My older brother said I'm invincible.

Chapter 181 A great background
"Third brother!!"

"Third brother!"

Li Shimin laughed loudly as he walked into the courtyard, burst open the door, and quickly entered the house.

Li Xuanba was writing something with his head down when he saw Li Shimin suddenly burst in. When he saw the dirty bloodstains on Li Shimin's body, he was startled. "Brother, what happened?"

Li Shimin waved his hand, "Don't worry about it."

"The matter that I borrowed from you has been completed. Do you have any clean clothes here? Lend me another set, but don't tell Duan Niang!"

"Yes, yes, but it's my clothes. They might be a bit too small for you, brother. Let me help you look for them."

Li Shimin grinned, in a great mood. While Li Xuanba was helping him find clothes, he began to boast, "A few days ago, I was drinking with the Martial Lord of Yingyang Prefecture. He said there was a wicked merchant from Taiyuan who would secretly trade with the Turks in Yulin every winter, and even sold women to the Turks!"

"I inquired about this person's situation with him and learned the approximate time. Today, I led men to set up an ambush, and sure enough, we caught that villain red-handed! Hahaha, Third Brother, you didn't see it!"

"Those horses, they're incredible, absolutely incredible!"

“Each one is no less than the best horses my family used to have! I caught eight of these! Just think, my family only had about twenty in the past!”

Li Xuanba then took out a relatively loose winter coat and handed it to his elder brother. Hearing Li Shimin's words, he was not happy, but only frowned, "It's freezing cold outside, how can you risk your life, brother? What if something happens to you?"

Li Shimin didn't care much. While changing his clothes, he said, "Nothing will happen. The men you gave me are all burly and strong. With the weapons I brought, a surprise attack would be no problem, let alone taking down a wicked merchant, or even his entire transport army!"

"Among them is a black horse, truly a divine steed. I've temporarily hidden all the other horses away, and once things have calmed down, I'll give this one to you! A true man cannot be without a good horse!"

Li Xuanba's brows remained furrowed.

"Brother, are they really seven divine steeds? Are they all as good as my family's prized horses?"

"What, you don't believe me? I'm not the fourth brother, why would I lie to you!"

“My grandfather, a duke, only had twenty horses in his family’s collection. He once said that one fine horse was equivalent to a cavalry unit. No matter how cunning this unscrupulous merchant is, how could he possibly acquire seven of them?”

Upon hearing this, Li Shimin fell into deep thought. He imitated Li Yuan's gesture, gently stroking his chin, "Hmm, perhaps the other party has brought many things in exchange this time."

"Who cares? Anyway, these fine horses are all ours now."

"These bastards who collude with the Turks have become increasingly arrogant and reckless in recent years. In the past, they only dared to sell porcelain and silk, but now they even dare to sell grain, weapons, and people! I must teach these people a lesson."

Li Shimin changed his clothes and covered his face again.

"You have no idea, my elder brother has his eye on me now. There are people watching my little courtyard all day long. I don't even dare to enter the mansion through the main gate anymore. Sigh, you can leave these dirty clothes here for now, I'll come back for them tomorrow."

Li Shimin said something and then quickly left.

Li Xuanba sat down again, but a sense of unease lingered in his heart.

The heavy snow has stopped, but there is still snow on the ground.

The snow did not deter the soldiers of Yingyang Prefecture. The snow on the training ground had already been cleared, and the soldiers had begun their activities.

These carefully selected, strong soldiers were probably among the few people in the Sui Dynasty who were not afraid of the cold winter.

When Li Shimin walked into the training ground laughing, several familiar old friends rushed to greet him.

"Erlang, why have you been gone for several days? We thought you were afraid of catching a cold and didn't dare to come back!"

"Haha, I just went to take care of some things, which took a little longer."

As Li Shimin spoke, he looked at Wu Shihuo in the crowd. Wu Shihuo understood that Li Shimin had something to say to him, so he pulled him aside. Yuchi Gong stood not far away, looking around.

Li Shimin lowered his voice, "Wu Jun has really helped me a lot this time!"

"I've already stolen the goods!"

"what?"

Wu Shiyue was taken aback. "What did you steal, sir?"

"It's that unscrupulous businessman surnamed Wang you mentioned before. I led my men to hijack his convoy!"

Samurai Go looked utterly astonished. "How is this possible?"

He looked around and whispered again, "My lord, we already led men to rob that wicked merchant five days ago, and he's already been buried. How could you possibly rob him again?"

"what?"

Li Shimin's eyes widened. "You kidnapped them?" "Yes, I told you earlier, my lord, about their possible arrival time, route, and location. Didn't you realize that I had thoroughly investigated them? We decided to take action against them a long time ago."

Li Shimin asked blankly, "Then who did I kidnap? Their movements were suspicious, they were carrying weapons, and they were leading Turkic horses."

"It must be some other unscrupulous merchant. Many people take this route, so you don't need to worry, sir. But you should hide the items first and take them out after things have calmed down."

"Oh"

Li Shimin was still somewhat bewildered.

About ten days ago, Wu Shihuo and others told him about the wicked merchant and the things he brought from the Turks. Li Shimin was tempted and, with the idea of ​​eliminating a scourge for the people and taking some good things along the way, he organized this operation.

Unexpectedly, it turned out that Wu Shige also had such thoughts. At least, he didn't leave empty-handed.

Mayi Commandery, Shanyang County.

The snow here hasn't stopped; light snow is still falling continuously.

There were hardly any people in the city; it was quiet.

In the north of the city, there are many mansions of nobles, where servants are sweeping the snow outside, shivering in the cold winter.

Suddenly, a group of people slowly appeared in the wind and snow and gathered in front of a house.

The servants who were clearing snow spotted them and quickly walked over.

Before the servant could speak, one of the guests reached out and grabbed him by the neck.

"Go inside! Let Liu Kuang come out to greet us!"

The man had a strange accent. The servant understood immediately. Once the man released him, the servant jogged into the mansion.

A moment later, an elderly man, leading many servants, strode out of the gate. He was startled to see the guests outside and quickly invited them in. After they entered, he swiftly closed the gate again.

"Master Ashina! What brings you here?"

"Let's talk inside!!"

The guest was quite rude, so the man led him into the inner courtyard, then to the main hall where guests were greeted. He then dismissed everyone else and instructed the servants to take good care of the other guests.

Only three people remained inside: the guest, an old man, and a young boy.

The guest took the seat of honor, with the old man sitting next to him, while the younger one had to stand to the side.

"Liu Kuang, you sent men to steal my horse."

"I know it was your son who stole my horse!"

The old man, Liu Kuang, looked completely bewildered. "What does Master Ashina mean by this?"

"Don't call me that!"

"It's Ye Hu, but I really don't understand. How could I dare to steal your horse?"

"Not you? Before I set off, I only had contact with you, no one else knew! My men were killed before they even stepped into Loufan!! My offering was also stolen!"

"If it weren't for you, where would your youngest son be now? Tell him to come out and see me!"

Liu Kuang looked aggrieved. "Ye Hu, how could I dare to be rude to you? My youngest son is really not at the border. I have already sent him to Luoyang to seek refuge with a noble person. He has been away from the border for several months. If you don't believe me, you can ask others!"

"My family's wealth and status are all thanks to Ye Hu's kindness. How could I dare to betray him?"

As Liu Kuang explained, the young man standing to the side also spoke up, asking, "Guardian Ye, didn't you bring many warriors? How could you be robbed? What exactly happened?"

The guest who had come from afar finally broke down.

"The thieves here are rampant!!"

"Doesn't the emperor care?!"

"My horses! My twelve divine steeds! They traveled all the way from the edge of the grasslands to here, a thousand miles, without being robbed, and they were stolen the moment they stepped into Loufan!!"

"You villain!!"

(End of this chapter)