The Thirty-first Chapter: The Eight Sisters' Dowry
Li Chengqian felt both pain and joy, for the first time in twelve years he felt like a real man. The physical pain was nothing compared to the pleasure in his heart. His wise father had always been above him, never allowing him to have the same experiences as other children. He was not allowed to throw tantrums or be spoiled, as the son of the King of Qin, he had to maintain a dignified demeanor at all times. When his father won battles, he had to wear a calm and collected smile, indicating that everything was under control. When his father was away on campaigns, he had to wear this same smile, showing confidence in his father's invincibility. Even when his father killed his uncles, he had to maintain this smile, showing support for his father. Later, when his father became the Emperor and he became the Crown Prince, everyone praised his elegance and filial piety. His parents were pleased with him, but only at night, when it was quiet, could Li Chengqian gaze out of his window and fantasize about the world outside the palace. He heard that Cheng Qianmu had been beaten up by some other young nobles, and Cheng Yaoguang took revenge on them with his axe. But then he was punished by the Emperor, everyone else laughed, but Li Chengqian didn't laugh. How he wished his father would take him to beat up those uncles who had bullied him! He knew his father had the ability to do so, and that his uncles were no match for him. But his father didn't, instead, at a suitable time, he killed them all off, both those who had bullied him and those who hadn't, not leaving a single one alive. This wasn't what Li Chengqian wanted, he only wanted to beat them up, not kill them.
No more daydreaming today, his feet hurt, legs hurt, butt hurt, waist hurt, back hurt, chest hurt, the pain was like a tidal wave sweeping through his entire body, and he let out a moan that was either painful or pleasurable. No need to pretend to smile anymore, not one of the people in the crowded room had a smiling face, the cries of agony were louder than each other, and their faces were uglier than each other. Yun Ye's cry of agony was low and high, surprisingly rhythmic. Li Chengqian found himself having fun for the first time.
The Bull Demon King entered, and the scene suddenly fell silent. Everyone's face was stern and unyielding, as if someone else had been shouting just now, and it had nothing to do with anyone in the shed. Old Cheng walked in with a smile, holding four or five inner garments, which he placed beside Li Chengqian, indicating that his personal guards should help the prince put them on.
"Shout, why aren't you shouting anymore? You're so young and can't even bear a little hardship. Think back to the old days when I followed Your Majesty into the midst of a million soldiers, fighting and getting wounded countless times, but I never shouted like a pig being slaughtered like you all did. Even the youngest prince didn't lose face like you all did." Old Cheng's praise made Li Chengqian's face flush with embarrassment, as if his own shouting voice wasn't any softer than anyone else's earlier.
"I don't care who you are, Prince or foot soldier, once training is over, I don't care what you do. But if you delay tomorrow's training, I have ways to deal with you. Don't believe me? Try it."
These two old men, one with a white face and the other with a red face, sang in perfect harmony, Old Cheng pinched this and patted that, with a harmonious expression, then turned his head to instruct the crowd to prepare a richer midnight snack.
The old cow loudly encouraged the crowd of relatives and soldiers: "Rub harder, right, rub all the muscles and bones loose, let these big masters who are good at nourishing their essence live a good life."
Cheng Lao walked out of the wooden shed with his hands behind his back, feeling content and satisfied. The atmosphere inside finally returned to normal. Yun Ye continued to wail, Cheng Chu hummed, Zhang Sun Chong recited poetry, Li Cheng Qian looked at the inner warehouse, and someone even sang a song.
Li Chengqian thinks that the inner warehouse is a good thing, wearing it on the body is breathable and comfortable, especially the little brother is no longer under pressure. After all, he still cares about the growth of his little brother.
A silver flat jug appeared in front of Li Chengqian, with a strong aroma of wine wafting out. He had tasted all sorts of fine wines in the imperial palace, but none could compare to this one - it was sweet and mellow, yet lingering and long-lasting. Just as he was about to take a sip, a large hand snatched the jug away, and it was Changsun Wuji who took a big gulp. In an instant, his neck turned red, and with great difficulty, he managed to say: "Good wine." With a thud, he fell to the ground, and began to snore loudly. This guy had gotten drunk! Li Chengqian knew that Changsun Wuji was testing the wine for him. The emperor, empress, and crown prince all had attendants who tasted their food for them, but since Li Chengqian had insisted on sending his attendants away, Yun Ye had carelessly asked Li Chengqian to drink the wine. Changsun Wuji, with good intentions, snatched the jug away and took a sip first, indicating that the wine had been tested and was safe to drink. Who would have thought that this wine was exceptionally potent? One mouthful was enough to knock him out!
In fact, no one was willing to invite the emperor, empress, and crown prince to dinner, even if it was a great honor. As soon as they thought about making a mistake, their whole family or even clan would be in trouble. Moreover, these three were already in a precarious position themselves. Therefore, only the emperor invited others to dinner to show his favor, and it was rare for officials to invite the emperor to dinner. It was too dangerous, and there were many ways to flatter, why use this most dangerous method? So the crown prince was very curious, as long as it wasn't poisonous, not to mention good wine, even if it was poor quality wine, he had to try a little. Fortunately, Longsun Chong had gone ahead, and Li Chengqian carefully took a small sip, a spicy fire line extended from his mouth into his abdomen, and then the wine aroma rose, just like Longsun Chong, who let out a comfortable belch and fell asleep with his head buried.
The eunuchs hastily helped the prince back to his tent to rest. Yun Ye slowly got up, and after two hours of rest, he had recovered a lot of physical strength, it seemed that the exercise was effective, although he still couldn't open the hard bow of Cheng Chu Mo, an ordinary stone bow was no problem, only he couldn't shoot arrows, as soon as he opened the bow and placed the arrow, the procedure was correct, but the arrow flew to who knows where. So Yun Ye wasn't enthusiastic about training in archery skills, this had always made Niu Jin Da resentful, repeatedly saying that it was like trying to prop up a wall with mud.
A few days ago, Yun Ye and Cheng Chu Mo stole a large jar of high-end wine from Old Cheng and secretly steamed it in the logistics camp to produce about 40-50 degrees of white wine. After tasting it, Cheng Chu Mo was amazed at Yun Ye's skills and said that all the Tang Dynasty wines he had drunk over the years were nothing but inferior liquor. In his words: "Except for the beautiful wine produced by steaming, everything else is just inferior liquor, only suitable as a drink to go with food."
Chang'an's letter made Yun Ye suddenly calm down, and he looked like his ancestors, making him wonder if he had a big explosion of human nature. Or is it purely a return to ancestral phenomenon? Relatives were found, and he suddenly had a grandmother, three aunts, eight sisters, seven widowed aunts, four divorced sisters, countless maternal aunts, and maternal masters. This filled the sense of loneliness in his heart. Seeing Yun Lao's letter full of expectation, Yun Ye suddenly felt that he was not lonely. The childish tone of the little girl made people feel pity and love at once.
He muttered to himself: "I still have to live on, I've got eight sisters waiting for me to earn their dowries."
