"That's right. After my father and I threw the jade pendant up, we wanted to take it back. When I climbed onto the stage and picked up the jade pendant and prepared to come down, I was stopped by someone. I stood on the stage for a long time. You don't know, mother, that so many people were looking at me at that time, but I didn't panic or get stage fright at all. I argued with the manager. At that time..."
Li Hong suddenly stopped and imitated the tone, expression and movements of the storyteller Shan Tianfang in his previous life. He lowered his voice and said, "I saw that the wealthy businessman Dou Yi from Chang'an City suddenly stood up and said... Hey, mother, why are you pulling my ears again?"
"I'm going to strangle you to death, you little bastard. What have you and your father done?" Wu Mei grabbed Li Hong's ear again. The Jinwu guards at the gate of the manor looked at each other in bewilderment, and watched with their peripheral vision as the current Empress of the Tang Dynasty grabbed the current Crown Prince's ear and entered the manor with gritted teeth.
The next day, Li Hong slept until noon and through the window, he only saw Yu Zhining's back slowly walking out of the manor, so he didn't know what Yu Zhining had said to his father, but it had nothing to do with him.
Yu Zhining is an old minister and has always held the powerful position of Zuo Pushe in the Shangshu Province.
Since Emperor Taizong Li Shimin ascended the throne, no one has been appointed to the position of Shangshu Ling, the chief official of the Shangshu Province.
In order to avoid the fact that he had ever held this position, the position of Shangshu Ling remained vacant, and the government affairs of the Shangshu Province were handled by the left and right Pushe.
The Secretariat was in charge of the six ministries and had enormous power. The left and right ministers were in charge of three ministries each. Therefore, Li Hong was not surprised at all that Yu Zhining was able to get so many monks and slaves.
Watching Yu Zhining walk out of the manor, Li Hong's thoughts were still on the position of Shangshu Ling of the Shangshu Province. No matter how he shook his head, the three words "Shangshu Ling" were like taffy, constantly shaking in his mind.
...
...
This position is very difficult to obtain. Considering the respect and admiration that my father has for my grandfather, if I want this position, I'm afraid it cannot be achieved by relying on the achievements of Taiyi City.
Unless he could establish a peaceful and prosperous era for the Tang Dynasty in the Western Regions, at the very least, he had to make the jackals, tigers and leopards around the Western Regions obedient. In this way, he might still have a chance to touch that position. After all, that position was equivalent to taking away most of the emperor's power.
After struggling to temporarily suppress the three words "Shangshu Ling" in his head, Bai Chun quietly appeared in the dormitory.
"What's wrong?" Li Hong asked as Xia Zhi helped him with his hair.
"The Queen asked me to tell you that she will be returning to Chang'an tomorrow, and said that if you have anything else to do, please deal with it quickly." Bai Chun took the robe and put it on Li Hong himself.
"Mother, do you want me to go back with them tomorrow?" I originally wanted to stay for a while longer, but it seems that's impossible.
Bai Chun nodded silently and continued to help him put on his clothes.
"Have Bailu and Xiaohan settled down?" Li Hong asked.
"Yes, it's within the restricted area of Taiyi City." Bai Chun's voice sounded somewhat remorseful.
Li Hong sighed, thought for a moment and said, "Let's go see Bai Lu and Xiao Han in the afternoon, and go back to Chang'an tomorrow."
There was a deep sense of helplessness and sadness in his tone. He did not expect such an outcome after his trip to Taiyi City. This made Li Hong feel as if he had left part of his body in Taiyi City.
Wu Mei and Li Zhi did not bother him. After finishing his meal alone, he asked Yang Wu to greet his father and mother on his behalf. Then he took his men and slowly left the royal estate in a carriage.
Li Zhi and Wu Mei watched the carriage slowly drive out. Wu Mei sighed softly, "I still can't let Hong'er go. He finally left."
Li Hong nodded silently, and only spoke slowly after the carriage disappeared, "I hope this incident will make him stronger. This year, too many things have happened inside and outside the palace, and Hong'er was able to face them calmly, so I think he can get over it this time. But then again, after all, she has been with him since he was young, and it's inevitable that he will feel sad when she is suddenly lost."
Wu Mei listened to Li Zhi's words, but she felt a little worried in her heart. Such a loyal and righteous crown prince would be a weak spot that could be easily attacked in the court and in the palace.
The carriage slowly drove into the restricted area of Taiyi City and stopped in an extremely quiet area. There were not too many man-made buildings in this area, and the entire place still retained its original appearance at the foot of Taiyi Mountain.
The trickling spring water flows down from Taiyi Mountain, swirling and winding in this area, and then slowly flows out along the terrain.
Some trees and forests are still preserved. On the tree-lined path, Li Hong leads Bai Chun, Xia Zhi and Xiao Xue, followed by Hua Meng, Jing Zhe, Liebao and Mangzhong. Wufa, Wutan and others stay outside to guard.
After passing through the woods, I saw a sea of flowers in front of me. The flowers here are all used to make perfumes, soaps, etc. in Taiyi City.
At this moment, two conspicuous tombstones stand in the sea of flowers, and a narrow flower path leads directly to the tombstones.
According to Li Hong's wishes, the tombstone made of white marble is inlaid with the portraits he made for Bai Lu and Xiao Han. The portraits are covered by a layer of glass to prevent them from being eroded by rain.
The beauty in the painting has a faint smile on her face, her pretty face is full of innocence, her eyes are full of warmth, and the corners of her mouth are slightly upturned, as if revealing a sense of playfulness and cunning.
The tombstone simply had the names of the two people engraved on it, with no other words.
"Let everything go with the wind, let everything remain in your heart, let the past... fly." Li Hong said lightly.
As I stroked the photo on the tombstone with my fingers, it seemed as if the scenes on the White Dew and Lesser Cold days happened just yesterday.
Bai Chun walked over slowly, stood in front of Li Hong, took out a light red sachet, and said with red eyes: "Master, this is for Bai Lu and Xiao Han."
Li Hong looked up at the azure sky, took the sachet from Bai Chun's hand, opened it, and gently pulled out the hair inside. The hair seemed to still have bloodstains from that day.
Looking at the two people's hair, Li Hong smiled bitterly and put his hair back and tied it up, hanging it around his neck naturally, and said softly: "No matter what, neither of you can leave me. I don't like it."
After saying this, he took another deep look at the portraits of Bai Lu and Xiao Han, two beautiful girls like Bai Lu and Xiao Han, on the tombstone, then turned and left.
After nine reincarnations and ten lives, he had already seen through the separation of life and death, but he had never been loved so much as in this life. No matter how much he wanted to cry, laugh, howl or scream, they would always be loyal to him.
The boy on the skateboard was speeding in the palace. Behind him, two breathless and sweaty palace maids, Bailu and Xiaohan, said, "Your Highness, please slow down. We can't run any more."
"Your Highness, please stop, the Queen is coming."
"Master, run! The Imperial Censor Wang Yifang is here."
"Sir, His Majesty is here, would you like to hide for a while?"
The autumn wind, with its unique bleakness, swept across the sea of flowers behind Li Hong, blew past the jade-white tombstone, and then swept across the sea of flowers.
The delicate petals slowly withered under the ravages of the bleak autumn wind before they could fully bloom. A shower of flowers danced behind Li Hong, like crying, or like the whispered farewell of Bai Lu and Xiao Han.
Taiyi City was slowly left behind. The setting sun dragged a long shadow and also stained the earth with a layer of gold.
After returning to the palace, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was ordered by Li Zhi and Wu Mei to start practicing martial arts. Since you respect your royal grandfather, you must be as proficient in both civil and military affairs as your royal grandfather was.
Therefore, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince or the Minister of Revenue, now in the imperial palace, apart from attending court and handling the government affairs of the Ministry of Revenue, is followed around and forced to practice martial arts every day.
First the horse lance, then the horizontal sword, it is essential to strengthen the body. Every day before dawn, he was called out of bed by Xia Zhi and Xiao Xue, but what could those two palace maids do to control him?
Then, Empress Wu Mei opened her red lips and said, "From tomorrow on, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince will live with me in Ziwei Palace, and I will wake him up every day."
A light decree cast a shadow over the palace.
Li Xian and Li Zhe already had their own palaces and palace maids. When they heard the news, their faces suddenly turned pale.
They knew that the fifth brother was favored by the emperor, but now that he had become the crown prince, he was summoned back to the Ziwei Palace by his mother because he could not get out of bed to practice martial arts. He lived with her and was responsible for waking her up every day.
Such a favor made the two feel as if the sky had fallen! And they seemed to have been forgotten by their father and mother.
However, Li Hong couldn't be happy at all. If this continued, he would really have to say goodbye to his warm bed.
Someone reluctantly returned to the harem with lots of bags, dragging palace maids and eunuchs, with a look of doomsday on his face. He looked like a bird that had been imprisoned again and had lost its freedom to fly in the sky.
But His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was not an ordinary person. After being pulled out of bed by Wu Mei by his ears every day, he began to think about countermeasures.
Finally, someone carried a sword on his left waist and a lance on his right waist every day. The voice arrived before he showed up.
The horse lance, which was more than three meters long, was more than half a meter taller than Li Hong, so Li Hong dragged the horse lance wherever he went every day. The sharp spear blade clanged against the bluestone ground, sparks flew, and the squeaking sound could be heard from a long distance away.
Xia Zhi and Xiao Xue had to help him tie the horizontal sword on his waist several times a day. A few days ago, the two of them were a little lax and didn't take good care of the horizontal sword on the prince's waist. The horizontal sword suddenly fell off his waist and hit someone's ankle, which was swollen. Someone had to rest for several days because of this.
At this moment, Wu Mei heard the squeaking sound coming from outside, and finally couldn't help but frown again: "Li Hong, can you raise your lance for me!"
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