Da Tang Si Zi: My Six Super Rich Little Nuggets!

Chapter 240 The Crane's Shadow Enters the Curtain of the Imperial Observatory, the Golden City

Little Si chuckled, leaning against the astrolabe, the jade bracelet on her wrist clinking against the bronze sparrow: "Juice dizzy, why are you so late?"

Her fingertips twirled the grapevines from the Western Regions, her crimson skirt sweeping across the starry sky, like a trailing sunset...

Gao Lishi was wiping the Persian crystal cup on the imperial desk when he looked up and asked, "What are you referring to, young lady... as for the fruit juice 'dizziness'?"

Xiao Si splashed chilled strawberry milk onto the sand table, and pink mist rose from the Longyou Mountains: "Naturally, he's the general who would draw his sword and dance the 'Qin King's Battle Song' after drinking three cups of juice! Last year at the Double Ninth Festival banquet, he insisted that the osmanthus wine was a juice tribute from Persia... and ended up getting himself completely drunk... Isn't that a coincidence? His name is Guo Zhiyun!" Before she finished speaking, a figure in black emerged from behind the glass screen.

Sanlang Zian, still using vermilion ink to review memorials, lightly tapped the little rhinoceros's nose with his wolf-hair brush: "Guo Qing's drunken boxing after drinking fruit juice couldn't even control the swords of heavenly soldiers and generals. Last year's battle at the Nine-Bend River—was quite well fought..."

Zi'an suddenly leaned against the gilded couch, her jade crown dangling, and a smile swept across the corners of her eyes: "When the Tibetans knelt and handed over their surrender document, a broken yak flag was still wrapped inside the sheepskin scroll..."

Xiao Si frowned: "But the blood in that winding river is even more vibrant than the peonies of Chang'an... I don't like war..."

At this moment, Guo Zhiyun, still in his armor, rushed into the hall: "Your Majesty! I am late because I was dealing with military affairs, please forgive me..." His words were cut short—Xiao Si ran over and tiptoed to stuff a glass of chilled Western Region grape juice into his hand. The crimson juice dripped down his palm, just like the winding Red River in the sand table.

Sanlang Zian suddenly picked up a grape and examined it against the candlelight. The purple-jade-like flesh reflected in his deep pupils: "Good general, have you, a border general who gets drunk easily from drinking dairy milk, ever figured out the destiny mystery in the winding maze?"

Last year, Guo Zhiyun had caused the land of Jiuqu to be soaked in blood and yellow sand. Although the Tang army won, this battle seemed like drinking poison to quench thirst...

The following year, the Tibetan Empire was exhausted. It could neither break through the Jade Gate nor find a good way to govern the country. It had no choice but to send envoys to Chang'an to pay homage to Sanlang Zi'an.

"Smack!" Sanlang Zian threw the memorial in an arc: "Are these envoys here to be joking?! The peace treaty contains enemy codes; do they think I'm some kind of easy fool? You think you can just start a war and then make peace as you please?!"

Little Si chuckled, holding the glass cup: "What's the rush? Your Majesty looks like a tabby cat whose tail has been stepped on! Your Majesty's use of the idiom is brilliant! Shouldn't 'Gentlemen, how about a cappuccino first,' follow 'A monkey in a crown'?"

"The point is, what are they pretending to be so high and mighty!" Sanlang Zi'an gestured, pulling at the gold thread of his dragon robe. "They've hidden enemy tokens under their fur coats, and secret codes are engraved in their jade pendants. Did they think my treasure appraisal guide was just for show?"

As the candlelight flickered, Xiao Si suddenly covered her lips with her whisk, her eyes sparkling like stars falling into a cold pool: "Does Your Majesty know...?"

She lightly tugged at the dragon-patterned wide sleeve with her slender hand, her breath like orchid mist swirling around her, "The pawnshops at the Salted Fish Night Market have recently been accepting crossbows and hidden arrows, and they're actually exchanging them for paper money according to the 'Zhou Li·Kao Gong Ji'?"

Before any reply could be given, he produced a gilded jade abacus from his wide sleeves, the jade beads striking each other with a sound like shattering ice: "According to Sima Qian's records, on the night the Chu people burned the Epang Palace, the value of the bronze monkey mirror was... Let me calculate..."

Little Si suddenly felt his palm empty and was shocked to see the emperor holding the abacus high above the dragon-patterned ceiling: "Ah! Your Majesty, how can you take away the tool your servant uses to earn his living? Give it back to me! Why did you steal my abacus!"

Sanlang, his purple sleeves billowing like the wind, swept past the bronze crane lamp; his black robes billowed like night clouds pressing down on a city: "Stop performing any more magic tricks! Convey my decree—" His knuckles struck the tortoise-shaped jade seal with a resounding clang, "Quickly expel them from the Jade Gate Pass, lest they defile the golden bricks before the Hanyuan Hall!"

As a result, Xiao Si, the official in the Imperial Observatory, suddenly disappeared into the heavy curtains, leaving only the sound of the water clock. He was never seen again. How could a living person just vanish like that?

Seven days later, Gao Lishi knelt and presented a gilded silver box. Upon opening it, he found a piece of silk soaked in Tibetan yak butter, imbued with gold leaf.

Princess Jincheng hurriedly presented a jade tablet from behind a nine-layered brocade curtain: "I humbly beseech the Heavenly Khan to see that although the barbarian tribes may have their own uncouth customs and crude manners, their hearts are sincere. The covenant is as if it were soaked in the blood of a yak, and every word can reflect the bright moon over the snow-capped mountains!" The small, gold-lettered characters shimmered brilliantly in the candlelight.

When Sanlang Zi'an reached the passage "The barbarian boy actually spilled barley wine on the covenant," his vermilion brush suddenly paused, and he added a line of flying white ink to the corner of the edict: "Since you have spoken, how dare I disobey? When my beloved wife transforms into the immortal Lady Taizhen..." his brushstrokes abruptly shifted to depict a phoenix in flight, "I will surely bring the ceremonial regalia of the Twenty-Eight Constellations, riding on purple clouds to welcome you back to witness the swirling of your rainbow-colored feathered robes!"

Gao Lishi looked bewildered as he read the letter: "Your Majesty, this...my wife?"

"Hmm, I believe that Little Rhinoceros is only temporarily transmigrating into the body of Jincheng. We will make her my beloved, a pair of lovebirds, another day!"