The sun had only just reached its zenith when Xi Tong became drunk—deeply drunk. He lay spread-eagled on the felt mat, snoring like thunder. Li Tai stared blankly at the wine cup before him without making a sound. After Yun Ye slowly drank down the last cup of wine, he instructed the servants to carry Xi Tong away to bathe and change clothes. In a while, Sun Simiao would examine his body.
“Tian Xiangzi is dead?” Sun Simiao, still wearing his hemp cloth Daoist robe, emerged from behind the shade of the trees.
“Yes, this time he’s thoroughly dead with no possibility of resurrection. His sect also has only two people left—perhaps there are still some young disciples, but the essence has been completely lost. For another great scholar of ability to appear again is now impossible. Daoist Master, destroying an extraordinary person of talent doesn’t bring pleasure after all—it only brings regret.”
Yun Ye looked at Sun Simiao somewhat embarrassedly. Having such conflicted feelings meant he didn’t have the mentality a schemer should have. Old Sun had long ago said that standing in a certain position meant doing certain things. This had nothing to do with ability or wisdom—only with the height of one’s position. To show hesitation now seemed somewhat unworthy of his teachings.
“What makes you likable is right here—you value emotions more heavily than other things. This isn’t bad. Handle your own affairs yourself. Walk steadily forward and don’t listen to others’ commentary. Guard your original heart well—that’s enough. Show the world that without being coldly impartial and ruthless, great things can still be accomplished. By the way, the penicillin works well. It’s very beneficial for wound healing, especially for areas that are already red and swollen—very effective. The only problem is purification. You still need to think of a way.”
“Don’t go around talking about my microscope, especially to the Buddhist sect. I find it very strange—where did their saying ‘A grain of sand contains a world, a flower holds paradise’ come from? They also say a drop of water contains a hundred thousand lives. This is simply unbelievable to this old Daoist. You told me these things in Shuofang, and I checked the Buddhist scriptures—these two phrases really do exist. In a drop of water, I truly discovered living things, not just one or two. If the microscope were more refined, there might be even more discoveries.”
“Find me some more pure crystal. Those glass pieces you made are unusable—full of air bubbles. By the way, what are you making all those beautiful glass objects for? When I went to find glass, I saw them—a whole room full. Good thing this old Daoist doesn’t have eyes for such things. Vulgar people would go mad seeing them. What are you planning again? Who are you preparing to swindle?”
Sun Simiao no longer read Daoist classics these days. He spent all day tinkering with various messy things—penicillin was one of them. With Meng Youtong’s help, the entire room was filled with those things—moldy steamed buns, melons, vegetables. As long as green mold grew on them, Sun Simiao liked them. He would scrape off the green mold and apply it to inflamed areas of wounds. The effect was good, though it looked quite disgusting.
The microscope was his precious treasure. He had someone specially forge a huge iron cabinet for him and had Gongshu Mu make a lock—the kind that even an iron hammer couldn’t break, a massive lock. The key alone weighed half a jin and hung at his waist, never leaving his body.
The Yun Family had no secrets from Old Sun. There was no place in the Yun Family he couldn’t go. Glass production had started long ago. For this purpose, Yun Ye had specially transferred all the children the Yun Family had adopted to the glass workshop, with Huozhu as the leader. Yun Ye didn’t understand how to make glass either. He only showed Huozhu what had been accidentally produced last time in the Yun Family’s lime kiln, gathered all the materials from the kiln for him, and then let go—since there were already finished products, just try burning those dozen or so materials in different combinations, and glass would surely be produced.
Huozhu lived up to his reputation as a child prodigy. After only a month of firing, he brought Yun Ye a large piece of greenish glass. Though it still had many impurities, at least the thing had been produced. The fourteen-year-old Huozhu wasn’t satisfied. He used lodestones to extract iron powder from the quartz ore, resulting in some nearly colorless glass. Yun Ye didn’t interfere with them. He just asked Lishi to teach them to shape things. Anyway, whatever they liked, they could shape it. Using an iron pipe to blow, plus molds, many oddly shaped things emerged. Lishi loved glass and worked on it personally. While it was still hot, he forcibly sculpted the first transparent water pitcher with a lifting handle that met requirements—extremely beautiful. Sun Simiao’s own iron cabinet also contained many thick glass vessels, though they broke easily and weren’t used lightly.
“Don’t you think there are really quite a lot of wealthy people in Chang’an City? Every single one has hidden away their money. I hear there aren’t enough copper coins circulating in the market. The money houses are now lowering the ratio between silver and copper coins. Previously copper was cheap and silver expensive—now one tael of silver ingot can only be exchanged for nine hundred wen in copper coins. This is the consequence of those fellows hiding copper coins. Once we bring them out, it will be fine.”
“This old Daoist doesn’t care about those things. Your guest’s physical condition isn’t optimistic. Not to mention multiple internal injuries—he only has six toes left. Fortunately, his big toes are intact, otherwise a perfectly good man would be completely crippled.”
“How long before he can recover to his original state?”
“Don’t even think about it. If he can recover to seventy percent of his original condition, you should be laughing.”
After Sun Simiao finished speaking, he left. He had already given the prescription to Old Qian. When Xi Tong sobered up from the wine, treatment would begin. He had no extra time to wrangle with Yun Ye. Having said his piece, he got on an ox cart and returned to Yushan. Now, whenever possible, he wouldn’t descend from Yushan even one step.
Li Tai, lying on the felt, asked Yun Ye, “What is glass again? You’re playing a very big game of chess?”
“What? No longer fantasizing that one day you’ll be able to ascend the five-colored radiance? When you’re thinking about things, why are you so disgusting—drool dripping like a child. Change that habit. Just now you heard wrong—there’s no glass.”
Perhaps knowing the great secret made him somewhat look down on these small money-making schemes. He didn’t pursue the question further. Calling over his attendants and guards, he prepared to return to the palace. Today could truly be called a full harvest—two relics were enough for him to show off at Li Er’s birthday banquet.
“Wait for me a moment. I’ll get the pelts and enter the palace with you. The sooner Xi Tong’s matter is settled, the sooner I can relax.”
Yun Ye hurried back to the rear courtyard. Who knew what state the rear courtyard was in now? With Xinyue’s temperament, seeing good things—how could she not monopolize them? Sure enough, though autumn was somewhat cool, Xinyue was wrapped entirely in a bear pelt, discussing with the maids what shape to cut it into for beauty—should the excess be made into two hats? She was sweating profusely but wouldn’t take it off. Women’s fanaticism for fur—who knew when it had started?
Ignoring his crazed wife, he grabbed two bear pelts from the table and was about to leave. This truly dug out Xinyue’s heart and soul. She tightly clutched the bear pelts, refusing to let Yun Ye take her bear pelts to curry favor. In her view, anything that entered the Yun Family’s rear courtyard was hers. Even a mouse—whether to kill or butcher it—had to be arranged by her.
“Why is this wife of yours so unreasonable? These two bear pelts are to be presented to His Majesty and the Empress, to seek a way out for the guest. Which is more precious—a human life or two broken pelts? Besides, these pelts belong to him in the first place.”
“If you’re seeking favor, use our household’s sable pelts. Keep the bear pelts at home—I still need to make swaddling clothes for the child.” Xinyue deliberately thrust out her big belly so Yun Ye could see she was pregnant and mustn’t be angered.
“This thing will only be precious for a few years. Once the guest’s injuries heal, you can have as many as you want. Even if you wear bear pelt underwear, I’ll allow it. No long-term vision. This year our household won’t keep a single pelt. In a while, I’ll auction all the pelts to raise funds. The academy’s second phase of construction is about to begin—we can’t do without money.”
Since Yun Ye didn’t agree, Xinyue had no choice. She bit his arm twice to vent her anger and reluctantly released the bear pelts, looking very pitiful. Seeing this made Yun Ye’s heart ache, so he took out two relics from his breast and stuffed them into her hand to placate her.
“Don’t want them! Won’t give me bear pelts but gives two rotten stones to placate me.” Xinyue threw the relics on the ground in a huff.
“Those aren’t ordinary stones—they’re relics produced after an extremely clever person’s death. They’re the most auspicious treasures in this world, far beyond what one or two bear pelts can compare to.” He wouldn’t haggle with a pregnant woman. Once he explained things clearly, Xinyue would definitely know how to choose.
“Ah?” Xinyue cried out in alarm and quickly searched the floor for her relics. Her husband never deceived her about such matters. If he said they were relics, they definitely were relics—treasures even the imperial family didn’t have! With these things, the bear pelts could wait. She only hoped the guest’s body would recover quickly so he could go skin bears for her.
The palace always had a kind of oppressive atmosphere—the eerie eunuchs, the rouge-wearing palace maids, the imposing guards. Even the beast heads hanging on the water basins looked more ferocious than those in ordinary households.
After the Emperor finished handling a day’s government affairs, he was taking a brief nap. The Empress had gone to pay respects to the Grand Emperor and hadn’t yet returned. Yun Ye, carrying the bundle on his back, paced anxiously in circles. This matter couldn’t be taken directly to the Emperor. If he told him, things would definitely go wrong. One sentence—”The rebel, take him and execute him”—the bear pelts confiscated to make coats. This would eliminate a serious threat while gaining material benefits—this was the imperial family’s standard procedure for handling such matters.
If it were a scholar, the Emperor might show his magnanimity. A military man? With a rebellious character and no discerning eye, who wouldn’t come serve such an enlightened ruler as himself but ran off to follow traitors—executing him would be right. One more wouldn’t be many, one less wouldn’t be few.
Standing before the Empress’s sleeping quarters, Yun Ye felt a sense of being like Lin Xiangru arise spontaneously. He had to achieve his goal while neither throwing meat buns at dogs nor ruining Xi Tong’s life—truly a difficult task.
Therefore, from the beginning, Yun Ye planned to work through the Empress. Unlike other empresses, Li Er’s empress could make decisions about thirty percent of Great Tang’s affairs. Though she claimed never to interfere in court matters, in this world, she was the only person whose words Li Er would believe without hesitation. Now he would see whether the universal law of women loving fur could work on her.