Traveling through Du He, Li Chengqian's rebellion begins

When the generals saw His Majesty toasting them, they all stood up, holding their wine cups, and shouted in unison.

"Your Majesty, please."

After several rounds of drinking.

Under questioning from Li Chengqian and Li Shimin, Du He and the other generals shared their experiences from the great battle.

The bomber's meritorious service, in particular, amazed everyone.

On the imperial platform.

Li Shimin stroked his beard and said, "Du He, I never expected that the bombing troops you assembled could play such a significant role, not only inflicting massive casualties on the enemy but also reducing the casualties of our Tang army."

"Truly a weapon of war!"

Although he did not personally witness the battle, the thought of 1800 hot air balloons floating in mid-air, dropping thousands of bombs in a single bombing run, and the devastating scene was enough to send chills down one's spine.

On the left side of the main hall.

Li Jing also said tremblingly, "Without the support of bombers, this great battle would probably take several more years to finish."

“Our Tang army’s casualties could not possibly be this low.”

The other civil and military officials also chimed in with their praises, extolling the bombardier and Du He to the point of almost deifying Du He as a god-like figure.

Li Yi's face was filled with smiles when she heard her father and the officials praising her husband.

The group of beauties from the Western Regions sitting behind Du He and Li Yi were also filled with joy when they saw that their husbands held such a high position in the Tang Dynasty.

Unexpectedly, their husbands are high-ranking ministers; it seems they're in for a good time.

Moreover, the matriarch sitting in the front seems to be gentle and virtuous, so she probably wouldn't scold or punish them.

Fortunately!

In addition, the food in the Tang Dynasty court was delicious, which made them even happier.

How wonderful it would be to eat such delicious meals every day!

Sitting to one side, Gao Yang, dressed in her finest attire, was already unhappy to see Du He and Li Yi being praised by her father and the others.

Adding to the anger was Fang Yi'ai sitting opposite her, who was flirting with a large group of Western Region demonesses.

"hateful!"

"Why am I, the princess, so unlucky!"

"I'm furious!"

After her divorce from Fang Yi'ai, she thought that the good-for-nothing Fang Yi'ai would be devastated, but she never expected that this good-for-nothing would do better and better.

It's as if Fang Yi'ai's past incompetence and lack of ambition were due to her.

Just as Gao Yang was enraged.

Li Chengqian asked curiously, "Du He, I heard that among the concubines you brought back, one of them is the Empress of the Merovingian Dynasty. I wonder which one she is?"

"May we get to know each other?"

Upon hearing this, everyone's attention turned to Du He and the group of beauties behind him.

Duhe turned around and gestured, "Baltilde, stand up and introduce yourself to everyone."

Baltilde spent more than a year with Duhe and learned some basic Mandarin, so she could understand the meaning of Duhe's words.

She stood up gracefully, gave a proper bow, and then spoke in broken Tang Dynasty Mandarin.

"Greetings, Your Majesty, I am Balthird."

Li Chengqian and his officials looked at the beautiful and elegant Baltilde and nodded frequently, filled with admiration for this young queen from the Western Regions.

They were particularly captivated by the woman's beauty.

I was stunned for a long time.

Li Chengqian then smiled and said, "You speak the Mandarin of the Great Tang Dynasty quite well. To encourage women from the Western Regions to speak the Mandarin of the Great Tang Dynasty, I will reward Baltilde with one hundred taels of gold and one hundred bolts of silk and satin."

"Sit down."

When Li Shimin heard about Li Chengqian's capricious reward, his right eyelid twitched violently.

Rebel!

They have absolutely no sense of discretion!

However, he also knew that the reason Li Chengqian bestowed the concubine upon Du He was to express his gratitude for Du He's merits.

At Duho's prompting, Baltilde offered a respectful bow of thanks.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for the reward."

Although the other women from the Western Regions did not know what had happened, seeing Baltilde's delighted expression, they guessed that Baltilde might have gained something.

The main hall is located towards the back.

Cui Shenji, Wang Jingzhi, Xiao Kai, and the others looked at the beauties that Du He and Fang Yi'ai had brought back, each one more beautiful than the last, and their hearts were filled with envy and jealousy.

They pinched their thighs and sighed inwardly.

"Hey!"

"I should have followed the army on the expedition; otherwise, I could have gotten a few top beauties from the Western Regions."

"I regret it!"

The most beautiful woman has already been chosen. Although there are beauties among those they choose afterward, they certainly cannot compare to Du He and Fang Yi'ai.

"How about we volunteer to conquer North and South America?"

The moment this thought crossed their minds, their hearts pounded even harder.

The banquet then continued for another half hour, during which Li Chengqian had court dancers perform several wonderful programs before finally ending with everyone still wanting more.

Back to Princess Chengyang's residence.

Du He exchanged pleasantries with his wives and concubines, including Yin Yushan, Linglong, and Su Liya, then hugged his sons, including Du Ping'an and Du Junshan, and glanced at his newborn sons.

After finishing everything, Du He went to the backyard to wash up at Li Yi's urging.

As for the 21 women from the Western Regions and the maids who served them, Li Yi arranged their rooms.

Led by Yin Yushan and Linglong, Du He passed by many newly built houses and then went to a spacious newly built house.

Soaking in a large bathtub.

Du He asked curiously, "Has the princess's residence been expanded? It seems much bigger to me."

Linglong covered her mouth and said, "Husband, His Majesty knows that you have taken many concubines and had a large number of sons. He has designated half of Chongren Ward as the Princess's residence."

"Moreover, all the newly incorporated residences were demolished and rebuilt."

"Now, apart from the arsenal, the rest of Chongrenfang is all occupied by the princess's residence."

That's it!

Unexpectedly, Li Chengqian was so generous, actually allocating half of the prime Chongrenfang area to him.

terrific!

Du He then asked curiously, "The princess's residence is surrounded by houses. How could it be demolished and rebuilt in just three or four years?"

Yin Yushan said gently, "My lord, His Majesty mobilized 5000 carpenters and 4000 workers to expand the Princess's residence, and it was completed in less than a year."

Then Yin Yushan and Linglong started talking about the big and small things that had happened recently.

In addition to expanding the princess's residence, they also opened 30 workshops in Yongzhou, Luoyang, Xiangzhou, Weizhou and Qizhou. The Han King's Palace is also almost finished and will be completely completed in another year or two.

Let’s get down to business.

Linglong said in a strange tone, "Husband, after Princess Gaoyang married Xue Guan, she gave birth to a big, fat son for him."

“Xue Guan has been overseeing mining in Jiannan Road for almost the entire period of this time, which doesn’t match the time when Princess Gaoyang gave birth. We suspect that the child is not Xue Guan’s, but rather the offspring of the bald monk Zhiqiang.”