New Year's Eve

On the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, the snowflakes of the Little New Year tapped against the windowpanes of the Zichen Palace.

Wu Zetian was fretting over the New Year's Eve banquet menu presented by the Shanggong Bureau—she had to follow the etiquette while also catering to the children's tastes.

(Inner monologue: These old fogies in the Imperial Kitchen always serve the same few dishes year after year. Can't they come up with something new?)

When Li Zhi returned from court and saw her frowning, he smiled and took away the menu: "I have already instructed the Imperial Kitchen to add some new dishes this year."

He took out a menu from his sleeve, which was decorated with adorable zodiac animal sugar paintings. "I made the paintings with malt sugar as taught by Meiniang."

Wu Zetian's eyes lit up: (Inner monologue: The boss actually remembered the sugar painting I casually mentioned!)

The three princes rushed over upon hearing the news.

Li Xian stared at the sugar painting of a little tiger on the menu, his mouth watering: "Father! Your son wants to eat this!"

Li Hong pointed to the accompanying "Food Ledger" and asked, "Will the cost of these new-style snacks exceed the budget?"

Even Li Xian, who was being held by his wet nurse, pointed at the sugar painting and leaned forward with all his might.

On the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month, people in the palace began to put up Spring Festival couplets.

Wu Zetian specifically asked the princes to participate in the production.

Li Hong was in charge of checking the tones and rhymes of the couplets, Li Xian stood on a stool to apply paste, and Li Xian sat on a thick carpet, grabbing a special small brush and smearing it randomly on the red paper.

"Chilang is writing cursive script." Li Zhi laughed, holding his young son's little hand as he drew a small tiger in the corner of the Spring Festival couplet.

Looking at the crooked characters "National Prosperity and Peace," Wu Meiniang suddenly said, "Why don't we have the children in the official schools write some Spring Festival couplets and paste them in government offices all over the country?"

(Inner monologue: Perfect timing to promote literacy campaign!)

On New Year's Eve, light snow fell in Chang'an.

Wu Zetian got up before dawn and personally dressed her three sons in their New Year's attire.

Li Hong's crown prince attire was solemn and elegant, Li Xian's princely robes were bright and lively, while Li Xian was wrapped in a brocade jacket embroidered with auspicious patterns, looking like a rolling lucky dumpling.

“Mother,” Li Xian twisted and turned, “the belt is too tight!”

As Wu Meiniang adjusted his clothes, she smiled and said, "Today we are to meet all the officials, so my virtuous son should look like a prince."

Li Hong adjusted his jade belt like a little adult: "Second brother, don't move. Etiquette cannot be disregarded."

Only Li Xian was the happiest, shaking the newly acquired golden bell incessantly.

At the hour of Chen (7-9 AM), officials and their families entered the palace to offer congratulations.

Wu Zetian and Li Zhi sat side by side on the throne, with the three princes seated below them in order.

When Li Xian saw Di Renjie arrive with his one-year-old son, he suddenly waved excitedly, "Brother! Brother!"

(Inner monologue: This kid can actually recognize people now!)

As the banquet reached its climax, envoys from various countries presented gifts.

The Persian luminous cup gleamed in the hall, the Tibetans presented a jewel-encrusted saddle, and the Silla envoys carried in a whole chest of ginseng.

Wu Zetian was most interested in the rice seeds brought by the Goguryeo envoys and inquired carefully about the cultivation methods.

Seeing this, Emperor Li Zhi issued an imperial edict: "In the spring, establish the Wan Guo Agricultural Garden at the Ministry of Agriculture to collect superior varieties from all directions."

After the luncheon, Wu Zetian led the princes to participate in games organized by the palace staff.

Pitch-pot, backgammon, and leaf games filled the air with laughter and joy.

She went to the families of officials from humble backgrounds and taught them how to play the new "promotion chart".

"Your Majesty," the wife of a compiler at the Hanlin Academy asked timidly, "why is there a picture of a grain transport ship on this map?"

Wu Meiniang smiled and pointed to Li Xian, who was playing with a sand table: "The Third Prince said that only with smooth water transport can one have a successful official career."

Li Zhi appeared behind him unnoticed and chuckled upon hearing this: "Chi Lang's words should be written on the title page of 'New Strategies for the Grand Canal Transport'."

As dusk fell, thousands of lanterns were lit up in the palace.

The revolving lantern designed by Wu Zetian with modern thinking is particularly eye-catching—the lantern depicts scenes of grain transport by canal boats, students reading, and farmers working in the fields, which are repeated in a loop by the heat.

"Is this what Her Majesty often refers to as a 'virtuous cycle'?" Liu Rengui asked thoughtfully.

Li Zhi nodded: "When the people are prosperous, the country is strong; when the country is strong, the people are at peace."

The reunion dinner was held in a warm side hall.

Wu Zetian broke the rule of not speaking while eating and encouraged the children to talk about their New Year's wishes.

Li Hong said solemnly, "Your subject is willing to assist Father Emperor and Empress Mother in making the granaries of the world full."

Li Xian mumbled through a chicken leg, "Your subject wants to build a large ship that can fly!"

When it was Li Xian's turn, the little guy grabbed a handful of rice and clearly said, "Harvest!"

After a moment of complete silence, bursts of laughter erupted.

Wu Zetian and Li Zhi exchanged a glance, both seeing surprise in each other's eyes.

As midnight approached, firecrackers resounded throughout the city.

Wu Zetian led the children to set off small fireworks in the courtyard, while Li Zhi, following the modern customs she had taught him, gave each child a red envelope.

"Father," Li Xian asked curiously, holding the red envelope, "why wrap money in red paper?"

Before Li Zhi could answer, Li Xian suddenly held up his red envelope and said in a childish voice, "Suppress! Year's greetings!"

(Inner monologue: When did I ever teach this word?!)

Amidst the fireworks, Li Zhi quietly took Wu Meiniang's hand and asked, "Meiniang, how many New Year's Eves have we spent together?"

She looked at the three laughing children and answered softly, "The eleventh. There will be thirty more, three hundred more..."

Staying up late into the night, the children all snuggled up and fell asleep next to their parents.

After covering each child with a blanket, Wu Zetian suddenly noticed that Li Zhi was also dozing off.

He still held an unfinished memorial in his hand, and made a red dot on the four characters "漕运春修" (Grain Transport Spring Repair) with his vermilion pen.

She gently took away the memorial and draped an outer robe over him.

Outside the window, the New Year's snow fell silently, covering the traces of the old year.

(Inner monologue: I could never get tired of this kind of New Year's Eve, no matter how many years pass.)

——

[Mini-Theater: Anecdotes from a Palace Banquet]

(Notes of a female historian of Shangyi Bureau)

This year's palace banquet had many highlights:

After receiving the red envelope, the Third Prince asked each minister, "Do you have a wife to support?" He said he wanted to help people with "targeted poverty alleviation."

The Second Prince successfully replicated the model of the grain transport ship using maltose, and now the group of people from the Ministry of Works are studying the structure of the sugar ship.

The most ingenious thing was that His Highness the Crown Prince included statistical data in his New Year's greetings to prove that the proportion of people from humble backgrounds entering officialdom had increased again.

(This family doesn't forget about their business even during the Lunar New Year!)

However, His Majesty and His Majesty took a break and hid behind the curtain to share a piece of sugar painting.

Indeed, the sweetest thing is always love.