Little Ling Dang took away the food box that Yun Ye had brought, along with Yun Ye’s apology for his impropriety from yesterday.

Ling Dang was full of goodwill toward Yun Ye, thinking this scholar was a very good person. Not only did he not tell anyone about her stealing food, but he also took the blame himself. Today’s sliced raw fish was truly delicious!

Watching the little palace maid leave, Yun Ye smiled rather deviously, even with a trace of cunning. Conquering a person starting from their stomach was indeed a good method. This principle applied not only to men but also to women. The culinary experience accumulated over five thousand years of Chinese civilization always had such formidable combat power. Yun Ye firmly believed that the home-cooked dishes he made would definitely conquer Li Anlan’s stomach.

Li Chengqian followed Yun Ye’s gaze and only saw a few vigorous old pine trees. He couldn’t understand why Yun Ye was acting crazy. Scratching his head, he ignored him and sat down in his seat to begin eating. He always felt today’s meal was considerably less than usual, and he was quite hungry. The imperial family had fixed rations for each person’s meals. It wasn’t like the legends where every meal was abundant with fish and meat to waste at will. Palace maids might steal food, but they would never dare steal from the Crown Prince’s meal—that would cost them their lives.

Yun Ye’s plate was piled high, even more than Li Chengqian’s two portions combined. Needless to say, this fellow had taken his food and put it on his own plate. Feeling somewhat aggrieved yet helpless, Li Chengqian thought how if word got out that a marquis had stolen the imperial heir’s food, it would make the common people laugh themselves to death and be recorded in the annals of history as an eternal disgrace. Li Chengqian could only swallow his anger and simultaneously decided that after the meal, if Yun Ye didn’t fill his belly, he would tell Anlan that Yun Ye was actually a scoundrel.

Before they could finish eating, an attendant rushed over saying that Her Majesty had summoned the Crown Prince and the Marquis of Lantian to an audience at Ganlu Hall.

He didn’t know the reason, but Ganlu Hall was His Majesty’s study. Meeting there—wouldn’t that mean facing history’s most terrifying couple? Could it be related to that sixth-rank official Dou Zhong he had seen this morning? He wasn’t some high-ranking minister managing court affairs—he was just a minor figure drawing a salary. If there was business, they should find Fang Xuanling or Du Ruhui. Why not seek out the famous strategists known as “Fang’s Planning and Du’s Decisions” instead of making trouble for him?

Though Yun Ye grumbled inwardly, his feet dared not slow down one bit. Li Chengqian smiled cunningly as he led the way, enjoying seeing Yun Ye flustered before his father and mother.

Ganlu Hall also had a large heated platform bed. Bamboo woven mats were covered with thick felt, then two more layers of fluffy blankets. When someone sat down, they would sink halfway in. Before Li’er was a square table about one meter across with five or six dishes on it. Yun Ye found them familiar—a dish of Mao-style red braised pork, a dish of bamboo shoots with black fungus and shredded meat, a bowl of preserved vegetable pork turned upside down on a plate with the red pork skin facing up, plus a dish of soybeans stewed with pig’s trotters. But where was that beggar’s chicken? Oh no, weren’t these five of the six dishes he had carefully prepared last night? Hadn’t he sent them to Li Anlan through Ling Dang? How did they end up on Li’er’s dining table?

“Do they look somewhat familiar?” Li’er scooped up the soybeans from the pig’s trotter soup and put them in his mouth, chewing slowly. He appeared to be a true gourmet. The soybeans in pig’s trotter soup had the richest flavor, containing all the essence of the pig’s trotters. Biting into one was soft, loose, and fragrant. He immediately found the vital point and struck.

“Yesterday this subject unintentionally showed disrespect to the princess. After returning home, I was filled with regret, not knowing how to make amends. My home is bare with empty walls. Only my culinary skills are presentable, so I made a few dishes to send to Princess Anlan, hoping to appease her anger and alleviate the guilt in this subject’s heart.”

“Not bad. Your lies have standards. You’re worthy of being a disciple of an otherworldly master. You’ve cleared yourself of the crime of sending delicacies to the palace without reason, but how do you explain this?” Li’er grabbed a silver ingot from the bed platform and tossed it over—five taels, with the inscription “Yun Manor’s Secret Production” clearly discernible.

Empress Zhangsun sat beside Li’er serving him dishes, treating Yun Ye as if he didn’t exist. She picked up a chopstick-full of bamboo shoots with black fungus and shredded meat and placed it in Li’er’s rice bowl, saying, “Try this dish. It’s very chewy. In the dead of winter, he must have really searched to find fresh bamboo shoots.”

Bandits! The dishes I sent to your daughter, and I felt sorry for the rootless, defenseless eunuch and rewarded him a few taels of silver, all plundered by you husband and wife. There’s no justice! I sent food to the palace—delicious food at that—how is that breaking the law? Is there any place to reason? After a moment’s thought, this wasn’t the modern era. It seemed His Majesty Li’er’s word was the law, and right now there truly was no place to reason. He still had to explain bribing the eunuch to inquire about Li Anlan.

“This subject rose before the fourth watch this morning, fearing the princess’s blame. When I encountered the attendant leading the way, I asked a few more questions about Princess Anlan’s preferences, preparing to cater to her tastes. I didn’t expect Your Majesty’s perspicacity to see through everything. This subject’s petty thoughts cannot escape Your Majesty’s discerning eye. Please forgive me, Your Majesty.”

“Father Emperor, the Marquis of Lantian unintentionally offended Sister Anlan yesterday and has been filled with regret. Yesterday at your son’s palace he said he wanted to make amends. Inquiring about Sister’s preferences from the attendants is understandable. Please, Father Emperor, considering his sincere intentions, forgive him this once.” Li Chengqian was indeed a good brother. Though usually somewhat shameless, at critical moments, brothers were still reliable.

The two greatest landlords of the Tang Dynasty didn’t even glance at the two standing on the ground. They ate bite by bite with great satisfaction, commenting on Yun Ye’s cooking skills as they ate. Li’er seemed quite pleased with the pork, nodding continuously as he chewed a large piece of the braised pork. Seeing the atmosphere somewhat relaxed, Yun Ye boldly introduced the characteristics of each dish one by one. Empress Zhangsun listened carefully, occasionally asking a few questions. Yun Ye and Li Chengqian exchanged secret smiles—it seemed they could get through today.

“You and your master had a father-son relationship. Why did you turn his remains to ashes and scatter them in the great river, leaving descendants not even a place to pay respects?” Now well-fed, Li’er rinsed his mouth, drank a sip of tea, and asked Yun Ye.

“Dust to dust, earth to earth. From where one comes, to where one goes. My master often said that since he came into this world naked, he must leave naked. I’ve grown up, and my master’s last attachment in the mortal world is gone. This subject followed his will and returned him to heaven and earth, keeping his image in my heart.” He had prepared this answer long ago, knowing this question would come.

“That is indeed the conduct of a master—leaving cleanly and thoroughly without leaving any trouble behind. Today, you honestly tell me, what kind of existence is Bai Yujing? Will it pose a threat to my Great Tang? Now you’re also a member of the Great Tang—shared glory means shared glory, shared loss means shared loss. Answer carefully.” For the first time before Yun Ye, Li’er spoke from the position of an ally.

“Your Majesty can completely consider Bai Yujing the same as the Eastern Sea Dragon Palace or the Lingxiao Palace above the nine heavens. In this subject’s speculation, Bai Yujing is a spiritual realm, not an actual place. Someone once flew to the nine heavens, but among the white clouds they didn’t discover any immortals running about. The Queen Mother of the West’s Heavenly Lake is right on Kunlun Mountain. It takes just a few years to reach, and up there, besides ice and snow, there’s just a large lake. It’s freezing cold, you can barely breathe. This subject doesn’t believe anything can survive year-round in that environment. What ‘flowers that never wither in all four seasons’—there aren’t even a few blades of grass. Thinking about it, this subject regrets going there to play.”

Yun Ye secretly laughed to himself. Heavenly Lake—he had been to three: the volcanic lake in the northeast, Tianshan’s Heavenly Lake, and Tibet’s Heavenly Lake. Honestly, if you removed all the tourist facilities, they were purely wilderness. Climbing the mountain until his feet had no feeling, scrambling up to look at a blue lake for a moment was a huge loss. After coming down the mountain, he was still stubborn, describing the scenery to others based on his imagination with exaggerated boasting, not wanting others to have it easy since he had suffered. One of his buddies was fooled by him into going and nearly strangled him upon return. When others asked about the harvest from that trip, he described it with a face full of rapture, making Yun Ye deeply hate his own linguistic inadequacy.

The Li’er family’s three faces now wore expressions very much like his own when he couldn’t answer questions in class—bewildered, staring with ignorant eyes in a daze.

“People can fly in the sky? You’ve been to the Queen Mother of the West’s Heavenly Lake?”

Excellent. Yun Ye discovered he was a master at changing topics. He had immediately shifted from the topic of where his master went to the simple popular science question of whether people could fly. He coughed lightly twice and assumed the posture of a museum docent, making the Li family of three look at him with solemn respect.

“Has Your Majesty seen a Kongming lantern?”

“Those are for praying for blessings. Of course I’ve seen them. Talk about people flying to the sky—don’t pull in irrelevant matters.” Li’er’s face twitched somewhat.

“Your Majesty, that person flew to the sky sitting in a Kongming lantern.”

“Nonsense! Whose Kongming lantern can carry a person flying to the sky?” Li’er sprang down from the bed platform with a whoosh. His fierce gaze fixed deadly on Yun Ye. If there wasn’t a reasonable explanation, Yun Ye would die more miserably than a pig today.

“Your Majesty, please don’t be angry. Let this subject finish speaking. You see, a two-foot square Kongming lantern can carry a candle or fire cotton to high altitude, correct?”

“That’s right. Last year your son released a three-foot Kongming lantern that even carried away an oil lamp. That lamp weighed a full three taels.” Li Chengqian chimed in from the side.

“Thank you, Crown Prince. You’re quite right. Since a three-foot Kongming lantern can lift a three-tael object, wouldn’t a lantern ten times larger be able to lift ten times the weight? If you increase the fire power further, wouldn’t a thirty-foot round ball easily carry a person weighing a hundred-some catties? This subject has ridden such a thing. Below, fierce oil sprays flames, blowing hot air into the large ball. People sit in a large bamboo-woven basket, drifting with the wind in the sky. Clouds are all water vapor—passing through clouds soaks a person completely. It’s very cold up there. Even in the height of summer, you must wear fur robes to endure it. People on the ground all look ant-sized, and cities look the size of a bed table. If Your Majesty likes it, once this subject finds suitable cotton cloth, we can also make one.”

The Tang Dynasty had no synthetic fibers. He didn’t know if there was material that was strong, sealed, and fireproof.

His Majesty Li’er sat back on the bed platform cross-legged. Great waves were rising in his mind. Why? Why had no one tried such a simple thing? Since Zhuge Kongming of the Three Kingdoms invented the Kongming lantern, it had been nearly four hundred years. Hadn’t even one person thought of this? Flying to the sky! What a magnificent feat! Even if there was danger, under such enormous fame and profit temptation, wasn’t there even one death warrior? Could it really be as Cheng Yaojin said about Yun Ye—that this was an extremely clever youngster? My Great Tang didn’t lack such intelligent youths; some even surpassed Yun Ye. But why could his ingenious ideas emerge in endless succession? Simple salt-making methods, simple steel frying, simple blood-seizing life-saving, a simple iron stove that actually created an industry, simple honeycomb coal—adding yellow earth transformed it into firewood. Even today, pork, so simple that it was forgotten by Great Tang’s upper class, could be this delicious. My Great Tang has too few such simple methods. If there were a hundred Yun Yes, what would the Great Tang become? Turning the simple into the extraordinary—easy to say, difficult to do. This requires what kind of exquisite heart and liver? What kind of freak is this!

Li’er was greatly shaken. The haughty character cultivated over many years suffered complete defeat before Yun Ye. He had no mind to pursue Yun Ye’s matter of bribing attendants, nor to pursue Yun Ye’s intention to court his daughter. Now he only wanted to quietly sort out his thoughts and re-establish his lofty mentality. Without this mentality, one couldn’t be a good emperor. He waved his hand for Yun Ye and the Crown Prince to withdraw, then lay on the bed platform without saying a word.

Empress Zhangsun had watched the entire scene. She gently massaged Li’er’s temples, waiting for her husband to clear his thoughts and transform back into the supreme sovereign.

“Guanyin Bi, where exactly did we go wrong? Are we too stupid, or is this youngster too clever?” Li’er asked the empress in bewilderment.

“Second Brother, you’re thinking incorrectly. That youngster grew up among a group of strange people—or perhaps one should say he grew up among a group of masters. He’s well-traveled and knowledgeable. Moreover, the education he received from childhood was completely different from Chengqian and the others. According to Cheng Yaojin, what he studied included not only mathematics but also investigation of things, which he calls physics, and geometry, plus several subjects that even your consort doesn’t understand. Even nonsensical talk is part of his curriculum. Having thoughts that exceed ordinary people is not surprising. However, your consort is not at all worried he’ll step out of line.”

The empress’s words revitalized Li’er, who said through gritted teeth: “Youngster, if you want to marry my daughter, it’s not that simple.”