My older brother said I'm invincible.

Is Chapter 78 about Zhao Yuanshu?

Could it be him?

But why?

Li Yuan found several corpses, but they had nothing on them to prove their identities. No one knew their origins. Li Yuan could only determine their identities from the weapons they left behind, that they came from the Guanzhong region.

The Sui Dynasty paid great attention to weapon forging, establishing different forging officials in different regions. The weapons manufactured in different regions were also different and could be identified.

Li Yuan was fairly certain that someone in the court had spoken ill of him to the emperor, but he didn't know who it was. He didn't have many friends in the decision-making circles of the court; his friends were mostly military generals.

But this matter doesn't seem to be detrimental to me at all. It seems more like a plot against the Zheng family.

Li Yuan really couldn't understand it.

He turned to leave, but Zheng Jibo suddenly called out to him.

"Don't rush off!"

Zheng Jibo stood up, glanced at Zheng Qilin who was trembling beside him, and then stared at Li Yuan, "What do you plan to do?"

"You can't keep this house. I advise you not to even think about keeping it. You'd better think about how to protect yourself."

"With Zhao Yuanshu here, what I want to do is not important; what matters most is what the Emperor wants to do."

Zheng Jibo's calm expression finally crumbled, and he trembled with anger.

They lost a hidden copper mine and were burdened with a serious crime. The sage wouldn't execute their entire family for this, but at least Zheng Qilin's branch of the family would likely be doomed. Not only that, the Zheng family would have to pay a heavy price. This kind of crime couldn't be forgiven by simply pleading for mercy.

Zheng Jibo said in a low voice, "I will never let this matter go. I will investigate it to the end. Whoever did it, I will make them pay the price."

Li Yuan didn't take Zheng Jibo's threat seriously at all.

In the eyes of these warriors in Guanzhong, those outsiders were nothing; only their own people were considered human. They treated people from other regions with the attitude of victors, and some were even more violent and vicious, treating people from other places as slaves.

Li Yuan was alright; he had many friends and was usually quite polite to those who weren't from Guanzhong. But getting along well with them didn't mean he was afraid of them.

"It would be good to investigate. If you find anything, you can send someone to let me know."

Li Yuan only said one sentence before striding away. Warriors rushed in and took Zheng Qilin away. Zheng Qilin looked at Zheng Jibo and shouted for help, but Zheng Jibo did not move and could only pretend that he had not heard anything.

Li Yuan did not rush to see the children. After sending someone to record the major case truthfully, he summoned many of his trusted confidants in the city to discuss the matter.

Liu Xuan was also invited by him.

There weren't many people inside; they were all Li Yuan's most trusted subordinates.

As a new face, Liu Xuan naturally aroused everyone's curiosity. After Li Yuan introduced him, everyone bowed and greeted him, expressing their admiration. Liu Xuan smiled and returned the greeting.

Only then did Li Yuan calmly begin to discuss the important matter.

Someone deliberately lured him to the mine that the Zheng family had hidden away, seemingly because they had a grudge against the Zheng family. But strangely, the Zheng family had not been heard to have made any enemies in recent days. At the same time, the person seeking revenge could have directly sent someone to contact Li Yuan, but instead chose this strange method.

When Li Yuan recounted this story in detail, many people were just learning about it and were all amazed.

Liu Xuan was stunned when he learned that his disciple had actually defeated the Zheng family's private soldiers in a head-on battle and subdued the enemy leader.

Is this referring to my disciple?
Could it be that I actually taught it correctly?

The crowd, being quite perceptive, praised Li Yuan, saying that he was a skilled educator and that his children were all so outstanding and excellent.

Normally, Li Yuan would have listened attentively to their flattery, but at this moment, these strange occurrences made him quite worried. So he interrupted their flattery and directly asked them to express their own opinions.

"My lord, in my opinion, this is aimed at the Zheng family and has nothing to do with us. That person dares not reveal his identity, probably because he is afraid of being retaliated against by the Zheng family in the future. If something happens to the Zheng family, it will not do us any harm. On the contrary, it is a great thing!"

One of them analyzed, "Didn't some villains previously try to sow discord in front of the Sage, saying that our lord was close to the Zheng family? This time, the rumors have been disproven on their own. Our lord dealt a heavy blow to the Zheng family, showing no favoritism. Who can say that our lord has any private dealings with powerful local clans?"

"Moreover, His Majesty is eager to conquer the Northwest, and the court is in dire need of funds at this time. This time, the spoils of war are enormous, and the Zheng family's wealth is considerable. His Majesty will surely be overjoyed, so how could he not reward our lord?"

“My lord need not worry. If anyone should be worried, it should be Zheng Jibo.”

Li Yuan nodded slightly; he thought it made a lot of sense.

Wang Zanwu pondered for a moment, looking thoughtful.

"Duke, you just mentioned that dark-faced man, which reminds me of something."

"Oh?"

"When I had people keeping an eye on Zhao Yuanshu before, my men noticed a dark-faced man appearing frequently. Because his appearance was different from others, many people remembered him. Could these two be the same person?" "Zhao Yuanshu??"

Li Yuan laughed, shaking his head. "That Zhao Yuanshu is nothing but a sycophantic scoundrel. He can't do anything about it."

"Duke".

Liu Xuan suddenly spoke up, saying, "Zhao Yuanshu has powerful backers. He was able to take up an important position not just because he is good at flattery."

"Don't forget, he was promoted because of his military achievements."

Military merit.

Li Yuan suddenly narrowed his eyes.

"The rebellion was settled fairly with the State of Chu."

Of course, the one who led Zhao Yuanshu, Zhang Xutuo and others to quell the rebellion was not the current Yang Xuangan, but his father Yang Su. However, most of Yang Su's power in the court and the country was inherited by his son.

Li Yuan suddenly laughed, stood up, and looked at Liu Xuan.

"Liu Jun, would you like to come with me to meet one of your old acquaintances?"

Liu Xuan instinctively covered his nose.

Li Yuan laughed heartily.

Zhao Yuanshu and her entourage were now arranged in a large courtyard in the north of the city. There were not many private residences here; most of them were government offices and mansions. The place where Zhao Yuanshu was staying was also specifically used to receive distinguished guests.

At this moment, Zhao Yuanshu opened the study door and sat in the room with a book in her hand, frequently looking out.

He looked quite uneasy.

Li Mi and his men have been missing for a long time. In the past, when Li Mi was unable to come in to meet them, he would send people to convey messages through other means, such as birdsong or the shouts of merchants.

This time, however, they have completely disappeared, and the two sides have lost contact for a long time.

Zhao Yuanshu knew what Li Mi was planning to do, and therefore she was extremely worried.

Could something have happened to them?

Zhao Yuanshu knew perfectly well that although she had pledged allegiance to Yang Xuangan earlier, Li Mi was clearly closer to the Duke than she was to him.

If something happens to Li Mi here, won't it implicate me?

What a scourge!

I told him from the beginning that there was no need for this kid to come, but he used sweet words to flatter the Duke and now wants me to cooperate with him?
Zhao Yuanshu grew angrier the more he thought about it. Just as he was waiting anxiously, someone finally appeared in the distance.

However, it was not Li Mi and his entourage that arrived, but the tall Li Yuan leading a large retinue, striding towards him.

Since Li Yuan drove Zhao Yuanshu away, the two had not seen each other again. Seeing Li Yuan walking towards them so aggressively, Zhao Yuanshu was startled.

"Zhao Jun!"

Li Yuan still managed a smile. He led everyone to greet Zhao Yuanshu and asked curiously, "It's windy outside, why is Lord Zhao still keeping the door open?"

Zhao Yuanshu's expression softened considerably. He was already flustered, and Li Yuan's sudden arrival made him even more afraid.

He said with a smile, "Just now, a bird flew by, and I thought a distinguished guest had arrived, so I opened the door to see, but I didn't expect it to be the Duke!"

Li Yuan laughed heartily.

No wonder everyone in the court says you're the best at flattery.

He led Zhao Yuanshu into the study, then pointed to Liu Xuan beside him and introduced him, "This Mr. Liu is a good friend of mine. You might recognize him; he used to work at the Imperial Academy."

Zhao Yuanshu glanced at the other person and nodded, "I recognize him, of course I recognize him. Who in the world doesn't know of Liu Jun's talent?"

"I've been so busy these past few days that I haven't been able to see Lord Zhao. Lord Zhao has no idea that something terrible has happened outside."

"I arrested a large number of people today and interrogated them all day."

Li Yuan began to speak to himself, and Zhao Yuanshu in front of him couldn't help but breathe more heavily.

(End of this chapter)