The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 73 "Fat Sheep"

Walking towards the Ganlu Temple...

There is some truth to what my uncle said about the slippery road. The road beneath the snow layer is icy, and it is easy to fall if you step on the ice.

As the two of them were talking, they walked outside the Ganlu Palace. The eunuch hurried out and said, "Duke Zhao, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, please enter the palace."

Li Shimin was still spinning the Rubik's Cube. He was spinning a three-order Rubik's Cube in his hand. There was also a six-order Rubik's Cube on the table, which his father was still playing with. "Tell me, what's going on?"

Changsun Wuji handed all the files to the eunuch beside him.

The eunuch placed the file on Your Majesty's desk.

His Majesty did not look at it either, but paused for a moment while turning the Rubik's Cube, frowning and looking at it carefully.

Zhang Sun Wuji explained the whole matter of the Honglu Temple in detail.

Li Shimin nodded and said, "Are you afraid of the death of Tuyuhun Khan and dare not go home?"

Changsun Wuji said: "That's right."

Li Chengqian stood aside with his hands in his pockets, silent.

A eunuch poured two bowls of tea, one for Duke Zhao and one for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

After drinking the tea to drive away the cold, Li Chengqian felt better.

It was warm inside the Ganlu Palace, and the snow on her clothes and shoulders began to melt.

Li Shimin added: "It's ridiculous that he is so cowardly that he dares not go home."

Zhangsun Wuji bowed and reported, "Your Majesty, after investigation by Li Baiyao and others, it is known that there are indeed remnants of Fu Yun's tribe in Tuyuhun territory. Murong Shun did not dare to go back because he was afraid that these people would retaliate after Fu Yun's death."

Li Shimin nodded, "So we have to kill them all. It doesn't matter how many people we kill. What's important is that we can have peace after killing them."

"Your Majesty is right."

Li Shimin finally put down the Rubik's Cube in his hand, glanced at the Crown Prince, and finally landed on Zhangsun Wuji, "In fact, Hou Junji was not wrong to kill those people, but because of the words of those people in the court, I had to punish him. Now that it has come to this, how can you teach me to end it?"

Li Chengqian remained silent.

Changsun Wuji frowned and said, "Why not leave him in Chang'an City first?"

Li Shimin nodded and said, "Well, can I still embarrass a person who is afraid of death?"

Zhang Sun Wuji bowed and said, "Your Majesty, please understand."

"Well, step back. You have to preside over the next matter."

"Here."

Seeing that his uncle was about to leave, Li Chengqian hurriedly followed suit.

After the two men left, Li Shimin threw the Rubik's Cube on the table in boredom, looked up and sighed, "He didn't even say a word."

Walking back into the snow and wind, Changsun Wuji quickened his pace and saw that the prince had caught up with him.

Li Chengqian stepped forward quickly and said, "Uncle, it's snowing so hard, let's go to the East Palace first. It won't be too late to go back after the snow stops."

The snow was blown in the face by the wind, making it difficult to open your eyes.

The two of them came to the East Palace and walked into the warm Chongwen Hall. They felt comfortable and took off their coats and put them by the stove to dry.

Li Yuan lives here now. He, Li Lizhi, and Li Zhi play chess in a defensive mode, challenging each other in turns. The person with the most wins in the end can take all the red dates.

Changsun Wuji looked around and saw the targets and bows and arrows nearby, which had also been moved from the Wude Hall to the East Palace.

Li Chengqian brought a chair and asked his uncle to sit down first.

The two of them sat at the door, watching the snow outside in silence.

Logically speaking, this should be the outcome of Murong Shun's case. The Ministry of Rites and the Honglu Temple were unable to make the final decision. When the decision was placed in the hands of my father, the outcome would definitely be like this. My father would not embarrass someone who is afraid of death.

Murong Shun did not have to worry about dying suddenly on the way to take up his post, nor did he have to worry about being assassinated by the remnants of Fu Yun's tribe after going to Tuyuhun.

When everything turned out better, Li Chengqian had a smile on his face.

A butterfly flapped its wings again, and the fate of Tuyuhun was different.

Ning'er brought snacks from the East Palace.

Li Zhi said, "Sister Ning, I want to eat the one stuffed with pickled mustard greens."

Ning'er picked out some food from the basket and handed over two meat patties stuffed with pickled mustard greens.

Li Chengqian also handed one to his uncle, "What kind of filling do you want?"

"It will be all right."

He gave the pancake with pickled mustard greens and meat filling to his uncle, and Li Chengqian also ate one himself.

After an incense stick of time, Li Yuan had lost several games, but the snow didn't seem to be getting any lighter.

Chang Sun Wuji said: "What kind of story can be told from dusk till dawn."

Li Chengqian said: "Huluwa."

"Huluwa? Is it a person?"

"No, it's a story about several calabash brothers working together to defeat the monsters. It's very interesting. Uncle, would you like to listen to it?"

Changsun Wuji nodded.

Li Chengqian started the story by saying his grandfather planted a seed.

This story is actually very simple and easy to tell.

By the time we got to Sanwa, the snow had finally subsided.

Changsun Wuji stood up and was about to leave.

Li Chengqian stood in front of the East Palace gate to bid farewell, saying, "Uncle has not even finished listening to this story, and he is leaving now."

Ning Er said, "Most likely the Duke of Zhao doesn't like stories about fighting and killing."

The next day, many old houses in Chang'an City were crushed and collapsed. Li Daozon, who was on vacation, had to take people to check it out in person.

Some empty houses that are so old that they are no longer habitable are not cleaned up. If someone comes to live there, the new tenant will go to the Fangzheng Office to pay and hire someone to clean the house.

If the government takes the lead in clearing all the snow, it will make the militia unhappy, and those people will feel that the government does not care about their lives.

Because the militiamen have to find work during the winter when there is no farming work, they can make money by clearing snow from roofs for others.

Jingzhao Prefecture maintained its original tacit understanding with the local people.

In places where the government does not care, people will naturally pay civilians to do hard labor.

Li Daozon was patrolling everywhere when he saw Shangguan Yi and a Turkic man walking into a tavern.

He just took a closer look and had no idea what they were doing. Li Daozon still had to take his men to various streets in Chang'an City to investigate the case, so he did not stay for long.

Shangguan Yi handed a piece of soap to the Turkic envoy in front of him, Ashina She'er.

The defeated Jie Li Khan in the battle of Yinshan three years ago was the uncle of Ashina She'er.

The Turkic envoy came to the Tang Dynasty to meet Tian Khan and to visit his uncle, Jie Li Khan, who was still in Chang'an.

Shangguan Yi placed a bag of soap residue in front of him and asked, "Does General Sheer like this?"

Ashina She'er was also a fierce man among the Turkic people. He fought in all directions and conquered various Turkic tribes for many years. He liked the Tang man in front of him very much and called him general.

She'er pinched some soap with his fingers, put it to the tip of his nose and smelled it, his expression showing some disgust. Shangguan Yi asked, "General, don't you like it?"

Sheer said loudly: "I don't like it!"

His voice was so loud that everyone at the four tables in the tavern looked over.

Seeing that it was a Turk who was yelling, everyone lowered their heads and continued to eat and drink.

"General Sheer, this is soap, which is only available in Guanzhong. You should like it."

Sheer still shook his head and said, "I don't like it."

Shangguan Yi took out another whole bar of soap and placed it in front of him.

Sheer picked up the brick-sized soap and rubbed it with his palms, feeling the smooth texture. A smile appeared on his face. He weighed it in his hand and nodded, "I like it."

It's obviously the same thing, but the other person is very happy when the soap residue is replaced with a whole piece of soap.

Sheer naturally put the soap into the sheepskin bag at his waist, with a smile on his rough, dark face, "Anything else you want to give me?"

Shangguan Yi cursed in his heart: Xu Jingzong, you bastard, where have you been? You actually asked me to come and discuss business with this Turkic man.

This Turkic man has a strong odor.

As if sensing some kind of call, Xu Jingzong hurried over and said, "General Sheer!"

Facing Xu Jingzong who was walking towards him with a smile on his face, She'er also stood up hurriedly and bowed. Although he didn't know him, he was very enthusiastic.

Xu Jingzong took She'er's hand as if he was holding a brother and said, "General, come with us to wash first."

"Wash it?" She'er said with a simple and honest voice, "Okay, okay."

Shangguan Yi's face was stiff. When the people walked away, what sin had I committed to do such a thing with Xu Jingzong? Then he sat here and slapped him.

When the people at the four tables heard the applause, they put down their chopsticks and looked over again.

"You're sick!" Shangguan Yi muttered, and hurriedly followed them.

In an inn, Shangguan Yi saw a scene he had never seen in his life: Xu Jingzong was actually taking a bath with the Turks.

Fortunately, each of them had a bucket.

What Shangguan Yi found most unbearable was the layers of black mud that the servant rubbed off She'er's body.

Half an hour later, the originally black She'er turned into a red person, or to be more precise, he was both black and red.

Xu Jingzong drank and chatted happily with the Turkic man. They were about to become sworn brothers after only knowing each other for one day.

Xu Jingzong was really good at communicating with people. Even if the other party was a Turk, he could become sworn brothers with them.

Shangguan Yi wrote down everything that happened today and had it sent to the East Palace.

At night, Li Chengqian was still tidying up the bookshelves in the Eastern Palace. There were more and more books in the Eastern Palace, and his bedroom was almost becoming a library. There were three large bookshelves lined up, and the shelves were filled with books.

Among them were files on official administration in the imperial court, some medical books, books such as the Spring and Autumn Annals and the Book of Han, as well as homework from younger brothers and sisters and currently written textbooks.

These are what you need to read on a daily basis. The life of the ancients was very boring.

So when there was nothing to do in the court, Li Chengqian would pick up these books and read them. Most of the time, he would read them as if they were stories, or he would look at them with a critical eye.

Ning Er said, "Your Highness, a letter from Jingyang."

Li Chengqian sorted the books on the bookshelf and classified them according to their uses, saying, "Put them on the table."

"Here."

It’s great that the Tang Dynasty will have a real library, and this library is in the East Palace.

Li Chengqian thought so as he walked out from the dim bookshelf, went to the table and opened the letter.

The relationship between Xu Jingzong and Shangguan Yi was going smoothly, and he had also made an agreement with Ashina She'er.

This matter still had some twists and turns. Ashina She'er did not like soap scum, he liked soap, and scented soap. He said that he could use this to marry many Turkic women.

Xu Jingzong was of course happy, and then he talked about business.

If a whole bar of soap was given to Ashina She'er or sold to the Turks, the Turkic leader would be unhappy.

But this kind of whole piece of soap was only available in Ashina She'er in the Turkic region, and other Turkic people only had soap scum.

Then She'er agreed readily and even signed a contract.

So, this is where Xu Jingzong's strength lies. He can accurately find the opponent's breakthrough point.

It's a pity that such a person was one of the Eighteen Scholars in the Qin Palace, but he was never given an important position.

If every Turk could own a complete soap, Ashina She'er would feel that this did not reflect his identity, nor did it highlight his majesty as a leader, and he would not be able to snatch women from other tribes.

If he was the only one who had the complete soap, the rest of the Turks would only have soap residue. He was even willing to help Xu Jingzong attack other Turkic tribes, including robbing women from other tribes.

Of course, Xu Jingzong didn’t have such a strange request, he just wanted to make a deal.

Ashina She'er?
When talking about this person, we have to mention Jie Li Khan.

Now Jie Li Khan is still alive. As the crown prince of the Eastern Palace, I don’t know where he is now. I only heard that he is still alive.

Ashina She'er was the leader of a large Turkic tribe. After Jie Li was defeated, he once proclaimed himself Khan.

Although this man was simple-minded, his territory in the Turkic region covered almost half of Western Turkic Khaganate, and to the north he also bordered the Xueyantuo people in the northern desert.

Rumor has it that Ashina She'er had an army of 100,000 in the Turkic region.

Li Chengqian suddenly said: "This is a fat sheep."

Ning Er, who was standing in the hall cleaning up, asked, "What fat sheep?"

"Nothing." Li Chengqian stroked his forehead and said, "I just felt like writing this."

Ning'er continued to put away some useless papers and some toys. Sometimes the princes were so naughty that she couldn't control them.

They even ran into the prince's bedroom to play.

Just like His Royal Highness the Prince of Jin, who was originally playing in the front hall, one person stopped watching him and went to His Royal Highness's bedroom.

Therefore, the palace maids in the Eastern Palace were often busy looking for children, and when they found one, they would go to look for another.

Li Chengqian reminded: "These used papers are still useful. Collect them and have them all sent to Jingyang. Even if the quality of the recycled papers is a little worse, it is not unusable."

Ning'er listened to His Highness' words and whispered, "Your Highnesses like to play with origami recently, either making windmills or paper cranes. If you clean them up, you'll have to look for them all over the floor."

"You will scold them on my behalf in the future."

"How dare the servants?"

"If anyone dares to throw papers around in the future, I will let Li Zhi punish them."

After cleaning the floor of the bedroom, she sat down next to His Highness and tidied up the papers and some books on the table.

She whispered, "Actually, your Highnesses are very sensible, so there's no need to punish them too harshly."

Li Chengqian clicked his tongue and said, "Sister Ning'er, you have changed. You didn't spoil them like this before."

"Because your highnesses are all very good children."

"Rules must be taught from a young age. If there are no rules when you are young, you will become lawless when you grow up."

(End of this chapter)