Chapter 212: One Year Old

Li Shimin really needed some feedback from Sun Simiao.

Whether he was surprised, doubtful, believed or disbelieved, he could accept it.

He even had a plan for how to deal with it.

If Sun Simiao believed it, he would meet him on the first day of the first lunar month to see the future.

If Sun Simiao didn't believe it, he just had to smile and wait for the Medicine King to be surprised by the light curtain.

For this reason, Li Shimin had already thought about how to turn around and how to leave a light message.

But Sun Simiao didn't have the reactions that Li Shimin expected.

This medical expert, who was later dubbed the "King of Medicine", took out a small notebook and a charcoal pencil and asked Li Shimin earnestly:

"How long has it been since this picture was handed down to your Majesty?"

"It has been more than two months since I got the picture..."

Li Shimin looked at Sun Simiao, who was writing and drawing on the paper with a charcoal pencil, paused for a moment and emphasized:

"I am not sick!"

Sun Simiao nodded, and after taking note, he asked again:

"Does your Majesty have other things from hundreds of years later?"

So that day, the onlookers in the Imperial Medical Bureau saw that when the Majesty walked away, he swung his sleeves particularly hard.

Your Majesty did not need to guess that he was acting like this, it must be because of Sun Simiao.

Some curious people went to the east wing of the Imperial Medical Bureau to peek secretly, and saw Sun Simiao standing under the eaves, with his eyes full of worry.

Although Li Shimin was quite upset, he also understood that Sun Yaowang really had the heart to save the world, so he did not give any additional instructions after leaving the Imperial Medical Bureau.

Although it was not very pleasant, at least Sun Simiao agreed to stay until the middle of January.

In this way, Li Shimin's goal was achieved, and then he simply strolled in the palace city.

At this time, Chang'an was basically divided into three parts in terms of planning.

Taiji Palace, Ganlu Hall, Inner Courtyard, etc., which belonged to the emperor's private rest and office places, were called the Palace City.

From the south of the Palace City, across the straight road, the other side was the location of the central institutions such as the Honglu Temple, Taichang Temple, Taimiao, Jiangzuojian, and Dashe, which was called the Imperial City.

In addition to the emperor and the palace, the market was located in Guocheng, which was where the people lived and the most prosperous place in Chang'an.

The Imperial Medical Bureau that Li Shimin came to at this time was affiliated with the Taichang Temple and was located in the eastern part of the Imperial City.

So after walking for a while, he turned and walked to the location of Jingfeng Gate, the east gate of the Imperial City.

The guard captain of Jingfeng Gate was already standing by the roadside to salute the emperor. Li Shimin waved his hand and stood at the gate to listen attentively.

He knew that after leaving Jingfeng Gate to the east, there were Yongxingfang and Chongrenfang.

Going south along the East Street between the two squares to the fork in the road, you will reach the prosperous East Market.

It is now the twelfth month. For the people of Chang'an, this year is quite simple: Jie Li surrendered, how can it not be considered a good year?

The Emperor of the Tang Dynasty knew in his heart: such a big celebration was the first time in the Tang Dynasty, but it would definitely not be the last time.

The noisy sound outside the imperial city was like a hook, which made Li Shimin feel itchy.

Therefore, without hesitating for too long, Li Shimin hurriedly left with the sedan chair.

The captain breathed a sigh of relief, but only half an hour later he saw His Majesty go in plain clothes and return.

After the accompanying Yuchi Jingde briefly "persuaded" the school lieutenant, Li Shimin, who was incognito, and a dozen Jinwu guards, went out of Jingfeng Gate and merged into the city wall of Chang'an like a drop of water.

Li Shimin believed that he was not unfamiliar with Chang'an. After all, he had conquered it when he was young, and occasionally climbed the gates of Changle, Chengtian, Shuntian and other cities to look at Chang'an from afar.

But now that he was visiting in person without a horse, he realized that Chang'an was already so big that it was no longer comparable to the past.

Standing on the street, the noisy hawking sounds around him hit his ears at the same time, which made Li Shimin a little confused:

"Jingde, which way should I go?"

Yuchi Jingde thought for a while: "Since your majesty has liked eating fish in recent months, you should try the butterfly bream."

It's good to have a direction, Li Shimin was very interested: "Lead the way!"

He bought two lanterns and watched a stepping ballad. When passing by the main street, he also saw the men in Pingkangfang and Xuanyangfang playing the hook-pulling game.

Seeing two groups of men pulling the flag on the hemp rope to their side with two hooks, Li Shimin also stopped to cheer.

He also bought two ferocious ghost masks for Nuo opera. Looking at Yuchi Jingde who had no choice but to pay, Li Shimin suddenly remembered to ask:

"Jingde, have Zhaoxuhao and Zui Siming passed?"

Before Yuchi Jingde opened his mouth, the stall owner interrupted him:

"Let this young man know that Zhaoxuhao and Zui Siming are both during the New Year's Eve. It's still early now."

"But if you want to buy Siming wine to get drunk, there is a wine seller at the other end of the street."

It turned out to be a salesman, but Li Shimin still smiled and thanked him.

"Late in the New Year's Eve, Zhaoxuhao. In the middle of the New Year's Eve, Zui Siming."

"In this good year, the 23rd is the first to post the stove horse."

Li Shimin hummed softly, vaguely remembering that this was what his mother taught them before the New Year's Eve when they were young.

The stove horse is a wooden board with the kitchen god painted on it, which is pasted on the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month.

Lighting a lamp on the stove on New Year's Eve is called "Zhao Xu Hua", which can suppress ghosts and gods.

Then pour wine on the stove horse to make the kitchen god drunk and ask for favors, which is called "Zui Siming".

These things that his mother taught him were turned out in the corner of Li Shimin's memory. Now his elder sister has passed away early, and his brothers have also...

But this also gave Li Shimin a new idea, and he immediately sent the Jinwu Guards to purchase on this street.

Today is the 19th day of the twelfth lunar month, so everything needed for the New Year can be bought.

Stove horse, stove lamp, Siming wine, Nuo dance mask, everything is available.

The Jinwu guards thought to themselves, couldn’t these things be purchased in the palace? But looking at His Majesty's face, he was very sensible and didn't say much.

After walking for a while and entering Anyi Fang, Li Shimin saw the butterfly turtle mentioned by Yuchi Jingde.

There was a restaurant built into the square. It was already the twelfth lunar month, but I saw a man with a naked upper body. His muscles were not taut, but he had a very well-proportioned figure.

Hold the knife in your right hand and press the fish with your left hand.

The blade is as thin as a cicada's wing, and the fresh fish is still struggling.

Immediately, Li Shimin saw the kitchen worker raising and lowering his knife. The collision between the knife blade and the cutting board was like the sound of a pipa, which made the onlookers couldn't help but cheer.

The fresh fish that was struggling to survive a moment ago turned into a plate of fish fillets in the blink of an eye.

Li Shimin looked at it intently, as if he could see that every piece of fish meat could transmit light, cut to the smallest detail, and as fine as a ray of light.

Yuchi Jingde explained on the side:

"Last year, the chef was entertaining guests. It happened to be a heavy rainstorm. When the strong wind blew, the fish fillets were rolled up and fluttered like butterflies."

"Hence the name Butterfly Ao."

After actually eating it, Li Shimin couldn't help but admire: "There are so many wonderful people and scholars in our Tang Dynasty."

With something in mind, Li Shimin quickly took a look and returned to the palace.

Because Li Shimin suddenly left the palace, Empress Changsun had already made plans on how to persuade him.

But he never expected that Emperor Tang would suddenly return to the palace with the things he had purchased outside the palace, and he looked like he wanted to boast:

"Guanyin maid, this year is the end of the year, I should rejoice with my children!"

Li Shimin's behavior finally received two points of praise and eight points of criticism.

Li Shimin seriously regretted this and vowed:

"I will take Guanyin Maid with me next time!"

Only then was Empress Changsun let off by the dumbfounded Empress.

His Majesty, the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, has always been astonishingly capable of action. After making up his mind, he exempted the princes and princesses from their schoolwork starting from the 20th day of the twelfth lunar month.

Instead, the princess had to decorate the palace with her own hands, and together with Empress Changsun, she had to learn how to make glue teeth, make five-sin dishes, and practice chewing spring.

The princes followed Huangmen to learn Nuo dance, perform Nuo opera, shoot firecrackers, and put up peach charms.

For a time, there was a lot of noise in the palace, which even attracted Wei Zheng to admonish him.

However, Li Shimin chose to stay in China and not publish. You can say whatever you want. I only learned from later generations that "you can't read it back".

In this way, Wei Zheng had no idea what to say: he was too busy before the New Year and His Majesty did not interact with him, so he could only postpone this matter and focus on official duties first.

There was a lot of criticism, but in the end, under Li Shimin's insistence, the princes and princesses of the Tang Dynasty spent a relatively irregular, but also quite unforgettable New Year's Eve.

Seeing Prince Chengqian's face excited about playing Nuo opera, Li Shimin felt a little relieved in his heart.

No matter what happens in the end, at least this Spring Festival, he will learn to be a relatively qualified father.

Turning his eyes, Li Shimin saw a short figure next to Prince Chengqian, wearing a ghost mask and playing around with his teeth and claws.

"Wu's daughter..." Li Shimin recited this name silently in his heart.

To be fair, according to Guanyin Maid, this Wu girl is not bad at all, she is excellent at reading and deciphering, and she is as strong-willed as any man.

But when he thought that this childish girl, who was only as tall as Chengqian's waist, was likely to be his second queen in the future, and follow the example of the former Han Dynasty after the prince's rule, Li Shimin was filled with weirdness.

On the one hand, in terms of her talents and methods, she is worthy of being a figure in her Zhenguan dynasty. Thinking about Sun Simiao and Yan Liben who have been handed down from generation to generation, it does not seem too strange to have such a queen.

But on the other hand, Li Shimin was also full of doubts. When later generations talked about the governance of Prince Gaozong, Empress Dowager Wu was rarely mentioned.

So how did the prince regain power by the queen mother? What kind of dirty swords and shadows are there in the middle?

The only possibility that comes to mind now is: His Li Shimin family is just like the Cao family mentioned by Guangmu, and his genes are not good?

Chengqian died young, Prince Zhi also died young?

So... Li Shimin couldn't help but cast his eyes towards the Imperial Medical Office in the south: I hope King Sun Yao lives up to his reputation.

Compared with the lively harem, the court meeting on Yuan Zhengri (New Year's Day) seemed calm.

The only thing that could be called a major event was that Gaochang and the Western Turks sent envoys to congratulate him and jointly recommended that the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty be given the title "Tian Khan", which was finally approved.

Even though the messenger from Gaochang breathed a sigh of relief, he was still worried:

Why is the expression on this Khan's face so intriguing?

After Yuanzheng, there was a ten-day rest. At this time, Chang'an City fell into a lazy atmosphere.

In this atmosphere, Sun Simiao received an edict, ordering him to go to the Manna Hall to meet the saint.

While waiting for the palace door to open, Sun Simiao looked left and right, always feeling that this group of people didn't fit in well.

In addition to him, there are Yan Liben, Yan Lide, Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, Hou Junji, Li Jing, and Changsun Wuji, Wei Zheng.

Imperial physicians, painters, admonishers, relatives, ministers, and generals.

What is your Majesty doing?

Song joins in the next chapter.