Li’er came to Yushan not for a vacation, but to escape calamity. The palace had become uninhabitable. For some unknown reason, Li Yuan’s madness had flared up, and he insisted on moving back to the Taiji Palace. No amount of persuasion worked. He kept saying that ghosts and demons were haunting the new palace, coming to claim his life. He was startled three times a night, and it didn’t seem like an act. Furthermore, dry thunder had struck, turning two beautiful women on night duty into flying ash, their hair ornaments melting into liquid gold.

Actually, Li Yuan wasn’t the only one having nightmares—Li’er had them too. Having killed too many people and done too many things against his conscience, of course nightmares would occur.

The Taiji Palace had lightning rods installed, so for two years there had been no disturbances from lightning. The court sorcerers said the Taiji Palace was the most auspicious and safe place in the imperial palace.

Li’er was the son, and the Great Tang was founded on the principles of benevolence and filial piety. Having no choice, he could only give the Taiji Palace to Li Yuan as his sleeping quarters.

After moving out of the Taiji Palace, Li’er also began having nightmares, even more fiercely than his father. Tossing and turning, he remembered the traveling palace at Yushan. Though small, it let him sleep sweetly and soundly. Seeing that another extremely uncomfortable night was approaching, he fortunately rode swiftly out of the city and came to Yushan, preparing to get a good night’s sleep.

After hearing the gossip Xinyue brought back, Yun Ye finally understood why Li’er had seemed in poor spirits yesterday, easily falling into sentimentality and dejection. These two emotions would never have appeared in Li’er before—dominating the world with authority was the only demeanor he should have.

That Li’er was having nightmares wasn’t strange. Yun Ye had no interest in this matter. He pressed his head against Xinyue’s belly, feeling the fetus’s movements. For him, nothing was more important than the child. If Li’er were frightened to death, Li Chengqian could simply ascend the throne. From his performance over these two years, one could see that Li Chengqian would definitely become a qualified emperor.

Na Rimu hugged Yun Ye’s arm and shook it back and forth, wanting her husband to look at her shopping achievements from the past two days. Silly woman—after shopping for two days, she’d only spent six hundred strings of cash. A single set of Xinyue’s hair ornaments was worth that amount.

Three full carts made Yun Ye’s eyes swim. What were all these things? Seven or eight large good fortune dolls, two very large drums, over ten cooking pots, four or five sets of carpenter’s tools, plus a whole cart of salt, several beautiful saddles, sharp axes, good-looking knives. According to Xinyue, if she hadn’t stopped her, Na Rimu would have bought back a lot of the inferior strong liquor the Yun family exported from the market.

Watching Na Rimu pull out a saw and cut through an arm-thick wooden rod in just a few strokes, then show off the two sections of broken wood to Yun Ye—out of three full carts of things, except for the good fortune dolls, she hadn’t bought a single item for herself.

Shishi clutched an exquisite horizontal sword and wouldn’t let anyone touch it. The handle was inlaid with turquoise, and from the snowflake pattern on the blade, one could tell this was a truly hundred-times-forged steel sword.

Her money hadn’t been enough, so she borrowed quite a bit from Xinyue to buy this sword. She earnestly promised Yun Ye that she wouldn’t need any spending money for a whole year and could even eat a bit less.

Compared to Shishi’s honest simplicity, Xiao Wu had bought herself a pile of things—things to wear on her head, on her body, on her feet, including silk belly bands from Yipin Pavilion, which were said to be extremely comfortable to wear. Xiao Wu had also bought one for herself, but when Yun Ye accidentally saw it, she cried out loud in embarrassment.

Daya brought back a chest of books. Xiao Ya brought back a pile of toys and various pastries and preserved fruits.

Xiao Dong had made a lot of money, exchanging all the silver ingots in other people’s hands for copper coins. A heavy money pouch hung at her waist, making her stagger when she walked.

Back in the room, Na Rimu watched as Xinyue took out jewelry from boxes one item at a time. Only then did she realize what she’d missed. She put her finger in her mouth, enviously eyeing Xinyue’s pile of glittering jewelry.

Yun Ye selected a pink set from Xinyue’s jewelry collection. This set matched Na Rimu very well. After putting it on, she looked even more charming and lovely.

Xinyue was very vigilant, but when Na Rimu came to her senses, she ran off giggling while wearing the jewelry Yun Ye had placed in her hair.

Xinyue helplessly pounded Yun Ye’s leg twice, then hurriedly collected her things and put them in her wooden chest, even locking it.

“Your chest is already full, and you don’t wear them anyway. This is a serious waste. Since Na Rimu entered the household, you’ve been wearing this yellow jade hairpin, as if afraid people won’t know you’re the legitimate wife of the Yun family.”

Xinyue removed the hairpin from her head, carefully wiped it clean with silk, and personally placed it in the sandalwood box beside her pillow. Patting the box, she said: “That chest of jewelry isn’t precious. Your wife only needs this one piece to be enough. The other jewelry was all made by ordinary craftsmen, but this piece—even the most skilled master craftsman would be impossible to find in this world. It couldn’t have been made by humans; it must come from the realm of the gods.”

“Husband, tell me—is Master really an immortal? Have you ever seen him display divine powers?”

“For me, Master represents my past. Whether he has divine powers depends on what angle you view it from. He has many miraculous aspects, but I can’t tell you about them one by one. You wouldn’t understand, nor could you imagine. It’s better not to know.”

Thinking about the past made Yun Ye’s heart agitated. He didn’t know how much longer he’d have to persist wearing the cloak of a fraud. The past was sealed in the depths of his heart. He couldn’t mention it—every mention cut to his heart.

“Husband, it’s your wife’s fault for making you think of past events. Master had the grace of raising you—calling him parent wouldn’t be excessive. Please don’t be sad. If you miss Master terribly, go to the memorial hall to pay respects. Your wife will accompany you. I’ll guard the door for you and won’t let anyone enter. You can have a good talk with Master. He’s an immortal—perhaps he can hear your words.”

Yun Ye and Xinyue came to the room specially dedicated to Master’s memorial tablet. Xinyue moved a chair and sat at the entrance, telling the guards that no one was to disturb them, violators would be severely punished.

Everyone has their weakest point. Yun Ye’s weakest point was being unable to sever ties with the past.

He raised his head to look at that virtual memorial tablet and that virtual portrait. He lit a stick of incense, not to memorialize ancestors, but to memorialize the past he had lost forever.

Sitting down heavily on the large cushion, he strove to recall those faces both blurred and clear. Naturally, they would overlap with the faces of people he knew now. Past, present, future—all were illusory. He was merely a hasty passerby. For the later world, he was a person without a future. For the Great Tang, he was a person without a past. Only the present eternally belonged to him.

Like a person standing at a crossroads—no matter which direction he walked, it would be a brand-new journey.

The incense burned out, and the reminiscence should end. To immerse oneself completely in the past unable to free oneself was to be irresponsible to the present. Rational people wouldn’t choose to indulge, although it looked more like a kind of betrayal.

Pushing open the door, Xinyue still sat at the entrance, serenely caressing her belly, as sacred as a sculpture. Yun Ye stepped forward to embrace her and whispered in her ear: “Thank you.”

Li Chengqian had arrived and sat in the reception hall for a long while. The steward told him the Marquis was memorializing his master and wouldn’t see anyone, so he should politely take his leave. But thinking of the dark circles under both his father’s and grandfather’s eyes, he disregarded worldly propriety and sat quietly in the reception hall waiting. This was the first time he had come to the Yun family and been so quiet.

“Chengqian, why have you rushed here at this hour? If you return to the capital now, I’m afraid the city gates will already be closed.”

Li Chengqian bowed deeply to Yun Ye and said: “Today you memorialized your revered master—it’s an important day. I shouldn’t have come to trouble you, but Imperial Grandfather and Father Emperor are growing increasingly haggard, bewildered by ghosts and demons, unable to rest by day or sleep at night. Mother Empress is also suffering along with them. I’m at my wit’s end. Ye Zi, help me. Think of a way to let them sleep peacefully, even if just for one night.”

Psychological ailments can sometimes be contagious. Li’er had been infected by his father’s symptoms. Originally there was nothing wrong, but seeing his father’s terror-stricken state, he unconsciously began to worry too. Once worrying, inevitably at night there would be wild thoughts, disturbing his own mind. It would be strange if he didn’t have nightmares.

“For this kind of matter, why don’t you go find Yuan Tiangang or Li Chunfeng instead of me? That seems more appropriate.”

He didn’t want to handle these matters. The less one knew about imperial secrets, the better. Getting involved had no benefits, only drawbacks. Better to push it onto those two famous divine charlatans.

“It’s no use. They’ve performed rituals, even invited monks they normally don’t use. No effect. At night, evil spirits still attack. Yuan Tiangang said this is caused by excessive worry, with a weakened spirit allowing external demons to invade. He says his own magical power is too feeble to expel them and told my mother empress to seek another expert—someone like you.”

Seeing Li Chengqian’s anxious appearance, Yun Ye couldn’t bring himself to refuse. He did have a method, very simple. Just use mafeisan on the father and son, and they’d immediately fall asleep, guaranteed not to have any dreams. But the culprits causing their insomnia were the sins they themselves had created. If they didn’t eliminate their inner demons, sooner or later it would happen again. It seemed he’d have to deploy the two great door gods.

“Easy, not a big deal. Those external demons were killed by the Grand Emperor and His Majesty when they were alive. What do dead ones matter? Tonight, we’ll kill them all together. We just need you to invite two fierce generals with outstanding military achievements who have killed like hemp. They must be fully armed to guard the palace gate for His Majesty. Leave the rest to me. Small matter.”

Since lowering one’s head meant taking a blow and raising one’s head also meant taking a blow, why not readily agree? The history books made it clear—didn’t Li’er rely on the two great door gods standing guard to finally fall asleep?

Li Chengqian rubbed his hands together excitedly and said to Yun Ye: “I knew you’d have a method! You’ve never disappointed me. Which two old marshals should we get to guard the door for my father emperor?”

“Need you even ask? The two Dukes, Yuchi and Qin, are the best candidates. Get them fully armed—weapons included. In short, however they dress on the battlefield, that’s how they should dress tonight.”

“The day before yesterday, His Majesty even came to my home for a meal, but why didn’t he mention any of this to me?” Though his words were casual, Yun Ye had already decided at this moment that if he didn’t teach that pair of divine charlatan master and disciple who had pushed him into this pit of fire a lesson, it would be hard to dispel the hatred in his heart.