In mid-April, the army of King Qin returned to the court, and Gaozu ordered the prince to lead a hundred officials to meet him outside the city gate.

With the victory of pacifying Dou Jiande and Wang Shichong at the same time last year, this time Ping Liu Heimin returned victoriously, and the ministers' performance has been quite quiet.

"I've seen the prince." Li Shimin crossed the Qinling Mountains, saw the civil and military people and the prince waiting outside the city gate from a distance, and immediately rode over.

Li Yuanji followed closely, and when the two of them came to a distance of dozens of meters from the prince, they turned over and dismounted, and hurriedly stepped forward to salute.

"The second brother and the fourth brother don't have to be polite, you have worked hard." Li Jiancheng pulled them up one by one.

After the three of them finished the ceremony, the hundred officials also came to congratulate, and after a polite greeting, the army entered the city, and Li Shimin, the king of Qin, and Yuanji, the king of Qi, entered the palace with the hundred officials.

Hebei was victorious, and the face that Li Tang had lost in the hands of Liu Heimin before was earned back by King Qin, and Gaozu was naturally happy.

As soon as he was happy, he said that he would be rewarded, and Li Shimin hurriedly spoke: "Father, my sons have received enough rewards, since I was named a general of Tiance by my father, the country has wars, and it is really a matter of duty to lead troops to go to war, and I dare not receive any more rewards." ”

"However, the fourth brother and Youzhou Yan Guogong have made a lot of contributions in this battle, the fourth brother has taken the lead in every battle, and has played a great role in setting an example for our army, and Yan Guogong has dragged most of Liu Heimin's reinforcements in the rear, which is why there is this great victory."

Li Shimin's praise of Yuanji is not a lie, when Yuanji and Li Shimin first arrived in Dingzhou, they gave up Xiangzhou because Liu Heimin almost did not fight, and they looked down on Liu Heimin.

was ashamed to speak out in the camp tent, and after being reprimanded by Li Shimin, he was not angry. The series of battles that happened next made him realize that his judgment of Liu Heimin was really wrong, and he was extremely embarrassed.

In order to get back on the field and fight for himself, in the subsequent battles, Yuanji was extremely brave and took the lead, which really played a great role in motivating the army under his command.

"Really? In this way, Yuanji has really grown up, Yuanji has made great contributions, I will not be treated badly, and Li Yi, the Duke of Yanguo, is the same, when I and the ministers agree on the constitution according to their merits, they will distribute the reward. ”

Gao Zu was both surprised and happy when he heard this, the second son's merits are getting bigger and bigger, and he is indeed no longer rewarded, and now he can take the initiative to push out the fourth son Yuanji and Li Yi, and Li Yuan just went downhill along the donkey.

Gaozu originally wanted to leave Li Shimin to eat in the palace, but Li Shimin refused on the grounds that Princess Qin was about to give birth and was worried in his heart, Li Yuan looked at his departing figure, and his eyes were quite complicated.

"Your Majesty, His Royal Highness the King of Qin knows how to advance and retreat, understands etiquette, and has no intention of being arrogant at all, my Datang has such a prince who can fight well and knows how to abide by his own way, which is the blessing of His Majesty and the blessing of my Datang." Seeing this, Xiao Yu stood up and said.

Xiao Yu is full of poetry and books, talented, and very stylish, he is both the prime minister and the uncle of the country, and he has always adhered to a fair and unswerving attitude towards people and things.

Last year, the court refuted that Li Yuan gave Li Shimin the right to set up his own official subordinates, in order to maintain orthodoxy, and today he stood up to speak for King Qin, and he sincerely felt that King Qin's expression was a sincere gentleman and a sign of loyalty.

"Lord Xiao is right, with the prestige and performance of King Qin now, I, the people of the Tang Dynasty and the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty, when I mention him, I am afraid that no one dares not to give a thumbs up and praise the true virtuous king." Pei Lian's eyes rolled slightly, and he followed.

As soon as he said this, the smile on Gao Zu's face, who was originally very happy, unconsciously froze, Xiao Yu frowned unconsciously, and subconsciously turned his eyes to look at him, and the eyes of the crown prince Li Jiancheng narrowed slightly.

When he came out of the palace, Li Jiancheng saw Yuan Ji walking in front, his feet were a few steps faster, he came to him, and said with a smile: "The fourth brother has made such a great contribution this time, and my father will definitely reward him, and my brother congratulates you in advance." ”

"The eldest brother has won the award, I am only shallow, and I can make this contribution, all thanks to the strong support of my father and eldest brother Hongfu Qitianhe." Li Yuanji's mouth was obviously smiling from ear to ear, but his mouth was polite.

"Haha, you are too modest, by the way, this southern expedition, you and the second brother, one is the main one, the other is the auxiliary, after returning to the dynasty, the second brother is full of praise for you, it seems that you have been getting along quite well recently." Li Jiancheng laughed and said again.

"Hmph, he asked for credit for me, but his status is too high, and he can't be sealed, so in order to avoid his father's jealousy, he lifted me and Luo Yi up, thinking I don't know." Speaking of Li Shimin, Yuan Ji's face sank involuntarily.

He didn't forget the scene when he was in Luoyang last year and Xiangzhou this year, when he reprimanded himself.

In Li Yuanji's view, even if Li Shimin helped himself to ask for credit, he must have looked down on himself in his heart, because of such a matter, no matter how friendly Li Shimin is to him, he feels that the other party has ulterior motives.

Li Jiancheng glanced at Li Yuanji with a little surprise, he really didn't expect that Yuanji would fight a few battles with Li Shimin, and the relationship between them did not get better and better, but the estrangement became deeper and deeper.

Thinking of the depths, a smile unconsciously appeared between the corners of his lips, but he had to say: "The fourth brother probably thinks too much, my father has always trusted the second brother, how can he be easily suspicious?" As for the second brother to you, whether it is the Battle of Luoyang or the defeat of Liu Heimin this time, he has always praised you in front of his father, and he must be sincere and good to you in his heart. ”

They are talking in this place, and what they say to each other is afraid that it will not take long for it to reach the ears of Gaozu, and Li Jiancheng naturally said how beautiful he was.

The more Yuan Ji became, his temper has always been irritable and willful, and Gao Zu would not feel strange when he said some angry words and angry words that he didn't know what to do.

Don't talk about the hearts of these people outside, but it is said that the eldest grandson princess has been pregnant for nine months at this time, and she is about to give birth.

She can't go out, her eldest son Li Chengqian is four years old, so naturally she doesn't have the ability to come out to greet her, the princess and the prince are not suitable to go out to greet her, and the other concubines are not qualified to act alone.

For this reason, when the king of Qin returned to the palace this time, only the housekeeper was waiting outside the door, the king of Qin did not care about these false courtesies, he was worried about his wife, as soon as he entered the gate of the palace, he strode towards the Jinsheng Garden.

When he came to the gate of Jinsheng Garden, the eldest grandson of the princess, who had already received the letter, had already welcomed her son to the outside of the garden, and when she saw Li Shimin coming, she slightly brushed the Buddha salute: "Congratulations to the prince on his triumphant return." ”

"The son has seen his father." Li Chengqian, who was already four years old, was already very eloquent, and he saluted him behind his mother.

"Qian'er is exempt, Guanyin, you have such a big belly, what are you doing outside." Li Shimin waved his hand at his son, then stepped in front of his wife, stretched out his hand to hold her, and said with some disapproval.