Chapter 237: This Is The Imperial Family?
Perhaps aware that the crisis was approaching, some people were extremely busy. Wu Tong was just such a person; young as he was, he had already worn himself out like an elderly man.
If the Great Han when Yun Ce arrived was a crumbling building, then the current Great Han was actually just a dilapidated house leaking wind and water everywhere.
Wu Tong and the others were using their very limited materials to patch leaks everywhere.
What use was that? Even if he used every stick-like thing on his body, he could only plug twenty-one holes, while the dilapidated house had far more than two hundred holes.
It was a very certain thing that Wu Tong would eventually collapse along with the dilapidated house. He was not doing this so diligently for the Emperor or the Grand Marshal; he was doing it for the Great Han and for this country with a two-thousand-year inheritance.
The most troublesome thing about people is that each has their own thoughts. When you want to go east, someone else wants to go west; the result of pulling in all sorts of messy directions is standing still in place.
In this regard, people are not as good as bees, not as good as ants, or even not as good as a wolf pack…
After inducing Qi for eighteen children, Yun Ce returned to his bedroom. His left and right arms were still occupied by two women, so he couldn’t sleep in his favorite position. Yun Ce would suffer from insomnia, and once insomnia struck, he would let his thoughts wander chaotically, resulting in sleepless night after sleepless night.
“The Great Han is about to be finished.”
During breakfast in the morning, after eating a steamed bun, Yun Ce inexplicably sighed.
1 “The Great Han was always going to be finished anyway. Is Young Master only starting to sigh now?”
1 If E Ji had said this, it wouldn’t be strange at all, but the main issue was that it was said by Zhang Min, that ancient Great Han passionate youth, which was very problematic.
1 “Wu Tong, Zhou Chengming, and the others are desperately repairing the Great Han. How can you have this attitude?”
1 “The Great Han is utterly disappointing.”
1 Zhang Min said perfunctorily while drinking porridge.
1 E Ji put another wild vegetable steamed bun in Yun Ce’s plate and said, “Right now, everyone is hoping that those nobles will quickly decide a winner, divide up the power that should be divided soon, divide up the money that should be divided, so everyone can live peacefully and steadily.”
1 Yun Ce finished the steamed bun in two or three bites. He felt E Ji was right, and Zhang Min was also right. The former held no hope for the Great Han at all, while the latter felt the Great Han was unworthy of someone like her who was wholeheartedly devoted to the country.
1 Once these two schools of thought became the mainstream ideology of a race or a country, the Great Han really should perish.
1 An Ji came in holding a lotus flower as big as a face basin. Yun Ce then realized that He Month had arrived.
1 In another twenty days, the wheat planted in spring would be ready for harvest, and Yun Clan Villa would welcome its first wave of harvest.
2 Yun Ce had already roasted and eaten the young wheat. Although it left his mouth full of black ash, the taste of roasted young wheat was excellent. Yun Ce was full of hope for this harvest.
2 The wheat hadn’t even been harvested yet, but it had already been completely pre-ordered by the stewards sent by Cao Kun. They had also ordered some of the subsequent various beans and grains.
2 Judging from the types ordered, Cao Kun had no intention of supporting Iron Enclosure Pass this year.
2 Wheat is actually the best military rations. Not only does it keep well, it’s also convenient to eat. In emergencies, it can be boiled directly in a pot and eaten. When horse feed is short, it can also be fed directly to horses.
2 Beans and grains are somewhat lacking as military rations, especially beans—they’re fine as horse feed, but if people eat too many, their stomachs will bloat with gas.
2 When Wu Tong came, he begged Yun Ce to provide as much support as possible to Iron Enclosure Pass within his means. Although the people in that city pass had lost their vigor and the city itself was too old, they were now just gathering strength to prepare for a final strike against the enemy.
2 Since it was support within his means, Yun Ce naturally sold whatever was left and provided that. There shouldn’t be any problem with that.
2 In two more days, it would be Cao Kun’s engagement day. The engagement was in Pingzhou City. Ever since Pingzhou Inspector Tan Shou’s body was hung on the flagpole to dry in the wind, Pingzhou City had belonged to the Cao Clan. It was estimated that after Cao Kun married the daughter of Lingzhou’s He Tian, Lingzhou would also become the Cao Clan’s possession.
2 Attending someone’s banquet naturally required bringing a gift.
2 The bombs and the secret recipe for making bombs had been given to Wu Tong, so all that was left for Cao Kun was a cart of books. Ever since Cao Kun sent eight hundred scholars, the Yun Clan had copied many more books. Now, this thing was no longer anything special in the Yun Clan.
3 It was perfect to load a cart and give it to Cao Kun as an engagement gift.
3 Yun Ce was leaving Yun Clan Villa, and E Ji and Zhang Min immediately quietly moved to live in Jin Suo Pass. Without Yun Ce, Yun Clan Villa basically had no defense—it was just a large farm spread out on the ground. If Shen Tingyu came at this time and insisted on consuming thirty large fish maws on his wife, there would be no way to stop him.
3 Bombs could deal with ordinary warriors, but against someone like Shen Tingyu, they would basically have no effect—unless a bunch of bombs were tied to the guy and detonated, perhaps killing him.
3 With Yun Ce gone, and then E Ji and Zhang Min leaving, the people left living in Yun Clan Villa would basically be real farmers. With Shen Tingyu’s arrogance, he wouldn’t stoop to venting his anger on these people.
3 Yun Ce rode the red date horse for a day and a half to finally arrive at Pingzhou City a thousand li away. When entering the city gate, he saw Tan Shou’s corpse still hanging on the flagpole. He didn’t know how much salt Cao Kun had smeared on Tan Shou’s body. Although the body’s moisture had been mostly baked away by the fierce sun, the muscles all over his body had turned dark red.
3 Yun Ce was very worried that the main dish at tomorrow’s banquet would be charcoal-grilled Tan Shou.
3 People without ability but with great ambition deserve such an end.
3 Pingzhou City was more than ten times larger than Xiangcheng. Just the city walls, built entirely of boulders, were a full twenty meters high. While passing through the city gate tunnel, Yun Ce also discovered that the city walls’ thickness should exceed thirty meters.
3 Such a city should be very hard to breach—unless undermined from within, which was how Cao Kun had taken this city in such a short time. Just before passing through the city gate tunnel, Yun Ce looked back again at Tan Shou hanging on the flagpole. This guy didn’t die unjustly.
3 Pingzhou City had not been much affected by the flames of war. Now that it had a new master, it was said to be even more prosperous than before. Pingzhou was located between Qiu He Prefecture and Lingzhou, so it should have been the most prosperous place, but Tan Shou had made life miserable for the people. Therefore, the people here seemed to have no particular feelings about Tan Shou’s death.
4 He bought a beautiful horse carriage in the city, took the books out of the dragon pearl and loaded them into the carriage. Yun Ce then rode his horse with the carriage straight to the Pingzhou City Lord’s Mansion.
4 From afar, he saw Cao Kun standing at his own gate welcoming guests, grinning like a big fool.
4 Seeing Yun Ce arrive with a horse carriage, he didn’t greet Yun Ce first but lifted the carriage curtain to check the gift. Seeing it was full of well-bound books, he then nodded in satisfaction to Yun Ce and said, “It’s good enough that you came. Why bring a gift?”
4 Yun Ce jumped off the horse and said irritably, “If I didn’t bring a gift, I’d probably have a hard time getting through your door.”
4 Cao Kun laughed and said, “Are these books from the imperial secret collection?”
4 Yun Ce was stunned and said, “What did you say?”
4 Cao Kun said resentfully, “Liu Chang’an, Brother Liu, are you mixing around north of the Great Wall under the minor Yun Clan surname? Does the High Priest know?”
4 Yun Ce shook his head and said, “Brother Cao, why say such a thing? Also, who is Liu Chang’an?”
4 Cao Kun pulled Yun Ce’s arm and said, “So, from now on, you’ll just live under the Yun surname?”
4 Yun Ce said solemnly, “My name is Yun Ce. I have no second name.”
5 Cao Kun hurriedly said, “Right, right, you’re called Yun Ce, not anything like Liu Chang’an.”
5 Many guests had arrived, and the conversation between Yun Ce and Cao Kun had taken too much time, causing the guests behind to back up. However, no one came to urge or interrupt; they all stood behind with arms folded, smiling and waiting.
5 “Once I welcome the guests inside, we’ll find some free time to talk properly about your matters.”
5 After Cao Kun said that, he handed Yun Ce over to Cao Ling, put on his smile again, and continued welcoming guests.
5 The red date horse was sent to the stable—a separate stable. As Cao Kun’s confidant, Cao Ling naturally knew about the many issues with the red date horse and didn’t dare put it together with the other thunder smoke beasts.
5 Yun Ce followed Cao Ling into the City Lord’s Mansion, which was hung with colorful silk banners. He wasn’t taken to the main hall but was led by Cao Ling to a quiet guest room.
5 “The young master said Young Master Yun can stay here for these few days.”
5 After speaking, he said to the two maids at the door, “Take good care of the young master. If there’s any negligence, you will be executed without mercy.”
5 Seeing Cao Ling using military terminology on the two pitiful maids, Yun Ce irritably said, “Get lost quickly. Don’t scare people.”
5 Cao Ling chuckled and left. The two maids immediately brought hot water for Yun Ce to wash up. While Yun Ce was washing, they brought a set of clothes made of silk brocade. Yun Ce opened it and saw that the entire set of clothes shimmered. Moreover, there was a large red flower on the chest position.
6 Yun Ce felt that if he wore this outfit to Cao Kun’s engagement ceremony, he’d look just like a shiny big red packet.
6 Seeing that Yun Ce seemed very dissatisfied with the clothes, the two maids were so frightened they knelt on the ground kowtowing repeatedly.
6 Yun Ce couldn’t bear to see lowly people shedding tears, so he sighed and said, “If I wear this out tomorrow, won’t your eldest young master’s limelight be stolen entirely by me?”
6 Just as Yun Ce finished speaking, Zheng Tianshou walked in with a smile and said, “An imperial descendant should have the bearing of an imperial descendant. Dressing too plainly will make people suspect Young Master’s intentions.”
6 Yun Ce saluted Zheng Tianshou and said, “How am I an imperial clansman? Uncle, you’re really overestimating me.”
6 Zheng Tianshou chuckled and sat on a cushion, saying, “Is it true, or are you unwilling?”
6 Yun Ce said, “Neither true nor willing.”
6 Zheng Tianshou looked at Yun Ce for a moment and said, “Looks like you’re telling the truth. Fine then—an imperial identity really isn’t worth heroes of the world impersonating.
6 Rest well for now. Tomorrow, follow the eldest son to greet guests and entertain them. You’ll have plenty to do.”
