Xiao Wu turned around and stared directly at Di Renjie, saying, “Are you serious?”

Di Renjie mustered his courage, nodded, and said, “Very serious!”

“I remember you said before that no matter what I did, you would fully support me.”

“That doesn’t include harming and killing people. Xiao Wu, from the day we married and our hair was tied together, our fates became linked. Having children means we can’t help but believe in destiny. We, as wise people of this world, cannot regard the common people as pigs and dogs. Hannu themselves are the darkest and most bloodthirsty existence in the human world. I don’t approve—not one bit.”

“That’s an evil path! My wife is beautiful and intelligent. If you add kindness, you’d be perfect. Such a wife is my blessing. Being mischievous once or twice only makes me cherish you more.”

Di Renjie held Xiao Wu’s hand, speaking tender words of affection. He very much hoped Xiao Wu would abandon this notion. Having been married for many years, he knew Xiao Wu’s temperament too well. Whatever she thought of, she would certainly do. Trying to change her mind was truly too difficult.

Xiao Wu leaned her body against Di Renjie’s embrace, sighed, and said, “Clearly knowing you’re talking nonsense, I still can’t help but go along with you. I know my problem—I’m too domineering. Such a temperament might be acceptable on a man, but on me it’s a huge trouble. Sometimes I simply can’t resist external temptations. Standing on Eagle’s Beak Cliff looking at the beautiful Guanzhong Plain, I wish I could embrace it tightly in my arms. I really want it.”

“The intimidation effect of Hannu far exceeds their practical use. In today’s world where firearms are widespread, individual martial prowess is truly too insignificant. One explosive round can decompose a Hannu into a pile of shredded meat. Better not to have them.”

Xiao Wu now very much liked staying in the underground passages. That section of passage was specifically excavated at her request. Yun Ye generally didn’t go over there. Everyone needed their own private space.

Standing on the academy’s lecture platform, Xiao Wu was dignified and imposing. Her pair of peach-blossom eyes commanded respect with every glance. The academic atmosphere under her tutelage was very strong. Compared to Hypatia, the academy preferred Xiao Wu’s style. Master Yuanzhang had commented on Xiao Wu, saying she possessed a man’s breadth of mind and the spirit to embrace all rivers and seas. At first hearing, these weren’t words to describe a woman, but such an evaluation had already become consensus at the academy. Master Yushan said that whenever Xiao Wu opened her mouth to speak, he could hear the clashing of metal and iron, as if iron cavalry were roaring and surging forward…

“How does a girl get such an evaluation? Only people with upset stomachs gurgle and rumble when speaking. Iron cavalry surging? How come I’ve never heard it? A perfectly good woman described as what? Phrases for praising the Emperor or Crown Prince used on her are inappropriate. Those who don’t know might think she’s a monster.”

“Properly teach your psychology. Slowly explore the essence of this discipline. Strive to ultimately become a grandmaster of the generation. Throughout all dynasties, there hasn’t yet truly appeared a female grandmaster. You and Hypatia are very likely to set this precedent. Fighting for more benefits for women—that’s what you should be doing.”

Yun Ye unceremoniously scolded Xiao Wu. These days she’d been showing her edge too much. She needed restraint, needed to conceal her talents. After becoming a grandmaster, she could speak recklessly without restraint. At that time, no one would manage her—even the Emperor wouldn’t.

Yan Zhitui, Li Gang, Yuanzhang, Yushan, Lishi—all these masters were very modest in their youth. Only in their later years did they become unrestrained and unconventional. Some words that would get others beheaded became truth when they spoke them. This was because they lived long enough. This had a preemptive effect. Of course, the prerequisite was not opposing Li Er being Emperor!

Yun Ye was scolding Xiao Wu. Xiao Wu used a fork to stab the cake on her plate into a pile of mush. Yun Ye had long since become accustomed to this. This was just how she was, had been since childhood. In the past, Yun Ye would give her a beating. Ever since the girl grew to thirteen years old, this method became unusable. Now the greatest punishment was scolding.

Xiao Wu suddenly laughed and said to her master in the trembling voice she’d used as a child, “Master, if your disciple really did something bad, what would you do?”

Yun Ye looked at Xiao Wu vigilantly and said, “That depends on exactly what kind of mistake you committed. For ordinary mistakes, a scolding. For more serious matters, a harsh scolding. For even more serious ones, two harsh scoldings. If it’s extremely serious, then you’d get beaten with a rod.”

Xiao Wu nodded with satisfaction and asked again, “After the scolding, after the harsh scolding, after the beating with rods—then what about the matter itself? Ultimately the problem isn’t solved! If it’s not resolved, it’s still just sitting there!”

Yun Ye patted Xiao Wu on the head and said, “What else can be done? Your master is a selfish wretch. When my own children make mistakes, the severest punishment is a beating with rods. If you make a mistake, Master also bears responsibility and must help you smooth things over. If it truly can’t be smoothed over, then we’ll all go down together.”

As soon as Yun Ye finished speaking, Xiao Wu began crying. Choking up, she said to Yun Ye, “You love me more than Xiao Jie. I asked Xiao Jie the same question, and he actually said he wouldn’t permit me to do bad things. If I did, he would righteously eliminate his own kin, even saying he would use his own life to pay for it. If his life wasn’t enough, he would use mine!”

“Righteously eliminating one’s own kin is itself a false proposition. Relatives concealing each other’s wrongs—that’s ancient teaching. Those people in history who righteously eliminated their own kin all made such decisions out of various considerations. Otherwise, it was because father-son or master-disciple affection was weak that they could do such things. Our family doesn’t approve of righteously eliminating kin. That would tear family affection into shreds. Using one’s relatives’ lives to gain one’s own good reputation—such people are either extremely treacherous or extremely evil. Normal people can’t do it.”

It seemed Xiao Wu had been scolded severely by Di Renjie. Who knows what Di Renjie said. That child had principles that were too strong, with clear distinctions between right and wrong. When he was small, when the family was raising a flock of chicks still fluffy, he wanted to separate the males from females. Old Qian, according to his own experience, grabbed the chicks’ feet and suspended them upside down. Roosters would lift their heads and desperately flap their wings upward. Hens’ heads wouldn’t lift, and their whole bodies would droop powerlessly downward without even flapping their wings.

Using this method to identify chicks worked very well. Out of a hundred or so chicks that grew up, only three or five were identified incorrectly. Such results were already quite remarkable, but Di Renjie, who liked perfection, went crazy. He followed Old Qian around calling him a fraud for over two years!

The Yun family had no one so stubborn. Such heredity could only come from his father, Di Zhixun. However, Di Zhixun, serving as Wannian County Magistrate, was now an easygoing old fellow. In early years when serving as governor in Shu, he had a character that distinguished clearly between right and wrong. Since entering the capital to serve as Ministry of Revenue Deputy Director, his character was quickly worn smooth and slick by reality.

Because Chang’an City was expanding without limit and had now grown fully more than double its former size, the Emperor adjusted the ranks of Wannian and Chang’an counties to fourth rank, on par with upper province governors. But no one wanted to be this unfortunate county magistrate. Only Di Zhixun happily took office as this heart-worrying, liver-scratching county magistrate. To this day he’d held the position for six years. Everyone spoke of him with nothing but glowing praise. It looked like he could hold this position until he couldn’t move anymore from old age.

Di Zhixun’s greatest wish now was to stay home and watch his grandchildren. Xiao Wu and Di Renjie couldn’t interfere at all.

When Xiao Wu entered the Di family, she was an anomaly. Among a group of kind rabbits, a female fox ran in to help their family produce children. Yun Ye sometimes thought he was simply creating evil.

Di Renjie arrived. Xiao Wu snorted and turned her head away. He turned to face the direction Xiao Wu was facing. Xiao Wu snorted and turned her head back. The two of them began again the game they often played as husband and wife…

Yun Ye shouldn’t remain present. Holding his teapot, he walked out of the small pavilion, planning to go talk with his daughter. Arriving at Yun Mu’s small building, he didn’t find anyone. On such a cold day, where could she have run off to?

“She went out to play. I heard she was going to the dragon head position of Longshou Ridge today!” Na Rimu kept her head down winding yarn around her hand. Hearing her husband ask about Yun Mu, she answered without even raising her head.

“What’s she doing there? Now it’s freezing cold with only man-high withered grass. Besides, accidentally seeing what’s happening inside Xuanwu Gate would be another trouble.”

Na Rimu finished winding the yarn and moved close to Yun Ye, saying, “Maoshi invited Xiao Mu out. Xiao Mu seems to have a good impression of Maoshi.”

“That won’t do! The Yan Shigu family—even eating a meal must follow rules. Back when Master Yan invited me for a meal, you don’t know—rice served in bronze vessels, eating with bronze chopsticks. That meal, people without strength couldn’t handle it. Xiao Mu has a lively temperament. Going to that family full of rules, she’d have no good days.”

“Yan Shigu is famously stubborn. I always feel the Emperor wants to chop him down with one stroke, because every time His Majesty sees Yan Shigu, he’s examining his neck, looking like he’s considering where to strike. Being his daughter-in-law is too dangerous!”

“That bit of sordid business between the former Sui Empress and His Majesty was written by him in the historical records, and written so luridly, just short of detailed description. Even I was embarrassed reading it—who knows what His Majesty thinks.”

“Though killing historians isn’t fashionable anymore, the work his family does is truly too dangerous. A thousand-year aristocratic clan—in all of Great Tang, only their family lives comfortably. No good! I must tell Xiao Mu that Yan family people aren’t suitable matches.”

Na Rimu giggled and said, “Yan family people aren’t bad! They’re famously upright. This concubine’s status was officially recognized by the old master. That Xiao Mu is treated as a Han noble daughter without anyone questioning it—the old master deserves credit for that. The Yan family has many people. In future, just don’t let Maoshi become a historian. You can always protect your own daughter, can’t you?”

Just as the couple was talking, Yun Ye saw through the window that Yun Mu had returned. Wearing red riding clothes, she walked in chatting and laughing with a young man in green. They walked all the way to the moon gate before the two separated—looking quite intimate!

What the hell—Yun Mu really liked this fellow! Just a few days ago, didn’t she want to be Empress? How did she change her mind so quickly? Yun Ye felt a sourness in his heart.