Chapter Eighty-Six: A Father’s Schemes

The men present were all seasoned veterans of the battlefield, so there was no need to explain how important a spyglass was. Before long, they were discussing with Li Zhi how to equip the army with such devices.

“Your Majesty, may I ask what this costs to make?” Liu Rengui asked. “If the expense is low, it would be a tremendous weapon for our Tang army!”

Li Zhi shook his head lightly. “From what Chen-er told me, it is not expensive, merely somewhat troublesome to manufacture.”

Pei Xingjian took up the thread. “In my humble opinion, there is no need to issue many of them. One for each commanding officer and each scout would suffice.”

“That makes sense,” Li Zhi nodded. “In that way, losses would be reduced as well. At the very least, it is best not to let such a thing fall into the enemy’s hands.”

As the others were still in discussion, Qixin Heli bluntly asked, “Your Majesty, if the two are joined together, would it not allow one to observe with both eyes? That would be much more convenient!”

Li Zhi only smiled. “If it were truly that simple, I doubt Chen-er would have made it in such a form.”

He had actually thought of this from the beginning, but considering that his daughter had always been very clever, she was unlikely to be foolish about such a matter.

So it was easy to imagine that binoculars were certainly not merely two single lenses placed side by side.

...

While the others were discussing this, Li Yuechen also rushed to the Imperial Crafts Bureau, intending to see the effect of the leaf springs.

The carriage frame had not yet had its wheels installed and was resting on the ground. The body had already been joined to the frame, with leaf springs fitted as well.

Li Yuechen turned with the edge of the carriage body and leaped, landing neatly inside it.

Then she pressed down hard with both feet and swayed left and right a few times. Indeed, there was a slight rocking sensation.

What remained was to see whether it would be workable once the wheels were installed.

Li Yuechen walked around inside the carriage body and felt that the balance of the vehicle had been done very well. She turned to the craftsmen beside her and gave a thumbs-up. “Excellent!”

The craftsmen all let out a breath of relief. “Thank you for your praise, Your Highness.”

With a satisfied smile, Li Yuechen flipped sideways out of the carriage and left first with Fulai.

At the current pace, it should be finished before Li Zhi’s birthday.

Just after leaving the Imperial Crafts Bureau, she saw a middle-aged man in coarse cloth clothes hurrying toward her.

Seeing his solemn expression and quick steps, Fulai instinctively stepped in front of Li Yuechen.

The man stopped before them and bowed respectfully. “Greetings to Your Highness the Princess, and to Eunuch Fulai!”

“And you are?” Li Yuechen asked, peering out from behind Fulai.

“This servant is from the Gold and Silver Workshop. The item Your Highness requested has been made,” the man replied respectfully.

The “servant” here did not literally mean a slave. In the Tang era, that character had many meanings. It could be used as an insult, but it was also a humble form of self-reference, much like saying “this one” or “your humble servant.”

“Oh?” Li Yuechen’s eyes lit up. “Let us go and see!”

Her mood improved at once upon hearing the news. If bearings could be made at this time, then Li Zhi’s carriage could certainly be made much better.

When they arrived at the Gold and Silver Workshop, before even going in, they saw Wang Gangdan, whom she had met last time, standing at the door and pacing back and forth anxiously.

Seeing the princess approach, he hastily wiped his hands on his clothes and bowed respectfully. “This old one greets Your Highness the Princess!”

“Rise,” Li Yuechen said, lifting a hand. “Have the things I asked for been made?”

Wang Gangdan carefully extended both hands. “Please inspect them, Your Highness.”

Fulai stepped forward, took the item from his hands, and presented it to Li Yuechen.

Four tiny bearings lay quietly in Fulai’s palm, faintly gleaming in the sunlight.

Li Yuechen picked up one and examined it, pinching it between two fingers before giving it a light flick.

Seeing the bearing spin rapidly in her hand, Li Yuechen’s face broke into a delighted smile, and the two small dimples on her cheeks appeared faintly.

After stacking the four bearings together, their size and dimensions matched perfectly, like products from an industrial assembly line.

Li Yuechen was astonished. “How did you make them all the same size?”

“Well... this old one made them according to ordinary experience,” came the answer.

“Good!” Li Yuechen nodded and gestured to Fulai.

Fulai understood at once, taking a small silk pouch from his chest and removing a gold bean to hand over.

“Give him more,” Li Yuechen said with a wave. “For making such a thing, he ought to be richly rewarded!”

Hearing this, Fulai took out several more and handed them over.

Wang Gangdan bowed repeatedly in gratitude. “Many thanks for Your Highness’s reward! Many thanks for Your Highness’s reward!”

Li Yuechen raised a hand to make him rise, then carefully examined the bearing in her hand.

The only pity was that these bearings were all too small, with a diameter of only one centimeter, making it impossible to use them on a carriage.

...

Li Yuechen asked, “I’m rather curious. How did you grind the iron balls inside to such a size?”

After the explanation, she understood that they had been slowly ground down bit by bit while held with tweezers.

Having heard this, Li Yuechen could not help but admire such patience. After some thought, she decided to send him a magnifying lens in a couple of days.

“Since you’ve made ones this size, larger ones should not be a problem,” she said. “Go to the Imperial Crafts Bureau, measure the size of the carriage wheels they are making there, and make four more.”

“Yes, Your Highness,” Wang Gangdan answered.

Just as he was about to leave, Li Yuechen suddenly asked, “Do you have any children or apprentices?”

“Replying to Your Highness, I have two sons and one daughter.”

Li Yuechen nodded and said solemnly, “Your craft is very important to me... no, to all of Tang. You must not let the line of transmission end!”

“Yes!”

...

When she returned to Anfu Hall, Li Yuechen sat in the Rippling Waters Pavilion, staring blankly at the small bearing in her hand, thinking about what sort of things it might be used to make.

Zhang Waner at her side stared with wide eyes. “Your Highness, what is this?”

Li Yuechen turned and smiled. “It depends on how one sees it. To me, this thing is the future of Great Tang!”

“The future of Great Tang?” Zhang Waner’s large eyes filled with confusion, as though she could make neither head nor tail of it.

Seeing her adorable expression, Li Yuechen could not help but pat her head. “You will understand in time!”

Then, not wanting to dwell further on the subject, she changed the topic and spoke of other things.

At that moment, a little eunuch suddenly came to Anfu Hall and said something to Fulai at the door.

Fulai then came over to relay the message. “Your Highness, Prince Pei is waiting outside the West Flower Gate.”

“Oh.” Li Yuechen agreed, then waved to Zhang Waner. “I’ll make a trip there. You go and play with the two elder sisters.”

As she walked out, she complained to herself about the tedious rules of the imperial house.

Even her second brother could not come directly in to see her. It was utterly troublesome.

Then, with a touch of mischievous satisfaction, she thought that in the old television dramas she had watched, it seemed her father and mother had once gotten together in Emperor Taizong’s harem.

Was Li Zhi’s strict regulation meant to prevent such a thing from happening to him?

Still grumbling inwardly, she arrived at the West Flower Gate, where Li Xian already looked impatient, pacing back and forth with irritation.

Li Yuechen trotted forward. “Second Brother, has something happened?”

“A big matter! Hurry, let’s go!”

Li Xian spoke while pulling her toward his carriage.

After getting in, Li Yuechen sat down and asked, “What exactly is it?”

“We’re one short!” Li Xian said.

“...”

Li Yuechen nearly toppled over. Seeing how anxious he had been, she had thought something serious had happened, only for it to be a missing player for mahjong.

Come to think of it, the phrase “one short” had been taught to him by her.

“Wouldn’t the four brothers be just right? Why did you have to come fetch me?”

Li Xian raised an eyebrow. “You know how busy the Crown Prince is. How could you not? Besides, with Eldest Brother’s personality, do you think he can play?”

Li Yuechen thought about it and found that to be true. Li Hong was good in every way, except that he was a little too mature for his age.

It was understandable, really. After all, he had begun learning statecraft at eight; the liveliness of youth had long since been worn away.

Though he was very good to his parents and siblings, he always had a solemn air, looking more like an old man most of the time.

For this, Li Yuechen could only shake her head inwardly and lament it.

They arrived at Prince Pei’s residence all the same. Li Xian and Li Lun were already waiting there, seated in the courtyard drinking yogurt, with several singing girls nearby dancing gracefully to the rhythm of the music.

As soon as Li Xian entered, he grabbed a cup of yogurt and drained it in one go, then smacked his lips. “All right, now that Yuechen is here, let’s begin!”

With that, he waved the dancing girls away.

“Yuechen, show us some mercy today,” Li Xian said as he walked in. “This thing was made by you. Of course we can’t compare.”

“Brother, if I still have to go easy on you when playing games, where’s the fun in that?” Li Yuechen countered.

Beside her, Li Lun nodded. “Exactly. We should just do our best.”

Li Xian opened a wooden box and, with a clatter, dumped everything onto the table. “Yuechen, if you lose today, you can’t renege on your debts!”

“Don’t worry, Brother. There’s not much else I can boast of, but I do have money!” Li Yuechen said with a grin.

Her opening a shop was no secret. Almost everyone knew.

The four siblings sat down and began at once. Fulai and the others stood by serving them, bringing tea and pouring water.

As they played, they chatted.

Li Xian wore a depressed look. “I really don’t understand why Father and Mother allow Yuechen to open shops, but not the rest of us.”

“Easy enough!” Li Yuechen played an East Wind tile. “As long as Brother becomes a woman, you can be just like me.”

“Even if I became a woman, without Yuechen’s intelligence, it still wouldn’t work,” Li Hong said.

Li Lun was more open-minded. “As imperial princes, we naturally cannot engage in trade. Besides, Yuechen is acting for Father and Mother, and for the benefit of the imperial family. Of course Father and Mother would approve.”

That was not wrong. After all, although Li Yuechen’s shops were said to give three-tenths to the royal house, that was actually the larger share.

The remaining seven-tenths were not being put into her own pocket either; they were basically all used to expand production.

Li Hong and the others knew about all this, and Li Zhi himself had told them.

He simply did not want this matter to cause discord between the princes and the princess.

Moreover, the siblings usually had a very good relationship, so no misunderstanding arose.

Li Xian’s words were merely casual complaints, with no other meaning.

As the four siblings played and talked, the topic quickly wandered off.

“The last time I went to the Southern Market, why was the manager of your cosmetics shop a person from Silla?” Li Xian asked in puzzlement.

“That was a bought servant girl. I saw that she could speak the Tang tongue, so I let her manage it,” Li Yuechen replied.

Li Hong thought for a moment. “I think it would be better to send one of your close attendants from the palace. If a bought servant should deceive you, it would be troublesome.”

Li Lun nodded in agreement. “Well said. It is more reassuring to use someone close.”

In Li Yuechen’s view, such worries were completely unnecessary, but it was only natural that they would think that way.

Imperial children, raised from birth in silk and jade, often learned the ways of employment and administration from an early age.

When it came to outsiders or bought servants, they always felt one could not truly know them, and so were reluctant to place them in important positions.

“It’s fine,” Li Yuechen said with a smile. “Anyway, the manager of the canned-food shop, Wang Xiang, is one of ours, so they can supervise one another. Besides, I calculate the accounts myself.”

Hearing this, Fulai, standing nearby, slightly bent his body in thanks for the praise of one of his own.

“If only we could all be as clever as Yuechen, then we would certainly not have to fear being deceived,” Li Xian said, shaking his head. “It’s a pity that when I go to my fief in the future, I’m no good at balancing accounts. If someone deceives me, I might not even know.”

“Exactly. Outsiders can’t be trusted, but using your own people makes you worry about them growing too powerful...” Li Hong played a tile. “Just thinking about it gives me a headache.”

Li Yuechen smiled. “One should not govern a broad road with a single hand, so one shares the task with others; one should not bear a heavy burden alone, so one guards it with others. Using both intimates and outsiders is enough, isn’t it?”

Upon hearing this, Li Xian murmured the line to himself, and his eyes brightened. “Well said! Where did Yuechen hear that?”

“This is not...”

The words had barely left her mouth when Li Yuechen’s smile suddenly froze, and her hands stopped completely, as though she had been struck motionless by a spell.

“Hm?” The three brothers all looked up at her in confusion as she suddenly froze.

At that moment, Li Yuechen felt gooseflesh rise all over her body.

Wasn’t that something Emperor Taizong said in the Imperial Model? How could you not know that?

Didn’t Father order last time that all the princes should read it? How could you not know that?

How in the hell could you not know?

Li Yuechen stood frozen in place, her hands even trembling faintly.

If they did not know, then Li Zhi’s order had been false. Those two books might very well have been meant only for her eyes.

Then what about her two sisters...

Thinking of this, Li Yuechen suddenly shook her head and forced herself to calm down. No, Li Zhi should know this very well.

Li Yuechen knew that every move she made in Anfu Hall could never be hidden from the imperial couple, so they would certainly know that she had shown those two books to her elder sisters.

Yet so far there had been no reaction, which meant that he probably did not care.

But in that case, what was the point of showing her those two books?

Why had they lied to her, saying all the princes had to read them, when in truth they were only for her?

What exactly were the two of them suspecting...

Only now did Li Yuechen realize that for so many years, she had foolishly believed she was hiding things well, when in fact she had all along been dancing within her father’s trap.