My older brother said I'm invincible.

Chapter 49 Fearless
Li Shimin was afraid that his third son wouldn't understand, so he carefully analyzed all the matters concerning the local militia for him, from personnel arrangements to food supply and training.

He spoke in great detail, making Li Yuanji somewhat sleepy.

Li Xuanba listened very attentively.

After Li Shimin had finished speaking, he stood up, bowed to Li Shimin, and said, "Thank you for your instruction, Second Brother!"

Li Shimin was quite pleased and smiled, gesturing for him to sit down. "I was just saying that you would have to do the actual work yourself. I never expected you could actually do it! If the county can be governed, my brother will have made a great contribution! You will surely achieve great things in the future!"

Li Xuanba, however, had a clear understanding of himself: "The money and provisions were provided by my eldest brother, and the matter of the local militia was proposed by my second brother. All I did was bring them out. I dare not say that I have made any contribution, but I will certainly not let my brothers down!"

After finishing their business, the brothers started talking about family matters.

Li Shimin also changed his serious face from before, and put on his usual carefree face. He lowered his head and spoke ill of his elder brother to his two younger brothers.

"I recovered from my injuries yesterday and was about to come out to find you, but my elder brother wouldn't let me and even had someone keep an eye on me!"

“I stayed in my elder brother’s mansion all day yesterday, discussing important matters of the world with him. No matter how much he tried to get me to leave, I wouldn’t go! Sure enough, today he sent a few men to take me out of the city to see you! Those men are outside, and they might just arrest me and take me back now.”

"what?"

"But it's okay."

Li Shimin smiled and looked at Li Yuanji beside him, "Yuanji, do you want to go home soon?"

"In no mood!"

"Those people outside want to take us back, what should we do?"

"Ha, they dare?! If they come to arrest me, I'll bite them! I'll beat them up!"

Li Yuanji grinned, and Li Shimin was quite satisfied with his attitude, nodding with satisfaction. Then he looked at the third son and said, "See? Anyone can be useful. That's why I had to bring him along."

The three brothers were chatting when they heard hurried footsteps outside.

A moment later, Feng Li and Zhang Du burst in one after the other and quickly walked up to Li Xuanba. Li Xuanba hurriedly stood up and asked, "Brothers, has something happened?"

Feng Li was about to reply when he noticed Li Shimin standing to the side, and quickly bowed.

However, Li Shimin acted as if he didn't see him at all and completely ignored him.

Feng Li was somewhat embarrassed. He then looked at Li Xuanba and said, "Third Master, the group of men I sent to Sanshi Village ran into another group of local militia. There were quite a few of them, nearly a hundred. They launched a surprise attack and captured several of our brothers."

Li Xuanba was taken aback, but he quickly recovered.

"Don't rush, brothers. If you tell them I am, they won't dare to attack. There are so many of them; they're probably local militia from Changwu, commanded by officials."

Feng Li nodded, "That's right, Third Young Master. I'll go and inform the young master right away, and have him send someone to negotiate with them!"

Li Shimin suddenly stood up. “Commander, do we still need to negotiate with them? Attacking and arresting people right away is clearly a test of your character. If we negotiate with them now, they will definitely release the people, but in the future, I'm afraid they won't care so much about your affairs.”

Li Xuanba was taken aback. "Second Brother."

"Guild Leader!"

"This is a local militia camp! What brothers are you talking about! Military law is strict, and there is a clear distinction between superiors and subordinates! There are no elder brothers or senior brothers here!"

"If the officers can't do this, how can the other soldiers?"

As Li Shimin spoke, his gaze swept over Feng Li and Zhang Du, who were standing to the side.

Zhang Du didn't hesitate and quickly bowed to Li Xuanba, "Commander! Second Young Master is absolutely right!"

Feng Li became restless.

He was one of Boss Li's men. Boss Li sent him here to keep things under control. He would report the situation here to Boss Li at any time. The leader of the local militia appeared to be Li Xuanba, but the actual controller was still Li Jiancheng.

Previously, the eldest brother had the physically weak third brother listed as a candidate, but not the second brother, who was known for his bravery. At the time, Feng Li hesitated, not understanding why the eldest brother did this. But now, he understood instantly. The second son of the Li family is uncontrollable!

He's trying to establish his authority over the third brother and help him take control of the army!
Feng Li didn't even dare to imagine what would happen if the second brother were given a nominal position to lead the local militia. He was afraid that the militia would break free from the eldest brother's control and become his private army, a one-man show!

He cleared his throat. "The local militia are, after all, government officials, so negotiating is the right thing to do. Besides, we are not local militias established by the government, so we cannot use the title of 'commander'."

He wasn't against Li Sanlang, but Li the eldest didn't want things to get out of control, and Feng Li didn't want the third brother to have too much control. After all, they were just kids, and if he really established his authority, it would be difficult to manage them in the future. What if the kids became unruly and caused trouble?
Li Shimin ignored him and looked at Li Xuanba, saying, "Commander, your men have been captured. They trusted you and came out to fight the bandits with you. Now that they've been captured by villains, they may not dare to kill them, but they will certainly be beaten and abused. Are you just going to stand by and watch these people be humiliated and beaten?!"

Upon hearing this, Li Xuanba immediately jumped up.

"What?! They even dare to hit people?!"

It can only be said that Li Shimin understood his younger brother very well; he knew how to persuade his kind-hearted and easily swayed third brother to make a decision.

Li Xuanba immediately looked at Zhang Du, "Zhang Jun, go and gather the men now!"

Feng Li was stunned. He quickly grabbed Zhang Du and looked at Li Xuanba, "Third Young Master, we can't act impulsively! Those are local militiamen!"

"The government? When those thieves were running rampant, why didn't we see them?"

Li Shimin immediately spoke up, saying fiercely, "Get out of the way!"

"I was sent by the young master! He instructed me not to let the young gentlemen cause any trouble!"

Seeing that he couldn't suppress the situation, Feng Li immediately brought up Li Jiancheng.

Li Shimin became even angrier, "Everything you eat and drink is provided by my father. You're afraid of my elder brother, but not me? If I were to draw my sword and fight you to the death right now, would you dare to fight back?!"

As he spoke, he placed his hand on the hilt of the sword at his waist.

Feng Li took a step back. He really didn't dare to make a move; he couldn't possibly hurt the other party.

Li Xuanba frowned and stepped in front of his second brother, saying, "Some brothers are suffering because of me, and I cannot tolerate it. If you want to hold me accountable, I will take the blame myself! I apologize!"

He strode out, Zhang Du hurriedly followed, and Li Shimin and Li Yuanji followed behind him.

Feng Li only felt a toothache.

That second son of the Li family!
But he had no choice but to hurry after them, hoping they wouldn't cause any major trouble!

The knights quickly got ready and rode off.

Li Xuanba remained seated in Liu Chounu's lap, while Li Shimin carried Li Yuanji beside him. Li Shimin was quite skilled at riding horses; at such a young age, his technique was almost comparable to that of the experienced knights behind him.

Li Xuanba frowned, his face solemn, and kept instructing Liu Chounu to speed up.

Li Shimin followed beside him, and the group of men his elder brother had sent to keep an eye on him also had no choice but to catch up with the main group.

Li Yuanji was extremely excited, but also somewhat afraid, knowing that he was going to fight against regular local militia.

"Second brother, you were so mean to Feng Li just now, won't eldest brother beat us up again? My butt just healed."

"Hmph, he hit me before because I did something behind his back, and I accepted that. But if he hits me for this reason, I won't accept it."

"The eldest brother is too lenient with those around him. He only knows how to gather talented people, but he can't restrain them."

“This time, Sanlang went out to do things on his own, which was a great opportunity. He could gain popular support and hone his skills. But unfortunately, the eldest brother sent these people to interfere and make things difficult, causing communication problems. Even if the eldest brother doesn’t say anything to me, I will have to go back and tell him!”

Li Yuanji looked on with admiration.

They were beaten by their eldest brother since they were little, yet their second brother wasn't afraid at all?
At this moment, his opinion of his second brother changed slightly. It seemed that he wasn't just a shameless villain who only bullied his younger brother.

Li Shimin added, "Besides, you're here with me. If I were to be beaten alone, I would be terrified. But with you by my side, I'm not so afraid. You cry and wail after just one beating, with snot and tears everywhere. It's hard for your elder brother to hit you too many times."

(End of this chapter)