Chapter 10: The happiness of a good deed

Yun Ye did not get a new official position, but only confirmed his noble status. I don’t know how His Majesty Li Er considered it. The court did not publicly announce the impending locust plague. The court was blocking the news, which was a common trick used by rulers.

After saying goodbye to Lao Cheng, Yun Ye’s face suddenly turned sour. Needless to say, Li Er was suspicious, suspicious of the accuracy of the news, and perhaps even suspicious of Yun Ye’s motives. Looking up at the gray sky, Yun Ye smiled wryly. Suspicion is the greatest virtue of a ruler. Who said that? Yun Ye only hoped that the historical records were wrong, and that the heavy snowfall over the past few days would alleviate the disaster. Let the cold come even more violently! Freeze the locusts to death in this bitter winter.

I did what I should have done, and even what I shouldn’t have done. I asked my conscience and felt no guilt. This was Yun Ye’s answer to himself. I even prayed to the heavens to bring down heavy snow to kill the locusts. The locusts would not arrive until May at the latest, which was the time for wheat harvest. People had to harvest, and so did the locusts. It was a matter of who was faster.

Who cares? I’m not a god, and I don’t live by gratitude. This is a feudal dynasty, a world ruled by the Li family. If I make the whole world grateful, I’m not far from the day I lose my head. The people can only be grateful to one person, and that is Li Er. Even Li Chengqian is afraid to take all the world’s gratitude on himself. Daya and Xiaoya are still waiting for me to make them delicious food. When I think of this, my mood suddenly brightens. I dismiss the extra servants and only take Zhuang San and Liu Jinbao to the West Market on horseback. There are more spice shops than food markets.

Cinnamon, orange peel, star anise, cardamom, and Sichuan pepper are five spices that have long been used as herbs in traditional Chinese medicine. Soy sauce is still not available, so forget about delicious braised pork ribs. Marinated pork ribs are fine, and so are sweet and sour pork ribs. Yun Ye, while salivating, cursed the lack of supplies in the Tang Dynasty. He cursed the lack of supplies in the Tang Dynasty. There was no rock sugar, but fortunately there was icing sugar, which was still black and not refined. He had a few hundred pounds of it to try to see if he could make rock sugar.

In the strange eyes of the pharmacist, Zhuang San stopped and swept the five spices in the pharmacy, filling five large bags. He told the clerk to send them back to the Hou Mansion, ignoring the advice of the doctor in the store about what medicinal materials must be combined, what the king and minister should use, and what is hot and cold. These damned quacks know nothing. If you can borrow your life first, you can talk about it. Talking about medicinal herbs in front of my husband is like a big axe in front of Lu Ban’s door. Who says that medicinal herbs are always used to make medicine? Would I tell you that the husband uses medicinal herbs to cook such a profound thing?

The morning sun shone warmly on the body, making people feel relaxed and lazy. The three of them wandered around the West Market, stopping to look at interesting things, buying fun things at will, and throwing them into Liu Jinbao’s bag. In no time, the two guys were full of things on their bodies and in their hands. Liu Jinbao had a sesame cake in his mouth and ate it while walking. Zhuang Santing tried to stop Liu Jinbao’s indecent behavior, but was stopped by Yun Ye. Zhuang Santing always kept on exhorting the marquis to establish a family tradition. As a marquis’ family that started with military merit, it must be militarized, standardized, and ritualized, all in line with the left military guard. This is in line with the rules of the military family.

Yun Ye has never understood why Li Er counts the merits of potatoes as military merits. Does he want his father to stay in the barracks for the rest of his life? The civilian officials are envious of these merits.

The official of the Spring Court kept saying to the emperor that this great auspicious sign had never been heard of since ancient times, and was bestowed by heaven, so it should be offered to heaven to thank heaven for its grace. By the way, the Lantian Marquis was sent to the Ministry of Agriculture to cultivate auspicious seeds.

This was the result Yun Ye hoped for the most, but Li Er rejected it on the grounds that he was not yet mature enough for such a task. Yun Ye was also relieved of his duties as the Zuowei and was ordered to return to his home to serve. He hoped that the emperor would forget about him and let him live out his life comfortably.

The crowd in the West Market was bustling, although it did not reach the point of waving the sleeves like clouds, it was also shoulder to shoulder. It was strange that wherever Yun Ye went in the narrow streets, the crowd would automatically disperse, not to mention touching, not even eye contact.

When Yun Ye was secretly proud of his royal air, he suddenly saw the goldfish bag hanging from his waist, next to the milky white jade pendant that his grandmother had just hung in the morning. The two guards behind him, with their broad shoulders and round waists, immediately understood why others were afraid to get close to him. He was no longer a commoner with ten dollars in his pocket and wandering the streets, but a noble lord.

Looking at the tourists in the market, they were dressed in various colors of hemp cloth, with very few wearing brocade.

Since it was the end of the year, rich and poor alike would buy several yards of hemp cloth to make new clothes for their wives and children. Those with better family backgrounds would carry half a piece of brocade on their backs, saying that it was for their daughter who was about to get married. They would show it off to everyone, saying that the brocade from Shu was expensive, but their daughter was going to marry a clerk in the Ministry of Works, and the family of a government official would lose face if they didn’t have a good appearance, so they had to grit their teeth and buy it, etc.

Yun Ye knew that he had lost face. A nouveau riche in a brocade robe was rampaging through the West Market, where commoners were present. Later generations would especially hate this kind of person. Although there is a suspicion that they are sour grapes, they really hate nouveau riches because they base their happiness on the suffering of others. The common people could only curse in their hearts. Yun Ye did not think that the citizens of Chang’an in the Tang Dynasty would be more noble than the common people of later generations. Judging from the maliciousness of the people of Guanzhong, his ancestors would have been cursed long ago.

His face burned, his ears were hot, and he looked back at the two rams with a fierce look. I don’t remember that nobles generally don’t set foot in the West Market. Are you two rams also ignorant? Waiting to see me laugh? He kicked the two men a few times. The two guys didn’t care at all. The Marquis’s flowery fists and embroidered legs didn’t hurt him. Besides, the Marquis is a spoiled child who has the habit of taking it out on his subordinates. But it’s just a matter of a few kicks, and there is always a reward afterwards. Didn’t you see Zhuang Santing being kicked around and then kicked into the head of the guard? Liu Jinbao always goes to the Marquis’s front whenever he has something to do, and he is often kicked away after a kick.

The three of them fled the West Market in a flurry, and as soon as they left the market, Zhuang Santing suddenly grabbed Yun Ye and snatched him out of the way.

A man, to be precise, a scholar, gray hair, thin and tall, wearing a robe with wide sleeves, although the hair was washed white and covered with patches, it was clean, and the stitches on the patches were fine, so it seemed that he cared a lot. A cloth towel was tied on his head, and he was wearing shoes on his feet, with a pair of shoes scattered on one side. His body was bent and trembling, and the punch from Lao Zhuang was not light.

“Lord Hou, this kid has been following us from the market, and now he’s jumped out. I’m afraid he’s up to no good, so I took the first shot.” Zhuang San stopped and reported to Yun Ye. He patted Lao Zhuang’s arm to indicate that he should relax.

“Why are you following us? You are a scholar, you shouldn’t have any evil intentions, why?” Yun Ye squatted down and asked.

“Give me ten strings of cash, and my life is yours!”

This sentence made Yun Ye stunned. Ten strings of cash, one life? Who the hell is this guy? He was about to leave when he saw a pair of bloodshot eyes, full of pleading and sadness. His long, slender hands were clenched so tightly that he didn’t even feel when his fingernails broke.

Yun Ye suddenly felt that this person was very interesting. He was undoubtedly proud. Although he was lying on the ground, he kept his head up and didn’t wipe the blood from his nose. He stared at himself, waiting for his decision.

“You are a proud man. Why do you want to humiliate yourself?”

“I have been poor for half my life. I have studied the Five Classics, hung myself from a beam to get ahead, studied hard for twenty years, and traveled for ten years, but I have accomplished nothing. I have to rely on my wife to make a living by weaving. How can I bear this? Now she is seriously ill and needs expensive medicine to survive. I owe her, so I will repay her with my life.

Indeed, it is the same in ancient times and modern times! After working hard for decades, he fell ill and returned to the pre-liberation era. Yun Ye did not intend to doubt it. Although he had been deceived countless times in the future, this time Yun Ye still stubbornly chose to believe. He liked beautiful things and liked to see the true feelings of the world. He didn’t care about the money in the future, let alone now that he was rich, ten strings of money, a small matter, just as a good deed.

“A real man shouldn’t humiliate himself. Ten strings of cash is nothing. My guards just injured you. As a token of my apology, these two silver ingots are for your medicine. Take care of yourself.” After saying this, Yun Ye told Liu Jinbao to take out two ten-string silver ingots and put them in Qiantong’s hands. He bowed and turned away.

Qian Tong wept like rain, grabbed the two silver cakes, and saw Yun Ye leave. He knelt down and bowed three times, put on his shoes, and stumbled toward the pharmacy.

After doing a good deed, he felt relaxed. He had already forgotten the shame he had just experienced. He took back the horse he had left, and the three of them returned to the Yun residence laughing and joking.