Chapter Fifty-Four: The Counterattack

  Due to Crown Prince Li Chengqian's malicious harassment, it caused dissatisfaction among the Li brothers. Wei Wang Li Tai even took advantage of this opportunity to mock and ridicule Li Chengqian, directly pushing him to the forefront, unable to back down.

  This good birthday banquet is about to become a battleground.

  Just then, Princess Chang Le stepped out with a cold face: "One person says less, today is the empress dowager's birthday, not your place to fight. If father knows you are fighting on mother's birthday, see how father will forgive you."

  One sentence immediately stunned the two princes.

  Li Chengqian and Li Tai were both unmanageable characters, and the only ones who could control them were Emperor Taizong of Tang and Empress Changsun.

  Changle Princess was also the most favored princess of these two people. If she reported their small reports in front of them, they would definitely not be able to get away with it.

  Neither of them dared to say more and backed down.

  Princess Chang Le came to the front of the hall, bowed deeply to everyone, and said: "My elder brother was suddenly entrusted with a task and had no preparation, which led to mistakes. I, Chang Le, will apologize to everyone on his behalf."

  Princess Changle arrived before Du He and said, "Mr. Du is a great name, Changle has heard of it like thunder in her ears, and has admired him for a long time. Today I have the good fortune to ask Mr. Du to sit together with me, I wonder if Mr. Du would be willing to grant me this favor."

  Du He secretly admired, after all, she was of royal descent. The move by Princess Chang Le not only saved Li Chengqian's face but also preserved the dignity of the imperial family, and even saved Du He's own face.

  "How dare you disobey orders!" Du He stood up straight.

  Li Yexu and Li Yeque also returned to their own seats with satisfaction.

  "Sorry, I didn't expect Big Brother to be so excessive!" Princess Chang Le's face also showed some anger, saying in a low voice beside him.

  Du He smiled calmly and said, "It doesn't matter. 'With a frown, I can face thousands of pointing fingers, with my head bowed, I am willing to be a humble servant' How the prince treats me is not important to me, what's important is how my friends treat me! Thanks to the prince's blessing, today I, Du He, have found two friends worth risking my life for!"

  As he spoke, Du He poured himself a cup of wine from the table and toasted Li Ye Xi and Li Ye Xuan, who were seated below him.

  Li Yexu and Li Yeque smiled at each other and raised their cups in a toast.

  Watching the uninhibited Du He, Princess Chang Le's heart was also slightly moved.

  Du He's independent and nonchalant style is the most captivating.

  Du He suddenly found that Zhang Sun Chong, who was sitting opposite him, had a gloomy face. With a playful heart, he said in a low voice: "Look at the person opposite, doesn't he look like a ferocious wolf that eats people all the time?"

  Princess Chang Le gave a cold glance but quickly looked away and hummed softly to herself.

  Du He and Li Cheng have nothing to do with each other, but today they are so pointedly targeting him. Princess Chang Le also saw that all of this was his doing, and her disgust towards him has increased even more.

  With Princess Yongle in attendance, the subsequent banquet saw no further disturbance from either Li Chengqian or Li Tai.

  Du He and Princess Chang Le sat together on one seat, the two of them speaking in soft voices, truly enviable to others.

  Li Xueyan was even more sour, staring at them with her eyes wide open, as if she was afraid they would do something shameful in this public place.

  Just after midnight, a shout of "The Emperor has arrived!" came from outside the palace.

  Li Chengqian and Li Tai immediately stood up and ran out of the door to welcome them.

  If it were someone who didn't know any better, they would really think that the two had a deep father-son relationship. In reality, the two of them were just afraid that the other would get ahead first.

  Du He and others also left their seats to welcome him.

  "Gentlemen, no need for excessive courtesy. I am merely accompanying you, the future heroes of Great Tang, in a few cups of wine. Being overly formal would be unbecoming!" Li Shimin walked into the side hall with a hearty laugh, his regal demeanor on full display.

  Behind him was also following his great-grandson, an old fox.

  Li Shimin's ordinary words, however, caused a stir in the minds of many people in the imperial court, and everyone felt that Li Shimin had come for them, feeling honored and surprised.

  Du He saw that even the normally calm Li Yede couldn't help but reveal some excitement, and had to admit that Li Shimin's personal charm was indeed very strong. If calculated numerically, it would be a full 100 points.

  What made Du He pay attention was still the old fox, Li Shimin's grandson, who still had a harmless expression, but he knew the guy's ferocity.

  Li Shimin took his seat, and they all returned to their seats.

  Suddenly seeing Du He and Princess Chang Le sitting together, Li Shimin's eyes almost popped out.

  So far, he still remembers the beginning of the year when Princess Chang Le was making a scene about her regrettable marriage, crying with a heartbroken expression, but now...

  It was as if he had seen the world, and although he didn't know the reason why, Li Shimin quickly revealed a thoughtful smile, that smile was extremely sly and radiant, as if he was plotting something.

  Chang Sun's old fox face was expressionless, and it was impossible to tell what he was thinking in his heart.

  Li Shimin drank three cups with the crowd, wanting to chat and get close to them. However, except for Du He, everyone else was evasive and only responded perfunctorily, being too constrained by his status and finding it uninteresting.

  Li Chengqian suddenly said: "Father Emperor, since everyone here is a hero of the Great Tang, I have a suggestion - why not have a poetry competition to liven things up?"

  Li Shimin's eyes lit up, and he stroked his beard in praise: "Excellent! Since the Crown Prince has made this proposal, then let's start with you as the first pair!"

  Li Chengqian shouted: "I, your son, have received the order!" He deliberately made a gesture and walked away, clapping his hands together, saying: "I've got it! Swallows sing and orioles dance, sighing that the spring breeze does not dispel the sorrow of parting."

  "Good union!" Li Shimin clapped his hands and laughed loudly, also pondering on the side.

  "Swan's grievance and mandarin duck's sorrow, pity the summer rain often blocks the three kingdoms." Du He, as a top student in the Chinese department, also has a good foundation in couplets.

  Li Shimin's eyes lit up, and he smiled: "Excellent, even better! The swallow is happy, the swan worries about the country. 'Three Kingdoms' refers to both books and the world, neat and fitting, worthy of being Du Xiang's son! Give out the topic!"

  "Scholars, farmers, workers and merchants are all equal." Du He said casually.

  "Wonderful!" Li Shimin exclaimed, greatly excited. Du He said a strange couplet, the first four words were "scholars, farmers, artisans and merchants" as the four industries, the back of the palace business angle micro feather for five tones, with a repeated word, and a homophonic word.

  This couplet is wonderful, for the time being, no one can come up with a matching verse.

  After a long time, Li Shimin burst out laughing and said: "I am familiar with the four sensations of cold, heat, warmth and coolness. The five virtues of a gentleman are benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and sincerity. Can it be considered perfect?"

  Du He did not expect Li Shimin to answer correctly, and laughed: "Your Majesty is wise and quick-witted, Du He admires you!"

  "I'll come up with a couplet!" Li Shimin also became interested at this time and said, "Ma Chao rides a horse, on the horse, under the horse, looking at three horses lying down Cao."

  Li Shimin's sentence is no less difficult than Du He's "Shi Nong Gong Shang Jiao Zhu Yu", which is also a two-part couplet, pairing characters from the Three Kingdoms with allusions to the Three Kingdoms. It is by no means an easy task to achieve such craftsmanship.

  Du He smiled confidently and said: "Zhang Fei roars to the heavens and the earth, listen to his roar and retreat!"

  Li Shimin did not expect that his pair would be so easily broken by Du He, and he felt unconvinced. He said, "The green mountain is still young, the white snow is on my head!"

  "The green pine remains unchanged, standing tall and proud in the face of strong winds."

  "With a broad mind embracing the vastness of the world!"

  Du Hei An Zan: "Good air, showing the style of a generation of heroes!" Immediately also replied: "Ambition is high, thousands of feet above the clouds!"

  They asked and answered each other, and actually ignored others and started competing with each other.

  P.S. I just took a look at the rankings and found that "The Thief" has already risen to eighth place on the new book chart for new authors, successfully breaking into the top ten.

  Too excited, thank you for the book friends' support and love!

  Yes!

  With the support of book friends, the ambition of the second generation has also come.

  The gap with the top three is not big, strive for the top five!

  Thank you again!