Chapter 89 Parting
Li Jiancheng held the wild goose that he had redeemed at a large sum of money, walked up to the bride, and placed the tightly tied wild goose in front of her.

Xiao Chanyan reached out and touched Dayan to show her acceptance. The two returned to the main hall to bid farewell to their parents. Xiao Cong said solemnly: "Be careful and respectful, and do not disobey orders in the palace!"

Lady Cai, the wife of Duke of Liang, could not help shedding tears: "Be diligent and respectful, and be diligent day and night!"

Xiao Chanyan: "I will obey my parents' orders."

Then he went to bid farewell to the ancestral temple, and went out. Amid the cheers of the crowd, he boarded the Li family's wedding carriage. Li Jiancheng rode his horse around the carriage three times and officially led the carriage back.

When they reached the middle of the two palaces, there was a group of men and horses standing in the middle of the road. They were all very heroic. When they saw the wedding carriage coming, they rode forward and shouted, "My dear young man! We are young men from various states, living in a foreign land. We are so beautiful and charming, with pearls and jades on our lips, and we are dressed in elegant clothes. We are here to block the carriage, so we need cattle and sheep!"

Li Jiancheng waved his hand, and the friends and relatives behind him who were protecting him rode forward to confront them. A few of them who were good at fighting even dismounted to compete with them. Originally, they were all equally matched, but Li Jiancheng specially invited Shan Xiongxin to protect him today.

As a result, the people blocking the carriage quickly sounded the retreat, but they still did not clear the way. If they could not stop the car with force, they would find a way out with culture.

"Madam Ban Chan has long hair and golden threads. She is virtuous and graceful, as beautiful as jade and fragrant as orchid. Her royal palace is not as good as Yishui, and her official marriage is from Jinyang. The two families are in harmony and their glory will last for thousands of years.

He is very blessed and healthy. His two daughters are just learning to speak, and his five sons are growing up in a row.

She is naturally good at painting and writing. Her uncle's son has become a minister. Those who knock on her door are all chancellors. Her nine clans are honored with thousands of boxes. But when I see your children getting married, I am here to celebrate your parents' wedding."

On a happy day, Li Jiancheng heard the auspicious words and ordered people to lead out the cattle and sheep. However, those people refused to take them and said with a smile: "Precious silk is shining, dragon musk is fragrant, gold and silver utensils are raining, silk is piled high and the walls are connected, music is loud, candles are shining, plates are full of stuffing, and jugs of wine are filled. Please reward me, my husband and my wife."

The guardian was not satisfied, and he dared to ask for too much, so he replied without hesitation: "Today's saint is raising the common people, where is the young man, doing things indiscriminately, hurry up and get out of the way, and ruin my car!"

The people in the barrier chariot smiled and replied, "We are all the three positions, the descendants of ministers, Longxi Li, Taiyuan Wang, Fanyang Lu, Qinghe Cui, Jingzhao Wei, Henan Yu, Hedong Xue, Hedong Pei, Wujun Gu, Wuxing Yao, Daibei Yuan. How dare we display your carriages and horses today? How can we be ordinary people!"

The onlookers cheered, as these were all descendants of aristocratic families that had been prominent for hundreds of years. Even for the people in the capital, it was the first time they had seen so many noble gentlemen, and they had even lowered their status to come and block the carriage to curry favor.

Having said this, they had no choice but to offer spices, gold and silver utensils and fine wine. Only then did they happily turn their horses around, from being barrier carts to being guards of the emperor, leading the way and singing loudly.

After returning safely to Duke Tang's Mansion, many ceremonies were waiting for the newlyweds. A green pavilion and a hundred-child tent had already been set up on a lucky piece of land in the southwest corner of the courtyard.

The couple stopped in front of the hut, and several unmarried girls from the Xiao and Li families went in first and sang: "Tonight is an auspicious night, the son of the Li family and the daughter of the Xiao family are getting married. I wish that after the marriage, they will live forever and prosper.

"Five men and two women, slaves and maids, the men are to be ministers, the women are to be married to princes, from now on, the couple's life span will be extended!"

Then the two of them walked into the tent arm in arm, ate from the same plate, drank wedding wine, and tied their hands and feet with colorful silk threads...

When all the ceremonies were completed, the night was already half over. Both of them were a little tired. Li Jiancheng gently untied the silk rope on his wife's head and said, "Thank you for your hard work."

"My husband, you have worked hard."

No matter how hard it was, they couldn't skip the last step. In a slightly tense atmosphere, they fumbled for a long time before successfully completing the mission.

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After the wedding, Li Jiancheng had no time to spend with his wife. The guests and friends who had come to the capital were also leaving. They had come through mountains and rivers, and it would be many years before they would see each other again. Li Jiancheng specially found several caravans, and introduced friends who were going to similar destinations to travel with him according to the route, and also sent his family generals to accompany them for protection.

There are already signs of chaos in the world. If a few people rush on their journey, they may die unjustly at the hands of bandits and pirates.

Li Jiancheng was outside the city to see people off almost every day, and he had no free time for more than ten days. Fortunately, his wife was a lady from a prominent family, and not only did she not lose her temper, she also helped to make arrangements.

When almost everyone had left, Li Jiancheng finally breathed a sigh of relief. Shan Xiongxin sighed, "My dear, you really have friends all over the world. You have close friends all over the world."

Li Shimin looked up proudly and said, "There are still many who have not received the news, or who are unable to come due to trivial matters. Otherwise, there would be another 1,800 people."

Li Jiancheng touched the back of Erlang's head and said, "Then our family will really have to sell the mansion."

"So what?" Li Shimin said without hesitation: "With so many bosom friends, there is no need to worry about not having the opportunity to make achievements. With achievements, a mansion and money will come at your beck and call!"

"Haha, my Jilang is so generous."

Shan Xiongxin also smiled and said: "Erlang Jun may be young, but he has lofty ambitions. He will surely have a distinguished future."

Li Shimin was a little shy, but his eyes and eyebrows were full of confidence.

Li Jiancheng said to Shan Xiongxin: "I have been very grateful to you these days, brother Shan. I wonder if you have any ambitions?"

Shan Xiongxin was silent for a moment and said, "It's nothing more than bringing honor to our ancestors. To be honest, my ancestor was once a governor, but now our family reputation has declined, and it's even difficult for him to join the army."

"Brother Shan has many abilities that I can't find in the entire military. Your Majesty is planning to conquer Goguryeo recently, so I can recommend Brother Shan to join the army as a captain. I have some friendship with several generals such as Zhang Xutuo, Lai Hueryu, Kuromai Tiezhang, etc. Brother Shan can choose to serve one of them and make achievements."

Shan Xiongxin bowed his hands in gratitude, but suddenly his heart skipped a beat. He thought for a moment and said, "I am just a common man and don't know the current situation in the world. I dare to ask you for your guidance and instruction."

Li Jiancheng looked into the distance with his hands behind his back and said, "Jiancheng has many friends. He is always willing to help his friends and will never mislead others because of his own opinions."

Shan Xiongxin was silent for a moment: "If your majesty raises an army, will you lead the army to attack Goguryeo? I am willing to die under your command."

Li Jiancheng shook his head: "I have already started planning to be transferred to a local government position."

"My dear, do you think this expedition will fail? But after the Great Sui unified the world, we were able to pacify even the Turks. How could a mere Goguryeo..."

Seeing that Li Jiancheng didn't say anything, Shan Xiongxin was in a dilemma. Finally, he couldn't help but said, "Shan has always admired the name of Duke Rong. Please introduce me to him, sir."

Li Jiancheng said with a smile: "Okay, tomorrow I will invite the sixth son of Lord Lai to come to the banquet, and then I will fulfill Brother Shan's wish."

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(End of this chapter)