In the small side hall, only Yun Ye knelt sitting on a mat. Inside the hall it was utterly quiet. The serving palace maids had long since withdrawn. After even the water in his cup was finished, still no one came. Just as he was about to go to the doorway to look, he heard the clattering sound of armor scales striking together.

Li Er, clad entirely in armor, was imposingly majestic with the bearing of a dragon and stride of a tiger. He wore pale golden bright-polished armor, gripping a sword in his hand, his helmet tucked under his arm. The two bright chest mirrors on his front reflected dazzling light, making him look like a deity descended from heaven.

This was the true Li Er—an invincible commander who had never known defeat in battle or failed to capture any objective. No longer was he that scoundrel uncle who always kicked his backside from behind.

Having just finished praising him, Yun Ye immediately regretted it.

With a wave of Li Er’s hand, four or five eunuchs immediately stripped off Yun Ye’s outer robe, leaving only his undergarment. They swiftly found a set of black armor from who knows where and dressed him in it quickly and efficiently, even changing the boots on his feet to war boots studded with iron plates.

A sheathed longsword flew through the air. Yun Ye caught it bewilderedly, looking at Li Er without understanding.

The eunuchs in the hall bowed and shuffled backward out of the room. With a creaking sound, the hall doors closed.

Sunlight streaming through the window lattice scattered into the hall, the light beam dividing the floor in two. Li Er slowly drew his longsword. The blade was like a pool of clear water. The sword tip pointed toward Yun Ye as a hoarse voice rang out: “I know you have many grievances and much rage to release. I’m giving you this opportunity. In this side hall, there are only the two of us. You may use the sword in your hand to attack me as you please. No one will blame you, even if you wound me.”

Li Er’s eyes held no emotional coloring whatsoever, yet the words from his mouth struck like a thunderclap on Yun Ye’s head. His ears filled with a buzzing sound. He swayed, then struggled to stand straight, staring directly at Li Er, wanting him to confirm.

“Come on. I’m waiting for you. I’ll let you have three moves. Whether you can vent the resentment in your chest depends on your own ability.”

Yun Ye tore a strip of cloth from the clothes on the ground and carefully bound the sword hilt to his hand, using his teeth to tie a dead knot. In his eyes burned only raging fury. The locusts dancing through the sky, the farmers’ mournful pleas, the sounds of weeping across the land of Guanzhong all seemed to urge him to act. In this instant, he forgot that standing before him was the Emperor of the Great Tang. He only saw that the person before him was the manipulator and exploiter of Guanzhong’s locust disaster. Even knowing he couldn’t win, even if he had to crawl, he would give him a lesson.

A look of approval floated across Li Er’s face. Not many people had the courage to grip a sword before him, let alone bind the sword to their hand. This clearly meant fighting to the death. The pent-up anger in this boy’s heart was considerable.

After bowing to Li Er, Yun Ye held up the longsword in his hand level and with a great shout stabbed toward Li Er’s arm. Li Er slightly shifted his body. The sword spine slid along his armor. Taking advantage of the momentum, he reached out and lightly pressed on Yun Ye’s shoulder. Yun Ye’s body flew out and fell heavily to the ground. Rolling once, he stood up again and yelled as he swung the sword to slash at Li Er.

Li Er’s brow furrowed as he said: “Boy, the sword is for thrusting, not slashing. This way you lose the essential spirit of the sword’s light agility. How has Zhijie been teaching you?”

“I don’t care! You made a mistake, so I just want to slash you once. You let the locusts run wild and brought tremendous trouble. All of Guanzhong is crying. What do we do now? There are so many locusts we can’t catch them all. Without food to eat, people will die!”

Li Er helplessly used his sword sheath to continuously parry the wild slashes Yun Ye hacked at him. Once he got close, he would kick him into a tumble.

Yun Ye’s face covered in dust, he clung stubbornly. Li Er couldn’t use lethal force, so he could only wait for him to tire before stopping.

Rather than saying Yun Ye was sparring with Li Er, it would be better to say he was venting. Whether he hit or missed didn’t matter—as long as he slashed, his heart felt better.

He was like an enraged bull, madly circling around Li Er. But ah, the difference in skill couldn’t be made up for by madness alone.

After slashing for a full incense stick’s worth of time, Yun Ye’s last bit of strength was exhausted. Li Er gave him a light push and he sprawled on his back on the ground, gasping for breath, sweat streaming down his face.

Li Er stood above his head and asked mockingly: “You are the most desperate person I’ve ever seen, and also the least skilled at being desperate. The sword is wasted in your hands. I should have given you a knife or an axe—hacking and chopping would be more spirited.”

“Such a pity about my Yaoguang treasure sword.” After speaking, the sword in his hand left its sheath. He made several cuts on Yun Ye’s hand, then with a light flick, the sword in Yun Ye’s hand flew up. He caught the sword and sat on his helmet, bending down to look at Yun Ye.

“Since I began leading troops, I have lived constantly in one conspiracy after another. I have never feared enemies on the front. Even facing Dou Jiande’s hundred-thousand-strong army, didn’t I still charge in and out three times with just a hundred cavalry? Therefore, enemies in the open aren’t frightening. What’s frightening are the venomous snakes behind you. They watch you constantly, and as soon as I show the slightest negligence, I will lose everything.”

“I cannot afford to lose. If I lose even once, the Empress you’re familiar with, the Crown Prince, Qingque, and Ake—they will all lose their lives. You gave me an opportunity. With such an opportunity, how could I not seize it? Now it’s nothing much—isn’t it just twenty-seven provinces? I don’t believe my Great Tang can’t endure it. Don’t you agree?”

“Of course we’ll endure. I’m just worried about the great epidemic after the great disaster. That’s more frightening than the locust plague.”

“You underestimate my officials. They are all people who survived the chaos of war—would they have no preparations? As long as corpses are buried early and not left exposed in the wilderness, there won’t be major problems. I’m asking you now—can locusts really be eaten?”

“Of course they can be eaten, and they’re quite delicious. This subject can make you a plate.”

“Is there any subject who grabs a sword and slashes at the Emperor like a madman? If it were anyone else, they’d have died eighty times over. Yet you’re still calculating in your heart about making me look foolish. Boy, those tricks of yours are all ones I’ve played before. Don’t bring them out to embarrass yourself. Although you don’t have the ability, you still count as having slashed at me—the first person under heaven to do so! Now between us as ruler and subject, neither owes the other. Let’s start fresh. If you have merit, I will reward you. If you have fault, I will punish you.” After finishing, a smile actually appeared on his face, and he walked away at leisure with his hands behind his back.

Yun Ye let out a long breath. Finally, he had endured through this performance. Just now, using his maximum ability to attack the Emperor had achieved good results. If he had put on a frightened and anxious appearance, things wouldn’t have passed so easily. He just hadn’t expected it would end up being a real fight with real weapons.

Ha! He had shown Li Er his weakest side—hysterical venting. Li Er would think he was just a hot-blooded, impulsive youth with no need to guard against. With previous merits as foundation, the Emperor wouldn’t do anything to him. Li Er would think everything was still under his control. If he had displayed maturity beyond his years, great disaster wouldn’t be far off.

Li Gang’s education about the imperial court still proved very useful. He should go back and thank the old man.

Changing to a more comfortable position, he lay there a bit longer. He had truly tired himself out just now—his hands and feet weren’t obeying him.

Since even Li Er wasn’t worried about the locust disaster, what did he have to worry about?