The Fierce Woman’s Venomous Tongue Displeases Even the Spirits

In the Temple of the Medicine King, the Immortal Sun is the statue of Sun Simiao worshipped there. There had always been rumors in Xiuwu County that in the early days of the current dynasty, the immortal medicine king Sun Simiao once gathered herbs and refined elixirs on Fufu Mountain and Six Truth Mountain. Later, after successfully crafting his elixir, he ascended to immortality. Even Lu Zhaolin, one of the Four Talents of Early Tang and Sun Simiao’s disciple, was said to have come here seeking the traces of his immortal master.

In truth, Ye Chang was skeptical of the story about Lu Zhaolin. Although Lu Zhaolin studied medicine under Sun Simiao, he eventually drowned himself, unable to bear the torment of illness. How could he possibly have had the leisure to wander through Xiuwu County?

Nevertheless, now Ye Chang had to play his part.

In his original plan, the old monk of Shifang Temple was supposed to echo his words, allowing Ye Chang to avoid overacting. But now, Chunxin had changed his mind; not only did he fail to support Ye Chang just now, even if he had, Ye Chang wouldn’t have placed all his eggs in one basket.

Thus, the Medicine King Temple became Ye Chang’s new choice, and he had no choice but to personally perform.

“I’ve longed every day to seek immortals and pursue the Dao, never imagining I’d miss such an opportunity!” he lamented, beating his chest. “It seems my fate with immortals is lacking, and my virtue is too shallow!”

“Eleventh Lord, you claim your virtue is shallow?” The crowd burst into laughter, mocking Ye Chang’s greed.

At that moment, Liu Gui was intentionally or unintentionally ignored by everyone.

“In any case, thanks to the Immortal Sun, we’ve found the water. Next, there’s an account I must settle. Liu Gui, where do you think you’re going?”

Seeing the crowd swayed by Ye Chang’s words, Liu Gui began preparing to flee. Others might overlook him, but Ye Chang never would. With a shout, Ye Chang chased after him, grabbing him before he could escape.

“I—I…”

“You impudent, cunning servant! How dare you deceive your master and accuse the innocent of theft! This is a grave crime… Everyone, help me take him to the magistrate—he’s sure to be beaten dozens of times!” Ye Chang barked sharply.

“Mercy, Eleventh Lord, spare me!” Liu Gui panicked instantly.

Though he was somewhat quick-witted, he was, after all, a rural servant, and his fear of the authorities was instinctive. Upon hearing he’d be taken to see the magistrate, all his cunning vanished, his knees went weak, and he dropped to the ground, kneeling.

Common folk have always feared officials; this has been true since ancient times. The word for official has two mouths—one devours the people’s fat and marrow, and the other decides their very lives. Except for people like Ye Chang, who came from later times and naturally questioned authority, who wouldn’t be afraid! Ye Chang hadn’t expected that merely mentioning the magistrate would frighten this rogue so thoroughly, and he paused in surprise. Then, a thought flashed through his mind: “Do you admit your guilt?”

Liu Gui knew the only way out was to submit, so he kowtowed and said, “I was wrong, I shouldn’t have acted foolishly, falsely accusing my master… It’s just that since coming to the third branch, laboring day and night, I grew resentful and hoped to anger Eleventh Lord, so he’d send me back to the main branch. I won’t dare again!”

He pleaded for mercy but dared not implicate Madam Liu, even speaking in her defense. Ye Chang snorted; he never expected this incident to solve all his troubles, his main goal had already been achieved. As for Liu Gui, if he could squeeze a bit more out of him, there was no need to be overly harsh.

He glanced at the old monk Chunxin again—there were accounts to settle with him, but not urgently. He’d remember.

“Take this fellow to see the magistrate!” someone shouted. There was never a shortage of idle villagers eager for drama.

Ye Chang hesitated and recalled something. Yesterday, his brother-in-law Liu Kun came to visit and mentioned that someone wanted to open a pottery kiln on Fufu Mountain and needed workers. An idea struck him: Liu Gui could not stay; otherwise, he’d cause trouble at critical moments. Sending him to the magistrate wasn’t ideal either—Ye Chang wasn’t sure if the authorities would investigate the so-called “meeting with immortals.” The best solution was to sell Liu Gui—he could rid himself of him and earn some coins.

He ordered Liu Gui to be tied up, then said, “Let’s discuss this downhill. Family and friends, let’s return!”

After a day’s commotion, everyone was exhausted and eager to share today’s events with their families and neighbors, so they all agreed. After a few steps, Ye Chang called out loudly, “Since the Medicine King has granted us the spring, tomorrow we must all remember to go to the temple and offer incense together!”

The crowd responded enthusiastically, but the old monk Chunxin nearly stumbled.

All that incense—should have belonged to his Shifang Temple. Because he changed Ye Chang’s script at the last moment, Ye Chang diverted it to the Medicine King Temple. After all his efforts and arrangements, he’d gained nothing, only helping Ye Chang’s tale of meeting an immortal.

For the third time, the old monk felt a deep regret—this time, utterly so.

Ye Chang cared little for the old monk’s feelings; this was simply his small revenge for Chunxin’s betrayal. With the crowd’s help, he escorted Liu Gui down the mountain. Some swift-footed, sharp-tongued villagers had already run ahead, embellishing today’s events and spreading them in Wuzepei.

So, when they reached the village entrance, half the village was waiting, mostly Ye family kin, but also outsiders eager for gossip.

Xiang’er stood among the crowd, bewildered. Beside her was her sister-in-law, Lady Fang, and behind Fang stood an honest-looking man—her husband, Ye Shu, Ye Chang’s actual elder brother. Ye Shu, nearly thirty and more than ten years older than Ye Chang, was known for his meekness and silence; since Ye Chang’s awakening, they’d exchanged fewer than ten words.

Yet Ye Shu’s gaze always carried a hint of guilt, perhaps feeling he’d wronged Ye Chang by making him the heir to the third branch.

In the Ye family’s three branches, the main branch had been dominant for generations, leaving the other two weak. By Ye Shu and Ye Chang’s generation, the second branch was the poorest, relying mainly on land allotted by the clan. After a century, the Tang dynasty’s equal-field system was collapsing, and government-allotted land was often nominal. Thus, Ye Shu sent Ye Chang to be the heir to the third branch, hoping to find him a way out.

“Fourth Brother, Fourth Sister-in-law,” Ye Chang greeted them. Ye Shu nodded, his eyes anxious, glancing at an elder in the crowd.

Ye Chang looked too and saw the elder in hemp clothes, stern-faced and strict-eyed. Beside him stood the main branch’s Uncle Ye Lian and Liu, whose anger was barely contained.

“How dare you, how dare you!”

Seeing Ye Chang look her way, Liu trembled with rage, struggling to speak coherently, pointing at Ye Chang.

Ye Chang ignored her and instead stepped forward to bow to the hemp-clad elder. “Greetings, Clan Leader.”

This elder was the Ye clan leader of Xiuwu, also the village chief of Wuzepei. According to Tang regulations, a hundred households made a li, five hundred households a xiang. Places like Wuzepei should have a li chief, but since no family here held official rank (the Tang often appointed sixth-rank officials as li chiefs), and no notable figures had emerged, the role fell to a neighbor from Xiao Liu Village. But with the Ye clan so numerous, their leader served as village chief. In the countryside, reluctant to engage with the government, the li and village chief held authority over lawsuits, bandit-catching, and mediation.

The Ye clan leader was named Ye Dan, an uncle-grandfather to Ye Chang. Seeing Ye Chang bow, he nodded slightly.

Previously, he hadn’t paid much attention to this distant clan grandson—the Ye clan was large, with over a hundred members across branches, and a quiet, distant relative wouldn’t catch his eye. But today was different: Ye Chang had “met an immortal” and found a spring during a drought…

Thinking of Ye Chang finding the spring, Ye Dan felt annoyed, his mood sour, and his gaze cold.

“Clan Leader, is there anything you wish to instruct?” Ye Chang asked.

“I heard you accused your branch aunt of wrongdoing before outsiders?” Ye Dan snorted. “Your third branch has been acting out more and more. Instead of managing your affairs, you make wild accusations, slandering your own aunt. Do you not know this is the crime of defiance?”

He immediately placed a heavy charge. Ye Chang glanced at Liu, who now looked rather pleased.

“Clan Leader speaks truly…” Liu Gui, knowing this was his only chance to turn things around, though bound, his mouth wasn’t gagged, so he immediately knelt before Ye Dan. “I heard it myself—Eleventh Lord accused his aunt of plotting against him!”

Ye Chang, who had hesitated about how to deal with Liu Gui, now made up his mind. This man was loyal to Liu, always jumping out to cause trouble whenever possible—a fellow like this could not be kept.

“Is this true?” Ye Dan asked coldly.

“I did say that my branch aunt Liu covets our property and intends to make things difficult for me,” Ye Chang replied, neither humble nor pushy. “As for defiance—she neither gave birth to me nor raised me, so I dare not accept the charge of ‘defiance.’”

“Hmm?”

Ye Chang’s response surprised Ye Dan.

The story of meeting the immortal was dubious to Ye Dan, but in his memory, this distant clan kin had always been quiet and dull—both brothers were honest sorts. Yet now Ye Chang’s demeanor was entirely different: sharp-tongued, quick-witted, readily acknowledging the lesser fault of criticizing his aunt, but firmly denying the greater crime of defiance. This deft maneuvering was the mark of someone clever and eloquent.

He also carried himself with a dignity that made Ye Dan take notice.

Ye Dan couldn’t help but recall the rumors—Ye Chang had met the immortal Sun Simiao. Had he truly been enlightened by an immortal, hence his newfound intelligence?

“Eleventh Lord, your reckless words, though not defiant, still show disrespect to your elders.” Ye Dan considered for a moment. “Go to the ancestral hall and accept family discipline.”

This time, it was Ye Chang’s turn to be surprised.

He had avoided the charge of defiance, knowing it was a grave crime in the medieval era. His reasoning was sound, and Ye Dan clearly accepted it, yet he would still be punished by family discipline—what logic was this?

Ye Chang, being from later times, had not yet grasped the power of clan authority. Even if Ye Dan agreed with Ye Chang’s reasoning, he had to punish him regardless; his prestige and power in the clan stemmed from the ancestral system, which he had to uphold, especially for the main branch!

“That’s too lenient; the clan fields assigned to him should be reclaimed!” Liu shouted.

“Well said…” someone murmured in agreement, closely allied with the main branch.

“We’ll discuss that when Ye Si returns,” Ye Dan said, glancing at Liu. “Eleventh Lord is a junior, inexperienced—he must be strictly disciplined, but he is not yet the head of the third branch, so he cannot be counted.”

He would protect the clan system but not let Liu dictate matters. And with tensions between the third branch brothers, it was a perfect opportunity for him to profit from the situation—why end things quickly?

Ye Chang realized he could not escape family discipline. He glared at Liu, who, seeing his look, began to curse loudly: “You ill-mannered little beast, how dare you glare at me! Clan Leader, look—he dares glare at me in your presence!”

“Eleventh Lord…” Ye Dan’s anger grew.

“Clan Leader, my surname is Ye. If I am a beast, then all Yees are beasts!” Ye Chang declared loudly. “I am merely disrespectful to her as my aunt. She says all Yees are beasts—that’s disrespect to our ancestors and to you, Clan Leader. She too should be punished!”

Liu’s venomous tirade was instantly silenced.

She was used to acting the shrew, never expecting Ye Chang to catch her in a loophole and turn her words against her. Ye Chang’s disrespect to his aunt was no grave crime, but disrespect to the ancestors was a major offense. If Ye Chang were to be whipped for family discipline, Liu would also have to be slapped for her mouth.

“Ahem, elder brother, Liu was enraged by Eleventh Lord—her words were unconsidered, a slip of the tongue. Let’s not pursue it.” The mood froze, and Ye Lian signaled to a slightly stooped Ye elder, who spoke up.

His words finally allowed Liu’s stiff face to relax. Ye Chang glanced at the stooped elder and smiled faintly.

He had met this elder while wandering with Xiang’er the other day; his name was Ye Hun, a peer of Ye Dan, whom Ye Chang should address as Ninth Granduncle. Ye Hun always got along well with Ye Lian, so at this moment, he stepped forward to intercede for Liu.

Seeing Ye Chang smile at him, Ye Hun, though over sixty, felt an inexplicable chill—Ye Chang seemed to possess a strange power that inspired fear.

Ye Dan considered: punishing Liu brought no benefit and would offend her family, so he decided to let it go.

“Well, since it was said in a moment of anger, let’s drop it. But Liu, as an elder, you must behave like one. No more shrewish outbursts in the future!”