My older brother said I'm invincible.

Chapter 263 Forcing Him Away!
The clanging of armor echoed outside the hall.

A group of more than ten fierce warriors, fully armed, were slowly advancing outside the hall.

The leading captain was burly and at least two heads taller than the eunuchs walking in the distance. He had a fierce face, his hand on the hilt of the Thousand Ox Knife, and his sharp eyes surveyed both sides.

The warriors followed behind him, their formation neat and their steps equally impressive.

These were all daughters of good families from Guanzhong, carefully selected by Yang Guang.

During Yang Jian's time, the Qianniu Guard was uniformly composed of noble sons, and many of them were even heirs of duke families. However, during Yang Guang's reign, the recruitment was expanded several times, and the guards were further subdivided.

Yang Guang recruited many good men from Guanzhong, and selected them in various ways, just like the Northern Qi recruited Baibao. He selected the best of the best, put them through rigorous training, and taught them various military command skills.

Anyone with eyes can see that the emperor is preparing to form a new army. When there are enough warriors and the time is right, he can use them as officers to create a brand new, powerful army that will only follow the emperor and obey his orders.

The warriors walked by one after another, each stronger than the last, but at the very back came a little child.
To be fair, Li Xuanba has grown quite fast, especially recently. He has grown very tall, almost the same size as some short adults, such as Madam Dou.

However, with his size in this formation, he was like a raccoon cat among tigers; one tiger after another passed by, and the last little kitten was exposed.
It did look rather comical, but no one dared to laugh.

The emperor doted on these guards, and few in the palace dared to provoke them.

The autumn air was crisp and clear. Li Xuanba, clad in heavy armor, hurried to catch up with his colleagues.

This group of people were walking very fast, so Li Xuanba had to speed up to keep up with them.

When the emperor was not away, the duties of the Imperial Guards were relatively simple: to guard the palace where the emperor was and then patrol the surrounding area. There were two groups of people on duty and patrolling, rotating daily. They had to work very late before they could hand over their duties.

They are not allowed to go out on weekdays, and there are special places for them to rest and train.

After the captain led them to hand over their duties, everyone relaxed a lot. They gathered together, whispering to each other, and walked towards their own training ground. Li Xuanba followed at the very back.

He had been working here for two days. If it were Li Shimin, he would probably have already become sworn brothers with these people. However, Li Xuanba was not good at socializing, and these people did not pay much attention to him. In the two days he had been here, apart from his superior Sima Dekan, no one else had spoken to him much.

Their training ground was located outside the eastern part of the palace city, right next to the palace. The training ground was not very large, after all, their numbers were not large, but they had everything they needed. The equipment for various drills was quite abundant, and they could use as many bows and arrows as they wanted.

The emperor valued them highly, and in addition to the privileges that military officers should have, their salaries and expenses were higher than those of other soldiers.

When they dragged themselves back, soldiers were drilling in formation.

Sima Dekan was directing these people when he saw Li Xuanba following at the back. Sima Dekan only glanced at him and said nothing, continuing the training. Li Xuanba also silently returned to his tent, removed his armor, put down his weapon, went out again, found a secluded place, and began practicing with the stone weights.

"Heh, heh, heh"

Li Xuanba practiced the exercises repeatedly, silently counting in his mind.

Before anyone knew it, Sima Dekan had walked up to him and was watching his training intently. When Li Xuanba put down the stone lock, he said with a smile, "My lord, you have great strength."

Li Xuanba wiped his sweat and turned to look at him.

"General!"

Sima Dekan slowly walked up to him, looked down at the stone weight, and advised, "My lord is still young. Do not lift such a large stone weight; it will injure your body."

Li Xuanba subconsciously touched the jade pendant on his chest and said with a smile, "I will be careful."

Sima Dekan looked around and said in a low voice, "Actually, you should go to the Northern Guard's Office. The people there are probably all acquaintances of yours, and you can talk to them. But here we are all down-and-outs, rough and uncouth men, and crude warriors. They don't dare to talk to you. How about I grant you a day off tomorrow so you can go and talk to the Duke?"

Li Xuanba was taken aback. "But what did I do wrong?"

"No, no, I'm not saying you've done anything wrong, my lord. I'm just afraid you're not used to it. You're all alone, and you don't really have much of a place to talk to others."

"It's alright, I used to always stay in the courtyard alone, I'm used to it." Sima Dekan smiled wryly, but inwardly he was complaining, why can't this guy be driven away?
Can't you see this isn't a place for a 'big shot' like yourself?
Since Li Xuanba himself didn't say anything, Sima Dekan couldn't very well continue to send him away. He could only nod, offer a few words of encouragement, and then turn and leave.

Li Xuanba began his drills again, while the soldiers in the distance watched him silently, then whispered something to those around him.

Beishen Zhizhai Yuanli quickly caught up with Sima Dekan and said angrily, "General, you have to think of a way to get rid of this brat!"

Sima Dekan glared at Yuan Li. "What do you expect me to do? He was recruited by the Emperor, and the Duke even sent someone to tell me to take good care of him. Do you expect me to throw him out??"

"Didn't you see? The stone weight he was holding today was bigger than himself! He did the same thing yesterday, and he's showing off again today. What will we do if he accidentally drops it and hurts himself?!"

"Even if the emperor dotes on us, he will still punish us. But if we don't let him train, what will the other soldiers say? Why let him into the Right Palace? I really don't understand!"

Yuan Li complained.

Sima Dekan suddenly stopped and looked at Yuan Li beside him. "He should be allowed to train!"

"what?"

Sima Dekan laughed, "Do you think this kid can handle the training at the Imperial Guard?"

"Hahaha, General, you must be joking! Our training is so rigorous that even ordinary soldiers can't handle it, how could this noble brat possibly withstand it? If he can, I'll take his surname from now on!"

Sima Dekan said, "If he can't handle it himself, he should request to leave."

Yuan Li clapped his hands. "Good! Let's do it this way! Tomorrow I'll keep an eye on him and try my best to keep him from getting hurt. We'll prevent him from participating in the patrols for now. We'll say he just arrived and needs to train before he can enter the battle. If he can't take it and has to leave, can the Duke blame us?"

"Okay, you'll take charge."

"Here!!"

Yuan Li finally breathed a sigh of relief. "Now I can finally relax. These past few days, taking him on inspections has given me quite a scare. I was afraid he'd trip and fall and get crushed to death by his own armor."

The next day, it was dark.

"stand up!!!"

"Put on your armor!! Form ranks!!!"

Suddenly, a rough shout rang out in the training ground, startling Li Xuanba awake. He still had his own tent. Hearing the noise outside, he hurriedly began to dress, then don his armor, and grab his weapons. When he rushed outside, the soldiers were already in formation. He was the last to arrive.

He quickly found his spot and stood there.

Yuan Li glared at him angrily, "Li Xuanba!! Come out here!!"

Li Xuanba stepped forward, and Yuan Li scolded, "Failed to form ranks in time! You should be punished!"

"Run three laps around the drill ground in full armor!!"

"Here!!"

Li Xuanba did not disobey and immediately began his long-distance run. The soldiers stood motionless, waiting for Li Xuanba to finish. Yuan Li kept his eyes fixed on Li Xuanba in the distance, his eyes filled with tension. After Li Xuanba returned, Yuan Li said with a stern face, "Those here are the elite of the world. At any time, you must be prepared for battle and not be negligent!"

"If you can't stand it, you can leave anytime!"

"Next, form ranks!! Hold your shields!! Run!!"

The soldiers quickly lined up and started running. Li Xuanba followed at the back of them. Yuan Li shouted and kept urging them to speed up, making them run laps around the training ground again and again. They hadn't even eaten yet.

(End of this chapter)