My older brother said I'm invincible.

Chapter 281 Revenge
After spending some time in Jiangdu Palace, the emperor grew tired of it and ordered another trip to Luoyang.

The place the Sage most wanted to go was still the Turkic lands. He wanted to meet the young man who was about to take office and give him a good talking-to so that he wouldn't be ungrateful. However, not only Pei Shiju and Su Wei, but even Yuwen Shu did not quite agree with his idea.

Duoji is not Rangan and may not be loyal to the Sui Dynasty. After what happened before, he may have developed improper thoughts towards the emperor. If he goes there rashly, he may be harmed by the traitors.

This massive procession set off for Luoyang once again, its size not only not smaller, but even larger than when it started.

Li Xuanba now holds the title of Langjiang (a military officer), but in reality, he has no soldiers under his command.

He could only join Yuan Li and the others in the army.

Since returning to the court, Chen Leng has barely spoken to Li Xuanba, as if he has completely forgotten their previous experience fighting together.

Li Xuanba couldn't care less about that; he was extremely excited.

He couldn't wait to return to Luoyang. Since entering the Right Palace and then following the emperor to Jiangdu to fight against Liuqiu, he hadn't seen his family for almost a year.

There were only two correspondences during that period, and I didn't hear any bad news. The letters only mentioned that his family missed him very much.

Li Xuanba naturally missed his family very much.

Yang Guang sat in his carriage, surrounded by no beautiful women, but he was fascinated by the many different types of maps placed around him.

Yuwen Shu's flattery was indeed quite good, which excited Yang Guang for a long time. But now, that excitement was beginning to dissipate, and Yang Guang felt somewhat empty inside. He repeatedly looked at the map of Liaodong, his eyes gleaming.

They marched south to attack the Chen Kingdom, west to pacify the Tuyuhun, east to destroy the Liuqiu, and then north to pacify Goryeo.

Yang Guang was a restless man; he had to do something.

Now, he wanted to do something big. In terms of strength, Goryeo was stronger than the divided Turks and the newly rising Tuyuhun. His father had failed to conquer them in the past. From now on, he could start preparing for this.

Yang Guang took out a piece of paper and silently wrote down the list in his mind, including the generals, commanders, troops, and warships he wanted to mobilize. After writing down many such lists, Yang Guang secretly hid them away.

Yang Guang suddenly raised his head and shouted, "Guards!"

Someone hurriedly entered the carriage; it was Chen Leng. Chen Leng bowed and greeted him.

"Why are you moving so slowly? Has something happened up ahead?"

"Your Majesty, the road is damaged and is being repaired."

"Ha, these treacherous villains, they never bother to maintain the roads."

Yang Guang cursed a few times, then asked, "Has anyone fallen behind?"

Chen Leng said without hesitation, "None of the ministers have fallen behind, except for Pei Yun, who is walking a little slower. I heard that he misses the scenery of the South."

"Take away this scoundrel's carriage and horses, and make him follow on foot!! Let him have a good look at the scenery of his homeland!! If he still can't keep up, bury him here and let him see it all he wants!!"

Chen Leng agreed.

As a result, Pei Yun, who was following behind the main force, head down dealing with affairs in various places and in a state of utter panic, was dragged down by the soldiers of the Left Mansion and thrown to the ground without knowing anything.

Pei Yun cursed angrily, but the soldiers read out the emperor's edict.

Pei Yun's face turned red. He knew in his heart that this was the work of a villain, but he had no way to defend himself. He could only follow on foot in a disheveled state. The soldiers on both sides were eyeing him menacingly, as if they wanted to take the opportunity to kill him, which made Pei Yun even more uneasy.

After walking for a long time, Pei Yun was starting to feel exhausted.

He was a scholar and had never suffered such hardship. Fortunately, he finally met his savior. When he saw Pei Shiju's carriage passing by, he quickly shouted out.

Pei Shiju peeked out suspiciously, only to see Pei Yun walking forward. Pei Shiju was taken aback. "Master Pei, how refined! Are you practicing your skills?"

"My lord, this is His Majesty's punishment. I beg you to plead for me!"

Pei Shiju was shocked. "Alright! I'll go right away!" He returned to the carriage and ordered the driver to speed up. After the carriage reached the front, Pei Shiju narrowed his eyes, showing no intention of seeing the emperor. His son, Pei Xuanji, who was serving him, asked curiously, "Father, aren't we going to plead for Minister Pei?"

"Ha, some villains have been slandering His Majesty. I suspect it was one of the five people who did it. Su Gong is upright and wouldn't do such a thing. Duke Xu has no grudge against me, and Lord Yu is a steady person. I suspect it was Pei Yun who did it! He just wants to take my place!"

"It would be a good thing if he died on the way."

To Pei Shiju's regret, Pei Yun did not die on the road. He was quite resilient. The emperor did not really want to kill him. After he had been on the road for nearly half a day, the emperor still showed him favor and allowed him to get back on the carriage, warning him not to repeat his mistake.

Pei Yun was also exhausted from running, lying on the carriage panting heavily, and had no desire to take revenge.

Yuwen Shu, who was walking at the front, couldn't help but laugh when he learned of this.

"Chen Leng looks honest and docile, not one to cause trouble, but I never expected him to be so ruthless when it comes to revenge. If he does this a few more times, Pei Yun is in for a world of hurt."

"Chen Leng and Zhang Zhenzhou are both capable individuals. If we go on a campaign in the future, we can have them accompany us. Especially Zhang Zhenzhou, I saw his military merit list. After he broke through the south city wall, he chased after the enemy all the way, leading his soldiers in a fierce battle for half a day until they were exhausted. Such a brave man can serve as the vanguard of the army!"

Luoyang, Li Mansion.

Li Yuan was sitting in the main hall, chatting with a newly arrived young man, who was none other than Fang Xuanling, the former county magistrate of Xihe County.

At the request of Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin, Li Yuan specially summoned this person to his Weiwei Temple and appointed him to an official position.

Although Li Yuan had met this person before, he didn't quite understand why his eldest and second sons valued such an unknown person so much, so he decided to meet him in person.

After meeting Fang Xuanling, Li Yuan asked him some questions. He discovered that although this young man from the Qinghe Fang clan was not very famous, he was very knowledgeable about many things. His uncle, Fang Bao, had served as an official in the State of Qi. He was not the kind of scholar who only knew how to talk nonsense, but a person who could actually solve problems.

"Therefore, the affairs of the county seat have become complicated. Although I don't know the situation at the Imperial Guard Temple, I think the same principle applies."

As Fang Xuanling spoke, Li Yuan looked at him with considerable approval, stroking his beard.

"You're not that old, just a county constable in charge of thieves. You've never held a position like county magistrate. How do you know so much about local politics?"

"When I was in Jishi County, I was valued by the local magistrate and learned the key to governing a region from him."

"Oh? The magistrate of Ji County? Who is that?"

"He was a benevolent and virtuous governor. His surname was Lu and his given name was Qubing. During the Qi Dynasty, he served as the magistrate of Cheng'an. During the reign of Emperor Wen, he was commended for his outstanding political achievements."

"What position do you hold now?"

“In the first year of the Daye era, the emperor had just ascended the throne when he died of illness.”

"It's a pity. If he were still alive, I would definitely have befriended him."

As the two were talking, Li Jiancheng rushed into the room, holding a letter in his hand, looking travel-worn.

"Father!!"

As soon as Li Jiancheng opened his mouth, he saw the guests here.

Li Yuan pointed at the other person and said, "I've invited Fang Jun, whom you keep talking about, over here."

Li Jiancheng hurriedly bowed and greeted Fang Xuanling, but he couldn't care less about Fang Xuanling at the moment and quickly handed the document in his hand to Li Yuan.

"Grandpa!! Xuanba has made a great contribution! It is said that he fought in Ryukyu and, in just over a month, accomplished the feats of beheading generals, being the first to scale the walls, destroying a country, and capturing a king. The Emperor himself ordered that his military achievements be publicized and appointed him as a Langjiang (a military rank). Everyone in Yingyang Prefecture is talking about this!!"

"What??"

Li Yuan was shocked. He held the document and examined it for a long time. He looked up, his face full of disbelief, "Was this really done by Sanlang??"

"Grandpa, how could this be false? I knew Sanlang would become an invincible general, but I didn't expect it to be so soon! Haha, Grandpa, they are already on their way back, and we will be able to see him soon!"

(End of this chapter)