Li Chen had a dream.

She dreamed that on her sixth birthday, her father had found many people to make clothes for her, and the dress was embroidered with silver thread with a pattern of flowers and butterflies, and the embroidery was ingenious, and the most important thing was that she did not know what material the skirt was made of, and it could show different colors in different lights and different angles. She liked it very much, and after changing her clothes, she ran to the east and west markets of Chang'an, attracting countless envious eyes.

But suddenly someone said angrily: "If there is a great drought today, and the people are miserable, the two princesses live in such luxury, it is unforgivable!" ”

As a result, those envious eyes instantly became very angry, staring at her and Taiping, as if they wanted to tear them both apart. At this time, a person suddenly said: "If there are continuous disasters today, it is clearly because the queen interferes in politics and provokes the dissatisfaction of the heavens!" The two princesses were born by the queen, and killing them to sacrifice to the heavens may be able to calm the dissatisfaction of the heavens! ”

When everyone rushed up, Li Chen was awakened. Her body was covered in cold sweat, her clothes were already soaked with sweat, she was panting for breath, and she couldn't come back to her senses.

After a nap in the afternoon, I actually had nightmares.

"Did the princess have a nightmare?" Liu Xin cautiously stepped forward and lifted the hanging gauze tent and hung it on the silver hook above, and looked at Li Chen who was sitting on the bed. She sat on the bed with the quilt in her arms, her watery eyes were a little dazed at this time, and the hair on her forehead was wet with sweat and stuck to her forehead.

Liu Xin didn't see her answer, so she reached out and felt that the clothes on her body were all drenched with sweat, so she ordered her to take a change of clothes left and right.

Shangguan Wan'er poured a glass of warm water and came up, Li Chen took the cup and drank most of it in one go, and then looked at Shangguan Wan'er, "Wan'er, you told me yesterday that now there is a great drought in Guanzhong, the people are □□, and some people have a miserable situation of eating people because of lack of food, is it true?" ”

When Liu Xin heard Li Chen's words, she frowned and looked at Shangguan Wan'er, and scolded lightly: "You have never left the palace, how can you know what the situation outside the palace is, and what nonsense to talk about with the princess!" ”

Li Chen turned his head, pursed his lips and looked at Liu Xin coldly.

Liu Xin immediately understood that she had reprimanded Shangguan Wan'er for her behavior to make the princess unhappy, so she lowered her head and whispered, "The maid lost her words." ”

Li Chen handed the cup in his hand to Liu Xin, "You go down first." ”

Liu Xin took the cup and withdrew.

Shangguan Wan'er reminded softly: "Princess, get up and change out of the sweaty clothes on your body." ”

Li Chen got up obediently and asked Shangguan Wan'er to command a few palace maids to change into dry clothes for her.

After changing clothes, Li Chen followed Shangguan Wan'er and said, "I want to find Sister A." ”

I don't know what's going on in the past two years, first last year, there was a storm in Yizhou, the local flood, washed away countless houses, and then this spring's drought, Yan zhòng affected the people to sow crops, and in the autumn, the drought intensified, and the people had no harvest. There was a great drought in Guanzhong, and Li Zhi and Wu Zetian were also troubled by this, Li Zhi evacuated the main hall, reduced meals, stopped leisure and entertainment, and also exempted the tax burden of several states in the drought of Yanzhòng.

In ancient times, science was not as developed as in later generations, and it was not understood that floods and droughts were all natural phenomena and had little to do with people. In the eyes of the ancients, the great calamity of heaven meant that the Son of Heaven did not cultivate virtue and made mistakes. At this time, some people in the court who had long been dissatisfied with Wu Zetian took the opportunity to spread rumors, saying that since the Dongfeng Taishan, natural disasters have continued, and it must be because the queen became a sub-sacrifice at that time. Since ancient times, only the emperor has presided over the sealing of Zen, and the queen has never been seen. Moreover, over the years, the queen has interfered in politics, and even listened to politics with the Son of Heaven and dealt with national affairs. The queen's actions were contrary to the virtues of the concubine and angered the heavens, so the heavens would bring disaster to the Tang Dynasty.

The easiest thing for people to do in difficult situations is to get angry. The people of Guanzhong suffered from the drought, and at this time, some people fanned the flames, and the dissatisfaction with the queen also soared.

Li Zhi was heartbroken for the great drought and famine, and on the other hand, he had to defend his queen, and he was physically and mentally exhausted, but he couldn't fall yet, these thousands of miles of rivers and mountains, as well as tens of millions of people of the Tang Dynasty, still relied on him. If he falls at this moment and lets Wu Zetian preside over the government, God knows what will become of the government and folk rumors!

Recently, there has been a lot of drought-related stories like snowflakes in Guanzhong, most of which come from local histories, and the numbers and descriptions are striking.

Li Zhi rubbed his forehead, as anxious as an ant on a pot.

Wu Zetian stood behind him and rubbed his temples for him, "Lord, don't worry." ”

Li Zhi put his hand on his forehead, "Mei Niang, the Tang Dynasty has a vast territory, since I ascended the throne, the public and private granaries are not empty all year round, if there is occasional drought and famine, it is not a problem." But in the past two years, I don't know what happened, first floods, then droughts, and occasionally reports of locust plagues and plagues. This spring has been dry, spring drought and autumn hunger, and now the autumn drought is even worse, how can I not be in a hurry? ”

When Wu Zetian heard this, he sighed lightly and was silent.

In all dynasties, whenever natural disasters continue, it is easy to cause **.

A few years before Dongfeng Taishan, the wind and rain were smooth, and the people's life was good. But in the past two years, natural disasters have continued, and the people have not had enough to eat, and the only way is to release grain for disaster relief. But now that the flood has passed, there is another drought, a spring drought, and an autumn drought. Even if the central government instructs the localities to release grain for disaster relief, they must cooperate with local officials, otherwise they will only force the hungry people into mobs, not to mention that there is not much grain left in the public warehouse now.

At present, there is a famine everywhere, and Li Zhi has already seen that there have been cannibalism in some places, and it is difficult not to worry.

The emperor and his wife were silent, and there was a burst of laughter outside.

"It's Yongchang and Taiping who are here." Wu Zetian said and walked out with Li Zhi.

In the winding corridor outside Qingning Palace, a group of palace maids walked over with Taiping and Li Chen, Taiping approached Li Chen, not knowing what fun things to say to her, Li Chen was stunned at first, and then giggled, the laughter was like a pearl falling on a jade plate, pleasant to the ear.

Li Zhi looked at his two daughters, and the sadness and tiredness in his heart suddenly became less serious.

The emperor let go of the majesty of the king of a country, squatted down and opened his arms to his daughter, "Yongchang." ”

Li Chen raised his eyes and saw his father with a smile on his face, while his mother was standing beside his father, looking at her and Sister Taiping with a conniving expression.

Li Chen immediately shouted at Wu Zetian with a smile, and then threw himself into his father's arms like a little butterfly with wings ready to fly.

"Yongchang hasn't seen Aya in days." Li Chen hugged his father's neck and giggled.

Taiping is now nearly eight years old, her facial features are becoming more and more delicate and good-looking, her contours and eyebrows are a little like Wu Zetian, she walked over with a smile, stood next to her mother, and watched Li Chen unscrupulously coquettish to her father.

Taiping is no longer the ignorant little girl she was two years ago, and her mother has begun to teach her the truths she should understand as a woman and what she should be able to do.

She now follows her mother more often than Li Chen, watching her mother deal with the affairs of the harem. And since Li Chen was born, her mother has taught her to pamper Ah Mei like her brothers dot on her, so when she sees her father favoring Ah Mei more, she occasionally feels that it is not a taste, but every time it is not a taste, she is quickly sent away by her self-comfort.

She is a sister, and my sister should also spoil my sister. She wants to spoil Ah Mei, so it doesn't matter if her parents give a little bit of the pampering that her parents put on her.

And when I saw my father recently, his brows were always locked, and his expression was very solemn, and now his eyebrows were stretched, and there was an indescribable sense of elegance and freehand.

When Taiping saw this, he was also very happy in his heart.

Li Zhi stretched out his hand and touched Li Chen's head: "But I heard your mother say that you went to Buxian Garden with Taiping a few days ago to play." ”

"Well, I went, but when Sister A and I were not in the palace, I missed Aya and A-Niang very much." Li Chen raised his head and looked at Wu Zetian with a smile.

Seeing this, Wu Zetian helplessly and dotingly reached out and pinched her nose.

The more the child grows up, the more she will be poured into the soup, as a parent, she knows that she is just sweet-mouthed, but her heart is still warm when she listens.

Li Zhi smiled and asked, "Is it good to go to Buxian Garden?" ”

Li Chen: "It's not good, the stream on the mountain behind the big courtyard of the garden is almost dry, and there are no fish to play in it." The tea trees did not grow energetically, and I saw many long-term workers digging wild vegetables in the mountains, saying that they wanted to take them home for their families to eat. ”

Li Zhi and Wu Zetian glanced at each other, and their eyebrows, which had been stretched, locked again.

Li Chen didn't seem to notice it, and said to his father: "Aya, the big pond in the garden is not envious, there are many lotus flowers in the summer, and now the lotus flowers are gone, I heard that the lotus flowers are all lotus roots, such a large pond, why don't I ask Lu Sicheng to send someone to dig up the lotus root and distribute it to the long-term workers who often do not envy the garden, right?" ”

Li Zhi and Wu Zetian were stunned.

Li Chen tilted his head and continued: "I asked Lu Sicheng whether the wild vegetables were more delicious or the lotus root was more delicious, and Lu Sicheng said that the lotus root was naturally more delicious. Anyway, now that there is a drought, there is no water in the lake, and the smell of mud in the lake is very unpleasant, so it is better to let Lu Sicheng dig up the lotus root, and wait for the spring to open tomorrow, after the lake is filled with water, and then plant lotus. ”

"But in this way, you can't go to the garden in winter." Li Zhi reminded her.

Li Chen said with a smile: "I agreed with Sister A, I will go to Lishan Hot Springs this winter." ”

When Li Zhi heard this, he was stunned at first, and then looked at Wu Zetian and smiled.

Li Zhi hugged Li Chen and said with relief: "Okay, as long as you want, it's up to you." ”