Damn it, I'm in the garbage book I wrote

Chapter 701 All the wise men of the world gather here

The emperor of the Li Tang dynasty was naturally of extremely high status. Many people were seeing this newly enthroned female emperor for the first time. Her ceremonial attire was set up according to the same standards as that of the Jingtai Emperor. Therefore, when she entered Jinling City, not only was the Zhongzheng Gate opened to welcome her, but the city's large bell was also rung nine times for her.

Emperor Jingtai waited to be greeted on a high platform at the palace gate. When the Tang emperor's entourage arrived, the empress dismounted from her carriage and then ascended the platform to pay her respects to the Wei emperor. Then, emperors from other countries would come out together, ascend the platform, and strike a giant chime, signifying the start of the celebration. However, the celebrations for the common people would have to wait until the scheduled time, during which they would hold consultations and meetings on various issues.

The Ministry of Rites was extremely cautious from beginning to end, because one wrong move could lead to a diplomatic dispute or even war. As a result, officials in charge of etiquette from various countries were sweating profusely.

However, the opening ceremony went very smoothly. When the huge bronze chime symbolizing peace was struck, the buzzing sound seemed to spread throughout Nanjing. After this commemorative object, which signifies "peace requires our joint efforts," was struck, firecrackers suddenly went off all around, and three thousand pigeons were released into the sky.

"Who came up with this idea? It's quite novel."

Empress Li Tang looked up at the sky full of pigeons and asked with a smile, but Emperor Jingtai beside her replied indifferently, "Who else could be doing something so outrageous?"

The Empress smiled knowingly. She naturally knew who had come up with such a clever idea, but as the Empress, she couldn't very well ask, "Why didn't he come?"

However, before she could ask, the Emperor of Northern Han couldn't help but ask aloud, "Speaking of which, where has my brother gone? Why haven't I seen him?"

"Your Majesty, Emperor of Northern Han, you were defeated by your brother once, yet you still hold a grudge?" San Niang said in a low voice, "Do you still harbor resentment?"

"Hahaha, the victory or defeat on the battlefield has nothing to do with the bond between me and my brothers. He told me that friendship is friendship, and a steel blade is a steel blade." The Northern Han Emperor was the most carefree: "But Her Majesty the Empress was stripped of her jurisdiction over Anxi. Perhaps she is still holding a grudge?"

Third Sister frowned slightly, a hint of displeasure in her expression. This blatant instigation made the grassland emperor seem rather unsophisticated.

At this moment, only Emperor Jingtai didn't pay attention to what they were saying. He was chatting with the kings or princes of the Western Regions and seemed to be the most at ease.

The bell-ringing ceremony ended quickly, followed by the elaborate banquet. In the huge banquet hall, various ethnic groups performed songs and dances in turn, and the delicacies were dazzling.

However, Third Sister had little appetite, because from the very beginning of the process, her Grand Marshal and Commander-in-Chief Li Shimin had disappeared without a trace and had not been found to this day... and she could only come here to lead the delegation to attend the banquet as arranged.

"I don't want to go."

Li Shimin squatted in front of an iron pot, watching the deep-fried glutinous rice and sticky syrup mix together to eventually become a crispy, fragrant, and sweet pancake.

The person squatting next to him was not Xia Lin, but Li Yuanji, who had been waiting there since he heard that his older brother and sister were coming.

He picked up the still-hot rice candy, broke off a piece, and handed it to Li Yuanji. The two then sat down on the street and ate it, as if they had returned to their childhood.

"What if you leave your sister there alone and she gets into trouble?"

"Make things difficult for her?" Li Shimin glanced back at Li Yuanji, then gently shook his head: "There's no need for my Great Tang to intervene; someone will naturally handle it. This celebration isn't something anyone is qualified to disrupt."

"Why?" Although Li Yuanji is now considered a master in music, he has not been involved in politics for a long time and appears extremely naive at this moment.

Li Shimin did not answer him directly. Instead, he took the eight-treasure sweet soup from the vendor and handed him five coins. After taking a bite with relish, he leaned against the wall and said, "Look at this scene. Dozens of countries, hundreds of forces, and heroes from all over the world have gathered together. If someone wanted to cause trouble, wouldn't it be easy?"

"Yes."

"But is someone causing trouble?"

Li Yuanji shook his head: "No, these days have been more peaceful than before."

"Do you know why?"

"I don't know."

Li Shimin raised his head and paused: "Because this time, it is destiny."

“Destiny? Brother, I don’t understand.”

"You'll understand in a few days." Li Shimin stood up, returned the bowl to the vendor, and patted Li Yuanji on the shoulder: "Come on, ugly little brother, show your older brother around."

"I'm not an ugly little brother anymore. You have no idea how many beautiful girls are swarming around me, just asking me to compose a song for them."

"Alright, alright, you win."

In fact, Li Shimin had already seen it. The reason he called it a mandate of heaven was because this harvest festival might conceal decades of peace for the future. Undoubtedly, this would be detrimental to his personal ambitions and conquests, but looking at the world as a whole, the benefits that decades of recuperation could bring to a land riddled with wounds are self-evident.

This is what it means to follow the will of Heaven. Even if Li Shimin of the Tang Dynasty wanted to achieve great things, he would not dare to go against the will of Heaven. Similarly, no one would dare to go against it. Even if they hated it to the bone, all they could think of was whether they could absorb more nourishment from the will of Heaven.

Defying the heavens? What a joke! When your lifeline is cut off, people will fight desperately.

So Li Shimin is very depressed now. He doesn't know how he could have changed fate by working for more than ten years.
The feeling of having the world at his mercy disgusted Li Shimin. This was supposed to be his own story, wasn't it? He had even envisioned a grand future, but who would have thought that his grand ambitions would be so vulnerable in the face of this terrifying destiny, and that he would even have to cooperate with it.

Of course, besides resentment, there was also shock—shock at the towering mountains of grain and the aroma of grain wafting throughout the city. From the moment he entered the city, everyone he saw seemed to be eating; foods he had never even seen before were everywhere.

If someone were to ask Li Shimin at this time what he believed the Mandate of Heaven was, he would surely point to those mountains of grain and say that was the Mandate of Heaven.

Does having a pile of grain mean one's destiny? Yes, having a pile of grain means one's destiny.

He was confident he could thwart any of the world's most ingenious schemes, but this mountain of grain was an unsolvable problem. Unless he could produce an equally massive mountain himself, which he couldn't, it was an unsolvable puzzle.

While important figures were attending a banquet, Li Shimin was strolling through the streets. So, who was the most free at that moment?

You got it right. The person who was buying exam questions from a roadside exam-predicting expert was the most relaxed.

"The exam questions here are top secret, and it's no less than thirty taels." The man stretched his neck and said mysteriously, "If you don't agree, you can have someone kill me. I have a relative in the Ministry of Rites who sets the exam questions, and he knows everything about them."

"Really?" Xia Lin asked with a suspicious look, "Thirty taels is enough to guarantee it?"

"How could it be fake? Besides, I'm not in this business. I just see that you're not young anymore, and you must have failed the exams many times. This thirty taels of silver isn't for me; I'm spending your money to do your thing. You understand what I mean? Don't worry, I'll definitely get you the real exam questions."

After listening, Xia Lin looked up and saw that there were at least thirty people on the street doing the same thing. Each of them said that they had relatives in the Ministry of Rites who were setting exam questions. Given the scale of this, it would not be unjust for the Ministry of Rites to execute their entire families and exterminate their nine generations.

But all of this is fake... because starting five years ago, the questions for the imperial examinations were no longer set by the Ministry of Rites. Instead, they were secretly changed to each department setting questions for the other, and the questions were decided by drawing lots. After the questions were set, the examinations were held in a cross-regional manner. As for the Jinshi examination, the questions were set by the three provinces, six ministries, and nine major temples of the Great Wei Dynasty. Each department set its own questions, so it was easy to see where any questions were missed.

"What if the question is inaccurate?"

"It must be accurate, otherwise come and kill me with one blow."

Bored, Xia Lin actually spent thirty taels to reserve a set of test questions, and then got up and headed straight for the Li Tang delegation's lodging.

He was going to see what Li Tang had brought this time, and he hoped they wouldn't cut off the Buddha heads or anything like that from Dunhuang.

He arrived at the heavily guarded rest area of ​​the Li Tang delegation. The soldiers at the gate did not recognize him and naturally did not let him in. However, the female official on duty recognized him and quickly dismissed the guards to come forward.

"Lord Xia." The female official approached him respectfully, "Lord Xia, I am so sorry for not welcoming you properly."

Xia Lin smiled at her and said, "I remember you. You were Third Sister's maid."

"Yes... I am now His Majesty's personal lady-in-waiting."

Xia Lin laughed and stepped inside. This place was the mobile territory of the Li Tang Dynasty, and even Emperor Jingtai could not enter it so casually, but Xia Daosheng was the only one who entered it as if it were empty.

"What did you all bring this time? Let me see."

"Lord Xia, please follow me."

When Xia Lin entered their storage area, she exclaimed in surprise, "Wow, there's so much stuff here!"

"This time, the Tang Dynasty brought rock sugar, wine, roasted mutton, cold-cooked mutton, persimmons, dates and other Northwest specialties, as well as exquisite items such as top-grade Shu brocade, Yue kiln celadon, Xing kiln white porcelain, and various gold and silver wares, tie-dyed screens, peacock-carrying-branch patterned carpets, and items such as music, dance and poetry books."

Xia Lin tore open the seal on the box and looked inside. After looking at it, he turned to the female official and asked, "Is it alright if I tear this seal? I saw it says on it that anyone who opens it without an imperial decree will be beheaded."

"This..." The female official was both amused and exasperated, but she dared not give an answer. After a moment of hesitation, she finally said, "Perhaps it's because the wind is particularly noisy tonight."

(End of this chapter)