My older brother said I'm invincible.

Chapter 379 Liyang Warehouse

Yang Xuangan was speechless for a moment, and he looked at Li Jiancheng.

The two looked at each other.

Pei Shiju stood up. Even in front of these two blood-covered butchers, Pei Shiju showed no panic. He frowned and said, "You two have come here not to capture me and interrogate me, but to simply kill me?"

Yang Xuangan had come here to intimidate Pei Shiju, but after being asked this question, he found himself at a loss for words. Helpless, Yang Xuangan said, "Please do not worry, Lord Pei. We are here hoping to get your help."

Pei Shiju asked with a stern face, "Has the Prince of Qi been killed?"

Yang Xuangan was even more frightened; this old man really did know everything.

"Yang Jian plotted a rebellion and has already been killed by us. We want Lord Pei to help us prepare to welcome His Majesty."

Pei Shiju looked deeply saddened. He said, "I knew of this news, but I was afraid of hurting you all, so I dared not tell anyone. I never imagined that this action would cost the Prince of Qi his life."

Yang Xuangan immediately said, "Yang Jian is such a villain that he deserves no pity for dying. Why should Lord Pei grieve? He learned about the situation at the front and plotted a rebellion, intending to harm His Majesty. Shouldn't such a person be killed?"

Pei Shiju was silent for a moment, then asked, "Where has His Majesty gone?"

"His Majesty has already passed Zhuojun and should now be in Hebei. He will soon be able to return to Luoyang."

"Lord Pei, there are still many villains in Luoyang. They are all Pei Yun's accomplices. The generals outside also have some disloyal intentions. We must be on guard against this."

Li Jiancheng spoke up, urging, "We hope that Lord Pei can lend a hand to stabilize the internal and external affairs, and bring back the Emperor. Once His Majesty returns, he can issue orders to pacify the various regions. Lord Pei should understand the current situation of the world better than we do! Bandits are rampant, and the people are truly unable to survive. If we continue to fight amongst ourselves at this time, wouldn't the world perish?"

"Once the Emperor is welcomed back, with capable ministers like Lord Su and Lord Pei in the court, they will surely be able to handle all the follow-up matters well, open the granaries to distribute grain, and stabilize the people. Lord Pei will surely be remembered in history for accomplishing such a great feat."

Li Jiancheng began his persuasion, and Yang Xuangan followed closely behind, saying, "Lord Pei, His Majesty entrusted important matters to you when he left. If you, Lord Pei, cannot step forward, who else can save the country?"

Both of them spoke very quickly, indicating they were in a great hurry.

Pei Shiju pondered for a long time before speaking, "In order to ensure that there is no unrest in the city, we can only temporarily close the city gates and await His Majesty's decree."

"Duke of Chu, you have the most friends in the city. Please quickly gather them, provide them with weapons, and let them temporarily protect Luoyang. In addition, the King of Qi's confidants are not only in the city, but also outside the city. I wonder if you killed them all when you left the palace?"

Yang Xuangan hesitated for a moment, then shook his head.

"That's bad. We must set off immediately and not let those people break into Luoyang."

"Young Master Li, I'll trouble you to stay here and help appease the many ministers."

Upon hearing Pei Shiju's agreement, neither of them said anything more and quickly agreed. Yang Xuangan hurriedly left to take over the defense of Luoyang and resist foreign enemies, while Li Jiancheng followed Pei Shiju to meet with many ministers.

Many officials and ministers in the Ministry of Personnel were quite frightened by Li Jiancheng's previous actions. Their expressions improved considerably when Pei Shiju appeared. Pei Shiju then instructed Li Jiancheng to inform everyone that Yang Jian had attempted a rebellion and had been dealt with.

The officials' expressions were complicated. Had the King of Qi rebelled?
Even if he rebelled, what did it have to do with Li Jiancheng? What kind of official was he that he needed to govern the Governor of Henan?
They dared not say much; the sword was in someone else's hands, so they could only obey their orders.

Pei Shiju made his rounds and then continued working in his study. He appeared as calm as before, without any sign of panic.

Not wanting to bother him any longer, Li Jiancheng left the study and waited outside the door.

Wei Zheng and Fang Xuanling also came over.

Li Jiancheng still seemed somewhat frightened. He pulled the two of them a little further away and whispered, "We almost ruined everything! Lord Pei actually knew about what was happening at the front lines, and he also knew about my father and mother leaving. If he had told Prince Qi about these things, wouldn't my father and mother have fallen into the hands of the bandits? I still feel scared when I think about it now."

Fang Xuanling frowned, probably also feeling that the development of events was somewhat unexpected.

Wei Zheng sneered, "Lord Pei is indeed cunning."

"Oh??"

"He might not really know. He probably noticed the Duke leaving home and saw the young master and the Duke of Chu acting this way, so he made a guess. Besides, even if he did know, he wouldn't tell Yang Jian." "After we came in, he turned the situation around with just words and started giving us orders. He told the Duke of Chu to go out and deal with the enemy, and asked you to stay and appease them. What can you appease? First, he's showing that he won't resist and has the young master stay here to supervise; second, he's trying to show the officials that he's being held hostage and is doing things out of necessity."

"If things change later, he might still have a chance to clear his name!"

"Moreover, he said he agreed to join forces, but in reality he did nothing. He said he would appease the officials, but all he did was tell them about the Prince of Qi's rebellion, nothing else. And things like city defense were all left to Yang Xuangan."

"If you ask me, young master, you should not trust this person so easily."

At this moment, Li Jiancheng suddenly remembered his father's advice. His grandfather had earnestly told him never to believe Pei Shiju's promises.

Li Jiancheng nodded at them with a stern face.

"it is good."

Li Jiancheng pushed open the study door again.

Pei Shiju was stunned for a moment, and then he saw Li Jiancheng holding a sword in his arms, standing to the side, with several warriors guarding the door.

“Lord Pei, things are still very chaotic outside. I’ll stay here to protect you until the chaos ends.”

Pei Shiju narrowed his eyes, and then he laughed.

"good."

"It is indeed chaotic outside. Thank you for your kindness, young master."

With Pei Shiju's support and after receiving the relevant orders, Yang Xuangan immediately felt confident. He summoned his many confidants and friends, and forcibly sobered up everyone at the banquet.

Yang Xuangan showed them Pei Shiju's orders and then informed them that Pei Yun was plotting a rebellion at the front lines, and that Prince Qi, Yang Jian, had colluded with Pei Yun to cause trouble in the rear. He added that the rebellion had now been quelled by the court.

Everyone was stunned when they heard this.

Yang Xuangan quickly added, "Yang Jian has many confidants both inside and outside the city. Lord Pei is worried that they might rebel, so he ordered me to gather men to protect the capital! Gentlemen, this is our chance to serve the court!"

"Those who are willing to follow me in quelling the rebellion and welcoming the Emperor should set off immediately, gather their household warriors, and join me in dealing with those rebels under Yang Jian's command!!!"

Yang Xuangan's influence was still very strong. All those banquets over the years hadn't been for nothing. When Yang Xuangan shouted, everyone present cheered and was willing to follow him.

These noble sons were often accompanied by warriors, who were themselves quite brave, as they were all from the Guanzhong region and fighting and killing were their forte.

In a very short time, Yang Xuangan had already assembled a decent rabble. Such a group would naturally be powerless against a regular army like the Twelve Guards and would be crushed. However, it would be more than enough to deal with Yang Jian's men, catch thieves, and guard the city walls.

Among the group of people willing to follow Yang Xuangan, you can even see Lai Huer's son, Lai Yuan, who also brought his family's warriors to follow Yang Xuangan.

Liyang Warehouse.

Liyang Granary was a large granary built in the third year of the Kaihuang era. It was located west of the Yongji Canal and east of the Yellow River. It had previously stored grain from Hebei. During wartime, grain from the Huai River region was first transported here and then transported to the front lines or other places in need of grain via the Grand Canal.

The large granaries contained countless cellars, which were large and deep, with reed mats at the bottom and wooden rafters for support. They employed sophisticated moisture-proofing techniques to preserve the grain for a longer period of time. The amount of grain stored in these large granaries was astronomical.

Whoever occupies this granary can conjure up an army of 100,000 or even 200,000 out of thin air. Therefore, the imperial court attaches great importance to this place.

A special military headquarters was set up around Liyang Granary for defense.

The soldiers patrolled back and forth. Outside, there were barricades and high walls, and even further out, trenches were dug. The outer trees had all been cut down, leaving an endless plain with nowhere to hide. There were tall arrow towers everywhere, one after another, making the defense extremely formidable.

Li Shimin was lying motionless on a very distant earthen slope, intently observing the arrow towers in the distance.

How can I fix this?

(End of this chapter)