As the saying goes, seventy-three and eighty-four are difficult years—the King of Hell doesn’t summon you, but you go yourself. Li Gang safely passed through the hurdle of his seventy-third year. Tomorrow he would prepare to celebrate his great birthday. Since it wasn’t a round-number birthday, he himself planned to simply gather old friends for a feast. His son and son-in-law were both traveling on official duties away from home. At home, only his elderly wife and a distant nephew remained by his side—it was quite lonely.
Yun Ye sometimes felt very guilty, believing that binding a seventy-some-year-old man to the academy, preventing him from reuniting with his children, was a very cruel act. He wanted to ask him to rest for a period, at least to return home to visit. Who would have thought that upon hearing this, Li Gang would laugh heartily, saying that he had accomplished nothing in his entire life. Now that he finally had an opportunity to leave his name for eternity, if he missed it due to personal feelings for his children, that would be an eternal regret.
Yun Ye was coarse-minded. Since Old Li didn’t care, he naturally cared even less. In later generations, he’d seen too many empty-nest elderly. Old Li having an old companion and nephew for company was already much better. The nephew was a taciturn man, his wife also a daughter from a small household. The couple only knew that if they served the Li couple well, they could live comfortably for this lifetime without worrying about food or clothing, so they were quite dedicated. Old Li was very satisfied. It was just that at the beginning of each month, Old Li would sit alone in his small building, seeing no one, with a bad temper. His nephew and elderly wife both hid far away, not daring to provoke him.
After sending the cake into the oven, Yun Ye shouldered a hoe and went to the garden. Before leaving for the grasslands, he had buried a jar of yellow wine under that plum blossom tree, hoping to absorb some scholarly elegance. He didn’t know if he’d absorbed any or not—he’d dig it out to see. Tomorrow was Old Li’s great birthday. He had to have at least one presentable gift to avoid being laughed at by them.
What the hell? After digging for a long time, the wine jar was gone. He dug a large pit in the ground but saw no trace of it. “Who stole my wine?”
Seeing the Marquis shouting in the garden, servants and maids were all trembling. The matter of losing things in the Yun household was still—
“Ye’er, what’s missing that’s worth getting so angry about? Since it’s gone, forget it. Grandmother will compensate you.” Grandmother smiled and comforted Yun Ye, still coaxing him like a small child. Xinyue beside her was laughing so hard she was about to cramp up.
“When I left two years ago, I buried a jar of wine under the tree. Now it’s gone. I was preparing to use it to celebrate Old Master Li’s birthday.” Yun Ye wouldn’t let it go. Today he vowed not to rest until he got to the bottom of this matter.
“Aiya, dear grandson, you’re looking for the wrong people. It has nothing to do with the servants. You should be looking for Grandmother. Haven’t you noticed the garden is different from when you left? That plum tree you dug up was newly planted this spring. How could there be a wine jar buried there?”
Looking around, it did seem different from before. There were many more flowering trees. Just plum trees alone—there were several. Before, it seemed the entire courtyard only had one, and its location had changed. This was terrible. Unless this entire area was dug up, it couldn’t be found.
Forget it, he wouldn’t search anymore. These flowering trees were rare things Grandmother had specially sought out. Digging them all up would be somewhat counterproductive. Better to find something else as a substitute. Thinking about it, grape wine wasn’t bad either. The Cheng family’s merchant caravan dealt with the Western Regions year-round. Finding some top-quality goods shouldn’t be a problem.
In his anger, he almost forgot about the cake in the oven. Estimating the time was about right, he took out the baked cake. Not bad, it would do. He’d baked one large and two small ones—three total. He cut off the dried outer skin. No need to worry about waste—several younger sisters already had their mouths wide open waiting. They most loved eating the outer crispy skin. Stacking the small cakes on the large cake with a thin layer of honey spread in between, they were firmly stuck together. The three-layer large cake was finished. The jam couldn’t be put on now, or it wouldn’t be fresh. Tomorrow before sending it, he’d spread it on, put it in the oven to warm, and the taste would definitely please people.
Covering the cake with a damp gauze curtain and warning several gluttonous younger sisters not to steal a taste, he prepared to harness Wang Cai to the cart, preparing to go plunder the Cheng family. Wang Cai was getting fatter and fatter. His round bulging belly—who knew how much he ate in a day? Other people’s stallions had already reached breeding season, yet he was still leisurely going around eating by himself. Could it be that leaving the herd too early caused him to lose this function? Bending down to look at Wang Cai’s private parts—no problem. Well developed. Apart from being a bit fat, there were no other issues. Yesterday he’d even seen him shamelessly dangling that thing around the entire marketplace. How could he not be interested in mares? For the sake of his offspring problem, Yun Ye had specially penned him with several mares. According to the groom’s report, the mares did approach, but Wang Cai never paid attention. Those mares even ate all his midnight snacks.
Did obesity cause decreased libido? This was too serious. Wang Cai had to lose weight, and it couldn’t be delayed. From now on when going out, he’d make him pull the cart. He couldn’t let him continue doing as he pleased anymore.
But just after harnessing the cart, Wang Cai buried his head in Yun Ye’s embrace, looking wronged, like an abused child seeking redress from an adult, just short of crying. He couldn’t stand this fellow’s act. After thinking it over repeatedly, he still couldn’t bear it. He unharnessed him from the cart shaft again. Upon gaining his freedom, old habits emerged immediately. Biting Yun Ye’s clothing, he wanted to go out…
He mounted another horse instead, tied Wang Cai behind, and killed his way to the Cheng household.
The Cheng family also didn’t like living in Chang’an city now. Currently almost all the great clans didn’t like living in the city. As long as they didn’t attend court, they generally stayed in the countryside. The rules in the city were increasingly unpopular.
Entering the Cheng household never required announcement. The gatehouse staff would only bow and call out “Young Master,” almost no different from calling Cheng Chumo. Everyone was familiar. They led Yun Ye’s mount into the stable, invited the guards into the gatehouse for tea. As for Wang Cai, he was a lord. In the Yun, Cheng, and Niu families, he could swagger about. Long familiar with the route, he went to find that woman who always gave him candy.
Some places Wang Cai could go, but Yun Ye found very inconvenient—like Jiu Yi’s place. Not having seen her for a long time, the former courtesan had long since become a noble household’s madam. Although only a concubine, she held rank. According to the Cheng family’s title, she already had the status of a ninth-rank lady. Her belly was also competitive, having already added a daughter for Cheng Chumo early on. This was already the best result. If she’d borne a son, once the Princess entered the household, with Princess Qinghe Li Jing’s temperament, she could have gone to be reborn early.
The daughter had just turned one year old. Right now she was lying on Cheng Chumo’s bare belly sleeping. With the rise and fall of Cheng Chumo’s belly, as if in a cradle, she slept sweetly. Jiu Yi sat to the side fanning them father and daughter with a palm fan, incidentally shooing away flies, her eyes full of happiness.
Wang Cai clip-clopped over. This was a harbinger that Yun Ye was about to arrive. Jiu Yi tidied her disheveled clothes, then stood up, preparing to receive Yun Ye. In other households, concubines didn’t meet outside guests. First, they didn’t have that status. Second, it would be considered improper behavior.
Worldly rules didn’t exist between Yun Ye and Cheng Chumo. Cheng Chumo could carry Xiao Ya on his neck jumping up and down at the Yun household. The two could play at the checkerboard for an entire day, eating at the same table with Old Madam and Xinyue without any qualms. Even blood brothers were nothing more than this.
Perhaps the milk scent on the little girl was very fragrant. Wang Cai extended his tongue and licked the little girl’s exposed bottom. Estimating the taste wasn’t good, he shook his head, snorted loudly, and sprayed Cheng Chumo’s head full of saliva.
“Is it raining?” Cheng Chumo woke from his dream, looking around in confusion. Seeing Wang Cai’s big head right in front of him, he pushed that large head away without good humor: “Get lost. Just fell asleep and you come causing trouble.”
Holding his daughter and standing up, seeing Yun Ye walk through the moon gate, he immediately laughed. The brothers hadn’t seen each other many times during this period. Cheng Chumo had been hung with the title of Imperial Guard by the Emperor, serving in the palace all day, naturally having little time to run to Yushan. Seeing each other now was very pleasant.
“I just heard from the gatehouse that you’re resting today. How is it? Is the position going well?”
“What’s good or not good about it? The guards are all meritorious officials’ sons. On duty they brag, off duty they go eat, drink, whore, and gamble. Even if there are official matters, it’s not our turn to handle them. Those Bai Qi Si fellows inserted among us will handle everything well. At most, Big Brother wears armor standing outside the palace gate like a wooden post. But a full suit of Guangmingshan armor—that’s the real deal. Let me put it on for you to see.”
Speaking, he stuffed his daughter to Jiu Yi, preparing to don it to show off to Yun Ye.
“Forget it, you dog belly that can’t store pig oil. It’s not like I haven’t seen it before. What are you showing off? Go find me a barrel of the finest grape wine. I’ll take it when I leave. Tomorrow is Old Master Li’s birthday. I came specially to get wine.”
“Haha, you also know that the best wine under normal circumstances always enters the belly first. But in Father’s small storeroom there should still be two barrels of top-quality treasures. If Father comes back and knows I drank it, he’ll definitely skin me alive. But if you take it, he definitely won’t say anything. I don’t even know which of us two is his blood son. I also heard that Big Fool Yuchi specially requested leave, preparing to wander around the southern mountains, saying he’d get a tiger skin for Master Li. This matter has spread throughout the capital. I don’t know if it’ll work out. Tigers only exist in the imperial hunting grounds. I don’t know how he’ll go catch a tiger and skin it.”
Among profligate sons, news spread astonishingly fast. Yun Ye had only learned this morning, yet Cheng Chumo already knew.
“He went together with Duan Meng. Ordinary people can’t enter the imperial gardens, but those two should have plenty of ways. Hunting just one tiger—it’s not that big a deal.”
As the two spoke, they left Wang Cai out in the cold. Seeing he’d waited a long time and no one brought him candy, he impatiently nudged Jiu Yi with his head, urging her to hurry. Jiu Yi led Wang Cai to the rear courtyard with a charming smile. Each time Wang Cai brought her some rare joy. Wang Cai’s silly appearance eating candy was most interesting.
“Have the household prepare more people. In a while, we’re preparing to go south. Best to have southern people who know water. I’m preparing to settle another family business for our several families in the south. The speed of making money here in Chang’an is really too slow.”
The academy had only recruited three or four hundred more people, and already the school buildings were insufficient again. Expenses were growing exponentially. The teachers’ demands were also increasing. Zhao Yanling demanded there must be an astronomical observatory. Liu Xian demanded there must be the best martial arts practice venue. That practice room with the wooden floor was already very cramped and would affect students’ practice efficiency. Sun Simiao was already planning the hospital he imagined. Hero invitations had already been sent out. Monsters and demons from famous mountains would soon arrive at the academy, all at the academy’s expense.
He knew this was Li Gang and the others’ scheming. For some reason, they were very afraid of Yun Ye possessing large amounts of wealth. As long as the academy accumulated some considerable funds, he would definitely find a way to spend them clean, wanting to keep Yun Ye’s brain focused on making money, reducing opportunities for conflicts with court bigwigs. A few days ago probably scared them badly.