When Yun Ye still hadn’t gotten up, the money house’s silver cart had already arrived. The old manager made a deep bow to the soldiers in the military camp, grimacing as he apologized. It wasn’t that the money house was unwilling to come early—the soldiers were all waiting to get their money to go home, and he knew they were anxious. He had arrived at the city gate early in the morning, but the city gate just wouldn’t open early. No matter what anyone said, it was useless. He had made everyone wait a long time—they would now begin the exchange.

Diligent soldiers moved a table over for the old manager and brought him a pot of hot tea. This was unique to the navy—because of spending years adrift on the water, tea leaves had become an essential item for those who sailed.

Yun Ye was awakened by the commotion outside. He carelessly wiped his face, then picked up his porridge bowl to eat. Not knowing how many times it had been reheated, it didn’t taste good at all. Only the pickled vegetables were still crispy. Frowning, he finished the porridge, put down his chopsticks, clasped his hands behind his back, and left the tent.

Seeing the soldiers all busily exchanging money—for them, only having real gold and silver in hand felt secure. Holding paper slips really made people feel uneasy.

Some exchanged for money, while others exchanged for promissory notes. At this time, it was very easy to distinguish the soldiers from Yun Family Manor and those from other places. The regular soldiers and auxiliary troops from Yun Family Manor all waited at the deposit area where only a sparse few people gathered. There had already been one physical reward distribution in Dengzhou, mostly copper coins. They had converted the copper coins to silver in Dengzhou for convenient storage. They were very clear about the exchange rate between silver and copper—in Dengzhou, silver was cheap and copper expensive; in Chang’an, silver was expensive and copper cheap. This back and forth represented a full ten percent difference. Just by exchanging money, they gained ten percent more than others…

Under the puzzled gazes of soldiers from other regions, they deposited all the copper coins in their hands back into the money house. Dozens of pounds of heavy copper coins became thin paper slips again.

The people from Yun Family Manor were very independent. Normally, if their comrades asked to borrow a hundred or so cash, it was no big deal—whether they paid it back or not was fine. But when it came to making money, they habitually kept their mouths shut. When they exchanged money, if other brothers followed along, that was no problem. However, they would absolutely never voluntarily tell you this trick.

In the sixth month in Chang’an, grass grew and birds flew. The soldiers, carrying copper coins and bearing armor and weapons, marched in groups toward their respective villages under the leadership of their squad officers. The twelve military adjutants, leading a long line of carts loaded with the ashes of fallen soldiers and their deserved rewards, distributed them according to village households. Yun Ye had originally wanted to go along but was persuaded back by Liu Fang—it wasn’t necessary. Having military adjutants go was already a great honor.

Yun Ye rode on horseback. On the cart behind him were still eleven ash urns. Originally there were only three, but later eight more died during amputations. If not for the white medicine Sun Simiao had developed, the death toll would have doubled.

Everyone walked very lightly. Yun Ye deliberately wore his armor and rode Wang Cai at the front. This was a very familiar road. Wang Cai always wanted to run, but Yun Ye kept soothing him, making him calm down.

Below the Yun family archway was a sea of white mourning garments. The casualty list had already been sent home. Those wearing hemp and mourning clothes must be relatives of the fallen. The wailing trumpet sounds plunged Yun Ye’s mood into a low point in an instant. Looking at those Yun Family Manor common people craning their necks in anticipation, he had an impulse to flee in panic.

Steeling himself, he entered through the archway. Facing those elderly, young, women and children, Yun Ye found himself speechless. Old Lady Liu emerged from the crowd, paid her respects to Yun Ye, and asked, “Great General, was my son brave in battle?”

“Liu Shuan fought bravely and fiercely, took two heads, and earned merit equivalent to three rank promotions.”

Old Lady Liu nodded, tears streaming down her face as she said, “That’s good, that’s good. He didn’t betray this old woman’s trust.” Yun Ye raised Liu Shuan’s ashes high and placed them at Old Lady Liu’s feet, bowing to the mother and son. All the common people in the venue bowed in the same manner, and the soldiers behind drew their horizontal swords and struck their chest armor.

“Zhang Yong was struck by six arrows but continued fighting fiercely, dying without retreat. He took six heads, earned merit equivalent to six rank promotions. Soon the official register will reach your family, to serve as proof for all generations.”

“Zhang Sheng died at Daewang Castle…” Yun Ye didn’t know how he managed to explain the achievements of these fallen soldiers one by one. Since ancient times, Qin soldiers endured hardship in battle. Those families with soldiers had long been prepared in various ways. Although there were only ashes, they still placed them properly in coffins containing brand new clothes, caps, and shoes. Originally, they had prepared to make cenotaphs, but now with the ashes present, they could enter the ancestral tombs.

Whether families of fallen soldiers or families of wounded and disabled soldiers, all came before Yun Ye one by one to express their thanks, grateful that the Marquis had led their nephews and sons to establish supreme martial valor—this was the glory of the entire family.

Yun Family Manor was prosperous. They didn’t value the rewarded wealth and silk very much, but they greatly valued the military registers. With these things, local government offices would exempt them from corvée labor or land taxes according to law. The elderly in the family would also have the honor of not bowing when seeing officials.

After ordering them to remove their armor, the soldiers behind him acknowledged with a shout and then returned to their respective homes—some embracing wives and children in tears, others laughing loudly with good friends. The emotions after the great battle finally received the most satisfying release.

Wang Cai really wanted to go to the marketplace to eat fruit and drink rice wine. Drinking was forbidden in the military, and this military regulation also applied to Wang Cai. Seeing the wine seller had already prepared osmanthus wine, how could he hold back? With mincing steps, he sauntered over. After the thick wine seller embraced him in tears for a while, he drank an entire basin of thick wine in one go. He was about to crane his neck for the man to pay, but there was no sign of a money pouch under his bare neck.

The thick wine seller said with a smile, “You just got home—you’re short on cash. We’ll settle tomorrow.”

Unexpectedly, Manager Qian jumped out from the side and tossed four or five large coins to the thick wine seller: “Two cash for the wine, the rest is a reward. When has my family’s Wang Cai ever eaten for free? Every Tom, Dick, and Harry wants to treat my Wang Cai to drinks without considering their status.” Having said that, he led Wang Cai back to the manor.

Whenever Yun Ye returned from campaign, everyone in the family except Old Grandmother would kneel in welcome. Yun Ye had long grown accustomed to this. As soon as he entered, Grandmother sternly demanded, “What was the outcome of this battle?”

“Great victory. Took eight thousand heads, annihilated one hundred thousand enemies, returned with the entire army intact.” Yun Ye bent to respond. The previous two times he wasn’t the commander-in-chief and didn’t have this qualification. This time he was, so Grandmother naturally had to ask. This was also an act to bring honor to the family. He just didn’t know if there would still be such treatment in case of defeat.

“My son has worked hard. Through the chaos of war and horses, now remove your armor and rest.” As soon as Grandmother finished speaking, Xinyue rushed forward and held Yun Ye tightly, refusing to let go.

Auntie removed Yun Ye’s armor for him. Yun Baobao hugged his father’s leg, staring eagerly. He loved when Father held him and played a game called “airplane.”

Scooping up his son in one motion, he kissed the tender little face heavily. Unexpectedly, he made his son cry—he hadn’t taken care of grooming these past days, and stubble had already grown out.

Last time when he came home, the husband and wife had been improper in the bathtub. This year that wouldn’t work—Yun Baobao had no intention of leaving Father and was preparing to go swimming. The family had built an enormous bathhouse where hot water spouted from a carp’s mouth. It was said that when the family was preparing to dig a well, they accidentally struck a hot spring. This was a wonderful thing. Xinyue immediately built a bathhouse. After being away for five months, the home had undergone great changes.

Yun Baobao paddled a boat in a large wooden basin floating on the water surface, bare bottom sticking up. Yun Ye lay on the carp’s back, letting the warm spring water flow down from his chest. Very comfortable. Xinyue wore gauze clothing, always swaying before Yun Ye. Her exquisite curves, partly hidden and partly visible, made one’s mouth dry.

“Husband is very strange! Why did you bring back a one-armed Goguryeo person on this campaign? I heard the manager say there’s also a Goguryeo woman. Husband, if the military camp is lonely, you could find another concubine in Hebei. Are Great Tang’s daughters inferior to Goguryeo lowly women?”

Taking advantage of Yun Baobao being busy eating candied fruit, Xinyue was yanked over. With their backs to Yun Baobao, he gave her bottom a hard slap before saying, “In my life up to now, there seem to be just you three. Others are out of the question. That Goguryeo woman is my captive. I’m going to use her to deal with someone. You three are enough to drain me dry—who has time to pay attention to Goguryeo women?”

Having received a slap, Xinyue’s eyes became seductive as silk as she lay on Yun Ye’s chest. That pair of plump breasts were squeezed completely flat. The husband and wife had just started kissing and touching to build up some emotion when they heard a childish voice behind them: “Mother, Mother, I also want kisses.” Yun Baobao, with his dark, bright eyes open wide, raised his lotus-root-like chubby arms, wanting Mother to hold him.

This call made both of them blush deeply. Yun Ye yanked his son over in one motion and placed him on his belly, carefully examining his son’s left arm. Seeing a beautiful chrysanthemum pattern on his son’s tender arm, he called Xinyue over again, rolled up her sleeve, and looked—sure enough, Xinyue also had one. Yun Ye knew that if Xinyue hadn’t personally tried it herself, she would never allow anyone to randomly vaccinate her son with any pox, not even Sun Simiao.

“Do Daya and Na Rimu also have them?”

“Everyone has them. Only Grandmother in the family doesn’t have one. The old lady said she’s reached her age and there’s no need to waste precious medicinal materials. Everyone else was vaccinated—Shishi, Xiao Wu, Xiao Jie, none were missed.” Seeing her husband asking about serious matters, Xinyue quickly answered.

“You don’t know—with this thing, you’ll never have to fear barbarian sores again. Look, I have one on my shoulder too. This is what Master vaccinated me with before. Others might say this is unorthodox, but we know the benefits ourselves—there’s no need to publicize it widely. After all, this thing is too scarce. Na Rimu went to the grasslands where the sanitary conditions are even worse. We must be prepared for all contingencies.”

Sun Simiao had told Yun Ye about this matter in a letter. The Yun family had vaccinated many people, but during this time, some strange rumors had spread from who knows where, saying this thing was nonsense. Why did Sun Simiao originally flee into the deep mountains? It was because his experiments failed and he was too ashamed to face people. Now he was even sparing no expense to create forgeries.