Tang Dynasty: Father, if you don't rebel, I will!

Today, the people of the Tang Dynasty, especially those in Bingzhou, are living the best lives in the entire Tang Dynasty.

Being close to such a vast pastoral area as Zhenbei Road, coupled with the bumper harvest of winter wheat in Bingzhou Road itself, and the large-scale construction of factories and workshops, meant that every household was finally able to eat meat dumplings during the New Year, something they had never dared to dream of before.

Although this food was originally called "laowan" by the people of the Tang Dynasty, it is unknown when it started to be called that.

Some people say that His Highness the Crown Prince calls this dish dumplings.

Gradually, everyone started calling it dumplings.

Bingzhou Road, Jiaoniu Village, Hehe County.

A pot of stewed mutton, tender and soft, with just some clean salt and a few drops of sesame oil, was served—a truly delicious dish.

Then, plate after plate of steaming dumplings were served.

Then there was braised pork, pig's head meat, and a bright red roast chicken...

As the hostess brought a plate of stir-fried cabbage with vinegar to the table, Old Man Zhao, who was sitting in the main seat, had tears of emotion welling up in his eyes.

She wiped away her tears, trembling, while muttering to herself.

"Who would dare to eat like this? Even during the Kaihuang era, no one would dare to indulge like this... So much meat! In the past, even landlords wouldn't dare to eat like this during festivals..."

Zhao Dalang's wife had just finished breastfeeding her youngest son.

Seeing this sumptuous meal, he was momentarily dazed.

It wasn't until the second son's wife came out of the kitchen and called out that everyone came to their senses.

"Alright, you guys, hurry up and eat, look how hungry you are..."

With a complicated expression, Old Zhao waved his hand, signaling his grandchildren sitting around him to hurry up and eat.

It's not that we've never eaten meat at home before, but we'd be lucky to have a bowl of meat every few days; we can't eat meat every day.

That is, this year's Lunar New Year.

Because the eldest son's wife gave birth to a grandson this winter, the local government sent two catties of pork, two catties of eggs, and some cheese, which was supposedly distributed by the royal dairy industry in Zhenbei Road, for the New Year.

The eldest brother works at a nearby cement factory and received 30 jin of flour as a New Year's gift.

The second son's wife knew how to weave cloth and became a worker in a cloth shop owned by a chamber of commerce in the county. The new clothes that Old Zhao was wearing were made from the cloth that the second son's wife gave him as a New Year's gift.

The second son works at the flour mill in the county...

"These days... His Highness the Crown Prince was right, things are getting better, they're really getting better..."

Old Zhao wiped away tears again. He had seen the Crown Prince last autumn during the harvest season.

Back then, his wife was still alive, but now that life is better, she didn't live to see that day.

"Woooooooo..."

The eldest son knew his father missed his mother, looking at the table full of delicious, steaming food.

The family sat on the kang (a heated brick bed), all warm and cozy. They didn't even realize that it was already the dead of winter and the Lunar New Year if they didn't go out.

The second brother poured a pot of Fenjiu liquor for his father, and then poured a cup for his elder brother and himself.

"Father, life is better now. Next spring, all the boys in our family will be able to go to school. Maybe they'll even pass the exams and get official positions someday. If Mother knew, she would be so happy..."

"Yes, yes, she said before she passed away that His Highness the Crown Prince would definitely make our lives better."

Children don't understand the troubles adults feel.

They have experienced hunger and hardship.

But having never experienced the chaos at the end of the Sui Dynasty, how could they know that such a terrifying thing as cannibalism existed in this world?

At this moment, everyone buried their heads and desperately shoveled food into their mouths.

Each white dumpling is now the cutest thing in their eyes.

Old Zhao took a sip of the slightly chilly wine in his cup. As the wine went down his throat, he couldn't help but shiver comfortably.

After hesitating for a long time, he suddenly spoke.

"His Highness the Crown Prince forbids us from erecting a longevity tablet for him, but I estimate that I don't have many years left to live. You have all become successful. My greatest wish in this life is that His Highness the Crown Prince can live to be a hundred years old... I want to erect a longevity tablet for His Highness the Crown Prince to be enshrined!"

The eldest and second sons of the Zhao family exchanged a glance, said nothing, but nodded in unison.

The eldest son refilled his father's glass.

"Hehe, Father, you shouldn't say such discouraging things during the New Year. You've met His Highness the Crown Prince; you're blessed! You'll surely live to be a hundred!"

The second brother raised his glass with a smile: "That's right, that's right. Our factory is still expanding. The money we've received this year is more than we've earned in the previous three to five years. I recently visited that residential area in the county, the one owned by His Highness Prince Lu's real estate developer. The houses there are beautifully built, and we can definitely afford them!"

"His Highness Prince Lu is backed by His Highness the Crown Prince. Trusting His Highness the Crown Prince is the right thing to do. When the time comes, we'll talk to the village head and gather about twenty households. Then the merchant guild will send people to build houses in our village..."

"You can rest assured and enjoy your retirement, wearing new clothes and living in a new house..."

"Whoosh~ Bang~"

"Fireworks illuminate the sky, and drums and trumpets herald the arrival of spring."

The dazzling fireworks illuminated the night sky of Chang'an, like a jade tree in full bloom, and the firelight reflected on the faces of every citizen of Chang'an during the Tang Dynasty.

Standing outside the hall, watching the magnificent fireworks display with everyone else, Li Chengqian couldn't help but murmur a few words to himself.

aside.

Two beautiful young women, each around sixteen years old, stood quietly on either side of each other.

however.

At this moment, Li Chengqian was admiring the fireworks. Both of them were watching intently as the people of the Tang Dynasty were able to enjoy the fireworks with peace of mind.

Li Xueyan nervously twisted her delicate hands together.

Although it has been confirmed, she is now engaged to her beloved cousin, the Crown Prince.

Today, under the arrangement of Her Majesty the Empress, I also appeared at this royal banquet.

Having accumulated a bellyful of words over a long period, now that they were in front of me, I suddenly didn't know where to begin.

Under the watchful eyes of Prince Li Daozong of Jiangxia, who was observing from the shadows, and Princess Li Daozong of Jiangxia, who was also watching with some anxiety, he just stood there dumbfounded.

Beside her, Zheng Lizhen, the eldest daughter of the Zheng family of Xingyang and the youngest daughter of clan leader Zheng Jiang, was a woman who was eloquent and articulate.

"Your Highness has come up with so many exciting activities, from cards and mahjong to fireworks and opera. I originally thought Your Highness was a person who enjoyed excitement, but I didn't expect you to be hiding here all by yourself."

Zheng Lizhen bit her red lips lightly. She could tell that the Crown Prince was not really interested in her.

Whether it was out of personal affection for the other person or for family interests, Zheng Lizhen had no choice but to take the initiative to step forward and bring them closer.

Even if she can't compare to Qian Yingying or Hou Qianya, she at least can't lose to Wang Yuyan of the Taiyuan Wang family...

Li Chengqian: "...I do not like crowds. Rather than participating, I prefer to quietly watch others have fun."

Li Chengqian took a sip of the wine in his wine glass.

Compared to the taste of later generations, it is ultimately inferior, but brewing is something that can always be improved with time and research.

At least now, the merchants from the Central Plains have embarrassingly discovered that the wines of the Tang Dynasty are even more mellow and intoxicating than those they transported from afar.

"Hehe, actually I don't really like showing my face in public. In the past, at poetry gatherings, I mostly just sat quietly on the sidelines listening..."

Li Chengqian: "......"

You're anything but quiet.

He turned his head slightly and looked at Li Xueyan, who was standing to the side with her head down, silently muttering to herself, like a student about to be tested on her memorization of lessons, having mastered her script before the battle.

A smile involuntarily flashed in his eyes.

"Sister Xueyan, you seem to have something on your mind?"

"what?!"

The sudden sound threw Li Xueyan, who was still rehearsing the words of the speech in her mind, into a state of confusion.

"This, I... Your Highness..."

Another dazzling burst of fireworks bloomed in the sky.

However, at this moment, Li Xueyan's face was even more radiant and alluring than the fiery red she had seen that day.

When Li Chengqian suddenly called her over, her hesitant manner only made the smile in Li Chengqian's eyes grow even stronger.

Zheng Lizhen: "......"

"I noticed you've been standing next to me for quite a while, as if you have something you want to say..."

Li Xueyan was being stared at by Li Chengqian, and her eyes lowered once again amidst the helpless gazes of the Prince of Jiangxia and his wife in the shadows.

"Hey......"

Li Chengqian sighed inwardly, thinking, "If it weren't for my appearance..."

Even though this girl is in Chang'an and protected by the Prince and Princess of Jiangxia, she is still such an introverted young girl, yet she is forced to be given the title of "Princess Wencheng".

She married a Tibetan.

The intelligence sent by the Embroidered Uniform Guard described Tibet as a godforsaken place, and Li Chengqian was even reluctant to send troops to fight it.

I'm so damn poor!

It wasn't just material poverty; spiritual poverty was even more barbaric and lacking. No wonder Songtsen Gampo in history demanded such a large dowry from the Central Plains.

Without that dowry, it would have taken another Songtsen Gampo for Tibet, a place as desolate as Tibet, to develop into a force that could threaten the Tang Dynasty.

"If you haven't thought it through, then think it through before you speak. I will return to Bingzhou Road a little later this year."

Li Chengqian didn't make things difficult for her any further; she was clearly someone's younger cousin.

smiled.

Just as he was about to return to the palace to challenge Li Tai and the others to a game of cards, his arm was suddenly grabbed by someone behind him.

Li Xueyan's body was visibly trembling, and she kept her head down.

Suddenly, he pulled out a scroll with something written on it, and stuffed it into Li Chengqian's hand.

"This, this is for you, Your Highness... Please take a look and see if you like it..."

His upper body was clearly making a move to escape, but his feet remained firmly planted on the spot.

Such a disobedient body almost made Li Xueyan, whose pretty face was now so red it was practically bleeding, to the point of tears.

Li Chengqian raised an eyebrow and opened the scroll in his hand with some doubt.

What came into view were portraits of people drawn in simple line drawings, the figures that Li Chengqian often saw in the mirror.

However, what caught Li Chengqian's eye even more was the clothing worn by the person at that moment.

Li Chengqian looked at Li Xueyan, whose head was hanging down.

After hesitating for a moment, he tentatively opened his mouth slowly.

"Odd changes to even?"

Li Xueyan looked up, her pretty face, flushed like a pomegranate seed, filled with confusion.

"Crown Prince, what did you say?"

Li Chengqian repeated it again, and seeing that the latter still looked blank, the doubt that had just arisen in his heart was instantly dispelled.

However, looking at the drawing in his hand, which was clearly a Hanfu (traditional Han clothing) from later times, he was still as shocked as ever.

The costumes for men and women in later period dramas are so gorgeous, and even in some historical period dramas, the clothing of ancient characters can be described as magnificent.

but......

As a time traveler, and a prince of the Tang Dynasty at that, Li Chengqian can say with certainty that, apart from the royal family and some high-ranking officials, whose dragon robes and official robes might be more magnificent.

But the rest simply can't compare to the clothes in those period dramas.

But right now, this cousin, Li Xueyan, who should have been Princess Wencheng in history.

They actually produced so many clear and concise clothing design sketches all at once...

"Your Highness, doesn't your Crown Prince like anyone?" Li Xueyan felt a pang of disappointment when she saw Li Chengqian frowning from time to time as he looked at the manuscript.

Li Chengqian came to his senses.

Suddenly, she grabbed the other person's shoulder, her face full of excitement: "Xueyan, did you draw all of these?"

Xueyan was startled by Li Chengqian's actions and nodded instinctively.

With nothing to do in her boudoir, Xueyan, who knew a little about needlework and drawing, then...

Li Chengqian's eyes immediately brightened, and he hurriedly asked, "So, you still have this kind of drawing?"

Seeing the latter nod, Li Chengqian's gaze towards Li Xueyan had completely changed.

Is this my cousin?

Do not!

This is the future fashion queen of the Great Tang Dynasty!

It is the driving force behind the reform and improvement of Han Chinese clothing and etiquette!

"Does Sister Xueyan have time tomorrow? I'd like to pay her a visit and see some of your other artwork..."

Zheng Lizhen: "......"

Well, sometimes liking and disliking are just that clear and straightforward.