Li Zhi had been immersed in the great shock of Li Hong's ice-making. He used all the words he could to praise Li Hong in front of Wu Mei, but all he got in return was a perfunctory "hmmmm" from Wu Mei. She would not believe that the clever little thing could make ice in public. She must have been fooled by the little thing's tricks.

However, because of Li Zhi's great praise, Wu Mei lost interest in punishing Li Hong for not studying hard, and thought that she would discipline him when she had the chance.

On the second day at court, Li Zhi again told all the court officials about Li Hong making ice in front of them yesterday. He used words like "Prince of Dai is different from ordinary people" and "extremely smart" to describe Li Hong, but he still felt that it was not enough.

In the eyes of the ministers, His Majesty's praise of the King of Dai, coupled with the fact that the harem was in turmoil and there were rumors that the King would be deposed and King Wu would be enthroned, made most people and even every court official believe that His Majesty's move was intended to make Wu Mei the Queen while paving the way for the establishment of a new Crown Prince.

Li Zhi looked at the court officials and saw their disapproving expressions, as if they thought you were obviously talking nonsense: Even if you wanted to praise the first prince born to you and Wu Zhaoyi, you should have found a more reliable reason.

The reactions of the court officials aroused Li Zhi's desire to protect his son. He waved his hand and ordered Yang Wu to summon the King of Dai to the Taiji Hall and let all the court officials witness it with their own eyes.

Changsun Wuji, Zhu Suiliang and other old ministers and other ministers all sighed and shook their heads silently. But only Li Yifu noticed the details in the Taiji Hall. That is, in such hot weather, the Taiji Hall, which used to not place large blocks of ice to escape the heat, obviously had a lot more large blocks of ice today!

Could it be that what His Majesty said was true? Could the King of Dai really make ice? Seeing Li Zhi's confident look in the court, Li Yifu began to believe that the King of Dai could make ice for no reason.

But seeing that Zhangsun Wuji and others did not come out to congratulate His Majesty, Li Yifu wanted to be the first to come out to congratulate His Majesty, but he seemed a little weak. When he was anxiously thinking whether he should come out to congratulate His Majesty right now, he heard Yangwu's voice: "Dai Wang Li Hong is here to see His Majesty."

...

...

"Your son Li Hong greets His Majesty." He climbed over the tall threshold of the Taiji Hall, swayed his body and ran to the front row to salute and said.

"Get up and meet the adults first." Li Zhi said with a smile, but his expression looked like he was waiting to see a good show.

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

Zhang Sun Wuji smiled, bent down, caressed Li Hong's head lovingly, and asked softly, "Hong'er, your father said that you can turn water into ice in a wooden basin?"

Li Hongping looked at Changsun Wuji, who was in his sixties, and said in a loud voice: "Yes, this ice-making is very fun. If your family is short of ice to cool off, I will send someone to bring some to you after the court session."

Li Hong spoke confidently like a little adult, causing all the court officials to laugh. Chang Sun Chong also joined in the fun and teased Li Hong, saying, "Hong'er, if you can turn water into ice in front of us, I will give you something good."

Li Hong's eyes lit up. He saw at a glance that the jade pendant on Chang Sun Chong's waist was very valuable. He pointed at the jade pendant on Chang Sun Chong's waist with his little finger and said, "Okay, I believe my uncle won't lie to me. I want your jade pendant."

"Okay, a gentleman's word is as good as gold." Chang Sun Chong said while touching Li Hong's head.

As he was speaking, Li Zhi had already ordered his men to prepare several wooden basins of varying sizes, and placed them in places where all the ministers could see them clearly, just as he had seen with his own eyes yesterday.

Li Hong looked up at the pairs of curious and unbelieving eyes, tilted his head, and said with a sly chuckle: "How about this, who else doesn't believe that this clear water can turn into ice?"

Li Zhi smiled and looked at the ministers without saying a word. 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, they relaxed their attitude and said, "Dai Wang, I don't believe it either."

"Prince Dai, I don't believe this clear water can turn into ice either."

"The King of Dai..."

"Okay." Li Hong stood beside Li Zhi, put his hands on his hips and said, "How about this, those who don't believe can stand on the side of my uncle and uncle, and those who believe can stand on the other side. If I can turn clear water into ice, how about each of you paying me 100 strings of cash?"

"What if Hong'er can't turn water into ice? Your uncle has gambled this valuable jade pendant. This jade pendant is worth more than a hundred strings of cash." Chang Sun Chong asked back.

"Hehe... I won't lose to you, you just need to prepare the money. Yangwu, please count the number of people, and I will share the money with you if you win later." Li Hong said confidently with a sly smile.

All the ministers were shocked. Where did this little guy get so much confidence? Moreover, the Fifth Prince was too blatant. Nothing had happened yet, but he was already wanting to share the spoils with the eunuchs in public.

Li Zhi laughed and scolded Li Hong, then reached out and gently patted his head, supporting his son and said, "How about it? I wonder if anyone is willing to bet with my fifth prince. We have nothing to do today, so we can have fun with this. It can also be a good story to relax and have fun."

All the ministers were relieved about this matter. It was rare to have such a relaxed atmosphere in the court, and they immediately said they wanted to make a gamble with the King of Dai.

The scene that happened next made the father and son at the top of the Taiji Hall smile immediately, because all the court officials stood on the side of Changsun Wuji. Only Li Yifu and Xu Jingzong secretly exchanged glances and clearly stood on the side of belief.

Li Zhi and Li Hong were indeed father and son. Although they were both very happy, they had to pretend to be sad. Li Zhi continued to deceive them, "Hong'er, see, so many people don't believe you. Otherwise, you can apologize to everyone. Forget about the ice-making matter. It would be bad if they exposed your trick in front of the emperor yesterday."

"Don't worry, father. I will not let you down." Li Hong patted his chest and walked slowly. He squatted in front of each basin, holding a small piece of saltpeter in his little hand and put his hands into the water.

He deliberately did not let his ministers see what was in his little hand, so every time he squatted in front of the wooden basin, put his hand into the basin, stirred it a few times and then took it out, and at this time the saltpeter could not be seen in the basin.

After stirring several wooden basins under the gaze of his ministers, Li Hong stood beside Li Zhi, with his signature smirk on his face, staring at the astonished and wide-open eyes of the courtiers.

At this time, all the ministers in the court looked at the small wooden basin in the water basin, which was slowly freezing before the naked eye, and couldn't help but let out sounds of surprise. There were also bursts of gasps and incredible discussions.

"Yangwu, did you write down all their names?" Li Hong asked with a sly grin.

"King Dai, I've written them all down. There are 47 people in total." Yang Wu said, waving the paper in his hand.

Li Hong chuckled and teased the ministers, saying, "Forty-five people, one hundred strings of cash each, that's only four thousand five hundred strings of cash."

Most of the officials were still immersed in the wonder of the clear water turning into ice cubes right before their eyes. They were all amazed and praised the King of Dai as a reincarnated child prodigy. Li Zhi was also very happy, as his own prince was very proud.

When Changsun Wuji, Zhu Suiliang, Xu Jingzong and others heard what Li Hong had just said, their hearts were like thunder! A three-year-old child could say forty-five people without thinking, one hundred strings of money per person, which is four thousand five hundred strings of money. How could this be possible? Is he really a child prodigy?

But no matter what, everyone was shocked and speechless by Li Hong's magic of making ice with clear water. Everyone asked the King of Dai how he did it, but the King of Dai, who was like a little adult, seemed to have become stupid at this time. He half leaned and half hugged Li Zhi's shoulders, standing there without saying a word and giggling all the time.

The ministers in the Taiji Hall were naturally defeated and had nothing to say. Moreover, with His Majesty as a witness, they could not cheat even if they wanted to.

Zhang Sun Wuji's expression was a little ugly, and he smiled to hide his barely perceptible sadness and said, "I didn't expect it today, and I haven't prepared any good gifts for you. When I go to court tomorrow, I will bring you something good. I congratulate Your Majesty."

Li Zhi said politely, "It's okay, the little guy is just eccentric. Don't bother preparing a gift for him. You have given him many expensive gifts in the past two years."

Chang Sun Chong pretended to be reluctant and took off the jade pendant from his waist. He said, "My uncle spent a lot of money to buy this, but a little thing like you won it. However, my uncle is convinced of his defeat. Your Majesty, this is a cause for celebration."

Xu Jingzong and Li Yifu were Li Zhi's close ministers. They had been following Li Zhi since he was still the crown prince. Therefore, the ministers did not expect that the two had already guessed that Li Hong could make ice from the large blocks of ice around the Taiji Hall. They all thought that Li Hong only stood on the other side for the sake of the emperor's face.

At this time, some ministers began to tease the two men for saving a hundred strings of cash, and the two men responded rudely to the ministers.

When Li Zhi told the harem about the interesting things that happened in the court, it was like a bomb dropped in the harem, causing other concubines to congratulate Wu Mei one after another, and they almost praised Li Hong as a flower.

Concubine Xiao Shufei and Queen Wang did not show up, which was perfectly normal for Wu Mei. The three of them were now at odds with each other, and it was difficult for them to call each other sisters as before. Now, even their superficial interactions had become very rare.

The fact that their eldest son had done such a shameless thing in front of His Majesty made Concubine Xiao Shufei and Queen Wang feel extremely uneasy and dangerous.

The two of them knew Li Hong. He was a typical example of a man who was unlearned and unskilled in the Hongwen Academy. He always opposed Shangguan Yi, Guo Yu and others. He never received proper education. Because of this, Wu Mei also disciplined him a lot.

But even so, the negative example stole the limelight in front of His Majesty and all the ministers, and immediately overshadowed the several princes.

Queen Wang and Concubine Xiao repeatedly asked their prince about Li Hong's recent situation, and they all got the same answer: that boy was an unlearned person, but every time during the test, he could leave the teacher speechless. They were also very curious why Li Hong could do that.