Gao Shanyangzi had seen enough of the world’s myriad conditions and tasted the bittersweet flavors of human life. Perhaps one could say there weren’t many things in her life worth savoring, and Yun Ye was one of the few people among them who she could still savor to this day.

“What’s yours is mine, and what’s mine is still mine.”

Gao Shanyangzi remembered these words very clearly and firmly. Yun Ye was right – when other empires began to decline, Great Tang slowly rose like a brilliant red sun.

The strong possess everything, the weak have nothing. How many people could understand this saying more profoundly than Gao Shanyangzi?

No matter how carefully she schemed and prepared, everything would without exception fail before Yun Ye. Each time she failed, Gao Shanyangzi’s fear of Yun Ye increased by one measure. In the end, she could no longer distinguish whether her feelings toward that man were affection or hatred. Even when the Bearded Stranger strived forcefully on her body, she tried desperately to imagine that bearded burly man as the refined Yun Ye.

Could being violated by Yun Ye make her feel better?

Thus, her son was called Yun Hai…

Strolling on the white stone steps, Gao Shanyangzi faintly heard some wailing. This was the wailing of Roman nobles. Their descendants and family members were unwilling to pay huge ransoms, so they couldn’t get food or fresh water. The only thing they could get were vicious whips.

These people would ultimately be sent back. Thinking of this, Gao Shanyangzi wanted to laugh secretly. How would a man who had been thoroughly abused and whose body and mind had been extremely devastated face his wife and children after returning?

Those mutes who rowed in the ship’s hold year-round looked forward most to having a fragrant nobleman sent in on the morning of the seventh day. They could be excited about this for a full seven days…

Hatred didn’t arise without reason, but it could be artificially created and induced. How to transfer these nobles’ hatred from herself to their wives and children – this was a very subtle technique. Gao Shanyangzi greatly enjoyed this kind of game. She attributed all the guilt feelings produced by such games to Yun Ye.

This is what you taught me, terrifying man!

In Gao Shanyangzi’s view, Yun Ye’s victory in the desert was an inevitable result and could only be the sole result. It was simple – even someone like her had lost to Yun Ye, so how could those filthy, stupid nobles not fail?

The Great Tang’s ocean was too peaceful. Compared to the Roman sea surface, it was simply heaven. The ocean shouldn’t be like this. Surging waves and seas of blood connecting in waves – that should be the ocean’s true face.

Only when the legend of the Pirate King became a within-reach dream would people’s hearts become fervent. Only when the ocean was filled with ships large and small, with her pirate ships hidden among them, would there be opportunities to exploit. After all, the richest ocean was in Tang’s South China Sea. Gao Shanyangzi had never stopped her efforts to advance toward the South China Sea.

The Bearded Stranger’s treasure had already been exploited. Though his corpse had been fed to the fish by her, what should be the next secret? What kind of secret could move everyone’s hearts?

How about Yun Ye’s Spice Island?

Thinking of this, Gao Shanyangzi giggled. Through five years of effort, she had finally learned the location of Yun Ye’s Spice Island. A worn sharkskin map – who knew what kind of disputes it would provoke.

Yun Ye was eating with Li Tai in the academy dining hall. Each had a spoon and a tray with rice piled high – mainly because both men were truly too hungry. They had pedaled the flying machine strenuously on level ground all morning, consuming a lot of physical energy.

Li Tai peeled his egg and asked Yun Ye: “We’ve already flown, though only ten zhang. We truly flew without borrowing external force. Now we just need to solve the power problem, and this flying contraption taking flight won’t be a dream.”

Yun Ye ate heartily. After quite a while, he said to Li Tai: “It’s just too exhausting. My legs are still shaking nonstop. Next time you test the flying machine, find someone light-bodied with relatively great strength to test it. Don’t find me.”

After swallowing his egg in two bites, Li Tai said to Yun Ye: “You have such a person in your household – your wife Xiao Miao is the most suitable candidate. She’s not heavy, but has great strength. Most rare is her courage – even if she fell from the sky, she’d know how to avoid injury.”

Yun Ye glanced sideways at Li Tai and said: “Your father’s palace has even more such women. Last time I went to find the Empress about something and walked through the Moon Gate without announcing myself, two women pressed me to the ground with one hand. If a female official hadn’t shouted, I would have been finished at the Two Instruments Hall. Tell me, are there still people in the imperial palace who don’t recognize me?”

“Never mind you – if I went, I’d be pressed down the same way. Those people were all trained from childhood by those old monsters in the rear palace. They only recognize two people – one is my father, one is my mother. Each one at a young age wears a deadpan face. I wanted to ask my mother for two to take back to see if they could laugh, but my mother refused outright.”

Yun Ye looked at Li Tai in surprise: “How have you become interested in that kind of woman now? Hypatia might kill you. I won’t even mention your previous wives – all these years you haven’t taken a single woman. I’m amazed.”

“Nothing amazing about it. Are there few women in my chambers? Enough already. More would only distract me. No matter what, I must fly into the sky – fly into the sky by my own strength.”

Yun Ye patted Li Tai’s shoulder. The two men ate silently – they’d be busy this afternoon.

The academy lawn was already withered and yellow. A biplane wooden aircraft sat on the lawn, with countless students surrounding it making critical comments.

“Birds can fly because they can flap their wings. This thing can’t possibly fly because these two big wings can’t flap up and down. With such a fundamental error, it’s impossible to fly.”

“Nonsense! I’ve been watching all morning. Earlier, when Master Yun pedaled the mechanism to drive the propeller in front, it flew a good distance. In my view, falling at the end was only because Master Yun’s strength gave out. If we switched to a strongman, it would definitely fly.”

“Hmph, ignorant! Things heavier than air simply cannot fly. Hey, ow! Why’d you hit me?”

“Just now a stone heavier than air flew up and hit you. This theory long ago lost its footing. Have you been idling away your time at the academy? You haven’t even encountered such theories…”

Yun Ye and Li Tai both carefully inspected the aircraft again. Not bad – the aircraft was very solid. The Gongshu Family’s work was beautifully done. The three wheels underneath were also excellent – thick beef tendons wrapped around thin ironwood, both sturdy and light. To reduce weight, Li Tai could be said to have discarded everything unnecessary from the aircraft.

Xiao Miao in tight clothing appeared spirited and valiant, but felt a bit shy under so many onlookers. She never imagined her husband calling her over was for this strange thing. She needed to continuously step on two oddly-shaped pedals – the posture was quite embarrassing, so she was somewhat unwilling.

Yun Ye first got on to demonstrate for her, then said: “Ride this thing and you can fly into the sky. Your master spent his whole life wanting to ascend in broad daylight – make an example for him.”

Though Xiao Miao’s martial prowess was outstanding, she was the most conservative among the Yun Family wives. This related to her childhood experiences. Hearing Yun Ye say this was actually helping her master, she immediately stopped being coy. Standing on the aircraft, she stepped twice and discovered the entire aircraft started moving forward. Very fun.

“The front is the rudder. Whichever direction you want the aircraft to fly, twist it that way. I estimate this aircraft can’t fly high now, so you definitely won’t have problems. Three to five zhang high poses no problem for you, right?”

Xiao Miao nodded. Testing the rudder with two twists, she slowly pedaled the aircraft in circles on the lawn, first needing to familiarize herself with what was happening before exerting force.

“Xiao Miao’s strength and endurance aren’t what we two can compare with. Her build is petite, so this time flying won’t have any problems. My only worry is the runway isn’t long enough. Hopefully this time will succeed.”

Li Tai watched Xiao Miao on the lawn without blinking, his entire person obviously fully absorbed. He wanted to observe Xiao Miao’s every move – in case problems arose, he could make a record for the future.

After riding just two laps, Xiao Miao was already very skilled. Whether turning or maintaining balance, she did well. Some people were naturally gifted at movement. As for Yun Ye and Li Tai, their hands and feet needn’t exist.

Yun Ye finally instructed Xiao Miao twice, telling her to be extremely careful. If trouble arose, protect herself from injury first. As for the aircraft breaking – if it broke, it broke. Not a big deal.

A group of people helped push the aircraft to the far end of the lawn, all eagerly watching to see if Xiao Miao’s test flight would succeed.

Xiao Miao took a deep breath. Her feet powerfully pushed down. The chain made creaking sounds, seemingly unable to bear the load. The aircraft suddenly lurched forward, then continued racing ahead swiftly.

Li Tai was so nervous he could barely breathe. A pair of fair hands reached from behind, grasping his constantly trembling hands and saying: “It will definitely succeed. You must have confidence in yourself.”

Xiao Miao indeed lived up to expectations. When a gust of wind blew from ahead, borrowing the wind’s momentum, the three wheels frantically spinning finally left the ground, shooting diagonally toward the sky.

Xiao Miao’s triumphant laughter echoed in the air. She continuously pedaled the foot plates. Without the burden of wheel friction, it became even easier. After circling the lawn twice, for some unknown reason, she tilted at an angle in the air and flew toward below Yushan. Apparently she wanted to fly the aircraft home…

The cheering crowd on the lawn froze. Li Tai viciously grabbed Yun Ye’s clothes. Before he could speak, he heard Yun Ye say helplessly: “As you know, my wives are all quite family-oriented…”