My older brother said I'm invincible.

Chapter 282 Ready to go
Li Yuan put down the documents and laughed loudly.

"Letting him enter the Right Mansion was truly the right decision. My son is just like me! Excellent!"

He quickly hid the letter in his sleeve and looked at Li Jiancheng, saying, "You entertain Fang Jun for me first, I have to go out for a bit."

Li Jiancheng quickly agreed, and Fang Xuanling stood up with him. The two watched Li Yuan leave. Li Jiancheng then invited Fang Xuanling to follow him to the East Courtyard. As they walked, Fang Xuanling couldn't help but ask, "The one you were talking about earlier, was it Marquis Li Xuanba of Bocheng?"

"Oh? Mr. Fang knows him too?"

"The Second Young Master mentioned him in a letter, saying only that this Third Young Master was studious, but he did not know that he also had such courage and strength."

Fang Xuanling heard Li Jiancheng mention Li Xuanba's affairs very clearly, and was naturally quite shocked.

Li Jiancheng said with a smile, "My younger brother is born with superhuman strength and is as brave as Xiang Yu in ancient times. No one can defeat him. Everyone in Luoyang knows about his bravery! You will understand when you meet him!"

Fang Xuanling nodded. "I see."

Li Jiancheng suddenly asked, "Speaking of which, it has been quite some time since Father sent you a letter summoning you to Luoyang. Hedong is not far from here, so why are you so late?"

Fang Xuanling was somewhat embarrassed. He explained, "It was due to private family matters that caused the delay. I had informed them of this situation in several previous memorials."

Fang Xuanling had no intention of coming at all. He didn't want to get involved in the Li family's important affairs, and he didn't even want to know about them.

In order to avoid this, he even resigned from his official post in Xihe and prepared to return to his hometown to study and live in seclusion. However, Erlangjun's letters followed him from Xihe County to his hometown. People came to visit him every day to persuade Fang Xuanling. In the end, even the elders of the Fang family could not sit still.

They told Fang Xuanling that most of these nobles and dukes were barbarian warriors who did not know etiquette, and that they were all greedy and cruel. They could not be judged by common sense. If he refused again, he might bring disaster upon his clan. Helpless, Fang Xuanling could only hurry to Luoyang to seek refuge with Li Yuan.

He still doesn't know how he came to be targeted by this noble family.

Scholar groups in the Central Plains, Hebei, Shandong and other places generally maintained hostility towards the nobles of Guanzhong, and the two factions had completely different styles of doing things.

In the imperial court, officials from prominent families in the south or Hebei in the Central Plains often had good reputations, rarely engaged in corruption or bribery, and were generally amiable and well-behaved on the surface.

However, the nobles led by Yuwen Shu were even more ruthless than bandits. They made no attempt to hide their crimes. Some, like Li Hun, killed their nephews to seize titles, others abandoned their grandsons to regain trust, some openly solicited bribes to sell military positions, and others blatantly robbed merchants and commoners. They didn't care about appearances or conceal their evil deeds. They acted in a crude and simple manner, but they would actually do their job once they received money.

Li Jiancheng had experienced many things and met many people. Just by glancing at Fang Xuanling's expression, he could roughly guess what Fang Xuanling was thinking.

He smiled and said, “Don’t worry too much. Although my family is prominent in Guanzhong, we have connections with many scholars. I can introduce you to many famous scholars in the city. There are two great scholars in my own household.”

"Oh? May I ask which two renowned scholars you are?"

"The two Lius of Shilin, both Lord Lius, are currently in the mansion!"

Fang Xuanling was taken aback. "Both of them are here?"

"Could you perhaps lead me to see him?"

"That's natural!"

Li Jiancheng walked with Fang Xuanling along the road and talked to him about some academic matters. This surprised Fang Xuanling. He did not expect that this young master was quite accomplished in calendar and astronomy. He did not seem like a scion of a noble family at all.

Their relationship quickly warmed up, and Fang Xuanling put aside his contempt and resistance and started chatting with Li Jiancheng.

"Back when we were in our hometown, Erlangjun often wrote to me. Now that I've entered the manor, why haven't I seen him?"

Fang Xuanling asked curiously.

Li Jiancheng shook his head helplessly, "That guy went to my brother-in-law's place."

"Brother-in-law?"

"Oh, my brother-in-law is a military officer in the local area. He stayed in Luoyang for a while and made a lot of bad friends, which caused me a lot of trouble and almost resulted in someone's death. So I sent him to my brother-in-law's place to study military strategy and receive training. It's been a while now."

"That explains why I haven't received any more letters from Erlangjun lately."

Li Jiancheng brought Fang Xuanling to the East Courtyard.

The east courtyard was bustling with activity. Upon seeing Li Jiancheng return, everyone rushed forward to pay their respects. Li Jiancheng introduced Fang Xuanling to them, and they greeted him with smiles. After a while, Li Jiancheng finally emerged from the crowd and led Fang Xuanling into the inner room. Fang Xuanling remarked with some surprise, "There are so many talented people in this east courtyard!"

He looked at Li Jiancheng with a complicated expression. He was now quite certain that this family was planning a rebellion.

Looking at the people around Li Jiancheng just now, most of them were sons of noble families. Some came as guests, some came directly to join him, and some came to make friends. Li Jiancheng accepted all of them. His ambitions are not small.

Before Fang Xuanling could think any further, Li Jiancheng led him into the inner courtyard.

In the courtyard, two Liu brothers were playing chess with great interest.

Li Jiancheng and Fang Xuanling greeted each other, and Li Jiancheng then introduced Fang Xuanling to the two Lius again.

Fang Xuanling was clearly more concerned about Liu Zhuo, speaking to him excitedly with a look of trepidation. Li Jiancheng took the opportunity to walk aside with Liu Xuan, and then whispered, "Lord Liu, there is news."

"Xuanba made great contributions in Ryukyu!"

I've heard he killed a general.

When Li Jiancheng recounted Li Xuanba's achievements, Liu Xuan was dumbfounded.

"Master Liu is truly a renowned teacher! I made the right decision to seek him out!"

Li Jiancheng was quite excited, but Liu Xuan said unhappily, "What kind of achievement is this? The Ryukyu Kingdom is a small country. The general is not particularly brave, the soldiers are not particularly elite, and the city walls are not particularly tall. This is less than one ten-thousandth of what I taught him. You will naturally understand in the future!"

Liu Xuan is like that; he always has to brag about something, no matter the time.

Faced with his boasting, Li Jiancheng was not surprised at all. He nodded and said, "I know! I know! This is nothing. Killing a few generals is nothing. My third brother will be able to crush a million soldiers in the future!"

Liu Xuan was stunned for a moment after hearing this, and looked up at Li Jiancheng.

"Um"

Liu Xuan realized he couldn't out-talk Li Jiancheng, so he simply skipped that part and asked, "Did the emperor bestow any title upon him?"

"Yes, he was appointed General of the Vanguard."

"General of the Vanguard??"

"You are unaware of this, but this is a newly established organization. It is said that it is to select elite troops to form a large army. From now on, it will not belong to any other prefecture, but will be commanded by the General of the Army."

Liu Xuan's eyes twitched. He glanced at Fang Xuanling and Liu Zhuo, who were still talking in the distance, and pulled Li Jiancheng a little further away.

He lowered his voice, "Is this going to let Xuanba command the army alone?"

"How many people can there be?"

"It's still unclear, but it should be based on 800 people."

"Eight hundred elite troops?! That's the entire force of the Eagle Banner Prefecture."

Liu Xuan licked his lips, seemingly lost in thought. He gripped Li Jiancheng's hand tightly. "Young Master," he said, "I know you're eager to accomplish great things, but the Sui Dynasty's army is strong and well-equipped. It's not something that can be easily accomplished. I hope you will be patient."

Li Jiancheng narrowed his eyes. "Lord Liu, you may not know this, but I've made quite a few preparations over the past year."

“I know! Young Master has indeed won over many noble sons and befriended many heroes, but these people are all useless. If Young Master were to take up an official post, they could serve as his assistants, but if Young Master were to undertake other important matters, they would be of no help.”

Li Jiancheng simply smiled and nodded, "I understand, don't worry."

At present, what Li Jiancheng relies on is not the talents around him, nor the new army that his younger brother is about to form. Rather, it is the numerous mountain strongholds that have spread throughout the Central Plains, Hedong, and are even beginning to emerge in Hebei.

Wei Zheng was a truly capable man. With Li Jiancheng's full support, a hidden but powerful force was poised to be unleashed.

Li Jiancheng felt that his younger brother would be very surprised when he returned.

Perhaps it's time to overthrow the tyrant and save the world.
(End of this chapter)