My older brother said I'm invincible.

Chapter 175 Return
"Now that the sage wants to kill me, what should I do?!"

Once all his trusted confidants had arrived, Yang Xuangan began with these words.

His younger brother, Yang Xuanzong, spoke first: "Brother, things have come to this point, we can no longer hesitate. At present, none of the generals are in Guanzhong. Yuwen Shu and Yang Xiong are in the west, and Lai Huer is in Luoyang. We can gather warriors, break into the palace, capture Yang Guang, and then rule the world!"

Yang Xuangan frowned, seemingly lost in thought, while Li Mi, standing to the side, couldn't sit still any longer.

Who are these people?
When things should be urgent, they all procrastinate; when things shouldn't be urgent, they actually want to take action immediately?

Li Mi hurriedly said, "Duke, you mustn't!"

Yang Xuanzong was still relatively polite to Li Mi. Although he was displeased, he did not show it and said, "Xuansui, you can see what is going on right now. The Emperor is not investigating Guanzhong, but he is investigating my family!"

"His edict is quite severe. Even if one is lucky enough to survive, one will likely lose one's official position and have one's property confiscated. How can one tolerate this?"

Li Mi felt a little disdainful; so he was worried about his family fortune.

However, he did not show any displeasure. He replied, "The Duke has only a few hundred warriors around him who are capable of great things. The Duke's strength lies in his reputation and the hearts of the people. To accomplish great things, he must either lead troops on a distant expedition or, while inspecting a region, wait for the Emperor's visit, contact his subordinates, issue a proclamation, call upon the people, rapidly expand his power, and then seize the capital and cut off the roads!"

"It's absolutely not like this, leading hundreds of people to storm the palace! This isn't a great undertaking, it's suicide!"

"The emperor is surrounded by elite troops. Although the Duke has the courage of a tyrant, would you really ask him to put himself in such a dangerous situation?"

Yang Xuangan stroked his long beard and also felt that Li Mi's words made some sense.

"Xuansui, but if we don't act now, I'm afraid everything will be over. What should we do?"

Li Mi shook his head, "That would never be the case."

"Although the Duke's family has a lot of property, it was all earned through military merit and was personally bestowed by the Emperor. It was not like those treacherous villains who forcibly seized it!"

Yang Xuangan nodded. "That's right."

His younger brother, however, was getting impatient. Did they not know how this family fortune came about? Could empty words fool a saint?
Li Mi said, "There is only one way now: to show loyalty to the Sage, return some of the rewards, and apologize to the Sage. The Sage's purpose is not to punish them. The Zheng family, who were hoarding minerals, were spared from being implicated because they showed loyalty in time. What is the Duke worried about?"

The rest of the Yang family members were somewhat unhappy.

All these things in the house were obtained by my father through hard work and robbery. How hard he worked to seize so many properties! He was busy from dawn till dusk, constantly collecting bribes. Even these few people have been busy since childhood, busy killing and seizing land. They are always on the move, looking for the most fertile land and the best shops. They have even worn out several precious swords in their killing sprees!
How can we easily give away the industry we've worked so hard to acquire?
Yang Xuangan was alright; he wasn't as greedy as his grandfather, nor did he care much about the family property. He often shared money with others, which earned him a reputation for being dull-witted in his youth.

"Alright, you all go back first. Xuan Sui and I still have some things to discuss."

Although his relatives were somewhat dissatisfied, they dared not say much in front of Yang Xuangan and could only leave somewhat dejectedly.

Only Yang Xuangan and Li Mi remained in the room.

Yang Xuangan's eyes instantly turned sharp, filled with murderous intent.

"It was Li Yuan who did it."

"It was Li Yuan who submitted the memorial."

"Without killing this person, the world will never be at peace!!"

Li Mi remained silent, but he knew that Yang Xuangan had many spies in the court, so it was not surprising that he could find out about this matter.

Yang Xuangan continued, "This scoundrel, so obsequious, is trying to use my family as a scapegoat to curry favor with the Sage? Does he really think I'm a pushover? I'll kill him!"

"Duke, we should deal with the Emperor first. We can discuss the matter of Li Yuan of Tang later."

"No, if Li Yuan isn't eliminated and he gets a taste of success, he'll surely do even more things in the future. If others follow suit, our troubles will be endless. We must eliminate him first and let the world see the fate of a traitor!" Yang Xuangan's face turned red with anger, and Li Mi sighed deeply.

"My lord, although His Majesty is impatient, he is not foolish. Li Yuan has just submitted a memorial impeaching him. If we rush to take action against him now, His Majesty will know who is behind it, regardless of whether the matter succeeds or not. Moreover, such a major matter cannot be resolved by simply returning the rewards."

When Li Mi mentioned Yang Guang, Yang Xuangan finally gave up his previous idea.

He always shouts louder than he actually does; he talks more than he does.

"Alright, let's deal with the immediate issue first, and then deal with Li Yuan."

Li Mi said, "Duke, I will send some men to Loufan right now to investigate secretly. They can investigate not only Li Yuan, but also his descendants. I believe we will surely make a breakthrough."

Yang Xuangan nodded thoughtfully, "Alright, let's do it this way."

After discussing with Li Mi how to deal with Yang Guang, Yang Xuangan did not hesitate and immediately decided to go to pay homage to the emperor.

When Yang Xuangan arrived, the Sage was meeting with a group of envoys and had no time to pay attention to him, so Yang Xuangan could only wait outside.

After waiting for a long time, Yang Xuangan began to wonder if the sage didn't want to see him at all, when finally a large group of people came out.

A Thousand Oxen Guard led them out and passed by.

As they passed by Yang Xuangan, the people exclaimed in surprise, pointing and whispering about him.

Yang Xuangan was furious.

As one of the nation's top noble families, no one had ever dared to humiliate him like this.

Just as he was about to lash out, a Qianniu (a type of official) quickly bowed to him and explained, "Your Highness, please do not be angry. These are barbarians from overseas. They have never seen such a powerful man as Your Highness before, hence their behavior."

Yang Xuangan looked at those people again and realized that although they were dressed in Han Chinese clothing, they were all small and had very different appearances. Yang Xuangan was already tall, and in their eyes, he was practically a giant.

Yang Xuangan then understood the identities of these people.

Last year, a barbarian named Suyingao led an envoy to pay homage, claiming to be a Japanese from overseas. The letter from his chieftain was quite rude, and the sage had mentioned this matter to him. This year, he has come again.

This Su Yingao was none other than the famous Japanese envoy to Sui, Ono no Imoko.

Yang Xuangan ignored these people and simply continued to wait.

Not long after these people left, the Sage finally ordered Yang Xuangan to enter.

Li Mi truly gave Yang Xuangan an excellent idea. Upon seeing the sage, Yang Xuangan immediately knelt down, filled with trepidation and awe.

However, Yang Xuangan did not admit to his family's crimes of annexing farmland and encroaching on allocated land. He told the emperor that since his father's generation, he had received many rewards from the emperor. These rewards were far too many, exceeding what they should have received for their merits. This was the emperor's grace, which made them feel truly apprehensive.

Now, having inherited his father's legacy, he has only achieved minor merits and has failed to accomplish anything worthy of these rewards. Therefore, he hopes that the emperor will withdraw the previous rewards and wait until he has made further contributions before giving him a fair reward.

These words were quite clever. They did not admit their own crimes, but mentioned Yang Su and their own merits, and also praised the emperor. Finally, they presented the actual gift in the name of returning the gift.

Yang Guang understood his meaning perfectly and immediately said, "These are all your family's due. How can you take them back after giving them as a reward?"
Yang Xuangan repeatedly expressed that the emperor's favor was too great, causing him to suffer day and night because he could not repay such a great kindness. He only begged the emperor to have mercy and grant his request.

Yang Guang was deeply moved, and the two put on a show of deep affection between the emperor and his subject. Afterwards, Yang Guang accepted the gifts. When he saw the fertile land, mines, and shops that Yang Xuangan handed over, Yang Guang's eyebrows twitched, but he still did not punish him. Instead, he promoted several of Yang Xuangan's younger brothers and some of his meritorious relatives.

(End of this chapter)