The cries of hawking were heard again in the palace, and they were getting longer and longer, which meant that the items being sold were becoming more and more diverse. From the previous word "popsicles"... it became today's ice cream, popsicles, melon seeds, and milk candies.

Every day Li Hong would prepare large bamboo baskets for four palace maids with sad faces and four eunuchs who were about to cry. He would fill the baskets with ice cream and other four kinds of food to sell in the harem, and required them to finish selling by the time he, Li Hong, got home from school at noon.

Ever since Wu Mei slapped Li Hong, the irritable hawking sounds could be heard in the harem the next day, but they became very quiet in her palace. She had been busy preparing for the queen's coronation ceremony and learning all the etiquette that a queen should have, so she had no time to settle accounts with that little naughty monkey for the time being.

The imperial harem was obviously not a place where Xiaoxue, Xiaohan and others dared to openly sell their goods. They did not dare to do so except near the queen, and they were also very careful in other places. However, in order to fulfill the personal achievements mentioned by the King of Dai, they were forced to choose other places to help profiteers sell these items.

The main places where they hawked their wares were the Yunting Palace and the Ministry of Internal Affairs. They even bribed His Majesty's personal eunuch Yangwu to hawk their wares near the Taiji Gate in front of the Imperial Palace. There was no need for them to shout loudly, and naturally the leader of the Qianniu Guards would come and buy a large basket, which would then be distributed to the soldiers as a reward for a day's hard work.

Naturally, if the Qianniu Guards bought all the food, then other places in the palace would have no obstruction and they could sell it as they pleased.

Therefore, the first job of the eight people every day was to deliver large baskets of ice cream to the three provinces and six ministries, then to the Qianniu Guards, and then the eight people each carried a basket to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ye Ting Palace to sell them.

Wu Mei in the harem turned a blind eye to it. She had no way to deal with this naughty monkey for the time being. She could only hope that this little naughty monkey would grow up quickly, understand things on his own, and consider the face of the royal family.

No one was in charge of the harem, and the emperor and the court officials discussed politics in every place in the palace. Naturally, because Li Zhi turned a blind eye, the king of Dai's food became unimpeded in the entire Taiji Palace. Li Zhi's laissez-faire attitude made the king of Dai's business grow bigger and bigger in the Taiji Palace. However, he was the only one who dared to disregard the face of the royal family and shamelessly sold his sweets in the palace.

...

...

Wu Mei was stroking her gradually growing belly, while Li Xian was held in the arms of a palace maid and was crying and shouting that he wanted to find his brother, because the little guy also knew that his royal brother had sweets and delicious food.

Wu Mei sighed. That little naughty boy was simply the nemesis of women. No, he was the nemesis of this palace. Whether it was his ice cream or melon seeds, especially the milk candy, they had almost become a must-have food in the sleeve pocket of everyone in the palace.

As the maid coaxed Li Xian, she took out a candy from her sleeve pocket, peeled off the white paper outside, and stuffed it into Li Xian's mouth. Immediately, Li Xian, who had been crying, stopped crying, burst into laughter, and began to laugh with satisfaction while holding the candy in his mouth.

Wu Mei could only shake her head helplessly when watching this scene. She was not shaking her head because of Li Xian's crying, nor because of the sweets made by Li Hong. Instead, she gradually realized that compared to Li Xian, Li Hong was not as annoying as Li Xian when he was Li Xian's age? No, childish? No, fragile?

In short, compared to Li Xian, everything about Li Hong back then seemed so reasonable and yet so unreasonable. He never wet the bed, never cried unreasonably, ate when he was allowed to, and refused to eat when he was not allowed to. He was always well-behaved, cute, and smart around me, making me love him. Often, one of his actions could make you smile and feel at ease.

Now that I think about it, and compare him with Li Xian, Li Hong at that time didn't even look like a baby at all, he was too sensible.

Just when Wu Mei was in a daze thinking about how her eldest son was different from ordinary people, not knowing whether to be happy or sad, the eldest son who was different from ordinary people was also preparing gifts for her coronation ceremony.

Li Hong, who was studying, had an appointment with Li Yifu who had just left the court. As the court officials were about to leave, their lovely teacher Shangguan Yi was still diligently and happily explaining the books of sages to them, with no intention of taking a break.

"Ouch..." Li Hong covered his stomach and lay on the table groaning in pain.

Shangguan Yi glanced at him, looked up at the sky at a 45-degree angle and sighed: "What's wrong again? Did you eat too much ice cream today and your stomach hurts?" His tone was full of helplessness.

"No, sir, it's a headache this time. I guess the student caught a cold last night."

"Why are you holding your stomach when you have a headache?" Shangguan Yi's beard was about to stand up in anger.

I also caught a cold! Catching a cold is a common excuse for ministers not to attend court, and this kid actually used it when he was studying.

"Uh... maybe my stomach and head hurt." Li Hong quickly held his head with his other hand and groaned in pain. Dayou was determined to die on this table if he was not allowed to leave Hongwenguan.

"Oh... go ahead. Forget it, let's go home from school." Shangguan Yi threw the books in his hand onto the table to express his disappointment and dissatisfaction with King Dai.

"Thank you for your hard work today, sir. I'm leaving now." The little guy who was desperate just now felt no pain at all all of a sudden, and became full of energy, not caring about Mr. Shangguan Yi's feelings at all.

He stood up and stretched his arms and legs, then said to Gao An, "Gao An, thank you for your help in cleaning these up." Li Hong pointed to the scattered study items and books on the table.

"It's me again." Gao An pouted his lips in dissatisfaction.

Shangguan Yi stood in the middle and could only shake his head helplessly. There was really no way to deal with this King of Dai! He didn't study hard, but he even invented "movable type printing" for his scholars! It provided a better printing and promotion channel for all those precious and rare books, and also prevented those books from being destroyed due to time.

In particular, movable type printing has made it possible to print all those bamboo slips that were more precious and older than paper in a short time. Originally, if you wanted to read a book, you couldn't finish it without flipping through dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of kilograms of bamboo slips. Now, you can just pick it up and flip through it! This is a great thing for scholars who love books.

Li Hong would not pay any attention to Shangguan Yi who was in a daze at the moment. He still had important things to do. His mother would be crowned queen in a few days, and he should give her a big gift.

He also ignored Princess Gao An who was glaring at him angrily and reluctantly helping him to clean up the table. He clapped his hands and walked out of the gate of Hongwenguan in a relaxed and elegant manner.

When he came to the place where he often met Li Yifu, Li Yifu was already waiting for him there. This place was very close to the Menxia Province, so Li Yifu could come straight here after leaving the court.

The sunlight stretched the tall and thin Li Yifu's shadow diagonally, and Li Hong stood in Li Yifu's shadow to avoid the sun.

"Yifu greets King Dai." Li Yifu bowed respectfully to Li Hong.

"Okay, we are old acquaintances, no need to be polite, and there is no outsider here. How is it, did you find what I asked you to find?" Li Hong looked at Li Yifu with bright eyes.

"Found it. It has been made according to your wishes, King Dai." Li Yifu replied.

"Haven't you found that kind of large natural malachite? It's more ornamental and looks..." Li Hong asked anxiously.

Li Yifu smiled, and was very satisfied with Li Hong's performance, who had anxiety written all over his face. This was the reaction of a child. He would never believe that a child under four years old could be so mature. He deliberately made his reply ambiguous just now, just to see if the King of Dai was really cunning beyond his age.

"Don't be anxious, King Dai. Let me tell you slowly. We found three pieces. As you expected, the first piece of malachite is simply a treasure on earth. It does not need any trimming or polishing. It will be an extremely precious, beautiful and gorgeous ornamental stone when placed on a base. It is simply priceless." Li Yifu said while exclaiming.

Li Hong didn't say anything. He stood in his shadow and continued to listen with his head sideways. He also liked Li Yifu's weakness of being clever in everything.

Li Yifu continued, "One of the pieces is indeed as you said. It is not hard enough to be carved or engraved on a large scale. I have ordered the craftsmen to make various pieces of jewelry according to your idea. As for the third piece, I think it is not as magnificent and exquisite as the first one, so I made my own decision and transformed it into a screen of suitable size according to the appearance of malachite. It is also very exquisite when placed on the table."

Li Hong nodded thoughtfully. Yes, Li Yifu was the best at this kind of thing. It was also rare to find three pieces of exquisite malachite in such a short time.

"By the way, when the time comes, just deduct the money from our ice cream and sweets. If it's not enough, tell me and I'll make up the rest for you." Li Hong said after thinking for a while.

"Your Majesty, you are too polite. How dare I ask you for money? Besides, what you asked me to do is my own responsibility. I will go through fire and water without hesitation. As long as I can complete the instructions of Your Majesty and make you satisfied, I am willing to spend any amount of money."

"No, that won't work. Each matter is one thing. Asking you for help is one thing, and asking you to spend money is another. Besides, your current salary, apart from the expenses for your family, may not be enough to pay for this piece of malachite, right?" Li Hong looked up and stared into Li Yifu's eyes.

Li Yifu was stunned for a moment, but he returned to normal in an instant. He quickly put on a gentle smile and said, "Your Majesty is wise. I will obey your command. You can pay me after you get the three pieces of malachite. But... I have always been confused about one thing. I hope your Majesty can enlighten me."

Li Yifu knew that if he refused Li Hong's money, he would appear petty and would make Li Hong feel disgusted with him. Especially since Li Hong was still a child, as a royal prince, he naturally did not want anyone to disobey him, so he went with the flow and did not refuse Li Hong's money.

"What's the matter?" Li Hong wondered.

"I...I don't know how you, the King of Dai, know about this malachite. I have searched everywhere in Chang'an and Luoyang but couldn't find it. Finally, I followed your instructions and found a piece in Lingnan Road, Shannan Road, and Jiangnan Road. I am curious about why you, the King of Dai, are so knowledgeable and talented, but you have never seen such a priceless thing..."

Li Hong chuckled without waiting for Li Yifu to finish speaking, which made Li Yifu a little confused. He didn't know why King Dai was laughing.