Living leisurely in Tang Dynasty

The following days, Li Yuanying was rather obedient was busy with the construction in Sunflower Garden. He would personally check on the progress from time to time and send his care and condolences to the refugees while watching how they progress on grapes planting.

Concurrently, Tang Xuan has been successful in enrolling into the Imperial College. Unfortunately, because of Li Yuanying’s action,  Kong Yingda specially ordered that Tang Xuan be given “good care”. As a result,every time Yuanying went to play with Tang Xuan he would see his friend studying very hard.

Li Yuanying clicked his tongue secretly: Is the Imperial College so tough?

It’s also Tang Xuan’s first stint at College, so he wasn’t aware what the normal study load is like. He completed all tasks assigned by his teachers without a word of complain about suffering or tiredness. After some time, he won the recognition of many with his intelligence and diligence!

At the end of this year, a new friend  entered the palace – Princess Wencheng whom His Majesty Li Er has betrothed to Songtsen Gampo, the ruler of the Tibetan Empire.

This marriage was arranged by the Emperor much earlier.

Li Er has a habit promising marriage between a Tang Princess to foreign clans after winning a war and when the losing party comes to pay tribute. This helps him show off the status and power of Tang.  Last year, Li Er married off  Princess Honghua to Tuyuhun. This year, it is Princess Wencheng who is a distant relative of the Royal family to the Tibetan Empire.

Princess Wencheng being only fifteen is beautiful in appearance and graceful in behavior. All in all , she’s the perfect depiction of a real princess.

Compared with the dull Tuyuhun, the Tibetan Empire occupies a larger area and has more troops. This is a country that Tang has to befriend the most in the western region. Li Er personally met with Princess Wencheng and felt that his decision was correct and so he allowed her to enter the palace and live with other princesses and took care of her all needs and education.

Hearing from Gao Yang that Wencheng will be married off to the Tibetan Empire, Li Yuanying dragged Li Zhi along to understand more about this foreign country and how far away it was.

After researching, the boy felt that this place is indeed very far away.

Yuanying sighed and encouraged Gao Yang to invite Wencheng out to play. It’s really dull staying home all day!  

Wen Cheng was not a boring person and so when Gao Yang invited her, she sneaked out with the rest of the children to play. Hearing that Wencheng was moving to the Tibetan Empire next month, Li Yuanying was eager to create trouble still: “I’ve heard from Teacher Sun that the Tibetan Empire is very different from Chang’an. On the West are continuous snow-capped mountains, all tall and beautiful but it is not easy to walk on. Ordinary people wouldn’t be able to endure the journey. But I’m not an ordinary person, maybe I can go and check it out!”

Wencheng grew up in Chang’an and was already quite hesitant to leave. But hearing this, she became curious about what the snow-capped mountains looked like.

Seeing that Wencheng’s wedding was fast approaching, Li Yuanying mobilized all his friends and divided them to take up different missions to help her understand what this foreign country is like.  

The assignments were as follows: The girls were responsible to have fun with Wencheng; Li Yuanying and Li Zhi will go meet up with Lu Dongzan and his party; Dai Ting was responsible for collecting information; and Mei Niang to use the library to get more news via a special coverage from scholars about the Tibetans Empire.

Dai Ting and Mei Niang acted quickly. Li Yuanying and Li Zhi also found a reason to visit Lu Dongzan.

Hearing that Tang Royalty was here to meet him, Lu Dongzan quickly welcomed them. Lu Dongzan was a tall man and his appearance was more gentle than Li Yuanying had imagined. Tibetans has a habit of putting red paint on their faces and it was a shame as it covers his handsome appearance.

Li Yuanying is a champion in acting friendly. Since he couldn’t drink alcohol, he asked Dai Ting to bring tea and chatted with Lu Dongzan while brewing it.

Lu Dongzan wasn’t born with high status but his ability was outstanding. With his extraordinary ingenuity, he became the prime minister of the Tibetan Empire. He has visited Tang several times and gradually learned the language. With that, they were able to communicate more smoothly than with those from Gaochang.

Seeing the handsome Dai Ting sitting quietly making tea elegantly, Lu Dongzan couldn’t help but ask”: “What is this? It smells really good.”

Li Yuanying started boasting about his Thousand Gold Tea, saying that it sold for 800 Guan per pound last year. This is precious tea which even money can’t buy. Many aspire to have it but can’t get their hands on it.

While Li Yuanying was busy blowing his trumpet, the tea is brewed. Its aroma overflow into the room, and Lu Dongzan felt awaken. Tea is definitely a good thing for  people living on grassland. After all, they eat meat all the year round, which is difficult to digest. If they can drink a bowl of tea every day, it will definitely be much more refreshing.

Lu Dong Zan tasted it and praised: “It’s really good, no wonder it’s so expensive!”

“Not all of them are so expensive. First grade ones are expensive but second- and third grades ones are much cheaper. The lowest tier ones even ordinary people can afford!”

Li Yuanying is shameless when it comes to boasting.

“In the future, there will be more tea leaves available in Tang, so that everyone will be able to drink tea.”

Lu Dongzan liked grand statements and felt that this young prince is someone he liked very much.

“Then you must sell me some. I’ll bring some home for my ruler to taste.”

Yuanying readily agreed, saying that a batch of tea happened to be delivered to Chang’an this winter. This is an unfortunate timing. If you visit earlier next time, you might be able to get the the best spring tea. Spring comes and all things recovers, this is the best season for tea to grow and it leaves a fragrant aftertaste in your mouth!

Lu Dongzan was eager to get his hands on them and mentioned that he can leave two servants behind to wait for the spring tea to arrive.

Looking at Dai Ting who was brewing tea with elegance, Lu Dongzan only had praises: “Even if there’s good tea you need someone skilled to brew it. Would you be willing to get someone to teach the men I leave behind?”

Seeing Lu’s eyes on Dai Ting, Yuanying quickly countered: “That’s fine but not Dai Ting.”

He then introduced Dai Ting to Lu Dongzan and shared about all his accomplishment during his trip to Gaochang singing his praises loudly.

Lu Dongzan originally thought that Dai Ting was just a good looking lowly servant and was shock that he was so accomplished. What shocked him even more is that such a great man is willing to stay by Yuanying’s side brewing tea and serving food!

These are serious achievements that cannot be hidden and you’ll easily spot lies from truths. Prince Teng should be telling the truth?

Are all of Tang’s citizens so outstanding?

Lu Dongzan was in shock.

Dai Ting’s expression stayed the same and he respectfully served fresh tea to everyone present.

After that, Yuanying managed to completely control the flow of conversation and managed to uncover all he wanted to know about the Tibetan Empire. He and Li Zhi took turns asking about their customs and culture. At the end, Yuanying even secretly asked if Lu Dongzan looked like his king.

How would Lu Dongzan dare to say yes? Of course not.

Li Yuanying asked again: “Is your king fatter or thinner than you? Taller or shorter? Does he paint his face red too?”

Lu Dongzan used gestures to roughly describe Songtsen Gampo’s appearance and showed the boy the King’s painted portrait which was brought for marriage arrangements.

Yuanying took a look and felt that the artist’s skills was not very good. He continued asking questions and started fine-tuning base off the original painting. He finally repainted a portrait of Songtsen Gampo on the spot.

Lu Dongzan was shocked when he saw the drawing and would never dare to underestimate the most beloved younger brother of the Tang Emperor.

Others say that this person is the most naughty and hedonistic son of the Tang royal family. If all hedonistic children of Tang were like Li Yuanying, then the Tibetan should surrendered in self-preservation!

Yuangying wasn’t bothered about how shocked Lu Dongzan was, he just succeeded in obtaining a portrait of Songtsen Gampo, found out his height, weight, and even shoe size. He also managed to secure a new sales lead for his tea which made him even happier.

On his way back, Li Yuanying berated Li Zhi: “Why did you talk so little just now? You should talk more. Wencheng is now a princess and is now counted as your elder sister. You have to do something for her!”

“You’ve said everything there is to say, what else can I say?” He had never seen Li Yuanying so chatty, who else would dare ask others what clothes or shoe size does their ruler wear?

Li Zhi complained and felt that Li Yuanying’s actions were too abrupt.

Li Yuanying’s face was serious: “What abrupt? We can’t let Wencheng be the one asking these questions. We as elders need to play out part”

“You just said that she’s my elder sister.  How can I be the elder now?”

“I asked these questions so that the embroidery ladies accompanying Wencheng can start preparing clothes for Songtsen Ganpo and all according to Wencheng’s liking. Think about it, she doesn’t have a choice in choosing her groom, so the only thing she can do is to find a way to transform him to her liking. That way, he’ll look a lot more pleasing to her eyes, right?”

Li Zhi didn’t expect that Li Yuanying would visit Lu Dongzan for something like this and so he was rendered speechless.

Yuanying took the portrait and his “sizes” to look for Wencheng and told her his thoughts.

Wencheng was already feeling quite moody and reluctant to leave her homeland. When she saw the trouble Yuanying went to get these stuff she was rendered a little dumbfounded.

The girls all gathered to see what Wencheng’s future husband looks like.

If it was another girl, she would have been blushing over the commotion but not Wencheng. She took the portrait generously and looked at the heroic king.

“Looks like a hero.”

“I also think he’s good.” He then told her about how Lu Dongzan painted his face red and continued: “I think you should ask him to wash his face, it’ll make him more pleasing to the eyes.”

Wencheng nodded.

A few days later, Dai Ting collected all the information he had gotten himself and from the library about the Tibetan Empire and sent it to Li Yuanying. This is so Wencheng is aware about her future home in advance.

In the blink of an eye, it was the first month of the 15^th year of Zhengguan.

During Lantern Festival, Yuanying brought his friends to view the lanterns on display and Wencheng was among them.

Looking at the brightly lit Chang’an City, she felt a little sad and burst into tears. After this festival she will be getting married under the escort of her father to a place more than a thousand miles away and will never have the the chance to see lanterns in Chang’an again.

Li Yuanying went silent watching Wencheng looking at the lantern and weeping.

“If you don’t want to go, I’ll help you find a way out.”

Wencheng wiped away her tears and gave Yuanying a hug.

“I want to go. I also want to check out the beautiful snow-capped mountains for young uncle and see if they really stay unchanging for years.”

Li Yuanying felt something  in his heart but couldn’t make out what that feeling was.He stretched out his hands and hugged Wencheng lightly before raising his head and said seriously: “If someone bullies you just send me a letter. Even if the Tibetan Empire s is far away, I will still bring a gang over and beat them up!”

Wencheng smiled at Li Yuanying. Her bright eyes and smile  looked brighter than the lantern lights.

“Yes.”

She also seriously agreed to it.

Notes from the author:

Little prince: Songtsen Gampo?

Little prince: Dearest nephew-in-law, would you like to buy some tea? Home-grown, quality guaranteed!

When I say previously that relationships will be faint it doesn’t mean that there will be no CP. Don’t get me wrong, there will be couples but it’s like they’ll grow up and have kids. Generally speaking, as this is based off real historical background, I find it hard to accept familiar historical figures in same sex relationship. This road is too difficult! No motivation to walk down such a hard path! ＿(:3∠)＿