Chapter 20: The threat from the Empress Dowager

Things turned out unexpectedly. They liked the story but not the song, which made Yun Ye sad. Although he had the support of his good friend Cheng Chumo, he could not withstand the fierce criticism of the two little girls. He also said that singing is elegant and noble, and the most beautiful language should be used to express the most wonderful love. Using country folk songs to describe such a beautiful love has the feeling of Huang Zhong abandoning the cymbals and thunder.

I don’t understand, they are prostitutes, but they are still dreaming of love? It can already be determined that the love object of Jiuyi can only be Cheng Chumo. If she is dreaming of someone else, this wonderful love triangle will definitely become the Chinese version of Ghost. I have been learning this stuff since I was a child. How can folk songs, which have been praised by countless celebrities, become something that can’t be brought to the table? “Jasmine Flower” is still sung all over the world, isn’t it? It’s only because I’m a young man of letters that I can sing such a wonderful song. If I were to replace it with a few buddies from my student dormitory, you wouldn’t be able to live if you sang the eighteen touches.

This made him angry, so he ordered the maid to get him a cart of cantaloupes and a cart of all kinds of snacks. He then returned home, and don’t ask, Chang Sun Chong paid! Under the watchful eyes of hundreds of pairs of eyes on the Yanlai Building, he returned home with a full load.

Grandma didn’t sleep, waiting for Yun Ye to come back. The whole family didn’t sleep either. The little girls were staring at the door, and the little girl who ordered the chicken-like rice was still insisting.

Yun Ye was a little ashamed and planned to sneak into the courtyard, but was seen by the sharp-eyed Xiao Xi, and a crowd of people immediately surrounded him. Fortunately, he had prepared a melon and a snack for each person. The old lady didn’t ask Yun Ye where he had gone, but just arranged for his sisters to prepare a bath for him. His aunt washed Yun Ye from top to bottom, especially the key parts. She kept saying that people outside were not clean, and if he liked it, he should find a good woman from a good family. If he got pregnant, it would be even better, and the descendants of the Qing Dynasty would be pure and innocent.

Yun Ye’s face turned red as he spoke, and the more he explained, the more contemptuous his aunt became. Yun Ye vowed that after his hand healed, he would never let his elders bathe him again. He said that his psychological age was in his forties, and his physical age was also fifteen, so he was not a little brat who was casually picked up by his elders to eat.

There are so many bored people in Chang’an that the story of Lord Yun running to Yanlai Building to snatch a cantaloupe spread like wildfire overnight. What’s more, the two of them made a surprised expression when they whispered to each other, one mumbled, and the other nodded repeatedly. In an instant, the story of snatching the cantaloupe became that Lord Yun didn’t like beautiful women, only cantaloupes, and he could only fall asleep at night holding a cantaloupe.

Cheng Chumo asked how it felt to sleep with a cantaloupe, and was kicked twice. Zhuang San stopped far away from Yun Ye, and Liu Jinbao was still using hot eggs to apply to his eyes. This is what happens when you look at Yun Hou’s strange eyes.

“There’s nothing shameful about a man going to a brothel. It’s just that you brought a cartload of melons back. What’s the point of that?” Yun Ye wanted to die, but this one didn’t dare to hit him. Cantaloupe is just for eating, what else can it be used for? Old Niu didn’t even know this, and he deserved to be pinched by Aunt Niu.

While measuring Niu Jianhu’s calf, he warned, “Don’t look at me with strange eyes, or I’ll saw off your other leg.” Niu Jianhu quickly shut up, but his face was red and he looked like he had constipation.

His arm was able to move again. The old priest’s acupuncture skills were not wasted. It not only improved blood circulation, but also helped to dissolve blood clots. In two days, his arm was able to move again, but he was still unable to lift heavy objects, so he could only do simple preparations for now. He had agreed with the old cow that since it was the New Year’s Eve, he would come back on the 15th to make the prosthetic limb.

Before I knew it, the New Year had arrived. There was no sound of crackling firecrackers, and the smell of gunpowder was not as pungent as usual, so it seemed that the New Year’s atmosphere was missing. The two strange-looking, ferocious-looking immortals were hung on the door. Grandma personally smeared honey on the mouth of the Kitchen God, and used a red rooster as the Kitchen God’s mount to send him to heaven to speak good things.

When paying homage to the ancestors, the old lady smiled and stroked her grandfather’s tablet without any sadness. She only said that her grandfather should wait for her a little longer. She had just had a few good days and was not ready to see him now. She would wait until Yun Ye got married and the little girls got married before she could go to him without any worries.

Yun Ye diligently used a brush dipped in black lacquer to trace the tablet of his father’s name. There was no one else in the hall, just the two of them, the grandfather and the grandson, and it was quiet.

Grandma sighed repeatedly, saying that the family was not prosperous. In the past, the ancestral hall was full of male family members, but now there is only one grandson, which is sad. But in an instant, she said with a high and mighty tone, “A house full of male descendants is not as good as a grandson. My grandson is now a nobleman in Lantian County, and he is friends with all the kings and princes. A few days ago, even the crown prince came to pay his respects to this old lady. Your Yun family’s ancestral grave is emitting smoke.

Is there smoke coming out of the Yun family ancestral grave? Yun Ye didn’t know. Now he’s starting to smoke, or rather, smoke is coming out of his nose. “Your Highness, I’m honored to have you visit my humble abode, but I don’t know why you’re bringing so many cantaloupes.” He gritted his teeth and asked Li Chengqian.

Li Chengqian, chewing on a fried doughnut that he had only made for the New Year, said indistinctly, “I heard a rumor that the Prince of Lantian likes this melon so much that he can’t live without it. He has a lot of it in the East Palace, so he sent some to the Prince of Lantian to comfort him for missing the Prince of Yun.” After swallowing a large piece of doughnut, he looked disgusted.

“The young lord is truly grateful for the gift from the crown prince. Recently, the young lord has developed a new weapon that can kill enemies from ten miles away. I wonder if the crown prince would like to come and see it?”

“Of course I want to see it. Please, Lord Yun.”

After dismissing the guards, the two of them went to the study one after the other. Yun Ye closed the study and ordered that no one be disturbed. Li Chengqian enthusiastically flipped through the books on Yun Ye’s desk and asked without lifting his head, “What kind of weapon is so mysterious?” After asking for a long time, no one answered. He only looked up to find Yun Ye viciously grabbing him and throwing him onto the recliner, scratching him with both hands.

It was too late to run now. Li Chengqian laughed and laughed at the tickle, his whole body was so weak that he could not use any strength, and he could only let Yun Ye do whatever he wanted. It was not until his tears and snot were all down and he begged for mercy that Yun Ye let him go. Li Chengqian, who was lying on the couch like a piece of mud, said with a grievance, “You are cheating.”

“Nonsense, I don’t cheat. If I did that in the front hall, your guards would chop me into mincemeat. You brought a cart of melons to make fun of me, you deserve it.” Yun Ye was angry and pointed at Li Chengqian, who was shaking uncontrollably.

“So you really like melons and don’t like beautiful women? By the way, why do you call melons cantaloupes?”

“I’m not a pervert, of course I like beautiful women. Would I be interested in the few firewood girls with small breasts and no buttocks at Yanlai Building? Wait until I find a beautiful woman I like, and I’ll show you what a man is.”

“I’ve eaten this kind of melon before. I asked the chef about it. He said it’s produced in the western region of Hami, so what else could it be called?”

“Right, why did you come to see me? You’re not here for nothing. I don’t have time to talk to you. I have to get ready for the New Year.”

“My mother sent me to tell you that since you have the time to visit brothels, it means that your physical problems have been cured. After the fifteenth day, you will enter the palace, and she will teach you a lesson.” Li Chengqian was a little gloating, and he had always been disciplined by the empress.

“Your mother? Her Majesty? Are you sure she has the heart to discipline me? Don’t the other ministers give us lessons? Why is your mother running around again?” Yun Ye was a little panicked. Her Majesty the Empress Dowager should not be properly disciplining the concubines in the harem, and then coming out to harm this young seedling of the Tang Dynasty.

“Haha, finally someone is here to keep me company. My mother’s discipline, Ye Zi, you have to suffer it. I hope that my mother will be busy disciplining you and will relax her discipline on me. You are truly a living Buddha who saves the suffering and the needy.” Li Chengqian patted Yun Ye’s shoulder and couldn’t help laughing.

“I am a foreign minister, so it is inconvenient for Her Majesty to discipline me, isn’t it?” Li Chengqian asked with the last bit of hope.

“You have a lot of face. My mother is the queen, you are a noble lord, and you are still a minor. This means that she has the right to discipline you, and it has nothing to do with whether you are a minister or not.”

This is sad. Yun Ye knew very well what kind of person Empress Consort Changsun was. She managed Emperor Li Er’s vast harem in an orderly manner, and not a single incident of discord was reported. How much wisdom did it take to do this? Although the battles in the harem were not accompanied by smoke and gunfire, they were also a battlefield where you had to kill or be killed. A generation of strong women who had experienced hundreds of battles and won every single one of them had to take on the important task of educating themselves. It was foreseeable that there would be no problems. After more than ten years of being a nobody, she still has to work as a bricklayer at the bottom of society. The little experience she has in the workplace is nothing in her eyes. The happy life plan she made a few days ago can be thrown into the trash. Empress Changsun will not let go until she has squeezed the last bit of oil out of you. Li Er! You are ruthless.

Li Chengqian saw Yun Ye’s face turn white and then black, and asked worriedly, “Are you okay, Xiao Ye? My mother is gentle and dignified, and she is the kindest person. It is a good thing that she is in charge of your education. Why are you making it difficult for her?”

“That’s easy for you, but not for me. Brother, my good days are over.” Yun Ye said with a sad face.

Li Chengqian was also full of sorrow. He knew too well the power of his mother.

After sending Li Chengqian away, the old grandmother asked Yun Ye what was wrong and why he looked so bad. Yun Ye told her about the Empress Dowager’s intention to personally teach him. The old grandmother closed her eyes and thought for a long time, saying, “Ye’er, I don’t know the ins and outs of this matter and can’t give you any advice. But I’ve lived for almost sixty years and understand one truth: the royal family emphasizes those who follow the rules will prosper, and those who go against them will perish. Your father, grandfather, and uncles all lost their lives because of this. Grandma doesn’t want you to follow in their footsteps. She hopes that you will carry on the family line for the Yun family and live a good life. Put down your pride and respect your master in your heart. Since the empress wants to change you, she will use every means possible. Now she is only using fair and honorable means against you. Obviously, what you have done is beyond their control. They want to put a yoke on you again and make you serve them. Remember, no matter what, your life is the most important thing. Don’t worry about us.

Yun Ye went forward and hugged his grandmother: “No, Grandma, I want to live, and you have to live, too. You have to live to be a hundred years old.”