Takayama Yoko gently caressed the painting, pointing at the man in blue robes and saying to Gae Suwen: “This man often appears in my dreams. Every time, he violates me in the most vile, most shameless ways, leaving me unable to live yet unable to die. Last night, I dreamed of him again. He was biting a piece of my flesh in his mouth while smiling at me. Thinking of it now, my chest still aches unbearably. Do you want to see the bite marks he left?”
Gae Suwen glanced at the portrait. As if he hadn’t heard Takayama Yoko’s words, he said to himself: “That means you were defeated at this man’s hands, correct? I’m not surprised in the slightest. This is a demon. Bringing you terrifying nightmares is his specialty. Neither of us has the capital to oppose him in Chang’an. If we join forces, there might be a possibility.”
“Ronghua is still in his hands. What can you do? I know about your accusations in court. So what? He’s the victor of war. As far as I know, in the Tang nation, victors have no crimes.”
“In almost all nations, victors have no crimes. But profaning royal authority is a crime. I’ve read this nation’s history books. Those who profane royal authority never meet good ends. Ronghua is a queen consort. Even if profaned, only the Emperor can profane her. Yun Ye isn’t qualified.”
Takayama Yoko looked at the scroll again, slowly rolling it up and placing it back in the box. With a charming laugh she said: “Although I didn’t achieve the goal of displaying the national prestige of the Land of the Rising Sun, bearing humiliation has yielded some harvest. People with firm will who aren’t susceptible to enchantment are always in the minority. Through exchanges with the powerful and noble these days, envoys to Tang have been permitted to study in the Tang nation. Of course, Yushan Academy is under Yun Ye’s control, and he still won’t allow students from our nation to enter. Do you have any solution?”
“Yun Ye’s position in this nation is very special. His status lies between imperial retainer and nobility. His influence on the Empress and Crown Prince is great. Your wish cannot be achieved. If one day he abnormally agrees, the lives of your envoys to Tang will definitely be in danger. I dare guarantee they definitely won’t live to bring their knowledge back to Wa.”
“Only by defeating him, killing him, can we each achieve our respective goals. The hundred thousand wronged souls of Korea are all urgently wanting to drag him into hell. Only when he’s dead, when you sleep holding his severed head, can you be rescued from your nightmares.”
“I stole your nation’s gold. You should know about this, right?”
“Compared to Korea’s dignity, a hundred thousand taels of gold is insignificant. Afterward, I’ll ask you for an explanation. Currently, joining forces to deal with Yun Ye is what we should be doing.”
“I’m a woman. Apart from my body, I have nothing. Do you want it?”
“Yun Ye can disregard your beauty, and so can I. Just lend me your warriors. If you can lend me the eunuch at your side, I’d be extremely grateful.”
“What do you want to do? Kill him? This is Chang’an. Once exposed, we’ll die without a burial place. Though I hate Yun Ye, I haven’t reached the point of mutual destruction, and I believe you don’t have such plans either. Tell me your plan. The reason better be compelling. For instance, the reason of White Jade Capital is very good. The key is in Yun Ye’s hands. If it’s for this thing, all my subordinates are at your disposal. Perhaps I’ll even take action personally.”
Gae Suwen raised his head to look at the ceiling for a while, then nodded. His most important task on this trip was obtaining the jade token. He’d originally thought to complete it quietly, never expecting Takayama Yoko would also know about it and directly broach the topic, forcing him into a corner.
“Very well. We both want to know the secret of White Jade Capital. With just our own strength, there’s no way to achieve our goal. The two families joining forces gives us a greater chance of success. It’s settled then. White Jade Capital isn’t treasure—it’s a mysterious place. I think adding one more person to enter isn’t impossible.”
Having made the agreement, Gae Suwen rose to take his leave. He didn’t even glance at the languid posture Takayama Yoko assumed, making her grind her silver teeth audibly in hatred.
When the sky had just revealed its fish-belly white, Yun Ye arrived at Vermillion Bird Gate. Behind him followed two carriages—one with iron bars appeared extremely heavy, while the other was a fragrant carriage with oil-green cloth. The horses pulling the carriages were pure white.
Such a strange combination immediately attracted others’ attention. Li Xiaogong walked over, tapping the iron bars with his audience tablet and asking Yun Ye: “Boy, what’s in here?”
“Uncle Li, inside is an eagle shooter. Originally his skills were unpracticed—his archery was unwatchable. After this junior captured this fellow on the battlefield, I cut off one of his arms and replaced it with the Academy’s latest invention. This way, when shooting arrows, he can hit every target without fail. With a five-stone powerful bow, he can shoot fifty arrows consecutively and still have energy to spare.”
“Really? Is this true?” Li Xiaogong’s interest greatly increased. He wanted to lift the carriage curtain to look, but was stopped by Yun Ye.
“This is this junior’s birthday gift for His Majesty. It’s improper to look now. We can look after arriving at the palace—it won’t be too late.”
Li Xiaogong nodded, then pointed at the fragrant carriage and asked: “Is that the Korean King’s consort inside? Boy, you didn’t take her for yourself, did you?”
“This junior doesn’t have such great interest in a Korean woman. But unfortunately, that Korean woman happened to fall in love with a servant in my household. There was nothing I could do.”
“The Korean King’s consort fell in love with a servant in your household?” Li Xiaogong swallowed and asked with difficulty.
“That’s right. Who else could a Korean woman fall in love with if not a servant? Didn’t the Silla maidservants in Your Grace’s mansion all eventually marry servants? What’s so strange about it?”
Imperial dignity was a strange thing. If nobles and ministers offended it, that was a grave crime. But if common people or even servants offended it, it didn’t count as anything. It was as if pearls crushed into mud were no longer pearls. What the ministers cared about was whether Yun Ye had taken this woman. If a servant had taken her, that was the Koreans willingly degrading themselves, which had nothing to do with imperial dignity.
Yun Ye deliberately placed the noble woman together with lowly servants. No matter who it was, they would only find it laughable rather than improper. What could most defile and harm nobility was precisely lowliness.
Gae Suwen arrived, wearing Korean official robes with wide sleeves, a tall hat on his head, and holding an audience tablet in his hands. His bearing was dignified—truly the manner of a famous scholar.
From afar, Yun Ye shouted loudly: “Brother Suwen, not having seen you for many days, is your health well?”
“Marquis Yun, parting in Korea, I didn’t expect it’s already been half a year. Yuan Gae Suwen hasn’t dared forget Marquis Yun’s great kindness for even a day. After handling trivial matters, Yuan Gae Suwen rode hard day and night, all to see Marquis Yun early and fulfill my wish.”
“If that’s so, brother, I must criticize Brother Suwen. Why did you leave without notice that day? The spring tides at sea are cold and gloomy—this younger brother worried about Brother Suwen for quite a while. Having arrived in Chang’an, you also didn’t come to my humble dwelling to gather. This is your fault.”
“If you’re a man, return Ronghua to me. We’ll have a decisive battle fair and square.”
“It’s not that I won’t return her to you. Ronghua has already married someone else. Her belly is already big now. In another half year she should give birth. Even if I gave her to you, you wouldn’t want her.”
“You so abuse a woman—I want to kill you!” Gae Suwen’s face turned iron blue, his ten fingers like hooks. He lunged forward wanting to strangle Yun Ye alive. However, a eunuch appeared between the two men. Without seeming to move much, Gae Suwen was immediately flung out, prostrate on the ground, gasping roughly while glaring at Yun Ye.
“No clamoring before Vermillion Bird Gate. As an envoy, don’t you even understand this basic etiquette?” Duan Hong rebuked Gae Suwen with a stern face.
“Marquis Yun, where is the gift you’re presenting to His Majesty? Just hand it over to this servant.” The face-changing Duan Hong smiled again while speaking to Yun Ye.
Liu Jinbao, driving the carriage, chuckled and opened the carriage door. With a tug on the iron chain in his hands, an iron-armored figure of great height and build appeared before everyone. His entire body was covered in black iron armor, a fierce ghost mask hanging on his face. His left hand had become a giant bow. His joints were covered with iron spikes. Even his forehead had an iron spike gleaming coldly. On his back was a specially made quiver filled with densely packed arrows with black tail feathers. With every step he took, they rustled. The earth itself seemed to tremble.
Everyone gasped. If not for this fellow’s right arm being bound by iron chains and his ankles also in shackles, everyone just wanted to stay far away. This was fundamentally a fierce beast.
“Brother Heichi!” Gae Suwen, prostrate on the ground, cried out in grief. He jumped up wanting to rush forward but was firmly restrained by other palace gate guards. With walnuts stuffed in his mouth, Heichi Chang couldn’t speak. He could only violently shake his body, wanting to break free from the iron chains. But Liu Jinbao had bound the chains very tightly. No matter how much he shook, he couldn’t do anything about it. In激愤, he could only emit “wuu wuu” sounds through the mask’s holes. After Gongshu Mu’s modifications, the mask’s holes were like trumpets with sound amplification effects. The mournful whimpering immediately transformed into beast-like roaring.
“Marquis Yun, this is the gift you’re presenting to His Majesty? Very good, very good. He just doesn’t look very docile.”
“This fellow killed countless soldiers of our Great Tang. Even I nearly lost my life under his iron arrows. If not for my retainer’s life-saving rescue, if you wanted to see me again, you could only burn incense at my grave mound. A fierce general, of course, wouldn’t be very docile. No matter what I did, I couldn’t make this fellow submit. So whether he can be used by His Majesty depends on you.”
Duan Hong happily rubbed his hands and circled Heichi Chang several times. He most loved such fierce men. Only such people could withstand his constantly innovative new torture instruments.
Heichi Chang’s pleading gaze made Gae Suwen’s heart and liver break to pieces. The two men had a life-and-death friendship. Now he could only watch helplessly as Heichi Chang was led into the palace like a dog by the strangely laughing Duan Hong.
With a forceful thrust of both arms, Gae Suwen flung off the guards blocking him. Just as he was about to grab Heichi Chang at the palace gate, two eunuchs who’d come out with Duan Hong easily twisted his arms. With a casual fling, he was thrown far away, crashing to the ground in a cloud of dust.