The cold wind of Yan Lai brings desolate cries, the sound of the qin wails with towering rage. Slapping the table to rise with cloud-piercing ambitions, yet bitterly embraced at the waist by white clouds—unable to break free after a thousand turns and a hundred twists, only able to wildly chant the solitary indignant melody!
There is a poem as proof. The tale of Marquis Yun’s generous reward of a thousand gold for recognizing his kindred spirit immediately spread throughout Chang’an, with Xiao Rui and Liu Xuanyi being the most enthusiastic in spreading the story. Yun Ye’s theory about rice bowls also instantly earned the respectful admiration of Chang’an’s morally upright scholars.
“Although this young man is lazy by nature, he understands how difficult it is to make a living in this world. Having struggled for food for many years, at just over twenty years of age he has already comprehended such a wonderful theory—this is truly not easy! One who can chew grass roots can accomplish anything. This young man is worthy of great responsibility.” A white-bearded elder stroked his beard and nodded repeatedly.
“Elder, you underestimate this young man. From this poem alone, one can see his ambitions are not small. Now the court is filled with mediocre and incompetent people, with petty thieves running rampant everywhere. No wonder this young man feels the desolate chill while drinking wine at Yan Lai Tower. But who could this white cloud be that drags down his cloud-piercing aspirations?” After closing his eyes in contemplation, the elder with a grizzled beard came to a new understanding.
“Marquis Yun occupies a high position. Who else could block his cloud-piercing ambitions? The closest thing to heaven is none other than white clouds. How hateful, how vexing! Whenever we of this generation wish to rise up, the white clouds transform into dark clouds with lightning and thunder crashing down. The world is difficult, tigers and wolves block the way—it is nothing more than this.”
The pampered sons continuously beat their own heads. While they had been living wildly and carelessly, Yun Ye had already completed the difficult task of spreading his fame far and wide. Why did they have to compete for singing girls at that time? It seems the old saying “suffering loss is gaining advantage” is indeed correct.
Xinyue looked up admiringly at her husband standing on the heated platform reciting this poem, deeply moved. Other families’ husbands went to Yan Lai Tower only knowing to embrace women and rush into rooms, but her own husband went just to listen to music. Not only did he appreciate a famous qin master, he also expressed his own views, and most remarkably, he even brought back a poem about himself. Her husband had always been very good at composing poetry—those were all written by himself. But now there was specifically a poem praising her husband’s noble character and integrity—this was truly rare.
While everyone was praising Yun Ye, Li Tai stopped his work and said to Li Chengqian beside him: “It’s all nonsense. What solitary indignation, what noble character and integrity? This poem is about how Yun Ye was enraged by the noise created by that qin player and beat him up badly. If it weren’t for a singing girl named Bai Yun who hugged his waist, he would have beaten that qin player to death. And still unsatisfied, he loudly shouted about some solitary indignant chant. If you don’t believe me, go look at that qin player—he’s definitely covered in injuries. Yun Ye always has the habit of compensating people with money after beating them up. This matter is most likely true.”
Li Chengqian didn’t believe it and sent his subordinate to find that person called Pei Shenfu. After the subordinate returned and quietly reported, he looked strangely at Li Tai, who was personally installing a small boat. Li Tai’s guess was completely accurate.
“Elder brother, this is a skill—being able to easily transform negative factors into something very advantageous for oneself. Brother Ye is an expert in this area. If you ever get caught by the Censorate for visiting prostitutes in the future, don’t forget to find Yun Ye. You’ll discover he can handle this kind of matter very satisfactorily. Take this time for example—once that qin master’s injuries heal, he himself won’t expose this matter.”
“So, if you want to bring Su Shi and Hou Shi back to the Eastern Palace for custody, you must ask Yun Ye to take action. He does this kind of thing very easily and will certainly be able to save the imperial family’s face while leaving the Censorate with nothing to say.”
Li Chengqian said somewhat shyly to Li Tai: “Do you all know about my plan, which is why they won’t come to the Eastern Palace?”
Li Tai sighed and said to his brother: “That group of people are now a bunch of cunning foxes. If it were any other matter, they would definitely give full support. When it concerns internal imperial family disputes, they adopt this attitude of staying far away. Except for Yun Ye who still dares to jump around a bit, the rest have all been scared half to death by Father Emperor.”
Li Chengqian helped Li Tai pass over the tools and picked up a hammer to randomly tap the wood, saying: “Su Shi has done nothing wrong. If there is any fault, it’s mine as the elder brother. Even if Hou Shi is at fault, her error is only in being too arrogant and domineering. She was born into a military family, which makes her naturally more proud than others. This time has almost completely crushed her.”
“When Father Emperor was away, I went to see them several times. Su Shi was fine, but Hou Shi begged me to save her entire family. She seemed like she had gone mad. This time the meritorious nobles helped the Hou family escape disaster, and only then did Hou Shi’s spirit improve somewhat. She herself knows that her father cannot be saved. Yan Rong’s child has also been begging me, making things very difficult for me.”
Li Tai fitted the mortise and tenon joint properly, took the hammer from Li Chengqian’s hand, and knocked the mortise and tenon into place with a few strikes. He lowered his head and thought for a while before saying: “Father Emperor won’t be wrong and cannot be wrong. The only ones at fault are us and the two sisters-in-law. This point cannot be changed. As for whether there is room for compromise in this matter, that depends on what we do. Yun Ye must be thinking of a solution now. As long as he can come up with a method, this matter will be eighty percent done. Let’s wait and see—we can’t be hasty.”
Li Chengqian used his sleeve to dust off the wood shavings on the chair, let out a long sigh, and said nothing more.
The Yun family had many celebrations—this was something everyone knew. For example, today, young Miss Yun Mu had cooked a large pot of sweet and fragrant shredded meat porridge for the first time, and the entire family was celebrating. Everyone in the household, whether master or servant, held a small bowl, waiting for the young miss to serve them a bowl of porridge.
Xi Tong laughed heartily and asked Yun Mu to fill his bowl to the brim. He genuinely loved this daughter who was like a sprite from the bottom of his heart. But when he turned around to look at his own son Tiedan, he could only sigh. Whether he was willing to admit it or not, he himself felt that even betrothing his little daughter to his own son would be a loss.
Yun Ye was seriously savoring the shredded meat porridge his daughter had cooked. The heat control was still a bit off, and the meat shreds weren’t quite fragrant and smooth, but the fragrance of the rice porridge had been fully brought out. Not bad.
“Daughter, next time remember to blanch the meat shreds in boiling water and squeeze out the bloody smell from inside the meat. That way the porridge will taste better. This time counts as passing.”
Yun Mu smiled and thanked her father, indicating she would certainly pay attention next time. Since her father was fairly satisfied, she extended her little hand to ask for a reward, specifically requesting a small crossbow.
She had seen that her aunt Xiao Ya had one, and she had also seen that her older sister Xiao Wu had one—they were very beautiful. She also wanted one. Yun Ye said to his daughter with difficulty: “That won’t work. If you want to enter the armory, you must be at least twelve years old. Daughter, be patient—it’s only a matter of two years. Right now you’re still too young, and there could be accidents.”
Yun Mu wasn’t the kind of child who would cry and whine when she couldn’t get a gift. She knew how to maximize her own interests. She hadn’t actually expected to get the crossbow, because she had already asked her aunt and older sister—they got their crossbows only after entering the academy. This family tradition had never been broken. She just wanted to raise her asking price a bit higher.
She couldn’t enter the armory, but entering the treasury was no problem. Xinyue took Yun Mu into the treasury to pick treasures. Na Rimu didn’t like entering the treasury at all—every time she went in, Xinyue would grab her and use her as labor. Arranging and moving silver was also very tiring work.
Han Zhe took a sip of porridge and said to Yun Ye beside him: “I’ve never enjoyed such pleasures before. Missing out on these things is truly regrettable. A human life is but a hundred years—practically the snap of a finger. When one can enjoy pleasures, one must seize the opportunity. I’ve only now thoroughly understood this principle. Fortunately, it’s not too late.”
He was about to return home. Every time he came out, he didn’t want to go back and would delay as much as possible. This time he couldn’t delay any longer. The cinnabar had been completely sold by He Shao, and the large sum of money had been converted into promissory notes and delivered into Han Zhe’s hands. The enormous amount on them stunned Han Zhe for quite a while, not to mention there were also sixteen shops waiting for him to send people to take over.
White Stone Palace would not rely on dead men’s food—this was the first step Han Zhe had taken. The people in the mountains, aside from mechanically obeying his orders, seemed to have lost the ability to survive in the human world. The sins he had created, he would bear himself. Supporting them was also his unavoidable responsibility.
He no longer cared whether Yun Ye was truly a Binmi person or not, nor did he think about whether there were really immortals in White Jade Capital. Because he liked the mulberry-picking women and remembered the sweet and sour taste of those mulberries, he thought opening a dozen or so shops specializing in selling silk was a good idea.
Yun Ye patted his shoulder and said: “Silk shops are indeed good, but why don’t you specifically weave silk? The academy has two techniques that can greatly improve the silk reeling process. You can buy them with money and establish a workshop, personally capturing all the silk profits from reeling to finished product—wouldn’t that be even better? If you need people, my father-in-law’s family does this work. Finding you some decent craftsmen is no problem.”
Han Zhe nodded and said: “I will. But this time I must first return to the mountains to properly settle my clansmen. They no longer have the means to live in the world. Only after settling them can I do other things.”
Watching Han Zhe, who had become increasingly human, and thinking back to their first encounter by the Qu River, Yun Ye’s heart filled with emotion. He had cut off two of Han Zhe’s fingers—they had been enemies. Who could have imagined that several years later they would become close friends? The world’s changes are unpredictable; beneath white clouds and gray dogs, anything can happen.
The canned meat products made by the Yun family were now famous throughout the Great Tang. Many people would rather not eat fresh food and wanted to try the Yun family’s canned goods. Considering Han Zhe’s circumstances, Yun Ye specially sent him a large batch of canned goods. This way, when heavy snow sealed the mountains, there would still be food to eat. At the very least, Han Nu loved the minced meat sausages made by the Yun family—he had eaten them continuously for over two months without getting tired of them.
When Han Zhe left, Xi Tong had already gone. Although the father and son were wealthy merchants loaded with riches, they still dressed like heroic knights. It was said that after returning this time, they would build high walls to surround the entire estate. He had seen Great Tang immigrants in Liaodong do exactly this—a single estate was a complete fortress.
Yun Ye couldn’t stand the farewells beside Ba Bridge the most. Fortunately, neither Han Zhe nor Xi Tong were like young people. They laughed heartily, mounted their horses, cupped their hands in farewell, and then rode straight toward their destinations without looking back. Good men should be like this.