Tang Dynasty, my wife Wu Zetian

Chapter 51: King Li Zhen of Yue
In the seventh year of Yonghui, the last day of New Year's Day, it was freezing cold. Li Zhi was sitting in his bedroom reading a book, wearing a pair of gloves knitted by Princess Yi Yang.

Suddenly, Wang Fusheng came to report that the fifth prince Li Hong wanted to see him.

Li Zhi said: "Let him in."

After a while, Li Hong walked in with a scroll in his hand. He bowed like a little teacher and said, "My son greets my father."

Li Zhi said, "You came here alone? Where's your mother?"

Li Hongdao said, "Mother has gone to Foguang Temple to pray for blessings. She asked me to bring my homework to my father for correction."

Foguang Temple is located in the palace and is a royal temple. It is very close to Ganlu Hall. However, Li Zhi did not like temples and never went in.

Li Zhi took over Li Hong's homework and wanted to spread it out on the table.

Who would have thought that after rolling for a long time, it couldn't reach the end and extended all the way to the ground. When it was finally spread out, it was nearly two meters long.

Li Zhi was stunned. A child under four years old has to do so much homework?

After thinking about it carefully, I immediately understood.

Since Li Shimin, the Tang Dynasty royal family has attached great importance to education.

When a prince is under three years old, he will be taught by his biological mother. After he is three years old, he will be sent to Chongwenguan to study. When he is in his teens, he can have his own home and the emperor will personally hire a teacher for his son.

The Tang Dynasty's academic institutions consisted of "six schools and two academies", the two academies referring to Chongwen Academy and Hongwen Academy.

The Hongwen Academy taught the children of high-ranking officials and nobles above the third rank. The Chongwen Academy, located in the Eastern Palace, only taught the crown prince and the children of the imperial family.

Among Li Zhi's six sons, except for one-year-old Li Xian who did not have to go to school, the other children were already studying in Chongwenguan.

The emperor attached great importance to education, and the scholars of Chongwenguan did not dare to neglect it. Every time there was a festival, they would leave a lot of homework.

Li Zhi glanced at Li Hong and asked, "How long did it take you to finish all this homework?"

Li Hong said crisply, "Father, I finished writing it in just four days."

Li Zhi was speechless.

There are only seven days of vacation in total, and there are various activities, which means that most of the vacation time is spent on doing homework.

Li Zhi couldn't help but feel a little more pity for him and carefully checked his homework.

Li Hong's handwriting was probably taught by Wu Meiniang herself. At such a young age, he could already write quite well.

The tutors carefully considered the homework assignments for the princes and set questions based on the age and academic progress of each prince.

Li Hong has only read two books so far: Thousand Character Classic and Jijiu Zhang.

So his coursework was very simple, consisting of questions about surnames, names, utensils, clothing, and other items.

Li Zhi saw that he had answered well and was about to look up to praise him, when he suddenly saw a bulge in his chest, as if something was moving.

"Hong'er, what's in your clothes?"

Li Hong was a little panicked. After hesitating for a while, he carefully took out a round object from his collar.

Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a little chick.

Li Zhi frowned and asked, "Why do you put the bird in your chest?"

Li Hong had an expression as if he had made a mistake and hung his head.

"When I came here, I found this little bird under the eaves of a palace. Seeing that it was almost frozen to death, I stuffed it into my clothes to keep it warm..."

Li Zhi was stunned for a while, and thought to himself, "This child has indeed been kind since childhood."

Although Li Hong was kind and gentle, he was different from Li Xian who was cowardly. He was very much loved by Emperor Gaozong of Tang and had a strong foundation in the court. He served as regent several times and was supported by all the civil and military officials in the court.

He once fought with his mother Wu Meiniang to save Princess Yi Yang and Princess Gao An, and was not afraid of her.

It’s a pity that he was weak and sickly since childhood and died before the age of 25. If he had ascended the throne, it would have been difficult for Wu Meiniang to become the empress.

This is also the reason why Li Zhi did not make him the crown prince.

Looking at Li Hong, who was looking downcast, Li Zhi thought to himself, "This child is just like Emperor Gaozong of Tang. He is in poor health. He needs to exercise more in the future."

"Okay, Honger, go ahead."

Seeing that his father did not blame him, Li Hong said happily, "I'm leaving now." He performed standard etiquette and left the palace.

Li Zhi pondered for a moment, called Wang Fusheng, and asked him to convey an order, asking all the princes to bring their homework to Ganlu Palace for inspection.

This was undoubtedly bad news for most of the princes, with the exception of Li Zhong.

Chen Wang Li Zhong set up his residence outside the palace and was the last to receive the news.

Li Zhi selected several scholars from the Hongwenguan to be his teachers.

Li Zhong respected these teachers very much. He had already finished the homework they left behind and was not afraid of Li Zhi's random inspections.

However, Li Zhong's teachers were very nervous. After rechecking his homework, they gave him many instructions before letting him leave.

After leaving the palace, Li Zhong went straight to the imperial palace.

Because Li Zhi did not specify a time for checking homework, Li Zhong was not in a hurry and planned to visit his mother first and then his father.

In order to see his biological mother, Liu, as soon as possible, he entered Taiji Gate, turned into Zuoyanming Gate, and took a shortcut along the Longshou Canal. He walked quickly all the way and crossed a stone bridge when he suddenly saw a palace to the southeast of the bridge. It was the location of the Hanlin Academy.

Li Zhongxin thought, "Mother has been learning to paint lately. Why don't I pick out a few good paintings and give them to her for her to admire and copy?"

Thinking of this, he ordered his followers to take their homework and wait there, while he himself quickly walked towards the Hanlin Academy.

There is a flower patch outside the Hanlin Academy. If you walk from this direction, you need to go around the flower patch along the path.

Li Zhong still had some childishness in his heart. He did not follow the right path, but walked through the flowers and branches, and even reached out to grab the icicles condensed on the branches.

As he was walking and playing, he suddenly heard a voice deep in the flowers.

"Are you doing well in the palace?"

Li Zhong found the voice very familiar. He walked over quietly and looked through the gaps between the branches.

I saw two people standing in a patch of flowers in the distance.

One was a young eunuch, about the same age as him, while the other was a young man in his late twenties, of medium build and with an imposing appearance.

Li Zhong was surprised and asked, "Isn't that Uncle Eight? What is he doing here?"

Li Zhong's eighth uncle, King Li Zhen of Yue, also returned to Chang'an this time to attend the grand court meeting and banquet, and also went to the royal hunting trip.

The young eunuch said, "Your Highness, the King of Yue, I am doing very well."

Li Zhen said slowly, "You are a smart child. You should have realized that His Majesty has run out of patience with Zhangsun Wuji. Please be patient for two more years."

The young eunuch said in a trembling voice: "Your Highness, I..."

"Call me Eighth Uncle. Today is a holiday, and there's no one in the Hanlin Academy. Besides, I've already ordered people to guard the intersection, so no one will hear us."

Li Zhong pondered secretly: "He asked the eunuch to call him Eighth Uncle. Could it be that the eunuch is also a member of the royal family?"

The young eunuch said, "Eighth Uncle, my brother and sister...are they doing well?"

Li Zhen said, "Don't worry. Although they have been exiled to Lingbiao, your uncle and I will take care of them. Everything is fine."

Li Zhong's mind buzzed with excitement. Among the royal family, weren't the only ones exiled to Lingbiao the descendants of his third uncle, King Wu Li Ke?
"Could it be... that the young eunuch is the son of the Third Prince?" Li Zhong's heart was pounding.

The young eunuch knelt on the ground and cried, "Thank you, Uncle Eighth."

Li Zhen said in a deep voice, "Get up. Your father is such a heroic man, why do you cry so easily? You have no manliness at all!"

"Yes." The young eunuch wiped his tears and stood up.

Li Zhen was silent for a moment, then said, "I'll be returning to my fiefdom in a few days. Take good care of yourself and don't reveal any flaws."

The young eunuch nodded in agreement.

Li Zhen said a few more words and turned to leave.

The young eunuch also walked in another direction.

Li Zhong waited for another quarter of an hour, and when he saw that there was no more movement around him, he left the flowers, reunited with his followers, and rushed towards Chengxiang Palace.

"Auntie, Auntie!"

Liu was embroidering a brocade bag in the hall when she suddenly heard her son's voice outside and was delighted.

Just as he put down the brocade bag, Li Zhong rushed in, his face full of panic.

Liu scolded with a smile, "You're already so grown up, and you're still so impatient. Did you make the teacher angry again?"

Li Zhong said anxiously: "No, mother, I was just near the Hanlin Academy..."

Having said this, she turned to look at the palace maids beside her and whispered, "Mother, let them go."

Seeing her son's reaction, Mrs. Liu had no choice but to dismiss the servants and asked, "What's wrong?"

Li Zhong lowered his voice and told Li Zhen everything he had just seen.

Liu was greatly surprised and said in panic, "Then, that little eunuch, could it be..."

Li Zhong said, "I think he must be my cousin."

Liu stood up and paced back and forth in the hall, stamping her feet and saying, "Oh, what should I do...what should I do!"

Li Zhong said, "Mother, is it really that bad?"

Liu said, "If we don't tell Your Majesty about this important matter, it would be deceiving the emperor. If we do, we will definitely offend the King of Yue and the King of Ji, and I'm afraid the entire royal family will be offended."

Li Zhong said blankly, "Then can't I just pretend I didn't hear it?"

Liu shook her head and said, "There are too many eyes and ears in the palace. Who can guarantee that no one saw you? If it is discovered that you deceived the emperor and did not report it, it would be a serious crime!"

Li Zhong said, "What should we do then?"

Liu took a breath and said, "It's better to offend the royal family than to deceive the emperor. You...you go tell your father. We can't take care of the rest of the matter."

Li Zhong nodded and quickly left Chengxiang Hall.

(End of this chapter)