watching Li Zhi and Wu Zetian read the parallel prose that might be obscure to him on the stage.

In short, the general meaning is to wish for a good harvest. After the reading, there was a burst of gongs and drums. Someone next to him put a plow on the cattle, and Li Zhi and Wu Zetian went to the ground to drive the cattle to start working.

But Li Yuechen next to him raised his eyebrows in doubt.

What is this?Didn't it mean that the Tang Dynasty had already invented Quyuanli?Why is this kind of straight plow still used?

Quyuanli was still used in many places after more than a thousand years. Li Yuechen not only knew about it, but also operated it himself.

At that time, the old farmer said that this thing existed in the Tang Dynasty, and he also lamented that it can be used for more than a thousand years.

But if you think about it carefully, the Tang Dynasty, after all, has been a dynasty for hundreds of years, maybe it was invented in the later period?
Thinking of this, Li Yuechen suddenly smiled, well, it's another chance to build a good impression!
After the spring plowing ceremony was over, Li Yuechen, who returned to the palace, immediately found a pen and paper, and began to draw the design.

I have operated this thing myself, and I am very familiar with it. After thinking about it carefully, I drew it back and forth a few times and it was done.

It was dusk after the painting was finished, Li Yuechen was not in a hurry, but waited until the next day to bring Eunuch Fu to the craftsman supervisor.

After saying hello to Jian Cheng, they found carpenters and asked them to make Qu Yuanli according to their own drawings.

The structure of this thing is very simple, and it is basically a piece of cake for the carpenters here.

Then he asked the blacksmith to make the plow and shovel, and told them to notify himself as soon as they were done.

Although he didn't know what the little princess was planning to do, Jian Cheng immediately ordered the people below to start doing it.

At noon the next day, Eunuch Fu walked in with the finished Qu Yuanli: "Your Highness, the master craftsman just sent the finished product, please have a look at the princess."

Li Yuechen stuffed the beard cake under his hand into his mouth two or three times, clapped his little hands, got up and walked over.

Then grab it with both hands and lift it up to observe from side to side.

The eyes of Eunuch Fu in the back are about to protrude. He brought this thing back himself, knowing that this weight is definitely not light for a child.

But now Li Yuechen, who is only four or five years old, can lift it up easily, and it doesn't seem to take much effort from his expression, which really makes him feel a little puzzled.

And Li Yuechen has never paid attention to this aspect. She habitually ignored how a four or five-year-old child could easily lift more than ten kilograms of objects.

The picture in front of her looked a little weird. Li Yuechen held a thing bigger than herself in both hands and looked left and right. While observing, she compared the details to see if it was the same as what she remembered.

I looked at it and found that it was no different from the one after more than a thousand years, and then put it down: "Go, go to Yanying Hall!"

　Regarding this chapter, it focuses on the love side of Li Zhi and Wu Zetian.

　　When the author himself was looking at this period of history, he had seen theories that analyzed the relationship between the two from various angles.

　　But judging from various records, the author himself feels that there is more love between the two of them than partners.

　　Since Wu Zetian came back from Ganye Temple, although Li Zhi had other concubines, he never had children with others.

　　It can be said that no matter how many years Li Zhi has been emperor, he has spoiled Wu Meiniang for so many years.If there is no love between these two people, the author would not believe it.

　　From this point of view, Li Zhi can indeed be regarded as a rare affectionate emperor.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)