After the Melon King left, Fang Er opened the pass.
Good heavens, it was a pass from Li Shimin to the tomb guards, allowing the two of them to enter and pay respects.
As Fang Er, famous for his generosity, he handed a piece of silver and the pass to the soldier guarding the tomb.
"Marquis, County Princess, please!"
The soldier opened the gate of Xianling and stepped aside.
Fang Er took the prepared items from the carriage, a large bamboo basket filled with offerings such as incense and candles.
Xianling was vast, facing south and seated in the north, with over three hundred above-ground structures.
Chai Yue, familiar with the place, came to a courtyard and knocked on the door.
The courtyard gate opened, and a eunuch with white hair poked his head out. Upon seeing Chai Yue, he became excited.
"It's the little County Princess, hurry, hurry inside."
This was Fang Er's first time in such a place. He only knew there would be tomb guards outside Xianling, but he didn't expect there to be some inside as well.
Moreover, after following Chai Yue into the courtyard, he realized there was more than one person.
Chai Yue bowed to the old eunuch, "Eunuch Le, Yue'er has brought her husband to pay respects to mother today. Please guide us, Eunuch Le."
Eunuch Le bowed back to Chai Yue, "County Princess is so filial, please follow this old servant."
The old eunuch led the way, taking them out of the courtyard and after several turns, arrived at a mound.
This was the tomb of Princess Pingyang.
In front of the tomb was a stone tablet, inscribed with Princess Pingyang's birth and death dates, and her deeds during her lifetime.
In front of the tablet was also a stone table, on which were placed offerings, and they were fresh. It seemed these eunuchs were responsible for their upkeep.
Chai Yue took the bamboo basket from Fang Er and placed the items inside one by one on the stone table.
Then, she stepped back a few paces and knelt on the cushion in front of the stone table.
"Mother, Yue'er has brought her husband to see you."
"Yue'er is unfilial, taking so long after marriage to see you. Won't you be angry?"
"Father has gone on campaign, and Eldest Brother and Second Brother have gone with him. You must bless them with success and a safe return."
She knelt there on the cushion, speaking to Princess Pingyang about her life.
It was as if she had returned to her childhood, confiding in her mother's embrace.
Fang Er squatted to the side, lit the paper money, and mumbled softly.
"They say mothers-in-law look more favorably on their sons-in-law the more they see them. Do you find me pleasing to your eye?
By the way, I haven't used your name to fool the Emperor much, so you must cover for me. What if you tell him when he dreams one day and reveal the truth?
They say you've been honored by later generations as the female military god of the Han dynasty, so you surely won't mind such a small matter, right?
Well, you just rest well, and I promise to do my best to help my uncle protect the Li family's empire.
And Yue'er, don't you worry, I promise I won't let her suffer any grievance.
That's all I have to say, I don't know what else to say. That's it."
After speaking, he kowtowed three times on the ground and then stood aside, waiting for Chai Yue.
It's better to keep some distance when mother and daughter are having a private chat.
After a long while, Chai Yue, with red eyes, kowtowed three times and then walked towards Fang Er.
"Husband, let's go back."
"Mm!"
Fang Er nodded, stepped forward, and took Chai Yue's hand.
"Don't, mother is watching."
Chai Yue was a little shy.
"What are you afraid of? Letting your mother-in-law see how loving we are will make her more at ease, hehe."
Fang Er was good at making excuses.
Eunuch Le on the side was all smiles.
He was Li Yuan's personal eunuch for Princess Pingyang, and he had watched Chai Yue grow up. Although he had been guarding the tomb, he knew a bit about what was happening outside.
He was happy for his deceased master that Chai Yue had found a good home.
The three of them walked out of Xianling.
Along the way, Chai Yue introduced Eunuch Le to Fang Er. Fang Er was filled with admiration upon hearing that this old eunuch had voluntarily come to guard Princess Pingyang's tomb and refused to return home.
After bidding farewell to Eunuch Le, Chai Yue returned to the carriage.
Fang Er took out two bottles of "Men Dao Li" from the carriage and carried them back to Eunuch Le. "Eunuch Le, this is a small token of my appreciation. Keep it, and have a few drinks when you have time."
"Thank you for the reward, Marquis of Liaodong. This old servant accepts it."
Eunuch Le took the wine and bowed to Fang Er.
After returning the bow, Fang Er got back into the carriage.
The two of them drove the carriage and returned to Chang'an the way they came.
The pickup truck stopped outside Chengtian Gate. After the guards announced their arrival, Fang Er and Chai Yue entered the palace together.
Chai Yue went to Ganlu Hall to pay her respects to Empress Changsun, while Fang Er went to Liangji Hall.
From afar, he saw Li Shimin standing on the plaza outside Liangji Hall, staring at the huge globe and looking at something.
"Your subject Fang Anzhi, greetings, Your Majesty."
Fang Er walked forward and bowed.
"Alright, you still know to come to the palace."
"Come, enter the hall and tell me about the grassland after my return."
Li Shimin turned and walked into Liangji Hall.
After entering the hall, he sat back behind his imperial desk and winked at Eunuch Deng.
Deng Dengjie quickly fetched a brocade stool and brought it over for Fang Er.
"Marquis, please sit and talk."
"Hehe, thank you, Your Majesty, for the seat!"
Fang Er sat down unreservedly.
He had just been looking for a stool, and now it was delivered. He had to say, his uncle had learned to be more considerate.
After sitting down, he began to recount the events on the grassland one by one.
Li Er was not surprised by the surrender of the eight wolf tribes. With such a disparity in strength, unless they truly wanted their entire clan annihilated, submission was their only option.
However, Fang Er's demand for war reparations from the eight tribes astonished him.
This was incredible, fighting wars like this?
"Little Dengzi, go summon Duke Fang."
When Fang Xuanling was summoned into the hall, Li Shimin's anger had not yet subsided.
"Boy, tell Duke Fang, how much compensation did you demand from those tribes?"
Fang Er stood up and offered Fang Xuanling a cigarette, which old Fang rejected.
"Boy, I don't smoke this. What about the cigars?"
Alright, he could only clip the cigarette behind his ear, take out a cigar, offer it to old Fang, and light it.
He flicked out the match, put it back in his pocket, sat back on the stool, crossed his legs, and said indifferently.
"Each tribe will pay fifty thousand guan in silver and one hundred thousand piculs of grain!
A total of four hundred thousand guan in silver and eight hundred thousand piculs of grain, of course, they couldn't produce that much grain.
So, I gave them an exchange plan: one hundred sheep per picul, three hundred sheep per ox, and five hundred sheep per horse.
In addition, they will pay tribute annually: ten thousand sheep, and three thousand oxen and horses each."
"Hiss~!"
"Cough~ cough~ cough~ cough!"
Old Fang was so startled that he inhaled a mouthful of thick smoke, choking him so badly that he almost coughed up his lungs.
Deng Dengjie quickly came over to pat his back. After a while, he recovered and looked at Fang Er in disbelief, asking.
"They, they agreed?"