Xinyue stepped forward and gave Zhang Liang a proper curtsy, then said: “I am but a woman of the household and know nothing of human sentiment or legal principles. I only know that the wealth my husband left for us mother and child, I will hand over completely intact to my child. No matter who tries to seize it, I will fight them to the death. If I cannot win, I will die biting off a chunk of their flesh. Lord Zhang, you are His Majesty’s veteran minister, an elder in my husband’s eyes, yet now you’ve done such despicable and contemptible things. Using a honey trap against my husband’s pregnant concubine—what kind of veteran minister are you? What kind of elder?”

“You actually call me vicious! If my husband returns, the one who will come attacking at your door will be my husband, not you. He has only gone to serve an immortal-like elder for a few days, and you all have already jumped out impatiently to seize the Yun family’s property. Tomorrow I will go to court and ask whether the title my husband earned with his life can still be preserved. If not, I will immediately take Grandmother and the children and hide in the deep mountains and forests, never to emerge again.”

No matter how Zhang Liang thought about it, he couldn’t understand why a perfectly good plan had turned into this situation. That servant of the Yun family, holding a broken spear, stared at his throat as if ready to thrust the spear point into it at any moment. He discovered that no matter how he tried to evade, he couldn’t escape the attack of that broken spear.

Behind him stood an old scholar who made no move, just standing there. Zhang Liang desperately realized that if Yun Ye’s wife wanted to kill him, he would certainly have no way to survive.

The last time he had this feeling was when he had angered Yuchi Gong, who grabbed him and lifted both his feet off the ground. In that moment, he had realized that Yuchi Gong truly wanted to kill him.

He could see very clearly that Yun Xin Shi truly had the intention to kill him. If he weren’t a duke, today the guillotine blade might very well have fallen on his leg. In his ears he heard shriek after shriek—those were his adopted sons being punished. Each scream made his heart tremble. This woman had such a ruthless heart!

An ordinary woman simply couldn’t endure such an environment of torture. The reason Xinyue hadn’t fainted was that she kept repeating Yun Ye’s words over and over: “Either don’t do it, or do it thoroughly. Either don’t do it, or do it thoroughly.” Her husband was the most learned person in the world—his words couldn’t be wrong. Her husband was the cleverest person in the world—his words couldn’t be wrong.

Xinyue repeated this phrase over and over, wanting to draw strength from Yun Ye’s philosophy. Only this way could she force herself to remain calm.

Na Rimu walked out and grasped Xinyue’s hand, saying softly: “Elder sister, you’ve never lived on the grasslands. If you went to the grasslands and saw children kicking frozen-hard human heads in winter, you would know that you cannot be soft-hearted toward your enemies. Otherwise, the one who gets hurt will be me, will be our baby, will be Old Grandmother, Daya, Xiao Ya. Your decision is correct. Now the ones dying are enemies—otherwise, the ones dying would be our relatives.”

Xinyue finally finished watching the punishment. With an ashen face, she said to Zhang Liang: “Lord Zhang, we shall meet in the golden hall tomorrow. I would rather receive thirty lashes with the court rod than not have an audience with His Majesty. We shall properly discuss today’s events before the imperial presence. Killing one of your servants of lowly status only incurs a fine of ten jin of copper—it’s nothing. Maiming a servant only incurs a fine of five jin of copper. I’ll have the steward calculate the money for you immediately. The Yun family owes no debts—not to anyone.”

Old Qian cleverly stepped forward, took a gold ingot from his bosom, and presented it to Zhang Liang with both hands, saying: “Duke Xunguo, this is five taels of gold, the finest pure gold. Three of your sons have died and sixteen have been injured. The Yun family should pay compensation in copper coins. According to Great Tang law, my mistress holds a noble rank, so by law the amount can be reduced by half. Therefore, please accept these five taels of gold, and just write us a receipt.”

Zhang Liang calmed down. Although his many years as an official had eroded his martial valor, he could still barely manage to remain unruffled in the face of change. He took the brush from the plate, wrote a few strokes casually, then tossed down the brush in his hand. With a wave to the servants he had brought, those people hurriedly loaded all the guardians missing one leg onto carts. Zhang Liang looked at the pile of human legs beside him, hesitated for a moment, then said to Xinyue: “Just return these legs to them, so in the future they can at least have complete corpses.”

“No. These legs will be hung at the entrance to the manor for people to view, as a warning to those who come after.” Xinyue gave Zhang Liang no opportunity. After speaking, she waved her sleeve, and the tenant farmers blocking Zhang Liang’s path parted to make way for them to pass.

After walking some distance, Zhang Liang turned his head and said loudly: “Yun Xin Shi, this matter will not end here. Tomorrow in the golden hall, this old man will be waiting for you.”

After they had all gone far away, Xinyue curtsied to the neighbors who had come to help and said loudly: “Thank you all, dear neighbors, for coming to protect us. The Yun family is deeply grateful.”

The tenant farmers returned various disorderly greetings. Some pointed at the departing Zhang family and cursed, naturally being mocked by others. Servants brought clean water and poured it over the bluestone slabs again and again. The thick, overwhelming smell of blood immediately diminished considerably.

With Na Rimu’s support, Xinyue returned to the bedroom. As soon as the door closed, Xinyue bent over the spittoon and dry-heaved in waves, as if trying to vomit out her heart and lungs together.

This was an experience that should belong to men. Xinyue, who had always been well-protected by Yun Ye, had finally taken her first step as the mistress in charge of the household. But this first step came too swiftly, too violently, and too cruelly.

Tears and mucus flowed down together. Her whole body curled up as tightly as possible. The sound of crying had just emerged when she forcibly stifled it with her own hand, producing only a remnant sound resembling a cat’s cry.

Na Rimu held Xinyue and kept stroking her with her hand to comfort her. The two of them sat collapsed on the ground in each other’s arms. After a long while, the room gradually grew dim. Another day had passed—only this daylight had been too long.

It was only the third watch when Xinyue sat up. Na Rimu also sat up rubbing her sleepy eyes. Xinyue pressed Na Rimu back down onto the bed, covered her with a blanket, patted her face and said: “You’re one who enjoys blessings. When our husband was here, he favored you and doted on you. When our husband isn’t here, I still have to take care of you. In short, your whole life will be lived under the eaves, not having to experience wind and rain, not having to go outside to fight. How wonderful.”

“Only today do I know how bitter my husband’s heart must be. All day long putting on a cheerful appearance to make us sisters happy. Marrying such a man is because we accumulated virtue in our past lives. I used to always act petulant, preventing you from even having a proper wedding night. Elder sister owes you, and will repay you well in the future.”

Previously, when Yun Ye attended morning court, he would rise at the third watch. After washing up and eating something simple, Xinyue fed the child a full meal of milk before boarding the carriage. Accompanied by Master Lishi, she headed straight for Chang’an.

Facts proved that in Chang’an, no secret could be kept. Xinyue got off the carriage at Vermillion Bird Street and walked on foot to the front of the imperial city. Old Qin and Yuchi Gong were already standing there waiting. Last night, Madam Qin and Madam Yuchi had already visited Xinyue together. Before long, even Hong Funv, who never stepped a foot outside her estate, also came.

After viewing the Yun family’s trophy mound of human legs, Madam Qin and Madam Yuchi repeatedly chanted Buddhist prayers. Only Hong Funv laughed heartily, patting Xinyue’s shoulder and saying: “We women must sometimes be ruthless, otherwise this treacherous Heaven won’t give us a way to live. Girl, well done! If it were at my house, I would personally cut off their heads to make a trophy mound. Human legs just aren’t quite the thing.”

Xinyue knew Hong Funv’s words didn’t count, because her husband had once told her that Hong Funv’s mind wasn’t right, though she didn’t know if she was still mad now.

“Nephew’s wife, I heard you cut off eighteen legs in one breath yesterday? Well done! Does your family’s trophy mound of human legs still need some legs to make up the numbers? If so, this old man will go to Zhang Liang’s house right now and cut off a few dozen more. After all, he has many sons—a full five hundred of them, damn it.”

As soon as Yuchi Gong saw her, he joked with Xinyue in a casual manner. He himself looked down most on bootlickers like Zhang Liang. Last time the man had actually dared to sit above him—truly not knowing whether to live or die.

“Little Yue, you must be prepared. Zhang Liang won’t let this rest. I’ve heard he’s already sent word to certain concubines in the imperial palace, wanting to sway His Majesty’s mind. But he’s certain to be wasting his effort. The concubines in the harem who can speak meaningfully are very few, and His Majesty won’t listen. At most they’ll play some tricks with your court rod punishment. Don’t mind those demons and goblins. Endure the court rod, and once you’re in the golden hall, naturally we’ll speak for you.”

After thanking the two elders again for their kindness, the palace gates opened wide. A eunuch walked out from inside, unfolded a yellow silk scroll, and called out in a high voice: “Imperial edict from Her Majesty the Empress. Yun Xin Shi, receive the edict.”

Xinyue hurriedly stepped forward and bowed to receive the edict. “Yun Xin Shi is dignified, intelligent, and wise. She is hereby exempted from thirty lashes with the court rod and pardoned of the crime of disrespect for a woman appearing before His Majesty in court.”

Having recited this sentence without beginning or end, he handed the edict to Xinyue and turned to leave, not giving Xinyue time to say even a word of thanks.

Zhang Liang came before Xinyue with a dark face and cupped his hands: “Madam Yun, I, Zhang Liang, admit defeat. Please do not mention this matter again, and please do not go to court. The manor behind the Yun estate—this old man will sell it to the Yun family for the price of one wen. Let it serve as this old man’s compensation to the Yun family for his disrespect. How about it?”

Xinyue turned back in confusion to seek guidance from Qin Qiong. She truly couldn’t understand why the grand Duke Xunguo would apologize to her in front of all the civil and military officials. For Zhang Liang, this was already an extremely painful punishment.

“Girl, let this matter end here. Later have the steward go receive the manor behind. You don’t know—now it’s impossible to get a manor close to the capital. His Majesty has said that future fiefs will only be in the desert grasslands or in Lingnan. The land in the Central Plains will only be distributed to the common people—there’s nothing in it for us anymore.”

Yuchi Gong said to Xinyue with a laugh. This must be the Emperor’s lesson to Zhang Liang. If before morning court, Zhang Liang still couldn’t reach a reconciliation with the Yun family, what awaited him would certainly not be any good outcome.

Zhang Liang had tried hard to preserve his dignity and had been unwilling to submit, always thinking that thirty lashes with the court rod would make Xinyue back down. This had been his last straw—who would have known that just moments ago, it had been smashed to pieces by an imperial edict from Zhangsun.

The sun came out. Xinyue sat in the carriage heading home, holding a box in her arms that contained the deed to the manor Zhang Liang had paid to the Yun family in compensation. She stroked the box and murmured: “Husband, please come home quickly. I’ve gained another manor for our family.”