Chapter 138 Reward for Li Xiang (asking for monthly ticket)

"Xiang'er is really sharp-eyed."

Li Shu took off the scarf around his neck with a smile and put it around Li Xiang's neck.

"This thing is very warm, try it."

Li Xiang thought to himself, of course I know that woolen scarves are warm, I knitted one myself back then.

It’s just that this scarf… doesn’t look very professionally knitted.

He reached out, took off the scarf, and returned it to Li Shu.

It’s nothing, the fragrance just hits your nose.

Seeing his disgusted look, Li Shu reached out and pinched his ear angrily.

"You heartless little thing. I, your aunt, worked so hard just to get you this piece of wool, and yet you still despise me. I..."

"No, aunt, it's just too fragrant, I can't stand it..." Li Xiang said hurriedly, and coughed twice in a fake manner, "I've been getting a lot of heat in the winter recently..."

"Oh." Li Shu believed what he said and did not pursue the matter further.

"How was this scarf made? It looks too rough." Li Xiang held the scarf and complained, "Who knitted it?"

When I looked up, I saw Li Shu's pretty face which had turned dark.

Seeing that the situation was not good, Li Xiang ran away.

If there weren't so many people around, Li Su would have put aside her princess dignity and chased after Li Xiang to beat him up.

There is no other reason. She knitted this scarf bit by bit...

"Little bastard!" Li Su gritted his teeth and looked at Li Xiang's fleeing back: "Come back here!"

"I'm not stupid! I'm not." Li Xiang laughed.

"Come back, I promise not to hit you!" Li Shu said with his hands on his hips.

"Really?" Li Xiang asked suspiciously.

"Of course it's true." Li Su nodded.

Li Xiang snorted and said, "I've heard a saying, 'The more beautiful a woman is, the more likely she is to lie.' My aunt is so beautiful, I don't dare to believe what you say."

As soon as these words were spoken, Li Shu's anger disappeared immediately.

Which woman doesn't like to be praised for her beauty? Even a princess is no exception.

"Okay." Li Shu smiled and said, "You little guy, you really make people love and hate you."

Seeing that she had calmed down, Li Xiang came up to her, picked up the small jar, scooped a spoonful of sugar and handed it to Li Su: "Aunt, try it."

"I just praised you and you want to harm me?" Li Shu looked at the white sugar and thought it was salt, with an expression of polite deference.

"This is candy." said Li Xiang.

"Sugar?" Li Shu took the spoon suspiciously, put it to his lips, stretched out his pink tongue to test it a little, and quickly retracted it - well, it was not salty after all.

"So sweet." Li Su smiled with her eyes curved. Girls have no resistance to sweets.

"This jar of sugar is for my aunt. Of course..." Li Xiang said in a long voice, "Don't eat too much sweets. You will become as fat as my second uncle."

Li Shu thought about Li Tai's figure and shuddered subconsciously.

Although fat is considered beautiful in the Tang Dynasty, it means plump and slightly fat, not the fat head and big ears of a real fat pig...

But she still laughed and said, "Don't worry, Auntie won't get fat."

“But you will get sick, just like my father had a limp before.” Li Xiang spread his hands.

"I know that delicious food cannot be enjoyed too often." Li Su nodded, taking Li Xiang's words into consideration. He planned to go home and take the jar of sugar for Fang Yiai and her parents-in-law to taste.

"Here," Li Shu pointed outside and said, "This time, the wool has been woven into half a cart of yarn. It's all in the cart. I'll leave it to you to decide how to do it."

As she spoke, she waved her fist at Li Xiang and said, "Aunt, I took great pains to weave this scarf, but you despise it so much!"

Li Xiang could only get by with a grimace.

He took the playboys with him to pull the wool into the restaurant, and then rolled it into a ball of wool the size of the later generations. He also asked the craftsmen to make dozens of wool needles, intending to go back and teach Li Mingda how to knit a sweater.

Of course, he was not idle either. Since he had sugar, he had promised his grandfather that he would make him something delicious, so he took Fubao and Xue Rengui with him and planned to bake some cakes for his family to try.

Although Xue Rengui is his bodyguard, he has now almost become a professional tool.

With a pair of tireless arms, he was able to beat egg whites with his bare hands...

Of course, Lao Xue had no objection at all. It wasn’t because of Li Xiang, but mainly because he also wanted to eat something good.

Being a glutton, he has great pursuit in food.

After working hard for most of the day, Li Xiang used up almost half of the sugar and baked many cakes that were as soft as sponges.

"It smells so good..." After rolling the balls of yarn, the playboys ate the cake contentedly, feeling satisfied from the bottom of their hearts.

Before Li Shu left, she happened to see the first batch of cakes coming out of the oven. She fell in love with the texture and taste after taking one bite, and packed up all the cakes from the first batch and took them home.

Li Xiang certainly did not hesitate to give cakes to his meritorious officials. Princess Gaoyang was able to make wool into thread, which was a great contribution.

It’s just a few pieces of cake, it’s not like I can’t afford it!

Each of the brothers got two pieces, and there was still a lot left, so Li Xiang took them all back to the palace.

When Lao Li returned to Lizheng Hall with the cake, he was just about to ask Wang De to serve dinner.

Seeing the mysterious thing in Li Xiang's arms, Li Shimin's first thought was that this must be the delicious thing he mentioned yesterday.

Thinking of this, Li Shimin rubbed his hands and looked at Li Xiang expectantly.

Li Xiang: …

Aung, what's your posture?

He put down the wooden box in his arms, opened the lid, revealing the golden cake inside.

"Wow, what is this? It's so beautiful." Old Li couldn't help but exclaim.

"The cake is delicious." Li Xiang said concisely: "Where is my aunt?"

Li Shimin didn't even raise his eyes, staring at the golden cake intently, and ordered: "Wang De, go to the next door and ask Sizi to come over."

Soon, Li Mingda also came over.

Seeing Li Mingda enter the hall, Li Shimin couldn't wait to stretch out his hand.

As soon as he touched the cake, Li Shimin looked up in surprise.

"It's so soft? Compared to Concubine Yang's..."

He stopped talking halfway through saying this.

There are some things...that cannot be said in front of my daughter and my eldest grandson.

Li Xiang didn't hear what he said clearly, but said with a smile: "This cake is indeed soft and delicious, Uncle, try it, it's very sweet."

"Sweet?" Li Shimin immediately perked up, as he was a big sweets lover.

He tore off a piece of cake and handed it to Li Mingda first, then to Li Xiang, and finally took out a piece and put it in front of his nose to smell it. "Hmm, it smells very fragrant and sweet."

Li Mingda glanced at Li Xiang, tore off a small piece, and put it delicately into his mouth.

"Hmm, delicious." She relaxed her brows and smiled sweetly.

Li Shimin didn't care about that. Eating manners were not important. He just opened his mouth and took a bite.

"Delicious!" He chewed it in his mouth, looked at Li Xiang and asked, "Xiang'er, is this all you have?"

"There's still half a car left..." Li Xiang wiped the sweat from his forehead. It was very hot in the room and he forgot to take off his coat.

"In that case, Wang De." Li Shimin ordered, "Take a piece and have someone send it to the auxiliary machine."

"Yes." Wang De turned and left.

Halfway through the walk, Li Shimin said, "Give one piece each to the King of Wei and the King of Jin, and two pieces to Fu Ji's family."

He was thinking of Princess Changle.

"How about it, old man, did your grandson lie to you?" Li Xiang didn't think there was anything wrong with Li Shimin giving cakes as gifts. Originally, those were for Old Li - of course, some of them were reserved for the Eastern Palace.

Li Shimin smiled and nodded, saying: "In that case, I will reward you with something."

When Li Xiang heard this, he was shocked: Oh my god, there is an unexpected gain?
"Well, then I will agree to your last request and allow Su Dingfang and Pei Xingjian to join the navy." Li Shimin tore off another piece of cake and put it in his mouth.

This cake is soft and sweet, just what he likes!

Li Xiang's little face suddenly fell, he was unhappy!
I thought it was going to be a reward of some kind, but this is what it turned out to be?
Seeing that Li Xiang looked unhappy, Lao Li asked suspiciously, "Didn't this make you get what you wanted? Why are you not happy?"

Li Xiang crossed his arms and snorted, "Aunt, I am recommending talents to you. You are the beneficiary and the one who uses them. How can it be regarded as a reward to me?"

Li Shimin couldn't help but laugh, "Do you really not understand or are you pretending not to understand? With your recommendation, even if they are not your people, they will become your people!"
But it can also be seen from here that Xiang'er is really open about his behavior towards me.

"In that case, then tell me what I should reward you with?" Li Shimin asked.

"Ah Weng is not sincere, how can you kill a chicken to ask for a guest?"

Li Xiang curled his lips, turned around and took out a few balls of wool from the box that Fubao brought in.

Li Shimin's breath was choked. This little bastard...

"Look, Aunt Gaoyang has made wool into yarn." Li Xiang played with the ball of yarn and looked at Li Mingda: "Aunt Gaoyang knitted a scarf for me, but I thought it was ugly so I didn't want it. Aunt, do you want to learn how to knit scarves and sweaters?"

"Of course." Li Mingda replied with interest.

It’s not because of anything else. Li Mingda thought in his heart, I can’t let Sister Gao Yang get there first. I have to knit Xiang’er’s scarf for him!
"Oh? Xiang'er can also knit scarves and sweaters?" Li Shimin immediately became interested. He actually wanted to try to learn something that was related to the national economy and people's livelihood.

Seeing that he was interested, Li Xiang asked, "Aung wants to learn too?"

"I have personally learned how to knit sweaters. As the saying goes, leaders lead by example. The ministers and the people will surely quickly accept wool fabrics." Li Shimin said, twirling his beard.

Oh, Lao Li, you have a good understanding.

Li Xiang took out six knitting needles and three balls of wool from behind and handed them to Li Shimin and Li Mingda respectively.

"Look, hold the two knitting needles like this." Li Xiang demonstrated, "Tie a knot in the thread like this, then put it on the knitting needles, tighten it, and start knitting from the thumb side..."

With this demonstration, the father and daughter soon learned how to weave.

What Li Xiang didn't expect was that Li Shimin's learning speed was much faster than Li Mingda's. After practicing for a while, he actually knitted a large scarf in a very good manner.

"Haha." Li Shimin proudly picked up the white wool scarf, showed it off to Li Xiang, and then wrapped it around his neck.

"Well, it's really warm." Li Shimin praised with satisfaction: "This wool fabric is really magical!"

Seeing that Lao Li was making rapid progress, Li Xiang then taught him how to knit socks.

Lao Li learns very quickly. I really don’t know where his talent comes from.

On the other hand, Li Mingda had just learned how to weave...

"Here, Xiang'er." Li Mingda picked up the scarf he had just knitted and said, "This scarf is for you."

"Thank you, aunt." Li Xiang thanked with a smile.

At Li Shimin's request, Li Xiang left all the balls of wool in the Lizheng Hall and returned to the East Palace.

He took the cake and sneaked all the way to Mingde Hall.

Inside the hall, Li Chengqian was chatting and joking with Su Yi. When they saw Li Xiang coming, they immediately sat up straight, as if nothing had happened.

"Xiang'er is here?" Li Chengqian smiled gently.

Li Xiang greeted her and said, "Aye, mother."

"Xiang'er, you don't have to be so polite." Li Chengqian said with a smile, and then looked at Fubao behind him and asked, "What is Fubao holding in his hand?"

"Oh, it's a cake, specially made for Grandpa and Grandma to taste." Li Xiang said with a smile.

"Xiang'er is truly kind and filial." Su Yi praised with a smile.

Fubao presented the cake. Li Chengqian reached out and pinched it. He whispered a few words into Su Yi's ear with a strange smile on his face, and then Su Yi slapped him lightly on the shoulder.

"That's all Dalang said..."

Li Chengqian smiled strangely, tore off a piece of cake and put it to Su Yi's mouth.

Li Xiang took a deep breath and said goodbye.

Damn, I’ve had enough of this dog food!

Li Jue loved cake very much. As a child, he just couldn't resist such sweet food. He didn't have dinner that night and only ate cake.

A few days later, during the court meeting in Liangyi Hall, Changsun Wuji was still showing off to his colleagues how delicious, soft and sweet the cake was.

The colleagues next to him looked at Zhangsun Wuji with gritted teeth and said, "You're so fat now, and you're still eating?"
When Li Shimin arrived at Liangyi Hall, Wang De behind him was holding a pile of things in his hands.

"Come, come, these are the scarves, you try them." Li Shimin smiled and asked Wang De to distribute the scarves one by one. "These scarves are made of wool. They are the method that my beloved daughter Princess Gaoyang, inspired by the Prince of Hengshan, has researched to convert wool into wool yarn."

After receiving the scarves, the ministers wrapped them around their necks.

"It is indeed warm. Thank you, Your Majesty, for your gift!" The ministers bowed and expressed their gratitude.

"Hey, these were all woven by me yesterday... Look, the one on the auxiliary machine was woven by the prince, Mr. Shen, yours was woven by Princess Jinyang." Li Shimin said with a smile.

Shen Gong, also known as Shen Guogong Gao Shilian.

When they heard that it was woven by Li Shimin's family personally, the ministers immediately realized the value of this gift.

Damn, this can be passed down from generation to generation, right?
Feeling the weight of the gift, the ministers bowed again to thank Li Shimin for his gift.

Old Li waved his hand indifferently. Those who participated in the court meeting this time were all close ministers, and there were not many people, less than ten.

He sat behind the desk, feeling as if something was missing in his hands.

So he waved to Wang De, who took two balls of wool from the side and handed the knitting needles to Li Shimin.

"Today's court meeting will discuss this wool."

As Old Li was speaking, his hands were not idle. He moved the two knitting needles very quickly and began to knit quickly and skillfully.

(Three more updates delivered)

(End of this chapter)