Chapter 174 Meet
Li Mi glanced at them and left without saying a word. The others then realized that, in today's world, the only person of his age who deserves to be called Lord Li is Li Mi, the former Lord of Pushan, who is a wanted criminal by the court, except for Li Jiancheng who is in the Turkic region.

Those who got the news first undoubtedly chose to help Li Mi. However, although they were friends, they were not of one mind. Some people immediately prepared to capture Li Mi in exchange for his future.

Although the official positions in the imperial court were not as valuable as before, they were still a smooth path to advancement and success. Otherwise, with their limited assets, even the more powerful rebels would look down on them.

"Yanglin, get out of the way. If you catch Li Mi, you can at least get a fifth-rank official position!"

The man stood up and held out his arms with his servants to stop the crowd: "What's there to hope for in an official position at the court? Those who came to the king's rescue were not rewarded, let alone those of us who have the chance.

Besides, who is Lord Li? He is a great hero who will surely achieve great things in the future. We can also become rich and powerful by following him, which is much better than relying on that tyrant. "

During the stalemate, Li Mi had already mounted his horse and galloped towards Cheng Wai. It was obviously too late for them to catch up now, so the strength in their hands began to weaken. One of them said, "Then saving Lord Li today will be counted as the credit of all of us. Yang Lin, you can't take it all for yourself."

Zhao Yanglin immediately said, "We are related by marriage for generations, so it is natural that we will rise together and prosper together, sharing weal and woe!"

Bah, if covering up this matter didn't require everyone's efforts, you wouldn't deserve this life-saving grace.

Huaiyang Governor Zhao Tuo has always been a loyal and honest person. As long as they keep it clear that they don't know Li Mi's identity, the matter will not implicate the family.

Everyone immediately called the shopkeeper, waiter and two diners who had just witnessed what happened. They were all locals, so the matter was handled easily.

As the saying goes, a strong dragon cannot defeat a local snake. Their families have been passed down in these two or three counties for more than a hundred years. If these people dare to file a complaint, no matter how the prefect reacts, they will definitely die.

Therefore, when the county soldiers and officers arrived, they all spoke in unison and pointed the pursuers in the direction of the city gate where Li Mi escaped. Too many people saw this, so it could not be fake.

Moreover, with Lord Li's wisdom, he would not be so smart as to not even know to change direction after leaving the city to escape the pursuers.

.........

The emperor is like a piece of pig iron. Normally, he appears to be extremely hard, but when he encounters setbacks, he immediately becomes brittle like pig iron. His ambitions have been shattered.

Logically speaking, the most important thing he should do now is to return to Chang'an, which is the place where the Sui Dynasty rose and where its foundation was located.

But the emperor was determined to return to Jiangdu, where he had lived as a teenager, his real home.

By making this decision, he actually acquiesced that the Sui Dynasty was about to end, but he didn't care about that anymore. He just wanted to return to Jiangdu, even if it was to establish his own regime in separatist China.

I am getting older, and it is enough for me to enjoy myself before I die.

So the emperor, while he still had some power, ordered Lu Daode, the governor of Piling, to gather tens of thousands of soldiers from ten counties to build a palace in the southeast of Piling County. The palace was twelve miles in radius and had sixteen palaces in the garden. Most of them imitated the regulations of the Western Garden in the Eastern Capital, but were even more novel and magnificent than the Western Garden.

He once again urged Wang Shichong to build a dragon boat, as he would return to Jiangdu this year.

The nobles in the court soon realized the emperor's intention. The Guanlong nobles headed by Su Wei all advised the emperor not to do so, saying that as long as they returned to Chang'an, the country still had a chance.

But the more the emperor listened, the more he felt something was wrong. He himself was from a noble family in Guanlong, so how could he not know what would happen if the emperor lost his power and dignity?

So he found several excuses to justify Su Wei, and even Yuwen Shu was hit. Now anyone who opposed going down Jiangdu and returning to Chang'an would be the emperor's mortal enemy. The vacant positions in the court were immediately occupied by Pei Yun and Yu Shiji, because they were from the south and naturally preferred the emperor to go to Jiangdu.

When the dragon boat arrived, the emperor was eager to set off. The only remaining representative from Guanlong, General Zhao Cai of the Right Guard, advised: "Now the people are tired, the treasury is empty, thieves are everywhere, and the prohibition is not effective. I hope Your Majesty will return to the capital and protect the people."

The emperor was so angry that he wanted to kill him, but was stopped by Yuwen Shu, Yu Shiji and others. Killing Zhao Cai would be adding fuel to the fire. The Guanlong families, who were already reaching their limit of patience, would definitely resist.

Seeing that Zhao Cai was fine, another sixth-rank Jianjie Wei, Ren Zong, wrote a letter to advise the emperor. His remonstrance was completely out of the center of the court, but the emperor finally found someone he could vent his anger on.

He followed the example of the previous emperor and beat him to death in the court, then dismissed the court and returned to the harem. But he also had a headache here. The news from the harem was even more outrageous, saying that His Majesty would never come back after his southern tour.

It was obvious that most of them were going to be left here, and they all surrounded the empress and cried. Empress Xiao had no choice but to invite the emperor, and Yang Guang was finally nicer to them.

"Whoever said I won't come back, that's all lies!"

Yang Guang cheered up and stroked his beard to compose a poem: "I dreamed of the beauty of Jiangnan, and the expedition to Liao was also accidental, but the beauty remains, and the separation will only be this year."

What I mean is that what I yearn for is the beautiful scenery of Jiangnan, and the expedition to Goguryeo is just a spontaneous inspiration. You all should take good care of your beautiful faces. I will go to Jiangnan to take a look and come back next year.

But such sweet words were obviously not convincing, but the emperor insisted on taking the royal family, concubines, palace maids, civil and military officials, monks, nuns, Taoists and the brave soldiers down the canal to Jiangdu amid opposition and wailing.

…………

"Is Jiancheng all right?"

Duke of Liang Xiao Cong brushed the dust off his body. He had experienced many ups and downs in his life as an emperor in the past and a duke now, but this was his first time digging a tunnel.

Li Yuan stepped forward to help his father-in-law pat him and replied: "Very good, Shi Bi rewarded him with cattle and sheep pastures, and also wanted to marry his sister to him. That boy is living a better life than in the Central Plains."

Xiao Cong smiled and said, "Jiancheng is really superior to others wherever he goes. Wealth and honor are destined for him. Great."

The two men sat down, and Xiao Cong coughed twice and said, "Your Majesty has gone south to Jiangdu. This time, you have abandoned the two capitals. The Mandate of Heaven is shaken and the country is torn apart. It depends on who can follow the will of Heaven and rebuild the country."

Li Yuan was silent for a moment: "Peach and plum, peach and plum, maybe my Li family should fight for it."

Xiao Cong smiled and nodded but did not speak. Li Yuan stood up and said solemnly: "Chan Yan is filial and respectful. She has been favored by my mother for many years since she married into our family. My wife and I often praise our daughter-in-law for not being arrogant because of her wealth and status, and for being virtuous and graceful. She is worthy of being a noble lady of the Xiao family.

Regardless of whether the great cause is accomplished or not, my family has only this one daughter-in-law, and the glory of the nobility must be more prominent than it is now. If you go against this, I will be extinct!"

Xiao Cong stood up and bowed: "I absolutely do not want to force Lord Li to do this, please take back your words!"

Li Yuan stepped forward and took Xiao Cong's hand: "I know what Lord Xiao is thinking. Even if the clan wife has no children, my eldest grandson should also be a daughter of the Xiao family."

...............

(End of this chapter)