Yun Ye desperately wanted to end his conversation with Zhangsun, but unfortunately, Zhangsun was in high spirits. Facing the largest animal remains in history, she probably already considered this to be her incarnation. She wanted to understand this prehistoric behemoth just as people need to understand themselves.
Her movements became gentle as she caressed the skull, carefully pulling out the hairpin from her head to pick away the mud from the skull’s teeth. Having something wedged between the teeth must feel very uncomfortable—she seemed to sense this and unconsciously moved her own mouth.
Some things are symbolic, like dragons. Without a real dragon, having a skeleton was enough to make Zhangsun proud for a long time.
“Do you think this giant dragon starved to death, or died in battle?”
“What difference does it make, Your Majesty? It’s already dead anyway.” As soon as these words left his mouth, Yun Ye knew he’d made a mistake. Sure enough, Zhangsun’s eyebrows stood up, and even Li Tai was glaring at him from the side, using his mother’s authority to intimidate.
“Fine, fine. This dragon died in battle. Look here at its skull—there are several huge gaps. Obviously, these were injuries caused by another dragon. Look carefully—if you place teeth in these gaps, they fit perfectly. This proves it experienced an extremely fierce battle. Two giant beasts fighting on the plains, constantly toppling trees as thick as two men could embrace. Their roars shook the wilderness for miles around. All other beasts trembled with fear, poking their heads out from the grass to carefully watch which of their kings would prevail. When this giant dragon, covered in blood, stood on a cliff and roared loudly in all directions to announce its victory, that scene must have been beautiful and magnificent.”
To avoid suffering, Yun Ye had no choice but to pretend he hadn’t seen the traces of later healing on the wounds.
Mother and son nodded with satisfaction. It seemed that anything less wouldn’t display the imperial majesty. Li Tai’s current appearance was quite contemptible, somewhat eunuch-like, leaning against Zhangsun like a small dog. Suddenly his eyes lit up and he said to his mother, “Mother Empress, Marquis Yun’s words are too plain. Such an earth-shattering battle was described in just a few sentences. How can that express the grandeur of the scene? Your son has decided to find someone of great talent to reorganize what Marquis Yun described and carve it on a stone monument to be erected beside this dragon skeleton, so that people will understand how brave and fierce this dragon was in battle.”
Zhangsun was overjoyed upon hearing this and indulgently stroked Li Tai’s head. Li Tai deliberately moved closer to make it more convenient for his mother to stroke him, making Yun Ye feel nauseous.
“Such a powerful existence shouldn’t have any natural enemies. Yun Ye, what was the other possibility your master mentioned?”
“A meteor, a visitor from beyond the heavens. My master said this world is not peaceful. Every tens of thousands of years, huge rocks fly from outer space and strike the earth. Due to their high velocity, each impact changes our world. The dust from the impact fills the entire sky, blocking out the sun. Plants on the earth die, followed by herbivorous animals, and finally these tyrannosaurs. The earth becomes covered in thick ice. According to my master, this period is called the Ice Age. All things enter dormancy until the dust in the sky disperses on its own and the sun reappears. Only then will new life emerge on earth.”
“What a novel idea! Yun Ye, there is meteorite iron that fell from the nine heavens in the imperial palace. Yuan Tiangang says it’s a gift from Heaven to Great Tang, but you say it’s the source of disaster. Why is that? One of your two explanations must be wrong, or are both wrong?”
The Li family people had always been annoying, especially when talking to them—they always had to work out right and wrong for everything. These subjects were all still in the exploratory stage in later generations, so how could he give a definitive answer? Yun Ye grumbled in his heart but couldn’t say it aloud.
“Your Majesty, please just listen to what I said as a story. Celestial Master Yuan understands yin and yang and knows the eight trigrams. How could this humble subject comment on his reputation for infallible predictions? What he says must be true. You must not doubt it.”
Elevate Old Yuan a bit—after all, the Li family was already promoting him. As a Daoist master, how could he not have some miraculous stories? If he accidentally stripped away Yuan’s divine veneer, the first to trouble Yun Ye would definitely be Li Er. If Li Er got angry and made Yun Ye replace Yuan Tiangang as a charlatan, just thinking about how Yuan Tiangang’s door was currently crowded with carriages and horses made Yun Ye feel he’d commit suicide after one day of that life.
“You’re just a slippery character, seeking benefits everywhere and fearing trouble everywhere. If you put more thought into being an official, the common people would be blessed.”
In front of Zhangsun, continuing to pretend would not only be unfair to himself but also to Zhangsun’s protection of the Yun family in many ways.
“Your Majesty, this humble subject is just unambitious. I really have no interest in being an official. Being a peaceful marquis for life would be thanking heaven and earth. How dare I hope for anything else? This humble subject will just run the academy well, have a few more children, and safely pass down the Yun family’s lineage—that’s enough. Let the lords handle the imperial court. This humble subject won’t get involved.”
“That’s true. You have strange ideas others can’t think of and can solve problems. But every time you solve something, you change some of the court’s practices. Now Fang Xuanling and the others are having headaches about how to deal with the aftermath. I heard Xinghua Ward is ruined. Public sentiment is restless, and they don’t know how to pacify the people. They’re probably having a headache right now.”
“It’s nothing more than public opinion. Public opinion can be changed by human will. You just need to find a new sensational event, and naturally no one will think about the Dou family anymore. If you choose your event well, even dogs won’t go to Xinghua Ward anymore. Then you can find this humble subject and have me take responsibility for rebuilding Xinghua Ward. The imperial family won’t have to spend a single coin and will get a complete Xinghua Ward. Then sell the houses—you might make a huge profit. What do you think?”
The day after Xinghua Ward burned down, Old He rushed over to find Yun Ye—first out of concern that something had happened to Yun Ye, and second for the matter of rebuilding Xinghua Ward. Yun Ye had been worrying about not having an entry point when Wei Zheng came to extort him. Fifteen hundred strings of cash cleared out all the holdouts. Old He privately gave those families some more money and quietly bought up the land.
Yun Ye bribed Li Er with a chest of gold, and the reconstruction rights for all of Xinghua Ward fell into Yun Ye’s hands. The Ministry of Works was celebrating having shed a huge burden. Out of wariness toward Yun Ye, they also forcibly dumped the waterways around Xinghua Ward on him. If Yun Ye wanted the reconstruction rights for Xinghua Ward, he had to dredge the waterways once. The waterways, which hadn’t been cleared for many years, were full of silt, and even large ships couldn’t enter.
He Shao didn’t know why Yun Ye would happily agree and even pretended to be forthright in taking on the entire river. His only requirement was to build ten docks so that building materials could be easily transported into the city. The Ministry of Works officials studied this for a whole night, and their final verdict was that Yun Ye was atoning for his sins, sacrificing his wealth for the sake of his reputation and his life.
If they didn’t thoroughly fleece the Yun family at this time, when would they? They approved the plan overnight, even specifying housing standards. They could only be higher than the Ministry of Works’ designated standards, not lower.
Then they all went to celebrate at a large tavern in the East Market, prepared to watch Yun Ye’s miserable situation with their hands tucked in their sleeves.
Zhangsun’s face turned somewhat pale. She couldn’t care about the tyrannosaur anymore. Based solely on her feminine intuition, she knew the Ministry of Works was finished. This time they probably couldn’t even find an excuse to save face.
She urged Yun Ye to return to the Yun residence and carefully read through the Ministry of Works’ document several times. Her eyes were almost spinning in circles, but she still couldn’t figure out how Yun Ye would profit from this. Yet that intuition grew stronger and stronger—it seemed Yun Ye was going to make a fortune again this time.
After pondering for a long time, she picked up her brush and added another clause to the document. This vile behavior made even Li Tai somewhat embarrassed—he didn’t dare look Yun Ye in the eye.
By rights, this was a contract between the Yun family and the Ministry of Works. How could others randomly modify it? But this “other person” definitely did not include Zhangsun.
Even if the Yun family sued in the Court of Judicial Review, the final contract would probably have more clauses added, definitely not fewer. This loss was certain.
“Sigh, most of the palace buildings are dilapidated and run-down, especially the Taiji Palace—damp and cold. Don’t you often tell me this is bad for my illness and also for His Majesty’s rheumatism? Why not take this opportunity to build another palace as a new place for the ruler and ministers to conduct audiences? What do you think?” Zhangsun finally put down her brush and asked Yun Ye.
“Your Majesty is truly sagaciously perceptive. This humble subject truly has nothing to say. An audience hall, which is also our Great Tang’s highest power institution—it must be magnificent, grand, beautiful beyond compare. The materials cannot have the slightest flaw, the technique must be absolutely foolproof, the style cannot be casually assembled, and most importantly, even the minutest details need to be meticulously carved. Carved beams and painted rafters are the minimum requirement. The foundation must be raised at least nine zhang high, and nine palace gates are the proper standard for the Son of Heaven. Your Majesty, you can order this humble subject drawn and quartered by five horses right now.”
Perhaps Zhangsun also felt she’d gone too far. After thinking, she said, “Over these years, this Empress has also saved up some wealth in the palace—about thirty thousand strings of cash. I can allocate it to you specifically for building the palace. The personnel from the Directorate of Construction are also at your disposal. Will that work?”
“Time, Your Majesty. You don’t have a time requirement, do you?”
“Three years. Only three years. That’s this Empress’s maximum extension.”
Looking at three pale fingers waving before his eyes, Yun Ye could only agree with a bitter expression.
“Your Majesty, don’t you need to discuss this matter with His Majesty?”
“His Majesty is the master of all under heaven and has endless important matters to attend to every day. Building a house is such a small matter—as mistress of the inner palace, this Empress doesn’t need to trouble His Majesty.” She spoke with great authority. This couple truly was a perfect match.
Zhangsun’s carriage procession rumbled back toward Chang’an.
After Zhangsun left, Yun Ye said to Old Zhuang, who was wrapped entirely in white gauze, “Send someone to tell Old He not to scrape together money everywhere anymore. The imperial family plans to provide the first payment. Keep our money for other things. The grassland business can’t stop, especially with Na Rimu. If we cut off our aid, they’ll starve to death.”