The next day, when Li Jingyun woke up, she was already in bed. Manjing came to help her dress and wash. After she sat down on the chair, Eunuch Feng gently massaged her temples.
"His Majesty said that the Uyghur prince will arrive in Chang'an today and a banquet will be held. Taoist Priest Gong Wenlin will also come to perform," Eunuch Feng whispered.
Manjing said with a beaming smile, "Princess, you should dress up beautifully. There will be guests today."
"The Uyghur prince is coming? How come I didn't know about this?"
Li Jingyun let Manjing do her hair and slumped in the chair like a slouch. Manjing was very skillful.
She did remember that the surrounding tribes had the custom of coming to the Tang Dynasty to pay New Year greetings. But the problem was that there were still more than two months until the New Year. Why were they in such a hurry to come?
"Last night when the memorial was sent, Princess, you were already asleep in His Majesty's arms. His Majesty didn't allow us to disturb you," Manjing said as she took out a hairpin in the shape of a dancing moth and gently inserted it into Li Jingyun's hair.
Li Jingyun squinted her eyes and yawned. Since Father hadn't told her, it should not be a big deal.
At least it wouldn't be like the Turks and the Tibetans who came with ill intentions and evil designs.
Thinking that she could see Taoist Priest Gong Wenlin's wonderful performance again today, she was quite happy.
Last time she was so focused on watching the expression of Zhenzhu Tong Sijin that she didn't pay attention to the strange creature. Now Li Jingyun felt a bit regretful.
At noon, Li Jingyun came early to the Hanyuan Hall in the Daming Palace. Father wasn't there. Only her eldest brother and third brother were sitting with an unfamiliar foreigner, and laughter came from time to time.
"Eldest brother, third brother," Li Jingyun skipped over and sat down beside Li Chengqian. She openly sized up the foreigner in front of her.
He had green eyes and curly brownish - yellow hair. He looked thirteen or fourteen years old, even younger than her eldest brother. Thinking of the pot - bellied envoys sent by the Turks and the Tibetans, it was really like comparing heaven and earth.
They were all envoys. Why was there such a big difference?
Similarly, Prince Tuchuo was also sizing up Li Jingyun. What a cute child, fair and chubby, with big and bright eyes like the grapes produced in their place. Chang'an was really a good place to raise people. He wondered what this child would be like if she was born in their Uyghur tribe.
"This is Prince Tuchuo of the Uyghur tribe. He's fifteen years old, the youngest son of their khan," Li Chengqian introduced. "This is my younger sister, Princess Chengyang. She's still young and doesn't know much."
"Greetings to the princess," Prince Tuchuo stood up and respectfully performed a cross - hand salute.
Li Jingyun also stood up to return the salute. "Greetings to the prince."
She wasn't ignorant of the rules in the imperial city. She just was too lazy to follow them, and no one dared to argue with her. But at this moment, she still needed to be a bit more polite.
She could tell that the Uyghur prince was different from the Turks and the Tibetans. Since they came from so far away with sincerity, she couldn't be impolite.
Prince Tuchuo seemed calm on the surface, but inside he was in an uproar. This was Princess Chengyang? The Princess Chengyang who owned the sweater shop?
It was said that Princess Chengyang was young and intelligent. He thought she was about the same age as him, but unexpectedly, she was much younger.
She still looked like a child who didn't understand anything, the kind who would chase after him calling him brother and asking for rock sugar. It was so different from the Princess Chengyang he had imagined, the one who was resourceful and heroic.
"Our Hongxuan has grown up," Li Ke looked at the generous Li Jingyun with deep feelings, just like the feeling of "my daughter has just grown up".
Li Jingyun looked at herself and then at her third brother. Why was he saying that she had grown up now?
Her height barely reached her third brother's stomach. She still had a long way to go before she could be considered grown - up.
Prince Tuchuo said, "Your Highness, the princess is so charming and cute. When you grow up, you will surely be a great beauty who will captivate the nation."
"You speak so nicely! I like to hear it!"
If Li Jingyun had a tail, one could see it wagging so fast that it would be a blur.
This was her only hobby now, liking to be praised.
Seeing that the greetings were almost over, Li Chengqian said, "Tuchuo, now that the main person is here, just say what you want."
"Princess, our Uyghur tribe has just suffered a snow disaster. We hope to buy sweaters from the Tang Dynasty and bring back supplies to help our people. I was sent here to ask for help. Our national strength is weak. If the Tang Dynasty refuses to help, the lives of those people will be in danger. Please, Princess, give us a helping hand. Our whole nation will be grateful for your kindness."
After Prince Tuchuo finished saying this, he stood up again and bowed deeply.
Looking at his appearance and listening to his words, it seemed as if he was entrusting the lives of all the disaster - stricken people in the Uyghur tribe to the Tang Dynasty and to Li Jingyun.
His words stunned Li Jingyun. Before her mind could react, her body moved first and she pulled Prince Tuchuo up.
"Are you misunderstanding something? Sweaters do have the effect of keeping warm, but they are just clothes. Besides sweaters, if you want to relieve the disaster and settle those people, you need to, to..."
Li Jingyun quickly integrated what she had heard from her father and said it to Prince Tuchuo, but then she really couldn't come up with anything and got stuck.
She cast a pleading look at her two brothers, signaling, "Don't just watch the show. Say something! Say something!"
"Yes, Prince Tuchuo, we can sell you the sweaters, but other matters still depend on your khan, right?" Li Chengqian perfectly understood what his younger sister meant and came out to explain for her.
Li Jingyun nodded repeatedly and gave Li Chengqian a thumbs - up behind him.
Brother is so awesome!
Prince Tuchuo moved his lips and finally just nodded slowly. "Prince, King, Princess, of course we understand these principles. But there's a saying in the Tang Dynasty, 'Even the cleverest housewife can't cook a meal without rice'."
"I won't hide it from you. The snow in the Uyghur tribe is even heavier than that in the Turkic tribe. The snow is as thick as five feet. Half of the families have frozen to death. Countless livestock such as cattle and sheep have been frozen to death or injured. Even my father and the others are suffering from hunger and cold. Merchants see this as a good opportunity to make a fortune and have raised the prices. The prices of rice, flour, grain, and oil have increased by who knows how much."
"I'm afraid that in a few days, we will see corpses lying everywhere and people exchanging children to eat. Please have mercy on us."
By the end, Prince Tuchuo couldn't hold back his tears and started crying.
When Li Jingyun heard the words "corpses lying everywhere" and "people exchanging children to eat", her heart trembled and she grabbed Li Chengqian's hand beside her.
Behind her, Manjing thought of the scene when General Zhishisili had pulled her out of the pile of dead people. Her eyes welled up with tears and they rolled down.
Li Ke's expression was also very solemn.
Only Li Chengqian remained expressionless. He even had the energy to comfort his sentimental younger sister. One should just listen to these words. The Uyghur tribe was currently in its heyday. Otherwise, it couldn't be on par with the Tang Dynasty, the Western Turks, and the Tibetans.
Did they think they could make the Tang Dynasty pay money and provide supplies to help them relieve the disaster just with a few words of pretending to be miserable from this Prince Tuchuo? Don't even think about it.