Chapter 189 Extra 3
Daily life after marriage
"Grandpa, were you and my father both very good at studying when you were young?"
Six-year-old Li sat at his desk, holding a brush and practicing calligraphy seriously.
Zhu Qingchen sat beside him, eating snacks while watching him practice calligraphy, and instructed him with a bamboo stick: "Don't turn the pen when you return the tip, don't trace the words, and do it in one go..."
Hearing Li Duan's words, Zhu Qingchen was stunned for a moment: "What did you just say?"
"I want to ask you, you and my father must be both very good at studying, right? Yesterday, my father told me that the Grand Tutor knew a thousand characters at the age of three, could recite Tang poems at the age of five, and could speak fluently at the age of seven. If it weren't for his disdain for the imperial court at the time, the Grand Tutor would have won the first place in the imperial examination at the age of thirteen."
"..." Zhu Qingchen choked and his eyebrows suddenly twitched.
What is Li Yue talking about?
Who on earth could be the top scholar at the age of thirteen? It wasn't him.
Li Duan continued, "Father also said that he was good at both literature and martial arts when he was young. He once smashed ten targets in one day. The tutor was first in writing, and father was second. If the tutor won the first place, he would be the second. Father also likes reading very much. He can finish ten books in one day."
"..." Zhu Qingchen choked again, his eyebrows twitching wildly.
Smashing ten targets in one day? Didn't his hands cramp?
How could he win the second place in the imperial examination? And read ten books a day?
Which ten books? "The Story of the Affair of the Pretty Enemy in the Academy"? Or "The Queen of the Moon and Flowers"?
What did Li Yue say to this child?
Li Duan looked innocent: "My father and my father are so powerful. I also want to practice calligraphy, read more books, and practice martial arts more, and try to smash ten targets."
"Hmm..." Zhu Qingchen raised his hand and touched his head, "You are very ambitious. You should finish practicing these two pages of large characters first."
"Okay." Li Duan held the pen and nodded vigorously.
Zhu Qingchen was very pleased. He picked up the snacks on the table and stood up to leave.
Li Duan asked, "Where is Grand Tutor going?"
Zhu Qingchen smiled and said gently, "I will go to your father's arsenal to pick out a weapon that suits me. When he comes back, I will spar with him. You practice calligraphy first, and I will come to check it later."
"Okay." Li Duan had no doubts. He dipped the pen in ink and wrote a big word on the paper stroke by stroke.
Zhu Qingchen took the snacks and turned to leave.
He and Li Yue were both men, so of course they had no children.
So a while ago, Li Yue sent people to compile the list of children from the side branches. He and Zhu Qingchen selected together, and once again picked a child named Li Duan.
That is, he was adopted by Li Yue in his previous life and later ascended the throne as Emperor Ming of Northern Zhou.
When the country was first settled, the Li family was originally made up of bandits and refugees with varying qualities.
Li Duan lost his parents in the war and was adopted by his uncle, but his uncle's family did not treat him well. The six-year-old child looked pitiful. After meeting him once, Zhu Qingchen decided to marry him off.
Since he did a good job in his previous life, let's continue to train him to be the successor this time.
Li Duan has been brought into the palace for almost three months. He is calm and experienced, his mind is older than his peers, he studies very hard and does not cause much worry to the adults.
Zhu Qingchen liked him very much and took him with him to teach him how to read and write.
Li Yue would also teach him martial arts every day.
that is……
Zhu Qingchen pushed open the door of the armory and picked up a sword from the shelf.
Li Yue often talks nonsense to children, saying irrelevant things, and today it was even more outrageous, saying the top two in the imperial examination, he has led the children astray! If Li Yue had not gone out to inspect the military camp today, he would have...
With a "swish", Zhu Qingchen drew out his sword.
The sword blade was sharp, reflecting Zhu Qingchen's features.
Forget it, Zhu Qingchen carefully put the sword back into the scabbard and decided to change it.
He doesn't really want to be a widower.
*
In the evening, Li Yue returned from the military camp outside the city and rode back to the palace.
He dismounted in front of the bedroom, threw the reins to his servants, telling them not to follow him, and walked forward carrying the bags.
Li Yue pushed the door open: "Zhu Qingqing, I'm back!"
My wife and kids are at home! Yay!
Li Duan had finished practicing calligraphy and was solving a nine-ring puzzle.
Zhu Qingchen held his head up and did not intervene, just let him figure it out slowly.
When Zhu Qingchen heard that Li Yue had returned, he turned to look at him with a strange expression.
Li Yue was a little confused and frowned: "Zhu Qingqing, what's wrong? Who offended you?"
It shouldn't be him, right? He wasn't home all day today.
Li Duan raised his head from between the nine linked rings and said, "Father, no one has offended Grand Tutor Daddy, and Grand Tutor Daddy is also waiting for you to come back."
Li Yue gave him an appreciative look, "Good boy! I'll remember your achievement!"
Li Duan raised his head confidently.
Li Yue looked at Zhu Qingchen again and said, "On my way back from the military camp, I passed by a few shops in the city and bought some roast duck and glutinous rice that you like. I told the kitchen not to prepare them in the evening. We will eat this."
Li Yue raised the bags in his hands towards Zhu Qingchen, showing a bit of pretended grievance: "Wearing armor and riding a horse all the way, these shops are located in the south and north of the city, it's really troublesome."
He just said “just passing by”, but now it has become “it’s really troublesome”.
Zhu Qingchen puffed up his cheeks, still holding his breath, stood up and walked in front of him.
Li Yue lowered his head slightly and asked Zhu Qingchen to help him take off his helmet.
Li Yue complained: "After wearing it for a whole day, my head feels heavy. I have to attend court tomorrow, and the emperor's hat is also very heavy. Can I not attend court tomorrow?"
Zhu Qingchen said dimly, "Is it heavier than reading ten books a day?"
With a click, the hall fell into deathly silence for a moment.
Li Yue looked at Zhu Qingchen, pursed his lips, and tried to call out: "Zhu Qingqing?"
Zhu Qingchen hugged his helmet, raised his head, met his gaze, and continued to ask: "Is it heavier than when you passed the imperial examination at the age of thirteen?"
Li Yue tried his best to keep smiling: "Zhu Qingqing, who told you that? What about ten books? What about second place? I don't know."
Li sat in the hall and poked his head out: "Father told me yesterday, don't you remember it?"
"Ahem—" Li Yue turned his head away, not looking at Li Duan, and dared not meet Zhu Qingchen's eyes.
But Zhu Qingchen tilted his head, got close to him, blinked his eyes, and looked at him seriously: "Hmm? Second place?"
Li Yue tried to dodge, but Zhu Qingchen followed him and circled around him: "Second place in the imperial examination? A great writer? A top scholar who can speak eloquently at the age of thirteen? Li Yue? Explain it to me."
The two fathers were walking around the room, and Li Duan was dazzled. He said, "So the Taifu father went to the armory to get weapons. He has been waiting for the emperor to come back. He wants to have a fight with the emperor."
"Spar?" Li Yue was shocked. He turned around and hugged Zhu Qingchen. "Zhu Qingqing, I was wrong."
This time it was Zhu Qingchen's turn to be shocked.
He patted Li Yue's hand and lowered his voice: "Li Yue, the child is still here, isn't this a bad thing?"
Li Yue winked at Li Duan, who immediately covered his eyes and got up to go out: "I'm going to go play with my friends!"
Li Duan covered his eyes and ran out. Halfway through, he suddenly remembered that he forgot to take the Nine Rings. He turned back, picked up the things and ran away.
Zhu Qingchen understood as soon as he saw this scene.
"Li Yue, did you teach him?"
"I just told him that he should avoid the emperor when he is with the tutor."
"It's better to avoid it." Zhu Qingchen nodded, "so as not to destroy the beautiful image of 'Father can read ten books a day' in his mind."
Li Yue said: "Zhu Qingqing, I was wrong. I shouldn't have said such nonsense to him. Please stop talking."
Zhu Qingchen folded his hands: "You are the top scholar."
"I'm not." Li Yue said weakly, "Zhu Qingqing, you are the top scorer, and I am only the second. Besides, I am also doing this for him to study hard."
Zhu Qingchen was so angry that he wanted to pinch him, but Li Yue's armor had not been taken off yet, so he had no idea where to start. In the end, he could only slap the armor, which made a clanging sound.
"When did you tell him? What if he really believed it? How can you be a father like that? Talking nonsense to your child all day long?"
"I told him that yesterday afternoon when I was teaching him to do the horse stance." Li Yue loosened his sleeves slightly, held Zhu Qingchen's hand, and put his hand into his sleeves, "Pinch it."
Zhu Qingchen twisted his stiff muscles, but failed to move them. He then gave him a slap: "Do you still remember that you are an emperor?"
When it was a little darker, when Li Duan came back with the unsolved Nine Rings, his father and the Grand Tutor were already sitting at the table, preparing to eat.
He carefully poked his head out: "I'm back."
"Come in and have dinner." Li Yue waved at him.
It seems that my father and the Grand Tutor have reconciled.
Li Duan ran in briskly.
*
Since they had already adopted Li Duan, in order to avoid disunity and different thoughts among the court, Li Yue and Zhu Qingchen planned to directly make Li Duan the crown prince.
At the court meeting the next day, when the court was about to adjourn, Li Yue raised something.
As expected, several court officials immediately expressed their opposition.
"Your Majesty, think twice. This matter involves the country and the people. Li Duan is only a six-year-old child, and it is still unclear what his qualifications are. The purpose of discussing the succession is to stabilize people's hearts, but if we discuss the succession rashly, I am afraid that people's hearts will be unstable, which is even worse!"
"That's right. Besides, your majesty and the queen are now young and strong, and they can rule the country for thousands of years. Why rush to discuss the succession?"
Li Yue, who was sitting on the dragon throne, waved his hand, and all the court officials were startled when they saw his slightly familiar movements.
Is the emperor going to throw them into jail again?
Wouldn’t it be the same as last time when the queen was enthroned?
Everyone was horrified and immediately knelt down to apologize.
The next second, Zhu Qingchen, who was sitting side by side with Li Yue, cleared his throat. Li Yue withdrew his hand and said in a pretentious tone, "You gentlemen are right. This matter is not urgent. We will discuss it later."
The ministers shouted: "Your Majesty is wise, and the Queen is wise!"
Obviously, the latter sentence is louder.
Zhu Qingchen said calmly: "Dismiss the court."
"Yes!" Everyone cheered, "We will take our leave!"
After the court meeting ended, all the courtiers felt lingering fears.
"Do you feel that..." a minister gestured, "Your Majesty has become a lot gentler since getting married. In other words, getting married is quite nourishing."
"Didn't you hear just now that the Queen coughed and His Majesty stopped killing people? It seems that this Queen was the right choice. If His Majesty doesn't appoint a Queen, then we will have to put our heads on the line, right?"
"As long as the matter does not involve Master Zhu, Your Majesty will be fine. If Your Majesty wanted to promote Master Zhu today and we objected, I'm afraid we would have been beheaded by now."
"Hey! If you want to oppose it, then do it yourself. I don't object. I wish the Grand Tutor a promotion. I support it 100%!"
"I am ashamed of my short-sightedness in opposing Master Zhu's becoming the empress. I swear to be loyal to Master Zhu until death!"
In the hall, Li Yue was holding Zhu Qingchen. He was sitting on the dragon throne, and Zhu Qingchen was sitting on his lap.
Li Yue hugged Zhu Qingchen from behind, rested his chin on his shoulder, and took off the imperial crown on his head and put it on Zhu Qingchen's head.
It is so tiring to go to court. It is so tiring to listen to the ministers' flowery speeches and to reply to them in flowery words.
His Majesty is recovering his strength from his fatigue.
Zhu Qingchen shook his head, and the tassels on the crown swayed and bumped against each other, making crisp sounds.
He turned around, put one hand on Li Yue's neck, and with the other hand lifted the tassel in front of him, and kissed the corner of Li Yue's lips with a smile: "Li Yue, it's not that hard, is it? We can have lunch together later, and after lunch, we can take a nap together. Are you happy?"
Li Yue became more excited.
Not in the spirit of lunch though.
He held Zhu Qingchen's face and kissed him hard, then took off his dragon robe and put it on Zhu Qingchen.
It’s pretty good looking.
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