The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 8 New Life in the East Palace
The next day, it was just dawn.

The palace was very quiet in the morning. Li Chengqian put on his clothes and walked to the front of the hall. He let out a long breath, and his exhaled breath turned into a white mist in the cold air.

Ning'er was cooking porridge, and this time she took a sip from time to time.

Seeing the prince coming back, she walked over quickly and said, "Your Highness, you can have dinner in a while."

The snow on the ground was still there. Li Chengqian frowned and said, "Sister Ning'er, I always feel that the East Palace is desolate."

"The East Palace has not been repaired since the Wude period."

In other words, the Eastern Palace had not been properly managed since the reign of the previous Crown Prince Li Jiancheng, until the Xuanwu Gate Incident.

Li Chengqian sighed and said, "If you don't know, you might think my East Palace is a cold palace, or there are some unclean things hanging around."

Ning Er replied: "Actually, the East Palace is quite big."

The porridge cooked on the clay stove was ready. Li Chengqian drank the porridge and said, "Well, it tastes much better now."

Looking at Sister Ning'er's expression, Li Chengqian added, "I really mean it this time."

"I will do better in the future."

"I'll go to Lizheng Hall." As he spoke, Li Chengqian walked into the side room next to the front hall.

Ning Er heard this and put a cloak on His Highness, and warned him: "Your Highness, please don't catch a cold again."

Li Chengqian walked out of the East Palace and walked quietly. It was the cold winter season and the weather was freezing cold. No court officials would come to the morning court during the season, so he could walk around the palace as much as he wanted.

In front of me is the tall Taiji Hall. Looking back, I can see guards standing at the Suzaku Gate in the back.

As I walked outside the Lizheng Hall, I heard the laughter of children.

When I walked into the Lizheng Hall, I saw a group of children playing around.

Empress Changsun was still taking care of the infant Sizi, and Li Shimin sat beside her, looking serious and asking, "How did you find time to come visit me?"

Li Chengqian bowed and said, "Father."

"Yes." Li Shimin nodded and sighed, "Why do you regret Zhao Jie's matter?"

Do emperors like to give people this kind of thinking questions?
"Father, Zhao Jie is a relative of the royal family. Besides, the palace already has guards. Why should I build the Right Commander of the Eastern Palace?"

Li Shimin's expression became more serious. He looked at his son, listened to his tone and demeanor, and asked, "Is the Right Commander of the Eastern Palace no longer in office?"

“Not building it anymore.”

Li Shimin nodded, then picked up a book and began to read in silence.

I don’t know whether my father’s expression was good or bad, his face was just stern and he didn’t say anything.

Li Chengqian said again: "Mother, I want to bring my younger brothers and sisters to live in the Eastern Palace for a while."

Hearing this, Li Shimin frowned slightly, but still said nothing.

Empress Changsun laughed and said, "Why do you suddenly have this idea?"

"I want to teach my brothers and sisters how to strengthen their bodies."

"How to forge the body?"

"I read in a book that there is a method of physical training for the all-round development of morality, intelligence, physical fitness and aesthetics, which focuses on physical health while cultivating mental and physical health."

Empress Changsun said: "You usually live in the Eastern Palace for a long time, so it would be good for you to hang out with your brothers and sisters. If they are willing to go to the Eastern Palace, then they can stay there for a few days."

"Mother, I want to go." Princess Qinghe spoke first.

Empress Changsun smiled and nodded, "Okay, let's go to the East Palace for a walk."

Li Chengqian noticed the incense burner on the table and observed it with a frown.

Empress Chang Sun said, "This is a spiritual incense burner, it is said to help you sleep."

Li Chengqian looked at the wisps of green smoke coming out of the incense burner and whispered, "Is it usually placed this close?"

Empress Changsun nodded and suddenly smiled, "It's of no use."

Li Chengqian sniffed it carefully and found a slightly sweet fragrance. Is this what the incense that helps you sleep is like? The impurities that have not been completely burned out with the smoke from the incense burner will not only not help you sleep, but will also be bad for your respiratory tract.

"Mother, please don't use this anymore."

"Why?"

"I have read a medical book recently. If you have a cough or tracheal disease, you should not use an incense burner. You should also ventilate the room frequently to keep the air clean."

Empress Changsun thought for a moment and said nothing more.

Li Shimin said: "These are also what you saw in the book."

Li Chengqian said: "When I was studying the pharmacology of bean sprouts, I also saw relevant discussions."

Li Shimin said in a deep voice: "There is no harm in doing this. Remove the incense burner, and don't place candles that produce smoke and dust in the Lizheng Hall in the future. Keep the air ventilated."

Several palace maids responded by bowing and removing all the incense burners in the hall.

Dongyang was a well-behaved girl, two years younger than Li Lizhi. She didn't talk much and just liked to sit in the hall and read a volume of Dream of the Red Chamber.

After listening to the words of the eldest sister Li Lizhi, everyone was willing to live in the Eastern Palace together for a while. After all, it was their eldest brother’s Eastern Palace and it was not far from the Lizheng Palace.

Including the two boys Li Zhi and Li Shen, there are also Princess Changle Li Lizhi, Princess Runan, Princess Dongyang, Princess Qinghe, Princess Linchuan, and Princess Gaoyang.

As for the little Sizi who is still in the cradle, he will continue to stay with the queen.

Li Chengqian walked out of the Lizheng Hall with his two younger brothers and six younger sisters. There was a large group of children crying.

They are still a little curious about moving to the Eastern Palace, but they don’t know that Li Chengqian wants to give them a more complete childhood.

Walking into the East Palace, Ning'er saw His Highness leading a group of princesses and princes here, and immediately arranged for the palace maids here to start settling these children.

Li Lizhi's pretty face was filled with a smile, "It's so warm here, my brother."

Li Chengqian said, "There is a heated kang in the East Palace, and there is a big stove outside the wall that is always burning."

Pour a bowl of boiled water in front of her, Li Chengqian asked: "How is the mother's health?"

Li Lizhi explained: "My mother often coughs when she is tired. The less rest she gets, the worse her cough becomes. The people at the Imperial Medical Bureau said it was a respiratory disease, but my sister doesn't understand."

She frowned and scratched her head. Something like this.

"Sister Ning'er." Li Chengqian waved and called.

"Sister Ning'er?" Li Lizhi looked at the woman who was called by her brother with suspicion.

Ning Er just smiled awkwardly, "Your Highness, what do you want me to do?"

Li Chengqian said: "Arrange rooms for my brothers and sisters, allocate some beds in the back hall of the East Palace, and then slowly build it up in the future."

"Here."

Ning'er nodded and went to do the work.

Seeing that they were still looking around the East Palace, Li Chengqian continued, "Call your brothers and sisters over. I have something to say."

Li Lizhi said in a loud voice: "Come here and listen to what the emperor has to say." A group of children came over. Some of them had snot running down their noses, some had messy hair, and some even had their clothes not properly put on.

Li Chengqian asked: "What is home?"

You looked at me, I looked at you, but neither of us said a word or answered.

"Perhaps you feel that Lizheng Palace is your home, or you may feel that Chang'an is your home, or you may feel that the place where your father and mother are is your home."

Taking a deep breath, Li Chengqian continued: "In fact, these ideas are all correct. No matter where you are, home is where your family is."

Dongyang and Runan listened attentively and looked up at their brother's speech.

Princess Gaoyang was fiddling with her snot, and it was about to drip down to her mouth, so Xiaofu quickly ran over to help her wipe it off. But just as she wiped it clean, some snot came out of the tip of her red nose again.

Li Chengqian continued, "We are all family. If the brothers and sisters present here can make achievements in any aspect in the future, it will be a great help to our family. Therefore, unity is particularly important. No matter what contradictions or conflicts there are between us brothers and sisters, if there are outsiders who want to bully us..."

"Let my royal brother help me bully him back! Let us keep our breath and let father avenge us." Li Zhi answered quickly.

Li Lizhi stroked her forehead in pain and glared at him secretly.

Only then did Li Zhi realize that he had said the wrong thing.

Li Chengqian smiled in surprise, "Zhi Nu is right. In short, we must unite, unite with our families, and protect this family, which means protecting ourselves.

From now on, we will set up an East Palace class. Now it is…” He hesitated for a moment, and then said, “Now it is the first grade.”

After that, the younger brothers and sisters started chattering again.

As for the selection of class monitor, there was no need for voting. Li Lizhi, the eldest princess, naturally became the class monitor. She could arrange all the younger brothers and sisters in the Eastern Palace class. Her appeal was even stronger than that of himself, the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace.

There is no other way around it, since Li Lizhi has always been the queen's good helper in taking care of children.

Children are innocent and they have no idea what kind of ideological education they will receive next.

Li Chengqian had even planned the courses in his mind.

For the whole day, Li Chengqian asked Ning'er to check their teeth and understand their physical conditions in the past few days.

In the evening, the children ate ramen made by the emperor’s brother himself and went to bed early.

The warm back hall is the most comfortable place to sleep, which is much more comfortable than the Lizheng Hall.

Looking at what Ning'er had recorded, Li Chengqian read it carefully one by one until late at night.

Ning Er said, "The East Palace still has extra toothbrushes to use."

Li Chengqian said: "You should also go to bed early."

"Here."

Looking at the current situation of his younger brothers and sisters, the reality is that the rice and flour that Li Tai cheated them of are not enough, and there is also the wood.

In other words, if the younger brothers and sisters had three meals a day, the food stored in the East Palace could last for ten days at most, and the heated kang could last for five days at most.

The crown prince of the current dynasty is actually worried about his livelihood. How could the Li Tang royal family be so poor?

The next morning, Li Chengqian sat in a row with his younger brothers and sisters to wash and then did morning exercises in the front hall of the East Palace.

The palace maid sent by Lizheng Palace brought spare clothes for the princesses. She was very curious to see the princesses and princes in front of the East Palace doing morning exercises in unison on this cold winter morning.

The next course is reading and writing, as well as doing some simple math problems.

Ning'er recorded all these things and had someone send them to the queen.

The Lizheng Palace now seemed empty, as the children were gone. This was one of the rare nights when the Queen slept soundly.

"Queen, this is news from the Eastern Palace." The palace maid outside the palace came hurriedly.

Empress Chang Sun nodded. In front of her was a schedule. There were four classes a day. In the morning, they studied literacy and mathematics, and in the afternoon, they studied physical education and ideological and moral education.

The duration is five days, after two days of rest, study for another five days, and so on.

"First grade?" Empress Changsun continued to read on, thinking of what Cheng Qian had said before, about all-round development of morality, intelligence, physical fitness and aesthetics. She smiled bitterly and said, "Few children can develop all-round, but Cheng Qian has good intentions, so let's just leave it like this from now on."

"Here."

When the Queen has some free time, she can even go out for a walk with His Majesty.

In the Eastern Palace, Li Chengqian began to worry about his livelihood.

Li Li asked, "Brother, where is Mr. Cao?"

"Oh..." Li Chengqian came back to his senses and whispered, "Teacher Cao has left the East Palace and left me the Red Mansion."

"pity……"

"Do you also watch Red Mansions?"

Li Lizhi replied, "My sister doesn't understand it, but mother likes to read it. Father said that the Dream of the Red Chamber is not a book for men to read, but he still reads it with great interest."

Outside the hall, a group of children are taking physical education class. The content of today's physical education class is also very simple, which is skipping rope and kicking shuttlecock.

"Father always says that my brother is a good person, but after learning that my brother rejected Zhao Jie, he said that my brother was just playing tricks. In fact, my father is also happy in his heart, but he just won't say it out loud."

Li Chengqian asked: "How did you figure that out?"

"I am the daughter of my father, so of course I can tell." Li Lizhi added, "Brother, I have to take them back to Lizheng Palace later. The things the palace maids brought were not carefully prepared, and many of them were left out."

Li Chengqian nodded and said, "Let's stop here for today's class. get out of class dismissed."

"Okay." Li Lizhi walked outside the hall and said loudly, "get out of class is over!"

How will Donggong make a living? Sell toothbrushes?

It remains to be seen whether toothbrushes can be accepted by the people of Tang Dynasty today. For the Tang people who are used to chewing toothwood and using willow branches to clean their teeth in the morning, it may be more difficult for them to accept toothbrushes.

The Red Mansion had a huge impact on the audience. At least the story had spread from the palace to the whole city of Chang'an.

Li Chengqian suddenly asked, "Nowadays, books are printed on woodblocks?"

Ning Er said, "It has always been like this. If the engraving is made with the handwriting of a famous calligrapher, it will be preserved and worth a fortune."

"Are there any craftsmen in the palace who can make this kind of thing?"

"Well, it's usually Yan Liben who arranges it. Everyone calls him Master Yan."

"What do you think of Master Yan?"

Ning Er thought for a moment and replied, "Master Yan is the Minister of Works, but as far as I know, the Ministry of Works does not have many people. In the past two years, because Your Majesty wants to build palaces or city walls, the price of craftsmen has become higher and higher, especially those with good skills."

When he had nothing to do, Li Chengqian found that he knew very little about many unwritten rules of the Tang Dynasty. The more he asked, the more Ning'er talked.

She added, "The sons of the royal family are not allowed to engage in business. They are under strict supervision, and they are not allowed to marry the daughters of merchants, not even as concubines. Not all of them are like this. There is one person in the royal family. It is rumored that the Prince of Hejian has taken in many concubines."

"Prince of Hejian, Li Xiaogong?"

"Well, His Majesty is very close to the Prince of Hejian. Although this prince's character is not very good, he is the one His Majesty trusts the most among the princes of the royal family."

(End of this chapter)