Using the specific to generalize about the biased, using the biased to generalize about the whole—the entire problem was filled with doubts. Li Er always thought about problems from a macro perspective, not a micro one. Now suddenly coming into contact with detailed matters, the Emperor felt very unconfident.

An emperor who prided himself as a peerless enlightened ruler suddenly encountered old farmers discussing their actual problems at home, and moreover immediately wanted the Emperor to produce a solution. This was simply bullying the Emperor, this brilliant country bumpkin. If this problem were handed to a county registrar, he would slap the old man across the face with his palm, then roughly make the dried fruit seller fork over two silver coins for him—one silver coin to hire a strong man, one for himself to drink wine. There would be no trouble at all. Only Li Er would associate this matter with his own policies and develop a sense of crisis.

Seeing Li Er’s expression of sudden enlightenment, Yun Ye smiled along, though in his heart he actually very much wanted to beat Xiao Wu. That wretched girl—she had already become a mother, so how could she still have such a temperament? Seeing that he was being bullied by the imperial family, she struck with deadly force, driving the Emperor into a pit to his death.

There would definitely be no way to find evidence of this matter. Since the wretched girl could run off to her own fields in Sanyuan County for spring planting, she absolutely would not let anyone catch her fox tail. Yun Ye’s speculation was also based on deducing from personality—first assuming the culprit was Xiao Wu, then working backwards through the cause and effect of the entire affair…

Meeting the old marshals and even greeting them was difficult—they were all Ministers, because that was the highest official rank. When the Emperor was present, they could only be addressed this way. So sitting in the great hall of the Yun home were three or four Ministers of War, and Yun Ye, also a Minister of War, still had to be responsible for serving tea and pouring water.

They were all old acquaintances. Knowing their eating habits, Li Er was directly given a large bowl of minced meat noodles. The Emperor was also a Guanzhong person—if he didn’t eat noodles, what would he eat? Eating delicacies from land and sea every day, even immortals couldn’t withstand it.

A small dish of salted chives, two cloves of sugared garlic, and a refreshingly clean plate of freshly picked bean sprouts with only minced garlic and ginger on top, doused with vinegar and splashed with plain oil—even the smell aroused appetite.

Niu Jinda, Li Jing, Wei Zheng, and others who liked eating noodles all had this same meal. The most refined meal among them belonged to Li Gang. The old man’s stomach wasn’t good, so things like porridge were easiest to digest. There was only a small cup of lotus seed and white fungus porridge without sugar, and before the meal there were a few slices of fruit. Du Ruhui and the others liked eating rice. Two or three refined small dishes accompanied a bowl of snow-white rice, topped with specially made meat sauce, which made the old men exclaim with delight.

Li Er slurped down a large bowl of noodles, slammed the bowl on the table, and looked worriedly at Li Gang slowly sipping his porridge. He frowned and said, “Teacher’s body still hasn’t been properly recuperated. I can still eat three jin of meat, a dou of food, mount a horse and wield a halberd for half a shichen. You only eat this little each meal—how can this be acceptable?”

Li Gang wiped his mouth, set down the half-cup of white fungus porridge he had eaten, and said with a bitter smile, “Your Majesty does not know—this old subject should have departed this world for a carefree journey several years ago. It’s just that I cannot bear to leave the increasingly prosperous Great Tang. I always want to look a bit longer, so that when I go underground in the future, I can tell my old friends more about our achievements.”

“Now this old man’s hair has fallen out, and my teeth are leaving me one by one. I imagine the day of my distant journey is already approaching. Your Majesty, this old subject today requests a favor from Your Majesty. I don’t know if I should speak or not.”

“Whatever the old beloved subject requests, speak freely. I will grant it without exception.” Li Er spoke very decisively.

“This old subject first thanks Your Majesty. What this old man has sought in life is nothing more than teaching and educating people. To speak of it is shameful—Emperor Yang of Sui and Prince Xi both came from this old man’s tutelage. One was brutal, one lacked filial piety and fraternal duty. This old man failed to fulfill his duty as a teacher. This is the greatest regret of this old man’s life.”

“Therefore, this old subject only asks that after this old subject’s death, Your Majesty not bestow a posthumous title, not issue an edict, and moreover not announce it to the world. Bury me with the specifications of a fifth-rank official, because the first official position this old subject held in our Great Tang was a fifth-rank office. On the monument, aside from the two characters ‘Li Gang,’ nothing else should be written. Your Majesty must not suspend court to show mourning because of this old subject’s death.”

“Spring flourishing and autumn withering is the natural order of human affairs. Being able to occupy a corner of the Academy for my body is already the greatest blessing Heaven has bestowed upon this old subject. I earnestly request Your Majesty to grant this old subject’s request.”

No one expected Li Gang would discuss his posthumous affairs here. Li Er was silent for a moment, then said solemnly, “Emperor Yang of Sui brought about his own destruction, and Prince Xi was the same. How can the failure to educate these two be placed on Teacher’s head? If this is also a stain on life, then I would be completely covered in wounds. Yushan Academy is now so prosperous—calling it an achievement for a thousand generations and ten thousand ages would not be excessive.”

“Teacher must not belittle yourself. According to your contributions to our Great Tang, no matter what posthumous honors you receive, they would not be excessive. However, since Teacher has made this request, I will grant it.”

Li Gang laughed heartily and bowed in all directions, saying, “When this old man first entered the Academy, I obtained several jars of good wine from the Yun family and buried them under that ancient pine at the Academy. Once this old man departs on his distant journey, you all must remember to dig them up and drink them in celebration. One jar of wine is dedicated to Your Majesty. If you feel vexed or confused, drink a mouthful—perhaps it can resolve your worries.”

Li Er bowed in gratitude, saying, “I thank the elder for this gift!”

Compared to the men’s somber mood, Zhangsun had a wonderful time at the Yun home. Hiding in the rear residence with Xinyue and Madam Cheng and Madam Niu, who had been specially invited to accompany guests, after heartily eating a whole mess of various things, she plunged headlong into the Yun family’s perfume workshop to play.

Chenxin was now a master-level figure in perfume making and embroidery. His embroidery in Chang’an had a price but no market. Similarly, the perfume he concocted was worth its weight in gold, with the saying “an inch of gold for an inch of fragrance.”

Yun Xiang was his disciple. The little girl had been obsessed with this since she was very young, so Yun Ye never stopped her, only wanting to let things take their natural course. In this world, any craft studied to its profound depths—who could say it wasn’t a form of achievement?

Zhangsun and Madam Cheng planned to create a perfume suitable for themselves today. The blue flame of the alcohol lamp licked at the glass apparatus, so various glass bottles under Chenxin’s guidance began to tumble or began to boil.

“Your Majesty, agarwood’s fragrance is very sharp, so when we smell agarwood, we smell it strand by strand, thread by thread, and it drills directly into the brain. It is the king among fragrances, and moreover has the effects of regulating qi and relieving pain, warming the middle and stopping vomiting, accepting qi and calming asthma, as well as the function of regulating the middle and calming the liver. This slave dares to ask Your Majesty to use agarwood to perfume your clothes.”

Zhangsun and Li Er were exactly alike—the more others recommended something, the more they had a resistant psychology. Hearing Chenxin say this, Zhangsun deliberately set down the agarwood in her hand and instead picked up a piece of ambergris, about to put it to her nose to smell.

Chenxin dared not obstruct her. Xinyue hastily said, “Your Majesty, ambergris is foul-smelling before it has been processed. This thing must have specialized craftsmen to handle it—we cannot manage it well.”

After hearing this, Zhangsun immediately laughed, pointing at the ambergris to indicate that this was what she wanted. She liked everything with the character for dragon, and moreover ambergris was the most precious perfume ingredient—Zhangsun still knew this.

Hearing Zhangsun’s request, Chenxin immediately knelt down and said, “Your Majesty, ambergris has too hot a nature, and moreover has aphrodisiac effects. The single fragrance is not very pleasant to smell. This slave has always used ambergris as a fixative agent and has never dared to use it alone as a fragrance. Since Your Majesty wishes to use it, this slave must risk death to explain the advantages and disadvantages.”

Zhangsun looked at Xinyue with slanted eyes and said, “Your household’s servants really do speak on behalf of their masters—how were they trained?”

Xinyue smiled very smugly. While accompanying the Empress to continue selecting perfume ingredients, she said softly, “We’ve never specially trained anyone. These are all spontaneous. My husband is naturally soft-natured and treats everyone well. Those people’s hearts are not made of iron and stone, so naturally they also treat the Yun family well. Until now, the Yun family has never discovered which servant has truly done anything bad.”

“You should go see Lady Moji in a bit. I don’t understand—clearly she’s fifty years old, yet her figure is still so good. It makes me somewhat jealous.” Madam Cheng selected her perfume ingredients and gave them to Chenxin, then walked to Zhangsun’s side and whispered quietly.

No woman doesn’t love beauty, so Zhangsun also hastily selected her perfume ingredients, insisting that Chenxin must finish them before she left. Then she went with Madam Cheng and Madam Niu to Lady Moji’s place.

Logically speaking, Lady Moji was Li Yuan’s favored consort and need not bow when meeting Zhangsun. But Moji did not display such a haughty attitude. Instead, she gracefully bowed down, respectfully welcoming Zhangsun’s arrival. Doing this showed that she had completely cast aside past grievances and was living for herself.

Zhangsun was also very satisfied with this. The sins created by the imperial family—the fewer the better.

Yun Mu and Cheng Huahua were in a very large room wearing thin undergarments, exercising and training their waists. Madam Cheng unceremoniously drove away Yun Mu and Huahua, and also chased away the foreign dancing girls from the outer room.

In the vast room were only Moji and Xinyue, as well as the Empress and Madam Niu, plus herself. Madam Cheng gestured with her mouth to Xinyue, who then went to a room and also changed into an undergarment, and from there brought out three brand-new undergarments, preparing to invite the Empress, Madam Cheng, and Madam Niu to change into them.

The Empress looked appreciatively at Xinyue wearing the undergarment, which showed off her curvaceous figure. She wanted to shake her head—if she wore such clothes, she would be laughed at.

Madam Cheng and Madam Niu were not visiting the Yun family’s practice room for the first time. They took the undergarments Xinyue handed them and went to the small room to change clothes. They emerged shortly after. When Moji came out after changing clothes, Zhangsun immediately felt that she should also change into them…

When the evening banquet began, Li Er looked at the radiant Zhangsun and said strangely, “The Empress is in very good spirits today!”

Zhangsun scratched her chin and said regretfully, “How is it that all our imperial family’s treasures have flowed to the Yun family? Wu She is like this, and that Moji is also like that. They all seem to be inconspicuous figures, but not one of them is simple. Today I learned a set of exercises similar to the Five Animal Frolics. If practiced well, it is practically a blessing for women.”

“Your Majesty, what other good things do you think the Yun family has taken away from the imperial palace?”