LFHYB -Chapter 216 Sometimes Like Strangers

Li Shimin really hadn’t done anything.

He had simply returned from the Grand Canal, disembarked in Luoyang to resupply, and then found himself unable to leave.

Normally, when Li Shimin arrived with an army, civilians would keep their distance. But now, the people of Luoyang crowded around him, begging him to ascend the throne. He couldn’t exactly order his soldiers to clear them away.

Pei Xingyan and Changsun Wuji, his two deputy commanders, both stood aside with folded arms, saying they dared not handle such a matter on their own and leaving it to Li Shimin.

Li Jing, who had returned with him to attend his enthronement and planned to head south afterward to pacify the people and suppress remaining bandits, simply pretended to be ill. He carried “self-preservation” to the extreme.

Feng Ang, who had entered the capital with Li Jing, was trembling with fear.

He had lived through the Chen and Sui dynasties and now had submitted to Tang. He considered himself well-informed. Although the Feng family had long been stationed in Lingnan, they had never abandoned the traditions of scholarly families, and Feng Ang was well read in history.

Whether from personal experience or books, he had never seen anything like this—being “forced to ascend the throne”!

This time, Feng Ang had brought a large part of his family to the capital, letting his sons broaden their horizons in Chang’an.

If they stayed away from the Central Plains, they might grow narrow-minded, thinking that remote Lingnan was the whole world and feeling content to be local tyrants. Only by seeing the prosperity of the heartland could they avoid making mistakes when they returned.

Moreover, not all of the Feng family could remain in Lingnan. Some sons had to seek official posts at court, or else the family would be left behind by Central Plains culture and degenerate into “barbarians.” So Feng Ang brought all thirty of his sons with him.

Now, not only was Feng Ang trembling, but his thirty sons were trembling around him as well.

“Father, was it like this when Sui emperors ascended the throne? I’ve never read about it in the history books!”

“Don’t talk nonsense. How could a Tang emperor be the same as a Sui emperor? I think Tang might even become another Han dynasty!”

After the Han dynasty, there had been no long-lasting unified golden age. Even now, many people still called themselves Han and missed that era—when even mediocre emperors gave the people better lives than in times of chaos.

The Wei, Jin, and Northern–Southern Dynasties had lasted for centuries. The Sui briefly unified the realm, only to collapse in two generations. To most people, Sui was just another episode of turmoil—a short pause for breath.

Feng Zhida, Feng Ang’s second son, who was scheduled to stay in the capital, said, “Even if it’s only like the Sui—with nearly forty years of peace—that’s still a whole generation living in stability.”

His younger brother Feng Zhidai whispered, “During those thirty-plus years of Sui, at least ten years weren’t any better than chaos for the people. At least, that’s how it was in Lingnan.”

In earlier troubled times, Lingnan could remain relatively safe. As long as the Feng family acted uprightly, the people didn’t suffer too much.

But under Emperor Yang of Sui, even Lingnan had to bear corvée labor.

Feng Ang frowned and stopped his youngest son. “I’ve heard that His Highness the Crown Prince once served as Prince of Qin under Sui and was deeply trusted by the Sui emperor. He may not like hearing you criticize Emperor Yang. I told you to be cautious and guard against disaster coming from your mouth. Have you forgotten?”

Feng Zhidai lowered his head hastily. “I wouldn’t dare.”

Feng Ang sighed. “Being able to witness this with our own eyes is also a blessing. If Tang truly becomes another Han, lasting over a hundred years, and our family guards Lingnan for it, history will surely record us in bold strokes.”

The Feng family members all straightened their backs.

For generations, they had remained in Lingnan, passing down wealth and status. Beyond preserving their family, what they sought most was a lasting name in history.

Feng Ang said to his second son, “You fought too much in your youth and still have old injuries. I’m keeping you in the capital not only as a hostage, but also because Chang’an’s climate may suit you better, and there are many famous physicians here.”

“If your health improves, and you serve such an emperor, he may not fear our family’s position in Lingnan and will give you chances to achieve merit. You won’t have to wait for the next generation.”

Feng Zhida cupped his hands in salute, filled with longing.

To follow such an emperor—even just to hold His Majesty’s reins—was far better than being a petty tyrant in Lingnan.

In a corner, Feng Zhidai, who had been ordered by his father to reflect in silence, rolled his eyes. A trace of cunning appeared in them.

Li Shimin was forced to remain in Luoyang to appease the people. Gao Jiong went to Chang’an to fetch Li Xuanba to resolve the situation.

Li Shimin insisted that such a huge mess must be A-Xuan’s fault!

Gao Jiong agreed. Only Li Xuanba would cause this kind of trouble—and only he would dare to.

When Gao Jiong arrived in Chang’an and heard Li Xuanba insist that everything was Li Shimin’s fault, he was genuinely confused for once.

Could it be that the people of Luoyang “detained” Li Shimin and refused to let him leave by accident?

How could commoners dare to do such a thing?!

At present, Li Shimin was only the Crown Prince. Li Yuan was still the emperor. Although everyone at court knew that Li Shimin held real power, in name, Li Yuan still had to formally abdicate. If Li Shimin truly ascended the throne in Luoyang, that would be usurpation.

Was there really such a thing in the world as an emperor being forced by the people to usurp the throne?!

Gao Jiong was nearly eighty years old. He had truly never seen anything like this.

After his initial shock, Li Xuanba calmed down, and his surprise turned into excitement.

Being detained was great! The effect was even better than the stage he had set up himself!

Li Xuanba asked Gao Jiong to remain in Chang’an and, together with the veteran ministers Pei Shiju and Su Wei, prepare for his second brother’s enthronement ceremony. Meanwhile, he led the already-prepared “petition-for-accession” actors out of Chang’an. Along the way, they inspected disaster-relief efforts by local officials while spreading the story of what had happened in Luoyang.

The people of Luoyang firmly believed that Crown Prince Li Shimin was the true Son of Heaven. When the young Sui emperor burned himself to death, the Sui dynasty had already transferred the Mandate of Heaven to Li Shimin. His delay in ascending the throne was what caused the nation’s fortune to go untended, disturbing the dragon veins and angering the earth dragon.

Li Shimin should never have been a mere crown prince!

He was Li Shimin, Prince of Qin of the Great Sui, who had received the abdication—he should have become emperor directly!

Along the way, the disaster victims were originally numb to earthquakes. They had long been used to bearing everything themselves.

The Tang dynasty had only just been established. Even the crown prince still personally led troops into battle. It was already good enough if their corvée and taxes were reduced—who would expect the government to rescue them?

Yet officials actually sent people to investigate their losses, organized them to clear rubble and resume production, and even distributed grain.

The refugees worried that if they ate government grain today, tomorrow they would be dragged to the Goguryeo battlefield, or forced to dig another canal.

But that was tomorrow’s problem. For now, they obediently followed orders, offering no resistance. Surviving today came first.

One day, two days, three days…

Every day, officials only arranged for them to clear debris and replant fields. There was no talk of relocating them to the frontier, nor of fighting Goguryeo.

The Turks had been fought—but that was done personally by His Highness the Crown Prince. Even back when he was Prince of Qin of Sui, he loved going to the steppe to capture Turkic khagans. Now he had gone again and caught a few more. It had nothing to do with ordinary people.

As they worked together, the refugees whispered among themselves.

“Is this the good emperor they talk about in storybooks? That Emperor Wen of Han? I thought those stories were fake.”

“What? Emperor Wen really existed? I thought village elders made him up to fool children.”

“Wasn’t the Han dynasty a really, really long time ago? Were the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors also Han emperors?”

“I heard this story too! The Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors fought for the realm, and in the end Qin Shi Huang and Han Gaozu fought at Chu River!”

“Huh? Was it Qin Shi Huang? Wasn’t it Xiang Yu, the Hegemon-King of Western Chu?”

Among the refugees were also some minor gentry landlords who had read a few books.

In good years, they could eat well and travel to study. When disasters came, they fell to the same level as the tenant farmers who once worked their land. If they survived, rebuilt their homes, and replanted their fields, they would recover faster than ordinary farmers. But before that, they too could only live on relief grain and labor for the government.

Such men were usually village elders. Most of them were “down to earth” and did not consider it shameful to talk with peasants. They were the emerging class of poor scholars.

Hearing these wildly inaccurate “legendary stories,” they could not restrain themselves and stepped forward to tell their fellow villagers the “real history.”

Although most of what they told was unofficial history—with little “history” and plenty of “wild tales”—they insisted that the Han dynasty’s “Rule of Wen and Jing,” “Prosperity of Emperor Wu,” “Reign of Emperor Xuan,” “Restoration under Guangwu,” “Rule of Ming and Zhang,” and “Prosperity of Yongyuan” were all real.

The refugees were stunned.

Such a long-lasting dynasty? So many good emperors? So many eras where the government provided relief instead of exploiting disasters to squeeze the people?

Life under the Han must have been wonderful!

The poor scholars wanted to say that the Han also had periods of heavy taxation and oppression—such as Emperor Wu’s later years, when industries declined and more than half the population fled. But he later repented, and with his capable grandson Emperor Xuan, the dynasty revived.

Yet the words stuck in their throats.

If they said that, the refugees would surely reply: at least there was hope. Unlike now, when meeting a bad emperor meant chaos ahead, not hope for a better one.

How unimaginable it was to firmly believe that a dynasty would not collapse, that chaos would not come—that one only needed to wait for the next good emperor.

“Then how did such a Han dynasty perish?” the refugees asked.

“Because Han emperors also believed Heaven favored them, abused the people at will, and stopped treating them well. So the people rose in rebellion—just as they rebelled against Sui, they rebelled against Han,” said a middle-aged man dressed like a Confucian scholar, with a slightly strange accent. “Whoever treats the people well, the people will support and let him remain emperor. If he treats them badly, making life under his rule no better than in chaos, then it’s better to enter chaos—neither people nor emperor will survive.”

The refugees laughed.

“You shouldn’t say things like that. Be careful or you’ll lose your head.”

But they only laughed and didn’t take it seriously.

A clerk nearby shook his head, clasped his hands behind his back, and walked away, also unconcerned.

After all, the aftershocks of chaos had not yet faded. The people and clerks here had probably all once been “rebels.”

Now that peace had returned and people could live without becoming bandits, they had turned back from “rebels” into “commoners.”

“Master Wang, why are you here?” A man dressed as a military officer came over. “His Highness has summoned you. I’ve been looking for you everywhere.”

The refugees were startled.

There’s a big official hiding among us?!

The Confucian scholar who had just been contradicting himself stood up, straightened his sleeves and hem, adjusted his headpiece, and followed the military officers out.

Only after he left did the disaster victims begin whispering again. The discussion was especially intense among scholars from poor backgrounds, and even minor clerks joined in.

“Who was that man just now?!”

“He’s the teacher from our village. No—well, not really. He said he wanders the world and takes students wherever he goes.”

“Opening academies everywhere?! Isn’t that like the great scholars of the late Han dynasty? What’s his name?”

“I heard he’s called Wang Yun, courtesy name Shouyi.”

“Could he be a great scholar from the Taiyuan Wang clan?!”

“No, I heard he’s from the south.”

“Then it must be the Langya Wang clan! He’s from Langya!”

They had actually seen a great aristocratic scholar in person—it was as if someone had stepped out of the yellowed pages of history books. The students were overwhelmed with excitement.

The farmers scratched their heads, feeling excited too.

After all, he was like a character from storybooks!

A great scholar who could lift city gates!

“Master Wang, I informed you in advance, yet you still made me wait so long.”

Li Xuanba, who had been reading under a tree, closed his book and joked,

“As expected of a great scholar from a noble clan—you really know how to put on airs.”

Wang Yun smiled bitterly.

“Your Highness, Prince of Jin, isn’t it because you arrived a day early that I wasn’t waiting for you at my residence?”

Li Xuanba blinked.

“Is that so?”

A woman in plain clothes with a gentle smile spoke in a rough voice:

“Your Highness, you’re still the same as before—always bullying my husband.”

Li Xuanba tucked the book into his belt and laughed.

“I wouldn’t dare bully a great scholar of the Langya Wang clan. The scholars of the realm would spit on me. It’s been so long—I almost didn’t recognize you.”

Wang Yun cupped his hands and smiled faintly without speaking.

Wang Yun, courtesy name Shouyi, was a descendant of the Langya Wang clan that had lived in Jingzhao since the Northern Wei. He was also the new identity of Wang Bo, the former ‘Zhishi Lang’.

His reinvention had involved all of Li Xuanba’s teachers.

Though they scolded Li Xuanba for being a “mad scholar,” they were extremely enthusiastic about participating. Li Xuanba firmly believed that all his teachers had rebellious streaks.

Of course, people like Gao Jiong were mainly curious—

Could someone turn a mere blacksmith-turned-bandit leader into a universally praised great scholar in just a few years?

If “great scholars” could truly be manufactured as Li Xuanba planned, those who already bore that title would feel very conflicted.

On one hand, they hated the idea that “great scholars are created by hype.”

On the other hand, if a blacksmith could become a great scholar in a few years, then Confucian sages’ dream of enlightening the people was not empty talk—it was a distant and difficult road, but one that could reach its destination.

Though Wang Yun had once been a blacksmith, he could read and write and had studied some books; otherwise, he could never have become “Zhishi Lang.”

He was extremely intelligent, almost photographic in memory, and quick in understanding. After staying in the Western Capital for just one year, Li Xuanba’s true scholar-teachers sent him away to travel and study.

Now that Li Shimin was about to ascend the throne and planned to summon famous recluses to court, Wang Yun was on the recruitment list.

Since Li Xuanba happened to pass by Wang Yun’s place of seclusion, he met with his old friend and chatted about recent events.

Wang Yun asked curiously, “Was what happened in Luoyang part of Your Highness’s plan?”

Li Xuanba darkened his face.

“No. I think my second brother did something.”

Wang Yun laughed.

“Then it means the people voluntarily asked Prince of Qin to take the throne. Congratulations to both Your Highnesses—this is public support.”

Li Xuanba said, “It’s public support, but also a sword hanging over the throne. If the people can lift my brother onto the throne, they can also overturn the chair under him and lift someone else up. Master Wang, you should be the one to make this clear to the people.”

Wang Yun grew solemn and bowed again in silence.

Sun Xuanya rubbed her nose.

“Every time I hear you talk like this, I wonder if you’re crazy.”

Li Xuanba replied, “That’s how mad scholars are. My teachers say I have the spirit of the Wei-Jin era.”

Sun Xuanya laughed so hard that her refined-lady façade collapsed, turning back into a tooth-baring countrywoman’s laugh.

“I’ve read plenty of books these years, Your Highness. Don’t fool me—Wei-Jin style isn’t like this.”

Li Xuanba spread his hands.

“I say it is, so it is. I’m a leader in literary circles now—what I say counts.”

Sun Xuanya bent over laughing. Even Wang Yun couldn’t keep his dignified scholar’s mask and laughed.

“Third Young Master speaks most truly.”

After chatting briefly, Li Xuanba did not keep them for a meal and personally saw them off.

To outsiders, it was merely that the Prince of Jin, having heard of the couple’s reputation, summoned them out of curiosity, admired them, and escorted them home.

Wang Yun accepted the prince’s reward, donated it to the government for disaster relief, and continued his simple life as a teacher.

This time, however, he no longer needed to travel in search of students.

Once he opened a lecture hall, students filled it like clouds.

Sun Xuanya’s girls’ school was finally established as well.

Even slightly well-off poor scholars were willing to hire her to teach their wives and daughters to read and write.

Li Xuanba met them briefly and departed just as quickly, each continuing their own path.

In Luoyang, the people had dug out the former Sui emperor’s clothing.

Li Shimin looked at the “Sui imperial robe found in some forgotten corner” presented by the people and kept rubbing his forehead.

“Do they think I’m stupid?! This is obviously newly embroidered!”

He ground his teeth.

“The people blocking me from leaving might be spontaneous, but this robe was definitely prepared by A-Xuan!”

Changsun Wuji said expressionlessly,

“Yes. And then what? Are you going to charge him with secretly sewing an imperial robe?”

Pei Xingyan jeered, “Hurry up and convict him—I’ve long disliked—huh? Li Er, why did you suddenly jump up?”

Li Shimin bolted outside.

“A-Xuan is here! He’s banging on the door like he’s coming to collect my life!”

Changsun Wuji and Pei Xingyan looked at each other.

Li Shimin was not staying in the unfinished palace, but in the small courtyard that he and Li Xuanba had once lived in and that was still well maintained.

Li Xuanba heard through the door the sound of Li Shimin speaking ill of him with Changsun Wuji and Pei Xingyan. Tentatively, he called out in his heart, and sure enough, his second brother responded.

The moment Li Shimin opened the door, he kicked toward Li Xuanba with a flying kick, making Yuwen Zhu’s face go pale.

Brother’s martial skills are terrifying… if this kick actually hits, won’t my husband break several bones?

But Li Xuanba showed no fear, not even bothering to dodge. As expected, Li Shimin stopped in front of him and lightly placed a footprint on the hem of his clothes.

Li Xuanba lifted his foot and kicked back.

Changsun Wuji and Pei Xingyan leaned against the door and sighed like door gods.

Which family greets each other by kicking one another?!

Pei Xingyan said, “My brother was just born. You and your brother… oh, your half-brother relationship is mediocre anyway.”

Although Changsun Wuji didn’t kick his own brother, he started kicking Pei Xingyan in return.

Yuwen Zhu watched, utterly speechless. Why are these men so childish? There are commoners watching on the street! Don’t you care about your dignity?

As the saying goes, “If the upper beam is crooked, the lower beam will lean.” Li Shimin and Li Xuanba didn’t care about face, and the dignity of their subordinates, Changsun Wuji and Pei Xingyan, was completely trampled by Li Erlang and Li Sanlang.

After greeting each other with kicks, Li Shimin put an arm around Li Xuanba’s shoulder. “Where’s Xiao Wu? I got trapped in Luoyang, and he didn’t come to save me?”

Li Xuanba replied, “I left Chang’an. He has to stay in the palace to assist Mother with disaster relief.”

Li Shimin’s smile vanished. “Is it serious?”

Li Xuanba nodded.

Li Shimin let his arm drop from Li Xuanba’s shoulder and self-deprecatingly said, “Even if I ascend the throne, I still can’t stop natural disasters.”

Li Xuanba said, “But you can become an emperor who knows how to handle disaster relief.”

He stopped in his tracks.

Li Shimin stepped forward a few paces, saw his brother didn’t follow, and turned around suspiciously.

Pei Xingyan and Changsun Wuji looked at Li Xuanba with confusion.

Li Xuanba lifted his robe and knelt. “The world is still in chaos, disasters strike again, the people suffer, and we urgently need a good emperor. I beg the Crown Prince to ascend the throne and save the people!”

Li Shimin’s face changed drastically. He grabbed Li Xuanba and scolded, “I said it before, now and in the future, you must never kneel to me! If you kneel to me as emperor, then I truly am alone in the world!”

Li Xuanba said, “I kneel this once for the people of the world. I will not kneel again.”

Li Shimin’s lips twitched; the words he wanted to say were stuck in his throat, and for a long moment, he could not speak.

Li Xuanba said, “Second Brother, ascend the throne.”

Li Shimin said, “If I take advantage of the people’s support now, the backlash from the people could end a dynasty in a single generation.”

Li Xuanba said, “Water can carry a boat, but it can also overturn it. Isn’t this something you’ve long known, Second Brother?”

Li Shimin said, “But water doesn’t usually flow this violently.”

Li Xuanba said, “I admit, I’ve made a tiny contribution to it.”

Li Shimin pressed his hands onto Li Xuanba’s shoulders, fingers tightening slightly.

Li Xuanba felt the pain but didn’t make a sound.

Changsun Wuji and Pei Xingyan silently stepped back, wanting to leave but not daring to.

At that moment, they realized that the Princess of Jin, Yuwen Zhu, who had been walking alongside them, and the guards Li Xuanba had brought, were all gone.

“A-Xuan, sometimes I feel as if you’re not just my twin brother, but a stranger with hostility toward me.”

“I swear, that’s just an illusion. I could never have hostility toward Second Brother.”

“Yes, you only have hostility toward the emperor.”

“An illusion. Second Brother, I suggest you see Doctor Sun.”

Li Shimin withdrew his hands and smoothed the wrinkles on Li Xuanba’s shoulders. “Forget it. What’s your plan? How do I ascend the throne? I can’t really do it in Luoyang—that would be usurpation.”

Li Xuanba said, “Father will announce abdication on an auspicious day soon. You will receive the edict in Luoyang, and the people will present you the imperial robe. You will wear it and walk through the disaster-stricken regions with your subordinates, taking a week or two to return to Chang’an. On the day you enter the city, Father will meet you outside the city with the ministers and crown you with the imperial diadem.”

Li Shimin twitched at the corner of his mouth. “I’ve never heard of an ascension ceremony like that.”

Li Xuanba said, “Now there is one. Emperor Wen of Tang will become a sage emperor surpassing Emperor Wen of Han. This ascension ceremony will become one that future emperors dream of. Oh, and leave a posthumous will—tell your descendants not to randomly assign posthumous titles, or they’ll become worthless.”

Li Shimin: “…Oh.”

Alright, my infuriating A-Xuan is back.