The moment Yun Ye’s front foot reached Chang’an, Na Rimu’s letter arrived in Chang’an. The characters were elegant and beautiful—needless to say, this was Huan Niang’s handwriting. The letter said that because Yun Ye had left, Na Rimu had no appetite for food or drink every day. She gazed into the distance from high places daily, hoping for her beloved’s return. She had become terribly thin. Whether she could even survive this spring was questionable. Only Yun Ye could cure lovesickness, and she very much hoped Yun Ye could return to the grasslands again.

What nonsense! With Na Rimu’s thick nerves, she had just been tied to a board with someone about to chisel out her skull to make a drinking cup, and the next moment she knew to stab Yun Ye in the back demanding food. Would such a woman be unable to eat because of lovesickness?

Grandmother was very curious. She watched Yun Ye read the letter, seeing him shake his head and smile bitterly one moment, look astonished the next, and constantly beat his own head, seeming very regretful. The letter came from the military, but Grandmother knew it definitely had nothing to do with military affairs. The handwriting wasn’t from a man’s hand, and the envelope gave off a sweet fragrance of rouge. How could military correspondence have such strange things?

Grandmother guessed it might be a letter from a woman. She very much wanted to know if that woman was pregnant. As for who she was and what her status was, Grandmother didn’t care about that.

“Dear grandson, if that woman carries the Yun family’s bloodline, bring her back. You don’t need to think too much. Xinyue won’t be angry either. If anyone in the household dares gossip, Grandmother will skin them alive.”

The old grandmother was going nearly mad wanting a great-grandson. If the woman who wrote the letter truly carried the Yun family’s bloodline, aside from not being able to give her the status of principal wife, everything else could be discussed—as long as there was a great-grandson.

Yun Ye smiled bitterly and handed the letter to Grandmother, saying, “There is such a woman—she’s Turkish. Your grandson doesn’t have too many expectations of her as a person, but has great expectations for her tribe. The Yun family is different from other families. Our household only has your grandson as the sole male heir. Even wanting to branch out and multiply isn’t possible, so I can only try with this woman to see if there’s any possibility of securing a foothold for the Yun family on the grasslands.”

After reading the letter, the old grandmother slapped it on the table with a sharp sound, furious beyond measure: “All useless people! Not even pregnant yet they dare open their mouths asking for aid. They deserve to starve to death.”

There was no reasoning with this. Yun Ye hadn’t even touched Na Rimu—where would a pregnancy come from? If there were a pregnancy, Yun Ye would reconsider his relationship with Na Rimu. As for whether he would continue managing grassland affairs, that would purely depend on how much profit there was. There would be no additional emotional weight to increase the grasslands’ importance.

“Dear grandson, the barbarians are all heartless and disloyal. If this woman carried the Yun family’s seed, our support for her would be natural and proper. Now that she doesn’t, that’s another matter. Grandmother is unwilling to make wedding clothes for others.”

“Grandmother, this isn’t just about family business. Your grandson also wants to use her to help our Great Tang find a new way to control the desert grasslands. Now that our Great Tang has defeated the Turks, if we don’t have a suitable method to control such vast grasslands, sooner or later they’ll become a source of chaos again. The Yun family’s foundation on the grasslands is a small matter—finding the method is the big matter. If they lose control, your child will completely annihilate them, leaving no future troubles.”

“Dear grandson, go do your great deeds. Grandmother doesn’t quite understand military and state affairs. As long as you think it’s appropriate, go do it. No family rises peacefully and safely—Grandmother still knows this principle. Without giving, there is no receiving—Grandmother still understands this. Grandmother can live a few more years. I only want to see you safe before I close my eyes. If there are a few little great-grandchildren, even if Grandmother died right now, she’d be happy.”

“There will be great-grandchildren, I’m just afraid you won’t be able to hold them all. When that time comes, don’t find them bothersome.” Seeing Grandmother somewhat sentimental, Yun Ye stood behind her and gently massaged her neck. She always felt top-heavy lately—this was due to excessive worry during this period.

The marriage with Xinyue had already been put on Grandmother’s schedule. The last happy occasion was disrupted by Master Yushan, and Grandmother had held a grudge ever since, considering the old gentleman a harbinger of misfortune. These days she hadn’t been very cordial to the old gentleman.

A few days ago, the old gentleman came to discuss with the Yun family about exchanging Shu brocade for perfume. The matter was settled very smoothly. For Xinyue’s sake, the Yun family wouldn’t make things difficult for their in-laws—the most favorable price, the most convenient method. They could even take the perfume first and deliver the Shu brocade whenever.

The old grandmother beamed with smiles when looking at Xinyue, but turned angry the moment she looked at Master Yushan. This left Master Yushan utterly confused, not knowing where he’d offended this old lady. Xinyue blushed and lowered her head without speaking. The moment Aunt left the room, she laughed until she nearly couldn’t breathe.

Having received the Yun family’s favor, naturally some payment was required. Grandmother asked Master Li Gang to come request the wedding date. She sent many gifts, including a wild goose. Old Zhuang dragged his injured body and led people to guard the riverbank for two days before catching over ten with nets. They selected the most robust one and sent it over. Master Li Gang handled matters efficiently—going in the morning and returning in the morning. The round trip took less than an hour, and the matter was settled. He told the old grandmother that the second day of the fourth month was an auspicious day—that would be the date.

Yun Ye had witnessed Niu Jianhu’s wedding date request—a whole pile of verbose rituals that took two days to complete. He didn’t know why things were so efficient when it came to himself, with everything settled in just one hour.

He couldn’t help wondering if Old Li had gone to the Xin household, shoved the goose into Master Yushan’s hands, told him to prepare to marry off his granddaughter on the second day of the fourth month, then the two sat down for a cup of tea, discussed the arrangements, and parted with cupped hands. But where did the people carrying gifts from the Yun family go? Not one had returned—had they encountered mountain bandits?

He didn’t dare ask Li Gang about this. The old gentleman had been quite dissatisfied with Yun Ye lately, especially with his sporadic teaching at the academy—three days fishing, two days drying nets. Xu Jingzong had quickly entered his role, but Yun Ye, since returning to the capital, had only done useless things. Bringing down the Dou family was dumb luck. If not for the people’s riot, Yun Ye’s head would probably still be hanging on the city gate for public display.

“Young man, the academy requires stability. Don’t create thunderous disturbances every few days—this isn’t an environment for scholarship. Quiet and peaceful harmony is the way of learning. This time I hurriedly confirmed your wedding because I hope that after you establish a family, you can become more settled and not always get involved in court disputes. That’s just a muddy pond with no right or wrong. In the endless noise of quarreling, you’ll find time passes very quickly. When you want to turn back, the best time has quietly slipped away, and wanting to accomplish great things will be too late. Looking back on the past now, I deeply regret being obsessed with official court struggles in my early years, beating my chest in regret. I don’t hope you’ll repeat my mistakes.”

If the academy was currently Yun Ye’s lifeline, then for Li Gang, the academy was his everything. Having passed seventy years of age and finally finding the most suitable place for himself, he had invested every bit of his ideals and heart’s blood without reserve, only hoping to produce brilliant flowers.

“Master Li, your student also wants to hide in the academy for life, teaching and nurturing people. In leisure time, laughing while listening to idle talk, lying down observing thunder, watching heroes compete, tasting the joy and sorrow after wine—thinking of these things, your student yearns for them. But His Majesty won’t allow it! Regarding last time’s matter with the Dou family, you were also informed, sir. Did your student have any room to refuse?”

After saying this, he took out the contract made with the Ministry of Works and showed it to Li Gang.

At first, Li Gang’s expression was calm. He knew very well what kind of people staffed the Ministry of Works. Such matters shouldn’t be too difficult for Yun Ye. But when he saw the clauses added by the Empress afterward, he became furious. This was a contract without any fairness whatsoever. There absolutely did not exist in this world anyone who could build the palace’s main hall with just thirty thousand strings of cash and grain—absolutely impossible.

“When did you offend the Empress?”

“I haven’t offended her. On the contrary, Her Majesty the Empress has always shown me great care. She has no ill will toward me, never has, and I think never will in the future. If I had to say who in the imperial palace is most worthy of my respect, it would be Her Majesty the Empress.”

“If that’s the case, then why is this thing in the contract?”

“Your student can only say that Her Majesty understands your student too well. She’s afraid I’ll earn too much and attract resentment, making the Ministry of Works lose face. If I simply earned a large sum of money, aside from the entire Ministry of Works submitting memorials to resign, do you think they have a second path to take?”

To this day, Yun Ye found it very strange—on what basis did the Ministry of Works officials believe that building houses in a prosperous section of the world’s largest city wouldn’t make money? What kind of logic was that? If merchants from later generations knew of such an opportunity, they’d already be fighting until their heads bled. Would there still be a chance for Yun Ye to be extorted?

“Young man, you don’t really think you can build the main hall with thirty thousand strings of cash, do you?” Hearing Yun Ye say this, Li Gang was no longer anxious, but somewhat worried.

“The finest nanmu wood—for just the beams and pillars, at least eighty-one are needed, and they must be thick enough for two men to embrace, with no joints in the middle and no flaws allowed. Just these things alone would be worth ten thousand strings of cash, and they might not even be found.”

“Nanmu wood is called ‘thousand-year imperishable.’ Its color is light orange-yellow with a slight gray tinge, its grain elegant and quiet, its texture warm and gentle, with no shrinkage. When it encounters rain, waves of subtle fragrance emanate—it’s excellent material for palace beams and pillars. The highest quality is golden thread nanmu, which has miraculous self-forming paintings in the golden threads on the nanmu wood. The so-called ‘hard to find’ just means people don’t know where it is. Naturally, transporting it to Chang’an would be astonishingly expensive. You say it’s worth ten thousand strings—indeed it is.”

“Then you still dare take on this assignment? I’m afraid even if you invested all the money you earned from Xinghua Ward, it would be far from enough.” Li Gang began getting anxious again.

“You worry too much, sir. There is golden thread nanmu in Shu—very much of it. Let alone asking for a hundred or so roots, even wanting a thousand roots—what difficulty is there? Your student is also counting on getting more golden thread nanmu to Chang’an to exchange with those wealthy people for some money to subsidize the cost of building the palace.”

“Young man, you’ve gone mad! Even if you find a thousand nanmu trees, how will you transport them out of the deep mountains, not to mention you’ll have to cross mountains and traverse the plank roads from Shu to bring them back? Do you know how many people will die? I’d rather you go apologize to Her Majesty the Empress than allow you to do such a thing that would provoke heaven’s anger and people’s resentment.”