Yun Ye accompanied Li Er and at the instant the sun set, they saw the patterns appearing through the jade plaques. Li Er naturally understood very clearly about the Bin Mei people, but regarding the one-horned demon king and the responding dragon, he knew nothing at all. The monarch and minister sat in the empty palace hall, watching as the patterns appeared, and watching as they naturally faded away. The sky had completely darkened, and neither of the two men had said a word.
In winter, darkness came relatively early. Yun Ye couldn’t stay in the palace and could only take leave of the Emperor. Li Er waved his hand indicating agreement. Once out of the palace gate, he headed straight for Cheng Yaojin’s house. Since the Emperor had asked him to reassure these old ministers, he naturally had to do it.
The words Li Er had requested Yun Ye convey, Yun Ye recited to Cheng Yaojin like reciting from a book. He also told Old Cheng in complete detail about his actions in the imperial palace.
Old Cheng didn’t pay attention to what Li Er had said. Opening his mouth, he asked Yun Ye what his intention was in handing over the immortal secrets to the Emperor.
“Your nephew is afraid. Now that the Great Tang has peace throughout the four seas, yet His Majesty is establishing great ambitions—no matter what ambition it is, it will cause unprecedented impact on the Great Tang. Rather than face an unknown crisis, it’s better to let His Majesty put his thoughts into finding the White Jade Capital. This way we can still see the road ahead and avoid being led into a ditch by His Majesty’s new great ambitions.”
When Yun Ye discovered that Li Er was governing diligently and could even be said to be sleeping on brushwood and tasting gall, he knew things were bad. Wang Ergou’s great ambition was to be able to marry that fat widow under the locust tree. Qian Sanmazi’s great ambition was to strive to earn fifty silver coins this year. Yun Ye’s ambition was to be able to idle away eating and waiting for death. None of these were remarkable. But Li Er’s ambitions were frightening—heaven knew what he wanted to do. If his brain had a spasm and he suddenly wanted to revolutionize something or communize something, it would be a major disaster, and the landlord families would have no way to continue living.
The copper coins might just be an inducement. What if he thought this world was very unfair to the poor and planned to make everyone equally poor? Then the painstaking effort Yun Ye had put in for more than ten years would all be wasted. The most terrifying thing about a person is the uncertainty of his thoughts. Li Er was now the person with the greatest power on this planet. In a certain sense, he could even do as he pleased. When a person gets tired of being human, he thinks about becoming a god. The historically famous Lingyan Pavilion hadn’t appeared—how could this make Yun Ye feel at ease? Without the Lingyan Pavilion, there was no heartfelt respect. The meritorious officials’ future had no guarantee whatsoever—their life and death hung on the Emperor’s single thought. This truly was the world’s great terror.
The Great Tang was developing very well. If it continued developing this way, in less than ten years, the realm could truly achieve adequate food and clothing. There was no need to create turmoil. Yun Ye didn’t believe that with Li Er’s wisdom, in the environment of feudal imperial rule, he could think of a better method. Slogans were all empty—things you ate and wore were what was real. Old farmers’ thinking was most conservative, but it was most practical.
Old Niu and Old Qin, who had hurried over, also looked at each other. The restraining effect of ministers on the Emperor was becoming smaller and smaller. Originally, there had been a delicate balance between the two. Strong ministers and weak ruler wasn’t a good thing; strong ruler and weak ministers also wasn’t necessarily a good thing. Moreover, now Li Er was too powerful—the realm could almost be said to be his alone.
“Boy, this is the old strategy of Korea exhausting Qin. Using the White Jade Capital to tie down His Majesty’s steps is identical to Korea using the Zhengguo Canal to exhaust Qin. Zheng Guo succeeded and delayed the time of Korea’s destruction, but left the six states with an even more powerful Qin. Have you considered that once His Majesty grasps divine power, that will be most terrifying?” Qin Qiong said to Yun Ye with deep concern.
“Although I haven’t been to the White Jade Capital, I dare say the White Jade Capital is just a big joke. The Bin Mei people affair already made me almost split my belly laughing. I very much look forward to His Majesty’s reaction after being frustrated in the White Jade Capital matter—I don’t know if it can wear away His Majesty’s great ambitions.”
“Speaking of which, it’s shameful. Other emperors lack such perseverance and determination, but our Majesty’s perseverance and determination are extraordinarily strong. Now His Majesty is just forty-three years old—it can be said he’s reached the most mature time of life experience and wisdom. This time happens to be an emperor’s golden years, yet I have no choice but to resort to this inferior strategy. Speaking of it, I truly feel guilty in my heart.”
Niu Jinda shook his head: “Thinking this way isn’t right, boy. When matters come to a head, you need courage! Since you’ve drawn the bow, there’s no arrow turning back. We’re not harming anyone—we’re only protecting ourselves.”
Yun Ye left the Cheng household and despondently made his way to his own home in Xinghua Ward. The moon was at its zenith. The streets were completely empty of people. The lanterns bearing the character Yun shone out pale lamplight that mixed into the moonlight until they could no longer be distinguished from each other.
He had already passed his home gate three times, yet Wang Cai still carried Yun Ye strolling on the streets. Liu Jinbao stopped the guards who wanted to remind the Marquis. He knew the Marquis was thinking about matters—this wasn’t the right time to disturb him.
Wang Cai walked until he was tired, then returned home on his own. When he reached the stable’s position, only then did he snort loudly to remind Yun Ye it was time to dismount. He was preparing to eat some night grass and then sleep. This brought Yun Ye back to his senses. He dismounted, and without even washing up, returned to his room and collapsed into sleep.
Before dawn he got up again, hurriedly rushed to the imperial palace, submitted his plaque requesting an audience with the Emperor. Li Er had just finished practicing archery. Setting down his bow and arrows, he permitted Yun Ye to come over.
“Didn’t sleep well? Your eye circles are all black. Serve him a bowl of millet porridge too.” Li Er strictly observed the ancient precept of not speaking while eating or sleeping. The two of them, one sitting and one standing, finished breakfast. Li Er smiled and asked Yun Ye: “What is your purpose in coming to see me today? Could it be you regret giving me the jade plaques yesterday?”
“I do regret it somewhat. I myself consider them useless waste, yet I gave them to Your Majesty to make you worry and work hard. This really was improper. If Your Majesty becomes obsessed with this path, that would be my great crime.”
This was the result of Yun Ye’s night of thinking. Since he had chosen to submit to Li Er, then he’d best be wholehearted about it. History’s roads were all blazed by people. The road ahead was dark and no one could see it—at this time, what one should most do was accompany Li Er walking in the dark, not obstruct his attempts. Everyone huddling together meant they wouldn’t easily fall into ditches. Yan Zhitui had once spoken of consistency—previously he didn’t understand, but now it was clear. In fact, the one afraid of exploring and advancing was himself, not Li Er.
“It’s useless, boy. A mere White Jade Capital can’t hold back my steps, nor can it erode my mental faculties. I received the mandate from heaven, yet I want to see what heaven actually is. Is the White Jade Capital the most powerful delaying tactic you can produce?”
“Yesterday when I saw you bring out the White Jade Capital jade plaques, my heart felt extremely desolate, thinking that even you no longer had the courage to follow me forward. This morning seeing you come over, my heart is greatly comforted. Take back the plaques. If you have the time, research them. If you don’t have time to research them, just throw them in the mystery forest. When we truly are desperately bored, then we’ll unravel the secrets within. Just treat it as a kind of game.”
“Having eaten your fill, just sleep well. Don’t overthink. I won’t change anything—I just want to see how far this road we’re walking can go, what kind of effects it will produce.”
Yun Ye again carried the jade plaques out of the palace gate. Zhangsun watched Yun Ye’s departing back and asked Li Er thoughtfully: “What is Your Majesty’s reasoning in doing this? You continuously applied sufficient pressure on Yun Ye—was it all to wait for this moment?”
“A slippery character is a slippery character, yet he still has a trace of loyal and prudent heart. The first time I applied pressure, he fled far away to Lingnan. The second time I applied pressure, he brought out the White Jade Capital. Not bad—although these two methods were simple, they were remarkably effective. Just now I almost didn’t want to return his jade plaques to him. Dragging my legs—this is probably the limit of what he can do. Just like this, he’s still tormented to death. That’s about it. From now on, I can use him with confidence. I will no longer pursue his origins. Those people who have been patrolling the Longyou wilderness these years can come back now. I believe his words.”
Having gotten back the jade plaques, Yun Ye immediately felt his whole body refreshed. He ultimately hadn’t lost his bottom line as a person. Now Yun Ye could again jest and scold at all people without scruple. He could feel that the dark clouds shrouding him had all dispersed. It turned out that fear came from himself and wasn’t imposed on him by others.
Truly, if a person is in a thorn forest and doesn’t move, he won’t be pricked and injured. Only when deluded thoughts arise do all things get pricked and wounded. Just now when passing by Taiye Pool, those few wild ducks detained in that puddle there were already gone. They should have flown away too. The north wind had risen—Taiye Pool was about to completely freeze over.
Yun Ye returned to Yushan, set down all his worries, and honestly taught. Every day he arranged his coursework to be completely full. Besides handling official documents from the Lingnan navy, he was grading assignments.
To learn mathematics well, one must practice—calculate and solve various difficult problems. Thus, in the lower grade students’ textbooks appeared the classic student Xiao Ming and that crazy pool manager. As for those two horses galloping toward each other from Chang’an and Luoyang, they made the academy students complain endlessly.
To help Li Tai, Yun Ye explained the most primitive aerodynamics to Li Tai and Hypatia. Li Tai couldn’t understand that when his fine horse was galloping, it would encounter air resistance and even encounter buoyancy. If the speed was too fast, the buoyancy itself could lift up the fine horse. As for what streamlining was, he understood even less. No matter how many water drops Yun Ye dripped out from test tubes, it was to no avail.
Yun Ye didn’t care. What he had learned back then was all that remained. Whether you understand or not, you bastard, I myself don’t even understand what I’m saying. He could only search his brain exhaustively and dig out those things that were already blurred, pouring them all into him in one go. Who cares whether you understand or not?
Hypatia rode a horse with her cloak catching the wind, and as a result was blown off the horse by the strong wind and sprained her ankle. Disregarding the pain, she installed a windmill on the horse’s belly, blocking all four sides and leaving only the bottom direction unblocked. When the horse galloped, the windmill indeed began turning. The faster the horse galloped, the faster the windmill turned. She believed that the force making the windmill turn was the so-called buoyancy.