Wei Zheng gave Yun Ye a thorough lesson on feudal monarchical relations between ruler and minister. It turned out that emperors and ministers were always in opposition to each other. It turned out that the role of ministers was to dilute the emperor’s authority. It turned out that ministers and emperors were mutually dependent, mutually opposed, and mutually supportive, yet ultimately two classes that would eventually kill each other.

“This old man doesn’t need to consider himself, nor does he need to think about himself. While this old man lives, he will certainly attain high office and ride fine horses. But after this old man dies, His Majesty will definitely grind my bones to dust. Young man, that’s just how it is. Shandong and Hebei—these two regions are not wholeheartedly loyal to the court. The reason is that when Prince Qin was there, he killed too heavily. Almost every family had someone who died at Prince Qin’s hands. So those places have always been a concern troubling His Majesty’s heart. Back then, I rode alone to Shandong and spent great effort persuading the Shandong powerful clans to behave properly. But His Majesty, for the sake of empty reputation, offended all the Shandong powerful clans with a single ‘Clan Registry.'”

“When Gao Shilian originally compiled the ‘Clan Registry,’ he ranked the powerful Cui Wengan clan as the first clan, making His Majesty’s Guanlong Li family third-rate. Who knows how stupid Gao Shilian must have been to do such a thing. Sure enough, His Majesty was furious and had Zhangsun Wuji redraft it. Young man, it just so happened that at this time you destroyed the Dou family into ashes and dust. So His Majesty took out the ‘Clan Registry’ that Zhangsun Wuji had already completed and revised it again, and it became what it is now.”

“I’m not criticizing you, but the males in your Yun family, including your bastard son, only number four. Such a family was actually listed as third-rate. Do you think clan rankings are completed so casually?”

“They have to investigate eighteen generations of ancestors. No one was even embarrassed to count upward through your Yun family genealogy—they couldn’t find any trace beyond the ninth generation. Of these nine generations, four were tenant farmers. So they simply made you the founding ancestor. You inherited your master’s status, and only in this way could you barely qualify.”

“Have you noticed? His Majesty’s authority grows heavier and heavier. Aren’t the Bai Qi Si annoying? They even examine the memorials this old man has approved. If we hadn’t strongly remonstrated with His Majesty, the Bai Qi Si’s authority would be even greater.”

“How was being Yuezhou’s Regional Inspector? I know you enjoyed it very much because you’re fundamentally someone without great ambitions. Heaven is blind! A hoodlum without great ambitions somehow has a belly full of civil and military strategies and a gut full of cunning schemes. One achievement after another—you’ve racked them up quite happily.”

“Someone without great ambitions but full of strategies would be fine, but you’re also a human fox. Who in the entire court hasn’t seen that you treat the Empress like a mother with filial devotion? This is harmless enough. You were orphaned from childhood and mixed with a master who was like an immortal. Meeting Her Majesty to guide you and developing such feelings is normal. This is a virtue—’A teacher for a day is a father for life’—this principle makes sense too. You being as close as family with the imperial family is your good fortune; no one says anything about it.”

“But why did you have to talk about the matter of the Shandong feng shan ceremony for no reason? What does that have to do with you? Weren’t His Majesty’s authority heavy enough for you? You twisted this old man’s words until I was left speechless. If he goes to Mount Tai solely to boast of his achievements and perform the feng shan, this old man absolutely won’t obstruct it. Can’t you see the butcher’s knife His Majesty has hidden in his sleeve?”

“His Majesty is a martial emperor. What does he believe in most deeply? It’s might, it’s military force. That’s why our dynasty had the Xuanwu Gate Incident—imprisoning his father, killing his elder brother, murdering his younger brother and violating his sister-in-law, violating his younger brother’s wife. Which of these doesn’t prove his obsession with violence?”

“The Bai Qi Si originated from the Prince of Qin’s Residence. Do you know what they’ve been doing these years? A Liangzhou Regional Inspector privately criticized His Majesty a few times. When the man from Bai Qi Si who had been hiding in his household as a stableman stepped forward, the Liangzhou Regional Inspector was scared out of his wits. He poisoned his entire family that very night and hanged himself in the public hall.”

“Young man, of course you don’t fear the Bai Qi Si. In Yuezhou you used the Bai Qi Si like dogs, and no one dared say a word against it. You casually altered imperial edicts, and His Majesty just laughed it off. Young man, in the Zhenguan reign, only you live most comfortably as a marquis.”

“Li Jing’s achievements are greater than yours, right? What’s he doing? He shuts his gate and drinks alone, not even visiting his younger brother Li Baiyao’s home. Fang Xuanling is the Prime Minister. His Majesty insisted on bestowing palace maids upon him—did he dare accept? If he accepted, that would be planting spies by his side. How could he live after that? Madam Fang, risking damage to her reputation and not caring about her life, drank that bowl of vinegar. Young man, think about it—His Majesty said it was a bowl of poison. Who would think it was vinegar?”

“Why did Madam Fang drink it? Because if she didn’t, people from the Bai Qi Si would enter the household. It would be like wolves entering a sheep pen. From then on, the slightest carelessness would bring disaster of family destruction and death. She risked drinking it to earn Old Fang a clean home. Who knows that after returning home, the husband and wife held each other and cried bitterly?”

“Last time, Du Ruhui nearly faced eternal disaster because of one of your small riddles. If Zhang Liang hadn’t jumped out himself, Old Du’s days would definitely have been very miserable.”

“Mencius told King Xuan of Qi: ‘If the ruler regards his ministers as his hands and feet, then the ministers will regard him as their heart and belly. If the ruler regards his ministers as dogs and horses, then the ministers will regard him as an ordinary person. If the ruler regards his ministers as dirt and weeds, then the ministers will regard him as an enemy.'”

“Master Guo Huai said to King Zhao of Yan at the Golden Terrace: ‘An emperor associates with teachers, a king associates with friends, a hegemon associates with ministers, and a fallen state associates with servants.'”

“These two were ancient sages. The theories they summarized are still worth emulating today. Yun Ye, ultimately you are a minister. You are not imperial family. Even if you are a Prince Consort, you are still not imperial family.”

“This old man has never heard of anyone who betrayed their own position being able to live freely and comfortably. You have a carefree nature. Teaching at the academy, like a free-floating cloud or wild crane—what’s wrong with that? Slowly wait for your children to grow up, then spread branches and scatter leaves—a vast family will form. Why must you meddle in court disputes? Back when all the men of the Lu family died, didn’t you become depressed for a long time? You can’t bear to see people die, so don’t push people to death.”

Wei Zheng spoke torrentially, saying everything very bluntly without the slightest beating around the bush. He didn’t even have the slightest intention of concealing things for those in authority. He just exposed his venomous tongue so nakedly, completely revealing Li Er’s unknown side before Yun Ye.

Yun Ye was so surprised that he forgot to eat his beans. He blinked his eyes watching the torrential words pour forth from within Wei Zheng’s thick beard, simply not knowing what attitude he should take in response. Should he express anger or should he express agreement? Wei Zheng had one thing right—the emperor’s authority couldn’t be unlimited; otherwise something as annoying as a deity would easily appear.

He said that after his death his bones would be ground to dust. Yun Ye could now definitely tell him he was right. Although his bones weren’t ground to dust, corpse-whipping was no different from grinding bones to dust, was it? His mouth opened twice but he couldn’t speak.

“Are you very surprised? This old man also has such an unrestrained day? Speaking this way is to tell you the facts. His Majesty is indeed an excellent emperor, but hidden in his heart is a fierce tiger, a fierce tiger that will pounce out to devour people at any moment. What we must do is put shackles on this fierce tiger and not let it jump out to harm people. You are someone who values relationships and righteousness. We don’t need your participation—you just need to stand aside and observe. Ludongzan has returned to Tubo to bring reinforcements. When he comes back, you two still have to compete. Can you meddle less in other matters?”

“No. At least not regarding the Empress’s matter. You’re right—His Majesty and the Empress treat me as close as a nephew. Even when I’ve poked holes in the sky, they’ve been willing to take responsibility for me. When you compete with His Majesty, everyone needs to choose sides. I naturally stand on the side of His Majesty and the Empress. People must always have a position. Those sitting on the fence are called fence-sitters. Once great storms appear, the first to be finished are the fence-sitters. Wei Zheng, all human hearts are made of flesh. His Majesty and Her Majesty are good to me, so I will naturally choose to stand on their side.”

“This has nothing to do with great principles, nothing to do with right and wrong, and nothing even to do with reason. Whether His Majesty is the strong party or the weak party, I stand on their side.” After thinking for a moment, Yun Ye said solemnly to Wei Zheng.

Regardless of right or wrong, the Yun family needed a position. The greatest taboo in officialdom was being a fence-sitter. In the future, no matter which side won, the first to be eliminated would be the fence-sitters, because your goals were unclear, so you’d be treated as the most dangerous target in priority position for elimination.

The trick of Bian Zhuang stabbing the tigers wasn’t fun to play. Many times Bian Zhuang was bitten to death alive by two tigers. Wei Zheng was giving him a terrible suggestion, or perhaps there were other purposes within it?

Since coming to Great Tang, Yun Ye couldn’t distinguish the difference between loyal ministers and treacherous ministers. Many times his affairs were ruined precisely at the hands of loyal ministers like Wei Zheng, while treacherous ministers like Xu Jingzong were actually a great help to him. Whose words could be trusted? Whose words couldn’t be trusted? This required consideration.

Yun Ye had no objection to limiting imperial authority. Even if imperial authority were completely hollowed out and everyone implemented a prime ministerial system, Yun Ye would have no objection. The problem wasn’t here, but rather Wei Zheng’s naked warning made him vigilant. Politicians were no good. Those of great virtue and great loyalty were also those of great treachery and great evil. These two could be completely interchangeable. If they wanted to deal with you, whether loyal or treacherous, there was no problem either way.

Wei Zheng appeared extremely carefree. He shook his robe and stood up, disgustingly patted Yun Ye’s shoulder twice, lifted the door curtain and went out. Yun Ye could even hear him exchanging pleasantries and everyday chat with the proprietor. There was nothing wrong with this—Wei Zheng’s home was right in this small alley.

Whenever Yun Ye couldn’t see clearly or grasp things firmly, he would go consult one person. This person was neither Li Gang nor Cheng Yaojin. The only person Yun Ye could unconditionally trust was Niu Jinda. So Yun Ye didn’t rush to leave Chang’an City but instead came to the Niu family residence in Xinghua Ward.

Ever since her grandson and granddaughter were brought back, Aunt Niu was unwilling to leave Xinghua Ward anymore, because the conditions here were the best and the two children liked it here most. In order to make the two grandchildren eat well, Aunt Niu even personally went to Xinyue to have the Yun family build a hothouse for the Niu family in the capital. It wouldn’t do for her little grandson to have no green vegetables to eat in winter. Aunt Niu had never thought much of the green vegetables sold outside.