Upon returning to Yongzhou, Yun Ye decided to hide himself completely. He hid in the cellar teaching Li Rong the phonetic alphabet. There was no other way—if he used the Yinfu Jing, it would easily make people speculate in bad directions. The pinyin system had no such problem. Even if father and son cursed Li’er in their letters, Li’er wouldn’t understand it even if he held it in his hands.

You can’t understand because your learning is insufficient. But someone learned like Yun Ye, holding a letter written in pinyin, could interpret it however he wanted. This was the privilege of those standing at the commanding heights of knowledge.

Li Tai knew about this thing, but he was very clever not to learn it. When Yun Ye taught him, he only familiarized himself with it briefly then let it go. He considered it the Yun family’s own learning. Besides, it was just a writing method—it didn’t count as a big deal.

Di Renjie and Xiao Wu had also learned it, but Yun Ye alone hadn’t taught this skill to Shishi. Li Rong followed his father learning pinyin. Xinyue moved a chair to sit at the cellar entrance. When Li Anlan returned from Guangzhou and looked for her son and husband, she was informed by servants that the Marquis and the young prince were in the cellar.

Xinyue held a bowl of osmanthus tea sitting in the tree shade by the cellar edge, her appearance very leisurely. Seeing Li Anlan hurrying over, she went up and said: “Husband is doing learning with Rong’er. Sister, you’d better not disturb them.”

Li Anlan said strangely: “Don’t they do learning frequently? I’ve also watched no less than a hundred times. Why can’t I watch today? The father and son even hid in the cellar—how can that be a place to teach? Don’t let the two of them get stifled.” Having said this, she was about to enter.

Seeing Xinyue blocking in front of her without yielding, she became a bit unhappy: “Can’t I even listen?”

Xinyue nodded and said: “Aside from their master-disciple father-son relationship, no one else can listen. I also don’t know what exactly is being taught. It appears to be secret teachings that cannot be revealed from their school. Shou’er has also learned some—babbling speech, not knowing what he’s saying. I asked Shou’er, but he said Father said not to let women ask randomly, so you needn’t expect Rong’er to tell you either.”

Hearing Xinyue explain this way, Li Anlan immediately smiled like a flower. That her husband didn’t hide anything from Li Rong was what she was happy to see. In great households such things were common. Some families even only taught core learning to legitimate sons. Now that her husband treated Rong’er like a legitimate son, what did she have to complain about?

“Elder sister speaks correctly. This younger sister was presumptuous. Indeed I shouldn’t ask too much. Previously I’ve seen husband and Rong’er speaking in a very strange tone that I couldn’t understand. It’s probably great learning from their school. You’re guarding here—younger sister brought back some kumquats from Guangzhou with very good flavor. I’ll fetch them right away and ask elder sister to taste them.”

Xinyue nodded reservedly. When Li Anlan wanted to flatter, she naturally had to accept. Such times were too rare. Her husband had many strange learnings—she wasn’t worried they’d all be learned away by the time they reached Shou’er.

Only when the sun tilted west did Yun Ye emerge from the cellar with Li Rong. Touching his head, he said: “This learning must be paired with the standard speech we commonly speak to match. That your progress is slower is understandable. Since childhood you weren’t by Father’s side—following your mother you learned a mouthful of Chang’an dialect. Feeling awkward for a while is normal—it doesn’t matter. Father will still stay in Lingnan for over a year. We’ll learn slowly. After learning it thoroughly, you’ll feel it’s actually not difficult at all. In the future, when there are things not good for outsiders to know, use this method to write. Aside from us few, no one will know—not even your mother.”

Li Rong obediently nodded in agreement. With a trace of small cunning, he pulled out from behind his waist an extremely small and exquisite crossbow, only palm-sized. Fitted with two-inch long crossbow bolts, it was an excellent toy. But from the metallic luster on the crossbow arm, Yun Ye could see this thing seemed not merely as simple as a toy.

“Eunuch Tie gave it to me, saying it’s for my self-defense.”

Yun Ye doubtfully shot once at a large tree fifteen paces away. With a thud, the two-inch crossbow bolt embedded in the tree trunk. Yun Ye expended considerable effort to pull the bolt from the trunk. Old Tie had gone a bit too far. This soft steel was meant to be used on the Great Emperor—how could it be made into a small plaything for a child? If it misfired, injuring anyone would be bad.

“Have your mother keep this for you. Don’t play with it now—it’s very dangerous. If it shoots into someone’s eye, that would be troublesome.” Yun Ye handed the crossbow to Li Anlan who came up to meet them.

Who knew Li Anlan would say unconcernedly: “Husband worries too much. I also contacted bows and arrows at this age. Not only me—Chengqian and Qing Que were also like this. When I was ten years old, Mother Empress’s gift to me was a short dagger. Rong’er should also reach the time when he knows how to protect himself.”

Yun Ye patted his forehead. When he looked at Li Rong, he always subconsciously treated him as a child from a thousand years later. People of the Great Tang all matured early. Eight-year-old children had already reached the time to receive various skills. Wealthy families would even find etiquette teachers for children at this age. The great separation between men and women, as well as the differences in physical characteristics, all belonged to the etiquette teacher’s educational scope.

Back then when Yun Ye was fourteen or fifteen, Zhangsun had forcibly made up this lesson. An elderly palace maid holding two naked little wooden figures gestured this way and that. Li Chengqian and Li Tai watched with red faces and ears. Yun Ye watched with complete disinterest.

However, he believed this kind of education was correct. Later generations also had such education, only not as explicit as the Great Tang. Hiring an etiquette teacher required Li Anlan to personally take action—they couldn’t find someone from their own household. In Lingnan, only a few great families had them. The Feng family naturally also had them.

These words wouldn’t be said to Li Anlan right now. Since playing with this thing now had no problem, Yun Ye felt that playing crossbows with his son was more important than accompanying two wives for afternoon tea.

Days passed peacefully and harmoniously, until Li Tai furiously overturned Yun Ye’s dining table. Grabbing the clueless Yun Ye, he kept asking why. Yun Ye knew the good days were gone forever.

Calmly finishing the porridge in his hand, he listened to Li Tai’s incessant angry cursing, hoping to get some clues from these words.

“I, Li Tai, am dignified princely nobility—how dare she do this! Since she has a child, it should be surnamed Li. Where is the reason for imperial bloodline to flow outward? I was already prepared to memorialize requesting her ennoblement as a consort. Principal consort is断 断无可能 断无可能definitely impossible—the position of secondary consort would be sufficient to demonstrate my, Li Tai’s, affection, wouldn’t it…”

“Ye Zi, why does she insist the child is hers? Since having the child, she avoids me everywhere, never seeing me again. What’s the reasoning? How can Meng family village customs be used on me?”

From Li Tai’s frenzied words, he finally understood. Hipatia was pregnant, but she didn’t believe Li Tai had ownership rights over the child. She might have misunderstood—as long as it was Li Tai’s bloodline, there was absolutely no reason for it to flow outward. No matter what she thought, the child would ultimately have to return to Li Tai’s side.

Just like Li Rong—although Li Anlan gave birth to him, if Yun Ye insisted Li Rong return home, Li Anlan absolutely had no power to prevent it, let alone the even weaker Hipatia.

This woman still liked no one. Whether Yun Ye himself or Li Tai, both had produced illusions. What she needed was a child. At this moment Yun Ye believed that if he had been the one to hoist Hipatia away that night, she wouldn’t have resisted either. Among Great Tang men, she only regarded these two. As long as she had a child—as for who the child’s father was, she didn’t care.

This damned woman was truly courting death. She grew up in the West and didn’t understand what bloodline meant in the eyes of Great Tang people. The more noble the bloodline, the stronger this exclusivity, especially for the Li family.

“This is your problem, not mine. This issue is absolutely a very private matter. Qing Que, you need to make your own decision. Any advice I give you seems wrong. Have a good talk with her. This is the Great Tang, not their licentious Egypt. Actions must have limits.”

Li Tai sat down, shook his head and said: “That woman has gone mad. As soon as I mention the child, she says it’s hers. When pressed urgently, she takes a knife and gestures at her belly, saying she’ll cut it open right now and take it out for me. In less than three months, she’s become this unreasonable. I’m furious to the point of madness, yet she remains unmoved, only saying that what happened between her and me was a beautiful dream at the moon-jumping festival.”

“Good heavens, if this matter spreads, where will I, Li Tai, have even half a bit of face left? Not to mention me—even my Imperial Father and Mother Empress absolutely won’t agree. The Li family takes what they want in the Great Tang—why should Hipatia be an exception?”

Yun Ye glanced at those two heads outside the window lattice and knew Xinyue and Li Anlan were eavesdropping. The most nervous was still Li Anlan. Her most terrifying nightmare in life was Yun Ye taking Li Rong away.

“Qing Que, the reason I agreed to give the child to Anlan was because I worried she’d be alone and helpless in Lingnan. Having a child to accompany her, this lifetime would be stable. It’s because I love her and pity her. Now you must make a decision—you must weigh her position in your heart. If she’s more important than the child, then there’s nothing wrong with raising the child by her side. If the child is more important than her, you must make a decisive decision. After the child is born, everything must be arranged properly. Having the child suffer harm would be the most unworthy thing.”

Li Tai dejectedly leaned his head against the chair back and said quietly: “I thought she had fallen in love with me. As it turns out, this was an illusion. That night you said, ‘May your spring dreams leave no trace.’ Unexpectedly it came true—truly no trace remains. This matter must be sealed from now on. Have Xinyue and my elder sister come in.”

Yun Ye didn’t go see Hipatia. Doing this was truly too excessive. If Li Tai coveted her beauty, he would have forcibly taken her who knows how many times already. Her wanting to maintain her intact virtue was just a joke. Precisely because of the bonds of friendship, she could maneuver freely. This extremely selfish behavior made Yun Ye feel disgust toward Hipatia for the first time.

“I am the daughter of the goddess of misfortune. Only after coming to the Great Tang did I become the favored one of the goddess of fortune. From misfortune to fortune, I want even more. This is not only immoral but even cruel—I know this. From now on I will never have any man again, until I die.”

“I want a child, a child conceived together with someone I love. I am this selfish. No matter what hardships I encounter, I will not give up. Hipatia needs an heir.”

Looking at the note Hipatia sent over, both Yun Ye and Li Tai sighed deeply. Such a guarantee had not the slightest meaning.