Chang'an, Daxing Palace.
Upon receiving news of the Li Clan's surrender, Yang Guang burst into laughter, his voice filled with delight and mockery.
"Hahahaha..."
"Li Yuan, you rebel, you treasonous scoundrel!"
"Didn't you proclaim yourself master of the realm? Didn't you want to rebel against me?!"
"To think this day would come for you too!"
"Hahaha... you thought you could seize my empire? What a joke!"
Yang Guang stood in the Imperial Garden, his expression excited, almost crazed, laughing so hard that tears nearly spilled from his eyes.
Ever since the Li Clan had rebelled, he had scarcely enjoyed a single good night's sleep.
Almost every confrontation with the Li Clan had ended in defeat.
Gradually, he seemed to have come to regard the Li Clan as the greatest opponent of his life.
Even after Ming's Western Expedition had forced him to submit, the Li Clan, which had fled to Youzhou, had remained a thorn in his heart.
Only now, upon hearing that the Li Clan had finally submitted to Ming as well, did he breathe a great sigh of relief and finally regain his sense of balance.
It was not that he, Yang Guang, was incompetent. Li Yuan had simply enjoyed better fortune, with timing, terrain, and popular support all in his favor, along with aid from both the righteous and demonic factions of Jianghu. That was why he had repeatedly lost to Li Yuan.
Now that Ming had invaded and suppressed both the righteous and demonic factions of Great Sui's Jianghu, the Li Clan's strength had proved to be nothing special.
What did it matter how powerful they were?
In the end, hadn't they submitted to someone else, just as he had?
Yet as Yang Guang laughed, his voice gradually grew desolate, and his expression slowly became forlorn.