She sneaked out quietly, only to run into her sixth elder brother, Li Yin, who had rushed over. He picked her up in one go and casually wiped Li Jingyun's face. "Why aren't you in Lizheng Hall? Where are you going? Be careful not to get lost. You're not in good health. Take it easy."
After saying this, even Li Yin himself thought it was absurd. These were the words his mother had always admonished him with. He used to find her nagging and didn't want to listen, letting the words go in one ear and out the other. He never thought he would say them himself today.
Sure enough, one takes after one's parents.
"Sixth brother, I'm going back to Taihe Hall. I know an immortal. He saved me before, so he must be able to save our mother!" Li Jingyun's tone was extremely determined.
She was so determined that even Li Yin, who wasn't very smart but knew how to dote on his younger sister, believed her.
Li Jingyun and her younger sister had been weak since they were in their mother's womb. Even after they were born, they were constantly plagued by various illnesses. Once, Li Jingyun had a persistent high - fever. After a bridge was built on the Yellow River, Li Jingyun's illness miraculously recovered. She even insisted that she had met an immortal named the System. It was this System Immortal who had saved her, and she had even set up a longevity memorial tablet for the System Immortal.
"Okay, I'll go with you to plead with the immortal elder." Li Yin picked up his younger sister and took off running.
The two of them came to a very remote small room in the back hall of Taihe Hall. They lit a stick of incense and obediently and respectfully offered incense to a memorial tablet. Then they knelt on the futon. "System Immortal Elder, Jingyun begs you to appear and save our mother."
Li Yin also knelt down. "Please, Immortal Elder, save the Empress Dowager."
"Currently, the system has accumulated 62 points. 50 points can be exchanged for a pill, which can extend your mother's lifespan by five years, but it can't completely cure her. Do you want to exchange?"
One could hear the deep helplessness in the system's cold tone. If he had any other choice, he wouldn't have been bound to such an ignorant little girl.
He was the infrastructure system! The number one most popular system in historical novels! He was supposed to be the right - hand man of a wise king, assisting the king to ascend to a high position, not pretending to be an immortal to amuse Li Jingyun, a little girl. When Li Jingyun didn't even understand what lifespan was, the only things that attracted her were small desserts like strawberry cakes.
"Yes, yes, yes! If I develop cement, how many points can I get?"
Li Jingyun stretched out her hand, and there was suddenly a bottle of seemingly ordinary pills. She looked at the memorial tablet with a devout expression.
"60 points. If you pave the road with cement from Chang'an to Shangzhou, you can get 80 points. Once you accumulate 150 points, you can get the pill that can completely cure your mother."
"Sixty, eighty, plus the 12 points I have now, that'll reach 150." Li Jingyun tightly clutched the pills in her hand.
At this point, the system went back. The system was worried. How could he tell this silly girl that she didn't need to come here to pay respects? She just needed to summon him in her mind, and he would attach himself to her and be able to talk to her at any time!
While Li Jingyun was communicating with the system, Li Yin was watching from the side. He thought to himself, sure enough, he was an immortal elder. Only his sister could hear his voice, and he couldn't hear a single word. And he could even bestow pills. What else could this be but the means of an immortal?
Li Jingyun pulled Li Yin back to Lizheng Hall and fed the pills she had just exchanged to Empress Zhangsun.
Not long after she took the pills, they called the imperial physician to feel Empress Zhangsun's pulse again. Everyone was full of anticipation, hoping that the small pill would have a miraculous effect.
The old chief of the Imperial Medical Academy went over to feel Empress Zhangsun's pulse. He opened his eyes wide in surprise and exclaimed, "Your Majesty! The Empress Dowager's condition has improved. It's much better than before. As long as she takes good care of herself and doesn't overwork, there's a possibility of a complete recovery in the future."
"This is the blessing of heaven! The blessing of heaven!"
"The Empress Dowager is so blessed that she will surely live a long life!"
The concubines and princes had already started to exclaim and flatter. Li Shimin hugged Li Jingyun tightly in his arms and whispered, "Father has to thank our little lucky star."
Li Shimin had witnessed everything that had happened just now. He had also given his tacit approval to the longevity memorial tablet enshrined in the back hall of Taihe Hall. The immortal had saved his two weak daughters' lives before, and now he had saved Guanyinbi. He had already prepared for the worst, but now there was a turn for the better.
"Mother, do you feel better?" Li Mingda brought over a cup of warm water and asked softly.
Empress Zhangsun took a sip of water and nodded. Her gaze shifted back from Li Jingyun. "All of you go back. There's no need to stay with me."
"Yes, we'll take our leave."
Seeing that Empress Zhangsun had regained her color, everyone left one after another. Li Chengqian took Li Zhi, who still wanted to stay by Empress Zhangsun's side, away with him. With just a single sentence, "Have you finished all the assignments I left for you last time?", Li Zhi immediately followed him away.
No one mentioned Li Jingyun's departure just now, nor did anyone say why Empress Zhangsun had come back from the brink of death. Everyone knew exactly what was going on. The incident of Princess Chengyang, Li Jingyun, coming back from the dead was still vivid in people's memories. Since then, there had always been rumors that Princess Chengyang was a celestial child sent to the mortal world and was protected by an immortal.
After everyone left, Li Jingyun said mysteriously, "Father, Mother, there's something called cement. If we use it to pave the road, even big carriages won't sink! If we repair the road well, there'll be no reason for Taoist Sun not to enter the palace, right?"
"Cement?"
Li Shimin wasn't surprised at all when his daughter mentioned a name he had never heard of before.
He had become desensitized.
"I need Father to lend me a few craftsmen. I'll return them to you after I'm done."
Since she was born, Li Jingyun had been highly favored and had received many rewards during festivals. She wasn't short of money, but she was short of manpower.
"There's a Craftsman Department in your princess mansion. I'll send some people over." Li Shimin waved his hand boldly and solved Li Jingyun's current problem.
Li Jingyun hugged Li Shimin's neck and cheered, "Wow! Father is the best!"
"Cough, cough"
Empress Zhangsun on the bed had been looking at the close interaction between father and daughter with joy. Hearing this, she coughed twice. "If you spoil them like this, they'll even dare to pull your beard."
Li Jingyun blinked her eyes, looking at Li Shimin and then at Li Mingda. Who had told this story?
Wasn't it agreed that it would never be told to outsiders? Pinky promise, no going back for a hundred years! There was still such a long way to go before a hundred years!
Li Mingda really wanted to speak out, but did they even need to wait for the future? They dared to do it now. Facing the gazes of her younger sister and father, she resolutely chose to keep her mouth shut.
"Did they really pull your beard?" Empress Zhangsun could guess what they were thinking just by looking at the expressions of the father and daughters.
Especially Li Jingyun. This child might as well have written the word "guilty" on her face.
During the period when she was seriously ill and bed - ridden for recuperation, what on earth had Li Shimin, the father, been doing with the children?
One couldn't spoil the children to this extent.
Li Shimin accompanied her with a smiling face. "Guanyinbi, your body hasn't fully recovered yet. You don't need to worry about these small things."
"Mother, please forgive Hongxuan this time. Hongxuan knows her mistake."