Chapter 4: Inside Chengtian Palace
Yan Xuanyu, who had "felt dizzy several times", was lying on the couch.
Li Zhongxian, however, was quite critical of this. He turned around anxiously with his whisk in his hand and asked, "Your Majesty, how can you curse yourself?"
Because "Yan Xuanyu" is now very peaceful, Li Zhongxian, who was timid before, started to talk more.
What Li Zhongxian's master Li Ruhai said was absolutely right.
Yan Xuanyu half closed his eyes.
After delivering meals and the emperor not attending court early, he completed a few other small tasks in the palace, and now Yan Xuanyu has 25 points. He looked and saw that the next tasks for the incompetent emperor were all in the court.
Yan Xuanyu set his sights on Chengtian Palace. The original owner's taste was really not that good, even worse than that emperor who loved to stamp his seal on other people's calligraphy and paintings. When Yan Xuanyu first came, he didn't pay attention to the layout of Chengtian Palace because of his poor health. Only after a closer look did he discover the precious calligraphy and paintings, gold and jade wares in Chengtian Palace. Even the bed was inlaid with gold and there were two jade ruyi on it.
The carpet on the floor was dark in color with gold embroidery.
Yan Xuanyu couldn't help rubbing his head again. He asked Li Zhongxian to take people to clean up Chengtian Hall.
Li Zhongxian held a whisk in his arm, looking at Yan Xuanyu, wanting to say something but stopping himself.
"Your Majesty, didn't you just have your servants order these gold and jade items to be laid out two days ago?"
Yan Xuanyu said slowly, "I don't like it anymore today. I suddenly think it's better to keep it simple."
"Yes." Li Zhongxian followed Yan Xuanyu's words.
Your Majesty always has good intentions.
Yan Xuanyu said a few more words, and Li Zhongxian agreed to them one by one.
As Yan Xuanyu had said, the Chengtian Hall was generally in the shape of an I. The main hall served as the office, and two pots of green plants were placed on a pearwood stand in front of the imperial desk. Eunuch Li heard His Majesty mutter something like, "Putting some plants there will freshen the air."
There is a small rockery with flowing water on the pearwood frame. There is a small mechanism inside that allows the water to flow continuously. It looks like a waterfall, gurgling down, which is very interesting.
This small rockery with flowing water was just a casual thought that Yan Xuanyu suddenly thought of. Who knew that the skilled craftsmen in the palace could make it so quickly.
This was the first time that Yan Xuanyu intuitively felt the wisdom of the ancients.
Once this item was placed, the entire front hall became much more elegant.
On the shelf at the back were the recently submitted memorials. Yan Xuanyu quickly scanned them, hoping to gain an understanding of the court situation, but instead he was given a lecture.
Yan Xuanyu became amused as he watched. On the day the original owner ascended the throne, Han Yuan trampled on the original owner's face as an emperor, but the original owner dared to have someone hold Han Yuan and help him hit the pillar.
Han Yuan's old bones couldn't stand the torture, and the original owner even put him under house arrest.
Han Yuan's family are all honest and civil officials. Han Yuan did this when the new emperor ascended the throne because he was loyal to the second prince, who was pure and talented and good at strategy, and was dissatisfied with the fact that the world of the Great Zhou was handed over to a playboy.
But no matter what, in an era where the monarch was supreme, no matter how angry people like Han Yuan were, it still couldn't change the fact that the original owner inherited the throne. Emperor Yan of Zhou couldn't be helped. He guessed that ministers like Han Yuan would start supporting Emperor Yan of Zhou's children after the commotion.
This is "loyalty", even if the monarch is unkind.
Everyone in the world praises the character of "loyalty", loyalty means loyalty to the emperor and patriotism.
In the original owner's life, Han Yuan's family was soon all killed. This trick was indeed "useful". After that, there was no voice in the court that refuted the emperor.
Yan Xuanyu looked at this matter from an outsider's perspective and felt that Han Yuan was definitely being used as a pawn in order to test the new emperor's bottom line.
Han Yuan, on the other hand, believes that he is shouldering a certain responsibility for the sake of the people of the world.
In one person's extreme way, they underestimated the original owner's absurdity, so he died.
The real person behind the scenes must be testing the waters behind the scenes, getting away with it, developing his own faction silently, and quietly eroding the court inside and outside.
Yan Xuanyu tapped the armrest of the rosewood chair, a subconscious action he made while thinking.
The Korean won must be kept, not only kept, but also worshipped.
Just like Taizong and Wei Zheng, people all say that Wei Zheng spoke frankly and Taizong accepted the advice humbly, which made Taizong benevolent and generous, and open to advice.
From the perspective of a king, ministers can be tools to establish his reputation.
Only by establishing a reputation for benevolence can talented people from all over the world gather together.
There is still a long way to go.
Yan Xuanyu was thinking in his heart, but he was not worried. His heart was filled with excitement, because becoming a wise ruler was very challenging for him now, wasn't it?
A few meters in front of the imperial table stood a bright yellow satin curtain with two hangings, which was usually drawn up.
The Zhou Dynasty already held the concept of honoring bright yellow. Wearing bright yellow was considered disrespectful to anyone except the emperor. With bright yellow being the most revered color, the Chengtian Hall was filled with bright yellow, practically hurting Yan Xuanyu's eyes. So, they took it all off!
After doing this according to Yan Xuanyu's idea, Chengtian Palace finally took shape.
Yan Xuanyu looked at the two pots of green plants on the pearwood stand. The green leaves in these two pots were originally grown in the soil, but because they were placed on the emperor's stand, they were covered with jade bases.
"The leaves look strange, what are they?" Yan Xuanyu twisted the leaves.
It looks a little familiar.
Li Zhongxian smiled and said, "This is a famous herb sent as tribute from the southern country - it has a spicy and cool taste. I think the freshness you are talking about is this taste."
"Harsh?" Yan Xuanyu smelled his fingers, and a familiar, slightly cool and pungent smell came from it.
Isn't this mint?
A famous southern herb?
Yan Xuanyu almost burst out laughing. Isn't this thing everywhere? It seems mint hasn't been discovered in the north yet, so Li Zhongxian's so-called Southern Kingdom is just a joke.
Wait, Yan Xuanyu was stunned and smelled it again. This time the smell was lighter, but still detectable.
He could actually smell mint!
"Is there still Bo...Ke in the palace?" Yan Xuanyu turned around and asked.
Li Zhongxian replied, "Your Majesty, the Southern Kingdom presented dozens of these plants as a tribute, and they are now being cultivated in the Baicao Garden."
Yan Xuanyu nodded. This was a pleasant surprise. He had been suffering from the inability to taste or smell anything recently. He only hoped that the Imperial Hospital could cure this body as soon as possible.
Now that I've discovered he can smell mint, could I get him some mint candy?
Yan Xuanyu was cautious.
He looked around Chengtian Hall and was very satisfied with the renovated Chengtian Hall.
Especially the soft couch in the specially partitioned area on the south side, facing the window. It's small and sunny. During the day, it's absolutely warm when the sun shines on it. There's a thick layer of padding underneath the couch, making it comfortable no matter how you lie down. Then there's some novels to read...
This place was what Li Zhongxian had in mind. Yan Xuanyu almost gave him a thumbs-up with tears in his eyes. Look, this is the royal steward!
Li Zhongxian thought that the weather was getting warmer and the silver charcoal could not be kept burning all the time. The emperor was weak and afraid of the cold, so he built a small side hall next to the window.
Yan Xuanyu was very satisfied.
Meanwhile, the palace maids and eunuchs had no idea what was about to happen to them...
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
