“That’s right. The situation in Hedong and Shanxi is urgent now, with the people living in deep suffering. I must go there soon.” He looked at Li Shimin and said, “The position of Governor of Honghua Commandery will surely be filled by someone soon. You must immediately send a message by carrier pigeon to your elder brother, telling him to bring everyone in the family to Taiyuan. Now that there are rebellions everywhere, tell him to be careful on the journey and send more people to scout along the way.”

“Your son understands.” After writing the letter according to Li Yuan’s instructions, Li Shimin didn’t immediately send it by carrier pigeon. Only after leaving the city did he stuff the letter into the bamboo tube on the pigeon’s leg and have it delivered to Li Jiancheng.

When leaving the city, Xia Houduan, who had received the news, specially came to see Li Yuan off. He was quite pleased about Li Yuan receiving help from the Xiao mother and daughter to overcome this difficulty. “It seems Brother Li has noble people helping him everywhere. It would be difficult for you not to achieve great things.”

Li Yuan was moved and said, “According to me, my greatest benefactor is you, Brother Xiahou. You saved my life in Honghua Commandery before, and now you’ve saved the lives of my entire family. This kindness is truly beyond my ability to repay.” If not for Xia Houduan telling them false birth dates in advance, by now An Jiatuo would have already calculated that someone had the mandate of a ruler. In such circumstances, even ten Xiao families couldn’t have persuaded Yang Guang to spare them.

“Brother Li speaks too seriously.” He then lowered his voice and said, “After reaching Hedong, Brother Li will have about sixty to seventy thousand troops under your command. This is an excellent opportunity. Brother Li must use it well and firmly bind those soldiers to your side. According to my estimation, the Great Sui is now full of chaos and destruction everywhere. At most three more years, and complete turmoil will erupt, overthrowing the dynasty. The time left for Brother Li is running short.”

“I understand.” Li Yuan looked at him with worry on his face and said, “Now I’m more worried about you, Brother. If the Sui Dynasty falls, Luoyang will surely be the place of greatest turmoil. What will Brother Xiahou do then?”

Xia Houduan smiled and said, “There’s nothing to worry about. In the current situation, unless one hides in deep mountains, it’s hard to truly find peace. I can only take things one step at a time!”

Li Yuan thought for a while and said, “Earlier in Qianyuan Palace, His Majesty mentioned selecting someone as Deputy Commissioner for Hedong Pacification, but couldn’t think of a suitable person at the moment. After a while, I’ll submit a memorial to His Majesty recommending Brother Xiahou for the deputy position. This way, you can leave Luoyang, and we brothers can also look after each other.”

Seeing Li Yuan thinking of him this way, Xia Houduan was moved and said, “This matter isn’t urgent. Let’s wait until you’re settled first. Besides, if the world truly falls into chaos, I’ll naturally go to Hedong to seek your protection.” He joked, “When that time comes, Brother Li, you mustn’t turn your back on me.”

Li Yuan laughed, “If I were that kind of person, we wouldn’t have been brothers for so many years.”

Xia Houduan laughed heartily. After escorting them for another stretch, Li Yuan said, “Alright, if we continue, we’ll be leaving the city. Brother Xiahou, please stop here. We’ll meet again in the future.”

“Good, we’ll meet again.” After bidding farewell to Li Yuan and his son, Xia Houduan turned back while Li Yuan and his party boarded carriages and headed east.

On the journey to Hedong, Li Shimin often found himself uncontrollably thinking about Princess Jinyang, whom he had met twice but only seen from behind. Although Li Yuan had already said she and Yunyi were two different people, he still couldn’t help overlapping them in his mind.

The road from Luoyang to Hedong wasn’t peaceful. They frequently encountered riots or fleeing refugees, making it extremely difficult for their escorts to handle. Fortunately, Xue Wanche’s thousand men were secretly providing protection, so they managed to arrive safely at Hedong in early April and began exercising imperial authority to dismiss, promote, and appoint civil and military officials in the subordinate commanderies and counties.

The so-called “exercising imperial authority” meant that Li Yuan, following the emperor’s decree, could handle the promotion and demotion of officials in commanderies and counties at his discretion without needing to report everything to the court. This was one of the powers Yang Guang had granted him when appointing him as Pacification Commissioner.

Compared to Honghua Commandery, the situation in Hedong was undoubtedly much worse. Many commandery and county government offices had been attacked by rebels, and the situation in Shanxi was even worse, causing tremendous damage to people’s livelihoods. It could truly be said that the people had no means of survival.

Uprisings might improve people’s lives, but when numerous uprisings crowded together, problems arose such as resource competition, territorial disputes, and so on. With frequent warfare, plus the fact that most of these people rose up with momentary courage without realizing the need to restrain their subordinate soldiers, under these various factors, the situation was hardly better than before the uprisings. For those common people, they still lived in deep suffering.

Among the many rebels, one named Mu Duan’er in Longmen, Shanxi, had the greatest power, with nearly eighty thousand men under him. Using Longmen as his center, he controlled a large area nearby.

This Mu Duan’er also had a group of brave and skilled fighters under him. The court had tried to suppress him several times but couldn’t deal with him, instead making his power grow stronger. Now, he had become Li Yuan’s primary target.

In mid-April, Li Jiancheng brought the Li family members to Hedong. Li Yuan knew the situation in Hedong was too chaotic, so as soon as he received the news, he ordered Li Shimin to lead over a thousand soldiers to escort them. Fortunately, he made this decision, otherwise whether Li Jiancheng and the others could have reached the Protectorate alive would have been questionable.

Just as they reached the Hedong border, they actually encountered Mu Duan’er’s subordinates – several thousand of them, far more than the mere hundred or so guards could resist.

Li Jiancheng knew they were rebels, so after weighing his options, he didn’t reveal his relationship with Li Yuan. Instead, he said they were ordinary merchants passing through on business, asking them to let them pass.

One of Mu Duan’er’s generals, after taking all their valuables, still wasn’t satisfied. Seeing that Wan Shi and the other women were beautiful, he became lustful and demanded that Li Jiancheng offer them up as well.

For Li Jiancheng, the life and death of Wan Shi and the others was naturally of no concern, but doing so would be impossible to explain to Li Yuan. Moreover, among those women the general referred to were also Zheng Shi and Jirong, which he absolutely could not tolerate.

Li Jiancheng’s refusal made the general furious, and he began to forcibly seize them. Although Li Jiancheng and his brothers were skilled in martial arts and their guards were all capable, they were vastly outnumbered. As soon as they engaged, they were at an overwhelming disadvantage.

Though Li Yuanji was still young, he was extremely strong, constantly picking up large stones nearby and hurling them at the rebels with great force. Li Zhiyun didn’t have his strength, but his archery was excellent, often hitting his target with every shot. Unfortunately, there were simply too many opponents. The few people they killed couldn’t make a decisive difference, and instead they were surrounded more and more tightly, with the situation becoming critical.

Just at this moment, Li Shimin arrived with troops. The enemy hadn’t expected so many people to suddenly appear, and they advanced and retreated in formation with considerable skill. Although the enemy still had numerical superiority, they couldn’t gain any advantage. After several exchanges, the enemy began to retreat. Li Yuanji wanted to pursue them, but Li Jiancheng grabbed him and said, “Be careful of a trap!”

Li Yuanji protested indignantly, “They stole all our things. How can we just let them go like this!”