After recopying the ‘Three Character Classic’ once more, Yun Ye finally breathed a sigh of relief. Silently eliminating the content after the Sui dynasty had cost him countless brain cells. While reciting in the classroom, he had nearly exposed himself. Relying on the quick wit cultivated by his wife over many years, he forcibly swallowed this sentence into his stomach: “Tang Gaozu raised a righteous army, eliminated the chaos of Sui, and established the foundation of the nation. Twenty reigns passed, three hundred years elapsed, until Liang destroyed it and the nation changed. Liang, Tang, Jin, and Han Zhou, called the Five Dynasties, each had their reasons.”
Li Yuan had not died yet. If temple names were given to him now, even if Li’er would spare Yun Ye, all the scholars under heaven would tear Yun Ye to pieces. After also eliminating figures from after the Sui dynasty, the ‘Three Character Classic’ was shortened by a large section. Whatever—children having a book to read was already good enough. How dare they pursue perfection?
For some unknown reason, the other imperial princes did not ask Yun Ye about the ‘Three Character Classic.’ They only continued rummaging through Yun Ye’s backpack, hoping to find more delicacies. Did they not understand the importance of a new elementary textbook? Among them, Li Ke with his red lips and white teeth, and the chubby Li Tai were both completely indifferent, as if fried chicken was far more important than the ‘Three Character Classic.’ There was no teacher today—Song Lian had run off halfway through—so half a day of class time was spent amid a group of childish voices reciting the words of Confucius and poetry. Cheng Chumo sprawled across his low table snoring loudly, making Yun Ye drowsy as well. Right beside them was a large bronze brazier, baking everyone until their whole bodies felt soft and weak. Yun Ye ultimately could not resist the invasion of the sleep demon and reclined against the low table to converse with the Duke of Zhou about ownership issues regarding the ‘Three Character Classic.’
Every day at noon there was a free lunch to eat. This was very important, especially for two people who had slept all morning—it was timely rain indeed.
The cheese was very sweet and fragrant. The rice was both aromatic and soft. The radish soup was extremely delicious—who knew what animal’s meat it was stewed from? It appeared milky white and looked appetizing at first glance. Each person received half a chicken, but where had the drumstick on Yun Ye’s chicken gone? Could it be that people in the imperial palace did not eat chicken drumsticks? Looking back, he saw Cheng Chumo brandishing a chicken drumstick while battling with it. Looking again at Li Chengqian’s food tray, the half chicken displayed its oily yellow single leg, flaunting its existence.
The cook stole and ate it! Yun Ye was furious. He did not particularly like eating chicken drumsticks, but eating someone else’s saliva was disgusting. Just as he was about to get angry, he saw the palace maid who had brought up the food trays involuntarily tremble.
The drumstick thief was found. Yun Ye was no longer angry. It seemed that little girl very much liked eating chicken drumsticks—poor person. If one person would suffer misfortune because of a chicken drumstick, Yun Ye felt it was better not to make a fuss. Accompanying it with radish soup, he swallowed two bowls of rice consecutively. Putting down his chopsticks, he was satisfied. Seeing that Yun Ye’s food tray only had half a chicken with the drumstick torn off, Li Chengqian asked Yun Ye, “What’s wrong? The palace food doesn’t suit your taste?”
“No, it’s very delicious. Just this one bowl of radish soup is not something an ordinary cook could make. I even ate two bowls of rice.”
“Nonsense! Don’t I know you? You usually most like eating chicken necks, but today you only ate the drumstick. Isn’t that strange? Didn’t you always say only poor people like eating drumsticks, while nobles only eat chicken necks and wings?”
Yun Ye leaned close to Li Chengqian and said softly, “Mind your own damn business.”
“Marquis Lantian, do you not know that with each bowl of porridge and rice one should think of how hard they are to come by, and with each thread and strand one should constantly remember how difficult material resources are? Yet today you actually left food uneaten. This does not accord with the teacher’s teachings and even less conforms to the way of a gentleman.” This bastard had a face full of righteousness, completely unable to see the messy leftover scraps on his own food tray, yet pointed at the chicken on Yun Ye’s tray and shouted indignantly.
Cheng Chumo ran over to take a look and was delighted. Grabbing that half chicken, he gnawed on it. After a few bites he spat out a bone, rubbed his belly, and let out a satisfied burp.
“It’s gone, Crown Prince. As the heir apparent of our Great Tang, you naturally must set an example in all matters. That chicken of mine was left for Chumo to eat. You also know that we brothers have never distinguished between yours and mine. I wonder, Crown Prince, why your food tray is as messy as if eight nations were warring or bandits had entered a village?”
Seeing that all his younger brothers and sisters had gone out, Li Chengqian said, “Isn’t it all because of you? Ever since I ate that thing called pig-killing dish at your house, I’ve deeply detested the palace food. I never imagined that the food of the grand imperial palace would be inferior to your home—it makes me utterly ashamed. When will you make another round of pig-killing dish so the brothers can properly satisfy their cravings? It’s agreed—make several more bowls of that braised pork, and bring more of that chicken too. Just now I was too embarrassed to compete with my younger siblings.” As long as no one else was present, Li Chengqian immediately lost his Crown Prince dignity and reverted to that lively noble youth from Longxi.
“All my family’s cooks were forcibly abducted by you when you were seized by lust at first sight. It’s made my family’s cook Liu Qi cry for several days. Don’t tell me you actually put the cook in your bed instead of in the kitchen?”
“You damn bastard! With your family’s cook’s body of nearly two hundred jin, who the hell would put her in bed? Wasn’t it just that I invited Father Emperor and Mother Empress to eat a meal, and Father Emperor found it very agreeable and transferred the cook to the Imperial Food Service? I’m still using the same cooks as before.” Li Chengqian was going crazy. Having a reputation for liking fat women—he might as well be dead.
“Then it’s finished. My family’s cook is completely without hope. Once entering the palace gates, it’s as deep as the sea—from now on, Liu Lang is just a passerby.” Yun Ye made a great show of emotion. Cheng Chumo laughed heartily. Li Chengqian also found it funny.
Touring the imperial palace—such a thing should not even be contemplated. Although Yun Ye very much wanted to see the Xuanwu Gate where that historic event erupted, no one had the courage to lead him through the entire imperial palace to the scene of the incident at the far north side.
Leaving the palace, they still took that corridor passage. From within the surrounding walls drifted sweet and cloying scents of powder and cosmetics, provoking wild thoughts. Inexplicably, he recalled a passage from an ancient rhapsody: “Bright stars glimmering—opening makeup mirrors. Green clouds in disarray—combing morning hair. The Wei River swelling with grease—discarded cosmetic water.” It matched perfectly with the scene before his eyes. He remembered now—this was a passage from Du Mu’s ‘Rhapsody on the Epang Palace.’
Taking all under heaven to supply one person—what extravagance this was. But right now it was a feudal dynasty. Li’er was the master of all under heaven. He possessed everything and enjoyed everything—as was proper and right.
The warning about the locust plague submitted four months ago—aside from the Left Military Guard purchasing large quantities of grain from Longxi, there had been no other movement whatsoever. Li’er never mentioned it, Zhangsun never mentioned it, and even Niu Jinda, who was known for not allowing a single person under heaven to starve to death, seemed to have forgotten about this matter. Had he known it would be like this, he should never have taken the risk of bringing up this matter at all. Yun Ye felt somewhat bewildered. As a person from the future, he clearly knew there was an enormous pit ahead, yet was being swept along with the crowd toward falling into the pit, without the slightest ability to resist.
“Chengqian, I wonder how the court is preparing for the locust plague?” Yun Ye’s sudden question left Li Chengqian stunned.
“Yezi, it’s still winter. The time when the locusts arrive is still far off.”
“Alas! It seems I still carry little weight with my words. No one believes a great disaster is about to arrive. Very well, since I know calamity will descend, I’ll do what I can within my power. For each living person in Guanzhong I can save, I’ll save one, fulfilling a subject’s loyalty and respect toward the Great Tang and toward His Majesty. I truly cannot continue living these muddled days any longer.” Unexpectedly, someone like me who wholeheartedly wanted to idle away waiting for death would have such thoughts? Yun Ye continuously interrogated himself. Li Chengqian stammered without speaking. Cheng Chumo patted Yun Ye’s shoulder and said, “Whatever you plan to do, I’ll help you.”
“Chengqian, Chumo, I am originally but a drifting speck in the mortal world, planning to live and perish naturally in the human realm. Through a strange twist of fate I stepped into these halls, so I should do some things that great personages ought to do. I have seen terrifying great floods, seen droughts where the earth was parched for a thousand li, endured the ravages of plague. I clearly understand how fragile human life is before nature’s tyrannical power. Just now, my heart clearly knew I am a fragile egg, yet I cannot help wanting to collide with the disaster that is about to arrive. I do not seek to establish great merit, only seek peace of mind. Better to rely on oneself than seek help from others. I plan to respectfully decline the Empress’s kindness and leave Chang’an to make some arrangements in my fief to cope with the disaster. Chumo, I appreciate your kind intentions, but this matter is different—you cannot get involved. I cannot let you gamble with me on the correctness of my teacher’s words.”
Cheng Chumo curled his lip. “I’ve long been bored to death. How could such an interesting matter lack me? Besides, I’ll need to stand on my own in the future. If I don’t take the opportunity to temper myself now, what will I do later? Rely on my old man, then rely on you?” These words were very pragmatic. There were no mountains that never toppled, no ability to stand independently—sooner or later one would be eliminated from the game. Political struggle was cruel. When the day came that the mountain backing you collapsed and the people you relied on walked away, you could only depend on yourself. No one could help.
Li Chengqian seemed to have something to say but forcibly swallowed it back. Yun Ye finally understood a principle in this corridor passage—the mindset of fearing wolves ahead and tigers behind would not do. People were not tortoises who could retract their heads into their shells regardless of the upheaval outside. These past few months of wretched thinking were because he now had a family, had a grandmother of advanced years, had a young sister. He always felt that making them live happily and joyfully was his greatest responsibility, even if he himself became a tortoise—it did not matter. His later-life self had followed this principle and lived in a wretched and pathetic way. When waking from midnight dreams, thinking back to those grand aspirations he had proclaimed in the past made his blood boil and left him sleepless all night, but when dawn came he still had to flatter and fawn on his boss to scrape together a few coins to support his family. Always switching roles between nobility and wretchedness—in short, it was utterly lifeless!
A series of footsteps interrupted the three people’s respective reveries. A woman in green robes walked over, unaccompanied by female companions, walking alone through the quiet corridor as if walking through a bustling street, without the haste of ordinary women. She wore a gauze hat on her head with white gauze hanging down covering her face, appearing very mysterious. Seeing Li Chengqian, she only curtsied briefly and was about to leave without even greeting him. Li Chengqian actually returned the bow and also did not speak. Yun Ye was just becoming curious when a cross breeze blew past, lifting a corner of the veil. A delicate face was directly facing Yun Ye.
“Wife?” Yun Ye shouted loudly.
The woman in green robes froze. She only paused briefly, then continued walking forward. After walking a few steps she turned back and, looking at the joyfully surprised Yun Ye, lifted her foot and heavily stomped down. With a miserable cry, Yun Ye hopped on the ground clutching his foot, yet his mouth said, “Wife, what are you doing? If there’s something, we can discuss it at home. In front of outsiders…” Before he finished speaking, a tender pink fist rapidly enlarged before his eyes. After a “bang,” Yun Ye lay on the ground unconscious. The woman in green robes wiped her hands with a handkerchief, snorted once, and departed.