Shops were not allowed to be opened on the streets of Chang'an. The imperial court designated two areas specifically for commercial transactions, namely the east and west cities.
The East Market is regarded as a domestic market. It sells more than 220 categories of goods and collects rare treasures from all over the world.
The West Market is the International Market, also known as the "Golden Market", with nearly a thousand shops dealing in various commodities. It was the largest international market with the most prosperous international trade at that time.
Yongle Square, where the Li family lives, is close to the East Market and quite far from the West Market, requiring five squares to pass through. Fortunately, he had nothing to do, so Li Zexuan took a group of people and wandered towards the West Market, while also admiring the authentic ancient buildings of the Tang Dynasty.
"Brother, Lan'er is tired from walking."
Not far away, Lan'er grabbed Li Zexuan's hand and refused to move any further.
Li Zexuan, who was admiring the ancient buildings on both sides of the road, was speechless. How far had he walked? He was not even two miles away when the little girl began to cry tired, but he couldn't ignore it now. Who let this be his little sister? Well, I should hire a carriage to go out in the morning.
"Lan'er, keep insisting, we'll be there soon."
"No, Lan'er really can't walk."
Lan'er said with a bitter look on her face.
"Well, let's walk slowly, and while we're walking, my brother will tell Lan'er a story, okay?"
Li Zexuan slowly seduced him, there was nothing he could do, there was no way to hire a carriage in this place, so he couldn't carry Lan'er to the West Market.
As soon as Lan'er heard that her brother was going to tell her a story, she immediately became energetic and her feet were no longer tired. She quickly straightened up, came over and took her brother's hand and said, "Okay, okay, brother, tell it quickly."
Li Zexuan smiled slightly, took his little sister's hand and walked slowly forward, recalling as he walked:
"It is said that a long time ago, the world was divided into Dongsheng Shenzhou, Xiniuhezhou, Nanfanbuzhou, and Beiju Luzhou. In the Aolai country of Dongsheng Shenzhou, there was a Huaguo Mountain, and there was an immortal stone on the mountain. It cracked, and an egg rolled out from the stone. When the egg caught the wind, it turned into a stone monkey. The monkey's eyes shot out golden light and worshiped in all directions.
The monkey can walk and run. When it is thirsty, it drinks some spring water from the mountain stream, and when it is hungry, it eats some fruits from the mountain. I had a great time playing with the animals in the mountains all day long. One day, the weather was extremely hot. In order to escape the hot weather, the monkeys ran to the mountain stream to take a bath. When they saw the spring water flowing, they walked along the stream to find its source..."
What Li Zexuan planned to tell his little sister was "Journey to the West". He happened to have read it countless times when he was a child, and he could still remember many of the plots very clearly. The story was long, so he could make a long-term serialization for his little sister, so that it would be a long time in the future. During this time, you don’t have to worry about how to coax your little sister.
Of course, we can't tell Lan'er and the others all the stories according to the original work. After all, this is the Tang Dynasty, and Tang Xuanzang still existed. Li Zexuan decided to change Tang Xuanzang's vest, let's call it Tang Yin, and the relevant place names were also changed.
Hehe, I wonder what Tang Bohu would think after seeing "Journey to the West" in the Ming Dynasty hundreds of years later, Li Zexuan thought so wickedly.
Just when it was said that the Great Sage Qitian was causing trouble in the Heavenly Palace and was imprisoned in the Bagua furnace by Taishang Laojun, the Western Market had already arrived.
"Okay, let's stop here for today. Let's go. Brother will take you to buy candy figures and take you to see sideshows."
Li Zexuan was going to see this ancient market.
"Ah, we're here now?"
The little girl obviously didn't hear enough, and looked reluctant to give up. Behind her, Xiao He, Xiao Xi, Ah Fu, and San Bao also obviously didn't know enough, and each looked regretful.
"My dear friend, wait a moment. I would like to ask you which storybook the story you mentioned before comes from. My sister-in-law likes this story very much."
Suddenly, an eleven or twelve-year-old boy walked out quickly behind him, followed by a six- or seven-year-old girl, who bowed his hand to Li Zexuan.
In fact, Li Zexuan had long been aware that there were two people following them behind him for a long time. After all, all his hard work was not in vain. Since he felt that the two of them had no ill intentions, he didn't bother to pay attention to them. They walked half way up the road, and he had no right to restrict where they went. He just assumed that they were going to the West Market like him, but he didn't expect that the other party was following behind him. Overhearing stories.
Li Zexuan glanced slightly behind the young man, and found that there seemed to be about a dozen good people pretending to be pedestrians in the crowd behind him, vaguely guarding the young man.
"I guess he is a second-generation official going out to experience life."
Li Zexuan muttered secretly in his heart. But seeing that the young man was dressed luxuriously and his attitude was quite polite, and the little girl looked at him expectantly, Li Zexuan couldn't help but offended him for nothing, so he returned the courtesy and said:
"I'm afraid I'm going to disappoint this young master. This is not a storybook on the market. It's just a story made up by someone to coax his little sister."
"oh."
The young man in brocade clothes had a disappointed look on his face. In fact, he liked the story quite a lot and was about to ask for the name and send someone to buy a copy and come back to read it.
He cupped his hands and said:
"Brother, I'm a great talent. I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to make up this story without my imagination. My little brother, Li Gaoming, this is my sister Li Lizhi. I want to make friends with you. What do you call me?"
When I went out for a trip, I didn't expect to meet two crazy fans of "Journey to the West". Li Zexuan also looked helpless. It seemed that the young man didn't look like an arrogant and domineering person, but he could make a friend, so he smiled and said:
"My little brother, it's just a random story. It's hard to be polite. My name is Li Zexuan, and my family lives in Changlefang. I also have a friend like you."
This young man is the current crown prince Li Chengqian, with the courtesy name Gaoming, so calling himself Li Gaoming is not a lie. It’s just that Li Zexuan was an engineering dog in his previous life. How could he study the history of the Tang Dynasty so deeply? Naturally, he doesn’t know Li Chengqian’s nickname.
The little girl is Princess Li Lizhi of Changle. She is seven years old. As her name suggests, she is naturally beautiful. Her skin has a sickly white color. Although she is only one year older than Lan'er, she is much taller than Lan'er. Li Lizhi has suffered from qi disease since she was a child, which is considered a hereditary disease in her family.
Li Chengqian also saw that his little sister was unhappy in the palace all day long, so he brought his little sister to the West Market today to relax. Unexpectedly, he met a young man who told such interesting stories. He and his sister were listening to it with gusto, and when their blood was boiling, they suddenly suddenly stopped. Only then did Li Chengqian start to talk.
After the two introduced each other and chatted a few words with each other, Li Chengqian said:
"Brother Zexuan, there must be more behind the story just now."
This young man is still obsessed with "Journey to the West". Li Zexuan did not expect that "Journey to the West" would be so charming in the Tang Dynasty.
"Of course, what I just talked about is just the beginning, there is more to come."
Li Chengqian looked happy. After all, he was just a teenager. He said excitedly:
"Then I'll visit you another day. Brother Zexuan will tell me the rest of the story."
Li Lizhi looked regretful. The prince's brother could leave the palace frequently, but as a princess, she could not ignore royal etiquette.
Li Zexuan agreed, then parted ways with Li Chengqian and took his little sister to go shopping.
Li Chengqian saw Li Lizhi's melancholy look, and after thinking about it, he understood what was going on, and said to Li Lizhi:
"Don't worry, little sister. After I hear the story from Li Zexuan, I will come back and tell it to my little sister right away, okay?"
Li Lizhi's complexion turned from gloomy to clear, and she smiled happily at Li Chengqian and said:
"Well, thank you, Brother Prince!"
…
