Bai Yujing was a term Yun Ye had extracted from Li Bai’s poetry. It was said to be another name for the moon. He really liked the ethereal quality in this poem and had specifically memorized it. On the imperial court, to calm the rage in his chest, he had casually fabricated this immortal realm. The only people who knew about it were those in the court. Who would have thought that in this remote Shuofang, there would also be someone who knew about Bai Yujing?

How could the Great Tang’s court sessions be like a sieve, full of holes everywhere? After mentally criticizing several high court officials for their big mouths, Yun Ye suddenly developed a mischievous thought. He ordered Old Zhuang to find a carpenter—he planned to make a fifteen-column Luban Lock, then see the other party’s reaction. Then he’d consider whether to bring out a twenty-four-column one to open the eyes of those country bumpkins. He greatly anticipated the outcome of this story.

Being able to make a complete Luban Lock in this era already made one a rare talent, much less infiltrating a military camp to deliver this item into Yun Ye’s hands—this required a meticulous plan. One must know that Yun Ye didn’t leave the military camp. He wasn’t willing to have his head silently cut off by Turkish spies to be used as a wine cup. He’d always valued his little life highly.

After the Marquis explained the whole sequence of events, Old Zhuang was drenched in sweat. He didn’t dare imagine the scene if something had happened to the Marquis. Thinking back to how the thief had been only a step away from the Marquis, he regretfully kept pounding his own head.

Stopping Old Zhuang’s self-harm, Yun Ye consoled him with kind words. They were all old people from home—no need to blame himself over such a small matter. Yun Ye believed that if real danger had occurred, Old Zhuang would certainly have blocked it in front of him. That was enough. He himself was a nobody from the later world. Having now reached the point where someone would die for him, what more could he be dissatisfied with? How many of those bodyguards wearing sunglasses in the later world would die for their employers? They were only good at bullying the weak.

“Marquis, let’s report this matter to the Commander. This is his territory. I don’t believe we can’t find those thieves.”

“Old Zhuang, you haven’t understood one thing. These people seem to have no ill intent toward me. If they had, what you’d be seeing now would be my corpse. If we rashly report this, we’ll inevitably make enemies. There’s no need to make enemies with unfamiliar fellows—it’s not worth it. The thing they sent is very peculiar, not something ordinary petty thieves could accomplish. There’s deep wisdom in this. It seems they want to test my knowledge, so let’s compete then.”

The Luban Lock was a very peculiar toy. Legend had it that it appeared as early as the Spring and Autumn period, though this could unfortunately no longer be verified. Many people believed that modern architectural models drew their inspiration from the Luban Lock. In any case, it was a very useful thing. He hadn’t expected them to actually research and create a twelve-column lock—quite surprising. One must know they had no computers to create model calculations, and could only rely on their own brains to construct a three-dimensional model, deducing step by step. The process was extremely tedious, requiring very precise and accurate thinking.

The wooden strips were quickly prepared. After the carpenter finished polishing them, Yun Ye began constructing the fifteen-column Luban Lock. Old Zhuang stared wide-eyed watching Yun Ye build it strip by strip, unable to understand what learning could be contained in a few wooden strips.

Yun Ye let out a long breath. It took the time of one incense stick to complete the construction. His technique was somewhat rusty. He casually handed it to Old Zhuang. Old Zhuang habitually tried to pry it with his hands and discovered that after the loose wooden strips were assembled, it was extremely solid, like a single piece.

“I’ve also put a slip of paper inside the lock. Hang it on our courtyard gate, then come back. Don’t pay any more attention to it. Look again tomorrow morning. If someone has taken it, they’ll continue to contact me. I want to see what other methods they have. Haha, Shuofang City has finally become interesting to me.”

Old Zhuang opened the main gate and hung the Luban Lock on it. He looked left and right but didn’t see anyone, so he blew out the lantern hanging at the gate and closed the door to return.

They seemed to have forgotten about this matter. Upon returning to the room, Yun Ye sat around an iron stove with the guards brought from home, contentedly eating the mixed organs from the large pot. Yun Ye would occasionally cut a handful of bean sprouts from the wooden box beside him where pea shoots were growing, and blanch them in the pot to eat.

Chai Shao was now called Commander—he’d just been appointed Grand Commander of the Jinhe Campaign. The first order he issued was for the entire army to be on alert, so there was no more drinking. Cheng Chumo couldn’t come either. The garrison battalion where Yun Ye lived was better off—people could move about freely. The central army camp where Cheng Chumo stayed probably couldn’t even let a bird fly in now.

Yun Ye had come to gain credentials. He knew that everyone who participated in this campaign received huge benefits—those promoted were promoted, those who gained rank gained rank, those who got rich got rich. The first two items had nothing to do with Yun Ye. Li Er had made it very clear that he wouldn’t consider promoting Yun Ye to Duke within twenty years. This message was conveyed by Zhangsun, causing Yun Ye to feel hurt in the palace for quite a while. It made Li Chengqian constantly console him, saying Yun Ye should wait until he inherited the throne—the first thing he’d do would be to promote Yun Ye’s rank to Duke, and he swore oaths and made vows.

As soon as Yun Ye left the palace gates, he laughed so hard he couldn’t straighten his back. The current Marquis rank was actually very good—not too high, not too low. In fact, it suited Yun Ye best. The court was also quiet now. No more censors saying the court treated the Yun family too generously and such nonsense. With Li Er’s words as a foundation, that was enough. He said he wouldn’t easily increase the Yun family’s rank, which correspondingly meant he also wouldn’t easily decrease the Yun family’s rank. Among the entire court full of meritorious nobles, everyone was rushing about and toiling for the coming division of ranks. Only the Yun family was stable as Mount Tai.

As for Chengqian’s oaths and vows, you should treat them as some kind of foul-smelling gas—don’t pay attention to them. People have intestinal peristalsis functions. Sometimes one needs to release the pressure in one’s belly. After releasing it, the whole body feels relaxed.

Yun Ye didn’t doubt Li Chengqian’s sincerity when saying these words. At that moment, this was exactly what he thought. Unfortunately, an emperor couldn’t live in such a boring atmosphere as sincerity. He needed to weigh things. Sometimes the decisions made would run completely counter to his earliest intentions. As they say, it’s all because of interests.

He slept beautifully. Old Zhuang opened the courtyard gate. The Luban Lock hanging on the gate was gone. He reported this to the Marquis, only to discover his own Marquis was smiling like a little fox that had just stolen a fat chicken…

Shuofang City also had farmers. Though not many in number, they also cultivated tens of thousands of acres of fields outside the city. Here they could only plant one season of grain, and the yield wasn’t high, but due to the abundance of land and scarcity of people, each farming household was considered well-off.

Old Liu’s house had many visitors today. His little grandson was celebrating his first birthday. The neighbors came one after another to congratulate them. You bring a basket of eggs, I bring two pounds of rice wine, my family brings two pig’s trotters, his family brings a lamb leg. Farming families—they’ve always helped each other through the generations like this.

The sixteen-year-old daughter-in-law smiled sweetly, holding the child for the surrounding neighbors to admire. This was a woman’s chance to show off. A chubby boy over seven pounds—who wouldn’t extend a thumb in praise?

She kept glancing toward the inner room. The child’s grandfather, father, uncles, and some very elderly relatives had been hiding inside for a long time. Even naming a child wouldn’t take this long. They hadn’t even shown their faces, which made one think wild thoughts. Could it be they didn’t like this child? The young daughter-in-law’s eyes reddened, feeling very wronged.

She didn’t know that inside the room, several people were gathered around a wooden contraption studying it. After it had been passed through everyone’s hands, the oldest farmer coughed once, quieting the chaotic scene.

“This is the puzzle that young Marquis of the Great Tang has given us. This old man counted—there are fifteen columns in total. This old man is incompetent. From last night until now, I’ve found no clue. It’s up to you all now. This old man believes the answer we want to know is inside this lock. If we can’t open the lock, it’s all in vain.” After the old farmer finished speaking, he leaned wearily against the pillar behind him and closed his eyes. A night of hard thinking had consumed too much energy.

“Grandfather, this is just a broken piece of wood. Let grandson fetch an axe and chop it open. Why must you trouble yourself so?” He finished speaking and turned to go find an axe.

A resounding slap struck his face. A middle-aged farmer in his forties was furious, pointing at the young man and saying: “This is a competition of learning, not a contest of strength! How could my Gongshu lineage produce such a scoundrel like you? Our ancestor’s lifelong skills were renowned throughout the world. Everything he did had mechanisms beyond even ghosts and spirits. Though he left this lock seemingly as a joke, in reality it contains great mysteries. Those with great wisdom in our clan expended enormous effort to expand this lock from six columns to twelve columns. That young Marquis solved our lock in just two hours, and on that basis created a fifteen-column lock. His talent can truly be called brilliant and unparalleled in this world. We should only show respect. How can we deceive ourselves by smashing it open with an axe? If you do that, will you lose all face for our entire Gongshu clan?”

The young daughter-in-law heard her father-in-law scolding her husband and quickly ran in. Seeing a large red mark on her husband’s face and blood flowing from his nose, she hurriedly placed the child on the table in the middle and went to find a wet cloth to wipe his face.

When Yun Ye made the Luban Lock, he’d been crafty and didn’t follow the conventional method. Instead, he set all the mechanisms on a single wooden strip. As long as you pulled out this one strip, the Luban Lock would naturally fall apart. The old farmer, following the conventional solution method and wanting to find the correct sequence, couldn’t possibly find it. It was like the hairpin on someone’s head—as long as you pulled out the hairpin, the hair would fall down. Enthusiasts in the later world researched countless methods. This was a relatively classic method, best used to fool people.

The young daughter-in-law sobbed while wiping her husband’s nosebleed. Everyone’s attention was attracted, and no one noticed that the one-year-old little fellow was lying on the table, drooling while biting that Luban Lock. When the old farmer discovered this, he quickly took it back and held it in his hand to wipe off the child’s drool on the lock. With just a light wipe, he discovered the Luban Lock in his palm had quietly scattered into a small pile of wooden strips.

After everyone’s initial shock, they burst into laughter. The old farmer laughed the hardest, the wrinkles on his face spreading like chrysanthemum petals as he hugged and kissed his great-grandson again and again.