His buttocks hurt terribly where she bit him. She was biting with deadly force—utterly unreasonable. He finally managed to push her head away, and Yun Ye’s buttocks began bleeding. Li Anlan very calmly wiped away the blood traces for him and applied medicine, seeming to even appreciate it. There was definitely a tooth mark on his buttocks. When he went back tonight, how would he explain this? This woman had done it deliberately, damn it.
Her father had just beaten his buttocks into a bloody mess, and she came up to leave her mark. Not one of the Li family members was any good. Li Chengqian didn’t appear either. How were he and Old He supposed to go home looking like ghosts? Were they just left here to dry with no one caring? The surroundings were frighteningly quiet—even the cicadas had stopped calling.
“I’m very afraid of you Li family people now. I’ve decided that after returning this time, I’ll never come out from Yushan again. Whether it’s good deeds or bad deeds, as long as there’s even half a connection with your family, things become different. I’m always the one who ends up wronged. I kindly offer you strategies and advice, yet you have the heart to bite me. Not to mention today’s unjust beating. If you stay far away from me, I’ll live more comfortably. If I stay far from your Imperial Father and Mother Empress, I can live to be a hundred years old.”
Li Anlan seemed somewhat sad, lowering her head and saying to Yun Ye: “All these grand plans of yours are for your son’s sake, aren’t they? All of this is preparation made for him. You’re planning these things so early. Under such difficult pioneering conditions, it will take at least a decade or more to see results. I’m just the best choice to clear away the thorns for your son and lay a good foundation, right?”
Yun Ye stood up. With Li Anlan’s help, he pulled up his pants and walked a couple of steps. Seeing there wasn’t a single outsider in the courtyard, he said: “I’m his father, you’re his mother. Even if there’s only a relationship of interests between us, as a mother, what’s wrong with paving the way for your own child? The Great Tang needs to develop the south. After thousands of years of cultivation, the land in the north has become extremely barren. Only by turning our sights to the south and managing it well is the correct principle. The land there is fertile, resources abundant, great rivers and waterways crisscross it, the climate is warm—it’s the best gift Heaven has bestowed upon our Great Tang. Believe me, if that land is managed well, benefiting descendants for ten thousand years is no problem.”
“Put away your petty thoughts. You’re a descendant of the Li clan. These matters are your responsibility and also your mission. Do you think I’m doing this for our child?”
“You underestimate me, Yun Ye, too much. I’m the Marquis of Lantian of the Great Tang. Although my stipend is so meager it infuriates me, I still understand the principle of receiving the ruler’s salary and sharing the ruler’s worries. The Great Tang is now continuously expanding its territory westward and northward. The root problem lies in the equal-field system. Once the realm recovers peace, the population will surge. Farmland is limited. This way, the equal-field system that established such great merit in winning the realm for the Great Tang will collapse.”
“His Majesty has far-reaching vision and sees the crisis, which is why there’s the matter of sending troops to the grasslands. My联络 this time with the imperial family, great clans, and major households is to prevent them from fixing their eyes on northern lands. His Majesty is striving to reduce noble ranks—the reason is that great clans and major households occupy too much farmland. If this continues, land annexation will be unstoppable. In a hundred years or so, a crisis for the dynasty will appear—an unsolvable crisis at that.”
“You only want to fix your sights on that eight-hundred-li of barren land. Have you never considered the entire imperial court?”
Yun Ye’s gaze was as cold as ice. Li Anlan guiltily lowered her head, then suddenly raised her neck again. Her eyes were full of helplessness and sorrow. Yun Ye really wanted to laugh, but his face twitched and he couldn’t laugh.
Not knowing how much time passed, the cicadas outside the wall began calling again. Yun Ye sat down weakly, but immediately jumped up again. The injury to his buttocks seemed to have worsened. Just now, with the slightest carelessness, it would have been a crisis of family extermination. Having endured through that period, he only felt a wave of exhaustion like losing all strength.
“You knew everything?” Li Anlan asked Yun Ye.
“I knew when you bit me. Plus the cicadas stopped calling. If I still couldn’t guess, I’d deserve to die. His Majesty has never abandoned his vigilance toward me. No matter what I do, that emperor’s cold heart won’t melt even half a bit.”
“Will you still help me?” Li Anlan faced Yun Ye with a bitter smile.
“The plan won’t change. It’s just we won’t be able to reap so many benefits anymore. It looks like His Majesty is going to intervene. Once he intervenes, things will become ten times more complex. The future will be filled with uncertainty. Dragons actually excel more at destruction than construction.”
Li Anlan gently embraced Yun Ye in her arms. She wasn’t as tall as him and stood on tiptoes, kissing him on the lips once, then said: “You’re the best man under heaven—the smartest, kindest, and also the bravest man. This body of mine belongs to you. Others aren’t worthy to possess it. If you want it, it’s yours.”
Her voice trembled. She grabbed Yun Ye’s hand and placed it on her chest, letting Yun Ye feel her intense heartbeat. After pausing a moment, she left hastily with tears in her eyes. Presumably Li Er still wanted to question her. Some words Li Er might not have heard clearly from outside the wall.
Yun Ye went into the room, woke the sleeping He Shao, shouldered him, and walked out with difficulty. He Shao forcibly endured the pain, his face twisted quite hideously. He suddenly said: “Ye Zi, I saw when the Princess kissed your buttocks just now.”
Sleazy people are forever sleazy. Speaking of this matter, he immediately forgot the pain, completely immersed in the ocean of gossip beyond extraction. The Princess kissing buttocks—only he knew about such an explosive matter. Just thinking about it made one’s blood surge.
Yun Ye couldn’t tell Old He that Li Anlan had deliberately bitten him once to remind Yun Ye. That way, the timid Old He would be scared to death. Thinking about it, he should tell Old He about Li Anlan’s pregnancy, let him know that his large investment in Lingnan had a foundation, wasn’t just thrown in water to hear a splash.
“Ye Zi, I suppose the child in the Princess’s belly is also your handiwork. I thought so—why throw large sums of money into that godforsaken place in Lingnan where birds don’t lay eggs? If we brothers wanted to get rich, we’d just need to build a few more houses. Why work so hard, going so far, and still difficult to control? Now I understand. Turns out it’s paving the way for the eldest young master. Now there’s a source. With the eldest young master there, I’ll also get my second son over there. In the future when the eldest young master grows up, he’ll have a helper, right?”
Yun Ye looked at Old He in shock. How did this bastard know Li Anlan was pregnant? Kissing buttocks couldn’t get someone pregnant. He Shao glanced at Yun Ye and laughed: “What are you looking at? Did you forget what your brother used to do? Manager of the Jiaofang Bureau. All day long I watched for changes in women’s bodies. Pregnancy is a major incident—how could I not pay attention? I’ve long since developed the skill. The Princess has been pregnant for at least two months. There’s an eighty percent chance it’s a male fetus. Your Yun family finally has an heir. Does your brother need to use some little tricks to switch the child out for you? Following the Princess would be wasting your good seed, wouldn’t it?”
“No need. Just let him follow the Princess. Otherwise, a crazed lone woman will ruin things.” Yun Ye continued shouldering Old He and walking out. Right now his single-minded focus was just to leave the palace.
A palace attendant finally appeared and said to Yun Ye: “His Majesty summons Marquis Yun for an audience.” After speaking, four eunuchs took a soft carrier and lifted the two men to Ganlu Hall. Old He was placed under the corridor outside the hall entrance. Yun Ye was helped down and went limping to see the Emperor. He had a feeling of being fried in a wok. Li Anlan’s matter ultimately hadn’t escaped Li Er’s notice.
In the great hall were only the imperial couple and the Crown Prince. Other attending eunuchs and palace maids were nowhere to be seen. Nothing to say—caught red-handed. What was there to explain? Just obediently listen to what they had to say.
“Yun Ye, Shouyang is pregnant. You tell Us—who did this? Whose seed is the child in Shouyang’s belly? The black monkeys of Lingnan probably can’t catch Shouyang’s eye.” Li Er was smiling, just smiling sinisterly. The temperature in the great hall seemed to have dropped several degrees.
“This subject is terrified. I’m afraid it’s this humble subject’s.” Yun Ye prostrated on the ground and answered in a muffled voice.
“Mm, you still have some responsibility. Not making excuses, not shirking—that counts as being a man. But where do you place the imperial family’s reputation?” Seeing Yun Ye admit it, Li Er’s voice immediately grew louder.
Reputation? Yun Ye muttered in his heart. Has your Li family ever had such a thing? Ever since you killed off your older brother and younger brother, forced your father into the rear palace, then brought your sister-in-law and younger brother’s wife into your own consort group, these two words have probably been incompatible with your Li family. You still have the face to ask me?
“This subject knows I deserve ten thousand deaths. I ask Your Majesty to impose punishment.” Nothing good to say. Li Er just wanted to force him to admit his mistake, to grasp a big handle. Otherwise, with such a huge commotion in Lingnan, he couldn’t feel at ease.
“Ravishing a princess—what great audacity you have!” Zhangsun was also using the emperor’s authority to intimidate from the side.
Toward the Empress, Yun Ye found it very difficult to develop any sense of fear. Hearing her reverse black and white and disregard facts, he couldn’t help but speak in defense: “Your Majesty, this statement works when reversed too.”
Li Chengqian’s face turned bright red holding it in. He wanted to laugh but didn’t dare. Imperial Father and Mother Empress never planned to do anything to Yun Ye. Today Imperial Father took the opportunity to beat Yun Ye severely. Mother Empress even said the beating was too heavy. Offending imperial dignity—just beating He Shao alone would have been enough. The Crown Prince and Yun Ye just needed a lesson. There was no need to beat Yun Ye too. It would wound his heart.
Li Er’s face immediately turned purple. Zhangsun didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. They had long been clear about the course of events. If Yun Ye truly dared ravish a princess, even if he were an important minister, Li Er would not be lenient in chopping off heads. Not one person in the entire Yun family household would live.
“We don’t care. You’ve ruined Anlan’s body, so you must marry her. Right now, divorce your first wife and marry Anlan through the door. Moreover, your Yun family line has a single thread of succession. Now that there’s an heir, it’s also a joyous matter. How about it?”
Really looked down on Li Er. Just say the main point directly—wouldn’t that be fine? Don’t you just want to expand the imperial family’s share in Lingnan a bit? Do you need to pressure people like this? If I agreed in one breath to marry Li Anlan home, then you’d have no show to perform. No choice—you’re the emperor. The play must still be performed with him. In Yun Ye’s heart, countless American sheep had already stampeded past, yet he displayed an appearance of upright righteousness.
“Your Majesty, you might as well behead me. Don’t even mention the matter of divorcing my wife.” Once the words were spoken, Li Er and Zhangsun both actually breathed a sigh of relief. They didn’t worry about Li Anlan’s marriage. What they cared about was Lingnan’s long-term peace and stability. One must know that even Li Er himself had no way to twist the power of Chang’an’s meritorious nobles into a single rope, to willingly spend money sending their own elite troops to that savage land.
Only Yun Ye used interests to unite everyone. Only this way could he pose a threat to Feng Ang, that King of Lingnan. Only then could Lingnan truly become solid ground on the Great Tang’s territorial map.