Xinyue stood at the entrance to the tunnel, anxiously waiting for Yun Ye and Xiao Miao. After waiting a long time and discovering the two hadn’t come, her heart burned with anxiety. Unable to endure it any longer, she gritted her teeth and rushed out from the hall.
Entering the flower hall, she discovered her husband was drinking wine sip by sip. His expression was quite decadent, yet he showed not the slightest tension, completely unlike the anxious appearance when he had just gestured for the family to take cover.
Old Jiang, who never wore armor, gripped his horizontal blade guarding the main gate. The Eight Ox Crossbow was already loaded. The soldiers surrounding the Yun household outside had also already drawn swords and nocked arrows, seeming ready to charge in at any moment.
“Husband, leave quickly! Li Zhi wants to rebel. Our family isn’t with him—sooner or later we’ll be in trouble. As long as you escape, no one will dare do anything to us.” Xinyue anxiously shook Yun Ye’s arm, wanting him to leave quickly. The Yun family’s tunnels were well-developed—no one knew how many exits there were. With her husband’s abilities, as long as the family didn’t burden him, he could definitely escape.
“Escape, my ass! Everyone come back! Do whatever you’re supposed to do and live properly. Where are all these crises coming from?” With a wave of his hand, Yun Ye swept the teapot and teacups on the table all onto the floor.
“No, husband! Your wife heard your words with Li Zhi. He truly wants to rebel. He won’t even spare His Majesty and Her Majesty. Our family—our family goes without saying. People who want to become Emperor have no humanity. Husband, please leave quickly! If you’re worried about His Majesty and the others, your wife will stay behind. Your wife will help you watch over Chang’an.”
Xinyue knelt on the ground, embracing Yun Ye’s legs and wailing.
Yun Ye picked up Xinyue and placed her on his knees, saying: “If that fool could successfully rebel, the Li family’s kingdom would have changed hands countless times already. The fact that Xiao Wu and Renji haven’t sent any warning signals until now shows this is just a farce.”
“You sent Xiao Wu and Renji to monitor them?”
“Yes. So many things happened this year—how could I not be suspicious and not want to find an answer? Without finding the answer, our family would be startled three times a day. Now there’s an answer, and things have come to light. Li Zhi is just rebelling. According to him, he’s already controlled the palace and twelve of the Sixteen Guards. Presumably the Crown Prince’s Six Rates have already been guarded by his great army. The four guards he hasn’t captured can only be the Left Martial Guard controlled by Uncle Cheng, the Right Martial Guard controlled by Uncle Yuchi, the Martial Guard controlled by Uncle Niu, plus only the Qianniu Guard.”
“If he truly had such capability, it would indeed be frightening. But is this possible? Even if he added the Zhangsun family, Li Huairen, even the entire noble group, I tell you, he still couldn’t control twelve guards!”
“Even if the Emperor is unconscious or critically ill and dying, it’s still impossible! How could Zhangsun Wuji place his bet on him? Would he dare? Even if you gave him a hundred times the courage, he wouldn’t dare! I used that phrase about killing everyone in Chang’an to test him, and discovered he actually wasn’t afraid. Hahaha, he actually wasn’t afraid! When I said this to Feng Ang back then, that veteran of a hundred battles immediately submitted obediently, trembling with fear. By what right is Li Zhi not afraid? There’s only one possibility—Zhangsun Wuji, who knows the inside story, didn’t tell him.”
“If you want to rebel, without removing an obstructive mountain like me, what kind of rebellion can he stage? For such a major matter, Zhangsun Wuji didn’t tell Li Zhi—do you think Zhangsun Wuji sincerely defected to him? Go fool a ghost!”
“A young, ambitious prince wanting to rise to power will always gather some ambitious men around him. Zhang Jianzi, Wang Xuance, Li Huairen, Lai Ji, Shangguan Yi, Jiang Ke—these people are all talented, worthy of being called exceptional choices. Unfortunately, this time they will die without burial places. I always wondered what Zhangsun Wuji was up to, handing over the Ministry of Revenue’s great authority to Left Vice Minister Chu Suiliang. I thought he was recuperating and choosing to show restraint at this time. I never expected he was doing this!”
Xinyue couldn’t understand what Yun Ye meant, but from these words she heard the simplest meaning—that Li Zhi was a fool, and this rebellion couldn’t possibly succeed.
When Xinyue thought this might all be arranged by the Emperor, she felt cold all over. She burrowed into Yun Ye’s embrace and said: “Why not just live a good life? What is all this for?”
“Well asked! What for? Making trouble! Not one person in the Li family is peaceful. Barbarian blood burns and surges in their hearts, urging them to plunge headfirst toward destruction. All think they’re clever, all think they’re unprecedented sage rulers. Look at the Sixteen Kings of the Western Regions—after I returned, they were beaten into dogs by the Tocharians. If it weren’t for Xue Rengui guarding the Khotan line, their dog heads would have long been hung on horses’ necks as decorations.”
“You read Li Yuanxiang’s letter, didn’t you? See how he begged me? Is there any dignity left? He asked me to put in a good word with His Majesty. He plans to be demoted in rank and return to continue living in Yuezhou, swearing never to leave Yuezhou for the rest of his life.”
“Too late. From the moment they submitted their memorial, it was already too late. They can only obediently stay in the barren desert and eat sand.”
“Making trouble! Destroying the firearms workshop, destroying hard-won familial affection, destroying all beautiful things in this world—making trouble! After all the trouble-making, only leaving the Li family’s ugly faces for the world to curse!”
Yun Ye became more agitated as he spoke, his whole body beginning to tremble, his voice changing from calm to roaring. He had restrained himself in every way, only wanting this world to have more dignity and less sordidness. He had thought he had achieved it, only to discover in the end that he hadn’t changed anything.
Old Jiang came in to report that Zhangsun Chong and Li Huairen requested an audience. Hearing their names, Yun Ye’s face turned wax-yellow. Grinding his teeth, he told Old Jiang word by word to invite them in.
This time Yun Ye didn’t go to greet them, only sitting in the main hall waiting for them to come, waiting for his brothers to hypocritically admonish him. The sourness in his chest seemed about to overflow.
As soon as Zhangsun Chong entered, he smiled and said: “Yezi, why the gloomy face? Who sits on the kingdom has nothing to do with us. As they say, fortresses are made of iron while soldiers flow like water. We nobles are that fortress—emperors are merely passing travelers coming and going. I know your temperament. Having you step forward is too difficult for you. You just need to stay home, go nowhere. When the new Emperor ascends the throne, just offer congratulations. For the position of Minister of War, there’s no one more suitable than you.”
After hearing Zhangsun Chong’s words, Yun Ye asked the silent Li Huairen: “What do you say?”
Li Huairen sighed deeply and said with difficulty: “He who understands the times is a hero! Yezi, you are a sage among men. In your heart you must already have a decision. We came just to hear the news.”
Yun Ye nodded, used a knife to cut two pieces of cloth from his robe, gave one piece to Zhangsun Chong and one to Li Huairen, then made a gesture requesting they leave. He turned away to gaze at distant Yushan. The white snow there had already melted, slowly turning green. Spring had long returned to the earth—why then was his body so cold? Countless golden stars appeared before his eyes. The bright spring light was gradually swallowed by darkness.
He had a very long, long dream. In the dream, he was still young, riding Wang Cai galloping across the grasslands. Li Chengqian’s clothes had been torn to tatters—this fellow wore new clothes every day, which was everyone’s unanimously agreed-upon revenge. Cheng Chumo whooped and bent down from his galloping steed to pluck a yellow flower, caught up with Li Chengqian, whose horsemanship wasn’t very good, and with a shake of his hand stuck it in his hair, shouting “Lady Li” and running far away…
Li Huairen, drooling, lay atop a low wall peering inside. That was where Li Daozong’s favorite concubine lived. After several people crowded their heads together, they discovered a woman inside bathing, the two red beans on her chest clearly displayed before everyone’s eyes.
Oh no! The bathing beauty had discovered them and began screaming. Everyone immediately fled in panic. The furious Li Daozong jumped onto the low wall cursing loudly…
When did this happen? Oh! It happened during the Emperor’s autumn hunt. For this, the five of them were severely beaten with boards by Zhangsun. Li Er just laughed heartily and didn’t take it seriously.
The dream was finished, and he woke. When he opened his eyes, Xinyue was right there. She didn’t cheer, only exhaled a long breath.
“How long did I sleep?”
“Three days.”
“Has Li Zhi’s head been cut off yet?”
“Not yet, but he’s already been trapped in Sanyuan County by the Left Martial Guard. Chengqian and Chumo came, but then left…”
At this point, Xinyue could no longer hold back. She cried heart-rendingly and said brokenly: “You vomited blood and fell unconscious. Xiao Miao wanted to fetch Master Sun, but the people outside wouldn’t allow it. We couldn’t expose the tunnel’s secret either. So Xiao Miao fought his way out, brought Master Sun back, then fought his way back in. He took three arrows to the body—blood covered the ground… Old Jiang died in battle, Old Xia died in battle, Liu Jinbao remains unconscious to this day. Husband, let’s leave! Whether to Lingnan, Yuezhou, or even to the distant island—anything is fine. Your wife will serve you and we’ll live a good life. Let’s not settle this confused account in Chang’an.”
Hearing these words, Yun Ye’s heart ached greatly. Both arms wanted to prop up his body, but they were sore and weak. Turning his head, he saw Xiao Miao, whose upper body was wrapped tightly in gauze, also weeping quietly. Only then did he feel a bit better.
“I’m hungry. Give me a bowl of congee. After drinking the congee, I’ll be a good man again!”
Yun Ye ordered through gritted teeth. His vomiting blood was already a display of weakness. Subconsciously, he still didn’t want to meet Li Huairen in armed conflict. As for Zhangsun Chong, he would never be in trouble.
After drinking a bowl of congee, his spirits improved considerably. From Xinyue’s broken words, he slowly learned what had happened these past days. Just as Li Zhi sat alone on the dragon throne in the Hall of Ten Thousand People laughing loudly, he suddenly heard someone say the Emperor had awakened. So at the first opportunity he led his guards wanting to return to Jinyang. After reaching Sanyuan County, he again ordered the twelve guards to rapidly attack Chang’an.
The result—instead of waiting for news of Chang’an’s fall, what he waited for was the encirclement and suppression by the Left Martial Guard army commanded by Cheng Yaojin!