“You underestimate your son too much. Chengqian has a bright and honorable heart, acts openly and aboveboard, and uses overt stratagems with divine skill. Some time ago, he forcibly put me on his wagon using his feelings for the common people, making me submit that ‘Memorial on Allowing Refugees into the City’ that I still can’t forgive myself for to this day. Now I don’t even want to see him. His will is now as firm as iron and stone—would he be deceived by others?”
“What Qing Que likes to do most now is ambush people with surprise attacks. This has to do with how he’s always liked staying underground. Single-mindedly wanting to become a figure like Confucius, he looks down completely on worldly power and authority. If possible, he wouldn’t want to leave his laboratory. Right now, even if I wanted to deceive him, I couldn’t even find him.”
“Little Ke? That guy is now more slippery than a loach. Last time when the four of us were frightened by His Majesty, he immediately burrowed into the Shu mountains planning to cultivate immortality. I dare guarantee that if you leak even the slightest hint, he’ll immediately flee three thousand li—either to the Wu region or burrow into the Shu mountains. There absolutely won’t be a third choice. He’s always believed that as long as he lives this life in prosperity and health, he’s already won.”
“Which of these three fellows now is easy to deal with? Each one is stubborn as hell, very clearly knowing what they want. Chengqian plans to take over after His Majesty’s hundred years have passed. Qing Que wants to carve his name in the history books, planning to occupy a large section. Little Ke is less ambitious—he’s just enthusiastic about wealth. Other princes wanting to fight with these three are purely seeking death. Qing Que and Little Ke recognize Chengqian, but that doesn’t mean those two recognize other princes.”
“Now, put your heart back in your belly. Recuperate in the palace and enjoy your blessings. I need to go home to see my daughter, then take her to find that bastard Lu Dongzan. I want to see what kind of worthless trash plans to snatch away my daughter.”
Hearing Yun Ye complain about a whole bunch of things that seemed quite reasonable, Zhangsun felt reassured. In the Great Tang, the person who understood those three brothers best wasn’t anyone else—it was Yun Ye. Since even he said that sowing discord wouldn’t work on them, she could set her mind at ease. Her furrowed brows had just relaxed when they rose again—she discovered that Yun Ye had just spoken to her with no respect whatsoever.
She seized upon Yun Ye’s earlier arrogant behavior to make her point, saying things like “a dog’s stomach can’t hold three liang of lard” and “all you know is how to fool around.” Fortunately, no one died, otherwise he would be impeached by the censors and interrogated by the Ministry of Justice. She didn’t know how many times she’d taken the blame for Yun Ye, living in fear and anxiety in the palace without a moment’s peace.
After finishing her scolding, she left feeling refreshed and clear-headed, taking a large group of minions back to the palace. Those Teaching Bureau singers who had made the soldiers drool were also taken along—she didn’t say to leave a few behind to comfort the soldiers’ lonely hearts.
Returning to his own territory, Yun Ye immediately felt exhausted in both body and mind. Another damn battle fought! No matter how formidable the Lingnan Navy was, casualties were still unavoidable. All these aftermath matters had to be handled properly one by one. He also had to write a battle report for the Emperor. The Ministry of War needed the same thing—it was for archival purposes. Historians would come to inquire about the battle details in order to write about this campaign from a different perspective, taking an alternative approach.
The merit roster had been taken away by the Bureau of Merit Assessment in the Ministry of War. Promotions were the Emperor’s prerogative, but getting rich depended on their own Commander. Since the Empress had taken the singers away and there were no beauties to look at, everyone craned their necks watching the Commander’s tent. Seeing the Chief of Staff, the Army Supervisor, and the Registrar going in and out constantly, they speculated about how much reward everyone would get this time. There was quite a bit of gold and silver in the water bandits’ lair.
“Commander, I wonder how much profit my vanguard battalion will receive this time? Seventy-six brothers died in the battalion. You can’t just because we didn’t have a major battle, give all the wealth to those sailors who just steer ships.” Hearing the personal guard say the Commander was summoning him, Lai Chuanfeng immediately dove into the tent. Seeing Liu Renwill already sitting there drinking tea, he immediately became anxious.
Liu Renwill smugly waved a piece of paper in front of Lai Chuanfeng. The numbers on it made Lai Chuanfeng’s mouth taste bitter. Just as he was about to speak, he was interrupted by a piece of paper Yun Ye threw at him. He hurriedly picked it up to look—good, the numbers on it weren’t small either. Only then did he sit down across from Liu Renwill with peace of mind to drink tea, also waving his paper at Liu Renwill.
“Commander, isn’t it improper for us to privately divide the spoils of war now? According to regulations, we should submit them to the national treasury, and then the Ministry of War will redistribute them to us.” The Wuli Chief of Staff also had a receipt in his hand. This was allocated to the soldiers guarding the camp. This fellow never wanted to leave the oil depot even one step, and would go in to inventory and inspect it every few days, making his whole body smell of kerosene. None of the brothers in the military camp wanted to deal with him, and he too took pleasure in keeping to himself with a dark face.
“If we were border troops, naturally we should do that. Unfortunately, we’re not. We’re His Majesty’s personal troops—the Ministry of War has no jurisdiction over us. So the captured wealth belongs to us to use. Of course, His Majesty and Her Majesty will naturally have a share. Just keep the wealth with peace of mind. You’re the poorest one in the Lingnan Navy.”
The Wuli Chief of Staff’s face twitched twice. After hesitating a long time, he finally rose to thank the Commander for the reward. Opportunities to share spoils with His Majesty and the Empress weren’t many.
The Lingnan Navy was a whole. Yun Ye never left anyone out when doing anything. Even when distributing dried fish, everyone got a share. The Wuli Chief of Staff knew this was the camp’s tradition. Since the Commander had spoken to this extent, not taking it meant he didn’t consider himself part of the fleet at all. Having taken stolen goods money this time, next time when buying military merit, it would be smooth and natural.
The soldiers had worked hard for half a year and could now rest for a month. Yun Ye pointed at Liu Renwill, telling him to hurry and roll on home. All military camp affairs would be handed over to the Wuli Chief of Staff to manage, and soldiers could go home to visit relatives. This was also a special benefit unique to the Lingnan Navy.
Yun Ye himself also needed to go home. He sealed up the commander’s seal, handed it to the Wuli Chief of Staff, rode Wang Cai, and prepared to return home. Whenever he finished a battle, he needed to wear armor when returning. The villagers at the Yun family estate loved this most. As long as the Marquis came back wearing armor, no need to ask—he’d been on the battlefield again. Who wouldn’t want their household head to be a meritorious official with distinguished battle achievements?
Everyone gathered around to pay respects to the Marquis, congratulate the Marquis on his great victorious return, then dispersed with a roar. Whatever they were doing, they continued doing. The pork seller continued chopping bones for customers buying meat. The fruit seller continued calling out loudly. The one who had just taken advantage of paying respects to the Marquis to sell a leather vest now continued haggling with an unsatisfied customer. Even the one standing in front, bowing and scraping, was asking the Marquis for copper coins because Wang Cai had just drunk a large basin of thick wine.
Who had the patience to wear armor all day? This thing was both heavy and thick. In the Chang’an of September, the autumn tiger was raging fiercely. After fulfilling his duty drenched in sweat, he wanted to immediately remove his armor, especially the helmet.
Yun Ye felt this was very good. The Marquis fulfilled his obligation to entertain the masses, and the masses expressed their respect and admiration. That was it. Everyone had a life to live. The Marquis making countless gains at the front wouldn’t share a single copper coin with others, and of course, commoners selling pork wouldn’t give the Marquis a single coin from their earnings either.
The Yun family estate had seen plenty of important figures. Even if one day Empress Zhangsun stood in front of someone’s stall wanting to buy two jin of pork to take home and cook, the butcher would consider it perfectly natural. Did His Majesty not eat?
Previously, when the County Magistrate came to the Yun family estate to be close to the people, it would make the villagers very grateful for quite a while. Now when the Prime Minister came to a stall to eat a bowl of cold noodles, the money still had to be collected—at most, adding extra sesame oil counted as preferential treatment.
The families at the Yun family estate were magnanimous. Even the old man carrying manure to water the vegetable garden kept his back ramrod straight. The title of “the Great Tang’s most prosperous estate” had long been scoffed at by the villagers. Now they competed over whose son could pass the academy exams. If anyone still dared to pull out a thick stack of copper coins from their bosom to show off, the person would be drowned in spit. An old man at the Yun family estate wearing tattered hemp clothes weaving baskets might be the owner of a shop in Chang’an city—who dared look down on anyone?
The greatest change that wealth brought to people was spiritual independence. “Money emboldens the timid”—this was exactly that principle. I have no need of you, so there’s no need to bow and scrape. No one likes always bending over. The Yun family’s servants weren’t of servile status—not a single one. If the master family bullied them too severely, throwing down their tools and leaving had happened before. So when you saw the Yun family’s groom holding the horse’s head and complaining that the Marquis didn’t know how to cherish livestock, don’t be surprised at all.
Even Wang Cai, after the saddle was removed and receiving the groom’s affection, pricked up his ears waiting for him to wash and groom him. After being cleaned, a maid would come over and hang a purse filled with copper coins around his neck. He’d saunter out the door himself. The fodder in Yuezhou didn’t taste good. Having returned home, he should relax a bit. The red-fleshed watermelon displayed at the stall across the way looked quite good. This thing, aside from Chang’an, surprisingly didn’t exist anywhere else.
The old grandmother accepted her grandson’s respects, then returned to the rear quarters with a smile. Knowing her grandson had things to say to his wives and concubines, the old lady wouldn’t be an eyesore here. Before Xinyue could speak, Na Rimu dove headfirst into Yun Ye’s embrace, crying so hard she couldn’t speak. Xinyue, with a dark face, slapped her twice. Only then did she come down from her husband with a red face. Beside them, Yun Baobao and Yun Mu watched her in astonishment, making Na Rimu utterly ashamed.
“Are you my father?” Yun Mu’s large eyes were filled with longing. Regarding this creature called “father,” she was both familiar and strange. One sentence brought tears to Yun Ye’s eyes.
Squatting down to look directly into his daughter’s eyes, he said, “Yes, that’s right, I am Father.” What a sin! His own daughter actually didn’t recognize who her father was.
“You don’t have a beard. Grandpa Cheng has a beard, Uncle Cheng also has a beard. Why doesn’t Father have one?” The little girl carefully touched Yun Ye’s cheeks and chin with her fingers, finding it very strange that Father didn’t have a beard.
“Father shaved his beard off precisely because I was worried I’d prick my daughter and make her hurt in a moment.” Having said this, he held Yun Mu’s small body tightly, kissing her chubby little face again and again. Father and daughter touched noses and giggled. Huan Niang watching from the side had already cried twice. Xinyue’s eyes were also red. Only Na Rimu had a face full of pride—when her husband wasn’t home, the ones he loved most were still herself and her daughter.