Rule the Roost in the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 6: Show your face

Views:

Li Zhi had been immersed in the huge shock of Li Hong's ice making. He used all his words to praise Li Hong in front of Wu Mei, but only got Wu Mei's perfunctory "Uh-huh" in return. She would not believe that ghost. The little elves were able to make ice in front of everyone, so they must have been deceived by the little thing's trick.

However, because of Li Zhi's great praise, Wu Mei stopped thinking about punishing Li Hong for not studying hard, and thought about punishing him properly when she had the opportunity.

In the court hall on the second day, Li Zhi once again told the courtiers what happened yesterday when Li Hong made ice in front of him. He said that the king was different from ordinary people, smart and so on, but it was not enough.

When the ministers heard that His Majesty praised the king, and the harem was in turmoil now, there were faint rumors about deposing the king and establishing a military force. This had to make most people and even every courtier think that His Majesty's move was intentional. While establishing Wu Mei as the queen, he was also laying the groundwork for establishing the crown prince.

Li Zhi looked at the disapproval of the courtiers, as if he thought it was obvious that you were talking nonsense: Even if you want to praise your and Wu Zhaoyi's first prince, you should find a more reliable reason.

The reaction of the courtiers aroused Li Zhi's protective mentality. With a wave of his hand, he ordered Yangwu to summon the king to the Taiji Hall on his behalf. This had to be witnessed by all the courtiers in the court hall.

Changsun Wuji, Zhu Suiliang and other senior ministers and other ministers all sighed silently and shook their heads. But only Li Yifu noticed the details in the Tai Chi Hall, that is, in such a hot weather, the Tai Chi Hall, which did not place large pieces of ice to escape the heat in the past, today obviously has a lot more large ice cubes!

Is what His Majesty said true? Can Dai Wang really know how to make ice? Seeing Li Zhi's confident look in the court, Li Yifu began to believe that King Dai could make ice for no reason.

But seeing that Changsun Wuji and others did not stand up to congratulate His Majesty, Li Yifu wanted to be the first to stand up to congratulate His Majesty, but it seemed a little weak. He was anxiously thinking about whether to stand up to congratulate His Majesty now, so he I heard Yang Wu's voice coming: "The Acting King Li Hong has an audience with Your Majesty."

"My son Li Hong has met my father." He climbed over the tall threshold of Tai Chi Hall, swayed and ran to the front row to salute.

"Get up, let's meet all the adults first." Li Zhi said with a smile, but his expression looked like he was waiting for a good show.

The first person Li Hong wanted to meet was his uncle, and of course Zhang Sun Chong, who was the Secretary Supervisor at the time, and Zhu Suiliang and others.

Changsun Wuji smiled and bent down to stroke Li Hong's head lovingly and asked softly: "Hong'er, did your father say that you can turn water into ice in a wooden basin?"

Li Hongping looked at Changsun Wuji, who was in his sixties, and said loudly: "Yes, making ice is very fun. If you are short of ice at home to escape the heat, I will send someone to bring you some in the morning."

Li Hong's confident words made all the courtiers burst into laughter. Changsun Chong also joined in the fun and teased Li Hong: "Hong'er, if you can turn water into ice in front of our eyes, I will give you something good. "

Li Hong's eyes lit up and he saw at a glance that the jade pendant on Chang Sun Chong's waist was of great value. He pointed his little finger at the jade pendant on Chang Sun Chong's waist and said, "Okay, I believe my uncle won't lie to me. I want it." That jade pendant of yours.”

"Okay, a gentleman's words are hard to follow." Changsun Chong said, stroking Li Hong's head.

While he was talking, Li Zhi had already ordered several wooden basins of different sizes to be prepared, and placed them one by one where the ministers could see them clearly according to what he saw with his own eyes yesterday.

Li Hong looked up at a pair of curious and disbelieving eyes, tilted his little head, and said with a giggle: "How about this, I wonder who else doesn't believe that this clear water can turn into ice?"

Li Zhi looked at the ministers with a smile and said nothing. At this moment, the political affairs had been discussed. The ministers were also in the mood to join in the fun. Seeing that His Majesty did not say anything to stop him, he relaxed and said: "On behalf of the king, I will not believe."

"Your Majesty, I don't believe that this clear water can turn into ice."

"The acting king..."

"Okay." Li Hong stood next to Li Zhi and said with his hands on his hips: "Well, let's do this. Those who don't believe it will stand on my uncle's side, and those who believe will stand on the other side. If I can make pure water Cheng Bing, how about each of you lose a hundred dollars to me?"

"Then what if Hong'er can't turn clear water into ice? Your uncle and I have bet all this valuable jade pendant. This jade pendant costs more than a hundred dollars." Changsun Chong asked in return.

"Giggle... I won't lose to you, just prepare your money. Yang Wu, please count the number of people. If I win in a while, I will share the money with you." Li Hong said confidently with a bad smile.

All the ministers were shocked. How could this little guy be so confident? Moreover, the fifth prince was too blatant. Before anything happened, he was already trying to share the spoils with the eunuch in public.

Li Zhi laughed and scolded Li Hong, reached out and patted Li Hong's head gently, and said in support of his son: "How about it? I don't know who is willing to bet with my fifth prince. We have nothing to do today. The emperor and his ministers take pleasure in this, and it can be a good story if they relax."

All the ministers felt relaxed about this. It was rare for such a relaxed atmosphere to appear in the court, and they all immediately commented that they wanted to take a gamble with the king.

The scene that happened next made the father and son at the top of the Taiji Palace smile immediately, because all the courtiers were on the side of Changsun Wuji. Only Li Yifu and Xu Jingzong secretly exchanged a look, and clearly stood on the side of each other. The one who believes.

Li Zhi and Li Hong are indeed father and son. Although they are already happy in their hearts, they still have to pretend to be sad. Li Zhi continues to lie: "Hong'er, have you seen it? So many people don't believe it." As for you, if you can't do it, just give it to everyone and forget about making ice. It won't look good if they exposed the deceit you used in front of your father yesterday."

"Father, don't worry, I will not let you down." Li Hong patted his chest and walked slowly down, squatting in front of each basin, holding a small piece of saltpeter in his little hand and putting it into the water with his little hand. inside.

He deliberately did not let the ministers see the things in his little hands, so every time he squatted in front of the wooden basin, then put his hand in the basin, stirred it for a few times, and then took it out. At this time, the saltpeter was no longer visible in the basin. .

After he stirred several wooden basins under the watchful eyes of all the courtiers, Li Hong stood next to Li Zhi, with a trademark evil smile on his face, looking at the shocked and widened eyes of the courtiers.

At this time, all the courtiers in the court looked at the small wooden basin in the water basin that was slowly freezing visible to the naked eye. They couldn't help but let out a sound of surprise. The sounds of breathing and incredible discussions could not be heard without stopping. .

"Yang Wu, have you written down all their names?" Li Hong asked with a chuckle.

"Acting King, I have written them all down. There are 47 people in total." Yang Wu raised the paper in his hand and said.

Li Hong chuckled and teased the ministers: "Forty-five people have one hundred guan each, which is only 4,500 guan."

Most of the ministers were still immersed in the huge magic of clear water turning into ice cubes right in front of their eyes, and they could not relax. One by one they clicked their tongues and praised the king as being like a child prodigy reborn. Li Zhi also had a happy face, his prince had a long face.

When Changsun Wuji, Zhu Suiliang, Xu Jingzong and others heard what Li Hong just blurted out, their hearts exploded like thunder! A three-year-old child can tell without thinking that forty-five people, one hundred guan per person is 4,500 guan without any calculation. This... how is this possible? Is he really a prodigy

But no matter what, everyone was still shocked and speechless by Li Hong's magic of making ice from pure water. Everyone asked Dai Wang how to make it, but Dai Wang, who was like a little adult, seemed to have become stupid at this time. , half leaning on and half holding Li Zhi's shoulders, standing there silently and giggling all the time.

Naturally, all the ministers had nothing to say after being defeated in the Taiji Hall, not to mention that there was His Majesty as a witness, so even if they wanted to cheat, they couldn't do it.

The expression on Changsun Wuji's face was a little ugly, and he concealed his imperceptible loneliness and said with a smile: "I didn't expect that today, I haven't prepared any good gifts for you. When I go to court tomorrow, I will bring you a good thing. Congratulations to Your Majesty."

Li Zhi said politely: "It doesn't matter, the little guy is just a weirdo. I won't bother you to prepare a gift for him. You have given him many valuable gifts in the past two years."

Changsun Chong pretended to be reluctant and took off the jade pendant from his waist, and said: "My uncle spent a lot of money to buy this, but you, a little guy, won it. However, my uncle is convinced that he lost. Your Majesty, this is a gratifying event." Congratulations."

Xu Jingzong and Li Yifu were close ministers of Li Zhi. They had been with Li Zhi when Li Zhi was still the prince. Therefore, the ministers did not expect that the two men had already guessed from the large pieces of ice around Tai Chi Hall. Li Hong knew how to make ice, but they thought it was just because of the emperor's face that he stood on the other side.

At this time, some ministers began to joke that the two of them had saved a hundred dollars, and the two of them responded rudely to the ministers.

When Li Zhi brought the interesting things in the court to the harem and told them, it was like dropping a bomb in the harem, causing other concubines to congratulate Wu Mei one after another, almost praising Li Hong like a flower.

Concubine Xiao Shu and Queen Wang did not show up, which was normal for Wu Mei. The three of them were now in conflict with each other, and it was difficult for them to treat each other as sisters as before. Now, even the superficial interactions between them, It has become very rare.

And for her eldest son to show his face like this in front of His Majesty, Concubine Xiao Shu and Queen Wang felt extremely uneasy and dangerous.

It's not like the two of them didn't understand Li Hong. He was a typical example of being uneducated and unskilled in Hongwen Hall, and he always opposed Shangguan Yi, Guo Yu and others. He had never studied well, so Wu Mei had to discipline him a lot because of this matter.

But just like that, the negative example stole the show in front of His Majesty and the ministers, and suddenly eclipsed several princes.

Queen Wang and Concubine Xiao Shu repeatedly asked their prince about Li Hong's current situation, but they all got the same answer. That boy was an ignorant master, but every time he took the exam, he could make the husband dumb with questions. Speechless, they also wondered why Li Hong could do it.

(End of chapter)