Winter Snow Warmth

The first snow of November fell quietly, and the glazed tiles of the Zichen Palace were soon covered with white down.

Wu Zetian, wrapped in a silver fox fur coat, watched her three sons playing in the snow in the courtyard.

Li Hong is building a meticulously constructed snow castle, Li Xian is rolling a snowball to build a snowman, and Li Xian, wrapped up in a ball, sits in a specially made little wooden cart, giving instructions in a babbling manner.

(Inner monologue: Luckily, I studied in Northeast China before I time-traveled, so I'm a professional snowman builder!)

"Look, my son, I'll make you a big tiger!" She grabbed a handful of snow and quickly sculpted a cute little snow tiger.

Li Xian was so excited that he almost fell out of the wooden cart.

When Li Zhi returned from court, this was the scene he saw—his wife, with snowflakes in her hair, was instructing her second son to attach longan-shaped eyes to the snow tiger.

He took off his cloak and draped it over her shoulders: "With such heavy snow, aren't you afraid of catching a cold?"

"Father, look!" Li Xian proudly displayed the crooked snow rabbit, "Your son made this!"

Li Hong meticulously reported: "The Snow Castle is scaled down to the size of Chang'an City, and the moat is waiting to be filled with water and frozen."

Wu Zetian suddenly had a burst of childlike innocence and made a snowball to ambush Li Zhi.

The snowball struck the dragon pattern on his chest, splashing out silvery spray.

(Inner monologue: Oh no! I got carried away...)

Li Zhi was stunned for a moment, then suddenly burst into laughter and squatted down to scoop up the snow: "Good! Watch my counterattack!"

The emperor and empress actually started a snowball fight in the snow, leaving the three princes dumbfounded.

Li Xian was the first to react, chuckling as he joined the fray.

Even the most composed Li Hong couldn't resist secretly stuffing a handful of snow into his father's collar.

"Rebellion! Rebellion!" Li Zhi laughed as he dodged, grabbing Li Xian to use as a "shield."

The little guy thought he was playing a new game and was so happy that he drooled all over his father's shoulder.

After playing around, the family of five squeezed into the warm room to drink ginger soup.

Wu Zetian carefully dried each child's hair, while Li Zhi checked whether their shoes and socks were wet.

"Does Your Majesty remember?" she suddenly laughed. "At this time last year, Chi Lang could only crawl."

Li Zhi fed Li Xian ginger soup, his gaze gentle: "I remember. Back then, he always wanted to grab the memorials, but now he's more interested in the snow tiger."

(Inner monologue: Time flies, I've been a working mom for three years already!)

For dinner, the Imperial Kitchen specially prepared hot pot. Steam rose from the copper pot, and Wu Zetian cooked meat slices for the children, while Li Zhi scooped them out and served them to each person.

Li Xian gripped the specially made small wooden chopsticks and tried his best to imitate his older brothers in picking up food.

"Good boy," Wu Meiniang said, holding his little hand as she demonstrated, "like this..."

Li Xian suddenly said, "I wish it were like this every day!"

"Silly child," Li Zhi patted his head, "In times of peace and prosperity, every day is a good day."

The snow outside the window reflected in the warm room, casting the shadows of the family on the windowpane.

As Wu Zetian watched her husband tell stories to the children, she suddenly felt that all the power struggles and intrigues were no longer important.

(Inner monologue: This must be the ultimate perk of time travel!)

Late at night, she leaned on Li Zhi's shoulder and watched the snow.

The three children were all sleeping peacefully beside him, and Li Xian was still muttering "snow rabbit" in his dream.

Li Zhi hummed a Bingzhou folk song softly, his fingers intertwined tightly with hers.

"Meiniang," he suddenly whispered, "when spring comes, I will take you to Mount Li to see the apricot blossoms."

She smiled and snuggled closer to him: "Okay, let's also check out the new post road."

The snow fell silently, yet in a certain moment it bent the bamboo branches under its weight.

Listening to the even breathing around her, Wu Meiniang felt that this time travel experience was truly worth the price of admission.

——

[Mini-Theater: A Song in the Snow]

(The dilemma of the night watch eunuch)

Tonight, when His Majesty was reviewing memorials, the Third Prince crawled over and grabbed the pen.

Just as the Empress was about to stop him, she saw His Majesty holding the Third Prince's small hand and drawing a turtle on the grain transport report.

"The Cui family's fleet deserves to be cursed," His Majesty said.

What's even more remarkable is that His Highness the Crown Prince, upon seeing this, immediately wrote a note beside the document: "Read and approved, a fine is recommended."

(The way this family reviews official documents... is truly unique.)

The memorial with the turtle drawn on it is currently being sent out by express courier.

When Lord Cui sees this tomorrow, he'll probably be so angry he'll turn into a real turtle.