Li Yuan led his troops to Taiyuan in just a month, and then exterminated the traitor Zhen Zhai'er, and the ministers of the court who stayed in Luoyang had not yet had time to be happy, but the news from the south made them frown again.

Lin Shihong defeated Liu Ziyi, first defended himself according to Qianzhou, waited for the army to be rectified for a few months, and then ascended the throne and called the emperor, named the country as Chu, and the founding year as Taiping, and then personally led the army to capture Jiujiang, Luling, Nankang, Yichuan and other counties like a bamboo, but Yang Guang, who was in Jiangdu, seemed to have given up a large area of land in the south and always remained silent.

The attitude of the imperial court made the soldiers everywhere discouraged, and they killed the county to guard the county order, and the entire county corresponded to Lin Shihong, from Jiujiang in the north to the land of Panyu in the south, and the flag of the Chu State was planted.

The Great Sui had already lost half of the country, but unexpectedly, Yang Guang not only did not repent, but instead issued an edict to recover Yang Yichen's military power and recall him to Luoyang.

"Looks like you've come to see the time." In the temporary mansion in Xingyang County, Li Xuanba sighed and said to himself: "If you don't die, you won't die, you shouldn't know it now, right?" ”

Li Xuanba looked at the candlelight on the table in a daze, his body trembled slightly, and he seemed to be struggling in his heart.

A knock sounded on the door, waking Li Xuanba from his contemplation, and his tightly knit brows slowly relaxed, allowing Li Jiuzhi and Liang Xiao to enter the room.

"I have a letter here that I need you to deliver to Mr. Wei." Li Xuanba looked at Li Jiu and pointed at them, and said, "This letter is very important, I am a little worried about handing it over to someone else to deliver." ”

Seeing Li Xuanba's solemn face, Li Jiuzhi arched his hand and said, "Even if Jiuzhi dies, he will send the letter back to Luoyang before he dies." Although Liang Xiao didn't speak, he also nodded heavily.

Li Xuanba reached into his arms with his right hand, took out the letter, and said: "Although this letter is important, it is not in a hurry to hand it over to Mr. Wei, if you encounter danger on the road, you can act cheaply, and you don't need to hurry." ”

Li Jiuzhi took the letter with both hands, carefully put it in his arms, and said, "Is there anything else that Gongzi needs to explain?" ”

"Everything I want to explain has been written in the letter." Li Xuanba hesitated for a moment and said, "You two go back to Luoyang, follow Mr. Wei's instructions in everything, and you don't have to go back to Xingyang." ”

"That nine fingers won't go to Luoyang." Li Jiuzhi shook his head and said, "It's not easy to stay by Childe's side, I don't want to leave anymore, it's better to let Liang Xiao send the letter back, and I will stay to protect Childe." ”

"I'm not going back." Liang Xiao said calmly and firmly.

"It seems that I should make it clear to you that this son is not asking you." Li Xuanba's eyes suddenly sharpened, and he said coldly: "This is an order." ”

Li Jiuzhi and Liang Xiao followed Li Xuanba for some days, but they had never seen Li Xuanba's eyes like this, and their bodies couldn't help but shudder, and they couldn't speak for a while. It's not that they are frightened by Li Xuanba's aura, it's just that some Li Xuanba, who is not used to being approachable, also has such a timid-hearted time.

"We're all gone, what are you going to do, Childe?" Liang Xiao plucked up his courage and said.

"I'll be fine." Li Xuanba put away his grim expression and replied casually: "This is a long way, you should be careful all the way." ”

The weather in the first month of the month is still cold, the thick ice in the water has not yet melted, and if you want to go from Xingyang to Luoyang, you can only use the dry road, but now that the bandits are rampant, Li Xuanba can't help but ask a few words.

"Childe, please rest assured." Li Jiuzhi saw that he couldn't change Li Xuanba's decision, sighed, bowed and left, Liang Xiao looked at Li Jiuzhi who was out of the door, and then looked at Li Xuanba, looking like he wanted to say something and stopped, Li Xuanba frowned, Liang Xiao hurriedly saluted and retreated, chasing Li Jiuzhi away.

Li Xuanba had seen Li Jiuzhi's martial arts, but he was not worried about the danger they encountered on the road, besides, although the two of them were young, they acted steadily and knew how to advance and retreat, and they would definitely be able to safely deliver the letter to Wei Zheng.

"Finally I got the letter out." Li Xuanba was silent for a long time, and said to himself: "Perhaps, I have already made a decision." ”

After sitting alone for a while, Li Xuanba went to bed a little disheartened and slept with his clothes.

In the early morning of the second day, Zhang Xutuo sent someone to summon Li Xuanba to the house, the two looked at each other, and saw that each other was tired, Li Xuanba finished his salute and said with a wry smile: "The general has not slept all night?" ”

"In today's situation, how can you sleep peacefully." Zhang Xutuo shook his head slightly, asked Li Xuanba to sit down, and sighed: "Your Majesty's move is too risky, and the general is very uneasy in his heart. ”

Li Xuanba replied helplessly, and seeing that there were no other generals in the hall, he said, "Could it be that the general only summoned Xuanba alone?" ”

Zhang Xutuo nodded and said, "You should have heard about Tang Guogong's extermination of Zhen Zhai'er's thief army, I came to you to ask you to help me do something." ”

"Does the general want Xuanba to go to Taiyuan to borrow troops?" Without waiting for Zhang Xutuo to continue, Li Xuanba replied: "Your Majesty issued an edict to transfer General Yang back to Luoyang, the general should be very clear about Your Majesty's purpose, right?" At this time, do you think Your Majesty will let your father send troops to exterminate the Wagang thieves? ”

Yang Guang transferred Yang Yichen back to Luoyang, in the eyes of the world, because Yang Guang was worried that Yang Yichen would rebel, but Li Xuanba and Zhang Xutuo were able to guess Yang Guang's true intentions.

"You know that Xuanba can't borrow a single soldier, but he still let me go to Taiyuan." Li Xuanba smiled bitterly and said, "It seems that the general still hasn't given up his plan to let me leave Xingyang. ”

was broken, Zhang Xutuo calmed down, and he said calmly: "Now that the army is defending itself, you can't use your talents in Xingyang County at all, why take the risk of staying here?" ”

"This is Your Majesty's will, if the general wants me to leave, you can ask Your Majesty to give a decree." Li Xuanba replied: "Xuanba only has one head, but he doesn't dare to disobey the emperor's order." ”

"You!" Zhang Xutuo didn't expect Li Xuanba to move Yang Guang out, and said angrily: "Your Majesty will blame you, don't you know?" ”

Li Xuanba smiled wryly and said, "The sacred heart is unpredictable, how does Xuanba know?" ”

Zhang Xutuo had already learned Li Xuanba's shamelessness, and said helplessly: "Since you want to stay, then you have to obey the orders of the general, if one day, Xingyang is really breached, you will take Shixin and Shubao and them to retreat to Wujiao Pass." ”

Li Xuanba thought about it and nodded in agreement. Zhang Xutuo couldn't persuade Li Xuanba to leave, so he could only retreat, and he saw Li Xuanba nodding and smiling.

"General, Xuanba wants to ask you a question." Li Xuanba bowed down and said: "The general is loyal to the imperial court and is known to the whole world, but Xuanba wants to know, is the general loyal to the Great Sui or to His Majesty?" ”

Zhang Xutuo's smile instantly froze and replied, "What is the difference between being loyal to Your Majesty and being loyal to the Great Sui?" ”

"To be loyal to Your Majesty, it is natural to fight for Your Majesty." Li Xuanba plucked up his courage and said: "And being loyal to the Great Sui is to fight to protect the Great Sui country." The rivers and mountains of the Great Sui Dynasty will never make mistakes, but Your Majesty will. ”