The bloody scene before their eyes didn’t make the elders of Yuezhou feel any discomfort—they only felt naked hatred. The thick smoke above Yuezhou City had never ceased for two days. The water bandits, in complete chaos, not only failed to break out or defend, but instead fought for power and profit within the city. After all their leaders disappeared, they only wondered briefly before beginning to select new leaders, often fighting to the death over the position of a minor leader.

After everyone had fought until they were tired and hungry, they discovered there wasn’t a single grain of food in the entire city. The government granaries were so clean you could race horses and starve rats. Even digging three feet deep in civilian residences, they couldn’t find anything edible. Aside from some unripe fruit still on fruit trees, trying to find food was harder than ascending to heaven.

Wanting to break out through the city gates, they discovered the government forces had blocked the gates from outside. Around the city walls that were less than ten li long, the government forces had deployed countless crossbows on the outside. Trying to get out was a dead end.

“Four days is the limit, otherwise cannibalism will occur. This kind of thing cannot be allowed. When dawn breaks tomorrow, we should enter the city. Remember to execute all the newly selected leaders. These people’s bandit hearts won’t die and they won’t reform. So if we want no incidents at the work site in the future, this is the only choice.”

After Yun Ye inspected the positions and finished assigning tasks to Lai Chuanfeng, Yang Yueming, Yang Yueli, and Gou Feng, he went to the troop review tower. Today the navy had finally completed their portion of the work. The last group of water bandits roaming the lake had also been killed completely clean. These past few days, around the troop review tower’s perimeter, there were always bloated corpses floating by, all bitten to tatters by fish and shrimp in the lake. Since then, Yun Ye had never again eaten the fish slice porridge that Dongyu made.

Chang’an would never change its normal operations just because Yun Ye was fighting at Dongting Lake. After the drum sounded, it began a new day as usual. Merchants and pedestrians gathered at the city gates began successively entering Chang’an, starting their lucky or unlucky day.

On the distant official road, a troop of dusty cavalry surrounded three horse carriages, heading straight toward Yushan along the Chang’an road. The dust on the riders’ cloaks was caked thick. Though weary, these riders still maintained extremely high vigilance. As long as they discovered anyone looking at the convoy a second time, they would immediately stare viciously and ask why they were looking again.

Na Rimu had already gotten into the carriage. These years she’d still lived somewhat pampered. The thousand-li journey had exhausted her last bit of strength. After experiencing the Tubo people’s tyranny, Na Rimu truly had no confidence she could protect her daughter from harm. She could only rush home day and night. Deep in her mind, only after reaching the Yun Family estate would she dare relax a bit. Yun Mu felt somewhat wronged—Grandmother Huan, who loved her most, wouldn’t allow her to ride the big dog for a spin on the road these past days. All day she could only hide in the carriage looking out at the retreating grass and trees.

When the convoy entered through the memorial arch, Huan Niang and Na Rimu both simultaneously breathed a sigh of relief. Na Rimu knew that once through the arch, the Yun Family’s guards could guarantee that she and her daughter wouldn’t be harmed.

Old Sun whispered something in a rider’s ear. That rider then ran along the stone slab path toward the winery. The marketplace was very lively. Yun Mu looked covetously at those delicious things, drooling continuously.

Seeing Yun Mu’s appearance, Huan Niang immediately shed tears. She glared viciously at Na Rimu and said: “From now on if you like the grasslands, you go. I can go too if necessary, but the treasure can’t go to the grasslands again. Look at this—a young lady of a great family actually drooling at food from street stalls. You’re committing a sin!”

Na Rimu was somewhat bewildered. How could the life at the Yun Family estate be compared to the bitter cold grasslands? Probably such a place couldn’t be found anywhere else in the world. Her daughter here would surely receive the best care. Never mind that Grandmother and her husband doted on their daughter to the bone—even Xinyue would surely be very devoted to their daughter. But thinking of herself having to herd sheep alone on the grasslands, sorrow came from her heart.

The second lady had returned from the grasslands with the young miss—the household immediately turned upside down. Along the way, Huan Niang wouldn’t allow the Yun Family’s business houses to send news back to Yushan, just for this element of surprise.

Xinyue hurriedly walked out from the inner residence. Seeing Na Rimu’s bedraggled appearance, she was greatly alarmed, thinking something major had happened to the family’s ranch on the grasslands. Na Rimu’s current appearance meant she must have left very hastily, not even caring about the proper demeanor of a titled lady. Hearing Na Rimu explain the whole story from beginning to end, her head ached so much she just wanted to pound it. Right now her husband was closing the net at Yuezhou—how could she let him know? She must block the news and wait until after her husband finished the war to tell him.

She was just about to tell Na Rimu about her husband’s current difficulties, to have her absolutely not tell Old Grandmother about these matters. Old Grandmother’s health hadn’t been good these past two years, and her temper had become increasingly volatile. The older she got, the more emotional she seemed to become.

Before she could say these things, she heard a great chorus of greetings outside. Without question, Old Grandmother had appeared. There was nothing to be done now. She could only leave it to fate.

Old Grandmother didn’t even glance at Na Rimu. She held her plump granddaughter in her arms, kissing her endlessly, all fleshy and round. Seeing her granddaughter’s messy hair, she took two long breaths to calm herself, then asked Na Rimu why she was so bedraggled.

Seeing Old Grandmother, she hugged Old Grandmother’s legs and wailed loudly, shoulders heaving. She recounted brokenly the whole story of how the overbearing Ludongzan had pressured her. Xinyue’s face was iron-blue. Old Grandmother’s face also looked very ugly. Holding Yun Mu in her arms, stroking the little girl’s messy hair, she kept saying: “My poor child, my poor child.” After muttering this twice, she lost her temper at Xinyue: “Write to your husband now—right now. He’s busy at Dongting Lake killing bandits, not knowing his own daughter is being bullied. Tell him to come back. I want to ask him properly how he’s being a father, how he could be so heartless as to throw his daughter on the grasslands and not inquire about her for three years.”

Xinyue said with difficulty: “Grandmother, my husband is in the middle of a great battle. Right now it’s reached a critical moment. We shouldn’t add to his troubles. Rest assured, with your granddaughter-in-law here, no one can touch a single hair on our Yun Mu.”

Old Grandmother was even more furious. Pointing at Xinyue she said: “This old woman doesn’t understand military and state affairs. I only know that my child, my precious treasure, has been bullied. Poor thing—only four years old. Not even four yet—still thirty-seven days until she’s four, and someone already has designs on her? I don’t care—write the letter now.”

Xinyue reluctantly wrote the letter in front of Old Grandmother and read it aloud once in front of her. Old Grandmother called over the second steward, telling him to immediately dispatch someone to Yuezhou to inform Yun Ye of this matter. If he still wanted to see her alive, he should hurry back quickly—otherwise she would be angered to death.

Grandmother Yun could not care how much money her grandson had, nor how high an official position he held. She absolutely wouldn’t allow her grandson to become an unfeeling and heartless person. Family first, family first—after living all these years, Old Grandmother had long seen through this world. Only one’s own family members were one’s most important pillars.

After the letter was sent off, Old Grandmother began scolding Na Rimu again. She’d only scolded two sentences when she was called “Great-grandmother” twice in a soft voice by Yun Mu. Old Grandmother immediately forgot she was supposed to be disciplining Na Rimu. She personally took the girl to bathe and change clothes.

Yun Baobao and Yun Shou had just seen off their brother Li Rong, who had long resided in the capital and had gone to Lingnan, when they discovered the family had gained another sister. This produced tremendous confusion in them. Why did their older brothers and sisters all suddenly appear from outside, rather than being constantly at their side like the brothers and sisters still nursing at home? They stretched their necks to look at the moon gate of the garden, very worried another older brother or sister might walk out from there, because they’d discovered they’d fallen out of favor…

Grandmother Yun had said she’d take the girl to bathe and change clothes. Who knows how the grandmother and granddaughter discussed it, but walking along they arrived at the kitchen. Old Grandmother rarely came to this place even once in two or three years. The cook, seeing the old ancestress had come, hurriedly came out to greet her.

“Make everything delicious in the house for me once. The young miss has come home and now needs to see what she likes to eat. Hurry up—we’ll eat as soon as we finish bathing.”

Speaking thus, she saw the girl working hard to remove a chicken leg from a roasted chicken, getting both hands oily. She wanted to stop her, but separated by the cook, she tapped her cane and said to the cook: “Are you all blind? Can’t you see the treasure wants a chicken leg? Why aren’t you hurrying to help?”

That damned roasted chicken immediately became small pieces under the cook’s knife, and all the bones were picked out, because Old Ancestress had said that if the young miss choked, everyone’s legs would be broken.

She only ate two bites of the roasted chicken leg before Yun Mu discovered a very large braised pig’s trotter. It looked very fragrant. Without another word, she pounced on it with one bite. Not bad. This was duck? Never seen it—try it. Roasted goose? Never eaten it—try it. What’s this? Don’t recognize it—eat a bite first…

Old Grandmother happily watched her great-granddaughter turn the kitchen completely upside down. At interesting moments she even cheered her on. Finally seeing the girl’s belly had become round from eating, only then did she lead the girl—clutching a very large piece of cake in her hand—to the bathhouse. The Yun Family’s eldest young miss being filthy all over with a head of messy hair wouldn’t do at all.

Over a dozen maids and matrons were just for attending to the young miss’s bath. Because the young miss excessively loved splashing about in the bathhouse, a circle of people stood around. They could only seize the opportunity to wash her a couple times when the young miss splashed over. Huan Niang looked worried. She’d originally thought she’d already spoiled the young miss, but unexpectedly, here was someone who spoiled the young miss even more. Thinking that the Marquis who would soon return was an even more unprincipled master, Huan Niang was very pessimistic that the Yun Family’s eldest young miss would mature into a true lady of a great family.