Traveling through Du He, Li Chengqian's rebellion begins

Zhang Jian is very excited now. Now that he has joined the Eastern Palace, he has become a person with a solid foundation.

If he gets into trouble in the future, the prince, Du He and others will definitely lend him a helping hand.

After Li Chengqian toasted Zhang Jian with a glass of wine, Du He, Su Dingfang and others raised their wine bottles and toasted Zhang Jian warmly.

After some welcome celebration, Zhang Jian also bid farewell to Li Chengqian.

"Your Highness, I will take my leave first!"

Li Chengqian said to Qin Huaidao: "Huaidao, you personally escort Commander Zhang out of the East Palace!"

If the person who surrendered to him was an important official like Ma Zhou or Yang Shidao, Li Chengqian would definitely let Du He see him off personally to show his importance.

As for Zhang Jian, an old minister, Li Chengqian would not let Du He send him out of the Eastern Palace.

Qin Huaidao quickly stood up and responded: "Yes, sir!"

Zhang Jian said excitedly, "Thank you, Your Highness!"

When he walked out of Mingde Hall, he felt a little dizzy and the smile on his old face never stopped.

After Zhang Jian walked away, Du He complimented Li Chengqian.

"Congratulations, Your Highness, for gaining another powerful general to join you."

Well...

When Li Chengqian heard Du He actually called the incompetent Zhang Jian a fierce general, a speechless expression suddenly appeared on his face.

If Zhang Jian can be considered a fierce general, then wouldn't Xue Rengui and Xi Junjia be invincible generals?

Su Dingfang, Xue Rengui, Xi Junmai and Pei Xingjian all congratulated Li Chengqian.

"Congratulations to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince for gaining the support of a powerful general!"

Although Zhang Jian was also a military general and a royal relative, Su Dingfang and Xue Rengui were not worried at all about falling out of favor.

Because Zhang Jian was too old, and the prince didn't seem to take him very seriously.

Li Chengqian had a stiff smile on his face, then raised the wine bottle and spoke.

"Let's continue drinking!"

It’s a pity that all the musicians and dancers in the East Palace were sent away by him, otherwise it would be one of the greatest pleasures in life to watch the dance while drinking and chatting.

While Li Chengqian was drinking, a new idea came into his mind.

"We need to assemble a team of musicians and dancers."

Without musicians and dancers to entertain, the banquet would be dull and boring.

Half an hour later, the banquet came to an end.

Before the banquet ended, he asked people to go to the warehouse of the East Palace to take out a lot of gold, silver and valuables, and gave them as rewards to these loyal subordinates.

Du He looked at the beautifully decorated scroll of calligraphy and painting on the desk and said with a hint of disdain.

"Your Highness, you are too stingy, aren't you?"

"At least you could give me ten or eight paintings, or even a hundred or eighty kilograms of gold. It's a bit shabby to only give me one painting."

"If it doesn't work, just do as Rengui and the others did and give me more silver as a reward."

When Li Chengqian saw that Du He was asking for such a huge sum and even looked down on this precious calligraphy and painting, he said unhappily.

"Du He, this painting is a masterpiece by the calligrapher Wang Xizhi. It was given to me by my father when I was learning to copy it."

"And all the collections I have are only this piece of calligraphy by Wang Xizhi!"

"If you don't like it, I'll give you a hundred strings of cash as a reward?"

The authentic works of calligrapher Wang Xizhi have basically been collected by my father, and if this piece of calligraphy were released, it would surely attract a large group of scholars to scramble for it.

When Du He heard that it was the work of Wang Xizhi, he hurriedly held the painting in his hands.

"Hehe, since it's an authentic work of Wang Xizhi, I'll accept it reluctantly."

"Your Highness, take your leave!"

Looking at Du He's quick steps, Li Chengqian also remembered the matchmaking for Xi Junmai, so he shouted loudly towards Du He's back.

"Du He, after you finish your shift tomorrow, you will come with me to visit Duke Lu!"

Du He waved his hand without turning his head.

"it is good!"

As he finished speaking, he had already walked out of the hall.

Immediately afterwards, Su Dingfang, Xue Rengui and others also said goodbye and left, and they all carried a box of heavy silver ingots in their hands.

...

The next day.

In the afterglow of the setting sun, a group of guards wearing Eastern Palace Qianniu robes and holding Qianniu swords escorted two carriages to Chang'an County.

Their destination was Duke Lu's Mansion located in Huaidefang.

"This damn weather is really cold!"

Du He curled up on a mink blanket in the carriage, with a hand warmer burning charcoal next to him.

This year's cold wave came unusually quickly, and the temperature is much colder than the same period last year. If it continues to get colder, I'm afraid ordinary people won't be able to bear it.

At the gate of Duke Lu’s mansion.

Cheng Yaojin, wearing a leopard fur coat, personally brought his family members and servants to the gate to welcome Li Chengqian's arrival.

The prince's power and status were very high, second only to Emperor Li Shimin, so the powerful Cheng Yaojin had to treat him with caution.

While waiting, Cheng Yaojin frowned and thought to himself.

"Why would His Royal Highness come to visit so hastily?"

Now His Majesty is on guard against the Crown Prince in every way, and as a close minister of His Majesty, he knows it clearly.

And if the prince came to win him over, Cheng Yaojin would definitely refuse without hesitation.

In addition to Cheng Yaojin's confusion, the faces of his several chubby sons standing behind him were also full of confusion.

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is of noble status and seldom leaves the palace. His sudden visit today must have bad intentions!

Just when everyone was puzzled, Li Chengqian and Du He's carriage had stopped in front of them, and Li Chengqian got off the carriage with the help of Qin Huaidao.

Everyone in Duke Lu's mansion bowed respectfully.

"See His Highness the Crown Prince."

Li Chengqian smiled and said, "Duke Lu and everyone else, there's no need to be polite. Please stand up quickly."

Looking at the descendants behind Cheng Yaojin, Li Chengqian's face brightened slightly, and then he spoke to Cheng Yaojin in praise.

"Duke Lu, your sons are so strong, the court will not be short of young generals in the future!"

Hearing Li Chengqian's words, Du He, who was walking from behind, also looked at the young men behind Cheng Yaojin.

These young men look just like Cheng Yaojin. Not only are they all tall and strong, but they also inherited Cheng Yaojin's round face.

It’s just that their eyes look a little dull, and they don’t have the agility of Cheng Yaojin.

Cheng Yaojin sighed and said, "Ah, Your Highness, you are too kind to praise me."

"Except for Chu Mo, Huai Liang and Chu Bi, all my descendants have only a physique, and are not good at either literature or martial arts."

"I don't have any expectations for them. As long as they behave themselves and don't cause any trouble, that's fine."

When the group of young people behind him heard his father's comments about them, they all curled their lips and showed helpless expressions.

His father speaks ill of them every day outside and is unwilling to recommend them to serve as officials in the court. It would be strange if they could achieve anything.

Cheng Yaojin then pointed inside the mansion and said, "It's windy outside, please come inside the mansion and have a cup of warm wine to warm yourself up."

"it is good."

Li Chengqian nodded, and then, led by Cheng Yaojin's descendants, he rode on a sedan chair into the mansion.