“Old Lu, be careful of Gao Shan Yang Zi. You must be careful. If you can eliminate her, that would be best. If you can’t eliminate her, you must keep your eyes wide open every day watching her. Don’t let her move beyond your line of sight. If you don’t keep a good watch on her, the one who ends up dead will definitely be you. That woman has already gone mad.”
“His Majesty thinks that with the Goguryeo royal family and Yuan Gae Suwen in hand, Gao Shan Yang Zi won’t dare make any rash moves. This thinking is wrong. You can’t reason with a madwoman. She’s not a Great Tang woman who will endure adversity for the sake of her husband and family. She’s an ambitious schemer who only wants her name to be forever spoken of on the seas. Such a person won’t care about anyone else’s life or death.”
Before Yun Ye’s foot had even left the door after returning his seal, Lu Chengqing received his appointment. Yun Ye kindly repeated his warnings once more in front of Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui. Seeing Lu Chengqing smiling contentedly, he knew the man hadn’t taken it to heart.
Yun Ye had said these same words four times in full today. When he went to see the Empress, he said it once more, but Empress Zhangsun said she didn’t interfere in court affairs and told Yun Ye not to overthink things.
If they said not to overthink, then he wouldn’t overthink. Who couldn’t live a peaceful life? Many people already had opinions about him monopolizing the Lingnan Navy for so many years. Other generals rotated every three years, but only the Lingnan Navy had never left Yun Ye’s grasp from the moment of its birth.
It was just a change of command. Yun Ye already had enough titles: Left Vice Minister of War, Governor of Yuezhou, Dean of Yushan Academy, and he still held a minor position as Supernumerary Vice Director at the Ministry of Works—a title Yun Ye had specifically requested to make it convenient to inspect materials at the Ministry of Works. What did it matter to lose the position of Lingnan Navy Commander?
Shaking his sleeves, he went home. Wang Cai had long since tired of living in the city. Outside, wheat sprouts had already broken through the soil, emerald green like a beautiful dream. Now was the perfect time for spring outings. He’d heard that in a couple of days, Li Tai’s flying vessel would be demonstrated at Qujiang. This would certainly be a grand spectacle. He’d watch Li Tai’s performance carefully then. That fellow was now holed up in Wude Hall and wouldn’t come out at all, desperately tinkering with his little boat that could fly. It was very difficult to see him.
He absolutely must send a letter to Niu Jianhu. He was now Governor of Mingzhou, at least somewhat closer to home. He could let others go to hell, but he had to warn Niu Jianhu, telling him he must strictly guard against Gao Shan Yang Zi.
Everyone in the world had gone mad wanting to live peaceful lives, not knowing to take precautions. The Sima family had done this back in the day, and as a result, their descendants had iron chains fastened around their necks and were raised like dogs. Li Er thought himself invincible under heaven. He’d forgotten there was still a type of attack in this world called asymmetric warfare—where the enemy doesn’t clash head-on with your army but specifically targets your weak spots. After beating you, you still have no way to strike back. The ocean is too vast. Where would you have the navy go to find the enemy for revenge?
Standing on Chang’an Street, watching the various officials dispersing, it truly was a scene of official caps and carriages filling the capital. Yun Ye didn’t want to be careworn. No matter who became careworn, it wouldn’t be his turn. He’d return home early today. He’d promised Xinyue that tomorrow he would accompany his father-in-law to return courtesy calls at various noble households. Since people had sent gifts and the main person involved was now fine, going door-to-door to express thanks was indispensable etiquette.
“My lord, the Lingnan Navy is no longer ours?” Liu Jinbao noticed the command pennant was missing from his master’s carriage and asked carefully. Without this item, it meant the master was no longer commanding troops.
“The Lingnan Navy was never our family’s property. Don’t say such foolish things casually, lest others laugh at you. I handed over the Lingnan Navy duties today. I estimate I can take it back in about half a year.”
“Why is this? You were doing perfectly well—why give it up? Hasn’t the Lingnan Navy always been under our family’s command? Who dares laugh at our family? I’ll go eliminate them right now.” Liu Jinbao immediately became like a fighting cock.
“Wait a while. During this period, the Lingnan Navy Commander is going to have terrible luck. I finally managed to extricate myself. To come back now would bring terrible misfortune. Since Lu Chengqing likes being a scapegoat, let him strut around for a few days. You’re not permitted to speak ill of Lu Chengqing to old friends in the military, lest his poor military performance implicate our family later.” When talking to Liu Jinbao, everything had to be made clear. If you wanted him to kill someone, you had to explain it clearly. Speaking in riddles would just confuse him.
“My lord, the Lingnan Navy will have bad luck? We’re the overlords of the sea—who could make us unlucky?” Liu Jinbao stopped talking about going to hack Lu Chengqing to death and instead asked about the reason.
“I’ve already said these words no fewer than five times. I don’t want to say them again now. Just walk properly—where do all these questions come from?” Yun Ye was somewhat impatient. The wheat sprouts were so beautifully green—rather than properly appreciating this enormous green carpet, why speak such inauspicious words?
The soil moisture in the fields was good, so the wheat grew vigorously. The air seemed to have a sweet flavor to it. These past few days, Xinyue had been leading the tenant farmers in planting rice in that low-lying area. Guanzhong had no water buffalo, and yellow oxen couldn’t go into paddy fields or their hooves would rot, so they relied entirely on people pulling plows through the mud and water to till the fields. For farming families, oxen were more valuable than people.
Southern rice was very unpleasant to eat—all because of that damned double-crop rice. Who would know that although double-crop rice yielded much more than spring rice, the taste was not commendable? Rice steamed from double-crop rice tasted like eating flour when you ate it—terribly powdery.
So the Yun family, in order to satisfy their lord’s picky palate, specially opened fifty acres of paddy fields specifically for planting rice. The rice produced would naturally be eaten by the whole family, but only Yun Ye bore the blame for being picky.
It was a joke for a Lady of Imperial Patent to be planting rice. She sat in the pavilion with four maids attending her while she dozed off, yet still had the face to come home saying she’d worked hard all day. He scooped up a handful of water from the paddy field and splashed it on Xinyue. She shrieked and hollered for a while, then came over to pinch her husband’s waist.
“It’s dirty.” Xinyue wiped the water droplets from her face and thumped Yun Ye once. Her eyes habitually swept over the carriage, and her eyebrows immediately shot up. Pointing at Liu Jinbao, she cursed furiously, “You dead slave! Why isn’t our family’s command pennant mounted on the carriage?”
“Stop embarrassing yourself. I’ve relinquished my Lingnan Navy duties. Don’t ask why—I won’t explain. I’ve said it many times today and won’t explain again. In half a year, I’ll get a bigger one to hang on the carriage. Don’t ask questions now.”
Xinyue looked at Yun Ye aggrievedly and said, “It’s all because your wife has two disappointing younger brothers that you’ve lost your military authority.”
Yun Ye was busy throwing rice seedlings into the paddy field. Hearing Xinyue say this suddenly, he straightened up and said, “It has nothing to do with your brothers. It’s something else. Even if I managed a hundred cases like your brothers’ situation, I wouldn’t lose my position. These are all military matters—if you don’t understand, don’t interject.”
Xinyue’s eyes rolled in a circle, and she suddenly asked Yun Ye, “Husband, the one taking over your duties wouldn’t be from the Lu family, would it?”
This was strange. Yun Ye was certain he hadn’t said anything, nor had Liu Jinbao. He’d come straight home after leaving his post—the news couldn’t possibly have spread this quickly. How did Xinyue know? Could she have the ability to predict the future?
“It must be the Lu family. Madam Lu came to visit our home very early this morning. She said many strange things, always saying something about how there would be many times when she’d need to rely on our family. The gifts she sent were also very generous. I never understood it, but now I know. I’m going home right now to throw out those gifts. After harming someone, they still dare to come mock us—bastards that even dogs wouldn’t eat.”
That made sense. Yun Ye nodded. His wife wasn’t a reincarnation of Zhuge Liang after all. As long as she wasn’t some demonic entity, that was good—it proved life could still go on. If a woman’s body contained a man’s heart, then doing certain things at night while sleeping would be disgusting.
“The Lu family is about to have terrible luck, the very bad kind. Quickly use this as an excuse to sever all relations completely. If you have any secret correspondence or the like, retrieve it immediately, lest I have to go to Dai Zhou again like last time to get back your private letters.”
The furious Xinyue immediately calmed down. Seeing her husband didn’t seem to be joking, after hesitating for a long while, she asked, “What crime?”
Yun Ye immediately broke into a smile. “What crime? Disastrous military defeat and national humiliation! This is a crime punishable by confiscation of property and execution. The Lu family is finished.”
Not only was Xinyue not shocked, she actually laughed happily. “When my husband commanded the Lingnan Navy, it was all news of great victories. The Lu family takes over and immediately brings disastrous defeat and national humiliation. A mediocrity like that wants to compare with my renowned general husband? Bah! He deserves to die.”
Scoundrel couples were just like the Yun Ye couple—calculating against others while still being righteously indignant. Doing the appropriate thing at the appropriate time was a realm Yun Ye had dreamed of achieving. Who knew he would stumble into doing it correctly today? As long as the Lu family encountered great disaster, afterward absolutely no one would compete with Yun Ye for the position of Lingnan Navy Commander.
After carelessly finishing planting the rice, the husband and wife returned home. In front were their loyal followers clearing the way, behind were tenant farmers carrying plows following closely. With chickens flying and dogs jumping about, they returned home. This was what living life should look like.
Before the sun set, Li Er was having his evening meal. He strictly maintained the good habit of not eating after nightfall. Empress Zhangsun attended him at his side. As he ate, he put down his rice bowl and said to Empress Zhangsun, “Yun Ye’s words still have merit. When it comes to naval warfare in the Great Tang, Yun Ye should be considered first. These years he’s been painstakingly managing the South Seas, even placing checkpoints thousands of miles away. This truly can effectively resist enemies beyond our borders. It’s wise and effective. He’s most familiar with maritime affairs and would absolutely not speak without foundation.”
“But I absolutely don’t believe a woman has the audacity to launch a surprise attack on the Great Tang. According to Yun Ye’s arrangements, she can get in but can’t get out. A suicide mission isn’t something a woman can undertake. If the one commanding the pirates were Yuan Gae Suwen, I would definitely agree with Yun Ye’s approach. For the safety of the Great Tang homeland, nothing would be excessive.”
“I’m only worried that Yun Ye has mixed personal factors into this. Yuan Gae Suwen serves as Governor of Anzhou, blocking the sea outlet of Yongzhou. If he also possesses a capable navy, he’ll become a thorn in Yun Ye’s side. Checks and balances are fundamentally the basis of imperial rule. Yun Ye’s abnormal behavior now has instead strengthened my resolve to send Yuan Gae Suwen to Anzhou.”
“I don’t believe Gao Shan Yang Zi, a mere woman, could have such audacity and fighting spirit. Attendants! Draft an edict commanding Lingnan Navy Commander Lu Chengqing to enter the palace. I will personally instruct him in secret strategy.”
Empress Zhangsun sighed and ordered the palace attendants to clear away the food and dishes. The Emperor wouldn’t be eating again for quite some time.