“Just now when they pressed me to death, I didn’t see you speak up.” Yun Ye rolled his eyes and glanced at Li Tai.
“Why would I interrupt when you were handling things perfectly? The two of us didn’t coordinate our stories beforehand—if we had let something slip, it would be even more troublesome. You alone already did very well, didn’t you? My thoughts are useful—I don’t waste energy on idle concerns.” Having said this, he walked out. He very much enjoyed listening to the Meng family compound women speak—their voices chirped like birds.
“Husband, why did Li Jing come, and with his wife too? From their dusty, travel-worn appearance they seemed very anxious. Just after leaving the tent, they hurriedly departed with their people, as if returning to Yongzhou.”
Xinyue quietly entered and, seeing her husband sitting alone at the table eating, brought her mouth close to his ear to speak.
“He has a troublesome brother. Traveling ten thousand li also counts as showing deep bonds of honor. However, it has nothing to do with our family. Your husband imprisoned Qiu Ran Ke on an island for their own good. I don’t believe they can rescue Qiu Ran Ke. We should still concern ourselves with Rong’er’s audience with the elders tomorrow. It’s not appropriate for me to appear—only you and the household retainers can come forward.”
“At this time, don’t be stingy. When gathering popular support, being stingy won’t do. Let your subordinates know that the leader they’re following has real strength—this point is extremely important.”
“Previously when I saw His Majesty receive those natives, he did exactly this. At the time I didn’t understand, thinking that when the natives only contributed a few worthless gifts yet received generous rewards, it wasn’t reasonable—it was operating at a loss. Now that I’m older, I understand. Whether people’s hearts turn toward or against you truly cannot be measured by a bit of wealth. Remember this—tomorrow the Yun family will be very generous.”
Xinyue nodded. In this matter, Yun Ye also harbored private motives. The one gathering popular support should be Li Rong, not Li Anlan. Xinyue and her husband shared deep common understanding on this matter. Li Anlan herself had deliberately avoided it by going to Guangzhou.
A household cannot have two masters, just as heaven cannot have two suns. Since they lived in an autocratic age, going with the flow was best. Any household head would make the same choice—that power must be grasped in the hands of one’s closest person, and wives often weren’t in this category. Emperor Wu of Han executing Lady Gou Yi on his deathbed exemplified this principle.
That night, Yun Ye’s whole family slept in tents. Yun Mu always liked to kick off his blanket. Yun Xiang would suddenly wake at night—this was due to the children not adapting to the environment here.
The quiet night should have been silent, but ape cries and tiger roars came through, making one feel as if standing in primordial wilderness. The Meng family compound seemed surrounded by wild beasts. Though he knew this was an illusion, Yun Ye couldn’t sleep. When he had spent nights alone in mountain forests, he had never been this alert.
After covering Yun Mu with his blanket and tucking Yun Xiang into Lingdang’s embrace, Yun Ye discovered he had lost all sleepiness. Xinyue dressed and rose, wearing slippers as she came behind Yun Ye who stood at the doorway watching the bright moon. She draped a robe over him and said softly: “It’s late. Sleep a bit more—who knows if we’ll be able to sleep tomorrow.”
Yun Ye grasped Xinyue’s hand in return and said: “Leaving Shou’er alone in Chang’an, my heart is uneasy. Actually, Shou’er is our family’s hostage. The Emperor wants loyalty, so we must offer up what we love most, placing it under his control. Only then will the Emperor’s heart be at ease—yet who knows how uneasy my heart is?”
“You underestimate Shou’er! How could our child be an ordinary person? That fire at the Crown Prince’s residence thoroughly demonstrated our Yun family’s position. By now, Aunt Cheng still praises him endlessly in her letters, constantly saying how could we possibly give birth to such a delightful treasure—even his mistakes are perfectly correct.”
Yun Shou was Xinyue’s eternal pride. Although this time they had left him alone in Chang’an, and Xinyue would cry when no one was around at midnight, if anyone mentioned bringing Yun Shou back, she would immediately turn hostile. That foolish woman Na Rimu had already been lectured countless times by Xinyue, because she also loved Yun Shou and had loved him since childhood. Holding that little flesh bundle in her arms felt much more substantial than holding Yun Mu, only because that tender little flesh bundle had a tiny bit extra between his legs.
When Li’er sang the Short Song Ballad, Yun Ye hadn’t said a word. Actually, those lines “The moon is bright, the stars are few, magpies fly south, circling the tree thrice, which branch can I rest on”—how were they not also a true reflection of himself? Everyone’s a person in the red dust—elder brother shouldn’t laugh at second brother.
Following Xinyue’s words, he returned to bed to continue sleeping. The ape cries by his ear continued ceaselessly. After listening for a long time, he actually heard a trace of charm in them. Accompanied by this charm, he finally entered sweet dreams.
Early in the morning, Li Rong sat on a soft couch continuously receiving elders from all directions. Their gifts were shabby—the better ones had a few animal hides. Carrying over a fat pig was already a rare generous gift.
Whether it was a basket of eggs or a pig, Li Rong happily accepted them all. Following proper etiquette, he asked these elderly elders whether their health was well, whether this year’s harvest could sustain them until the next grain harvest, how to treat sick people in the village, and whether it was possible to build an academy for the young people to attend.
Clearly, the mountain village elders who had never received such attention were extremely moved one by one. Previous chiefs only collected taxes—where would they care about their survival? Yet now this small chief wearing a golden crown inquired about everything in great detail. Liu Fulu was responsible for recording on the side. Everything Li Rong said would be documented.
When Li Rong heard that some wandering men frequently harassed their villages, disturbing everyone’s peace, armored soldiers were immediately dispatched, divided into several teams heading to those villages. Li Rong said with a smile that the elders should feel free to enjoy tonight’s moon-jumping festival. The village’s safety needn’t be worried about—naturally fierce warriors would pursue those vagrants. When captured, they wouldn’t be beheaded, but would help the villages build houses and academies.
Liu Fulu occasionally interjected from the side, supplementing and describing the wonderful outside world as if it were a celestial realm. Xinyue wore a complete set of official rank attire, noble as a phoenix. The trembling golden hairpin ornaments swayed chaotically with her gentle nods, reflecting golden light that was almost impossible to look at directly.
Inside the tent, Yun Ye laughed when he heard Li Rong planned to build academies and schools for the mountain villages. This must be Xinyue’s idea. The Yun family had relied on Yushan Academy to become a top-tier Great Tang clan. Otherwise, with the Yun family’s shallow connections, they would at most be called a wealthy family—how could they bear the title of great clan?
In Han territory, if you built schools and academies for farmers, they would absolutely be moved to tears. Even if they themselves didn’t eat, they would support their sons, hoping they could change the whole family’s fate. Unfortunately, this was Liao territory. The language was different—how could teachers educate them? Moreover, the special customs here meant people valued daughters more than sons.
He didn’t know what kind of teachers Xinyue would find for these people. It would probably be very difficult to find someone proficient in both the Liao language and Tang language who could also recognize Chinese characters. Yun Ye discovered only the grand elder fit this description. Mechanically applying the Yun family estate model to Liao territory was destined to be only flowers reflected in a mirror, the moon reflected in water.
What satisfied the elders most were the sacks behind them, plus cloth. At the appearance of salt, they almost prostrated themselves in worship. Mountain people only needed grain, clothing, and salt to live well. The elders were very satisfied with such rewards.
Li Rong was destined to bring them the greatest surprise. Their current level of happiness wasn’t enough yet, so those prepared medicines appeared. Any Han territory traveling physician who could practice medicine in Liao territory would immediately be crowned with the title of divine physician. Whether or not they could cure people, the Liao people would immediately regard them as divine beings.
These medicinal materials were rare even in Han territory, let alone among the impoverished Liao people. The elders formally bowed deeply to Li Rong. This time, Li Rong’s title as chief finally received recognition from everyone.
It was actually like this. In his previous life, Yun Ye understood one principle: if you want to give gifts, give them all at once. Overwhelm the recipient in one go. If the gift isn’t sufficient, it might have the opposite effect. Giving gifts like sprinkling pepper powder would only increase the difficulty and cost of conducting business. Even if the gifts you sprinkled like pepper powder added up to more value than one focused assault, the effect would fall far short of a generous gift.
The Meng family village elder rose with a smile and on a sheepskin painted with chaotic patterns, bit his finger open and pressed his fingerprint. The other elders followed without hesitation, until all the elders had pressed their fingerprints. Only then did the Meng family village elder present this sheepskin with both hands to Li Rong.
He spoke a long string of words in the Liao language. From Liu Fulu’s delighted smile, Xinyue knew this sheepskin must be extremely important, so she also smiled and bowed in return.
“Marquis, we’ve made it, we’ve made it! The thirty-one villages of Meng Mountain have completely submitted. The young prince executed this beautifully! That sheepskin bears their ancestors’ marks, and they’ve dripped their blood on it. This is the Liao people’s most solemn blood oath. If violated, they’ll be devoured by mountain spirits—it’s also the oath they value most. Now! The Liao territory is completely pacified. His Majesty has always wanted such a thing but couldn’t obtain it. The young prince has obtained it. Now the young prince’s position is iron-clad.”
“You’ve worked hard, Liu Fulu. If you want to return to the Central Plains, I’ll find a way for you.” Yun Ye was never stingy toward loyal people.
Liu Fulu struggled for a long time, then suddenly became calm. He cupped his hands toward Yun Ye and said: “Marquis, Fulu understands your kind intentions. Few criminals of Lingnan can leave Meiling alive. However, Fulu doesn’t want to return. These years, my wife was buried in Lingnan. My eldest child was also buried in Lingnan. I want to stay here to keep them company. The spring and autumn sacrifices each year absolutely cannot be interrupted. I still have elder brothers and younger brothers back home. The ancestral sacrifices will have someone to maintain them—no worry there.”
“I was sentenced to Lingnan. Though my mountain wife and young child traveled here from a thousand mountains away to accompany me, just when life was getting slightly better, they passed away. This unfortunate woman, though humble, Fulu cannot bear to abandon. Some day when Fulu’s life ends, I should also be buried in this place. The Central Plains—better not to return.”