Finally emerging from the mountain road—this had simply been terrifying torture. The monkeys on the cliffs on both sides actually knew to throw stones at people. One or two when entering the pass would be tolerable, but hundreds of monkeys throwing down together was terrifying. Scrambling out of the mountain road in a wretched state, before he even had time to put down the son held in his arms, he heard a bowstring’s wild twang. A monkey that had chased after them tumbled down from the cliff. The remaining monkeys clutched the tree trunks on the cliff, shaking desperately, their calls becoming even more shrill.

“Prince Wei, this old man has been waiting here for quite some time.” A black-faced old man holding a bow astride his horse loudly proclaimed.

“Feng Ang? How is this old fellow here?” Yun Ye quietly asked Li Tai.

“Need you ask? The only one who could mobilize him is my Father Emperor. This is troublesome. I don’t want to go back to the capital to suffer. Think of something.” After Li Tai finished speaking impassively to Yun Ye, he himself went forward and said loudly, “This humble prince has just arrived in Lingnan and should properly go to Guangzhou to pay respects to the Duke of Yue. Who would have thought we’d meet on the roadside—this truly makes this humble prince delighted with surprise.”

Feng Ang dismounted from his horse, inserted his giant bow back on his back, and said with a smile while bowing to Li Tai, “Haha, Prince Wei is too courteous. This old man originally didn’t wish to disturb the Prince’s tour, but helpless with an imperial command upon me, this old man cannot think much. I must ask Your Highness to return with this old man to Guangzhou. There will naturally be an imperial envoy to escort Your Highness back to the capital.”

“Yun Ye pays respects to Duke Feng. Are those few ginseng roots sent last year still serviceable?” Yun Ye also dismounted and came forward with Li Rong to pay his respects.

“This old man cannot bear the great courtesy of the Yun family. This old man paid for those ginseng roots—two thousand gleaming silver coins. I won’t accept Marquis Yun’s favor here.” Whenever he saw Yun Ye, Feng Ang never had a pleasant expression. Lingnan had been perfectly fine, but now Yun Ye had made it fragmented. The Feng family was no longer the powerful clan that once controlled twenty provinces.

“What kind of talk is this? It was already said to be a gift—how could we accept Your silver coins? There must have been some mistake somewhere. This junior will immediately order someone to investigate and definitely give Duke Feng an explanation.”

“No need for Marquis Yun to trouble himself. Eating ginseng paid for with silver puts this old man’s heart at ease. Today this old man came especially to welcome Prince Wei. I hope Marquis Yun won’t make trouble. For every day Prince Wei stays in Lingnan, this old man cannot sleep on his pillow or swallow his food. Day and night I must worry for His Highness’s safety. Better to send him off early so this old man can sleep soundly.”

Li Tai was just about to speak when the monkeys on the cliff called out even louder. Irritated, he glanced at the cliff but had no better solution.

Feng Ang said in a low voice, “Noisy!” He drew his giant bow and shot three arrows in succession. In an instant, four monkeys fell from the cliff. The remaining monkeys immediately fled desperately into the valley.

“Well, well, well! Duke Feng’s sword remains sharp. Three arrows, four monkeys—such divine skill! Yun Ye admires, admires!” Too astonishing! At over a hundred meters distance, the old fellow’s arrows never missed. One arrow actually penetrated through two monkeys.

“They’re just monkeys—they can’t withstand this old man’s single arrow. Killing a few monkeys doesn’t count as skill.” Feng Ang glanced mockingly at Yun Ye with squinted eyes. His words were extremely venomous.

Everyone present heard the double meaning in Feng Ang’s words. They just couldn’t laugh out loud for the sake of Yun Ye’s dignity. Not only did no one on Yun Ye’s side laugh, but the group Feng Ang brought also didn’t voice any mockery.

Yun Ye found this somewhat strange. Although the old Feng family had restrained themselves considerably in Lingnan, they shouldn’t be so low-key as to not even engage in mockery. After all, the incident where Feng Ang entered the Princess’s mansion with his bow and displayed his divine prowess had already become a source of pride for Lingnan people. Only a few years had passed since then—the Feng family couldn’t possibly have changed so much.

However, seeing the lightly-armored Feng Zhidai, Yun Ye understood. It must be this fellow who had restrained his subordinates. It seemed he was about to become the Feng family’s spokesman.

Meeting on the roadside naturally required drinking a cup. Feng Zhidai quickly set up tents, arranged tables and cases. Feng Ang sat in the host’s position and raised his wine bowl to Li Tai, saying, “Your Highness has traveled thousands of miles to grace Lingnan. A noble person treading humble ground—this is Lingnan’s fortune. This old man is also honored. One cup of poor wine to express my heart—drink to victory!”

This bowl couldn’t not be drunk. Not drinking would be looking down on people. Yun Ye forced himself to drink a bowl of poor wine and set down the bowl, saying, “Duke Feng’s sentiment is appreciated. However, when you said ‘poor wine,’ I thought it was just your polite words. Who knew you actually brought out truly poor wine? Prince Wei has a delicate constitution and may not be able to withstand the fierceness of poor wine.”

Li Tai didn’t understand why Yun Ye and Feng Ang started going at each other as soon as they met. These past years, he had rarely concerned himself with court affairs, especially being unfamiliar with such barbarous lands as Lingnan. He watched the two in puzzlement as they engaged in verbal warfare.

Feng Ang turned to look at everyone in the tent, placed both hands on the table and said in a deep voice, “Yun Ye, do you truly not know why this dignified Duke of Yue must drink poor wine? To the point where even entertaining such an honored person as Prince Wei, I have no good wine to offer?”

Li Tai looked at the wine bowl. That bowl of wine just now was indeed very difficult to drink. If the dignified Duke of Yue, known as the wealthiest of heroes, couldn’t even afford good wine to drink, that wouldn’t make sense. Though Feng Ang was ostensibly asking Yun Ye, in reality he wanted Li Tai to make the decision. Whether or not he could make such decisions, someone like Feng Ang still needed to be appeased. So he cupped his hands and asked, “This humble prince also didn’t expect Duke Yue to be so impoverished. What exactly is the reason for this?”

Feng Ang first let out a shrill laugh, then pointed at Yun Ye and said to Li Tai, “Your Highness probably doesn’t know yet—Yun Ye’s evil deeds in Lingnan are almost too numerous to record. Let this old man relate them one by one.”

Seeing that Feng Ang had begun his performance, Yun Ye hugged his wine bowl and perked up his ears, preparing to listen carefully to how exactly he had become “too numerous to record” in Lingnan. This kind of accusation made to one’s face wouldn’t be done unless absolutely necessary.

“Your Highness may not know, since Yun Ye began coveting Lingnan’s wealth, five years have already passed. Do you know how the people of Lingnan have endured these five years? Since the day he arrived—war, disease, plague—they’ve emerged one after another. The people of Annan have fled and wailed, living in constant fear. Guangzhou merchants have been trembling with trepidation, afraid of offending Yun Ye and encountering great disaster.”

“The Lingnan Navy has blockaded the sea, and the ancient Meiling Road has become difficult for even birds to cross. Your Highness, do you know that every ship of grain they transport to Chang’an is obtained from the sweat of Annan’s common people? Every ship of treasure is stained with fresh blood. This butcher opened a great slaughter in Annan, destroying cities and strongholds, committing every evil. Yun Ye’s name in Annan can stop children’s crying.”

“Hahaha, this old man, this Duke of Yue, also couldn’t escape his poisoning. Two young sons, in their ignorance, admired the Princess and were actually murdered by this evil bandit using the pretense of mountain gods beating drums—killed outright! Pitifully, not even their bones remain. This old man thinks of it and feels pain piercing his heart.”

Feng Ang spoke with such anguish, wanting to squeeze out tears but unable to. It was difficult for such a rough and bold man to actually memorize this entire passage word for word—it was probably from Feng Zhidai’s hand.

What did he want to do? Yun Ye ate fruit while watching Feng Ang perform, just unable to understand what exactly he wanted to do. Why bring out these old grievances at this time? What exactly did he want to accomplish? This performance was too heavy-handed. Even if you killed Yun Ye, he wouldn’t believe that the Feng household didn’t even have good wine to entertain Li Tai.

Yun Ye saw Li Tai consoling Feng Ang in a low voice. With a sigh, he ordered Liu Jinbao to bring over his family’s good wine and fill everyone’s cups. He himself sat in a corner, continuing to ponder the reason Feng Ang had said such a heap of nonsense.

Seeing Li Tai looking at him, meaning for him to explain to Old Feng, Yun Ye had no choice but to rise and bow to Feng Ang. He had pushed a dignified duke to the point of only being able to drink poor wine—apologizing wasn’t excessive.

“Duke Feng, when managing Annan, it seems Duke Feng also went, right? You seized even more than I did. Fighting in Lingnan also seems to have been your doing. Of the eight provinces of Gao, Luo, Chun, Bai, Ya, Dan, Lin, and Zhen—some were fiefdoms passed down from your ancestors, and some seem to have been seized by you one by one. The rebellion of the Luo and Dou cave peoples was even the basis for your enfeoffment as Grand Pillar of State. How did it become this junior’s evil deeds?”

“You have thirty sons, with servants and maids numbering a full ten thousand. It truly can be said: flowers adorning brocade, a roaring fire cooking oil. This junior feared your Feng family would decline after reaching its peak, so I used the ancient Meiling Road to apply some small restraint. I also wouldn’t let the Lingnan Navy carry your goods—all for the sake of your Feng family. The doctrine of the mean is the foundation of a family’s longevity.”

“Sigh, just say it. Prince Wei is not an outsider. Whatever you actually want, just say it. As long as it’s not too excessive, for the sake of Prince Wei’s face, I’ll do my best to satisfy it.”

Acting together with someone who can’t act is very tiring. The old fellow had played the game of ruling by force his entire life. Starting to weep and complain now truly wasn’t like his character. He wasn’t even a good subject who would run several hundred li to find someone because of an imperial edict. If he couldn’t figure it out, he’d ask directly. If they could negotiate, negotiate. If not, refuse.

Li Tai also discovered there was a story here. Along the way, forget about refugees—they couldn’t even see people going hungry. How were they living miserably? This place was even wealthier than most of the places he’d seen along the way.

“Since Marquis Yun has a heart of repentance, this old man won’t take it too seriously. Being old, I cannot endure fatigue. Let my dog of a son Zhidai speak separately with Prince Wei and Marquis Yun. This old man will go rest for a moment first.”

Li Tai and Yun Ye watched helplessly as the old fellow, having finished playing the rogue, swept his sleeves and left the tent. The embarrassed Feng Zhidai rose and apologized, “After my father’s advanced age, his thoughts are no longer the same as in the past. I hope Your Highness will be magnanimous.”

“What exactly does your father want to do? Tell us. This humble prince is extremely curious.”

“Your Highness, the Feng family was born by the sea and grew up by the sea. We only ask that when Marquis Yun manages the great ocean, the Feng family may attach itself to the tail of a swift steed—is this possible?” Feng Zhidai, with a reserved smile, put forward his own request to Yun Ye.

Couldn’t leave now. Couldn’t go anywhere now. The Feng family, seeing no hope for expansion on land, had set their sights on the great ocean. His family had thirty sons. Although Yun Ye had gotten two of them killed, many still remained. A century-old great clan had deep foundations. If the Feng family were released onto the ocean, sooner or later this sea would become the Feng family’s possession.

Others looked down on the ocean’s output, but Yun Ye knew exactly how great the ocean’s potential was. What the Feng family currently lacked was shipbuilding and naval forces. They had lived by the sea for years but could only fish in the bays and gather pearls. Wanting Yun Ye to take them along when going to sea—Yun Ye could say with certainty that they would definitely fight desperately. The Feng family didn’t compete for temporary gains and losses. How had they shifted their gaze from land to ocean?