A crossbow bolt flew down diagonally from atop the camel fortress, accurately drilling into this Tubo soldier’s throat. He struggled feebly twice, then collapsed beneath the fortress.

The battlefield fell deathly silent. That white yak that had just crossed the ditch was shot dead by a thick feathered arrow. This was the final declaration, proving there was no longer any room for reconciliation between the two armies. Only a fight to the death remained…

Lu Dongzan watched with his own eyes as those Tang people buried gunpowder bombs back into the earth. That path opened up with the lives of a thousand brave warriors had restored its original appearance.

Drag it out—as long as he dragged it until the bitter cold winter arrived, he would thoroughly win this war. Yun Ye was filled with confidence about this. The camel fortress was a war weapon he had forged with his own hands. He needed to display his most powerful might on this uncivilized land.

After this war, the Great Tang’s warfare model would undergo great changes, transforming toward more efficient, swift, and convenient forms. A general’s strategies would no longer be the primary factor. As long as one had a qualified staff group, the weapons in hand were the key factor determining victory or defeat in war.

The camel fortress was stationed at the mountain pass. The Tubo and Turkic people could only communicate along the winding mountain roads. Tu Shi paid no heed to Lu Dongzan’s accusations. He now spent all day calculating how to maximize the Turkic people’s interests. One must know his army still had many Xueyantuo people, Tuyuhun people, and savages from the Nine Surnames of Zhaowu.

The war only proceeded for one day. On the second day, everyone seemed to have already forgotten they were still at war. Life on the camel fortress proceeded in an orderly fashion. Apart from closely monitoring Yun Ye, the Turkic people were busy reorganizing their own army. Tu Shi mixed all his forces together, forming a hodgepodge army.

The Tubo people were relatively tenacious. They always dispatched small groups of cavalry to cross the ditch, wanting to slowly infiltrate according to daytime observations and find a practically viable path.

To prevent Lu Dongzan’s infiltration, Yun Ye had no choice but to build over a hundred fortresses around the camel fortress. Inside were five soldiers holding firm. As soon as they discovered Tubo cavalry approaching, they would immediately attack with the eight-ox crossbows from the earthen fortifications.

After such low-intensity contact for a period, everyone had casualties on all sides. Lu Dongzan then no longer made such pointless probes. The entire battlefield completely calmed down.

Last night’s rain thoroughly washed away Chang’an City’s scorching summer heat. Early in the morning, Xinyue wore a conical hat and walked in front, followed behind by an entire group of women wearing conical hats. They followed a small path to a small temple on the rear mountain.

Master Xuanzang was avoiding the summer heat and cultivating in this inconspicuous small temple. Xinyue led the women without entering the temple. They just spread out mats under the large tree outside the temple. Everyone with solemn faces loudly chanted following the sutra recitation sounds from inside the temple.

“Kashyapa, this is called the place of love. What is the place of love? There is no fixed dharma called love; what is called love is the place of love. Yet those who have love are only due to firm attachment. When firmly attached, one loves emptiness. If loving emptiness produces attachment, that person will then obtain love’s attachment—the attachment of my love, the attachment of sentient beings’ love, the attachment of good and not-good love. Kashyapa, this person then produces non-empty discriminations regarding all empty dharmas, then produces material thoughts regarding non-material things. What is meant by material? It refers to bodhi. If bodhi is taken as material, then those sentient beings, due to the conception of self…”

When the sutra recitation was completed, a clear voice transmitted from the small temple: “Yun Xin Shi, your heart is not tranquil. Chanting Buddha cannot allow you to obtain even a little peace. Melancholy energy can only be channeled, not blocked. Otherwise, it’s like cooking oil over fierce fire—one day it will burn you up. Go. Tomorrow there’s no need to come.”

After Xinyue respectfully thanked Xuanzang, she returned to the Yun household. Removing her hat, she directly asked Xiao Ya, who was about to marry: “What has happened to Master Xuanzang? It was agreed that after he finished translating the ‘Maharatnakuta Sutra,’ the Yun family would recite it first. Why has he cut off the Yun family’s karmic connection for no reason?”

Xiao Ya scratched her forehead and said to Xinyue: “It’s a dirty matter. How can you expect me, a maiden, to say it out loud?”

“Nonsense! Master Xuanzang is a famous eminent monk. How could any unseemly matter possibly occur?” Xinyue’s heart wasn’t on this topic. She was just finding a pretext to talk. Seeing that the flame pattern on Xiao Ya’s brow had become somewhat blurred, she took the vermillion brush and dotted it fresh for her.

“Sister-in-law, I’ll tell you but you mustn’t scold me. The problem isn’t with Master Xuanzang—it’s with his disciple Bianji. I heard Bianji used his own physical body as an offering, worshipping the female bodhisattvas under heaven. Especially, he had affairs with three princesses, bringing shame to the imperial family. This time the Empress has dealt a heavy hand. Bianji’s corpse was abandoned in the street. The three princesses—Danyang, Huaining, and Changsha—were sent to Ganye Temple to become nuns. They probably have no hope of coming out in this lifetime.”

Hearing Xiao Ya’s words, Xinyue frowned and said: “How did a perfectly good monk get rolled into the imperial family’s muddy pit? Now it’s good—he can’t even preserve his life. Instead of properly translating sutras in the temple, he ran off to seduce princesses. Isn’t this seeking his own death?”

“It’s not that. That monk had already become demonic. He said his body was a sacred ground, that anyone who became intimate with this body, whether man or woman, would receive karmic rewards… So disgusting to hear. I don’t know if it’s distorted in transmission or if it was originally like this.”

Everyone in the household tried as much as possible to avoid topics about the Marquis. Since there was now such an explosive topic, naturally they wanted to discuss it freely and thoroughly.

Yun Mu entered with pouting lips. After greeting her elder aunt and aunt, before she could speak, she heard Xinyue say: “Mu’er, endure a bit longer. When your mother and father return, you’ll be able to go out.”

“I only wanted to follow elder brother to see the peonies. I heard this year there’s a variety called Purple Jade Qilin. This child has always loved flower gatherings and definitely won’t cause any trouble.” Yun Mu continued making assurances to Xinyue.

“Sister-in-law, just let Little Mu go with Shou’er. Nothing will happen. This child usually has a quiet temperament. She’s just going to see peonies. Don’t make things too difficult for them. Our family hasn’t reached that kind of state.”

Xinyue nodded, counting as agreement. Seeing Yun Mu happily run out, she then said to Xiao Ya: “Of course we haven’t reached that state. Your brother isn’t here. He entrusted this household to me. I must watch over it properly. When they’re not moving about in front of me, my heart feels empty. But it doesn’t matter. In a few days, after your brother returns, it will be fine.”

Xinyue always kept the phrase “when father returns” on her lips. She knew her husband was now surrounded by several hundred thousand powerful enemies. While she was speaking these words, he might be in bitter battle. Guo Xiaoke had such high martial skills, yet wasn’t his entire army annihilated? Xinyue understood most clearly her husband’s meager abilities.

Last night she had a nightmare. She told no one. Just last night, her husband, covered in blood and filth, came to find her. His body was almost like a sieve, yet he still smiled at her, saying he had returned, just that his body had gotten several big holes and asking her to patch them up properly…

The Yun household was now stable and steady. Whether outside workers or household stewards, everyone was doing their own work. The immense Yun household now didn’t need the master family’s deliberate arrangements and could still operate smoothly.

Great families should be this way. The family now had no worries about anything. Yet Xinyue discovered her husband was missing. Could it be this was the price? Yun Shou was gradually growing taller and bigger. In a few years, he should be able to support the immense Yun household. Xinyue knew her husband extremely detested managing household affairs. If she could let him eat his fill all day long with nothing to do but space out, he would consider it the most beautiful life under heaven.

Thinking of this, Xinyue secretly encouraged herself: “It won’t happen. My husband will definitely return singing victory songs.” Thinking of this, she immediately raised her head and loudly called for Steward Old Qian—today’s rent could be collected. No matter what, life must continue properly. Conscription was everywhere. Almost all the able-bodied men on the estate had been drafted. If this continued, this year’s harvest would become a major problem. Fortunately, the Yun estate had many people and little land. Even without able-bodied laborers, relying on women, children, and the elderly and weak, they could still bring in the crops. Other families’ estates were miserable. The Cheng Yaojin household was no exception. Watching the grain ripen fully, wheat kernels falling into the fields, they were powerless.

“Collect what we can. How has this battle grown bigger and bigger? The whole world needs reinforcements. Could it be the whole world’s people are ganging up to bully our Great Tang?”

Hong Funv snorted and said: “Cheng family woman, you’ve really said it right. It is the whole world’s people attacking us. My old master said there’s a term for this called ‘the whole world attacking Tang!’ If we win this battle, there probably won’t be warfare for a hundred years. If we lose this battle, the entire Great Tang faces the danger of falling apart into pieces. So now, the men on the battlefield—we dare not disturb them in the slightest. Household matters we must shoulder ourselves.”

“Yun family woman, you think carefully about how to get the crops into the granary. Think less about your man. My old master sent word that your man is lying in the encirclement circle sleeping soundly. No need for us to worry overmuch.”

“Even a semi-cripple like Qin Qiong has been dispatched to Yongzhou to handle conscription. This time the Emperor is determined to war with the world.”

The women quickly reached an agreement. The servants of several families would be uniformly allocated. Grain from households whose men were conscripted would be harvested with priority. Following the principle of farmers first, master family second, the lands of several families were filled with the elderly, weak, women, and children. Noble ladies wearing blue cloth kerchiefs, carrying baskets, continuously shuttled through the fields. This summer harvest clearly belonged to their season.

As the pillar of the household, Yun Shou naturally wouldn’t slack off. He now used the coldest gaze to look at the fatty before him. These years he had beaten almost all the wastrels in the Imperial City. Now this fatty actually dared to pester Yun Mu. He really didn’t know life from death. Yun Shou planned to beat him first, then discuss reason.

“You dare hit me?” Prince Yue, Li Yuanxiang, touched the nosebleed flowing from his nose in disbelief.

“My father said when meeting Prince Yue, you must first give him a beating. After beating him, run away quickly, because he’ll definitely use this matter as leverage to threaten…”