“Perhaps.” Li Shimin responded, saying: “In any case, our most urgent task now is to stabilize the situation in Hedong, attract people to come settle here, and reclaim the abandoned farmland.”

Li Jiancheng nodded and said: “Very well, I now have a general understanding of the situation here. Let’s go back.”

The subsequent events proceeded methodically according to Li Jiancheng’s plan. He divided the thousand soldiers allocated by Li Yuan into smaller groups, disguising them as ordinary civilians to go to the Longmen area in Shanxi, spreading word of Li Yuan’s benevolence and virtue.

Just as Li Jiancheng had predicted, when they previously campaigned against Goguryeo, the civilian laborers and soldiers from Honghua Commandery had repeatedly mentioned Li Yuan’s kindness in the army. After the campaign ended, those soldiers and civilian laborers returned to their respective places, among them were people from Longmen in Shanxi. However, since they were in Shanxi while Li Yuan was in Honghua Commandery, separated by great distance, though they wished to receive Li Yuan’s protection, they could only feel envious.

But now things were different. Someone told them that Li Yuan was now the Pacification Commissioner for Hedong and Shanxi, and that as long as they entered the territory of Hedong, they could receive Li Yuan’s protection and live peaceful lives from then on. This immediately stirred their hearts.

For those caught in the midst of turmoil, what they most yearned for was undoubtedly the word “peace.” After much deliberation and struggle, several people secretly fled from Longmen to Shanxi.

Just as Li Jiancheng had said, a single spark can start a prairie fire. As more and more people learned of Li Yuan’s love for the people as if they were his own children, more and more common folk fled to Hedong.

For the people who fled to Hedong, Li Yuan properly arranged for all of them, even personally leading people to reclaim wasteland, and made a solemn pledge that as long as he remained in Hedong for a single day, he would definitely protect the peace of the Hedong people for that day!

Under the united efforts of the three father and sons, Hedong’s vitality gradually began to recover. Under these circumstances, Li Yuan did not privately recruit more soldiers. He understood very clearly that as long as he won the hearts of the people, when the time came for rebellion, he would surely receive unanimous support, and even every commoner in Hedong would become his soldier.

The only thing that weighed on his mind was Liu Hongji. Ever since arriving in Hedong, he had continuously sent people to search for the latter’s whereabouts, but unfortunately there had been no clues. The place where he had previously lived was already empty, and it was unclear whether Liu Hongji was still in Hedong.

On this day, Li Shimin left the residence on business. As he passed by East Main Street, he happened to see a person being driven out by the owner of a steamed bun shop. “Go, go, go! I can’t even feed myself, where would I have extra steamed buns to give you? Get lost!”

“Boss, please have mercy, just give me a few out of kindness. My wife has fallen gravely ill, and my two daughters said they want to eat steamed buns. I will definitely repay you in the future.”

Hearing this voice, Li Shimin’s steps paused. This voice seemed to be that of the person who had stolen his money pouch last time. Looking up, it was indeed that middle-aged man in tattered but unusually clean clothes.

Over there, the boss glared and grabbed a stick from nearby, shouting: “Are you leaving or not? If you don’t leave, I’ll break your legs!”

Seeing this, the man had no choice but to leave helplessly. Watching him walk, Li Shimin only then noticed that one of his feet was lame, limping along as he begged his way, only managing to beg for two sweet potatoes.

Chuyi, who had come out with Li Shimin, saw his young master continuously staring at the man ahead and asked puzzledly: “Second Young Master, do you know him?”

“I suppose I do know him.” As they spoke, the man had already turned into an alley. Li Shimin followed, winding through several turns before finally entering an abandoned City God Temple.

As soon as the man entered, two little girls about three or four years old rushed up to him, intimately calling out “Daddy.” In the corner lay a woman with an ashen complexion, with straw scattered messily over her body, and beside her sat an empty bowl. The scent of medicine could faintly be smelled permeating the air.

After the man embraced the two identical little girls, he took out the still-warm sweet potatoes from his chest, saying: “Take these to eat, remember to save one for your mother.”

One of the little girls pouted: “Daddy, why aren’t there any steamed buns? Didn’t you say we would have steamed buns to eat today?”

The man stroked the little girl’s hair, saying: “Daddy went to ask the steamed bun shop owner for some, but he wouldn’t give them, so eat these first. Tomorrow Daddy will go ask them again.”

“Oh.” The little girl blinked and looked at Li Shimin: “Daddy, who is this person?”

The man turned around to look, and upon seeing Li Shimin, his face turned pale. He had not forgotten this finely dressed young master. He quickly protected the two little girls behind him, saying frantically: “I… I didn’t lie to you. My wife truly has fallen ill, and she and my two daughters all depend on me alone for care!”

Li Shimin ignored his words and only asked: “What illness does your wife have?”

“The doctor said it’s consumption. All the money was spent on getting medicine for her, but there’s still been no improvement.” As he spoke, he knelt down before Li Shimin: “Young Master, I beg you to be magnanimous and spare me. If I’m not here, my wife and two daughters will have no one to depend on, and they… they will starve to death.”

Li Shimin looked down and said: “I spare you, and then you continue to use stealing, robbing, and begging to support your wife?”

The man opened his mouth but no sound came out. After a long while, he finally said helplessly: “The doctor said that treating my wife’s illness requires a lot of money. Apart from that way, I don’t know how else to quickly get money.” Then he added urgently: “As long as my wife recovers, I’ll go find work and return the money to the young master. I beg for the young master’s mercy.”

Hearing this, Chuyi finally understood what was going on: “How dare you! You even dared to steal from my young master. Do you know who my young master is?”

“You… cough, cough, don’t arrest me… my husband.” A weak voice reached everyone’s ears. The man quickly rushed over and supported the woman lying on the ground: “I’m fine. You’re weak, don’t talk. Just lie down properly.”

The woman shook her head and looked at Li Shimin: “Young Master, he only did such things because he was implicated by me. If you want to arrest someone… arrest me instead.”

The man urgently said: “Don’t say such foolish things. I won’t let anyone take you away.” Then he crawled to Li Shimin’s feet, kowtowing heavily, choking with emotion: “After my wife recovers, I will go with the young master to the yamen and submit to whatever punishment the young master decides. I beg for the young master’s mercy.”

The two little girls ran in front of Li Shimin and Chuyi, pushing them outward while crying: “You bad people, get out quickly! Don’t touch our daddy and mommy!”

“Second Young Master, what should we do about this?” Chuyi looked at Li Shimin at a loss. Although the man’s theft was detestable, it seemed he was indeed forced by circumstances.

Li Shimin ignored his words and only asked: “Why do you live here? Where is your own house?”

“We’re not from here. Two months ago, our home suffered a flood, and our house and farmland were all washed away. Those officials only knew to pressure us for grain and money, not caring whether we lived or died. To survive, my wife and I brought our two daughters and fled all the way to Hedong. We originally thought we’d find a place to settle down and then slowly figure things out. We have hands and feet, so with some hardship we wouldn’t starve to death. But just after arriving here, my wife fell ill with a high fever that wouldn’t break because she caught cold on the journey. We used up all our remaining silver, and later we met someone who he…” When he reached this point, the man’s eyes flashed, and he changed the subject: “Really having no other option, I could only resort to such despicable acts.” Then he raised his hand: “I swear, as long as my wife is alright, even if the young master wants to kill or dismember me, I won’t have a single word of complaint.”