“Little Ying, do you want to go see the Shaolin Temple? I’ve heard there are seventy-two exceptional skills there, thirty-six divine techniques. The temple is full of hidden dragons and crouching tigers, countless masters. The one with the highest martial arts is supposedly an old monk who sweeps the floors. The Scripture Pavilion is a must-see—the *Muscle-Tendon Change Classic* and the *Marrow Cleansing Classic* are considered treasures of the realm. It would be such a shame not to go.”

Early in the morning, disregarding his injuries, Yun Ye fled from home with Wang Cai. He couldn’t go to the academy—Master Yushan was still waiting to question him. Only Dan Ying’s small courtyard was safe. While he was at it, he wanted to see if he could trick Dan Ying into becoming his bodyguard. The shadow that Dou Yanshan had left on him was far too oppressive.

“Shaolin Temple? What’s there to do at that place? Just a bunch of bald monks—what’s so interesting about that? Once a person passes sixty, their vital energy declines and their body stiffens. How could there be any masters? What are the *Muscle-Tendon Change Classic* and *Marrow Cleansing Classic*? Never heard of them. My master was an absolute peak expert of his generation, but now he still has to get up several times a night. You’re lying.”

Dan Ying was currently quite fond of Wang Cai, brushing his coat while going on about how the chubby Wang Cai was very likable, except he couldn’t be ridden. He’d buck after just two steps, couldn’t walk past good food without stopping—a perfectly good horse ruined.

“If you don’t help Wang Cai lose weight, he definitely won’t live past ten years.”

Dan Ying grabbed Wang Cai’s pudgy belly and warned Yun Ye.

“Wang Cai is my brother. I can never bear to see him suffer. Besides, Wang Cai is so well-behaved—now he runs two or three li every day.”

“And then goes around the marketplace buying food to eat on his own? Horses are meant to eat grass, with at most some bean feed added. Eating fruit and steamed buns all day long, drinking wine—I’ve even seen people stuffing cooked meat slices into his mouth. Aren’t you afraid he’ll develop problems?”

Yun Ye had always worried about Wang Cai’s health. Ever since Wang Cai began following him, even if Yun Ye himself went without food, he would first take care of Wang Cai. Now this drawback was gradually showing—his mouth was becoming increasingly greedy. Having grown accustomed to refined foods, asking him to eat dry grass would be asking for his life. Some time ago, to help him lose weight, Yun Ye dried the finest green grass to feed him. Who knew this fellow wouldn’t touch a bite? When he got hungry, he’d run to Yun Ye’s door and use his head to push it open, grab Yun Ye’s clothes with his teeth, and make him open the courtyard gate so he could go out and buy food. Those pitiful eyes shattered Yun Ye’s barely hardened resolve time and time again.

Now that Dan Ying brought up the old matter again, Yun Ye’s heart lifted once more. Other horses were already in heat at three or four years old, but Wang Cai still foolishly only knew to roam the marketplace looking for food. Spring and summer was the season when horses went into heat. He’d deliberately put him together with a group of mares, but who knew Wang Cai would kick all the mares away and comfortably lie down on a haystack to sleep.

Which family’s horse slept lying down? Horses should sleep standing up—this was a habit formed since their ancestors’ time. Now it had disappeared in Wang Cai. A horse could live thirty years. Yun Ye hoped Wang Cai could accompany him for a lifetime. If he couldn’t even live past ten years, Yun Ye would have the heart to kill someone.

“However, you’re in luck to have met me. Leave Wang Cai to me, and in less than half a year, I’ll turn him into the finest war horse. Look at his ears, look at his nostrils, look at his chest and hindquarters—no matter how you look at him, he should be a fine horse. You’re the one who ruined him.”

“I know Wang Cai is a fine horse—I don’t need you to remind me. I’ll say it again: he’s my brother, not a war horse. I don’t want him to suffer. Why should he be a war horse? As long as he lives a long, healthy life, that’s enough. If anyone dares to send him to the battlefield for no reason, I’ll cut them down.”

In the wilderness, the two of them had already agreed—to spend their lives eating well, drinking well, and living carefree. Yun Ye was getting further and further from this goal. He didn’t want Wang Cai’s happiness to be taken away too.

“He’s your brother?” Dan Ying’s eyes widened as he asked Yun Ye.

“Closer than a blood brother!”

“You plan to indulge him for life?”

“Naturally. As his elder brother, I’ll take care of his marriage, children, and future life—everything. If I have a bite to eat, I’ll split it in half with him. Then we’ll grow old and die in peace. It would be best if we could die together.”

Dan Ying couldn’t possibly understand the isolated, desolate state of mind Yun Ye had experienced in the wilderness at his most helpless. Without Wang Cai, he might not have been able to hold on. At that time, who would care whether he was a horse or not?

“I’ll accompany you to Shaolin Temple, but I’ll take care of Wang Cai. Along the way, you’re not allowed to interfere. Even if you see him suffering, you can’t come over. A horse is a horse—you can’t raise him like a person. If you want him to live a hundred years, listen to me.”

Yun Ye nodded with difficulty and said to Dan Ying, “Alright, let him stay with me for two more days. Once the house is ready, we’ll set out. Then I’ll hand Wang Cai over to you for discipline.”

Wang Cai obediently followed behind Yun Ye on the way home. Home was now a purgatory for him. Grandmother was so happy she could barely contain herself. She’d sent a request early to the palace to have an audience with the Empress, and might even get to see Shouyang. In the old lady’s eyes, there was only her great-grandson—who cared who the great-grandson’s mother was? As for Yun Ye being punished, he got not a shred of sympathy from her—in fact, she said he deserved it.

The teeth marks on his buttocks ultimately couldn’t escape Xinyue’s eyes. If they’d been left by a singing girl or similar woman, she wouldn’t have even looked. But after learning they were left by a princess, she began with cold mockery and sarcasm, until finally hearing the princess was pregnant, she completely exploded.

Unlike what Yun Ye had imagined, Xinyue didn’t cry—not a single tear fell. She just straddled Yun Ye’s body, twisting and pinching indiscriminately. Except for his buttocks, every other part of his body was covered in bruises. While pinching, she also cursed that the damned promiscuous princess should be stuffed in a pig cage and drowned alive.

Ah, daughters of Shu—when inexperienced, they always cry “How am I supposed to live?” But after experiencing things, they stop crying. She ate three bowls at dinner, her sharp gaze sweeping everywhere. Having done something guilty, Yun Ye nearly buried his head in his rice bowl. The maids and servants walked trembling with their legs pressed together. Even Wang Cai, who habitually chatted with Yun Ye after dinner, was kicked away by her.

If this had happened to any other Tang Dynasty man, they would have exploded long ago. But Yun Ye was different. He’d grown up under the red flag, educated for many years as a good child of the new generation. The face of feudalism hadn’t yet corrupted him. Other men could openly flaunt three wives and four concubines, even share a bed together without problem. But for him, such things could only be fantasized about in his mind. Having his wife catch such a serious handle on him, and only getting straddled and beaten twice—Yun Ye felt he’d gotten off cheap. How could he dare resist?

Without even washing his feet, he crawled into bed early and played dead without a sound, ears pricked listening to the movements outside. Xinyue came in carrying a basin of water herself, roughly pulled Yun Ye up, and before he could react, his feet were shoved into the basin. It was very hot. Knowing she did it on purpose, Yun Ye clenched his teeth and made no sound. Go ahead, turn both feet into pig trotters if you can.

Xinyue’s big eyes glanced at Yun Ye while her hands worked with deadly force, her mouth saying, “A stinking marquis who doesn’t wash his feet—I don’t know what the princess saw in him. Could it be she just likes them smellier? This concubine has heard that Tubo people only bathe twice in their lifetime. Why didn’t she marry off to Tubo? The men there would suit her—they can stink for a lifetime.”

This comparison was too vicious. Sometimes one or two Tubo envoys would appear in Chang’an City—truly the type whose stench carried ten li downwind, more effective than government yayi clearing the way. When Tubo people appeared, the streets emptied. Eventually the patrol officers would escort them back to the Bureau of Receptions and order them not to leave.

She washed for a full incense stick’s worth of time until his feet turned pale and wrinkled. Xinyue probably felt she couldn’t continue washing or these feet would be ruined, and then taking care of a cripple would be somewhat unprofitable, so she finally let Yun Ye off.

Usually Yun Ye slept on the inside of the bed. Tang Dynasty men didn’t sleep on the outside—having your wife climb over you back and forth in the middle of the night was inauspicious. Tonight was different. Xinyue pushed Yun Ye to the outside like pushing a sack of grain and slept on the inside herself.

“Move outside. Which family has women sleeping on the inside? No sense of propriety at all.”

“Husband, I don’t know how you and the princess sleep, but our family will sleep this way. Perhaps this sleeping arrangement will help this concubine conceive a child sooner. I’ve asked around—the imperial family’s rules are the opposite of our family’s rules. Didn’t husband notice after sleeping with the princess for so many days?”

These words left Yun Ye speechless. Should he tell Xinyue that he and the princess only slept together once, and that was in the stone alley? These words would probably strike Xinyue dead. The two of them had worked themselves to death for two or three months, yet couldn’t compare to someone else’s single romantic encounter. How could she bear it?

Xinyue suddenly turned her head, her bright eyes looking at Yun Ye and saying, “Husband is different from others. Other families do this sort of thing openly and are still self-righteous about it. Only husband acts like he’s done something guilty, letting me throw little tantrums, looking apologetic and ready to be beaten and punished. It’s heartbreaking to watch.”

“You mean I should go out tomorrow and find another one, then come home and beat you, and then you won’t feel heartbroken?” He couldn’t accept Xinyue’s strange logic.

“You probably only exchanged flirtatious glances with the princess. There are so many pretty maids in the residence, and quite a few have been hovering around you for a long time—don’t they just want to become concubines? But you play dumb and ignore them. This concubine also read the letters from the grasslands. A beautiful Turkic woman slept in your tent all winter and was still intact. I laughed so hard I couldn’t straighten up. If this concubine didn’t know your body had no problems, it would have become Chang’an’s biggest joke. Was it for this concubine’s sake?”

After speaking, she pulled over the sachet around Yun Ye’s neck to look. It was still that old sachet, already without fragrance. Xinyue tore it open a bit, revealing a lock of hair. She took it out and compared it to her own hair, nodded with satisfaction, and stuffed it back in. She took out her sewing kit from under the pillow and carefully sewed it back up, then continued lying down, seemingly breathing a sigh of relief.

Yun Ye’s eyes reddened as he watched. He pulled her into his embrace and slowly explained everything about him and the princess bit by bit. Xinyue’s soft body gradually stiffened. By the end, she was furious. She threw off the thin blanket and sat up naked, cursing Li Anlan. If Li Anlan were here, Yun Ye believed Xinyue would definitely give her a hammer blow. Xinyue’s chest heaved, the beautiful sight making Yun Ye dizzy.

Xinyue suddenly changed her tune: “Husband, why don’t we also try that Spring Breeze Powder?”

Yun Ye’s head crashed heavily onto the pillow, and in an instant, thunderous snoring filled the room.