Half blood

Li Xuan was startled, and raised his head, only to see Li Zhengya's tiger eyes staring at him, Li Zhengya said sharply: "You saw it when you came out of the dungeon. The few hundred people you let in have already turned the capital upside down." , They are all in rags and don’t know anything, just squatting on the street to beg, and steal food if they can’t beg. Before they came in, the people in the capital lived without closing their doors at night. What do you think now? They have posted pictorials: 'Those who are not of my race will be punished'"

Li Zhengya paused, leaned his back on the dragon chair wearily, and said in a slow tone, "Do you know that if this continues, I won't be able to keep you and your queen..."

Li Xuan raised his head and saw that his father, who was leaning on the dragon chair, had an aura of calmness and authority. The person is clearly old.There are interlaced lines under the tiger's eyes, and Huafa grew out of his temples at some point. At this moment, he is not like a high-spirited emperor who calms down the chaos of the four kings, but like a disappointed father.

Li Xuan lowered his head suddenly, squeezed the corner of his clothes, and said in a low voice: "Father, I understand what you mean. I will not make such a proposal again."

Li Zhengya was taken aback for a moment, he didn't seem to expect that Li Xuan would give in so quickly, Li Zhengya said: "I know you have a good heart, your child has been like this since he was a child. He likes to be a peacemaker, I want you to be good, everyone is good." , but now it’s not a play, you have to be clear in your heart, if you want to have a shot, you should sacrifice the one who should be sacrificed, do you understand if you give up the car to protect the handsome? The most taboo is the benevolence of women, and there will be endless troubles when the time comes.”

Li Xuan nodded, and responded casually: "What the father said is very true."

It seems that Li Xuan's abnormal performance today surprised Li Zhengya. Li Zhengya got up from the dragon chair, walked down the stairs to Li Xuan's side, and asked, "Do you know the news that I want to marry a concubine?"

"Oh, I see."

Li Zhengya paused, and said, "I know you must be uncomfortable."

Li Xuandao: "My child is not feeling uncomfortable."

Li Zhengya snorted and said: "How is it possible? Don't tell such lies in front of me. I watched you grow up, and I know what you think very well. You must blame me and feel that I have failed you Queen Mother." Li Zhengya sighed and said, "But I can't help it. In this world, I always have to do things that I can't help myself."

Li Xuan said softly: "Yes."

Li Zhengya turned her back and asked Li Xuan to step back first, and to come up tomorrow, and don't mention the matter of opening the warehouse to release the grain.Don't talk too much, just stand obediently in the court, listen to what others say and how to do it for a few days, put your mind down, and speak after learning.

Li Xuan retreated from the hall, outside the hall Li Xiuqi was waiting for him in black official uniform.Li Xuan looked at Li Xiuqi's back, and walked over step by step.

Li Xiuqi turned around, smiled at Li Xuan, and said: "Your Highness, how is it? Does the Holy Majesty agree?"

Li Xuan forced a smile, and said: "Father is determined, even the scriptures you wrote can't impress him."

Li Xiuqi was slightly stunned, put away the smile on his lips, and said seriously: "Then what is your Highness going to do? You must not be impulsive..."

Li Xuan waved his hand, and said: "After so many days in the dungeon, I have learned to be good. If the emperor disagrees so much, then forget it." After speaking, he walked outside the palace.

Li Xiuqi followed and asked, "Your Highness...you really gave up?" Li Xiuqi felt that with Li Xuan's temperament, he would not give up so easily, and he must be plotting some small scheme in his heart.

Li Xuanyun replied calmly: "Since the father does not agree to open the warehouse to release the grain, then I will release my own grain."

Li Xuan called the accountant of Prince An's Mansion over and asked him to bring all the bills of Prince An's Mansion.The accountant moved a stack of account books to Li Xuan.

Li Xuan looked at such a tall pile, and was happy in his heart, thinking that his family property was quite large, and his family was well-off, so he should be able to allocate some food.

As a result, when Li Xuan opened the account book, he was shocked.The black pen on the account book is profit, and the red pen is deficit, and half of this book is deficit.

Li Xuan hurriedly called the accountant, who came in, and asked respectfully, "Your Highness, what's the matter?"

Li Xuan pointed to the paper full of red characters, and asked, "Why is there a deficit in this account book?"

The accountant wiped the sweat from his forehead and said: "Your Highness, you don't know. You just moved out of the palace. This house was bought with money, and the spare car was newly bought. There is also a house. The servants in the palace have to be paid every month. And you were arrested as soon as you became king, and you were charged a large amount of bail fees. In short, since your highness entered the house until now, you have not paid Where's the money..."

Li Xuan was startled, he didn't feel it when he was in the palace, and he didn't feel it when he was living in the south, he was not in charge of the family and didn't know about Chai Migui. What about opening a warehouse to release food, if this continues, the dozens of servants in his own house who are waiting to be fed will follow him to drink the northwest wind.

Li Xuan scratched his head, pointed to a spot of black in the thousands of red bushes, and asked, "What about this? Where did this sum of money come from?"

The accountant took it over and took a look. After thinking for a while, he said, "Oh, I remembered this. This is a congratulatory gift from Lord Li when His Highness just moved in."

It turned out to be from Li Xiuqi. Li Xuan nodded, pointed to another row of black writing, and said, "What about this one? It looks like a store."

The cashier looked at it and said, "Oh, this is also a gift from Master Li. He bought His Highness's favorite bakery and gave it to His Highness as a gift for warming the house."

"Is that Jin Kee?"

The cashier nodded and said, "Exactly."

"Is Jin Kee Bakery under my name?"

"Exactly."

Li Xuan was overjoyed and thought to himself, he could eat as much as he wanted when he went to this bakery in the future.

"However..." the accountant suddenly said, "But Jinji has been running a deficit for the past few days. After the refugees from outside the city came in, the business will not be easy."

Li Xuan asked: "Why?"

The accountant twitched his lips in disgust, and said: "A group of beggars are squatting on the street. You said that looking at these dirty things, there is no appetite to eat them."

Li Xuan's face sank slightly, and he said: "Okay, I understand, you should step back first."

Li Xuan spent the whole night figuring out how much money he could give out. He could give out a total of 100 taels of silver, and as soon as the money was given out, everyone in their house would go to drink the Northwest Wind.

Li Xuan sighed, collected the account books one by one, and wrote a note to the accountant, asking him to take out 50 taels of silver first, go to the grain shop to buy some white rice and then some brown rice, and mix them together to make porridge.

After hearing Li Xuan's proposal, the accountant refused to take out the money for a while, and said, "Your Highness...you, what are you doing?"

Li Xuandao: "I want to open a porridge shop to help the victims."

The accountant touched the brass key at his waist with both hands, and stammered, "Your Highness, this is the last tael in the house."

Li Xuandao: "I know, it will come back after all the money is gone, you just go and buy the rice back. The rest of the money will arrive at the end of this month, so let's pay the servants as salaries."

Seeing that Li Xuan couldn't be held back by the accountant, after dawdling for a long time, a hundred people reluctantly took out the silver and went to buy the rice back for Li Xuan.

Li Xuan set up a porridge shop for disaster relief in front of the house, and cooked porridge in a big pot.This porridge is very light, a bowl of water has about ten grains of rice floating in it, Li Xuan said: "It's too clear, I have to get some sweet potatoes to fill it up."

The accountant had a bitter face, and cried out: "Your Highness, the mansion is really out of money, and now there is no penny, Your Highness, you don't know that rice is expensive, you need to know that you don't have to eat tonight's dinner. "

"Is that an exaggeration?" Li Xuan rolled his eyes.

The cashier nodded and said, "That's true."

Li Xuan then said: "What about you? Do you have something to eat?"

The cashier nodded, and said, "I've saved some silver over the years, so I won't starve to death."

Li Xuandao: "I can't let you all suffer with me, so how about it, when I entered the house that day, besides Mr. Li's congratulatory gift, is there any congratulatory gift?"

The accountant shook his head and said: "The other gifts are very perfunctory and useless. They are just a few congratulatory words made of red cloth, and then some pastries and fruits... But the princess also gave a pair of emerald jade carvings. Your Highness, Your Highness Could it be that you want to pawn off that jade carving?"

Li Xuandao: "Let's do this first, but when you pawn, you have to agree with the pawnshop shopkeeper that if you want to pawn it alive, I will go and redeem the things in a few days."

"Why does Your Highness treat it as something?" Li Xiuqi said after coming out of the opposite house. He looked at the porridge shop in front of Li Xuan's house and the white porridge tumbling in the pot, and said, "Your Highness, this is to open a storehouse for disaster relief. ?"

Li Xuan said with a bitter face: "Isn't it? I squeezed out all the money in the house, I didn't expect King An's salary to be so low."

Li Xiuqi looked around, and said: "King An's salary is not low, but His Highness committed such a big thing just after he was appointed, and even after deducting the salary, he even paid a sum."

Li Xuan was a little embarrassed, touched his nose and said, "This porridge shop can only be opened for a few days, and it's not a long-term solution, but I can't think of any good way. Besides," Li Xuan grinned, "I I have to have dinner at your house tonight."

Li Xiuqi has the stomach of a southerner and is addicted to spicy food. Li Xuan didn't know why at first, but now he has found the root cause. After all, Wei Zhong is a southerner. The above is half southerner.

But tonight's dishes are light, a few side dishes, a steamed fish, and a cup of seaweed soup.Li Xuan sat down at the table, looked at the empty hall, and said, "Your house is really deserted."

Li Xiuqi said: "I live alone, and I don't need a large group of people to take care of me." After speaking, he picked a piece of white meat from the belly of the fish for Li Xuan.The capital is far inland, unlike the southern camp where there is an inexhaustible amount of freshwater fish, but the fish is as fresh as it just fell out of the water.Only a few slices of ginger and garlic are added, topped with vinegar and wine, and then put on a layer of lard and steamed. After steaming, add a few drops of sesame oil. The seasoning does not steal the umami of the fish itself. But the fishy smell of the fish itself was removed.

Li Xuan swallowed the thornless white meat in a few mouthfuls, exclaiming that it was delicious, "How can there be such fresh fish in this capital?"

Li Xiuqi replied: "It was transported from outside the city, and then raised in a water tank in the backyard."

"Let me tell you," Li Xuan said, "it's boring for you to eat alone, why not let me eat with you every day in the future, if there is someone next to you making jokes and making you happy, you will eat more. "

Li Xiuqi smiled lightly and said, "Isn't it because Your Highness has no money to eat in Prince An's Mansion?"

Li Xuan rubbed his nose and said, "That, that's also a reason... Let me tell you the truth, I only have 50 taels of silver left after the people's salaries are paid by my family. I still want the 50 taels of silver I want to open the porridge shop for a few more days, so I really have no money to eat, so I can only eat the porridge with the victims."

Li Xiuqi said: "So Your Highness wants to pawn off the pair of emerald jade carvings that the Eldest Princess gave as a congratulatory gift?"

Li Xuan nodded and said: "Now I can only think of this one way."

Li Xiuqi said: "If you really need money, Your Highness should sell Jinji Bakery. I never thought that Jinji would lose money like this."

Li Xuan shook his head and said, "That's not okay, this is a gift you gave me."

"It's really not because His Highness wants to go to Jin Kee to eat cakes in the future, and eat as much as you want?"

Li Xuan was stunned at once, touched his nose, and said, "Wow! I did it because, I did it because you gave it to me, and I couldn't bear it."

Li Xiuqi said: "But the emerald jade carving is also a congratulatory gift from the princess."

"So I will make a living, and I will come back later."

Li Xiuqi said: "No matter how you say it, the jade carving is a wish of the princess, and it is very valuable. It is not worth pawning it off at such a low price. I happen to have someone I know who wants to buy this bakery and is willing to spend a lot of money to buy it." , Your Highness, think about it."

Li Xuan then asked: "How much is that person going to pay?"

"How much money is your Highness short?"

Li Xuan calculated in his heart, and said: "There seems to be a shortage of about 200 taels. With this 200 taels, you can open a porridge shop for [-] days and pay the people in the house a month's salary. After that, my salary will also be paid. Money can be turned around.”

Li Xiuqi nodded and said, "He is willing to pay 300 taels."

"300 taels? So much money?" Li Xuan exclaimed, "Why is a shop that is losing money willing to pay such a high price for it?"

Li Xiuqi said: "That man especially likes Jinji's glutinous rice cakes, and he has plenty of money, money can't buy you happiness, he just wants to buy it."

Li Xuan murmured: "Hey... I also like to eat here. But I have no money... Then, let's sell this shop to him."

Li Xiuqi nodded and said: "Don't worry, Your Highness, take care of me. Also, what is Your Highness going to give to the wedding banquet?"

Li Xuan thought for a while, and said: "If the bakery can sell 200 taels, then I still have 100 taels to spare, so I can use the 50 taels to buy something."

Li Xiuqi shook his head and said: "This is not allowed."

Li Xuan was taken aback for a moment, and asked, "What's wrong with this?"

Li Xiuqi said: "Your Highness, after the Holy Majesty accepted He Xiang as his concubine, they must have been afraid of you, thinking that you must be full of dissatisfaction and want revenge. Sending a congratulatory gift is actually a gesture of friendship. If you give one too cheap If you don’t want something, then she will think that you are looking down on her and provoking her. So you must send something expensive, no matter what your intentions are, you still have to do it on the surface. "

Li Xuan sighed after hearing this, and said: "What can I do... Even if I say that I am shy as a doctor now, no one will believe me..."

Li Xuan sighed sadly, and said: "You said, we are really unlucky. In the future, our relatives and friends, we will have to give a gift once before we get married, once a child is born, once a child is full moon, and once a child is born. When we get married, we have to give a gift. But what about us? We can't get married in a fair manner in this life, let alone have any children. The gift that was sent is just in vain. "

"Your Highness, don't think so," Li Xiuqi said.

Li Xuan stared and said, "You don't want to say anything, are we just joking or something?"

Li Xiuqi didn't make a sound, it seemed that he had acquiesced.

Li Xuan put down the bowls and chopsticks in his hands, sighed softly, and said, "Okay, you just don't believe me. When I ascend the throne, the first order I issued is not to help the victims, but to have a male queen in the harem." ,All right!"

Li Xiuqi was amused by Li Xuan's words, and said: "Your Highness, don't worry about the congratulatory gift for the emperor. I just prepared two congratulatory gifts, one for the holy wedding and the other for the princess. But Wei Yuan's Thing... Now the princess won't be willing to marry for a while, and this congratulatory gift has already been pasted with happy words, so let His Highness take it."

Li Xuan's eyes lit up when he heard this, and said: "Really?!" But he immediately sank his face and said: "This is not good, you have given me a lot of things before, and I have never given you anything, I, I I'd better figure it out on my own." After speaking, Li Xuan took a few mouthfuls of fragrant rice from Li Xiuqi's family with great backbone.

Li Xiuqi smiled and said: "What's the point? The congratulatory gift is for women, and I can't use it if I keep it. It's better to give it away so as not to accumulate dust in the house."

After hearing this, Li Xuan thought for a while, but he was really poor and had nothing to do, so he cheekily accepted the congratulatory gift prepared by Li Xiuqi.