20demayo Chapter 47 Clouds and Mud
Chapter 47 Clouds and Mud
Yang Xuangan narrowed his eyes, and his hand, which was originally holding the riding whip, unconsciously moved to the hilt of the sword at his waist.
The elegantly dressed young noblemen around them all reined in their horses, staring in disbelief at the solitary, upright figure standing in the center of the field.
In their eyes, the world is stratified.
Above them were powerful and influential families, like clouds in the sky; below them were ordinary people and soldiers, like mud in the ground.
Although Li Mi's family fortunes had declined somewhat, he was still the heir of the Duke of Pushan, a member of this elite group.
But now, Li Mi has actually attacked the people in the clouds over mud in the ground?
It's like a normally docile sheepdog suddenly going berserk, not biting the wolf, but instead turning around and biting its own kind!
"Li Xuansui, have you gone mad?"
Yuwen Zhiji's voice was filled with offended anger: "Even when beating a dog, you have to consider its owner. What exactly do you mean by that?"
Li Mi slowly raised his head, looking directly into Yuwen Zhiji's fiery eyes.
"Does Li Mi need to ask you for permission to discipline a servant who doesn't know the rules?"
"So what? You, Yuwen Zhiji, can lay a hand on my soldiers, but I can't even hit one of your dogs?"
At this point, Li Mi took a step forward, his imposing manner not diminished at all, but rather intensified.
"Moreover, in terms of rank, I am the heir of the Duke of Pushan, inheriting the title of Pillar of the State; in terms of official position, I am a Thousand-Ox Guard of the Eastern Palace, a close minister of the Emperor."
"Who do you think you are, Yuwen Zhiji? You're just the second son of the family, relying on the protection of your father, General Yuwen."
This sentence was like a knife stabbing Yuwen Zhiji straight into his heart, and then it was twisted three times over!
In the circles of aristocratic families, the eldest son and the second son have vastly different statuses.
The crown prince is the future head of the family and the heir to power; while the second son, no matter how favored he is, is subordinate and an accessory as long as he has not separated from the family!
Li Mi's use of "Crown Prince" to address "Second Prince" directly tore away the veil of pretense, laying bare the insurmountable chasm between the two.
"You—! How dare you, you brat!"
Yuwen Zhiji was so angry that his face turned purple, his chest heaved violently, and his knuckles turned white as he gripped the horsewhip. He wished he could rush down and give Li Mi a good lash.
The servant who had been dragged off his horse, seeing his master humiliated, thought he had found someone to back him up. He scrambled to Yuwen Zhiji's horse, sobbing and crying:
"Second Young Master! Look at this man... he clearly doesn't respect the Yuwen family! He's..."
"Useless trash! Shut up!"
Yuwen Zhiji was looking for a place to vent his anger when he saw this stupid servant making trouble. He kicked the servant hard in the chest, sending him sprawling.
"You disgraceful thing! Get out of here!"
Just as the situation was about to spiral out of control, a heavy thud of hooves sounded.
Da, da, da.
Yang Xuangan spurred his horse forward half a step, standing alongside Yuwen Zhiji.
He didn't shout insults, but the heavy sense of oppression was more unsettling than any shouting.
"Profound," Yang Xuangan spoke, his voice deep and resonant, "We're all in the same circle, we'll run into each other all the time."
"We respect you as the son of Pushan Gong, a talented young man with real skills and learning. We often invite you to drink and have fun together, and we treat you as a brother."
He leaned down slightly, looking down at Li Mi with a hint of incomprehension in his eyes, but more so with an arrogance and scrutiny stemming from his class.
"Are you trying to tell me that you're willing to lose face for your own brothers for the sake of these lowly soldiers who aren't even worthy of carrying our shoes?"
"Or are you saying you're going to turn against all the noble families in Daxing City?"
This is a form of invisible kidnapping.
Yang Xuangan was reminding Li Mi: Where are your roots? Who are your allies? Who will support your future?
Do you want to stand on the clouds and drink with us, or do you want to jump into the mud and join these soldiers in their corruption?
Li Mi fell silent.
He felt the gazes on him from behind.
The soldiers, the scarred-faced captain, the old soldier sharpening his knife... they were all watching him.
There was fear, expectation, and gratitude in those eyes, but also a hint of... doubt.
That's an instinctive distrust stemming from years of being trampled on by the powerful and wealthy.
"My own brother?!"
Li Mi sneered, his gaze sweeping over the two arrogant young noblemen before finally settling on the group of soldiers who were silent as cicadas in winter, yet whose eyes burned with fire.
Yang Yan's words were still echoing in his ears.
"You are the ones on our side."
"As for those peasants... they probably only deserve to make room for you."
An unprecedented feeling of nausea welled up inside me.
He reads the classics, practices martial arts, and boasts of his strategic brilliance. Is it all just to fawn over this group of spoiled brats and maintain his so-called "respectability"?
Do not!
The Li family's prestige wasn't built on drinking!
If my great-grandfather Li Bi, who earned his position as a pillar of the state on the battlefield with countless lives, were to see his descendants so incompetent, he would probably jump out of his coffin in anger!
He wanted to tell everyone, including the Prince of Changning who stood by indifferently—the army was the root of the Li clan of Longxi! He, Li Mi, was not the kind of person who was just a pretty face who could only act!
He raised his head, his gaze slowly sweeping over Yang Xuangan's arrogant face, over Yuwen Zhiji's distorted face, and finally landing on the group of silent guards behind him.
The scarred-faced captain, with bulging veins on his neck and fingernails almost digging into his flesh, still stubbornly refused to move.
Because he knew that if he made a move, his home would be gone.
Why did Li Mi study the classics and learn to defeat ten thousand men?
Was it to boast and chat with these spoiled brats in the tavern? Was it to stage a series of "tiger cubs from a military family" on that hypocritical stage?
Do not!
He wasn't just trying to stand up for himself; the Li family had long been excluded from the core power circle of the Guanlong Group. But he longed to use his personal talents to wash away the label of "nominal but not real" from his family and gain true respect and power in the world.
Li Mi believed that his great-grandfather, Li Bi, could also become one of the "Eight Pillars of State" and enter the top tier of the Guanzhong military group because of his outstanding military achievements.
He wanted to tell everyone, including the Prince of Changning who stood by and watched coldly—the army was the root of the Li family of Longxi!
"Yang Xuangan, Yuwen Zhiji."
Li Mi's voice wasn't loud, and there was no hysterical roar, but it carried a metallic clang that clearly pierced the wind and spread throughout the desolate open space.
"You are wrong."
"They are not the soldiers you're talking about."
Li Mi stretched out his hand, pointing to the group of ragged, dusty men behind him, his finger firm without trembling.
"They are the imperial guards of the Sui Dynasty!"
"They were our comrades-in-arms, wielding swords they bought themselves and wearing cloth clothes sewn at home, standing guard on the frontier against the Turkic wolf cavalry!"
"If it weren't for the bloodshed and desperate struggles of these peasants you look down upon, would you be able to indulge in cockfighting and dog racing in Chang'an? Could you be living a life of debauchery in Pingkang Ward?!"
Yang Xuangan's expression finally changed.
Li Mi tore away that mask of nonchalant arrogance that belonged to a noble young master.
However, at this moment he slowly loosened his grip on the knife and gently clapped his hands.
"Slap, slap, slap."
The applause sounded particularly jarring in the deathly silent training ground.
"Well done, Li Xuansui, what a fine speech you've given on 'comrades' and 'backbone.' You really think you're someone important?"