Li Xiang sat dazed for a moment, then slowly stood up. He took out a banknote from his sleeve, placed it on the table, and walked out listlessly. Seeing his poor complexion, Bright Moon didn’t dare ask questions and could only let him leave.
The spring apricot blossom rain sprinkled on Li Xiang’s thin spring robe, and he couldn’t help but shiver. Watching the returning swallows, he said quietly, “Another boring year has begun. But should I go stay in Mount Heng? Now that little Shou’er has left, Chang’an is so lonely.”
Yun Ye had no idea how many things Yun Shou had accomplished in half a day. When he returned home for dinner in the evening, he found his son already sitting at the dining table waiting for him. He smiled and tapped the table with his finger, saying, “Have you decided?”
“I’ve decided. Your son wishes to go to the Mobei!”
Xinyue’s hand trembled, and she anxiously wanted to speak, but Yun Ye stopped her.
“Why? There’s no one left in Mobei. The Turks migrated away as an entire tribe. There are no longer any people by the North Sea. Only wild horses gallop on those grasslands. Of course, there are quite a few wild donkeys too. If you like hunting, it’s a good place for that, but since when did you like hunting? You weren’t even interested in the autumn hunt at the imperial hunting grounds. What would you do in that desolate wilderness?”
“The entire Mobei has only twelve thousand garrison troops, whose main job is to herd horses for the empire. If you like raising horses, you’d be better off going below Mount Helan. At least there you could still see some signs of human habitation.”
“Father, your son wants to go to the most difficult place to temper his will.”
Yun Ye opened his mouth and laughed, looking gently at his eldest son and saying, “Using a harsh environment to temper one’s will is already an inferior approach. The Turks have lived by the North Sea for generations, yet they still weren’t a match for our Guanzhong disciples. This shows that environment cannot forge bones and tendons—it only harms the body. Now they can only undertake expeditions of ten thousand miles, and to this day we don’t know if they’re alive or dead. Such actions are inadvisable.”
“You’ve been a child with strong willpower since you were young. Whether studying or practicing martial arts, you’ve always been very diligent. To be honest, you’re much stronger than your father was. Speaking of being pampered and spoiled, no one has more bad habits than your father, yet didn’t I still accomplish many things?”
“You’re the eldest son of the family and will eventually inherit the family business. Actually, this is very unfair to you. Once you inherit the family business, you won’t be able to do whatever you want as freely as you’d like. Unlike your younger brothers and sisters—as long as they’re willing, Father won’t obstruct their aspirations. Just like when Huan’er said he wanted to be a fragrance master, even though Father didn’t know what a fragrance master was, I still allowed him to have this hobby. Of course, I didn’t expect he’d like to run around sniffing girls. That was excessive, which is why he still can’t get out of bed.”
“Father is telling you all this to ask if you have any intention of going to Yue Prefecture?”
Yun Shou kept his head down and ate slowly. He actually really did want to go to the grasslands. Going to Yue Prefecture wouldn’t be much different from being at home—the old steward would take care of him even more comfortably than at home.
“So you’re unwilling? You really are determined to make a trip to the edge of the world. Your Uncle Dan Ying and Uncle Xi Tong went to the edge of the world. They say they even saw the aurora and nearly killed all the white bears there. Very well then, if you want to go, then go. A true man acts on his resolve. However, you only have three years. Father can only give you three years. To be a horse herder for three years—I don’t know what you’re thinking.”
When Yun Ye spoke, Xinyue generally wouldn’t interrupt, but today that wouldn’t do. Hearing her husband agree to their son’s request, she suddenly stood up and said shrilly, “No! He cannot go to the wilderness. If he wants to go to the wilderness, he can wait until I’m dead!”
After speaking, she threw down her bowl and chopsticks and went straight back to her room, presumably to cry bitterly.
“This is your problem, son. If you want to go to the wilderness, go make your mother happy. I’m going to see Huan’er. From yesterday’s beating with the board, the wounds on his bottom probably haven’t scabbed over yet.”
Yun Ye soaked the last bit of rice in his bowl with vegetable soup, ate it all in one mouthful, wiped his mouth, and went to see his second son.
The moment he stepped out of the main hall, Yun Ye’s pupils constricted. A very large black civet cat stood on his family’s wall, with a sign hanging from its neck bearing three characters: Huifeng Pavilion.
The civet cat seemed almost supernatural. After Yun Ye clearly saw the writing, it quickly leaped onto a large tree, flashed several times across the roof ridges, and disappeared without a trace.
Huifeng Pavilion? He had never heard of this place. Yun Ye generally knew about all the notable buildings in Chang’an, but he had never heard of this place. Could words like “dragon” and “phoenix” be used so casually?
Old Qian hadn’t heard of it either. Several elderly people brought from the household all didn’t know where this place was. Finally, everyone’s gaze unanimously settled on the silent Wu She.
“The place exists. It’s not in the imperial palace—it’s at Ganye Temple, where the Late Emperor’s consorts practice their devotions. Yun Ye, even you cannot enter. This would violate a taboo, the kind of taboo that no man can tolerate.”
Yun Ye smiled and said, “The reason so many taboos exist is actually our own fault. No one is willing to speak the truth. Everyone always wants to bury things in their hearts, and then countless suspicions arise. Everyone worries about the consequences of suspicion, so gradually suspicion becomes taboo, causing everyone to halt in their tracks.”
“This is an excellent hiding place. Even with His Majesty’s supreme position, he never sets foot there because of this taboo. Even if the Empress bears the responsibility of supervising the six palaces, she probably can’t visit there often, can she?”
“That is truly the place that Chang’an people consciously forget. That’s why even Chang’an experts like Old Qian don’t know where Huifeng Pavilion is. Hehe, now I’m even more curious—why would an old farmer be at Ganye Temple? That place is the domain of nuns, and it’s surrounded by guards. The entire Ganye Temple occupies more than eight hundred acres. That place must hide countless secrets.”
Liu Fang shook his head and said, “You cannot go to that place. Whoever goes becomes entangled in karmic consequences. The yin energy, hostile energy, and resentful energy are all too heavy.”
Yun Ye laughed heartily and said, “I’ll just take those jade plaques in. Using the jade plaques’ radiance to dispel the yin energy and resolve some hostile energy—wouldn’t that be quite good?”
Was this the old farmer’s response? Had he been hiding at Ganye Temple all along? Yun Ye had been familiar with this place for a very, very long time. It was the rendezvous site for Wu Zhao and Li Zhi—he absolutely had to go see it. Of course, he would bring Xiao Wu along.
Di Renjie was unwilling to pass up such a good opportunity. He also wanted to see it. So the next day, Yun Ye brought the couple into the palace to request permission from Zhangsun to visit Ganye Temple.
“Ganye Temple? That’s where the Late Emperor’s consorts became nuns to practice their devotions. What would you go there for?” Zhangsun froze for a moment and immediately asked.
“A very large black civet cat had a small sign hanging from its neck with three characters written on it: Huifeng Pavilion. It seemed to be inviting me there for a conversation. The matter is strange, so your subject plans to go take a look.”
“Where did you see that black civet cat?” Zhangsun’s gaze became sharp. Not only did she stand up, but her voice also became urgent.
“At my home. Just after finishing dinner, I was planning to stroll around the garden when I saw that cat standing on the wall without making a sound, just staring at me coldly like that.”
Zhangsun sat back down and said irritably, “That’s not a place where an outside minister like you can go. What’s there to see in that place with its bleak, ghostly wind?”
Yun Ye chuckled and took out the jade plaques from his bosom, arranging them one by one on the stand Wu She had made. When the last jade plaque was placed in, all four jade plaques began to glow together. The light was quite strong—Wu She had been exposing the jade plaques to the sun these past few days.
“Wu She says the radiance these things emit is divine light that can dispel all filth, so carrying them should pose no problem.”
Women and dragons in legends are the same type of creature—always full of curiosity about shining, glowing things. Zhangsun didn’t answer Yun Ye’s question and only focused on fiddling with the jade plaques, putting them in for a while, then taking them out again. The dazzling light flickered on and off until Yun Ye’s eyes had been dazzled so much he couldn’t see anything.
“Lend me these things to play with for a few days!” When Zhangsun wanted things, she was always so domineering, especially when asking Yun Ye for things.
“You can play with them for a few days, but you have to return them to me. I gave these things to Wu She. He now treats them as treasures and can’t be parted from them for even a day. If you take them and don’t return them, Wu She probably won’t have many days left to live.”
“So stingy! Asking for something and still pushing it onto someone else—you have no filial piety at all. Fine, I’ll play with them for a few days and then return them to Wu She. An old servant has now become precious too.”
Once things were in Zhangsun’s hands, they couldn’t be retrieved. She held the jade plaques in one hand and the stand in the other, casually instructing a palace maid to prepare the imperial procession. The palace immediately became busy.
By the time the ceremonial carriages were ready for the mistress’s departure, the sun had already climbed quite high. The Thousand Bull Guards led the way in front, followed by piles of imperial guards carrying small flags. Yun Ye and Di Renjie rode horses behind, eating dust. Xiao Wu, however, was called into the carriage by Zhangsun to chat. Who knew if Zhangsun could extract any information from the fox-like Xiao Wu?
Ganye Temple was in the northwest corner of Chang’an City. Ancient trees were everywhere. Not to mention anything else—the temperature alone was much lower here than in other places. Di Renjie asked Yun Ye quietly, “Master, why did you insist on inviting Empress-Mother here? Is it appropriate? This is a meeting between our White Jade Capital and other reclusive masters. Isn’t doing this too disrespectful to the other party?”
Yun Ye backhanded a slap across Di Renjie’s head and said, “What nonsense are you talking about? What do you mean by White Jade Capital? Others may not know, but don’t you know? This is something your master said casually in jest back then. Over these many years, because of that bit of nonsense, your master has nearly been driven mad. Have you recently really started believing you’re the Guest of Binmei? I’m telling you, put away your crafty thoughts and don’t act recklessly.”
“As for respect—if we came here secretly, would that be respect? If we consider those people’s face, where do we put the imperial family’s face? Ganye Temple is full of young female nuns. For us master and disciple to want to enter, if the Empress didn’t lead the way, I wouldn’t come in at all. If word got out, not only would the imperial family’s dignity be lost, but our master-disciple relationship’s reputation would also be gone. Can’t you distinguish between what’s more important and what’s less?”