Crossing the East Palace

The winter at the end of the 21st year of Tianyuan was colder and shorter than previous years.

Tang Luojin arranged everything properly, so she began to practice martial arts day by day, boxing, horsemanship and archery and so on.

The news that the crown prince might go to the border battlefield in the next year quickly spread in Chang'an City.

Many aspiring sons of aristocratic families clamored to follow the crown prince to the border—now the credit is not easy to earn, and it’s nothing more than usual, and now the crown prince is about to go to the battlefield. In order to earn a share of credit, how can they continue? stay at home?

Some enlightened families naturally agreed to this matter; some families simply didn't want their sons to go to the battlefield.

Of course, there are more ministers who don't understand at all, how could the Holy Majesty allow the prince to go to the battlefield?

"Your Majesty, the prince is young and has a high status. How can he set foot in such dangerous places as the battlefield?"

The first person who objected to this was Prime Minister Li. He tried to persuade him, "If it was another time, the middle palace had no sons, and your Majesty had no capable elder princes, it would be reasonable to let the princes go to the battlefield to earn some military merit. However, the prince is now 14 years old after the Chinese New Year. He is an upright son of the middle palace. He is filial. At a young age, he has built the first library, built a charity hall to accommodate orphans, and placed disabled soldiers. It is obvious that I am Datang The best crown prince. With such a crown prince, how can His Majesty let him go to the battlefield and stand under the dangerous wall?"

"What the prime minister said is right. The prince is extremely filial and has the talent of photographic memory. Although because of his young age, he often skips classes, but because of his young age, he behaves like a teenager. It is exactly the behavior of this age. , there is not much to criticize. Datang has a wise king like His Majesty and a crown prince like a prince, so that the country can not be shaken. Only when the country is strong can Datang prosper. You shouldn't be sending a prince."

"The minister also thinks that the prince is not suitable for going out."

"My minister agrees."

"minister……"

The news of Tang Luojin's going to the border has not yet been formalized, and Emperor Tianyuan's desk is already full of papers against this matter.And in the early court, everyone was arguing about it.

All the ministers objected to this matter, and the grown-up princes also had complicated expressions when they knew about this matter.

Speaking of which, on the battlefield, swords and swords have no eyes, which is where Tang Luojin is most prone to accidents - even if Tang Luojin does not die, as long as he is directly disabled like Ning Junyuan, Datang will not tolerate a disabled prince.As for the twelfth prince, a swaddling baby, no prince who was older than him had ever paid him much attention.

But what if Tang Luojin came back safe and sound?

The Ning family is the mother of the crown prince, and they lead 30 troops on the Turkic border, so they already have military power; if Tang Luojin also takes the military power of Tubo into his hands, then who of them will be able to check and balance the crown prince in the future?

At that time, even if it is the father, I am afraid that he will not be able to easily decide whether to abolish the crown prince.

Thinking about it this way, even if there are princes who really want the prince to go to the battlefield, it is best to die or remain on the battlefield, but thinking of the military achievements and military power that the prince may obtain, they all discuss with their respective mother and wife clans and oppose it together. The prince went to the battlefield.

Everyone objected in unison, but Emperor Tianyuan did not open his mouth to refute. Hearing the passionate opposition from ministers, he would occasionally nod his head, but Emperor Tianyuan never asked whether he wanted the crown prince to go to war.

In Emperor Tianyuan's place, he was tortured by memorials and ministers and princes, but Tang Luojin's place was quiet.

If a courtier asks to see him, he will send him away with just a sentence of "You are still young, don't care about state affairs"; I was so tired that I even forgot the purpose of this trip, so I let him go.

In this way, Tang Luojin naturally gained peace.

However, even though he gained tranquility, he would go to the mountain villa on the outskirts of Chang'an that he built himself every ten days.

The villa he built is huge, but it is not used for planting flowers or enjoying the scenery, but for arranging various artificial mountains, waters, depressions and dangerous places, so that the children of the nobles and the servants will come to "battle".

That's right, it's the battle.Similar to the real-life field games of Tang Luojin's past era, although it is not as exciting as that kind of game, for the noble children of Datang, this game is enough to ignite their blood.

And Tang Luojin will build this Zhuangzi, in addition to training himself, it is also to find "good players" among the noble children who play in the Zhuangzi, whether it is a good player, or a good leader, he has his own use .

Emperor Tianyuan acquiesced to this matter, and those noble children from Chang'an City came to the villa to "play" as if fascinated.However, the parents and elders of these aristocratic children only knew that they went to "play", but they didn't know how much the game they "played" had on them.

Although Tang Luojin was not bothered by anyone, she was too busy to touch the ground.

By the time he was free, it was already New Year's Eve, and Emperor Tianyuan had sealed his pen.

On New Year's Eve, it's a family reunion.The same is true for the imperial palace. The wives, concubines, and children of Emperor Tianyuan's palace, as well as the royal family, all came to the palace to watch the new year with Emperor Tianyuan and wait for the early morning.

Rao those young princes and princesses, this night, even if they sleep, they can only sleep in the night watch palace and cannot go back to the palace.

How about the etiquette system in the palace, even if Emperor Tianyuan loved Tang Luojin a lot in those days, Tang Luojin has come here year after year to watch the new year, and the remaining princes and princesses are naturally no exception.

The Queen, Concubine Rong and Yue Chongyuan all felt sorry for the Twelfth Prince, who was only in his early one year old, and couldn't bear that he had to watch his age like this at such a young age.However, the three of them only dared to feel distressed in their hearts. Thinking about it a few months ago, when the Twelve Princes caught Zhou, Emperor Tianyuan and the Empress Dowager hadn't arrived yet. Just a few things.The three of them naturally did not dare to imagine how much Emperor Tianyuan and the Empress Dowager liked the Twelve Princes.

Yue Chongyuan hugged the twelfth prince, and whispered: "Min'er, good boy, I will recite the poems you learned two days ago to your father later, so that your father will like you."

The queen was slightly surprised: "Min'er can recite poems now?" Min'er is only one year and three months old now.

Yue Chongyuan said proudly: "Of course! The second sister doesn't know, Min'er is especially smart! She started talking at ten months old, and she can actually say auspicious words on her first birthday, but that day..." She pursed her lips and said, "It's just that That day, I originally wanted to invite the emperor and the queen mother, and then say the auspicious words. But I didn't want to. The emperor and the queen mother were busy, so we couldn't invite anyone. Now that he is a few months older, not only can he Speaking auspicious words, I can recite poems, and Min'er can read characters."

Concubine Rong also smiled: "The fourth prince and the third princess both like Min'er, so they taught him the characters they wrote. Originally, they were teaching for fun, but after teaching and teaching, the fourth prince and the third princess discovered that they only need to teach If you read it once, he will be like the prince, he will never forget it, and if you ask him what word it is later, he will still remember it."

The queen is overjoyed.

Yue Chongyuan curled her lips and said: "Sister Concubine Rong is wrong. Our Min'er can speak auspicious words, recite poems and read when he is over one year old, but the prince... when he was over one year old, he was still..."

"Sister, be careful!" Concubine Rong said seriously, "The prince is a prince, how can Min'er compare with the prince?"

Concubine Rong is used to being timid, but she is timid, not stupid.The emperor designated the title of the twelve princes as "Shun" and his name as "Min", and handed him over to his two concubines to raise him together. During the full moon, hundredth day, and birthday ceremonies, the emperor was not seen at all, obviously for the sake of the prince. , the emperor made up his mind to neglect the twelve princes.

Concubine Rong knew in her heart that such neglect might not necessarily be bad for the twelve princes.They can get the emperor's favor for the twelve princes, and make him more "smart". In this way, the emperor may not refuse to like him; but if they let the twelve princes be smarter than the prince, then the emperor must It's because he doesn't want to like the twelve princes anymore.

Yue Chongyuan has been in the palace for many years, and now she understands many things, she bit her lips when she heard the words, but she dared not speak any more.

——In her heart, although the Twelfth Prince is indeed smart, if compared to the Crown Prince... it is completely incomparable.

Let’s not talk about age, it’s just that the prince caught the same thing as Emperor Wu when he caught Zhou. He was crowned king at the age of one, and then left Chang’an. At the age of three, he went to a hundred Buddhist temples. .At the young age of seven, he used archery to defeat the much older Turkic third prince. Last year and the year before last, he even earned his reputation among the literati and the trust and gratitude of the soldiers... All these are enough for a little girl, She realized that the crown prince was completely different from the twelve princes she raised.

Even if the twelve princes she raised really have the ability to remember with a photograph, so what?With the crown prince Zhuyu in front, the memory of the twelve princes is really nothing.

Concubine Rong and Yue Chongyuan loved the Twelfth Prince in their hearts, but they really didn't dare to compare him with the Prince.

But the queen didn't think so.

"What poems can Min'er recite? How many poems of Emperor Wu can Min'er recite?"

As soon as the queen's words came out, Concubine Rong and Yue Chongyuan paused.

Concubine Jiang De, who was originally a little far away, suddenly walked up to a few people, and said with a surprised smile: "Can the twelve princes already know how to recite poems? Is it the poems of Emperor Wu? Speaking of which, the prince catches the week, and the queen catches the poems." Zhou's situation is similar. It is rumored that Emperor Wu was reincarnated. Now the Twelve Princes are actually smarter than the Crown Prince. They are only one year and three months old, and they can recite poems. By the way, when the Crown Prince was one year and three months old, except Catch Zhou...what else have you done?"

There was silence all around.

When the prince was one year and three months old, he was still a little fool.

Fool.

Concubine Rong reluctantly smiled and said, "How can Min'er know how to recite the poems of Emperor Wu? Sister Yue and I are not smart people, and the poems that can only be known by ordinary people. Min'er followed me and Sister Yue, so naturally he couldn't learn martial arts. Royal poems."

Yue Chongyuan's face was not good-looking, but she also knew that she should not refute Concubine Rong's words, so she lowered her head and kept hugging the twelve princes tighter and tighter.

Concubine Jiang De said with a "Oh" and said with a smile: "In other words, the twelve princes are not as good as the crown prince back then? It's true, the crown prince back then..." She smiled quite meaningfully, "The prince's appearance back then was indeed not ordinary. The prince is comparable. The twelfth prince is the younger brother of the prince, more than 12 years younger than the prince, so he is not comparable to his brother, so naturally he deserves it."

The queen's eyes were wide open, glaring at Concubine Jiang De angrily.

Concubine Jiang De didn't dare to be so rampant before.But the queen is now in confinement. Before the eldest prince was there, she could cover up for their mother and son. Now that the eldest prince is dead, her son, the second prince, is actually the eldest son of the emperor. The heart of the position, except for Emperor Tianyuan, no one would believe it.

What's more, how did the second prince marry a wife, in addition to the support of the mother's family, he also had the support of the wife's family.His wife has also given birth to a son.The second prince also snatched away the merits that originally belonged to the prince from the hands of Emperor Tianyuan. In this way, the second prince's intention to seize the crown is clearly revealed.The second prince could continue to pretend to get along with the prince normally, but it was Jiang Defei who had endured it for so many years, and for a while, she couldn't bear it any longer, and uttered these provocative words as soon as she opened her mouth.

The second concubine wanted to stop her, but she couldn't stop her at all due to the differences in seniority between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law.

"What Concubine Jiang De said is exactly what the Twelve Princes are indeed inferior to the Crown Prince." With the support of the Third Princess and the Ninth Princess, Princess Ningyang walked slowly in front of everyone, "Speaking of which, in the eyes of this palace, not only The twelve princes, and none of the other princes can compare to the crown prince."

Princess Ningyang has a high seniority, and when everyone saw her, even the empress had to perform junior salutes.

Concubine Jiang De didn't expect Princess Ningyang to come here, she forced a smile and said: "What my aunt said is exactly."

Princess Ningyang refused to let her go like this, and said: "Concubine Jiang De also thinks that what I said is right? Then, Concubine Jiang De thinks, compared to the crown prince, how is the second prince? The second prince may be comparable to 'Dang, Nian, The 'Prince?"

Concubine Jiang De wanted to belittle the prince's stupidity back then, so Princess Ningyang wanted to ask whether the second prince is better now, or the stupid prince was smart back then.

Concubine Jiang De's forehead immediately burst into cold sweat.

After a long while, he gritted his teeth and said, "The crown prince has a noble status, how can the second prince compare with him except that he is a little older?"

Princess Ningyang squinted her eyes when she heard the words, and said, "It's good that Concubine Jiang De knows." Then she glanced at the twelve princes in Yue Chongyuan's arms, "Min'er was made King Shun before she was born, and in the future No one can compare to his wealth, splendor, and leisure. You don't have to rush, let him have no chance to play at such a young age, and can only focus on suffering like his elder brother a few years older. Read poetry."

Both Yue Chongyuan and Concubine Rong agreed not to mention it.

The queen just refused to answer.

Princess Ningyang didn't ask her any more, turned around and left.

Although Princess Ningyang is not the aunt of Emperor Tianyuan, she is the adopted daughter of the Empress Dowager, and she has always been close to the late Emperor.The succession of Emperor Tianyuan was due to the contributions of Princess Ningyang and her husband's Jiang family.Emperor Tianyuan always paid great attention to Princess Ningyang, so all the concubines dared not say much after being reprimanded by Princess Ningyang.

Concubine Rong and Yue Chongyuan originally planned to let the twelve princes show their faces today and recite a poem because of what Princess Ningyang said.

That's right, with the crown prince Zhuyu in front, no matter how outstanding the twelve princes are, it's useless.Whether it's Shun or Min, both of them are saying that the emperor wants the twelve princes to be a real "leisure king".Since he is a king of idleness, a little baby in swaddling clothes, what's the point of memorizing those poems?

The queen was naturally unwilling.

But what about being unwilling?What Concubine Rong and Yue Chongyuan said was very true, even if the twelve princes were asked to recite poems, it might not be good for the twelve princes.

When the banquet started and the princes began to present congratulatory gifts to Emperor Tianyuan, Concubine Rong and Yue Chongyuan were even more thankful that they didn't let the twelve princes recite poems.

The head of all the princes is naturally the prince.

Although the second prince is the elder, his status is not noble enough to compare with the crown prince.The one who offered congratulatory gifts to Emperor Tianyuan was naturally the crown prince.

Tang Luojin is 14 years old after the Chinese New Year.The little boy looks better than Pan An, just by standing there, all the eyes of the surrounding people are glued to him.

When Tang Luojin brought out this year's annual ceremony, everyone's expressions became even more unpredictable.

"My son is not filial. I have been thinking for a long time. I don't know what gift to give to my father and grandmother... At the end, I have to ask all the old people to write a word for each. Embroidered, made into embroidery... so, respectively dedicated to the father and the emperor's grandmother."

After Tang Luojin finished speaking, she got up and clapped her hands, and then four palace men stepped forward together.

The two palace men in front are holding a scroll of calligraphy and painting in their hands.When the calligraphy and painting were unfolded, everyone was shocked—there was no other reason, but on this scroll of calligraphy and painting, the word "Shou" was everywhere.Originally, it was not uncommon for the prince to send a picture of a hundred years of life, but there seemed to be tens of thousands of "shou" characters in the set of characters sent by the prince, and most of those "shou" characters were written crookedly, like beginners learning characters generally.

Emperor Tianyuan's eyes flickered slightly.

The Ninth Prince sat in the front and immediately smiled: "Brother Prince, where did you find the characters? Although there are enough longevity characters, the people who wrote them were rural people? It's so ugly, it's not as good as a child who just learned to write!"

Emperor Tianyuan frowned slightly.

Today is New Year's Eve, Tang Luojin had a slight expression on his face, and his expression was indifferent, but he did not talk to the Ninth Prince, but said to Emperor Tianyuan: "My son searched all over Datang, and only found more than four thousand 70-year-olds. The old people above. Therefore, the age is lowered, and the old people over 60 years old are found. Ten thousand people are found, so that those who can write can write directly, and those who can't write learn now. The words are enough, and I will give it to my father."

As soon as Tang Luojin finished speaking, the embroidery behind her was also opened. It was exactly according to the character "Shou" on the front. The embroidered product only had a thousand characters of "Shou" on it: "This The 80 characters of "shou" on the auxiliary embroidery were all embroidered according to the characters written by Ling Ling, an old man over [-] years old, and presented to the emperor's grandmother."

"Wish——" Tang Luojin knelt down on both knees, "Long live my father! Long live my grandma! Datang will live forever!"

"Da Tang is immortal!"

As soon as Tang Luojin knelt down, the winking people also knelt down immediately. After Tang Luojin, they shouted long live, thousand live.

Emperor Tianyuan and the Empress Dowager were overjoyed.

Even if those words are not good-looking, but they were written by a long-lived person, and they were carefully prepared by their beloved prince. Why don't the two of them like it?

"Okay, okay, okay!" Emperor Tianyuan laughed loudly, "My prince is really filial! Okay, okay, okay!"

The empress dowager was also happy, and on the spot gave Tang Luojin the jade pendant that she had worn next to her body for decades from the late emperor.

"If the first emperor is still here, he must also like the crown prince the most."

With the words of Emperor Tianyuan and the Empress Dowager, everyone gained a new understanding of the Prince's favor.

The prince's New Year's gift completely overwhelmed all the princes and members of the royal family. Until the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first lunar month, people in Chang'an City were still full of praise for the prince's "filial piety" and wisdom.

"Except for the prince, who else would have thought of such an idea? Besides the prince, who would have found those old people, not only asked them to help write health songs and books, but also asked them to dictate their experience in farming , can you still think about teaching them to write in the end, and send the real 'Longevity' to the emperor?"

"Isn't that true? Our old man didn't like the prince very much at first, but after this happened, he repeatedly praised the prince for his filial piety at home. The prince is a good..."

"Yes, I heard that the prince is especially good. Even if he often skips classes, he can't bear the fact that the prince has a photographic memory. Even Prime Minister Li of the current dynasty is full of praise for the prince's knowledge. What's more, the prince has filial piety in addition to knowledge. praise."

……

Tang Luojin's move really pushed her reputation in Chang'an City to the highest level.

When Ning Jun came late to find him to watch the lanterns in the street, he inevitably mentioned this matter.

When Ning Junchi spoke, his eyes were fixed on the young man.

From New Year's Eve to today, he has not seen the boy for half a month.

The young man wears a jade crown, his face is like white jade, his eyes are like shooting stars, and there is a little cinnabar mole on his forehead.Dressed in a white fox fur, and wearing a pair of wolf leather boots, standing there quietly, people couldn't take their eyes off it.

"uncle?"

Tang Luojin had been stared at for a long time, so she had to interrupt Ning Junchi's gaze and said, "Why is uncle here today?"

Today is the Lantern Festival, and it is also a rare time for girls in the middle of the night to go out in the open and aboveboard—of course, it is actually a day for fun and "blind dates" in disguise.

Ning Junchi came to look for him at this time...

Tang Luojin pursed her lips slightly.

Ning Junchi came back to his senses, his gaze seemed to be as gentle as usual.

"Although it's a lantern festival, it won't be easy for Xiao Qi to go out." Ning Junchi glanced at the cinnabar mole on Tang Luojin's forehead, and then went to a half-faced fox mask, "Put this on, Xiao Qi wants to go out. It won’t be so easy to recognize.”

The fox mask is only half-faced, which can just cover the upper half of a person's face.

"So, uncle will go first."

After all, Ning Junchi really left.

Tang Luojin held a half fox mask, thoughtful.