strictlysupreme Chapter 459 Tang Travel (1)
Chapter 459 Tang Travel (1)
Fortunately, when Wangyou was three years old, she entered a mysterious space while poking the peach blossom birthmark on her arm; otherwise, she and Qingman would probably have starved to death long ago.
The master and servant grew a lot of vegetables in the cold palace and would climb over the wall every few days to sell them, so they lived a pretty good life.
Wangyou is five years old this year, so she has naturally heard a lot of rumors from the outside world.
The claim that Li Shimin's ascension to the throne was illegitimate, that the Xuanwu Gate Incident killed his elder brother and forced the previous emperor to abdicate, has led to the current state of disasters throughout the Tang Dynasty.
Was Li Shimin angry? Of course he was, but Empress Zhangsun often advised him, which prevented him from going on a killing spree.
Moreover, Empress Zhangsun took the lead in being frugal, so Wangyou and the others were cut back even more, which made Wangyou roll her eyes when she heard these words.
She used to get 200 coins a month, then 100 coins a month, and sometimes she couldn't even get 100 coins back. Now she has no money at all.
If it weren't for the knowledge that if you kill someone, there will be another one, Wangyou would have killed countless people.
In addition, there were the constraints imposed by the five prominent families and seven powerful clans, making Li Shimin's reign as emperor anything but peaceful.
Wangyou was actually quite gloating; she was especially happy whenever she heard people criticizing Li Shimin.
For Wangyou, Li Shimin was not her father, but a stranger, and the culprit who directly caused her to suffer so much. So the worse Li Shimin's life was, the happier Wangyou was.
Wangyou also knew that she had many princes and princesses before, but few of them survived. However, there was one exception: none of the children born to Empress Zhangsun died of congenital infancy. It would be strange if there wasn't something fishy going on.
However, Wangyou wouldn't blame Empress Zhangsun. She had listened to many stories and had a good memory. She knew that men could have multiple wives and concubines, so it was impossible to expect the Empress to treat other people's children as her own.
However, she didn't have much goodwill. Empress Zhangsun's reputation as a virtuous empress was beginning to emerge in the court. This was partly because she took the lead in frugality and saved unnecessary expenses, and partly because she repeatedly advised Li Shimin and protected many upright ministers in the court, especially Wei Zheng.
As for the harem, let's not even talk about it; it was Empress Zhangsun's domain all by herself.
Wangyou disliked the palace and wanted to leave, but the world was in turmoil, and she and Qingman had nowhere to go, so they could only continue to stay in the cold palace.
“Miss, how about I buy you a few more books for your early education today? You’re five years old now, it’s time for you to start reading and learning to read.”
"Qingman, can you read?"
“This servant studied with Madam when I was young.”
What kind of person is my mother?
"Madam has practiced martial arts since childhood and is not proficient in poetry and literature. She is a very cheerful woman. If she hadn't married... she would have been very happy." Qingman's face showed some sadness.
Do I have maternal grandparents?
"The master and madam left early, but Miss has an uncle who is General Qin. However, the two branches are quite far apart and have not been in contact for many years."
"Oh, then I'm really in a bad situation. I've lost all my relatives," Wangyou said with a smile, though she still seemed a little aggrieved.
"Miss, and your father too!"
“He’s not worthy of me. When I’m a little older, we’ll leave the capital and never come back.”
"Alright, are you tired, Miss? Let me carry you."
"Qingman is tired from carrying all that stuff. I can walk by myself. Let's go to the bookstore to buy books!" Wangyou buried all her emotions and skipped along, pulling Qingman towards the bookstore.
"I didn't hear wrong, did I? Old Qin has such a lovely niece." Cheng Yaojin exclaimed in surprise as he watched the two figures disappear into the distance.
“I don’t know if Old Qin has a niece, but I know that little girl’s father is probably no good. The little girl is so young, I wonder how much she has suffered. I have to investigate and see if I can bring such a cute little girl to my home,” Yuchi Gong said, stroking his beard.
"Let's go, let's go talk to Lao Qin."
Wangyou and Qingman quickly realized they were being followed. After some effort, they shook off the people behind them and climbed over the wall back to the Cold Palace.
"Princess, we're afraid we won't be able to leave anytime soon."
"Okay, I won't go next time. You can disguise yourself and go out. I'm young, and I'll be too conspicuous if I go out." Wangyou nodded in agreement.
"What would the princess like to eat today?"
"I'd like to have cumin lamb, stir-fried bok choy, and rice."
"Alright, Your Highness, please read for a while. I'll go prepare now."
After Qingman left, Wangyou opened the new primer she had bought that day. It was good; the words on it didn't look very familiar. They were much more difficult to write than the words on the books she had seen in her space before. Compared to them, it was as if the words on those books in her space were pirated copies with missing arms and legs.
Wangyou first took out a book of the Thousand Character Classic and matched the characters one by one with the content she had memorized. It wasn't difficult to recognize them.
After Wangyou finished matching each word to its correct name, Qingman had also prepared the meal, and the two happily enjoyed a sumptuous lunch.
"Qingman, let's have pickled fish for dinner!"
"it is good."
Qingman never asked where Wangyou got the things she had, which pleased Wangyou. Moreover, Qingman was very talented in cooking; she could make almost the same dishes from the cookbook she found.
The rice was something Wangyou found in the space. Ever since she ate rice once, Wangyou never wanted to eat millet rice again.
A pond was dug in the yard, where some edible fish were raised. As for chickens, ducks, and pigs, a kind-hearted farmer was asked to help raise them. For this, Wangyou even dug out her pig-castration techniques.
The skill was passed down to that family, who were very grateful and helped them raise chickens, ducks, and pigs. They never lacked meat, which grew plump and healthy.
What angered Wangyou the most was that old man Li Shimin, who didn't even include her name in the family genealogy, probably because he had long forgotten about his daughter.
Wangyou thought about saving up some more money to bribe a village head or someone to help her get her household registration sorted out, so that it would be easier for her to leave in the future.
As for seeking help from Li Shimin, Wangyou never considered it. He might not know about the affairs of the harem, or he might know but be too lazy to care. He probably trusts Empress Zhangsun more. If she went to complain, she might not only fail to get justice but also get herself into trouble. The current situation of being a nobody is quite good.
Moreover, her intuition told Wangyou that her biological mother might still have some grudge against Empress Zhangsun, and she wasn't so careless as to wander around under the nose of her enemy every day.
Putting everything else aside, there's something very wrong with her mother's difficult childbirth. Qingman also said that her mother had practiced martial arts since childhood, so her physique couldn't be too bad. How could she die after giving birth? There must be something wrong here.
Moreover, the food delivered from outside had problems several times before. Also, when she was an infant, if she hadn't refused to drink milk and Qingman had fed her with rice cereal, she probably would have died long ago.