The next day was the Grand Court Assembly. Before even entering the palace gates, Zhangsun Chong intercepted Yun Ye and said quietly: “You’ve stirred up a hornet’s nest. Now everyone is denouncing your cruelty and inhumanity. Last night when you went home, you didn’t actually kill anyone, did you?”

“Kill what? My wife likes watching those singers hanging. I bought them and brought them home to hang them up for her to watch – is that not allowed? Who has so much free time to meddle?” Yun Ye asked Zhangsun Chong with a smile.

“As long as you didn’t kill anyone, that’s good. As long as people are alive, anything can be explained. Just endure it today in court.” After letting out a long sigh of relief, Zhangsun Chong continued to console Yun Ye.

“Forget it. The one who ruined my reputation is your father. Now you still want me to endure? Can I even endure?”

Watching Yun Ye muttering as he walked toward Wanmin Palace, Zhangsun Chong felt a bit embarrassed, not knowing what to say for a moment.

When Yun Ye entered Wanmin Palace, he stood in the court ranks with a dark face, ignoring everyone. Those around him also kept their distance, knowing this person’s temper had been bad recently. Just last night he’d hung several singers in his home to air out all night – they just didn’t know if they were still alive now.

Shangguan Yi walked up to Yun Ye furiously, but before he could open his mouth, he heard Yun Ye say coldly: “This is the position for third-rank officials. What is a fifth-rank official like you doing here? Improper! Withdraw immediately!”

One sentence choked Shangguan Yi speechless. Just as he was preparing to argue, he saw the eunuchs and palace maids had already emerged. As the wing screens appeared, the Emperor had already turned out from behind the screen mountain and taken his seat. Shangguan Yi could only return to his own position.

Before the eunuch could speak, Li Er spoke first: “Guard by day and by night, yet household thieves are hard to prevent. Linhuai, Sizhou, and Xuyi – these three places have had incidents. Under the bright heavens, there are actually officials governing prosperous places until the people cannot survive. Now it’s fine – the common people have been forced to become mountain bandits and lake pirates, viewing my officials as enemies. Ministers, think of a solution for me. In prosperous peaceful times there are always rebellions – this makes me, the Emperor, lose much face.”

“Last month, retired veterans gathered in rebellion. Zhang Jian brought me three severed heads, saying he’d quelled this disaster. But he also demanded I give him an explanation – why hadn’t the money and grain his veterans were owed been delivered? Why were veterans’ wives violated while they were on campaign?”

“Yes, I also find it difficult to answer. The rewarded money and grain was distributed by the Ministry of Finance – I approved it. Why did it disappear without a trace? So I sent people to investigate what actually happened. Yesterday the results came in. Haha! My local officials truly live splendid lives – every night music and singing, composing and exchanging poems, living utterly carefree.”

“Without money and grain, they deduct it from the veterans’ provisions. When singers lack charm, they go find respectable women. Even I as Emperor don’t dare do such things, yet they’ve already done so. Shouldn’t the Ministry of Justice and the Court of Judicial Review also give me an explanation?”

Each time the Emperor named someone, the head of that department stepped out and prostrated on the ground. Everyone knew the Emperor’s temperament – the more calmly he spoke, the more vigorous the anger in his heart.

“Today is the Grand Court Assembly, the day we ruler and ministers meet. I didn’t want to say these unpleasant things, but now it seems I must. Previously you always said military officers were arrogant, that only civil officials were good. Now it appears among you there are also shameless types. The Ministry of Rites, Ministry of Personnel, Ministry of Justice – together with the Court of Judicial Review, shouldn’t you also examine civil officials? Don’t always fix your gaze on military officers. When they commit errors, I will naturally handle them.”

“Today I’ve said too much, laying things out clearly. Great Tang’s laws aren’t only effective for military officers – they apply equally to civil officials. It’s time to govern official administration.”

The peaceful court was thrown into tumultuous waves by Li Er’s words. Li Er was still Li Er – when seeking immortality failed, he immediately calmed down and turned his gaze toward reality, returning to his position as Emperor.

Major matters can obscure minor ones. For instance, what happened at the Yun household was a minor matter. The Ministry of Personnel where Shangguan Yi worked had this time completely become the storm’s center. A major purge was now inevitable. Under such overwhelming momentum, Shangguan Yi could only obediently shut his mouth and strive to forget those singers with their tragic fates.

After returning to the Ministry of War, naturally there was jubilation. The Merit Assessment Bureau immediately brought out all the achievements from these years that could be evaluated or not, requesting the chief official to review them. Since the military system now had few restraints, strengthening one’s own power was very necessary.

So Yun Ye busied himself all day in the Ministry of War’s great hall. As long as matters weren’t too outrageous, he would seal and sign them. The highest-ranking positions were only minor posts like city commandants – positions no higher than eighth rank, nothing significant.

The great army had just returned from campaign, and capable soldiers with merit needed to be placed everywhere. While those recommended couldn’t all be said to be meritorious ministers, eighty or ninety percent were. The military not only emphasized military achievement but also emphasized face.

The entire Ministry of War was busy. Without realizing it in this busyness, it became dark. Yun Ye planned to finish all matters today, so he didn’t permit Ministry of War personnel to leave the office. After eating some dinner in the office, they continued working.

Li Er sat idle for a long time in the deep palace prohibition, then rose to stroll about. He actually disliked staying in the brilliantly lit great hall. Standing before Wanmin Palace overlooking all of Chang’an, at this time Chang’an’s curfew hour hadn’t yet arrived. The areas around Xinghua Ward and Pingkang Ward were brightly lit with lamps, visitors like woven cloth. He seemed to still hear the sounds of strings and bamboo, and the fragrance of powder and rouge.

Looking again at his feet, the Six Ministries’ offices were pitch black. Actually that wasn’t entirely accurate – at least the Ministry of War’s offices still had lamps everywhere, with minor officials constantly carrying documents hurrying between various rooms.

Li Er very much wanted to see what Yun Ye was doing. With Duan Hong’s accompaniment, he quietly left the palace gates. No need to leave the Imperial City – just walking for the time it takes an incense stick to burn would reach the Ministry of War offices.

Walking on the road paved with bluestone, Li Er’s mood seemed to improve. Behind him the guards followed in increasing numbers, until finally their number exceeded a hundred.

Raising his hand to stop those guards, Li Er and Duan Hong quietly entered the Ministry of War offices. The guards were all ordered to keep silent. Before long the Emperor had already made a large circuit of the Ministry of War.

The officials were busy. Li Er felt as comfortable as an old farmer watching his ox plowing the fields. Finally coming before the Ministry of War’s great hall, he heard Yun Ye’s voice coming from inside.

“The Hexi region is a strategic area. The military officers here first need courage. They must guard against the Tubo people and be ready at any moment to suppress the Qiang people. So courage still needs to be placed first. When selecting talent from these soldiers, the first thing to do is examine military merit. Under equal conditions, those with superior military merit come first. With equal military merit, the braver come first. Select according to this principle.”

“For local militia forces, appropriately increase standing army strength. Even during busy farming seasons, ensure half the forces remain in military camps. It’s nothing more than consuming more money and grain. Ensuring localities have no mishaps is the first priority. Issue this as regulations as well.”

Li Er listened while nodding repeatedly, greatly approving of Yun Ye’s methods for handling matters. Just as he was about to leave, the great hall’s door opened. A clerk carrying documents came out. Suddenly seeing Li Er outside the door, his legs went weak and he knelt down, the documents in his hands scattering across the ground.

Li Er smiled slightly and patted the clerk’s shoulder. Before the clerk could awaken from his tremendous dizziness, Li Er lifted his leg and entered the great hall. Originally he’d wanted to praise Yun Ye a few words, but when he looked up and saw Yun Ye with both feet propped on the desk leisurely holding a teapot drinking tea, his anger flared up.

“Haven’t you been beaten enough?”

Hearing Li Er’s voice, Yun Ye immediately put down his feet, rose, and saluted: “Your Majesty, with the night cold and dew heavy, why have you come?”

“Getting old – drowsy all day and sleeping less. I came out for a walk. Ai, you’re also a dignified Minister of War. Can’t you have some propriety? Always being so dissolute ultimately isn’t good.”

Li Er raised his hand originally wanting to beat or slap him, but seeing Yun Ye greeting him, this slap somehow couldn’t be delivered. His tone also became gentler.

“I don’t know if Your Majesty has killed that demon monk. Didn’t he say he could resurrect the dead?”

“Hehe, killed with one blade. The coroner dissected his corpse and found it no different from ordinary people. Searching his luggage, we found many colored pills inside. After testing them for poison on livestock, we discovered they were all highly toxic substances. This time I brought humiliation upon myself. I ruined the proper imperial protocols. Chengqian took such desperate risks because of this. Human hearts cannot be tested.”

“Remember, if you ever encounter the same situation as I did, you must never set up schemes to test people. Now thinking back, my entire body still turns cold. If you and Qing Que hadn’t done that but had chosen another approach – how could the Empress and I have handled ourselves? Rather than that, it would be better to know nothing. If you had the ability to deceive the Empress and me for a lifetime, that might not be a misfortune for us.”

“True and false, false and true – they always interchange. Some people’s loyalty yesterday may not have been insincere, but today they can immediately betray you. Recently I often think of Hou Junji. Yesterday I went to the Qin mansion to visit Shubao – he doesn’t have many good days left. The old generation is beginning to wither. Sooner or later I too will grow old. As long as corpses aren’t left unattended with armed conflict erupting – that would be Heaven’s greatest reward to me.”

Moving a chair over for Li Er to sit, Yun Ye suddenly said: “Your Majesty, since you’re tired of staying in the capital, why don’t I accompany you – shall we go fishing in the South Sea? The Great Emperor is still floating on the South Sea. You’ve only traveled on lakes – what’s wrong with going to see the ocean? In any case, affairs in the capital are as they are. Where you conduct business – isn’t it still conducting business?”

“You’ve conquered such a brilliant realm – it’s too great a pity not to go everywhere and look. Now our Great Tang doesn’t lack the money and grain for your imperial tour. Guangzhou has been a port for nearly a thousand years. Its current glory is no less than Chang’an’s. Now the Silk Road has been completely replaced by maritime transport. Foreign nations can import fewer and fewer things. This minister believes Chang’an’s decline is already inevitable. This isn’t something Your Majesty can avoid with one edict or by relocating some great households to Chang’an.”