Within half an hour, the Heavenly Demon Concubine had become a retainer of the Yun Family. This was a guarantee Yun Ye gave her. By becoming a household vassal of the Yun Family, there would be no such thing as killing to silence her. From now on, the Heavenly Demon Concubine was a member of the Yun Family. If she did things correctly, she would be establishing merit for the Yun Family; if she did things wrong, it would be the Yun Family bearing the blame. The retainers of wealthy families in Chang’an were almost all core figures in their households. Sometimes their authority was even greater than that of more distant direct family members.
The Yun Family’s merchant caravan had already swiftly dispatched people to head for Chenzhou. Only the steward and the head of the guards knew the true objective of this journey. The shape and effects of the mushroom had been firmly memorized in their minds. Once they reached Chenzhou, they would naturally search for it with all their might.
Yun Ye felt that the matter of the mushroom was better kept buried in his stomach. Even handing it over to Li Er was not a good choice—heaven knows what he would use the mushroom for.
“The Heavenly Demon Dance is actually just a dance that stimulates people’s desires. If you remove the aphrodisiac component, it looks quite good—pleasing to the eye and makes people happy.” After finishing these words, Empress Zhangsun stood up and circled around Yun Ye twice, then said to Li Er, “Your Majesty, look at this—this is your subject. He can lie and brag without batting an eyelid. Stick out your tongue for this palace to see. Oh my, why is your tongue so mangled? Did you accidentally bite it while eating?”
“Your Majesty is perceptive. It was indeed accidentally bitten.” Yun Ye wore an ingratiating smile as he followed Empress Zhangsun in circles. Li Er didn’t even lift his head as he continued reviewing memorials.
“This palace knows it wasn’t like that at all. I heard you first went to find Daoist Sun for medicine to clear the heart and reduce desire, then weren’t afraid of losing face by wearing that ridiculous pig-snout dust mask. Qing Que did arithmetic in the brothel for an entire night, and after returning slept for two days before recovering his energy. Including you, out of twenty-four young men, the only ones who remained clear-headed in the end were Qing Que, you, and Cheng Chumo who broke through a window with his head. Zhangsun Chong knocked himself unconscious with a wine flask to escape disaster. And you dare say it looks pleasing to the eye and makes people happy?” Empress Zhangsun kept her eyes on Yun Ye, not giving him the slightest chance to retort. Yun Ye was now a man of one meter seventy-five in height, and bowing before Empress Zhangsun, who was half a head shorter than him, was quite uncomfortable.
“Yun Ye, since you say there’s no great harm, then it’s fine to watch. The teachers from the Academy should watch too—bring them along. When the time comes, if anyone is embarrassed, it will be your Academy that loses the most face. A bunch of old men—if even one of them has an incident, I’m afraid you won’t have a good explanation.” When Li Er spoke, he always hit the vital point. When watching the dance, he would be far away and could choose to retreat if things didn’t look right. In any case, there was no danger at all. From the tone of his words, the Academy teachers would have the best viewing position.
“No problem. Each of the Academy teachers is of advanced age and high moral standing. A mere bit of emotional temptation is nothing to them.”
“Good, then. Since you dare say this, that’s fine. If anything happens, you’ll bear it all alone. Don’t think about having me clean up your mess this time. However, you did quite well having those young brothers scout ahead for their fathers. It salvaged the bad impression you left them in Goguryeo and pulled back a round—truly commendable. This is how things should be done—use upright and open stratagems. They sound good and save trouble. Don’t always make yourself seem so sinister and shadowy that people have to guard against you.”
“Thank you for Your Majesty’s instruction. This subject guarantees to act uprightly and behave properly from now on. I won’t dare play any more petty tricks.”
“That’s another load of nonsense. Hurry up and get lost. Chengqian is still waiting for you at the Eastern Palace. There’s too much vermicelli noodles in the Imperial Palace—we can’t let it go to waste. You few come up with a good solution to resolve this matter.”
Empress Zhangsun watched Yun Ye walk away and asked Li Er, “Your Majesty, why did you let him off so easily today? This consort feels that boy didn’t speak a word of truth.”
Li Er put down his vermilion brush, picked up the teapot, took a sip of tea and said, “When water is too clear, there are no fish. What more do you want? You arranged for him to test the Heavenly Demon Dance and he’s already done it. Having a few small calculations is normal. There are some things he may not find convenient to tell us, but I dare wager he’ll tell Chengqian, and Qing Que will know too. For matters concerning carnal desires like this, even Chengqian wouldn’t be comfortable explaining it clearly to us. When you asked Qing Que, didn’t he also hem and haw? These boys have grown up in the blink of an eye. Yun Ye is no longer the little child I used to kick along. The face that should be given must definitely be given.”
Li Er’s words made Empress Zhangsun pause for a moment. She said with some melancholy, “This consort has only just noticed that Yun Ye is now half a head taller than me. He really has grown up. Just yesterday this consort was still looking at him as a child. In the blink of an eye, Chengqian and Qing Que have become adults who know there are some things they cannot tell their parents.”
Li Er stepped forward, embraced Empress Zhangsun, and said with a smile, “I am delighted to see this kind of growing up. It’s clean and pure. Born into the Imperial Family without bloodshed and intrigue, without mutual deception and scheming—the brothers knowing each other’s hearts and getting along until now—we cannot be dissatisfied. Hehe, you’re not unaware of what kind of relationship we brothers had back then.”
Li Er’s words were awkwardly phrased, but Empress Zhangsun understood. Li Er only spoke this way when expressing his innermost feelings. She sighed, took Li Er’s teapot, filled it with water, instructed the eunuchs to move the ice mountain in the great hall farther from the Emperor, and only then disappeared into the layers of curtains.
Yun Ye passed through many palace halls along the way and soon arrived at the Eastern Palace. Just as he entered the Eastern Palace, he saw the two brothers Li Chengqian and Li Tai lying beneath a grape arbor talking. Li Tai’s boasting voice carried over from a distance.
“Big Brother, you really missed out by not going to see the Heavenly Demon Dance. That dance was truly deadly. The dancing girls only had a layer of fine gauze wrapped around their upper bodies, and as they danced, they even pulled off the fine gauze. Bells hanging on their breasts—shaking them, tsk tsk, absolutely captivating! Especially the beautiful woman who appeared last. Although her face was covered, her figure made one’s blood boil just looking at it. In the end, Ye Zi acted quickly and snatched her away. Otherwise, I would have grabbed her myself.”
“Haha, bragging! The dancing girls’ dance was perhaps quite good, but you lot? Hehe, Qing Que, the medicine hasn’t worn off yet—do you have even a trace of carnal desire right now? Do you think Master Sun’s medicine is fake? Those two lines of poetry Zhangsun Chong recited were really good: ‘How much sorrow can you bear? Just like a group of eunuchs visiting a brothel.’ Hahahaha, it cracks me up. I don’t want to be a eunuch for fifteen days.”
Yun Ye walked over quickly, found a comfortable spot to lie down, and said to Li Chengqian, “You think you can escape? When I went to see Master Sun, he said that none of us are any good. You also need kidney strengthening and essence nourishing. Here, this is your portion. Master Sun entrusted me to bring it to you. Whether you use it or not is up to you. Don’t complain when you’re inadequate in the future.”
Li Tai laughed so hard he fell off his reclining chair, pointing at Yun Ye and saying, “We drank up that whole big package of medicine that day, and you really went to ask Master Sun for more herbs?”
“Getting herbs for Chengqian was incidental. The main purpose was to have Master Sun look at a medicinal ingredient—a mushroom, a poisonous one. There are still three of them in the Imperial Palace, in an abandoned palace hall. They must be obtained. Such things shouldn’t be in the Imperial Palace.”
Li Chengqian’s smile disappeared at once. He said quietly to Yun Ye, “The dancing girl you snatched away is really that woman?”
Yun Ye nodded. Li Chengqian smiled bitterly, spread his hands, and said to Li Tai, “The beauty you saw is an elder of our family. Fortunately, Ye Zi snatched her away. If you had snatched her away, I don’t think you’d have any face to see people.”
“If I had snatched her, I could only have revered her as an ancestor. Now she’s a retainer of my family. She hid a bit of poison in the Imperial Palace, and we need to take it out. We must be careful not to let anyone discover it. This is the first secret she revealed after becoming a retainer.”
Li Chengqian nodded and said, “This is also good. Living out her life peacefully and steadily in the Yun Family isn’t bad. In the end, it was the Imperial Family that wronged her. Her situation like this may not necessarily be worse than in the Imperial Palace. Whether it’s disaster or fortune, no one can say for certain now.”
Li Tai also nodded. Since this woman could reveal the hiding place of the poison, it meant she wanted to sever all ties with the Imperial Palace and completely end this ill-fated relationship.
Ever since the Hall of Ten Thousand Citizens was completed, the Taiji Palace was given to Li Yuan. The original residence quickly became empty. Li Yuan liked to keep all his women and servants gathered in one place, so now the Taiji Palace was packed full. Those palace halls representing painful memories were never visited again.
A courtyard near the palace wall was especially desolate. Wild grass had grown knee-high, and there were traces of snakes, insects, rats, and ants everywhere. The doors and windows were half-open, with thick layers of dust on the ground. Even in broad daylight, it sent chills down one’s spine.
“Big Brother, how can there be such a desolate place in the Imperial Palace? I thought the place where we were punished was already the most gloomy place. I didn’t expect there to be such a location.”
Yun Ye pushed open the door. A flock of birds flew out with a flutter, stirring up dust for a moment. The three of them retreated several steps in succession. Only after the dust settled did they enter the room.
Several mottled beams of light passed through the dilapidated windows into the room. It was very deep inside. Yun Ye stood in the darkness and blinked for a while before his eyes adapted to the dim environment.
A wide brocade couch showed how favored the owner had once been in the palace. Unfortunately, it was now gnawed full of holes by rats. Yun Ye could even see two rats furtively peeking out.
“Ye Zi, hurry up and get it. I don’t want to stay in this ghostly place any longer.” Li Tai covered his nose, enduring the decaying odor, and kept urging Yun Ye to hurry.
Opposite the couch was a dressing table. Opening the cabinet door, it was completely empty inside—all the good things had long been stolen by eunuchs and palace maids. Yun Ye tried lifting the panel upward. One wooden board was somewhat loose. Moving that board aside, a small compartment appeared before Yun Ye. Inside were three extremely vivid mushrooms, and also a jade pendant about half the size of a palm, with three inscriptions on it that Yun Ye was very familiar with: White Jade Capital!
Yun Ye was stunned for a moment, then grabbed the jade plaque and tossed it to Li Chengqian. He himself carefully wrapped the mushrooms in oilcloth and placed them in the small wooden box he had brought.
“Ye Zi, what’s written on this jade plaque? Why does it seem so familiar to me? It’s like I’ve seen it somewhere before.”
“At my house. I also have a jade plaque like this. As far as I know, this is the third jade plaque.”