Tang Dynasty Swordsman.

Li Bi casually returned the greeting, and Lao Jing then bowed to Cheng Yuanzhen. Cheng Yuanzhen smiled and pointed to Li Ji: "This is Li Changshi's cousin, who also serves as a guard... Oh, you should recognize him..." Only then did Lao Jing nod to Li Ji in acknowledgment.

“I have already brought Chief Secretary Li here. The Emperor has other orders to give, so I will not pay my respects to Marshal Guangping. Old Jing, please apologize to the Marshal on my behalf.”

No sooner had Cheng Yuanzhen left than Old Jing respectfully invited the two Lis into the mansion. Li Bi had barely stepped through the gate when Prince Guangping, Li Chu, jogged over to greet him. This was the first time Li Ji had seen Li Chu. He found that this man and Li Shi were indeed father and son, practically identical, except that Li Chu was slightly taller and had a beard.

Comparing Li Chu and Li Tan's appearances, Li Ji couldn't help but sigh: When he first saw Prince Jianning, he thought he was dashing and heroic, but now, compared to his brother, his appearance isn't so good... He's too shrewd and outwardly intelligent, far less refined and reserved than Prince Guangping—of course, it's also possible that Prince Guangping simply doesn't have much brilliance in his bones...

It seems that Cao Cao's second and fourth sons—Cao Pi and Cao Zhi—were quite similar. Cao Zhi was said to be exceptionally handsome and dashing, while Cao Pi only pretended to be a filial son in front of his father. One wonders if the Prince of Guangping's talent can compare to Cao Pi's? But in the past, Cao Zhi missed out on the throne, while now…

Li Tan probably has no chance either.

To seize imperial power, he would need to be able to play dumb like me.

Li Chu held Li Bi's hand intimately, repeatedly saying that his marshal's mansion was still just an empty shell, and how to build it depended entirely on the chief secretary's assistance in planning. Li Bi naturally declined, offering a torrent of humble words—this Taoist priest was quite the actor; in private, he didn't speak to me like this at all, always so confident and assertive, as if the rebel army would vanish instantly the moment he stepped out of the mountain.

The Marshal's Mansion was not large, but the main hall was quite magnificent and imposing. Seeing Li Chu pulling Li Bi into the main hall, Li Ji was about to step in and follow, but was grabbed by the arm by Lao Jing.

Old Jing shook his head and said, "The Marshal and the Chief Secretary are discussing important military and national affairs. How could we be qualified to listen in?"

"But the Emperor's decree orders me to personally protect my elder brother..."

Old Jing laughed and said, "What do you mean by 'personal guard'? How could there be such vulgar language in an imperial edict? You must have misunderstood—we can just wait outside the hall."

Li Ji thought about it and agreed. Even a bodyguard wouldn't stay by the leader's side during a confidential meeting.

So he glanced at the guards standing at the gate with their halberds, and asked Lao Jing, "Where should we two stand? Are we going to have to stand guard every day from now on? That's exhausting! I think it would be better if Li Bi spoke to the emperor and we resigned from this post..."

Old Jing laughed and said, "No need to stand—come with me."

To the left and right of the main hall were corridors. Old Jing pulled Li Ji towards one of the corridors. He had been standing tall and taut like a strong bow, but once inside the corridor, he instinctively let his guard down, his waist slumped, and his large belly bulged out... He then sat down cross-legged under the corridor and patted the ground beside him: "Come sit down."

He pointed towards the main hall and said, "This place is excellent. It provides shelter from the wind and rain, and the situation in front of the hall is clearly visible. If the Chief Secretary comes out, we can run over to protect him in time."

Li Ji looked around, observing the surrounding environment, and couldn't help but nod—it was indeed a good place. The front hall was spacious, while the corridor was cramped. The front hall was bright and open, while the corridor was dark and dim. From the front hall, it was unlikely that one could clearly see what people were doing in the corridor, but from the corridor, one could have a clear view of the situation in the front hall. We were like sentries hidden here.

But Kyo-chan, did you choose this location really to make it convenient for security guards, or were you simply trying to be lazy?

So he rolled up his sleeves to dust himself off and sat down next to Lao Jing.

Old Jing cupped his hands and said, "I hope you will take care of me in the future. My name is Jing Jiang, Jing as in Jingzhou, Jiang as in crimson, and I am from Lintao County..."

Li Ji asked, "Aren't you a servant of Princess Ningguo? How did you enter the Marshal's Mansion and become a chief secretary and bodyguard?"

Old Jing shook his head and said, "I am not a princess's servant, but a bodyguard of the Prince of Guangping—who is now the Marshal of the Army."

Li Ji understood. So it was his older brother who sent someone to take his younger sister out to play yesterday. No wonder Lao Jing, before making a move against him, didn't turn around and ask the princess for her opinion, even though he received a hint from Li Shi—Li Shi was his young master, and although his seniority was lower, his status was higher than the princess's.

Then Old Jing continued, "The Prince of Fengjie naturally reported yesterday's events to the Marshal. The Marshal heard that there was an extraordinary person in the city, fearing it would be detrimental to Chief Secretary Li, so he ordered me to protect Chief Secretary Li. I reported to the Marshal that Chief Secretary Li's younger cousin, Li Ji, was skilled in martial arts and was no less than me..."

Li Ji secretly scoffed – I'm clearly stronger than you! If those patrolmen hadn't arrived so quickly, I might have knocked you down in a moment!

"...The Marshal therefore informed the Emperor, ordering the two of us to jointly protect Chief Secretary Li."

Li Ji gave a perfunctory bow: "Thank you for your recommendation." Then he pointed to Lao Jing's turban: "What does the red handkerchief wrapped around your hat mean?"

Old Jing reached out and touched the red handkerchief on his head, explaining, "Back in the Shence Army, when the soldiers of the seven armies of Ningbian, Weisheng, Jintian, Wuning, Yaowu, Tiancheng, and Zhenwei from neighboring prefectures fought against the Tubo, they all wore five-colored handkerchiefs to make it easier to identify each other and to boost morale. It had become a habit. So, look how imposing and fierce our Shence Army looks with red!"

Taking the opportunity, Li Ji asked, "It's said that the Tibetans are barbaric and fierce, is that true?"

From the early Tang Dynasty's defeat of the Turks until the current turmoil, although there have been constant external threats from the north and west, the Tang army has firmly held them off. Few nomadic armies have been able to penetrate deep into the interior, so the common people generally don't take it seriously—unless they are conscripted. Li Ji had previously inquired about Tibet from Li Mi, but Li Mi could only give a general overview—he only knew secondhand about Tibet's political system, military strength, the abilities of its generals, and the quality of its soldiers.

Upon hearing Li Ji mention Tibet, Lao Jing's expression darkened. He then slowly said, "The Tibetans are born on the plateau, with red faces and tall statures. They are capable of enduring hardship and fighting. Although their weapons are not very sophisticated, they are all incredibly brave and fearless, truly a great enemy of our Tang Dynasty... They have come down from the plateau and have repeatedly plotted to seize the Hexi Corridor. If the Hexi Corridor is lost, not only will the interior be threatened, but the Western Regions will also no longer belong to our Tang Dynasty. Previously, Generals Huangfu, Wang, and Geshu were in charge of military affairs in Longyou and Hexi, leading us to resist Tibet. We won more battles than we lost, but since the three generals left, I have heard that the situation is deteriorating day by day..."

So the phrase "it is said" is probably because he had already been transferred to the Left Guard of the Imperial Guard due to his merits at that time.

Once Lao Jing started talking about his battles on the battlefield, he couldn't stop talking. He talked so much that Li Ji had to pretend that his legs had gone numb and get up to move around, taking the opportunity to get away from him... But in the middle of the conversation, he suddenly stopped and then darted out of the corridor in two or three steps.

Li Ji thought Li Bi had come out, so Lao Jing

Chapter Thirty: The Shame of a Peace Marriage

Li Ji ate this meal with great relish.

He felt that even a hundred delicacies would be boring if enjoyed alone, and plain water and coarse rice... Forget it, four dishes and a soup would be better; it would be much more satisfying to fight over them. Although he used to invite those three eunuchs to dine with him at lavish meals in the palace, those three were not only big-eyed but also incredibly reserved, never daring to eat or drink freely. If he weren't allowed to take a bite of every dish, it would be no different from being served poison... What's the point of eating like that?

Today, his struggle with Lao Jing over food and drink truly whetted his appetite. The key was that both of them were big eaters, and official meals were rationed, not freely available. If they didn't fight for food, they'd only manage to get half-full. Lao Jing seemed surprised by Li Ji's appetite and his complete lack of courtesy and humility. He underestimated Li Ji and quickly fell into a disadvantageous position, his anger rising – "Damn it, I can't even beat you in a fight, and I even lost a food fight… Oh well, victory and defeat are common in war. I'll skip breakfast tomorrow and fight again when I'm full!"

However, this anger only briefly surfaced during the scramble. By the time the plates and bowls were empty, not a drop of soup remained, and all the utensils were as clean as if a cat had licked them, and after the soldier came to clean up, he felt an even stronger sense of kinship—yes, a real man is one who can fight and eat well. This Li Ji is someone worth befriending.

So the atmosphere was even more harmonious in the afternoon. Li Ji's legs ached from sitting, so he stood up and paced along the corridor; Old Jing, however, remained seated, seemingly having never gotten up except to run out and greet Wei Boyu once. Li Ji glanced at his large belly and thought to himself, "Eating all the time without any exercise, not even taking a walk after meals, no wonder he's so obese... You're like a royal horse, away from the battlefield for too long, thus pampered by the royal family and covered in fat. If you were sent back to the battlefield now, you probably wouldn't be able to fight much, would you?"

If Lao Jing were in his prime—for example, when he was still a member of the "Shence Army"—I might not be his match in a hand-to-hand combat.

After wandering around for a bit, he suddenly remembered the matter of Princess Ningguo and asked Lao Jing, "I heard that His Majesty is going to marry Princess Ningguo to the Uyghurs. I wonder when they will set off?"

As Lao Jing shaved his teeth with a bamboo skewer, he vaguely replied, "It's all under the sage's will; how could I possibly know?"

"Don't you feel ashamed that the princess is being sent to a foreign land?"

When I discussed this matter with Li Bi last night, Li Ji also brought up the same issue. Li Bi shook his head blankly and asked him, "What is there to be ashamed of?"

He said that the Uyghurs were originally friendly tribes who had always respected the emperor and admired the emperor's rule, unlike the Tibetans. If the two countries were enemies, and a princess had to be married off to the enemy to force them to withdraw and maintain peace—like the marriage alliance between the Han Dynasty and the Xiongnu in the early Han Dynasty—it might be a last resort and damage the prestige of the nation. But if the Uyghurs were to be married off to a friendly nation, it would be a pure act of imperial grace, and the Uyghurs would surely feel grateful. The Tang people would not be able to object either.

"When the previous emperor was in Lingwu, he enfeoffed Chengcai, the third son of the Prince of Bin, as the Prince of Dunhuang and sent him to borrow troops from the Uyghurs to quell the rebellion. The Uyghur Khan then married his daughter to the prince as his concubine, and the emperor bestowed upon her the title of princess. Now, the emperor has sent Princess Ningguo to marry him. With the Tang Dynasty and the Uyghurs exchanging marriages, and the Khan being the emperor's son-in-law, they will surely provide full assistance. With the Uyghur troops as reinforcements, we will be even more confident in defeating the rebels."

Li Ji was not satisfied with this explanation and asked in return, "Brother, has there ever been a case of a real princess being married off to a foreign country since ancient times?"

Li Bi paused for a moment upon hearing this, then replied, "Perhaps..."

Li Ji replied, “I do not know what happened afterward, but I do know that in the Former Han Dynasty, princesses were married to the Xiongnu, from Modu to Huhanye, and all of them were women of the imperial clan—Zhaojun was not even a woman of the imperial clan. After Emperor Gaozu of Han escaped the siege of Pingcheng, he followed Lou Jing's advice and originally wanted to marry his own daughter to Modu, but this was abandoned because Empress Lü opposed it. If our dynasty had married a real princess to a barbarian tribe at the beginning of the dynasty, would it have been ridiculed by later generations?”

Li Bi retorted dismissively, “What’s so laughable? The Uyghurs are not an enemy state, but rather a vassal state. Throughout history, countless princesses have married into other vassal states.”

Li Ji was still unable to let it go and questioned, "Although the Uyghurs are obedient, they are still barbarians. The customs of barbarian lands are very different from those of Han lands, and they live in remote northern deserts, eating raw and pungent food. How can you bear to send the princess a thousand miles to live with a cruel barbarian ruler and suffer humiliation at the hands of barbarians?"

Li Bi glanced at him with some surprise: "Who said the Uyghur Khan was cruel? Who dares to bully my Tang princess? And if you pity a weak woman and marry her off to a distant land for the country, do you think the imperial princess would have no complaints? Do you think Zhaojun would have no complaints?"

Upon hearing this, Li Ji was speechless... "I detest this kind of marriage alliance. Is it for the sake of the country's prestige or for the princess's personal sake? If it's for the sake of the country's prestige, Li Mi also said that the Uyghurs are different from the Xiongnu of the Han Dynasty or the present-day Tubo. Since the establishment of their state, they have been quite submissive and rarely disturb the borders. Even a scholar like him wouldn't feel ashamed of the princess marrying into the Uyghurs. Why should I worry about the ancients? Moreover, this can deepen the friendship between the Tang and the Uyghurs and help them quell rebellions, which would be of great benefit to the country."

If we consider the princess's personal situation, wouldn't replacing a real princess with a member of the imperial family be the same thing? Women, being vulnerable, had little say in their marriages, and marrying someone they didn't love was almost inevitable in that era. Although the Tang dynasty valued women's personal wishes relatively, how many princesses in the imperial family truly had the freedom to choose their husbands and achieve a happy marriage? Princess Ningguo's previous divorce from the man surnamed Xue is clear evidence of this.

What exactly is he struggling with? Is it because he has only met Princess Ningguo once, which is why he "sees the cow but not the sheep"?

Then Li Bi said, “I know that since you come from Jin, you must deeply dislike the Hu people. But although our Tang Dynasty has suffered from chaos, it is ultimately different from the Sima clan. The Uyghur ruler will not become Liu Yuanhai, so there is no need to be so concerned about this.”

But Li Ji still felt uneasy, so today he asked Lao Jing about it again, asking what the soldiers thought about it. Lao Jing replied, "The Uyghur soldiers are also good at fighting. They have helped the Longyou and Hexi armies fight against the Tubo before, and they have been quite helpful. If Princess Ningguo marries into the Uyghurs, it would be a good thing if they could send troops to help our Tang Dynasty quell the rebellion."

"What does the princess herself think?"

“The princess was naturally unhappy,” Old Jing said with a smile. “That’s why she asked the marshal to let her leave the palace yesterday so she could take one last look at the Han market. Of all the nations in the world, our Tang Dynasty is the most prosperous. The Uyghurs and Tibetans are naturally no match for it. Even if they were, it’s still not their homeland. What woman would be willing to leave her homeland to marry far away? But for the sake of the country, she had no choice but to comply.”

He paused for a moment, then said, "I heard that the Uyghurs have already sent troops to help Prime Minister Guo pacify the Hequ region, but I don't know when they will be able to reach Pengyuan."

Li Ji fell silent for a long while before saying, "I've heard that Emperor Taizong also made peace with Tibet through marriage, and Tibet ultimately became a scourge to our Tang Dynasty. Who knows if the Uyghurs of the future will not be like Tibet today?"

Old Jing laughed and said, "Who can predict what will happen in the future? Besides, these things are planned by the sage and the ministers. We can't even predict what will happen tomorrow, so how can we think so far ahead? Let's wipe out the An traitor first."

Li Ji, still not getting the answer he wanted, grew frustrated. He paced around, trying to find a topic to talk about. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of a guard standing at the front of the hall, halberd in hand. He trembled, then collapsed to the ground.

What happened? Did I get sunburned? The sun wasn't even that strong today.

Looking closely, he saw a flash of white light, and the guard on the other side also collapsed without a sound. Li Ji was shocked and immediately shouted, "Assassin!" He darted out from the corridor.

He had already taken a step forward when the first guard who had been ambushed had just fallen to the ground, his halberd hitting the steps with a loud "clang".

When the military marshal's mansion was first built, the number of guards was not large, and the arrangement was tight on the outside but loose on the inside. Most of the guards were stationed outside the courtyard—which also meant guarding a corner of the palace at the same time—specifically, there were only four guards in front of the hall inside the courtyard, and two of them died in an instant.

Hearing Li Ji's shout and catching a glimpse of his fallen comrade, the two remaining guards snapped out of their daze. They hastily grabbed their halberds, looking around in panic, unsure where the enemy had come from. Then, two more flashes of white light appeared, and the two men followed in their comrade's footsteps.

Only after all four guards in front of the hall had perished did the assassins appear—five people leaped out from the corner of the wall in quick succession. Li Ji glanced at them hastily and saw two wielding knives, one wielding a sword, while the other two carried outer weapons—a copper hammer and a vajra—and rushed toward the hall.

Li Ji drew his sword and leaped forward. The man wielding the copper hammer, who had been running ahead, swung his hammer at Li Ji without a word. Li Ji had no experience dealing with such unorthodox weapons and dared not parry with his sword. He could only slightly sidestep and barely dodge the blow. He thought to himself: Where is the one who launched the flying sword? If he's not among these five men and is still hiding to the side, things will probably get more troublesome.

Seeing an assassin wielding a knife leap past his companions and ascend the steps, Li Ji quickly drew his sword and gave chase—he had to protect Li Bi and Li Chu first. If Li Chu were to perish, even with only a minor injury, none of the inner and outer guards would escape; they would all be killed. As for Li Bi, he was still his current support; how could he die?!

With a whoosh, the copper hammer came at his head again, and this time the wind was clearly stronger and the force more intense. Li Ji was forced to lean forward to barely avoid it, and then, because he lost his balance, he simply stretched out his left hand to brace himself against the ground, spun in mid-air, and leaped onto the steps.

Without turning his head, the assassin wielding the knife swung his blade backhand, but Li Ji parried it with his own horizontal saber, deflecting it with a "crack." Seemingly surprised by his strength, the assassin, though not stopping, instinctively twisted his body slightly. A green-robed military officer swung his sword with tremendous force, and Li Ji instantly reversed his own saber, striking the assassin's wrist with the iron ring on the hilt.

"What kind of unique skill is this now?" Li Ji was so shocked that he couldn't dodge in time and was struck hard on the wrist by the iron ring. His hand went limp, and the power of his blade vanished. After the strike, the assassin swung his blade in an arc, which Li Ji barely dodged. Then, he heard the whooshing sound of a copper hammer behind his head. This time, he couldn't dodge and was forced to parry with his own blade.

His wrist was already numb from being hit, and then he collided head-on with a bronze hammer bigger than his fist. With a "clang," the hammer bounced back, but Li Ji's sword slipped from his hand, spinning and falling to the ground...

Chapter Thirty-One: Life Hangs in the Balance

Li Jizhen never expected that an assassin would come to commit murder the day after the Marshal's Mansion was built. Fortunately, he discovered it relatively early and was standing under the corridor, so he was able to get out of there quickly. If he had been sitting there eating, he would have had to throw down his bowl and chopsticks first, and he probably wouldn't have made it in time, as the assassin would have already entered the main hall.

Li Ji wasn't particularly concerned about the five assassins who had appeared. Although the hall was empty, there were still many guards inside and outside the courtyard gates. He figured as long as he could hold off the assassins for a minute or two, he could easily defeat them once the rest of the army had assembled. One against five was difficult to defeat, but delaying them wouldn't be hard, especially since he had Old Jing behind him.

His only worry was that the assassin who had used the hidden weapon was not among the five, but was still lurking in the shadows. As he ascended the steps, he glanced over and saw a fallen guard lying on the ground, his throat a bloody mess... He guessed that a flying sword had pierced his throat, which was why he couldn't make a sound and had collapsed.

The area in front of the hall was open, and even the nearest large tree that could hide someone was more than ten meters away. If you add the height of the tree, the distance would be even greater. Within a dozen meters, four people were killed, each with a sword aimed straight for the throat. The accuracy was terrifying. Li Ji thought to himself, "If I were using a rifle, I probably couldn't shoot that accurately either."

If this "strange person" suddenly shoots a sword at me while I am fighting with my enemy, will I be able to dodge it?

Therefore, he only focused three-tenths of his energy on the hammer-wielding and knife-wielding assassins fighting him, two-tenths of his energy on the other three assassins, and half of his attention on his hearing, to guard against the sudden sound of a golden blade piercing the air and heading towards his throat.

Unexpectedly, the assassins who appeared were all highly skilled. One wielded a copper hammer with a whistling sound and unpredictable trajectory, while another could even reverse his sword and use the hilt to injure his opponent… Perhaps this was a trick to force the enemy to drop their weapons; that fellow had mastered it so well that Li Ji couldn't dodge it. Moreover, although Li Ji had strong wrists and didn't immediately drop his weapon, before he could even recover, he was forced to parry the sudden copper hammer. He finally couldn't withstand it any longer, and his sword flew out of his hand.

Damn it... I've never learned how to catch a blade barehanded!

Li Ji couldn't help but call out in his heart to the original owner of this body: Are you still alive? My life is at stake, come out quickly!

Now it's not a matter of saving Li Bi or Li Chu anymore; one wrong move and my second phase of life will come to an end!

The thought suddenly changed, but Li Ji did not stop. He waited for his true self to reappear. Seeing that the assassin opposite him missed with his backhand slash, his right arm was outstretched and the knife was on the outside, leaving his chest and abdomen wide open, he immediately lowered his head, bent his waist and kicked his legs, and directly crashed into the other party's arms.

The impact caused the opponent to stumble and lose his balance. Li Ji seized the opportunity to grab the opponent's waist tightly with both hands and lift him up, sending his feet off the ground. He had originally intended to weaken the opponent's lower body first and then simply perform a side slam, but he hadn't expected his strength to be so great that he had lifted the guy up... So, he twisted his waist, turning him 180 degrees on the spot, and positioned the opponent's back facing the whistling copper hammer.

With a "whoosh," the copper hammer, fearing the consequences, was forced to retract.

After several lightning-fast exchanges, Li Ji had roughly figured out how to use the copper hammer. Its attack range was about two meters, almost comparable to a spear, but it relied on centrifugal force to injure the enemy. Therefore, while its trajectory was unpredictable, it was far less agile than a spear. Once the hammer was retracted, it would take at least a second before it could strike again.

In that split second, Li Ji tilted his head slightly and glanced around. He saw Lao Jing holding a sword and fighting a knife-wielding assassin. The other two assassins were rushing towards the courtyard gate, presumably to block the Imperial Guards who would come after hearing the commotion. So, as long as he could defeat the one he was holding, he would only have one person wielding a copper hammer in front of him.

The man in his arms felt two arms as hard as steel gripping his waist, and a human head pressing against his chest and abdomen, making it almost impossible to breathe. After a brief moment of fear and shock, he suddenly felt a release under his chest—Li Ji had turned his head to observe the situation—and before he could struggle, another shoulder suddenly lifted him up—

Li Ji used the same trick again, using his shoulder to throw the huge man out, which landed right in front of the wire-carrying copper hammer. With a "crack," it was estimated that he was hit in the back.

After abandoning the enemy, Li Ji bent down and went to pick up his knife from the ground.

But then a white light flashed a dozen meters to his left, and Li Ji almost instinctively squinted his left eye. He braced himself with one hand on the ground, flattened his body, twisted his waist, and used the momentum to roll over, leaping directly over the threshold into the main hall. Then he heard a soft "snap," as if something had been nailed to the threshold.

Li Ji was terrified and broke out in a cold sweat. He leaped up, kicked a door panel with his back leg, and then jumped to the other side, closing the other door as well.