Li Yuanying had been bouncing around for half a year, pondering every detail. He was much calmer now compared to when his wedding date was first set. His only concern was the wedding attire. He was naturally handsome, and the red robes made him even more radiant, looking like the most spirited and proud groom in the world.
His upcoming wedding was a big event, so everyone, including Luo Binwang, showered him with praise, saying that the wedding attire fit him perfectly. Li Yuanying went around showing off his attire to everyone, getting a taste of being a groom. If Di Renjie hadn’t stopped him, he might have even gone to the Wei family to show off to Wei Jiu.
Di Renjie and Wu Mei commented, “You’re about to get married, yet you’re still acting like a child.” Li Yuanying wasn’t exactly young, he was about eighteen or nineteen years old. Look at Prince Jin, Li Zhi. At that age, most people were already fathers of several children. But it was hard to imagine Li Yuanying as a father. This kid was probably going to be more childish than his own son.
Wu Mei said, “It’s fine that Your Highness is like this.”
If they could, who wouldn’t want to live a carefree life? They might never be able to live their lives freely, but they could protect him and let him enjoy life. She believed that Tengzhou would be different from other places, and she believed that Li Yuanying would forge a unique future, one that would be recorded in the annals of history with bold strokes.
Even though it was just the beginning, she had this confidence.
As spring began, Emperor Li’s imperial procession departed from Chang’an to perform the grand sacrifice ceremony at Mount Tai. Li Chengqian remained in Chang’an, still in charge. His wound had healed completely, although with some minor lingering effects, it didn’t significantly impact his position as Crown Prince.
Li Chengqian was a little disappointed that he couldn’t attend Li Yuanying’s wedding, but he sent Li Xiang to attend on his behalf. Naturally, there was a long procession of gifts. How could they let their “Yao Shu” get married without gifts!
Emperor Li saw that Li Chengqian was emptying the East Palace, and he thought to himself, “I’ve raised a spendthrift son. My sister never saw me emptying my coffers for her wedding. If this boy empties the East Palace, won’t he have to rely on my money?”
Since his son was so generous, Emperor Li couldn’t fall behind. He added a string of items to the gift list, determined to have more than the East Palace’s coffers.
Although Emperor Li was using his own private treasury, people weren’t blind. They knew the father and son were spending big by counting the items they carried.
This competition from Emperor Li quickly alerted Wei Zheng. This old man, since falling ill last time, seemed to be in better spirits, and could scold someone for an hour without pausing for breath.
Even if these gifts were for his own grandson-in-law, Wei Zheng didn’t hesitate to berate Emperor Li, urging him to stick to the original gift list and avoid any special treatment. What would happen when other princes got married in the future? How much could his treasury afford? For goodness sake, leave some funds for the Crown Prince!
After scolding Emperor Li, Wei Zheng went on to scold the Crown Prince. He was the most qualified to scold in this matter, since these gifts might end up in his granddaughter’s possession. It was only right for him to stop them from being sent.
Wei Zheng’s scolding was incredibly effective, and the Emperor and his son were both subdued, agreeing to cut the gifts in half. Cutting them in half was their absolute limit. Any less, and they would feel embarrassed!
Li Yuanying in Tengzhou heard about this and sighed to Wei Jiu, “Your grandfather is such a spendthrift! Those were gifts from my elder brother and nephew. He wouldn’t let them send them.”
Wei Jiu replied, “Even if there were more, it wouldn’t necessarily be what you want. Haven’t you already taken everything you were interested in from the Emperor’s private treasury?” Li Yuanying was a master at throwing tantrums, and he would have demanded anything he wanted. Ordinary treasures wouldn’t interest him.
Li Yuanying thought Wei Jiu was right and stopped feeling sorry for himself. He continued to be enthusiastic about his wedding preparations.
He was currently pondering something else: wedding candies.
Sugar was a rare commodity, rarely consumed by the common people. Most people ate “Yi Tang” (wheat paste candy) or honey, which stuck to their teeth. Last year, a small country called “Mo Jie Tuo” (Magadha) in Tianzhu (India) sent tribute to Emperor Li, presenting him with a type of sugar called “Shi Mi” (stone honey), claiming it was made from sugarcane and melted in your mouth, sweet and not cloying.
Emperor Li, despite his cold and heartless appearance, actually had a sweet tooth. He loved it and had some sent to Li Yuanying to try, even dispatching Wang Xuance and thirty others as envoys to Tianzhu to bring back some “Shi Mi” artisans to teach the people of the Tang Dynasty how to make sugar.
Li Yuanying, like Emperor Li, was very dedicated to eating well.
The “Shi Mi” sent by Emperor Li wasn’t much, and Tianzhu was far away. Li Yuanying felt that waiting for the “Shi Mi” artisans from Tianzhu was too slow, so he directly exchanged the sugar-making method with the system and ordered people to find sugarcane and make sugar.
Li Yuanying’s reason was very plausible: they had known each other for so long, and now he was getting married, didn’t the system have to show some appreciation?
The system thought that since this was a technology already existing in this era, there was no need to hide it. It generously exchanged the sugar-making method applicable to this era with Li Yuanying. Li Yuanying then ordered people to explore the south for sugar production. Knowing that this was for Li Yuanying’s wedding, the people entrusted with the task were highly motivated and managed to produce a batch of sugar before the new year.
If everyone knew that sugarcane could be transformed into beautiful white sugar, and if they had access to more sugarcane, they might have brought back several shiploads of sugar instead.
With a mountain of sugar to spend, Li Yuanying waved his hand and ordered people to make various sugar cakes and wedding candies. He would give everyone who came to his wedding a small bag to take home and try, while also showing off to Emperor Li. After all, the envoys sent by Emperor Li hadn’t returned yet, while his people already knew how to make sugar!
Li Yuanying checked his wedding preparations every day with great enthusiasm, like a child counting his treasures. Soon, someone came to relay Emperor Li’s oral decree, ordering him to immediately meet up with the main group and head to Mount Tai to witness the Grand Sacrifice Ceremony.
Li Yuanying had no interest in the ceremony, but Emperor Li had issued a decree, so he obediently set off. After seeing Emperor Li, he complained, “The Grand Sacrifice Ceremony has nothing to do with me. Why did you call me here? I’m busy with my wedding.”
Everyone around heard Li Yuanying’s words but pretended not to hear.
Emperor Li felt that he shouldn’t have called this kid. Listen to his sharp-tongued remarks. Seeing him a couple more times would definitely shorten his lifespan. Emperor Li said, “I told you to come, so come! Do you have a problem with that?”
Since Emperor Li had said that, Li Yuanying could only sulkily reply, “No problem.” But he didn’t stay sulky for long. After being dismissed by Emperor Li, he immediately became lively again, distributing candy to his nieces and nephews.
Sweet treats were always a favorite of girls. Li Yuanying, in his bias, distributed them to his nieces and grandnieces one by one, completely forgetting his nephews and grandnephews. It wasn’t until Li Xiang approached that he remembered that he also had a bunch of nephews and grandnephews who were still young. He generously allowed Li Xiang to take a portion to distribute to the boys.
With the allure of candy and cookies, the children quickly gathered around Li Yuanying, making him regain his old “King of the Children” aura.
Emperor Li saw this scene and felt that Li Yuanying didn’t look like someone about to get married, but like a child. However, he was unhappy that Li Yuanying had sweets to entice those kids but hadn’t thought about sending some to him. He thought this kid was a white-eyed wolf. He had received the sugar and even had some sent to Tengzhou for him to try. This kid didn’t even think about his elder brother when he had something good!
Li Yuanying didn’t know that Emperor Li craved sweets. He just felt that Emperor Li’s face was always gloomy whenever he saw him. He was a little confused. When they reached the foot of Mount Tai and settled in, he couldn’t help but go to Wei Zheng for guidance, wondering what he had done to make Emperor Li so angry for so long.
Wei Zheng subtly asked him if he had sent any sugar to Emperor Li.
The matter of Li Yuanying captivating a bunch of children with candy and cookies wasn’t exactly discreet. Most of the people accompanying them knew about it. When Wei Zheng mentioned it, Li Yuanying understood. It turned out Emperor Li wanted to eat sugar!
Old people were all about face. They wouldn’t directly say what they wanted but would put on a grumpy face. Li Yuanying grumbled a few words in his heart but was still considerate enough to have some fragrant and sweet candy and cookies made and sent to Emperor Li.
Sending food to Emperor Li was really inconvenient. It had to go through multiple inspections, and if anything went wrong, it would be considered treason. Even if the food itself was fine, it could cause problems due to individual sensitivities. This was why Li Yuanying didn’t like sending things to Emperor Li. It was too troublesome!
But since he knew that Emperor Li wanted to eat, he decided to send some despite the trouble.
Li Yuanying personally carried the candy and cookies to Emperor Li. Emperor Li glanced at him and told him to put them down. Li Yuanying saw that Emperor Li’s face wasn’t as gloomy anymore and thought that his elder brother wasn’t sincere. He wanted to eat but wouldn’t say so!
Since it was almost his wedding, Li Yuanying decided not to argue with Emperor Li. He stood on either side of Emperor Li, flattering him with Li Xiang.
When Changsun Wuji and others came to report on the preparations for the Grand Sacrifice Ceremony, they saw two little flatterers flanking Emperor Li. They were both handsome, but their faces were full of obsequiousness, making people feel that this family was hopeless!
Perhaps due to good fortune, the weather around Mount Tai was sunny and pleasant in those days. There wasn’t even a single drop of rain.
On the day of the Grand Sacrifice Ceremony, Li Yuanying and Li Xiang continued to follow Emperor Li up the mountain, witnessing the entire ceremony. Li Yuanying didn’t know if heaven heard the prayers they recited, but he felt that his legs were numb and aching after the whole ceremony. He couldn’t imagine how old men like Lao Fang could endure this!
When they descended the mountain and returned to the palace, Li Yuanying couldn’t help but complain to Emperor Li. Emperor Li also felt tired, but he couldn’t resist glaring at him. If Mount Tai truly reached heaven, the heavens would hear Li Yuanying’s complaints and give him some suffering!
Li Yuanying was silenced by Emperor Li’s glare and obediently followed him down the mountain. They rested at the palace that night and then set off for Tengzhou the next day.
Emperor Li had fulfilled a wish and was in good spirits. He held a palace banquet to celebrate with the officials. After the banquet, he called for someone to give him and Li Yuanying a foot massage, and while enjoying the service, he asked Li Yuanying, who had been left behind, “I heard you haven’t had anyone to serve you, and you’re about to get married. You probably don’t even know how to sleep with your wife. I’ll send two people to teach you tonight.”
The palace had dedicated court ladies to educate princes. Emperor Li specifically chose two beautiful and gentle ladies to accompany them, hoping to initiate Li Yuanying, so he wouldn’t make a fool of himself on his wedding night.
Li Yuanying immediately shook his head. “No, I don’t want it,” he said with a righteous face. “If I’m not pure, how can I marry Jiu-mei!”
Emperor Li: “…”
The author has something to say:
A mistake has been made!!
The wedding will be in the next chapter!!
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