Chapter 346: Give me one too

Li Yin's topic was finally changed by Li Xiang. If he continued to argue, who knows what would come out of Sixth Uncle's mouth.

He is a little bit scared now. After all, Sixth Uncle is a man of few words. He and Lao Li have both had deep experience of this.

Fortunately, Liuzi has made great contributions, and for this reason, Li Shimin can't do anything to him. At most, he can just give him a beating and let him go.

But I can’t stand the headache.

The eldest son is back and has made such a great contribution, but Concubine Yang doesn't look happy. When she saw Li Yin, she rushed to him and rubbed her heart and liver.

Li Yin, who had always been fearless, finally surrendered in front of A Niang and knelt on the ground crying.

Seeing this scene, Lao Li felt a little sad.

"That's enough. You're a grown-up." Li Shimin stretched out his foot and kicked Li Yin's buttocks: "Hurry up and get up. You've made your mother sad just by coming back."

"Aye." Li Yin stood up and brushed off the dust on his butt: "I've made up my mind, why don't I take my mother to Yindian——"

"You take your mother with you!" Li Shimin kicked Li Yin's butt again. "Why don't you use your walnut-sized brain to think about it. Your mother is almost fifty years old this year. Can she withstand the wind and waves on the sea? Don't let anything happen to you on the boat before we reach Yindian!"

"Oh, that's right." Li Yin scratched his head. He really hadn't thought through what he just said.

Li Shimin had long been accustomed to his son's unruly words, so he did not argue with him.

"You are such a fool, you never think before you speak." Li Shimin rolled his eyes at him and said, "If I were to get serious with you, I would be pissed off to death by you."

"Then isn't Father still alive and well?" Li Yin crossed his arms and said, "Father, you should be happy. I am a son who doesn't treat you as an emperor, but only as his own father..."

"I think Sixth Uncle treats Grandpa as a brother." Li Xiang suddenly said from the side.

"That's not impossible." Li Yan stretched out his arm and put it on Li Shimin's shoulder: "Old Li?"

Li Shimin took a deep breath and pointed at the gate of Lizheng Hall.

"Get out of here!"

"Okay!" Li Yin laughed and ran out with Li Xiang.

When Li Yin left, Li Shimin felt something was not right and the more he thought about it, the more suffocated he felt.

Damn, this ditch turtle thing...

No, I can’t say groove. Wouldn’t that confuse me too?

So Li Shimin looked at Concubine Yang with an unfriendly look.

Coincidentally, Concubine Yang also looked at Lao Li with tears in her eyes.

Of course Li Yin had no idea that he had caused trouble for his mother. All he wanted now was to have some fun with Li Xiang.

"Brother!" Li Yan said with a smile, "I have been away for so many years. Is there anything new to do in Chang'an?"

"New fun?" Li Xiang thought for a moment, shook his head and said, "No, there really isn't any. Why, Uncle Six feels bored?"

"Isn't it boring?" Li Yin patted his thigh and said, "You said that I was there, and every day I just ate and slept, or looked for two women. The life was too boring. I always thought about how nice it would be to go back to Chang'an."

"In fact, there is nothing fun in Chang'an." Li Xiang spread his hands, "To be honest, Chang'an may not be as good as your Yindian - Hey, Uncle Six, tell me about your Yindian."

"What's there to say about Yin Dian?" Li Yin waved his hand. "Actually, there are only a few points to mention. The people over there are really barbaric and uncivilized. They always sacrifice people to the heavens..."

"This is the remnant of the Shang Dynasty. After all, the Shang people's favorite thing is to kill a person to offer sacrifice to the heaven." Li Xiang explained to Li Yin: "It's like if we want to have dinner together tonight, we can pick two people, kill them, bleed them and offer sacrifice to the heaven, and that's it."

"How could anyone tell me that King Zhou of Shang was the last emperor?" Li Yin took a breath and said, "Looking at the character of King Shang, he doesn't seem to be a people-oriented person."

"This is what happens when you read The Investiture of the Gods and it gets into your head." Li Xiang said with a smile, "It's normal for some people to take novels as history, but in fact, King Zhou of Shang can't even be considered an emperor."

"Indeed." Li Yin added, "Well, speaking of human sacrifice... there is also this."

As he said that, Li Yin pulled Li Xiang out and said, "Come on, follow me to get cocoa. I have never known how to eat it. The locals grind it up and add chili peppers to drink in water, but it tastes a bit weird..."

"Really?" Li Xiang followed Li Yin to the place where the goods were piled up, and Li Yin asked someone to take out a bag of cocoa fruits.

"Here." Li Yin handed the cocoa fruit to Li Xiang: "This is it - I call it cocoa fruit."

"Did you crush the whole thing?" Li Xiang asked with a frown, weighing the cocoa fruit with his hand.

Cocoa fruit is very heavy. A ripe cocoa fruit can weigh up to two kilograms.

"Yes." Li Yan replied: "How else can I eat it? Do I have to rip it open for him?"

As soon as these words fell, Li Xiang opened his hands and separated the cocoa fruit.

"Wow..." Li Yan was really surprised. They had never thought that this thing could be broken into pieces and eaten?
Li Xiang picked out the white cocoa beans from it. He counted them and found that there were about thirty of them.

I put it close to my nose and smelled it, but there was no chocolate scent at all.

"These cocoa beans need to be placed in a warm and constant temperature container to ferment and produce a special aroma," Li Xiang explained to Li Yin. "The fermentation process will last about three to nine days, and the cocoa beans will slowly turn dark brown during this process."

"So magical?" Li Yan asked with eyes wide open.

"Yes." Li Xiang said with a smile: "But this thing... still needs to go through several processes before it can be fully practical - wait for me to ask Fu Bao to make some for you to try. How many cocoa nuts did you bring in total?"

"One boat." Li Yin replied.

"Give it all to me." Li Xiang said to Li Yin, "You won't eat it anyway, so why not leave it with me first? I'll give you some when it's ready, and then write down the recipe for you."

"Okay." Li Yan had no intention of objecting: "But don't use this recipe. It's useless for me to have it——"

"Really?" Li Xiang asked with a raised eyebrow. He wanted to tease Li Yin.

If Li Yan agrees, then when he finds the chocolate delicious, I can naturally tease him.

"Of course it's true." Li Yan patted his chest and said, "This thing doesn't taste good either. I don't like the bitter taste."

"Then don't regret it." Li Xiang said with a smile.

I thought Li Yan would say "I will never regret it", but I never expected that he would turn against me immediately.

"Then please give me a copy of the recipe. Since you said so, the food must be delicious." Li Yin said firmly.

Li Xiang shook his head and laughed. Although his sixth uncle was a bit stupid, he was really smart.

"Okay, then have someone send you to the East Palace." Li Xiang said to him, "I guarantee you won't regret it within ten days."

"Then I'll wait." Li Yin said with a smile.

When Li Xiang returned to the East Palace, he still held the cocoa fruit in his hand.

He asked Fubao to come over and explained to him the method of making chocolate in detail. After Fubao received the order, he led the palace maids and eunuchs to start working.

"Xiang'er?" Pei Xueqing asked curiously when she saw the fruit in Li Xiang's hand, "What is this? Why does it look so strange?"

"Don't underestimate it." Li Xiang said to his wife, "The snacks made from this thing will make you want to eat more."

"Really?" Pei Xueqing asked with a faint smile.

"Yes." Li Xiang suddenly said obscenely: "Just like a little elephant, you can't stop-"

Pei Xueqing gave him a charming look and said nothing.

"Oh, right." Pei Xueqing suddenly said, "The Xiao family's sister is pregnant."

"Hmm? Are you pregnant?" Li Xiang asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes." Pei Xueqing said, "This afternoon, Xiao's sister felt unwell, so she asked the imperial physician to see her. The imperial physician said it was morning sickness. I wanted to send someone to inform you, but you were in Taiji Palace with your sixth uncle, so I waited until you came back."

"Such a big thing, why didn't you tell me earlier." Li Xiang stretched out his hand and pinched Pei Xueqing: "I think you deserve a beating, sister."

"Really? Then please don't pity me, Xiang'er." Pei Xueqing put her arm around Li Xiang's shoulders, and breathed warm air into his ears: "But... we have to wait until we see Sister Xiao together before we can say anything."

"Okay." Li Xiang snorted, "Then I'll just remember this beating for now and talk about it later."

……

Li Yin returned to the capital, but was not in a hurry to go back.

The brothers who came back with him wanted to go home to visit their families, and he, Li Yin, also had to have some good fun in Chang'an for a while.

He was so restless that he went to the Royal Academy to audit geography classes.

Li Xiang instructed the eunuchs in the East Palace to prepare cocoa beans. Ten days passed, and after fermentation, drying and baking, the cocoa beans finally gave off the familiar chocolate aroma.

Seeing that the beans were almost ready, Li Xiang asked people to bring butter and other ingredients and made a lot of chocolate.

He divided the chocolate into several portions, one for the Daming Palace, one for the Lizheng Palace, one for the Daji Palace, a lot for the East Palace, and some for the foreign officials as rewards. Finally, the eunuchs who had worked so hard for a long time each received a small packet as a reward.

The servants who received the reward expressed their gratitude profusely and were grateful for the kindness of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

Li Xiang first came to Yi Qiu Palace with chocolate.

Yi Qiu Palace was the bedroom of concubine Feng Yingying, while Yi Chun Palace was the residence of concubine Xiao Yourong.

As for Zhang Lianqiao, she lived in Qiuchiyuan behind Yiqiu Palace.

Crown Princess Pei Xueqing lived with Li Xiang in Cheng'en Palace. The couple was as affectionate as Old Li and Empress Zhangsun, and were even more inseparable.

Pei Xueqing had nothing to do today, so she invited a few sisters to play cards at Yi Qiu Palace.

Xiao Yourong had just become pregnant not long ago, so she didn't miss out on having fun and went to Yi Qiu Palace happily.

While riding in the sedan chair, he happened to see Li Xiang walking in from outside.

According to the rules, she should ride in a sedan chair; but because she was pregnant, Li Xiang arranged a more comfortable sedan chair for her to travel.

"Your Highness——" Xiao Yourong called sweetly.

Li Xiang took a look and saw that it was Xiao Yourong.

He walked forward with a smile, exempted from the formalities of the palace servants, and stepped onto the sedan chair in one step.

"My dear, are you going to play cards with my sister and the others?" he asked with a smile.

"Yes." Xiao Yourong snuggled into Li Xiang's arms, and then felt something was wrong, so she sniffed Li Xiang's body with her nose.

"What are you doing?" Li Xiang laughed and rubbed her head: "Sniffing around like a puppy."

"Woof woof!" Xiao Yourong barked twice, and then looked at Li Xiang with a charming look: "What's that smell on your body, Your Highness? Why does it smell so good?"

Li Xiang picked up his sleeve and sniffed: "No, why don't I smell any fragrance?"

Xiao Yourong said firmly: "No, I smell it, it smells sweet--"

"Oh." Li Xiang then remembered that after spending so much time preparing the chocolate, his body was of course full of the smell.

He couldn't smell it because it was almost marinated.

"Coco." He replied, "My sixth uncle brought it back from Yindian. I just had someone figure out how to eat it. I'm sending some to you guys to see if you like it."

As he spoke, Li Xiang took out a small purse from his waist, took out a piece of chocolate from it, and put it into Xiao Yourong's mouth.

Xiao Yourong deliberately bit Li Xiang's fingers and licked his fingertips with her small tongue.

"That's enough—" Li Xiang stopped her: "Don't make me angry, or we won't be able to end this. You're pregnant now."

"Oh." Xiao Yourong reluctantly opened her mouth. She didn't want the child to get hurt.

But soon, a special sweet fragrance emanated from the mouth.

"It's delicious, melts in your mouth, and is silky and smooth." Xiao Yourong said in surprise: "Hmm, it also smells like milk, what on earth is this?"

"Cocoa." Li Xiang changed the transliteration of the word 'chocolate' to Cocoa, which was named by Li Yin.

Is cocoa made from cocoa beans picked out from cocoa fruits a bit confusing to pronounce?
"Any more? Any more? Any more?" Xiao Yourong melted into Li Xiang's arms: "I want more!"

"Of course." Li Xiang smiled and kneaded Xiao Yourong's small face: "Don't worry, since my beloved concubine likes to eat it, I will give you enough."

"Thank you, Your Highness!" Xiao Yourong thanked happily.

"But." Li Xiang changed the subject: "This thing... Fatty people, be careful not to get fat if you eat too much..."

"Then I'll eat less." Xiao Yourong nodded seriously.

I have to admit that chocolate is a really lovable snack.

Even Pei Xueqing, the dignified and virtuous beauty, could not resist the temptation of Li Xiang's chocolate, and shyly agreed to a series of unequal treaties proposed by Li Xiang.

Satisfied, Li Xiang walked out of the East Palace refreshed, taking a bunch of chocolates with him, and prepared to visit Daji Hall first.

Of course, before going, I still need to ask someone what song my aunt played today...

If she is cheerful, it means that my aunt is in a good mood, so give her some chocolates.

If she's the type who'd be unhappy the moment she hears it, then you'd better wait until she's in a better mood before going.

(End of this chapter)