On the main street, Li Er observed vendors, beggars, scholars, and nobles. He even followed a monk carrying an alms bowl to watch him beg for alms from house to house.

The monk was already very old, with his ordination certificate hanging on his chest, proving he was a genuine monk. He wanted to build a small temple. The people of Yuezhou seemed to respect this old monk greatly. Every household would have its master come out to place two copper coins in his bowl, and some women would also give him rice balls or dry rations. The old monk would sincerely thank everyone who gave alms. From one end of the street to the other, his bowl had filled with copper coins. The old monk stopped begging for alms and handed the bowl full of copper coins to the proprietor of a timber shop. He then asked for a bowl of water and sat under the eaves eating the dry rations given by the benefactors. His long life-extending eyebrows danced in the wind, his expression satisfied and serene.

“Master, you must surely be an eminent monk of the Way. Why do such demeaning things?” Li Er walked up and asked the old monk.

“Demeaning? Why does this old monk not know of this? On this street, one hundred and twenty-five households each gave this old monk alms of two copper coins, making a good karmic connection. Each person wishes for this old monk to complete the temple construction soon. This old monk gathers these good karmic connections together to make them become a hall that can calm the spirit and guard the heart. How can there be any talk of demeaning?”

Li Er did not argue. From his sleeve, he took out two gold coins and placed them in the old monk’s bowl. The old monk smiled and returned the gold coins to Li Er, saying, “Yuezhou is prosperous. Gold coins are not lacking here. What this old monk collects is not gold coins but great aspirations. The reason deities and Buddha are efficacious is because they rely on the aspiration power of faithful believers to bestow blessings in all directions. This benefactor has no love for Buddhism and has no ghosts or gods in his heart. These two gold coins are merely gold coins—gold coins unaccompanied by good thoughts do temples more harm than good. Benefactor, please take them back.”

The old monk perhaps felt tired. He sat down again, took out a rice ball, and continued eating his lunch.

“I give you gold coins, so you must take them. Giving you gold coins is my greatest good thought. Whether you’re willing or not, you must use these two gold coins to purchase beams and pillars for the temple. My words cannot be disobeyed.”

The old monk looked up and examined Li Er, then looked at Duan Hong and the indistinct guards in the distance. He sighed, took the gold coins from Li Er’s hands again, pressed his palms together, and said, “Amitabha Buddha, may all sins and transgressions fall upon my body.” After speaking, he shouldered his cloth bag, took his alms bowl, and left this street.

“Order—order is very important! No matter what methods you use to promote your doctrines, you must observe order. You cannot do as you please while embracing the reputation of benevolence. And this thing called order needs to be established by me. Only I can collect money from the common people!”

Hearing Li Er’s words, Duan Hong felt very strange. He didn’t understand why His Majesty wanted to bully a kindly old monk. This old monk must be very extraordinary. Though his own body was full of murderous energy, being near the old monk felt very comfortable, like bathing in spring breeze. Duan Hong didn’t understand Buddhist teachings, but he knew that without truly compassionate heart, one couldn’t give him such a feeling.

Li Er laughed cheerfully, like a child whose prank had succeeded. He slapped down another gold coin at a small stall and ate a bowl of tofu pudding, completely ignoring whether the small vendor could make change. He told the vendor he wanted the change before finishing eating. If there was no change, don’t blame him for eating for free.

The vendor’s and other customers’ contemptuous gazes made Duan Hong want to crawl into a crack in the ground. Li Er didn’t care though. He ate his tofu pudding in big mouthfuls, constantly praising how good it tasted.

Only after Li Er finished the tofu pudding did he ask for his change. He saw the vendor bring out a large basket from under the table. The basket was full of copper coins of various denominations. The vendor specifically looked for the smallest denomination copper coins. When there really weren’t any of the smallest ones left, only then would he take coins of slightly larger denominations. In a short while, he counted out quite a large pile.

Li Er’s whole person looked too impressive to provoke, but toward Duan Hong, the vendor was impolite. He had Duan Hong lift the hem of his robe, and with a crash, poured those copper coins onto the robe Duan Hong held up like a bag. His mouth also said, “There are many noble people in Yuezhou city. Those who honor my small stall by eating a bowl of tender tofu are not few. Having no copper coins and eating a bowl for free is also a common occurrence. Consider it me, Zeng Daniu, treating distinguished guests from afar. One gold coin doesn’t count as much money. This is your change—hold it well. If you later discover you’re short one or two coins, come find Zeng Daniu. I’ll make it up to you.”

Duan Hong’s nose nearly twisted with anger. Although he was a eunuch, this was the first time an outsider had pointed at his nose and lectured him like this. He looked back at Li Er—as long as His Majesty’s expression showed the slightest displeasure, he was prepared to stuff all these copper coins into this Zeng Daniu’s belly to let him know that the master cannot be belittled.

Li Er wasn’t angry. He became even more cheerful. He beckoned to Duan Hong, and the master and servant departed amidst roaring laughter. Duan Hong wished he could throw away all those copper coins—it was too humiliating.

Li Er at this moment seemed to finally have gained interest in strolling the streets. Along the way, he purchased many things. Three guards’ bodies were hung full of items. The copper coins bundled in Duan Hong’s robe still had half remaining. Finally seeing someone selling bags, Duan Hong put all the copper coins in a bag and carried it on his shoulder.

Buying kites, buying clay figurines, buying baby whistles, buying pinwheels—he even bought two bamboo hobby horses. All these were fine, but what was he doing drilling into shops where women entered and exited? The shop entrance clearly stated “This shop only serves women.” Li Er seemed not to see it and insisted on walking in. A female shop assistant was about to stop him when two burly men carried her to a corner.

Only after Li Er walked into the shop did he discover that the shelves were hung full of belly warmers and other items, as well as other strange and peculiar items—all women’s intimate articles. He touched his nose and prepared to leave, when he was squeezed out of the shop door by some shrieking women. When the female proprietor raised her broom preparing to chase people away, Li Er and Duan Hong had already disappeared into the alley.

In the depths of dense shade, there were residences. The huge two characters “Yun Residence” on the gate’s lintel made Li Er happy again. Seeing the main gate tightly closed with not even a servant on duty in front, he extended his finger toward Duan Hong.

Having held a bellyful of anger, Duan Hong would not let this good opportunity to vent pass. With one kick, he smashed open the main gate. The arm-thick door bolt broke into two sections. Dongyu, the man-bear, and Butler Old Zhao were drinking and chatting in the gatehouse. Seeing someone attack the gate, they were immediately enraged. Just as they came out the door, they saw Li Er and quickly prostrated themselves on the ground, not daring to move.

“Where is Yun Ye? Take me there. If anyone dares to report the news, I’ll break his dog legs!” Li Er walked straight inside. Butler Old Zhao hurriedly led the way. The Marquis and the Prince of Wei were drinking in the back garden.

“You said before that making a huge round ball and continuously blowing hot air into it could carry people flying—it’s the same principle as Kong Ming lanterns. After we return to the capital, let’s start working on it. Wanting to fly under our own power is still very difficult. First making something that can fly to play with isn’t bad either.” Li Tai, wearing only shorts, lay on a reclining chair and said to Yun Ye.

“That’s natural. After returning to the capital and finishing Xiao Ya’s marriage, I estimate I won’t have much else to do. We’ll pass a few leisurely days in carefree ease. His Majesty is busy reading books right now, so he probably won’t have time to find fault with me. However many days of leisure I can get are all gains. I’ve long been drooling over the imperial hunting grounds in Nanshan. When shall we go hunting?”

“It’s still early. Right now, the game in the hunting grounds all have young. It’s not the time for hunting. If you want to hunt, wait until deep autumn—that’s when it’s good hunting time. Autumn hunting takes a whole month! There’ll be plenty for you to play with. First you tell me—you all presented so many good books, could it be you planned to trap me in the study so you could pass leisurely days? Tell the truth—am I very annoying?” Li Er sat very inelegantly on the small table between the two reclining chairs, looking down at Yun Ye and Li Tai from his superior position.

“Don’t get up. Just answer like this. Don’t use your mind. Once you use your mind to answer, the answer changes. Hurry up—yes or no? You all are just annoyed that I point fingers and give orders from above, aren’t you?”

“No, we didn’t have that intention. Your Majesty is a rare talent under heaven. You’ll quickly finish those few books. We subjects and others have researched for a long time but haven’t found a path suitable for the Great Tang’s future. We can only place our hopes in Your Majesty, hoping Your Majesty can take the strengths of all schools and finally find this path.”

Li Er’s eyes stared at Yun Ye like an eagle, watching until Yun Ye felt very uncomfortable. He shrank his body down and stammered out the reason he had long ago prepared.

“Bullshit! Today I’ve been looked down upon all day. Giving gold coins to a monk, I was looked down upon. Giving gold coins to a vendor, I was also looked down upon. Entering a shop, I was chased out by the female proprietor with a broom. Now you also plan to look down on me? The monk is a person outside the mundane world—what he said made sense. I can’t quibble with him. The vendor looking down on me was my own doing—that doesn’t count. That female proprietor’s place wasn’t suitable for men to enter and exit. Being chased out with a broom was also reasonable. If you can’t explain things properly, you watch how I’ll deal with you. If you don’t answer well, my autumn hunt prey will be you!”

Yun Ye inwardly cried out in distress. Li Er was naturally petty-minded. Today he didn’t know what madness possessed him. It was estimated he just wanted to see the common people’s various states. After viewing vendors, monks, and women, now it was time to look at nobles like himself. He didn’t know what he saw in others or what he wanted to see in himself. Forget it, don’t think about it—talk scholarship with him.

“The venerable Master Yan Zhitui proclaims the theory of three grades of human nature. He divides human nature into three levels: the supremely wise, the basely foolish, and the mediocre. He says the supremely wise become accomplished without teaching, the basely foolish gain no benefit even with teaching, and mediocre people, if not taught, do not know.”

“He also says Your Majesty is a supremely wise person, a naturally gifted talent who knows without learning and understands without teaching. This humble subject disagrees with this view. Knowledge comes from accumulation and precipitation.”

“In Your Majesty’s early years, campaigning north and south, you saw all worldly conditions. Therefore, in doing things, you could often fit the needs of the common people. The laws you formulated would naturally be implemented without error. But in these past dozen or more years, Your Majesty has remained in Chang’an all along. A palace wall divides Your Majesty from the common people. The common people you know all remain only in memorials or in intelligence reports.”

“Memorials and intelligence reports are insufficient to tell Your Majesty what kind of ‘three changes daily’ era today’s world has become. If you formulate present-day laws for the common people based on former conditions of the common people, there will inevitably be gaps and oversights.”

“But Your Majesty is the ruler of a nation and cannot appear in the marketplace all day long. Therefore, we subjects and others compiled our insights into volumes and presented them to Your Majesty, wanting to let Your Majesty see a true Great Tang. We have no second intentions!”