My older brother said I'm invincible.

Chapter 90 Family Banquet
Compared to Li Yuan's excited and happy appearance, Lady Dou was full of worry.

"My lord, you must not tell anyone these things, not even your closest confidants in the household. I have heard many things this time, and I fear that something big is about to happen in the court. It seems that Yang Xuangan is plotting a rebellion!"

Li Yuan looked at Madam Dou with suspicion and uncertainty. He had suspected that Yang Xuangan wanted to do something big, but he was not sure.

Hearing his wife say this so resolutely, he immediately believed her.

His wife is quite extraordinary.

Lady Dou was born into a Xianbei noble family, belonging to the Hedouling tribe. She later changed her surname to Dou. Her father was Dou Yi, a former general of the Sui Dynasty who was granted the military command of six prefectures including Xiang and Ying, and served as the governor of Xiangzhou.

She had a somewhat famous uncle named Yuwen Yong, who was none other than Emperor Wu of Zhou, who led his army to destroy Qi.

She was exceptionally beautiful from a young age. By the time she was three or four, her hair was already very pretty. She was also very intelligent, with a photographic memory. She could memorize any book after reading it a few times. Yuwen Yong liked her very much and took her in to raise her, treating her like his own daughter.

She was exceptionally intelligent from a young age. After Yuwen Yong married the Turkic empress, it was she who persuaded her uncle to value the empress in order to solidify the alliance with the Turks. At that time, she was only six or seven years old, and her intelligence already surpassed that of many adults.

She was extremely distressed when Yuwen Yong passed away, as if she had lost her father.

When she learned that Emperor Wen had established the Sui Dynasty, Lady Dou once declared: "I only regret that I am not a man, so that I can save my uncle's family from their crisis!"
In a sense, this lady did indeed avenge the uncle who raised her.
After Lady Dou and Li Yuan got married, the two were very loving. Lady Dou was familiar with politics, liked history books, and was good at calligraphy. She could imitate her husband's handwriting almost exactly. When important matters came up, the two would discuss them together, and Lady Dou could give her husband very good advice.

Therefore, Li Yuan took his wife's words to heart.

Li Yuan hurriedly asked, "What have you heard, Madam?"

"Yang Xuangan was sending people around to befriend nobles and officials, giving them a lot of money and promising them official positions. He also invited the sons of the noble families to his home, where he spent his days and nights having fun with them."

“The sons of the King of Guan, the sons of the Duke of Shouguang, and many sons of noble families are all unusually close to him at this moment and are willing to obey his orders. This is clearly an attempt to use the sons of noble families to hold their clans hostage.”

“I really can’t think of any reason why he would do this except to rebel.”

Li Yuan narrowed his eyes. "Indeed."

Lady Dou's words confirmed Li Yuan's guess. Lady Dou then said, "Although Yang Xuangan is brave and skilled, he lacks courage. If he wants to join forces with others to rebel, he only needs one family to truly support him. He contacts young people everywhere but does not dare to contact the truly powerful people. He has prematurely revealed his intentions. I predict that his plan will fail."

Li Yuan chuckled again, "I don't think he can accomplish anything either."

He then recounted what had happened to him before Madam Dou returned. Madam Dou quickly advised, "Husband, you saw Yang Xuangan very clearly, but you can't see through yourself. Now you are so keen on making friends, and you even encourage Jiancheng to do the same. Aren't you just like Yang Xuangan?"

"My lord, you should be more cautious and not be afraid of losing face. Yang Guang loves horses, so why don't you send him more fine horses?"

Li Yuan waved his hand dismissively and said, "How could I be the same kind of person as Yang Xuangan? My lady, there's no need to worry!"

He said happily, "This time, maybe I can climb up a bit and perhaps even return to the capital!"

Lady Dou wasn't particularly optimistic, but that didn't spoil Li Yuan's good mood.

Li Yuan then inquired about the situation on the Changsun family's side.

Madam Dou shook her head and sighed, "General Changsun's health is very poor, and I'm afraid he won't be able to hold on for much longer. I only mentioned the marriage arrangement briefly and didn't say much more. However, his children are indeed very good. If there is an opportunity in the future, we can arrange a marriage between them."

Li Yuan nodded, but his body moved closer and closer to Lady Dou.

In the evening, Li Yuan hosted a family banquet in the backyard.

The family ate together, and Li Fengci was invited to join them.

Li Yuan and Lady Dou sat in the upper seats, with Li Xiuning sitting next to Lady Dou. On the other side were Li Jiancheng, Li Fengci, Li Shimin, Li Xuanba, and Li Yuanji.

Li Yuan looked at the children in front of him and grinned happily.

He enjoyed the atmosphere.

Li Jiancheng stood up and toasted his parents to express his filial piety.

Li Shimin originally wanted to follow suit, but Lady Dou only glared at him, and he gave up the idea. He was still too young, and Lady Dou wouldn't allow him to drink alcohol.

"You all need to be careful what you do from now on. When your mother comes back, I won't be able to protect you!" "Especially you, second brother, you've led your younger brothers astray too. Your mother is keeping a grudge!"

Li Shimin chuckled, "My learning has also improved greatly these days. Mother, come, take a look at the essay I've written."

He was prepared, and with Wenfu in tow, he walked a few steps to his mother's side and handed it to Madam Dou to read.

Madam Dou read it carefully for a long time, then nodded with satisfaction, "Well written, keep up the good work."

"Look, I'm so well-behaved and sensible, how could my mother bear to hit me?"

Li Yuan peeked out and glanced at the essay in his wife's hand, then angrily scolded, "How come I don't know what this essay is? Why are you showing it to your mother?"

"Come here, Xuanba, compose a poem for me right now and show it to me, not to your mother!"

Li Jiancheng was also delighted and patted his younger brother on the shoulder, "Write one! Let Shimin see what a good piece of writing looks like!"

Li Shimin rolled his eyes at his elder brother, "Elder brother should have given him seven steps to compose a poem, otherwise..."

"Or we'll cut off his second brother's head?"

"What nonsense are you all spouting!"

"Hahaha~~"

The room was filled with laughter and cheerful conversation. Even Li Yuanji was smiling. With Li Yuan around, he didn't feel excluded, since he was called out by name from time to time.

Li Xiuning chuckled and teased, "Yuanji, I heard you've recently started stealing other people's baked pancakes?"

"Is there not enough food at home?"

Li Yuanji's face instantly turned red, and he loudly protested, "How can you slander me like this! I gave it to them! How could I have stolen it from them?"

"Oh? Didn't you steal it?"

Li Xiuning deliberately teased her youngest brother, and the others played along, all saying that Li Yuanji had stolen it. This made Li Yuanji so anxious that he started to stammer. However, Li Yuanji quickly realized that his older siblings were just teasing him, so he angrily stopped talking.

Li Xiuning stuffed several pieces of meat into his mouth before she could coax him to calm down.

Compared to Madam Dou's initial indifference, Li Yuanji was much happier with his older siblings' teasing.

The group ate, drank, and played games. Under Li Shimin's 'instigation,' Li Yuan drank quite a bit of wine, and soon he began to generously give money to the children.

Madam Dou could only shake her head helplessly.

As the banquet was drawing to a close, Madam Dou cleared her throat and got down to business.

"You can't go to the Zheng family's school right now, but you still have to study. No matter what important things you want to do, you can't neglect your studies."

"I will have a few words with Master Liu tomorrow. If he is willing, then Shimin and Yuanji can go to Xuanba's courtyard to listen to Master Liu's lecture."

"Master Liu's knowledge is very profound; you must all study it diligently!"

Li Shimin and Li Yuanji both looked distressed. Li Shimin didn't dislike reading, but he had more important things to do now.

When his mother mentioned him, Li Yuanji was somewhat happy. However, he never expected that she would ask him to go to school, which he hated the most. He was very conflicted.

But neither of them dared to refuse Madam Dou, and they both bowed their heads and agreed.

Even Li Jiancheng and Li Fengci could not escape this fate. Lady Dou was very disappointed with Li Jiancheng's performance this time.

"All you do is gather a bunch of people around you all day, but you don't know how to use them. What's the use of that? You can't even manage your younger brothers. How will you manage the household in the future? I plan to buy some properties in the city and let you and Fengci manage them. Follow me and learn properly!"

(End of this chapter)