The ceramic bottle shattered upon hitting the artificial mountain in Taiye Pool. A ball of orange-red flame erupted, engulfing the entire artificial mountain. Some viscous liquid slid into the water but didn’t extinguish—it continued burning fiercely in the water. A small evergreen pine tree on the artificial mountain maintained its verdant color for only a moment before transforming into a burning torch. The flames seemed as if they would never extinguish. They burned for the duration of a full meal before the flames surrounding the artificial mountain gradually subsided. By this time, the artificial mountain had long since become unrecognizable. Looking at the fire-softened mountain, Li Er touched it with his twelve-foot horse lance, and immediately a large chunk fell off.
He nodded, then pulled out another bottle from the saddlebag, removed the cork stopper, held it under his nose to smell, then poured out a bit for Yun Ye to light while he carefully observed this black, viscous substance. Finally, he stoppered the bottle, held it in his hand, and asked Yun Ye, “The oil in this doesn’t seem like fierce fire oil. Fierce fire oil can’t burn this long, nor does it have such violent flames. What did you add to it?”
“Nothing strange—just some refined sugar and petroleum.” Li Er wouldn’t want to hear explanations and wouldn’t understand them anyway. Telling him the results directly was what he liked most.
“Boy, do you have a lot of this stuff? I heard that your family’s merchant caravan, along with those of the Cheng, Niu, Qin, and Yuchi families, are all helping you transport petroleum. How do you plan to repay this favor? You’re not planning to settle accounts with this stuff, are you?”
Li Er held the bottle up to the sun and asked Yun Ye casually.
“Your Majesty, you don’t know—petroleum is a good thing. Many good substances can be distilled from it. This subject calls the oil in this bottle gasoline. This substance can be used militarily, while the other two types that remain can be sold as lamp oil. Using them to repay favors should be sufficient, shouldn’t it?”
“This stuff has a violent temperament. As soon as it encounters open flame, it will burn and explode. Its power probably isn’t inferior to gunpowder. What’s even more terrifying is that this substance has combustible properties. Once ignited, water has no way to extinguish it. Only covering it with sand can effectively control the fire. But if the burning area is too large, this subject suggests that fleeing is the best option.”
The stupidity of those four—Li Chengqian, Cheng Chumo, Li Huairen, and Li Tai—was demonstrated right here. When departing, Li Er would definitely allocate some gunpowder to him. His current outright refusal was simply because he wanted to see what good things Yun Ye had developed in the military camp. Without using his brain to think about it—if Li Er was unwilling to give it, how could Li Chengqian, Cheng Chumo, and Li Huairen possibly have the ability to approach the gunpowder restricted area? That would be the strange thing.
Li Tai was still proud of possessing great friendship. This fellow who’d become foolish from his research didn’t think about what kind of person his father was. Did he think his father didn’t know about gunpowder not on the books?
The man obviously wanted to catch them red-handed. First, he made everyone anxious, getting them to scheme for gunpowder, then he caught them in the act with evidence. Yet he let one cartload go—giving Yun Ye both face and substance. Even with all this, they still had to be grateful. Four idiots trying to play tricks in front of Li Er, who was craftier than a fox—they wouldn’t even know how they died.
The gasoline he’d worked so hard to produce was now going to benefit Li Er cheaply. Having encountered teammates as useless as pigs, Yun Ye accepted his fate. Not only did he need to献上 the secret formula, he also had to be grateful for Li Er’s magnanimity. Although two of them were his sons, Yun Ye still had to be grateful. Sovereign and subject, father and son—this was an insurmountable chasm. Li Chengqian and Li Tai had to be subjects first, and only afterward sons. This rule could not be broken by anyone, nor would anyone dare break it.
“Your Majesty, the naval camp will establish a petroleum distillation workshop on the banks of the Wei River. Of the annual gasoline production, the court will purchase eighty percent. How about leaving twenty percent for my navy?”
Hearing Yun Ye say this, Li Er immediately laughed until he couldn’t catch his breath. He looked very much like a child whose prank had succeeded. Of course, he had the right to be smug. He’d toyed with four little mice in the palm of his hand. If no one appreciated it, that would be too disappointing. Only when his conspiracy transformed into an open strategy could his good mood continue.
“Boy, you truly are clever. How did you figure it out? This time I thought I hadn’t shown any flaws, yet you saw through it at a glance. Looks like next time I’ll definitely arrange a more reasonable and tighter trap, waiting for you to break through.” Li Er straightened his back, took the handkerchief Duan Hong handed him to wipe the corners of his eyes, and issued a new challenge to Yun Ye.
“Because this subject knows that to find loopholes in the web Your Majesty weaves, one must be more brilliant than you. Unfortunately, this subject has yet to discover such a person. This subject can only guess a bit of the process after the fact. Using the known to deduce the unknown—as long as the conditions are sufficient, one can definitely derive the correct answer. Qing Que only told me the result, and this subject knew I’d lost, lost with complete conviction. Having friends like the Crown Prince, Qing Que, Cheng Chumo, and Li Huairen is both this subject’s fortune and this subject’s sorrow. On one hand, this subject feels proud of his friends’ loyalty; on the other, my life’s work is draining away, my heart aching as if cut by knives. The flavor of it all—how can mere words express it clearly?”
Li Er began laughing heartily again. Duan Hong beside him also laughed along. The three walked and stopped intermittently, unknowingly arriving at Liangyi Hall. Empress Zhangsun personally came to the front of the hall to welcome them, still holding an embroidery hoop in her hands.
“Your Majesty is rarely this happy. Has your battle with Yun Ye concluded?” Empress Zhangsun pointed at Yun Ye with a face full of contempt. “You too—堂堂 sovereign of a nation, a hero who fights alone on the battlefield—why compete with a weak junior who can’t wield a sword or lift a blade? For him to be your opponent, the Yellow River would have to run dry first.”
Li Er showed off the ceramic bottle in his hand to Empress Zhangsun, shaking it: “This is my spoils of war. I won with some difficulty this time. If Chengqian and the others had communicated with Yun Ye beforehand, I’d have had no way to deal with him. But since he values friendship so highly, I struck from there and succeeded. However, this method can only be used once. The second time won’t work as well. These boys grow astonishingly fast. In another ten years, it’ll be my turn to have headaches.”
Empress Zhangsun wanted to take the bottle from Li Er’s hand, but he didn’t give it to her. Instead, he handed it back to Duan Hong, ordering him to store it in a separate room. Only then did he explain to Empress Zhangsun: “This thing is too dangerous. If something goes wrong, your Liangyi Hall will follow Ganlu Hall’s fate. You’re with child—it’s best to have less contact with these things. Among the things Yun Ye creates, few are good, but they’re quite formidable at taking lives. I don’t know how his master taught such a disciple. You say he’s a good person—you can’t find a second boy in all the Great Tang with thoughts more sinister than his. You say he’s not a good person—he’s done many good deeds that even good people couldn’t accomplish. Fortunately, my Great Tang enjoys peace throughout the realm. If this boy had been born in chaotic times, whether there’d be any living people left in this world would be questionable.”
Seeing the couple talking endlessly with no way to interject, Yun Ye remembered that in the Imperial Clan Court behind the palace, three unlucky souls were still being punished. Who knew what state they were in by now?
Finally finding a gap, he quickly said, “Your Majesty, Your Majesty the Empress, my three friends are still being punished. Your Majesty, could you please have them stop first? Don’t beat them anymore—if they continue, someone will die.”
Li Er and Empress Zhangsun exchanged glances, then let Yun Ye deliver the decree himself to stop the punishment of the three and change it to house confinement for reflection. Yun Ye bowed and hurriedly ran toward the Xuanwu Gate behind the palace, where the Imperial Clan Court was located.
Watching Yun Ye’s figure rapidly disappear, Li Er said to Empress Zhangsun, “How is it that I don’t have friends like this? In this matter, I’ve acted somewhat basely, using these beautiful sentiments to achieve my goal. I feel somewhat uncomfortable.”
“You are the Emperor. The nation comes first. As for other feelings, you’re asking too much.”
Hearing Empress Zhangsun say this, Li Er sighed and nodded. Alone and isolated, alone and isolated—it’s lonely at the top.
When Yun Ye charged into the Imperial Clan Court, which echoed with continuous wails, he saw Li Chengqian, Cheng Chumo, and Li Huairen sitting on three brocade stools, each holding a cup of tea, watching with sidelong glances as two bare-bottomed fellows prostrated on a bench received punishment, their faces full of disapproval.
Seeing Yun Ye arrive, Li Chengqian raised his teacup in welcome, then continued watching the Imperial Clan Court carry out the punishment, as if he could discern flowers from other people’s backsides.
Since all three were fine and hadn’t been beaten, Yun Ye decided to take a good look at exactly who was being beaten. Anyone receiving discipline at the Imperial Clan Court was a famous wastrel from Chang’an City—there wasn’t one he didn’t know.
Removing the hand covering one fellow’s face, he finally recognized him: “Brother Qiuhuan, don’t blame this younger brother for the discourtesy. Just now looking at backsides, I really couldn’t recognize you.” Only then did Yun Ye greet this wastrel brother whose face was full of pain.
Li Jingheng, eldest son of Li Daozong, courtesy name Qiuhuan—though Yun Ye and the other wastrels always called him Qiuhuan. Apparently his father, dissatisfied with producing such a specimen, specifically gave him the courtesy name Qiuhuan, clearly asking heaven to take him away and exchange him for another. However, Li Jingheng was the eldest legitimate grandson, destined to inherit Li Daozong’s princely title in the future. Li Daozong always wanted to replace this eldest son with his second son, but the Emperor simply wouldn’t allow it. Having become Emperor himself as a second son, he was extremely averse to such things. Having broken the rules himself, he strictly demanded that others must observe the principle of legitimate son inheritance.
Li Jingheng was a thoroughgoing wastrel. Back when Yun Ye was still mixing in Chang’an, among the students Empress Zhangsun was teaching, this beast was included. While living in the residence outside the palace every day, relying on his fourteen-year-old small frame, he managed to get two maids attending him pregnant. Having done the deed wasn’t really a big deal—he wasn’t the only fourteen-year-old father. The princely estate could afford to feed a few extra mouths. But this fellow, fearing his father’s anger, didn’t have the guts to admit it. One of the women, in despair, jumped into a well.
When Empress Zhangsun learned of it, she flew into a rage and ordered Li Daozong to personally remove his son from the palace, forbidding him to defile the palace’s pure land. Because of this bastard, Yun Ye, who liked to occasionally banter with palace maids, received no shortage of warnings from Empress Zhangsun.