The king and his ministers were scheming around the sweet potato, while the weak sweet potato hid in the ground and shivered.
Fortunately, Li Zhi is still very clear-headed most of the time, and he can still distinguish the serious from the greedy.
"Don't try to take advantage of it! Especially you. I'm really worried about you wandering around the field every day... I'm going to instruct the guards to search you when you leave the sweet potato field in the future." Li Zhi said seriously.
"Who does Your Majesty think of me? How dare I do it just for the sake of mere appetite... But to be honest, sweet potatoes taste the best when roasted. They are charred on the outside and tender on the inside, and the sugar inside flows out like honey. ..."
Li Zhi was shocked again, swallowed hard, tried to restrain himself and said: "Then, you are not allowed to eat it! Don't say it is not mature yet, even when it is harvested, no one is allowed to touch it, keep it for cooking As for planting, in three or two years, at least when it is popularized in Weinan County, we can try it."
Li Qinzai praised: "Your Majesty is indeed an extraordinary person. With such firm willpower, you deserve to be the emperor."
Li Zhi's face suddenly became astonished, a little ashamed, but he just resisted eating one less bite of sweet potato, and it actually had something to do with willpower.
"Let's go, don't squat in the ground and watch. If you continue to watch, I might make a big mistake!" Li Zhi picked up Li Qinzai and walked out.
After walking out of the sweet potato field, the emperor and his ministers walked slowly towards the Li family courtyard.
On the way, the two of them had a tacit understanding and did not mention the conflict at the meeting, as if both of them had forgotten the unpleasant experience at the same time.
"I heard that you beat up Wu Yuanshuang yesterday?" Li Zhi asked with a smile.
Li Qinzai also smiled and said: "Yes, Wu Yuanshuang is a bitch, so I was too lazy to quarrel with him, so I had to take action. Fortunately, I had a lot of troops that night."
Li Zhi snorted and said, "Wu Yuanshuang was carried into Tai Chi Palace the next day and ran to me and the Queen to file a complaint against you."
Li Qinzai blinked: "I believe that your Majesty is aware of everything and will not easily believe the instigation and slander of female officials."
"Haha, that's right. It doesn't mean whoever complains first is justified. We have to find out everything first. I ordered Baiqisi to investigate afterwards. It turns out that it was Wu Yuanshuang who made the rude remarks first and actually insulted Jingchu. He has a wife and children, so it is reasonable for Jingchu to beat him up."
Li Qinzai asked tentatively: "I beat up your majesty's uncle, your majesty is not angry?"
Li Zhi was stunned when he mentioned the words "brother". No one had ever used such a common title in front of him, so it was a bit novel for a while.
Then Li Zhi suddenly shuddered, with a disgusted expression on his face.
"Jing Chu, don't talk nonsense, what about "brother"? I am me, the queen is the queen, Wu Yuanshuang is Wu Yuanshuang, how can I see that kind of thing that follows people's influence? The original sealing of him was just a matter of etiquette. Otherwise, how could I like such a person? "
Li Qinzai also showed a sympathetic expression and kept nodding.
It seems that the Tian family is no different from ordinary people. Everyone has an uncle who they dislike.
But to be honest, although Li Qinzai's uncle and brother dislike each other, Cui Sheng is still much better than Wu Yuanshuang in terms of moral character and talent.
Li Zhi's unscrupulous dislike of Wu Yuanshuang was certainly not due to low emotional intelligence. It was actually because... Empress Wu disliked her two brothers so much that Li Zhi, as her brother-in-law, of course had no scruples. .
If a person's character is bad, not to mention his future as an official, he will not be able to get even the basic dignity in front of the emperor.
Stepping into the door of the other courtyard, when the servants saw the emperor coming, they immediately put down their work and bowed to salute.
Li Zhi waved his hand in an easy-going manner, and then smiled and said: "Kiu Lai Ganjing Village, what delicious food did Jingchu prepare for me today?"
Li Qinzai said seriously: "Your Majesty, don't worry, I will make sure that your Majesty will be satisfied with the food and will not miss Shu."
Li Zhi was overjoyed, rubbed his hands and said with a smile, "Then I'll be waiting."
Then Li Zhi suddenly remembered something, turned around and ordered the palace attendants who followed him to carry the gift in.
Then Li Qinzai was surprised to find that loads of gifts from the palace's inner treasury were carried in by the guards. Although it was inconvenient to open them for inspection on the spot, the products produced by the palace must be high-quality products. Obviously, these gifts were worth a lot of money.
"Your Majesty, I am so virtuous and capable..." Li Qinzai was so moved that he could not speak coherently.
"Of course you are immoral and incompetent. The gift is for your wife." Li Zhi said unceremoniously: "I heard that your wife is pregnant and will give birth to a legitimate son. The joy of the whole family is also the joy of our country, the Tang Dynasty. I believe Jingchu will train me to be a pillar of talent with both ability and political integrity.”
"I personally selected this gift as a congratulation. To be honest, these things are worth a lot of money. It would be a bit crazy to say they are trivial. I think they are moderately significant. "
"Thank you, Your Majesty. I understand what Your Majesty means. It is by no means as simple as what you mean. It must have other meanings..."
Li Zhi kept blinking, but before he could sort out the meaning of these "meanings", Li Qinzai said again: "Your Majesty, please wait a moment, I will personally cook and serve your Majesty a delicious meal."
Li Zhi said happily: "Go quickly, I will be waiting."
Not long after, the maids in the mansion lined up to bring delicious food into the hall.
Then Li Qinzai also came in and sat opposite Li Zhi.
After untying the food cover, Li Zhi picked up the bamboo chopsticks with surprise on his face and was about to start. Then his movements suddenly froze, and the smile on his face also froze.
There was a lot of delicious food, and the portions were generous, but the table was filled with some unappealing dishes.
Persian dishes, boiled lotus root, cold coriander, cold wild vegetable roots...
Li Zhi was stunned for a long time, and he picked up the bottom of the vegetable leaves with bamboo chopsticks, trying to find any trace of meat. However, he was disappointed in the end. There was really no trace of meat.
Putting down the bamboo chopsticks, Li Zhi sighed: "Jingchu, what does this mean? Am I a monk when I come to your house?"
Li Qinzai showed a guilty look, lowered his head and said, "Your Majesty, please forgive me. Just now, the servants in the mansion reminded me that it is the Tomb Sweeping Festival recently, which is the time to pay homage to our ancestors. In order to show our sincerity, the whole family must eat vegetarian food for half a month, otherwise we will die." It has tarnished the admiration of future generations for their ancestors.”
Li Zhi's cheek twitched violently several times.
It is true to pay homage to ancestors, and it is indeed the Qingming Festival recently, and it is even more true, but I always feel that you are deliberately targeting me, but unfortunately there is no evidence...
Then Li Qinzai smiled again and said, "Don't worry, Your Majesty. Although the food is not good, at least there is wine to drink."
Li Zhi glanced at him: "Does drinking alcohol not break the vegetarian diet?"
"It's vegetarian wine."
Li Zhi sighed desperately.
Vegetarian wine is, of course, wine. It is not made from grain, but from fruits, such as the famous grape wine. Strictly speaking, it is considered vegetarian wine.
There are no taboos on vegetarian wine in this world, even monks can drink it.
The Tang Monk in Journey to the West also drank vegetarian wine. For example, when Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty saw him off, for example, when he flirted with his daughter, the King, he drank vegetarian wine.
Unfortunately, more than a thousand years later, the meanings of vegetarian wine and meat wine have been completely distorted.
Thousands of years later, vegetarian wine will mean Arhat Bureau, and meat wine, well, there are not many spirited girls in the box who play with dice cups, and there is no princess who can help you pour wine and sing songs. Are you embarrassed to call it meat wine?
