Through wind and snow, a group of people on horseback slowly approached from the distant mountains. The leading man had his chest exposed, allowing the wind and snow to blow against it. His body seemed forged of steel and cast in iron. A tiger-skin hat sat askew on his head. Following beside him was an elderly man with a terrifying scar on his face. He wrapped himself tightly in a fur robe, seemingly unaccustomed to the northern cold. Behind them, in a carriage, a beautiful woman poked her head out from the window, curiously observing the vast white expanse of the Guanzhong plain.
“Zhongjian, once we enter Guanzhong, it’s Yun Ye’s territory. This old man is very worried he’ll suddenly attack. These nobles are the most shameless. This old man doesn’t understand why you must risk coming ashore?”
The old man had asked this question no fewer than ten times. As a pirate, he had an innate great fear of Chang’an.
The leading man laughed heartily and said, “Old Hu, in Yangzhou and Lingnan you can indeed see the shamelessness of the nobles, but once you enter Guanzhong, they become the most law-abiding good citizens in the world. You’re right—they are indeed the most shameless people, one set of behavior in public, another behind people’s backs. But in the Great Tang, I, Zhang Zhongjian, am also a law-abiding good citizen. What can he do to me? Though I’ve killed many, I haven’t been stained with Tang people’s blood. How many Tang merchant ships have received our kindness? They also hope I can dominate that sea region.”
“Moreover, my eldest brother is Li Jing. Even Yun Ye has to call him uncle when he sees him. Why should I fear him? I even want to take you all to the Yun Family for a feast. Damn it, once you eat a meal at his house, you’ll never forget it for the rest of your life.”
Seeing that Zhang Zhongjian had finally revealed his true intentions, Hu Tonghai also felt relieved. The Arab sea region had been very difficult to navigate recently. Arabs, Ceylonese, and those damned Koreans and Japanese had all set their sights on that prosperous sea region, causing continuous warfare at sea. The Lingnan naval forces controlled the strait and watched the excitement. As long as one didn’t enter the strait, they had nothing to do with each other. Pirates who entered the strait faced only certain death.
Everyone else had naval bases—only Qiu Ran Ke and his people didn’t. Although those slaves fought bravely and fearlessly, each warship lost meant one less ship. In this great sea game, Qiu Ran Ke was gradually falling to a disadvantage. Gao Shanyangzi had even joined forces with those Arabs and Ceylonese, preparing to eliminate Qiu Ran Ke in one fell swoop. Under such circumstances, without external support, Qiu Ran Ke would undoubtedly lose. For the fate of a large group of pirates, Qiu Ran Ke settled the pirates on a secret island and prepared to make a trip to Chang’an himself to meet with Li Jing, hoping to obtain some support.
Hu Tonghai should have stayed behind to control his subordinates, but Qiu Ran Ke was unconcerned. His subordinates were all homeless people—besides his taking them in, no one would take them in, so he confidently brought his most elite subordinates on a merchant ship into the South Sea. Beyond this consideration, most importantly, he wanted to keep Hu Tonghai by his side. Only this way could he ensure his pirate group wouldn’t mutiny. He didn’t want to experience the tragedy of brothers killing each other again. Even if the pirate group was gone, he was unwilling to encounter betrayal again.
For such a group to pass through provinces and prefectures wouldn’t normally be easy, but with the cover of Li Jing’s family merchant caravan, having a hundred or so foreign men aroused no inquiry, because the guarantor was Li Jing.
Upon entering Guanzhong, Qiu Ran Ke remembered it was already year’s end. In past years, drifting on the sea, he had no concept of spring, summer, autumn, and winter. Seeing every household’s newly replaced peach wood charms, he remembered it was already the new year.
On Ba Bridge there was not a soul. The willows on both sides had been stripped bare by people seeing others off. Two fine horses burst across Ba Bridge—one black, one red. Who else could they be but Li Jing and Hong Funv?
Unable to wait for the warhorses to stop, Li Jing jumped down from his horse and spread his arms, tightly embracing Qiu Ran Ke who was already waiting for him. Hong Funv also jumped down from her horse. After the two men embraced, she joyfully bowed to Qiu Ran Ke: “Second brother, how have you been?”
Qiu Ran Ke gripped Li Jing’s hand and said in a trembling voice, “Well, well…”
The Yun Family also had many guests. Han Zhe had left with Han Nu, but Xi Tong came with his son. Dan Ying also brought Daya and his two children back to Chang’an to visit family. Li An had to pay respects to his grandfather, so he also brought Shishi back to Chang’an. This year, all the princes outside the capital would return to the capital. The Li Family was preparing a large sacrificial ceremony, and the court’s suburban sacrifice would also be held after the beginning of spring. Sacrificial ceremonies were now the Great Tang’s most important court activities.
Ronghua Nu had also rushed back to Chang’an from Luoyang. She didn’t stay at the Yun Family residence but stayed in the post house provided by the Court of State Ceremonial. Her activities in Luoyang had ultimately won her the status of an official envoy.
The new year gift she gave to the Yun Family was quite shabby—just a tapestry. The craftsmanship couldn’t even compare to Chenxin’s. The steward took it and placed it in the storeroom. Such crude things wouldn’t be used by the master’s family.
This year there were many polar bear pelts. Dan Ying, Xi Tong, and his son had made a trip to the north, witnessed the hot sea, and also witnessed the aurora. Only then did Xi Tong understand that the aurora appeared every year—it wasn’t as Tian Xiangzi had thought, that the aurora existed because he himself had come to the Arctic.
Because the objective this time was very clear and they were well prepared, Dan Ying and Xi Tong hunted many white bears in the Arctic. A strange large-antlered animal was captured by them as labor to transport those precious furs back from the snowfield. Xi Tong, now fabulously wealthy, naturally came to Chang’an to sell furs. Soon, countless white fluffy things appeared in Chang’an—polar bear pelts worn on the bodies of nobles.
Yun Ye didn’t want polar bear pelts. He kept the moose. Moose milk was said to be a supreme nutritional product. The people he was close to were all getting on in years and very much needed these things. These old fellows were all treasures of the Yun Family—how could he dare easily lose one?
He collected the best nutritional products from all over the world, hoping to keep these old fellows around for a few more years, because too many old fellows had passed away in recent years. They couldn’t afford to lose any more. Old Cheng and the others had all automatically been promoted to the status of elderly.
“Marquis, Qiu Ran Ke has entered the capital. Should we arrest him again and send him to an even more desolate island?” Liu Jinbao specially came to report this matter.
“That won’t do. If we arrest people in Chang’an, Li Jing will go mad. We’ll just pretend we don’t know. This is Chang’an, not Lingnan. During the new year celebration, let’s not make ourselves uncomfortable.”
Yun Ye and Xinyue were drawing up the new year gift list. This year they didn’t need to send anything to Li Yuan, which saved the Yun Family a lot of money. Old Qian reported the numbers family by family, and Yun Ye wrote family by family. They worked all morning without finishing. Yun Ye was getting irritable. At this rate, they would need to arrange gifts for more than half the nobles.
“Husband, don’t be impatient. Other families can’t even beg for such relationships. Be patient and write—there aren’t many families left.” Xinyue had already discovered her husband was slacking off. The characters on the name cards were getting fewer and fewer.
“I just need to sign my name—why does Shou’er need to sign too? I can accept being thorough with etiquette for the imperial family and elders, but that old scoundrel Wei Zheng has harmed me countless times. Do I really need to send gifts to such a fellow? Why?”
Xinyue rubbed Yun Ye’s wrists while encouraging him from the side: “They’re all your colleagues. If you give to others but not to the Wei Family, it won’t look right. These are all small frictions. Just be magnanimous and forgive him once. The Wei Family is so poor they can barely make ends meet. Just consider it charity. The Wei Family can’t receive many new year gifts—counting them all, there are only a few households.”
Hearing Xinyue describe the Wei Family as pitiful, Yun Ye nodded with satisfaction. If only Wei Zheng himself would say this, it would be great. It was just a matter of a little money—just wrap up some more items.
On New Year’s Day, other families went to their elders’ homes to pay respects, but Yun Ye needed to bring his entire family into the palace. Na Rimu and Lingdang weren’t qualified to go. All the children had to be brought. Daya, having married, also lost her qualification. Xiao Ya, wearing her favorite red dress, happily went to see Yin Fei.
Li Er’s family was quite large. After presenting new year gifts, Li Er didn’t even glance at Yun Ye. He pointed to the side hall, telling him to sit with the other sons-in-law. He himself happily pulled Yun Shou’s chubby hand and asked him all sorts of questions.
“Here comes another one dining in the side hall.” Zhangsun Chong squatted on a soft couch and greeted Yun Ye with sarcasm.
“The Emperor’s sons-in-law are worse than dogs. Just endure it, Bug.” Yun Ye retorted.
“A dog’s mouth can’t spit out ivory. You think you’re not the Emperor’s son-in-law? The oldest child is already twelve, the youngest is five. You’ve produced more children than me, the legitimate son-in-law. You have the face to mock others.” Xiao Rui was the oldest. In such occasions, he was the eldest brother. Laughing and cursing, he passed Yun Ye a cup of wine.
“We can only blame ourselves for not having the ability to turn princesses into concubines. Being mocked is deserved. Speaking of which, Xiao Ye, you weren’t very ethical back then. Why didn’t you tell us about such a clever method? We could have also arranged for princesses to marry tribal kings, then gotten the tribal kings killed, and finally have illicit affairs with the princesses. That way we’d have had both substance and face. Only being this kind of prince consort would be worthwhile. Not like now—we have to live in the princess’s residence. Sometimes I can’t figure out whether the princesses married us or we married the princesses.” Tang Yizhi, strictly managed by Princess Yuzhang, drank a couple of cups and vented his complaints.
“There’s no way around it. Marrying a princess isn’t called marrying—it’s called ‘honoring.’ It means we married the princesses. Xiao Ye understood this character ‘honor’ most thoroughly. We brothers all misunderstood it. What we have today is deserved.”
They were all carrying the same burden. Speaking without restraint, Cheng Chumo jumped out to rescue Yun Ye, saying, “Just drink properly. During the new year, complain less. They’re all in the main hall. If they hear us, Old Cheng doesn’t care, but the more timid ones will suffer. Don’t think about making yourselves uncomfortable during the new year. If you want to boast, wait until we leave the palace and go to Yanlai Pavilion.”
Chai Lingwu went out to look at the main hall and said to the group in frustration, “Why aren’t they finished yet? At this time last year it was already over. Where did all this talk come from this year? We should send the princesses home and go have fun—that’s the right thing to do.”
Yun Ye grabbed Chai Lingwu and had him sit down, saying with a bitter smile, “This year there’s a grand sacrifice. His Majesty and the empresses have much to instruct their daughters about, so naturally there’s more talk. We worthless sons-in-law should just wait a bit longer.”