“Big brother, why must we dress like this? I don’t like those filthy herders. You should just let me return to Chang’an. Or going to Yuezhou would be fine too. I heard Xiao Wu is about to marry Di Renjie—I want to go watch.”

“No, not now. Precisely because they’re getting married, I won’t allow you to go cause trouble. Right now is a critical juncture in the development of our White Stone Palace—you cannot leave. Be good and play your role as the divine maiden. The white gauze on you makes you as beautiful as can be. Everyone who sees you kowtows. Isn’t this very good?”

“I feel like we’re very much like swindlers!”

“Who says we’re like swindlers? We are swindlers to begin with. Standing on the plateau, look around in all directions. Isn’t Songtsen Gampo a swindler? Isn’t Gar Tongtsen a swindler? Aren’t those masters who can fly through the heavens and burrow through the earth swindlers? Look below the plateau—Li Er swindles with ease and satisfaction, Yun Ye swindles like a fish in water, the Daoist sect swindles until their mouths drip with oil, the Buddhist family has swindled themselves into becoming living Buddhas in ten thousand homes. If we siblings don’t also swindle these herders and chieftains, we’ll regret it when it’s too late.”

Han Zhe was persuading his younger sister beneath the blue sky and white clouds. He was a clever person. At the Academy, he had pored through those classics day and night, and the conclusion he reached was that this was a false world, a world where swindlers ran rampant. The more someone could swindle, the more they thrived. The bigger the boasts they made, the greater their power. From the vast sea of classics, Han Zhe had ultimately distilled a single golden character: swindle.

This one character “swindle” truly encompassed all things. Within it were power, wealth, beautiful women, armies, and honor. No wonder this was an age when swindlers ran rampant. Do kings, lords, generals, and ministers have some special breed? I, Han Zhe, was born receiving heaven and earth’s great fortune—why should I not occupy a place in this world?

The first person to pay homage to Divine King Han Zhe was Yun Ye. After hearing Han Zhe’s lifelong ambitions, he immediately drank three cups of wine in succession, placed both hands on the table, and called out three times “Divine King Han Zhe” to show his respect. Wang Cai also wanted to come over and pay homage to the newly minted divine king but was driven away by Han Zhe with a piece of fruit.

Books are like this—some people can read stirring tragic songs from them, some can read lingering sentiments, some can read great wisdom, and some can also read great conspiracies. A madman like Han Zhe could read an enormous character for “swindle” from between the lines. According to what Yun Ye knew, there was another person who saw only man-eating between the lines.

Reading it out wasn’t the problem. What was fatal was that this person had sufficient ability, wisdom, and perseverance to accomplish this. Therefore, from the moment Han Zhe spoke of his ideals, Yun Ye clearly knew that Tubo was about to gain another divine immortal with vast supernatural powers.

The top-tier luxury carriage produced by the Yun Family Carriage Factory was pulled by twelve magnificent horses as it toured all over the plateau. Immensely strong strongmen carried huge hammers and guarded beside the carriage. If anyone dared question the correctness of the Divine King, the strongman’s huge hammer would fly over and smash the sinner into meat paste. If anyone dared show the slightest disrespect toward the Divine Maiden, the strongman’s huge hammer would also fly over.

Everyone in the world loves beautiful things, and beautiful women especially are beloved by all. Pang Chier’s beauty was unparalleled. Added to the fact that these past few years at the Academy had been extremely comfortable for her, her excessively large eyes let people know at a glance that she was no ordinary person.

More and more people followed Han Zhe. Behind the long convoy, cavalry from over a dozen tribes spontaneously followed. The Qumalai tribe, the Duoma tribe, the Xinuoluo tribe, and the Bomi tribe were personally led by their tribal chieftains with their warriors to accompany the Divine King and Divine Maiden in spreading their teachings across the Tibetan lands.

It was too miraculous. The chieftain of the Qumalai tribe had been close to death—his foot had completely rotted away. It was the Divine King who personally sawed off that rotten leg, recited scriptures for him, and obtained life-saving medicine from the Snow Mountain God, thus bringing him back from death’s door. The chieftain had personally experienced the suffering of hell—his entire body itched so much he wanted to tear off his own skin. As a result, the Divine King’s medicinal water pulled him back from hell and bestowed upon him new life. Such honored favor—the chieftain vowed to spend his entire life repaying it.

The Divine Maiden was even more compassionate. She danced beneath the snow mountain, beseeching the snow mountain to share its excess snow with the parched grasslands. When one dance was complete, the Snow Mountain God was moved. It shook its body, letting the snowflakes on it fall down. In the end, it seemed the god hadn’t grasped the proper measure and gave too much snow, forming a great avalanche. The tremendous sound the Snow Mountain God made when twisting its body caused all the herders to bow down in worship. This was a true divine miracle, not comparable to those masters who could only speak of miracles with their mouths.

Other masters, after finishing their exorcism dances, would only demand cattle and sheep from everyone. The Divine King and Divine Maiden would not. They would take out their own food and share it with everyone. The Divine Maiden tirelessly blessed the herders by touching their heads. The Divine King led warriors to kill the demon of North Mountain, drove away the wolf pack from Shepherd’s Field Mountain, and brought back the head of that demon wolf king. The grasslands beneath the snow mountain had never been as harmonious as they were now.

Every person who made great vows had the opportunity to reside in White Stone Palace for three days. During these three days, he would enjoy the most fragrant and clear wine, the most delicious food, and sleep on a bed made of white jade covered with the warmest quilts. It was just that he was still a mortal with the breath of the mundane world and could not touch those lovely maidens who were beautiful to the extreme…

Mental narcosis produced countless hallucinations in him. For three consecutive days, he galloped through his most beautiful fantasy realm. There he could fly freely, chase great-antlered deer across the green grass, open his mouth beneath fruit trees and sweet fruit would fall into it. He could bury his head in rivers flowing with honey water and drink deeply. There he was so free—snow-white lambs curled up in his embrace, and winged flying horses mischievously tossed flower blossoms from their mouths onto his head…

The three days passed in a flash. When he awoke, he had returned to the human world. His clothing still retained heaven’s fragrance, the corners of his mouth still had the sweetness of honey. Sniffing at his collar, the wine fragrance splashed on him in heaven was still so strong.

So they would wail and extend both arms toward the blue sky, wanting to return to heaven, yet received no answer. They were like orphans abandoned by heaven. In their most helpless moment, the Divine Maiden would ride over on a white yak and gently comfort these pitiful orphans. Finally, she would take from her bosom a freshly picked peach and give it to these lambs, and the taste of the peach was so familiar.

“Big brother, those peach trees we transplanted from the Yun family—there aren’t many peaches from this winter. Though they’re bigger than the Yun family’s and sweeter too. Can we not give them to those fools and eat them ourselves?”

“You can eat peaches as you wish. Our missionary enterprise has only just begun. We need to do this kind of thing several more times. Having peaches to eat in winter is itself a divine miracle. Yun Ye didn’t give us much gunpowder either. When I ask him for the formula so we can mix it ourselves, that fellow refuses to say even unto death. I’m not using it to wage war—it poses no threat to Tang. How stingy.”

“Big brother, Wu Mei is getting married. What gift should we send that would be appropriate? Although I disliked her at the Academy, in all the world she’s the only person who could be my opponent. How is it that that fool Di Renjie likes that vixen Wu Mei? My figure is even better than that vixen’s.”

Pang Chier thrust out her chest, then suddenly deflated a bit.

“Is what Yun Ye said true? Will we really receive divine punishment? Isn’t it because Uncle Pang Zhun was originally very ugly that he produced several foolish children? Brother, haven’t you tried finding a beautiful woman to have a child with?”

Han Zhe hesitated, then said to Pang Chier: “I met a very good woman in Lingzhou. Although she’s a songstress in a pleasure house, she’s quite decent. We spent some time together. Perhaps she’s about to give birth now. Uncle Pang is watching over things there. When the time comes, Uncle Pang won’t let that woman see her own child—he’ll bring it directly back to me. If the child is intelligent, everything we’re doing will have meaning. Otherwise, what we’re doing now will end up benefiting someone else.”

“Who will it benefit?” Pang Chier asked curiously. She herself could only be the Divine Maiden for five years. After five years, her brother would allow her to live the life she wanted. Her brother would find another Divine Maiden, and White Stone Palace’s affairs would have nothing to do with her from then on. Hearing her brother say that in the future this family business would become someone else’s, she was very curious—who would be so fortunate?

“Very likely a fatty, a little fatty. As long as he takes me as his master, naturally he can inherit all this. However, he very likely won’t be willing. His father has a prejudice against us.”

“Getting free dates and still complaining about the pits—my brother is a great hero of this generation, both civil and military, not to mention trained by a famous school. White Stone Palace has existed since the age of mythology. Even accepting an imperial prince as disciple would be qualification enough. You tell me, who is so ignorant of what’s good for them?” Pang Chier disliked the old White Stone Palace, but regardless of what kind of existence White Stone Palace was, it was still her home. She could dislike it herself, but if others also looked down on it, this touched her sensitive spot.

“Yun Shou, Yun Ye’s fat son. Judging from his physiognomy, this kid has the destiny of great wealth and nobility. Although our White Stone Palace has a long and distant history, his family background is also not inferior. Half of Yushan Academy belongs to his family—even the Emperor acknowledges this. Moreover, his family also has White Jade Capital. Although we still can’t find where it is, with Yun Ye’s wisdom, he’ll crack the secret sooner or later. At that time, our White Stone Palace really won’t enter his eyes.”

When Pang Chier heard it was Yun Ye’s son, she immediately sprang up from her soft chair and said decisively: “No way, I’m unwilling. Yun Ye is just a cunning fox. I think everything that old fellow says is farts, but when he said Yun Ye is a seductive person, I feel that’s not wrong. In these years at the Academy, I’ve figured it out—this person is difficult to distinguish between righteous and evil, good and bad are unclear. His personality changes in ten thousand ways to the extreme. He can endure what others cannot endure, and he can eat great bitterness and enjoy great fortune. When I, your little sister, see his appearance of being unfazed by favor or disgrace, I feel nauseated. White Stone Palace would rather give itself to beggars than to the Yun family.”