Li Jing was studying the terrain of the grasslands, Li Ji was deploying troops and dispatching generals at the front, Du Ruhui was preparing provisions and equipment, Li Chengqian had made preparations to accompany the army on campaign, Li’er was preparing the imperial edict to conscript府兵 (fubing militia) on a large scale from among the common people, and Fang Xuanling was busy preparing the civil officials to accompany the army. Even Empress Zhangsun had begun eating vegetarian meals to pray for blessings for the soldiers. The Great Tang war machine had already begun to operate, with bustling activity from top to bottom.

Only Yun Ye was extremely leisurely. He had deflected two official documents from the Ministry of War using the excuse that his illness had not yet recovered. Compared to war, he much preferred chatting with Huang Shu.

“You hide at home all day without going out, circling around your wife—do you have any manly appearance at all?”

“My lord, this humble one used to come and go alone, experiencing countless dangers. Now I just want to stay by my wife and child’s side. The days are a bit dull, this humble one is worthless, but I just like this kind of dullness now. My wife’s belly has gotten big, and she still can’t go out right now.”

Huang Shu’s ideal was just like this—to be a small business owner, living ordinary, peaceful days. Wu Dalang playing with night cats—what kind of person plays with what kind of bird, it’s all predetermined by heaven. He just hadn’t thought that there was no difference at all between himself and Huang Shu. The words he’d just said about Huang Shu were actually the same words Old Cheng had used to scold Yun Ye himself.

Wang Cai dragged the carriage, pulling Yun Ye toward home. Both man and horse were unwilling to return home, using the slowest speed to head back. When there was movement in the withered grass by the roadside, he would jump down from the carriage and whack it with a stick to see if he could startle a rabbit out. Seeing a large flock of sparrows resting on the treetops, he would throw a stone to startle them all into flight.

The big-bellied woman at home now had a very large belly—in another month she would give birth. Being pregnant, her temper had become a complete mess, throwing all kinds of tantrums without restraint. She most liked having Na Rimu serve her, and even though Na Rimu was clumsy and couldn’t serve her well, she still wanted Na Rimu to stay by her side.

Originally thinking that Na Rimu would feel very wronged, who knew that Na Rimu herself also liked to huddle close to Xinyue, being ordered around left and right without complaint or regret, grinning with her white teeth showing in a silly smile all day long.

For this matter, Yun Ye had already criticized Xinyue several times, but unfortunately she remained incorrigible.

“The tea Na Rimu brews is undrinkable—she puts in tea leaves like she’s trying to kill someone. With all those servant girls around, you just fixate on ordering her around alone.”

Just arriving home, while untying Wang Cai’s reins, Xinyue came up to greet him, pushing back Na Rimu who had also come to greet him, telling her to go prepare tea and water. She herself very attentively took a brush to brush the dust off Yun Ye’s body.

“Na Rimu won’t be staying at home much longer. You’re a man and don’t understand. Our home is still very unfamiliar to her. Only by doing more work, keeping more busy, thinking about how to fuss around with me—only this way will she not feel lonely, only this way will she have attachment to this home. Do you think I enjoy having her wash my feet? After she washed them once, my feet hurt for two days. I’m just letting this silly woman feel happy in her heart.”

Whenever Xinyue spoke about these matters, she had that calm appearance of having everything under control, far more confident than when General Li discussed military strategy.

“Two perverts—one likes bullying people, one likes being bullied by people. I have nothing to say. I can’t understand you women’s affairs.”

“If you talk about national military affairs, I know nothing about them—that’s what you should handle. When women meddle in such things, it shows they don’t understand their place. Haven’t you seen how the Empress doesn’t meddle in court politics? I also can’t understand your maps. They’re all about deploying troops and generals, important matters, yet you just carelessly leave them on the table. If spies saw them, who knows how many soldiers would die. Here’s the key—I’ve put them all away for you. I told Uncle Jiang and the others to watch more carefully. Earlier I even saw Shishi and Xiao Wu crowding around your map with the little flags, looking randomly. That won’t do.”

“As for household matters, you should interfere less. Na Rimu won’t be bullied by me. She has Huan Niang helping her come up with ideas. Being submissive—don’t think I can’t see it—she’s just pretending to be pitiful to win your sympathy. You never used to criticize me before, but now after just a few days, you’ve already scolded me four or five times.”

“Don’t look at that girl as if she’s silly—she’s quite clear-headed inside. You’re really underestimating your own concubine.”

Taking the brush from Xinyue’s hand, he also brushed Wang Cai while he was at it. In winter, Wang Cai’s coat was lustrous and shiny, gleaming with oil. Now his fur color had finally become pure—dark red, with a white spot on his long face, right at the center of his brow, and the roots of his four hooves were also white. If he were a black horse, he would be the famous “Dark Clouds Treading Snow” pattern.

Li Chunfeng was just asking for a beating—he even dared say Wang Cai had tear grooves and was a jinx, that this horse needed to be gotten rid of quickly.

Get rid of your sister! You could say get rid of me and that would be fine—I’m the real jinx. This reputation is famous throughout Chang’an. Get rid of Wang Cai? That’s purely looking for death. Which family’s horse is as beloved as Wang Cai? My family has always worshipped him like a lucky cat.

The white spot at the center of his brow is a tear groove? That’s the mark of a treasured horse! Right then and there he pinned the skinny Li Chunfeng against the manger and beat him, only letting him go after he changed his tune and said it was a treasured horse.

Compared to Wang Cai, Li Chunfeng was worth nothing at all. In Yun Ye’s view, he was just a Daoist priest who swindled food and drink, spending all day deceiving this person and fooling that person. It was said he could see five hundred years into the future.

It wasn’t that Yun Ye looked down on this master-disciple pair who were treated like immortals in the Great Tang, but damn it, you can see five hundred years at most, while this old master is crystal clear about the next fifteen hundred years. Xiao Wu had paraded in front of him eighty times, and all he said was one sentence about her having extraordinary bone structure and definitely being a great beauty in the future.

As for that famous prophecy of his about Wu Meiniang, he had never heard him mention it. It seemed to be another case of those damned ass-kissing historians adding things in.

Whenever Yun Ye sat on the kang, Na Rimu would definitely drape herself over him, her soft body pressing and snuggling against him in a way both of them enjoyed.

Xinyue also really wanted to climb up, but her big belly prevented her from enjoying this rare warm moment between husband and wife.

Yun Ye always came home latest. By this time they had already eaten dinner. On the small kang table were three or four dishes and a bowl of noodles—this was Yun Ye’s dinner. In terms of food, by modern standards it could at most be considered average—one chicken leg, a plate of vegetables, a few slices of mutton, plus some pickled vegetables. That was the entire contents.

Sometimes Yun Ye would think that in this life, people live for nothing more than food and clothing. People’s lives under normal circumstances revolve around these two words.

As for fame and fortune, those were strange things people fussed about only when they had eaten their fill and had nothing else to do—they were trivial matters, not worth putting on the table. As for women, they were even stranger.

Between the two sexes, it was nothing more than an instinct for racial continuation. All species wanted to spread their genes as widely as possible, which is why lions challenged the lion king again and again, just to monopolize more lionesses to continue their own offspring.

How similar this was to Li’er’s behavior! It was just that those lions didn’t let any of the lionesses they monopolized go to waste, while Li’er’s ability in this area still needed improvement, otherwise there wouldn’t always be fifty or sixty-year-old virgins appearing in the imperial palace. Just a few days ago, seven or eight had been sent to the estate.

Fifty-year-old virgins—this was a kind of torment. West of Yushan there was now a run-down estate, which Yun Ye had operated on using the eunuchs and palace maids’ own money, raising the amount tenfold to purchase this estate.

Four or five retired old eunuchs were sent by Empress Zhangsun to learn from the Yun family’s steward, Old Qian, how to manage an estate.

Not informing Empress Zhangsun about palace matters would cause big trouble. Wu She personally petitioned the Emperor, hoping that future retired eunuchs and palace maids would have a place to retire and not freeze or starve to death.

Li’er handed this matter over to Empress Zhangsun and didn’t manage it himself. Empress Zhangsun naturally very smoothly handed this matter over to Yun Ye, while she herself contributed one thousand strings of cash, which was considerate enough. From then on, she wouldn’t manage the retirement of the old eunuchs and old palace maids that followed.

Taking a bite of food, he stuffed the chicken leg to Na Rimu behind him, who was watching him eat and drooling. This woman was done for—a habit from being hungry since childhood. She couldn’t stand seeing others eat. Even though she herself had eaten her fill, seeing others eat food still made her envious.

Xinyue grabbed a handful at Na Rimu’s chest and said to Yun Ye: “She just finished eating. She ate down an entire chicken and even drank all the soup. This body has gotten fat as a pig. Her chest is even bigger than mine, and I’m about to nurse a child. When she returns to the grasslands, I don’t know if there will still be a horse that can carry her.”

The female hooligan’s groping made Na Rimu very embarrassed. On the grasslands, as long as there was an opportunity to eat, they would never let it pass. They had to add more fat to prepare for winter. Cattle and sheep were like this, and people too.

Yun Ye turned back to look at Na Rimu with her protruding front and perky rear—very good! Her waist was still slender, and as for other places getting bigger, that wasn’t bad either. Seeing that Na Rimu had finished the chicken leg and was still looking at the mutton, he passed the mutton over to her too. Eat more.

His mind wouldn’t rest idle, continuing to think. Empress Zhangsun must know about the palace affairs. Perhaps she was watching to see exactly how far Yun Ye intended to get involved, then adjust her response strategy accordingly.

He couldn’t look for Li Chengqian for this kind of thing. If he got involved, it would be of no benefit whatsoever to his future succession to the throne. He himself couldn’t get involved either—who knew how much dirty business was in there. Once tainted, it wouldn’t wash clean for three years.

Who could take on these people without having future troubles? With his chopsticks propped against his chin, faces flashed rapidly through his mind.

Suddenly a whole row of people froze in his mind. These people should have no problems, right? Family scandals shouldn’t be made public—it would be better if Li family members managed it themselves. If he himself weren’t always cautious and had gotten trapped in palace conflicts, he would probably already be a pile of bones.

The Li family produced strong people—both men and women were fierce characters. Rather than using their thoughts on scheming against each other, why not use some thought for those of humble status?

Managing an estate was a science. Wouldn’t they also have to manage their own family business after marrying? Princess Honghua, that brainless oddball, could be left out.

Changle, Gao Yang, and Lan Ling were all good candidates! Before marrying, they could manage these dead eunuchs for the imperial palace. After marrying, they could transfer authority to other unmarried princesses. He himself only needed to train those brainless princesses of Li’er’s.

Having figured it out, Yun Ye even applauded his own wisdom. The big trouble was cast off! Since those dead eunuchs liked princesses, let them be fond of all the princesses in the imperial palace—don’t leave a single one out.

With his mind not thinking about things, his appetite opened wide. Just as he was preparing to finish off all his noodles, he discovered the bowl was already empty. Na Rimu was leaning against the cushion groaning, her belly bulging. Was she pregnant again?