LFHYB -Chapter 54 Li Sanlang Ordered to Write Lyrics

Li Shimin completely ignored Li Xuanba’s scolding.

After a full day of hunting, Fang Qiao, Du Ruhui, and Xue Shou were so sore they could hardly sleep, while Li Shimin seemed unaffected.

The next day, he called on his friends one by one to go hunting. When no one accompanied him, he went hunting alone.

When Li Xuanba woke up, he immediately mounted his horse to look for his brother, worried Li Shimin would go after wild beasts again.

The day before, Li Xuanba had deliberately asked the officials in the imperial hunting grounds to drive the beasts far away.

Li Shimin did want to hunt another dangerous beast, but unfortunately didn’t see any.

He wanted the officials to release a few wild beasts, but seeing his brother’s gaze—scarier than any beast—he could only play with rabbits, foxes, and deer with regret.

On the third day, Fang Qiao, Du Ruhui, and Xue Shou finally hunted with Li Shimin again. Naturally, they didn’t catch as much as him.

Li Xuanba spent each day just riding around leisurely, not catching a single rabbit.

Li Shimin hung half of his hunted prey on the back of Li Xuanba’s horse and laughed: “Consider this yours, A-Xuan.”

Li Xuanba looked back at the bloodied horseback and frowned: “Take it to the carriage. Do you want to parade it around on the horse’s back?”

Li Shimin placed his hands on his waist: “Yes, that’s exactly what I want!”

He wanted to show off! Must show off!

Li Xuanba said: “Prey must be processed immediately, or it will rot. You want to carry a bunch of rotten meat home?”

Li Shimin dropped his hands and let his head hang like a frostbitten eggplant.

Du Ruhui laughed and patted Li Shimin’s drooping head.

Fang Qiao, realizing from Li Xuanba’s words that Li Shimin would be his future lord, had wanted to remain composed. But seeing Li Shimin not resisting at all, he couldn’t help but pat him too.

The head of my future lord… no wonder Li Sanlang told me to pat it quickly. If I don’t do it now, I’ll miss the chance.

Li Shimin looked at Xue Shou: “You’re not going to pat it?”

Xue Shou: “…You really like having your head patted?”

Li Shimin sighed: “Not really, but I’m used to it.”

Xue Shou hesitated, then also patted Li Shimin’s head twice. He didn’t want to, but he didn’t want to stand out either.

Xue Shou laughed: “Li Erlang really is a young hero. Patting him a few times will let me absorb some heroic aura too.”

Fang Qiao and Du Ruhui nodded in agreement.

At ten years old, hunting a tiger… that’s incredible.

Du Ruhui said: “The great general Han Qinhut captured a tiger at thirteen. Li Erlang hunts a tiger at ten—he’s comparable to the top generals of the Sui Dynasty.”

Li Shimin humbly said: “Capturing a tiger alive is much harder than hunting one, and I didn’t hunt it alone. Without the guards, I wouldn’t dare duel a tiger. The guards deserve half the credit for this hunt. A-Xuan, you mustn’t punish them.”

Li Xuanba said, “I didn’t say I was going to punish them.”

Li Shimin replied, “I want you to say a few kind words in front of Father and Mother. Just say that I suddenly dashed out and the guards bravely came to protect me, understand?”

Li Xuanba glanced at the grateful expressions of the guards and sighed, “Alright.”

In his heart, he thought: If you already knew your recklessness could get the guards punished, you shouldn’t have done it.

Li Shimin scratched his head and gave an awkward smile. He hadn’t thought about this until after he had hunted the tiger.

Seeing that Li Shimin had calmed down from the excitement of the hunt and the first thing he did was remind his younger brother to tell a little lie to protect their loyal guards, Fang Qiao felt a warmth in his heart.

As the saying goes, “A child’s nature at three predicts their character in later life,” and by ten, one can fully see a person’s inner qualities.

No wonder Li Xuanba said that the Tang dynasty could see a flourishing era under Li Erlang. Just from the heroic aura and kind heart Li Erlang already displayed, one could foresee the makings of a wise ruler.

Du Ruhui and Xue Shou did not know that Li Erlang would one day become their sovereign; they simply grew to admire Li Shimin even more.

Previously, they only thought that this child, Li Shimin, was clever and were willing to interact with him regardless of his age.

But people naturally admire heroes. Li Shimin, at the age of ten, managed to hunt a lame tiger with the help of the guards. Beyond his martial ability, his composure in danger, along with his evident thoughtfulness and kindness, earned him even more respect from his young friends.

After three days of hunting, Li Shimin returned to the Eastern Capital with the game already divided, extremely happy.

On the way, he stopped a resting old farmer sitting on a ridge and asked about the village chief.

“Take this meat. It’s not much, but you can invite the elders in the village to cook a pot of meat soup together,” Li Shimin said, taking out the divided portions. “I’m giving it to you in front of the villagers, so don’t hoard it for yourself.”

He did not leave his name, smiled, and whipped his horse to leave.

Along the way, he passed another village. He left only the tiger skin and a few relatively intact and beautiful fox, deer, and rabbit pelts, giving the rest to the village chief, who was to sell the pelts under the supervision of the villagers.

After distributing all the game, Li Shimin made no further stops and headed straight back to the city.

Xue Shou wondered about Li Shimin’s behavior.

Li Shimin said with a smile, “What I do now is just a drop in the bucket, but doing something is better than doing nothing. If I threw money along the road, it might cause trouble for my family. Just giving away the game I hunted along the way is only showing off. It’s not a great act of kindness—just something done on impulse.”

The three of them had mixed feelings.

As Li Shimin said, simply giving away a little game is hardly a significant act of charity. But does that mean it is meaningless?

On the way back, they did not stray from the official road to the Eastern Capital, but whenever they passed a village, they would distribute some of their game.

“At least the intent is right,” Xue Shou bowed to Li Shimin. “For this matter, Li Erlang should be my teacher.”

Li Shimin waved his hand. “Not at all. Next time, if there’s a chance, we’ll go hunting together again.”

Xue Shou straightened and said, “Agreed.”

Li Shimin added, “If there’s a poetry gathering, you should invite me and A-Xuan to join as well. Du Kemin and Fang Xuanling will also be in the Eastern Capital recently, so we can meet more often.”

Xue Shou replied, “I’ll prepare right away!”

Having met new friends, he naturally wanted to show off to old ones.

Xue Shou had a father famed as the greatest literary talent of the era, so his circle of acquaintances was extensive.

Du Ruhui still had visions of achieving great things in the Sui dynasty and was eager to expand his network through Xue Shou.

Fang Qiao, having glimpsed the future, felt much calmer. Meeting more people now could help the lord sift through potential aides in advance.

Having seen the extraordinary abilities of Li Shimin and Li Xuanba, Fang Qiao fully believed in Li Xuanba’s prophecies.

Moreover, he was deeply disappointed with the current emperor.

He knew that, given his character, he could not achieve much under the Sui; a county magistrate would be the pinnacle of his career. So the “Prime Minister Fang” that Li Xuanba spoke of, even if just a mirage, was something he wanted to believe in.

Believing a little couldn’t harm him, so why not?

Back at home, Li Shimin boasted to Li Yuan about hunting the tiger, while Li Xuanba tattled that his second brother had gone hunting.

Li Yuan first scolded Li Shimin for taking unnecessary risks, then doted on his second son with kisses and lifting him high.

“My Daxiong is truly amazing! Truly the son of Li Yuan!”

Li Shimin proudly said, “Father hit the target on the sparrow screen, I hit the tiger’s eye. Both father and son are amazing! A-Xuan, learn from me!”

Li Yuan laughed heartily, “A-Xuan, this is something you must learn from Daxiong.”

Li Xuanba replied in a muffled voice, “Yes.” And immediately went to write to his mother!

When Li Xuanba’s letter was sent, Li Shimin had the tiger skin, tiger whip, and the tiger skull delivered to Yang Guang via Li Yuan.

Yang Guang praised Li Shimin greatly and promoted him half a rank. Li Shimin was now a Shouyi Wei of the eighth grade, and his salary increased.

Yang Guang joked, “Li Sanlang, you and Erlang are twin brothers; your ranks should match. Do you have any way to make me promote you further?”

Li Xuanba presented a memorial he had long prepared.

Yang Guang, surprised, said, “You really have a plan? Let me see.”

Amused, he opened Li Xuanba’s memorial.

The memorial concerned the pre-prepared matter of establishing standard tune titles.

Yang Guang had a great appreciation for music. Pei Yun had gathered musicians from across the country, totaling over thirty thousand in the court, pleasing Yang Guang and later becoming one of the “Five Nobles” of his court.

Song Ci, also called Quzi Ci, were lyrics set to tunes. Like “poetry,” Ci initially were folk songs; later, literati participated in composing them. The Book of Songs was already quite literary; as rhyme rules became stricter, regulated verse evolved into a literary form distinct from music.

At this time, Quzi Ci were still in the “folk song” stage. By the Tang dynasty, “folk lyrics” became “literati lyrics.” The Song dynasty marked the peak of Quzi Ci creation, with strict prosody similar to poetry. After the Song, Ci detached from music entirely and became an independent literary form.

Relying on Li Xuanba alone, it was impossible to push “folk lyrics” forward into the realm of “literati lyrics.”

But Yang Guang could do it.

Even if Li Xuanba wanted to please Yang Guang, his remaining sense of simple morality made it impossible for him to do anything that would harm the people.

Gathering tens of thousands of musicians for Yang Guang was out of the question. Instead, Li Xuanba planned to open a new musical avenue for him—having literati across the realm write lyrics for Yang Guang.

Songs could be composed with the music first and lyrics later, or lyrics first and music afterward.

Yang Guang was someone who quickly grew bored of the old and craved novelty. Even thirty thousand musicians no longer excited him. If he could have literati from all over the realm write lyrics, and then have the musicians set them to music, he could use his personal taste in vocal music to create a new literary form—turn Song-style lyrics into Sui-style lyrics, bringing forward a cultural golden age of lyric and melody. Wasn’t this perfectly in line with Yang Guang’s “great enterprise”?

Li Xuanba’s memorial struck Yang Guang’s heart perfectly.

Yang Guang had always believed himself to be accomplished in both civil and military matters. He wanted to create not just a martial golden age, but a cultural golden age as well.

He loved writing poetry, and he was genuinely good at it—but he was extremely jealous and could not tolerate others’ talent surpassing his own.

The deaths of Xue Daoheng and Wang Zhou had nothing to do with poetry, but after Xue Daoheng died, Yang Guang remarked, “Can anyone now compose ‘The swallows fall to the empty beam’?” and after Wang Zhou died, he said, “‘The courtyard grass grows freely without a soul to tend it’—can anyone now write like that?” He harbored resentment that Xue Daoheng and Wang Zhou had written poetry superior to his own.

Yang Guang wanted to be first in everything.

Li Xuanba’s memorial, turning “folk lyrics” into a contemporary popular literary form, satisfied Yang Guang’s love of vocal music while also fulfilling his ambition to establish a literary school of his own.

Excited, Yang Guang even stood up and lifted Li Xuanba into his arms: “You are truly my commendable nephew!”

Li Xuanba stiffened: “Y-Your Majesty, please put me down! I have already grown up!”

Li Shimin’s mouth twitched; he squeezed the back of his hand inside his sleeve to stop himself from laughing.

Yang Guang set Li Xuanba down, rubbed his head vigorously, and laughed heartily: “Poetry has been written in the old ways for hundreds of years—it’s truly time for a change! I hereby appoint you as Xielü Lang (Officer of Musical Harmony), to create a new sound for me!”

Li Xuanba knelt and accepted the order: “I obey, Your Majesty! Thank you, Your Majesty!”

Yang Guang helped Li Xuanba to his feet and patted his head again: “Since Li Sanlang holds an eighth-rank position, the eighth-rank Shouyi Wei is no longer suitable for you two. From today on, you and Li Erlang will both be Huairen Wei of proper eighth rank. Li Sanlang is a scholar, Li Erlang can shoot tigers—if you two were older, you would at least start at the fifth-rank Chao San Daifu.”

In the Sui dynasty, the scattered official ranks were the basic ranks. Yang Guang merged the “real” of scattered substantive ranks with the “name” of scattered ranks, making the new scattered rank the official’s base rank.

Xielü Lang was a proper eighth-rank position in the Ministry of Rites. By raising Li Shimin’s and Li Xuanba’s scattered ranks to proper eighth rank, Li Xuanba would no longer have to bow to officials whose official rank was lower when he served at the Ministry.

Both Li Shimin and Li Xuanba happily thanked him.

Yang Guang continued: “Li Sanlang is still young; you don’t need to serve daily. Just submit your completed lyrics to the Director of the Court Music Office.”

After thinking for a moment, he changed his mind: “Better yet, give them directly to me. From today onward, you must work a bit harder and compose lyrics for me! First, set ten lyric patterns so I can summon literati from all over the realm to write lyrics for me!”

Li Xuanba replied: “Yes, Your Majesty. Rest assured, I have already prepared them while drafting the memorial.”

Yang Guang smiled: “I am sure you are ready indeed.”

When Li Shimin and Li Xuanba left the palace, their happy expressions faded.

In the carriage, Li Shimin scratched his head: “His Majesty should be rewarding us, but somehow, his expression and words feel strange—there’s a heaviness in my heart.”

Li Xuanba looked out at the bustling Eastern Capital: “Being an Xielü Lang composing ‘new sounds’ for the emperor is a historical reference.”

Li Shimin pursed his lips: “His Majesty clearly spoke with hidden meaning. What reference?”

Li Xuanba said: “Xielü Lang was originally called Xielü Duwei. During Emperor Wu of Han’s reign, Li Yuan’s elder brother-in-law Li Yannian was skilled at new melodies, and this office was established for him.”

Li Shimin’s face darkened; he ground his teeth: “He is insulting you, insulting our family.”

Li Xuanba sighed, a bit troubled: “It’s not our fault. Recently, the nobles have all been flattering Father, elevating him to a leader among the nobles. He is punishing our family.”

Li Yannian and Li Yuan’s wife were from performer families. When young, Li Yannian suffered corporal punishment for crimes and kept dogs in the palace. Later, because his sister Li Yuan’s wife gained favor, he received Emperor Wu’s attention.

Li Xuanba didn’t care that Yang Guang compared him to Li Yannian.

Li Yannian was a famous musician of the Western Han dynasty, doing exactly what Li Xuanba was doing—creating new lyrics for music. His “Jia Ren Qu” (The Song of the Beautiful Lady) became the origin of five-character poetry.

Most refined poetry and lyrics in later generations began with musicians composing lyrics, later elevated by literati. What Li Xuanba was doing now was not much different from Li Yannian. The difference: Li Yannian inadvertently pioneered five-character poetry, while Li Xuanba deliberately pushed “folk lyrics” toward “literati lyrics.”

But for the Duke Tang Mansion, this was indeed an insult.

Li Yannian’s surname was Li, and so was the Duke Tang Mansion.

Li Yannian was an imperial relative, and the Duke Tang Mansion also had connections to imperial relatives.

Li Yannian’s family was destroyed after the death of Li Yuan’s wife—first, his brother Li Ji caused chaos in the harem, resulting in the extermination of Li Yannian and Li Ji, while Li Guangli, who attacked Dayuan, survived.

Later, when Crown Prince Liu Ju committed suicide due to the witchcraft incident, Li Guangli and Left Chancellor Liu Quwei wanted to recommend the emperor’s son born of Li Yuan’s wife as crown prince, angering Emperor Wu, and Li Guangli’s family was exterminated.

Thus, the Li family was utterly destroyed.

Yang Guang wanted to use Li Yannian’s story to warn Li Yuan. Under Emperor Wu, the Li family’s fortune depended entirely on the emperor; if they were disloyal, the whole family would be annihilated, even royal children were powerless.

Li Yuan’s entire fortune also depended on him—if Li Yuan were disloyal, Yang Guang could destroy his entire family.

But the Duke Tang line had first earned their title through merit, and only later, by coincidence, became related to Sui Emperor Wen through marriage—thus gaining proximity to the imperial relatives.

Now, many nobles and prominent families were being granted marriages with princesses—had they all suddenly become relatives of the imperial family?

Li Yannian’s family, however, was still seen as outsiders. To compare commoners to the Tang Duke’s household—what an enormous insult!

Even someone as broad-minded as Li Shimin was so enraged that he clutched his chest, feeling a tight, painful pressure.

With his eyes reddened by anger, Li Shimin said, “Our family has shown no disrespect or disloyalty to His Majesty. Both of us have tried our utmost to please him—so why would he insult us in this way?”

Li Xuanba patted his elder brother on the back to help him calm down. “He’s just naturally suspicious. You’ll get used to it.”

Li Shimin, still fuming, reported the matter to Li Yuan upon returning home.

Li Yuan was silent for a long moment before saying, “Dade, you shouldn’t have submitted this memorial. It was too flattering.”

Li Xuanba replied, “It was my oversight.”

Li Shimin frowned. “Father, that doesn’t make sense. He’s the emperor, yes, but he’s also our uncle. Our relationship with him has always been good. Whether as a subject or a junior, when Xuanba has a new idea, he should inform him. Writing new poetry—is that something shameful? Isn’t it a refined pursuit of scholars? Clearly, His Majesty’s sudden insult was unreasonable. How can this be Xuanba’s fault?”

Li Yuan’s face turned slightly pale as he was cornered by his son’s argument.

Seeing his father’s anger rise, Li Shimin persisted, “This act of His Majesty’s is clearly meant to reprimand you, Father. Xuanba and I suffered through it unjustly. You won’t reflect on it yourself, yet you blame us? How can you be so irresponsible… ow! You’ve lost your temper!”

Li Shimin got beaten by Li Yuan.

Lying on the couch to nurse his injuries, Li Shimin watched his father storm out, not knowing whom to vent his frustration to.

Li Xuanba, with a scowl, rubbed medicine onto his brother’s back and bottom.

“Elder brother, you—”

“Hey, hey, you’re not going to start blaming me like Father, right? Saying it’s my fault for being caught in this injustice?”

“Father is simply irresponsible and vain. Why expose him? He deserves it.”

“Hmph, I just can’t stand his habit of shifting responsibility onto us. Ugh!”

Even after being beaten, Li Shimin still shamelessly criticized his father.

Li Xuanba said, “He shifted it onto me, not you.”

Li Shimin propped his chin on his arm, glancing back at his brother. “We both went to the palace together, both of us insulted by His Majesty—how did it become only your problem? I’m your brother, not Father; I won’t take responsibility!”

There was a loud bang at the door, followed by heavy footsteps that faded into the distance.

Li Shimin and Li Xuanba simultaneously looked toward the door.

“Was that Father?”

“Father probably regretted something, but when he heard you still scolding him at the door, he left in anger.”

“Should I not have scolded him?”

“According to filial piety, a son should not speak of his father’s faults. So no.”

“Confucius never said that! Confucius said, ‘Try to advise your parents when they are in the wrong.’ When you see your parents err, you should correct them!”

“Brother, ‘try to advise’ means to gently persuade, not to speak bluntly. And what about the rest: ‘If they do not follow your advice, remain respectful and don’t resent your labor’? Did you forget that?”

“Yes, I was hungry and ate it.”

“…speechless.”

After calming down, Li Yuan felt a twinge of guilt and went to see his second son, whom he had just beaten in a fit of anger.

At the door, he heard Li Erlang (Li Shimin) cursing and stomping in frustration, smashing the medicine jars he had brought.

Just as Li Yuan stepped out of the courtyard, he hesitated.

Reflecting, he realized Li Erlang was right: this incident was His Majesty’s deliberate provocation. The two boys had simply behaved toward the emperor as they would toward an elder—innocently, and yet unjustly punished. Li Erlang had always fiercely protected Li Sanlang (Xuanba), who was young and outspoken; it was nothing serious.

How could he, knowing Li Daxiong’s temper, get angry over a child?

So Li Yuan instructed a servant to fetch another jar of ointment and returned to the doorway.

Li Shimin and Li Xuanba were still debating “what Confucius said.”

Li Yuan paused to listen. Hearing Li Shimin’s stubbornness and Li Xuanba’s long-suffering sighs, his anger gradually dissipated.

He pressed a hand to his forehead and smiled wryly.

Fine, fine, Li Shimin is just like this.

Li Yuan pushed open the door, scowling, and said, “Daxiong, have you reflected on your actions?”

Li Shimin raised his voice, “I did nothing wrong! Why should I reflect? Father, have you reflected?”

Li Yuan, seeking a way to let him down gently: “…”

Li Xuanba quickly spread his arms in front of the bed. “I’ve reflected, I’ve reflected! Father, don’t hit my brother anymore. It’s all my fault! I shouldn’t have written poetry for His Majesty. He took it as flattery, using Li Yannian as an excuse to scold me. It’s all my fault…”

Crying, Li Xuanba! Quick, cry!

Damn it! No tears came out!

As Li Xuanba tried to hold back tears, a loud “Waaah!” came from behind him.

“Waaah! Father, why are you bullying my brother! He didn’t do anything wrong! Bad father! Xuan! Let’s go back to Daxing! Let’s go find Mother! I don’t want Father! I hate Father!!”

Li Shimin, overwhelmed, finally cried out. Until now, he had endured his punishment without tears, but with Li Xuanba taking the blame voluntarily, he could no longer hold back.

Hearing his elder brother’s cries, Li Xuanba, though not feeling hurt, suddenly felt a sting in his nose and his eyes reddened.

Li Yuan looked at his eldest son wailing and his third son silently sniffling, helpless.

“No, no, no—it’s Father’s fault! Stop crying! Don’t cry! It’s all my fault!”

Li Yuan pulled out a handkerchief, unsure whom to wipe first, feeling guilty, anxious, and indignant at the emperor’s unfair suspicion all at once—he too began to weep.

And so, the father and his two sons cried together in a tangle.

Later, Li Yuan and Li Shimin embraced each other on the bed, wailing. Li Xuanba’s tears dried, silently watching the two of them grieve together.