The dust kicked up by the helicopter made it hard for Qi Sui, who had come closer, to open his eyes. He quickly led his men back.
Once Fang Er jumped down and Zhang Tian turned off the engine, Qi Sui curiously approached again.
"My lord, is this your new treasure?"
Before Fang Er could reply, he saw person after person disembarking from the cabin.
There were young lords and ladies like Yuchi Baolin, Changsun Chong, Fang Yiai, Changsun Ling'er, and Zhang Yuanshuang.
Then came the royal scions, Li Ke and Li Tai.
Finally, a group of foreigners descended.
There were easily twenty to thirty people in total!
"My lord, this, this, this thing can carry so many people at once?"
Qi Sui was stunned.
Hot air balloons could only carry two or three people and were very inconvenient to operate.
But this thing before him, he racked his brain but could only think of two words to describe it: awesome!
"Hahahaha, I'll have Old Zhang give you a ride another day!"
After everyone had disembarked from the cabin, Chai Yue suggested taking Xiao Qing back to the Fang residence, and Fang Er agreed.
He then said to Qi Sui, "These are the leaders of various tribes from the grasslands. You will take them to Chengtian Gate later."
"Leaders, please follow Captain Qi to Chengtian Gate. I will be going ahead with the Prince of Wei."
"As you wish, my lord!"
Ashina Bobi and the others cupped their hands in salutation.
They weren't fools; they knew they didn't have the qualifications to fly directly to the imperial palace.
After dropping off the tribal leaders, Fang Er took Yuchi Baolin and the others back into the helicopter.
He patted Zhang Tian's shoulder. "Let's go, the palace!"
Zhang Tian was a little nervous. "My lord, are we really going to land directly in the palace?"
Li Tai shot him a look. "What are you afraid of? I'm here!"
Li Ke glanced at the helicopter beneath him, then at Li Tai in front, and said nothing.
His younger brother had achieved something, while he himself was still unsuccessful. How should he face his father later?
"Cheer up, everyone has their own talents!"
Fang Er understood Li Ke's worries. This guy was jealous.
"Your talents are different from the Prince of Wei's, so don't worry. In the future, you will surely have your moment of glory."
Li Ke gazed into Fang Er's eyes. "Are you speaking the truth, my teacher?"
"Hahahaha, what good would it do for me to lie to you?"
Fang Er asked, patting his shoulder.
Li Ke paused. It seemed to make sense!
While they were talking, the helicopter had already flown past Chunming Gate.
The tremendous roar attracted the attention of all the citizens in Chang'an city below.
"What is that thing!"
"It's so big, how is it flying in the sky?"
"Do you think that thing might have been created by the Duke of Shenyang County?"
Some were in awe, while others, quick-witted, immediately thought of the workshop in Fang Family Village.
After all, this was not the first time such a strange contraption had appeared before the public.
The helicopter did not stop, flying straight towards the inner city of the palace.
At this moment, outside the Liangji Hall.
The palace guards had all been summoned.
Li Jing, Qin Qiong, Yuchi Jingde, Zhang Gongjin, and other dukes were armed and ready, forming a battle formation.
Li Shimin stood at the entrance of Liangji Hall, waiting for the unknown object to arrive, with Crown Prince Li Chengqian standing behind him.
"Report—!"
A guard ran over quickly.
However, before he could speak, Li Shimin heard a sound from the sky in the distance.
He looked up and saw the object rapidly flying towards the palace.
"Your Majesty, judging by its appearance, it's unlikely to be the Duke of Shenyang County."
Li Jing frowned. He had also seen the helicopter rapidly approaching in the distance.
"My brother wouldn't be so ill-mannered as to assault the palace. That's a grave offense, it's definitely not him!"
Yuchi Jingde agreed from the side.
"Your Majesty, give the order!"
Zhang Gongjin, with his hand on his waist cannon, was extremely nervous.
"Ballistae!"
"Snipers!"
"Aim at that thing in the sky!"
"If it dares to enter the palace, shoot it down for me! I want to see who is so lawless!"
Li Shimin, with a grim expression, gave the order to the dukes.
"Yes!"
Everyone went down to deploy their troops.
Fang Er, seeing the reaction below from the helicopter, turned green and quickly shouted to Zhang Tian, "Pull up!"
"Damn it, they've already brought out the ballistae inside the city!"
The helicopter was only a few dozen meters high at this moment. If it was hit, there were no forests below to break the fall.
Li Tai looked a bit embarrassed by the situation.
Flying directly to the palace had been his idea. Now, it was easy to get shot down.
After the helicopter ascended, he suggested to Fang Er, "Teacher, why don't we use the walkie-talkie to identify ourselves to Father?"
Fang Er shot him a look. "What's the Emperor's channel?"
Li Tai: "..."
He understood Fang Er was asking about Li Shimin's walkie-talkie channel, but who in the world would know that!
Fang Er thought for a moment, then had Zhang Tian turn the helicopter sideways, open the cabin door, and expose himself.
"It's the Duke of Shenyang County!"
When Li Jing noticed the helicopter changing direction, he immediately took out his telescope to look.
Seeing that the thing had opened in the middle and Fang Er was sitting there waving at him, he quickly shouted to Li Shimin.
"It's really that kid?"
Qin Qiong, also curious, took out his telescope and looked.
Li Shimin did the same.
The helicopter cabin door opened, and Fang Er sat there, smiling and waving at everyone.
Li Shimin was dumbfounded. Was this another treasure the kid had come up with?
Fang Er, seeing the crowd below staring at him through his binoculars, quickly leaned back.
This time, Li Shimin saw Li Ke next to Fang Er.
"Pass the order, retract the bows and arrows!"
"Yes!"
As Eunuch Deng conveyed the order, the palace guards retracted their ballistae, and the snipers lowered their guns.
"Alright, let's land."
Fang Er closed the cabin door and said to Zhang Tian.
"Vroom, vroom, vroom~ hum~ hum~"
The helicopter slowly descended onto the square in front of Liangji Hall, stirring up countless dust.
After turning off the engine, Fang Er opened the cabin door and jumped down casually.
He took in his surroundings, then walked towards Li Shimin.
"Your subject, Fang Anzhi, pays his respects to Your Majesty!"
Reaching Li Shimin, he bowed with a grin.
Li Shimin, however, glared at him and reprimanded, "How dare you fly directly to the palace! Such audacity!"
"Guards! Seize the Duke of Shenyang County for me!"
As the guards nearby were about to rush forward, Fang Er quickly waved his hand. "Your Majesty! It wasn't me who wanted to fly to the palace!"
"This was the Prince of Wei's idea!"
He wasn't going to let Li Tai take the blame.
Li Shimin paused.
At this moment, the brothers Li Tai and Li Ke walked over.
"Your humble son greets Father Emperor!"
Li Shimin pointed at Li Tai and said with a very displeased tone, "Did you tell this thing to fly directly to the palace?"
"Replying to Father Emperor, it was indeed this humble son who told it to fly to the palace."
"Father Emperor, please don't be angry first, allow this humble son to explain."
Li Tai first recounted to Li Shimin the process of how Fang Er gave him the task of drawing blueprints, then later worked as a runner for Zhao Gang's seal carving, and how this helicopter was gradually built.
Then, pointing at the helicopter, he said proudly, "Father Emperor, do you know how long it took this humble son and my teacher to return this time?"
Li Shimin had been about to punish Li Tai severely, but upon hearing that this contraption was made by his own son, his expression changed instantly.
His own son had become capable and created something good, and wanted to show it off to him first. Was that wrong?
No!
Although flying directly to the palace was a bit rash, the Tang Dynasty's laws didn't prohibit flying into the palace, did they?
Li Tai saw that he was no longer angry and had become interested in the helicopter.
So, he sidled up to Li Chengqian and said, "Greetings, Crown Prince brother."
Li Shimin, hearing Li Tai's question, paused.
He couldn't help but ask, "How long?"
Li Tai, being foolishly brave, said, "Guess, Father Emperor?"
Li Shimin raised an eyebrow and feigned anger, "Guess if I'll guess?"