“Marquis Yun is broadly learned in both ancient and modern matters—naturally you don’t regard such small tricks. We only seek a mouthful of food and a roll of straw mat to wrap our bodies, so our corpses won’t be devoured by wild dogs. That would satisfy us completely.” The old eunuch still looked at Yun Ye expressionlessly.
“Rather than giving someone fish, teach them to fish. Send all your money and wealth to the Yun family’s residence in Chang’an tomorrow. I can only seek a foundation for survival for you—everything else depends on yourselves.”
He couldn’t bear to watch. His soft-hearted tendency always tormented Yun Ye. The old eunuch’s gaze just now revealed a deathly stillness. Ever since learning of the existence of these lowly people last time, he had specifically investigated the living conditions of palace eunuchs and maids. It could only be described in one phrase: utterly miserable. When they grew old and could no longer work and were expelled from the palace, they basically had only a few strings of cash. Having lived in the imperial palace for too long, they simply had no way to integrate into crowds, and the crowds wouldn’t accept these outcasts either. Once their money ran out, they could only beg or starve to death—men and women alike.
The old eunuch prostrated himself on the ground and kissed Yun Ye’s instep, then picked up his hoe and left the garden.
He no longer had any interest in sleeping. Tomorrow he would have to use their money to earn some more, buy them some land in remote areas, hire some farmers, and let them live off tenant rents. This way it wouldn’t be nurturing a tiger that would become a threat. With younger eunuchs looking after them, they should be able to survive. The Yun family wouldn’t give money, so they wouldn’t be entangled in karmic consequences.
Li Chengqian had been very happy these days. When Yun Ye asked him what Su Shi actually looked like, he unexpectedly looked guarded, as if very worried that Yun Ye harbored improper designs. He only said she was passable, but from his smug face one could tell that Su Shi must be a ravishing beauty.
“When you get married, could you not make me that unfortunate best man? When I got married, Cheng Chumo was nearly beaten senseless. You’re the Crown Prince—they wouldn’t dare hit you. Wouldn’t I be pummeled to death?”
The tea was brewed for nothing—Li Chengqian drank it all straight from the spout. He learned this from Yun Ye. Zhangsun lamented that she had never managed to correct this bad habit in the Crown Prince and Yun Ye. Conversely, Li Er didn’t care much, saying they no longer needed to tie the two up to train their deportment, which spared them great suffering.
“You’re my only friend in total. When my uncles’ and cousins’ sons see me, they’re like mice seeing a cat—they don’t even dare breathe. Just bear with it, and let others relax too. It’s just a matter of a few dozen rod strikes. Endure it and it’ll pass.” Since it wasn’t him getting beaten, he spoke lightly.
“How are preparations for the auction going? I heard the song and dance performances beforehand are quite spectacular. I’ll bring my younger siblings to watch. It’s the first time for something new. I heard all of Chang’an is waiting for you to squander your fortune.”
“Stop dreaming. Bringing your siblings—you only have a six-foot-square little room. You have so many siblings, they won’t fit.” Yun Ye turned to lie back in his chair, crossing his legs as he told Li Chengqian.
“Would it kill you to earn a little less money? Of course the box you gave me is too small. I’ve already bragged about it to them. No way—give me a bigger one. Number six looks quite good.”
Yun Ye threw the box diagram that Li Er had arranged to the Crown Prince, letting him look at it himself.
“Ah, why did Father Emperor only give me such a small room? Hmm? Yours is this small too? Li Tai and Li Ke don’t have any? This won’t do. I even told Su Shi she could come watch.”
“That’s your problem, not mine. You can’t persuade His Majesty, and I don’t dare arbitrarily switch boxes. What do you say we do?”
“Brother Ye, think of something! Otherwise I’ll lose tremendous face. I’m the Crown Prince—I can’t lose face.” Li Chengqian was anxious now. The large box originally agreed upon was given by Li Er to Li Daozong. No one dared change Li Er’s decision, not even the Crown Prince.
“There’s only one solution—you give the box to your younger siblings. If you have the ability to trick Su Shi out, I’ll find you a very hidden place to watch the opera. If you can take the opportunity to win over Su Shi, your brother blesses you.”
“Nonsense, she’s my wife—what’s my rush? Calculating the time, it’s only two or three months. Next month I marry Hou Shi, the month after I marry Su Shi. No rush. Are you sure it’s very hidden? No one can see?”
“Between the first and second floors there’s a small protruding platform. I originally prepared it for myself, but now I can only give it to you. That’s truly the best position for watching opera. But Chengqian, how do I feel like I’m a bit like a procurer? You don’t see me that way, do you?”
“Of course I don’t see you that way. But I’m telling Su Shi that the idea of having my sister trick her out came from you. She already says you’re despicable and that when she sees you next time she won’t let you off. Be careful.”
Two men talking about such tasteless matters was truly vexing. Fortunately the sun was about to set. Today there would be a dress rehearsal at the opera house. Yun Ye wanted to see what the effect was actually like. If it was poor, he’d immediately change the program. Eight or nine whirling dance experts had already prepared. Normally the whirling dance was performed solo, but Yun Ye required nine experts to dance together and achieve perfect uniformity. Although the experts had dignity and were unwilling to perform on stage together, under Yun Ye’s dual threats of the stick and copper coins, they had no choice but tearfully agree. If they didn’t dance well, their legs would be broken!
Entering the theater, his heart immediately filled with pride. The snow-white circular dome was completely studded with lamp pools. As long as the frontmost lamp pool was lit, an entire row would illuminate. Mirrors as reflectors would diffuse all the bright light throughout the entire theater. When bright light wasn’t needed, one only had to pull a handle and thin iron plates would flip over to cover the lamp pools tightly, and the lamps would extinguish.
Originally he wanted to use marsh gas, but that stuff was too dangerous—it had already exploded twice. The Academy had already listed it as a hazardous project. Currently people doing this work all wore armor. If it exploded once in front of Li Er, Yun Ye would definitely die miserably.
Stroking the arc-shaped wooden chairs, Yun Ye very much missed that old theater at his home’s entrance in his previous life—these same foldable chairs, arranged in arc-shaped rows throughout the theater. If there were other activities, these chairs would be collected to clear a large open space.
There were many doors—a full six doors, each extremely wide. In case of fire or similar situations, crowds could be rapidly evacuated. The boxes upstairs naturally all had back doors, conveniently accessible via skywalks.
The stage was directly ahead. The performers and dancers found this time were all the type with very loud voices. No choice—without microphones, they could only rely on shouting. There was no singing style, only dialogue. To achieve emotional impact, the Academy’s talented scholars had consumed countless amounts of fermented rice wine.
On stage, a woman wearing white gauze was saying to Xu Xian, who was also played by a woman: “You, this umbrella-giving young master, why do you hurry so? The swallow grass is like green silk, the mulberry of Qin bows with green branches. Swallows fly paired through rain, by the lakeside twin lotus blooms. Even such beautiful scenery cannot keep your homeward-bound steps. Why not look once more at spring’s colors?”
Hearing this line, Yun Ye laughed so hard he nearly fell over. This was the Academy’s most blatant flirtatious language. Just this one line had made the Academy’s nights fill with many shrill wolf howls. If phrases like “loving you for ten thousand years” were spoken aloud, who knew whether these fellows would be heartbroken to pieces?
Many Academy students who came to help already sat in the seats, especially those talented scholars who contributed dialogue—they listened completely entranced. He didn’t know whether it would suit those bigwigs’ tastes. Whatever—it was just a game before the auction anyway.
After checking all mechanisms once more, including the protective mechanisms in Li Er’s box, everything was normal. Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief. Hopefully tomorrow could smoothly achieve its purpose.
He Shao walked over carrying an oiled paper package, his plump body becoming increasingly round and lustrous. He sat in the chair beside Yun Ye and opened the paper package. Inside were two pig trotters braised bright red. Without ceremony, Yun Ye picked one up and started gnawing.
“Little Ye, the foreign merchants extremely want to enter Great Tang’s mainstream society this time. To this end, they’re willing to spend enormous amounts of money. The fifty invitations I brought were divided up within half an hour. They formed several factions. The Persians who sell dates, flatbread and three-le juice formed their own merchant guild. The Sogdians also formed a merchant guild. Kucha, Kashgar, and Gaochang formed a huge merchant guild. Goguryeo and Wa also have merchant guilds. These fellows have a lot of money and are very lucrative. The gratitude gifts they gave me totaled two thousand strings of cash.”
“Have the local merchants found representatives?” Yun Ye swallowed a mouthful of delicious pig skin and asked He Shao.
“Don’t worry, they’re all old acquaintances. The major merchants in Chang’an’s markets have close relations with us. You said to allow them to compete for those glass items, but why the final buyback? They’re somewhat unwilling.”
“Glass items aren’t worth money to begin with. With a starting bid of one hundred strings, we’ve already earned plenty. In two years if that stuff can sell for two strings, come ask me. It’s just junk burned from sand. In the future it’ll be as cheap as your tea bowl. You tell me not to buy it back and wait for them to go bankrupt?”
“But that stuff is very beautiful—crystal clear, it looks like treasure.”
“There’s a whole warehouse full at home. If you like it, after things end go pick from the warehouse yourself.”
“A whole warehouse?” He Shao was indeed an outstanding merchant. He only froze for a moment, then jumped up happily and said to Yun Ye in a lowered voice: “Then won’t we strike it rich?”
“What do you think? If not to get rich, why would I go to this trouble? Let me tell you, just this auction house alone—if you manage it well, you’ll become one of Chang’an’s wealthiest merchants. This time, I’m going to make those country bumpkins swallow their broken teeth.”
He Shao was so happy that the uvula in his throat trembled. This was truly big business! But thinking of those officials, his heart felt weak. He asked Yun Ye: “Brother Ye, we can fleece the foreign merchants all we want without problem, but what about the merchant houses controlled by official families who won’t follow instructions and insist on causing trouble by spending big money to buy junk? How do we handle future rebates? And what about those merchants from outside who plan to bite off a piece of flesh from the Yun family?”
Yun Ye hesitated for a long while before sighing and saying: “Forget it, we’ll let them off this time. Get the word out to them—this is a financial opportunity that Chang’an merchants specially found to compensate for recent losses. Please ask them to show leniency. Nanmu wood, purple rice, Buddha relics, bear pelts—let them bid as they like. Even the houses in Xinghua Ward, let them bid. But not glass—otherwise they bear the consequences.”