Yun Ye absolutely detested having someone behind him while playing mahjong, especially someone watching all four players’ tiles, and most outrageously, constantly chattering about what a terrible hand you’d drawn.
Zhangsun was very excited today. Indeed she was—apart from not knowing what relationship this old ghost had with her, both Li Er and Zhangsun Wuji were her closest people. As for Yun Ye, Zhangsun cared even less about him.
She raised her hand and played a white dragon tile, but Zhangsun grabbed it back. A perfectly good set of three eight bamboo tiles—she had thrown one away. Just as Yun Ye was about to tremble with anger, Zhangsun slapped the back of his head.
I’m nearly thirty years old—why am I still being treated like a child?
The eight bamboo fed into someone’s hand. The old fellow won, laughing wildly as he spread his hands demanding money, shamelessly saying to Zhangsun: “When this old man left home today, I cast a divination for myself—great fortune and great profit! Hahaha…”
“This young man is about to embark on a long journey. When you’re in a good mood later, divine his fortune for him. Beiting is too far away.” Zhangsun laughed like a mother hen, taking the opportunity to make a small request.
“In military campaigns, what matters is momentum, authority, and strategy. If we had to rely on divination, this student might as well not serve as the Great General of the Beiting Protectorate—just sit in the military tent fiddling with turtle shells instead.” Yun Ye was quite unconvinced.
“Spoken absolutely correctly! That’s the attitude of the living. Completely believing in fate is worse than having no fate at all. A general who doesn’t believe in fate, when trapped in a desperate situation, will still know to struggle to survive and might live. One who believes in fate is dead for sure.”
The old fellow used his two withered hands to arrange tiles. His ten fingers were actually quite nimble, and talking didn’t affect his efficiency at all. Li Er said not a word today, and Zhangsun Wuji also silently played his tiles. It seemed these two were just here to fill seats today.
“This young man has never believed in fate. Even if something has already become reality, this young man will step on it twice with a skeptical mind. The Empress’s kind intentions, this student appreciates them. This student has been tainted by countless malevolent energies as a Great General. Even if there’s some calamity, this student will grab it by the throat and make it work for me. Old sir, even if you’re a reincarnated immortal who knows five hundred years past and five hundred years future, this student doesn’t want to immediately know his own fate. I’d rather regret in that instant when the enemy cuts me down than know in advance. Five circle tile—Old sir, your hairpin is very beautiful. I want to win it from you.”
After speaking, Yun Ye tossed out a five circle tile and looked at the hairpin on the old man’s head. He really wanted it.
Li Er chuckled, picked up that five circle tile, and pushed down his own tiles. Zhangsun Wuji glanced at Yun Ye and began arranging tiles anew. The old man smiled bitterly as he pushed down his tiles, saying: “Young man, you did that deliberately, planning to harm others at your own cost! The game just started and you want to eliminate this old man?”
“You’re surnamed Yuan and versed in the arts of yin and yang. You must have connections to Daoist Yuan Tiangang. Perhaps you’re even an elder from his master’s sect. This young man hasn’t tread the mortal world for fourteen years and has great doubts in his chest. Only after winning against you, old sir, can I have you share all you know. So any means are reasonable.”
Yun Ye had too much experience dealing with old fellows, especially this kind of shrewd old codger. Whatever you want, state it openly and aboveboard, then use every means at your disposal to fight for it. Only this way can you make the old fellow put away his playful thoughts and take things seriously. When you win, the old fellow will also seriously address your request. Things bestowed by others are unreliable—only what you obtain by your own ability truly belongs to you.
Li Er laughed heartily, seeming very gratified. He patted Yun Ye on the shoulder and picked up the dice to start a new round. Zhangsun also obediently sat beside Li Er and stopped wandering around.
The mahjong table became much quieter. The old fellow also put away his playful thoughts and began taking the game seriously. Zhangsun Wuji suddenly said: “Elder Yuan, if Yun Ye wins against you, you’ll resolve his doubts. If this young man wins, can I ask you to divine my fate?”
Yuan Shoucheng chuckled: “This old man has become a broken drum—now everyone wants to beat it. Fine, young man, if you want this old man to work, you’ll need to show real skill. Try and see if you can make this old man retreat in defeat.”
When the old fellow got serious, he was quite terrifying. He really did seem to have great fortune as he claimed. After three rounds, he had already won a large pile of gold coins and laughed ever more arrogantly.
Zhangsun Wuji glanced at Yun Ye and began breaking up his tiles. He planned to team up with Yun Ye to deal with Yuan Shoucheng. Only Li Er still unhurriedly played his tiles, neither favoring nor opposing anyone.
The old man kept winning. Yun Ye clearly knew he was cheating, but the old fellow’s techniques were too fast—Yun Ye couldn’t catch him no matter what. Seeing the old fellow’s gold about to exceed two chests, Yun Ye believed it was time to make his move.
The dice on the mahjong table were still the same set Li Yuan had used last time. To let Li Yuan draw good tiles, Old Lady Dugu had cheated using lead-weighted dice. It seemed they still hadn’t been changed.
Just as the old fellow gripped the dice in his hand and was about to throw them, Yun Ye grabbed the old fellow’s hand and said: “Wait!” Everyone at the table froze simultaneously, not knowing what had happened.
Yun Ye instructed palace servants to bring him a small hammer and a chopping board. Under the puzzled gazes of the other four people, Yun Ye used the hammer to crack open the dice the old fellow had just been gripping. Three small lead lumps fell out from the three dice. Zhangsun Wuji picked one up, held it before his eyes to look, and said to Li Er: “It’s lead.”
Yuan Shoucheng froze for a moment, then suddenly began laughing heartily, pointing at Yun Ye and saying breathlessly: “What a fine frame-up! No matter what, the dice malfunctioned in this old man’s hands—a hundred mouths couldn’t explain it clearly! Since I’ve been caught red-handed, speak up—what’s the verdict? This old man admits defeat and accepts any punishment.”
Zhangsun laughed until tears came out, collapsing on Li Er’s shoulder to catch her breath. Li Er frowned and looked strangely at Yun Ye with his righteously indignant expression. Zhangsun Wuji raised his thumb high, beaming with joy. They were all old hands—how could they not understand? Such a gambling game had no need to tamper with the gaming equipment. Of the five people present, only Yun Ye was a veteran of this game—the other four were all newcomers. Very likely these dice had been swapped in by Li Yuan. Yun Ye knew but said nothing, just to make the Grand Emperor happy. Now things were different. Whether concealing for the honored or concealing for elders, this big green fly Yuan Shoucheng was finished.
Yun Ye coughed and instructed palace servants to fetch a gambling agreement written on silk from the rack over there. Pointing at the third clause, he said to Yuan Shoucheng: “According to the regulations, you’ve lost everything. Originally you could only leave wearing your undergarments, but you’re an elderly person and it’s too cold. I’m afraid even the Grand Emperor when he was alive wouldn’t do this. So you just need to owe each of us present one promise—how about that?”
“There really is such a thing!” Yuan Shoucheng snatched the gambling agreement, read it carefully once, then handed it to Li Er to read.
“Naturally. The Grand Emperor said before that without rules, nothing can be accomplished. So this gambling agreement was established five years ago. This young man isn’t speaking off the cuff.” Yun Ye said earnestly to Yuan Shoucheng.
Zhangsun was nearly dying of laughter. Li Er freed one arm to support his wife, looking completely helpless. Zhangsun Wuji rapidly read through the gambling agreement once, then immediately closed it with complete satisfaction, instructing palace servants to return it to its original place. He very much wanted a promise from the old man.
“Hunting geese all day, who would have thought today a goose would peck out my eyes. Very well, young man, your trick succeeded. This old man is quite curious what great doubt you have in your chest?”
Yun Ye cupped his hands and said solemnly: “This question has troubled this young man for decades. Unable to solve it despite much thought, I can only inquire of the wise. What this young man wants to ask is: which came first, the chicken or the egg?”
When Li Er heard Yun Ye’s question, he thought this was him mocking Yuan Shoucheng, which was inappropriate. Just as he was about to rebuke Yun Ye, he saw Yun Ye’s face full of sorrow, completely without his usual lazy indifference. So he closed his mouth and waited for Yuan Shoucheng to give Yun Ye an answer.
Yuan Shoucheng sensed Yun Ye’s sincerity. He absolutely would not consider Yun Ye to be speaking nonsense. So he closed his eyes in contemplation. The great hall suddenly fell silent. Zhangsun looked at Li Er, then at Yun Ye, then at her brother, and discovered all three men’s expressions were very strange, while Yuan Shoucheng had fallen into prolonged contemplation.
For Yun Ye, this question was no longer as simple as the playful childhood riddles. To the Great Tang, this chicken, he himself was an egg. Now the chicken and egg existed simultaneously in one spacetime—would there be any bad effects? Was his influence on the Great Tang good or bad?
A butterfly in the Caribbean flaps its wings and elsewhere there will be storms—this was the essence of chaos theory. He only knew this phrase but didn’t understand what chaos theory was. From the moment he stepped into the Great Tang, he had been trying to restrain his own wings, not letting them fan out too great a storm. He worried this would invite punishment from the laws of history and the laws of space. So like an instigator, he went about instigating everyone around him. Only things researched and created by these native-born Tang people themselves would truly belong to the Tang people.
History had already become riddled with holes. In its unconscious self-development, the Great Tang had become incomparably vast and incomparably powerful—invincible throughout the world. This feeling had been deeply branded into the bones of Tang people.
Li Er had always advocated incompleteness—even the bowls for eating must have a chip knocked in them. Now his Great Tang was approaching perfection without limit. Would this invite punishment?
Last year’s heavy snow that never appeared in any historical records, and this year’s extreme cold—Yun Ye almost believed these things were all brought to the Great Tang by himself. He was very worried that his vanity would destroy this beautiful nation.
Yuan Shoucheng opened his eyes, looked at Yun Ye and said: “This question involves the relationship between time and life. This old man cannot answer you.”
Yun Ye knew this would be the answer. He bleakly expressed his thanks to Yuan Shoucheng, then took leave of Li Er and the Empress. The afternoon sunlight was extremely fierce. When palace servants pushed open the great hall doors, sunlight immediately filled the hall.
Yun Ye walked out into the sunlight. Yuan Shoucheng called out loudly from behind: “Young man, where do so many answers come from in this world? Much of the time, what’s before you is darkness—you can’t see anything!”
Yun Ye turned around and bowed in thanks to Yuan Shoucheng once more, then walked straight into the world of sunlight. He wanted to bask in the sun a bit more. Recently his brain had gotten a bit damp.