Drive to the Tang Dynasty, where supplies are refreshed daily!

The little princess swallowed what was in her mouth.

"Grandpa~"

The little princess held up the fried chicken in her hand.

"It's chicken again~ Good seven duck~"

Xiao Ran served all the fried chicken, and the beggar's chicken was also torn up and placed on a plate.

Afterwards, Xiao Ran scooped out the braised chicken wings and giblets, mixed a cold dish, and made a large bowl of shredded chicken noodles.

Li Lizhi and the others carried the plates into the house, and everyone sat down.

Xiao Ran placed a piece of beggar's chicken on Empress Zhangsun's plate.

Empress Zhangsun took a bite, smiled and nodded: "Mmm, delicious. The meat is tender and fragrant. Xiao Ran's cooking skills are really good."

Li Shimin glanced at Xiao Ran, then picked up a piece of beggar's chicken for himself. "This beggar's chicken is indeed delicious. The lotus leaf fragrance helps to cut through the greasiness, and the meat is tender."

Cheng Yaojin and Cheng Chumo ate without even looking up, and their eating movements were even identical.

Qin Qiong and Qin Huaidao, on the other hand, ate in a much more refined manner.

The little princess tugged at Xiao Ran's sleeve: "Little Nangjun~ I still want Qijiyou~"

This time, Xiao Ran didn't give the little princess fried chicken, because it's not good for children to eat too much fried food. Instead, he gave her beggar's chicken.

The little princess enjoyed her beggar's chicken very much.

Cheng Yaojin ate a few more bites of rice, then suddenly smiled and looked at Li Shimin.

"Hehe, Your Majesty, I also brought some wine." The implication was clear.

Li Shimin laughed, "Then hurry up and bring it over."

Cheng Yaojin put down his chopsticks and went outside. He returned shortly afterward, carrying a large jar in his hand.

The men at the table each had a glass, and Xiao Ran also took a sip.

The wine at that time was naturally incomparable to that of later generations. It was also cloudy, and its alcohol content and taste were both mediocre.

Xiao Ran pushed the braised chicken giblets toward Li Shimin.

"Uncle, try this. It's perfect for pairing with wine."

Normally, Li Shimin would never eat such a thing, nor would anyone put such offal in front of him.

But since Xiao Ran said it was delicious, Li Shimin would definitely have to try it.

The braised chicken giblets are savory and delicious, with a hint of spiciness, just as Xiao Ran said, they really go well with alcohol.

When they ate and drank, they would always talk about national affairs, not to mention Li Shimin and his entourage, who discussed everything from people's livelihood to the front lines.

Li Shimin's military prowess is undeniable, and his close ties with the army are naturally the deepest.

At present, the Tang Dynasty is developing well and there is no major turmoil in the surrounding areas, but there are still some harassing probing attacks.

Speaking of this, Li Shimin couldn't help but recall the days of fighting, and sighed, "It is said that a kind heart cannot command an army, and there is some truth to that."

As he spoke, Li Shimin took a sip of wine, and his eyes visibly welled up with tears again.

Xiao Ran also sighed. It's still a bit better now that we're fighting with cold weapons. When we start fighting with firearms, the casualties will be much greater.

In fact, during the era of cold weapon warfare, many soldiers did not die on the battlefield, but rather during subsequent medical treatment.

Current treatment methods are not advanced enough; we can only rely on traditional Chinese medicine, and even basic suturing surgery is not available.

Although suturing techniques have been documented for a long time, they have not been passed down, and even if they are successfully sutured, infection is still very likely to occur later.

Hearing Li Shimin's words, Cheng Yaojin and Qin Qiong couldn't help but sigh and started drinking again.

Xiao Ran glanced at them, or more precisely, at the wine in their hands.

There were clearly not enough wine glasses; if they weren't still concerned about their image, they probably would have just drunk directly from the wine jars.

After a round of drinks, we had eaten almost all of both fried chicken and beggar's chicken.

The fried mushrooms had long been eaten by the kids, and even the chicken noodle soup was gone.
Princess Yuzhang really liked the taste of the shredded chicken noodles, so she ate a lot of them.

Xiao Ran was worried that the little ones would get diarrhea from eating too much fried and braised chicken, so he later gave them chicken noodle soup instead.

Now that Li Shimin and the others have finished drinking, these little guys have already gone out to play.

The servants came up in an orderly fashion to clear away the tableware. Xiao Ran had also drunk some wine, so he simply went back to his room to sleep. However, before going to sleep, Xiao Ran went to his study to draw a blueprint and handed it to Zhang Dalang.

After his afternoon nap, Xiao Ran stretched and went outside, only to find that Li Shimin and the others were gone.

"Where are Uncle and the others?" Xiao Ran asked Li Lizhi, who was standing to the side.

Li Lizhi said, "Grandpa and the others just woke up and left."

Xiao Ran nodded and took a walk around the courtyard to stretch his muscles.

At this moment, Li Lizhi suddenly remembered something and said, "Grandpa and the others brought a lot of wine, saying it would be troublesome to take it back, so they left it for you. It's in the cellar right now. Do you want to go and take a look?"

Xiao Ran thought for a moment, then shook his head. "It's alright, no rush."

Stretching, Xiao Ran plopped down in the rocking chair, and Li Lizhi sat down in a chair next to him. The two enjoyed the tranquility of spring.

The warm spring breeze feels very comfortable on people.

"Where are Sizi and the others?" Xiao Ran asked.

Li Lizhi pointed outside and said, "They ate fried chicken for lunch today, but they were still thinking about the children in the village. So, while you were sleeping, they asked me if I could make some more fried chicken so they could eat it with the children in the village."

At this point, Li Lizhi covered her mouth and laughed.

"I think it's just that they're greedy."

Xiao Ran laughed too, "It's just a chicken. I was just worried they'd get diarrhea from eating too much. But since they said they wanted to share it, they wouldn't lie. One chicken is enough for each person to have a taste, so it's fine."

Li Lizhi nodded, "That's what I thought too, so I had the cook make it for them. These little ones should be down the mountain by now."

Li Lizhi guessed correctly; the little princess and her companions had indeed arrived at the foot of the mountain and were currently distributing chicken to the children one by one, wrapped in oil paper.

Although people's lives are better now, the family can still grit their teeth and bear to part with a chicken occasionally.

But oil is so precious, no one is willing to use a lot of oil to make deep-fried things.

A group of children surrounded the little princess and her friends, staring longingly at the fried chicken in their hands, but none of them said they wanted to eat it. Even when the little princess offered it to them, they all quickly waved their hands.

Finally, Princess Gaoyang said, "This is what we brought for you to eat. Take a piece each and have a taste."

Yan Yao also said, "Yes, yes, we are friends, so of course we should share good food together."

The children in the village were very kind to the little princess and her friends. They usually indulged them and took good care of them. If they found any wild fruits on the mountain, they would save them for the little princess and her friends so that everyone could eat them together.

Although the princesses didn't lack food, this behavior made them very happy.

So, the little princesses are willing to eat and play with these children whenever there's something delicious or fun to do.

Finally, persuaded by Princess Gaoyang, and with the princess's big, watery eyes, and of course, the temptation of fried chicken, the children couldn't resist and each took a piece.

The little princesses each took a piece and ate it with gusto. Zhang Jinnian, being more sensible, walked over to Di Renjie and asked in a low voice, "Did the young master ask you to bring these?"

Di Renjie shook his head, but he understood what Zhang Jinnian meant, so he said, "My family agrees, so don't worry."

Zhang Jinnian was relieved and began to enjoy his fried chicken.

After finishing a bag of fried chicken, the kids had oil all over their mouths, but no one cared. They just opened their mouths and started playing.

Princess Chengyang, who loved cleanliness, quickly took out her handkerchief and said, "You should wipe your mouths quickly, they're too dirty like this."

The village children smiled shyly, took the handkerchiefs, and began wiping their mouths in turn.

Zhang Jinnian has his own handkerchief, so naturally he doesn't need to share one with anyone else.

The handkerchief eventually ended up in the hands of a little girl, who felt a little embarrassed looking at the dirty handkerchief.

Princess Chengyang generously said, "I have many more of these handkerchiefs, so I'll give this one to you."

The little girl was overjoyed, "Thank you, Sister Fanyin!"

Afterwards, a group of children gathered together and started playing "Eagle Catches Chickens," running all over the village until it was almost time for dinner before saying goodbye and going home.

"Little Nangjun~ Little Nangjun~ We're back!"

The little princess's cheerful voice rang out.

Just as Xiao Ran stood up, a small cannonball rushed over.

"Sizi, slow down," Xiao Ran said.

The little princess ran up to Xiao Ran, revealing her bright, sparkling eyes.

"Little Nangjun~ We're seven chickens and ducks~"

The little princess is still thinking about the chicken.

Xiao Ran smiled and said, "Okay, we'll have chicken for dinner too."

"Wow~ Little Nangjun is the best~" The little princess cheered instantly, then turned around to share the good news with the Chengyang little princess and the others.

Seeing their happy expressions, Xiao Ran chuckled mischievously, and Li Lizhi, who knew what was going on, also laughed.

Xiao Ran did have the kitchen prepare chicken, but it wasn't the fried chicken the little princesses were hoping for.

At dinner, the little princesses were stunned when they saw the chicken soup on the table.

Xiao Ran served the little princess a bowl of chicken soup, which also included a chicken leg.

"Eat up, Sizi. Didn't you say you wanted chicken?"

Looking at the soup in front of her, the little princess quickly shook her head.

"Is this chicken or duck?"

Xiao Ran pretended to be stupid.

"Isn't this chicken too? Didn't Sizi say she wanted to eat chicken?"

"No, no~ it's that chicken again~"

The little princess tried to make her tongue more obedient so she could say the word "fried chicken," but she opened and closed her mouth for a long time without being able to say it, making the little one's face turn red with anxiety.

Empress Zhangsun, however, felt sorry for the little one and said with a smile, "Alright, Xiao Ran, stop teasing her. If Si Zi cries later, we'll see how you comfort her."

Xiao Ran laughed, and then said to the somewhat aggrieved little princess, "It's not that I don't want you to eat, but did you go out for fried chicken this afternoon?"

The little princess nodded, remembering that they had indeed eaten fried chicken that afternoon.

"Seven!"

Xiao Ran said, "That's right, fried chicken is very oily, and eating too much will make your stomach uncomfortable."

Although the little princess didn't know what "oily" meant, she could understand that eating too much would make her stomach uncomfortable.

Xiao Ran then said, "How about we eat it in a couple of days?"

Knowing that she would be able to eat fried chicken again in a couple of days, the little princess was overjoyed and instantly forgot her sadness from earlier.

"Good~"

Seeing the little princess's lack of self-control, Princess Yuzhang said with a smile, "Sizi really doesn't learn her lesson. Just now, the young master teased her so much, but as soon as she heard that she could eat fried chicken in two days, she forgot all about it."

Xiao Ran helped the little princess break the chicken leg in her bowl to make it easier for her to eat, and then said, "This shows that our Sizi is broad-minded, doesn't it, Sizi?"

The little princess only had eyes for the chicken leg; she didn't care what Xiao Ran was saying and just nodded.

Seeing the little princess's drooling expression, the unscrupulous adults burst into laughter again.

After dinner, Xiao Ran and the others chatted in the living room, while the little princess and her friends played with building blocks.

Now their building blocks come in a wider variety of shapes, all made by craftsman Liu.

Inspired by Xiao Ran, Liu the craftsman now makes a small house, like a rabbit hutch, and then disassembles it for the little princesses to put back together.

Now, building blocks are not just a recreational toy, but also an educational game.

The little ones sat on the living room carpet, chattering excitedly about where to put the building block.

During a break in their conversation, Xiao Ran glanced over there and, seeing that they were having a good time, didn't pay any attention to them. However, he inadvertently noticed the carpet on the floor.

This carpet was brought by Li Shimin; it was a tribute from a foreign vassal state, somewhat resembling a Persian carpet, but Xiao Ran had no idea where it came from.

Empress Zhangsun got a little tired from sitting, so she went back to her room to rest. Li Lizhi and the others also planned to go back to sleep.

Xiao Ran looked at the little ones and said, "Alright, it's late. You little ones should go back to sleep. You have class tomorrow."

The little ones were used to sleeping at this time, so they obediently went to wash up and go to bed.

After everyone had left, Xiao Ran leisurely went back to sleep.

the next day.

It's the same routine as always: get up, exercise, and eat.

Then he sent the little ones to school, but this time, after sending them to school, Xiao Ran did not go straight home, but went to the fields.

At the edge of the field, several villagers were chatting. When they saw Xiao Ran arrive, they quickly greeted him.

"Xiao Langjun."

Xiao Ran nodded and said, "I've come to see how this sweet potato field is doing."

Villagers come to the sweet potato field every day and know the condition of the field very well. When Xiao Ran came to ask, they quickly said, "Young master, take a look. We haven't found any problems. The seedlings look very healthy."

Xiao Ran walked around the ground and even squatted down to examine it carefully.

Compared to potatoes, sweet potatoes are more prone to disease and insects, mainly because they have a higher sugar content.

Moreover, whether it's sweet potatoes or potatoes, once one plant gets sick, the disease can easily spread.

Previously, the sweet potatoes hadn't started climbing, so Xiao Ran wasn't too worried. But now, counting the days, it's the time when the sweet potatoes start growing rapidly, and Xiao Ran is starting to worry. (End of Chapter)