Zhangsun asked very seriously, so Yun Ye couldn’t just laugh it off. He said earnestly: “The petty tricks of heretical demons—how dare they be displayed in broad daylight for people to judge? Your Majesty should just dismiss it with a laugh. The Heavenly Demon Dance? It’s nothing more than using sensual entertainment to please people. It might work on ordinary mortals, but before His Majesty it’s definitely not worth even a smile.”
“You think so?” Zhangsun looked suspicious: “Pei Ji was a senior minister serving three dynasties. He made outstanding contributions to our Great Tang and was instrumental in establishing our dynasty. His mind and character were both first-rate. Why would he become critically ill after watching just one performance of the ‘Heavenly Demon Dance’? The imperial physicians said his vital essence was severely depleted and he wouldn’t live past three days. What could cause this?”
“This happened?” Yun Ye’s eyebrows shot up. He had dealt with Pei Ji quite a bit and considered him an acquaintance. The old fellow was cut from the same cloth as Li Yuan. He’d heard they even exchanged women and held uninhibited gatherings. Though these were just street rumors, there’s no smoke without fire, and Yun Ye was a firm believer in rumors. Every time he saw Pei Ji his expression was odd. After hearing Zhangsun’s words, he had categorized the old man’s killing of that beauty as jealous rivalry. For such a fellow who’d rolled around in flowers his whole life to also fall victim—wasn’t that too incredible?
“Hmph, you think I would lie to you? The Pei family is already preparing funeral arrangements. The mourning tent has been erected, just waiting for him to draw his last breath before burial.” Seeing Yun Ye still didn’t believe her, Zhangsun became somewhat angry, her voice rising.
“Your Majesty, it’s not that this subject doesn’t believe you, but this matter is too bizarre. Those who danced the ‘Heavenly Demon Dance’ weren’t caught and beheaded by you? Your Majesty is the model for all women under heaven. How could you sit idly by in the face of such evil?” You couldn’t beat Yun Ye to death and make him believe Zhangsun would have no way to deal with a few dancing girls—all the women under heaven honored her as supreme.
“If they were women of our Great Tang, I would naturally take action. But the dancers are princesses of Japan with official diplomatic credentials as envoys. Their excuse was merely wanting to present a dance to the nobles of the Great Tang. Besides Pei Ji, many officials from the Court of State Ceremonial also made complete fools of themselves—utterly humiliating. How could I take action?”
“Your Majesty, His Majesty hasn’t gone to watch, has he?” Yun Ye moved closer to Zhangsun and asked quietly.
His ear once again fell into Zhangsun’s clutches. Li Tai standing in the distance felt pain on Yun Ye’s behalf. From his position, Yun Ye’s ear was probably doomed. Mother seemed to have quite a temper lately.
“They’ve said they want to invite our Great Tang officials to watch the exquisite dances of the Land of the Rising Sun together. This shameless woman wants to build a high platform in Chang’an, using silk curtains as pavilions and sandalwood as firewood. She’s gathering rare delicacies from across the realm to host a grand banquet, inviting the ruler and ministers of the Great Tang to appreciate Japan’s unique beauty.”
“This is allowed?” Yun Ye was so surprised he forgot to rub his ear. This kind of naked seduction of the Great Tang’s ruler and ministers was considered diplomatic protocol between nations? And couldn’t be refused?
“I keep telling you to learn more about Great Tang customs, yet you still don’t know anything. For vassal states to present gold, silver, pearls, and shells is standard practice. The most important point is that they must respectfully present five pairs of beautiful women to show submission. Goguryeo, Silla, Baekje, Tuyuhun, Xueyantuo—even distant places like the Nine Surnames of Zhaowu, Mohe, Tubo, the Turks, and Piao have all sent beautiful women. The Chengtai Hall in the palace can barely contain them all. You’ve been in and out of the palace since childhood—how could you not know this?”
“When this subject enters the palace, it’s either to have an audience with Your Majesties or to see Chengqian, or at most to pay respects to Noble Consort Yang and Consort Yin. Why should I know so much about other places? I shouldn’t know about them.”
“Mm, you’ve done well in this regard. The matter with Shouyang wasn’t your fault. But now seeing that mother and son are doing well, I won’t pursue it. The ‘Heavenly Demon Dance’ concerns the Great Tang’s dignity. You need to think of a good solution to resolve this matter. If all the officials on that high platform make complete fools of themselves, where will the Great Tang’s dignity be? You should know that Japanese woman—acquaintances speak more easily. Go talk to her and see if she can refrain from performing this dance.”
“Your Majesty, you have absolutely no confidence in our Great Tang’s officials! If word got out, wouldn’t it hurt the hearts of all the officials?” Yun Ye was eager to watch those officials who normally indulged in wine and women make complete fools of themselves. He very much looked forward to the spectacular sight of the Great Tang’s ruler and ministers collectively humiliating themselves. He absolutely had to be there to watch when it happened.
“Your Majesty, as you know, this subject robbed that woman. If the Grand Master of Ceremonies Tang Jian hadn’t informed me, this subject wouldn’t have known that stupid woman actually dared to come to Chang’an.” Yun Ye paused here, then said: “Your Majesty, it’s not that woman dancing the Heavenly Demon Dance, is it?”
Seeing Zhangsun nod affirmatively, Yun Ye burst into laughter, tears streaming from his eyes. That crafty old fox Pei Ji was actually brought to the brink of death by a woman who only knew how to expose her breasts—it was truly too laughable! Remembering how that woman on the ship had pretended to inadvertently let him glimpse one breast through her sleeve, Yun Ye laughed even more wantonly. How desperate must old Pei have been to be so entranced by such an inexperienced woman?
“Your Majesty, this subject will go to the Pei residence right now to mock Pei Ji. While he still has a breath left, I’ll properly ridicule him. Being brought to the brink of death by such a Japanese demon woman doesn’t deserve sympathy—it’s a great joke.”
“Don’t underestimate your opponent. Even when a lion hunts a rabbit, it uses its full strength. If you’re destroyed by this demon woman due to underestimation, that would be the real joke.” Zhangsun’s brow furrowed tightly. She disapproved of Yun Ye’s flippancy. Using such an attitude to deal with that Japanese demon woman was probably not a good omen.
“Your Majesty, that woman and I have crossed swords before. At the time, that damned woman seized Chifeng Town that this subject had already set his sights on, robbing all one hundred thousand taels of gold from there. When this subject cornered her at sea and she saw she couldn’t match the Lingnan Fleet, she came aboard to negotiate turning over half the gold. This subject pretended to agree. After she came aboard, she also used honey trap tactics on this subject. Hehe, in the end this subject still recovered all the remaining fifty thousand taels of gold. Do you think this subject would care about her?”
Talking with Zhangsun was much more relaxing for Yun Ye. Li’er’s scheming mind was too heavy—he dug pits for others every other step, making all the officials of the Great Tang feel like they owed him everything, gratefully serving him as oxen and horses. In the end, when he chopped off their heads, even as ghosts they remained utterly loyal to Li’er. Yun Ye had seen more than one or two such examples. The executioner’s blade was already raised, yet those about to be beheaded still wailed about failing His Majesty’s expectations and deserving ten thousand deaths.
So many times there were things he could say to Zhangsun but not to Li’er. If he told Li’er plainly that he’d robbed gold from the Japanese, he’d probably be hauled up to court as an example, forced to make a public self-criticism—very humiliating. The main problem was you couldn’t tell when he was the Emperor and when he was Li’er. He switched effortlessly between the two identities—one moment a gentle elder, the next a thunderous sovereign. Which identity he used with you depended entirely on his whim.
“So she’s no match for you?” Zhangsun was also puzzled. From Yun Ye’s words, they had engaged in a real confrontation that ended with Gao Shanyang’s defeat, apparently a complete rout. Why then could that Japanese woman arrive in Chang’an and quietly bring Pei Ji to death’s door?
“Your Majesty, the Heavenly Demon Dance is the core of this whole affair. As long as we understand what the Heavenly Demon Dance is, this matter will be easy to handle. Using feminine wiles to seduce is certainly powerful, but definitely not as powerful as you imagine. Seduction with lust can only be temporary. The reason many emperors dote on a particular woman is because of emotion, not lust. And emotion requires time to cultivate. This subject doesn’t believe that with Pei Ji’s fortitude, he couldn’t withstand one Japanese woman’s sexual enticement. It’s truly absurd—there must be other reasons. As long as this subject finds the reason, it won’t be difficult to make this Japanese woman the laughingstock of the world.”
“But the historical records are full of accounts of demon women. You don’t know, but among the palace people there are countless legends about bewitchment. Some are true—I’ve personally dealt with no fewer than ten such cases. Yun Ye, don’t be careless, lest you follow in Pei Ji’s footsteps.”
After warning him, Zhangsun swept her sleeves and went to find Li’er. Needless to say, this idea was Li’er’s again. Worried about being humiliated himself, he sent Yun Ye to scout first. A celestial descendant was just right for dealing with demons and heretics.
This time Yun Ye didn’t feel the slightest bit manipulated. He only felt full of energy. The Heavenly Demon Dance! He’d never seen it, but in his later life he’d observed educational courses. He understood something about that most primitive form of exercise, taught by elite Japanese women no less. There was no reason he’d be entranced by a woman who didn’t even seem very interesting, right? If he could relive his later life experience, this trip would be worthwhile—he’d accept being manipulated by Li’er.
Having a free live-action film to watch aroused Yun Ye’s great enthusiasm. As soon as the Li’er couple left, he immediately took Li Tai and raced on horseback to Old Master Yan’s house. He still knew nothing about the Heavenly Demon Dance! To watch an action film, first you had to understand the plot to deepen your appreciation. Old Master Yan was versed in all the Hundred Schools of Thought—the Heavenly Demon Dance must surely be within the old master’s knowledge.
“The so-called Heavenly Demon Dance is the ‘Hexi Buddhist Hymn.’ Three or four dancers and musicians perform in a small enclosed room with railings. Two female dancers are bare from the waist up, with silk sashes draped diagonally across them, wearing short skirts and long pants, crowned, with necklaces, arm rings, bracelets, and other ornaments on their necks and arms. The two each hold long flowing ribbons and dance barefoot facing each other. It’s nothing unusual. Boy, why are you asking about this? This isn’t an auspicious or good dance. I’ve heard it’s been lost. If you get a chance to see it, remember to call this old man.”