A few days later, the warship dock of Xiangzhou Military Mansion.
Qin Mubai sent navy warships to meet Prince Banjun Luanjia thirty miles upriver. There were many soldiers on the pier, and important officials from the governor's office and the military government were all present. Li Daozong was also there, as were Princess Gaoyang and King Qi Li You.
Qin Mubai wore a military uniform and was personally responsible for guarding the dock. Princess Gao Yang stood with Li Daozong, her eyes never leaving Qin Mubai, her face always flushed, and she would snicker from time to time.
"Silly girl, why are you laughing?" Li You asked.
"Brother, look, isn't Mubai very majestic?" Princess Gao Yang pointed to the front and whispered to Qin Mubai, who was scolding the sergeant.
"Yes, yes, if he doesn't have authority, who else will?" Li You smiled angrily.
"I like to see men wearing armored uniforms the most!" Princess Gaoyang said, "They are both brave and masculine, but also chic and handsome. Brother, you are also a governor and a military attaché. Why have I never seen you wearing an armored uniform?"
"You think it's comfortable to wear?" Li You curled his lips, "It weighs dozens of kilograms!"
"Wow, is it so heavy?" Princess Gaoyang turned to Li Daozong in surprise, "Uncle Emperor, is the armor on Mu Bai heavy?"
Li Daozong smiled and said: "He is wearing a genuine Mingjia battle armor made by the imperial court, which is finely crafted and weighs twenty-six kilograms. This is the first of the Thirteen Armors of the Tang Dynasty. It is light, strong and beautiful. Among the iron armors, it is the most The heavy fish scale armor can weigh up to forty-six pounds, not including the helmet.”
"This kind of bright light armor requires dozens of first-class craftsmen and takes several months to make." Li You added, "It is not something ordinary people can afford. I heard that Qin Mubai's set of bright light armor, It was given to him by his father when he first took charge of the position of Hundred Cavalry Envoy, which shows that it is not an ordinary thing. "
Li Daozong also nodded: "Maybe it's better than the armor I used to wear. After all, my armor was from a long time ago, and the production is definitely not as sophisticated as it is now."
"Hey, you men get excited when you say this." Princess Gao Yang pouted. She didn't understand anything about things like armor, and she was unhappy because she couldn't speak. So she immediately changed the subject and rushed to say: "It would be great if the third brother could do it today!"
Li You shrugged his eyebrows, shook his head and sighed: "The emperor's wife has just been buried. In recent days, the third brother has been very depressed and looks very bad. He probably won't come."
"Hey, my poor third brother!" Princess Gao Yang frowned and sighed loudly.
Li Daozong looked into the distance, his eyes suddenly lit up, and he pursed his lips at the two of them: "Isn't this coming?"
really.
On the official road leading directly to the military port, Li Ke, wearing a purple royal uniform, was galloping in front of him. When he arrived at the port, he dismounted in a graceful manner and walked towards this side in high spirits.
"Wow, how come the third brother suddenly seems to be a different person, so energetic?" Princess Gao Yang whispered in surprise.
"Do you want to see your third brother, looking like a sick man all day long?" Li Ke obviously heard it, stepped forward, raised the corner of his mouth, and chuckled at Princess Gaoyang.
"Third brother, you look really good today." Li You said.
"Fifth brother, Gao Yang, you have been really worried these days." Li Ke nodded to them, then said to Li Daozong, "Uncle Emperor, I'm here."
Li Daozong nodded and smiled: "Come here, let's welcome your eldest brother, the prince."
"Yes." Li Ke smiled and agreed. He turned to look at Qin Mubai at the pier and said, "I'll go over and say a few words to him."
After that, Li Ke left.
Princess Gao Yang blinked her eyes in surprise and murmured: "It's so strange. How come the third brother suddenly... seems like nothing happened?"
"Good man, just treat it like this." Li Daozong said, "Youer, you should learn more from your third brother."
"Yes. My nephew knows that I am not as good as my third brother in many places." Li You also said the same.
Li Daozong looked at Li Ke who was walking away with a smile, and said as if talking to himself: "Yes, this is the Li Ke that I watched him grow up from. He can take it up and put it down; his true temperament, A real man!”
Qin Mubai was explaining the etiquette to the sergeants at the dock, and his mouth was dry as he was talking. Looking back suddenly, I couldn't help but be a little surprised to see Li Ke walking towards him with a spring breeze on his face.
"Your Highness, you are here." Qin Mubai looked at him up and down, a little surprised. Now it seems that Li Ke is no different from before except that he has lost a little weight. There is no trace that he has just experienced the pain of losing his wife.
"Yeah, how could I not come to such an important occasion?" Li Ke smiled and nodded to him, "Don't worry about me, I'm fine."
"This is best. I have always had confidence in you." Qin Mubai also nodded and smiled happily.
"I figured it out." Li Ke took a long breath, looked up at the sky, and said leisurely: "If I don't live well, how can her spirit in heaven be at ease? I didn't take good care of and love her during my lifetime, which is why she suffered such a miserable life; After she dies, I will give her spirit some comfort."
"Wisdom." Qin Mubai praised sincerely.
Now he feels that Li Ke is more calm and mature.
No wonder people often say that it only takes one time for a girl to become a woman, and she will definitely succeed; while for a boy to become a man, it needs thousands of trials and many twists and turns before it can take effect.
The pain of losing his wife this time seemed to have caused some changes in Li Ke's mood.
"Okay, no more words." Li Ke smiled slightly, stretched out his fist and tapped Qin Mubai's breastplate twice, and said, "Now I will greet the prince with you. From now on, the Governor's Mansion Leave the work to me. Since these days, all the military and political affairs in Xiangzhou have been shouldered by you alone, and you have to handle the rituals, which has made you exhausted. "
Qin Mubai nodded and smiled: "But it's worth it."
Li You from a distance looked here and couldn't help but sigh: "The two of them have such a good relationship."
"Are you jealous?" Li Daozong joked.
"Uh!..." Li You was startled, then laughed dryly, "There's no point in being jealous! God won't send Qin Mubai to me!"
"Thousand-mile horses often exist, but bole does not always exist." Li Daozong said, "You'er, don't blame God and others. When you have nothing to do, don't fight chickens a few times and gamble a few times, reflect more on yourself, study hard, and strengthen your knowledge. And cultivation is the right way. As the saying goes, water will come when it comes, you and Ke'er are like a canal. If you fix the canal first, the flowing water will come naturally. "
"Well, my nephew knows. Thank you, Uncle Emperor, for reminding me." Li You nodded hurriedly and agreed, but there was a hint of impatient anger in his eyes.
Li Daozong was such a meticulous person, he naturally took in all this in his eyes, shook his head secretly and said: "The dragon gave birth to nine sons, all of them are different." In this case, I will never tell you again. If it were Li Ke and Qin Mubai, they would never react like this. Li You has an arrogant temperament and does not do his job properly, but he seems to have a lot of thoughts. From now on, sooner or later something bad will happen...
After waiting for less than half an hour, a group of ships appeared on the water ahead. The one leading the escort was the Divine Fish Spaceship of the Xiangzhou Military Mansion.
"coming!"
The civil and military officials returned to their respective positions, and the trumpets were blown. Li Ke took the lead, followed closely by Li Daozong, Qin Mubai, Li You and Princess Gaoyang. They stood on the dock waiting for the prince's ship to dock.
Prince Li Chengqian led a group of guards and officials and set off from Chang'an by carriage and horse. When they arrived in Shangzhou, they notified Xiangzhou and asked the governor's office to arrange ships to cross the Han River. At this moment, he was riding the Divine Fish Divine Ship of Xiangzhou Military Mansion.
When the ship docked, Li Chengqian stood on the bow and bowed his hands to everyone.
Qin Mubai had met Li Chengqian many times when he was working in Baiqi, and he was not unfamiliar with his appearance, but he did not have a close relationship with him. There are many rumors about him from the outside world. Some say that he was smart and agile since he was a child, some say that he became dull and ignorant when he grew up, some say that he is the most filial and loving person, and some say that he is hypocritical.
Various versions, no consensus.
Qin Mubai has never been in the habit of accepting rumors. He only believes that "seeing is better than hearing a hundred times." Isn't it right now that the living prince Li Chengqian is in front of him? Isn't it easy to understand him
The prince had already landed. Li Ke took a step forward, raised his hands and said loudly: "Your Majesty, Li Ke, leads the civil and military officials in Xiangzhou to welcome His Royal Highness the prince!"
"Welcome the crown prince!" All the officials, including Li Daozong, responded.
The prince, the crown prince of the country, is a half-king. Even the emperor's uncle has to call him "minister" when he sees him.
Li Chengqian's appearance is somewhere between the fat King Wei and the handsome Li Ke. Neither too fat nor too thin. His face inherited some of Li Shimin's contours. Like his brothers, he has the same thick eyebrows and big eyes, a little mustache, and is quite upright. He is also quite tall, close to 1.8 meters. At first glance, the appearance and behavior of Li Chengqian, who was wearing the yellow robe of a prince, seemed quite consistent with his status as a prince.
Li Chengqian stepped forward, returned the gift with his hands, and said with a springy smile: "You are welcome to welcome me, please forgive me!"
"Thank you, Prince!"
This is considered to have gone through the established etiquette.
At this time, Li Chengqian walked up to Li Ke again, took his wrist, held his hand, looked at him seriously and whispered with infinite pity: "Third brother, are you okay?"
Li Ke smiled slightly: "Thank you for your concern, Prince. My brother is fine."
"My sister and I are gone, you can take good care of yourself!" Li Chengqian sighed, "What a good woman, what a beautiful girl."
"Brother Prince, Third Brother is finally happy. Can't you stop mentioning this?" Princess Gaoyang on the side suddenly shouted.
"Haha, yes, yes, Brother Yu is confused." Li Chengqian laughed slightly ashamed and self-deprecatingly, with a few crow's feet wrinkled at the corners of his eyes.
Qin Mubai smiled secretly and thought, a smile with crow's feet at the corners of his eyes is a real smile. In this way, Li Chengqian is not as hypocritical as Li Tai. Li Tai often laughed and his eyes often narrowed, but it was rare to see his crow's feet.
"Uncle Emperor, you have been here in Xiangzhou for many days. Is everything okay?" Li Chengqian came to salute Li Daozong again, seriously and respectfully.
"I'm sorry, Your Majesty. I, an old man, haven't been idle for a moment since I came to Xiangzhou, but I've been very busy." Li Daozong said with a smile, "Now that you're here, everything will be better. I can finally stop taking care of Ke'er's affairs. Ji Li After finishing, I will take Ling'er to go sightseeing! "
"Haha, that's great. You can invite your nephew to go with you then!" Li Chengqian laughed heartily.
The ceremony has just been completed, and now it is time for family members to talk, which seems quite intimate. Li Chengqian, the prince, doesn't have much arrogance, but he is quite approachable. Moreover, at least judging from the scene just now, he is somewhat sincere in his dealings with others.
"Your Highness, the carriage has been prepared. You have been tired all the way, so please move to the carriage and rest first!" Li Ke said.
"That's good, thank you, third brother." Li Chengqian nodded and smiled.
"Mu Bai, lead the way and escort him." Li Ke ordered.
"I accept the order from my humble position!" Qin Mubai clasped his fists in response and waved his hand, "Baiqi will obey the order and protect the prince until he leaves!"
"Promise!" Hundreds of knights and soldiers promised loudly, and they got on their horses together, looking cool and powerful.
"General Qin, after several years of separation, your style has become even more brilliant than before! Now that you have come to Xiangzhou, you are still as outstanding as ever." Li Chengqian nodded and smiled at Qin Mubai, then glanced at the hundreds of riders, and praised sincerely, "Qiangzhou The general has no weak soldiers and is a mighty division, which is really good.”
"Thank you for your compliments, Your Highness. Please take the throne!" Qin Mubai said, cupping his fists.
"Okay." Li Chengqian boarded the prince's carriage that had been prepared for him, and the two military attachés led by the East Palace Guards boarded the carriage together.
"You guys go down." Li Chengqian suddenly said to the two military attachés who were escorting the chariot, "Let Qin Mubai come up."
The two of them were stunned and didn't dare to say anything more, so they had to go down.
Now that the prince had spoken, Qin Mubai had no choice but to get in the car and follow him.
"Okay, you can go." Li Chengqian ordered with a smile, and the car started to move forward. Li Ke and others also boarded their horses and went with them.
"General Qin, I have been looking forward to drinking with you at the same table for a long time, and I will stop after getting drunk. It's just that you have been unwilling to show your favor. When you come to Xiangzhou this time, you and King Wu are both landlords, so you won't treat me like this. Aren't you being considerate?" Li Chengqian said casually with a smile.
Qin Mubai knew that he was mentioning the banquet he had posted about Wu Meiniang after the last case in Jiangzhou. At that time, he actually wanted to ask Wu Meiniang to go with him, but he didn't go.
"If Your Highness is interested, Wei Chen will certainly accompany you. However, Wei Chen's drinking capacity is limited, so His Highness should not laugh at you then." Qin Mubai also replied with a smile.
"That's not possible, you must accompany me." Li Chengqian patted the armrest of the throne and said with a somewhat mysterious smile, "Because Gu Cong Chang'an has brought you a pretty good gift. You will definitely like it. . Since you like it, you must thank me. Since it is a thank you, you must accompany me with wine."
"Oh?" Qin Mubai was surprised and startled. He thought about it and understood.
"It seems that you have guessed it?" Li Chengqian did not intend to keep showing off, and said with a chuckle, "You guessed it right. Wu Meiniang, and some of the palace and family members of the East Palace are all on another boat. We have made an appointment to leave together. Those who went from Beijing to Xiang came on the same road."
"Thank you, Prince!" Qin Mubai cupped his hands and said, "It seems that the humble minister has to sacrifice his life to compensate the gentleman!"
"Haha, this is a great kindness!" Li Chengqian patted the armrest and laughed heartily, and said, "It's better to hit the sun than to choose a day. Let the emperor's uncle, third brother and fifth brother be here, and we will hold a banquet in Gu's palace today. Let’s all get together! —Uncle Emperor, Third Brother, what do you think?”
Li Daozong and Li Ke had heard it a long time ago. At this time, they raised their hands and replied: "Very good, just follow the prince's instructions!"
Qin Mubai's eyes involuntarily glanced at Princess Gaoyang's carriage, and he murmured in his heart: It's good now, but there will be no peace in Xiangzhou. The two women bumped into each other again.
At this time, Princess Gaoyang opened the car window and shouted excitedly: "Brother Prince, did you just say that Mei Niang came with you? Where are they?"
"It's on the boat behind. It's time to land now!" Li Chengqian replied.
"Oh! Then I'll go find her and pick her up to bring her to the prince brother's cabin. You go first, don't wait for me! - Hehe, handlebar style, quickly turn around, turn around, and go back to the pier!" Princess Gaoyang said happily! cried.
Qin Mubai couldn't help but be a little surprised: Could it be that their relationship was very good? She seemed very happy? This is unreasonable!
At this time, he found that Li Chengqian, Li Ke, Li Daozong and Li You were all looking at him in surprise, with the same words written on their faces - "This is unreasonable!"