Early the next morning, there was a layer of frost outside. The temperature dropped significantly, and it suddenly turned cold.
Li Jingyun was sleeping groggily. She wriggled out of the quilt and sat up straight. The cold wind blowing in through the window instantly woke her up.
Eunuch Feng quickly went over to close the window and then handed her a cup of warm water. "Princess, it's already the beginning of the Si hour. Do you want to get up?"
"Yes!"
Li Jingyun yawned with her eyes still closed. She let Eunuch Feng dress and groom her, looking blearily at herself in the bronze mirror.
Outside, the palace servants were bustling around, arranging blooming Chinese roses, pansies, and camellias.
"I'm hungry. Shouldn't Father's court session be over by now?" Li Jingyun smelled the fresh and elegant fragrance of the flowers and felt more energetic.
Eunuch Feng quickly waved his hand, signaling the palace servants to prepare breakfast.
Before her words faded, Li Shimin walked in. Li Jingyun had just had her hair pulled up, and there were still two hairpins left to insert when she ran towards Li Shimin.
"Father!"
By the time she reached Li Shimin's side, her hair had completely come loose.
The innocent and cute look of his little daughter healed Li Shimin a great deal. "Hongxuan, go back and sit down quickly. Comb your hair properly. What do you look like, acting so wildly?"
Although the words were reproachful, there was no lack of a smile on his face.
Li Jingyun, of course, knew that Father was a person who was tough - mouthed but soft - hearted.
Jinzhen Tongsa Jinhou, Ludongzan, and Sangbuzha: Seriously? Tough - mouthed? Soft - hearted?
He took his little daughter's hand and gently helped Li Jingyun pull up her hair. His movements were skillful, and he said proudly, "When I was still in the Qin Prince's Mansion, I helped your mother pull up her hair many times."
"Then why don't you do it now?"
"Isn't it because I have court sessions every day? Both your mother and you are still sleeping." Li Shimin pinched Li Jingyun's cheek and let out a long breath. His mood calmed down a bit. "Just now in the court session, there were still a few people insisting that Princess Xingxing should get married. They said that if we marry Xingxing off, we won't have to go to war."
It wasn't their own daughters getting married, so of course they didn't think there was anything wrong with it.
The Cui family of Boling, the Zheng family of Xingyang, and the Yang family of Hongnong, who were there to chime in, were all doing their best.
When building the library, she and Hongxuan had joined hands to outwit those powerful aristocratic families. Now they were trying to get their revenge.
Well, that wasn't entirely accurate.
For these families that had been passed down for hundreds of years, the library was just a new grudge. God knows how many old grudges they had accumulated.
"How could they say such a thing?" Li Jingyun was stunned.
She remembered clearly what Wang Gui, Tang Jian, and Uncle Changsun had said. Wasn't this the thought of everyone? She never expected that there would be such a view in the court.
Weren't these people siding with the outsiders? Why were they speaking for the Turks?
Li Jingyun also thought of her sweater trade. "Father, what did the ministers say about the Tibetans wanting to buy sweaters?"
"That's not bad. Quite a few princes and ministers were involved. They all said they would only listen to you. You can set the price as you like then."
Li Shimin smiled. Wealth could move people's hearts, not to mention such a big piece of fat.
Li Jingyun frowned and pondered. It wasn't until her stomach growled that she smelled the fragrance of the food wafting from the next room.
"Let's eat. Slow things down, and there will always be a solution. Tomorrow, the sweater shop will officially open. How about your mother and I taking your elder brothers and sisters there to support you?" Li Shimin filled a bowl of longevity porridge for Li Jingyun and spoke softly.
The sweater was the most important part of the whole transaction. Compared with the library, it was even more crucial.
When competing for the naming right of the library, both he and Guanyinbi had hidden behind the screen. Now, just sitting back and watching wouldn't work. They had to take the initiative.
Holding the longevity porridge and sipping it slowly, Li Jingyun said, "Sure, Father. With you all there, the Tibetans and the Turks definitely won't dare to do anything bad!"
Wasn't the lesson from the warm - building incident big enough?
If it weren't for Sister Xingxing being smart and resourceful, wouldn't she have been bullied?
The matter wasn't easy to solve. There was a general direction on a macroscopic level, such as the sweater trade, but there was still a lot lacking in the microscopic operation.
How could they make the Tibetans believe that the reason the Tang Dynasty traded with the Turks instead of them was because the Turks were causing trouble?
How could they completely break the alliance between the Turks and the Tibetans?
How could they make the Turks completely give up their request to marry the princess and turn to the sweater trade?
How could they dampen the arrogance of the Turks and the Tibetans so that they would be more docile? Did they really have to fight a war?
Li Shimin didn't really want to go to war. The envoys from the Turks and the Tibetans were so over - confident and annoying that they had roused Li Shimin's anger.
The Turks had the nerve to ask to marry his beloved daughter of more than a decade with just a few thousand sick and old horses? They really had a nerve!
Not to mention that they later swaggered in the warm - building. Just because he didn't mention this matter and didn't punish Jinzhen Tongsa Jinhou and the others didn't mean he had forgotten about it, nor did it mean that this matter wasn't important.
Li Jingyun saw her father staring intently at the single - cage golden milk cake. She got up and brought it in front of him. "Father? Do you want to eat this?"
But she clearly remembered that Father didn't like this dish. Had his taste changed?
"Yes, yes, yes. I just want to eat this. Hongxuan is really smart." Li Shimin was brought back to his senses by Li Jingyun's words. Only then did he see the plate of golden milk cake in front of him, which was exquisitely shaped, golden and crispy, with a milky fragrance. He picked up a piece and swallowed it in two or three mouthfuls.
He really didn't like this dish. He had been lost in thought looking at it and was misunderstood by his daughter. Well, let the misunderstanding be.
It wasn't a bad idea to eat it once in a while.
Li Jingyun ate the sweet and greasy golden milk cake, and all the thoughts she had just now were swallowed into her stomach along with the food.
In the afternoon, she went to the sweater shop. Everything was in place. Sweaters of various colors, styles, and sizes filled up three floors. Su Gui even lived and ate there with the apprentices. He just had an extra chicken leg for each meal.
"Welcome, Your Highness the Princess." Hearing that Li Jingyun had come, Su Gui ran down from the second floor to greet her.
She walked silently to the mansion she had bought behind the shop.
She had learned this from Sister Xingxing. After the sweater shop opened, the business would be busier, and the shop would be noisy. Buying a mansion next door as a place to rest was a good idea.
"Princess?" Su Gui felt worried when he saw Li Jingyun like this.
Had something happened in the imperial city again? Why did the princess look like this?
He looked up at Duan Jia and Eunuch Feng. The two of them shook their heads in turn. She had been fine before leaving the palace. But the moment she stepped into the sweater shop, she seemed different.
No matter how old a person was or whether they were the boss, once they entered the company, they would have that work - related aura.
Li Jingyun hugged a mini - version doll of Li Dami that the female workers in the new courtyard had specially knitted for her. Leaning on the soft cushion of the Hu - bed, she propped her chin with one hand and quietly thought.