“A massive avalanche buried most of the beautiful snow mountain scenery in an instant. Old Master Yuan truly vomited two mouthfuls of blood. The mythical world that the Daoist sect spent enormous amounts of money to construct lost thirty percent in an instant. The unbearably sorrowful old gentleman had no choice but to return to the Great Tang to swindle money. Ashou, Arong, I’m afraid your families didn’t escape either?”

Li Xiang buried his body in the warm spring water, took a sip of grape wine, and looked at Li Rong and Yun Shou opposite him.

“Of course we couldn’t avoid it. The old gentleman hopes my father will first give him the ten thousand gold coins he gave years ago as emergency funds. My father asked him for shares in the town as collateral. The old man refused, so now they’re at a stalemate.”

Li Rong followed up saying: “A person like an immortal is now everywhere seeking help. I heard when he tells fortunes now, he calculates endlessly all day—he no longer talks about three divinations a day.”

Li Xiang shook his head: “The old man knows he doesn’t have many days left to live, so he wants to be buried in debt and first restore the divine palace properly. As for reputation, he doesn’t care. As long as the Queen Mother of the West Divine Palace exists, for their Daoist sect it’s an immortal grand achievement. Personal honor and disgrace really don’t count for much.”

“I spent two years traveling almost everywhere north and south of the great rivers, not to gain experience, but just to broaden my horizons. This was advice Teacher Li Gang gave me. I never expected that upon returning, everything would have changed.”

“I very much wanted to tell the teacher that in Jiangnan I saw gentleness and charm, in the northern lands I saw grandeur, in the white mountains and black waters I witnessed the marvels of creation, and on the northern desert snowfields I expanded my heart again and again, because the vastness of heaven and earth there exceeded my imagination. Ashou, Arong—one of you saw the eeriness of the extreme north, the other saw the magnificence of the great sea. I wonder what you can teach me?”

Yun Shou smiled honestly and said: “My father says after not seeing you for two years, one should look at you with new eyes. It seems he was right. The feeling you give me now is very good—the gloom is gone, replaced by some brightness. Now, are you prepared to come out and work?”

Li Xiang looked at his own fair body, then looked at the Yun brothers’ bodies darkened by the sun, and said somewhat embarrassed: “Why do you go work the fields? Uncle Yun is really something—your family doesn’t lack two laborers. Why such hardship?”

“Never mind how my family does things. I’m asking you—do you want to enter the Six Ministries and seek a position? Start working first. Your title as Prince of Hengshan is actually quite meaningless. Look at me now—busy all day long with specific matters. My father is also gradually entrusting me with important things.”

“Arong need not be mentioned—he actually has the say on South Sea matters. My princess mother no longer manages affairs, right Arong?”

Li Rong smiled and said: “Doing things is actually very interesting. Axiang, now that you’ve traveled far and gained knowledge, you should settle down and work. Don’t worry about the level of position or whether the work is important. As long as you come out to work, you’ll discover a new world—wonderfully mysterious.”

The two of them speaking one after another made Li Xiang somewhat moved. He thought for a moment and said: “Where do you think I should go? Should I ask my father for a position, or find Imperial Grandfather for a position?”

Yun Shou dunked his head in the hot spring water and blew two bubbles. Just as his head emerged from the water, he heard Li Rong say: “Of course find Imperial Grandfather. What’s the point of finding Uncle? No matter what position Imperial Grandfather gives you, just do it. Attitude is very important.”

“Exactly what I was thinking. I’ll enter the palace now and request an audience with Imperial Grandfather. Always being idle like this isn’t proper either. By the way Arong, when are you leaving? I heard my father say yesterday that the South Sea is very chaotic—everywhere people are searching for the Pirate King’s treasure. Aren’t you tempted?”

Li Rong looked at Li Xiang strangely and said: “If you’re interested, I can give you a ship. Go try the Devil Sea once. I don’t have that courage—better to properly guard my family property.”

Li Xiang laughed heartily: “So there truly are no benefits without reason in this world. The ones who understand the sea best are you and Uncle Yun. Since you won’t go search, I have even less interest.”

The three talked and laughed as they emerged from the pool. Immediately maidservants came over to dry them off. After changing clothes, Yun Shou went straight to the Ministry of War—today he still needed to inspect the Ministry of War prison. Li Rong mounted his horse and left the Eastern Palace—today he still needed to go to Yuchi Gong’s house to offer congratulations. Yuchi Baolin had given birth to another big fat boy. Counting it up, Huozhu’s sister had already borne the Yuchi family four sons.

After seeing off the Yun brothers, Li Xiang returned to the front hall and saw his father sitting on a soft couch drinking tea and resting. He came over to pay respects and filled his father’s teapot with water.

“Are those two willing to help you?” Li Chengqian asked Li Xiang after taking a sip of tea.

“Yun Shou is willing, but Li Rong is hard to figure out.”

“That’s right. Li Rong is the Yun family’s retreat—he absolutely won’t join any faction. Yun Shou is different. The Yun family’s property and ancestral land in Chang’an are all here—they absolutely won’t give them up. As long as people are in Chang’an, they’ll definitely join some camp. Your Uncle Yun is supremely talented—he looks one step ahead and walks three steps, every step correct. Do you know how brilliant that is?”

“When your father, your Uncle Yun, your Fourth Uncle, Zhangsun Chong, Cheng Chumo, and alas! Li Huairen—when we were all locked up in the Imperial Clan Court together, at that time your father wanted to form a small interest group. Everyone else joined, only your Uncle Yun refused. Looking at it now, he truly was the smartest one. Of your father’s people, except for Li Yifu escaping disaster, the rest have all fallen apart. The two great battles between the Crown Prince’s Six Rates and Li Huairen can be called devastating defeats with heavy losses.”

“The reason such problems occurred was all because your father couldn’t see people clearly. Thinking about Li Huairen’s betrayal now still makes your father’s back run cold. Your Uncle Yun was so angry he vomited blood—how could your father’s liver and gallbladder not be shattered? But what makes your father most afraid is Zhangsun Chong. What role did he play in all this? To this day your father still cannot know. But recently it seems some clues have emerged. Your father may not be clever, but your Uncle Yun is clever. From his move against the Zhangsun family one can see some traces. This whole storm was probably orchestrated single-handedly by that uncle of mine.”

“Father, does this mean you’re going to start enduring now?”

Li Chengqian glanced at Wanmin Palace and said somewhat dejectedly while lying back in his chair: “Xiang’er, everything must be backed by strength. Without strength there’s no voice. Right now our strength is weakest, so endurance is the only choice.”

Ever since Li Yanrong left, the Eastern Palace had become deathly silent. Over many years, Li Chengqian only had two sons, both born of the same mother. Originally Li Chengqian had felt despair toward Li Xiang, but during his most difficult time, he discovered his son’s performance was no worse than others’ children—even much better than he had hoped. Now except for Cheng Chumo, he dared not trust anyone. Eastern Palace turncoats were countless, and Li Yifu was still a gloomy and inscrutable type, so unconsciously he turned his attention to his own son.

The Eastern Palace walls were still overgrown with wild grass. Yun Ye had mocked this situation eighteen years ago, and to this day nothing had changed here. Li Chengqian was accustomed to everything here and didn’t want any changes.

Everyone else was getting better and better—only he was getting worse and worse, so bad that even Yun Ye was unwilling to assist him. Thinking of this, Li Chengqian felt no anger, only sorrow. Facts proved that the power he painstakingly built was still vulnerable before harsh reality.

He was already trying hard to be a good Crown Prince—why were there still so many setbacks? For the first time, Li Chengqian questioned his own ability. Chang’an was now turbulent with undercurrents. If Yun Ye hadn’t captured Wang Xiaojie with lightning speed, the Eastern Palace would face even greater embarrassment. He heard Wang Xiaojie was already the candidate to command the Crown Prince’s Six Rates.

Once he lost the Crown Prince’s Six Rates that protected him, Li Chengqian simply didn’t know how he should live in the Eastern Palace.

Yun Shou returned to the Ministry of War. His father hadn’t yet returned from the palace, so surrounded by household guards he went directly to the Ministry of War prison. He was the chief officer here, not some left or right vice minister.

Actually not many people were imprisoned in the Ministry of War prison. The officers and soldiers who entered together with Wang Xiaojie had already been released. In the vast prison, there were fewer than one hundred prisoners.

Yun Shou came to where Wang Xiaojie was held and found this fellow clinging to the bars looking out. This had already become his habitual action—whenever he heard someone entering, he would think someone had come to rescue him.

Seeing it was Yun Shou, he slowly lay back down on the straw pile, waiting for the next time to repeat the same action.

“Disappointed?” Yun Shou stood before the bars looking at Wang Xiaojie.

“I’m a meritorious official. You can’t treat me this way. His Majesty will know sooner or later. The Grand Councilor will also know of your evil deeds.”

“Stop wasting your energy. His Majesty knows, the Grand Councilor knows. Zhangsun Chong serves as left vice minister at the Ministry of War—how could they not know? It’s just that everyone refuses to mention you.”

“The Yun family cannot cover the sky with one hand.”

“Covering the Ministry of War is enough. My father said to make you rot in prison, so you must rot in prison. How about we chat about some other interesting matters? Can you tell me how you reached Jinyang from six hundred li away within two days?”

“The Yun father and son are both military commanders. Even cavalry with two horses per man couldn’t cover over six hundred li in two days and one night. You’re not a red-feathered urgent messenger who can endlessly exhaust horse power. Ten thousand cavalry don’t have such a method of marching. Can you enlighten me?”

Wang Xiaojie turned his head away, looking at the wall. The wall was covered with marks he’d made—it had been almost forty days. He was still in prison. When he first entered prison, he thought it would only be a brief moment. Who knew that by the time his injured leg could barely walk, he still hadn’t gotten out?

Yun Shou slapped the bars and stopped pressing him. He still had plenty of time…