The Qingming Festival gave three days of holiday. Those dandies driven mad by Old Niu were probably now wildly enjoying themselves. This reminded Yun Ye of his own school holiday situations—eating then sleeping, sleeping then eating, then on the night before school started, drinking wildly with the beasts from his dorm until dawn, finally attending class with dark circles under his eyes.
He felt he should return to a normal life trajectory. So he set up a reclining chair in the garden, spread it soft with blankets, sank his body into it, then called for Auntie to cover him with a thick blanket. Yawning beautifully, in the warm spring day he would have the most serious conversation with the Duke of Zhou.
Grandmother had no habit of spring outings. The old lady stubbornly believed that only second-rate idlers wandered east and west all day with nothing to do. To see scenery, just raise your head and look at the green trees on the mountain in your own courtyard—that was enough. How could the flowers on the mountain compare to those in one’s own courtyard? The Chinese roses had bloomed—one sniff and you’d be fragrant for half the day. The wildflowers in the mountain valleys didn’t have this ability. What she looked down on most was that Sun Simiao, who drilled into gullies all day long, carrying a flower hoe and digging up flowers and plants from the wild, then talking about them with her grandson for an entire day. Wasn’t he supposed to be a famous physician? Why didn’t she see him treating the family’s cattle? The cattle had diarrhea so bad they’d lost their bovine form. Her grandson was still obedient—look how sweetly he slept, even throwing punches in his dreams.
Sun Simiao had sighed as he walked past Yun Ye three times now. He had already despaired of this young marquis. His laziness was outrageous—if he could lie down, he absolutely wouldn’t sit. Now he’d lain down again. Clearly possessing excellent medical skills to heal and save people, yet completely ruined by laziness. In such beautiful spring weather, didn’t he know to go up the mountain to find medicinal herbs and research drug combinations? If that won’t work, couldn’t you thoroughly research that acidic liquid you made the other day? How many people knelt begging to learn these skills, yet you teach them to a group of dandies—what’s that about?
Using his hand wrapped in hemp cloth strips, he patted the heads of the Huozhu siblings following behind him. Now these were good children—diligent, sensible, and determined. It was just that their status was a bit lacking. Although Yun Ye had burned their indenture contracts clean with one fire, once enslaved, one suffered for life. Even if he wanted to help, he couldn’t.
This child saw that the acidic liquid had burned through the iron bucket and wanted to scoop it with bare hands. He’d stopped them, but it was still somewhat late. Both of their hands had been somewhat burned.
It was all this fellow’s fault. Looking at Yun Ye gesticulating wildly in his sleep, the anger in his chest couldn’t be suppressed. He just made things and didn’t explain whether they were dangerous or not before happily filling a wax-coated bamboo tube and running off, not knowing what he was going to do, leaving him in a room with a pungent smell without asking about it.
This old man didn’t understand that this thing would burn through iron and had the child help scoop the acidic liquid from the vat into the bucket. Who knew that in the time it took to work, the iron bucket would rot through? What exactly was this thing? The toxicity was so fierce and so strange—it would only burn people but wouldn’t cause further harm. What was the principle?
“Your hands are injured?” Yun Ye asked, rubbing his eyes.
“What do you think?” Sun Simiao raised his right hand toward Yun Ye.
“You, old sir, are the best famous physician in the world. A mere injury shouldn’t stump you, should it?”
The beard under Sun Simiao’s chin moved without wind.
Too familiar—when Old Cheng and Old Niu got angry, the prelude was moving their beards. Just as he was planning to run, Old Sun’s anger erupted. Using his intact left hand, he accurately struck Yun Ye on the head, shouting, “This old man is going to beat you to death, you menace…”
Yun Ye wasn’t beaten to death. He just apologized to Old Sun and the Huozhu siblings and promised them he’d figure out what exactly his creation was useful for.
Yun Ye had miscalculated again. Not a single dandy fooled around all over Chang’an City. Upon returning home, they were called to their father’s study to be asked what exactly they had learned. Fortunately, Yun Ye had the bad habit of assigning homework. The dandies had no choice but to take out their respective books and test papers to show their fathers, some of which required their father’s signature.
The Weichi household was extraordinarily lively. The whole family held a grand banquet to congratulate their young master for finally learning the tremendous skill of calculating army provisions. Old Weichi pulled his son along, smiling so wide his mouth wouldn’t close.
Recalling how when he sought learning everywhere in those years, he hit walls everywhere. Teachers from prominent clans looked down on him, this blacksmith. Repeated respectful requests for learning were met with repeated mockery. In a rage, he joined the military, relying on martial prowess to gradually stand out in the army. Later, he accidentally saved His Majesty and from then on loyally followed His Majesty, campaigning east and west, which led to his current title.
The painful experience of seeking learning in his youth had always been a bamboo splinter in his heart. Every time he recalled it, his chest ached faintly. After the pain, he determined to fully cultivate his son, letting him complete his youthful dream. Unexpectedly, his son inherited his martial prowess but not his mother’s refinement. Learning was incomparably difficult. He’d long given up the beautiful dream that the Weichi Family would produce scholars and cultured guests. Casually sending his son to Yushan for just two months had given him such a great surprise. The foolish son who usually had difficulty even counting could now rattle off military grain distribution, calculating numbers from small to large even faster than the accountant.
Thinking of this, Weichi felt that today’s wine was especially refreshing to drink.
Zhangsun Chong had mixed into Yushan originally because of his father’s orders—to learn Yun Ye’s iron smelting knowledge. He’d even given him countless strange schemes to pry information from Yun Ye’s mouth. This put Zhangsun Chong in a difficult position, feeling he was wronging his brother. But unable to disobey his father’s orders, he could only act according to circumstances.
The Zhangsun Family controlled the largest private iron smelting workshop. Having this life-or-death technology in outsiders’ hands—wasn’t this taking the Zhangsun Family’s life? If it weren’t Yun Ye but another family, their entire household’s corpses would probably have long gone cold.
When Yun Ye asked him what exactly he planned to learn, Zhangsun Chong’s heart churned like monstrous waves. After a long struggle, he said he wanted to learn iron smelting, preparing in his heart to be rejected. Unexpectedly, Yun Ye curled his lips and said he was boring. He rummaged around in the study for ages before pulling out a tattered notebook from the bottom of a box and casually tossing it to him. He said it was notes and some insights he’d made himself during his time in Longxi. He also said, “You should have said so earlier—made me search for so long, getting myself all dusty. Between brothers, why so many issues?”
Hearing these words, Zhangsun Chong wanted to crawl into a mouse hole.
Now, that notebook which Zhangsun Chong had neatly copied out again lay on Zhangsun Wuji’s desk. He stroked the notebook with his plump hand and gave a bitter laugh. “This old man acted like a petty villain for nothing!”
Li Huairen got beaten—by his father. The screams were unparalleled in magnitude. It wasn’t that he hadn’t studied hard at Yushan, but his father simply couldn’t understand what he’d learned. The whole book was full of ghost symbols. Before Li Huairen could explain, he got a beating. After Li Huairen finally explained clearly, saying these were a type of simple new symbols for mathematics that Teacher Ye-zi had stolen from the Abbasid palace, with infinite wonderful uses—the greatest learning under heaven—Old Li nodded repeatedly, then turned around and beat Li Huairen again. Young Li asked why. His father said, “Nothing else—ashamed and angry, that’s all.”
Similarly, or comparable scenes continuously played out throughout Chang’an City. With four great scholars teaching, no one would doubt that their children were wasting time at Yushan. With Niu Jinda sitting in command, they didn’t worry their children would cause any trouble. Having Yun Ye let their children gain a bit of cleverness—was there anything wrong with that? Ever since Yun Ye openly and honestly swindled over twenty thousand strings of cash from the entire court, his reputation as Chang’an’s cleverest child had spread without effort.
Things had good and bad, just like day would have darkness. Meng Youtong had never felt as sad as he did now. The reason came from the conversation with his father just now. Those words were like knives, cutting wounds all over his heart.
When he excitedly presented Master Li Gang’s evaluation for his father to see, his father showed little joy. His expression indifferent, without even glancing at it, he set it aside and said to him, “As your father, I didn’t expect Yushan Academy’s background to be so significant. Not only do they have the participation of Master Li Gang, Master Yushan and other teachers, but also Marquis Niu and Marquis Yun sitting in command. These people are either virtuous great scholars or famous historians, and our dynasty’s famous generals. The least accomplished is Marquis Yun, who possesses inscrutable supernatural miscellaneous learning. These people are all top-tier talents in Chang’an. Your fortune in studying under them is your good luck.”
“Your child knows opportunities are rare and will definitely work hard, not disappointing Father’s expectations.”
“No need. Your temperament is impetuous. As long as you live a stable and wealthy life, that’s enough. As your father, I’ve decided that three days from now, it’s better for your elder brother to go to Yushan instead. He’s always been clever and steady. Although he’s made no progress these past years, it’s because he lacked a famous teacher. At Yushan, receiving instruction from several masters for two years, he’ll definitely become a pillar of the nation. You go to the accounting office and withdraw one hundred strings of silver to go enjoy yourself!”
Meng Youtong walked out of the study like a puppet and came to his own bedroom. His young concubine removed his outer garment for him. Seeing he wasn’t speaking, she didn’t dare ask and quietly withdrew.
Over the past two months, he’d become accustomed to intense studying under Old Niu’s whip. Though physically tired, he’d never felt more fulfilled. The lessons of the several old masters were interesting, making him unconsciously immersed. So this was how engaging learning could be. Following Yun Ye running all over the mountain, identifying plants, searching for minerals, then classifying and recording them, making charts—bound together they became books. Studying medicine with Daoist Sun Simiao—although he was always being lectured, it was still harmonious and enjoyable.
Down the mountain, following the methods Yun Ye taught, teaching the tenant farmers to fertilize the land, sow seeds, using new farming tools to plow so much land in a day. Although he was being punished at the time, seeing the tenant farmers’ admiring gazes—why had he felt so comfortable? The thrill of spending thousands in the pleasure quarters couldn’t compare to one ten-thousandth of that joyful mood?
Money could be given to elder brother, title could be given to elder brother, land could be given to elder brother. But no matter what, this opportunity to study at Yushan could not be given to elder brother. Otherwise, he would truly become the parasite Master Li Gang spoke of.
In the dark of night, Meng Youtong alone carried his bundle on the road to Yushan. He’d never been as full of fighting spirit as he was now.