The morning sun shines through the glass windows of the cabin, bringing warmth to Irina's bedside. She had already woken up, but she didn't get up because she was bulky. Now she is nearly eight months pregnant, if nothing else, her child will be the same as the child's father, Li Ke, was born in Chang'an, Datang.

Just when Irina was caressing her high bulging abdomen with a sweet smile on her face, imagining the scene when the child was born in the future, the door of the bathroom next to her opened, and Li Ke, who had finished washing, walked out of it.

Irina watched Li Ke wipe her scalp while walking, and couldn't help but smile and said: "San Lang, the conditions of your Datang's steamship are really good, and there is hot water for us to bathe every day!" ”

Li Ke also dried his hair at this time, and replied: "Of course, the speed of this kind of steam ship is several times faster than that of a sailing ship, and it itself needs a lot of fresh water, plus we have entered the Nanyang region, and the fleet can find a port to replenish fresh water and charcoal at any time, so the hot water supply is naturally not a problem!" ”

Some time ago, after Li Ke and the others arrived on the island of Ceylon, they immediately switched to a faster and better steamship. Irina and some of the accompanying Romans were also very shocked by this kind of fast ship that did not use manpower and wind power, and only ate coal, and they were interested in the structure of the steamship for a long time, but in the end they found that the core of this steamship was an iron guy called a steam engine, and even if they knew the principle, the Roman craftsmen could not build it.

"San Lang, what do you want to eat for breakfast today, I want to eat steamed dumplings!" Irina said with a smile. She and Li Ke have noble statuses, and she is pregnant. So there is a special team responsible for taking care of her, including doctors and cooks. She will be taken care of every day.

"I don't have much appetite, let them do whatever they want!" Li Ke replied still a little absent-mindedly.

Seeing Li Ke's appearance, Irina also understood, and immediately stood up and took Li Ke's hand, and said with a concerned face: "San Lang, I know that you care about your father's body, but don't get along with your own body, you haven't eaten well during this time, and you are obviously much thinner than before." We are still so far away from Chang'an, in case you fall ill on the road, maybe you will delay the trip. ”

Hearing Irina's words, Li Ke couldn't help but sigh, since he learned the news that his father Li Shimin was seriously ill, he immediately arranged the affairs of Rome and Wu, and then desperately rushed to Chang'an, but because the distance was too far, and there was no steamship from Ceylon to the Mediterranean. So there was a delay on the road for a while, which made him very anxious, for fear that he would not be able to see his father for the last time, and naturally he was not in the mood to eat and drink.

"Okay. Irina, you have someone to prepare some breakfast that I like, and I will take good care of my body in the rest of the time! Li Ke didn't want the pregnant Irina to worry about him. That's why he smiled at her.

Seeing that Li Ke finally showed a long-lost smile on his face, Irina also felt a little heavy and relaxed. Tell the maid to prepare breakfast. After a while, breakfast for two was delivered to the room.

Irina is a basket of steamed dumplings with a bowl of lean porridge. The breakfast she prepared for Li Ke was fried eggs, only this egg was added with a lot of shrimp, and there was a lot of caviar on it, all of which were made from sturgeon eggs in the Caspian Sea, which was one of the favorite foods of the Roman aristocracy.

Seeing that Irina took such trouble to prepare breakfast for herself, Li Ke had no choice but to sit down and finish eating with her. Today's weather is good, after breakfast, Li Ke accompanied Irina to the deck, holding the side of the boat and looking at the scenery on both sides of the strait.

Now they are traveling on the eastern part of the Straits of Malacca, and they are about to reach the Lion City, which is considered to be the western end of the South Seas. Now the Strait of Malacca has been rectified by Li Su, the original several small countries on both sides of the strait have been wiped out, and the entire strait is completely controlled by Li Su, making the security here very good, and at the same time, there are some small ports on both sides of the strait, which can make up for the lack of the port of the Lion City.

Li Ke's fleet consisted of nine steam ships, four of which were the latest steam warships, although they were wooden hull ships, but they were also covered with a layer of iron plates on the outside, which could protect ordinary giant crossbows, but they did not have much effect on artillery.

In fact, from Ceylon Island to the east, it is already very safe along the way, and there is no need to use warships to protect along the way, the reason why Li Ke arranged these four warships is mainly out of politeness, after all, Li Ke is not only his third brother, but also the king of a country, so the escort fleet is absolutely indispensable.

Although the speed of the steam ship is very fast, it has a huge disadvantage, that is, it is relatively dependent on the port, mainly fuel and fresh water, these two things are the power source of the steam engine, and the consumption is naturally very large, so every time it goes to a port, the steam ship needs to enter the port to replenish supplies.

Over the years, the Lion City has become the largest port in the South Seas, ranking above Manila, where ships from the north and south will berth, and with the rise of steamships, the port has also divided the entire port into two, half of which is for sailboats and the other half for steamboats.

If it was in normal times, Li Ke would definitely take Irina to stay in the Lion City for a few days, but now is an extraordinary time, he is not in the mood to play at all, Irina is also very sensible, and she is urging her to hurry all the way, so their fleet will immediately set sail again after entering the Lion City and resupplying, and officially enter the core area of the South Seas.

Although it was only a supply in the Lion City, Irina had already felt the prosperity of Daqi, the ships in and out of the Lion City port were in and out in an orderly manner, and the merchant ships of almost all countries could be found here, and on the dock of the port, countless hoisting equipment made of steel were lined up, and under the pull of the dock workers, a worker could lift thousands of pounds of things, which was really incredible.

After leaving the Lion City, the fleet headed north, first anchoring in Linyi, and finally entering the southern coast of Datang after several days of sailing. When the fleet anchored in Guangzhou, Irina seemed very excited, she had already heard Li Ke talk about the scenery of Datang, and her heart was full of yearning for Datang, and today she finally arrived in the land of Datang.

However, Irina soon discovered that the port of Guangzhou was actually similar to the port of the Daqi country she had seen before, and there was almost no big difference in human customs and customs. Of course, this is just Irina's own feelings, after all, she only looked at the boat from a distance, and did not enter the city of Guangzhou to visit.

When Li Ke and their fleet arrived in Keelung, Taiwan, this time the fleet did not leave immediately after replenishing supplies, but planned to stay in Keelung for two days, mainly because they often traveled for such a long time without interruption, Li Ke was worried that Irina's body could not stand it, especially the fetus would be affected, and it happened that there was a royal doctor in Keelung Li Su's palace, which could let them help Irina regulate her body.

It is precisely for this reason that Irina finally had the opportunity to go ashore, and that night, they were arranged by Wang An, the ministers of Qi State, to rest in the palace, and the next day, Li Ke took Irina to go around Keelung City.

"San Lang, this playground is really fun, especially for children, let's build one in Constantinople later, okay?" Irina sat on the small train, looked at the lively crowd in the playground, and said excitedly. Since it is out to play, it is natural to go to the playground in Keelung, which is the most lively place in the whole city, and it is also one of the places with the highest concentration of children.

"Of course there is no problem, there are also coal mines in the Mediterranean region, now my people have found some, and are organizing manpower mining, and when we have coal, we can introduce steam engines, and then there will be not only playgrounds, but also steam ships and trains, maybe then we will build a direct railway to Datang, and then we will come to Datang again and we will not have to take a boat around in circles like now." Li Ke said with a yearning face.

Now they sit on a small train in the playground, which is specially prepared for tourists, and can pass most of the facilities of the playground along the way, but unfortunately Irina is a pregnant woman, and most of the attractions are not used at all, so they can only sit in the car and watch the parents in the playground play with their children.

"San Lang, I heard that there is new news from Chang'an, how is my father's health now?" Irina didn't just focus on playing, and quickly thought of the most important thing.

"The sixth brother has good news, my father has woken up from his coma, and he has not been in a coma for several days, presumably his condition has begun to improve!" Li Ke smiled after hearing this, and when they arrived in Keelung, Li Ke came with the news from Chang'an, which made Li Ke very happy. It was for this reason that he decided to take Irina to take a break in Keelung.

It's a pity that Li Ke didn't know that the true condition of Li Shimin's body needed to be kept secret, and Li Ke was worried that the news would be leaked during the transmission, so he didn't dare to tell him the truth.

In addition to the playground, they also went to places such as zoos, museums and libraries, which are all iconic locations of a city and also centers of crowds, which opened Irina's eyes and gave her a deeper understanding of the Han lifestyle.

Two days later, Li Ke's fleet finally left Keelung, stopping in Shanghai and Dengzhou on the way, and also received the news that his son was going to get married, but when he heard the news, Li Ke's face changed, with his intelligence, he also smelled a different smell from the sudden marriage of his son, so he immediately stopped delaying time and hurried to Chang'an.

At the same time that Li Ke was speeding up, Li Su accompanied Li Shimin to a very special place, and their trip was very secretive, and even Li Zhi and others didn't know where the two of them went. (To be continued......)