It must be admitted that Li’er was indeed a man who dared to act and take responsibility. He imprisoned his father—the whole world knew it. He killed his elder brother—the whole world knew it. He slaughtered his younger brother—the whole world knew it. Along the way, he violated his sister-in-law and took his younger brother’s wife—seemingly everyone in Chang’an knew about it. As for killing his nephews, such trivial matters weren’t even worth mentioning.
Strangely, the common people of Chang’an all seemed remarkably magnanimous. None of this mattered to them. The imperial family? Well, wasn’t it just about killing each other back and forth, violating this one and that one—as long as they didn’t set their sights on one’s own wife, it was fine. Imprisoning the old emperor was far less important than having an extra piece of meat in one’s own bowl. When lice grew numerous, one stopped fearing their bites. Li’er’s fearless spirit truly deserved to be vigorously promoted.
In front of the disheveled ministers, Li’er told them he had been testing a new weapon, that the power hadn’t been properly controlled, resulting in a small accident, and asked everyone not to panic. In a few days, he would take them to the outskirts to test it again. Seeing that the Emperor was fine, the Retired Emperor was fine, and hearing that the Empress was also fine, the ministers simply suggested the Emperor strengthen the palace guard, then went home to continue sleeping.
When Zhangsun grabbed Yun Ye’s ear with one hand and Li Tai’s ear with the other, dragging them toward the inner palace, Li’er pretended not to see. With his hands clasped behind his back, he instructed the eunuchs to prepare bath water—he planned to sleep in the Taiji Hall tonight.
Only then did Yun Ye realize he had overestimated Li’er. What he told the court officials was one story; what he told Zhangsun was another. The guards at Taiji Hall had been injured when Yun Ye and Li Tai were testing firecrackers, and the disaster at Ganlu Hall was also caused by the firecrackers being blown there. It was only thanks to his own quick reflexes that he had saved the two boys’ lives.
Unable to hear clearly what Zhangsun was saying—her speech was rapid, one index finger wagging left and right, occasionally slapping both Yun Ye and Li Tai on the head—she was very angry about the inexplicable appearance of naked women in the palace. The good and harmonious environment of the inner palace had been completely destroyed by two firecrackers.
The two could only keep their heads lowered without saying a word. They had to let her vent all her fury first.
“Who tests lethal weapons inside the palace? Only you two brainless fools would dare act so recklessly in the palace! Fortunately, only a few eunuchs and palace maids were injured. If His Majesty had been hurt, I’d skin you both alive!”
Yun Ye and Li Tai opened their mouths wanting to say something, then lowered their heads again. What was the point of speaking? Li’er couldn’t be wrong, so the ones at fault could only be Yun Ye and Li Tai.
Pitifully, the two were locked in Chengtai Hall. No dinner was provided, and no one brought water to wash their dirty faces. Cold moonlight streamed through the broken windows as the two looked at each other wordlessly.
Using water from the rain barrel, they washed their faces briefly and loosened their hair, curling up like two ghosts behind the tattered canopy. There was no other choice—the mosquitoes were too numerous. Chengtai Hall was the dampest palace building in the vast Taiji Palace complex, giving one the feeling that all the mosquitoes in Chang’an had gathered here.
This was where princes and princesses were punished when they made mistakes. The place was gloomy, and with the gurgling sounds from two young men’s bellies, it added another layer of wretchedness.
Li Tai seemed to remember something. He stood up and dug around a pillar, finally pulling out a few pieces of osmanthus cake, but they were covered in green mold. He could only throw them away helplessly.
A small figure, as nimble as a cat, skillfully bypassed the guards and came to the back door of Chengtai Hall. She scraped her fingernails on the door, making terrifying sounds. The guards seemed not to hear these sounds—from their upturned lips, one could tell they were very familiar with this scene. This wasn’t the first time such a thing had happened.
“Lan Ling, if you don’t hurry up and bring food over, once you enter the Academy, you’ll see how I deal with you.” Yun Ye’s half-closed eyes opened as he spoke toward the back door. Li Tai also beamed with joy. In the past when he was in trouble, it was Gao Yang and Lan Ling who brought him food. Tonight, it seemed they wouldn’t go hungry after all.
The door was pushed open a crack, and Lan Ling, wearing only her nightclothes, squeezed through. She had a small basket in her hand. As soon as she entered, she pouted and said, “Give me a big firecracker, or I won’t give you the food.” She carefully hid the basket behind her back.
“His Majesty took all the firecrackers—there aren’t any left. Besides, what do you want firecrackers for? To blow up palace buildings? Look how miserable we are right now! You remember the treats but not the beatings, you silly little girl.” Yun Ye grumbled as he snatched the basket from Lan Ling’s hands. Looking inside, it was full of various pastries. Obviously these were pastries from the palace’s display plates—who knew how long ago they’d been made. They were hard as rocks. Yun Ye tried to break a rice stick twice but couldn’t snap it.
Only the osmanthus cakes had been made more recently. After moistening them with saliva, they could still be eaten. He gave Li Tai a piece, and the two began laboriously gnawing on the osmanthus cakes. Lan Ling quickly arranged the tattered canopy into a small world, snuggling against Li Tai and imitating adult speech: “Eat slowly, be careful not to choke. The palace kitchen collapsed, and the fat cook was buried inside. It took several people to pull her out from the pile of lumber. She wet her pants, so there’s no food. I had no choice but to take some offerings from Changming Hall. There was originally a pig’s head too, but I couldn’t carry it, so I could only pour out some pastries for you. Why on earth did you set off firecrackers in the palace? It was like thunder! I was at Yingtao Pavilion playing cat’s cradle with Little Rabbit when useless Little Rabbit fainted from fright. I ran to the front to see what happened, and there were Lady Zhao and Beauty Wang standing stark naked in the courtyard shouting. It was so interesting!”
Li Tai sighed and put down the half-eaten osmanthus cake, saying to Yun Ye: “No wonder you wanted me to take over those bearded men. This matter is indeed only suitable for us to know ourselves. If it were to leak out and another figure like Dou Yanshan appeared, there would be a great disaster. Before the incident, all is calm; when it occurs, it’s earth-shattering; after it happens, it shakes people’s hearts and souls. Since I’ve taken over this matter, everything in the world will have nothing to do with me.”
“That’s fine. Your arrangements always make sense. My subordinates are already restless now. A few days ago they were urging me to perform well before my father while elder brother is away, to see if there’s an opportunity to replace him as Crown Prince.”
“These people will stop at nothing for their own wealth and prospects, completely disregarding my own thoughts. My father has already paid a terrible price for this throne—why would I want to follow his example?”
“Elder brother isn’t an incompetent person. Having him succeed to the throne is perfectly fine. We’re born of the same mother. When he becomes emperor, no matter what, my title as a prince is assured. As long as I can settle down and properly study learning, I definitely won’t lose to the sages of previous generations. Because I have vast resources at my disposal to draw from freely—this is something they didn’t have. Surpassing them is already inevitable. In the future, in the history books, aside from not being in the imperial annals, how could other glorious achievements be comparable to a throne? On this point, even if my brilliance overshadows elder brother’s, he will only feel gratified, not offended. What a wonderful arrangement, Ye Zi. Your years of painstaking effort have finally borne fruit. This is perhaps my best path.”
Yun Ye remained silent, still mechanically gnawing on the stone-like pastry. After thinking for a while, he threw the pastry away and said very seriously to Li Tai: “I once saw in a vision that you lived to only thirty-four years old, extremely depressed.”
“A vision? What kind of place is that?” Li Tai stared into Yun Ye’s eyes. In the dim Chengtai Hall, they seemed to emit light.
“I don’t know either. It was like a dream. Just consider it a dream I had.” After saying this, Yun Ye took another pastry of unknown name from the basket and continued gnawing, saying nothing more.
Lan Ling was very young after all. Though she’d thought of bringing food to Fourth Brother, she couldn’t resist sleepiness. Leaning in Li Tai’s embrace, she fell asleep. A thread of crystal drool slid from the corner of her small mouth. Li Tai pulled out his handkerchief and carefully wiped it clean, then shifted position to let her sleep more comfortably in his arms. His hand gently patted Lan Ling’s shoulder and back as he softly hummed an ancient children’s song: “Master Zhu sells wine, Mistress Zhu chases the dog, chasing to the three-way crossroads, one pig’s foot, one ox’s foot, kicking onto Granny’s roof ridge, young and old misses come out hopping on one foot, the three-way crossroads…”
The palace passed a sleepless night. When the hundred officials entered court for the morning audience, the palace had already returned to no different from usual. Where there had been scorched earth last night, flowers had been placed, blooming with dewdrops in the sunlight. Only that umbrella-like great tree was nowhere to be seen. Palace attendants shuttled about ceaselessly, all ceremonies as normal.
Lan Ling was caught by Zhangsun. She had actually been very frightened last night, wanting to find a solid shoulder to rely on. Unfortunately, the Emperor’s embrace was impossible, and the other consorts’ places were also impossible. Her mother had died very early—no one comforted her, no one could hold her as she slept. Fortunately, Lan Ling was clever enough. She found herself the warmest, strongest embrace. In her dreams she heard her brother humming the nursery rhyme. This was something she’d earned with her wisdom, so she was unwilling to wake early.
So when Zhangsun came to Chengtai Hall, she saw Lan Ling lying in Li Tai’s embrace, wrapped in Li Tai’s robe, with a pair of tender white little feet tucked into Yun Ye’s bosom—otherwise a night of mosquito bites would have left those feet beyond recognition.
Last night Li Tai had thought all night, only falling asleep at dawn. Yun Ye had long since slept like the dead, possibly due to having set down his worries, not even noticing Zhangsun’s arrival.
Looking at the three sleeping in such ungainly poses, Zhangsun withdrew again, instructing someone to bring a blanket to cover all three. She felt that beautiful things were best left undisturbed.
Gongshu Mu was summoned to the palace early in the morning. After observing the damage to Ganlu Hall, he said to Zhangsun: “Your Majesty, Ganlu Hall is severely damaged and cannot be repaired. The only solution is to rebuild it. Compared to Wanmin Palace, Ganlu Hall is much smaller, and its foundation remains intact. Moreover, Wanmin Palace is about to be completed with considerable surplus materials remaining. This humble subject believes that in just one month, we can rebuild it. The cost would actually be less than renovation. How and when to begin construction, please instruct, Your Majesty.”
Zhangsun frowned as she looked at the dilapidated Ganlu Hall. She also felt the possibility of renovation was slim, so she said to Gongshu Mu: “Sir, you are an expert in civil engineering. The suggestion you’ve made must be the most feasible. Then let’s rebuild it. It need not be overly luxurious—as long as it’s quiet and comfortable, that will be fine.”