The rebellious grandson of Emperor Zhenguan of the Tang Dynasty: Please, Your Majesty, be called Cro

Chapter 111 Fang Yi'ai: Could it be that the imperial grandson is the true dragon?

"Well!"

The people at the table exchanged glances. Although they knew that Li Xiang often spoke resentfully to the Emperor, they were somewhat immune to it.

But this statement was so shocking and bizarre, it was truly—

Song Shenzhi and Dong Jiming quickly looked around in unison, afraid that Li Xiang's rebellious words might be overheard by others.

Fortunately, there were no other diners in the hall. The only one, Fang Yi'ai, remained calm, showing no sign of having heard anything outrageous. They breathed a sigh of relief.

What they didn't know was that Fang Yi'ai was already familiar with Li Xiang's image—after all, what Li Xiang said in Furong Garden that day was much more explosive than those two sentences.

"Uh—Your Highness is joking." Song Shenzhi looked at Li Xiang with a strange expression.

"Even if Your Highness were truly—well, to spew forth a rainbow of light, then still—"

Rainbows hang in the sky. If Your Highness wants to conjure a rainbow, does he intend to fly up into the sky?

Do I have to transform into a dragon first?

The Master did not speak of strange phenomena, physical prowess, disorder, or spirits.

"Words are no proof, just wait and see." Li Xiang clicked his tongue. He stood up, holding a pot of wine, and looked for an angle in the hall.

He found a spot where sunlight was streaming through the door, tilted his head back to test the angle, and nodded in satisfaction.

So he tilted his head back, took a sip of wine, and then, under the watchful eyes of Wang Xuance, Fang Yi'ai, and others, he sipped it directly at that ray of sunlight!

The wine splashed, and fine droplets floated in the air.

In the sunlight, the ordinary mist of alcohol and liquor suddenly revealed a winding, colorful band of light.

"this!"

Wang Xuance was shocked, Song Shenzhi was shocked, and Fang Yi'ai was shocked!

Although the band of light was not as magnificent as a rainbow in the sky, it was still clearly divided into red, orange, yellow and green, and was indeed a mini rainbow.

Fang Yi'ai was so startled that he took two steps back, narrowly avoiding falling to the ground. He glanced at the rainbow that still lingered in the mist, then at Li Xiang, who was wiping the wine stains from his lips.

"Could it be that this grandson of the emperor is truly the real dragon?"

Fang Yi'ai was deeply shocked. He felt his knees go weak and he even started to think about how to bow down in worship.

Song Shenzhi, Wang Xuance, and the others were much smarter. Although they were initially shocked, they quickly realized what was going on: "Your Highness, are you saying that this Flying Rainbow also belongs to the field of study that explores the principles of all things?"

"Hmm, how a rainbow is formed, that's a matter of optics." Li Xiang sat back down in his chair, feeling extremely pleased with himself for showing off with this simple scientific experiment in front of the group of scholars.

At this moment, he unconsciously put on airs and adopted the demeanor of a great scholar, just like Kong Yingda: "All things in heaven and earth have their own principles."

"As for the method of soaking bamboo mentioned earlier, if the court could value this kind of knowledge, wise people would surely come up with it sooner."

"Then there will be countless cheap bamboo paper in the world, and you poor scholars will no longer have to worry about having no books to read."

"Then those powerful and influential families naturally wouldn't be able to hoard their knowledge and monopolize it."

"Other fields of knowledge also have their uses. If they can be properly explored and applied, they will greatly benefit the country and its people."

"But the imperial court doesn't value this, failing to understand that science and technology are the primary productive forces. This is all the fault of the emperor's shortsightedness!"

Li Xiang was heartbroken. Wang Xuance, Song Shenzhi, and others, however, automatically ignored the last sentence.

"No wonder His Highness once said: 'The study of self-cultivation is insufficient to encompass the principles of heaven and earth; the theory of rites and laws is insufficient to exhaust the uses of all things.'"

"Among us scholars, because of Your Highness's words, some people think that Your Highness is slandering the sacred teachings, and therefore have some complaints."

"In that light—there is indeed some truth to it."

"Your Highness, do you know what other wonderful uses 'optics' have?" Chen Zhijian asked. He was quite interested in the so-called "optics" and subconsciously felt that "optics" must have more than just the use of spraying water to form rainbows.

"Oh, it's useful after all," Li Xiang thought for a moment and said, "For example, it could be used to make a telescope—"

"A telescope?" Wang Xuance was taken aback. "Could it be able to see a thousand miles?"

"A thousand miles is a bit of an exaggeration, but seeing a few dozen miles is still no problem," Li Xiang said calmly.

Dozens of miles! The group was once again astonished. Although they couldn't see a thousand miles, seeing only a few dozen miles was already a divine feat!

Wang Xuance's mind was more agile. He thought, if such a divine object existed, wouldn't the Tang army be able to anticipate the enemy's moves in every battle, like a tiger with wings?

"Then how should this thing be made?" Wang Xuance asked excitedly.

"Well, at least, we need two pieces of clear, colorless glass first—" Li Xiang said.

Telescopes aren't difficult to make, but the Tang Dynasty didn't have glass, only glazed glass. Glazed glass was apparently quite expensive, wasn't it?

Tsk, what a backward and decadent feudal society.

Upon hearing that they needed glass, Wang Xuance, Chen Zhijian, and the others immediately became dejected.

Glass, that was a tribute from the Kingdom of Fusen. These poor scholars had never even seen it, let alone tried to get their hands on a couple of pieces.

Li Xiang and Wang Xuance were still chatting, while on the other side, Fang Yi'ai, standing in the corner, was completely shocked.

What are they talking about? Optics? Telescope? Judging from their words, the reason for the rainbow-like spray of wine isn't some real dragon, but rather a field of knowledge?

If one possesses glass, can one also gain the supernatural ability to see dozens of miles away?

My God! Fang Yi'ai felt that his worldview had been completely reshaped.

This kind of knowledge seems to be much more interesting than those classical Chinese texts.

He was eavesdropping and completely stunned, utterly forgetting that quite some time had passed since he left the private room.

Li Xiang and the others were talking quite loudly. Li Xin and a few others were also intentionally eavesdropping, so their conversation downstairs naturally reached the ears of those in the private room who were paying attention.

The group looked at each other, all feeling terrified.

"The imperial grandson Li Xiang is indeed full of rebellious words! The rumors circulating in the streets are true." Zhang Shenji exclaimed in a low voice.

The idea that the dragon is a symbol of the emperor, and that everything else is a sign of the emperor's shortsightedness, made him shudder just hearing it.

The group of people downstairs seemed to take it all in stride!

"————" Li Xin's face, which was as round as a full moon, frowned slightly. He had only heard about Li Xiang's rebellious words and thought they were just rumors. In fact, he did not believe them.

Unexpectedly, I heard it with my own ears today. So, does that mean what I heard him say about cursing his grandfather was also true?

How did my grandfather manage to keep him alive?

Is being the grandson of the emperor such a prestigious thing?

Li Xin straightened her back.

"Your Highness, even the Imperial Son-in-Law seems intimidated by that man," someone whispered to Li Xin. "Look at this—"

"How about we go somewhere else to have fun?"

These scions of noble families who followed Li Xin to have fun, though mostly useless, still hoped that Li Xin would get rid of Li Xiang's bad luck and give them, the noble families, a good chance to vent their anger.

Seeing that Fang Yi'ai was speechless, they all started to stir up trouble in front of Li Xin.

Li Xin grew increasingly displeased as she listened. She slammed her hand on the table: "What's there to change? They're all imperial grandsons, and I'm the legitimate grandson!"

"Do I need to avoid him?"

"But—that man is incredibly arrogant, even you, Your Highness—"

"————" Li Xin waved her hand, mimicking Li Tai's gesture. "Don't worry."

"If they can't do anything to him, can't they at least do something to those peasants around him?"

"Watch me use a little trick to make him suffer a great defeat, and I'll avenge you all!"

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