Li Chengqian of the Tang Dynasty: Please say long live His Majesty

Chapter 108: The Heroic Bride, the Red Spike on the Sword Hilt (First Update)
Red silk wraps around the beams, and golden dragons are wrapped around the candles.

Zheng Shuang'er, dressed in a golden-red wedding dress, leaned back on the bed somewhat tiredly, stuffing thumb-sized red bean cakes into her mouth with her left hand, looking extremely hungry.

The movements were quite bold and heroic as he held his sword in his hand and mounted his horse.

Li Chengqian stood in front of the inner hall door, looking at Zheng Shuang'er sitting on the bed like this, feeling a little dazed.

Zheng Shuang'er stood up subconsciously with a bulging mouth, stuffing her mouth with cakes. She bowed in a panic and said in a vague voice: "Your Highness!"

Li Chengqian was stunned for a moment, then suddenly couldn't help laughing: "Hahaha!"

Zheng Shuang'er subconsciously looked up, her face full of surprise.

Li Chengqian strode over to Zheng Shuang'er, reached out and helped her up, then turned sideways and shouted, "What are you standing there for? Hurry up and bring my beloved concubine a glass of wine...My beloved concubine, is it okay for you to drink?"

"No problem." Zheng Shuang'er breathed a sigh of relief and sat down on the bed. Then she looked at Li Chengqian. Although there was still some panic in her eyes, she said carefully: "I can still drink a lot."

"I almost forgot that you come from a family of military generals." Li Chengqian looked at the wine brought by the maid beside him.

Zheng Shuang'er drank it all in one gulp without any hesitation.

He swallowed all the pastries in his mouth at once.

At this time, Zheng Shuang'er bowed slightly and said a little embarrassedly: "Your Highness, I am rude."

"That's all right." Li Chengqian breathed a sigh of relief, then said with a look of emotion, "Before today, I was actually a little worried about what kind of person you were, but today it seems that you are someone who is very easy to get along with. So I can rest assured."

"Me too." Zheng Shuang'er secretly raised her eyes and looked at Li Chengqian, but she couldn't help feeling a little relaxed in her heart.

When I was at home, my mother talked about a lot of the rules of the Eastern Palace.

Zheng Shuang'er was also a little worried. Now, when she heard Li Chengqian say this, she suddenly felt that her mother was exaggerating.

Li Chengqian leaned back against the bed railing, looked at Zheng Shuang'er with a gentle gaze and said, "My beloved concubine, do you have any other preferences? I would like to have someone arrange them for you."

"Anything is fine?" Zheng Shuang'er opened her mouth in surprise, her snow-white teeth and cherry lips made her look particularly cute.

"Of course, but only within the Eastern Palace." Li Chengqian smiled, then asked curiously, "My father-in-law is a general in the army. My beloved concubine, do you know anything..."

"Kung Fu?" Zheng Shuang'er shook her head, and suddenly said solemnly, "My fists and feet are average, but I am good at swords and spears, and I also know a little bit about long spears!"

"Know a little bit?" Li Chengqian was a little stunned.

"I can't say I know a thing or two, but brother is no match for me anyway." Zheng Shuang'er couldn't help but look up complacently as she spoke.

At the same time, the white and slender goose neck was displayed in front of Li Chengqian. Under the golden red wedding dress, it was particularly eye-catching, making people unable to help but salivate.

Li Chengqian shook his head and said, "Xuan Guo is not even a match for my beloved concubine?"

Zheng Xuanguo, son of Zheng Rentai and elder brother of Zheng Shuang'er.

Li Chengqian had just had several drinks with him.

He is tall and strong, and looks like a fierce general. However, Zheng Xuanguo is still no match for Zheng Shuang'er.

Li Chengqian couldn't help but think of a female general wearing black armor and holding a long spear.

Shaking his head, Li Chengqian couldn't help but laugh twice and said, "I'm afraid my safety in the future will be in the hands of my beloved concubine."

"That's right!" Zheng Shuang'er raised her head proudly, her eyes sweeping across the red silk above her. Suddenly she realized that this was her wedding night. She didn't know why she had come up with this topic. Her face immediately flushed with shame, and she lowered her head and whispered, "Your Highness."

Li Chengqian looked at Zheng Shuang'er seriously and said, "Now you and I are husband and wife. My safety is the safety of our entire Eastern Palace. From now on, I will leave everything to you, my beloved concubine."

"Yeah!" Zheng Shuang'er nodded seriously.

"Okay, let's have another drink." Li Chengqian smiled and waved his hand, and the maid on the side immediately brought two glasses of wine.

Zheng Shuang'er raised the wine glass and looked at Li Chengqian who was holding the wine glass. Then she heard Li Chengqian say gently, "Let's drink the wedding wine again."

"Ah... OK!" Zheng Shuang'er was slightly stunned, then her face flushed and she clinked glasses with Li Chengqian again.

Their arms crossed and their eyes met, and for a moment, there was only each other in their dark eyes.

The sleeves fluttered and the skin was as white as snow.

The golden candle burned, the flame suddenly shot up, and then there was a slight "bang" sound, and the candle flame burned softly.

It lasts all night.

……

Outside Cheng'en Hall, it started raining without anyone noticing.

Holding a bamboo umbrella and wearing a red cloak, Su Shu stood between the pavilions and corridors.

The red lights are hanging high, and the look is melancholy.

At this moment, a burst of hurried footsteps sounded behind her.

"Your Highness!" Donggong Shanggong Hu bowed respectfully and said, "All the guests have been sent away, and the front hall is being cleaned up."

Su Shu glanced at the Cheng'en Hall in front of her, then turned and asked, "Over at the Nanchang Princess's Mansion, how is Su Yi's marriage going?"

Hu was Su Shu's wet nurse. She had been with Su since she was a child in Wugong.

Li Chengqian handed over all the affairs of the harem to Su Shu, and Su Shu handed them all over to Hu.

Before, Su Shu didn’t care much about the affairs of the front hall, but after what happened last year, she started to interfere in many matters of the front hall and even outside the palace.

Zheng Shuang'er was the one she chose for Li Chengqian.

Today, the Crown Prince married Crown Prince Liangti. Although the Emperor did not return and there were not many princes and princesses in the Eastern Palace, Changsun Wuji specially rushed back from Luoyang.

All the people in Chang'an City who had not originally planned to come now rushed over.

Naturally, someone had come to the Nanchang Princess's Mansion. Many things were difficult for the master to inquire about, but it was easy for servants to get the truth out of each other.

Mrs. Hu bowed slightly and said, "The princess admires a young man from the Wei family."

"What kind of person is he? A scholar, or..."

"He is the son of Wei Ji, the Lieutenant General of the Left Garrison Guard, and an eighth-rank official of the Left Thousand Oxen Guard." Hu explained briefly that Wei Ji's son had just started his official career.

The Qianniu Guards of the Tang Dynasty recruit young and beautiful sons of high-ranking officials. They wear embroidered clothes with flower ornaments and green clothes, making them a good choice for nobles to start their careers.

The Left Thousand Oxen Guard has twelve Thousand Oxen attendants, who are in charge of wielding Thousand Oxen swords and are of the sixth rank; twelve attendants on each side of the attendants are in charge of supplying the emperor with swords and arrows and are of the seventh rank; one hundred attendants are in charge of serving as guards and attendants and are of the eighth rank.

Su Shu somewhat understood Princess Nanchang's choice. Compared to the literati Su Xu liked, Princess Nanchang preferred the sons of the Guanzhong families who had a military background.

Qianniuwei is the most orthodox origin.

After all, the Tang Dynasty was founded on military achievements, so there is nothing wrong with Princess Nanchang's choice.

"Qianniuwei, that's really a good choice. Crown Prince Liangti's family chose Qianniuwei before, but unfortunately something went wrong." Su Shu looked up and said softly, "Don't interfere, let them continue. It's best to get them engaged. At the same time, send people to secretly collect all the information about the Wei family's children, especially those with bad habits... the children of aristocratic families!"

"Yes!" Mrs. Hu bowed immediately.

Su Shu, holding an umbrella, walked towards Yichun Palace, where the Crown Princess's bedroom was.

……

Jinchangfang, in front of the ruins of Wulou Temple.

Hundreds of Qianniu Guards in full armor completely blocked the entire street.

Zhang Sun Wuji, riding on his horse, looked at Li Chengqian and asked in confusion, "The name Jinchangfang seems to be a bit unfavorable to the King of Jin?"

"Uncle is right. On the surface, that's what he meant." Li Chengqian smiled calmly and said, "But uncle may have overlooked that our emperor's grandfather started his career in Jinyang, which led to the establishment of the Tang Dynasty. Moreover, my nephew was originally the Prince of Hengshan County. Before he was crowned Crown Prince, his fiefdom was in northern Jin. This place is also beneficial to my nephew."

Changsun Wuji nodded slowly.

"As for Zhinu," Li Chengqian sighed softly and said, "Although Zhinu is getting older, he is quite frail. If a place like this can bring him some blessings, as his eldest brother, I would be very happy."

"The prince is friendly and respectful." Changsun Wuji nodded with emotion.

During this period, Changsun Wuji secretly compared Li Chengqian and Li Tai's attitudes towards their younger brothers and sisters, and found that Li Chengqian was much better than Li Tai.

In particular, he often asked people to bring seasonal fruits and food to Lizheng Hall.

The Crown Princess also often went there in person.

But Li Tai and Yan Wan rarely did these things. Recently, they finally communicated more because of the construction of Longmen Grottoes, but Li Tai ignored them after he had sent someone.

Even Changsun Wuji could see that Li Tai was on guard against Li Zhi.

Li Zhi was only thirteen years old, and there were not even many people in the palace.

This made Changsun Wuji speechless.

At the ruins of Wulou Temple, the head of Louguan Dao, Yin Wencao, clasped his hands and saluted: "Greetings to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, and to the Duke of Zhao."

"Greetings, sir!" Li Chengqian and Changsun Wuji bowed in return at the same time, with serious expressions.

The entire Taoist temple was built to pray for Empress Changsun's afterlife, and the head of the Louguan Taoist sect came in person, which made Li Chengqian and Changsun Wuji feel quite honored.

"Master, if there is anything the Taoist temple needs, please tell me directly. I will do my best to help." Changsun Wuji bowed slightly.

"You're so polite, Duke." Yin Wencao smiled and returned the greeting. As he led Changsun Wuji inside, he said, "The golden Buddha the Crown Prince sent has been completely melted. It was actually almost enough, but the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess also offered some of the East Palace's unwanted clothing as a token of their appreciation."

Zhang Sun Wuji looked at Li Chengqian in surprise, and nodded with some emotion, saying, "The Crown Prince is so thoughtful."

"This is what a nephew should do. What are you talking about, uncle?" Li Chengqian smiled and said, "Let's go, uncle, let's take a look together. This place is quite nice."

"Okay!" Changsun Wuji restrained his expression and then carefully visited the entire Taoist temple.

……

Before noon, Changsun Wuji had already set off to return to Luoyang without even having lunch.

Li Chengqian turned around and went back to the palace, no, he went to the Susong County Mansion first.

Today is the day when Crown Prince Liangti Zheng returns home.

According to etiquette, Li Chengqian did not need to be accompanied.

In fact, he had no accompaniment.

But today he happened to accompany Zhangsun Wuji to visit the ruins of Wulou Temple, and on the way back, they happened to pass by the Susong County Government.

Since I'm here, I might as well go and visit.

In front of the Susong County Government Mansion, General Zheng Rentai of the Left Jinwu Guard, Zheng Renji, the Minister of Works, Zheng Xuanyi, the Military Officer of Huazhou, Zheng Xuanguo, the Recorder of the Right Qianniu Guard, and a dozen others were standing in front of the door to welcome them.

Hundreds of Jinwu Guards had completely blocked the street. At this time, a dozen tall horses slowly approached from a distance.

As soon as Li Chengqian stopped his horse, everyone saluted and said, "Greetings, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

"No need to be so polite, we are all family." Li Chengqian dismounted and bowed earnestly to Zheng Rentai, saying, "Greetings, father-in-law."

"Your Highness is too polite." Zheng Rentai breathed a sigh of relief, then said, "It is a great honor for the Zheng Mansion that Your Highness can come here today."

"It is my son-in-law who should have come, but there are so many things to do..." As he spoke, Li Chengqian and a group of people from the Zheng family were already walking towards the door.

At this moment, a clear neighing of horse hooves came from the stable not far away.

Li Chengqian looked over subconsciously, and then saw a brown horse tied outside with its head raised, and a long sword with a red tassel was revealed.

(End of this chapter)