The 28th time won't be memorized

  Recite?

  Li Chengqian looked at Kong Longwang with a wooden face, then turned back to look at Su He, whose eyes were slightly panicked. When he looked at her, she gazed back at him helplessly.

  "Hmm...that..." Li Chengqian looked at Kong Longwang, "Didn't the teacher assign any homework yesterday?"

  "Hmm!" Kong Longwang's face turned dark, "As a student, one should cherish the knowledge they've learned and review it repeatedly after class. How can you learn something and then forget it? Learn something and then discard it?! Yesterday, after class was dismissed, there were more than half a day's worth of time, what was the prince busy with, and why didn't he take some time to read through these few hundred words of text, you..."

  Li Chengqian hastily lowered his head, and King Konglong was again displaying his magical powers!

  Yesterday, I didn't think about reciting the Thousand Character Classic at all. After class, I went to the Queen's place for lunch and told stories. When I came back, I entered the Imperial Kitchen to stir-fry tea, and when I came back, it was already dark. Then there were activities on the bed, and Su He didn't even have time to remind Li Chengqian.

  Kong Longwang had been talking for half a day when Li Chengqian suddenly heard Su He's gentle voice: "Master, it was all because I didn't remind the prince, please don't be angry with me, sir. Why not have a cup of tea first?"

  Li Chengqian raised his head, Su Hong was holding a teacup, standing beside Kong Longwang with an apologetic expression. Kong Longwang calmed down and saw that the great literary master, the Crown Prince's consort, personally brought him tea, he was so surprised and delighted that he took it while saying: "Thank you, Crown Prince's consort, how dare I let the Crown Prince's consort serve me tea! This matter is not your fault, in the Imperial Study Hall, Kong Mou is the teacher and the Crown Prince is the student. The student has a lazy heart, Kong Mou naturally wants to scold him, this is the way of teaching. I hope the Crown Prince's consort will not blame."

  "That......" Su Hong looked at Li Chengqian with difficulty, "Please, Master, take a rest and have a cup of tea first!"

  Kong Longwang had been talking about the clouds and rain for so long that he didn't have much stock left in his mouth. He nodded in agreement with Su Hong's proposal, picked up the tea and smelled it, felt a shock, took another sip, held it in his mouth for half a second before swallowing, exhaled a mouthful of turbid air, and sighed: "Good tea, good tea!"

  Su He said with a smile: "Master, would you like it? This is specially brought by His Highness to pay his respects to you!"

  Kong Longwang's drunken face wrinkled in distress as he looked at the teacup, "Is this a bribe?"

  "Filial tea!" Su Hong hastily said, "This is a student's filial piety towards his respected teacher!"

  Kong Longwang then calmly took another sip, and was once again entranced.

  Su He took advantage of the situation and said, "Yesterday, Your Honor specifically instructed the imperial kitchen to roast this tea, but the people in the imperial kitchen were too clumsy and couldn't roast it well, which delayed Your Honor's time and prevented you from completing your work. I hope, Master, that you won't be angry!" Su He was lying.

  Kong Longwang's face relaxed, but he didn't intend to loosen his mouth.

  "Your Highness is still very clever, I hope you can give him some time, and I believe he will be able to recite it soon." Su Hong said.

  "Hmm." Kong Longwang nodded, "Then Your Highness will recite it. Master will come back in an hour." As he spoke, he picked up his tea cup to savor it himself.

  Li Chengqian nodded his eyes in appreciation of Su He's words and shouted to Kong Longwang, who was about to leave: "No need, just give me the time it takes for an incense stick to burn."

  Kong Longwang looked back at Li Chengqian with some dissatisfaction. This was because he had shortened his own tea-drinking time.

  After he left, Su Hong hurried over to help Li Chengqian. Li Chengqian was very confident that in the time it took for an incense stick to burn, which was about ten or more minutes, he could read several hundred words of text six or seven times, and for a grown man, that would be enough to memorize it.

  ………

  While Li Chengqian was doing his homework, something related to him was happening in the Er Yi Hall of Taiji Temple.

  Li Shimin sat in the upper seat, below him were two men wearing purple official robes. One was the slender Fang Xuanling, and the other had a thin body like firewood, with a mouthful of whiskers paired with a goat-like beard. Compared to the gentle Fang Xuanling, his expression was stiff, making him seem unapproachable. He was Wei Zheng, who looked very similar to Fang Xuanling, with a similarly slender figure and a beard, but when sitting together, they gave off a warm and cold feeling!

  Fang Xuanling said at this time: "Your Majesty, let me ask you, since you have already decided to leave the Crown Prince behind, why do you not announce it and also not stop Cheng Zhijie?"

  Li Shimin chuckled and said, "House Minister, I just took this opportunity to test the character of the five sons, and see how they would react in a chaotic situation, haha!"

  "Cough!" Wei Zheng coughed, stood up, and bowed to Li Shimin. He said solemnly: "Your Majesty, I think you are planning to launch an expedition against Goguryeo, but the civil officials have been advising against it. So, you let Lu Guogong take advantage of the situation to cause a big disturbance, attacking and harassing the civil officials, in order for Your Majesty to carry out unjust and unprofitable actions! Your Majesty, I am willing to die to remonstrate with you, Your Majesty should prioritize state affairs, the country's foundation..."

  Li Shimin's mouth twitched, he was really afraid that Wei Zheng would continue speaking, and he also coughed to interrupt his words, forcing a smile: "This morning the empress sent me some good tea, you two dear officials can also taste it!"

  At this time, the palace maid brought tea to Wei Zheng's face. Wei Zheng felt that his serious words were interrupted and he was very uncomfortable. He wanted to say something, but when he looked up, he saw Li Shimin and Fang Xuanling holding cups and drinking tea with their heads down. Thinking that there was no atmosphere, his throat was blocked, and he also picked up the cup and took a sip. This mouthful went in, and it was unbearable. Usually, he was used to drinking bitter tea with salt, but now he drank such fragrant tea water, like upgrading from turbid water to deep mountain spring water, giving Wei Zheng a surprised and amazed feeling!

  "Good tea!......" Fang Xuanling sighed.

  "Good tea!......" Wei Zheng's stiff face also showed a look of intoxication.

  "Haha... After I drank this tea, all other teas in the world are no longer drinkable!" Li Shimin said with a smile.

  After the three old men sipped their tea in silence for a while, Wei Zheng spoke up again: "Your Majesty, about the matter of the eastern expedition..."

  Li Shimin waved his hand: "The eastern expedition is a major event, and it's not the time to discuss it now. Let's talk about it another day!" He didn't want to be disturbed by this iron-faced man when he wasn't prepared!

  Wei Zheng reluctantly said: "Alright. I have another matter, I heard that the Crown Prince's body has recovered and should resume his duties in court, wearing official attire and standing among high-ranking officials!"

  "Alright." Li Shimin gave him face and directly agreed.

  Then the three old men discussed other national affairs, which will not be elaborated here. Near noon, Fang Xuanling and Wei Zheng left the Two Instruments Hall. As they were leaving, Li Shimin said: "The tea we just drank was sent by the Empress, there's not much of it, I'll give each of you a couple of taels to taste this rare good tea in the world!"

  Two old men took over the small tea package, and their faces couldn't help but reveal a joyful expression. Wei Zheng, this iron-faced man, rarely had strong emotions, but at this moment, he was also unable to control himself. This refined gentleman couldn't help but feel embarrassed for himself, and his face was filled with a mixture of shyness and joy, which was quite strange. Fang Xuanling smiled kindly and broke the awkwardness, Wei Zheng bowed his fist in gratitude, and the three old men burst out laughing together.

  ………

  As for Li Chengqian, he was overjoyed at this moment. He said that giving him a stick of incense time to recite the hundreds of words of "Qianziwen" had some exaggeration in it. But after reading it once, he found that he already remembered seven or eight tenths of it. After reading it twice more, he could already recite it by heart, and it was so familiar that he could recite it backwards like a flowing stream!

  He couldn't help but wonder, had he become more clever after arriving in the Tang Dynasty? What a great feeling!

  He couldn't help but think that when he was in the 2nd grade at the age of eight, he had memorized a twenty-character ancient poem for an entire night, and still couldn't recite it by the next day. If only his brain was as useful back then as it is now!

  "Sir, have you memorized it?" Su He saw the joy on his face and asked in a low voice: "Since childhood, sir has been intelligent, recognizing characters at the age of three, reciting poems at the age of five, and debating with university scholars about history at the age of ten. So I believe that sir will not be defeated by this small 'Thousand Character Classic'!"

  Li Chengqian was slightly surprised by this, recognizing characters at the age of three, and here "three years old" is still a nominal age, which is about two years old. Recognizing characters at the age of two is quite impressive! At the age of ten, he challenged Professor Lao on the Spring and Autumn Annals, this is simply a child prodigy! He couldn't help but overthrow his own theory that his brain had become more agile earlier, comparing himself to reciting "Thousand Character Classic" with this child prodigy, it's like being a rookie.