Li Jingyun remained, trailing behind her elder brother Aye. On the surface, she was strolling to aid digestion, but in reality, she was listening intently as the system explained to her the manufacturing process of bamboo paper, the operation and use of movable - type printing, as well as bleaching techniques.
She showed little interest in poetry and odes, but was highly intrigued by these practical matters and listened with great enthusiasm.
Empress Zhangsun returned to the rear palace to take a nap. Emperor Li Shimin originally intended to follow her, leaving Li Chengqian to look after his younger sister. However, Wang De came to report, "Your Majesty, Cen Wenben, the Deputy Minister of the Secretariat, and Wei Ting, the Deputy Minister of the Chancellery, are seeking an audience."
"They've come at quite an opportune time," Li Shimin gritted his teeth, even feeling the urge to curse. He was just about to take a break, so why did they have to come now?
"If Your Majesty doesn't wish to see them, this servant can go and convey your message," Wang De said.
"How can I not see them? If I don't see them today, Wei Zheng will surely harp on about this in my ear at the court tomorrow!"
Li Shimin was exasperated, yet he still waved his hand, instructing that the two be brought in.
Cen Wenben was a thin middle - aged man, dressed simply. At first glance, his appearance was rather ordinary. However, his grandfather had served as the Minister of Personnel in the Western Liang Dynasty, his father as the Minister of the Department of Timber in the Sui Dynasty, his elder brother as a proofreader, and his younger brother as a secretary. Both of his sons had become high - ranking provincial officials, and his nephew had even served as the prime minister.
Even his great - grandson, several generations later, had reached the position of the governor of a prefecture and was also a well - known frontier poet, Cen Shen, the one who wrote the famous line "Like spring's breath overnight, o'er tree on tree a bloom of pear blossoms shed."
His family could hardly be considered an aristocratic family. The Cui family of Boling was truly an aristocratic clan. Their ancestors, dating back countless generations, had all been high - ranking court officials with real power.
Wei Ting's background was similar to Cen Wenben's. He had a close relationship with Li Jiancheng and had been a staunch supporter of the crown prince back then. Li Shimin recognized Wei Ting's capabilities and, after being recommended by the prime minister, he had become the Deputy Minister of the Chancellery.
"Your Majesty, Your Highnesses, we pay our respects," Cen Wenben and Wei Ting bowed.
"Rise, my dear ministers. Please be seated," Li Shimin said.
Looking at the two of them, Li Shimin wondered what they were up to this time.
Cen Wenben took out a beautifully bound book, which was passed to Li Shimin through Wang De's hands. "Your Majesty, your humble servants have fulfilled our mission. The Records of the Clans is now complete. Please have a look," he reported.
Li Shimin was initially overjoyed. After six years, the book was finally completed?
However, after just flipping through the first page, his expression changed completely.
It clearly stated that the top - ranked aristocratic family under heaven was the Cui family of Boling. A person was also listed, Cui Gan, the current governor of Youzhou. His original name was Cui Minggan, but the character "ming" was omitted to avoid offending Li Shimin's name taboo. He also held various honorary titles, being a high - ranking military official and the Duke of Boling Commandery.
Cui Gan was the uncle of Cui Tian, who had made a bet with Li Jingyun during the beauty selection today. They were from the same family.
Wasn't this just asking for trouble?
"Your Majesty, the Cui family of Boling has been a renowned aristocratic family in the Donglai and Beihai regions for a hundred years. They have also intermarried with the Li family of Longxi. Generations of their family have held high - ranking positions, and their family background is extremely prominent. Therefore, after much discussion among us, we have decided to rank the Cui family of Boling as the top - ranked aristocratic family," Wei Ting said. As if he couldn't sense Li Shimin's annoyance, his words were like a sharp knife stabbing deeply into Li Shimin's heart.
Given Li Shimin's temper, he would have immediately ordered that the royal Li family be ranked as the top - ranked aristocratic family and the Empress Zhangsun's family as the second - ranked one, directly demoting the Cui family behind Cui Gan to the third rank.
However, that would be no fun.
Li Shimin was still thinking about the bet his daughter had made with Cui Tian.
Hongxuan was only five years old. If she won the bet, the whole country would be shocked and overjoyed by such a huge library. Countless poor scholars would spread the news excitedly. The books that the aristocratic families relied on would no longer be considered rare treasures. This would be a great thing for enlightening the people!
Even if she lost the bet, it was just a child's innocent words. Who would dare to ask Hongxuan to apologize?
This was a win - win situation. No matter how you looked at it, they wouldn't lose.
Hongxuan's bet seemed like a wild fantasy to others, but Li Shimin had absolute confidence in his daughter. He wanted to wait until his daughter's library was built, and then he would deal a heavy blow to those aristocratic families. After that, he would order the demotion of the Cui family of Boling to the third rank. Wouldn't that be even more satisfying?
My daughter, please bring glory to your father!
Li Jingyun, unaware that she had caught Li Shimin's attention, was starting to doze off while listening to the system. Her little head was filled with questions, and everything seemed like a jumbled mess. She wished there were things right in front of her so that she could try them out herself, but there weren't!
If she heard one more word, her mind would shut down. Fortunately, Li Chengqian, with quick reflexes, caught his sister's head before it hit the table. He picked her up and carried her towards the rear palace where Empress Zhangsun was taking a nap.
The eunuch following Li Chengqian quickly said, "Your Highness, let this servant do it. Your status is so noble. How can you do such a thing yourself?"
"She is my own younger sister. Why can't I?" Li Chengqian didn't care. After saying this, he carried his sister inside on his own.
"Yes, yes, yes. This servant understands."
The young eunuch immediately dared not say another word. From now on, if anyone dared to question the good relationship between the princes and princesses, he would just throw this incident in their faces!
"I'll keep this book for now. I need to take a good look at it. There's no hurry to print and distribute it. It should be kept for at least half a year," Li Shimin said, pointing at the Records of the Clans.
Cen Wenben and Wei Ting immediately replied, "Yes, your humble servants obey."
Couldn't they understand what this meant?
Half a year!
The time limit for the bet between Princess Chengyang and Cui Tian of the Cui family was exactly half a year!
After Cen Wenben and Wei Ting withdrew, they were led by the eunuch to the long street. When they saw that there was no one around, Wei Ting asked, "Brother Cen, the Records of the Clans was only completed a few days ago. Why are you in such a hurry to submit it today? Isn't this just adding fuel to the fire?"
"The power of the aristocratic families is immense, and His Majesty has always been wary of them. After today's incident, it's even more necessary to make His Majesty vigilant. Only when the power of the aristocratic families is weakened will there be a chance for people like us to rise," Cen Wenben said.
Wei Ting smiled. "Brother Cen is always cautious in his actions. I'm afraid today's move is the result of long - held patience."
"Aren't you the same? Let's go. Now we'll just have to wait and see what His Majesty and the princess will do."
When Cen Wenben was fourteen, his father, Cen Zhixiang, who was then the Deputy Minister of the Department of Timber, was falsely accused and imprisoned. Cen Wenben went to the Department of Surveillance to plead for his father's innocence. He wrote the Ode to the Lotus and was highly appreciated. His father's unjust case was finally cleared, and Cen Wenben became famous throughout the land.
Countless people praised him as a young hero, intelligent, knowledgeable about the past and present, and skilled in writing.
Although several generations of the Cen family had held official positions, compared with the Cui, Zheng, and Wang families, they were still far from being on the same level.
He hoped that the princess wasn't just joking.
"The princess is only five years old!" Wei Ting said with a sigh as he followed Cen Wenben.
He thought that Cen Wenben was being delusional to expect Li Jingyun to build the library. This was clearly an impossible task, wasn't it?
It would be better to rely on Li Shimin than on Li Jingyun.
If His Majesty really wanted to deal with those aristocratic families, he couldn't take drastic measures directly. He could only take things slowly. Who knew when there would be any real results?