Yun Ye generally didn’t tell Xinyue about the sordid disputes in the court. These were his own sins to bear. Men went out every day like dogs fighting for food, only returning home in the evening with a basket of provisions. As long as the whole family was well-fed, that was his greatest reward.
As for getting bitten by other dogs while scrambling for food, or when a bear came and ate up all the provisions—such misfortunes were better left unsaid. When returning home, he remembered to wipe the blood from his nose and tear off the bandages from his backside, then tell the family with bared teeth and high spirits that he had returned victorious. Just receiving two sounds of admiring praise meant he could stick his tongue out even longer the next day to bring back more food.
Yun Ye thought complaining to women was pointless. Just like Xinyue’s current expression—she was frightened. After tearing away Chang’an’s tender veil, she discovered there were no good people in Chang’an.
“Husband, husband, then which method of teaching and educating is best? Do you know?”
“Naturally I know. Teaching without discrimination and teaching according to aptitude is best.”
“Then why don’t you do it that way?” Xinyue hadn’t expected her husband to give her such a definite answer.
“I can’t! Yushan Academy is now working hard to achieve teaching without discrimination, but foreign students are not included. Teaching according to aptitude requires teachers to devote enormous effort, but there are too many students—it can’t be done. Look, those first students all had very distinctive characteristics. For example, Qing Que, like Ma Zhou, like Wang Xuance. At that time there were few students and the teachers were of very high quality—Li Gang, Yuanzhang, Yushan, Lishi, Zhao Yanling, Jin Zhu, Hypatia were all outstanding figures in their respective fields, so they could basically pay attention to every student. Now it’s different—there are already over four thousand students.”
“It’s like how Na Rimu herds sheep. At first there were only a few sheep, so naturally she cherished them greatly. Later, when she alone needed to herd several hundred sheep, she couldn’t manage them all. Na Rimu, tell me, how did you herd three hundred sheep?”
Yun Ye passed the question to Na Rimu, who had quietly come over to pour water. Regarding herding sheep, Na Rimu was definitely an expert. Hearing her husband ask her about herding sheep, she immediately perked up. She sat on Yun Ye’s lap, wrapped her arms around his neck, and said with a charming smile: “I can’t herd three hundred sheep alone—I need to ride a horse and find a good dog, one that can fight off steppe wolves. Then find the best lead sheep, and bring enough food and drink. Only this way can I stay on the grassland all day. I just need to manage the lead sheep, and the rest…”
Yun Ye stuffed a pastry into Na Rimu’s little mouth before saying to Xinyue: “Same principle. Herding sheep and teaching students follow the same principle. The former wins by quality, the latter by quantity. When Yushan Academy truly becomes an academy city, that will be the most terrifying sight. Imagine—crowds of people rushing into a classroom, then crowds rushing into the library. At that time, there won’t even be standing room along the Dongyang River.”
Xinyue rolled her eyes, struggling to imagine the situation her husband described. She shivered and said viciously to Yun Ye: “Husband, you should teach our children yourself. Among all the highly respected and immensely learned people in the world, you’re the most outstanding. We can’t let our children be herded like sheep.”
“Don’t interrupt when I’m educating the children. Today I’m just laying it out for you. Starting tomorrow, Shou’er will play wildly with me. Don’t force the child to study anymore. At this age, playing is the proper business. While playing, knowledge will grow. If the child once develops an aversion to learning, it’s completely finished.”
Xinyue hurriedly nodded, wiping the sweat from her forehead. She looked quite frightened. To give her some confidence, Yun Ye added: “When I followed my master, I lived very easily. Master never forced me, only guided and explained. Catching an insect, he’d talk about insects. Catching a bird, he’d talk about birds. Pointing at the sky, he could explain many principles. Pointing at high mountains and great rivers, countless allusions would come forth. What he said was interesting, what I heard was easy. Unconsciously, my learning greatly advanced!”
Xinyue nodded repeatedly with envy, saying: “Master is a celestial being, naturally well-versed in both ancient and modern knowledge, knowing everything. I’ll go into the cabin right now to burn two more incense sticks for Master, asking him to bless Shou’er’s academic progress.”
Yun Ye watched Xinyue drag the reluctant Na Rimu into the cabin, then gently slapped himself on the face. When had he ever had such a master? Back then, when he couldn’t memorize his books, he had to stand under the eaves holding his schoolbag. When his small-script calligraphy wasn’t good enough, the teacher’s pointer swelled his hand like bread. Even now, thinking about it hurt. What he’d just said was all experience condensed from blood and tears. Such things absolutely could not happen to his son again.
It would be two more days before reaching Yuezhou. Before arriving at Yuezhou, they first reached Red Cliff. This was where Zhou Yu defeated Cao Cao, and not far away was where Cao Cao fled desperately. Since they’d arrived here, he naturally needed to tell his son ancient stories. He’d read the Romance of the Three Kingdoms until it fell apart when he was young. In such a fitting place, how could he not tell the children the exciting passages about Zhuge Liang summoning the wind at the Seven Star Altar and Zhou Yu setting fire at the Three Rivers? Yun Ye sat up high while the whole family moved stools and sat below, listening attentively to the family head tell stories.
“Huang Gai waved his blade, and all the front ships burst into flames together. The fire borrowed the wind’s might, the wind assisted the fire’s momentum. The ships shot forward like arrows, smoke and flames reaching the sky. Twenty fire ships crashed into the water stockade. All the ships in Cao’s camp caught fire at once, and being locked together with iron chains, there was nowhere to escape…”
“Zhang Liao and a dozen men protected Cao Cao, racing toward the shore. Huang Gai saw someone in a crimson robe descending from a ship and guessed it was Cao Cao, so he urged his ship forward rapidly. Holding a sharp blade, he shouted loudly: ‘Traitor Cao, don’t run! Huang Gai is here!'”
“Cao cried out in anguish…”
Seeing the whole family, old and young, listening with rapt attention, sighing one moment and showing alarm the next—Xinyue’s face contorted as she listened, Yun Shou’s little face flushed red—seeing all this, Yun Ye triumphantly slapped the paperweight in his hand. With a sharp crack, just as the paperweight’s sound fell, there came a crashing sound as the teapot Xinyue held in her arms fell to the ground.
Before Xinyue could complain, Li Er’s voice came over: “Nonsense! Zhuge Liang was selfless and fearless, modest and cautious, thoughtful and far-sighted, good at drawing on others’ strengths—he was a model for civil officials. The Battle of Red Cliff was Zhou Yu’s achievement—what did it have to do with him? Though your nonsense is captivating and made me feel as if I were there, people say you have a silver tongue, and they truly aren’t wronging you. You’ve altered the historical records beyond recognition, just to make it pleasant and interesting. Where’s even half the rectitude of a learned man?”
Listening to stories on the side and still criticizing this and that—if he didn’t like it, why didn’t he say so earlier? Why didn’t he stop it? Sneaking onto someone else’s ship, and with a ship full of women, showing no sense of propriety.
Grandmother quickly led the whole family in paying respects to the Emperor. After the audience, she gave Yun Ye—who was pouting unhappily—a meaningful look before hurrying below deck with the young ones. Xinyue led Na Rimu and Lingdang to attend to Zhangsun on the side. Also coming along were Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, Wei Zheng, and surprisingly, Zhangsun Wuji. Following at the rear, waving a folding fan, was Xu Jingzong.
“Haven’t seen you for a few days and your temper has grown! What’s the meaning of pouting when I say two words to you? I think you’ve been disciplined too little, becoming increasingly spoiled. Look through the history books—when was Zhuge Liang’s shadow ever in the Battle of Red Cliff? Unlearned and unskilled! Lead the way to the rear cabin. Let’s see just how extravagant the dignified Marquis of Lantian really is.”
This was clearly giving no face at all. Though ten thousand times unwilling in his heart, he still had to lead them to the rear cabin. Upon reaching the rear cabin, Li Er actually laughed. Without a word, he took a knife and cut down all the yellowing bananas. He then ordered Zhangsun’s female guards to climb onto the wooden bucket and pick down all the remaining lychees. Only then did he say to Yun Ye: “Wei Zheng impeached you for excessive extravagance and corrupting public morals, so I came to take a look. Since I’ve taken everything, your reputation for extravagance is gone. Consider it tribute to me. What, still unwilling?”
Yun Ye hurriedly shook his head. This was already outright robbery at the door—who dared refuse? Just as he was feeling relieved, he heard Fang Xuanling say from over there: “Your Majesty, come look at these crabs and giant shrimp. I’ve rarely seen their like.”
“Oh, then load them all up. We’re planning to tour Red Cliff tonight and reminisce about the past. A couple more drinking dishes would be good.” He looked around carefully—there might be other good things he shouldn’t miss.
Wei Zheng, unfortunately, spotted the shark. His eyes were blurry, and he lifted the net covering it, planning to get closer to see what it was. Yun Ye grabbed him back. Just as Wei Zheng was about to get angry, he saw a huge shark leap out of the water tank and slap its tail on the deck with crackling sounds.
A shark over two meters long created an astonishing commotion as it thrashed about. Never mind being bitten by the shark—even being slapped by its tail could be fatal. Zhangsun Wuji pointed at the shark in shock and said: “How did you bring this scourge to the Central Plains?”
Wei Zheng shook his robes, completely unconcerned that Yun Ye had just saved his life. He chimed in: “This is the consequence of you all protecting him. I hear sharks habitually feed on corpses—extremely vicious. Today he can raise sharks, tomorrow he’ll raise fierce tigers. The academy is overrun with pandas—over a hundred pandas occupying Yushan Academy and refusing to leave. Ha ha, truly a Great Tang spectacle.”
Li Er watched the thrashing shark with great interest, turning a deaf ear to Wei Zheng’s words. The pandas were Zhi Zi’s pets, so that couldn’t really be blamed on Yun Ye. He just didn’t know if hunting sharks had a unique flavor.
“Bring me a fish spear! Let you all see how I kill this vicious shark.” Immediately a guard ran excitedly to the front to find a fish spear. Li Er couldn’t stand seeing fierce beasts before his eyes. Every year at the Nanshan Imperial Hunting Ground, he hunted tigers, leopards, bears, and other fierce beasts as his achievements during peacetime. Today, seeing this tiger of the sea, how could he stand by with folded arms?
This wouldn’t do! This shark was needed to cure illness. If the shark’s liver was accidentally damaged, Wei Zheng’s eyes would be beyond saving. Master Sun had already found a method for restoring clarity of vision. As long as he could make a suction tube, he could extract the white film from Wei Zheng’s eyes. Supplementing this with powerful doses of fish liver oil for vitamin enrichment, the eyes would be fine. Though Wei Zheng had been coldly mocking and ridiculing since boarding the ship, Yun Ye was determined to cure his eyes.