Lying in the horse carriage with the reins simply hanging on the horse’s back, Wang Cai knew where to go. Every day at this time was when Yun Ye went home, an unchanging routine.

The carriage slowly traveled along the mountain road. Wang Cai dragged Yun Ye home with leisurely steps. Occasionally a remnant withered leaf would drift down from a tree trunk, which would cause him to stop and watch.

Starting and stopping along the way, man and horse bathing in the setting sun, both languid. The air itself seemed permeated with a lazy atmosphere.

Wang Cai suddenly stopped, turned his head and snorted loudly at Yun Ye, telling him there were people ahead.

Looking up, as if stung by a hornet, Yun Ye immediately jumped up.

Li’er stood with his hands behind his back on the small path, with only the full-bearded Wei Zheng beside him, looking at Yun Ye with a half-smile.

“Get down here and lead the way ahead. Enjoying blessings until you’re committing sins—I’m busy from morning to night without a moment’s leisure, yet you’re all alone enjoying complete ease with a single horse.”

Li’er’s beard had also become increasingly thick, and it had even spread across his entire face, combed neatly and shining with oil. His body carried a fragrance of ambergris perfume that could be smelled even against the wind. He wore ordinary clothes, but the large jade pendant hanging at his waist exposed his identity. Which commoner would dare use a jade carving with five fingers?

“Your Majesty traveling incognito is truly unwise. If there’s the slightest mishap, it would be Wei Zheng’s fault. This subject impeaches Wei Zheng for disloyalty and disrespect, placing Your Majesty in danger. Only severe punishment can quell the anger in this humble subject’s heart.”

Li’er himself sat in the carriage, lying diagonally just as Yun Ye had been, squinting his eyes and saying: “Do you know how disgusting you look imitating the ministers? One, you lack the character of civil officials; two, you lack the威 imposing presence of military generals. From head to toe the character ‘profit’ comes first. With two large silver ingots tied to your feet, you’re truly invincible—you could be said to kill Buddhas upon meeting Buddhas, kill demons upon meeting demons. How could such a freak as you appear under my rule? Others say every five hundred years a sage must appear, but when it comes to me, heaven gave me a specimen like you. I don’t know what sins I committed that heaven would punish me like this.”

Sighing with a face full of desolation, Li’er kicked Wang Cai’s rump, indicating he could proceed forward.

Yun Ye looked angrily at the innocent-faced Wei Zheng. If looks could kill, Wei Zheng would have been dead without an intact corpse long ago.

“Don’t look at me. This excursion was His Majesty’s idea. I was just dragged along to accompany him. His Majesty wants to rest comfortably at Yushan for two days to relax. After this period of time, if he wants to steal some leisure again, there probably won’t be another chance.”

Rustling sounds came from the grass on both sides of the road. Needless to say, masters from the Bai Qi Si were lurking. How could Li’er’s travels be without guards?

“Marquis Yun has accumulated deep resentment toward this old Wei. Upon meeting, you immediately want His Majesty to punish me. Why?”

Wei Zheng and Yun Ye walked on the left and right sides of the carriage. Wei Zheng asked Yun Ye while knowing full well the answer.

“The Grand Censor is perceptive. This youngster is indeed very dissatisfied with you. A fellow who owes others enormous debts can still live so carefree—truly a model for our generation. How about tomorrow I invite Duke Lu to your residence to collect the debt?”

“You sold this old man’s name for money, and I haven’t even settled accounts with you yet. You still dare bring up this matter? My poor child is now influenced daily by merchants’ vulgar money stench. A few days ago he already knew to borrow money from this old man to do business. He said the iron ore prices in Hebei are cheap and he plans to transport it back to make a fortune. How do you explain this?”

“I’ve long heard that Brother Guiyu is different from ordinary people, but I didn’t expect him to have such spirit. I admire him immensely. If Brother Guiyu’s iron ore transported to Chang’an is lower than market price, this youngster will take however much there is. Otherwise, how about this youngster puts down a deposit first to pre-purchase one hundred thousand jin?”

Only someone with a screw loose like Wei Guiyu would think of transporting iron ore from Hebei to Chang’an. He probably forgot to calculate that transporting things also involves shipping costs.

Wei Zheng glared at Yun Ye irritably. Before he could open his mouth, he heard His Majesty the Emperor speak from inside the carriage.

“Xuancheng, you should just keep Guiyu far away from this youngster. My good children are being ruined in his hands. One is crazy and only knows how to fiddle with those strange and peculiar things all day, disregarding his fief. One is now stuck in money holes and can’t be pulled out—as soon as he opens his mouth, the thick copper stench can knock a person over. Fortunately the Crown Prince is personally supervised by me, which is how he escaped his clutches. Guiyu is an honest child who must not be led astray by him.”

Li’er’s teasing words drifted out from the carriage. He was now very dissatisfied that his three children weren’t scheming against each other over imperial power. He had long prepared for such a situation, but his heroism had no place to be used—very regrettable indeed.

An emperor’s thoughts were quite strange. As long as matters were within his own expectations, whether good or bad he would accept them calmly. As long as he lost control, thick unease would surge up, even if it was a good thing.

The three people chatted and laughed along the way. The several-li-long small path quickly came to an end. Standing at the mountain pass overlooking the Yun family estate below, it was now the time when farming households made their evening meal. The Yun family estate now ate three meals daily, so their evening meal was later than other places.

Cooking smoke curled upward. The entire estate seemed shrouded in a layer of thin mist. The bright red bricks and red tiles were plated by the setting sun with a layer of nearly flame-like radiance.

This was Yun Ye’s pride. He never feared anyone coming to observe or investigate. Fang Xuanling had come, Du Ruhui had come, Yu Shinan had come, even the pedantic Kong Yingda had come.

No one informed the Yun family beforehand. All came quietly and left quietly. Coming with doubts, leaving with confusion.

“This is perhaps the most beautiful farmhouse residence in all of Great Tang.” Li’er looked extremely greedily. He wished he could wake up tomorrow and see all of Great Tang transformed to look like this.

“Your Majesty, these years as an observation commissioner, this subject has toured everywhere and seen countless village dwellings. Such magnificent scenery truly exists only in this one place. Other slightly inferior farming households are also around the Yun family estate.”

Li’er turned to look at Yun Ye and said: “Youngster, if I give you a province to govern, how many years would it take you to transform it to look like your estate?”

Yun Ye considered very seriously, calculating for a long while before saying: “Your Majesty, if you give me a province to govern, it might fall into great chaos within one year, the people would be in misery within two years, and within three years the common people would raise flags in rebellion. You would also chop off my head and hang it on a pole for public display.” Yun Ye said to Li’er with a bitter smile.

“Why do you speak of yourself so worthlessly? I don’t think you’re joking. Is this really your own assessment? Explain your reasoning.”

Both Li’er and Wei Zheng were very surprised. They never expected Yun Ye would say such things.

“Your Majesty, Lord Wei, I’m absolutely not joking but speaking from my heart. Being an official close to the people is not so easy. Cooking one pot for a hundred mouths—this requires a good cook. He may not be able to create peerless delicacies, but he can satisfy most people. This requires methods, wisdom, insight, even ruthlessness as seasoning to cook such a pot of rice well. All these things are what this humble subject lacks. Standing on the shore giving you and colleagues suggestions is no problem, but if I go into the water, I’ll definitely be swallowed and destroyed by the great wave of common people.”

Li’er’s astonished expression slowly receded, gradually replaced by a solemn expression. He said with some disappointment: “What you say is correct. When I govern this country, I also often feel overwhelmed. Sometimes after lying down to sleep, I’m unable to sleep through the night. I rise and dress, facing those tangled memorials on the desk, reviewing them again and again, only fearing mistakes. Once the vermillion brush falls, all matters are settled—wanting to change them is impossible. I can only be careful, careful, and more careful. Even so, regrettable things still happen. I don’t understand—why do those selected jinshi all have grand ambitions telling me they want to establish one utopia after another? On what basis?”

Li’er seemed to be speaking to Yun Ye, yet also seemed to be speaking to himself. He turned around to continue looking at the Yun family estate without speaking.

“Yesterday His Majesty examined all the new jinshi. The result was that less than ten percent were qualified. Excellent ones were few and far between.”

Wei Zheng specifically explained to Yun Ye the reason and background for why Li’er said these things.

“Your Majesty, ‘the ignorant are fearless’—this phrase fully describes their mentality. Learning alone cannot govern the common people well. Taking things for granted, each one governing the world’s myriad people according to things in books—how could they know that learning has limitations? Principles from a thousand years ago are a joke when applied to now. We’re all advancing boldly with each passing day, yet they’re drilling into piles of old papers. I’ve heard that even now there’s still blood-drip paternity testing?”

Li’er murmured, repeating the phrase: “The ignorant are fearless. Indeed so. The more one is an experienced old official, the more careful and cautious. The more one is a young talent, the more bold and unrestrained. How to select talent—I still need to be prudent.”

Li’er’s dejection came quickly and left fiercely. Just now still self-pitying, in the blink of an eye he became spirited and inspired.

Pointing at the Yun family estate, he said: “It’s nothing serious. Isn’t there already a ready-made example right before our eyes? We’ll study it carefully, then promote it county by county. One county per year—my Great Tang has only one thousand five hundred seventy-three counties in total. At the slowest, it would only take over a thousand years to complete. I have confidence in Great Tang’s foundation lasting ten thousand years.”

Who knew where important figures got this kind of heroic spirit from? They often absolutely oversimplified matters. According to what Yun Ye knew, fifteen hundred years later it would be another group of people leading the country. The Li family would have long since vanished into thin air.

“Your Majesty, since we’ve come, let’s go down and look. Hearing is empty, seeing is believing. Everyone says the Yun family estate is prosperous—we can’t not see it with our own eyes.”

“Xuancheng’s words deeply accord with my heart. Let’s go take a look.” Li’er took the lead, no longer riding the carriage, striding down the mountain with great steps.

The further down the mountain they went, the sparser the trees became. From time to time, burly men would spring out from both sides of the road, surrounding Li’er. By the time they reached the estate entrance, there were already a mighty force of over a hundred people.

Stabbed uncomfortably all over by those sharp gazes from behind, he stepped forward ahead of the others and said to Li’er: “Your Majesty, with such a mighty large troop of people, what are you going to see? The farmers will have already been scared away.”

Li’er waved his hand toward those behind him. Those burly men quietly withdrew one by one, rapidly disappearing into the surrounding forest and grass. One could only see the withered grass continuously swaying, spreading into the distance. The Yun family estate was now definitely surrounded so tightly not even water could leak through.