Yun Ye simply didn’t believe that Zhangsun Wuji would unite with some ignorant Tubo person to deal with him. Among the distinguished noble families, excluding Old Cheng, Old Niu, Old Qin, Old Yuchi and such people, Zhangsun Wuji was the one who understood him best.

Among all the distinguished noble clans, the Yun family was the first to properly lay out their family’s hundred-year affairs. Such a family could only be befriended, absolutely not made an enemy. With Zhangsun Wuji’s shrewd experience, he would never make such an error no matter what. Zhangsun Chong even less so. Yun Ye never doubted the friendship between the two of them.

So Yun Ye fixed his gaze on that steward who was drenched in sweat. There was only one possibility—that this steward had been deceived by Lu Dongzan and had done this matter privately. It would be strange indeed if that unlucky imperial censor knew that the Xin family brothers were Yun Ye’s younger brothers-in-law. Even if the father-in-law announced his family connections, they wouldn’t believe it. How could a country bumpkin wealthy landlord possibly have the opportunity to marry his daughter to a hereditary marquis, and moreover as the principal wife? This was too laughable. Saying she was a concubine might still be possible, but a concubine’s status wasn’t sufficient to make the Zhangsun family wary.

A party of riders came across Ba Bridge. The leading banner was inscribed with “Dispatched from the Capital by Imperial Decree.” They say that when an imperial censor goes on inspection tours, it should shake mountains and terrify all officials. Even if that failed, looking at this imposing manner, there was indeed some semblance of earth-shaking momentum.

Yun Ye swung his horse whip, standing at the bridge head, lightly striking the stone lions on Ba Bridge. The whip had just been soaked in water and needed to have some moisture shaken off before it would work well.

The imperial censor’s procession hadn’t even raised the avoidance placard when Yun Ye said with a smile, “Robbery!” The lead guard officer remained unmoved. He had already seen the situation on the opposite side of Ba Bridge—even the Eight-Ox Crossbows had been brought out. How could these be bandits? The appearance of bandits near Chang’an—wasn’t that a joke? Moreover, when did government soldiers also start robbing people?

The fair-faced man with a short beard before him—how did he resemble a bandit? The gold crown on his head alone would be enough for bandits to rob for a lifetime, not to mention the jade pendant at his waist.

“Young master, this is an inspection tour imperial censor returning to the capital. This is no place for jokes. Please step aside, young master. If there has been any offense, after I report to my superior, we can make arrangements.”

“You’re quite clever, so why do such foolish things? What’s that bird imperial censor’s name? Does he think that because he’s hugging Zhangsun Chong’s thigh, I don’t dare touch him? Do you know that I’ve beaten Zhangsun Chong more than once or twice? Tell him to get over here. If he can’t give me a satisfactory explanation, I’ll dig up his family’s ancestral graves.”

The guard officer was also an old hand in the capital. Suddenly seeing the rolling cloud jade pendant at Yun Ye’s waist and verifying it against what Yun Ye had just said, he immediately guessed Yun Ye’s identity with about eighty to ninety percent accuracy.

He very much wanted to immediately gallop away in flight right now. What that country wealthy landlord said was damn well true—they really were relatives of the Lantian Marquis residence, and the very close kind of relatives at that. Otherwise, the Yun family’s main pillar wouldn’t appear at Ba Bridge.

“Humble official Qiu Xi pays respects to the Marquis!” The guard officer rolled off his horse and immediately prostrated himself on the ground. However, this fellow was fairly loyal—he deliberately shouted very loudly, letting the imperial censor in the carriage behind hear as well. Consider it serving as the imperial censor’s subordinate one last time, fulfilling his final duty.

“What are you shouting about? My father-in-law must have proclaimed my name countless times along this journey, right? Yet you all still treated it like wind past your ears. Now this marquis has personally come, I wonder if that bird imperial censor still doesn’t take it seriously?” Yun Ye poked the guard officer’s head with his foot. In consideration of his loyal devotion to duty, he didn’t use his whip to strike.

The entire procession froze on Ba Bridge. At this moment, a withered old man came running over crying and shouting, repeatedly calling out, “Where is my worthy son-in-law? Where is my worthy son-in-law?”

This was the father-in-law. He was quite different from what Xinyue had described. He was said to be a plump old man—how had he become this appearance now? Yun Ye stepped forward to support the old man. After he stood steady, Yun Ye performed a grand bow and said, “This son-in-law Yun Ye was late in welcoming you. Please don’t blame me, old master. You should rest in the tent for a moment now. After your son-in-law finishes handling matters here, we’ll return home and talk further.”

The old man wiped his tears and nodded repeatedly. Old Qian stepped forward, supporting the old man as they walked toward the tent, consoling him as they went, “Old master has traveled a long journey. You should rest now. This is just a small matter. Our marquis will handle it quickly. The two young masters will be able to return home shortly. The madam is still waiting for you at home, old master.”

After the old man had walked back to the tent, Yun Ye looked at the carriage the imperial censor was sitting in and said, “Come down. Outside you can shake heaven and earth, but once you’ve entered Chang’an, don’t you know what sort of thing you are? I can very responsibly tell you that you’re dead. Even if Zhangsun Wuji personally protects you, you’re still dead. If you don’t want to bring disaster upon your family, come out and explain matters clearly. For the crime of colluding with Tubo people to harm the subjects of your own country, just this one charge alone, I can execute you first and report later.”

The carriage curtain lifted, and a tall middle-aged man descended from the carriage. Aside from his face being somewhat pale, he was fairly composed. Bowing to Yun Ye, he said respectfully, “Lu Zhongting pays respects to Marquis Yun. This humble official was reckless and listened to the slander of petty people. Now a great error has already been committed. Caught between two great powers, it’s difficult for someone small. Whether to kill or flay, to preserve or eliminate—it’s as Marquis Yun pleases.”

Yun Ye smiled and said, “You still have some backbone. Why don’t you insist that my wife’s younger brothers harmed Tubo people and are prisoners you arrested? That way you might even be able to bite back at me, saying I’m intercepting a prison cart.”

Lu Zhongting gave a bitter laugh and said, “That charge is simply merit in the Great Tang, especially among you military men. I also don’t know why the messenger would insist on using such a pretext. That old man kept claiming he was a relative of the distinguished nobles. I never believed it—it was too presumptuous. Actually, I only needed to verify it once and I would have known. Such foolishness absolutely wouldn’t have occurred. Now seeing the Tubo people standing right there, how can I not know that I have absolutely no way to survive?”

Yun Ye put away his whip and sat on the railing, saying to Lu Zhongting, “I have no objection to you wanting to curry favor with the Zhangsun family. My father-in-law repeatedly announced my name, yet you paid it no heed. Your thoughts of attaching yourself to the powerful and noble blinded your judgment. Let me tell you, I guarantee that Zhangsun Wuji and Zhangsun Chong and the others knew nothing about this matter. See that person on the opposite bank? He’s a steward of the Zhangsun family. I think the letter you received must have come from his hand. An official being led around by the nose by a slave—in order to flatter superiors, not hesitating to harm Great Tang subjects—when His Majesty knows about this, he’ll definitely devour you alive.”

“Ha ha ha! At tomorrow’s morning court, there will finally be something I can use to mock Wei Zheng. That old fellow has always found me displeasing all these years. I wonder what his expression will be like tomorrow.”

“Forget it. I have no mind to haggle with you, a dead man. Release my younger brothers-in-law. I’m going to find trouble with Zhangsun Wuji. Be smart—go home and see your elderly father and mother once, say goodbye to your wife and children, and quickly commit suicide. If you wait until Zhangsun Wuji comes looking for you, you’ll die without a complete corpse. Your entire family might even be finished.”

The guard officer called Qiu Xi had already released two dirty youths. Those two brothers walked over timidly, not understanding what had happened.

“Xiaoran, Xiaohu, I’m your brother-in-law Yun Ye. It’s all right now. Go drink some water in the tent over there. We’re going home immediately.” Yun Ye stepped forward, pulled the two youths’ hands and looked them up and down. Seeing that they hadn’t suffered too greatly, he felt relieved. The older one nodded repeatedly, appearing quite wooden. The younger one hesitated, then asked in a small voice, “Are you really brother-in-law? I heard that brother-in-law is one of the Great Tang’s undefeated famous generals. You should at least be a big man.”

Yun Ye didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, saying, “You’re Xiaohu, right? Who told you that? Your brother-in-law is just like this—I haven’t grown three heads and six arms. First go to your father. Brother-in-law still has some matters to handle. After I finish, we’ll go home.”

Xin Ran obediently went to his father. Xin Hu, however, followed behind Yun Ye, planning to see what his brother-in-law intended to do. Yun Ye no longer paid attention to Lu Zhongting. He was indeed already a dead man—no need to waste more words on him. Letting him return home once to bid farewell to his family was already extraordinary mercy. Yun Ye could now imagine how furiously enraged Zhangsun Wuji would be when he learned of this matter.

At tomorrow’s morning court, Yun Ye would definitely report this matter to the Emperor. It didn’t matter much for distinguished nobles, but becoming powerful nobles brought great trouble. The Zhangsun family would either die or shed a layer of skin this time. Lu Dongzan had played this trick extremely brilliantly—he had succeeded in driving a wedge between the Yun family and the Zhangsun family. Neither family had much choice. Yun Ye would inevitably choose to attack; the Zhangsun family would inevitably choose to defend. This was a matter between families, unrelated to personal friendships. The Zhangsun family had made an error first. Without paying the corresponding price, they wouldn’t obtain the Yun family’s forgiveness.

Yun Ye stood outside the circle and asked Lu Dongzan, “Grand Minister, you’ve painstakingly tried to create a rift between the Yun family and the Zhangsun family. Now you’ve achieved your goal. I just don’t know how Zhangsun Wuji will face you, this former honored guest?”

“Yun Ye, don’t make slanderous accusations! When did this old man ever drive a wedge in your relationship? It’s these two boys who deserve their punishment. They actually urinated on silk and satin being sold to the Tubo royal family. This is the greatest insult to Tubo! If this can be tolerated, what cannot? If we don’t use them as an example, where will Tubo’s dignity stand?”

Yun Ye immediately laughed. Turning around, he stroked the top of Xiaohu’s head and said, “Not bad, not bad. Truly worthy of being my wife’s younger brother—you have several parts of your sister’s temperament.”

After praising Xiaohu, he said to Lu Dongzan, “The silk and satin that was urinated on wasn’t damaged anyway. You Tubo people don’t like bathing in any case. After wearing it for a while, it becomes rank and smelly too. Who could smell the difference?”

Lu Dongzan, unable to move under the threat of three Eight-Ox Crossbows, could only roar, “Ignorant child! I’m going to ask the Great Tang’s Emperor whether he shares this view!”

There came only the crisp sound of a spring releasing. A powerful crossbow shot out, pinning into a Tubo warrior’s waist and abdomen. That warrior rolled on the ground twice and then stopped moving. Lu Dongzan’s eyes turned red with fury. Just as he was about to rush forward, a siege chisel hummed as it shot out, embedding deeply into the mud at his feet, causing him to suddenly calm down.

Yun Ye said with a smile to Lu Dongzan, “You want to bite me?”