Chang’an was becoming increasingly filthy. All manner of demons and monsters jumped out to strut about. Yun Ye now greatly admired Li Er’s ability to juggle eight balls at once. The Lowly Alliance recorded in history truly existed. Wu Zetian had relied on their omnipresence to hook up with Li Zhi. Li Chengqian’s Brokeback Mountain affair also seemed inseparably connected to them. A group of the most humble people had accomplished things that Li Er’s countless enemies could only dream of completing. Getting entangled with them—the consequences were unpredictable. The Yun family wouldn’t touch it, couldn’t afford to touch it.
Letting his horse wander freely through the bustling market, passing through the West Market, a long drawn-out cry rang out. The Hu dancing girls surrounding Yun Ye to sell fine wine, the Hu merchants displaying exquisite carpets to Yun Ye, the slave traders pulling young Hu girls to showcase graceful curves—all seemed to have been cast with an immobilization spell, standing woodenly in place without a sound. Those unscrupulous youths taking advantage of the chaos to grope the Hu girls freely, yet the Hu girls forgot to resist, letting them do as they pleased. Yun Ye even saw a rogue snatch a carpet from a Hu merchant’s hands and run off in a flash—the Hu merchant remained unmoved.
Weeping sounds arose. Those Hu merchants knocked their heads against the ground. After breaking the skin, they smeared blood on their faces—an extremely frightening sight. Strangely, only the black-haired Hu merchants did this. Those Hu merchants with various colored hair all showed expressions of schadenfreude, constantly pointing and commenting, their mood extremely cheerful. A weeping Hu merchant rolling on the ground accidentally bumped into horse hooves. If Old Zhuang hadn’t been quick-eyed and pulled him from under the hooves, the bowl-sized hoof of Yun Ye’s mount would have kicked him in the head.
The market descended into chaos. Thugs from various tooth markets appeared in groups, wielding wooden clubs left and right, beating while shouting, “Acting like your mother and father died—crying like this! Sons of bitches, making me get scolded at high noon. What bad luck!”
The Hu merchants were all beaten into fear, squeezing toward Yun Ye one by one. Very perceptive, they knew Yun Ye was a noble person—those murderous thugs didn’t dare come over. Very orderly, they first let the elderly, women, and children approach Yun Ye, and only at the end did the young and strong men brace their backs to take the beating.
He couldn’t bear to watch, especially seeing these killers aiming for people’s lower bodies, swinging clubs thick as arms in full circles. Taking two hits could cost a life. Waving at Old Zhuang, Old Zhuang stepped forward and kicked down the fellow beating people most viciously, shouting, “Everyone stop! The Marquis has questions to ask.”
That thug was probably accustomed to being domineering. He got up about to open his mouth and curse, but discovered the embroidered pattern on Old Zhuang’s clothing corner. He immediately became obedient, standing there without moving. Old Zhuang stepped forward and patted that fellow’s face, saying, “Boy, lucky for you that you didn’t curse. Otherwise, this old man would knock out all your teeth.”
Once everyone had calmed down, Yun Ye said to an elderly Hu man, “What happened? Your holy land was conquered? I just heard you make the long sound expressing greatest grief. That means your homeland is gone, yes?”
That Hu man with a grief-stricken face placed his hand on his chest and bowed, “Most noble and merciful young master, our homeland, Mecca like paradise, has been conquered by barbaric traitors. Our homeland is destroyed—we can never return. Allah, save your servants!” After speaking, he became choked with tears again.
“It’s not a big problem. Muhammad hasn’t massacred civilians. On the contrary, he’s protected your property and homes. The only deaths are those clergy members, plus the biggest merchants and officials. If you don’t care that your Kaaba temple was destroyed, it’s not a major issue.” Yun Ye shrugged his shoulders. This was all he could do—comfort these poor people doing business in the Great Tang.
Looking at the surging crowds in Chang’an’s market before him, Yun Ye suddenly had a sense of unreality. The current European savages didn’t even have the qualifications to be beaten by Chang’an’s market enforcers. A mud-headed country farmer entering the city who got into a dispute with a Hu merchant—needless to say, the final victor would definitely be the farmer, not the wealthy Hu merchant. In this era where even accepting gifts from Hu merchants was shameful, Yun Ye unconsciously straightened his back a few more degrees. Only those in superior positions could give sympathy to the weak. Yun Ye was in a good mood, prepared to bestow grace for once.
Seeing Yun Ye preparing to dismount from the saddle, immediately Hu people knelt on the ground, using their own backs as mounting stones. If it were Tang people, Yun Ye would flatly refuse. Hu people? Never mind then.
Stepping on the Hu man’s shoulder and back to dismount, the crowd naturally parted. Several heads of tooth markets, having received the news, had already rushed over. All were acquaintances. Leading them was Old Su, who had come to the Yun family to negotiate last time. From afar he bowed, “The subordinates made trouble. The Marquis has caught them red-handed. There’s no helping it—we accept beating and punishment. We beg the Marquis to be lenient. The palm and back of the hand are both flesh—we can’t afford to lose either.”
“Who cares about your tooth market’s rotten affairs? I ask you, those families with plaques haven’t brought shame to the imperial house, have they?” Yun Ye was still thinking about that time he wholesale Li Er’s reputation.
“The Marquis can rest assured. No matter which family gets a plaque, they treasure it more than life itself. This old man wishes he could sleep hugging the bronze-engraved plaque. How would we dare to recklessly squander it? The things for building the Hall of Ten Thousand People for the palace—we old fellows picked and picked, inspected and inspected. If Marquis Yun sees anything substandard substituted for quality goods, just hold this old man accountable. The Hall of Ten Thousand People is the first time merchants have participated in court affairs. If anyone makes mistakes, we old fellows will swallow him alive.”
Old Su was glowing with health. This money-losing deal was done with great joy and complete satisfaction. If there were one such transaction per year, the old fellow would live to a hundred and be reluctant to die.
“I heard the Ministry of Works issued you Good and Virtuous Family plaques. I heard you all enshrine them at home and don’t let anyone see them. Is this true? This isn’t good—if you hide them away, who knows you’re a good and virtuous family?” Yun Ye joked with a smile.
Several market heads all burst into hearty laughter upon hearing this. Merchants—as long as it didn’t involve interests, each one was a good person who knew when to be tactful.
After the pleasantries were complete, Yun Ye said, “These Hu people disturbing market order are truly detestable. But seeing them pitiful, I intervened. These people’s homeland was conquered by rebels—families destroyed, people killed—so they’re crying loudly. Old Su, find them a place to cry for a while. Don’t punish them, how about it?”
Having no direct superior-subordinate relationship with Old Su and the others, he couldn’t speak harshly. Relying on high position and great power to disregard rules and meddle randomly—that was purely brain-dead behavior.
“Since Marquis Yun has spoken, how could we refuse? These bearded fellows were lucky today, climbing up to a noble person. Otherwise, we’d skin them. Not a single one has any rules. Is the market a place for them to wail and cry? Why don’t you go to the horse market? Are you waiting for me to invite you?”
A fat, imposing brute—clearly not a good person at first glance—gave Yun Ye complete face while severely scolding the Hu merchants with harsh words. Slick bureaucratic methods employed to perfection.
Once the Hu merchants tearfully went to the horse market, that elderly Hu man pulled out an exquisite silver plate from his chest, held it high, wanting to give it to Yun Ye. This was Islam’s highest etiquette. Not accepting would be bad, so he casually took it, saying to the Hu merchant, “If your family isn’t a powerful noble house, there’s no major problem. Muhammad won’t live past next year either. Go back the year after next—perhaps everything will be fine.”
The old Hu man walked away half-believing, half-doubting. He didn’t believe Yun Ye would know everything about events ten thousand li away, but he also didn’t discover any reason for Yun Ye to deceive them. He could only bury this matter in his heart, waiting for verification.
Declining Old Su and the others’ banquet invitation, he tossed the plate to Old Zhuang, saying “It’s yours,” then rode his horse home, his heart full of the pleasure of doing good deeds. Returning home, Yun Ye told Grandmother about Li Anlan having helpers and not being alone and powerless. Who knew Old Grandmother wasn’t surprised at all, saying to Yun Ye, “Dear grandson, Shouyang explained some things to me and begged me not to tell you. Sometimes she has no choice at all. She also knows these people are very frightening. When she previously discovered those people wanted to use you, she excluded you, afraid you’d be used by those people. So don’t blame her anymore. Having a foolish and stubborn mother, she has no choice.”
“Foolish! In this kind of matter, where’s the logic in yielding? Once you yield, they’ll take a chi when given a cun. If she’d told me then, she wouldn’t have suffered this torment. I’m afraid she herself wanted to use those people to gain independent autonomy. Her desire for power is in her bones. If you don’t believe me, put Xinyue in that environment—Xinyue’s first move would be to seek my help, not hesitate. She brought it on herself. This matter ends here. Grandmother, you find the child some reliable wet nurses to care for him. The people around her aren’t allowed near the child. I’ll find him a personal bodyguard from the retired Bai Qi Si people. If anyone dares to have designs on my child, I’ll make sure he has no peace even in death.”
Yun Ye was unwilling to expend more mental energy on Shouyang’s affairs. Li Er had already begun to act. He himself should meddle less.
“Right, we’ll do it this way. Anyone who has designs on my great-grandson, this old woman won’t spare him.”
Thinking of her soon-to-be-born pitiful great-grandson, even the usually soft-hearted Grandmother spoke with harsh severity.
Early in the morning, the Yun household was bustling with voices. This time the family head going out was a rare grand display—banners and guards complete, maids and servants complete. Going on a long journey, naturally they had to show off the Yun family’s prestige. This was Xinyue’s favorite part. Ordinarily wearing fourth-rank patent robes would invite ridicule, but now departing, showing off a bit at her own gate was still very necessary.
“Get in the carriage quickly! The sun has already risen high. If we don’t leave now, when it gets hot we won’t be able to go.” Yun Ye helped Xinyue, who walked like a turtle, into the carriage. On such a hot day wearing a whole set of heavy patent robes—wasn’t she afraid of getting heat rash?
The carriages and horses moved. Fully armored guards in front cleared the way, followed by a long string of carriages behind. An hour earlier, the advance scouts had already departed to meet up with the Cheng and Niu families’ convoys at the Ba Bridge.
Yun Ye pretended not to see Wang Cai’s pitiful gaze, desperately trying to get Yun Ye to save him. Dan Ying rode a tall horse with Wang Cai’s reins tied to the saddle. Wang Cai wore a rope-woven muzzle over his mouth—he couldn’t even cry out, much less eat the various foods vendors handed him.
Dan Ying was fully clad in soft armor, carrying a bow on his back, two quivers of arrows in his saddlebags, a横刀 across his waist, and a spear hanging from the horse’s side, its tip flashing with cold light, causing several old soldiers to keep looking back.
“Marquis, you’ve brought this young fellow back to our household too. This is good—our family was just lacking a good fighter for charging into battle. Now everything’s complete. We old-timers—on this trip back, we can peacefully drink and retire.”
“Not sure yet. This young fellow is wild and untamed. Don’t know if he can stay in our household.” Yun Ye wasn’t confident.
“The Marquis can rest assured. As long as someone comes to our household, none are willing to run around everywhere. We old fellows are all people accustomed to being wild. Once home, we don’t have a shred of desire to run outside. This young fellow won’t be an exception either.” Old Jiang raised his wine gourd, took a big gulp, contentedly squinted his eyes, then swallowed the burning liquor down his throat.