Wang Cai had recently taken a liking to visiting the academy. Ever since being thoroughly beaten by the pandas last time, it had refused to go to the academy for quite a long period. The reason it now enjoyed going to the academy was that all the pandas had been driven into the bamboo forest, and the academy had even built low walls around the bamboo forest to prevent the pandas from running out on their own.
The pandas could no longer be allowed to run around freely. The library administrator had accidentally failed to close the door properly, and as a result, over a dozen pandas had run into the library. Two shelves of precious classics were torn to shreds by these pandas. The furious Master Yuanzhang immediately ordered that the pandas be confined to the bamboo forest, where dens were built for them.
Every day, Wang Cai would go see those confined pandas who were howling anxiously. Knowing that it was gloating, Yun Ye was busy discussing with Master Yushan the troublesome matters concerning the Xin family and had no time to deal with it.
“Your father-in-law has been unsuccessful his entire life, and in the end was only an eighth-rank subordinate official. Although the family property in Shu is quite substantial, it ultimately lacks some foundation. The several young men in the family are also disappointing. Of the two young men you previously brought from your family, not one could graduate from Yushan Academy, and yet they still complain that we don’t help them.”
“Your wife’s elder brother is five years older than you. He has no other achievements, but he’s taken over a dozen concubines. The remaining two young boys are also living examples of wastrels. Now they’ve caused a catastrophic disaster. The Xin family is finished.”
“For this lifetime, with you and Xinyue looking after them, they can at least end up wealthy and noble, but what about afterwards? This old man has devoted his entire life to teaching and educating people, yet who knew that his own family would produce nothing but unfilial sons.”
The old man’s words were spoken with such misery, shaking his white head in utter despair. The father-in-law had previously always concealed things from the old man, reporting only good news and not bad news. Now it could no longer be hidden. Yun Ye’s younger brothers-in-law were currently being escorted to the capital. Why they were arrested, even now no one could figure out clearly. Those who arrested them were not local officials, but rather an imperial censor who personally made the arrest while on an inspection tour to Shu.
“Grandfather, rest assured. What great crime could they have committed? They’re neither accomplished in civil nor martial affairs, and their courage is small. Murder and arson aren’t their share to commit. As for plotting rebellion, they’re not qualified for that either. At most it’s a charge of oppressing the good and innocent, a charge I myself bore back in the day—it doesn’t amount to much. How is it that I feel the two younger brothers have been implicated because of me? Anyone brought back to the capital by an imperial censor is involved in nothing less than a case reaching to the heavens. Is it really necessary? Even those who’ve killed people don’t typically get escorted to the capital.”
Master Yushan shook his head and said, “Don’t speak up for them anymore. Flies don’t land on seamless eggs. If their behavior could withstand scrutiny, no one could do anything to them. The imperial censor is about to enter the capital. You should prepare yourself. If you can save their lives, then save them. If you can’t save them, don’t complain, and absolutely don’t force the matter.”
The mother-in-law was staying at the house. A woman from a small household, she didn’t dare enter through the main gate of the Yun residence. If it weren’t for Xinyue’s heart-wrenching cry of “Mother!” stopping her in her tracks, she would have wanted to turn and flee.
As soon as she saw Yun Ye, she wailed and begged her son-in-law to save her two sons. The father-in-law was accompanying his two sons’ prison carts all the way from distant Shu to Guanzhong.
The woman couldn’t explain things clearly. When Yun Ye asked what crime they had actually committed, she surprisingly knew nothing when asked three times, and finally just said it had something to do with the Tubo people. When asked about anything else, she said she didn’t know.
Things had already been communicated with the old master. Yun Ye now knew it was related to matters concerning the Tubo people, so he put his mind at ease. As long as it was related to Tubo affairs, Yun Ye had never considered it a serious matter. Since the people had already entered Guanzhong, there was no need to worry. Tomorrow he’d go block them at Ba Bridge and ask about it, and then he’d know. Which foolish imperial censor dared to do such a thing?
Even if the two younger brothers-in-law had killed the Zanpu of Tubo, how serious could it be? The Great Tang had never had the custom of using its own people’s lives to compensate for foreigners’ lives. As long as they came back, there would be absolutely nothing to worry about. Why would they still be seized by an imperial censor? Wei Zheng, the head of the imperial censors, had just sat with him at a cold noodle stall in the West Market eating cold noodles the other day.
The mother-in-law was in quite a sorry state. She always wanted to stand up when speaking with her son-in-law, but was firmly pressed into her chair by Xinyue to receive Yun Ye’s formal greeting. The old grandmother specifically came out from the Buddhist hall to speak with her in-law about family matters for a while.
“Mother, don’t worry. Since Xiaoran and Xiaohu have already entered the pass, then there will absolutely be no problem. Some worthless imperial censor actually dares to be so presumptuous. This time, if I don’t let them know what’s what, they’ll still think the Yun family is made of clay. All these years, Grandfather has always been unwilling to let the family come to Guanzhong, only letting you do small business in Shu. What a huge loss that’s been. Now it’s fine—being low-key has led to being bullied at our own doorstep.”
“囡囡, you’ve had a fierce temperament since childhood. Your elder brother and younger brother are both soft as dough, and when bullied by others, they don’t dare speak up. Our son-in-law is a marquis, and officials in Shu all give our family some face. This time we really don’t know which law was broken. The imperial censor also wouldn’t say clearly, just said the incident occurred, then locked up your younger brother and returned to Guanzhong.”
“Mother, don’t worry. Even if my husband is inconvenient to come forward, tomorrow I’ll wear my court rank attire and that worthless imperial censor will also have to pay his formal respects. Randomly arresting people—is there no law in this world?”
Hearing her daughter boast so impressively, the mother-in-law felt reassured. She ate two consecutive bowls of noodles—the hardships of this journey had truly worn her down. Xinyue accompanied her mother to rest. The old grandmother quietly said to Yun Ye, “Good grandson, we must definitely help your in-laws this time. All these years, your in-laws have never asked our family for the slightest favor. This time it seems they truly had no other option before seeking our family’s help. Think of more solutions.”
“Grandmother, rest assured, this is natural. That my father-in-law and the others only thought to seek our family’s help after reaching Guanzhong means they’ve already reached a dead end. They’re all proud people who won’t ask for help until they reach an absolute impasse. Grandmother, your grandson is very curious about father-in-law. Yue’er has been married into our family for twelve years, and I’ve surprisingly never gone to pay my respects—truly a breach of etiquette.”
The old steward took Yun Ye’s calling card to the home of Old Cui, the Vice Minister of Justice, but the words in Yun Ye’s letter left Old Cui completely baffled. He knew nothing about it and replied that he’d never even heard of such a thing. Yun Ye, still uneasy, went to Sun Simiao’s place and cornered Li Dayin, who had just barely managed to turn over, and interrogated him thoroughly, in case they had been acting under their orders.
Li Dayin howled that there was absolutely no such thing and told Yun Ye to get lost quickly. Every time he saw Yun Ye, his injuries worsened. He also told Yun Ye not to let him see him again unless necessary. If he couldn’t restrain himself and finished off Yun Ye with one knife stroke, it wouldn’t be good for anyone.
This put his mind at ease. At the break of dawn, Yun Ye set out with fully armed household guards. Upon reaching Ba Bridge, Old Qian had already set up a tent there. Yun Ye, dressed in full military attire, sat in the tent waiting for the imperial censor’s party to appear.
When the sun was high in the sky at midmorning, the imperial censor hadn’t arrived, but Lu Dongzan had. He too stood by Ba Bridge as if waiting for someone, with a steward from the Zhangsun family accompanying him. When the steward saw Yun Ye, his expression changed. Just as he was about to leave, Lu Dongzan pressed his shoulder, making him unable to move. Sweat poured down from his forehead like a small stream.
Yun Ye smiled and quietly gave an order. A household guard on a fast horse headed straight for the Lingnan Navy camp. Having left in such a rush today, he’d forgotten to bring the Eight-Ox Crossbows. With a master like Lu Dongzan present, the scene couldn’t be controlled without the Eight-Ox Crossbows.
The Yun family had always emphasized eliminating enemies on their path toward attacking them, so over thirty household guards were all equipped with powerful crossbows. The Emperor had repeatedly ordered that private individuals must not possess powerful crossbows exceeding three dan of draw weight. The Yun family didn’t have those—they didn’t even have one shi of force. The powerful crossbows equipped with eccentric wheels didn’t require such great force to string.
“I didn’t expect to encounter Marquis Yun here. It’s been many days since we last met. How have you been, Marquis Yun?” Lu Dongzan smiled as he greeted Yun Ye. Having lived in Chang’an for a long time, this fellow had actually become fairer, and his awkward Great Tang dialect had also transformed into pleasant official speech.
“Lu Dongzan, impressive skills. How did you incite the Zhangsun family to make difficulties for me? I very much want to go ask that Zhangsun Chong, who’s always called me brother, what exactly is going on.” Yun Ye spoke without leaving any face. The Zhangsun family steward sweated even more profusely. Not knowing what Lu Dongzan had done to him, he couldn’t speak or move, and could only look at Yun Ye with pleading eyes.
Lu Dongzan said with a smile, “Where does such talk come from? Marquis Yun holds a high rank and noble position. Lu Dongzan is merely a wild man from the wilderness. From where does this talk of being adversaries arise? This old man is waiting today only for two vicious criminals who dared to harm my Tubo people. I want to personally escort them before His Majesty to argue the matter clearly and plainly.”
Yun Ye laughed heartily, said nothing more, and returned to the tent to continue drinking tea. If his younger brothers-in-law had truly harmed Tubo people, they should receive rewards in the Great Tang. How could they possibly be punished? He knew his younger brothers-in-law had been implicated because of him—as expected, he wasn’t wrong.
When the Bai Qi Si previously mixed lead powder into salt and then sold the salt to the Tubo people, the Emperor didn’t become angry. If they hadn’t later wanted to introduce worry-free grass to Tubo, they would definitely have received the Emperor’s commendation. The common people of Shu hated the Tubo people to their bones—whatever they did wasn’t surprising. Yun Ye now had no desire whatsoever to know what his younger brothers-in-law had done to the Tubo people. When the prison cart arrived in a moment, he’d take the people directly, give that imperial censor a harsh lesson, and then he could go to the Zhangsun family to denounce them for their crimes. Needless to say, that imperial censor must be a protégé of the Zhangsun family. He just didn’t know whether that imperial censor knew he had arrested his own brothers-in-law.
After waiting for a long time, the prison cart still hadn’t come. Instead, a corps leader from the Lingnan Navy arrived with ninety-eight soldiers. Including him, it was exactly ninety-nine people. Only exceeding one hundred people required registration with the Ministry of War. Being under one hundred people now naturally meant nothing would happen. Three Eight-Ox Crossbows were mounted on carts, and as soon as they arrived, formed a semicircle, trapping Lu Dongzan and a group of Tubo people in the center. With the teeth-aching creaking and groaning sounds of the crossbows being strung, thick siege spears had already been placed in the grooves. With just one order from Yun Ye, they would shoot in concentration at Lu Dongzan.
“Yun Ye, what are you doing?” Lu Dongzan truly hadn’t expected that Yun Ye would immediately turn hostile, not leaving any face for the Zhangsun family. Weren’t the distinguished nobles most particular about compromise and concession?