Things wouldn’t change just because Zhangsun Chong was surprised. The reason the dispute between Li Yifu and Pang Yuhai ended anticlimactically was because Teacher Li Gang forcibly nipped the budding conflict in the cradle. No one dared nip Li Er’s plan in the bud, so it spread like an unbridled wild horse across Great Tang’s territory.

Everyone attending the banquet wanted to run home to arrange their household affairs, but like the Emperor, Zhangsun kept all the people locked together. No one had the opportunity to run home.

Yun Ye was quite indifferent about it. He took his fat son and Yan Rong to shuttle through the forest of wine and meat. Zhangsun had really spent lavishly today. The second level of the large ship could truly be called a land and water feast, with all kinds of delicacies dazzling the eyes.

Most rare was that a large group of guests had no appetite at all. They could only pour cup after cup of wine into their bellies, turning a blind eye to the wonderful song and dance and a deaf ear to the pleasant music. Everyone was anxiously waiting for the moment when Zhangsun would announce the banquet’s end.

This time the Emperor was truly ruthless. He hadn’t even spared the imperial relatives. One could imagine how angry Li Er was at the greed of the meritorious nobles. Looking at the imperial palace from afar, Wanmin Palace was probably also full of wailing. Old Cheng, Old Qin, Old Niu, Old Yuchi—their laughter must be very resounding. These few families’ copper coin reserves could at most handle their daily needs. Sitting in the great hall drinking wine, countless gold bricks would fall and hit their heads. This feeling must be extremely wonderful.

Yun Ye held a plate teaching the two children how to arrange fruits together beautifully. He picked up a kumquat and placed it on Yan Rong’s porcelain plate, smiling: “Look, at the bottom are snow-white pears, in the middle is red watermelon paired with purple grapes, and finally adorned with a kumquat. This beautiful fruit tower is complete. If we could add knife work, the effect would be even better. Exactly right! You arranging the orange segments around the perimeter is indeed more aesthetically pleasing. What a clever girl.”

Yun Shou was holding a small saw, sawing meat down from a large piece of beef. Wasn’t dried beef supposed to come in small strips? Why was it such a large piece?

He threw it in his mouth and kept chewing. After half an hour, it still hadn’t broken down. Yun Ye had no choice but to spit the meat in his mouth into Qujiang. Originally he didn’t want to eat this thing, but the two children were looking at him so earnestly—not eating wouldn’t be good.

Yan Rong carefully walked over holding a large cup of grape wine. This silly child—whose family would fill a wine cup to the brim when pouring grape wine, not even leaving space for adding ice? Never mind, if there’s no ice, there’s no ice. It’s the child’s sentiment—can’t waste it. He pressed his mouth to the edge of the cup and took a large sip, then took the cup and lavishly praised the child with a few words. He also took out two cat’s eye stones from his bosom and placed them in the child’s palm, telling her to have two beautiful hairpins made. Young girls wearing cat’s eye stones were most suitable.

After enjoying some family happiness with the two children, someone disagreeable walked over, his face an ashen gray. You could see his hands were trembling. As soon as he came over, he said with a mournful face: “Brother, I carelessly exchanged all my silver coins for copper coins. What do I do now?”

“What to do? Old Xue, you’re about to go to Yuezhou. Don’t worry about money matters. Just consider it a gambling loss. Losing thirty or forty percent of your family wealth won’t kill anyone. Eat more.” Yun Ye poured all the dried beef from his plate to Xue Wanche. This fellow had good teeth and could eat it.

“There’s no saving it, is there?” Xue Wanche threw a large piece of beef into his mouth and asked Yun Ye with one last thread of hope. Earlier, when Zhangsun casually mentioned the court’s monetary policy, he had wanted to jump into the river.

“Dead as dead can be. The court captured an enormous copper mine in Nanzhao. I heard they established another minting factory in Yizhou, manufacturing copper coins day and night. The Lingnan naval forces are transporting copper coins to all parts of the country day and night. Do you think there can still be a reversal? If anyone dares to act recklessly at this time, do you believe or not that the army will immediately march over?”

After hearing Yun Ye’s words, Xue Wanche actually felt relieved. Since there was no salvation, then don’t bother with it. The loss wasn’t much anyway. It’s just that although the beef in his mouth tasted delicious, it wasn’t very easy to chew.

Compared to Xue Wanche’s magnanimity, Zhangsun Chong was as if mourning his parents. Sitting there drinking cup after cup, seemingly unwilling to stop unless he got thoroughly drunk. Who knew how much the Zhangsun Family had actually lost? Changle sat worriedly beside her husband, quietly consoling him. Zhangsun Chong irritably shook his head and went alone to the ship’s rail to catch the breeze.

Zhangsun Chong wasn’t the only one wanting to jump in the river. There were also princesses who immediately burst into tears. Several princesses including Changsha and Danyang had tearful, misty eyes wanting to plead with their sister-in-law, but seeing Zhangsun’s cold face, they could only sit in their seats and weep.

For the first time, he discovered how formidable Zhangsun was. Holding a silver cup, drinking crimson grape wine, her gaze sweeping over everyone on the boat like a chainsaw. Although she didn’t say a word, not one person dared to cause trouble.

Li Chengqian could only console his aunts and younger sisters with kind words. This was work he had to do. Li Tai sat with Princess Qinghe talking quietly. The two of them weren’t affected at all—in fact, they might even make a huge profit.

Li Yan Rong was most afraid of this kind of cold atmosphere. She kept moving her body closer to Yun Shou. Yun Shou held Li Yan Rong’s hand. Seeing Father was beckoning to him from the second floor, he took Li Yan Rong to Father. Li Xiang wanted to follow but, gritting his teeth, stayed behind to stand by the Crown Prince and listen to how his father would comfort those elders.

Yun Ye ordered a eunuch to bring a large blanket and spread it on the deck. He took out three dice from his bosom and threw them onto the blanket. Yun Shou immediately became happy. This was a game he and Father often played. Now with Yan Rong added, it would definitely be even more interesting.

Massive resentment enveloped the entire Qujiang Pond. Everyone saw their wealth growing wings and flying off to who knows where. Wealth is hard to part with. Each one was like a pixiu—only wanting to eat, not wanting to excrete.

Zhangsun was really too lazy to talk with these imperial parasites. As early as half a year ago, she had called on the imperial relatives to take their household copper coins and deposit them in the money house. Apart from Yun Ye and Cheng Chumo, not one had made a move. Now knowing they were about to suffer misfortune, they wanted to beg the court to let them off. Where in the world was there such a good deal?

The more she looked, the more disgusted she became. She rose and left her seat, going up to the second floor intending to look at her phoenixes. Teasing the phoenixes was better than staying with these worthless killers.

When she went upstairs, she discovered it was very lively here. Li Tai and Yun Ye were competing at drinking. Xue Wanche was butting heads with Yun Shou, the two of them locking horns. Li Yan Rong was taking care of Li Tai’s youngest son. The atmosphere here was much better. Thinking of those people’s faces in the hall just now, Zhangsun’s anger rose again. She herself had painstakingly planned for the court and country. Not only did these bastards not help, they were actually hiding here leisurely.

Yun Ye was now too old to deal with easily. Fortunately, Yun Shou was here. So she slapped Yun Shou on the back of the head. Xue Wanche, seeing the Empress come over, immediately pulled his head back. As a result, Yun Shou, unable to stop his momentum, immediately rolled into his arms, touching the back of his head in confusion while looking at the furious Empress Grandmother.

Li Tai, smiling obsequiously, brought his mother a cup of wine and ran to move a chair, asking his mother to sit down. He smiled and said: “Mother, don’t be angry. Those people have all been dealt with severely by Father. Being upset for a bit now is no big deal. Relax your heart. In a few days they’ll recover. It’s not a big matter. Weren’t they all penniless before? Now with a couple of stinking coins, they flaunt it everywhere, actually daring to endanger the family and state. They deserve to be dealt with.”

Zhangsun sighed and put down the wine cup in her hand. She pulled Yun Shou over and gently rubbed the back of his head, saying softly: “I don’t know what’s happened to me either. These past two years I can never suppress my temper. Little Shou, did Grandmother hurt you when she hit you just now?”

Yun Shou grinned foolishly and said: “No, it doesn’t hurt. Empress Grandmother, I’d like to invite Yan Rong to my house as a guest. Would that be acceptable?”

Zhangsun immediately laughed and gave Yun Shou another smack without any good humor, saying: “Another slippery monkey climbing up the pole. Grandmother knows your home is comfortable to stay in, but the imperial family has imperial family rules. Yan Rong can’t visit your home as a guest. Where in the world would a commandery princess go live at a subject’s house?”

Yun Shou didn’t insist. Grinning, he pulled Zhangsun to sit on the large blanket, picked up the dice, and started playing games with Zhangsun and Yan Rong. As for Yun Ye, he had long since hidden far away, stealthily appreciating the bitter melon faces of those people in the cabin. This was a vivid portrait of all sentient beings. If he didn’t watch now, there might not be another chance in the future.

“May the sacred reign be boundless, celebrating the transmission of joyful melodies. Golden branches flourishing, jade leaves extending long. Seas and waterways always peaceful, waves and billows not rising. Vast and beautiful transformation, setting an example for present kings.”

The singing on the boat still soared, but mixed within such grand melodies were always low sobbing sounds. Taking people’s money was like cutting flesh. Yun Ye understood this pain very clearly—he himself had experienced it countless times. However, this time the Emperor’s paddle hadn’t struck his own bottom. This time could be counted as not distinguishing between near and far, close and distant—the paddle was for everyone. Who knows, at Wanmin Palace, there might be people banging their heads against pillars.

Dusk still arrived. The Yun father and son happily returned home. The carriage carried the spoils of war that Yun Shou had won gambling dice with Zhangsun—Li Yan Rong.

It was the little girl’s first time leaving the imperial palace forbidden gardens. Everything looked fresh to her. When swallows carried mud, she had to ask. When tired birds returned to their nests, she still had to ask. Seeing the bamboo grove on the Yun Family estate, she still wanted to ask. Yun Shou sat on the carriage shaft answering each question one by one. He looked extremely happy.

Thinking of Li Chengqian’s face as black as the bottom of a pot made Yun Ye happy. His fat son had finally learned a few aspects of his own style. Since imperial family rules didn’t allow Commandery Princess Li Yan Rong to live outside, there was no such prohibition for gambling stake Li Yan Rong.

Although it was only a short ten days, these ten days were everything to Li Yan Rong. In ten days’ time, she could see people and scenery she had never seen before.

Li Xiang was very envious and wanted to go with his younger sister, but was dragged back to the Eastern Palace by his father holding his collar.

Yun Ye saw how wildly joyful the common people were, because after the imperial family purchased their surplus grain, they were paid with gleaming copper coins rather than silvery white silver coins. From the day of the spring equinox, everything seemed to have undergone some changes.