Li Er controlled the joys, sorrows, and emotions of all Chang’an’s people. When he was happy, all under heaven was peaceful. When he was unhappy, dark clouds filled the city. The only one who dared hold a wedding at this time was Yun Ye. Those nobles who didn’t understand the true situation arrived at the Yun family early, several days before Yun Ye’s wedding procession. Speaking of it, they were all one faction sharing weal and woe. In ordinary times there might be small frictions, and they could view each other with hostility. But once it involved the fundamental interests of the noble clan, those frictions could be laughed off. Tang Jian closed his doors to guests, living in deep seclusion, his mouth sealed without giving even a crack.

Yun Ye, who was holding a grand wedding, became their only channel for knowing news. Everyone knew the Yun family couldn’t possibly tell them plainly exactly what had happened in Chang’an. But the arrival of the wedding itself indicated this matter wasn’t serious and wouldn’t implicate everyone.

Cursing a eunuch didn’t matter. To preserve their reputations, nobles had basically all cursed them. The only one who dared curse Wu She was Yun Ye. A third-rank marquis cursing a sixth-rank supervisor of the Bureau of Palace Attendance—from a general perspective, it really didn’t count as anything. If one knew Wu She was Li Er’s first confidant and still dared open one’s mouth to curse—tsk tsk—this lord didn’t know if he’d taken the wrong medicine.

Fortunately, it didn’t have too much connection with them. The wedding could continue to be attended, the banquet could be indulged in without restraint. These ten-some days, they didn’t dare breathe heavily, suffocating this group of dissipated old and young wastrels terribly.

“Finished making trouble?” Li Er asked Wu She, who had just returned to the palace.

“Replying to Your Majesty, according to Your Majesty’s instructions, this servant has done everything that should be done.” Wu She still answered with a dead man’s face.

“He’s unhappy?” Li Er, holding a scroll, didn’t even raise his head.

“He’s very happy?” Not hearing a reply, Li Er put down the book and asked again.

“Marquis Yun rebuked this servant thoroughly. He was furious.”

“He still has the face to be furious? Poking a hole in matters then running away with his tail between his legs, pinning the credit on the princess’s body, making me lose face. If it were to marry the princess, I also wouldn’t be angry. After all, Anlan is my daughter. Yun Ye can be considered an outstanding talent of his generation, barely matching Anlan. Who knew that after he resolved the matter, he’d run back to Yushan to marry a beauty, making me wrong both inside and out. The empress hasn’t stopped complaining, even saying my idea wasn’t good. Hmph.”

“Your Majesty’s heart for Princess Anlan can be attested by heaven and sun. Other people don’t understand Your Majesty’s difficulties, but how could the Empress and this old slave not know? It’s just that Marquis Yun’s actions have always been beyond expectations. This old slave suffered quite a few cold looks at his residence.”

The Empress, with her large belly, walked out from behind the curtain and said to Wu She: “Don’t take it to heart. Yun Ye for some reason always finds eunuchs displeasing to the eye. I don’t know what it’s about.”

“This servant can see that Marquis Yun doesn’t look down on this servant’s mutilated body, but rather looks down on this servant’s methods of doing things, probably disdaining that this servant’s work is too soft and feminine.” The Wu She in the imperial palace and the Wu She at the Yun residence were completely two different people. One was understanding and perceptive, one was arrogant and sinister. Years of physical mutilation had subconsciously caused his personality to split.

Wu She retreated backward out of the great hall. Li Er went forward to support Zhangsun and help her sit down. Zhangsun’s abdomen was increasingly large, and her movements were somewhat difficult.

“Once the matter of the forget-worry grass is resolved, I’ll accompany you to live outside the city for a while. After you give birth, we’ll come back.” Before Zhangsun, Li Er again became a good husband and good father.

“That’s not good, Erlang. Outside isn’t safe now. There are thieves eyeing you covetously. This consort would rather accompany you in the imperial palace than go out. This consort actually really likes that small building on Yushan. The scenery there perhaps can’t compare to the Nanshan Palace, and the place is also smaller. Yet this consort lived happily there. Erlang, do you know? Qingque and Ke’er would carry the best, cleanest water for this consort every day. The kitchen there would also make some extremely delicious small foods daily. Seeing Qingque bring rice to this consort, this consort wanted to cry.”

“The academy is actually a very miraculous place. Arriving there and hearing those wastrel sons’ resounding reading voices, this consort liked it from her heart. Old Li Gang’s lessons are taught with depth and simplicity, moving and captivating—truly worthy of being three generations’ Grand Tutor to Crown Princes. There’s also Zhao Yanling’s tea brewing—one sip has endless aftertaste. Yun Ye’s carp was cooked without the slightest fishy smell. This consort couldn’t bear to punish him.”

“Carp? This scoundrel has no learning or skills, regarding our Great Tang’s laws as nothing. Next time I go to the academy, I’ll have to see if he dares present carp for me to eat. I heard Master Lishi successfully passed through the knowledge barrier. The academy now has two scholarly grandmasters. Even the Institute of Scholarly Worthies doesn’t have such strong teaching resources. Also, the Gongshu family has surprisingly been used by him. Last year I just spoke the words ‘all heroes under heaven have entered my trap.’ He then found countless outstanding talents from the wilderness and marshes, making me quite embarrassed. Now there are still subjects using these words to congratulate me. Every time I hear it, my face reddens once. I feel that subject is humiliating me to my face. I even have thoughts of killing people.”

When the husband and wife sat behind the curtain whispering to each other, they were completely unaware that Chang’an City was about to welcome its most severe night.

Dou Yanshan, with red eyes, made marks on a Chang’an map. With each mark made, the ferocious intent on his face grew thicker. Outside the door stood fifty big men, all wearing various colored clothes. Some looked like merchants, some like farmers, and some like learned scholars. Only each person carried various colored bundles on their backs. The farmer’s bundle didn’t contain dry rations or newly bought things—all was sulfur, saltpeter and other flammable materials. The scholar’s book basket also didn’t contain books—all was fierce fire oil and similar things. The merchants also weren’t peddling goods. Tonight they peddled death.

Today was a good day. Daytime and night were equally long. In the solar terms, it was called the Spring Equinox—yin and yang balanced, the best season for all things to grow. In this good season when elm coins fell to the ground and locust flowers budded, Dou Yanshan finally received the terrible news. The foolproof forget-worry grass plan had completely failed. Princess Li Anlan had seen through his perfect revenge plan. All the土 kings were detained. Revealing that young master who provided them forget-worry grass was only a matter of time.

Dou Yanshan knew he’d been discovered. He planned to leave the city before sunset. Before leaving this city he once hated, he wanted to leave it a memento—for example, a great fire.

Wooden houses always burned easily. If tonight there was wind to help, this memento would be left even more deeply. Those ignorant stupid husbands who rushed into the Dou family to set fires on the day of the riot—how could they not pay some price?

The military patrols at night always had some who wanted to slack off. Tonight they would encounter kindhearted people inviting them for a drink, or stay overnight in those half-open widows’ homes. Urban foxes and社 rats always had connections.

The Dou family was finished, but that didn’t mean the Dou family’s cohesion was gone. Over these years, those who received favors from the Dou family were not few. A knight dies for his intimate friend, even if this intimate friend wanted to bring everyone to destruction together.

People in the courtyard dispersed. Each person had a slip of paper, a location—either markets, government offices, also granaries, weapons storage areas. On the Yun family’s old residence was drawn a huge circle, with as many as four lines pointing to it.

Dou Yanshan put the map in a brazier and waited for it to turn to ash. Then he put on the hemp clothes Zhou Dafu prepared for him. A bowl of ginger-turmeric water turned his fair face into a sallow invalid. Coughing lightly a few times, then sticking a tuft of beard on his chin, the graceful Master Dou completely disappeared.

On Longshou Plain was a small temple. Dou Yanshan sat in a small pavilion. Before him was wine, in his hand a wine cup. He looked from afar at Chang’an City in the night. From when the sky just darkened, he sat here. He hadn’t drunk a mouthful of wine. He didn’t like drinking alone. Without fine food to accompany the wine, how could this Yun family strong liquor that entered the mouth like knives and went down the belly like fire be drunk?

Under the moonlight, Chang’an was dark like a sleeping fierce tiger, seemingly ready to devour people at any time. When the first cluster of firelight arose, Dou Yanshan drank dry the wine in his cup in one gulp. Tonight he planned to get thoroughly drunk.

Chang’an City awoke. Gongs and drums continuously sounded. Water dragon carts ceaselessly drove past. Fire arose in West Market, dense smoke rolling. In the closed ward, people carried smoke and fire, rushing about like cornered pigs and wolves. Miserable wails could be heard for several li. Jing’an Ward’s Yun family was much more relaxed. The stewards and servants, holding valuables and bedding, pointed here and there watching their own home burned to ash, unmoved.

The household guards searched everywhere for arsonists but found nothing, having to return resentfully. Steward Uncle Liu had been at the Yun family for two years, counted as an old hand. He instructed the servants to put down the bedding and valuables, lead the livestock from the back courtyard. Most things in the house had already been transported back to the Yun family estate two days ago. The marquis was getting married. Old Grandmother instructed that since no one lived in the city, leaving so many things was useless.

Old Grandmother didn’t like this old residence, always saying it had a moldy smell and always had dead people wandering about—inauspicious. Now it was good—all burned. Uncle Liu had to admire Old Grandmother’s foresight. Looking at the residence burning like a torch, if they hadn’t transported the household’s things away a few days ago, the losses probably wouldn’t be light.

The ward gate was opened by the ward official. The water dragon cart hadn’t yet entered when Uncle Liu said to the arriving military patrol: “The Yun family can’t be saved. First attend to other households. Small households suffering disaster—their days probably won’t be easy.” The military patrol gave a thumbs up and hurriedly went to save fires at other households in Jing’an Ward.

At first it was only one or two fire sources. The authorities thought it was a fire disaster. When the Chang’an County Office also raised a fire source, the Golden Martial Guard was deployed. At this time, Chang’an City already had fire sources everywhere, smoke rising all around.

The army didn’t have time to search for thieves. First they joined the firefighting ranks. Even though the county office was burned, County Magistrate Zuo Kui remained calm in crisis, wearing sleeping clothes to direct firefighting, even personally going into action. Surrounded by smoke and fire like a black ghost, his usually proud beard was also burned to tatters.

What defeated him was the great fire at Wuben Ward. There was grain stored there to supply the imperial family. Although it wasn’t his turn to manage it, as a people’s official, how could he escape involvement? Standing blankly at the fire scene, swaying, the sky had collapsed. Pushing away the yamen runner who came to pull him, he walked straight into the fire scene. That was where he worked. After entering, he closed the door, sitting in the great hall. Bricks and tiles constantly fell around him. Zuo Kui heavily struck the gavel on the desk, shouting loudly: “Evil thief!” Then the entire great hall collapsed with a thunderous crash.

Tonight, Chang’an City caught fire.