LFHYB -Chapter 154 Finally Returning to the Longyou Circuit

Although Taiyuan Commandery was not far from Yanmen Commandery, it lay to the south of Yanmen.

Zhangye Commandery lay directly west of Yanmen. Using the pretext of a Western Turkic invasion, Li Shimin naturally hurried back to Zhangye at the pace of a forced march. His army traveled along the northern bank of the Yellow River, passing through Mayi Commandery, Yulin Commandery, and Wuyuan Commandery, then moved south along the western bank of the Yellow River to Lingwu Commandery, and finally returned to Zhangye Commandery via Wuwei Commandery.

Wuyuan Commandery and Zhangye Commandery look very close on the map, but the Tengger Desert lies between them. It was now the height of summer; the desert heat made marching unsuitable, so they had to detour along the Yellow River waterway.

Because the military situation was urgent and there was also an imperial edict from Yang Guang, no matter how much the servants of the Duke of Tang’s household wanted Li Xuanba to return to Taiyuan to recuperate, they could only watch helplessly as he left, then turn back alone to report.

When Li Yuan heard that Li Xuanba and Li Zhiyun were still alive, he immediately threw all his plans to the back of his mind and hurriedly sent people to bring Li Xuanba and Li Zhiyun home.

Dou Huiming and Lady Wan wiped away their tears several times, constantly busying themselves arranging and preparing their sons’ courtyards.

When the servant returned alone and reported to Li Yuan, Dou Huiming, and Lady Wan that the Western Turks had invaded Dunhuang Commandery, and that the Second Young Master and Third Young Master had not even had time to receive their formal imperial rewards before rushing back to Dunhuang on a forced march to resist the Western Turks—

Li Yuan beat his chest and stamped his feet. “Fine if Daxiong went back to Dunhuang—he is the Pacification Commissioner of the Longyou Circuit and should return to Longyou to take command at once. But Dade hasn’t even recovered yet! How can he go to such a remote place in the Western Regions?”

The servant said, “The Third Young Master is the Deputy Pacification Commissioner, and His Majesty specifically ordered him to replace General Changsun and Lord Pei in managing the Western Regions. His task is even heavier than the Second Young Master’s.”

Li Yuan cursed angrily, “Isn’t this deliberately tormenting my third son?! Where is Qijian? Why didn’t he come back?”

The servant replied, “This time the Fifth Young Master rendered military merit and was promoted to Commandant. The Second and Third Young Masters asked whether the Fifth Young Master would return. The Fifth Young Master said that a man’s aspirations lie far away. Now that the Western Turks are invading the borders, loyalty and filial piety cannot both be fulfilled. He wants to earn merit.”

Li Yuan rubbed his forehead. “What kind of jumbled answer is that?”

Suppressing both her wild joy and her sense of loss, Dou Huiming said to Li Yuan, “Qijian has already grown up. He’s just earned merit—of course he doesn’t want to come back.”

Li Yuan sighed. “Yes, yes, every one of them wants to serve the court, every one of them wants to earn merit, none of them considers… forget it. Loyalty and filial piety cannot both be fulfilled. Aren’t I also guarding the frontier? Our whole family is guarding the frontier, all guarding the frontier… sigh…”

As he spoke, he began to smile with pride. “Our whole family is fighting the Turks.”

Observing Li Yuan’s expression, Dou Huiming followed his mood and continued, “Now the Great Sui is in utter chaos. Only our Duke of Tang’s household stands firm on the frontier, not letting the Turks take advantage of the turmoil in the Central Plains to move south. When future histories record this scene, we will have a clear conscience.”

Li Yuan had long planned to rise against the Sui and had always worried about his reputation. Hearing his wife say this, his heart felt much lighter.

Li Yuan smiled. “Yes, our whole family truly has a clear conscience. Enough—go. Daxiong even carved inscriptions at Yanran… Right, what exactly did Daxiong carve on Mount Yanran?”

The servant’s mouth twitched strangely twice, as if he were desperately holding back laughter.
“It seems the Second Young Master was pressed for time. After finding the stele of Dou Xian, the Champion Marquis of the Han, he only found a huge rock beside it and carved…”

He pinched the back of his hand to stop himself from laughing. “He carved… ‘I was here.’”

Li Yuan thought there must be something wrong with his ears and asked again, “What did he carve?”

The servant repeated, “Aside from leaving the date and his name, it was… it was ‘I was here.’”

Dou Huiming suddenly recalled something and said with an odd expression, “Could it be ‘Li Shimin visited this place’?”

The servant replied, “There were also the names of other generals and the date the inscription was carved.”

Dou Huiming let out a heavy sigh. “That child…”

Li Yuan: “……”

Dou Huiming said, “My lord, the Second Young Master is just that kind of person. You should be used to it by now.”

Li Yuan’s mouth twitched. “Yes…”

He held it in for a long time, but in the end he couldn’t help it. Holding his forehead, he burst out laughing until his stomach hurt and tears streamed down his face. “I was here, visited this place—hahahaha! That’s exactly his personality. Looks like he already guessed Dade was still alive when he carved that.”

Dou Huiming smiled. “Yes.”

Lady Wan stood quietly to one side, silently shedding tears of joy.

Although she deeply regretted not being able to see her child safe with her own eyes, hearing that her child had actually earned merit in the Battle of Yanmen, she knew he was doing well.

She had heard that the Third Young Master was weak from illness, barely able even to stand. Yet her own Fifth Young Master was not only safe but able to go onto the battlefield. Even while gravely ill, the Third Young Master had still taken excellent care of the Fifth.

When the two brothers had opportunities to earn merit, their first thought was of the Fifth, not of sending him back to Taiyuan to reassure the Duke of Tang.

They could have sent the Fifth back to replace them in setting the Duke’s mind at ease, so that they themselves could better report their safety. But they did not. Instead, they respected the Fifth’s choice and took him to the Western Turk battlefield to earn merit.

The Second and Third Young Masters had cherished the Fifth since childhood; they had always loved and protected him.

Lady Wan recalled that some time ago there had been constant malicious gossip in the inner quarters, saying that the Third Young Master’s carelessness had harmed the innocent Fifth. She immediately dragged those people out and, without handing them over to Madam Dou, personally had them whipped until they were half-dead.

She was from the Jiangdu Wan clan. Even when she entered the Duke of Tang’s household, she had never used a riding crop and didn’t even know how to ride a horse. This time, driven by ruthless resolve, she whipped them until their skin split and flesh tore, blood flowing freely.

She didn’t need to know whether these people were merely loose-tongued or acting under someone’s orders. Her enemies within the household were very clear to her.

Even with her Qijian still alive—alive and doing well—she became even more vigilant toward her enemies.

Because she would never allow her only child to suffer another mishap.

It was good that Qijian hadn’t returned—too good.

While Dou Huiming was comforting Li Yuan, who was laughing and crying at the same time, she quietly observed Lady Wan.

She sighed inwardly.

The fact that Little Five was still alive would not dispel the hatred in Lady Wan’s heart. On the contrary, it would make her even more resolute in standing firmly against Eldest Young Master.

She then quietly observed Li Jiancheng and saw the stiffness he could not quite conceal in his smile. Her heart ached even more.

It seemed that the Eldest Young Master did not wish to see the Third and Fifth still alive. Dou Huiming understood this in an instant.

In fact, even if the Second and Third did not return themselves, they could have sent trusted aides to reassure the family.

As the commander-in-chief, the Second could have temporarily dispatched personal guards to deliver the news, then have them return to Zhangye without delaying the march. But the Second and Third only sent back a servant from the Duke of Tang’s household. Although the servant brought back spoils taken from the Turks and rewards bestowed by the emperor, Dou Huiming keenly sensed that the Second and Third had, in the end, grown distant from this family.

No wonder things felt awkward—how could they not? Hadn’t Second Son and Third Son already shown enough forbearance?

It was already enough. More than enough.

Li Yuan was not as sensitive as Dou Huiming, and he failed to notice that something warm and affectionate was missing in the way Li Shimin and Li Xuanba handled matters.

Li Shimin, Li Xuanba, and Li Zhiyun had all written letters in their own hand to Li Yuan, Dou Huiming, and Lady Wan, and had even sent back many gifts. In Li Yuan’s view, they had already done more than enough. As for any small oversights, those could be attributed to the urgent military situation in Dunhuang.

The contents of the three letters were largely the same—reporting that they were safe, and expressing regret that they could not return home to visit their parents.

When Dou Huiming held the letters, she felt something was off. She recalled how, after taking charge of the charity estate, she had often exchanged secret correspondence with Li Xuanba. After returning to her room, she soaked the letter paper in a medicinal solution, and new writing appeared on the reverse side.

It was Li Xuanba’s handwriting.

Li Xuanba told his mother that he had already persuaded the rebel king to launch a surprise attack on Yang Guang. He asked her to convince Father to remain safely in Taiyuan Commandery, and preferably to put on a show of resisting the Eastern Turks—then go out to the steppe to avoid this major event.

He also asked her to continue paying close attention to the charity estate. In the future, it would serve as an intelligence post for their campaign into the Central Plains, and absolutely could not be lost.

At the end, Li Xuanba expressed his gratitude to his mother.

“Mother was only one day away from saving me. This was not Mother’s fault—it’s just that Heaven seems to have it out for me. Mother worked hard going to see Yang Guang. I regret not being able to witness Mother unleashing her might in front of him with my own eyes. Second Brother’s wild gesturing as he described how formidable Mother was was truly an eyesore.

Mother, I’ve been diligently recuperating. My health is gradually improving. The matter of rescuing the emperor did not drain me much—I only watched the battlefield from afar, from a safe place. If Second Brother files a complaint, Mother must not believe him.

However, Mother should give Second Brother a thorough scolding. He always insists on charging at the front himself. Blades have no eyes—what if something went wrong? No matter how I try to persuade him, he won’t listen. I can only place my hopes in Mother…”

Reading Li Xuanba’s rambling, long-winded letter, Dou Huiming hurriedly pressed a handkerchief beneath her eyes, afraid that her tears would fall and smudge the faint writing.

“He really does deserve a good scolding,” Dou Huiming said through tears and laughter. “So reckless himself, yet he still wants to complain about his little brother. Isn’t Third Son far more sensible than you?”

She reread one particular line again and again. It took a long time—half the candle had burned down—before she reached the final passage.

“I heard from Second Brother that, when he parted from you, he stopped calling you ‘Niangniang’ and instead changed to ‘Mother.’ He’s so careless that he didn’t even realize there was an issue. I suspect Mother might be worried about this change, fearing that Second Brother was shaken because of what happened to me. In truth, Second Brother was just startled into feeling that he ought to grow up, so he put on an air of maturity and stopped calling you ‘Niangniang’ like he did when we were little.

He should have done this long ago! A grown man with a wife, still whining ‘Father, Mother’ like a spoiled child—how shameless!

By the way, there wasn’t enough alum, so I was the only one who could write. I’ll secretly send more letters later. Second Brother and Little Five have already written theirs too—they’re itching to send them.

Also, the enemy situation in Dunhuang Commandery is fake—meant to fool Yang Guang and Father. (Here’s a strange but very cute smug little stick-figure drawing.)”

Dou Huiming’s eyes widened.

She stood frozen for a long while. Only when tears slid down her cheeks did she hurriedly wipe them away, then cover her face.

Third Son really was… far too thoughtful and considerate.

Her Third Son had never left his mother, never turned his back and refused to look back.

At last, Dou Huiming admitted it to herself—she truly was biased.

And she deserved to be.

“This little stick figure sticking out its tongue with hands on its hips was definitely drawn by Second Son,” Dou Huiming said, gently stroking the letter paper. For the first time since learning that Li Xuanba had been in danger, she showed a relaxed smile. “That child—he didn’t carve strange drawings onto the stone stele at Yanran Mountain too, did he?”

…

“As for me, I carved a ‘victory-sign pose’ onto the stone stele at Yanran Mountain—the kind Little Brother often draws,” Li Shimin said proudly after retreating to the carriage to escape the sun.

Li Xuanba hurriedly denied it. “I didn’t!”

Li Zhiyun said slowly, “Third Brother, just admit it. You’re the one who corrupted Second Brother. If, a thousand years from now, someone sees that stele and laughs at Second Brother, you’ll bear part of the blame.”

Li Xuanba argued stubbornly, “I’m not even on the stele. If later generations mock Second Brother, what does it have to do with me?”

Li Shimin laughed smugly. “Of course I carved you and Little Five in too. ‘Li Shimin, together with his younger brothers Li Xuanba and Li Zhiyun, was here.’ Though when I wanted to carve Luo Shixin’s name as well, the other generals refused. Sigh.”

Li Xuanba’s mouth twitched. “Don’t carve things randomly!”

Li Zhiyun didn’t share their amusement. He asked in confusion, “Second Brother, you carved Third Brother and me onto the Yanran stele, but later histories will definitely record that Third Brother and I were rescuing the emperor at Yanmen Commandery. If later generations notice the contradiction, won’t they think we were lying?”

Li Shimin spread his hands. “I don’t care. I’m carving you in no matter what.”

Li Xuanba sighed. “Fine. We’ll just add another note in the Veritable Records of Emperor Taizong later, so future generations won’t misunderstand.”

Li Zhiyun pouted. “Why must it be Taizong? Why not Gaozu?”

Li Xuanba rolled his eyes. “If Father insists on proclaiming himself king or emperor, can Second Brother really send troops to attack him? Filial piety outweighs everything—he’d have no choice but to endure it.”

Li Zhiyun said, “Then Father would be rather shameless. With Father’s abilities, I doubt he could win the realm on his own.”

Li Xuanba replied, “If Father really stiffened his spine, taking Daxing would still be easy enough.”

With his arms crossed, Li Zhiyun sneered. “Lord Gao, Lord Xue, Lord Yuwen, Lord Changsun, and the rest are all in Daxing. Of course attacking Daxing is easy—and all of them are Second Brother’s and Third Brother’s connections!”

Li Shimin said, “Although I also think Father’s talent for warfare is quite average, with the prestige of the Duke of Tang’s household, even without me, the Guanzhong aristocracy would surely support Father in replacing Yang Guang. But I want Father to understand that even without the Guanzhong nobles’ support, I can still conquer the realm. It is they who should come to us—not us relying on them. He must not grant them excessive favor just to secure their backing.”

Li Xuanba added, “Otherwise, in the future, reducing official positions and noble titles will be very troublesome for you.”

Li Shimin sighed, “Exactly.”

Li Zhiyun looked puzzled. “What does ‘Guanlong aristocracy’ refer to?”

Li Shimin said, “Let your third brother explain it to you. Ugh, it’s so stuffy in the carriage; I’m going out for a ride.”

Li Shimin went out, but after being exposed to the sun, he came back in, and once inside the carriage, he couldn’t sit still and wanted to go out again.

Li Zhiyun watched his second brother pacing in and out and whispered to Li Xuanba, “Second brother is so annoying.”

Li Xuanba chuckled, “Indeed.”

The very troublesome Li Shimin, upon arriving at Wuwei Commandery, encountered Fang Qiao and the others who had come to welcome him. Of course, Changsun Kangning had also come, bringing along two golden eagles that were no longer chicks.

Before Changsun Kangning could even have a good cry with Li Xuanba in his wheelchair, the two eagles rushed into Li Xuanba’s arms, hiccupping as they cried.

Li Xuanba hugged the two almost unmanageable eagles, laughing and crying at the same time. “Even when grown, you’ll always be my eagle chicks.”

Han Gou and Wu Di cried in exactly the same way, burying their heads in Li Xuanba’s lap, making it impossible to tell one from the other.

“All right, stop crying. I’m back, I’m fine, I won’t scare you anymore,” Li Xuanba wiped their tears and looked up. “You guys don’t cry either. I’m perfectly safe…”

Fang Qiao and Du Ruhui cursed loudly, “This is what you call ‘perfectly safe’?!”

Gao Baoren cried so hard he nearly turned away, gasping, “You—this is ‘perfectly safe’?”

Du Ruhui said, “If you’re ‘perfectly safe,’ can you stand up and walk a few steps?”

Fang Qiao, wiping his tears with a sneer, said, “If you’re fine, then stand up.”

Li Xuanba awkwardly said, “I’ve got two eagle chicks in my arms, I can’t stand.”

Gao Baoren, still crying, grabbed Physician Sun’s and Yuwen Zhu’s hands, ignoring all gender boundaries. “Thank you, thank you, thank you for bringing Third Brother back. Sob Thank you!”

Physician Sun said, “It’s my duty.”

Yuwen Zhu said, “Brother Gao, stop crying. Third Brother is really fine now, so rest assured.”

Gao Baoren cried, “When I first saw Third Brother, he was still so small.”

He let go of their hands and gestured at his waist. “This small, smaller than Second Brother by a full circle. Back then his health was poor, always getting sick every few days. His arms were as thin as bamboo segments. It was so hard… so hard to finally see him gain a bit of flesh, to see him ride freely on the grasslands, even shoot a bow and arrow—though still crooked…”

Li Xuanba grit his teeth and interrupted, “My aim is fine, it’s just that I can’t draw a strong bow!”

Gao Baoren cried, “Now you probably can’t even draw the toy bows you had as a kid.”

Li Xuanba, offended, said, “Senior brother, please shut up!”

Gao Baoren, still crying, ruffled Li Xuanba’s hair. “Call me brother. Forget Li Jiancheng; I’m your only brother from now on.”

Li Shimin, who had been moved to tears himself, pointed at himself and cried, “Senior brother is the only brother, then what am I?”

Gao Baoren said, “Aren’t you the second brother? Look at you, do you have the posture of a real elder brother?”

Li Shimin shouted, crying, “No way! A-Xuan only has me as his brother, only me! You’re senior brother, you’re not allowed to compete with me for a little brother!”

Li Xuanba awkwardly tried to get the two eagle chicks to dig a hole with their claws for him to hide in. “Enough! Stop arguing about this strange thing! Everyone else is laughing at you!”

Li Zhiyun interjected at just the right moment, teasing, “Third Brother, don’t worry. They’re crying, not laughing.”

As soon as he spoke, the few who were still crying all laughed.

Li Xuanba: “…”

Li Zhiyun added, “They weren’t laughing just now.”

Li Xuanba sighed deeply, lowering his head. “Brother, please just shut up.”

Li Zhiyun tilted his head and pretended to be innocent.

Luo Shixin confirmed again: Jihong hadn’t been beaten by his brothers together for a long time, so now he was itching for it.

Li Xuanba gave the wheelchair-pushing Li Zhiyun a “just wait” look and continued comforting their friends.

Though Fang Qiao, Du Ruhui, and the others still couldn’t stop their tears, at least they could speak normally.

Xue Yuanjing and Xue Deyin also felt a bit uncomfortable. But compared with the others’ wailing, they couldn’t fully express it and appeared overly restrained, a bit awkward.

Yet Li Xuanba kindly gave them a grateful glance, which soothed their hearts while making their tears flow even more.

Li Xuanba: “….” Awkward.

Li Shimin and Changsun Kangning wiped each other’s tears. Li Shimin said, “A-Xuan, look how many people have suffered for you. You must never take risks again.”

Li Xuanba raised both hands. “I know my mistake. I absolutely won’t take risks again.”

Actually, he hadn’t really taken risks before—it was just some idiot who stirred up trouble behind the scenes!

Fang Qiao, calm and mature, was the first to recover. He asked, “Dade, can you guess who did it?”

Li Xuanba’s eyes suddenly became calm, and his tone flat: “Li Mi.”

Li Shimin had already discussed this on the way back, but when Li Xuanba said these two characters, Li Shimin’s overflowing tears stopped abruptly, like a dam snapping shut.

“Let’s talk slowly back home. A-Xuan is tired; let him rest a few days in Wuwei Commandery,” Li Shimin said. “Don’t crowd him—let him catch his breath. Han Gou, Wu Di!”

Han Gou and Wu Di trembled and obediently jumped to the ground like ordinary chickens.

Li Xuanba looked at them and gave his second brother a reproachful glance.

When he wasn’t looking, his second brother had definitely given Han Gou and Wu Di overly harsh training, scaring the eagle chicks.

Li Shimin’s authority as the lord was increasingly evident. After he ordered it with a stern face, even Gao Baoren stopped crying, though he still choked up.

Du Ruhui, serious, said, “Knowing who it is is enough. Leave the rest to us. Li San, you rest well.”

Li Xuanba objected, “I want to take revenge myself. And merely planning isn’t tiring. Being locked in a room would be boring.”

Du Ruhui sighed helplessly. “My lord, do something about your third brother.”

Li Shimin said, “I’ll keep an eye on him. I won’t let him overexert himself. If A-Xuan wants to take revenge on his own, let him have his way. But the journey has been exhausting, A-Xuan—you must rest for a few days.”

Li Xuanba replied firmly, “Understood.”

Changsun Kangning took Yuwen Zhu’s hand. “Shall we share a room? I want to hear from you about what you’ve been through.”

Yuwen Zhu laughed and pinched Changsun Kangning’s cheek. “Alright.”

Changsun Kangning rubbed against her hand. “Is my skin a bit rough? It feels rough, but riding and hunting is really fun. No wonder Er Lang likes it.”

The two sisters chattered quietly as they climbed into a carriage.

Li Shimin took over from Li Zhiyun to push the carriage.

Li Xuanba thought: [I told you, Second Sister-in-law is so obsessed with hunting, she must have forgotten about you. Instant karma!]

Li Shimin replied: [Shut up!]

Li Xuanba: [Tsk tsk, getting angry out of embarrassment. Instant karma, instant karma.]

Li Shimin: [Be quiet.]

Li Xuanba: [Ever since you learned to say two words from your heart, the frequency of ‘be quiet’ has gone way up. Can you use another phrase?]

Li Shimin: [Silence.]

Li Xuanba: [Boring.]

Li Shimin showed a look of helplessness.

Du Ruhui whispered to Fang Qiao, “They’re definitely communicating in some way we don’t understand again.”

Fang Qiao nodded nostalgically.

Pei Xingyan asked Changsun Wuji, puzzled, “What way we don’t understand?”

Changsun Wuji rubbed his swollen, tear-streaked eyes. “I said I don’t understand. How should I know?”

Oh mother, he had already cried once before, thinking that was enough. Who knew this group, while crying themselves, would make him cry even more—harder than before.

He wasn’t even someone who cried easily.

It’s all Second Brother’s fault—he’s turned everyone around him into crybabies, just like Third Brother said!

Qin Qiong, Zong Luohou, Luo Shixin, and Xue Ju, who had finally grown close to Qin Qiong and the others, walked together, chatting about who would earn the most merit once they returned to the Western Regions.

Li Zhiyun, too lazy to care about his secretly communicating Second and Third brothers, squeezed into this group of warriors and thumped his chest. “Of course, it’s me!”

Seeing Qin Qiong and the others’ awkward expressions, Luo Shixin patted Li Zhiyun’s shoulder. “Jihong may be a bit arrogant, but he’s easy to get along with. You’ll see later. But Jihong, you’re too young—go stand aside.”

Li Zhiyun let out a “Ha!” and punched Luo Shixin on the chin.

Luo Shixin: “…”

He lifted his leg to kick.

Li Zhiyun kicked back.

The two youngest warriors were kicking and hitting each other while walking.

Li Xuanba said: “Immature. All your fault. Can’t you teach something good for once, my lord?”

Li Shimin looked utterly baffled. “How is this my fault? Fine, I’m the lord—I’ll take the blame.”

Qin Qiong, Zong Luohou, and Xue Ju exchanged glances, unsure whether they should intervene.

Pei Xingyan noticed the commotion and shouted: “Shixin, kick Jihong’s butt! Jihong, punch Shixin in the eyes! That’s it!”

Changsun Wuji facepalmed. “Would you just be quiet?”

Gao Baoren tried to mediate but, seeing the two fighting so fiercely, gave up and returned.

Xue Yuanjing and Xue Deyin glanced at Fang Qiao and Du Ruhui.

Fang Qiao kept his eyes straight ahead.

Du Ruhui shrugged. “Why bother? Children fighting is normal—let them be.”

The Xue uncle and nephew exchanged a look, already sensing life would be very noisy from now on.