Li Hong waved his hand, and Xiaoxue and Xiaohan, who had been waiting for a long time, walked in first, each holding a gift box. Behind them, Jingzhe and Liebao followed, both carrying a box. It seemed that the things inside were quite heavy.
Li Yifu looked at Li Hong's personal maid and eunuch, who walked in carrying a gift box. He smiled and whispered something in Xu Jingzong's ear. Xu Jingzong looked understood and surprised.
"What on earth is this thing that requires so much trouble?" Wu Mei asked, looking at the gift box. She was still full of curiosity and expectation about this clever gift. This little thing must have given her an unusual gift like others, and she was expecting the little guy to give her a surprise.
The court officials had just witnessed Li Hong's wit and bravery, but they still had many doubts about the scene of washing hands in the oil pan. No one understood why the hands of King Dai were fine, but the young Khan of the Western Turkic Khanate was scalded when he put his hand in. Judging from the situation, he would probably be disabled if not deposed.
Seeing Li Hong presenting a gift to his queen mother, everyone became curious and wanted to see what kind of unique gift this king would give to his mother.
Li Hong asked Xiaoxue to put the gift box on Li Zhi's desk first. Yangwu, who was beside Li Zhi, had already learned his lesson. He still dared to check the gifts from other princes and princesses according to the rules before handing them over to His Majesty or the Queen.
But he didn't dare to check the gift from the King of Dai rashly. The King of Dai was famous for holding grudges. He kicked him and hurt his foot, which led to the King of Dai's revenge for three or four months. During that period, he was cheated of a lot of money by the King of Dai. And the shocking scene of taking money from the oil pan just now made him respect the King of Dai from the bottom of his heart, and at the same time, he also had a little fear.
So Yang Wu turned a blind eye, as if he had forgotten the rule that the Ministry of Internal Affairs should guard the emperor and the empress. He stood there straight, watching the Prince of Dai personally open the gift box that was placed on His Majesty's desk.
Xiaoxue obediently picked up the screen stand made of fine rosewood and placed it on the table. Then Li Hong took out a jade-green screen from the gift box with great effort. Under Li Zhi's surprised eyes, Xiaoxue helped Li Hong put it on the screen stand.
...
...
"Oh, it's wrong." Li Hong looked at the front and back of the screen, scratched his head and said.
Li Zhi smiled and did not wait for him to adjust the screen. He adjusted it himself. He saw a poem engraved on the front of the screen and could not help but recite it: "The ancient stone has a faint fragrance and the bones of a famous scholar. The green pines and cypresses have the heart of an emperor."
"Haha, great, it's rare that Hong'er is so thoughtful! It's rare, but I don't know what this stone is?" Li Zhilong was very happy. Pine and cypress are used to describe people's noble qualities and firm moral integrity. The little guy included them in a poem, and it was really appropriate to describe them with this screen.
Wu Mei's eyebrows moved as she looked at the emerald green screen without any other colors and emitting light. She was surprised. The gift given by this little guy was really unique.
The ministers, including the Western Regions, knew little about malachite. Seeing such an exquisite green stone that was even as good as jade, they were all amazed and murmured, "This is a rare treasure."
Li Hong chuckled and opened the small box on Wu Mei's desk. He said to her in a flattering manner, "Mother, today is your big day, so I am naturally partial to you and gave you an extra piece. These are some jewelry made of malachite for you. Don't underestimate the effect of malachite. It is said that the great doctor Sun Simiao once praised this malachite, saying that it is an excellent jewelry for women to maintain beauty and delay skin aging. I have also seen this statement in an ancient book, so you must wear it often."
Li Hong rummaged through the jewelry inside, listing them like the back of his hand: there were several necklaces, bracelets, hairpins, heart-shaped jade pendants, rings inlaid with malachite, earrings, etc. Li Yifu had made several pairs of all the ornaments that women liked.
It was no secret that Wu Mei liked green and red. Seeing these malachite jewellery, she was naturally very happy. She would take out one from time to time to wear it in public, and then carefully put it away and give it to her personal maid.
Then Li Hong chuckled and said, "Although this malachite is rare in the markets of Chang'an, Luoyang, etc., please believe me, it is definitely not rarer than jade, and it is even rarer than jade. I asked Li Yifu to look for it for a long time before I found it, and it cost me a lot of money."
Li Yifu, who was listening from below, secretly gave Li Hong a thumbs up. This king was really smart. He started to sell the malachite shop that was about to open. He bet that after the court was dismissed, many ministers would ask him where he could buy the malachite.
Li Hong looked at the ministers and saw that many of them had turned their gazes towards Li Yifu. He knew in his heart that he had achieved his goal and the advertising effect was immediate.
As the saying goes: gold in troubled times, antiques in prosperous times. Although wars often occurred on the borders of the Tang Dynasty, after decades of rest and recuperation, the people in Guanzhong and other places with large populations were able to solve the problem of food and clothing, so antiques, calligraphy and paintings began to have a market.
Next is the big advertisement that Li Hong is going to make today, which is the piece of pure and natural malachite from nature.
Li Hong did not take the malachite out of the huge gift box, but ordered Cheetah and Jingzhe to open the lid of the gift box under the guidance of Wu Mei and Li Zhi, so that all the ministers could see the wonders of nature for the first time.
The lid of the gift box was taken away by Jingzhe and Liebao. Everyone stretched their necks to look inside. Even Li Zhi and Wu Mei leaned forward slightly, wanting to see what the malachite looked like.
"ah……"
“What a beautiful workmanship…”
“This… This is just like a valley.”
"No, it looks more like a group of mountains."
Li Hong listened to the crowd's admiration and continued to advertise: "Peerless beauty, gorgeous colors, elegant posture are all words that cannot describe the beauty of this malachite. Look, does it look like a mountain range?"
How could Wu Mei not understand the little guy's thoughts? At this time, when everyone was praising her, she praised the gift she gave her and also mentioned Li Yifu. It seemed that the little guy had a closer and closer economic relationship with Li Yifu. How could she not know that these malachites were found by Li Hong at Li Yifu's request?
However, the malachite in front of us is indeed pleasing and a great object for appreciation. The entire malachite is like layers of green peaks rising up, and each peak is as green as a pine tree. The bottom of the stone is light or dark green, complementing each other. The light white color hangs in the green and flows down like a waterfall.
There are some light dots with mixed black colors, just like the path in the mountains. The green between the mountains reflects each other, and it is actually formed. The scenery that can only be overlooked by climbing up the mountain is really exquisite and unusual, which makes people feel relaxed and happy, and have a feeling of going deep into the mountains.
Just as everyone was marveling at the ingenuity of nature, which could produce such exquisite and colorful malachite, the envoy of Guizi suddenly said loudly: "Your Majesty, today in order to celebrate the ceremony of conferring the empress, we also brought our sincerity to your Majesty and the empress."
Li Zhi stroked his beard with a smile, looked at the envoy from Guizi and said slowly: "I don't know what it is? Present it to me." His tone seemed extremely calm.
After watching the Tang officials return to their desks, the Guizi envoy walked up to Li Zhi and Wu Mei with his head held high and said, "We have prepared two exquisite towers, the national treasure of Guizi, for your Majesty and the Empress. These rare treasures are different from the exquisite towers made of colored glaze because they are more transparent and bright, and you can even see the person opposite through them."
When Li Hong heard this, he was thinking, isn't this glass? He knew that the colored glaze craftsmanship of the Western Regions was originally superior to that of the Tang Dynasty.
Therefore, whether in Chang'an or Luoyang, the colored glaze produced by these Western countries was more popular among wealthy businessmen and dignitaries, especially because their colored glaze products had beautiful shapes and delicate workmanship, and overall looked more beautiful and colorful than the colored glaze produced in the Tang Dynasty.
Moreover, according to historical records: During the reign of Emperor Li Zhi, there was an incident in which a palace maid accidentally broke a glazed tower. This incident made Li Zhi very angry, and he felt distressed when he saw the broken glass on the ground.
But could it be that glass craftsmanship in the Western Regions has reached a very high level? Li Hong was skeptical about this. If the glass craftsmanship of the Western Regions had reached a very high level, then the crown on his mother's head would seem a bit too rustic.
After all, the crown on the Queen Mother's head is made up of 12 water drop-shaped colored glazes and 13 flower trees, and is made of copper, gold, white marble, pearls, and glass, which is the kind of frosted glass that is not very transparent, just like the glass in the previous life. So we can imagine how precious this glass is in this era!
If the envoy Guizi can now produce transparent glass, then the countries in the Western Regions cannot be underestimated. Their industrial development has been ahead of the Tang Dynasty for many years.
Li Hong had no idea that if the envoy from Guizi took out the exquisite glass tower, his gift would seem insignificant. But Wu Mei frowned slightly, because she didn't want anyone to steal Li Hong's limelight today.
Li Zhi always realized things after he was born. His two sons Yiyang and Gaoan and their mother, Concubine Xiao Shufei, were really a perfect match. He was indeed a little bit stupid. After hearing the words of the Guizi envoy, his eyes lit up and he hurriedly said, "Present them quickly for me to appreciate."
Wu Mei rolled her eyes helplessly at Li Zhi, then looked at Li Hong with some worry. Li Hong looked thoughtful, and he didn't seem to be worried about someone stealing the limelight. The protectiveness in his heart faded a little, and he watched the Guizi messenger put the two glass towers on the table.
Li Hong was delighted the first time he saw the two exquisite glass towers. He thought he was too suspicious and took the Western Regions countries too seriously. He forgot that it was impossible for them to make completely transparent glass with their brains.
I saw these two exquisite glass towers, which seemed neither transparent nor half-transparent, just like vitiligo, with some parts bright and some dark, and the bright parts were like frosted glass. If I wanted to see the person opposite through the glass, I could only vaguely see a blurry figure when the light shone on it.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
