Little Sizi came to my house and became the family's darling, and Li Shimin got anxious.

Ganlu Temple.

The whole cow feast officially begins.

The Imperial Kitchen used modern seasonings combined with Tang Dynasty cooking techniques to prepare a full eighteen dishes from the whole cow, from tongue to tail, from bone to marrow.

The braised beef brisket is incredibly fragrant, the clear oxtail soup is milky white, the spicy beef tripe is bright red and tempting, and the charcoal-grilled beef steak sizzles with oil...

Li Shimin set aside his imperial airs and sat down with a group of founding heroes, exchanging toasts and drinks.

The officials were both surprised and honored.

It should be noted that even when His Majesty conquered Luoyang and held a grand banquet for the army, he never acted so casually.

Now they are dining at the same table with us, without any sense of separation between ruler and subject, which is truly moving.

Cheng Yaojin ignored all the formalities, picked up a large piece of spicy beef with his chopsticks, stuffed it into his mouth, and chewed it a couple of times—

"puff--!"

The spiciness shot straight to the top of his head, and Cheng Yaojin's face instantly turned a deep liver color. Tears and snot streamed down his face as he grabbed the wine bowl and gulped it down.

"Hahaha!" Yuchi Jingde laughed so hard he almost fell over. "Old Cheng, didn't you claim you could eat anything? You took down a piece of spicy beef like that?"

Cheng Yaojin, having recovered his composure, glared with bloodshot eyes and cursed, "Jingde, shut up! This spiciness is abnormal! You try it!"

"I'll try it!" Yuchi Jingde picked up a piece, chewed it twice, his expression changed slightly, but he forced himself to swallow it. "It's alright, nothing special."

"Bullshit! Your eyes are practically watering!"

"That's from the heat!"

"You're trying to fool me!"

The two started arguing back and forth.

Of all those present, only Cheng Yaojin dared to be so presumptuous in front of the emperor, but Li Shimin was not angry at all; on the contrary, he was happy to watch the show.

Qin Qiong couldn't stand it anymore. "Alright, alright, if you keep arguing, the food will get covered in your saliva."

Cheng Yaojin and Yuchi Jingde simultaneously shut up, each snorting and turning their heads away.

Cheng Yaojin picked up another piece of beef brisket, and as he chewed, he suddenly looked up with a face full of curiosity.

"Your Majesty, this beef tastes quite different from usual; it's incredibly tender. Where did you get it from?"

Upon hearing this, Li Shimin's lips curled up slightly.

"Zhijie, I have a question for you."

"Your Majesty, please speak."

"There's a rumor circulating that the oxen in the Duke of Lu's household keep dying unexpectedly every few days, and then naturally end up in the cooking pot. I'd like to ask, is this true or false?"

Cheng Yaojin's smile froze instantly.

Yuchi Jingde was the first to react, slamming his hand on the table and feigning shock: "Old Cheng, you...you actually slaughtered oxen without permission?!"

"You're talking nonsense!" Cheng Yaojin shouted, his face flushed and his neck bulging. "The ox died on its own! It died on its own!"

"Dying every few days? Are you kidding me?"

"you--!"

Cheng Yaojin hurriedly looked at Li Shimin, "Your Majesty, I am innocent! Those oxen really died on their own! I absolutely did not—"

"Hahahaha!" Li Shimin couldn't hold back and burst into laughter.

"Okay, okay, I was just teasing you!"

He waved his hand, "Enjoy your meal in peace. I'm not here to interrogate you about beef."

Cheng Yaojin then realized he had been tricked, and sat back down sullenly, picking up another piece of beef and stuffing it into his mouth.

The courtiers burst into laughter.

After the banquet, the veteran officials returned to their respective residences.

Fang Xuanling and Changsun Wuji did not leave, but were left alone in the palace by Li Shimin.

"Gentlemen, how is the herbal medicine atlas progressing?"

Fang Xuanling bowed and replied, "Your Majesty, the atlas has been distributed to all prefectures and counties, and the work of folk doctors going to the countryside to popularize herbal medicine identification is progressing steadily. Pilot programs have been launched in key prefectures and counties, and it is expected that more than half of the area will be covered within the year."

Li Shimin nodded, his expression solemn.

"There is one thing I must specifically instruct you on. The collection of medicinal herbs must be strictly supervised and kept in the hands of farmers. We must never allow powerful families to take the opportunity to monopolize medicinal materials and hoard them for profit. Anyone who dares to manipulate the medicinal materials will be severely punished."

Changsun Wuji and Fang Xuanling exchanged a glance, their expressions solemn, and solemnly accepted the order.

"We understand."

……

modern.

Li Chengqian was wheeled into the operating room. Although this type of surgery is technically mature, it is time-consuming and is expected to take four to six hours.

Empress Zhangsun and Li Yuan waited outside the operating room.

Li Yinxun took the little princess, Chengyang, and Li Lizhi to another department to get their vaccines supplemented.

Split up on both sides to save time.

At the vaccination clinic, Li Yinxun truthfully informed the three people of their situation.

Of course, necessary processing was done.

"Nurse, these three children have never received any vaccines."

The nurse looked on in surprise, "Never received any vaccines?"

"Um."

"This... nowadays, babies start getting the BCG vaccine the day after birth, and then they're vaccinated monthly according to a schedule. What's going on in your family...?"

Li Yinxun remained calm and fabricated a pretext.

"The older generation in my family are conservative and believe that vaccines are useless, so they don't want me to get vaccinated. I had to persuade them for a long time before I could convince them. Today I brought them here specifically to get vaccinated."

The nurse's expression instantly changed from surprise to understanding, and she sighed.

"Sigh, I've seen plenty of elderly people like this. They always think that taking herbal medicine is worse than getting injections. Their ideas are so outdated."

She shook her head. "Since you're here, I'll see how to make arrangements."

She looked at the little princess and asked gently, "Little one, how old are you?"

"I'm three years old."

The nurse looked at Li Lizhi and Chengyang again, silently calculating in her mind, and sighed, "Starting the booster vaccination at three years old means we have to start from scratch. Okay, I'll arrange for you to receive the full booster vaccination in batches. We'll start with the first round today."

In the vaccination room, the little princess sat on Li Yinxun's lap, rolled up her little sleeves, revealing her fair and tender arms.

As the nurse prepared the syringe, she smiled and teased her, "Little one, getting a shot will hurt a little, are you scared?"

The little princess held her head high, looking quite proud.

"Don't be afraid, I'm the bravest!"

The nurse praised, "Great job! You're the bravest child!"

The little princess shook her head smugly.

The nurse picked up a cotton swab and wiped her arm.

"Okay, relax~"

The moment the needle pierces the skin, the scene changes drastically.

"Wow!!!"

The goodwill I had built up with the nurse earlier vanished with that injection.

The little girl clung tightly to Li Yinxun's neck, buried her face in her arms, and cried uncontrollably.

"I want to go home! Waaaaah~"

Li Yinxun patted her back tenderly, gently comforting her.

Li Lizhi witnessed the whole process and subconsciously touched her arm as she watched the little princess cry her heart out.

She remembered Li Yinxun saying that vaccines could protect against diseases like smallpox.

Chengyang grew increasingly frightened as he looked at the table, and quietly crouched down under the table, burying his head in his knees, desperately trying to minimize his presence.

It's as if as long as you can't see yourself, others can't see you either.

The nurse changed the syringe and looked at Li Lizhi.

"Come on, Lily, it's your turn."

Li Lizhi took a deep breath, sat up straight, and rolled up her sleeves.

The nurse glanced at the registration form, somewhat surprised: "You're thirteen years old and only now getting vaccinated?"

Li Lizhi pursed her lips and remained silent.

"Okay, just bear with it."

The moment the needle went in, Li Lizhi frowned slightly and gently bit her lower lip.

It only hurts a little.

"Next up, Chengyang kid."

The little princess's gaze suddenly shifted to Chengyang, who was hiding under the table.

The fear and grievances I felt just moments before were instantly replaced by a sense of justice.

The little girl broke free from the embrace, ran to the table, and reached out to grab Chengyang's arm.

"Second sister, we've arrived."