LFHYB -Chapter 108 Traveling Thousands of Miles to Join

With the support of the Zhangye prefect, Li Xuanba made further progress in gathering cavalry horses for his second brother.

After handing the matters of the Central Plains to their mother, this time he brought Yan Zhen and Xiang Gu along.

“Have you learned the commonly used Turkic yet?” Li Xuanba checked his subordinates’ homework.

Yan Zhen smiled wryly: “Only half of it so far.”

Xiang Gu scratched his head in frustration.

Chen Tieniu looked puzzled: “It’s so simple, how could you not memorize it?”

Yan Zhen and Xiang Gu looked at him speechlessly.

Li Xuanba cleared his throat. “Tieniu, your talent in languages is very strong—don’t compare your strengths with others.”

Chen Tieniu looked even more puzzled: “But my strength isn’t in speaking Turkic; it’s being the gentleman’s guard!”

Li Xuanba: “…You’re right, I agree.”

Yan Zhen: “Give me three more days, I’ll memorize it all!”

Xiang Gu continued scratching his head.

Ye Hu chuckled: “Sanlang, don’t torture them. I’ll translate for them.”

Li Xuanba shook his head: “I hope they can handle things on their own. If you handle every little thing for them, how will you manage bigger matters? Your energy shouldn’t be spent just translating.”

Ye Hu felt a warmth in his heart: “Then I’ll teach them.”

Li Xuanba said: “I’m counting on you. By the way, where is my second brother? Didn’t he say he’d play with you today? Why are you here?”

Ye Hu replied: “Ah? I didn’t see Erlang. Did he come looking for me? Did I miss him?”

Li Xuanba extended his hand: “Hangu.”

A crisp bird call sounded, and Hangu landed on Li Xuanba’s arm.

“Take me to find Second Brother,” Li Xuanba instructed. “I have important matters to discuss with him. Don’t hide anything on his behalf.”

Hangu sighed human-like and nodded.

Although Wudi and Hangu were gifts from Ye Hu to Li Shimin and Li Xuanba, every time he saw these two exceptionally intelligent birds, Ye Hu could only marvel.

Going to the Sui Empire for trade was a lucrative affair, and young nobles from their tribe often rotated to accompany it for pleasure. It was no wonder that those inexperienced people would feel weak in the knees upon seeing Hangu and Wudi, thinking they had seen true divine creatures.

Li Xuanba instructed: “Learn properly. Once summer comes, you’ll start working. Tieniu, take the rope. If Second Brother goes to gamble on cockfights or dogfights, bring him back.”

Chen Tieniu followed the order without hesitation: “Yes, my lord.”

Yan Zhen couldn’t help but laugh: “It’s normal for noble children to play with dog and cock fights.”

Li Xuanba said fiercely: “Gambling is never normal. Playing is fine, but if he dares to bet, I’ll write to Mother to scold him.”

When he found out Second Brother had secretly been betting on dog and cock fights, he was so furious he felt his hair would explode.

In the feudal era, “immorality” was often overlooked, but “gambling” and “poison”—if Second Brother touched them, he would immediately ride back to Luoyang to summon their mother.

Even if Second Brother were like Sun Wukong, Mother’s slap could knock him out!

Seeing that Second Brother lied about going out this time, Li Xuanba was alarmed.

He followed Hangu with determination to catch Second Brother.

On the way, he looked for Li Zhiyun and discovered that Fifth Brother had been taken along, making his face even darker.

Second Brother not only gambled himself but also brought Fifth Brother?!

Hangu led Li Xuanba to a grassy field on the outskirts of Zhangye.

This pasture had been allocated to Li Xuanba by the Zhangye prefect as public land, but he was using it privately to let Second Brother’s troops graze horses.

Li Xuanba was puzzled: “Just for riding? Then why hide it from me?”

Hangu landed on Li Xuanba’s arm, raising a claw to point the direction.

Li Xuanba dismounted, instructed the guards to lower their voices, and quietly approached to see what Second Brother was up to.

It didn’t take long for him to realize quiet steps were meaningless.

Second Brother’s troops had formed a large circle, wrestling with each other.

From ancient times, wrestling had been a favorite pastime in China, and during the Tang dynasty, the palace even had a “sumo arena” to manage wrestlers who performed for the emperor.

Li Zhiyun held a gong and loudly clanged: “Come, come, bets are on! Once settled, no changes! Let’s see how many times General Li can win!”

Li Xuanba: “?”

Chen Tieniu signaled the guards, and all the guards following Li Xuanba stepped back.

Li Xuanba drew his long sword and strode into the wrestling arena with authority.

Having just won a round, Li Shimin was laughing with his hands on his hips. Seeing Li Xuanba approach, he turned and ran: “Ah? A-Xuan, why are you here? No, I didn’t gamble! Why are you angry! Wrestling with the men is part of the training!”

Li Xuanba laughed in exasperation. “So you’re not gambling anymore? You’ve gone and become the house instead!”

Li Shimin ran while laughing over his shoulder. “A-Xuan, my ancestors are your ancestors too. If you curse me, it just comes back to bite you. Stop chasing me—you can’t catch me anyway!”

Li Zhiyun suddenly blocked Li Shimin’s path and even raised a bronze gong.

Li Shimin: “Huh? What the—Xiao Wu, you—”

Clang!

Before he could dodge, Li Shimin crashed straight into the gong.

Li Zhiyun put it down and said obediently to Li Xuanba, “I’m making up for my mistake with good deeds.”

Li Xuanba grabbed his second brother by the collar. “How much pay do your men even get? If you gamble it all away, are they supposed to drink the northwest wind?”

A commander immediately protested, “Third Young Master, you’ve misunderstood Second Young Master. We’re not gambling money—we’re betting training volume!”

Li Xuanba snorted. “I don’t believe it. If it were really that normal, why was he running away?”

The commander hesitated, unsure whether to sell out his commanding officer.

Li Shimin rubbed his forehead. “What am I running from? As if I could outrun you. I was just feeling impulsive on the way to see Ye Hu.”

Li Zhiyun added, “Second Brother made a bet: whoever loses has to strip and train. And if Second Brother doesn’t beat enough people, he has to do it too.”

Li Shimin looked up at the sky and whistled.

Li Xuanba tilted his head in shock.

What kind of stupid high‑school boy behavior is this?! How can you be so childish—

…Wait. At Second Brother’s age, that makes him an even scarier stupid chuuni middle‑schooler.

Li Xuanba let go and laughed while scolding, “Do you have no shame at all?”

Li Shimin grinned stupidly, trying to brush it off. “Hehe.”

“Fine,” Li Xuanba said. “Since you’re not betting money, do whatever you like. I’ll supervise you. You have to take it all off, and I’m even going to draw it.”

Li Shimin immediately backed down. “There’s no need to draw it… You’re not angry?”

Li Xuanba replied seriously, “You’re the one embarrassing yourself. Why would I be angry? I’m actually looking forward to the show.”

Suddenly Li Shimin didn’t want to be the banker anymore.

Li Zhiyun let out a world‑weary sigh.

If he hadn’t wanted to see Second Brother strip and train in shame, he wouldn’t have struck the gong.

Once he knew it was just a farce, Li Xuanba told them to keep playing and deal with real business later.

He really wanted to see a bunch of soldiers running naked across the vast grasslands. That would be spectacular.

Perhaps Li Xuanba’s eagerness to watch the spectacle was too obvious— even these normally thick‑skinned soldiers started to act shy.

Li Shimin said, “We’ll record today’s results and compete again tomorrow. A-Xuan, you can’t come tomorrow. If you do, they won’t be able to have fun.”

Li Xuanba was puzzled. “Why?”

Li Shimin sighed. “You just don’t look like someone who messes around. They all get nervous when they see you.”

Li Xuanba was completely confused. He couldn’t figure out what about him made people nervous. He should be way more of a ‘loser’ than his second brother, a real noble’s son, right?

After Li Shimin announced dismissal, the soldiers scattered like startled birds, fleeing as if a tiger were chasing them.

Zhou Da had once been assigned to protect Li Xuanba and had even gone with him to Mount Tai. He was closest with Chen Tieniu.

As he passed by Chen Tieniu, Zhou Da slung an arm around his shoulders and whispered, “It’s stressful serving Third Young Master, huh? You have my sympathy.”

Chen Tieniu nodded. “The young lord is upright and honorable. He’s strict with himself—and strict with others too.”

Li Xuanba glanced their way. He felt like someone was bad‑mouthing him, though it was probably just his imagination.

“Why did you come looking for me?” Li Shimin complained. “Don’t tell me it was just to suspect me of gambling. Why don’t you trust me?”

Li Xuanba said, “Why don’t you reflect on why I don’t trust you? There is real business. The caravan’s supplies are ready. Pick five hundred men to escort it.”

Li Shimin was curious. “Five hundred as an escort? That’s more than just guarding, isn’t it?”

Li Xuanba replied, “On the road, you’ll pretend to be Turks and carry out robberies.”

Li Shimin cracked his knuckles eagerly. “I want in!”

Li Xuanba rolled his eyes at him. “First, finish absorbing all the troops in Zhangye. Then go. When that time comes, forget robbing—you could even go seize cities and wipe out Western Region states, and I wouldn’t stop you.”

Li Shimin laughed. “Then you’d better prepare the logistics for me. I don’t want to go hungry while fighting. Sigh— I heard when the Emperor campaigned against Goguryeo, lots of people starved.”

His smile faded. He touched his stomach. “I get miserable if I’m not fed for even one day. Thinking about frontline soldiers starving, and the people in the rear reduced to corpses everywhere… it’s hard to imagine.”

Li Xuanba said, “Relax. I won’t let you cry from hunger on the battlefield. Even if I can’t fully guarantee your supplies, you still have Xiao Wu.”

Li Zhiyun said, “Aren’t I going to the front with Second Brother?”

Li Shimin rubbed Li Zhiyun’s head. “Good. We’ll go together. If your third brother doesn’t send us grain, the two of us will starve together. When your third brother finally shows up, we’ll cling to him crying, smearing tears and snot all over him.”

Li Zhiyun laughed. “Okay. Third Brother, I’ll listen to Second Brother on this.”

Li Xuanba sighed. “I’ll do my best.”

That was why he was in such a rush to set up merchant caravans and charity estates—so that if he died, his second brother, using what he left behind, wouldn’t end up like in history, fighting wars while crying from hunger and having to scrape together supplies on his own.

Li Shimin said, “If this mission isn’t especially critical, I have a soldier I want to slip in. I want to give him a chance to gain experience. If he’s really capable, I want to keep him by my side and train him.”

Li Xuanba replied, “Decide for yourself.” In the army, he only handled logistics.

Li Shimin continued, “I’m introducing you to a new friend of mine. Come, let’s go see him—he only arrived today.”

Li Xuanba frowned. “Only today?”

Li Shimin said, “When I was leaving the city, I happened to meet him asking the gate guards where to go to join me, so I brought him along. This wrestling contest was actually arranged for him. But he pushed himself too hard—after winning a few rounds on the way, he passed out from exhaustion.”

Li Shimin thought of how he flopped onto the bed and fell asleep and smiled: “A bit like me.”

Li Xuanba looked at his second brother’s “kind” smile and felt extremely strange.

You’re only fourteen. Kind? What kind?

Li Zhiyun sighed: “I originally thought that someone as outstanding as my second brother, one in ten thousand, was in a league I couldn’t compare to. But now… another one appears. So annoying.”

Li Xuanba tapped Li Zhiyun’s forehead with his fingers: “Why annoyed? Everyone has their own talents. They have their strengths, and you have yours. Besides, the more talented people, the better. This big country can hold plenty of talent.”

Li Zhiyun smiled and nodded: “Mm.”

“All right, stop scolding little Wu. Let’s go see if he’s awake.” Li Shimin put on his outer robe. “Wudi, stop hiding, come out.”

Wudi descended from the sky and landed on the ground.

Li Xuanba picked up Wudi from the ground: “I wouldn’t have scolded you if you hadn’t gone mischief with second brother. What are you afraid of?”

Wudi: “Chiu!”

Hangu stood on Li Xuanba’s shoulder, sighed disdainfully, flapped his wings, and flew onto Li Shimin’s shoulder.

Wudi had been scolded earlier because Li Shimin had sent him out during the cockfight.

This man is shameless, and so is the hawk. They actually said that a grounded hawk is worse than a chicken, so joining the cockfight was normal. Both man and hawk went wild.

When Li Xuanba asked Wudi what second brother was doing, Wudi even helped cover it up, insisting they were just training. But Li Xuanba caught them red-handed.

Li Xuanba sighed. After arriving at Zhangye, with the vast sky and wide land, not only did second brother go wild, but the hawk did too.

Li Shimin led Li Xuanba to a tent. Before he could speak, the tent door opened a slit, and a small head peeked out.

“I’m just tired! Not defeated! Don’t kick me out!” the child shouted.

Li Shimin couldn’t help laughing: “I’m not kicking you out. Let me introduce my brother, A-Xuan — Li Xuanba, Li Sanlang. A-Xuan, this is the person I want to introduce to you: Luo Shixin. He doesn’t have a courtesy name, so just call him by his given name.”

Li Xuanba: “Oh.”

Li Xuanba: “Oh? What’s his name? Where’s he from?!”

The child drew back his neck, then thought it was too cowardly and stiffened it, saying: “I’m Luo Shixin! From Qijun! I’m fourteen! Very strong! Even stronger than adults!”

Li Shimin gestured lightly with his hand: “Quiet. I know you’re strong. Next, I’ll give you a task, a chance to show your abilities.”

The child’s eyes lit up: “Really? What task?”

Li Shimin said: “Escort the caravan going to the Uyghurs, and along the way, pretend to be Turks to rob Turks.”

The child looked puzzled: “Pretend to be Turks to rob Turks? What’s the point? Would they believe their own people robbing themselves?”

Li Shimin explained: “The Turks are divided into many tribes. Each tribe has its own troops. They are only allied with each other, not like the Great Sui, which truly obeys the Khagan.”

The child shook his head: “Don’t understand.”

Li Shimin put on a stern face: “It’s okay if you don’t understand. Listen carefully and learn. Just knowing how to fight isn’t real skill. Someone who only follows orders blindly is just a brute. You’re still young and already talented — learn more now. In the future, when you command larger armies, wouldn’t it be better to be remembered in history?”

The child made a bitter face: “All right, I’ll listen to you, sir.”

Li Shimin said: “I’ll give you chances to fight, but you can’t neglect your studies. Even on horseback, you must not put down your books. When you come back, I’ll test you. If your homework isn’t done, next time I won’t take you. Study properly.”

The child’s face became even more sour: “Sir general, you’re more nagging than my father. My father never forced me to study.”

Li Shimin laughed: “You’ve got some nerve. Hurry and write home — don’t let your parents worry too much. A-Xuan, this child actually ran away from home. I’m really impressed.”

The child put his hands on his hips: “I didn’t run away! I joined the army with my parents’ consent! It’s just that General Zhang wouldn’t give me a chance, so I went elsewhere!”

Li Xuanba was confused: “What ‘ran away from home’? Second brother, can you explain everything from the beginning?”

Li Shimin patted the child’s half-shaven head: “You tell it.”

The child: “Oh.”

He obediently recounted his experiences.

Luo Shixin, nominally fourteen, still not yet thirteen by actual age.

At the end of last year, he falsely claimed to be fourteen and joined Zhang Xutuo’s army. Although Zhang Xutuo was impressed with him, because he was young, he wasn’t sent to the battlefield.

Luo Shixin was very angry.

He had just heard of the young general Li Erlang’s fame and thought Li Shimin, also a young prodigy, would understand him. So he used the excuse of returning home to resign from Zhang Xutuo’s army and traveled thousands of miles from Shandong to Zhangye to join Li Shimin.

Zhang Xutuo, being kind, let him leave. But who knew Luo Shixin didn’t return home at all and came straight to Zhangye.

Li Xuanba gasped, unable to believe this little rascal.

Alone, crossing more than half of Huaguo, from Shandong to Gansu to join second brother?!

Seeing Luo Shixin’s determined eyes, Li Xuanba held his forehead: “Hurry, send a letter to your parents!”