Toddler

Princess Taiping was finally no longer satisfied with simply moving sideways while holding onto the wall.

On a sunny afternoon, she let go of the small hand gripping the table and took three unsteady steps toward Wu Meiniang.

Those three steps were extremely difficult; her small body swayed from side to side, as if she were about to fall at any moment, but her bright eyes shone with the light of "This princess will conquer the world."

(OS: This little guy's walking posture is even more energetic than when I was giving presentations at work back in the day!)

Wu Zetian suppressed a smile and opened her arms to welcome her daughter.

Looking at Taiping's stumbling yet resolute appearance, she suddenly remembered the postal reports she had seen yesterday—were those messengers also tumbling and crawling to deliver military intelligence?

When Emperor Li Zhi left the court, he saw his daughter performing a "drunken boxing" style walking exercise in the palace.

He couldn't help but chuckle as he picked up Taiping, only to find Wu Meiniang looking at a map of the post road with an expression that said, "I'm about to cause trouble again."

"What is the Empress pondering now?" Li Zhi asked skillfully, already prepared to be bombarded with another round of wild ideas.

Wu Meiniang pointed at the map, her eyes shining: "Your Majesty, look, Princess Taiping has to lean on the table after every three steps. Doesn't she look like a messenger exhausted on the post road?"

(OS: This metaphor is a bit crude, but it's incredibly accurate!)

Li Zhi was amused by this vivid analogy: "Then what brilliant idea does the Empress have?"

"I was thinking," Wu Meiniang said, helping Princess Taiping, who was trying to walk independently again, "that if we set up a few 'rest stops' between the post stations, so that the messengers could have a drink of water and catch their breath, wouldn't they be able to walk more steadily and farther, just like Princess Taiping holding onto a table?"

(OS: Isn't this just the concept of an ancient rest stop? I'm such a genius!)

She became more and more excited as she spoke, and simply took out paper and pen to start drawing: "Each post station will have three horses, taking turns on duty, so that messengers will never experience the pain of 'waiting for their horses until the flowers wither.' We'll also establish standardized procedures, with penalties for lateness, and see who dares to slack off then!"

(OS: Performance appraisal is a timeless phenomenon!)

Li Zhi's eyes lit up, but he immediately frowned: "These improvements are good, but where will the money come from?"

"Your Majesty," Wu Zetian smiled mysteriously, "let the caravans use the post stations for a fee! This will generate revenue and make the best use of resources—that's called...resource sharing!"

(OS: Actually, I just want to fleece the caravans~)

Just then, Taiping staggered to the post road map, slapped his chubby little hand on the Chang'an position, and made "ah ah" noises, as if to say, "Start changing from here."

(OS: Is this kid some kind of supernatural being?)

Wu Zetian couldn't help but chuckle, and continued her persuasion: "Your Majesty, think about it, if the postal system were perfected, military reports from Chang'an to Luoyang would be at least a day faster. That one day might just change the course of a battle!"

Looking at his daughter's earnest attempt to learn to walk, and then at the map of the post roads, Li Zhi finally made his decision: "As the Empress has suggested, let's begin with a pilot project on the post road from Chang'an to Luoyang!"

(OS: Great! Once this project succeeds, I'll definitely include it in my performance review report!)

Wu Meiniang silently calculated in her heart, a satisfied smile appearing on her face.

Meanwhile, Taiping was still diligently practicing walking, completely unaware that his embarrassing attempts at learning to walk would inspire a reform of the national post road system.

——

[My Parenting Notes]

By: Wu·Forced Crossover·Meiniang

Today, Taiping finally learned to walk independently. Watching her wobbly fall into my arms, I suddenly realized—isn't she just like those exhausted messengers on the post road?

(OS: It seems that the principles are the same whether it's raising children or governing a country.)

When Emperor Li Zhi returned from court, he saw me staring blankly at the map of the post roads and asked, quite naturally, "What is the Empress pondering again?"

It seems he has completely adapted to my mindset of "from childcare to governing the country".

(OS: Excellent, this shows that my education has been very successful.)

I told him that we should set up "rest stops" between the post stations, and he understood immediately.

It seems I've observed Taiping learning to walk quite a bit.

(OS: This man is getting more and more savvy.)

The funniest thing is that Taiping actually knew to put her chubby little hand on Chang'an's position.

Is this child some kind of tapeworm in my stomach?

(OS: But this metaphor isn't very elegant. Let's put it another way—telepathic understanding?)

When the topic turned to charging caravans for using the post stations, Li Zhi indeed started worrying about money again.

This man is good in every way, except that he is too cautious when it comes to spending money.

(OS: Luckily, I studied resource integration in my past life; this is what it means to put knowledge into practice!)

Watching Princess Taiping fall down and get up again and again to learn to walk, I suddenly felt very emotional.

(OS: Isn't governing a country the same way? Stumbling and falling, but always moving forward.)

However, these words cannot be written into official documents, otherwise those old fogies will accuse me of having "womanly views."

(OS: Hmph, what do you straight men know? Parenting is the most challenging management skill in the world!)

In the end, Li Zhi surprisingly agreed to the proposal to reform the post roads.

(OS: Looks like I can give him an extra chicken leg tonight.)

Oh, right, we need to have the Imperial Household Department make a few more pairs of soft-soled shoes for Princess Taiping. This child is working so hard learning to walk; she goes through so many shoes.

(OS: Being a mother is really not easy. You have to worry about national affairs and your child's shoes...)

Oh well, what can I do when I'm Wu Zetian?

(OS: A powerful woman who can both raise children and govern a country—that's me!)