Not long after, Li Hong saw the second prince Li Xiao, the third prince Li Shangjin and the fourth prince Li Sujie running over, talking and laughing. Princess Yi Yang and Princess Gao An also walked slowly over hand in hand behind the three princes.
The five people saw Li Hong in the pavilion almost at the same time. They were stunned for a moment, and then Princess Yi Yang looked at them and walked over first with her little face showing.
Li Hong also hurriedly stood up and walked to the pavilion to greet them. When the five people approached, Li Hong was the first to salute and said, "Li Hong greets all the royal brothers and sisters."
"Why are you here?" Yi Yang looked like their leader.
She and the second prince Li Xiao were the oldest among the five. They were the same age, both nine years old. The next was Princess Gao An, eight years old, the third prince Li Shang Jin was seven years old, and Li Su Jie, who had the same father and mother as Yi Yang and Gao An, was six years old.
In the palace, the status of a mother is determined by her son. However, when the princes and princesses are not yet adults, their status is still determined by their mother's rank and family background outside the palace.
Yiyang, Gaoan and Li Sujie were born to Concubine Xiao Shufei. They were naturally the most important princes and princesses in the palace, except for Crown Prince Li Zhong. The Lanling Xiao family was also one of the top families in the Tang Dynasty, except for the Five Surnames and Seven Families, but it was only slightly inferior to the Taiyuan Wang family, that is, the family of Queen Wang.
Therefore, they were much more relaxed when they saw Li Hong than the other two princes. The mothers of the two princes, Li Xiao and Li Shangjin, were only Li Zhi's concubines, so they seemed a little restrained at the moment.
Of course they were not afraid of Li Hong. If they were afraid of Li Hong, they would not have teased Li Hong before, or pinched Li Hong's chubby face as a prank.
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...
Their uneasiness obviously came from their mother, and was obviously caused by the death of Li Hong's sister, which had caused subtle changes in the identity and status between the concubines in the harem.
The status of Li Hong's mother in the palace was increasingly valued by the emperor, which made other concubines feel pressured and uneasy. Especially when they saw the queen being scolded by His Majesty but unable to refute, His Majesty might even punish the queen by deposing her to comfort Wu Zhaoyi for the pain of losing her daughter.
This forced the other concubines to be more cautious than usual when interacting with Wu Zhaoyi, and the concubines' feelings would naturally be told to their own princes.
Li Hong saw everything. Although he was the youngest among the six people, no one else could retain the memory of the previous life like him. No, the memory of ten lives.
The six of them sat down around the pavilion, and it was Yi Yang who asked, "Li Hong, what are you doing here?"
"I'm here to play with you guys." Li Hong said with his eyes wide open.
"We have very little time to play, and I can't play with you like I used to." Anyang continued, then pouted his lips and looked very unhappy.
"Why can't you play with me?" Li Hong was a little surprised. Could it be that their mother dared them to blatantly refuse to be with her?
Li Xiao looked at them and sighed with a sad face, "Alas, the teacher asked us to practice calligraphy. Each of us has ten pieces of paper. He stipulated that we must write the best words on the ten pieces of paper, otherwise we will be punished."
Li Hong looked at the others nodding in agreement. He knew that he would not need to go to Hongwenguan to study until he turned three next year, so he didn't know all this.
He tilted his head and thought for a while before saying, "Why don't you write on these ten pieces of paper instead of writing on the other pieces of paper first, and then write on those ten pieces of paper?"
"How is that possible? The palace maids have already told my mother about this. They will not agree, but no one dares to disobey the master's words." Yi Yang thought about it and denied Li Hong's bad idea.
Li Sujie had not spoken a word, and now he said sullenly: "Big brother is still the best, he doesn't have to endure the academic burden left by the teacher."
"Of course there will be other teachers in the Prince's Chongwenguan to teach him other subjects. And because he is the prince, the teachers only study with him. I'm afraid... it's harder for him than for us." Yi Yang retorted to his brother.
It is said that girls mature precociously. They understand reasoning at such a young age and even know that the prince will suffer more offenses than them.
"Fifth brother, you can play by yourself, but don't play for too long and don't let your mother worry about you. We are going to pick flowers and then go back to learn how to write." Gao An stood up and walked to Li Hong, but still couldn't help pinching Li Hong's chubby face.
Li Hong let her pinch him lightly and nodded thoughtfully, but he still felt a warmth in his heart. At least Gao An's actions proved that they did not regard him as an enemy.
He looked at the five people who were walking up one after another, watching them walk slowly on the bluestone slabs. Suddenly, he thought of a way for them to practice calligraphy without using paper. His eyes lit up and he blurted out, "Wait a minute."
Yi Yang and the others were startled. They turned around and made faces at him, then waved their hands impatiently, signaling him to go back quickly.
"I have a way that allows you to practice calligraphy without using paper." Li Hong said, craning his neck.
"I don't believe it. How old are you? You want to deceive us?" Li Sujie was only six years old, and said with a little contempt to those who had experienced nine reincarnations and ten lives.
Li Hong pouted and subconsciously bit his hand into his mouth again. He watched the dirt on his fingers being bitten clean by himself, then pulled them out and wiped them on his collar and said, "Okay, if you don't believe me, I won't tell you. I'll tell a few people and you can go to school tomorrow and wait for your punishment."
Yi Yang looked at the little boy who was over two years old, walked over with half belief and half doubt, and asked doubtfully: "Do you really have a way for us to learn calligraphy without writing on paper? No lie? If you have a way, I will give you something delicious."
Li Hong nodded heavily, then signaled Hua Meng to find a thin piece of bluestone slab. Then, under the suspicious eyes of the five people, he instructed the palace maid to bring a bowl of water and a brush.
After giving the order, Li Hong clapped his hands, tilted his neck and chuckled, "Just wait, you will know in a moment."
Pulling a few people to sit down in the pavilion again, Li Hong did have his own ideas for getting close to them. That was, since his sister's death, Li Hong swore from the bottom of his heart that he would never let such an outrageous thing happen again in the palace and be repeated between his brother and sister.
Therefore, he must do what he can now to maintain the relationship between them, and even in the future, let them know and feel that he can protect them from harm and make them believe that his sincerity towards them is entirely due to the blood ties that are thicker than water.
Hua Meng and the palace maid returned to the pavilion at the same time. Li Hong gestured to Hua Meng to put the bluestone slabs in front of him, and then asked the palace maid to put a bowl of water and a brush on the side.
Li Xiao, Yi Yang, Gao An, Li Shangjin and Li Sujie looked at Li Hong's actions in confusion. They didn't think that he could write in this way.
"I'm teaching you this for free. I'll charge you for it next time. Watch carefully." Li Hong turned around and took out a handkerchief from the maid's sleeve. He bent down and roughly wiped the non-existent dust on the bluestone slab that had already been wiped clean by Hua Meng.
He picked up the brush beside him and dipped it in the bowl of water. He showed his characteristic smirk on his face, and then began to scribble on the bluestone slab stroke by stroke. After scribble a few strokes, he put the brush down and said, "Do you understand? Hahaha... No need to thank me. I'm just a little smarter than you guys."
While Yiyang was still thinking, Li Sujie, Li Xiao, Li Shangjin and Gao An were already surprised: "Really? This way we can wait until we have learned it, and then write it down on the paper given by the teacher, and we don't have to worry about it looking ugly."
Li Xiao was the first to pick up a slate, then picked up the brush that Li Hong had just put down, and dipped it in the bowl of water again. He felt a little awkward facing the bluestone slate, and in full view of everyone, he smiled unhappily and began to write his name on it.
As soon as he finished writing the two characters "Li Xiao", Li Hong said, "How is it? Not bad, right? You can wait until the watermark is gone and then continue practicing. Haha... No need to thank me, I'm just a little smarter than you guys."
After Li Hong finished speaking, without waiting for Yi Yang to react, he quickly spread his legs and ran out of the pavilion, shouting and mocking the people in the pavilion as he ran.
From then on, Li Hong would go over to play with them every now and then, and the relationship between them became more and more harmonious unknowingly. Li Xiao and Li Shangjin also became much more relaxed in their attitude towards him, no longer as restrained as before, and could talk and laugh with them, and even occasionally tolerate Li Hong playing tricks on them without feeling nervous.
Yi Yang always acted like a little sister. Li Hong was pulled by the ear by Yi Yang and sent to Wu Mei's palace several times. After that, Yi Yang didn't dare to pull Li Hong's ear openly.
Li Hong knew everything in his heart, and naturally knew more about such things than anyone else. They no longer resisted him, but he still had an inexplicable fear of his mother.
Time passed in Li Hong's heartless state, and one thing that surprised Li Hong was that a group of old ministers who followed Emperor Taizong were still alive, although they had all retired and were enjoying family happiness.
But this was the first time he heard the names of those heroes who were still alive. The experiences of these people were legendary to him.
Just like his father and mother, they are legendary figures in China's 5,000 years of history. Although his parents are controversial, it does not affect their being romantic figures in history, just like the Duke of E, Yuchi Jingde, the Duke of Lu, Cheng Zhijie (Cheng Yaojin), the Duke of Ju, Tang Jian, the Duke of Ying, Li Ji (Xu Shiji), etc. who are still alive today.
The reason why he knew the existence of these people was because Cheng Zhijie, who was the general of Youtunwei at that time, was appointed by Li Zhi as the commander-in-chief of the Congshan Road to attack the Western Turkic Shaboluo Khan.
All these also gave Li Hong the idea of secretly leaving the palace to visit these legends.
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