Zhangsun Wuji returned to the Chancellery. Thinking of Li Er’s warning that meddling less in military affairs meant making fewer jokes, he smiled bitterly and tossed the dossier in his hand onto the desk. With hands behind his back, he paced continuously around the great hall, looking at the censors of the Eastern and Western Platforms, secretly troubled.

Having reached his and Yun Ye’s level, impeachment by censors was basically useless. Good or bad depended entirely on the Emperor’s single thought. At least Yun Ye was still a military general—touching military power didn’t count as overstepping boundaries. Since pacifying the Longyou rebellion, he himself had never again controlled military power. Wanting to obtain military power again now was harder than ascending to heaven.

Fortunately, Zhangsun Chong had always been a military general, so the Zhangsun family’s hope of controlling military power fell solely on Zhangsun Chong. Thinking of Zhangsun Shunde made Zhangsun Wuji’s teeth itch with hatred. Back then, for a bit of petty profit, Li Er had reduced his military power. Now he could only wear a Duke’s hat and idle away waiting for death.

He was the foremost person in Lingyan Pavilion! Yet he only had the right to mobilize five hundred city guards. Speaking of it brought bitter tears. Wang Xiaojie had been completely destroyed—a general who now spent all day crying and laughing, making a fool of himself in Chang’an market.

He had influence over the Shuofang troops, but Yun Ye likewise had influence there, and Xue Wanche had even more authority over the soldiers there. When had Yun Ye begun laying this groundwork? Zhangsun Wuji thought for a long time but couldn’t arrive at a correct answer.

Counting through events of recent years, Yun Ye seemed not to have made a single misstep. Thinking of this made Zhangsun Wuji somewhat desperate. He already had a full head of white hair, while Yun Ye and Yun Shou standing together looked more like brothers than father and son.

He dared not think about how far Yun Ye’s power would expand after his own death. At that time, the Zhangsun family would absolutely have nowhere to be buried. Rubbing his sore lower back, Zhangsun Wuji spread open the dossier and continued reviewing affairs of the realm.

“I won’t. After the new emperor ascends the throne, I’ll retire. What should go to the Ministry of War returns to the Ministry of War, what should enter the Ministry of Revenue enters the Ministry of Revenue, what should be the imperial family’s returns to the imperial family. I want to stay at Jade Mountain to spend my old age. The Yun family has only three boys—one in the South Sea, one in Yuezhou, Chang’an belongs to Shou’er. What a fine arrangement.”

Li Tai nodded enviously: “I don’t have many children either—two sons. But I have plenty of fiefs. Even if the family divides, the two children can still get quite a lot. I see Xiao Mu and Li Xiang together—are you planning to marry your daughter to him? No matter what, you’re saving Xiang’er and Lu’er for my children. As for your youngest daughter, do as you please.”

“Did you come to my house to divide up pork or what? Xin’er and Hui’er are both good children, but Hui’er doesn’t resemble you at all—his pupils are blue. My family’s children don’t marry foreigners.”

“Get lost! Your wife Na Rimu is pure-blooded? Look at Xiao Mu—high nose bridge, big eyes. Which part resembles you? If children born by Hypatia don’t have a bit of foreign flavor, wouldn’t I have wasted my effort?”

Yun Ye yawned widely and said: “Don’t care. That’s just the Yun family rule. Can’t stand foreigners.”

“When did your family have this rule?”

“Just now. I made it just when you wanted my daughter to marry your blue-eyed son.”

“Oh, then it’s complete nonsense…”

The two men each held a bowl of noodles, sitting on the low wall by the flower bed to eat. After chewing a mouthful of fresh garlic, the spiciness brought tears to Li Tai’s eyes. He sniffled twice and asked Yun Ye: “What do you plan to do about my uncle?”

“Eat well, live to a ripe old age, and in the end outlive him. I have the advantage in longevity. Back then, Old Master Yan taught me a principle—there’s actually no need to compete with him for momentary superiority. Just living longer than him is enough.”

“Killing your uncle would make you uncomfortable? His Majesty would feel uncomfortable too? Empress Mother would fight me desperately. In this lifetime, I only care about these few people. For the sake of pride, offending everyone—what would I do that for? So this method is best. Just watch that your uncle doesn’t make mistakes. Give him more government affairs, more headache-inducing government affairs. I estimate in three to five years I’ll achieve victory. Then I can still go offer condolences and mooch a funeral banquet meal. Everyone happy.”

Li Tai comfortably finished his noodles in one breath and raised his thumb: “Brilliant, truly brilliant! If my uncle dies peacefully of natural causes, I’ll have no resentment. This way my father emperor is comfortable, mother empress is happy, and people throughout the realm can see a harmonious imperial family. Good for everyone.”

“To be honest, you giving the Chancellery to my uncle—you never had good intentions from the start, right?”

“What kind of person is Xu Jingzong? Your uncle thinks too highly of himself. With him at the Chancellery, your uncle absolutely won’t be idle. Even simple government affairs, Old Xu can make extremely complex. This ability is innate to Old Xu—he’s an absolute master. Your eldest brother somehow heard a suggestion and also brought Li Yifu into the Chancellery. I estimate your uncle’s days will be very difficult. Do you know how Zhuge Kongming died? Worked to death!”

Li Tai shook his head: “As long as it’s natural death, I don’t care how he dies. Xiao Zhi’s matter broke my heart. Yesterday when I went to the palace, he asked me for candy. The request brought tears to my eyes. What I want now is not to be heartbroken. As long as this goal is achieved, anything works.”

Only after suffering loss and heartbreak does one know the importance of affection and righteousness. Even donkeys don’t stumble in the same place twice, let alone people. Now no one dared do things that hurt feelings again. Although Li Zhi brought destruction upon himself, if there hadn’t been Zhangsun Wuji’s ambiguous pushing and support, Li Zhi’s courage wouldn’t have been so great. In the end, people died everywhere, hearts were broken everywhere—this was almost the limit of what Li Er could tolerate.

Perhaps after suffering another blow, Li Er’s ambitions seemed to have disappeared. Court administration operated orderly. Yun Ye and Zhangsun Wuji were still at odds. The Crown Prince properly governed the nation in the Central Secretariat. The sixteen princes obediently ate sand in the northwestern desert. Everything was flawless. As emperor, he only needed to control the rhythm, not let outrageous things happen, and that was enough. Sometimes being plain and simple was actually brilliant governance. Constantly changing orders was absolutely not the way to govern the nation.

The emperor didn’t stir things up, the princes didn’t stir things up, ministers didn’t stir things up, so common people wouldn’t stir things up. Every household busied themselves with their own small lives. There were endless copper coins to earn in this world—who had time to waste energy caring whether some great family was about to collapse?

The crowds in Chang’an market had dispersed. The hundred and eight drum sounds had long since sounded. The streets were full of hyena-like Martial Marquis guards. They either threw drunkards into gutters to sober up or stopped unmarked carriages to extort them. If they encountered lone women, they’d be happy the entire night.

The Chancellery remained brightly lit. Xu Jingzong finally finished processing the documents at hand. He drank a mouthful of ginseng soup, admired his masterpiece, vigorously twisted his waist twice, picked up the documents on the desk, and left his office. The moment his feet stepped out the door, his whole person appeared extremely weary. After weakly announcing himself to Zhangsun Wuji, he slowly walked into the great hall, placed his documents on Zhangsun Wuji’s desk and said: “Vice Minister, the documents you requested have been compiled by this humble official. However, there are several places quite suspicious. This humble official dared not decide arbitrarily and has already made notations above. Please handle them, Vice Minister.”

Zhangsun Wuji chuckled: “Yanzu is an expert practitioner skilled in these matters. How could you also have doubts?”

Xu Jingzong said with a bitter smile: “Vice Minister, please don’t joke about this subordinate. Some decisions this subordinate can make, but some decisions shouldn’t be touched by this subordinate, so they definitely cannot be touched. But this makes things overly arduous for the Vice Minister. If you need this subordinate to act on your behalf, please speak plainly. This subordinate will absolutely go through fire and water without hesitation.”

“That won’t be necessary. Given my duties, I dare not be negligent. Yanzu may return home to rest.” Zhangsun Wuji said expressionlessly.

After Xu Jingzong bowed in salute, he withdrew from the great hall, his footsteps light as he prepared to go home…

“Act on my behalf—if it weren’t for you still knowing some rules, how could you have such an easy time at the Chancellery?” Zhangsun Wuji watched Xu Jingzong depart, spoke lowly for two sentences, then continued burying himself in documents. Alas! Affairs of the realm were numerous and chaotic—there was never a moment of rest. From great military and national affairs down to marketplace rumors, all were the Chancellery’s responsibility. If Chu Suiliang weren’t helping share some burden, he truly couldn’t handle it all.

By the time Zhangsun Wuji finished handling official business, it was already the third watch. He stretched lazily, pushed open the great hall door, and smelled the sweet fragrance of rice congee. Feeling somewhat hungry in his belly, he followed the congee’s aroma to the rear courtyard. On a small stove sat a clay pot—the congee’s fragrance came from within. Just as he was about to ask, he saw his family’s old servant walking over carrying a food box. His wife was quite thoughtful. Zhangsun Wuji abandoned the clay pot before him and returned to the great hall, preparing to eat a bit of food before going back to rest. Tomorrow was a rest day. These past days had been exhausting—he could finally rest well.

Li Yifu came out of his office and touched the clay pot—very hot. He couldn’t help but put his finger on his ear to cool it down. He padded it with a clean hemp cloth before picking up the congee pot and placing it on his desk, slowly drinking it in small sips. What a pity Zhangsun Wuji didn’t drink it—the congee even had stimulating horny goat weed added.

Under the escort of family guards, the Zhangsun family carriage slowly traveled along the empire’s Vermillion Bird Avenue. At the end of the street, the statue’s pedestal was complete. The statue wrapped in red silk lay quietly on a platform made of square timbers. One could vaguely distinguish where the war horse was and where the human figure was.

Zhangsun Wuji had sweetly fallen asleep, snoring lightly. Just as the carriage passed Li Er’s statue, the wind lifted the carriage curtain and he suddenly opened his eyes. Zhangsun Wuji’s sleep was terrible—any rustle would wake him, and after waking he found it very difficult to fall back asleep. This condition had persisted for a long time. He hadn’t told anyone…