After repeatedly consoling Hou Jie and solemnly promising he absolutely wouldn’t tell anyone, seeing Xiao Wu beside him batting her bright, distinct black and white eyes, he knew this matter wouldn’t end so simply.

Hou Jie also realized this. With refined grace, he invited Xiao Wu to talk by the tree. Who knew how many unequal treaties were signed? In any case, when Xiao Wu emerged from behind the large tree, she was smiling brilliantly while Hou Jie looked dejected and dispirited.

Before Yun Ye could talk with Li Gang, Old Qian came panting to report that His Majesty’s decree had arrived. Yun Ye needed to go home to receive it. The one proclaiming the decree was Wei Zheng, accompanied by He Lan Sengjia. The decree’s contents were unclear.

Hearing that the Emperor had issued a decree, Xiao Wu’s small face turned deathly pale. Her joy from moments ago was immediately cast to the ninth cloud. Though worried, she still resolutely followed Yun Ye home.

Just arriving at the gate, they saw the He Lan family’s household warriors fully armored, carrying the constantly screaming He Lan Wuduo standing at the Yun family gate. Liu Jinbao, Dongyu, and a group of household warriors also stood at the entrance. Old Jiang and the others had bulges all over their bodies—clearly prepared for a shootout. Everyone was very excited. The Yun family estate was too peaceful. Finally encountering an incident that could display martial prowess—how could they not show off?

The market street remained lively with people coming and going. The timid ones properly minded their own business, while the bold stretched their necks to watch the excitement. Ever since the young madam had used the guillotine to chop off many people’s legs last time, the catchphrase of Yun family estate people when speaking to outsiders had changed to: “If you dare cause trouble again, we’ll break your legs off.” This phrase had great deterrent power. Thief children, bandits, and swindlers all stayed far from the Yun family estate. Even wandering knights avoided mentioning the Yun estate.

He Lan Sengjia also wore armor, sitting on horseback holding his riding crop. Seeing Yun Ye driving the carriage with Xiao Wu from the stone-paved path, he shouted from afar, “Yun Ye, if you don’t return two legs today, this matter absolutely won’t end!”

Yun Ye whispered instructions in Old Qian’s ear. Old Qian ran to the pork stall in the market, grabbed two pig legs, and placed them before He Lan Sengjia’s horse. Seeing He Lan Sengjia’s eyes about to shoot flames, he quickly took another pig leg and set it down, saying to He Lan Sengjia, “The Marquis only told me to take two. This old man took the liberty of bringing one more. Prince Consort, quit while you’re ahead. This pig leg will be docked from this old man’s wages.”

Yun Ye smiled gleefully watching the furiously jumping He Lan Sengjia. This fellow was too tactless. If he himself hadn’t eliminated Dou Fengjie, where would He Lan Sengjia have had the chance to marry that slut Princess Yongjia? Not knowing gratitude, he even ran to his home to cause trouble and dared to injure people. Princess Yongjia would just have to become a widow again.

Killing commoners was a grave crime, but killing nobles truly wasn’t much of an issue—of course, provided you were also a noble. Li Er held an encouraging attitude toward feuds between nobles, always muddling through and letting things drop. This created a situation where Tang nobles all felt endangered. Until now, this policy had been executed very successfully.

Wei Zheng walked out from the manor, intentionally or unintentionally positioning himself between the two men, and said to Yun Ye, “His Majesty commands you to close your doors and reflect for three months. Except for Yushan, you cannot go anywhere. Receive the decree.”

Yun Ye bowed and received the decree from Wei Zheng’s hands, saying in a low voice, “This subject receives the decree.” Tucking the decree into his bosom, he smiled at He Lan Sengjia and invited Wei Zheng to sit for a while inside.

Arriving at the reception hall, Wei Zheng said, “Marquis Yun, if you continue making such a ruckus, when will it end? The Wu family girl is their daughter. How is what you did different from outright robbery? By principle, you’re in the wrong.”

“Lord Wei, if this matter fell on your head, you’d probably make things even bigger. Xiao Wu is my disciple. Should I watch her fall into a fire pit and remain indifferent? Breaking his leg—I’ve already been quite shameful. Not chopping off his head, probably all the distinguished nobles of Chang’an are laughing in secret. Now he appears at my gate wearing armor and holding a riding crop. He’s seeking death—can’t blame me.”

Wei Zheng was greatly alarmed. Standing up and grabbing Yun Ye, he said, “Marquis Yun must not! If you two have a shootout, and in broad daylight at that, the impact would be too terrible. At that time, I’m afraid simple house arrest won’t be enough to gloss over it.”

“I see the Wu family people are also here. As long as they put down a written statement saying Xiao Wu’s marriage matters have nothing to do with their family in the future, I’ll let him go. Otherwise, he stays here today. Right now the Yun family is a command tent, commanding the Lingnan naval forces, so Lord Wei shouldn’t be surprised if things like Eight-Ox Crossbows appear at the Yun family.”

Wei Zheng understood Yun Ye’s reckless temper all too well. Right now, the Eight-Ox Crossbow was probably already aimed at He Lan Sengjia. Just one order and the Yun family gate would become an Asura hell. At that time, what could the Emperor do to Yun Ye? As long as he didn’t rebel, Li Er absolutely wouldn’t touch Yun Ye. At worst, exile to Lingnan—but exile to Lingnan was a threat to others, while for Yun Ye it was a good opportunity for husband and wife reunion. Who in the court didn’t know about Princess Shouyang and Yun Ye?

“This old man knew it—His Majesty gave this old man a bitter task. Two young people fighting, and this old man must serve as mediator. The times have truly changed. You young people—each more ruthless than the last, each more formidable than the last. Zhangsun Chong conquered Qieshi City and conducted a three-day purge—blood reportedly flowed like rivers. When Cheng Chumo conquered Gaochang’s capital city, he was already shot full of arrows like a porcupine, yet was still the first to scale the city walls. With eight hundred men, he defeated Gaochang King Qu Wentai so thoroughly he abandoned his helmet and armor and fled the city. He’s the first person in the military merit register. Li Huairen galloped across the wilderness for two days and nights and captured the Gaochang Crown Prince alive. With this, the Kingdom of Gaochang no longer exists.”

“The Xueyantuo are alarmed three times a day. Khan Yinan has already consecutively dispatched three waves of envoys to Chang’an requesting submission. Right now the court has no time to handle your petty disputes. Whether to suppress or pacify the Xueyantuo truly gives this old man a headache. Negotiate properly with the Wu family—don’t resort to blades and weapons.”

Yun Ye’s eyes rolled hearing this. Zhangsun Chong had never been a soft character. He must have suffered heavy losses among his subordinates, which was why he dealt such killing blows. As for Cheng Chumo, that was just an idiot. His rank had been reduced so he could only lead eight hundred men, yet still dreamed of immediate ennoblement. Relying on his excellent armor, he attacked the city through an arrow storm. Fortunately he didn’t encounter rolling logs and rocks, or there would have been funeral rites.

The steadier Li Huairen must have been pressured desperately by those two fellows, so he had no choice but to pursue for a thousand li regardless of life and death. Capturing a crown prince at least wasn’t running in vain. But why was there no news of Li Chengqian? You could beat Yun Ye to death and he wouldn’t believe Li Chengqian would have an accident.

If Li Chengqian had an accident, this wouldn’t be a great victory but a great defeat. Who knew how many heads in the army would roll? Old Niu, Old Cheng, Li Ji—these people’s heads wouldn’t be too secure.

“How is the Crown Prince?” Couldn’t worry about the fools outside—quickly inquire about the Crown Prince’s movements.

Wei Zheng drank a mouthful of tea and stroked his beard contentedly, saying, “The Crown Prince on this expedition can be said to have followed the rules perfectly, conducted himself properly. Old Cheng and Old Niu both praised the Crown Prince for knowing when to advance and retreat, understanding military law clearly—truly the model for the three armies. Seventy thousand troops swept majestically across the grasslands. The Crown Prince’s Right Guard followed along throughout. The Crown Prince didn’t ride in a carriage but rode horseback with the army. At Baichengzi he also had battle gains. The military report says the three armies’ morale immediately surged greatly, and they crossed the Devil City in one breath.”

“Your Academy also distinguished itself this time. Using oilcloth to extract water in the desert—how did you think of that? Water sources were all contaminated—dead cattle, dead horses, dead sheep everywhere, stinking to high heaven, completely undrinkable. If not for your Academy disciples thinking of digging sand pits and using oilcloth to extract water, at least supplementing the soldiers with some water, otherwise there would have been big trouble.”

Hearing this, he breathed a sigh of relief. As long as Li Chengqian didn’t make mistakes, that was a great achievement. The evaluation of “following the rules perfectly” was best. Few subjects liked an emperor with three thousand ideas in his head. In the old generals’ eyes, just follow the rules—everything else could be learned slowly. Which emperor spent all their time in military camps for no reason?

Wei Zheng was very talkative today, pulling Yun Ye to explain the Gaochang campaign thoroughly. From his description, it seemed half of Xueyantuo’s territory had also become Great Tang’s pastureland.

The military men cherished cattle and sheep greatly. No longer like before when they’d slaughter all cattle and sheep on sight—now everyone knew cattle and sheep were valuable. The army was followed by countless merchant caravans. The soldiers’ spoils, after the war’s end, were converted to money at the fastest speed. Though just sheets of paper, through He Shao’s postal service, the money could be sent to their families—real gold and silver, fair dealing with young and old alike. Though He Shao’s postal service had only opened three years earlier than others, the old established shop sign had already been hung. This time he’d profited enormously. No wonder that freeloader fellow hadn’t been seen these days. When Na Rimu gave birth, he’d only made a brief appearance before leaving. His plump body had become even plumper—otherwise no changes.

Wei Zheng’s purpose was achieved, so naturally he took his leave to go home. Now, if nothing unexpected happened, He Lan Sengjia had long since run away without a trace. All that muttering and mumbling was nothing more than wanting to trap Yun Ye at home with no time to go out and trouble them.

Forget it—a fellow colored green from head to toe wasn’t worth spending too much thought on. The imperial decree only forbade Yun Ye from entering Chang’an city for three months. From this decree one could see Li Er didn’t plan to eliminate Xueyantuo. The army would return soon—no more, no less, exactly three months. By then his drinking buddies would all return. If Yun Ye wasn’t permitted to enter Chang’an city, he’d be stifled to death.

This was also a signal Li Er transmitted to Wei Zheng: end the debate, the Xueyantuo campaign stops here. Having opened the great door of Gaochang, the trade route would open. Xueyantuo would no longer dare cause trouble. Every day the great army stayed outside, his heart wouldn’t be at ease. Better to bring them back and disperse the militia troops to return home and farm—that was proper. Once vitality recovered, then go trouble Goguryeo. This was what Li Er was thinking.

When seeing Wei Zheng out, the entrance had already returned to normal. Many people in the market were clearly quite dissatisfied, very contemptuous of the Yun family’s anticlimactic behavior.

“Three months, Marquis Yun. Three months will pass very easily, and those good brothers of yours will return.” Wei Zheng smiled strangely at Yun Ye. This old fellow wasn’t a fool either.