The Academy had a deadly poison that could make a person die in the shortest time. Those deviants researching scorpions extracted it from the bodies of Overlord Scorpions and mixed in a bit of other things. It was said that from poisoning to death, a person’s eyelids wouldn’t have time to blink even once, so they gave it a name called “Gap.”

The name’s origin came from the allusion of a white colt passing through a gap, but calling it “Gap” still gave people a feeling of leaving room. So Yun Ye specially consulted the teacher about this question.

“That gap is left for the soul, not for the flesh. When the physical shell dies, the soul hasn’t been killed yet, so the poisoned person can still feel the sensation of the soul separating from the body, as if being reborn anew…”

Yun Ye nearly vomited. Talking with deviants was very testing of one’s mental fortitude. Such a thing still shouldn’t be entrusted to Han Zhe to send to Lu Dongzan. Better to choose a somewhat lesser poison for him.

He understood Lu Dongzan very well. He was engaging in a form of self-punishment. In ancient Greek mythology, Sisyphus was punished by the great gods for breaking laws in the heavens and sent down to the mortal world to suffer. His punishment was: to push a stone up a mountain. Every day, Sisyphus expended great effort pushing that stone to the mountaintop, then went home to rest. But at night the stone would automatically roll back down, so the next day he had to push that stone up the mountain again. Thus, what Sisyphus faced was endless failure. The great gods wanted to punish Sisyphus, which meant tormenting his spirit, making him suffer in the fate of “endless failure.”

Lu Dongzan believed he had destroyed Tubo. He felt death was too cheap for himself. Only by dying after enduring all hardships could he have the face to meet Songtsen Gampo in another world.

No need to be so arduous. Yun Ye believed Lu Dongzan had already fulfilled all his responsibilities. The praise songs sung on the plateau in the future would surely include one or two belonging to this tragic hero. Rather than let him so painfully torture himself, Yun Ye felt giving him a bottle of poisoned fine wine was a very merciful thing.

Personally mixing the poisoned wine, sealing it well, and placing it on the table to admire—through the glass he could see the rose-colored wine displaying a sinister beauty in the sunlight. The more deadly the poison, the more gorgeous its color. Yun Ye felt he had shrunk a demon into the bottle. As soon as the bottle cap was opened, the demon would transform into thick smoke and emerge to devour the person opening the cap.

Li Tai’s anger had reached an uncontrollable level. At this moment he absolutely needed some alcohol to relax himself. Seeing the fine wine on Yun Ye’s table, he opened his mouth heroically, planning to use his teeth to pull out the cork on top and drink heartily, then thoroughly scold Yun Ye.

The wine bottle was snatched away by Yun Ye at lightning speed. Li Tai bit at empty air and thus became even more furious. Pointing at Yun Ye’s nose and cursing him thoroughly, starting from the instructions he left when departing, continuing all the way to why his vehicle had become such a ghostly appearance—the vehicle this lord designed was supposed to gallop on battlefields, so why had it now become a pet of Chang’an women?

“Why won’t you let me drink? This bottle of wine looks quite good!” This was the final charge Li Tai imposed on Yun Ye.

“I just put poison in it, planning to send it to an old friend. Originally intended to use that poison called Gap, but later felt it was too excessive, so just used Scorpion King poison directly. This way he can suffer less.”

“Poison? For whom? Zhangsun Chong or Dugu Mou? This isn’t appropriate. Although I also dislike them, these two people are very important to the Great Tang while alive. You can’t kill them. Even if there’s enmity, you can’t use poison. Once this precedent is set, the consequences are too frightening. Everyone muddling through this lifetime is already very good.”

Li Tai was very nervous. He also believed the currently peaceful court was extremely rare and hoped Yun Ye wouldn’t cause trouble.

“What nonsense. This bottle of wine is for Lu Dongzan. That fellow is now trapped by Han Zhe, carrying stones up the mountain all day long, hoping the mountain he piles with stones will be higher than Han Zhe’s Sky City. This is self-torture. So I plan to send him a bottle of poisoned fine wine to finish it—that’s all. As long as he’s alive, Lun Linqin can’t do anything. If Tubo doesn’t experience war chaos, I always feel something’s not quite right in my heart.”

“Now I hear Lun Linqin borrowed troops from Nepal, preparing to counterattack, but is worried about his father, so has delayed attacking. Han Zhe, worried about entering South Asia without reason and inviting counterattacks from all countries there, has been unable to capture Lun Linqin. He actually very much hopes Lun Linqin will attack Tubo. This way, without needing a distant expedition, he can rely on fanatical Tubo people to completely destroy Lun Linqin’s last hope, thereby making his own rule stable.”

“Since everyone hopes Lu Dongzan will die, how can he not die?”

“Why isn’t it Han Zhe who kills him? This seems very easy.” Li Tai looked at the hand that had just grabbed the poisoned wine and walked to the lotus vat, washing it thoroughly two or three times before feeling reassured.

“Because Han Zhe is a true religious charlatan. He gave Lu Dongzan methods to choose death, and Lu Dongzan chose carrying stones, so he won’t use other methods. We can’t understand people from religious countries. Han Zhe could easily kill Lu Dongzan, yet he’s gritting his teeth enduring Lu Dongzan’s contempt. No choice—we have to do it ourselves.”

Li Tai stared at Yun Ye in a daze for quite a while before saying: “I don’t understand. If I were Lu Dongzan, I’d plan to die of old age. Isn’t that also a way of dying? Could Han Zhe also endure that?”

Yun Ye shrugged his shoulders, indicating he didn’t know. Shaking his head, he carefully handed this bottle of poisoned wine to Old Qian to hide it well. Keeping it in his bedroom wasn’t safe. Whether Xinyue, Na Rimu, or Xiao Miao—all could drink a couple sips. Yun Ye didn’t want to cause a family tragedy, so it was safer to hand it to Old Qian for safekeeping.

Li Tai’s outburst was actually jealousy. That vehicle, after Yun Ye’s modifications, had become like a rideable transportation tool, unlike before when it was just a pile of scrap metal.

Now, the person who most loved driving this vehicle was Xiao Miao. Confident from having flown airplanes, she took the lead without question, gripping the steering wheel, taking Xinyue and Na Rimu either shopping in Chang’an City or wandering around Yushan City all day long. The farthest place they’d reportedly reached was Xinfeng Market.

After Hypatia returned, that vehicle completely became the property of the four of them. Li Tai couldn’t even get close. To get one, he’d need to wait until the workshop craftsmen slowly built one.

Hypatia became a fourth-rank official—the highest regular official rank among women. Speaking of this fourth-rank Senior Deliberator, it was much more glorious and much more noble than Xinyue’s third-rank imperial mandate lady title. Even entering the palace, she would have an audience with the Emperor rather than the Empress. The ceremonial retinue, robes, coronet, residence, and servants that a fourth-rank official should have—nothing was lacking.

The day the fleet members returned to the capital, those who went to welcome them were officials from the Court of State Ceremonial. Hypatia rode on horseback, wearing official robes, holding the ceremonial staff, entering Vermilion Bird Street through Vermilion Bird Gate—this caused a sensation among all the people.

The ceremony and dialogue of returning the ceremonial staff before the palace gates—Yun Ye felt it seemed even more grand than when he himself returned in triumph. The biggest reason Li Tai was dissatisfied with him was that his wife should have entered the city riding in his broken vehicle…

Lai Chuanfeng was promoted to Marquis of the Vast Sea. Just hearing the name, one knew this was a nominal title. The Great Tang now rarely bestowed substantial titles like Marquis Within the Pass or Marquis Outside the Pass to subjects. In six years, only Yun Ye’s title had received a substantial promotion. The rest had hardly moved. To obtain a title with fiefdom required military merit.

During the founding, titles were lavishly bestowed to win hearts. After the national situation stabilized, Li Er began massively reducing titles. He was very ruthless—not only stripping nobles’ titles but not even sparing his own brothers and sons. Now the Sixteen Princes’ Residences beside the Imperial City were living examples.

Precisely because titles were few, they appeared extremely noble. A small viscount facing a provincial governor wouldn’t fall at all into a disadvantage and might even receive the other party’s salute. Lai Chuanfeng was somewhat shortchanged, but when the new emperor ascended the throne, another batch of titles would be bestowed. At that time, he might very likely convert to becoming a true marquis.

Cheng Chuliang, as a descendant of nobles, gained great advantage. Already possessing the honor title of Commandant, now advancing another rank to become Viscount of Liangdang County—this was considered rare glory.

Wang Xuance brought his own shackles, hair disheveled, feet bare, kneeling at the entrance to the Court of Judicial Review. Before him lay his “Petition,” awaiting the court’s disposition.

Cheng Chuliang was right—those he’d offended still remembered. Although he’d accomplished great merit in the distant voyage, merit and fault couldn’t offset each other. Continue atoning for crimes through merit, exiled to Japan, replacing Zhangsun Cheng who was temporarily guarding Silver Mountain. Depart the capital by the scheduled date without delay.

Upon learning of his disposition, Wang Xuance knelt long outside Vermilion Bird Gate, kowtowing thanks for imperial grace. This time, he decisively took his wife and children back to Dengzhou, preparing to board a ship for Japan.

Before leaving, he had a long conversation with Yun Ye. Outsiders didn’t know what was said, but the attendants following Wang Xuance to sea reached an unprecedented one thousand four hundred people. If anyone familiar with bandits were present, they’d discover many heroes from various famous mountains among the attendants.

The Great Tang was no longer suitable for highwaymen and bandits to survive. What local garrison troops most loved doing was suppressing bandits. They weren’t ordinary militia but soldiers eliminated from the Sixteen Guards. Though eliminated, they had absolutely no problems suppressing bandits and killing thieves.

Dan Ying felt sorrowful. The idea of once traveling a thousand miles with sword in hand was becoming increasingly difficult to realize. The Great Tang’s laws were rapidly occupying every corner of the Great Tang at unprecedented speed, not only constraining strongmen but also silently eroding stubborn clan authority. Cases judged annually regarding lynching were increasing year by year. Some people already knew to take up the “Great Tang Code” to respond to clan punishments that were very unfavorable to themselves.