“What to do? Simple—we have a fight.” After Yun Ye finished speaking, he threw a punch straight at Li Tai’s eye.

With a “bang,” Li Tai was stunned. Blinking his injured eye, he looked at Yun Ye uncomprehendingly, only to see Yun Ye say angrily: “The legends of the White Jade Capital include the legend of Halley’s Star. It descends upon the Great Tang once every seventy-six years, bringing abundant moisture to the earth. It can be called the mother of life, yet you dare call it an evil star. You’re hopelessly stupid—even if you’re a prince, I’ll still beat you.”

The clever Li Tai immediately understood Yun Ye’s plan. Only by seizing the initiative and attracting the comet’s attention to themselves could they minimize the harm to Zhangsun. By forcefully turning the comet’s arrival into an academic discussion, they would eliminate future troubles.

“You dare hit me!” Li Tai rushed forward, grabbed Yun Ye, and they rolled on the ground. He took the opportunity to land a punch on Yun Ye’s nose. Yun Ye’s nose immediately gushed blood. He forcefully yanked at Li Tai’s collar, tearing his clothes open.

The two men rolled on the ground with purpose, knocking over the tent. One moment you rode on top of me and hit a few times, the next moment you rode on top of him and hit a few times. Both seemed extremely furious.

Li Chengqian constantly shouted from the side, telling them to stop fighting. An imperial prince and a Duke of the State were brawling in the mud like two hooligans on the important day of the Great Tang’s ceremonial plowing.

By the time the enraged Li Er arrived, both men’s clothes were torn, their noses were bleeding, and their eyes were red and swollen. Even after being forcibly separated by guards, they still kicked their legs, entangled endlessly.

“Why are you two fighting? Acting so wantonly on such a day—do you not fear imperial family law?” Li Er had never imagined that Yun Ye and Li Tai would come to blows. The two were so close they practically wore the same pants.

“Li Tai insulted my sect’s founder. This subject truly could not endure it.”

“To treat an evil star as a founder—your White Jade Capital is truly remarkable. This prince insulted it today. What can you do to me?”

“Ignorant! Hmph! In three more days, Halley’s Great Star will arrive. Let’s see what you have to say then.”

“Playing tricks with spirits and ghosts! Yun Ye, if you have the ability, summon this great star for me right now, and this prince will immediately apologize to you.”

Yun Ye trembled with anger, pointing at Li Tai and saying loudly: “All things in the world, including the sun and moon in the sky, can be calculated using mathematics. Halley’s Great Star descends upon our Central Plains once every seventy-six years. You yourself are ignorant, yet you still speak maliciously. What reasoning is this?”

“Ha ha ha! The sun, moon, and stars can all be incorporated into mathematical formulas? Yun Ye, I’ve also studied mathematics—how come I don’t know this?”

“That’s because you’re ignorant. Go ask Daoist Yuan Tiangang at the Bureau of Astronomy. Ask him how he calculated that there would be a solar eclipse in ten days. You’ve recently achieved some small success and thus look down on capable people throughout the realm.”

Seeing Yun Ye mention him, Yuan Tiangang stroked his beard and stepped forward with a smile, saying: “Prince Wei, Marquis Yun, you two shouldn’t argue. Solar and lunar eclipses can indeed be calculated through mathematics combined with celestial charts. On this point, Marquis Yun is correct. This solar eclipse was calculated by my disciple Li Chunfeng—there won’t be the slightest error.”

Li Er finally understood why the two had fought—it turned out to be a dispute over celestial phenomena. It takes two to make a quarrel, and punishment was simple. If it were anyone else, dragging them out for beheading would be right. But now it was these two fellows—they couldn’t be killed, nor could he bring himself to do it.

Angrily pointing at Yun Ye, he said: “It’s merely matters of sunrise and moonset. An imperial prince and a Duke of the State brawling in the mud, disrupting the great ceremony of plowing—an unpardonable crime! Li Chengqian, command you to take these two to the Court of the Imperial Clan for punishment according to law. Show no leniency.”

Hearing this, both cried out their grievances in unison. Li Tai said loudly: “Father Emperor, Yun Ye says the comet was first discovered by White Jade Capital ancestors. It’s very regular, and when it arrives he wants to lead his disciples to specially worship the ancestors. He wants to worship an evil star—this son only argued with him after hearing this.”

Yuan Tiangang was alarmed and said urgently to Yun Ye: “Marquis Yun, the comet is a calamity star, belongs to yin, and governs harem disasters. Why would you worship this star? This is the great crime of cursing the state.”

The guards hadn’t dared offend Yun Ye and held his arms quite casually. Who knew that upon hearing Yuan Tiangang say this, Yun Ye would become furious? With a shake of both arms, he broke free, walked before Yuan Tiangang, and without another word punched him in the nose. Although Yuan Tiangang’s martial skills were not weak, he never dreamed Yun Ye would dare strike him in front of the Emperor. Before he could react, his nose began bleeding. Seized again by guards, Yun Ye roared: “You absurd bastard! Because of your own ignorance, you make up a pack of lies to deceive people. What have you turned a perfectly good comet into? Do you know or not that the origin of life on this continent we inhabit was all bestowed by it, yet you dare slander it!”

This time Li Er was truly enraged. He roared for the guards to drag Yun Ye away, double the punishment. Li Chengqian’s pleas were useless. Li Tai pointed at Yun Ye and laughed heartily, quite pleased with himself, but then Li Er pointed at Li Tai and said he was the same. Li Tai immediately deflated.

“Your Majesty, receiving one punch doesn’t matter. Marquis Yun is young and somewhat impetuous—it’s inevitable. This subject only wants to ask clearly: where was I ignorant? Where did I speak wrongly? Since ancient times, the appearance of comets has always brought disasters. This matter still needs to be clarified properly.”

Li Er stopped resting and sat on the mat, letting Yuan Tiangang ask. However, Yuan Tiangang didn’t speak—Yun Ye spoke first: “The earliest record of comets probably comes from the ‘Book of Documents,’ right? When King Wu attacked Zhou, he faced east to welcome the year-star; it reached Fan and flooded, reached Gongtou and fell. A comet appeared, presenting its handle to the Shang people. At that time there was a comet with its handle pointing east, capable of sweeping away the western people!”

“That passage describes it very clearly, doesn’t it? At that time, military campaigns required divination, so recording celestial phenomena during the march wasn’t strange at all. I’m only puzzled about one thing—who added that last line about ‘this being the sign of women disrupting government’? Old Yuan, don’t tell me you added it, or I will definitely kill you. Halley’s Star was named by my White Jade Capital to commemorate former master Halley. Whoever dares defile this star is my mortal enemy.”

Yuan Tiangang was startled. Yun Ye emphasized the two words “mortal enemy” very heavily. If he continued speaking, he would certainly suffer. He suddenly noticed fierce light also flashing in Li Chengqian’s eyes, and even Li Tai stared fixedly at him. Thinking deeply about this matter, he immediately broke out in a cold sweat. Normally when the Emperor punished Li Tai and Yun Ye, the Empress would come out early to take over, but this time—nothing. The Empress’s tent remained utterly silent.

Beads of sweat immediately appeared. He said tremulously: “This poor Daoist also doesn’t know the origin of that statement. Comets appear without pattern. Perhaps during one appearance they happened to encounter such events, and the ancients casually recorded it.”

Wei Zheng stepped forward and said: “Since ancient times, although the correspondence between heaven and man may not be reliable, it has its reasoning. Otherwise, why would comets not appear early or late, but specifically appear when women disrupt government? This shows there are still signs.”

Chu Suiliang, who had just returned from Suizhou, also came forward and said: “Comets are recognized calamity stars. Marquis Yun, even if your ancestors worshipped this star, now you must correct it. Must we all believe this is an auspicious star just because of you alone?”

“A few years ago, you all liked swallowing elixir pills, believing them to be a good method for prolonging life. Now, why doesn’t anyone swallow them? I remember back then I seemed to be the only one who considered those things poison, right? Didn’t you all correct yourselves?”

“Yun Ye, how can these two things be compared? Regarding the elixir pills, you were proven correct because after Daoist Sun recreated the pills, you had corroborating evidence proving you were right. The inauspicious star is ethereal and intangible. It appears when it should appear. Calling it a calamity star is not excessive—unless you can summon the calamity star and let us see for ourselves. If the calamity star appears and the nation remains peaceful and prosperous, the rumors will naturally dissipate.”

Fang Xuanling stepped forward and summarized everyone’s words, presenting Yun Ye with a difficult problem. Those ministers who believed comets were calamity stars immediately laughed uproariously. Seeing Yun Ye embarrassed was truly satisfying.

“Correspondence between heaven and man? You think only you have this? White Jade Capital has long treated this as a joke. My teacher told me that in this world, truth is always grasped by the minority. Don’t abandon them because of their stupidity, because cognition requires a process. One person being clever doesn’t make them clever. If one person is far too clever than others, that becomes a disaster. You become a heretic in this world, and others will treat you as a ghost or spirit, maintaining respectful distance.”

“Therefore, I never consider myself clever. Even so, you still think I’m the Great Tang’s cleverest person. To avoid becoming a heretic, I began teaching students, passing on what I know to them, making them also become learned and clever, working together to add bricks and mortar to the Great Tang I love.”

“I petitioned His Majesty to establish Yushan Academy, striving to raise the people’s wisdom. Actually, these things aren’t as noble as I describe. I only want the Great Tang’s young people to become clever, their vision able to reach distant unknowns. This way I won’t be so conspicuous. When you all see me, you’ll only think this is just a clever junior, your hearts’ affection greater than vigilance.”

“No need to repeatedly study my memorials, finally giving ambiguous answers. Since you insist I display that knowledge I’ve hidden, very well—I’ll let you see how those constellations in this celestial vault operate. Everything can be measured.”

“You probably don’t know that on this continent, at minimum three to five solar eclipses occur each year. As for lunar eclipses, they’re countless. You think above the clouds lies a glorious heavenly palace. I tell you, up there is nothing but water vapor.”

“You think that so-called evil star cannot be measured. I tell you, in three days it will appear on the horizon. Why do I know? Because it visits the Central Plains once every seventy-six years. Don’t believe me? Search through all historical records—you’ll discover it truly comes once every seventy-six years.”

“You several who record history are fortunate. Some years cannot be confirmed? Then use the so-called calamity star as a reference point. Three days from now, the White Jade Capital lineage will certainly respectfully welcome Halley’s Star’s arrival.”