My older brother said I'm invincible.

Chapter 12 Completed in March, a Thousand Years of Repair

The coachman at the Zheng residence offered to take Li Xuanba home, but Li Xuanba politely declined his offer.

He carried the package and headed towards his own south courtyard.

The sun was blazing overhead, and the sunlight was blinding.

But Li Xuanba really liked this kind of weather; the sun made him feel very comfortable all over.

He walked all the way to his own villa, which wasn't very far from his home.

The courtyard wall wasn't very high, and you could see the lush trees inside, just like the Zheng family's residence. The environment here was quite nice, though of course, it couldn't compare to theirs. As soon as Li Xuanba approached, someone rushed out and blocked his way.

The man had a bitter expression on his face, but he was greatly surprised when he realized that the person who came was Li Xuanba.

"Sanlang-kun??"

He certainly knew Li Sanlang, but he knew Erlang and Silang better than Sanlang. After all, Erlang and Silang were the ones who came most frequently. It was one thing for them to come frequently, but instead of using the main gate, they would sneak over the courtyard wall, which caused a lot of trouble for the servants. He was afraid that the two of them would fall and get hurt, which would cause him a lot of trouble.

This man is also an old servant in the household, sharing the same surname as Steward Liu, and is quite old.

"Father-in-law!"

Li Xuanba hurriedly bowed and paid his respects.

Despite being called an old man, you couldn't tell just by looking at him. He had a full beard, a fierce look reminiscent of a nomadic people, and was quite burly and intimidating.

The old man hurriedly returned the greeting, and his attitude softened immediately. This third son was different from the second and fourth sons. He was known for being well-behaved and sensible, and never made trouble for the servants. He had an excellent reputation.

The old man looked around. "Why did Third Young Master come alone? Where are the others?"

"I was attending a banquet nearby and was on my way back, so I came to check it out."

"You're here to eat dates, right? The green dates are just right now. Come, I'll take Sanlangjun there."

He was extremely amiable and invited Li Xuanba inside. Li Xuanba asked, "I've heard things are not peaceful inside or outside the city. Is it alright here?"

"Alright, the city is just not peaceful enough, who would dare to cause trouble here?"

"If it weren't for Second Young Master and Fourth Young Master, there would have been no need to send anyone to guard this place."

The man led Li Xuanba to the depths of the orchard on the left, and then said that he could pick and eat as much as he wanted. If Li Xuanba wanted anything else, he could get it for him. Li Xuanba expressed his gratitude, and the man then left.

Li Xuanba walked slowly through the orchard, looking at the surrounding soil. After walking for a while, he suddenly stopped and looked down at the ground.

It was a string of footprints, messy and disordered.

Li Xuanba looked around, then carefully unpacked the package, revealing the food inside. He looked around again and muttered to himself, "Looks like I can't eat this. It'll be too much trouble to take it back. I might as well just leave it here!"

After saying that, he turned to leave.

"Benefactor!"

Li Xuanba was taken aback and turned around. Suddenly, a head popped out from the bushes not far away. It was the laborer he had seen that day. He saw the laborer scrambling to Li Xuanba's side and hurriedly bowing to him.

"It really is you! What a great kindness!"

Li Xuanba couldn't be sure that the other party was definitely here. Seeing the Zheng family members eating and drinking so heartily, he couldn't help but think of the skinny boy from yesterday. He thought he would come here for a stroll and, since it was on his way, he saw some very fresh footprints and concluded that the other party had been here before. He decided to leave the food here and see if the other party would find it.

Unexpectedly, this person had been hiding here all along!

Li Xuanba quickly turned around and looked into the distance. "How dare you hide here during the day? The people guarding this place are not to be trifled with. There's no one here at night!"

The boy's face was full of bitterness. "Sir, we really have nowhere else to go."

"us?"

The boy waved his hand behind him, and then saw several more heads pop out. They were all skin and bones, so thin they were unrecognizable, and their faces were full of haggardness and fear.

The boy said painfully, "These are the people who escaped with me. We can't find food, and they're arresting us everywhere. We can't leave the city, and we can't go anywhere."

Li Xuanba quickly gestured to him, "Take these things first, let's go further in!" Li Xuanba followed them a little further, making sure it was deep enough, before stopping. "Distribute these things among everyone. I didn't expect there to be so many people; I'm afraid it won't be enough."

The boy was overjoyed and immediately invited everyone to come and eat.

There were five or six people in total. The boy distributed the food to each of them, and they wolfed it down, squatting in the mud to eat. Li Xuanba carefully squatted down among them, observing them.

After they finished wolfing down their food, Li Xuanba asked in a low voice:
"Are you all from the same hometown?"

"No."

The boy shook his head. "Only the dark-skinned one is from my hometown; I met the rest on the road."

"More than thirty of our fellow villagers set off with us, but now only a few remain."

"It disappeared along the way?"

Upon hearing this, an older servant couldn't help but say, "You don't know this, but the officials are pressing us very hard!"

“I’ve done corvée labor before, but never like this. We’re not given any rest, and we’re traveling day and night. I heard that the emperor wants the irrigation canal to be completed within four months, and anyone who delays will be beheaded. The officials are all in a hurry to send people there, and they don’t even give them time to stop and eat.”

"On the main road outside, there were countless laborers from one end to the other, and the roadside was littered with corpses. Half of them died just from traveling."

Li Xuanba wasn't completely ignorant of what was happening outside; he had heard some things from people in the manor, but he had never heard of anything like what they were talking about now.

"I thought that with a new sage, there wouldn't be so much corvée labor, but who knew it would be even worse than before!"

"The day before yesterday they were building palaces, today they're digging canals, tomorrow they're logging mountains, the day after they're protecting military supplies—it's endless, and the village is deserted."

As everyone talked about these things, they were all overcome with grief and couldn't help but shed tears. Each of them had a story that Li Xuanba had never heard before, including the young man who told Li Xuanba that his older brothers had all died in the last canal-digging project, leaving him as the only male in his family, yet he was still being conscripted for corvée labor.
"That's not right. I read in a book that a family with only one male member wouldn't be conscripted for labor."

"They said my family has several more male members, but I don't know who these men are or where they came from. It's common in rural areas for someone to suddenly have extra farmland or more brothers."

As everyone talked, they fell silent again.

After a moment of silence, the young man looked at Li Xuanba and said, "My benefactor, my name is Zhang Sengyuan. I am afraid I can never repay your kindness in this life, and I can only repay it in the next!"

The others also bowed in gratitude along with him.

Zhang Sengyuan said, "We want to go home. Once it gets dark, we'll find a way to leave the city. Don't worry, we will never implicate you!"

Zhang Sengyuan did not underestimate this rather young child at all, and the same was true for the others. When they were starving, he gave them a bowl of rice. This kindness was so great that it made their age irrelevant.

"How did you get into the city in the first place?"

"We entered the city with the officials to move things. We were running around inside the city; there were cavalry outside, so we couldn't escape."

Li Xuanba gently stroked his chin without saying a word.

Zhang Sengyuan just stared at him when Li Xuanba suddenly spoke up, “You’re unfamiliar with this place. If you try to run away like this, you’ll probably be caught tonight. I saw some officials beating and killing laborers in the street. Now it seems that they are the ones who tried to escape.”

“This orchard has been safe these past few days. Outsiders don’t dare to come here to investigate. The owner hasn’t returned yet. How about this, don’t rush to leave tonight. I’ll try to think of a way for you. I can’t help you get home, but at least I might be able to find a way out of the city.”

“I have an older brother who has secretly run away from the city before; he might know the way out safely.”

Zhang Sengyuan quickly stood up. "Sir, we can never repay your kindness. We dare not cause you any more trouble if the officials find out."

"No problem."

Li Xuanba's face suddenly became much more serious.

"Corruption is not wrong, but its scale, its haste, and its brutality are beyond reason and should be condemned!"

“When a sage makes a mistake, those in the world who are educated and hold official positions cannot advise or stop him! I am just an ordinary person with limited knowledge and ability, but I have read some books and understand some principles. I may not be able to advise the sage, but I can help a few people get through their difficulties.”

Zhang Sengyuan's lips trembled a few times as he stared blankly at Li Xuanba in front of him, at a loss for words.

(End of this chapter)