Yun Ye only had three days of rest at home. On the fourth day, he had to attend the morning court assembly together with Li Jing and the others. This was determined by the Emperor and conveyed through the Crown Prince, so he could only comply. In truth, according to his own wishes, he didn’t even want to enter Chang’an city. Chang’an in the early Zhenguan years had always been swaying in the wind and rain. The reason Prince Wei and Prince Shu were sent to study at Yushan Academy was because they were originally supposed to go take up their posts in their fiefdoms. The Emperor couldn’t bear to have his own flesh and blood far away, so he thought of a compromise—that was to have them study at the academy and wait until they were sixteen before going to their fiefdoms.
Hou Junji and others had already submitted countless memorials, saying that only the Crown Prince should remain in the capital, and all other princes over fourteen years old must go to their fiefdoms according to imperial family custom. His daughter had married the Crown Prince, so he and the Crown Prince had already become grasshoppers tied to the same rope. Naturally, he hoped to drive all threats far away—best if they all died early outside. As a result, he received a private reprimand from the Emperor, telling him to mind his own business. Imperial family matters were for the Emperor to decide; it wasn’t his turn to speak recklessly.
This was what Chengqian told Yun Ye when they shared a bed foot-to-foot. It was clear he was very confused and seemed somewhat dissatisfied with his father’s actions.
All hatred begins with small dissatisfactions. Once there is dissatisfaction, viewing things will inevitably become biased. Li Chengqian didn’t have a broad mind either. Accumulated day by day, sooner or later dissatisfaction would turn into hatred, finally developing to the point of meeting in armed conflict.
“Chengqian, tell me, who is the person who can ultimately decide your fate?” After thinking for a while, Yun Ye asked Li Chengqian.
“Naturally Father Emperor. Besides Father Emperor, at most there’s Mother Empress. No one else has this qualification. Anyone who wants this qualification, I’ll tear them to pieces.”
This was the nature of dragons. Relying on their incomparably powerful abilities, whoever wanted to be above their heads would only end up in pieces. Not even an extra leaf could be placed on their noble heads. It was best to raise their heads to emptiness above, with nothing but Heaven itself.
“Well said! Now go tear General Hou into five pieces by horses, then chop him into mincemeat.” Yun Ye earnestly gave Chengqian this suggestion.
“How could that work? General Hou is doing this for my benefit. Why would I kill him? Besides, I couldn’t kill him anyway.” Chengqian sat up with a roll, speaking solemnly to Yun Ye.
“So you do understand! Your Father Emperor and Mother Empress are probably the most terrifying couple in the world. Don’t think that just because I grin foolishly every time I see His Majesty and the Empress, and even once attacked your Father Emperor with a sword—though His Majesty forced me to—that I’m not being careful, careful, and even more careful when facing those two. Even so, don’t they still order me around like a dog, running east and west? Since you know your fate is in the hands of your Father Emperor and Mother Empress, instead of flattering them, you grumble with dissatisfaction toward them down here. Has your brain been kicked by a donkey?”
This was a secret room. As long as there were no other people around, the status difference between Yun Ye and Chengqian would immediately disappear. Yun Ye was very natural about it, and Li Chengqian seemed to enjoy it. But receiving the evaluation that his brain had been kicked by a donkey made Li Chengqian somewhat embarrassed and angry. He kicked Yun Ye in the back. How could Yun Ye take that lying down? He naturally fought back vigorously. In no time, the blankets and bedding were all thrown to the floor. After Li Chengqian took a pillow hit, the two panted heavily and called a truce. Standing on the ground, they re-laid the blankets and bedding and continued sleeping.
“Yezi, do you think I’ll become the master of Great Tang in the future?” Unable to find his pillow, Li Chengqian put his hands behind his head and looked at the ceiling, asking Yun Ye.
“That’s certain. You’re the eldest in your family. You’re the legitimate eldest son. Your old man is the Emperor. Your biological mother is the Empress. If you don’t become Emperor in the future, who else in this world could become Emperor? Besides, you’re so handsome, and you married General Hou’s daughter as Crown Princess. You have Heaven’s timing, Earth’s advantages, and human harmony all on your side. What are you worried about?”
“But my Father Emperor is the second son.” Li Chengqian gritted his teeth for a long time before these words burst from his mouth.
“Precisely because your Father Emperor is the second son, your throne is completely secure. The prerequisite is that you always maintain your current state as a good son.”
“What kind of logic is that? You need to explain it clearly to me.” Li Chengqian simply stopped trying to sleep and sat up, wrapped in his blanket.
“Do you remember how I taught you ‘Heaven will descend great responsibility upon this person’?”
“You said this phrase is very suitable for telling others. What does it have to do with my Father Emperor being the second son?”
“Your Father Emperor set a terrible precedent for Great Tang. To make up for the bad influence his actions will have on future descendants, he naturally has to do everything possible to maintain imperial family rules. Some things he can do, but he absolutely won’t allow you to do. Moreover, whoever does them will have bad luck, and I believe this bad luck will last a lifetime.”
“Yezi, is this why you said that eternal famous sayings like ‘Heaven will descend great responsibility upon this person’ can only be told to others and shouldn’t be followed oneself?”
“Are you a sage? Do you want to be a sage? Are you prepared to be a sage? Emperors cannot become sages, including the ancient Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors.” Yun Ye was preparing to end the conversation. Today he had said much that should and shouldn’t be said. Continuing like this wasn’t good. Those who get trapped in imperial family affairs have never had good endings since ancient times. Fortunately, he had prepared to stay far from the court; otherwise, he wouldn’t say these things even if beaten to death. Some things are fine to say with your mouth, but putting them into action is seeking death.
“Yezi, let’s talk more. Don’t sleep!”
“Give me a break. I’m dead tired. I rushed for several days, and drank so much wine today. Don’t talk to me anymore. Instead of talking to me, think about how to get along well with your parents and brothers—that’s the proper thing.” With that, he pulled the blanket over his head and went to sleep. Li Chengqian kicked him twice with no response—playing dead.
When Li Chengqian left, Yun Ye was still sleeping and didn’t see him off. This was the Crown Prince’s instruction. Of course, even if the Crown Prince hadn’t instructed this, Yun Ye absolutely wouldn’t have crawled out of his warm bed to put on official robes to see him off.
Xiao Ya ran to her brother’s room to check several times, very disappointed. Her brother was still sleeping, and Grandmother wouldn’t let her disturb him. She could only press her face close to her brother’s, observing carefully, hoping he would wake up soon. She had so many things to tell her brother.
Wang Cai was very familiar with Yun Ye’s room, but Yun Ye wouldn’t let him enter, so he butted the window open with his head, snorting loudly to urge Yun Ye to get up. When the sun was high in the sky, Yun Ye finally stretched a big lazy stretch and woke up. Hearing his spine making cracking sounds, he was very satisfied—this meant he was still growing taller.
Seeing Yun Ye move, Wang Cai happily called out, startling Xiao Ya who had fallen asleep lying by the bed. Seeing her brother awake, Xiao Ya immediately climbed onto the bed, thoughtfully fetching clothes for her brother and serving him as he dressed. Everyone in the family knew that brother just couldn’t dress himself properly—either missing something or wearing things crooked. Yun Ye was too lazy to explain to his family that he had never dressed incorrectly when outside. Could this be called dependency syndrome?
Yun Ye’s toothbrush bristles had all fallen out. Now, following local customs, he used willow twigs to clean his mouth. He had the family make several toothbrushes with pig bristles, but no one used them, saying they had a pig stink. Today, Yun Ye didn’t plan to do anything else—he just prepared to hide at home and relax all day. If Xinyue were home to attend to him, that would be best. He really missed yesterday’s sensation.
The guests had all left. Old Fool Yuchi had been carried home by his two wives. The fifty-plus-proof liquor from Yun Manor wasn’t famous for nothing. The academy students had also returned to the academy early. If they were found absent at morning roll call, Liu Xian would let them experience the severity of academy rules.
Damn, just after getting up and already drowsy. His mouth yawned as wide as a hippopotamus’s, and tears flowed. Grandmother said this was due to overwork at the frontier and required good rest. What Grandmother said must be right, though Yun Ye believed he had spent far more time lying down on the grassland than standing—nowhere near as laborious as Grandmother imagined.
After eating a few bites of pickled vegetables and drinking a large bowl of congee, he needed to go out for a walk. Wang Cai had been impatient for a while, constantly wandering in front of the door. Rubbing Wang Cai’s fat, he sighed. How did he get this fat? A perfectly good horse was almost becoming a pig. Now he must quickly help him lose this fat, or it would affect Wang Cai’s lifespan.
Harnessing the carriage to Wang Cai, though unaccustomed to it, Wang Cai still showed good obedience. The carriage was a light vehicle, the kind that could only seat two people—without the complexity of the family carriage, achieving maximum simplicity. It was simply a horse pulling a two-person sofa as it ran.
The thin, high wheels rolled lightly over the stone-paved road, making soft clopping sounds, like riding a train. Wang Cai didn’t need anyone to control him. He seemed to know what Yun Ye wanted to do and followed the mountain path up the mountain.
Xiao Ya was very excited. This was her first time riding such a strange carriage. Grasping the carriage door, she kept looking outside.
The formerly somewhat desolate valley had completely changed its appearance. Small buildings were nestled among pines and cypresses. Red brick walls, red roof tiles—the entire houses looked like flames. The windows were white, covered with translucent window paper. Extravagant households used the thinnest animal hide to cover their windows. The hide would let through pale yellow light, far superior to what window paper could provide.
Now the small buildings seemed full of residents. From time to time, women stood on rooftops looking around. This was far better than being sealed up in high-walled compounds. Tang Dynasty women were bold. Seeing Yun Ye and Xiao Ya driving the carriage over, they all looked this way. Some bold ones actually waved in greeting. Xiao Ya immediately became excited, standing on the seat, jumping and waving to the women upstairs, shouting loudly: “Sister Xinyue, come down quickly! Let’s play together! The carriage is so fun!” While shouting, she grabbed the reins and made Wang Cai stop.
So it was Xinyue. No wonder she was so bold. Yesterday’s good deed didn’t succeed, and Yun Ye had regretted it for a long time. He didn’t know if there would be a chance today. Looking at the excited Xiao Ya, Yun Ye knew today definitely wouldn’t work. With this little burden here, having a chance would be strange.
Soon, Xinyue in a long dress brought her maid to the carriage, curiously examining this new contraption. The carriage had no sharp corners anywhere—all simple curved designs, without the clumsiness of old-style carriages. It looked very comfortable, most suitable for spring and summer outings. The only pity was that it was too small, only able to seat two people. Xinyue squeezed together with Xiao Ya. The maid Xiao Qiu could only purse her lips and go home by herself.
The wheels started turning again. Yun Ye looked at Xinyue’s high, prominent chest with a mischievous smile, earning two large white grapes and severe pain in his arm. He endured it without making a sound. Xiao Ya shook the reins, urging Wang Cai to run faster. Wang Cai’s spirits seemed good. Pulling the carriage, he galloped away.