Women have always been fickle. To go receive Na Rimu, Yun Ye specially arranged for Xinyue to do her favorite activity—counting money. He Shao transported money from Chang’an to the house cart by cart, all piled up in the large storehouse in a chaotic heap without any count. He Shao never counted money string by string anymore; he used large scales to weigh it. So when the Yun family’s accounting office recorded it, money was calculated by weight, which left Wei Zheng, who came to calculate the Yun family’s income, utterly dejected.

Watching the Yun family pay one hundred thousand strings in taxes, then looking at the Yun family’s mountains of copper coins, several times he wanted to open his mouth and have the Yun family pay more taxes—after all, the Yun family’s money came easily. But the words reached his lips and he swallowed them back. For no other reason than this: currently, among all the nobility in Chang’an, only the Yun family voluntarily paid taxes. Later came the He family, and now perhaps the Cheng, Niu, and Qin families had been added.

Xinyue sat in a chair holding her belly, watching servants come and go like ants carrying money, without a trace of a smile on her face.

Old Qian had deposited the gold and silver at the money house, and the remaining copper coins were the funds the Yun family had prepared for the academy.

Xiao Dong followed behind the servants, counting trip after trip, picking up scattered copper coins along the way. She treasured copper coins greatly—even those trampled into the mud she wanted. She dug them out one by one, washed them clean, and put them away. These coins naturally became hers, euphemistically called “found money.”

Xinyue was keeping accounts. As she recorded, she irritably threw her brush far away, breathing heavily as she watched the door.

Yun Ye stood in a pavilion thirty li outside Chang’an. Na Rimu would arrive today. When the Cheng family’s caravan appeared in the distance on the horizon, Yun Ye took the kala stone from his saddlebag and put it in his bosom. Every time, Na Rimu had to see it. This foolish woman seemed to believe that as long as Yun Ye still kept the kala stone, he would always love her. Which great deity had told her this?

There were many great deities on the grasslands. Even water ponds had a great deity. Anyway, as soon as you left your tent, you were bound to encounter a divine spirit. Although invisible, Na Rimu devoutly believed her surroundings were full of divine neighbors. So when she fetched water from the pond she would pray, when she cut grass she would pray, and even when lighting a pile of fire she would pray to the fire god to grant her kindling.

Although it was Yun Ye who gave her the fire starter, she stubbornly believed it was the fire god who made Yun Ye give it to her. So she never thanked Yun Ye, only the divine spirits in heaven.

In the distance, he heard a horse’s neigh. That’s right—it was the voice of the great blue horse. No matter what animals Yun Ye raised, in the end they all got along with him extremely well. Catching Yun Ye’s scent, naturally it had to call out a greeting.

A fiery red shadow came flying over like lightning, the cloak behind her pulled straight by the wind. A rider in Han family women’s attire skillfully controlled the warhorse beneath her. From afar came the cry of “Brother…”

The great blue horse’s front hooves rose high. Before they could fall, the woman in fiery red clothes threw herself directly into Yun Ye’s arms, knocking him to the ground in one go. Not caring about the strange looks from passersby, Na Rimu sat astride Yun Ye’s stomach, her hands beginning to rummage in his bosom.

The kala stone had just been warmed by his body temperature. Na Rimu rubbed it against her face, then carefully placed it back in Yun Ye’s bosom.

She kissed Yun Ye’s face and said proudly: “I’m beautiful, aren’t I? Now I’m the most beautiful woman on the grasslands. Se Leng and the others all say it would take five hundred head of cattle as a dowry to marry me, but you only gave me a stone.”

After saying this, she aggrievedly took off the white jade pendant Yun Ye had given her from her neck and held it before his eyes for him to see.

Having not seen Na Rimu for two years, she had grown up. Not to mention the rounded buttocks sitting astride Yun Ye’s stomach—just that pair of full protrusions on her chest were enough to drive men crazy. Though her face bore some traces of wind and weather, it had also gained an air of prosperity.

Yun Ye carefully sniffed at her neck. Good—there was only a faint delicate fragrance. It was actually the premium gardenia flower scent produced by the Yun family, without that previous smell of cattle and sheep.

Having seen Yun Ye, Na Rimu was extremely excited. Speaking and gesturing, she told him about everything that had happened on the grasslands—picking up cattle and sheep, tucking ginger in her sleeves while crying to those Tang generals in the military camp, all the sheep being sheared bare and looking comical. In the end, she lay in Yun Ye’s arms and began to cry, saying she had dreamed several times that Yun Ye came to the grasslands to see her. When she woke up, there were only tears on her face, no person in sight.

The Yun family servants very sensibly turned their backs and formed a circle, enclosing Yun Ye and Na Rimu inside. Their marquis being ridden on the stomach by a woman was not something for others to see.

Yun Ye didn’t say a word, only stroking Na Rimu’s hair, letting her pour out her heart’s content. She had many tears, soaking through Yun Ye’s clothes. The skin on his chest could feel the desolation contained in those tears.

Na Rimu grabbed Yun Ye’s hand and pressed it against her full bosom, saying to him: “Haven’t they gotten bigger? I drink milk every day, just so I can raise a strong child in the future and make him a great hero of the grasslands.”

He couldn’t let her ride on his stomach anymore. Having abstained for a long time, Yun Ye couldn’t withstand this kind of fragrant stimulation.

He lifted Na Rimu up, but she refused to get down from Yun Ye’s waist. Giggling, she hung on his body like a large sloth, her arms around Yun Ye’s neck, her two legs gripping his waist tightly.

Riding a horse like this would be cursed by all the moralist scholars of Chang’an, so taking a carriage became the only choice. That Huan Niang could train Na Rimu to this state in two years was truly commendable.

Looking back at Huan Niang sitting in the Cheng family’s carriage, she seemed to have become somewhat younger. Her round face was filled with smiles. Watching Na Rimu act coquettish toward Yun Ye, it was as if she were watching her own mischievous daughter. “These two years have been hard on you.” Yun Ye didn’t say other high-sounding words of thanks, directly stating the core content.

“My lord is mistaken. These two years have been the happiest period of my life. The life in my dreams was no more than this. Thank you, my lord, for all your support and tolerance on the grasslands. Without you, we would not have achieved success. Na Rimu still has a child’s nature—please be merciful to her.”

Na Rimu hung on Yun Ye’s body, looking at Yun Ye, then at Huan Niang, not understanding at all why family members would be so polite.

A pure heart cannot contain the filth in the shadows. Yun Ye and Huan Niang looked at each other and smiled, saying nothing more. Today should not have calculations and concerns—reunions should be happy.

Na Rimu didn’t want to leave Yun Ye’s embrace for even a moment. Sitting in the carriage, she chattered about each of her achievements. She only wanted Yun Ye to feel proud of her.

The accompanying Turkic youths suddenly began singing ancient, desolate songs while on horseback. Though the meaning was incomprehensible, one could simply feel the songs were filled with blessings.

Na Rimu suddenly became shy, burying her head in Yun Ye’s bosom like an ostrich, though her bottom stuck up high.

“What are they singing? It sounds very nice.” Yun Ye patted her bottom and asked.

“It’s a wedding procession song. Brother, I’ve come to marry you. They’re accompanying me, but I cannot receive Great Aman’s blessing. I invited Great Aman. I promised to give him ten head of cattle as thanks, but he still refused, saying I will one day be punished by the heavenly gods.”

Mentioning the heavenly gods, Na Rimu trembled all over with fear. The anger in Yun Ye’s heart immediately blazed fiercely. It seemed the Great Tang’s violent methods still could not make them bow their heads. They still stubbornly believed in their own deities.

Wiping away Na Rimu’s tears, Yun Ye smiled and said: “You are now a wife of the Han family. From now on, the divine spirits of the Han family will protect you. Great Aman disagreed with you marrying me and even cursed you, so naturally the generations of Yun family ancestors will punish him. Not only will they punish him, they will punish all the Amans.”

The simple-minded Na Rimu couldn’t hear the cold killing intent in Yun Ye’s words. She only felt very happy to have a group of powerful ancestors protecting her. “Will the ancestors like me? But it doesn’t matter—they will definitely like the beautiful Na Rimu.” She was forever so full of confidence.

The Yun family’s memorial archway under the setting sun appeared even more towering and majestic. Xinyue had just had people repaint it twice. Magnificent, grand, solemn, and dignified could no longer adequately describe its bearing. Xinyue had invested heavily in this, all to give Na Rimu a show of strength.

It had no effect. Everything she had carefully prepared had no effect on Na Rimu whatsoever. She simply thought the Yun family’s archway with its colorful decorations looked very pretty. Xinyue’s money was wasted.

Na Rimu walked through the market that was about to close for the day, lively as a little sparrow. She liked everything, only feeling a bit melancholy about one thing—the items here couldn’t be taken freely; one needed to pay money.

Knowing the family was waiting at home, Yun Ye still didn’t rush Na Rimu, accompanying her strolling through the market until Na Rimu tried to haul two enormous pots onto the carriage. Only then did Yun Ye stop her irrational behavior.

By this time, the carriage was already stuffed full with all sorts of things—beautiful silk and satin, new-style chairs, a chamber pot painted with red lacquer, children’s pellet drums, pinwheels, and various fruits that only came down in autumn.

She herself held two pomegranates Yun Ye had opened for her, eating smugly, left bite, right bite, crunching the pomegranate seeds loudly.

Na Rimu watched disappointedly as the vendors left one after another. On the grasslands, only on the heavenly god’s birthday would so many people gather together. Each parting might be a separation of life and death, so Na Rimu didn’t like farewells—not at all.

“At sunrise tomorrow they’ll come back. It’s this lively every day.”

“Really? Tomorrow they won’t go herd sheep?”

“No, they make their living by selling things, just like the caravans you saw on the grasslands.”

For a simple person, sorrow came quickly and left quickly. Hearing Yun Ye say they were only going back to sleep and would come out again at sunrise tomorrow, the sadness in her heart immediately vanished, replaced only with pure joy.

Yun Ye had prepared for Na Rimu to make a fool of herself at home and had also prepared to rescue the situation. Just looking at Xinyue’s raised neck, one could tell what kind of difficulties Na Rimu would face.

The facts were different from what Yun Ye had imagined. When Na Rimu paid her respects to Old Madam, her etiquette was so standard as to be nearly impeccable. Whether in terms of forms of address or kowtowing, everything met the standards.

Grandmother happily helped Na Rimu up, looking her up and down, smiling so widely her mouth couldn’t close. Ample bosom and wide hips had always been a sign of good childbearing. The Yun family currently only had two children—too few. If not for Yun Ye’s strong objections, Grandmother would have long ago taken countless concubines for him.