Yun Ye’s items were indeed expensive. A single teapot with a handle cost one hundred strings. Paired with six teacups the size of wine cups—that was considered a bonus, a discount given for the sake of being colleagues.

The Yun Family had suffered disaster, all because of these officials. As colleagues, they still needed to show compassion. They couldn’t watch the entire Yun household carry begging sticks and go begging—that would harm the court’s reputation, wouldn’t it? When those big shots all considered themselves too important to bid, a group of middle-ranking officials like vice ministers and mounted escorts, with the most generous compassion, came forward one after another to provide relief to the Yun Family.

What? Each bid must not be less than one hundred strings? Wouldn’t that mean a single teapot would sell for five or six hundred strings? Greatly angered, they decided not to buy—let the entire Yun Family drink the northwest wind! A broken teapot—I offered one hundred and ten strings and was actually kicked out. What utter humiliation!

The Goryeo people planned to convert all the copper coins they had earned in Chang’an into glass to take back. Before long, over twenty thousand strings of copper coins became several boxes of glass treasures. Hoe Wonyou stroked each smooth-as-jade glass piece in enchantment, as if caressing a lover’s leg, completely immersed. His appearance disgusted many people, yet no one reproached him. They hoped to have the qualifications to disgust others too.

When Yun Ye was auctioning item number thirty—the twentieth glass piece—Yun San ran up from backstage and whispered in Yun Ye’s ear, “My lord, our merchant caravan has reached the Liao River. Steward Lin says all sixty-one glass pieces brought along are intact without a single damaged item. General Du has prepared ferry boats for us. Tomorrow we’ll reach Goryeo territory. We gave General Du a glass peony—he was very pleased.”

Yun Ye nodded to show he understood. Sixty glass pieces were sufficient to completely occupy the markets of Goryeo, Silla, and Baekje. The worldly-wise Steward Lin had run routes to the three Liaodong kingdoms for years and was very familiar with Goryeo, Silla, and Baekje. This time he had led a massive four-family joint merchant caravan to Liaodong two months earlier.

Yun Ye required they bring back large quantities of Goryeo ginseng. As for the rest, if nothing caught his eye, then purchase large quantities of grain—as much as possible—all to supply the border troops. If grain still remained, brew it on site into strong liquor and resell it to the Sumo tribe in exchange for warhorses and furs. This was a long-term business. If they could form stable trade relations, that would be best—persistently consuming Goryeo’s grain. Over ten brewmasters had already gone with them. Once the breweries operated, they would consume vast quantities of Goryeo’s grain.

As for grain for the military, naturally the Ministry of War would allocate funds to the Yun Family from military expenses. The Yun Family could receive Liaodong’s payment from Chang’an itself, and the Ministry of War wouldn’t need to transport grain thousands of miles to border troops—mutually beneficial.

Yun Ye turned to look at Hoe Wonyou, wondering how he would explain to Goryeo’s King Yeongnyu—or was it to Yeon Gaesomun—when he returned after spending all his wealth on glass only to have prices plummet?

The Yun Family finally satisfied everyone. All eighty glass pieces sold out completely. All that remained in Yun Ye’s household were seven or eight of those glass giant wolves cast from the same mold, and then nothing else.

The Western Turks had already become a good environment for feudal lords. Every large tribe claimed to be sons of the Heavenly Wolf God, all denouncing opponents as having bloodlines like mud, not pure descendants of the Wolf God. However, none had evidence proving they were genuine. Verbal sparring was the maximum extent. Yun Ye scratched his forehead, constantly thinking—if he gave each of their major tribes a giant wolf sculpture, would they fight? Perhaps one or two heroes with lofty aspirations would emerge, wanting to collect all seven or eight wolves, like the Yellow Emperor collecting the Nine Province Cauldrons.

This way, there would be no shortage of wars, right? Too busy with their own affairs, they wouldn’t have the energy to concern themselves with outsiders like the Xueyantuo, Tuyuhun, Gaochang, or Kucha.

After Vice Minister of Rites Huang Bi obtained the glass pendant from Yun Ye’s waist for six hundred strings, he kept playing with it endlessly. This was something Yun Ye had randomly found and hung on before departing to suit the occasion. Huang Bi failed to win any glass pieces and was furious. To calm his anger, he had to sell even the ornaments on his body as goods. A bank promissory note was slapped into Yun Ye’s hand. Huang Bi unceremoniously unfastened the glass pendant from Yun Ye’s waist—now this thing belonged to his family.

As soon as the sarira appeared, Kumarajiva embraced them and wept bitterly. He wasn’t weeping for the deceased high monk. He wept that Buddhist supreme treasures—sarira—were actually being sold as goods. This was desecration! Regardless of which high monk they belonged to, as a Buddhist, he could not allow such blasphemous events to occur.

To form five-colored sarira from one’s physical body—if you said this wasn’t from an enlightened high monk, he wouldn’t believe it even if beaten to death. He only had eight thousand strings but insisted on all five sarira. If you didn’t give them, he’d prepare to achieve nirvana right there on the auction stage, eliminating any atmosphere from the auction venue. No one bid, and no one was willing to kill a famous high monk.

His rogue tactics succeeded. Cradling the sarira, he turned and left the auction venue, leaving only the monk Duobao to pay.

Li Jing and Hong Funv had waited a long time for this moment. The couple wasn’t interested in glass, wasn’t interested in treasures. What could arouse their interest were only those three legendary color-changing white bear pelts, hoping to learn of Qiu Ran Ke’s whereabouts from Yun Ye’s mouth.

A while ago they participated in plotting against Yun Ye but were seen through, making it impossible to directly ask him questions. Hearing he had friends returning from near Baiyu Jing, they didn’t know if they’d seen their third brother. This was his heart disease, buried in his heart for a full twenty years, nearly driving the couple obsessed.

Watching one bear pelt hung high, where lamplight shone it was bright white as snow, where lamplight dimmed it was pitch black as ink—truly miraculous. Without those remote wilderness areas, such superb bear pelts couldn’t emerge.

“Gentlemen, you’ve all heard that this world has many unknowable places. This bear pelt comes from a place with half a year of darkness and half a year of daylight. Please believe this isn’t random nonsense—it’s real. Wearing it, even in the coldest weather, you’ll feel like bathing in spring breezes. I won’t say more. That’s it. If you want it, make an offer. Everything brought to the stage today is for sale. You can come up to examine and verify authenticity.”

Having spoken, he jumped off the stage and sat beside Cheng Yaojin to rest. Tonight was truly exhausting.

“Boy, are you certain this thing is real? That person didn’t deceive you?” Old Cheng asked Yun Ye thoughtfully.

“Uncle Cheng, rest assured—absolutely no problem. This type of pelt only exists in one place and can’t be faked. If you want one, wait until next year. Your nephew will get you one. When marching to war, use it as a blanket—no matter how cold, you won’t be afraid. It’ll prevent your old leg ailment from acting up when wind blows and rain falls. You, Uncle Niu, and Uncle Qin will all have them.”

Old Niu forcefully squeezed over and pointed at the court bigwigs examining the furs on stage, saying, “All thinking of taking advantage, not caring about their old faces. Boy, in a bit, I don’t want my mansion in Xinghua Ward anymore. Sell it along with everything—more money is always good. My household is simple—three people, what do we need all those rooms for?”

“Uncle Niu, you’ll soon not be three people. If things go wrong, it’ll be five. A few days ago, Master Sun said he wants Jianhu to bring his wife to see him again. He says he feels my sister-in-law’s belly holds two children and wants to confirm.”

“Is this true?” Old Niu suddenly stood up, even knocking over his chair. How could he care about any house or pelts? He turned and ran toward his family’s private box. For him, nothing in this world was more important than offspring.

High officials and nobles appeared even more graceful than others. Such treasures weren’t for low-ranking officials and merchants to covet. One by one they looked, blew on it, calculated the area—in short, conducting various tests.

“If gentlemen have no objections, this pelt—I’ll purchase it for eight thousand strings. I wonder if gentlemen have other price points?” Zhangsun Wuji had remained silent all night. He always felt something was off but couldn’t guess what. Tonight’s merchant atmosphere was very thick—all talking about money. Unable to see through the causes and consequences, he maintained silence—this was his way of self-preservation. Others saw glass as treasures, wishing to possess it all, but when Zhangsun Wuji saw Yun Ye working hard to sell glass to Goryeo people, he felt uneasy and strictly forbade his own business from getting involved.

However, in the jianghu, how could one be free and unrestrained? If he didn’t act tonight, in the future when everyone discussed it, it would be hard to conduct himself. He had no choice but to walk into the trap voluntarily. After discovering this pelt, he decisively believed the pelt was absolutely worth this price and couldn’t possibly be fake, so he confidently offered a high price.

The first pelt was bought by Zhangsun Wuji. Yun Family servants folded the bear pelt and placed it in an exquisite silk bag, presenting it to Zhangsun Wuji.

With the first one gone, Du Ruhui used the excuse of poor health to also take the second pelt for eight thousand strings. As for the third, before it was even hung up, Cheng Yaojin took it, arrogantly shouting, “No matter how much you offer, I’ll offer one hundred strings more than you!”

Li Er, having rested enough, stood up and looked at the somewhat quiet theater. Yawning, he said to Zhangsun, “How much has Yun Ye raked in so far? If it’s less than a million strings, he’s too unworthy of all this effort.”

“Your humble wife roughly calculated—it should reach that number. This is thirty percent of Great Tang’s annual tax revenue. I no longer doubt he can turn mud into gold. In the merchant way, he’s reached the peak of cunning. However, is there no problem with him selling that wolf to Xueyantuo and Tuyuhun?”

“Tell him, before I return to the palace, if I don’t see at least two intact giant wolf sculptures, I’ll skin him. In a moment, buy that bottle of water for three thousand strings and we’ll return to the palace. It’s already the second watch—I’m tired.”

The little princess in the maid’s arms had already fallen sweetly asleep. Even sleeping, she still clutched her milk bottle without letting go. Li Er looked at his daughter, stroked her little face, took a satisfied sip of grape wine, and waited for Yun Ye to send over the other giant wolves. He didn’t believe Yun Ye wouldn’t keep a backup plan.

Sure enough, several eunuchs carried in two boxes. Upon opening them, Li Er saw eight giant wolf sculptures neatly arranged in the boxes, craftsmanship even more exquisite, their entire bodies inlaid with various colored gems, and much larger than those taken by the Xueyantuo and Tuyuhun people.

“Guanyin Maid, look—this boy is quite wicked, planning to make the Ashina clan fight among themselves for a lifetime.”