As Yun Ye stepped through the main gate, he saw Zhang Liang sitting cross-legged before it, with his two sons kneeling behind him. In his hand was only a mourning staff, nothing else. Seeing Yun Ye emerge, Zhang Liang’s two sons started to rise and fight, but Zhang Liang stopped them with a shout.
After shooing away the other outsiders, Yun Ye sat down on the steps and looked at Zhang Liang, saying, “You clearly know this wasn’t my doing, yet you come to my gate making trouble—what’s the point? Given that your entire family has suffered this calamity, I won’t make things difficult for you. Leave. Go find your real enemy—that’s the proper course. You and I don’t have a relationship good enough for me to help you with this.”
Zhang Liang’s lips trembled twice as he pointed at Yun Ye, saying, “Everyone in Chang’an says you did it. Without giving me an explanation, my three family members will die right here, and the Yun Family will have truly slaughtered the entire Zhang household.”
“If you don’t want to kill me, then let’s fight to the death. This old man is no fool. Even if you didn’t do this, it has enormous connections to you. You might be interested in this old man’s head, but the lives of my family’s women and children—you, Yun Ye, have always been arrogant, but you wouldn’t debase yourself to take those. Our conflict was actually already concluded. You accepted the Zhang Family’s estate at Yushan, which showed you didn’t want things to become irreconcilable. Our grievance, whether good or bad, already had a resolution. Now my entire family has lost their lives because of you—don’t you feel even a shred of unease?”
“My elderly mother’s neck was nearly severed. My three-year-old grandson was strangled to death. My son suffered dozens of blade wounds and died with his body mutilated. Right now in Chang’an, this old man is like a deaf and blind man—I want to investigate but have no way to start. If you don’t give my family an explanation, we’ll truly have no choice but to bring our personal guards and have a blood feud.”
After hearing Zhang Liang’s words, Yun Ye’s face also turned desolate. The reason he hadn’t gone to the Zhang household to examine the bodies was precisely because he feared seeing those horrible scenes. Now, hearing Zhang Liang’s description, even someone with a heart of stone would feel compassion. Years ago, for the sake of a courtesan, he could strike out in anger—what crime had the Zhang Family’s women and children committed to die so miserably?
“I’ll help you find this group of people. You’ll handle them yourself. Success or failure depends on your capabilities. I imagine you also don’t want me interfering. Let’s be clear—this isn’t because I fear you fighting me to the death, Zhang Liang. If you want to fight to the death, after this matter is concluded, you can come again. We’ll see whether your five hundred personal guards are formidable or my Yun Family’s retainers are superior. For me, only with you dead can I sleep peacefully. If not for the tragic fate your family’s women and children suffered this time, I absolutely wouldn’t lift a finger to help you. Come inside. Let’s properly examine who exactly killed your mother and young grandson.”
Leading the fully mourning-clad Zhang Liang and his sons into the study, the steward brought a bowl of medicinal broth, placed it before Zhang Liang, and withdrew. Zhang Liang didn’t even ask—he picked it up and drained it in one gulp. His two sons wanted to stop him but couldn’t react in time.
Yun Ye couldn’t help but sigh with sorrow. Among Li Er’s subordinates, there wasn’t a single weakling. Sitting in the home of someone whose allegiance was unclear, drinking medicine offered by a potential enemy without even asking about it—such courage wasn’t something ordinary people possessed.
“The road ahead of you won’t be easy to walk. The enemy consists of over one hundred eighty first-rate death warriors. Unfortunately, the principal culprit escaped. I can only provide you with the remaining murderers. Whether you steam them or braise them depends on your capabilities. Oh, that bowl of medicinal broth just now was to calm your mind and settle your energy. Your hair turned white overnight—the fury in your heart must be erupting fiercely. That you could still maintain rationality upon seeing me is already thanks to your years of military training. But forcefully suppressing it will cause problems. Drinking this medicine will help you judge your actions more rationally.”
“This old man’s body doesn’t need your concern. You need only tell this old man who the enemy is, who the principal culprit is. Leave the rest for this old man to handle. Speak—I’m also very curious who this group of people is.”
“Have you heard of a man named Yeon Gaesomun?”
“The Goguryeo vice-envoy. He left Chang’an long ago. Don’t tell me the enemy is him.”
“That’s right—it’s him. I’ll draw you a diagram and you’ll understand how he did it, and I also have evidence proving he killed your son Zhang Judao.”
Demonstrating Gae Suwen’s movements on paper was easy. After viewing it, Zhang Liang’s breathing became rapid. For him, this was the best possible outcome. As long as the murderer wasn’t a Chang’an noble, that was enough—otherwise his days would be even more difficult.
“This is one possibility, but it can’t serve as evidence yet. You must convince me.”
Yun Ye pulled an armor plate from his chest and placed it on the table, saying to Zhang Liang, “This is an armor leaf exclusively forged by the Yun Family. Outsiders don’t have such things. The Yun Family guards this type of armor very strictly. Damage and replacement of armor leaves are all recorded, precisely to prevent these items from flowing outside. Don’t look at me like that—the Yun Family’s servants and craftsmen are all very loyal. Moreover, under normal circumstances, the final process is usually completed by me personally—the so-called passivation. I checked all the accounts. In the past six months, no one has applied to replace armor leaves. I also ordered the old steward to inspect all the armor sets that went out to see if any were damaged. The result—their armor was all intact. You must understand, to replace an armor leaf, you must return the old armor leaf before being permitted to receive a new one. Think about it—under what circumstances would armor leaves be lost and impossible to recover?”
“You want to say this armor leaf was dropped on the Liaodong battlefield? What if your family retainers carelessly lost it?”
“Look carefully. Each armor leaf is strung together with gold thread and ox sinew twisted together. For it to fall off by itself is very difficult. Most importantly, once they return home, everyone with this type of armor invariably stores it away. So in the Great Tang, unless His Majesty conducts an inspection, they won’t wear this type of armor. If you look carefully, you’ll see this piece of armor also has traces of being burned by fire. If you boil it in hot water, oil droplets still float up.”
“I suffered heavy losses precisely beneath Daewang Castle and in the end had no choice but to set a great fire, burning Daewang Castle into hell. That fire was set with oil, so the armor leaf was lost on the Goguryeo battlefield. Do you acknowledge this?”
“That barely makes sense, but if you only have this speculation, it’s far from enough.” Zhang Liang still wouldn’t relent, demanding Yun Ye produce concrete evidence. He also didn’t want to be used like a dog by someone exploiting his eagerness for revenge.
“Zhang Liang, you’re also an expert in martial studies. Tell me, with your son’s martial skills, to be struck by twenty-six consecutive blade blows in an instant—how formidable must that person’s martial arts be?”
“Absolutely a supreme master. This old man couldn’t do it, and there aren’t many people in the court who could.” Having been a general his entire life, Zhang Liang remained very confident in his own martial skills.
“You’re right. I consulted Duke Qin, Duke Yuchi, and Duke Cheng. Duke Qin said killing your son would be simple, but to leave twenty-six blade wounds on your son’s body in an instant—he couldn’t do it. So there definitely aren’t many people under heaven who could do it. It happens that I know one person with a method to accomplish this, and that person is Yeon Gaesomun, because he has five blades. I’ve only seen him use three blades, but that was truly as fast as lightning.”
“Why don’t you mention yourself? Pushing all responsibility away to demonstrate your own innocence? Yun Ye, you despicable villain! You exterminated my family and still spout nonsense here—I’ll kill you!”
Zhang Liang’s second son, Zhang Juzhi, couldn’t bear listening anymore. He leaped up, lunging toward Yun Ye. Yun Ye watched him coldly—if he dared approach within three steps, Liu Jinbao’s crossbow bolt would fire immediately. At close range, even immortals couldn’t escape.
Before Zhang Juzhi could reach him, Zhang Liang grabbed him by the collar and threw him out, instructing his eldest son to watch his brother. He cupped his hands toward Yun Ye in salute, saying, “Marquis Yun, please continue. This old man already believes seventy percent. If you can tell me where the other murderers are, this old man will turn and leave. After my great revenge is achieved, I’ll personally come to apologize.”
Yun Ye smiled, took a scroll from the shelf, spread it open, and pointed to a black circle on the map, saying, “After much investigation, I discovered the murderers are in this area, but He Tianshang says the murderers are definitely hiding in Tianfu Temple. I don’t know where he got this information. He went to the Qinling Mountains again today, preparing to investigate personally. Sit and have some tea—he’ll return soon. I’ll also have food prepared for you. No matter how little you want to eat right now, you must eat a few bites. You have a fierce battle ahead.”
Zhang Liang squinted his eyes for a long time, looking at Tianfu Temple on the map, tapping it with his finger, saying, “He Tianshang makes sense. If I were choosing a place to hide people, I’d also choose Tianfu Temple. Only there can one attack when advancing, defend when retreating, and when timing isn’t right, escape into the deep mountains. It’s an excellent location.”
“You’ve led armies in battle for many years—you don’t need me to tell you how to deploy troops. You’re the expert. As long as you capture a few alive, with your methods you’ll get information out of them. I suggest you prepare Japanese and Goguryeo interpreters early—you’ll definitely need them.”
Zhang Liang closed his eyes in contemplation, speaking no more. With his hair and beard all white, sitting in the chair, he possessed a particular imposing presence. He was probably calculating how to eliminate the enemy. From his neck’s bulging veins, one could tell how furious Zhang Liang was at this moment.
Following Yun Ye’s instructions, the steward brought over three large basins of rice, topped with abundant meat sauce and red-braised pork piled high. Nothing fancy, but absolutely ideal battle rations.
Zhang Liang lifted the basin and sniffed it, saying, “I’ve long heard the Yun Family’s cuisine is unmatched under heaven. I never imagined that I, Zhang Liang, would eat the Yun Family’s food under these circumstances. Marquis Yun, your kindness—allow Zhang Liang to repay it later.” He thrust the basin at his sons, loudly saying, “Eat! After eating our fill, we’ll avenge your mother and the others. The Zhang Family men aren’t all dead yet. Finish this food, and when He Tianshang returns, we father and sons will go take our revenge.”
The three Zhang Family men wolfed down their food ravenously. One could tell they probably hadn’t eaten in days. Yun Ye picked up the teapot, filled their cups with water and pushed them over, then sat back in his own chair.
Zhang Liang took a sip of water, cupped his hands toward Yun Ye, and continued eating. He understood very well that as long as he launched a surprise attack tonight, he would definitely capture prisoners alive, and the truth would become clear to the world. What Yun Ye was doing now was merely fulfilling his bond as a comrade-in-arms.