"Your highness Prince Jin is so leisurely. Did you finish all the math homework?"
Li Yi looked at Li Han calmly and said: "That's right. For 4 months, even if your highness only read for half an hour a day, it's more than enough. Starting tomorrow, I will make up for the homework that I owe you. Tomorrow, I will see you in the Bowen Hall. Your highness Prince Jin, don't be late."
Li Han's forehead was full of cold sweat. A few months ago, he had already torn the math textbook to pieces. What half an hour a day? He didn't even want to waste half an hour on that boring thing.
"Father, father said that the weather is too hot, we, we don't need to go to the palace school these days … …" Li Han stuttered. It was very difficult to eliminate the fear of the first impression.
Li Yi smiled and said: "It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter. When the heaven is about to give a person a great responsibility, he must first suffer his will and bones. This heat is nothing. I will report to his majesty in a while. Your highness Prince Jin doesn't need to worry anymore."
Ignoring Prince Jin, who was stunned, Li Yi squatted down and rubbed Yongning's little face. He asked: "I'm sorry, it's been so long since I came to see you. Are you still hungry now?"
The little girl shook her head and took out a bulging brocade handkerchief from her sleeve. She put it on Li Yi's palm.
The handkerchief was cold and wet to the touch. Li Yi opened it to take a look and found that there was a block of ice inside.
After giving the remaining ice to Li Yi, the little girl turned around and walked to the palace next to her.
"It's important to see his majesty." Li Yi watched her little figure disappear in the palace. Li Xuan's voice came to his ears.
"You two, come here." Li Yi waved his hand to the two eunuchs who were standing not far away.
"What is Jue Ye's order?" The two eunuchs who planned to go back with Princess Yongning immediately trotted over.
Li Yi pointed in the direction of the palace gate and gave them a few instructions. He then glanced at the palace where Yong Ning was at before walking deeper into the palace with Li Xuan.
After a while, Prince Jin, Li Han, saw the two eunuchs who had just left, each carrying a huge wooden barrel coming from the palace gate.
When the two of them walked past him, they brought with them a comfortable cool breeze. Li Han glanced at the wooden bucket and saw the ice cubes that almost took up the entire bucket. His eyes couldn't help but widen like saucers …
These two buckets of ice cubes added together were equivalent to his monthly quota!
At this moment, he really wanted to hug this ice cube and have a good sleep. However, when this unrealistic thought dissipated, he finally realized something even more terrifying.
That devil was back. His good days were finally coming to an end …
…
…
"Her Majesty has just fallen asleep. Your Highness, please wait in the side hall first. When Her Majesty wakes up, this servant will go and inform Her Majesty." The eunuch at the entrance of the side hall said in a low voice.
"Forget it. It's even more stuffy inside the palace. Let's wait here." Li Xuan stood in the shade under the porch. The breeze was blowing. It felt good. This position was definitely much cooler than inside the palace.
One could tell just by looking at the few fellows in Daoist robes whose faces were drenched in sweat. Although it might be cool to roll up their sleeves and fan themselves like Li Yi did, the royal etiquette he had received since he was young did not allow him to do such a thing.
He began to miss that bottle of iced grape wine.
"This is the palace. Can't you behave yourself?" Li Yi was fanning with all his might when he suddenly heard a voice. He turned his head and saw Her Highness standing under the porch and looking at him.
With a lady present, this action was somewhat unsightly. Li Yi had no choice but to pull down his sleeves and tidy up his clothes.
The palace was not as comfortable as home. If it was just him and Ruyi, they only needed a piece of cloth to cover their private parts.
"When did you return to the capital?" MIngzhu walked over and asked.
"I just came back a few days ago." Li Yi dodged the question.
MIngzhu wanted to ask more, but two guards came over with a few monks.
"Greetings, Your Highness." Master Sandyin put his palms together and said.
"Master, you don't have to be so polite." Even if she was a princess, it was not appropriate to put on airs in front of a virtuous monk. MIngzhu returned the greeting.
"Father has just fallen asleep. Master, please wait in the side hall."
Li Yi was a little curious. What kind of sparks would there be when monks and Taoists were in the same room?
Although they both made a living by conning people and could be considered to be in the same profession, monks and Taoists generally did not see eye to eye with each other. Buddhism and Taoism had to compete for believers and incense. Resources were limited. If one side had more, the other side would naturally have less. Over time, a feud would naturally be formed.
Although Taoism was the orthodox state religion of the Jing Kingdom, its development in the Jing Kingdom was far behind that of Buddhism. They could not compete with each other for incense and believers, so naturally, they would not be nice to the monks.
In the face of their unfriendly gazes, the young monks behind Master Sandyin glared back.
"May I know why Master has entered the palace?" Since he had nothing to do, Li Yi walked over and chatted with Master Sandyin in a low voice.
Master Sandyin said, "His Majesty is unwell. At the invitation of Her Majesty, I brought my disciples to recite scriptures to cure His Majesty's illness."
After listening to Master Sandyin's words, Li Yi somewhat understood why, although Buddhism was prosperous, Taoists were still more favored in the palace.
There was no other reason. No matter what happened, monks could only recite scriptures, pray to Buddha, and perform rituals. These things could also be done by Taoists. They would put on their Taoist robes, casually recite a few words that no one could understand, dance a few times with their peach wood swords, and then recite a few lines of "Taishang Laojun is as urgent as the law". They would jump back and forth a few times, looking like they were doing something.
But other than these, Taoists could also refine pills!
The various pills refined by Taoists were very popular in the circle of the nobility in the capital. Eating one would prolong one's life, eating two would make one immortal, and eating three would immediately cause one to ascend to the heavens and become an immortal …
Although none of these had ever been realized, it could not stop these people's rock-solid dreams of longevity.
However, a wise and farsighted person like the old emperor would probably not do something that would bring about his own destruction. Since ancient times, there had not been any emperors who could prolong their life by consuming pills. There were many who had died, but it was unknown whether they had become immortals or not.
Could it be that he wanted these monks and Taoists to join forces to perform a ritual? Thinking about it, it would be quite interesting. But who knew if Buddha and Taoist would fight in the sky …
"What are these Taoists doing?" Li Yi walked over and whispered to MIngzhu.
"These Taoists from the Imperial Astronomer are here to deliver pills to Imperial Father," MIngzhu explained. "Father's illness is all thanks to the pills they refined."
Li Yi's expression froze. He looked at MIngzhu in shock. "What did you say?"
"What's wrong?" Seeing the expression on Li Yi's face, MIngzhu suddenly had a bad feeling.
"Could it be that Your Majesty has been eating those useless pills?" Li Yi raised his voice and asked again.
The old emperor really dared to eat anything. Was he looking forward to his early death?
"Shut up!"
Inside the hall, an old Taoist with the demeanor of an immortal stood up and pointed at Li Yi. "Who are you? How dare you speak such arrogant words and slander the sacred medicine of Taoism!"
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