The 30th Bustling

  Little tiger sits on the couch, don't know with which little sister to play a game of Go, tearing each other apart, both sides have a small group of little women supporting them, shouting and killing in delight.

  Big sister is holding a little girl, feeding her something to drink, it looks like juice, the little girl is drinking very happily. Next to big sister are two other girls, one smaller and one bigger, both holding a green bowl, drinking juice contentedly.

  Li Zhi, this little boy, saw Li Chengqian coming and picked up a six-sided wooden board, waving it excitedly: "Big brother, you've finally arrived!"

  At this shout, everyone looked at him and then gathered around excitedly. Then Li Chengqian found something was wrong. Only Li Zhi ran to his side, while the other young women surrounded Su He, their eyes shining with a worshipful gaze as if looking at an idol, chattering about something.

  After listening for a while, I realized that this group of young women had gone to the Hongwen Academy today to attend classes. The teacher recited two lines of poetry: "The flowers are in bloom, and it's time to pick them; don't wait until there are no more flowers to pick" and "Good writing is innate, and a wonderful brushstroke is occasionally obtained." This made all the young women feel amazed. Not long after class began, Kong Yingda had someone send over another poem, "Early Spring Rain," saying that the Crown Prince's wife had another new work circulating among scholars. When they heard lines like "The grass looks green from afar, but up close it's nothing special," everyone was deeply impressed by Su Heng's learning and for a time regarded him as an idol. The young women of the Li family gathered together and learned that Su Heng would be coming with Li Chengqian to accompany the Empress, so all ten or more sisters came along.

  Li Chengqian saw Su He being surrounded by this group of little women fans, and the embarrassed expression on his face made him smile and give her a comforting gesture. After Su He was comforted, she took out the elegant and poised demeanor of the Crown Princess and dealt with the little women.

  "Big brother, the imperial sister-in-law is really knowledgeable!" Li Zhi's eyes shone brightly as he looked at Su He, just like a fanboy from later generations.

  Li Chengqian took out his elder brother's tone: "Hm, you should learn from your sister-in-law properly."

  "Ah, I will!" Li Zhi nodded heavily, "But, big brother... Ah..." Li Zhi covered his forehead and looked pitifully at Li Chengqian.

  Li Chengqian glared at him with a menacing gaze, Li Zhi's heart skipped a beat as he hastily apologized: "Big brother, I was wrong..."

  The big brother smiled and patted his head, saying: "This is good. By the way, what's this thing?" He took over Li Zhi's hexagonal wooden board, "Wow, it's actually a checkerboard, well done! It's even modernized!"

  "Big brother, what is modernization?" Li Zhi asked curiously.

  "It's nothing, just a casual remark, it means doing well." Li Chengqian casually stuffed him with a sentence.

  Li Zhi touched his forehead, "Oh, so the empress is also very modernized."

  Li Chengqian

  The elder sister came out of the small women's fan group, holding a little girl in one hand and pulling a calf with the other, smiled at Li Chengqian and said: "Big brother, I'll leave them to you." Then she stuffed both the little girl and the calf into Li Chengqian's hands and squeezed back into the small women's fan group.

  Damn, female fans are invincible creatures everywhere!

  The little girl looked smaller than the calf, and when she got into Li Chengqian's arms, she wasn't afraid at all. She pouted her mouth and shouted: "Want to drink... want to drink..."

  Li Chengqian picked up the little girl at his feet, saw that she was crying with a runny nose, and wiped her face with his hand: "What's wrong, caught a cold?"

  The little guy pitifully leaned into Li Chengqian's chest, responded with a "Hmm!" and then his little head knocked against Li Chengqian's, causing Li Chengqian to pass out!

  When the calf raised its head, the little nose was gone.

  Li Zhi was standing beside him, stifling a laugh. Li Chengqian glared at him and shouted: "Get out the handkerchief, big brother doesn't have hands." He had both arms wrapped around two little girls and couldn't even wipe his own chest clean.

  Li Zhi stretched out his hand to help Li Chengqian get a handkerchief, but was rebuked by Li Chengqian's vicious elder brother: "Get your own."

  "What?" Li Zhi was stunned, and the vicious big brother glared at him with fierce eyes. He took out his handkerchief in a wronged manner, wiped it on his chest, and then looked at the sacrificed handkerchief with heartache.

  "Xu Er, how old is she?" Li Chengqian asked.

  The little boy with a white eye patch glanced at the little loli who was shouting for a drink and said, "It's not our family."

  "Huh?"

  "Big brother, don't listen to this jealous little thing!" Li Zhi gently stroked the face of the crying little loli and said, "This is Twenty-one Sister, the youngest daughter of Mother Hou, Chūér!"

  So this is also her own younger sister, the 3-year-old little princess that Su Meng mentioned!

  "What is she saying?" Li Chengqian asked.

  She wants to drink juice.

  Li Chengqian nodded his chin at Li Zhi, "Push the cart and go get some juice for our little sister to drink."

  Li Zhi pushed Li Chengqian's wheelchair towards the couch with juice on it. Li Chuying looked at the juice getting closer and closer, excitedly waving her small hands. When she reached the couch, she grabbed a bowl of juice with her small hand and knocked it over, spilling it all over Li Chengqian. The maid was heartbroken watching the spilled juice and glared at the little princess, but the little princess ignored her and sucked on her juice-stained fingers!

  Li Chengqian glared at Li Zhi, who was gloating behind him. Li Zhi reluctantly pulled out his own handkerchief and used it to wipe down his older brother's clothes.

  Li Chengqian took the little princess's hand out of her mouth, wiped it clean with Li Zhi's handkerchief, and then took over the bowl and spoon to feed her bit by bit. The little one was eating vinegar again, and also let Li Chengqian feed her together.

  "Hmm." A soft humming sound echoed through the small hall.

  A familiar voice filled with imperial majesty quieted everyone in the small hall, and they all turned around to face Li Shimin at the entrance of the hall, bowing: "Your son has seen you, Father Emperor!"

  Li Chengqian was stunned, he was holding two little girls and couldn't get up at all. After being stunned for a moment, he hurriedly followed along with the others to pay his respects to Li Shimin: "Your son has seen you, Father Emperor."

  His voice was just out of sync with everyone else, half a beat slower, and suddenly it seemed so abrupt, attracting Li Shimin's gaze. Li Chengqian's heart skipped a beat, bad luck!

  Li Chū, this little loli didn't get fed fruit juice by Li Cheng Qián and started wailing again. With a small hand grab, she flipped over and spilled it all over Li Cheng Qián's body. The little scamp let out a sharp cry: "Father Emperor, Father Emperor, punish her, what a waste!"

  Li Shimin saw Li Chengqian with a juice-stained robe and a black thread on his head, and he couldn't help but smile slightly despite his serious face.

  Su He and his elder sister hurried over to hug the little princess and clean up the fruit juice on Li Chengqian's body. The child had already run to Li Shimin's side, was hugged by Li Shimin, and whispered something in his ear. Li Shimin didn't care what she said, nodding all along. After a while, he asked his children: "Why are you all gathered here? Don't you know it will disturb your mother?"

  They all lowered their heads and didn't dare meet Old Li's eagle-like gaze.