Chapter 119: His True Name Is Li Mi!

"Have the rebels been defeated?"

Upon hearing Erwa's words, the villagers looked at one another in curiosity. The rebels defeated? How could that be? Had it not been said that the rebel army numbered over a hundred thousand, armed with fine weapons and armor, and equipped with massive siege engines, while Jinyang had barely a garrison to defend it?

"Erwa, what exactly is going on?" asked a woman, looking at him intently.

Erwa realized that these fellow villagers would not let him pass until he gave them a clear answer. Suppressing his excitement—he had intended to head to the Zhao estate—he spoke.

"According to the news brought to Wanchiu by the officials, it was the Fenwu Lieutenant! The young man from the Fu family who left our village!" Pride colored Erwa's tone as he spoke.

"What about him?"

"Tell us quickly!"

Seeing the look of adoration on Erwa's face, the villagers grew impatient and urged him on.

"What else could it be? He cut right through the rebel lines!" The pride in Erwa's smile was impossible to hide.

"Cut through them?"

"What does that mean?" The villagers exchanged confused glances.

"According to reports from Luoyang, Fu Zihou, the Fenwu Lieutenant of Jinyang, took advantage of the rebels dividing their forces. He led his men out of the city under the cover of night. In the first battle at the foot of the mountains, he annihilated three thousand elite rebel ambushers! In the second, he broke the rebel forward camp, crushing a ten-thousand-man garrison and capturing the rebel general, Yang Boyue! In the final battle, he led the people of Jinyang's East City across the river and defeated another ten thousand rebels outside the West City. Three battles, three victories! I heard that when the Emperor learned of this in court, he rose from his throne in great excitement before all the civil and military officials..."

Behind a massive boulder, Liu Zhiyuan listened to the news. He held a small stick and traced a few horizontal lines into the stone. A faint smile touched his lips.

Looking at the faint markings on the rock, he felt a surge of pride that mirrored the voices drifting over from the village.

"Three battles, three victories," he whispered to himself, his voice barely audible.

Sitting on the boulder, he gazed into the distance toward the river by the budding trees on the outskirts of the village, remembering the young man who used to stay by his side. In the blink of an eye, that boy had achieved such remarkable feats. Back then, in the village, the youth had truly been like an unpolished, rare gem, unseen by the rest of the world.

As he pondered, Liu Zhiyuan thought of the wooden slips he had failed to give away during their last farewell. He looked down at the bamboo slips beside him, his expression filled with loneliness, guilt, and regret.

"There will always be another chance." Though his heart was heavy, he believed with absolute certainty that these slips would one day reach the young man's hands.

He rose slowly and walked around the boulder toward his home.

Just a few steps away, in a spot where he could have seen them had he only turned his head, the villagers were staring at Erwa in utter disbelief.

"My word, that little Fu boy! How did he become so capable?"

"Indeed! How could we not tell back then? Why, I used to see him in the village all the time!"

"You just saw him? I once spoke to him in the fields; he was such a sensible child! I always felt..."

Recovering from the shock of the news from Luoyang, the villagers began to chatter incessantly. Everyone who had even the slightest connection to Fu Zihou—even those who had merely met him—bragged about it. Some even claimed they had known all along that he was no ordinary person, declaring that his face had the look of a future general.

At the Zhao estate, while the rest of the village buzzed with the news, the Zhao family fell into a heavy, contemplative silence. Zhao Han and Zhao Gu, the two brothers, looked dazed, and even the fourth son, Zhao Yong, was no better.

He glanced secretly at his elder brother, Zhao Zi. At this moment, Zhao Yong realized how wise his brother had been to show kindness to the Fu family, and how immense the value of that investment was now.

"Brother, no wonder you said the Fu family would have a future! If only we had known back then, I would have dragged that boy to our house to be our son-in-law, no matter the cost!" The more time passed, the more Zhao Yong regretted it. After the incident with Lu Mingyue in Wanchiu, he had sensed the young man's potential, but he had still underestimated him.

Judging by the news from Jinyang, regardless of how chaotic the world became, the young man was destined to become a general in the Sui Dynasty, perhaps even rising to the rank of Grand General if the opportunity arose.

A Grand General as a son-in-law! The prestige alone would be monumental for the Zhao family, not to mention the long-term influence on their descendants.

"I didn't expect it either..." Zhao Zi replied softly. He was just as shocked as his brother and nephews. He had known the boy would eventually make a name for himself, but he never imagined that in such a short time, he would first earn merit in Qinghe County, be enfeoffed as a Fenwu Lieutenant, and now achieve such a great victory.

Having been noticed by Prefect Zhao Tuo and the Xie clan, Zhao Zi knew better than anyone that the merit earned in Jinyang far surpassed that of Qinghe. It wasn't just about the nature of the rebels; it was the strategic importance of Jinyang itself.

"Han'er!" Zhao Zi turned to his eldest son, but stopped when he saw his wife approaching with their nieces and daughter.

Zhao Yong noticed his sister-in-law leading the three girls into the hall and immediately realized she must have heard the news as well. He felt a surge of irritation. That night, when his brother had proposed the idea, these three girls had resisted fiercely, fearing they might be married off to the Fu family. And yet, here they were now...

"I heard that the young man from the Fu family, who was close to Han'er, has achieved great merit in Jinyang!" Lady Liang, Zhao Han's mother, nodded to Zhao Yong and looked at her husband.

"I intend to send Han'er to Jinyang," Zhao Zi said, not hiding his plans. The young man was growing too fast. Given the relationship between his son and Fu Zihou, combined with his own past kindnesses, he knew that sending his son to join him would be beneficial for both his son and the family.

"That is good! But could Han'er take one of the girls—Jinxuan, Fangyun, or Hui'er—with him?" Lady Liang suggested.

"Back then, he was willing to trade his beloved sword to ensure the safety of his teacher. Based on my understanding of him, even if his wife were flawed, he would never abandon her," Zhao Zi said, coldly dousing the hopes of the girls.

In the hall, the three girls lowered their heads in shame. They truly regretted not agreeing back then.

"With Han'er there, Fu Zihou will need someone to look after his daily needs. Let one of them go as a concubine!" Lady Liang insisted.

A concubine. Everyone present knew that a concubine without favor was no better than a servant. Yet, seeing his wife's persistence, Zhao Han and Zhao Gu knew she must have a reason.

"No! Only Han'er shall go. Even if you have intentions, they must be agreed to by Fu Zihou himself!" Zhao Zi refused. He knew that if he forced the issue, it would look like a scheme, which would only create a rift between the Zhao family and the young man. "This is final!"

As Lady Liang looked on in disappointment, a servant rushed in to report that the chief official from Wanchiu was at the gate, claiming he had a dozen officers here to make an arrest.

"Arrest someone?" Zhao Zi and Zhao Yong exchanged surprised looks and ordered the official to be brought in.

After Lady Liang and the girls departed, the official entered. After some polite pleasantries, he explained his mission. It turned out that after hearing Fu Zihou had once studied under a teacher in this village, several powerful families had come to visit. They had found the man, one Liu Zhiyuan, and despite offering heavy bribes and the promise of a house in the city, he refused to take their children as students.

Angered, the nobles had noticed a poem in his home lamenting his lack of success and frustration at being unable to achieve great things. Suspecting he was no ordinary man, they had secretly sketched his portrait and investigated him, only to discover that "Liu Zhiyuan" was not his real name.

"Not his real name?" Zhao Yong was astonished. Zhao Zi was equally stunned, realizing that Fu Zihou had been tutored by this man.

"Who is he?" Zhao Zi asked.

The official whispered the true name: "Li Mi!"

The name struck them like a thunderbolt. Zhao Zi and Zhao Yong gasped, their breaths hitching. Li Mi had been the primary strategist for Yang Xuangan’s rebellion. When the rebellion failed, Li Mi had escaped. They had never imagined that the man living in their village, the teacher of Fu Zihou, was the notorious rebel.

"A rebel, hiding in our village!" Zhao Zi’s face turned dark with indignation. "Rest assured, he shall not escape!"

After the official left to prepare for the arrest, Zhao Zi turned to his son. "Han'er, go with your fourth uncle to make the arrest!"

As they stepped out, Zhao Zi leaned toward Zhao Yong and whispered something. Zhao Yong’s expression shifted, and he nodded.

However, before the official had taken more than a few steps, Zhao Yong suddenly lunged, driving a sword into the man’s stomach.

"You..." The official collapsed, blood pooling on the ground.

"Tell Li Mi to leave the village immediately! Send men to Wanchiu to tell the Prefect and the Xie family that Li Mi killed the official and fled!" Zhao Zi commanded coldly. Having decided to send his son to find Fu Zihou, he would not allow Li Mi to be captured, for as long as Li Mi remained at large, no one would dare target Fu Zihou for his associations.