Li Yuanying was making a huge fuss all over Chang’an, recruiting people left and right, and everyone knew he was going to his fiefdom this year.
Wei Zheng wasn’t deaf, of course, and he had heard plenty about Li Yuanying’s commotion. He had expected Li Yuanying to come to him to discuss the matter, but day after day, he waited in vain.
Wei Zheng asked his granddaughter what she planned to do. Wei Jiu replied without hesitation, “Of course I’m going with him.” Years ago, when Li Yuanying first mentioned building the academy, she had already decided to go with him.
Wei Zheng was furious. His granddaughter was growing up and slipping away from him. He was so angry that he scowled at everyone he encountered. If Li Yuanying had come to him properly, he might have been more flexible, but not even bothering to visit him?
Li Yuanying, reminded by Liu Baolin, finally realized that he had been so busy these past few days that he forgot to pay a visit to Wei Zheng.
He immediately left the palace for the Wei residence, making sure to arrive before Wei Zheng got back and appease his wife, Pei Shi, to put in a good word for him.
Pei Shi, of course, liked Li Yuanying. He was handsome and sweet-tongued, who wouldn’t like him? However, concerning Wei Zheng’s most cherished granddaughter, Pei Shi couldn’t make the decision. She discreetly reminded Li Yuanying, “Your grandfather hasn’t been in a good mood these days. If he scolds you, don’t take it personally.”
Li Yuanying said, “I understand.”
Old Wei could even scold his own brother, so what was scolding his son-in-law? Besides, it was his fault for forgetting to visit. Li Yuanying was sincere in his apology. As soon as he saw Wei Zheng returning, he followed him around, constantly reiterating that he had been too busy and forgot to discuss the matter.
He was so dedicated to being a “shadow” that even when Wei Zheng entered the privy, Li Yuanying waited outside and inquired if he needed any paper.
Wei Zheng couldn’t bear it any longer and yelled, “Get out of my sight and sit in your room!!!”
Li Yuanying, embarrassed, returned to the room.
He slipped to Wei Jiu’s side and whispered, “I think your grandfather’s voice is quite loud, and he seems very strong, which means he’s getting healthier. That way, we can rest assured going to Tengzhou.”
Wei Jiu had also heard Wei Zheng’s thunderous roar. She felt that her grandfather had no way to deal with Li Yuanying except to blow up. She advised, “Stop making your grandfather angry.”
“I’m not,” Li Yuanying said. “I’m trying very hard to win his forgiveness. You’re my wife in my heart, and of course you’ll be going with me to my fiefdom. If Mother hadn’t reminded me, it would have been terrible!” He secretly held her hand and asked, “If your grandfather forbids you from going with me, would you sneak away with me? We’d be like… what’s it called? Oh, I remember! We’d be like ‘fleeing lovers’!”
Wei Jiu: “…”
Wei Zheng entered the room and saw this scene of abduction: Li Yuanying was holding his granddaughter’s hand, trying to convince her to sneak away with him and be “fleeing lovers.”
Wei Zheng, furious, kicked Li Yuanying out and told him never to come back!
Li Yuanying, unable to enter the house even after trying to climb over the wall, was dejected. Seeing the palace gate about to close, he had to go back to Emperor Li to ask for help.
Emperor Li initially thought that Old Wei was being petty. Li Yuanying had just been busy and forgotten, and he had apologized. Why was Wei Zheng so angry that he had to kick him out?
However, after listening to how Li Yuanying had apologized, Emperor Li was silent for a while, then pointed at Li Yuanying and scolded, “You deserve to lose your wife!”
Where did this kid find the courage to come to him for help?
Li Yuanying stubbornly retorted, “I haven’t lost my wife. We’re fine!” After his rebuttal, he continued to plead with Emperor Li to intervene and allow him to take Wei Jiu to his fiefdom.
Emperor Li finally relented and agreed to act as a mediator between Wei Zheng and Li Yuanying.
Li Yuanying ran away like a flash of lightning.
The next day, Li Yuanying waited early in the morning by Emperor Li’s side, following him closely.
Li Chengqian, who now had to learn how to govern the country from Emperor Li, also arrived early. Seeing Li Yuanying playing “shadow” to the emperor, he seized the opportunity to ask, “Uncle, why are you following Father so early in the morning?”
Li Yuanying recounted the whole story of how he had angered Wei Zheng, explaining that he needed Emperor Li’s help to reconcile with Wei Zheng because otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to enter the house and wouldn’t be able to see Wei Jiu.
Li Chengqian was speechless. Anyone who heard that someone was trying to kidnap their granddaughter to be “fleeing lovers” would be furious, let alone Wei Zheng, who had such a fiery temper. He said, “Why didn’t you choose a better word? ‘Fleeing lovers’ sounds so ominous!”
Li Yuanying said, “I didn’t think of anything better at the time.”
The two men whispered and murmured until Emperor Li glanced at them, and they both shut their mouths, listening to the emperor receive officials.
It wasn’t a court session today, but officials came one after another to report on their work. Li Yuanying found it boring.
He hated doing things in a routine manner. In Huxian, he had delegated routine county affairs to Wu Mei and others, while he only focused on the exciting parts.
Having nothing better to do, Li Yuanying quietly borrowed pen and ink from Li Chengqian and started sketching the officials who passed by. He exaggerated their features, depicting who had a mole on their ear, who had a small nose and thick lips, and who had a sly smile.
Li Chengqian didn’t know what Li Yuanying was doing at first, but when he came closer and took a look, he couldn’t help laughing. Li Yuanying captured the essence so perfectly. With just a few strokes, he depicted each official’s characteristics vividly, so much so that anyone could recognize them at a glance. And in the future, they would pay special attention to that particular feature when they saw them again!
Seeing Li Chengqian appreciating his work, Li Yuanying became even more enthusiastic. He lowered his voice and said he would draw a portrait of the three “reprimanders” of the Eastern Palace.
Of the three who loved to reprimand the Eastern Palace, Kong Yingda was the one Li Yuanying was most familiar with. After spending time together, Li Yuanying found that beneath his sternness, he could see a hint of gentleness.
As for Zhang Xuansu and Yu Zhining, Li Yuanying had less contact with them, but he had seen them. Drawing their reprimanding faces was effortless.
Soon, a drawing of “The Three Reprimanders of the Eastern Palace” appeared under Li Yuanying’s brush. Three little old men with big heads and small bodies were all frowning, but each had their own fierce expression. They held in their hands an extremely long roll of remonstrance papers.
How long were these papers?
Kong Yingda and the other two were holding one end each, and each held a long section. The papers were covered with densely packed characters. There was even a longer section beside Kong Yingda, piled up like a mountain. It seemed they could reprimand for three days and three nights without stopping.
Li Chengqian: “…”
Even though he felt bad for Kong Yingda and the others, the drawing was too funny, and he couldn’t help laughing. Normally, he would be reprimanded by them. But now, looking at Li Yuanying’s drawing and laughing a little, it shouldn’t be considered an act of treason, right?
It turned out that Li Chengqian underestimated Li Yuanying’s audacity. After a wave of officials had left, he actually moved to sit next to Emperor Li and, with astounding bravery, shared his impromptu creation with him.
Emperor Li finished looking at it and thought, no wonder Wei Zheng had kicked this kid out! He coldly confiscated Li Yuanying’s stack of crooked drawings, made him sit aside and reflect on his mistakes, and forbade him from drawing any more caricatures of officials who came to see him.
After finishing the important matters, Emperor Li finally fulfilled his promise and had Wei Zheng summoned to discuss the marriage of the two youngsters.
Emperor Li wanted to prepare for the wedding while Li Yuanying was in Taiyuan, so that they could get married when he returned. After all, the marriage was already arranged, and it didn’t matter whether it was earlier or later.
They say the eldest brother is like a father. As they no longer had elders in their family, Li Yuanying’s marriage was his responsibility. He had already agreed to the marriage. Li Chunfeng would choose an auspicious date within the specified range, and that was all.
Of course, when talking to Wei Zheng, Emperor Li couldn’t be so casual. He sincerely inquired about Wei Zheng’s opinion, speaking as Li Yuanying’s elder.
However, before Wei Zheng could express his thoughts, Li Yuanying had already voiced his opposition: “No, Wei Jiu and I don’t want to get married so soon. We’re still young, and it won’t look good in wedding clothes. We have to be older to look good!”
Wei Zheng’s face was black as night.
This was the first time he had heard such an absurd reason for delaying a marriage!
Li Yuanying didn’t think he was being absurd. He actively expressed his opinion to the two parents, saying that since he and Wei Jiu were getting engaged now, they should wait for the most suitable time to get married. Otherwise, they might regret it! He then analyzed it from a health perspective for Wei Zheng: “After we get married, we’ll have to have children, and having children is so painful and arduous! Wei Jiu is still so young, how can she have children? You, as a grandfather, shouldn’t be so uncaring about your granddaughter!”
Wei Zheng was about to burst into flames: “I haven’t agreed to your marriage!”
Emperor Li was too lazy to speak and let Li Yuanying continue his antics. He would wait until he lost his wife and see if he cried!
Li Yuanying dared to provoke even Emperor Li, so naturally he wasn’t afraid of Wei Zheng’s anger. He seriously met Wei Zheng’s angry gaze and stated his thoughts: “Wei Jiu is the youngest among the newly appointed jinshi, even the youngest jinshi since the founding of the Tang Dynasty. Is she less capable than boys? Was her jinshi status obtained through fraud?”
Wei Zheng said, “Of course not.”
Li Yuanying said, “If someone is willing to recommend her to be the magistrate of a county or to manage a prefecture’s academy, wouldn’t that be following the rules of the court?”
Wei Zheng didn’t speak.
Li Yuanying said, “Wei Jiu has already proven her ability and scholarship. Why do we have to get married before she can go with me to my fiefdom? I don’t want Wei Jiu to be known only as the Princess Consort of Teng. She can be ‘Wei Jiu.’ Why does she have to be ‘Princess Consort of Teng’ so early? She’s so much more outstanding than many others, and she can do much better than many others!”
Wei Zheng was shaken.
If he had heard these words in the past, he would have thought Li Yuanying was going against the norms.
Throughout history, how many women had left their names in the annals of history? Women were supposed to get married, and once married, they should obey their husbands, becoming their husbands’ people, devoting themselves to their husbands and children, raising their sons and daughters.
Li Yuanying said that women could be “themselves.” What else could this be but going against the norms?
But these words were spoken for his granddaughter!
Li Yuanying understood his granddaughter better than anyone else and was willing to let her pursue her own dreams!
Wei Zheng stared at Li Yuanying.
Seeing that Wei Zheng’s attitude had softened slightly, Li Yuanying bowed respectfully to him and earnestly pleaded, “Please rest assured and entrust Wei Jiu to me. I will protect her and never let her suffer any grievances or harm.”
Seeing Li Yuanying’s sincere gesture, the dissatisfaction in Wei Zheng’s heart instantly vanished. This kid seemed carefree and playful, but he had a depth and wisdom that few could match. He knew how to persuade others, and each word he said went straight to their hearts.
Wei Zheng sighed and said, “Do whatever you want.”
Emperor Li and Li Chengqian, having watched Li Yuanying persuade Wei Zheng, exchanged a look, both thinking that in the future, they couldn’t let Li Yuanying speak easily. Look how capable this kid was! Even Wei Zheng was persuaded by him!
Normally, wouldn’t one beat the living daylights out of someone who didn’t want to marry your granddaughter but wanted to take her away?
**Author’s Note:**
Emperor Li: How come you weren’t beaten to death?
Nephew: How come you weren’t beaten to death?
Little Prince: Why don’t you wish for something good? (He points and gestures.)
Update! Yesterday’s little red envelopes have been sent! If you received a message from the website, it means you were hit by a red envelope! Generally speaking, it’s randomly sent to the first few pages and then pages 11, 22, 33, 44 and so on, isn’t it random and exciting! In fact, if the Jinjiang interface was more convenient, I would prefer to send them all, but Jinjiang is really ______. Last time I sent 700 red envelopes and it took a whole hour, and I had to wait for it to respond before I could send the next page… so I can only randomly send 100, 200, etc._(:3∠)_
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