Regardless of whether Princess Xin’an and Wenyu were willing to accept it, they temporarily didn’t dare act rashly again, giving Yunyi a period of peaceful days. Taking advantage of this time, she brought Ruyi and the others out of the palace to appreciate Jiangdu’s beautiful scenery, with guards secretly following to ensure Yunyi’s safety.

On this day, it happened to be market day. The city was bustling with people everywhere, with stalls lining both sides selling pastries, clay figurines, and everything imaginable. Ruyi and the others were dazzled by the sights, sighing: “Who would have thought Jiangdu would be so lively – it’s no less than Luoyang.”

Yunyi smiled: “Since ancient times, Jiangdu has been a prosperous place. Otherwise, Father Emperor wouldn’t have come to Jiangdu so many times.” As they spoke, they came to a place surrounded three layers deep, with constant sounds of cheering and gong beating coming from within. Jixiang asked curiously: “What are they doing?”

A person nearby heard her words and said: “There’s someone inside performing with monkeys – it’s quite entertaining.”

Upon hearing this, Jixiang immediately became curious and said to Yunyi: “Princess, shall we also go in and take a look?”

Yunyi tapped her smooth forehead and lightly scolded: “Have you forgotten what I told you before we came out?”

Jixiang also realized she had misspoken, rubbing the spot that hurt from the tap and grinning: “Yes, Miss.”

“Remember that.” After playfully scolding Jixiang, Yunyi squeezed into the shoulder-to-shoulder crowd with them. Inside, a man around forty was making two monkeys do somersaults, carry water, and walk on ropes – it was quite interesting and immediately captivated Ruyi and the others. The two monkeys were clearly animals, yet they could understand human speech and did whatever the monkey trainer told them to do. It was truly fascinating, and at the end they even dressed up like beautiful women, making everyone laugh.

After the performance, the monkey trainer held out a broken plate to ask for rewards from the audience. After Ruyi threw over a dozen coins into the plate, she turned back: “Miss, let’s go.”

Only when she turned around did they discover that Yunyi had long since disappeared from behind them. Looking around, she was nowhere to be seen. The two were so frightened they broke out in cold sweat and quickly squeezed out of the crowd to search for Yunyi everywhere. If they lost the Princess, they would surely be beaten to death.

Fortunately, they soon spotted Yunyi in a teahouse not far away and quickly rushed over. Ruyi said with lingering fear: “Miss, how did you come here without a word? You scared us to death.”

Yunyi smiled: “I saw you were watching intently, so I didn’t call out to you. I thought since I was only a short distance away, you should be able to find me.”

Jixiang glanced at the person sitting at the table with a fan, shaking his head and speaking: “Is this person telling stories?”

Yunyi nodded with a complex expression: “He’s telling the story of how the Duke of Tang, the River East Pacification Commissioner, sent his subordinate Yun Dingxing and his second son Li Shimin to Yanmen Pass to serve the king and protect the emperor.”

The storyteller closed the fan in his hand, slapped the table with animated gestures: “Speaking of those Turks surrounding Yanmen Pass – there were a full hundred thousand troops, but General Yun only had a mere ten thousand men, absolutely no match for them! But… Young Master Li was extraordinarily intelligent and actually used those ten thousand men to force back the Turkic army. What method did he use? Listen as I tell you slowly.”

Yunyi listened carefully, and following the storyteller’s words, she seemed to truly see the scene of Li Shimin cleverly repelling the Turkic army. He indeed… never failed to live up to expectations!

It wasn’t until she heard wave after wave of cheers that Yunyi came back to her senses – the story had finished. Jixiang asked in surprise: “Princess, why are you crying?”

Yunyi was startled and raised her hand to touch her cheek, indeed finding her fingertips wet. She shook her head: “It’s nothing, probably just dust in my eyes from the wind.” As she spoke, the storyteller came over with his plate. Yunyi gave him nearly a hundred five-zhu coins from her money pouch. The storyteller was flattered and thanked her repeatedly – he had been telling stories here for a year, but this was the first time he’d encountered a customer who gave a hundred five-zhu coins at once.

“Alright, let’s go.” Just as Yunyi and her group were about to leave the teahouse, someone inside asked: “I heard His Majesty ordered the Duke of Tang to lead troops to counterattack the Turks. Can this battle be won?”

The storyteller returned to his desk: “The Duke of Tang is unmatched in martial prowess, and his three sons are all capable of conquest and warfare. However, the Turks have always been fierce – whether this battle will be won or lost is truly hard to predict.”

A person nearby said: “If you ask me, whether we win or lose, it’s no good for us common folk. It would be best if we didn’t have to fight wars at all.”

People in the teahouse all echoed this sentiment: “Exactly, these constant wars every few days – in the end, it’s us who suffer. Who knows when such days will end.”

The storyteller shook his head for a long while before uttering three words: “Difficult! Difficult! Difficult!”

Yunyi said nothing about all this, only silently walked out of the teahouse. Before, she had thought that as long as she helped Father Emperor kill Li Yuan, she could pacify the realm and let the people live in peace and prosperity. Now she realized she had been wrong. The fundamental reason for the realm’s instability didn’t lie with Li Yuan or any person surnamed Li, but with Father Emperor himself!

If he were willing to work diligently and considerately for the people’s hardships, the realm could be stable. Otherwise… this realm would sooner or later perish. Did they really have to wait until that day for Father Emperor to regret it? But by then, what use would regret be!

In November, Wang Wei and Gao Qunya arrived in Hedong with imperial edicts. Facing Li Yuan who came out to greet them, Wang Wei smiled without warmth: “Duke Li, you didn’t expect this, did you? We meet again!”

Li Yuan never expected to see these two again, but he reacted extremely quickly, immediately suppressing his surprise and saying with a face full of smiles: “Indeed unexpected. How have you two gentlemen been recently? Since our last parting, I’ve been constantly thinking of you both. Unfortunately, when I went to Luoyang last time, I was too rushed and couldn’t visit you two gentlemen – it was truly regrettable.”

Wang Wei cupped his hands: “Thanks to Duke Li’s good fortune, we two brothers have been getting by well enough!”

“That’s good, that’s good!” Li Yuan said while ushering the two inside. After ordering servants to serve tea, he said: “Have you two gentlemen come here on His Majesty’s orders?”

“Precisely.” Wang Wei took out the edict from his sleeve and stood up: “River East Pacification Commissioner Li Yuan, receive the imperial edict!”

Li Yuan quickly knelt down: “Subject Li Yuan receives the edict!”

“By the Mandate of Heaven, the Emperor decrees: River East Pacification Commissioner Li Yuan is appointed as Taiyuan Military Governor and Imperial Guard…” When Wang Wei finished reading the last word, Li Yuan already understood Yang Guang’s intentions.

Yang Guang both wanted to use him and feared the military power in his hands, so he came up with this move – not only dividing his military authority but also achieving the purpose of surveillance. If he showed the slightest unusual movement, Wang Wei and his companion would immediately cause trouble. What an excellent plan to kill two birds with one stone.

With Li Yuan’s intelligence, he naturally wouldn’t show these thoughts on his face. He respectfully received the imperial edict with a face full of reverence: “Subject Li Yuan will certainly follow His Majesty’s orders, kill the Turks, and ensure they never dare invade our Great Sui borders again!”

Wang Wei smiled: “With Duke Li’s words, we can rest assured.”