These things were more than enough; there was no need for any special treatment. Niu Jinda and Cheng Yaojin carried the sheep they had roasted outside. The whole sheep was roasted to a golden hue, with a knife stuck in its back. Qin Qiong and Yuchi Gong tucked two large jars of wine under their arms, handed over the work in the tent to the younger generation, and prepared to go celebrate.

Celebration was the victor’s privilege. These men, especially being veterans who had commanded large armies, naturally knew how to satisfy the soldiers. Cheng Yaojin’s rough, booming voice carried over from afar, and they could also hear Yuchi Gong’s roar telling Chengxin to hurry up and get lost.

Yun Ye didn’t follow them out, focusing single-mindedly on dealing with the pig’s head before him. Preparing a proper pig’s head required very complicated procedures. He split the entire pig’s head open and placed it in a slow fire to simmer. When it was sixty percent cooked, he put it in a steaming basket. Once steamed to eighty percent done, he removed the pig’s head and separated the meat from the bones. The pig’s snout, tongue, and ears—these parts with crispy meat—were carefully layered by Yun Ye into the still-elastic pig head meat. After balancing the fat and lean portions well, he wrapped it in gauze, placed it on a wooden board, and had Liu Jinbao bring over a clean large stone to press down on the pig head meat. They watched as the crystalline oil was squeezed out by the stone, dripping down along the wooden board. Liu Jinbao, who loved eating oil, specifically took steamed buns to dip in the dripping fat and ate heartily.

No one asked Yun Ye what exactly had happened in Liaodong. The only thing they knew was that Yun Ye had returned victorious. No one inquired about how many of their own had died, nor did anyone ask how many Goguryeo people had perished. The war was over, and their juniors, brothers, and friends had returned safely—that was what mattered.

“Ye-zi, I saw three Goguryeo women hiding in the corner of a tent. One of them is really quite attractive. Could it be that after your trip to Goguryeo, you brought back some side business? Good eye—tall chest, big buttocks, a priceless treasure in the bedchamber!”

Zhangsun Chong had always possessed a natural sensitivity toward women. Even those three women trembling and hiding in a small tent couldn’t escape his notice.

“Chong-zi, don’t say your brother didn’t warn you—that woman is no simple matter. She’s Gao Jianwu’s consort. That’s not the important part though; her lover is the formidable one. I had already caught him, but in a moment of carelessness, he jumped into the sea and escaped. I wonder if you’ve heard of a man named Yeon Gaesomun.”

“Never heard of him. We brothers don’t have the time to remember every Tom, Dick, and Harry.”

“Chong-zi, Huai-ren, Chumo, Da-sha, you’d all better remember this person. He’s about our age and is definitely a worthy opponent. There’s also a Japanese princess who’s extremely seductive and not to be underestimated. I have a feeling we’ll encounter them again in Chang’an.”

“Chang’an? They dare come to Chang’an? That’s our brothers’ territory. If they come here, I don’t care what rotten garlic thinks it can act like a big shot. We brothers are all top-tier figures in Chang’an. Even in a fair contest, it would count as me bullying them.” Li Huairen finally found an opening to speak, boasting to Yun Ye with swagger.

“This Yeon Gaesomun is extremely skilled in martial arts and uses four swords. Huai-ren, you’re no match for him. Since it’s just us brothers here, I won’t mince words. I estimate only Chumo could handle him for a few rounds. If we want to take him down, it will be very difficult. Martial prowess is just one aspect—this fellow is also full of cunning schemes. He’s extremely familiar with our Great Tang, but we know very little about him. Brothers, if you encounter him, don’t be careless and end up capsizing in the gutter.”

Though the brothers verbally dismissed it, they probably took it to heart. If Yun Ye said the fellow was formidable, then he definitely had some real skills.

Taking the dough from Zhangsun Chong’s hands, he continued kneading. This guy had almost turned into a dough man himself. Originally, there had been just a small basin of flour, but he kept adding water to it, which made it too thin, so he had to add more flour, then more water. By now, it was enough to feed twenty or thirty people. If someone didn’t take over, he would waste all the flour in the military camp.

The commotion outside had changed. Cheers thundered up—who knew what the old commanders were up to, but it seemed quite lively.

“What else could it be? In the military, naturally it’s sumo wrestling for entertainment. My father loves this sort of thing. Many times, he even strips to the waist and goes down himself.” Yuchi Baolin chopped at the meat filling halfheartedly, his eyes full of resentment.

The dough was kneaded well, and the meat filling was almost ready. The skill of making dumplings had spread from the Yun family. Niu Jinda, Cheng Yaojin, Qin Qiong, and Yuchi Gong were extremely fond of it. Now, every other day, their families had to eat a meal of dumplings, or else they felt uncomfortable all over.

Tears streaming down his face, Zhangsun Chong put a large handful of scallions into the meat filling and used a small wooden stick to stir vigorously in one direction, working the filling. This fellow was actually quite skilled at this task. After learning it initially, he had shown off to his father quite a bit.

Liu Jinbao had eaten a bit too much pork fat. His face flushed red as he said he was full, excused himself, and ran outside to watch the sumo wrestling. Yun Ye dusted the flour off his hands and followed him out, wanting to see what was happening outside.

Taking one look outside, he grimaced and went back in. The scene outside was unseemly—a large group of gluttons surrounded the Yun family cooks, holding empty plates waiting for food. There were also some who had stripped down to just loincloths, wrestling naked with dust flying everywhere.

Yuchi Gong, wearing boxer shorts, grabbed one man under each arm and with a single motion tossed out two burly men. Watching those two men continuously sniffling, they probably weren’t defeated by his strength but rather knocked unconscious by his intense body odor.

Cheng Yaojin was going around pouring wine onto those bone ash urns. Niu Jinda was examining the injured soldiers one by one. Qin Qiong had requested the merit book from the military adjutant and was checking each item carefully. Sometimes he even had soldiers brought over for face-to-face questioning, worried that someone might be concealing the soldiers’ achievements.

Li Chengqian arrived, specifically wearing his five-dragon robe with all his crown ornaments intact. Even his ceremonial guard was meticulous. When he came, everyone had to come out to receive him. The protocol between ruler and subject could not be abandoned—Li Chengqian was the Crown Prince and naturally had his own protocols.

The entire army assembled to hear the Crown Prince’s speech. Yun Ye found his words quite difficult to understand; the soldiers probably couldn’t understand them at all. It was all parallel prose with phrases of five and six characters. Zhangsun Chong listened with great enjoyment, and the soldiers also listened with pleasure. Although they couldn’t understand, it didn’t prevent them from enjoying this praise from the imperial family.

After reading the Crown Prince’s edict, a procession of eunuchs and palace maids came out. One group carried trays filled with small golden ingots, each wrapped with silk thread, looking more like ornaments than money. The other group carried trays with flowers made of silk with gold thread pressed into them—the so-called palace flowers. If an ordinary household had such items, they would be enough to show off in a box for several generations.

The first name called was Lai Chuanfeng. He knelt on the ground and moved forward on his knees a few steps, holding his hands high, waiting for the eunuch to place the reward in his tray. A pair of golden ingots, a pair of palace flowers—Lai Chuanfeng was already trembling uncontrollably. His head pounded the ground like a hammer seven or eight times before Li Chengqian helped him up. He walked back to his formation triumphantly.

The first merit received a double portion; everyone else received only half. This was what the soldiers valued most. Military merit rewards were the Emperor’s affair; the Crown Prince dared not overstep. As the heir apparent, coming openly to the military camp like this was already inappropriate. If it were anyone else, Li Chengqian would never do this, because such actions would invite the Emperor’s suspicion. The Crown Prince’s Six Rates were his personal troops.

After the rewards were distributed, Li Chengqian changed his garments, dismissed the eunuchs and palace maids, and embraced Yun Ye tightly. His eyes slightly red, he said softly, “Well done, how satisfying!”

“This is nothing. There’s even more satisfying news. I said nothing in the military report, so His Majesty doesn’t know the full story. The situation in Goguryeo is not to be taken lightly. If I hadn’t had the fire oil this time, Daewang Castle would have bled me of my last drop of blood.”

“I know, I know. I’ve been following your news every day. Now that you’ve returned safely, I think Father Emperor won’t send you on campaign again. This is good—a permanent solution.”

Qin Qiong walked over with a smile and said to the Crown Prince, “Alright, you can talk more later. Right now, you’re not wearing your ceremonial robes, so this old man won’t be polite. Everyone, go to the back tent. I wonder if those boys have finished making the dumplings.”

Arriving at the back tent, Yun Ye looked at the fist-sized dumplings before him, not knowing what to say. Even steamed buns weren’t this big. Zhangsun Chong smiled happily—the dumplings in front of him were uniform in size and looked proper. However, the dumplings in front of Cheng Chumo, Li Huairen, and Yuchi Baolin were truly indescribable.

Old Qin wasn’t angry either. Pointing at those dumplings, he said to the three of them, “Tonight you’ll eat these wrapped meat lumps. We’ll start over ourselves.”

It was hard to imagine that several old commanders were actually quite skilled at making dumplings. Especially Old Niu—the dumplings he made were not only the right size but also aesthetically pleasing.

“Uncle Niu’s craftsmanship is beyond comparison for this junior. When did you learn this skill?” Li Chengqian asked Niu Jinda in surprise. Such a thing would have been unimaginable before.

“There’s nothing strange about it. During this time, this old man has been living in Yushan with just my wife and me. My son went to Lingnan, and my two grandsons went with him. With nothing to do, I fussed about with food. My wife loves eating dumplings and never tires of them, so over time, this skill has become increasingly refined.”

Li Chengqian felt somewhat awkward. The court allowing these old generals to fend for themselves was an overall decision, not something he could easily change.

Old Niu looked up at the red-faced Crown Prince and said, “Don’t misunderstand. This old man isn’t talking to you about court affairs. I’m just telling you that this old man is living very comfortably now. Accompanying my wife to enjoy the mountains and waters is very pleasant. I’ve long grown tired of the days of killing and burning in military formations. If possible, this old man doesn’t want to take the field anymore in the future. Lantian County planted tens of thousands of acres of potatoes this year. This old man just wants to see with his own eyes how the potatoes pile up like mountains after autumn. Saving a few people in the world from starvation—that’s true merit.”

Li Chengqian nodded. Old Niu was telling him that his visit today involved no discussion of other matters with these old generals—they just ate dumplings together and discussed the nearly one hundred thousand acres of potatoes in Lantian County. This was a very thoughtful arrangement.