“Marquis Yun, this matter arose because of this old man, so let this old man bear the responsibility. Three hundred thousand strings of cash—even if you were to skin and dismember this old man, I wouldn’t be worth that price. How about this: this old man will voluntarily request punishment and go herd horses at Yin Mountain. Let Han Cheng and Qian Sheng remain here to atone for their crimes through meritorious service. After all, compared to Guan Tinglong, they are more familiar with the connections and can work more conveniently.”
“I know what you said earlier was spoken in anger. Those people are also subjects of Great Tang. The court is establishing new cities to develop the Two Lakes region, to change the impoverished conditions there, and to make our Great Tang’s south as prosperous as the north. You couldn’t bear to watch them become lowly commoners either, right? So be it. This old man has done wrong and has no face to remain in Chang’an. I will go request punishment from His Majesty immediately. As for the losses incurred, Marquis Yun, please think of more solutions. This old man is incompetent and can only punish himself.”
Watching Qi Dali walk out with his stooped body, Yun Ye was so frustrated he wanted to shout. One after another, they were all the same—after doing something wrong, they put on that appearance of being ready to accept any punishment or beating, completely disregarding the hardship of cleaning up their mess.
Building all the cities on official land was Yun Ye’s desperate measure. The price of the common people’s farmland was simply too expensive. If he had bought all private fields, it would have been disastrous—after buying the land, there would be no money left.
Many people must have viewed Guan Tinglong’s effect drawing, and the old fellow must have used that drawing to persuade the common people, telling them how wonderful the future would be. As a result, those merchants could guess from that drawing where you planned to build the city with eighty to ninety percent accuracy. Perhaps lack of imagination was Guan Tinglong’s only merit. This fake drawing could serve to divert attention—borrowing arrows with straw boats, a small matter. But now, how to use this fake blueprint to its utmost limit was the key to success or failure. The first round of confrontation could not go wrong. Since they liked to speculate on land, then let’s speculate together.
“Yun Ye used the wrong people and doesn’t understand the principle that ‘when ministers are not discreet, they lose their position.’ Now that the merchants have gained the upper hand, I wonder how he will respond. Should we tell him about the second crying-face corpse that has appeared in Yue Prefecture?” Zhangsun massaged Li Er’s temples while softly asking him.
“Tell him. Rashly striking out when facing an unclear enemy is a great military taboo. Since those people want to compete with Yun Ye again in the new city, then let them come. True warriors dare to face danger directly. I have great confidence in Yun Ye’s money-making skills. At least I am no match for him in this regard, nor have I discovered anyone who is. Those people have encountered the wrong opponent at the wrong time and in the wrong place. They will certainly suffer greatly.”
“Last time, the guards brought back those manuscripts from the roof of Wanmin Hall. I read them and was deeply shocked. Yang Guang and I both seized our thrones from our elder brothers’ hands. I am very worried that Qingque will also be exploited by them. If history repeats itself, even if I die, I won’t be able to close my eyes. Leaving corpses unattended while putting on armor to attack each other—there have been such lessons since ancient times. I don’t want to become Duke Huan of Qi. Guanyin Bi, help me. Let us walk through this difficult pass together.”
“It won’t happen, Erlang, it won’t happen. Right now Chengqian and Qingque are brotherly and respectful to each other. They won’t experience such a tragedy. If there is any sign of such a thing, this concubine would rather have never given birth to them than allow others to defile the dignity of the imperial family. Erlang, this concubine can also kill, and has killed quite a few!”
In the spacious Liangyi Hall, cold wind stirred the curtains. The supreme emperor and empress of Great Tang felt the most helpless chill at this moment. Li Er wasn’t worried about obvious enemies—even if placed in desperate straits, he had confidence in fighting his way out. But what he had encountered was a group of madmen who manipulated people’s hearts. Others might not do things that harm others without benefiting themselves, but they would. They exhausted their efforts just to watch tragedies of brothers turning against each other unfold. In the expansion of their own ambitions, they fell into their traps without realizing it.
Li Er had always believed he was born to be emperor, that his birth was for the purpose of being emperor with no second possibility. Leading a hundred thousand troops to traverse the realm, dominating the Yellow River and Luo River region, achieving merit throughout the land, with all heroes submitting—every time he saw a strong enemy fall, the desire in his heart grew stronger. He loved this kind of life and swore to carry it through to the end.
But then someone suddenly came to tell him: all your achievements were obtained with my help. Don’t believe it? Go ask Chang He who let you into Xuanwu Gate—he’s my man. Otherwise, do you think you would have succeeded?
The interrogation results showed that the person wasn’t lying. Chang He was indeed a traitor, a small pawn abandoned by them. Under severe torture and harsh laws, the situation revealed left His Majesty the Emperor utterly dejected. For three days now, he hadn’t seen anyone, just lying in Liangyi Hall recalling his past. Each time he thought about it, he felt many things were coincidences, many people were worth suspecting. He knew this wasn’t the mentality an emperor should have, but he couldn’t help viewing his ministers with cautious eyes. When Yun Ye mentioned the Great Wall, he even felt this was mocking his barbarian ancestors.
Zhangsun glanced at the spacious Liangyi Hall and suddenly said to Li Er: “Your Majesty, why don’t we go out for a walk, see what Chengqian is doing, see what Qingque is doing, and then see what Yun Ye is doing. Young people always have some inexplicable behaviors on snowy days like this. Let’s go look—consider it relaxation.”
Li Chengqian was in a towering rage, pointing at Crown Prince Washer Yang Yuan and loudly saying: “Who are you? You are the washer of the Eastern Palace. Can a mere thirty strings of cash make you act arrogantly and tyrannically at the bank? Whose money exchange doesn’t result in a loss? This prince has lost no less than three thousand strings, yet have I complained even once? The early copper coins were underweight—this was the result of the nation’s poverty. We enjoyed this peace of mind for so many years. How can we not take a little loss now?”
Yang Yuan tremblingly requested the Crown Prince’s forgiveness, promising never to commit such an offense again, before hearing the Crown Prince say gently: “Your household has many people, and over these years you’ve exchanged all your silver for copper coins, so this time your loss was greater. These thirty silver yuan are compensation for you, but you must personally go to the bank to apologize. The dignity of this currency exchange cannot be tainted.”
Zhangsun covered her mouth and laughed. She and Li Er stood by the moon gate, with Crown Princess Su Shi accompanying them, while Madam Hou thrust out her pregnant belly high, as if afraid the Emperor and Empress couldn’t see it.
“Look at him, this is your eldest son. He doesn’t lose the principles he should have and can also treat people with magnanimity. He’s exactly like a second you! With such a Crown Prince, what do you have to worry about? Some contemptible schemes that can’t see the light of day may succeed for a time, but cannot succeed forever. The Great Tang realm will surely last ten thousand generations!”
Li Er nodded but didn’t pay attention to Li Chengqian. The husband and wife rode in their sedan chair directly to Wude Hall. The guards here still stood upright in the wind and snow. Seeing the Emperor and Empress arrive, they only struck their chest armor once and continued looking straight ahead. Zhangsun could hear the sound of mechanisms loosening from high in the great hall. Seeing the Emperor, the crossbows were released—this was the established protocol.
Walking down the spiral staircase, Zhangsun was very curious about this place. The lamps enclosed in glass cases illuminated the entire passage in a pale white. A minor official in green robes hurried over to pay respects to the Emperor and Empress.
Looking at this person’s pallid face, the Emperor smiled and said: “The Empress probably doesn’t know this person. His name is Xiao Cangsheng. For the sake of Great Tang’s gunpowder secrecy, he and his wife vowed never to leave Wude Hall in this lifetime. But I will give his descendants a good position. It’s quite unfortunate—he still hasn’t produced a son, though he has already had two daughters.”
The Empress said solemnly: “Your Majesty, this is a righteous man. How can you use a teasing tone to mock him? Xiao Cangsheng, if you truly have no sons, this Empress will take charge for you and find a good man to marry into your family for your daughters. We will likewise ensure your family line doesn’t die out.” Hearing the Empress’s words, Xiao Cangsheng prostrated himself fully on the ground in great ceremony, unable to speak through his tears.
If Wude Hall was a giant spider web, then Li Tai was definitely the huge human spider sitting in the very center. Dense alarm bells rang out—as soon as the Emperor and Empress entered, he knew it. Wearing simple hemp clothing, he walked out from the laboratory, his hands still covered with clay and paint.
“Qingque, what are you doing? At your age, how are you still playing with mud? You’re truly naughty.” Zhangsun affectionately took out her handkerchief and wiped off a speck of mud on his face, softly scolding with a smile.
“The Empress doesn’t understand. Qingque is experimenting to see if gunpowder’s power will further increase under sealed conditions. I heard that last time he already experimented with a constant. Is that right or not, Qingque?”
“Father Emperor is absolutely correct. That constant only took a middle value. What your son is doing now is to see what the maximum value actually looks like. This kind of secret cannot be entrusted to others’ hands, so your son can only complete it alone.” After speaking, he invited his parents to sit briefly in his office.
Looking at the office that didn’t even have a place to stand, Zhangsun found it both amusing and exasperating. The imperial family was a group of people most particular about neatness and rules. But now look—on top of the “Bamboo Annals” sat a half-eaten roast chicken, and Li Tai’s robes were scattered carelessly on a chair. The room had quite a peculiar smell.
“Mother Empress, please don’t take offense.” Li Tai embarrassedly put away the roast chicken but didn’t know where to place it, so he could only hold it in his hand, hiding it behind his back. Li Er burst into loud laughter and said to the Empress: “Last time when I dragged Yun Ye down here, he saw Qingque’s room and said, ‘This is the room of someone who does real work. Books and such are just tools, so naturally they should be placed however is most convenient. Though it’s messy, there’s reason in the mess. As long as Qingque himself finds it convenient, that’s good.’ I deeply agreed.”
“Yun Ye always has a reason for everything. He’s said every possible thing. According to him, it’s best to speak every sentence as a statement that blocks both ends—then you become a transcendent master. If you can speak blocking-both-ends statements that no one understands, then you’re a supreme transcendent master, worthy of being called a generational grandmaster.”
Zhangsun discovered at this moment that some things Yun Ye had said made great sense. At least in this moment, the knot in her husband’s heart had dissipated by at least half. If Yun Ye was also doing something meaningful at this time, she believed the Emperor’s heart-knot would completely unravel.