Chapter 01: Living Ritual for the Dead

Time flows slowly onward. Sometimes it ferments the most exquisite flavors; other times it breeds ambition. Whether producing the finest delicacies or the darkest schemes, all things mature gradually upon time’s nurturing bed.

Yun Ye finally had time to dig up those jars of fine wine buried beneath the pine tree outside Master Li Gang’s gate. These wines weren’t some potent spirits from the Yun family, but pure rice wine. If aged a bit longer, they’d be called Scholar’s Red or Daughter’s Red. Now, these jars had been buried for a full ten years—surely the wine inside had turned amber by now.

Sitting alone with legs spread wide, he cradled a wine jar in his arms and carefully broke open the mud seal on top, then the wax seal beneath, and finally removed the rotted red silk. A rich wine fragrance wafted out.

This jar of wine was for no one else—he would drink it himself. Drinking this wine was like having a profound conversation with Li Gang. Speaking with ghosts and spirits required no words—if the heart understood, the spirits would naturally respond.

A long-handled ladle had been prepared well in advance. Yun Ye savored the delicacy fermented by time one spoonful at a time. Old wine should be mixed with new wine to bring out the most mellow flavors, but Yun Ye didn’t want to—he worried that diluting this jar would make him unable to taste its original essence.

Over two years, aside from becoming more magnificent and majestic, there was really nothing else to say about Chang’an City. If one could view it from high above, one would see farmers continuously streaming into the city. Nowadays, farming without doing it on a large scale offered no prospects, so peasants who had been bound to the land for thousands of years began migrating to the cities. Working for wages earned more money than scratching it from the soil.

The city districts were now packed full with incoming populations. Even near the city walls, residential dwellings had appeared. These two peaceful years had given Tang society a powerful opportunity for development. As several major projects came to completion, the heaviest burdens pressing on the Great Tang’s treasury were finally lifted.

The Three Capitals had been connected. This long, continuous road firmly embraced the entire Guanzhong region. The canal extended westward, and due to concerns about tidal backflow, could only bypass Youzhou before finally connecting with the Hai River. The roads through Shu had also broken through Jiange Pass. The Chengdu Plain lay at their feet—Shu could no longer become an isolated realm simply by burning the plank roads.

As a feudal emperor, Li Er’s life was brilliant and magnificent. Under his rule, the Tang Dynasty was powerful, with all quarters showing submission, the economy flourishing, and the people living in peace—presenting a vibrant scene of prosperity. The unprecedentedly powerful Tang Dynasty, with its martial spirit and broad-mindedness, dominated the East. Four hundred years after the fall of Han, Chang’an once again became the center of Asia. All of this was a true reflection of the grand vision, bold strokes, great spirit, and magnificent scope of the prosperous Tang. Golden spears and iron horses, vast desert sands, towering palace halls, distant highways, flowing silk garments, graceful songs and dances, strings and woodwinds, rare treasures, poetry and prose, luminous pear blossoms, vast territories, myriad nations paying tribute—this truly was a glorious and brilliant great era.

As a youth, Li Er’s identity was that of an aristocratic young lord with Xianbei blood, having intimate bloodline relations with the rulers of the Sui Dynasty. The story of the three Song sisters in the Republican era was well known, but compared to the three Dugu sisters, they paled in comparison. The three daughters of Northern Zhou Grand General Dugu Xin each married an emperor, one of whom married Emperor Wen of Sui, another married Li Er’s grandfather, Duke of Tang. Wearing these glorious halos, Li Er’s official career was smooth, and he showed military talent even in his youth. He once led troops to repel the Turks besieging Yanmen Pass when Emperor Yang of Sui was trapped in Guanzhong. This was his first time making his mark in the world.

Crown Prince Jiancheng and Prince Yuanji were both born of Empress Dugu, along with Li Er. The historical records’ descriptions of them as frivolous pleasure-seekers were clearly deliberate. Jiancheng was magnanimous and generous, successfully defended against Turkish invasions in the north, participated in founding the Tang Empire and demonstrated governing ability, while Wei Zheng had been Jiancheng’s close confidant, proving that Jiancheng had no shortage of advisors.

He was a qualified successor, but succession struggles were always filled with conspiracy, bloodshed, and variables. Compared to the ambitious Prince Qin, Jiancheng’s power was weak. His death easily brought to mind the fate of Qin’s eldest son Fusu. Li Er’s subsequent treatment of Jiancheng and Yuanji’s descendants was cruel and merciless. These acts of fratricide successfully eliminated potential threats to the throne but became an indelible stain on his otherwise illustrious life.

After Li Er ascended the throne, as life would hope, the Tang Dynasty rapidly grew powerful. As an outstanding statesman and military commander, he spared no effort in leading the empire into an era of confidence, prosperity, and forceful expansion. This was of course not his personal achievement alone—the civil and military accomplishments achieved during the Zhenguan era benefited from a large group of brilliantly talented civil officials and military generals. Lingyan Pavilion, an unremarkable small pavilion, left its mark in history because the great painter Yan Liben hand-painted portraits of twenty-four meritorious officials there.

Today should have been the day of Li Er’s death, yet now he was happily watching song and dance performances, while Yun Ye lay drunk beneath a large tree with the most indescribable feelings in his breast.

Today was the twenty-sixth day of the fifth month of the twenty-third year of Zhenguan.

Liu Jinbao would never disobey the Marquis’s words. Now, seeing a pair of squirrels mating on the Marquis’s chest, he dared not go chase them away because the Marquis had said no one should approach. Of course, squirrels weren’t people, so they could approach—even mate.

Dried pine needles covered his body because more and more squirrels had been coming over. They were fascinated by the scent from the empty wine jar, and after smelling too much of it, they would act drunk up in the trees.

The hundred and eight drum sounds began ringing through Chang’an City again. Yun Ye listened intently, confirming it was the street-clearing drum and not the death knell for the emperor’s passing. He yawned, slowly got up, tossed the wine jar far away, and had Liu Jinbao carry the remaining two jars while following him home, stumbling with uneven steps.

Having finished speaking with ghosts and spirits, was his body now filled with strength? Though his head ached as if about to split open, he still felt very relaxed.

These words could be said to Li Gang, could be said to Old Master Yan, but absolutely not to the living. Having spoken these words, Yun Ye believed he had restored this world’s true face. If history’s footsteps were now rushing down the wrong path, Yun Ye didn’t think he should bear any responsibility.

He was already a grandfather. Li Yanrong had given the Yun family a chubby seven-pound boy, and Feng Yuan had also given the Yun family a beautiful daughter. The two children were born just three days apart.

Early marriage was truly harmful! In later times, someone thirty-eight years old might not even be married yet, but now he was already a grandfather. Thinking of those two adorable children made Yun Ye’s heart sweet as honey.

The only thing that didn’t make Yun Ye happy was that Wang Cai had been shedding hair lately. Even after brushing three times, horse hair kept falling. No one dared tell Yun Ye that Wang Cai was already a horse in its twenties—an old horse.

Walking to the front gate, the large red lantern above the door still hadn’t been taken down. This was the medium for announcing to the outside world that the Yun family had new descendants. Yun Ye walked over and used a bamboo pole to straighten the slightly tilted lantern before walking through the gate with his hands behind his back.

Old Qian, with his gap-toothed smile, cheerfully helped the Marquis dust off his clothes, cursed at Liu Jinbao a couple of times, then solicitously asked whether the Marquis had eaten.

“Alright, I know you’re impressive. As long as you’re willing and able to work, you can be steward as long as you want—no one’s competing with you. Get me a bowl of noodles and send it to the rear quarters.”

Yun Ye cursed at Old Qian with a laugh before entering through the moon gate. Old Grandmother’s hearing had deteriorated badly now—everything had to be said loudly for her to understand. Perhaps the old woman knew she didn’t have many days left, and every day she needed to see her grandson by her side to feel at ease.

“This grandson played too much today and returned a bit late. Please punish this grandson, Grandmother.” He leaned close to Old Grandmother’s ear, speaking loudly and acting spoiled. The old woman slapped his head once before he pushed the elderly woman into the north room and had the maids help Old Grandmother wash up and prepare for bed.

Seeing the hair bun on Xinyue’s head made him irritable. He undid it with a few quick movements, letting her full head of black hair cascade down—she looked beautiful as a female ghost.

Xinyue pouted aggrievedly: “I know you’re not used to seeing an old woman’s hair bun, but this concubine is truly old now. Next year someone will be calling this concubine ‘Grandmother.’ If I still styled my hair like Na Rimu’s young woman’s bun, wouldn’t I be laughed to death?”

“Nonsense! Not a single wrinkle on your face—how do you look like an old woman? In my view, you could still have children now. Stop dallying—let’s make one tonight, give birth to a pair of twins and make everyone jealous to death.”

Hearing her husband’s unreasonable words, Xinyue burst out laughing and draped her arm over Yun Ye’s shoulder: “An old clam producing pearls—do you want this concubine to live or not? This concubine isn’t worried—after all, we already have two sons. It’s Xiao Miao who’s truly anxious now. All these years with no movement in her belly, she’s going everywhere to worship Buddha and pray to the Bodhisattvas.”

Yun Ye laughed heartily: “She’s praying to the wrong deity—she should pray to me.”

The couple laughed and joked, saying some scandalous things, quickly passing the time. After removing his outer garment, the kitchen sent over a large bowl of noodles with toppings. He ate it all up with two cloves of garlic, soup and water together, and the headache that had been severe just moments ago immediately disappeared.

“If you eat garlic cloves, don’t climb into this concubine’s bed—it stinks.”

“I’m not climbing into anyone’s bed. I slept enough under the pine tree today. Now I need to handle business—there are still several urgent letters that need replies. You sleep first, don’t mind me. By the time I want to sleep, it’ll already be the latter half of the night anyway. Your nose won’t work then, so you won’t smell how bad my breath is.”

Not wanting to disturb her sleep, Yun Ye returned to his study and sat quietly under the candlelight, propping his chin in his hands and beginning to zone out. This was his most wonderful time—his mind completely empty, thinking of nothing. After finishing his daze, he would need a clear head to face the real world. Since Li Er wasn’t dead, the historical record in his mind was now completely useless. From now on, there was no longer any basis to rely upon. A new world had opened up…