After taking Yun Baobao on a grand tour around Chang’an, where even the Crown Princess had met the Yun family’s eldest legitimate grandson, the arrogant Yun Baobao sat in the carriage playing with her bountiful haul of pearls and jade ornaments.
Old Niu was planning to come stay at Yushan after paying respects to his ancestors. Yun Ye took great pride in his persuasive abilities for this—an old man shouldn’t spend all his time dwelling on the past and thinking about how to pull Li Er out of the quagmire of Goguryeo. After all, Li Er was going to fail three times, losing no less than Yang Guang did. If he could save them once, he’d save them once—reducing soldier casualties even a little was worthwhile.
The world had truly descended into chaos. Why was it that anyone with a broken blade wanted to rob and kill? Before even reaching the Yun family estate, the clanging sounds of combat could already be heard. This was unacceptable! This was Yun family territory—if you want to kill people, go to Li Er’s lands where no one cares, but don’t kill people on my family’s property!
Liu Jinbao shouted and charged into the fray. Fully armored, he was far more formidable than the others. As he fought his way into the circle of combatants, a resonant voice called out: “Brother Liu, did Marquis Yun send you to support me?”
Liu Jinbao froze. After looking carefully for a long while, he discovered that the man standing before him was actually Xi Tong. Under the threat of crossbows from the other Yun family guards, each of those burly men wore unwilling expressions on their faces.
After instructing the wet nurse to look after his son properly, Yun Ye finally descended from the carriage. Looking at Xi Tong standing before him covered in blood stains, he didn’t know what to say. This man of such fierce loyalty must have heard in Hebei that Yun Ye’s jade pendant had been stolen, and so had single-mindedly tried to retrieve it for him.
Xi Tong smiled honestly and pulled out that blood-stained jade pendant from his chest, grasping the cord and handing it to Yun Ye. The burly men surrounding them all sighed in unison—now that the jade pendant had returned to the Yun family, it would be harder than ascending to heaven for anyone else to obtain it. The Yun family wasn’t an ordinary noble house, but rather a great general who wielded military authority. Offending the Yun family would have extremely terrifying consequences. Even the two eunuch-dressed figures standing by the roadside wore expressions of disappointment.
Yun Ye opened his arms and embraced Xi Tong, taking the jade pendant from his hands. He weighed it and declared loudly: “For this broken trinket, my brother nearly lost his life—what use do I have for you!” With that, he hurled it far into the woods. Those men could no longer care about the crossbows surrounding them and swarmed into the forest like bees, crawling on the ground searching for the jade pendant.
Xi Tong’s expression changed momentarily before quickly returning to normal. Yun Ye took his hand and led him to the carriage, having the wet nurse bring out Yun Baobao. The baby was very bold—seeing Xi Tong covered in fresh blood didn’t frighten him at all. He stretched out his arms toward Yun Ye, continuously calling “Papa.”
Yun Ye took his son and casually placed him in Xi Tong’s arms, saying: “This is our family’s true treasure. As for a broken jade pendant, is it worth you risking your life?” Xi Tong had initially worried that the blood on him would soil Yun Baobao’s clothes, but seeing Yun Ye speak so boldly, he couldn’t help but reveal his old heroic spirit, using his thick fingers to playfully poke Yun Baobao’s chubby cheeks a couple of times.
“Brother Xi Tong, look at those people—don’t they look like dogs?” Yun Ye pointed at those crawling on the ground searching for the jade pendant and asked Xi Tong. His emotions were extremely complex at that moment—both moved and sorrowful.
“Heaven and earth are not benevolent, treating all things as straw dogs. Who is a pig or dog, and who isn’t? Your brother here wasn’t I just fighting moments ago? And I was the most ferocious attack dog at that.”
“If this thing didn’t belong to the Yun family, would you have traveled a thousand li risking your life with them? If it had no connection to the Yun family, I imagine you wouldn’t even be interested in looking at it. In this world, what can make you risk your life besides loyalty and righteousness?”
“Come, come, come, let’s go home. Take a good bath, and I’ll personally cook you a big pot of beef and potatoes. We’ll get two jars of wine, and we brothers won’t return until we’re drunk. Let’s leave this hunting ground for fighting dogs to others.” With that, he called for two horses, and together with Xi Tong holding Yun Baobao, they mounted up and galloped toward the Yun family estate surrounded by guards, not even glancing back at those people behind them.
A eunuch-dressed figure emerged from behind a tree, turning over the jade pendant in his hand and playing with it, murmuring: “Valuing people over objects—truly the bearing a marquis should have. But to dare call this old man a dog, boy, once this old man completes the task His Majesty assigned, I’ll settle accounts with you.”
Thinking about how he had chased from Chang’an to Hebei and back from Hebei to Chang’an, always one step behind, fury blazed in his heart. He glanced at the strong men surrounding him, exchanged a look with the other eunuch, and with an angry laugh, charged into the crowd…
The Yun family estate was bustling with activity, with red decorations everywhere. The steward was directing the doormen to hang two huge red lanterns at the entrance. Children holding pastries ran everywhere. Servants continuously came and went purchasing supplies, carrying chickens, ducks, fish, and meat into the house. The Assistant Magistrate of Lantian County sat in the front hall playing chess with the accountant—he was worried that too many oxen would die of illness at the Yun family during the New Year.
Xinyue greeted Xi Tong with a smile. Na Rimu came out holding her daughter to meet Xi Tong as well. The uncomfortable Xi Tong rubbed his hands together—he hadn’t brought any greeting gifts and felt quite uneasy.
“Uncle traveled a thousand li fighting for the Yun family—this is already the greatest virtue. How dare we accept Uncle’s gifts? Please, Uncle, wash off the dust of travel first, and then my husband will accompany you in drinking. You old friends reuniting should properly drink a few more cups.”
Xi Tong smiled and nodded. Having suddenly jumped from a harsh and intense combat environment into this prosperous haven, he felt somewhat dazed, gripping his horizontal blade tightly, requiring great determination before finally setting it down.
After washing up, the Yun family’s physician bandaged his wounds and changed him into a brocade robe before he came to the small pavilion. There he saw Yun Ye approaching carrying a large basin, followed by several servants—one carrying a small charcoal brazier, one holding two wine jars, and others with wooden platters full of fruits and vegetables. The wandering battles had left him nearly exhausted, and seeing such fine food now, how could he restrain himself? But seeing the servants standing nearby, he felt it improper to lose decorum.
Yun Ye placed the copper basin on the small charcoal brazier and dismissed the servants, breaking open the mud seal on a wine jar himself and handing one to Xi Tong while keeping one for himself. Xi Tong specifically leaned over to check the number on Yun Ye’s wine jar before relaxing and sitting down. Seeing Yun Ye pointing at him and laughing heartily, he couldn’t help but laugh as well—once bitten by a snake, one fears well ropes for ten years!
The beautifully marbled beef was extremely delicious. The two men simultaneously kicked off their shoes and squatted on their chairs, frantically fishing from the large copper basin. Who had time to talk? Even greetings came out as unintelligible grunts. The thirty-proof wine was most suitable for drinking in large gulps. Each man held a jar the size of a human head, taking a sip of wine and a big bite of food. Before long, they were sweating profusely.
Yun Ye had creatively added plenty of chili peppers to the potato and beef stew. The soft, fragrant taste now had an additional spicy kick, but both men loved this flavor, so they ate with great satisfaction.
When the basin was nearly empty, Yun Ye was already done for, lying in his chair groaning. Only Xi Tong continued eating at an undiminished pace, his large mouth like a bottomless pit—potatoes, beef, even the broth, disappeared as soon as it went in.
When the last potato in the basin entered his belly, Xi Tong finally let out a satisfied burp and lazily leaned back in his chair picking his teeth. After picking his teeth, he took another large gulp of wine to wash the meat shreds into his stomach before asking Yun Ye: “How come I feel like that jade pendant is somehow different from the one I gave you?”
“Of course it’s different. That jade pendant was something I had made myself using ancient jade from the same period as a replica. I even modified the patterns on it. It would be strange if they were the same.”
Xi Tong laughed heartily and pointed at Yun Ye: “You’re really devious enough! Throwing out a bone to let those watching you like tigers eye their prey fight over it, while you hide behind watching vicious dogs fight. Brilliant, truly brilliant!”
“I’ve always believed that using brawn is inferior to using brains. Problems that can be solved with thinking—we shouldn’t resort to force. Not only does that make things bloody and ugly, it also easily brings enmity to one’s family. So doing it this way is more subtle.”
“Subtle my ass! Even more people died. You don’t know—just the bandits I killed numbered over thirty, not to mention those who wanted to kill me. Why are people nowadays still such madmen? What use is obtaining the jade pendant? Isn’t it just going to your death?”
While the two brothers Yun Ye and Xi Tong were eating and drinking, those two eunuchs had already entered the palace. Without seeing the two men kowtow to Li Er—among those in Great Tang who didn’t perform kneeling obeisance, eunuchs were definitely not included.
Li Er quietly listened to the eunuchs recount the entire affair, then picked up the jade pendant from the box and looked at it. With a flick of his hand, he threw the jade pendant out the window, smiling as he dismissed the bewildered eunuchs.
Empress Zhangsun emerged from behind, asking strangely: “Erlang, haven’t you always wanted to see this jade pendant? Why did you throw it away? Don’t you want to see it anymore? Have you abandoned thoughts of seeking immortality? That would be a blessing for Great Tang’s subjects.”
Li Er wrinkled his nose at Empress Zhangsun: “That little bastard Yun Ye—this time he’s just toying with all those people in the realm who want to live forever, while also seeing exactly who has an interest in the White Jade Capital. This time, I carelessly fell into that boy’s trap. It really infuriates me! That jade pendant must be fake.”
“That can’t be. I’ve seen the jade pendant—it looks just like that. The patterns on it match too. Yun Ye wouldn’t deceive me. What I saw back then must have been real.”
Empress Zhangsun assured Li Er with absolute certainty.
“What you saw back then, along with Chengqian and Qingque—all three of you saw the real one. Although I can’t see any flaws, I absolutely dare say this jade pendant must be fake. ‘Valuing people over objects’? Does that boy qualify? Can you imagine someone who dares make contracts with me over money would have such magnanimity? That boy has always distinguished very clearly between three things: what belongs to the state, what’s mine, and what’s his. As long as it’s his, you can’t take even a single hair from his hands for free unless he’s willing.”
“So, Guanyin Maid, this jade pendant must be fake. I dare say the real jade pendant is still in his hands, most likely hidden in the academy’s maze formation. That boy wouldn’t keep such trouble at home.”