The trade winds arrived as promised, and the tide with white foam lapped against the beach. The arrogant and domineering Yun Family had finally left, and the people of Yangzhou finally breathed a sigh of relief. Those usually haughty Hu merchants finally dared to show their faces. When the Yun Family did business with Tang people, they were very rule-abiding, but when doing business with foreigners, they were extremely overbearing. They seemed to know the price of goods at their origin, so they would only pay that price. As for the Hu merchants’ struggles with wind and waves on the sea and their fights with pirates, they chose to turn a blind eye. Finally, the Hu merchants reached a terrifying conclusion—the Yun Family didn’t care about the lives of foreigners.
After the ship left the Yangtze River mouth, Hypatia pointed to a large sea island covered with reeds in the middle of the ocean and said, “Yun Ye, that’s Treasure Island. I heard there’s xirang on it. I came last time and found nothing. Do you still think there’s the legendary xirang there? Look, even now there are soldiers guarding the island. How long are you going to keep up this deception?”
“I never deceive people, Hypatia. Now look—isn’t that island bigger than when you saw it before? For an island in the water to keep growing larger, tell me, besides xirang, what else could have such miraculous power? Everything has its origin. In your scriptures, there’s a mighty warrior of great strength called Samson. His power came from his hair. After a female spy cut it off, he became extremely weak.”
“This sea island is the same. Xirang is its source of power. If we let you take the xirang away, this sea island would quickly be flattened by the waves. Heaven created a miracle, and we shouldn’t disturb it. Let it gradually complete its mission. This is a kind of respect for the natural world.”
Originally Yun Ye didn’t want to say anything, but seeing Han Zhe’s thieving eyes sparkling as he pricked up his ears to listen, he had to tell the story again. Since he’d already deceived people, he might as well deceive them thoroughly, lest he undermine the confidence Han Zhe had finally managed to gather.
After listening to Yun Ye’s words, Han Zhe looked thoughtfully at the sea island before him. Now, regarding Yun Ye’s words, his intuition told him he shouldn’t believe them, but this island right before his eyes stirred up waves in his heart. This island must be obtained—it should be a blessed paradise.
“Samson? You know about Samson?” Hypatia ran over excitedly, lifting her skirt, wanting to grab Yun Ye’s arm but was pushed away by Xinyue beside him.
Hypatia didn’t mind at all. Xinyue was always so petty. After steadying herself, she said with her small mouth open, “Hurry and tell me, what else do you know? Do you know Zeus? Do you know Athena? Do you know the sun god? Do you know about even more ancient gods? Like Gaia.”
Yun Ye pulled Xinyue over, letting her lean against the ship’s rail like himself, before saying to Xinyue, “Do you know, their gods are all perverts.”
“The chief god Zeus’s wife is his own sister Hera. Athena drilled out from Zeus’s head. All in all, this guy was a lustful demon. As long as a woman was somewhat pretty, he’d transform into a bull and carry her off. After having his way, he’d run far away.”
“His wife Hera and his daughter, the goddess of beauty, wanted to compete over who was most beautiful…”
“Aha, aha, you actually know the story of the golden apple! Then do you know about the Golden Fleece? Do you know about the twelve heroes? Do you know about the love between the beautiful dew goddess and the sun god? Speak quickly, speak quickly!” This time, no matter how much Xinyue tried to pull Hypatia away, Hypatia refused to let go, continuously urging Yun Ye to continue.
“Hypatia, you know all these stories. Why do you want me to repeat them? If I say too much, I’ll be considered immoral and drowned in a pig cage. You don’t want a dignified marquis like me to be drowned in a pig cage, right? That would become a huge joke.”
Seeing Yun Ye refuse to speak, she released his arm. Hypatia walked desolately to the ship’s edge and began singing a sorrowful song. The lyrics weren’t many, but the melody was melodious.
Where had Han Zhe ever seen such an exotic scene? His mouth hung open as he listened, entranced. He seemed to discover that being an immortal for so long had made him miss many things—for instance, such a clever beauty with such graceful variations. How had he never encountered such a woman before? This was what a woman should be. He was twenty-two this year—it was time to take a wife.
Xinyue was very sensitive to romantic feelings between men and women. This was thanks to her always having to prevent maids and servants at home from doing anything that would damage the household’s reputation. From Han Zhe’s eyes that were nearly shooting flames, she saw his desire to possess Hypatia. Without showing emotion, she nudged her husband with her elbow. Yun Ye sighed and followed Xinyue down from the deck.
Even at bedtime that night, Xinyue was unhappy. Yun Ye didn’t know how he’d offended this woman. Unable to figure it out, he stopped thinking about it. He went to Lingdang’s cabin to check on her, then went to Na Rimu’s to help her scratch her itches, finally returning to his own cabin. Xinyue had her backside turned outward, saying nothing.
“If you’re upset, let it out. If you want to curse, curse. What’s the point of not making a sound for ages?” Yun Ye unfastened his robe, preparing to sleep.
Xinyue rolled over and grabbed Yun Ye’s hand, pleading, “Husband, if you’ve come to like foreign women, there are over ten more at home. I don’t mind. But could you please not marry Hypatia?”
Yun Ye was stunned by Xinyue. After a long while he said, “I’m not planning to marry more wives. With you four, I already can’t manage to care for you all properly. One more and I wouldn’t have any life left. Besides, which of your eyes saw that I like Hypatia?”
Xinyue said faintly, “When we went up on deck to enjoy the breeze at noon, I asked you to look at Han Zhe. He seems to have fallen for Hypatia. I wanted to pull you down, and you let out a long sigh. I thought you couldn’t bear it, didn’t want Han Zhe to like Hypatia.”
So that was it. Yun Ye sighed and said, “These two people may live in luxury and comfort, but they’re actually both pitiful. I can say that neither of them is suited for marriage, not with anyone.”
“Why is that? I think they’re a perfect match, like pearls and jade joined together.” Xinyue looked guardedly at her husband, always feeling he had ulterior motives.
“You don’t understand anything. Han Zhe is a so-called divine person. Didn’t you catch the meaning in those mythological stories I told today? Zeus’s wife was his sister—understand? Han Zhe’s parents might also be in that situation. Tell me, what would Han Zhe’s children be like in the future?”
Xinyue’s eyes widened as she covered her mouth, forcibly swallowing back the exclamation that was about to escape. Yun Ye held Xinyue in his arms and continued, “This is taboo. His parents and ancestors crossed that red line, and it will inevitably be visited upon his children and grandchildren. This is inevitable punishment. Even if his children escape by luck, it will be visited upon the next generation. So I say Han Zhe isn’t suited for marriage. To end the suffering, he should just live alone for his whole life.”
“As for Hypatia, it’s even more tragic. Do you think being a saint is so easy? I initially thought a saint was just a woman who must maintain chastity. Who knew that in ancient books from the West these past two years, I saw that regardless of which sect, as long as one is a saint, she must accept a terrible restriction. Although I don’t know what restriction, I estimate it’s related to childbearing. Where do you think Hypatia’s masculine personality came from?”
“You told me before that you’d seen a woman who received palace punishment. Do you know that when doing these evil deeds, whether in the West or the Great Tang, they’re all equally inhumane?”
“Husband, are you saying Hypatia…” After saying a few words, tears suddenly flowed from Xinyue’s eyes. What she’d witnessed as a child was etched into her bones. Those people had deliberately gathered little girls together to watch, which ensured Xinyue’s nightmares never lacked material.
“Sleep. Whatever Han Zhe does, let him be. Hypatia is no ordinary worldly woman. Trying to marry her would probably be very difficult. For two people to spend a happy time together while concealing things from each other isn’t necessarily a bad thing.”
Xinyue kept her eyes wide open all night. Nameless fear threatened to drown her like darkness. The rising and falling bed couldn’t give her any comfort. Finally, she pulled her husband’s arm over and placed it on herself before feeling somewhat safer.
Sunrises at sea were always magnificent and varied. Yun Ye wouldn’t miss such beautiful scenery. In fact, whenever conditions allowed, he never missed the opportunity to watch sunrise and sunset on the ship. At these times, Dongyu would always bring up a jar of fish porridge. Knowing the Marquis liked this, he’d jump into the sea early in the morning and catch a large grouper. This type of fish had the best meat quality. Mixed with a little clam meat and broken rice, it tasted best. Yun Ye never tired of eating it.
This morning, Yun Ye only drank a little fish porridge, because Lingdang actually had a good appetite. Na Rimu’s health wasn’t good and she couldn’t be exposed to wind. A maid also came over with a large bowl asking for fish porridge. A pot of porridge was divided up in no time.
Yun Ye didn’t let Dongyu catch more fish. Dongyu was a household retainer, not a cook. Bringing a pot of porridge every day was proper etiquette. For Yun Ye to demand more would be improper. Although Dongyu shook his head indicating he didn’t mind, Yun Ye firmly refused.
Liu Fang, who hadn’t come out for a long time, emerged from the cabin and sat across from Yun Ye, saying, “I’ve already marked the sea chart, but it’s not complete. When we reach Guangzhou, you need to find talented people in this area. I suggest not handing this chart to the Lingnan naval forces. No matter how much they respect you, don’t forget—you’re the commander, not the emperor. So find someone else.”
“As for wanting to be a pirate, I’m not optimistic about these experts you’ve found. Except for Little Eagle, who grew up on a sea island since childhood, the rest are all of little use. Wu She is the same. On land, he’s a grandmaster of his generation, but on a ship, fighting in raging waves isn’t his strength. I imagine you wouldn’t want to watch him perish in the sea, would you?”
Yun Ye shook his head. These people all had their own purposes for coming to Lingnan. Han Zhe needed to follow Yun Ye because he’d already sent those rubbings back to the Divine Palace. If news came, he would need to make further verification.
Xi Tong just wanted to take his son through some trials. All these years he’d been pretending to be a pig. He worried that if he pretended too long, he’d really become a pig. He needed to see blood, needed to vent.