In Hanguang Palace, Li Shimin summoned Prince Li Chengqian.
"How are you preparing for the Qingyuan Poetry Festival in three days?" Li Shimin was lying on his side on the bed, his voice a little lazily, the bed curtains were drawn down, and his expression could not be seen.
Li Chengqian rarely behaved himself, so he knelt quietly beside the bed and said seriously: "My aunt will take care of everything."
After saying that, the young Li Chengqian looked back at Princess Danyang who came with him.
"Brother Emperor, what can you prepare for the Little Green Garden Poetry Festival? With my sister watching, there is no problem."
"Danyang, please step back first."
"Yes, Brother Emperor."
Princess Danyang bowed and prepared to leave.
After hearing this, Li Chengqian quickly turned around, grabbed Princess Danyang's hand with some reluctance, and whispered: "Auntie, please don't leave."
Princess Danyang smiled and shook off Li Chengqian's hand: "You are here to listen to the training. Do you want your aunt to accompany you to be trained together?"
After saying that, he left Hanguang Hall calmly.
Seeing Princess Danyang leaving, the bed curtain in front of her slowly opened. Li Shimin sat up from the emperor in casual clothes and stared at Li Chengqian seriously.
Seeing this look, Li Chengqian suddenly became nervous, straightened his body a little, looked at his father and then asked in a low voice: "Father, is there any lack of etiquette in this son? Why is it so... look..."
"Your etiquette has become much better recently than before.
"Huh..." Li Chengqian breathed a long sigh of relief, "That's all thanks to my aunt."
"Aunt... Aunt... Aunt who speaks up, Aunt who shuts up, why can't I see that you care so much about your mother?"
"..." Li Chengqian didn't know how to answer. What he wanted to say was that his mother was in charge of the Sixth Palace. It was rare to see an aunt who was so idle and could accompany him in the East Palace every day.
Li Chengqian said nothing, and Li Shimin said seriously: "You have passed the coming-of-age ceremony."
"yes."
"After the coming-of-age ceremony, you will be an upright prince. You must do everything yourself and stop relying on others, especially your aunt. Although this Qingyuan Poetry Recital is not a big event, it can still give you a
Leaving a certain reputation among the younger generation of literati will benefit you a lot in the long run. You should deal with it seriously and not be careless."
"My son, I know."
"You know? What do you know? You don't know anything about the affairs of the Qingyuan Poetry Society. You ask your aunt everywhere. This is the prince's business, not the princess's business. Do you understand?"
"I understand, but...it's just that I have never done this before, and I don't understand many things. No one except my aunt is willing to..."
As Li Chengqian was speaking, he suddenly found that his father's expression was very bad when he said the word aunt again, so his voice stopped before he finished speaking.
Li Shimin looked at his son. Although he was young, he was much more dependent than other children of the same age.
We usually hear rumors about the prince's good qualities, but who dares to say anything bad about the prince?
But Li Shimin knew in his heart that his son still had many shortcomings. He also heard that this boy obeyed Princess Danyang and the entire East Palace was controlled by Princess Danyang. This was not a good thing.
To change this situation, we have to find a more courageous princess for the prince. With another heroine in charge of the East Palace, I think my sister will be more restrained.
But who should be chosen as the crown princess is something Li Shimin needs to seriously consider.
The person chosen for the Crown Princess must be independent-minded and have a strong character, otherwise it will be difficult to compete with Princess Danyang.
This is really troublesome!
Li Shimin rubbed his forehead, unable to think of a suitable candidate in his mind.
At this moment, a eunuch outside sent another report.
Li Shimin waved his hand and asked Li Chengqian to leave.
Li Chengqian felt like he had been pardoned. After kneeling down and resigning, Li Chengqian hurried away. When he arrived outside Hanguang Hall, he immediately regained his lively temperament and took his aunt's hand familiarly back to the East Palace.
In Hanguang Hall, Li Shimin looked at the eunuch who was delivering the message and frowned and asked, "Why are you here?"
Li Shimin recognized that he was from Xingqing Palace.
"Back to the Emperor, the Supreme Emperor sent a message asking the Emperor to move to Xingqing Palace, saying that he has important matters to discuss."
"Is there something important to discuss?"
Li Shimin was puzzled. His father had been quiet in Xingqing Palace for a long time and had never taken the initiative to discuss anything. Today he actually sent a message saying that he had something to discuss.
Without thinking, Li Shimin shouted towards the outside of the palace: "Show me Xingqing Palace."
…
At dusk, the emperor's traveling team stopped at the entrance of Xingqing Palace.
Li Shimin hasn't been here for a while.
It wasn't that he didn't want to come see his father, but there were too many cats in the Xingqing Palace, and the whole palace was filled with a strange smell, which Li Shimin didn't like.
When I came today, the personal eunuch brought several sachets for Li Shimin. When Li Shimin was about to enter the Xingqing Palace, he gave them to him and asked him to smell the sachets all the way in.
The maids and eunuchs of Xingqing Palace came to meet him at the door early. After entering Xingqing Palace, Li Shimin felt a little different.
The smell of cats that filled the air was gone, but instead it was replaced by the fragrance of beans.
The smell smelled soothing, and since he was in a hurry to leave the palace, Li Shimin hadn't eaten yet. The smell immediately made Li Shimin swallow his saliva.
"What...what does this smell like?"
A little palace maid was nodded by the emperor and quickly stood up to answer.
"Back to the emperor, this is a pot of fresh soy milk that has been boiled."
"Soy milk?" Li Shimin was a little confused, "When did soy milk become available in the Xingqing Palace? The smell is so strong, I'm afraid it's a lot, right?"
"Yes, I just ground a hundred pounds of beans."
"A hundred pounds of beans? What are so many for? When did they arise? Why don't I know?"
"It's all the Emperor's will. The Emperor asked his slaves to grind soy milk and make tofu in the palace. In addition to eating it in Xingqing Palace, the excess will be sold in nearby markets."
"Made tofu to sell?" Li Shimin was completely confused and didn't understand, but he soon understood.
This must be his father's trick. He used to raise cats and now makes tofu. Only his father can think of it as a novel idea.
For Li Shimin, he didn't want to see this in his heart, but considering his father's mood, it was a good thing for him to have something to do. As long as he could stay safely in Xingqing Palace, it would be better than anything else.
The little palace maid was timid and a little scared. She felt that something was wrong with what the majestic emperor had done, and she was afraid that the emperor would blame her.
The emperor blamed it, and it was their slaves who suffered.
Everyone in front of him looked at the emperor nervously, not knowing what his attitude was.
Li Shimin knew what these people were thinking, and wanted to reassure them earlier. He smiled and asked, "I'm a little hungry. I'll go get a bowl of soy milk quickly and see the craftsmanship of your Xingqing Palace."
When everyone heard this, they all breathed a sigh of relief. Naturally, they would not blame him if he said this, so someone hurriedly went to serve the soy milk.
