“Wei Zheng! I curse your ancestors for eighteen generations!” Having figured out the whole story, Yun Ye shouted in the pine forest. The birds that had just roosted were startled by his voice and scattered in flight. The Motian Cliff opposite seemed to also call out injustice for Yun Ye, continuously echoing that last word “generations” countless times…
“Liu Jinbao, squat down and let me beat you to vent my anger, how about it? I’ll give you one gold coin.” Having lost all reason from anger, Yun Ye turned to Liu Jinbao and said.
Liu Jinbao looked at the Marquis’s face, deformed from anger, calculated for a moment, decided it wasn’t worth it, shook his head in refusal, and pointed at the thick pine tree, meaning the Marquis could vent on the pine tree.
Although Yun Ye was dizzy with anger, looking at the rough pine bark and then at his own tender white hands, he still decided not to harm himself. A belly full of anger with nowhere to release it! That damned Wei Zheng not only deceived him but also brought people to watch him cry. How could he face anyone after this? A dignified marquis crying worse than a newborn baby—he was already the laughingstock of the whole army.
Too stupid, really too stupid! Li’er now valued the lives of the people under his rule like gold—how could he be willing to let more than two hundred commoners fill the road? When he walked on the streets of Yuezhou and heard the first cry of a newborn from a nearby household, he would shamelessly walk in to congratulate them, because this household had given him another tax-paying boy and a future able-bodied man or soldier.
With people, one could occupy much land; without people, occupying even the largest territory was useless. Could wild beasts fight battles or pay taxes for him? Being caught buying and selling Great Tang people meant only one thing—death. But buying and selling people from other countries, he was happy to see. Men from other countries wanting to marry Great Tang women couldn’t pass the official hurdle, but Great Tang men bringing foreign women home in groups—the officials might even help. In the vast territory, there were only thirty-six million people, like sprinkling a bit of pepper in a huge soup pot. The population was still too small.
All along the journey, Li’er no longer observed where strategic passes were, but rather paid attention to where was suitable for farming. If those lands were full of crops, he would be very happy. If a place was suitable for growing crops but lay desolate, he would definitely question the accompanying local officials thoroughly. Hearing that there were too few people and not enough to farm, he would often sigh with regret.
How was his own brain thinking? Why didn’t he turn it around? The Jin-Niu Road had already been completed. Those Goguryeo prisoners of war naturally needed to be slaughtered in a planned and purposeful manner. Li’er allowed Goguryeo people to live in the Great Tang, but absolutely wouldn’t tolerate them forming their own ethnic group. If a Goguryeo ethnic group appeared within the Great Tang, it would mean he had merely let Goguryeo people move house. What meaning would his conquest of Goguryeo have then?
Wei Zheng’s eyes had just been healed, so naturally he would curiously look around everywhere. Looking here and there, he discovered Yun Ye had been very wrong these past few days. With his wisdom, he didn’t need to guess to know which of Yun Ye’s nerves was off. Going with the flow, taking advantage of the opportunity, very smoothly with this one push, he not only tested Yun Ye’s true heart but also found himself a powerful ally to save Hou Junji’s family—why not do it? As for bringing people to watch Yun Ye cry, that was completely accidental, because Yun Ye’s crying voice with his ears covered was too loud and was heard by Li’er, who had just finished instructing those censors. Being surrounded became inevitable.
It was getting dark. Wang Cai followed the scent to find Yun Ye. It always cared about where its brother went. Hugging Wang Cai’s head, Yun Ye didn’t know where to go. Return to the tent? Too embarrassing.
“Wang Cai, how about we two brothers run away? I’ll follow you back to our old home in Longyou, build a small house and be a hermit. Better than coming out to embarrass ourselves, right? At most you won’t have thick wine to drink—just eat more grass. Horses are supposed to eat grass anyway.”
The two words “thick wine” absolutely couldn’t be mentioned in front of Wang Cai. Hearing these two words, Wang Cai’s ears obviously perked up. Biting Yun Ye’s clothes, it went down the mountain without the slightest hesitation, returned to the tent, and kicked a huge wooden barrel with its hoof.
Yun Ye sighed and poured half a basin of thick wine into the copper basin for Wang Cai to drink. This was the best thick wine that could be found in Hanzhong. Who knew Wang Cai wouldn’t drink it, but kept butting Yun Ye with its head and neighing at the cloth bag hanging from the tent ceiling.
It had become a spirit. Now without adding dried fruit and osmanthus to the thick wine, Wang Cai simply wouldn’t drink. Under Wang Cai’s big-eyed gaze, Yun Ye grabbed three handfuls of dried fruit in succession. Only then was Wang Cai satisfied. It buried its head and took a drink, then spit it out. It seemed to be throwing a tantrum—with one kick it overturned the copper basin, turned around and pointed its horse butt at Yun Ye, opening its mouth to neigh outward.
The red-nosed groom quickly appeared. Looking at the overturned copper basin on the ground, he said to Yun Ye, “Marquis, Wang Cai never drinks cold wine. Every time the thick wine needs to be boiled to soften the dried fruit and release the osmanthus fragrance—only this kind of thick wine will it drink.”
Yun Ye nodded. He wasn’t as particular as Wang Cai. He poured himself a bowl of thick wine and sat on a small folding stool to drink. Yun Ye had nearly finished drinking a basin of thick wine before Wang Cai’s thick wine was ready. The groom’s skills were good. The thick wine was aromatic, with fruit fragrance mixed with osmanthus fragrance so rich it could hardly disperse. Yun Ye scooped a bowl from Wang Cai’s wine basin and tasted it—the flavor was indeed good. What he had drunk earlier wasn’t thick wine at all. No wonder Wang Cai threw a tantrum.
Watching Wang Cai drink wine was an enjoyment in itself. Squinting its eyes, big mouth buried in the bottom of the basin, it slurped it dry in one breath without leaving a drop. Only then did it raise its head to let the groom wipe its mouth with a blackened handkerchief. With a loud snort, it lay down on the dry grass the groom had laid out, half-closing its eyes to doze. In the whole military camp, the only horse that needed to lie down to sleep was Wang Cai. Even though there had been no dry firewood to heat water these past days, the groom didn’t let anyone touch Wang Cai’s sleeping grass. He wrapped it carefully in oilcloth, not allowing moisture to invade. As soon as he found the grass was even slightly damp, he would shamelessly go to places with fire to dry out the grass’s moisture. Naturally, at night, he also slept on the dry grass.
Better not disturb Wang Cai’s sleep—it still had to get up at midnight to eat a meal. Very hard work. Yun Ye left the tent himself. Liu Jinbao was guarding outside. Seeing Yun Ye come out, he said in a low voice, “Marquis, Prince Wei has come to visit!”
“Won’t see him! Not a single good person—all came to laugh at me. I’m afraid it’s not just Prince Wei alone, right? Those old dukes didn’t come? That woman Hypatia whose curiosity is more serious than a cat’s didn’t come?”
“The Marquis’s insight reaches ten thousand li—they all came. They’re all waiting for you in the tent. By the looks of it, they don’t plan to leave without seeing you. How about you make do on my bed for tonight? This humble one will keep watch for you.” Liu Jinbao said with a fawning smile.
“Get lost! Been with you for decades, never once seen you wash your feet. If I, the Marquis, rolled around on your bed for a night, would I still have the life to wake up? Forget it, can’t avoid it. I’ll see them.”
Xinyue was entertaining several elders in the tent, her face covered with worried clouds, eyes red. She had just heard that her husband had hidden behind a tree alone wailing loudly and felt her husband was too pitiful, so she cried her nose out too. Now she was barely holding it together to entertain Cheng Yaojin and the others. Hypatia’s eyeballs were rolling around, constantly sweeping her gaze across the faces of Cheng Yaojin and the others, trying to see some clues. Only Li Tai held his tea bowl drinking tea—clearly using the tea to suppress himself from laughing.
As soon as Yun Ye entered, Xinyue’s eyes brightened. No matter what grievances her husband suffered outside, as long as he was willing to come home, it was good. She quickly went up to ask if Yun Ye had eaten dinner.
After paying respects to the elders, Yun Ye said with a bitter smile, “Today I made a huge fool of myself. Looking at Motian Cliff, I thought of Zhuge Liang’s life and couldn’t help but recite his lifetime of achievements. Thinking that no matter how magnificent the achievements, in the end they’re all for nothing, I couldn’t help but feel sorrow rising from my heart. Involuntarily reciting the ‘Memorial on Dispatching the Army,’ I couldn’t restrain myself and cried loudly. The elders must be laughing at me.”
Cheng Yaojin said strangely, “With your heartless and carefree nature, you could actually be moved by the past to this extent—truly rare. Did you connect it to yourself? Feel that no matter what you do in this lifetime, it’s all for nothing?”
“The green mountains remain, how many times has the setting sun turned red? This red sun and green mountains are the things that last forever. By comparison, human achievements are too insignificant to record. I recalled a saying my former teacher said and felt quite moved: ‘Visit not the tombs of heroes from the Five Mausoleums, no flowers, no wine, plowed into fields.’ Our graves will sooner or later also become fertile fields, leaving not even a goose’s footprint in snow on this world. How can one hide one’s sorrow?”
Niu Jinda stood up with a stern face, walked to Yun Ye and said, “Read yourself stupid? Told you to read less. Soaked in the Academy all these years, a perfectly good child has been ruined into an idiot by books. Who cares about later? Everyone cares about now. After closing both eyes, can you know the rights and wrongs, merits and faults?”
“As long as when you close your eyes you don’t feel guilty or regretful, that’s enough. People’s thoughts are too mixed—today one version, tomorrow another version. Yesterday still a sage, by tomorrow become scum. You want the whole world to remember you forever—what kind of dream is that? As long as people now know your name Yun Ye and give you a thumbs up saying ‘well done,’ that’s enough. Who can control what comes after?”
Honest people speak honest words and do honest things. This is how Niu Jinda thought. What he believed was right, he would instill in Yun Ye, never hiding anything. This was also why Yun Ye respected this elder.
Qin Qiong chuckled and said, “No problem. What’s embarrassing about it? Lamenting the past and present—isn’t that what those bookworms often do? Seeing a falling leaf, saying goodbye, they can cry their noses out. Young Ye just felt emotional for a moment—not embarrassing. Seeing you’re fine, this old man is also relieved. You young people don’t like to hear old people’s words. We’re leaving. You and Prince Wei chat more. Just untangle the knot in your heart.” After Qin Qiong finished speaking, he walked out with Niu Jinda. Cheng Yaojin looked back suspiciously and also left.
“Tell the truth now. Don’t give me the lies you told those old men.”
“Send your woman away and I’ll tell you. This time I made a huge fool of myself!”