After accompanying the prince and the queen, Li Chao got up and said goodbye. Empress Changsun kept Li Chao for another time and said that the emperor should come over for a while, but Li Chao did not stay.

When I returned to Beijing, I was still in a hurry to meet the family.

The queen smiled and let it go, and asked someone to prepare whale meat for Li Chao to send it to the Li family.

"When I see my mother-in-law, I'll give me a greeting."

Cheng Qian still wanted to go back to the Li family, but he now regarded the Li family as his own, but the queen was unwilling to do so. She finally came back, so how could he let him leave again? Besides, her leg is still injured now.

Li Xiuning sent Li Chao to the palace gate with some reluctance.

"Don't do this. When we are back, aren't we all in Xiangyang too?"

"But I can't sleep with you at night."

Li Chao burst out laughing, and the eldest princess became more and more unrestrained and enthusiastic. "Hahaha!"

"Why are you laughing at? I promised to give me a child, but I haven't moved yet."

"Maybe there already."

Finally, Li Chao kissed her, and she reluctantly let go of Li Chao's hand. She left the East Palace, rode a horse, and returned to Xiangyang City with a few carriages.

There are a lot of things, all given to the Li family by the queen. The whale meat is probably over 1,000 kilograms, and there are also various royal tributes, which I have also received.

Queen Changsun said nothing that she was dissatisfied with Li Chao due to the prince's injury last time, but she performed very well later.

After crossing the bridge, leaving Yuliangzhou, we followed the newly widened official road to the east gate of Xiangyang City.

To enter the city, you also have to cross a bridge. Xiangyang's moat can be called a moat. It is very wide and very wide, really like an artificial lake. Li Chao and his party crossed the bridge and entered the city. Pedestrians on the road avoided him. When they saw that Li Chao was back, they all admired him, and even some people knelt down to Li Chao on the side of the road.

Li Chao had to dismount himself several times to help him up.

The people kneel down to him to thank him for his life. In the years of disaster, everyone can still live, especially for those poor people, it is a miracle.

Li Xiang was sent by God to save the suffering.

When we arrived at the back, there were too many people coming here. Cheng Chumo and the others had to let Wang Xuance and the others lead the way to protect Li Cheng and enter Xiangyang City. Otherwise, everyone would probably come to worship Li Chao today.

After entering the city, Li Chao headed straight to Li's mansion.

"The Prime Minister is back!"

In front of the Li family's gate, when the old gate saw Li Chao coming on a horse, he hurriedly shouted to the mansion. The servants hurriedly came in to report, and in a short while, Cui Yingying and the others came out to greet him.

My father asked me to open the middle door, and the whole family stood in front of the door.

Manager Niu even asked the servants to bring out the brazier and then brought the explosive pole over.

The firecrackers were thundering, and the smell was very festive.

Li Chao waited for hundreds of bursting poles to finish before he got off the horse. He stepped forward a few steps and saluted his father, Qi Niang and the others first, "I'm back!"

After a long time, my father still looked like that, and he felt younger and younger. His beard grew longer and he became more energetic. He still had brocade robes and sable fur, his face was rosy, and his complexion was more and more beautiful, rich and noble.

My father patted Li Chao's shoulders with his big hands a few times, "Sanlang is getting stronger and stronger, and looks good."

The father was worried about Li Chao for a long time when the prince broke his leg last time. Now that he saw that everything was fine, he felt relieved.

Qi Niang's belly is very big, and she looks like she is about to give birth.

Li Chao was quite welcome to this younger brother or sister. He knew that the ancients at that time paid great attention to a bloodline inheritance. Originally, the father accepted Li Chao as his stepson, which was a helpless move. After all, the father was injured and was still a soldier at that time. His wife and children died early and had no choice but to have a helpless person. He was old and wanted to find someone to take care of him and send him off.

Many people are like this during the war years. For example, some widowers and widows gather together to live with each other and rely on each other. For example, if you recognize an adopted son or directly accept a step-son, they are all living. It is not like a peaceful period, accepting a step-son is a very big deal. It is not enough to agree to it yourself, and it also requires the consent of the relatives. It is even more impossible to find someone to be a step-son.

But after life got better, my father married again, and my wife became pregnant, which is of course a better thing. Li Chao was just a stepson who was not related at all, but his wife was pregnant with my father's bloodline.

Li Chao can understand, and he and this younger brother don’t have any interest. After all, the Li family is actually Li Chao’s home. Zheng Wanyan and Hongxian are both erect, and Wanyan’s belly is bigger. Calculate the due date, it will be this month. It is not a very ideal month to have a child at the end of the year. Fortunately, wealthy families don’t have to worry.

Cui Yingying and the others also came to see each other.

When Du Shiniang bowed to Li Chao, she was very happy and looked happy without any concealment.

Cui Yingying said to Li Chao, "Your Majesty sent someone to announce several decrees before. First, we promoted our Chengpinglang to the county duke, and then we added Xiaoyang to the county duke. Look at Caiwei's happy words, and she couldn't even close her mouth. She wanted to sing happily every day."

Li Chao understood Du Shiniang's thoughts. A daughter who was a criminal invader was once in a sect and later became a brothel. Although she was able to protect her body as a blue-white mansion, she later had to be included in the Li Mansion. However, at the beginning, she did not get free and was a concubine who was held in the hands of the eldest woman.

Later, he was promoted to mother, but his status was also low.

After finally giving birth to a son, her status at home was guaranteed. Later, her son was awarded the title, which was of course happy. Now that her son was promoted to the county marquis, she was certainly even happier. County marquis, her son will never have to worry about her in the future. The mother is noble because of her son, and her son is the county marquis. Of course, Du Shiniang doesn't have to worry so much about herself.

When I get old, I can still rely on my son.

Li Chao and Li Shimin resigned from these rewards, but it seems that Li Shimin does not want to take them back.

With a smile, Li Chao even had to accept the reward, anyway, his title is not worth much now. If Li Shimin wants to grant it, let him seal it.

"Go and enter the mansion."

The butler looked at the cars of things, "Prince, what are these?"

"Oh, these are rewarded by the Queen and His Highness the Prince, including whale meat, beef, mutton, fish meat, and some are also beautiful silk floss, jewelry, gold and silver."

Ordinary families, even if the emperor and the queen enjoy a pot of wine, they have to offer them. But the Li family is not uncommon. The emperor and the queen will reward some things every now and then, even when Li Chao is not at home, they will still reward them frequently.

"Yesterday, whale meat was sent to Xiangyang, and Your Majesty sent someone to deliver three thousand kilograms to our mansion. Fortunately, there is an ice cellar at home, all hidden in the ice cellar. Today the queen rewards it again."

Li Chao hugged his daughter Xia Hua from his nanny's hand. The little girl is over half a year old, her eyes are very lively, and she is very well-behaved when she is held by him, and she doesn't cry or make a fuss. She wears a lot of clothes, one after another, wrapped like a big rice dumpling.

Li Chao teased her a few times, and she would still smile at Li Chao.

While teasing the child, Li Chao said, "That's different. Your Majesty's reward is His Majesty's reward. The Queen and the Prince's reward is the Queen's reward. Send some whale meat to the kitchen, and the rest are sent to the ice cellar to continue ice. Don't break it. I'll make a whale feast for you later."

Cui Yingying tucked the quilt for her daughter, and smiled, "You are so, you didn't even say you were resting when you just came home, but you just wanted to eat."

"Is it a blessing to be able to eat? Today, everyone in our Li family has a share, and we will have a whale banquet together."

When the people heard about it, they all smiled happily.

A lot of whale meat was sent from Yangzhou, but once you arrived in Xiangyang, Your Majesty almost finished the reward. In addition to the court's reserve, the ministers in Xiangyang all received a lot of rewards, and even ordinary small officials were assigned to some. The imperial guards in Xiangyang's southern and northern yamen were also rewarded with whale meat.

However, ordinary people cannot eat whale meat.

After all, that thing came from the sea and was hard-won.

The officials received the reward of whale meat and kept it as precious as treasures. Regardless of whether it tastes good or not, the most important thing is the gift from the emperor.

Only Li Chao was so generous that he took out the whale meat and distributed it to the servants at home. However, Li Chao's family also earned a lot of whale meat, several thousand pounds. Generally, people don't have that much. It's very good to have a hundred or ten pounds. Some minor officials may only have a dozen pounds. They have eaten meat, so how could they give it to their servants?

Whale sashimi, fried whale, grilled whale, fried whale steak, steamed whale, stir-fried whale, whale stew soup, whale skin frozen...

With a whale ingredients, Li Chao really made more than thirty dishes.

In the kitchen, Li Chao was responsible for making a whale banquet for the family, and Qiuyue and Dongqing were the helpers. Then on the other side, the chefs in the mansion made a whale banquet for the servants in the mansion. The dishes were Li Chao's, but the quantity was large. Each serving was a big pot.

The Li family is now crowded, and it is really not enough to eat if you do less. Li Chao is also generous, and he directly made people get hundreds of kilograms of whale meat, so he can eat enough if he wants to eat.

Li Chao was wearing an apron and a kitchen hat, and he was busy working on the stove with money. Although the smoke was high, he felt particularly fulfilled. Cui Yingying and the others helped to set up a plate from time to time, and the whole family was chattering and rumbling.

It feels like family.

After working hard for most of the day, a whale banquet was finally ready.

There was no need for servants. Cui Yingying and the others served the food and set the table in person. The whole family sat around a large round table and everyone sat down.

Li Chao opened the bottle of wine and poured it into the old man who was on the table first.

Cui Yingying made Qiniang a bowl of rock sugar pear soup.

After the seat was finished, Li Chao asked the nurse to carry the child over, hugged Xia Hua himself, dad hugged Taipinglang, Cui Yingying hugged Chengpinglang, Du Shiniang hugged lamb, two beards hugged pigs and puppies, and the whole family sat around the table.

"Come on, our family will reunite today, have a whale banquet, and be together!"

The father held the eldest grandson and his face was full of joy. Taipinglang was not afraid of his grandfather's one-eyed eyes. Instead, he was curious and kept grabbing his grandfather's eye mask with his hands.

Li Chao raised his glass and first offered his respect to his father and Qi Niang. After a glass of wine, the family banquet began.
Chapter completed!