My older brother said I'm invincible.

Chapter 93 Extraordinary Woman

Li Xuanba rode his horse, his hands gripping the reins tightly, his head covered in sweat.

He had only been learning to ride a horse for a short time, and when he rode alone, he was somewhat afraid, feeling that he might fall off at any moment.

Liu Chounu tried to step forward several times, but Li Xiuning said loudly, "No need. How can a real man not know how to ride a horse? Let him ride by himself. As long as he's not afraid, he won't fall!"

At this moment, they were walking out of the city.

Li Xiuning wanted to see the Sanlang soldiers under Li Xuanba's command.

Li Yuan's sons were all talented individuals, and his daughter was no ordinary woman either.

Li Xiuning was different from other noble girls from a young age. She didn't like staying at home to make clothes or learn women's traditions. She liked to run around, listen to her father and officials discussing government affairs, and go to the training ground to watch the soldiers drill.

Before they were even grown up, they started learning to ride horses and shoot arrows.

The second and fourth children were practically raised by her beatings.

Li Yuan has always doted on his children. Whenever Lady Dou wanted to change her ways, he would always speak up for his good daughter. Now, Li Xiuning is not young anymore and has reached the age to get married, but her personality has not changed. She is completely a son of a military family and has nothing to do with a lady.

Mrs. Dou was very worried about her daughter's marriage, and even more worried about her life after marriage.

Li Yuan was alright; he was easygoing and even praised his daughter for inheriting the family's traditions. He probably hadn't thought about marriage at all.

At this moment, Li Xiuning led Li Xuanba outside. Perhaps to help her younger brother overcome his fear and stop him from always looking at his feet, she started talking about military matters.

"Xuanba, do you know what's most important in leading an army?"

"do not know"

"It's military discipline."

"Those old Xianbei bandits from the east were good at fighting, right? But they still failed. Why? Because of their poor military discipline. Later, a few good-for-nothings who inherited their fathers' and grandfathers' titles couldn't even control their own troops. They would raid distant places even on the march, delaying their battle opportunities. How could they not fail?"

"Since you are in charge of the army, you must pay attention to military discipline. You must keep a close eye on your troops and make sure they do not bully the people or plunder villages!"

"Otherwise, even your father will not spare you!"

"I see."

After chatting with Li Xiuning, Li Xuanba was less nervous. Riding a horse is really not an easy thing. A fine horse always gives people the illusion that it is not very big, but once you are actually on the back of a horse, you can feel the size of the warhorse. Holding the reins and feeling the power of the horse shaking its head, you can't help but feel scared.

Li Xiuning is also very talkative.

Apart from Li Xuanba, the other children in the Li family were all quite eloquent. When Li Xiuning talked about what she had seen and heard along the way with her mother, her words were full of concern for the plight of the people and her feelings about the policies of the government.

The people in the forced requisition zones were barely able to survive. From Guanzhong to Henan and Hebei, everyone was burning with resentment, just waiting for someone to take the lead and sound the charge.

The sage has only been on the throne for four years, yet he has already accomplished what many famous monarchs of the past spent decades to achieve.

Looking at the overgrown farmland in the distance, Li Xiuning sighed, "Before leaving Xingyang, I never imagined that Xingyang's situation would be the best."

As Li Xuanba listened to his sister recount these events, his brows furrowed even more deeply.

Not long ago, Li Xuanba was still advising others frankly to fulfill his duty as a subject. But now, only one sentence remained in Li Xuanba's mind: "Those who harm benevolence are called thieves, those who harm righteousness are called cruel, and those who are cruel and thieves are called mere men."

After walking for a long time, they finally saw the farm located in the distance.

The farms of today are increasingly resembling a large drill ground.

Many knights came and went every day, which was not a bad thing for the tenants and serfs living on the farm. The soldiers did not bully them, and with them around, they had nothing to fear from thieves.

Zhang Du and the others came out to greet him, and were greatly surprised to see the woman disguised as a man and carrying a weapon beside Li Xuanba.

Although the current social atmosphere is quite open, and there are rumors of women going to war in place of their fathers among the old Xianbei people, it is still relatively rare to see women so openly dressed in men's clothing and carrying weapons.

After Li Xuanba introduced his sister's identity, everyone bowed and greeted her again.

Li Xuanba led his sister into the farm. Li Xiuning wanted to see where the soldiers were training, so Zhang Du sent someone to take Li Xiuning there. He also instructed them to take good care of Li Xiuning and to make sure to inform everyone so that no more soldiers would talk nonsense.

Although they were local militia, they were still soldiers, and many of them were warriors who would tease women whenever they saw them. If they lost their temper and said something they shouldn't have to Li Xiuning, it could lead to serious trouble.

Li Xuanba didn't seem too worried. After seeing Li Xiuning walk away, Zhang Du hurriedly followed Li Xuanba into the small house, then had someone watch the door before rushing inside.

"Guild Leader!"

“A junior brother came last night. He disguised himself as a hunter and came from Wild Buffalo Mountain. He was sent by Zhang Sengyuan to report that he was safe. Fearing that he would arouse suspicion, he did not dare to stay long. After explaining the situation, he left first.”

He said that the soldiers around Buffalo Mountain had all withdrawn, and the local militia guarding various places had also disappeared.

Li Xuanba nodded. "Grandpa said earlier that he wanted to reorganize the local militia, so he should have started to take action."

"How are Zhang Sengyuan and the others? What are the casualties in the team? What else did he say?"

"Everything is alright, the casualties are not too great. They have set up another camp deep in the mountains, saying that they have found many mountain people who have also hidden, and the scale has become much larger. A large number of people who have fled from Hebei have gathered there. It is still some distance from Xingyang."

Zhang Du recounted everything the man had said in detail, and Li Xuanba listened attentively.

Zhang Sengyuan and his companions were quite lucky; they successfully found their predecessor in the mountains.

People have a long tradition of hiding in the mountains. Since the Han Dynasty, whenever people could not survive, they would hide in the mountains. There were times when hundreds of thousands of people hid in the mountains, and the imperial court could not punish them and could only appease their leaders.

Hearing this, Li Xuanba felt much more at ease. The presence of mountain people meant that a suitable place to settle and cultivate had been found. It didn't matter that it was far from Xingyang, as long as those people could survive.

Zhang Du then said, "There is another important matter."

“He came from Buffalo Mountain and found that there were many dead people at the foot of the mountains. He was too afraid to approach them and took a detour several times before coming down.”

"Dead person??"

Li Xuanba asked, "Could it be that dark-faced man who escaped earlier? Or a local militiaman sent by Father in disguise?"

Zhang Du paused for a moment, then shook his head, "I don't know what's going on."

Li Xuanba took this matter very seriously, and he ordered, "Quickly gather the men, we're going hunting at Wild Buffalo Mountain."

"Let's investigate those people. If they're the dark-faced man, we'll arrest him and hand him over to Grandpa for interrogation. If they're thieves, we'll defeat them to prevent them from harming those hunting villages. If Grandpa sent them to keep watch, then tell Zhang Sengyuan and the others to be extra careful."

Zhang Du agreed and then went out to gather people.

Having learned his lesson from last time, Zhang Du dared not be careless again. Although he was unable to thoroughly investigate the land grant, he had at least established contact with the local authorities and completed the establishment of patrol zones. In addition, with fewer and fewer thieves, the armed forces that could be mobilized in the farm were now greater.

After Li Xuanba finished discussing these matters, he went out to the training ground, intending to send his sister back first.

When Li Xuanba arrived at the training ground, the soldiers formed a circle and clapped and cheered.

Upon discovering that it was Li Xuanba, they quickly made way for him, and Li Xuanba walked in until he reached the inner circle, where he finally saw the situation clearly.

Li Xiuning was seen holding a large bow and showing it off to those around her, while in the distance, a wooden figure was covered with arrows.

Clearly, Li Xiuning had just demonstrated her superb archery skills to the soldiers.

"Brothers, if I can hit the wooden dummy in the forehead with an arrow, you should shout 'Divine Archer!' three times! What do you say?"

"it is good!!"

"Brothers on the other side, stand back! If you miss, you might get hurt!"

Li Xiuning spoke loudly, then drew her bow and shot.

"Whoosh~"

The arrow hit the bullseye.

The crowd cheered again.

The fellow disciples beside Li Xuanba were also dumbfounded, staring at him and exclaiming, "As expected of a daughter of the Duke's family, she is truly extraordinary, extraordinary indeed."

Li Xuanba remained calm. His older sister was skilled in horseback riding and archery, and could easily outdrink several strong men. She ate meat in large mouthfuls and drank wine in large bowls.
He has long been used to it.

(End of this chapter)