“Brother Keming, when my son returned from the pleasure house completely drunk two days ago, this old man didn’t have the slightest bit of resentment in his heart. Just looking at how his clothes were soaked through with sweat, he’d clearly fainted. That Cheng family boy said he was drunk—lying with his eyes wide open—yet it warmed this old man’s heart.”

“So Yiai also went to watch that day’s Heavenly Demon Dance? My son was sent back by Yun Ye. His symptoms were exactly the same as Yiai’s—clearly he’d fainted. Yun Ye also said he was drunk. These children secretly went to scout ahead for us, afraid we’d worry, so they just casually sprinkled some alcohol on themselves and said they were drunk. Who could they fool?”

“This morning after Yiai woke up, he had a detailed talk with this old man. Last night’s Heavenly Demon Dance was indeed extremely dangerous. Even though Yiai and the others took the abstinence medicine given by Daoist Sun, they were still confused to the point of dizziness. Even wearing pig snouts didn’t have much effect. However, there were some who endured—Yun Ye, Cheng Chumo, and His Highness Prince Wei. Three people lasted until the end.”

“Haha, they’re all good children. Whether they endured or not, they’re all filial sons. A hundred types of rice feed a hundred types of people. As long as these children uphold filial piety, that’s enough to establish themselves in Chang’an. Yun Ye and Prince Wei don’t count—they were already among the best of men to begin with. Even Cheng Chumo could endure—there’s no reason we old fellows couldn’t endure it, right? Haha, you and I have dealt with dangers our whole lives. This time it’s just a small threshold. We’ll step over it with a stretch of the leg.”

The two bigwigs of the Secretariat flipped through the documents in their hands while chatting idly. Their moods seemed very pleasant. The gloom that Peiji had brought to the court seemed to have dissipated all at once.

The tiny Wa Kingdom originally wasn’t worth such attention, but the national letter from the Land of the Rising Sun to the Land of the Setting Sun—just this opening of the diplomatic letter alone—made countless court officials furious with rage. Violent generals nearly went mad, roaring about exterminating this nation, destroying its tributes, and burning its ancestral temples. Sailing ships for a distant expedition wasn’t something Li Er could consider now. There were too many uncertain factors. The current urgent matter was to first destroy the Tuyuhun people’s confidence so they wouldn’t dare have the slightest disrespectful intention. That was the proper course.

So Li Er suppressed his anger and watched the Wa princess jump up and down. He just hadn’t anticipated that this woman would actually create a Heavenly Demon Dance gathering and get Peiji killed. This made the entire Great Tang lose face. With Li Er’s birthday approaching, envoys from all quarters were lingering in Chang’an. Even if he wanted to strangle that detestable woman, there was no way to do it now.

Li Er wasn’t present at that day’s dance party, but an extremely detailed report lay on his desk. When Zhangsun saw Yun Ye push Takayama Yoko’s head aside again and again, she laughed until she could barely breathe.

Zhangsun was also very satisfied with Li Tai’s performance. Although he was somewhat embarrassed from beginning to end, he ultimately held on. Worthy of being her genius son. If that veiled dancer hadn’t appeared, Qing Que definitely would have emerged unscathed.

“Empress, Yun Ye brought that woman to the academy. Hmph, hmph, what audacity! That woman is a consort favored by Father Emperor. For the sake of the imperial family’s face, she should be sent to Ganye Temple to take the tonsure. What does it mean for him to bring her back to the academy?”

“Your Majesty, don’t forget that woman is a dead person. This consort’s harem roster doesn’t have this woman on it. The Imperial Clan Court has no record either. The Grand Emperor also thinks this woman is dead. Since she’s dead, why keep thinking about her? She has no offspring, no clan, and her face has been completely ruined. She’s destined to be a lonely ghost. Just pretend you don’t see this little insect under your feet. Lift your foot and step somewhere else.”

Li Er nodded. This year a total of only sixteen people had been executed. This was a good omen. If fewer than twenty people died by year’s end, it would be a year of great governance. He cared very much about this matter now. As for a person who’d suffered punishment, just let her live.

“Your Majesty, intelligence reports say Yun Ye seems to have found a method to counter the Heavenly Demon Dance. What do you think?”

“These trivial matters are originally what he should handle. I have no time to manage such things. That day I’m going to the Yun estate to see how rice noodles are made—that’s the important matter. The potato yield is too high. We were originally worried about storage issues. Now there’s no need to worry. That boy sent rice noodles to the palace. The taste is indeed not bad. I ate a lot last night. I want those meatballs again for lunch today.”

“This consort personally participated in making rice noodles. Many were made in the imperial palace. The御花园 is full of drying rice noodles. The Grand Emperor even thought it was new scenery and kept saying how beautiful it was.”

“It is indeed beautiful. There are several kinds of scenery I can never see enough of. One is golden wheat fields, another is orchards heavy with fruit, another is grasslands covered with cattle and sheep, and then there are dark masses of military formations. Now there’s one more—vast expanses of white rice noodles. Haha, with these, mountains and waters need not be viewed.”

“Yun Ye still insisted on taking a thousand strings of cash from this consort, saying it was the fee for selling the academy’s patent. For common small households, three hundred coins is enough, but when it comes to the imperial family, he insisted on a thousand strings. I originally thought it would be a gift to the imperial family. Who knew in the end, not a single coin less would do.”

“Then there’s no problem. If common small households were also charged a thousand strings, I would take action. Qing Que says that in the future, wool-weaving machines will also follow this path. The imperial family can’t possibly hold all industries in its palm. Qing Que hinted in his words that he wanted Yun Ye to get involved, but that boy was completely unmoved. He planted a lot of cotton in the wasteland, saying that stuff is the good thing. If we keep using wool, eventually a tragedy of sheep eating people will occur. Qing Que didn’t understand what ‘sheep eating people’ meant, so he came to ask me. After thinking about it for a long time, I finally understood. When wool-weaving methods spread out, wool will be in short supply. More people will raise sheep, and the grasslands needed will grow larger and larger. In the end, perhaps even good farmland will be planted with grass to raise sheep. After all, the profit from raising sheep is greater than farming. Encroaching a little doesn’t matter, but if it’s too much, those who farm will have no livelihood. Perhaps people really will die. That’s what he meant by ‘sheep eating people.’ Now this boy has more and more foresight. Nurture him for a few more years, and in the future he’ll definitely be a good helper.”

As long as court matters were involved, Zhangsun would immediately shut her mouth. However, when it came to song and dance, she had the say. Yun Ye would enter the palace today to explain the details to her, so she left Wanmin Palace early and returned to her residence to wait for Yun Ye’s arrival.

The Yun family inexplicably received many lavish gifts. Looking through the gift lists, they were all from Chang’an’s noble families. The accompanying cards were all red background with black characters—these were gifts personally selected by the family heads. Without a major matter, they wouldn’t be this solemn.

Indeed, no matter whose family had a filial son, the father would be pleased. Chai Shao’s gift was the most special—a pair of bronze wine vessels. Just looking at the green patina, one could tell they were antiques. They’d already been handled until they turned black. They must be Chai Shao’s beloved objects.

For powerful families not to have a couple of antiques would truly be laughable. Going to the Yan family, even the bronze door knockers on their gate might be several hundred years old. Their hospitality was unbearably elegant and refined.

“Old master, can we two please not use bronze chopsticks? Look at these chopsticks—so big and heavy. It takes so much effort to pick up food. Your health isn’t good. Let’s use bamboo chopsticks instead. Look, I can’t even pick up rice noodles. They’ve fallen on my robe twice.”

“This old man also finds them annoying, but the family rules are like this. Entertaining guests has many rules—you don’t know. Gold chopsticks are even more annoying. This old man has to rest three times eating one meal. You’re not qualified to use gold or silver. Make do with bronze. The rice noodles are delicious, but a pity an old man like me can’t digest them. I can only watch you eat. The meatballs and tofu are mine. You eat all the vegetables and rice noodles.”

The Yan family’s guest meal was just four plates of dishes—vegetable tofu, bean sprouts, plus a finger-length fish. That was all. Under the old man’s strong insistence, they added a meatball casserole, loaded in a bronze tripod the size of a head, carried up by two servants. Yun Ye tried it—he couldn’t lift it with one hand.

“The ancients ate with this thing? Your ancestors—every time they ate, it was this troublesome?”

“Nonsense! Our ancestors were poor. One ladle of drink, one basket of food was sufficient. These things were all added later by us unworthy descendants. Now entertaining a guest requires four plates of dishes. Millet rice has also become white rice. Truly unfilial!”

“Saying it’s unfilial isn’t right. Aren’t His Majesty and the Great Tang’s civil and military officials working so hard precisely so all the common people under heaven can eat their fill and eat well? If you were still at one ladle of drink and one basket of food now, wouldn’t that mean our clan has been going in circles for a thousand years, that descendants through the generations are all fools? A thousand years and still not the slightest progress.”

“What the hell do you understand? Being able to eat one’s fill has only been a matter of these few years. Weren’t there plenty of people who starved to death in previous years? This old man is a hundred years old—by rights I should have some insight. Why would I be so happy seeing potatoes piled like mountains in the fields that I couldn’t sleep at night?”

Yun Ye shook his head and picked up the huge bronze spoon to help Yan Zhitui fish out the meatballs and tofu, placing them in his bronze bowl. He sat back down to wait for the old man’s explanation.

“Isn’t it because this old man is seeing such a grand scene for the first time? Back then when the Wagang Army opened the Eastern Granary of Luoyang, grain was piled like mountains, yet this old man had not the slightest bit of joy. That grain was all to be used as military provisions. Speaking of the Wagang Army distributing grain to the common people, do you know how much grain was distributed in total? Let me tell you, boy—six hundred dan. It wasn’t that the Wagang Army didn’t want to give more. It was because after all the killing, the remaining common people could only take away six hundred dan of grain. Tell me, how many people were left?”

This argument made Yun Ye’s hair stand on end. He asked in a trembling voice, “Old master, the army kills nobles, soldiers, and wealthy landlords—this boy can understand. But why, having already entered the city, did they still kill common people? If all the people are killed, who will pay taxes? Who will help them support the army?”

Yan Zhitui swallowed a piece of tofu before staring at Yun Ye and saying, “Then first tell this old man why you burned Bisha and Dawang cities to white ground? Dawang City was one thing—it was a military city. But Bisha City had forty thousand common people in it.”

Yun Ye’s chopsticks clattered onto the table. He held his head and said quietly, “Bisha City was easy to defend and hard to attack. If this boy wanted all his subordinates to return alive, I couldn’t consider anything else.”