The flames in his heart were burning but had nowhere to vent. Yun Ye tore off the pig snout and took several long breaths, allowing his somewhat oxygen-deprived brain to recover. The bloody smell mixed with sweetness was still strong, giving rise to a violent pleasure. Daoist Sun’s medicine was very effective—he said fifteen days of abstinence, and it would be fifteen days. Even under such fierce stimulation, there was still little desire. This was Yun Ye’s only support today.

Like an ostrich, Li Tai buried his head in the cushions, mumbling something incomprehensible through his pig snout. At this rate, Yun Ye was very worried he would suffocate himself.

The veiled dancer’s path was blocked by the wildly dancing wastrels. Only then did Yun Ye have the opportunity to adjust his mind. Since he’d already been caught in the trap, he might as well be thoroughly caught—thoroughly release his long-suppressed spirit just once.

He bit through the tip of his tongue. His mouth was also full of bloody flavor, salty. The bell sounds had already become chaotic. The drum beats became increasingly urgent. Takayama Yoko twisted like a snake before Yun Ye. The seductive smile on her face was like a distant dream. With something more exciting available, who would bother watching her? When Takayama Yoko’s red lips once again approached Yun Ye as if wanting to kiss him, Yun Ye reached out his hand and roughly pushed this Wa woman’s head aside. Damn it, she was blocking him from watching the real Heavenly Demon Dance.

The seductive smile turned to annoyance, then to anger, and finally her face turned iron-blue like a female ghost. The wastrels all wanted to grab that dancer, but she was like a slippery eel—no one could touch her. One bright eye rippled with laughter. She glanced at Yun Ye with a bit of resentment, and seemingly also a bit of reproach.

A beauty’s eyes can speak—it was indeed so. When the veiled dancer removed the golden bell from her nipple and threw it toward Yun Ye, he bit through his tongue again to avoid pouncing forward like a dog to catch it.

The golden bell fell to the ground, bouncing twice on the carpet. Yun Ye’s heart also jumped twice. Although his eyes watched the golden bell, his mind was stuffed completely full by a pair of plump breasts.

The room was filled with a lascivious atmosphere. Unfortunately, those wastrels could only sweat all over their bodies, their hands and feet trembling as they collapsed to the ground. In the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, it was as if they’d exhausted all their physical strength. Without Daoist Sun’s medicine, the scene at this moment would definitely make Yun Ye ashamed for a lifetime.

Once again pushing Takayama Yoko’s head aside, he poured himself a cup of chilled grape wine. Trembling as he brought it to his mouth, he’d already spilled more than half. The ice-cold liquor entering his stomach had no effect at all. Instead, it was like pouring a ladle of oil on flames. He could only fish out a handful of ice fish from the ice jar and stuff them in his mouth. His face still carried a smile as he watched the veiled dancer dance.

The feeling of swallowing ice into his stomach was truly unpleasant, but he had to swallow it. Yun Ye felt that right now if he just opened his mouth, he could spray out flames. Damn it, wasn’t this the feeling of eating Spring Breeze Powder? I’ve eaten it before!

What were the ingredients of Spring Breeze Powder? Yun Ye had asked Li Chengqian, but he didn’t know either. It seemed only Duan Hong knew. His medicine had been obtained from Duan Hong. Perhaps, possibly, Wu She also knew. When he’d asked Sun Simiao, the old Daoist had kicked him over with one foot. It looked like he also knew but just wouldn’t say. This was the annoying thing about experts.

Having figured out what was causing the trouble, Yun Ye with his flushed face could finally open his mind to appreciate the legendary Heavenly Demon Dance. Yan Zhitui had said that the Heavenly Demon, also called the Son of Heaven Demon, was a very humanized demon king who specialized in preventing monks from attaining Buddhahood. His name was Mara. Regardless of how Sanskrit explained it, judging from the translated name, he was probably from the same family as himself. The Yun family never produced any good people—digging pits for others everywhere, setting up obstacles for people everywhere. Not much different from the work he was doing now.

Thinking of this and watching the Heavenly Demon Dance again, a sense of intimacy arose spontaneously. Work done by the family—regardless of good or evil—should be strongly supported. At this moment, he only felt that the Heavenly Demon Dance should be even more powerful. Products from the Yun family should absolutely be top quality.

The music wasn’t good—simple. One point. Many details couldn’t be expressed. Moaning sounds—if accompanied by powerful music, would definitely raise the level another notch. The costumes weren’t magnificent enough. There should be large gemstones on the navels. These Wa beauties weren’t beautiful enough either. Their short, stubby legs really couldn’t grace an elegant hall. Most exaggerated was that one dancer’s chest was actually one large and one small. What a waste of heaven’s gifts! Damned little Japan, ruining a perfectly good Heavenly Demon Dance, causing my lower abdomen to hurt terribly now.

The only presentable one, Takayama Yoko, was still throwing childish tantrums in the middle of the dance, with no professional spirit at all. After having her head pushed aside a few times, she just stood there glaring viciously at him, actually refusing to dance anymore.

Yun Ye’s mind couldn’t help but recall the scene last time when Li Er blew up the palace. Those consorts running around bare-legged were the appropriate candidates for this work—high chests, thin waists, big bottoms. Tsk tsk, if they wore the most luxurious thin Shu brocade, half-exposed and half-concealed, that would really kill people.

The veiled dancer spun and sat down before Yun Ye. She picked up the grape wine Yun Ye had drunk from and through her veil drank a large mouthful. She didn’t drink well—the red wine flowed like a snake from the corner of her mouth to her chest. The eye exposed outside looked at Yun Ye with puzzlement, as if she had something to say.

Yun Ye’s hands were now very steady. He used a wooden spoon to refill the wine cup, and also used bamboo tongs to put two ice fish inside, gesturing for the dancer to continue drinking. That half cup of wine just now definitely couldn’t quench her thirst. The dancer didn’t decline and continued drinking until it spilled everywhere. Quite a bold woman.

“You lost today. In my current state, if I keep watching I might fall asleep. It’s not that the Heavenly Demon Dance isn’t good, but because you have pig-like teammates. With such a good dance, instead of finding a few properly beautiful women, you randomly assembled a few cloves of rotten garlic and planned to make the Great Tang monarch and ministers lose face? Peiji is dead. The Grand Emperor is hiding in the deep palace where you can’t reach him. The Heavenly Demon Dance can’t even enchant me—do you expect it to enchant His Majesty?”

“My surname is Yun. The sixth demon king is called Mara. Look, this dance belongs to my family. The Yun family’s clan head is currently me, so from now on, you are my family’s dancer. I won’t tell anyone about the Spring Breeze Powder matter. Even Peiji’s son doesn’t care about Peiji’s death, so it has nothing to do with you. I won’t be idle enough to go around talking about it everywhere. There are scapegoats available—that Wa woman over there. Without Spring Breeze Powder, the Heavenly Demon Dance will definitely win the favor of Great Tang’s nobles. It’s still quite good for entertainment after drinking.”

“You are the most despicable Great Tang official I’ve ever seen. Do you think I’ll follow you back to the Yun family to become a plaything?”

“You’re overthinking. I’m inviting you back to have you carry forward the Heavenly Demon Dance. Think about it—the students at Yushan Academy will all become pillars of the Great Tang in the future. Education regarding wine, women, wealth, and temper needs to be further strengthened. By then, the dancers you teach will become a checkpoint to test their mental fortitude. Only those who pass the examination can be competent for His Majesty’s grand ambition to spread martial power across the world in the future. What a noble profession this is! How can you call it a plaything?”

“In the Yun family, you’ll simply teach dancing girls. I don’t know if Master Sun has any way to fix your face. If Daoist Sun Simiao has a method, couldn’t you start living anew?”

“Yun Ye, dream on! This woman has already been bought by me. I spent a hundred taels of gold on her. Even if I chop this woman up and feed her to dogs, I won’t give her to you. Go dream!”

Takayama Yoko stood up and looked down at Yun Ye from above. One hand reached out to grab the veiled dancer’s hair.

Yun Ye slapped her hand away with a laugh and said, “Do you know that I’m the first among Chang’an’s Three Scourges? Snatching a dancer to take home is already a very disgraceful thing. Actually, the common people of Chang’an are all waiting for me to snatch you home. I really have no interest in snatching you. As for your hundred taels of gold—where did that money come from? Wasn’t it robbed from the Goryeo people? I’ve said before, your gold is my gold. Last time at sea I forgot to search your ship, so you saved some private funds. I won’t quibble with you about it.”

“Hurry back and continue preparing your dance. You still have to present your dance at His Majesty’s birthday banquet. Find some good women. Don’t bring up defective products like the one with one large breast and one small breast. It’s very disgraceful.”

Li Tai, wearing his pig snout, came over. With lingering fear, he pointed at the veiled dancer and asked Yun Ye, “Are you really planning to bring this woman back to the academy? Make her a teacher?”

“Of course that’s impossible. She’s different from Hypatia. There’s no way she could be a teacher. At most, like Huang Shu, she’d be support staff at the academy. As a teacher, not a single person in the entire academy would agree.”

“The person is mine. I’m going to tell the Court of State Ceremonies right now that you robbed the Wa princess and have His Majesty the Emperor punish you.”

“Qing Que, we brothers almost fell here today. Truly corpses strewn everywhere. Watching a dance and nearly fainting from being unable to catch our breath—truly bizarre. Chumo, wipe the blood off your forehead. Just say you fell from being drunk. They’re all drunk. If this gets out, how disgraceful.”

Cheng Chumo called up everyone’s guards and had them each take their young master home. To make it look convincing, Yun Ye poured a bit of strong liquor into each of their mouths before confidently letting people carry them away.

A woman who’d climbed back from a mass grave valued life far more than ordinary people. She didn’t, as others might guess, laugh three times toward the heavens after taking revenge and then commit suicide. That was the thinking of stupid donkeys. People who’d died once feared death even more.

Takayama Yoko watched helplessly as Yun Ye took that dancer away but had no recourse. This was Chang’an of the Great Tang. She, a Wa princess, couldn’t compare to a Tang commoner here. The Great Tang’s laws were formulated very selfishly. When Great Tang people killed people from other countries, it seemed no one had ever heard of anyone being punished. When foreigners killed Great Tang people, even running back to their own country wasn’t necessarily safe. Yun Ye loved the Great Tang’s laws to death.

When drinking companions got drunk, naturally they had to be sent home one by one. This was the rule and also etiquette. One needed to apologize to their elders. The three sober people went their separate ways to send people home, prepared to be scolded.