Chapter 218: Meeting Pei Lingxi again, encouraging him
"My masters are Princess Taihua and her husband!"

Manager Yang revealed his identity in the hope that the imperial guards would be cautious.

"Whoever you are, get out!"

The captain of the Jinwu Guard said with a dark face.

If it was before, he would definitely be afraid of Yang. But now it was the general's order, how could he be frightened by a servant?

"Death to those who resist!"

A Jinwu Guard soldier saw the troublemaker and immediately drew the sword from his waist, which frightened the man.

Seeing this, the other servants of the Yang family had no choice but to behave themselves under the care of the Jinwu Guards, as they had always bullied the weak and feared the strong.

Seeing how confident these imperial guards were, my heart instantly weakened.

The person lying down was also carried out by two soldiers.

Pei Ying was beaten up badly, but he was still able to stand up and looked like nothing happened.

He was confused and didn't know why the imperial guards suddenly came over.

Pei Fan gradually felt relieved when he saw that his son was fine.

Pei Lingxi hurried to Pei Fan.

Pei Fan did not act rashly, as he could see that these imperial guards were not in the same group as the Yang family.

Otherwise, these Yang family servants would not be stopped from committing crimes.

In this way, a group of people were driven out of the orchard.

Li Xuan lives with his horse outside the orchard.

Although Yang was very powerful, it was not his character to keep things quiet.

Li Xuan is really not afraid of the current Five Yangs.

The Five Yangs could confuse right and wrong, but they could not confuse Li Xuan in front of Li Longji and Yang Yuhuan.

Li Xuan will not make a big fuss, but he will teach Yang's people a lesson!
When this group of people were brought out, Li Xuan's heart moved.

Because he saw an acquaintance, Pei Lingxi, whom he had met before at Zongsheng Temple.

Although she was wearing ordinary clothes, it could not conceal her elegance and refinement.

Among the many men, Li Xuan saw Pei Lingxi at first sight.

He wondered, isn't this Yang's Dushan Garden? Why is Pei Lingxi here?

Could it be that the orchard next door belongs to the Pei family?
Li Xuan felt that his guess was correct. As Pei Yaoqing was a well-known prime minister of the Kaiyuan period, it was normal for Li Longji to reward him with an orchard.

The moment Pei Lingxi left the orchard, he saw a heroic figure riding on a white horse.

This figure is unforgettable to her.

Ever since she met Li Xuan at Zongsheng Temple, she felt Li Xuan's charm and could never forget him.

Not long ago, she asked her grandfather to find out whether any of General Li’s poems had been introduced to Chang’an.

Her family fell into decline and her grandfather was no longer working in Chang'an, so she thought she would never see General Li again.

I didn't expect to meet you again when I followed my grandfather to the orchard.

Although Pei Fan was the magistrate of Shouchun, he had never met Li Xuan.

Those servants of the Yang family were usually in the orchard and did not know Li Xuan's identity.

"Who is the manager of Yang's orchard?"

Li Xuan dismounted, walked forward a few steps holding his sword, and asked a group of Yang family servants.

"I am! My masters are Princess Taihua and Prince Consort Yang. Who are you and why did you rush into my orchard?"

Manager Yang introduced himself again and asked Li Xuan a question.

Li Xuan glanced at Luo Xing.

Luo Xing understood and walked over with the horsewhip in hand.

"Clap clap..."

Before Yang's steward could react, Luo Xing whipped him with a few whips.

Luo Xing was very strong and knocked down Yang's steward with the first whip.

"what……"

Then there were another dozen whips, which made Manager Yang scream in pain.

When the other servants saw this, they wanted to help the steward, but as the Jinwu Guards were watching them closely, they backed off.

I could only watch this scene in awe.

"stop!"

After a dozen lashes, Li Xuan stopped Luo Xing.

"You whipped me today, just like you whipped our Yang family's prince consort. You just wait!"

The injuries to Manager Yang were only minor, which did not stop him from standing up and cursing.

"What is Yang Qi's intention? How dare you ruin my business?"

Li Xuan snorted coldly.

When Yang Yuhuan returned to her parents' home some time ago, Yang Qi behaved like a drunkard.

If it weren't for Yang Yuhuan, he wouldn't have been able to marry a princess, let alone a third-rank official.

It's difficult for him to be a county lieutenant.

"How dare you insult my master?"

Hearing Li Xuan's rude remarks, Manager Yang became furious and bared his teeth, as if he was ready to bite Li Xuan at any time.

"Dongshan Garden is mine. Did Yang Qi ask you to intercept the vendors who had made an appointment with Dongshan Garden?"

Li Xuan did not answer what Manager Yang said, but asked another question.

"Dongshan Garden is a government garden, how can it be yours?"

Steward Yang reacted and remembered that Dongshan Garden and Xishui Garden to the west of Dongshan Garden were official gardens.

There is also a mansion there.

His master wanted it before, but the saint didn’t give it to him.

"The saint gave me the Dongshan Garden as a reward."

Li Xuan said lightly.

This sentence shocked Yang's steward.

The saint directly rewarded the young man with an orchard, which shows that the young man was also an extremely noble person.

After all, even Yang Qi couldn’t get Dongshan Garden.

"You are……"

Manager Yang ignored the pain in his body and thought rapidly. He thought of a possibility!
During this period, Li Xuan, the governor of the four towns, was in Chang'an.

And he is so young and handsome, could he be Li Xuan?

When he thought of this possibility, Manager Yang's body trembled unconsciously.

"My name is Li Xuan!"

Li Xuan gave his name.

One stone can cause a thousand waves!

Except for Pei Lingxi, who knew Li Xuan's identity, everyone else was stunned.

Manager Yang was shocked that Li Xuan was the owner of Dongshan Garden.

Their master had ordered that everyone in Chang'an should stay away from the Right Prime Minister and the Duke of Song.

Needless to say, although Li Linfu is no longer as powerful as he used to be, his influence is still there, so the Yang family still has to give him face.

Not to mention Li Xuan.

Not only is Li Xuan the most favored minister of the time, but he is also cruel and ruthless, and can torture people to death.

The most important thing is that Lady Yuhuan is very optimistic about Li Xuan and always speaks well of Li Xuan in front of the saint.

Yishou is not far from Chang'an, and Yishou is the first to know many information about Chang'an.

Not long ago, Li Xuan was appointed as the governor of four towns, and Pei Fan sighed for a long time.

Although he is not the prime minister.

But when his father was prime minister, he was not as noble as Li Xuan.

He had always wanted to meet Li Xuan, a man of both civil and military talents, and today he finally got to meet him in this way.

He was a county magistrate, but he was humiliated by his servants.

Fortunately, Li Xuan seemed to be here to cause trouble for Yang's servants.

This way they can get away easily.

Many wealthy families hated Li Xuan, but it must be said that they also believed from the bottom of their hearts that Li Xuan was upright and trustworthy.

Pei Ying's eyes were full of fanaticism, Li Xuan had always been a hero in his mind. If he had not been stopped by Pei Fan, he would have gone to Helong to join General Li like the knights of Yishou.

To drive Qingqi away, the snow is full of bows and knives.

That's what a hero does.

"I am blind and I am here to meet General Li..."

Manager Yang was arrogant at first but became respectful later. His legs went weak and he knelt on the ground begging for mercy.

Stealing Pei's one thousand pear trees was nothing, after all, it was a meritorious service to Yang Qi.

But if he offended Li Xuan, Yang Qi would not only not help him, but would also teach him a lesson.

He must beg for mercy and seek Li Xuan's forgiveness.

"Dongshan Garden and the merchants in Chang'an East Market have already signed a written agreement. Why do you dare to destroy it? You don't think that forced buying and selling is not against the law, do you?"

Li Xuan asked this question again.

"I thought it was an official orchard, but you know that Dongshan Garden belongs to you, General Li. Even if I had a hundred guts, I wouldn't dare to go there!"

Manager Yang said with a sad face.

"Humph! Then you are committing an even greater crime! If it was just my personal orchard, and you took away the vendors, it would be our personal grudge. You knew it was the country's orchard, but you deliberately blocked it. This is disrespectful to the court! What right do you have to disrespect the saint? Do you have Yang Qi's support?"

The more Li Xuan spoke, the greater the sin became, and his tone became increasingly stern.

"No...I am..."

Manager Yang was rendered speechless by Li Xuan's retort.

Because what Li Xuan said was true.

Even if Yang delayed the sale of pears from the official orchard, the small orchard manager would not dare to risk offending Yang and interfere.

Manager Yang thought he had grasped this point, but he didn't expect to hit a wall with Li Xuan. "Mrs. Lingxi, what's going on with you?"

Li Xuan ignored the Yang steward who was kneeling on the ground begging for mercy, and came to Pei Lingxi to ask her.

The words "Lingxi girl" made Pei Lingxi blush instantly, and she lowered her head slightly.

At the same time, she was also very happy, because she thought that Li Xuan had forgotten her after not seeing her for a year.

Unexpectedly, Li Xuan not only did not forget her, but also remembered her name.

Pei Fan next to him widened his eyes. How could General Li know Lingxi?

Her children have been either in Luoyang or Yishou in recent years, so they should not have met General Li.

Li Xuan is of noble status now, and their family simply cannot afford to marry him.

"Reporting to the general, Dushan Garden moved the boundary stone and stole my family's 1,000 pear trees. My family wanted to move the boundary stone back to its original position, but they took advantage of their power and bullied us. My brother and the servants in our family were all injured!"

Pei Lingxi paused, bowed to Li Xuanying, and said generously.

She spoke clearly and Li Xuan knew what was going on as soon as she heard it.

Whether it is the farmland of ordinary people or the gardens of princes and nobles, there are boundary stones to mark them.

Moving the boundary stone was such a classic operation that it had happened in Li Xuan's previous life, not to mention the current Tang Dynasty.

But Yang is too treacherous. Others only move a little at a time, but you move a thousand pear trees at once. If you move again, won’t you swallow up Pei’s orchard?
Moreover, Pei Lingxi's family is the descendant of the prime minister after all. Judging from the fact that they are wearing blue clothes, they should be a group of servants. How dare they hit people?

Of course, Li Xuan was not surprised at all.

A few years later in history, the Yang sisters, Yang Jian, Yang Zhao, and Yang Qi, were competing with Li Longji's favorite daughter, Princess Guangning, for the right to pass through Xishi Gate. When a Yang family servant waved his whip to drive away Princess Guangning's horse, he hit Princess Guangning's clothes and she fell off her horse.

The son-in-law Cheng Changyi immediately dismounted and went to help Princess Guangning, but he was whipped several times by Yang's servants.

It can be seen that this was not an accident, but was done intentionally by Yang's servants.

Afterwards, Princess Guangning went to Li Longji to cry.

Li Longji was furious and beat Yang's servant to death with a stick.

However, no one from the Yang family was punished, and the son-in-law Cheng Changyi was dismissed from his official position.

If Yang had not indulged her servants, they would not have been so arrogant.

As a result, later princesses, princes, dukes, ministers and officials would rather offend the saint than offend Yang.

If one offended a saint, he would usually be dismissed from office and demoted, but if one offended Yang, he would be killed without a burial place.

"Does Yang Qi know that you are doing this?"

Li Xuan turned around and asked the Yang family's manager.

"General, please understand. We did not move Pei's boundary stone. It was Pei who moved our Yang family's boundary stone."

Manager Yang's eyes flickered, and he refused to admit it.

Now the garden supervisor has redefined Dushan Garden and Zitu Garden, and the matter is settled.

"Absolutely not... Our orchard was originally about the same size as Dushan Garden, but now that the boundary stone has been changed, only half of it is left."

Pei Lingxi hurriedly explained to Li Xuan.

Manager Yang lied with her eyes open, which made her very angry, and even more angry that they had deceived General Li.

"The size of the orchard is recorded by the Garden Supervisor. The general can go to the Garden Supervisor to check it out."

Yang's steward defended himself.

"My Lord, the land deed has the measure written on it. I have not signed the new land deed they gave us, and I do not accept it."

Pei Fan finally spoke.

How could this happen? Once the land was moved and the title deed was changed, half of his family’s land was swallowed up.

"The original size of the Guanyuan was clearly recorded in the Sinong Temple. Do you still want me to go to the Sinong Temple to check?"

Li Xuan said sternly.

It is outrageous that Pei Yaoqing's descendants tried to steal Yang Qi's orchard!
Even with his eyes closed, Li Xuan knew that it was Yang Qi's family who secretly seized Pei's orchard.

Similar things happened frequently among princes and ministers.

In history, when Wang Yu and Yang Shenjin broke up, Yang Shenjin secretly seized Wang Yu's land. There were also people like Gao Xianzhi who, under the pressure of Bi Sichen, gave up their land.

The powerful and wealthy have many ways to seize other people’s land, and they will do whatever it takes, it just depends on who has the bigger fist.

Big fish eat small fish, small fish eat shrimps, shrimps eat loaches, and loaches eat mud.

This food chain can be used to represent land annexation.

The big fish represent the top dignitaries, namely the current Five Yangs, prime ministers, princes and princesses, and eunuchs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs; the small fish represent civil and military ministers, and some powerful local clans; the shrimps represent local tyrants and local officials; and the loaches represent ordinary people, who are destined to be annexed, so they can only "eat mud."

If you let the powerful people of the Wu Yang level bully the common people, they will not look down on it. The meat is not enough to fill their teeth. They will only focus on the small fish. That is, the descendants of the aristocracy and prime ministers like Pei Fan can take a big bite.

Li Xuan saw that Manager Yang shut up again and knew that he was already afraid.

Beating him with the whip a dozen times was a lesson for him.

He didn't want to get to the bottom of the matter and fall out with Yang.

That would do him no good.

Because based on what happened today, Li Longji could at most order the execution of these servants, and would not implicate the son-in-law Yang Qi.

If God wants to destroy someone, he will first make him crazy!
Li Xuan had warned the Yang family before, but they didn't listen, so Li Xuan wouldn't say anything more.

"Return the Pei family's pear tree and put the boundary stone back to its original location. When the Garden Supervisor rewrites the deed, tell them I said so!"

Li Xuan spoke to Yang's steward in a deep voice.

"As ordered!"

Manager Yang struggled internally and obeyed Li Xuan's order.

He was a smart man and could tell that Li Xuan wanted to end it there.

If I continue to be stubborn and make Li Xuan angry, it will be difficult to resolve the situation.

"If you dare to move the boundary stone again when I'm not around, I will move the boundary stone of Dongshan Garden to where I stand! And I will twist off your heads one by one."

Li Xuan warned Yang's servants with murderous words.

Especially the last sentence, which made all the Yang family servants present tremble in their hearts.

Li Xuan, who commands an army of 300,000, has great authority when he speaks.

They felt that Li Xuan was definitely not joking.

Yang's servants quickly buried more than a dozen boundary stones back to their original positions.

"Yishou Commander Pei Fan pays respect to the doctor and thanks General Li for restoring my orchard."

At this time, Pei Fan bowed to Li Xuan.

If it weren't for the noble man Li Xuan, it would have been difficult for them to end today.

"It's just a trivial matter, nothing worth mentioning!"

Li Xuan waved his hand, and it was fate that they met. When he learned that it was Yang Qi's orchard, he was just about to bring bad luck to Yang Qi.

The status of the princess's husband is noble, but not as high as Li Xuan's current status.

"Your Excellency's small matter is a big matter to my family. I will keep this favor in mind. If you have any instructions in the future, I will follow your orders."

Pei Fan bowed to Li Xuan again.

As a mere county magistrate, he naturally could not help Li Xuan in any way.

He took this opportunity to express his loyalty to Li Xuan.

With Li Xuan's power, if he is given a little help in the future, he will be able to return to Chang'an.

Pei Yaoqing's son cannot wear green robes all his life.

In today's political situation, working hard for a few years is not as good as sending a treasure to Wu Yang.

If Li Xuan had not suddenly appeared, the court would have been silent a few years ago.

"Try your best! Peach and plum trees don't speak, but people will come to them. If you have achievements in government and care for the people, I will open a path to the high platform. The poplar trees can't stop it, and the dense forests can't cover it."

Li Xuan patted Pei Fan on the shoulder, looking like he was optimistic about him.

If he didn't know the whole story, he wouldn't have recommended him to Li Longji.

Knowing his background and abilities, he would also be summoned to the shogunate for training.

Obviously, Li Xuan had no idea about the ability of Pei Fan, who entered the officialdom through family connections.

Because Li Xuan knew that more than half of the officials in the Tang Dynasty were incapable of living up to their status.

When this happens, desire arises.

"Thank you, doctor!"

Pei Fan felt that Li Xuan was more mature than his peers, and he cared about the people from the moment he opened his mouth.

He could feel that Li Xuan was not just talking.

Like his father Pei Yaoqing, he cares for the people.

Once, Pei Yaoqing presented Li Longji with a memorial advocating for the welfare of the people. After reading it, Li Longji felt that Pei Yaoqing was a talent for being a prime minister, so he kept the memorial with him to remind himself to care for the people.

Pei Fan was not discouraged. Even Yishou was talking about Li Xuan's potential to become prime minister. If he could make achievements in politics in Yishou, Li Xuan would definitely promote him.

Pei Lingxi, who was standing by, felt Li Xuan's conversation and broad demeanor even more.

Today Li Xuan helped her family overcome difficulties, leaving Pei Lingxi with no way to repay him.

But Li Xuan was too great in her heart. She didn't understand Li Xuan and didn't dare to talk much to him.

"General Li, are you still recruiting soldiers? I want to go over and fight against Tubo with you!"

At this time, Pei Ying could no longer bear it and recommended herself to Li Xuan.

His eyes were bright, and although he looked disheveled, he patted his chest as he spoke to show that he was strong.

Pei Fan wanted to scold Pei Ying, but then he thought that Li Xuan was here. If Dalang was valued by Li Xuan, he would have a great future in the army.

Pei Ying was not a good student, so joining the army was a better option for her.

"A war with Tubo will cost lives, so why bother yourself with suffering?"

Li Xuan thought Pei Ying was young and was just acting rashly.

"To die at the border of a country is a worthy death. I am not afraid of suffering!"

Pei Ying continued, his expression becoming even more excited, completely ignoring the presence of his father and sister.

"When the sons of noble families join the army, they either master the art of war and are good at commanding troops, or they kill generals and capture flags, showing extraordinary courage and strength. If you just want to be a soldier, I don't recommend you to join the army."

Li Xuan tried to persuade Pei Ying to give up.

"I am strong. I can use a horse lance and shoot arrows while riding."

Pei Ying said immediately.

He had no knowledge of military tactics, but he had absolute confidence in his bravery and strength.

(End of this chapter)