Over the past two days, Li Tai had been patrolling everywhere with unprecedented diligence—a rare sight indeed. Apart from his usual dedication to laboratory work, he had never shown interest in purely administrative tasks like preparing for a voyage.
But now things were different. The arrows on the ship, the stone projectiles, the drinking water, the grain, the vegetables in flowerpots, the soybeans for sprouting, the tung oil used on the ship, the spare sails, the timber, the coarse hemp, the rope—he personally inspected every single item. To travel to Liaodong to find his father, he was sparing no effort. As for that pearl-diving woman who had come to Guangzhou looking for Li Tai, he had left her at his residence with no time to pay her any attention. Even when he returned to the residence, countless stewards lined up waiting to report their progress to him.
The greatest difference between Yun Ye and Li Tai was that Yun Ye never brought work into his personal life. Once home, he stopped thinking about official matters. Home was a place for rest. If he had to deal with official business even at home, Yun Ye simply wasn’t that devoted to his work.
As long as someone was handling things, that was enough. Li Tai was even more anxious than himself, and since staying busy could ease his state of mind, Yun Ye absolutely wouldn’t disturb him. However, seeing Li Tai take over even the captain’s duties, he couldn’t help but tell him: “Qing Que, these are all the captain’s responsibilities. They’re far more familiar with these matters than you are. The captain will modify some minor regulations—they know their own ships and sailors very well. The captain of the Chengqian is Old Tie. His family has entrusted their lives to the sea for generations. Trust me, if he prefers to use peas rather than soybeans, just let him. It’s beneath the dignity of the dignified Prince Wei to concern yourself with such matters.”
“Then what should I be doing?” Li Tai asked Yun Ye in confusion.
“Go back and dote on your beautiful concubines to soothe your nerves. Let me tell you, on the journey to Liaodong, don’t you dare ask me for any strange exotic foods. I’m truly frightened—the moment something seems off with you, I’ll immediately dock and put you ashore.”
Li Tai readily accepted the advice. With a clap of his hands, he returned to his residence. He didn’t emerge until it was time to depart, and his spirits seemed reasonably good. After Yun Ye and Liu Jinbao, who was carrying a large bundle, arrived, Li Tai rubbed his face and was the first to enter the carriage.
Taking a ship had now become a form of torture for Li Tai. Since returning from the sea, even the sight of water disgusted him. This was an illness. Though his body resisted boarding a ship, Li Tai still forced himself to endure it and walk up the gangplank.
Following behind, Yun Ye grabbed Li Tai and pulled him back down, then stepped onto the gangplank himself and boarded the small boat. In the distance, three warships were already floating on the sea surface, waiting for Yun Ye’s arrival.
Li Tai wanted to say something, but seeing that Yun Ye had already ordered the boat to row, he stopped himself. Standing on the shore, he waved his hand with a choking voice, then dove into the carriage without looking back. Between him and Yun Ye, there was no need for excessive formalities.
He was no longer fit to board a ship. Li Tai, who originally didn’t get seasick, now felt dizzy and nauseous at the sight of broad expanses of water. He had hoped that three days of frantic activity would help him overcome this psychological ailment, but it hadn’t been successful. Yun Ye had seen his trembling legs and decisively prevented him from boarding the ship.
“Prince Wei isn’t boarding. We’ll go to Liaodong ourselves. First we’ll resupply at Quanzhou, then make a second resupply at Taizhou, a third at Hangzhou Bay. After that, we won’t get another resupply until Dengzhou. Liu Renyuan, I hope this exhausted force of ours can return intact. I’m counting on you.”
Liu Renyuan nodded solemnly, then ordered the anchor raised and the voyage to begin. Several bare-backed sailors surrounded the capstan, chanting “heave-ho, heave-ho” as they pulled the heavy iron anchor from the mud. As the anchor gradually rose, the Princess slowly turned her bow and headed east. This was yet another voyage of ten thousand li. Continuously making such long journeys was a cruel test for anyone, which was why this time Yun Ye had refused Wu She’s and Liu Fang’s requests to go to sea. Seventy or eighty-year-old men shouldn’t have to endure such torment anymore. If possible, he wouldn’t even want to bring Dan Ying, Gou Zi, or the Xi Tong father and son—Xiao Tie. This voyage was official business, not their responsibility.
Han Zhe had left, playing his flute while riding a horse. He believed that with the fine sword he’d obtained from Yun Ye hanging at his waist, that was enough to wander the world alone. He also didn’t want to take a ship, preferring to rely on that horse to slowly return to his immortal dwelling. Even a carefree immortal couldn’t bear the monotonous life at sea.
Everyone had their own ideals. They couldn’t just revolve around Yun Ye alone, treating his ideals as their own. Gou Zi wanted to be a wealthy man, eating fine food and drinking fine wine every day, living a life of pleasure. Dan Ying wanted to travel the world and meet all the martial arts masters under heaven. Xi Tong just wanted to kill to his heart’s content, then return home to care for his numerous wives.
Only Yun Ye had few ideals. He used to think the academy was his everything, but now it seemed those were all external possessions. To truly obtain spiritual solace, he still had a long road to walk.
The great ship moved swiftly. Liu Renyuan had raised full sail, and the Princess’s bow cut through the waves, giving people a feeling of lightning speed. The sailors on the ship had all come from every corner of the land in response to his summons, gathering on these three ships with the simplest dream of making their fortune. They had already made their fortunes now and didn’t need to keep wandering, yet because they believed in their commander, they ate the coarse food at sea and undertook the most arduous voyage.
Going to Liaodong would very likely be a wasted trip. When Li Er served as commander of the three armies, he never acted on emotion. At such times he was a cold war machine—as long as victory couldn’t be achieved, he would decisively leave, only to return when he had found a solution.
The situation in Goguryeo had evolved to the point where large military forces were no longer needed, yet personally leading the Left Militant Guard, Right Militant Guard, and Longxiang Guard to back up that madman Zhang Liang—wasn’t that too rash?
Once Zhang Liang entered Goguryeo, he would go completely mad. The blood feud of his entire family being killed—he would certainly take insane revenge upon the Goguryeo people. This was his only reason for requesting to become the Commander-in-Chief of the Pyongyang Campaign.
Lying in his cabin, Yun Ye felt the great ship’s swaying. His own arrangements had made the situation in Goguryeo even more confusing and uncertain. Gao Jianwu and Yeon Gaesomun—two mortal enemies—had actually achieved perfect agreement on the matter of resisting Great Tang. How had they managed to deploy one hundred forty thousand troops?
There were always mysteries that needed unraveling. Regardless of whether the Emperor personally campaigned against Goguryeo or not, he himself had to go see Goguryeo with his own eyes. He couldn’t just scatter seeds and then wash his hands of responsibility—that would not only be immoral, it might even cause the Goguryeo people to hate the Tang people even more.
The real fire had begun to burn. Since he had no way to control the blaze, he would just stand aside and watch. If the fire started spreading toward him, at least he could still sound an alarm.
What did it mean that Li Chengqian was holding down Shandong? His father wanted to deal with the Shandong aristocratic families, and on this point, father and son’s interests should align. If Li Chengqian started recruiting Shandong aristocratic families, then the magnificent power struggle would truly begin its opening act.
Grace flows from above—this was a consensus in Great Tang. The origin point of power was Li Er, and Li Chengqian’s position as Crown Prince was also a derivative of that origin point. Now were father and son actually developing a rift over dealing with the Shandong aristocratic families? Chengqian, surely you’re not that stupid? Your father’s lifelong dream is to establish centralized power. If on this matter you can’t keep step with the drumbeat, your end will certainly be extremely tragic.
The dispute between father and son had come inexplicably. Who said that just because you’re older you must necessarily hold power? The Emperor was now in his prime, at the peak of his strength. For a young lion to rashly challenge the Lion King at this time—how brain-dead would one have to be to do such a thing?
The more Yun Ye thought about it, the more agitated he became. He stood up and went on deck—perhaps blowing in the sea breeze would help. Upon reaching the deck, a strong smell of tung oil assailed his nostrils. Many sailors were brushing tung oil on the deck—this was one of the tasks they hadn’t had time to complete in Guangzhou. The sails were still tattered; they had only patched up the torn holes. The white sails stained with volcanic ash could never be washed clean again.
Pushing open Dan Ying’s cabin door, Yun Ye found Dan Ying holding a dagger, carving a piece of wood. It looked like he’d been at it for quite a while—wood shavings covered his knees, and on the table beside him sat three identical wooden puppets.
“Daya loves watching shadow puppet theater and also loves wooden puppets. Now that only she and the child are at home, I’m rather worried. With nothing to do, I carved out a few wooden puppets. When we reach Quanzhou, I’ll have Niu Jianhu send these things to Luoyang. Daya will definitely love them. She just loves to cry—when I’m not there, who knows how much she’ll cry. Her eyes aren’t good to begin with; what if she cries herself blind?” Before Yun Ye could even ask, Dan Ying had already launched into a lengthy explanation.
“When the ship reaches Quanzhou, get off and ride a horse back to Luoyang. This trip has about an eighty percent chance of being a wasted journey. This voyage is just to set my mind at ease. So go back. Everyone has their own path to walk. I don’t need you watching over me like a child.”
“My temperament used to be terrible—I made enemies everywhere. These past two years I’ve been continuously trying to make amends. Now I basically have no enemies left. Han Zhe, Zhang Liang, Wei Zheng, Chu Suiliang, Zhangsun Wuji—these people’s impressions of me have probably changed, right? Now there shouldn’t be anyone who wants to see me dead, right?”
“This time, retreating to Lingnan is to tell everyone that I don’t have those strange intentions they imagine. I didn’t even ask for command of the academy or the Lingnan naval forces—I’m just playing my own game with these three great ships. Xiao Ying, this is my game. You don’t need to keep watching over me. There’s no need. You have your own game to play—take good care of Daya, take good care of the child.” Having said all this, Yun Ye left his room, ignoring whatever Dan Ying wanted to say next.
I came to Great Tang bare-assed. No matter how bad the situation gets, it can’t be worse than when I was running around naked looking for my backpack. Even in such an unlucky situation, I survived. What else could possibly stump me?
Yun Ye tried hard to encourage himself. Living with strength sometimes isn’t an easy thing to accomplish. It’s a virtue that not everyone can possess.