I traveled with them to the Northern Song Dynasty

Chapter 114 Who in the family understands that Li Qingzhao is back?

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After sending Li Qingzhao out of the palace, the palace maid returned to the palace.

During this era, Bianliang's nightlife was vibrant. Restaurants and teahouses were everywhere, many of which stayed open all night. Taverns were everywhere, especially the famous Zhouqiao Night Market (the area from Zhuque Gate south to Longjin Bridge, and especially south of Zhouqiao). Tables, chairs, and benches lined the roadside, known as "night stalls," and these were packed with people dining in large numbers, practically every night.

At this time, the boundaries between residential and commercial areas in Bianliang City had been broken down, and commercial activities had no time restrictions, with both night markets and morning markets. The development of the commercial economy promoted the development of citizens' entertainment life.

There were many brothels and theaters in the city of Bianliang, where storytelling, opera, singing and dancing, acrobatics, football, and martial arts performances were performed. The place was packed with spectators and was extremely lively.

Under such circumstances, it is inevitable that the bustling area will breed some ruffians who like to stir up trouble.

Among these ruffians, there are many who like to tease and rape decent women.

When Li Qingzhao returned home from the palace, she happened to pass through that mixed area. For a young woman like her, it was quite dangerous to cross that area alone.

Just when Li Qingzhao saw that there was no carriage of her own in front of the palace gate and didn't know what to do, a eunuch and four imperial guards chased out of the palace.

The eunuch said to Li Qingzhao respectfully, "I am the deputy governor, Shen Zheng. Your Majesty has asked me to escort the young lady home."

Seeing that Emperor Zhao Ya still considered the safety of a commoner like her, Li Qingzhao felt warm in her heart. She couldn't help but think about Zhao Ya's appearance.

Although she had met him twice, to be honest, because she was too nervous and the darkness blocked her view, Li Qingzhao never got a clear look at Zhao Ya's appearance.

She only vaguely remembered that Zhao Ya seemed very handsome...

With Shen Zheng and four imperial guards accompanying her, Li Qingzhao returned home safely.

Shen Zheng and the imperial guards did not go in to disturb the Li family. Instead, they watched Li Qingzhao see her family at the door and then returned to the palace.

Seeing Li Qingzhao coming back, everyone in the Li family was more surprised than the other!
The servants hurried to find Li Qingzhao's father Li Kefei and Li Qingzhao's stepmother Wang.

Soon, Li Kefei, Wang and Li Qingzhao's younger brother Li Rui came out to greet them.

As soon as they met, Li Qingzhao shouted, "I'm very hungry! Prepare some food quickly!" Then she complained, "The palace is so stingy. Everyone else stayed to eat, but I was the only one left?"

After hearing this, Wang hurried to prepare food for Li Qingzhao herself.

When Li Kefei heard Li Qingzhao's complaints, his heart sank!
Su Che had already talked to Li Kefei and made it clear that Li Qingzhao's entry into the palace was very important to them, the Yuanyou Party. This matter even concerned the ideals of all Yuanyou Party members and the future of the Zhao Song Dynasty. Of course, it also included the honor and disgrace and rise and fall of all Yuanyou Party members and their families. He hoped that Li Kefei could take the overall situation into consideration.

It is worth mentioning that Su Che made it very clear at the time that it didn’t matter if Li Kefei was unwilling to sacrifice for the Zhao Song Dynasty or the old party, he could find someone else. If there was no suitable candidate, he could also choose one from the Su family.

Li Kefei must have agreed, otherwise it would have been impossible for Li Qingzhao to participate in the imperial examination in the palace.

However, before Li Qingzhao set off, Li Kefei hesitated again and again and still couldn't bring himself to tell Li Qingzhao about this matter. He naively thought that Li Qingzhao would understand the good intentions of their elders in letting her participate in the imperial examinations with a dozen other young women who had the same goal.

In Li Kefei's opinion, isn't tacit understanding much better than him, as a father, forcing his daughter to make huge sacrifices for the so-called righteousness, which is actually just for the official positions of people like them?

It was also because of this that Li Kefei did not tell Li Qingzhao directly to find a way to stay in Zhao Ya's harem, find a way to win Zhao Ya's favor, and find a way to speak well of the old party in the future. Instead, he thought he was smart and made many hints, thinking that Li Qingzhao could understand his intentions.

In fact, except for Li Qingzhao, everyone in the Li family already knew that Li Qingzhao was going to become Zhao Ya's concubine.

Li Kefei and Wang had even arranged for someone to pack up Li Qingzhao's things, and they were just waiting for Li Qingzhao's status to be determined, and then they would send Li Qingzhao's things along with her maid Cui Yu into the palace.

The Li family has been busy with this matter these days.

Even the cat raised by Li Qingzhao was bathed repeatedly by the Li family. They even took great pains to trim the cat's claws to prevent the cat from bringing shame or trouble to the Li family after entering the palace.

Also, these days people have been coming to the Li family to congratulate Li Kefei on becoming the "father-in-law of the country", saying that Li Kefei's rapid rise to prominence is just around the corner, making the Li family more lively than ever before.

It can be said that the Li family is now just one step away from announcing that Li Qingzhao has entered the palace and that their Li family has become a royal family.

Who would have thought that when the atmosphere had become so tense, Li Qingzhao suddenly came back.

Family members, who understands the complicated feelings of the Li family at this moment? !
Among them, Li Kefei's mood was the most complicated!
On the one hand, Li Kefei, who had been feeling quite sad and missing his daughter these days, couldn't help but feel a little surprised that his precious daughter was back with him.

But on the other hand, Li Kefei vaguely felt that the Li family might be in trouble.

"Why did you come back?" Li Kefei asked hurriedly.

"This is my home. If I don't return here, where else should I go?" Li Qingzhao answered confidently.

Li Kefei was speechless for a moment, but soon he asked with a glimmer of hope, "Have the other dozen or so young ladies who participated in the imperial examination with you also returned home?"

Li Qingzhao said complacently: "They all stayed in the palace to become His Majesty's concubines. How foolish they were..."

As soon as Li Qingzhao opened her mouth, Li Kefei suddenly felt a black screen in front of his eyes.

Li Qingzhao didn't notice Li Kefei's expression change at all. She was still talking non-stop to everyone: if she stayed in the harem, it would be a luxury to go home in the future; Zhao Ya had so many concubines, she might not see Zhao Ya for months, or even years; the women in the palace might use all kinds of conspiracies and tricks to compete for his favor, and if she wasn't careful, she might even bring trouble to her family, and so on...

Judging from what Li Qingzhao said, her choice to go home was simply wise.

Li Kefei, who was standing by, couldn't stand it any longer. He raised his palm and shouted, "I'll beat you to death, you rebellious girl! You've ruined my Li family!"

Li Qingzhao was a little confused, "What's going on? I was just talking to my father, who has never hit me since I was a child. Why is he so angry and wants to beat me to death?"

Li Qingzhao would not sit idly by and wait for death, even if the person who wanted to beat her was her father.

It was seen that Li Qingzhao hid far away at the first moment.

Li Qingzhao did not hide, and Li Kefei felt a little relieved. This at least showed that Li Qingzhao realized her mistake.

Unexpectedly, Li Qingzhao not only did something wrong, but also wanted to escape punishment.

This time, Li Kefei was really angry, so he started to pursue Li Qingzhao, determined to give this ignorant, selfish, and self-righteous rebellious girl a good beating.

Seeing that Li Ke was determined to make a move, Li Qingzhao panicked. She thought, "Did the little emperor really guess it? My father is going to spank me?" Thinking of Zhao Ya, Li Qingzhao remembered that Zhao Ya had given her a token that allowed her to avoid being beaten.

Li Qingzhao quickly took out the golden plaque and held it in front of her, shouting, "You can't hit me, I have this!"

Li Kefei thought, 'No matter what you have, I have to spank you twice today, otherwise, what will happen to you in the future? Also, if I don't spank you a few times and use this as a self-torture trick, I won't be able to explain to the teacher!'

However, when Li Kefei saw clearly what Li Qingzhao was holding in her hand, he was stunned.

Gold plate!!!
The full name of the Golden Plate is "Golden Plate Jijiao Di", which was a communication certificate used by the Zhao Song Dynasty to ensure the smooth delivery of government documents.

This kind of token will not appear easily.

It was mainly used to transmit urgent military information. For example, in military operations such as the Song-Xia War, if there was urgent military information, such as an emergency at the border, the golden tablet would be used to transmit information so that the emperor could understand the battle situation in the first place and make decisions.
Golden tablets were also used to convey the emperor's edicts, such as the emperor's pardons and important military orders. For example, Zhao Gou issued twelve golden tablets in succession to recall Yue Fei, leveraging the authority and speed of the golden tablets to ensure that the emperor's orders could be quickly conveyed to the generals on the front lines.

In addition, this token can ensure the confidentiality of information. The "Imperial Text" transmitted by the golden plate is opened and sealed by the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the Forbidden City, without going through the information transmission agencies controlled by bureaucrats such as the Tongjinsi and Jinzouyuan, reducing the possibility of information being leaked or tampered with during the transmission process, and ensuring the confidentiality of the information.

Of course, the gold-lettered plaque would occasionally be used by the emperor as a token of trust, but this was rare, and ordinary people could not possibly obtain such a token of trust.

As an official of the Ministry of Rites, Li Kefei recognized the gold-lettered plaque at a glance.

But for a moment, Li Kefei couldn't figure out what was going on with this golden plate?

After a moment's reaction, Li Kefei quickly followed the etiquette for seeing the golden tablet and paid homage, shouting, "Your Highness Li Kefei accepts the order!"

Li Qingzhao was stunned to see that Li Kefei not only stopped beating her, but also bowed to her with great respect.

But soon, Li Qingzhao realized that Li Kefei was not worshipping her, but the token in her hand. She thought to herself, "What kind of token is this? It's so powerful?"

As a daughter, Li Qingzhao couldn't let her father keep bowing there, so she quickly went to help Li Kefei up.

But Li Kefei did not move. Instead, he asked Li Qingzhao in a low voice: "Where did you get this golden plaque from?"

When she heard the three words "golden plaque", Li Qingzhao realized what was in her hand and finally understood why Li Kefei paid such a grand tribute.

Li Qingzhao quickly explained: "This is a gift from Your Majesty."

Hearing the words "given by His Majesty," Li Kefei felt relieved. He was truly worried that Li Qingzhao had carelessly stolen it from the palace. If that were the case, the Li family would be completely finished.

Fortunately, it was just a false alarm.

Li Kefei, now fully aware of the situation, straightened up and asked sternly, "Why did His Majesty grant you the golden medal? Tell me the whole story."

At this time, Li Qingzhao also realized that something was wrong. She quickly told Li Kefei everything that Zhao Ya said when he gave her the golden plate, that the golden plate could allow her to enter the palace to play with Zhang Chun and others at any time, and could also protect her from being punished by Li Kefei.

Of course, Li Qingzhao couldn't tell anyone that Zhao Ya was talking about spanking her. How could she tell anyone about this? If they asked about the reason, wouldn't she be able to hide what happened that night?

Then, Li Qingzhao told Li Kefei about her experience of entering the palace to take the imperial examination, and how she made friends with Zhang Chun and others.

After Li Qingzhao finished speaking, Li Kefei began to understand. His silly daughter did not want to stay in the harem, but it was possible that it was precisely because of her unconventional behavior that she stood out and was favored by Zhao Ya. Otherwise, how could Zhao Ya reward her with a gold plaque and send eunuchs and imperial guards to send her home?

Li Kefei thought, "If this is true, then maybe this bad thing will turn into a good thing?"

Li Kefei said to Li Qingzhao, "Please lend me the gold plaque."

Upon hearing this, Li Qingzhao quickly gave the gold-lettered plaque to Li Kefei.

Li Kefei did not dare to take the golden plate casually, but strictly followed the etiquette to hold the golden plate with both hands and put it in his arms.

Afterwards, Li Kefei didn't care that it was already very late, and hurried to Su Shi's house to explain the sudden incident to Su Shi and Su Zhe.

After hearing this, Su Che was very disappointed with Li Kefei. He felt that if Li Kefei couldn't even handle such a small matter, how could he accomplish anything big? Unlike Chao Buzhi, who did everything perfectly. The difference between the two was worlds.

But then again, although Chao Buzhi did a great job, Chao Min would probably not be as favored as Li Qingzhao.

From this perspective, Li Kefei may still be more useful than Chao Buzhi.

Those who are capable have small opportunities; those who have great opportunities have limited abilities.

Su Che was also helpless.

Su Shi, on the other hand, thought that it was nothing and that he could let Zhao Ya and Li Qingzhao develop freely. If they succeeded, he would be lucky, and if they failed, it would be his fate.

After discussing it, they felt that this was the only way.

However, Su Zhe, who was afraid that Li Kefei would do something bad again, specifically told Li Kefei this time not to play the game of tacit understanding and understanding anymore, but to make it clear to Li Qingzhao and never make such a big mistake again.

Li Kefei repeatedly assured that he would never make such a mistake again.

After returning home, Li Kefei said to Li Qingzhao: "When you enter the palace again in the future, be careful not to miss the memorial..."

This time, Li Kefei didn't dare to play dumb with Li Qingzhao anymore. Instead, he simply and directly explained to Li Qingzhao the current dire situation of the Yuanyou Party, the purpose of letting her enter the palace to take part in the imperial examination, and the consequences of angering Zhao Ya. He also told Li Qingzhao clearly that next time Zhao Ya took a fancy to her, she must not hide.

At this time, Li Qingzhao already knew that she should not have come back, but should have stayed in the harem with the other eleven women who took the imperial examinations and become Zhao Ya's concubine. She almost brought disaster to the Li family. Fortunately, Zhao Ya gave her a gold medal, otherwise the Li family would have been in big trouble.

"This...what should I do?"

Li Qingzhao never expected that her troubles did not remain in the deep palace after she left the harem, but followed her back home like a shadow.

Li Qingzhao's heart was filled with complex emotions. Moonlight filtered through the window lattice, casting a shadow of melancholy on her furrowed brow. She gently stroked the heavy, gold-lettered plaque, her mind racing, unsure what to do...

……

(End of this chapter)