Li’er and Yun Ye—one relishing the flattery he was hearing with great satisfaction, the other harboring ulterior motives while preparing to make demands of the Emperor at any moment—never expected that at this critical juncture, someone blind to the situation would come to disrupt things. How could Li’er and Yun Ye not despise this? How could they not share a common enemy?
This fly in the ointment, this piece of filth in the rice—who else could it be but Wei Zheng? Yesterday’s turmoil had shocked the entire realm. Civil and military officials lived in constant fear. The citizens of Chang’an had finally been pacified, but the Dou family estate had been reduced to complete ruins. Dou Huaien had been beaten to death by the common people, Dou Huaiyi had seen the situation turning dire and hanged himself, and the Dou family head had died of fright. Not to mention the countless injured and dead maids and servants. In just two hours, there had been thirty-one cases of rape, seventeen murders, and countless robberies. Not only had the Dou family suffered disaster, but three neighboring households had also been looted, with their mistresses subjected to molestation. If the Imperial Guards hadn’t mobilized in time, the riot had been trending toward spreading throughout the entire city. The ugliness of human nature had been fully exposed in the chaos.
As an Investigating Censor, how could Wei Zheng not be enraged? The order that the Tang officials had carefully maintained had been completely destroyed in a single day, and an extremely vile precedent had been set for future generations—namely, that if there were any injustices, people could gather in mobs and create an uproar.
Fang Xuanling kept his mouth shut about this matter. Du Ruhui avoided discussing it. The various noble families were silent as cicadas in winter, tightly closing their doors, declining visitors, and refusing to go out. Yuchi Gong loudly cheered and applauded, saying the Dou family’s fate was truly their own doing. Wei Zheng wasn’t foolish enough to touch the Emperor’s reverse scale, but what wrong had those neighbors who suffered collateral damage committed? The mistress of a neighboring household who had been molested had already attempted suicide twice. Although the neighbor was merely a minor Palace Attendant, he still held official status and lived by his ancestral estate. This time, half of his family’s house had been burned down in the fire. Despite suffering heavy losses, he had nowhere to appeal for help. The entire family could only weep together in the ruins.
Wei Zheng, inspecting the scene, was naturally furious and filled with righteous indignation. He decided to go to the Court of Judicial Review to personally denounce the chief culprit Yun Ye, to vent the anger in his chest and incidentally see if he could obtain compensation from Yun Ye to comfort those innocent disaster victims.
Who would have expected that Yun Ye, while in prison, still showed no remorse and was even using his silver tongue to flatter and deceive the Emperor? This was unbearable—absolutely unbearable!
“Your Majesty has deigned to set foot with your priceless imperial body in the filthy place of a prison. I thought you had come to reprimand a treacherous flatterer, but instead Your Majesty and this minister are chatting and laughing together, treating human lives as nothing, calling this treacherous minister who treats life as cheap grass your confidant. I deeply feel Your Majesty is unworthy of this.”
The dark-complexioned Wei Zheng stiffened his neck and raised his sword-like fingers to denounce Yun Ye as a treacherous minister. How could Li’er, who had just been getting along so well with Yun Ye, bear this? He shouted loudly: “Wei Zheng, you’re being outrageous! What’s wrong with me sharing some jokes with my minister?”
“If Your Majesty were casually chatting and laughing with Yun Ye on an ordinary day, I naturally wouldn’t meddle. But right now, pitiful cries echo through Xinghua Ward. Does Your Majesty not care at all about the suffering of the common people and officials?”
So this was what Wei Zheng was like when facing the Emperor—truly forceful. I’d heard he never cared about the Emperor’s dignity, that he would make a mountain out of a molehill whenever he found an opportunity, occasionally using the Emperor to polish his own reputation. Now it seemed he had indeed done just that.
Li’er’s hands kept opening and closing. Without even thinking, the great Emperor His Majesty must be extremely angry right now. Yun Ye looked at his own underwear, considering whether to follow Zhangsun’s example and change into court robes to congratulate the Emperor on having such an aggravating good minister.
Having silenced the Emperor, the spearhead naturally turned toward Yun Ye. Constantly swatting flies on a tiger’s head would cause problems.
“Five hundred strings of cash!” Yun Ye spread his palm and made a gesture for five. He absolutely wouldn’t engage in a verbal battle with Wei Zheng, who made his living by scolding people. Trading barbs with him would result in being verbally shredded. Smart people didn’t do that. No matter how angry Wei Zheng was, all he wanted was to provide some compensation for the disaster victims. Yun Ye would absolutely not seek abuse for matters that could be settled with money. Hadn’t he seen how the Emperor was nearly driven to convulsions?
“Hmph! You are a criminal awaiting judgment—where do you get the right to speak? So young yet so vicious and merciless, inciting the people to serve your purposes. Your heart deserves execution!” The same grief and indignation, the same righteous severity—but where did “treacherous minister” go?
“One thousand strings!” The disappearance of “treacherous minister” was a good sign. Yun Ye decided to raise the price to see if “your heart deserves execution” would also disappear.
“To achieve your goals, you stop at nothing. During the riot, there were thirty-one rapes and seventeen deaths—this is the evil you created in two hours. What face do you have to meet the fathers and elders of Chang’an? What dignity do you have to stand in the court and consider yourself nobility?”
Like a turtle that bites and won’t let go. One thousand strings of cash was more than enough to build three complete estates. Wei Zheng even wanted to count the Dou family’s deaths and injuries against Yun Ye—this was too excessive. Li’er also seemed to have stopped being angry and stood with his hands behind his back, watching his two ministers converse with interest.
Wei Zheng couldn’t be provoked, and Yun Ye didn’t dare provoke him. Thinking about how this person before him had been praised by history books as an eternal mirror for emperors, and how once illuminated by this mirror, matters large and small would be recorded for posterity—Yun Ye didn’t want the history books to contain a record of “Wei Zheng vehemently denounced the wastrel Yun Ye.” He could only bear the pain and pay up. But paying compensation for the Dou family members left Yun Ye extremely depressed.
“One thousand five hundred strings of cash. Within an hour, He Shao will deliver the money to the Chang’an County Office. I request Your Excellency the Palace Attendant to supervise.”
Wei Zheng swept his sleeves, performed a respectful bow to Li’er, and said: “This humble minister takes his leave. Xinghua Ward has now become complete ruins. This minister needs to inspect the scene in person. I request Your Majesty’s permission.”
Li’er looked at Wei Zheng with surprise. He had originally thought that today Yun Ye would face verbal and written denunciation, but unexpectedly the matter was resolved with just a few words. He had originally thought he might need to use his imperial authority to suppress this matter, but now it seemed unnecessary.
“Minister Wei, go handle the Xinghua Ward matter. I still need to properly teach this boy a lesson.”
The matter seemed serious to Wei Zheng, but in Li’er’s eyes, it wasn’t a big deal. What concerned him was that Yun Ye could incite popular sentiment with just a few words—this skill worried him somewhat. But then thinking about how Yun Ye was extensively teaching these techniques at the academy, he became indifferent. Though the skill was miraculous, once many people knew it, it would lose that miraculous effect.
Li’er’s gaze was strange. Needless to say, if Yun Ye wanted to walk out of the prison cell without coughing up blood, it wouldn’t happen. The gold Tian Xiangzi had given him was somewhat hot to handle. If someone used this to impeach Yun Ye in the future, even with a thousand mouths he couldn’t explain it clearly. After all, Tian Xiangzi was a wanted criminal of the Great Tang. Now, by giving it to Li’er, this pit was filled. Even if someone investigated in the future, would they have the ability to get the gold back from Li’er’s hands as evidence?
“Your Majesty, while on the grasslands, this humble minister inexplicably received a chest of gold from someone called Tian Xiangzi. This minister dares not act on his own authority and requests Your Majesty’s judgment.”
“Tian Xiangzi? According to ancient records, he was a disciple of Mo Di and later became the Master of the Mohist school. Has he lived this long?” Li’er’s desire for gold wasn’t very strong. What interested him was that someone could live a thousand years—this aroused his tremendous curiosity.
“Your Majesty, don’t believe rumors. Each generation of their lineage has a Master who is called Tian Xiangzi. The Tian Xiangzi this minister met—who knows which generation he is? He’s just an old decrepit fellow about to enter the grave, without half a shred of anything miraculous.”
Some things could be concealed, but Tian Xiangzi’s matter was absolutely not among them—the potential consequences were too great. Yun Ye recounted everything starting from encountering Fang Tou, continuing all the way to Tian Xiangzi voluntarily giving the gold by the Yellow River before concluding.
Li’er probably wasn’t accustomed to the cramped prison space and conversed with Yun Ye while walking outward. He also had no interest in discussing the Dou family with Yun Ye—having his uncle’s entire family destroyed wasn’t anything to be proud of. This matter would naturally be discussed with him by the Empress. Li’er could see that Yun Ye was much more amenable before the Empress than before himself. Perhaps having lost both parents at a young age, this boy felt more attachment to the Empress.
Thinking of this, he turned back to Yun Ye and said: “Boy, throughout all ages, only death is difficult. Perhaps only Heaven can exist eternally. Using a limited life to pursue immortality—I won’t do it. I have a realm to pass down, countless subjects to govern. A human life is but a brief hundred years, passing like a white colt through a gap. I must accomplish the most in my limited days. With countless threads to manage, like tangled hemp—those who throw the realm into chaos are the aristocratic families. My Li family is among the Guanzhong nobility. How could I not understand this principle? Don’t think me heartless. The truth is I’ve given all my emotion and love to this picturesque realm. For it, I cannot afford the slightest softness.”
Was the bright sunlight outside the Court of Judicial Review making Li’er somewhat confused? Yun Ye didn’t dare respond. An emperor’s vulnerability wouldn’t be easily exposed before others. Perhaps these were some sentiments, perhaps sincere words—Yun Ye didn’t believe that next time Li’er killed someone, he would show mercy to his enemies because of today’s sentiments.
The imperial carriage departed. Li’er had boarded while supporting himself on Yun Ye’s shoulder. At the empty entrance of the Court of Judicial Review, only Yun Ye remained in his underwear. As a good subject, Yun Ye prepared to return to his cell to continue serving his sentence. His Majesty Li’er hadn’t explicitly told him he could run around everywhere.
Dai Zhou’s face was as black as the bottom of a pot. He Shao’s backside seemed to have footprints—who knew if he had kicked himself there.
“Why are you coming back? Haven’t you harmed me enough? Just one charge of bending the law for personal gain is enough to send this old man to Lingnan for retirement. You’re the killer of officials, the mortal enemy of officials. From now on, this old man will absolutely never have any dealings with the Yun family again. This shortens one’s life!”
Dai Zhou cried out his grievances to heaven. He had done someone a favor, but who knew that in the blink of an eye he’d be sold out by them? If he hadn’t personally experienced it, Dai Zhou would never have believed that Yun Ye and Old He had done this unintentionally. If Old Dai weren’t around, this enemy of the Yun family would be firmly established.
“Old Dai, you’re being unreasonable here. Old He is an honest man. When he said those things, who could have imagined His Majesty would be standing outside the prison cell? These two sentences of nonsense between brothers have harmed you so terribly—I also feel terrible about it. How about this: don’t open your despotic shop anymore. Hand the capital over to Old He and let Old He help you earn money to support your large family. What do you think?”
Blocking someone’s path to wealth was like killing their parents. If Yun Ye didn’t find Old Dai a way to make money, he would certainly hold a grudge. Being hated by the head of the nation’s highest judicial institution would eventually lead to serious trouble.