LFHYB -Chapter 99 The Young General Returns to Luoyang

Li Shimin clutched his stomach and laughed. “HAHAHAHA— I thought you’d already told Teacher Xue! HAHAHA—he must be furious!”

Li Xuanba scratched his head hard.

It wasn’t that he had forgotten to tell Xue Daoheng about his ability with prophecies and apocrypha. It was just that it hadn’t seemed necessary, so he hadn’t brought it up.

Xue Daoheng had already passed his destined death. He wasn’t someone Yang Guang feared so much that he had to die. Li Xuanba felt that telling him about the future wouldn’t be very safe.

Later, when their relationship deepened and Xue Daoheng became close with Gao Jiong and Yuwen Bi—thus entering the “safe zone” in Li Xuanba’s mental calculations—Li Xuanba had already left Daxing.

How could he reveal the future in a letter?

Anything that left physical evidence was dangerous. Even the books he gave Wang Bo were deliberately printed in low-quality editions.

Even though he had plenty of justification, when he saw Xue Daoheng’s letter, Li Xuanba still felt awkward and guilty.

He muttered, “This is all Teacher Gao’s and Teacher Yuwen’s fault. Why did they have to tell Teacher Xue?”

Li Shimin laughed even harder. “Haha—m-maybe they thought Teacher Xue already knew! Hahaha! I really want to see his expression!”

Li Xuanba glanced at his second brother.

He had always thought he himself was a prankster. Turns out Second Brother was no less of one.

Though embarrassed, a letter wasn’t the place for a proper apology. Li Xuanba only wrote a few perfunctory lines like, ‘Teacher, you must be joking. How could I possibly have the ability to compile official histories?’ and then had people prepare lavish gifts.

The real apology could wait until their next meeting.

After laughing himself silly, Li Shimin kept flipping the letter over, reading it again—and laughing some more.

Li Xuanba had no idea why his brother’s sense of humor was so low.

He said sarcastically, “Is it really that funny? When you see Teacher Xue in person, will you dare laugh?”

Li Shimin replied, “Exactly because I won’t dare, I have to laugh enough now—HAHAHAHA!”

Li Shimin had completely turned into a “ha-ha monster.” Disgusted, Li Xuanba left him alone in the study to keep laughing and went outside for some fresh air.

As the Sui army returned—and with Li Shimin’s deterrence—the unrest in Qinghe Commandery was superficially suppressed.

Most of the Tiger-Ben Generals normally stayed in the capital. Li Xuanba guessed that Luoyang would soon send an imperial edict summoning him and his second brother back.

He and Li Shimin had already begun to stand out. When Yang Guang launched his second campaign against Goguryeo next year, it was very possible the two of them would be ordered to go along.

Thinking about the second Goguryeo campaign made Li Xuanba’s heart feel heavy.

This year, the empire had just finished fighting Goguryeo and then suffered floods and droughts. And yet next year they would attack Goguryeo again. No matter how thick the state’s coffers were, Yang Guang would still squander them dry.

He had once wondered where Yang Guang would get the money and grain for another invasion. Only after becoming a real official did Li Xuanba learn the truth—

The Sui dynasty did not provide disaster relief.

When the Tang dynasty was founded, the common people had already endured more than a decade of famine and warfare, yet several large granaries near Luoyang still contained old grain.

Ordinarily, at the end of a dynasty the court is short of both money and food, to the point that even soldiers’ pay cannot be distributed.

But when the Sui dynasty fell, the granaries were still full.

Thus, in Yang Guang’s eyes, he truly could wage campaigns year after year. The state was still wealthy.

Li Xuanba’s judgment had been spot-on.

When a dynasty was still stable, being stationed long-term in the provinces as a Huben Langjiang was actually a sign of being undervalued and having little hope of promotion. For meritorious aristocratic sons and imperial favorites like Li Shimin and Li Xuanba, once their tasks were completed, they would return to court.

Li Shimin very much did not want to go back.

If he returned, the troops in his hands would be transferred to someone else. Although he had “lined his own pockets,” using Sui funds to arm his private soldiers to the teeth, on the surface he could take away at most a thousand personal troops.

Li Xuanba said, “When we go back, send more gifts. See if we can persuade the Emperor to let us guard against the Turks.”

Li Shimin sighed. “I finally built up a reputation in Qinghe Commandery, and now I have to start over from scratch. That really makes me unhappy.”

Li Xuanba consoled him. “Our charitable estates here are still in place; the reputation won’t disappear. Gold at the corners, silver at the edges, grass in the belly—developing in the Central Plains is not easy. Going to the frontier is better.”

Li Shimin was puzzled. “Staying in the Central Plains is bad? Back then, Cao Cao occupied the prosperous heartland.”

Li Xuanba said, “The Central Plains have already been smashed to pieces. And this still isn’t a true age of chaos. Think about the Warring States period—weren’t Qin and Chu, which lived mixed with the Rong, Di, and other barbarians, the ones that developed the fastest?”

Li Shimin thought for a while, then smiled. “That’s actually true. The frontier has more room to expand, and the Central Plains border too many forces, making stable development difficult. No wonder it’s called ‘gold corners, silver edges, grass belly.’”

Li Shimin stroked his chin. “Thinking about it this way, many shifts of power in the histories seem to have far more interesting factors than I ever noticed before. I should reread the histories, following them along with a map.”

Li Xuanba said, “Then read them on horseback. It’s too dark in the carriage; it’ll strain your eyes.”

So on the return journey, Li Xuanba caught up on sleep in the carriage, while Li Shimin read on horseback as he rode.

Whenever they passed through cities, commandery and county officials would come out to receive the two young Huben Langjiang and Huya Langjiang, and they would always see Li Shimin on horseback, never letting the book leave his hands.

The reputation of Second Young Master Li as a diligent scholar quietly spread.

As for Li Xuanba, curled up in the carriage and nearly shaken apart, he was temporarily ignored.

Li Shimin urged Li Xuanba to ride as well, but Li Xuanba refused, saying that even if he were shaken to pieces, lying down was still more comfortable. Li Shimin could only laugh helplessly.

“When we get back to Luoyang, rest for a while,” Li Shimin said. “I’ll handle all the social obligations inside and outside the household. I won’t let anyone disturb you.”

Li Xuanba replied listlessly, “Then I’ll leave it to Second Brother.”

When he rushed to Jizhou and then returned from Jizhou, he had been even more exhausted than now, yet he hadn’t felt particularly uncomfortable. This time, having set aside all his duties and heading back to Luoyang, he actually couldn’t endure the jolting of the road.

Once a person becomes idle, all sorts of ailments really do surface.

Li Shimin slowed their pace as much as possible so his younger brother wouldn’t be overly worn out. Thus, the return journey took a full half month.

As soon as the two arrived back in Luoyang, they were summoned by Yang Guang.

Like a parent showing off accomplished juniors, Yang Guang led Li Shimin and Li Xuanba around, introducing them one by one to the assembled ministers.

Yang Xian, who was holding court in Daxing, also came to Luoyang. Wearing a gentle mask, he toasted Li Shimin and Li Xuanba, making both of them feel rather uncomfortable.

Still, Yang Xian had learned to put on appearances; he seemed far more mature than before.

In history, Prince of Qi Yang Xian had already been feared and guarded against by Yang Guang at this time, without realizing it himself. Now, seeing Crown Prince Yang Xian’s gentle and modest demeanor, Li Shimin and Li Xuanba seemed to glimpse the shadow of Yang Zhao in him.

After the banquet, Li Shimin and Li Xuanba returned to their villa to avoid further unnecessary socializing.

Li Shimin’s mood was a little low. “Second Cousin has grown a lot.”

Li Xuanba said, “Growth is a good thing.”

As they were talking, Chen Tieniu came running in a panic to tell them that someone had climbed over the wall.

Li Shimin and Li Xuanba were full of question marks.

Everyone knew who lived in this villa—who would be so bold as to brazenly climb over the wall?

“Daxiong! Dade! Look what good wine I brought!” The person who had scaled the wall swaggered over. “Come on! I haven’t even congratulated you yet on becoming Huben Langjiang and Huya Langjiang!”

Li Shimin and Li Xuanba: “……”

Li Shimin and Li Xuanba: “Second Cousin?!”

Yang Xian laughed loudly. “It’s me! Scared you?”

Li Shimin stepped forward with a smile and clapped hands with Yang Xian. “Second Cousin, you’re no longer the Prince of Qi—why are you calling yourself ‘this king’? And why didn’t you come in through the gate?”

Yang Xian winked at Li Xuanba. “Didn’t Sanlang say that after I became Crown Prince it would be best not to be so close to you? So I came secretly in disguise. Don’t worry—no one else knows!”

Li Xuanba was speechless. You say no one else knows—does that really make it so? He had just praised Second Cousin for being mature, and yet here he was, still this foolish.

“Drink less. I’ll grill some meat for you—don’t drag me into a drinking contest,” Li Xuanba said. “Besides the barbecue, what else do you want to eat?”

Li Shimin elbowed Yang Xian. “My brother’s cooking is excellent; he’s just too lazy to do it. Hurry up and order—name everything you want to eat.”

Yang Xian said, “All right, then don’t feel sorry for Dade if he gets tired.”

Li Shimin laughed. “On this matter, I absolutely won’t feel sorry!”

Li Xuanba snorted. “Even if you order a lot, if I find it too tiring, I still won’t cook.”

With that, he turned and went to the kitchen, dragging the most skilled cook out of bed to work overtime.

He didn’t notice that as he turned away, the corners of his mouth were lifted in a smile.

After finishing the late-night food, Li Xuanba sat beside Yang Xian and Li Shimin as they competed in drinking, listening to the two of them brag wildly about the great deeds they had accomplished.

Acting as regent was a great deed; suppressing bandits was a great deed—but the boasting went too far, to the point where even slaying dragons and exterminating demons made an appearance.

While Li Xuanba sneered from the side, the attendant who had accompanied Yang Xian also sighed.

Li Xuanba, too lazy to bother with the already drunk Yang Xian and Li Shimin, struck up a conversation with the man: “You haven’t told me your name yet. Thank you for taking care of my second cousin.”

The man smiled and said, “My surname is Yu, given name Jian, courtesy name Yanglian. Li Sanlang, I’ve long admired you.”

Li Xuanba remembered him immediately: “Brother Yanglian? Don’t say you’ve long admired me—don’t make me laugh. You’ve grown a lot since the last time we met; I barely recognize you now.”

When Li Xuanba was young, during the busy days of the “Public Academy Work-Study Assistance Program” with Yang Xian, Yu Jian had been working alongside them.

Yang Xian couldn’t do everything personally; most of the work fell to Yu Jian.

Yu Jian’s father, Yu Zhi, had originally served as Grand Historian, but after offending Yang Guang, he was demoted to governor of Heshui. When Yang Guang returned to the Eastern Capital, he reinstated Yu Zhi as Grand Historian.

This clearly showed that Yang Guang appreciated Yu Zhi’s talents, otherwise he wouldn’t seek his advice on state affairs.

Yu Jian was also very knowledgeable. After Yang Zhao drove away the petty people around Yang Xian, Yu Jian became the most trusted aide by his side.

Seeing Li Xuanba speaking with Yu Jian, Yang Xian came over to complain: “Yanglian is fine in every way, but he talks too much. Before you left for the frontier, you held his hand and told him to advise me more, and now his nagging just won’t stop.”

Yu Jian replied politely, “I would never disappoint Crown Prince Yuande’s trust.”

“Hmph.” Yang Xian shot Yu Jian a glance, then dragged Li Shimin to another spot to continue drinking.

Li Xuanba said, “Let’s ignore them too. Come, eat some meat.”

After a few skewers of roasted meat, Yu Jian and Li Xuanba reminisced about old times, and Yu Jian began to open up.

Li Xuanba asked him about events after Yang Xian became Crown Prince.

Perhaps the efforts Yang Zhao had made before his death to pave the way for him had deeply touched Yang Xian. Indeed, Yang Xian had matured considerably, resolving to be a crown prince who would not lose to his elder brother.

Yu Jian selected some upright and talented students previously supported by Yang Xian and recommended them to him. These people, though virtuous and learned, came from modest families that had suffered hardships. Their personalities were mostly flexible, making them a good match for the proud Yang Xian.

Li Xuanba looked at the Crown Prince, now drunk, holding his elder brother’s hand and dancing around the bonfire.

“My second cousin is truly excelling more and more,” Li Xuanba said.

Yu Jian smiled, pride evident in his expression: “The Crown Prince is indeed outstanding.”

After complimenting Yang Xian a few more times, Li Xuanba changed the topic and asked if there were any interesting stories in Daxing City.

Yu Jian spoke with clever and witty remarks, making Li Xuanba laugh continuously.

Meanwhile, Yang Xian and Li Shimin, thoroughly drunk and exhilarated, ignored the autumn chill, waving their clothes around and howling wildly by the fire.

Li Xuanba and Yu Jian simultaneously covered their faces and exchanged exasperated looks.

“So noisy! Go and reason with your crown prince.”

“No, elder brother should go first and calm your second brother.”

Yang Xian and Li Shimin continued stretching their necks and yelling at the top of their lungs.

At the Luoyang Palace

The next day, Yang Guang learned that Yang Xian had climbed the walls to find Li Shimin and Li Xuanba for drinks and had howled half the night.

He frowned.

He had originally planned to keep Li Shimin and Li Xuanba nearby to manage palace security, but since the Crown Prince had grown close to them…

“Better to send them away,” Yang Guang thought, still displeased that Yang Xian had persuaded him to release He Ruobi.