In handling the Lu family’s women and children, Yun Ye used the fastest method—only this way could he minimize the matter of privately releasing official slaves.
Thoroughly understanding government policy and exploiting it to the extreme was a simple tactic commonly used by companies in later generations.
Right now, Yun Ye was utilizing this loophole. The current government’s credibility was exceptionally strong, and especially the official document in Yun Ye’s hands clearly stated permission for Marquis of Lantian Yun Ye to select fifty official slaves as a reward. If Yun Ye didn’t exploit such a loophole bigger than a washbasin, heaven itself would strike him with lightning.
Returning to the Court of Imperial Entertainments again, he ran right into Old He with his head bandaged. Upon seeing it was Yun Ye, he turned and ran. His obese body couldn’t outrun Yun Ye, who cornered him against a wall. Like a frightened maiden, clutching his arms and opening terrified eyes, he babbled incoherently, begging for mercy:
“Brother, I’ll call you grandfather, alright? Please show mercy! What kind of thug injures an official and snatches documents, then immediately returns to the crime scene? Older brother truly has a terrible headache. Could you spare this older brother? Old Lu’s family committed a crime against heaven’s law. You’ve been implicated in such a major affair—how can you still be so carefree?”
“His Majesty said that since I’m not yet of age, it’s not yet his turn to manage me. Right now, my direct superior is Her Majesty the Empress. If caught in wrongdoing, at most I’ll be made to stand as punishment. Compared to the fate of dozens of people, I’m not precious enough to worry about myself.”
Old He looked at Yun Ye as if seeing him for the first time, examining him up and down without stopping. His obese body straightened up, the ridiculous expression on his face disappeared, and with white cloth wrapped around his head, he actually had somewhat of a martyr’s bearing.
“From today forward, you are my brother, He Shao’s brother. Through fire and water, just say the word—this older brother has no second thoughts.”
“Weren’t we already brothers before? Why say it again?”
“It’s different. Before, I could drink with you, mess around with you, but I would never entrust my life to your hands. Now it’s different. Entrusting my life to a brother like you is my good fortune. Your type is rather annoying and irritating, but when there’s a major matter, entrusting it to someone like you is the most reliable.”
“This way of doing things, I learned from an elder. The old gentleman killed countless people in his life, yet never wasted human lives carelessly. If he could save one person, he absolutely wouldn’t even furrow his brow—even through mountains of blades and seas of fire, he feared nothing. I fall far short. When doing things, I still have to weigh considerations. If it involves my grandmother and sisters at home, even if everyone under heaven died, I would hide far away.”
“I somewhat regret what I just said. Can I take it back?” He Shao’s face wrinkled up like a withered eggplant.
“Nonsense! We’re already brothers. How can you take your words back? Quickly help your brother look—fifty official slaves, I only took thirty-seven. I’m still short thirteen. Quickly make up the number for me.”
“I’ll host a banquet, invite you as a guest. You can go wherever you want—just let this older brother take back those words. A brother like you, I can’t afford to have…”
The matter was handled perfectly. He even scammed another meal of food and drink. Seeing it was about to get dark and he couldn’t leave the city, he and Old Zhuang and Liu Jinbao burped their way home. After a comfortable hot bath, he planned to return to Yushan tomorrow. He didn’t want to stay in Chang’an City even one more day. He seemed to always smell a bloody stench that no amount of washing could remove.
“Old Lu, I did my best. Your ten thousand strings were used to rescue your wife and old mother. Rest in peace.” Yun Ye muttered a sentence toward the dark night outside the window in a voice only he could hear.
Yun Ye slept until broad daylight. Steward Auntie chattered on about how the household, with only him and a few sisters remaining, seemed cold and empty, while simultaneously dressing Yun Ye, making herself appear very busy.
“If you want to go to the manor, then go. No one’s stopping you. Why say so much? Does a family become estranged after not seeing each other for a few days?”
He really couldn’t bear to watch anymore. Just putting on clothes took the time of burning one incense stick. Don’t you know I’m anxious to flee right now? Yun Ye’s heart cried out impatiently.
Too late—he was still blocked at his doorstep by that damned eunuch Yun Ye had beaten up.
Smiling obsequiously, he said Her Majesty had summoned him, also saying he had originally intended to go to the manor, never expecting Marquis Yun to still be at his Chang’an residence, making this errand easy—such nonsense. The four characters for “gloating” were practically written on his face.
Just entering the imperial palace, he encountered the various big shots who had just finished morning court.
“Oh my, oh my! Marquis Yun’s dish of locusts made this old man fast for three days and nearly meet King Yama. Such a kindness cannot go unrequited. After meeting His Majesty in a bit, come to this old man’s house. The household has prepared three pounds of locusts to properly entertain Marquis Yun. You absolutely must come—don’t let down this old man’s painstaking efforts.” Li Xiaogong, this old undying one—how did the Xiao clan in Jiangnan not manage to finish him off? Shot with three arrows, yet still living vigorously to torment me.
“Let’s go together, go together! This old man has hated evil like an enemy his whole life and cannot bear to see those three pounds of locusts survive until tomorrow. Today, they absolutely must be buried in Marquis Yun’s belly to dispel this evil qi in this old man’s heart. Marquis Yun won’t keep this old man waiting bitterly, will you?”
Wang Gui, you old scholar—instead of properly educating your sons at home, what are you meddling in?
Counting on his fingers, today there were two princes, six dukes, over a dozen marquises—not counting those of earl rank and below, this was already a formidable force. It seemed today’s great locust banquet was unavoidable. They were holding back their evil qi, waiting for Yun Ye to make a fool of himself.
He just didn’t know if, after seeing the Empress, he could still leave the imperial palace alive to enjoy the delicacies.
Empress Zhangsun now didn’t like sitting, probably because of her pregnancy. Her heart was irritable, and combined with the sweltering weather, she paced back and forth in the great hall, unable to remain still.
“If Your Majesty is hot, why not have this subject find some ice to place outside the hall? This way it won’t be harmful to Your Majesty’s health and will also be somewhat cooler.”
Having committed an error, one must have the awareness to flatter. Yun Ye wasn’t a straightforward blockhead—taking appropriate detours to achieve one’s goal wasn’t bad either.
“This year is a great disaster. The palace should economize wherever possible. This palace doesn’t have your Marquis Yun’s golden touch, so can only be frugal in what I eat and use, also to help His Majesty share his burdens. I heard you went to the Court of Imperial Entertainments yesterday? What for? What business does an underage boy have going there for no reason? All of this palace’s previous teachings—where have they gone? I told you to think thrice before acting. This time, releasing the Lu family’s women and children was disobeying orders. Who gave you such audacity?”
Empress Zhangsun initially seemed to have the intention of gradually deepening the conversation, but unexpectedly, once the topic opened, she couldn’t restrain herself and directly laid the matter out plainly. This was extremely rare for her. Since Empress Zhangsun wasn’t beating around the bush anymore, Yun Ye naturally couldn’t use the loopholes in the documents to make his case. This would be disrespectful to Empress Zhangsun. He could never bear to deceive this great woman.
“There were no other strange motives, nor any intention to deliberately embarrass His Majesty. I truly couldn’t help but do this. The Yun family’s tragic circumstances absolutely cannot recur in our Great Tang.”
“Oh? Today there are no excuses, no pretexts, not even glib talk—how rare. It seems this matter truly touched your painful spot.”
Empress Zhangsun was momentarily unaccustomed to Yun Ye’s directness and seemed somewhat dazed.
“May Your Majesty permit me to speak. At that time on the roof of the Taiji Palace, this subject was extremely afraid. Above my head swirled electric light, in my ears thundered muffled crashes, so frightened I wet my pants. Yet this subject still stubbornly held on, for no other reason than hoping fewer people would die, hoping those aristocratic households would retreat in the face of difficulty and not contend further with His Majesty. Who knew that Lu Shou and Lu Zi’an, under the shock of failure, would speak those words of great treason, finally trapping themselves in a death sentence—they brought it upon themselves. Old Lu Jiang, regardless of everything, single-mindedly wanted to make the Lu family prosper and glorify the clan. He even staked his own life. This subject doesn’t pity him—he sought death himself. But what fault did the women and children have? They were forcibly bound to the war chariot by them. Now the chariot has overturned, and what tragically miserable fate awaits those women and children? This subject’s heart was uneasy, so I did this. Please, Your Majesty, punish me.”
Having finished speaking, Yun Ye bowed in salute, awaiting judgment.
Empress Zhangsun sighed deeply, somewhat unable to bear punishing him. She glanced at the screen behind her. Seeing no movement, she let him leave to return to Yushan for reflection.
Unexpected! This time he could actually pass through easily. Don’t look at how lightly he spoke to Old He—in fact, Yun Ye clearly knew that this time Li’er wouldn’t let him off easily. From the beginning of Empress Zhangsun’s conversation, he knew this, but hadn’t expected it to be such an anticlimax.
Looking back at the imposing and grand imperial palace, he knew this was his last time participating in the deceptive disputes of court politics.
His entire body seemed to relax. He couldn’t help but laugh. Yes, this was the life he wanted—even if it meant herding pigs together with little Ya.
Empress Zhangsun returned behind the screen and gently massaged Li’er’s temples. Li’er seemed to have fallen asleep, but his slightly twitching index finger proved this sovereign’s inner turmoil.
“That boy will never participate in court politics again, never again.” Li’er said softly.
“How can you tell? He’s a fool who remembers to eat but not the beating. Right now, he understands clearly, but once he encounters something he cares about, he’ll come out again.” Empress Zhangsun didn’t agree.
“You don’t understand men, especially someone like Yun Ye. He has no fear, only cares about loyalty and affection. Just now, the faster he spoke proved he’s already impatient with this matter—or perhaps I should say, he’s impatient with the entire court. He only wants to extricate himself as quickly as possible and leave this place of conflict. What a clever boy—let’s see if you can escape from Zhen’s grasp.” Li’er smiled and grasped Empress Zhangsun’s soft hand, placing it on his chest.
Empress Zhangsun seemed to sense some change in Li’er. She tried to pull back her hand, shy as when they first met. Her jade-like cheeks flushed with two patches of crimson, dazzling Li’er’s eyes and stirring his spirit.
He felt that during this period, he seemed to have lost some hardness of mind and gained more of a domestic atmosphere. Ordinarily, he would never have discovered that the Empress he had grown accustomed to seeing was actually so beautiful. Years of mutual care and devotion were enough to make him forget Empress Zhangsun’s appearance, only remembering that no matter what he did, she would always be there behind him.
Like a shadow that should naturally be his, possessed so naturally, possessed so deservedly. Should I withdraw somewhat my gaze surveying all under heaven and look at the people beside me, pay attention to the scenery closest to me? Li’er asked himself this.