Li Tai sat in his chair, staring blankly at the sky. Hypatia, with several vibrant late peonies tucked in her hair, nestled beside him, secretly using her bare toes to reach for Li Tai’s belly. Her eyes were seductive as silk, her face flushed, a lock of hair caught between her teeth, her collar half-open—her expression utterly alluring…

After tickling him once without any response, Hypatia pulled her collar open even wider, revealing her full bosom, and once again reached with her small foot toward Li Tai. This time she didn’t choose his belly, but selected another place…

“Li Tai!” Hypatia finally exploded, standing barefoot on the ground and shouting at Li Tai.

Li Tai dug at his ear, turned his head woodenly, glanced at the exasperated Hypatia and said: “If you want to do that, wait until evening. Daytime debauchery damages the imperial family’s dignity. From now on, you need to learn the rules of the Han family as well—be careful not to corrupt the children.”

Hypatia furiously yanked an entire head full of peony blossoms from her hair, hatefully threw them at Li Tai’s body, shouted “Go die!” and left the pavilion.

“Troublesome!” Li Tai glanced at the departing Hypatia, muttered once, and continued to sink into contemplation.

Before long, Princess Wei walked out from the rear courtyard, carrying a teapot. Seeing Li Tai lost in thought, she didn’t disturb him. Only when Li Tai extended a hand did the princess place the warm teapot in his palm.

“What is it?” Li Tai took a sip of tea and asked the princess.

“This concubine heard that Hypatia was disrespectful to you. You couldn’t bear to scold her, so why don’t I go teach her a lesson? She doesn’t even know the basic principles of hierarchical propriety—she really should be properly disciplined.” Princess Wei said indignantly to Li Tai.

Li Tai chewed the tea leaves in his mouth, thought for a moment, and said to the princess: “Go and have the person who just told you what happened here severely beaten with twenty strokes of the rod, and after the beating, expel them from the manor.”

The princess immediately froze. Li Tai angrily raised the teapot to smash it, but suddenly realized it was one he had taken from Yun Ye’s study, so he put the teapot down and, forcefully suppressing his anger, said to the princess: “What qualification do you have to punish Hypatia? She is a Fifth Rank official of the Great Tang, and Hypatia’s name is on the roster of the Personnel Ministry. She’s not a female palace official—she’s a genuine Great Tang official. Although everyone knows about our relationship, she hasn’t accepted the title of secondary consort, so legally speaking, she’s still free, merely the mother of my two children. Remember this: you can do as you please with people in this manor, but don’t set your sights on Hypatia. She’s not like those other women in the rear courtyard—she’s a true scholar who deserves proper respect. Remember that?”

With tears in her eyes, the princess performed a curtsy, then walked toward the rear courtyard, turning back repeatedly. When she reached the door and saw Li Tai’s face still dark as iron, she could only tearfully go deal with her wet nurse.

“Women should be as elder brother said—knock them senseless with a club when marrying them in, and that would be right. Troublesome!” Li Tai irritably stamped his foot once, but still lazily remained in the chair, unwilling to get up.

When did this lazy habit begin? Li Tai couldn’t remember. He vaguely felt it seemed to start after the last failed experiment, after he had slept for three whole days and became infatuated with the marvelous behavioral habit of sleeping.

Can’t be lazy! Since the airship keeps exploding, just set it aside. Better to go to the academy and listen to Xuanren’s lectures. The struggle for kingship among monkeys is actually a struggle for mating rights—this novel theoretical viewpoint, explained vividly by that stern-faced teacher, was what Hypatia had been discussing with him when she suddenly became aroused. This was too magical! Going out for a walk might just bring some pleasure. Since the west window won’t open, I’ll go push the east one.

When leaving home, he saw the princess holding an old woman and crying, deliberately blocking the path he needed to take. Frowning at the wet nurse, he said: “Old slave, next time if you dare meddle in these affairs again, be careful or I’ll flay off a layer of your old skin. Truly presumptuous.”

After speaking, he strode out the manor gate. The princess immediately became happy, hurriedly returning to her own rear courtyard with the wet nurse. The prince still loved her—earlier he was just overcome by anger.

A fat horse and light carriage, surrounded by guards, left Chang’an City. All along the way, a refreshing breeze blew. The farmland on both sides of the road was full of rice about to be harvested. Growing rice had become fashionable in Guanzhong now. Ever since the government no longer restricted what farmers could plant, the fields had become much more pleasing to look at—not like before, when after harvesting wheat, the ground would be covered with a thick layer of fat insects that were disgusting to see.

Now it was much better—chickens looking for food were everywhere. The farmers were still honest as always—just by applying a bit of color to the chicken feathers, they could easily distinguish which household owned which flock.

This matter worked very reliably for farming families, but when applied to officials, it became troublesome—some chickens might go missing. If applied to the nobility, some overbearing ones might paint all other people’s chickens with their own household’s colors, then sue you. Of course, if applied to the Father Emperor and Mother Empress, before long all these chickens would become one’s own, and no one would have any objections.

Worldly affairs were too impermanent. Lately, Li Tai was always pondering these matters. Under the white clouds and gray dogs, anything could happen. The hot air balloons of the Zhangsun family had now become very aggressive. Except for not daring to approach Chang’an City, they now flew everywhere. Under the azure sky, there were always several grayish-white large balloons drifting about, making the beautiful sky ugly and unbearable.

“Qing Que, when you have time, tell your uncle that if those balloons dare to sneakily approach the back mountain of Yushan again, this old man will order Hong Cheng to shoot all the balloons down with eight-ox crossbows.” Li Gang, leaning on his bear cart, heard Li Tai’s greeting and squinted his eyes, speaking weakly as he issued his final warning.

“If you should shoot them, then shoot. Don’t worry about whose balloons they are. This youngster will just consider it watching fireworks. It’s best to use fire-oil crossbows—one shot can solve the problem.” Li Tai knew this was Li Gang giving him face.

Li Gang nodded with satisfaction, kicked the panda’s rear with his foot, and the panda pulling the cart immediately dragged it toward the back mountain. Li Tai followed alongside, and the old and young chatted as they began strolling around the academy.

“Teacher, this student has disgraced himself. Yun Ye’s camel city has already succeeded and achieved prestige in a battle in the Western Regions, but this youngster’s airship still has no major progress. I’ve truly failed to live up to the teacher’s instruction.”

“Qing Que, your only fault is being too competitive. In this old man’s view, Yun Ye’s camel city is not worth mentioning. Even if it truly can be invincible, so what? At most, it will just kill a few more people. When he returns this time, this old man will still ask him—does he want to ultimately kill everyone? What he researches is how to kill people quickly and efficiently. This is the disgrace of a gentleman, not glory.”

“In comparison, your research is much more useful. If people could truly fly, just think about it—how wonderful that would be! Last night this old man dreamed of home. How much I want to go home once, to see my parents’ graves, to climb that ancient locust tree at the village entrance again. Do you know, the locust flowers on that tree were white as snow, as sweet as honey, and I dreamed of my old father scolding me in the local dialect. When I woke up, I found old tears had soaked the pillow, and the night watch drum had only struck three times.”

“I can’t go back now. My children and grandchildren worry I’ll die on the road. If you could make this old man fly, flying through seventeen prefectures of mountain passes in one night—how wonderful that would be!” Li Gang tilted on the bear cart, rambling on to Li Tai with a lot of idle talk.

Li Tai, forcefully suppressing the sourness in his nose, lightly patted the panda’s back and said to Li Gang: “If you want to go home, this student does have a method. Although it can’t fly through mountain passes in one night, it can save half the time and guarantee you won’t be overly exhausted.”

“Forget it, what place doesn’t have yellow earth to bury people? Since I’ve exhausted this old man’s last efforts at the academy, then just bury me here. No need to go back. Old folks from home who came say that tree has already been struck dead by lightning. My parents’ graves also have clan members watching over them, with incense offerings at all the proper times—that’s enough. I appreciate your kind intention. You want to deploy some equipment that hasn’t gone through large-scale manufacture—this isn’t good. Experimental things cost too much.”

As they spoke, they arrived at a mountain pass entrance. The guards at the pass lowered the drawbridge. As Li Gang’s bear cart entered the pass, the drawbridge was raised again.

There were many people in the valley. A fat man rolled over like a ball, laboriously bent slightly, and said with a smile to Li Tai: “Your Highness is in such fine spirits today, actually coming here to inspect.”

Li Tai looked at the grotesquely fat Xiao Cangsheng and said: “How is Hua Niang’s condition? Has it improved? You can actually leave now, so why do you still choose to continue hiding anonymously in this valley?”

Xiao Cangsheng smiled bitterly and said: “Can’t make it through this summer anyway. Forget it. I used to dream of leaving, but now I don’t want to anymore. Poor scholar Xiao Cangsheng couldn’t laugh at all the common people under heaven, but could become an official up to the fourth-rank Senior Policy Consultant—this is also rare in the human world. My son has already entered Yushan Academy. Even if my wife and I never see the light of day in this life, so what? I’m content.”

Li Tai looked at that old woman with graying hair sitting in a chair, drooling and basking in the sun, shook his head and said: “This is what the Great Tang owes you husband and wife—it doesn’t count as a promotion. That the Great Tang army can be victorious in every battle with a mighty reputation is thanks to you couple’s hard work these years. A fourth-rank Senior Policy Consultant is insufficient to repay your meritorious service.”

Xiao Cangsheng smiled very proudly, the fat piled on his face almost drowning his eyes. Pointing at the now-demented Hua Niang, he said: “This old woman is now an official’s wife, a proper titled lady. What does she have to complain about? This is a blessing bestowed by Heaven. Only those mute people are pitiful—thirteen years! Of the original two thousand Persian suffering slaves, they finally all died of old age and illness, clean and complete. That the Great Tang soldiers can tread upon their corpses and be victorious in every battle means their deaths had great value.”