Chapter 118: Enmity Born from Gratitude

By the time Li Qing’an left Li Linfu’s residence, it was completely dark. The night breeze was cool yet carried a hint of warmth. There were few pedestrians on the streets, with only the sound of Li Qing’an’s horse hooves tapping on the cobblestones.

Today, Li Linfu had revealed his ultimate goal in this game: to drive a wedge between the Yang family and the crown prince. It was possible that Li Linfu would step back, or even reconcile with the crown prince to unite against the Yang family. In history, Li Linfu never reconciled with the crown prince, which led to the destruction of his family and their inability to recover. So, in the later years of the Tianbao era, after the crown prince’s position was secured, had Li Linfu ever considered reconciling with him? Perhaps he had, but hatred was too deep for reconciliation. Could his arrival change this predetermined outcome for the Tang Dynasty, leading to Li Linfu finally reconciling with the crown prince?

If so, what impact would it have on the power structure of the Tang Dynasty? Li Qing’an suddenly realized he had become an important pawn influencing the power dynamics of the Tang Dynasty. It was a pity his own strength was not yet sufficient to reap the greatest benefits from this historic power shift.

Thinking of Li Linfu’s far-reaching plans, Li Qing’an felt he truly needed an advisor—not a poet like Li Bai who lacked understanding of human affairs, but a cunning strategist like Jia Xu. He couldn’t help but think of Yan Zhuang. The three ingenious tactics he had devised at the polo match were indeed ruthless. If Li Qing’an hadn’t happened to see those rules, he would have been completely outmaneuvered.

It was unfortunate that Yan Zhuang was now serving An Lushan, and as the governor of Fanyang, his status was far higher than that of Li Qing’an as a middle-ranking general.

As Li Qing’an entered Yishan Fang, the drumbeats signaling the closing of the district gates suddenly sounded. He quickened his horse’s pace. In the distance, he saw someone pacing anxiously on the steps in front of Gao Lishi’s residence, occasionally glancing this way. When that person spotted Li Qing’an, they rushed over at full speed. “General Li!”

They rushed up and said, somewhat frantically, “General Li, I’ve been waiting for you for almost two hours.”

“I’m truly sorry. May I ask, who are you?”

Li Qing’an was somewhat dismissive. It wasn’t him who made them wait; did he have nothing to do but wait for others to come? Why act so angry? The man was just frustrated from waiting too long, but he wouldn’t dare lose his temper with Li Qing’an. As the gates were about to close, he hurriedly said, “I’m the second steward of Prime Minister Pei’s residence. Master Pei asked me to deliver an invitation to you. Everything is clearly written on it.”

After saying that, he handed an invitation to Li Qing’an, then ran back to the steps, mounted his horse, and rushed toward the city gate. From afar, his shouts could still be heard: “My master is extremely grateful to General Li; General Li must definitely come.”

It was within his expectations that the Pei family would send for him. He had helped them the previous noon, and he knew Pei Kuan would surely want to thank him. He glanced at the invitation in the light by the gate. It read: “A gathering at the Pei residence tomorrow morning.” “Tomorrow morning?” Li Qing’an suddenly remembered—it happened to be a ten-day holiday.

Although the Tang Dynasty had many festivals, there were few fixed days off. There were no weekends, only a ten-day holiday once every ten days. Thus, this day was especially precious. On such days, officials’ homes would be like in a festival—buying wine and food to hold feasts. The officials would either spend a leisurely day at home or take their families out for a trip.

The Pei family had originally planned to go to Qujiang for a trip as a family, but due to the incident at the city gate the day before yesterday, his wife was frightened and his eldest grandson was injured, so they canceled the plan. Pei Kuan was a hot-tempered man. If it had been up to his old habits, he would have rushed to the Yang family to demand an explanation. But after the great disaster at the beginning of the Tianbao era, he had become more tolerant and less bold, and dared not confront the increasingly favored Yang family. Though he couldn’t seek revenge, he couldn’t forget to repay kindness. Early in the morning, he sent his eldest son, Pei Yi, to invite Li Qing’an to his residence.

It was still dark when Pei Kuan got up. First, he went to see his wife. She had been frightened by the clash at the city gate the day before yesterday and fell ill as soon as she returned home. Pei Kuan’s wife was the daughter of Wei Shen, the former governor of Runzhou. She had been by his side for over forty years. Unexpectedly, in her old age, she was insulted by the evil servants of the Yang family. Unable to bear such humiliation, her old illness recurred.

The old lady lay quietly on the bed, her eyes slightly closed, her face pale. She had suffered from angina all night and had just fallen asleep. Pei Kuan sat by the bed, holding his wife’s thin hand, his heart filled with pity. After comforting her for a while, he stood up and said to the maid, “Take good care of the old lady. If anything happens, send someone to call Physician Liu immediately.”

He left the room and asked another family member, “How is Pei Zhong’s eye?”

“Reporting to my lord, the blow was too severe. Physician Liu says his left eye is ruined.”

“These bastards!”

Pei Kuan gritted his teeth in anger. Then he asked, “What about Yu’er?”

“Grandfather, I’m fine!” Pei Yu walked over quickly, carrying a precious sword.

Pei Yu was Pei Kuan’s most beloved grandson, highly learned and talented in literature. He planned to take the provincial exams next year. After being brutally beaten by the Yang family’s thugs the day before yesterday, Pei Kuan was extremely worried about his health. However, after examination by the imperial physician, it was said that the beating hadn’t lasted long, otherwise internal injuries could have caused serious problems. This was also the main reason why Pei Kuan was grateful to Li Qing’an—had he not intervened in time, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

Pei Kuan smiled slightly and said, “Yu, today is a day off. Isn’t it the day for your Qingyue Poetry Society to meet? Why are you practicing swordsmanship?”

“My grandson used to focus too much on literature, resulting in no strength at all—even unable to defeat a few vicious dogs. I’ve resolved to cultivate both literature and martial arts. Since General Li is here today, I wanted to ask him for guidance on swordsmanship.”

“You should ask General Li about archery or swordsmanship instead. I guess he never uses a sword.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Pei Yi, the eldest son sent to invite Li Qing’an, hurried over. Pei Kuan perked up and quickly asked, “Has General Li arrived?”

“Father, I met General Li at the entrance of the district. He must go to the military camp outside the city today and won’t be able to come back until evening.”

Pei Kuan was stunned. “Then where is he? Has he left already?”

“He’s right outside the mansion, wanting to apologize to Father!”

“Well then…” Pei Kuan thought for a moment before saying, “Let’s go! Meet with him.”

Outside the mansion, Li Qing’an was walking back and forth. It was just dawn, and Li Fei, the guard at the military camp, had sent word that unknown people had shot arrows at the camp’s sentries last night, injuring one soldier lightly.

Li Qing’an needed to rush to the military camp immediately. He had come specifically to explain the situation to Pei Kuan. Just as he was anxious, footsteps came from inside, and Pei Kuan stepped out quickly.

“General Li, are you rushing to the military camp so urgently? Has something happened?”

“Prime Minister, I just received news that someone shot arrows at the camp’s sentries last night. I must go there right away.”

“Is such a thing possible?”

Pei Kuan was momentarily stunned before saying, “Anyway, I have nothing to do today. I’ll go with you to take a look.”

Li Qing’an quickly bowed and said, “I truly trouble you, Prime Minister!”

At that moment, Pei Yu from behind also said hurriedly, “Grandfather, General Li, I want to go too. Is that okay?”

Pei Kuan glanced at Li Qing’an, who smiled and waved his hand. “Then let’s mount our horses!”

Everyone mounted their horses and rushed toward the Mingde Gate.

When they reached Mingde Gate, Pei Kuan slowed down his horse. He stared at the gate for a long time before sighing suddenly. He whipped his horse hard, speeding forward.

Li Qing’an’s Jiangdu Camp was located near Changle Slope, east of Chang’an. Six regimental training camps with a total of 3,000 soldiers were stationed in this area, and another six regimental training camps were based in the Bashi region. First, the Ministry of War conducted unified assessments of them, after which 100 soldiers were selected from each to enter the imperial palace to be inspected by Emperor Li Longji.

Li Qing’an and his party arrived at the regimental training camp quickly. As soon as they reached the camp gate, Li Fei Shouyu came out to greet them.

“How are the wounded soldiers?” Li Qing’an asked after dismounting from his horse.

“They’re fine. They were hit in the thighs; it wasn’t a life-threatening injury, and their condition is stable now.”

Li Fei Shouyu suddenly noticed Pei Kuan behind them and hurried forward to pay his respects. “I pay my respects to Prime Minister Pei!”

Pei Kuan nodded and asked, “Apart from the arrow attack, were there any other issues that affected the camp?”

“Nothing else but the arrow attack. A total of three arrows were shot, all with military crossbows. Two missed, and one injured a soldier. We’ve investigated, and it seems they came from that forest over there.”

Li Fei Shouyu pointed to a poplar forest on the left side of the camp. Li Qing’an looked over. The forest was about a hundred steps away from the camp. Under the sunlight, the morning mist was gradually dissipating, and a small stream flowed gently in front of the forest.

“Did you find anything?”

“It rained last night, so the forest was very damp. We found the footprints of five people, as well as horse hoof prints, all leading eastward.”

Li Qing’an pondered for a moment. The motives of the attackers were unclear, and it was impossible to identify them. He said to Li Fei Shouyu, “Just strengthen the patrols at night. Don’t mention this matter again; let the soldiers train in peace.”

He then turned to Pei Kuan and his grandson with a smile and said, “Minister Pei, please follow me into the camp!”

“Good! I was just eager to see General Li’s training results.”

The camp covered a large area, with three separate archery training grounds. The soldiers were divided into five teams, each consisting of ten rows practicing archery. After months of hard training and under the careful guidance of archery experts like Li Qing’an and Li Fei Shouyu, the soldiers had made rapid progress. Most of them could hit eight or nine out of ten targets from a hundred steps away. Some of the particularly talented ones could even shoot accurately from either side, hitting targets from a hundred steps away.

Li Qing’an strode onto the command platform, struck the gong firmly, raised the red flag, and waved it. The soldiers practicing archery in various places immediately rushed over, gathering like ants. In just a moment, 500 soldiers were assembled in formation.

Li Qing’an waved his hand with a smile. “Soldiers, sit down!”

The soldiers sat down where they were. Li Qing’an then raised his voice and said, “Today, Minister Pei from the Ministry of Rites has come specially to watch your training. Minister Pei was once the military governor of Fanyang. Show him what you’ve got, soldiers!”

He turned to Pei Kuan and said with a smile, “Minister Pei, you may choose five men to shoot at targets from a hundred paces away.”
“Then I’ll just pick anyone at random.”
Pei Kuan glanced around and pointed at the five men on the far left. “These five of you!”
The five soldiers stood up. All of them could use a five-stone bow. They took their bows to the shooting range, where a row of straw men was placed a hundred paces away. The five of them raised their bows, loaded long arrows, and slowly drew back the strings. At the same time, they released the arrows, which flew straight and pierced the chests of the five straw men.
“Good! Excellent shots!” Pei Kuan applauded loudly.
The five men stepped forward to report, and Li Qing’an smiled slightly and said, “Very good! Each of you will receive five guan as a reward!”
The five men were overjoyed and thanked him before leaving. Then Pei Kuan said, “General Li, I’d like to see the best archer among your soldiers.”
All the soldiers looked toward Nan Jiyun, who was sitting in the back row. Nan Jiyun had made remarkable progress during these months of training. He was already an excellent archer, and with Li Qing’an’s special guidance, his skills had reached perfection, even surpassing Li Fei Shouyu, second only to Li Qing’an.
On the daily training rankings, Nan Jiyun always topped the list with impressive scores. He had now been promoted to deputy commander of the training camp and became one of the instructors.
Li Qing’an nodded at him and made a gesture indicating archery on horseback. A soldier brought a horse over, while two others carried an iron cage and ran toward the target a hundred paces away.
Nan Jiyun carried his bow and arrows on his shoulder. He mounted the horse, spurred it into a fast gallop, circled the camp once, and then rushed back. He removed his bow and arrows. At that moment, the soldiers opened the iron cage. Two gray pigeons flew out a hundred paces away. Just as they reached a height of about ten zhang, Nan Jiyun’s first arrow shot out like lightning, piercing the top pigeon. He then used his left hand to draw his bow again, firing another arrow that, like a downpour, pierced the winged pigeon’s chest.
His remarkable archery skills amazed the soldiers, who immediately applauded thunderously. However, Pei Yu sighed softly and said, “What crime did those pigeons commit?”
Pei Kuan glanced at his grandson and shook his head secretly. Though his grandson was talented, he was too weak. How could the grandson of Pei Kuan, the governor of Fanyang, have such a tender heart?
Nan Jiyun retracted his bow and jumped off his speeding horse. He stepped forward and knelt on one knee. “Your humble servant, Nan Jiyun, has completed his archery on horseback!”
Li Qing’an nodded with a smile and asked Pei Kuan, “What do you think, Minister Pei?”
Pei Kuan stroked his beard and said with a smile, “Anxi has produced another fierce general!”
……

After the inspection, the soldiers returned to training. Li Qing’an accompanied Pei Kuan to his own tent. After a moment of thought, he asked, “Minister Pei, I want to take these five hundred soldiers back to Anxi. I wonder if the imperial court will agree?”
Pei Kuan thought for a while and said, “If they volunteer to serve as soldiers for the long march, they can go to Anxi to serve, and the court won’t stop them. But in that case, they won’t be under your direct control. If you can be promoted to general, you could have a personal guard of five hundred men and keep them by your side. That would be the best solution. But remember one thing: these five hundred must be part of the Anxi army, not your private troops. Otherwise, if you’re accused, General Li, your life will be in danger!”
Li Qing’an nodded silently. As long as he could send them to Anxi, Gao Xianzhi would surely incorporate these soldiers into his own camp. The key was whether they were willing to go. He needed to talk to them properly soon.
At that moment, he casually glanced over and saw Pei Yu trying to draw his bow. His face was red with effort, but the bow didn’t budge at all. Pei Kuan also noticed this. With a sigh, he said to Li Qing’an, “General Li, there’s something I’d like to ask you for help with.”
“Minister Pei, please don’t hesitate. Go ahead and speak.”
Pei Kuan pointed to his grandson and said, “My grandson is talented and well-educated, with a kind heart. But he’s naturally weak-willed. I’d like to send him to General Li in Anxi to be tempered for a few years. I wonder if General Li would agree?”
Li Qing’an smiled and said, “As long as he himself wants to go, there’s no problem.”
……
While Li Qing’an and his group left the city for the military camp, Yang Zhao and his son also arrived on horseback at Yang Xian’s residence in Xinghua Fang. Since Yang Zhao had been reinstated as Censor-in-Chief, he had become much more restrained and understood that there were things to do and things not to do. At the advice of his advisors, he kept a low profile and maintained a certain distance from the other Yangs. Yesterday, he heard that Yang Xian had been attacked at the city gate and injured. Instead of rushing over immediately, he used the excuse of being busy and sent his son with some tonics. Today was a day off, and Yang Zhao knew it would be unreasonable not to visit.
“Xuan, when you visited Second Uncle yesterday, did he mention who injured him?”
Yang Xuan was Yang Zhao’s eldest son. He had been sent by his father to visit Second Uncle the previous day and had asked around. Hearing his father’s question, he quickly replied, “Second Uncle said it was very chaotic at the time, and it was hard to figure out what caused it. It is said that First Uncle is investigating the matter.”

“Very well! Let’s go in first.” The father and son stepped up the stairs and entered the mansion directly.
The carriage accident the day before yesterday had broken several of Yang Xian’s ribs and injured his penis. He had been bedridden these past two days. The imperial physicians had strictly instructed him not to get out of bed for three months and not to engage in sexual activity for half a year, otherwise his life might be at risk. This filled him with rage—who dared harm him secretly? Beside him, his elder brother Yang Qi had already uncovered some clues and was telling him the latest findings.
“The coroner from Chang’an County has examined the horse’s body. The horse went mad because someone shot an arrow into its anus. The arrow was about three inches long and was fired from a special crossbow. Second brother, this isn’t accidental! Someone is framing us secretly.”
“Damn it!” Yang Xian cursed in anger. “I knew something was off. Sure enough, someone is trying to harm us.”
His emotions flared, and he pulled at his broken bones, wincing in pain before slowly recovering. At that moment, someone at the door reported, “Third young master has arrived!”
Footsteps sounded, and Yang Zhao stepped in quickly. Seeing Yang Qi there, he was surprised and quickly bowed with a smile, “Elder brother is here too!”
“Oh! Third brother has arrived. Come, please sit down.”
Yang Zhao sat down and asked concerningly, “I heard second brother broke a few ribs. Is he feeling any better now?”
“Breaking a few ribs is still considered good. It could have been fatal.”
Yang Xian gritted his teeth and said, “I don’t know which bastard is scheming against me from behind, shooting a short arrow into the horse’s anus. If I find out who it is, I’ll make sure they suffer the same fate.”
Yang Zhao glanced at Yang Qi again and asked, “Elder brother, have you discovered anything else?”
“I was just about to tell second brother!”
Yang Qi continued slowly, “The Chang’an County government questioned the soldiers on duty at the gate. At that time, Göshu Han, the military governor of Longyou, and his entourage were inside Mingde Gate. Additionally, Changsun Quanxu, a lieutenant general in the Ten Thousand Cavalry Camp, and Li Qing’an, a lieutenant general in Anxi, were also with Göshu Han.”
“Li Qing’an!”

Yang Zhao’s heart skipped nervously. He immediately thought of arrows—only someone with unparalleled archery skills like Li Qing’an could shoot arrows into a horse’s anus. His thoughts raced. Although he had kept a low profile these past few months, that didn’t mean his feelings had changed. On the contrary, he was even more jealous of Li Qing’an now—jealous of him for stealing the show at San Niang’s birthday banquet, jealous of him for teaching the imperial concubine archery, jealous of him for becoming the military commander of Yangzhou. He never showed such jealousy; instead, he kept it buried deep in his heart, where it grew heavier over time, like usury-bearing coins. This jealousy generated more and more “interest,” making his narrow mind feel overwhelmed. Now that Yang Qi had mentioned Li Qing’an’s name, all those old grievances resurfaced in Yang Zhao’s mind.

He smiled calmly and said, “I’ve heard that Geshu Han is excellent with his spear but mediocre with archery. I doubt he’s the one who did this precise job.”

Those words reminded Yang Xian and Yang Qi. They exchanged a glance, both looking enlightened. Who else but Li Qing’an could have done this?

“He’s gone too far!”

Yang Qi was furious. He raised his arm and shouted, “How dare he! A mere lieutenant general daring to assassinate my brother in secret! I’ll sue him!”

“That Li Qing’an taught the empress how to shoot archery. I guess the empress will protect him,” Yang Zhao reminded him again.

Yang Qi snorted heavily and gritted his teeth. “I don’t believe it! You can’t write two ‘Yang’ characters in one stroke, yet they’re about to exterminate their descendants. Will the empress still protect an outsider?”

“What happened to make the second brother so angry?” Suddenly, Yang Huahua’s voice came from the door.