In the pitch-black night, a streak of orange-red light pierced through the darkness. Through his telescope, Yun Ye saw red magma erupting from the sea surface. Good heavens, it was an undersea volcano erupting! Everyone was captivated by the spectacular sight before them. The sea was boiling, with magma actually shooting more than ten zhang high above the sea surface before falling back into the ocean. Steam swirled across the sea surface, creating a dreamlike, fantastical scene. The entire ocean seemed to be burning—truly half seawater, half flame.
Yun Ye suddenly recalled that the place where they were anchored was called a lagoon. What was a lagoon? It was a place surrounded by mountains with water in the middle. How were such places formed? Damn it, most of them were formed by volcanic eruptions! How wonderful—his ship was now anchored right on top of a volcanic crater. A hundred li away, that undersea volcano was erupting. Could this volcanic crater possibly be safe?
Suppressing his terror, Yun Ye quietly said to Liu Renyuan, “Quickly give the order to leave this place. Don’t cause panic, but there’s another volcanic crater right beneath our ship.”
Upon hearing these words, Liu Renyuan nearly fainted. He immediately ordered the sails raised to prepare for departure, with the reason being that they were too close to the volcano—not even a hundred li away—and it wasn’t safe.
The Princess led the way out of the lagoon first. Although the waves outside were large, no one complained. Liu Renyuan was right—they were too close to the volcanic crater, less than a hundred li away, which truly couldn’t be considered safe.
After the fleet exited the lagoon, Yun Ye ordered full sails, fleeing as fast as they could. As they moved away from the lagoon, Wu She’s unease gradually dissipated. Dan Ying slid down from the mast, Han Zhe began removing the floating wood from his body, and Xi Tong rubbed his son Xiao Tie’s head and let out a long breath of relief.
They hadn’t even traveled ten li when they heard a thunderous roar from behind. All the rocks around the entire lagoon flew into the air. Yun Ye suspected some stones had nearly pierced through the low-hanging clouds. A massive pillar of fire shot skyward, erupting even more violently than the previous volcanic crater.
Li Tai covered his mouth and said quietly, “You just saved everyone. Otherwise, we’d all be ash by now. How did you know that place wasn’t safe? Tell just me, I won’t tell anyone else.”
“There’s nothing strange about it. Master Wu She, Xiao Ying, Xi Tong, and Han Zhe are all experts in martial arts. They have extremely keen senses for danger. The fact that they’ve survived until now often depends on this kind of intuition. When that volcano erupted, I noticed that Master Wu She still seemed worried. Xiao Ying stayed up on the mast and didn’t come down. Xi Tong was practically wearing through his knife from polishing it, and Han Zhe desperately wanted to escape in a small boat. That’s when I knew the danger hadn’t passed and might be right beneath our feet.”
“Then I looked at the surrounding environment. That damned place was called a lagoon, and these kinds of lakes in the sea are basically all formed after volcanic eruptions. If I still didn’t know to take everyone and run at that point, then I deserved to die.”
At this moment, what fell from the sky was no longer rainwater but black muddy rain. The pristine white sails quickly turned into black sails, and the deck accumulated a thick layer as well. Sailors wearing masks constantly used large wooden boards to push the black volcanic ash into the sea. This work continued throughout the entire night.
After daybreak, the volcano was still erupting. A new island had appeared on the sea surface, with thick smoke billowing from it, resembling an earthly hell. Yun Ye wore a bamboo hat—not to shield against rain, because the rain had already stopped—only large amounts of volcanic ash still shrouded overhead. He reached out to catch several pieces of volcanic ash and showed them to Li Tai.
“This is the most fertile substance in the world. If you plant crops in volcanic ash, their yield will definitely astonish you. Some say that the origin of our life came from repeated volcanic eruptions. They created continents and oceans. Qing Que, be proud of your experience, because such circumstances are almost impossible to witness in the Great Tang.”
Li Tai gently twisted the volcanic ash between his two fingers and said with a smile, “The distance between life and death is so close—how can you expect me to be proud? Ultimately, I still prefer the land. Ye Zi, I’m a fake pirate and can never become a real pirate. After returning this time, I plan to do some scholarly work in Yongzhou and endure these difficult two years.”
“That’s fine too. The current situation isn’t good, and we all need a place to hide—not just to hide our persons but also our hearts. Your temperament is indeed somewhat weak. In this respect, you’re different from Chengqian. Since he dared to ask His Majesty for power, it shows he’s already prepared to be an emperor. You don’t need to put yourself in the position of a tragic prince. The Great Tang belongs to His Majesty, to Chengqian, and also to you, to me, to all of us. The Great Tang is actually the collective name for all of us. People create families, families create nations—this is a very simple principle.”
Li Tai nodded with a smile, patted Yun Ye’s hand, then took a small boat back to his Azure Sparrow. He wanted to record everything he’d seen and heard these past days and make a summary. Since they’d discovered such a large quantity of spices, there was no reason not to make a complete record. This was a new source of wealth and also a new way of life.
Takayama Yoko stood on the deserted island watching Yun Ye’s fleet sail into Crab Island. Once they entered there, she had no way to deal with Yun Ye, because the Lingnan Navy always appeared around Crab Island. This place had already become their established territory.
She actually envied Yun Ye’s ability to possess such vast resources—to do whatever he wanted. “What’s yours is mine, and what’s mine is still mine.” She could never forget this sentence Yun Ye had said to her.
She could even recall Yun Ye’s expression when he said those words—so natural, so matter-of-fact. Did they recognize this principle in their very bones? If all great nations were like this, how should small nations with few people survive?
Ever since she saw Yun Ye’s three warships, she understood that even Japan was no longer safe. The footsteps of the Great Tang people were reaching farther and farther. When the sea was no longer an obstacle for Tang people, where in the world would still be safe?
The dense crowds in Chang’an City made her feel terrified. The prosperity of Yushan Academy made her feel terrified. The appearance of potatoes and corn made her even more distressed. Why couldn’t these miraculous crops appear in Japan and Goguryeo?
She’d heard that Tang people had so much grain they continuously fed it to pigs and poultry. This was sinful! Goguryeo was always starving people to death, and Japan was always starving people to death. Heaven was so unfair, favoring the Tang people.
Only when Yun Ye’s sail shadow could no longer be seen did Takayama Yoko come to the back of the island, board her ship, and sail back toward the South Seas. The South Seas without Yun Ye were her paradise. Thinking of war-torn Goguryeo, Takayama Yoko couldn’t even muster the heart to resent Yun Ye anymore. Resentment couldn’t kill anyone. Rather than wasting time on self-pity, it was better to plunder more merchant ships—that was the right approach. Yeon Gaesomun was still waiting for her refined iron.
Di Renjie hadn’t gone out to sea this time. He was preparing his coursework at the Princess’s manor. His coursework required ensuring the entire fief operated normally. Ever since Li Anlan went to Guilin to discuss with the Provincial Governor about collecting taxes in silver locally, Yongzhou had become even more prosperous. The Li family wasn’t the only one wanting to catch this favorable wind—the Feng family was also very interested in this proposal.
Feng Ang governed the eight provinces of Gao, Luo, Chun, Bai, Ya, Zhan, Lin, and Zhen with the title of Pillar of State and Commander of Gaoluo, later enfeoffed as Duke of Wu and subsequently changed to Duke of Yue. He was the true master of this Lingnan land and had to pay the most taxes annually. Now that Li Anlan had opened up the Xi River waterway, it only benefited him with no drawbacks.
Li Er refused to open the Meiling Ancient Road, and the sea routes were firmly controlled by Yun Ye. For Lingnan to develop further, they had to rely on external forces. Now that a new route had appeared, how could Feng Ang not be overjoyed?
Also delighted was Chen Longshu. This fellow had successively served as Governor of Qinzhou, Longzhou, Nanfuzhou, and Jianzhou. The counties under his jurisdiction bordered Li Rong’s fief, so he also wanted to use this newly developed waterway.
Di Renjie knew that his master’s younger brother Li Rong could only preserve his fief if he had serious conflicts with these two families. If they became united, he believed the strike from Chang’an would come very quickly.
Feng Ang had already personally visited Old Madam Yun. During the banquet, he specifically mentioned his agreement with Yun Ye regarding the marriage between Li Rong and his granddaughter. Yun Ye had already instructed Li Anlan about this matter before leaving, saying he basically agreed. If Li Anlan had no objections, they would form this marriage alliance with the Feng family. If Li Anlan wasn’t satisfied, the matter would naturally be dropped.
Li Anlan was enjoying a mother’s authority for the first time—how could she not be delighted? She made a special trip to Guangzhou and met Zhidai’s young daughter. The child was beautifully delicate, absolutely a beauty in the making. What satisfied Li Anlan most was that this child was the only daughter of Zhidai’s legitimate wife and was naturally showered with affection.
After the discussions were settled, Li Anlan dipped her finger in rouge and dotted a red mark on the little girl’s forehead. This young lady whose formal name was Feng Yuan became Li Rong’s fiancée.
Poor Li Rong had no idea that his future had already been determined by his father and mother. He was still dreaming his beautiful dreams of roaming the seas. When his mother joyfully hugged her son and kissed him again and again, the bewildered Li Rong still didn’t understand why his mother was so happy. The young child didn’t yet understand what a wife was—he only learned from his mother’s words that he was now a man with a wife.
Di Renjie had to consider the impact on Lingnan after the Yun and Feng families formed this marriage alliance. Fortunately, the Feng family was consolidating its power and not only wasn’t expanding outward but was actually sending manpower out to sea. From this perspective, the marriage alliance might not be a bad thing.
After handling the fief’s affairs, Di Renjie came to the back garden and saw Xiao Wu examining Li Rong from left and right, asking whether Li Rong knew what a wife was for. She was whispering in Li Rong’s ear, and from her cunning gaze, Di Renjie knew it wouldn’t be anything good.