The house had collapsed. Due to irreversible circumstances, the confinement was canceled, and Yun Ye was sent home to continue his house arrest. Before leaving the city gate, he gazed at Chang’an covered in heavy snow, and a wave of desolation rose from the depths of his heart. Patting the icy city wall, he wanted to release all the negative emotions inside him.

He seemed to have changed. Ever since he reluctantly and unwillingly committed his first shameless act, everything he did afterward seemed inseparable from such methods. If this continued, becoming a cunning old villain like those in history and being cursed for ten thousand generations would be perfectly natural.

The minds of young people are simple—they yearn for beauty and passion, envisioning their future in their heads, just charging forward with heads down. If they bump their heads, they can adjust their direction—it’s not too late. He had already failed once and lived again, so he avoided the head-bumping incidents, yet ended up living like a monster. A wise person once said that anyone who lives life over again would become a sage. Yun Ye hadn’t become a sage; he was racing down the great road toward becoming a villain.

The common people of Chang’an had no idea that he had fought against the most vicious enemies last night. They only knew that he was blocking the exit road having a fit—this was a stinking ailment only wealthy people could afford. Common folk were too busy making ends meet to have such luxurious concerns. While watching Yun Ye count bricks on the city wall, they cursed yesterday’s irresponsible bell ringer—that damned fool rang one less strike out of the one hundred and eight bells, making them wait half the night and so on.

On the seventh row, the ninth brick had a ferocious ghost face drawn on it, seemingly carved casually by a mischievous child. This was the only clue Li Er could give him. The traitorous guard had only confessed this much—when the ghost head appeared, he would obey that person’s commands, doing whatever was ordered without hesitation or evasion.

It sounded like a simple piece of useless information, but to make a person disregard his own clan and family, watching his child be killed right before his eyes without changing expression—what tremendous willpower that required! This person was definitely someone of sound mind. When Yun Ye saw the cruel smile in this fellow’s eyes, he understood completely. They were all madmen—madmen with sound minds.

There was no need to stage a fake execution of his entire family. He enjoyed this kind of suffering, and his interrogators would only be toyed with by him. However, such people also had weaknesses—their ideals could not be desecrated.

The vicious language Yun Ye spat out drove him to madness again and again. He actually bit his teeth to pieces—previously Yun Ye thought this was just a figure of speech, but he never expected to actually witness it. If Duan Hong hadn’t folded up his tongue with a silver needle, he would have gladly chewed his own tongue to pieces with his teeth and then swallowed it.

Yun Ye didn’t intend to let others know about the mushroom powder—not even the imperial family. He would rather get no answers than use the mushroom powder. Li Er definitely knew many things. From his distraught and dejected expression, Yun Ye knew how miserable someone who had been schemed against must feel. Empress Zhangsun supported this foremost person under heaven, and Yun Ye personally witnessed Li Er adding three more imperial edicts to send to Hou Junji’s army at the Onion Ridge. The Secretary barely dared to read aloud the words on the decree.

With an iron-blue face, Li Er’s iron hooks and silver strokes personally drafted the edicts, sealed them in cowhide tubes with wax, and sent them one after another to the border army. Hou Junji would definitely be pleased—this was inevitable, because according to what Yun Ye knew, the Nine Surnames of Zhaowu overnight transformed from prosperity to faded memories, which must be related to these secret edicts.

The people of the Nine Surnames of Zhaowu seemed never to have forgotten revenge. Eventually, one fellow nearly succeeded—this fellow was the renowned An Lushan. First he humbled himself and compromised, then struck back in betrayal. The pitiful Tang Emperor could only strangle his own wife, and after rallying the army’s morale, fled in panic. If Li Er knew this history, would he be gentler in his actions? The answer was no. The old man would only order Old Hou to be even more thorough, ultimately making the Nine Surnames of Zhaowu a distant legend.

Yun Ye found three ghost heads. One was older, right next to the romantic message carved with “Yanniang, I’m waiting for you at Eastern Fence Residence.” Both were equally ancient. When he asked the city gate official, the fellow nearly scratched his head bald before remembering that during the former Sui Dynasty there indeed was such an inn in the West Market. He was fifty years old now, his father had been a city gate official, his grandfather had also been a city gate official, so his greatest hope was that his son could also become a good city gate official.

This fellow used his family genealogy to calculate time, and finally confirmed with certainty that Eastern Fence Residence existed around the first year of the Daye era, when Yang Guang had just killed his own brother.

The ghost head was beautiful, with three horns, and even the eyes were drawn with a seductive charm. This must have been drawn by a female ghost, and her status was much higher than that traitorous minion who had become meat paste. The figure that fellow received only had one small horn. Thinking that even the guy with the small horn was so difficult to deal with, Yun Ye felt his future prospects would be pitch black.

In the flying snow filling the sky, Yun Ye returned home and received an enthusiastic welcome from his wives and concubine. Needless to say, the matter of her husband catching ghosts had already spread among the nobility of Chang’an. However, no one found it strange—if a disciple of immortals didn’t even have this capability, it would be too disappointing.

What the nobility knew, in fact, meant the common people also knew. When some servant from someone’s household heard from the cousin of some groom from another household the news of Marquis Yun battling evil ghosts, it gradually became exaggerated and embellished among the people. Finally, with a pile of ruins as evidence, it became an iron-clad fact. Strangely, the person who least wanted to become a deity had, in the eyes of Chang’an people, become an existence on par with the Three-Eyed Divine Lord. Reportedly in some remote small places, there were already statues of Yun Ye with bared fangs and claws.

Yuan Tiangang was extremely regretful. He believed he could also catch ghosts, and it was his forte—a livelihood skill passed down by his patriarch, with absolutely guaranteed credibility. Yun Ye was merely an amateur. What he could do, Yuan Tiangang could do better. After communicating with Yun Ye, Yuan Tiangang submitted a memorial, hoping the Emperor would entrust such matters to professionals like himself in the future. As for Marquis Yun, teaching well would be quite good enough.

Regarding Yuan Tiangang’s proposal, Yun Ye raised all five limbs in agreement. It would be best if in the future those dead people with smiling and crying faces didn’t appear before him, but instead appeared at Yuan Tiangang’s door.

The Emperor glared viciously at Yun Ye. Li Jing, Cheng Yaojin, Niu Jinda—these people in the know sympathized immensely with Yuan Tiangang. The Emperor approved Yuan Tiangang’s request—this was his consistent practice. He never discouraged those who volunteered to take on responsibilities. If he made Yuan Tiangang lose face in front of everyone, it would dampen the hearts of his subjects.

“Don’t casually set traps for others in the future. You know this will result in deaths. There are some things I will never tell you, but I can tell you clearly and plainly: once you discover traces of these people, you can use deadly force. Don’t worry about casualties, don’t worry about the cost. As long as you eliminate them all, I’m willing to pay any price.” Li Er said these words while strolling with Yun Ye in the garden, punching a pine tree fist after fist. Snow cascaded down in a rush. The Emperor didn’t move away, so Yun Ye could only shrink his neck and let large chunks of snow fall on his head.

“Actually, Your Majesty, this subject really wants to say that you’re not the first unlucky prince. Around the first year of Daye, a ghost head also appeared.”

Li Er’s killing intent had been very strong recently. Quite a few officials who had only committed minor errors were severely punished. According to Duan Hong, three eunuchs had already died in the palace, one of whom had merely spilled a soup bowl. Relieving Li Er’s mood was also Yun Ye’s task today. Empress Zhangsun had personally come to the Yun residence just to have Yun Ye attend the morning court. Seeing Yun Ye, this fellow who had also fallen into a pit, the Emperor might become a bit happier.

“The first year of Daye?” Li Er’s eyes widened, but his pupils were rapidly contracting. Staring at Yun Ye, he asked again, “How do you know when a pattern was carved?”

“Very simple. Nearby there were characters carved by others, and the time couldn’t differ by much. Your subject’s luck was very good. That sentence ‘Yanniang, I’m waiting for you at Eastern Fence Residence’ was right next to that ghost head. Your subject asked several old people—Eastern Fence Residence opened around the first year of Daye, and within two years before or after it vanished into smoke. Therefore, your subject fixed the time when that ghost head was carved at the first year of Daye. Now your subject has sent household retainers to Luoyang, Jinyang, and other ancient cities to search and investigate at each city gate one by one. Your subject can say with certainty that there will definitely be gains.”

“Not enough. The Bai Qi Si also needs carrier pigeons. Why don’t you resign from your position as Commander of the Lingnan Naval Forces and become the chief official of the Bai Qi Si? I’ve discovered you have quite a talent in this area.”

“That won’t do. Your subject is someone who values face. Becoming chief official of the Bai Qi Si would be ridiculed by others, making it impossible to conduct myself in the future.”

“Is being my household retainer so disgraceful? It’s certainly more respectable than being under the Empress’s jurisdiction as you are now, isn’t it?”

“That’s different. Empress Your Majesty is this subject’s teacher. A student being managed by their teacher is perfectly natural and right—no one has anything to say. Once I become your household retainer, I’d become a complete dog… dragon lackey. The history books won’t bother recording it out of shame, and my several younger sisters won’t be able to marry into good families either. The position of Lingnan Naval Forces Commander is so good—your subject has no intention of changing.”

“Yun Ye, leave the palace. Having Yang Guang, that emperor with a bad reputation, to accompany me makes me feel much more comfortable. Don’t let me see you recently. You almost said the complete phrase ‘dog lackey’—I exerted great effort to restrain myself from getting angry. Leave the palace quickly. Investigating those ghost heads is the proper business. I’ll have the Bai Qi Si send you a copy of their reports.”

After hearing the Emperor’s words, Yun Ye didn’t hesitate for half a moment and ran off. Passing by the warm hall, he snatched a large bunch of grapes from the tray of a palace maid carrying fruit and clutched them to his chest. Even when he encountered the Empress, he didn’t stop. Duan Hong chased after him from afar—whether to retrieve the grapes or to say something, no one knew. The Empress turned to look at the Emperor standing under the pine tree with hands behind his back, then looked at the panicked Yun Ye. In an instant, her mood became cheerful.