svetikya Chapter 112 The two brothers were tricked into becoming crippled
Chapter 112 The two brothers were tricked into becoming crippled
After seeing Lady Gao off, the Empress reclined on the couch. Granny Qu brought her a bowl of bird's nest soup. "Your Majesty, please have some. You didn't eat much for breakfast."
The Empress took a couple of sips of her drink, then reluctantly stood up. "I'll go to Qian Yuan Palace. We need to start making preparations for the Emperor's birthday celebration in advance."
Actually, there was no need to be in such a hurry, but she just wanted to see the emperor.
Upon receiving the information from Judge Zhang, Li Yuanke learned of his extraordinary talent and felt a great weight lifted from his shoulders.
He was just thinking of going to Zhaoyang Palace that night to teach that scoundrel a lesson when he heard that the Empress was requesting an audience. Considering that the Emperor's birthday was coming soon, he figured it must be about this matter, so he let the Empress in.
After the empress paid her respects, the emperor asked her to sit down.
She sat on the couch for a while, then tried to massage the emperor's shoulders again, but the emperor avoided her, saying, "Empress, there's no need for that. I'm not tired."
The Empress smiled and said, "It's good that Your Majesty isn't tired. I noticed that Your Majesty doesn't look too well. Perhaps you didn't sleep well last night? Your Majesty rested in Zhaoyang Palace last night. Could it be that Sister Shen had another quarrel with Your Majesty?"
The emperor's face turned cold as he glanced at her. "What brings the Empress here?"
The Empress realized she had spoken out of turn. "Your Majesty, please calm down. I was rash! I came here to ask why Your Majesty has not had a proper celebration of the Emperor's birthday, which is coming soon. This year, being the fifth birthday, it is not appropriate to hold a grand celebration, nor should it be as simple as in previous years."
The emperor thought of that scoundrel who always said that a man over twenty-five was no different from a sixty-year-old, and he lost interest.
"No need, we'll do the same thing as in previous years."
The Empress said, "In previous years, the palace was just lively. This year, why don't we invite all the imperial relatives? After all, it is the Emperor's birthday, and it shouldn't be too simple all the time."
Whether or not the imperial relatives were invited was of no concern to Li Yuanke, as he knew the Empress must have her reasons for doing so.
"The Empress can arrange it!"
The Empress had achieved her goal, and it was almost lunchtime, but the Emperor showed no intention of keeping her. Not wanting to linger any longer, she got up to take her leave.
As they exited the palace gates, they encountered Shen Shixi and Li Yuanyin arriving together.
"Greetings to Her Majesty the Empress!" the two said in unison.
The Empress sized up the two of them and smiled, "What a coincidence! Did you arrange this?"
Shen Shixi smiled and said, "It wasn't pre-arranged. The Prince of Changle sent someone to call his concubine to come to the Emperor's place because he has something to discuss."
"Since there's something to discuss, you should go inside quickly and not keep the Emperor waiting."
After she left, the Empress could still hear the voice of Prince Chang Le, "Royal brother, royal brother!"
She wanted to find out, but she knew that it was practically impossible and too risky to get any information from Qian Yuan Palace.
Because Li Yuanyin was present, Shen Shixi didn't rush towards Li Yuanke when she entered. As she bowed, the emperor helped her up, saying, "No need for formalities! Why did you both come together?"
Li Yuanyin said, "Some problems arose during the glassmaking process, so I asked someone to bring Shi Xi to Your Majesty's place. I have some questions to ask her."
Shen Shixi then held out her hand and said, "Let me see, how far have we gotten?"
Li Yuanyin took out a piece of glass wrapped in a handkerchief from her bosom. It was flat, the kind Shen Shixi wanted. She looked at it against the light and saw that it was indeed glass, but it wasn't very transparent and had many impurities.
"I think this is already very good. I had someone compare it with the glass in the hands of those Persian merchants. Mine is too good. If it is sold, it will definitely be sold out."
Shen Shixi threw the glass onto the table, and it shattered with a crash. Li Yuanyin was heartbroken.
Shen Shixi held the shard, examined the broken surface, and said, "That's what you think, not what I think!"
She pointed to the cross-section and said, "First, you need to control the amount of pure alkali I told you about. Increasing the proportion a little can lower the melting point of those materials, meaning they won't need a very high temperature to melt. Second, you need to stir it thoroughly. Go back and try it again."
Li Yuanyin sighed, "You mean this isn't enough?"
Shen Shixi said irritably, "You're too easily satisfied. Well, you've never seen a truly excellent product. You're just like that country bumpkin who thinks the Emperor is the kind of person who's happy eating three sesame cakes every day. Little do he know, this is definitely a defective product."
Li Yuanyin chuckled. "Where did you hear that joke?"
Li Yuanke looked at her helplessly, but there was a smile in his eyes. She was mocking Li Yuanyin. What was Li Yuanyin's focus?
"What business is it of mine where I heard that? There are plenty of jokes like that outside. It's normal that someone like you, who grew up in the deep palace, wouldn't know." Shen Shixi didn't bother arguing with him. "Hurry up, I urgently need the glass. The Emperor's birthday is coming up, and I'm waiting to give him a gift!"
Li Yuanyin was stunned. "You told him, right in front of my brother, that you were going to give him a piece of glass? At least a glass cup would have been fine. What is my brother supposed to do with a piece of glass as flat as this?"
Shen Shixi shook his head. "Your Highness, Your Highness, I won't laugh at your ignorance. I told you before that glass can be used to build houses. Let me teach you another trick. Look at the gauze used to cover the windows of Qianyuan Palace, isn't it nice?"
But on cloudy days, when the sun isn't out, you'd definitely need to light candles in this room. But if you could make the kind of glass I need, and replace it with this, you wouldn't need to light any; it would be perfectly bright.
Li Yuanyin really hadn't expected this. It wasn't that he wasn't smart; the main thing was that he needed to see the bigger picture in this kind of thing.
The three of them ate together. For lunch today, Li Yuanke had someone make a plate of spicy chicken, and asked someone from Shen Shixi's small kitchen to do it.
Li Yuanyin also got to try some, and it was so spicy it made him chuckle, but he really enjoyed it.
Very few people don't like spicy food; the reason they don't is because they've never tried it.
"Delicious, Your Majesty! Plant more of these chilies next year, they're really good stuff!" Li Yuanyin said.
Shen Shixi didn't even look up. "There are plenty of good things out there. What's so special about this? I've only ever heard of an island with an abundance of silver, and a place where gold is everywhere, the kind you can just pick up."
Isn't Japan in later generations, the country of Wa today, rich in silver mines?
As for places rich in gold, there's neighboring India, now called India. South Africa is too far away.
Li Yuanyin was completely fooled. "Are you serious? You're not lying to me?"
"Why would I lie to you?" Shen Shixi said. "But it's a bit far, and you're a prince, it would be too dangerous for you to go. Anyway, you're not short of money."
We don't lack money, but who doesn't need a pair of wings to dream?
Li Yuanyin became extremely interested in Shen Shixi's past travels. "So, Shixi, tell me, what did you see and experience while you were out there?"
Shen Shixi beckoned to him, "Come, come, let me tell you."
She went directly to Li Yuanke's imperial desk, asked for a charcoal stick, found a piece of snow-white paper, and drew a map of this period on it.
Don't ask Shen Shixi how she can draw; anyone who has studied history and geography can.
Then he marked some place names on it. "This is Japan. You should know about the Japanese. They have a lot of silver mines here. Right now, the Japanese are just savages who fight each other with sticks."
It's no wonder that Yang Guifei, the concubine of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, ended up in Japan, where many legends abound.
"It is said that the Japanese people were originally sent by the First Emperor of Qin to seek the elixir of immortality. Five hundred boys and girls stayed on the island of Japan and became the descendants of the Japanese people today."
The Li brothers, Yuan Ke and Li Yuan Ke, were truly amazed.