The Glory After Rebirth [ɇÇ”Ÿä¹‹Å°Šè£] Chapter 502- 504

Chapter 502: A Peace Negotiator from the Wan Kingdom?

As Ling Zhang hiding among members of a caravan affiliated to Jiahe Chamber of Commerce entered Jifang City, Yuwen Tong received a message from the Wan army, which said that an envoy of the Wan Kingdom was on his way to seek an audience with Yuwen Tong.

“Why did they send an envoy here at this point in time?” said Yuwen Jin.

Chen Jing’s army had been retreating in defeat again and again. He seriously believed that he could save the day by merely sending out an envoy?

“Sire, this might be some kind of trick.” Yao Yi and the other bodyguards of Yuwen Tong’s, who knew that someone whose identity was unknown was planning to take revenge on Yuwen Tong, instantly tensed up. Naturally, they were on full alert for the Wan envoy who was heading for their encampment to seek an audience in these circumstances.

“Is the Wan Kingdom planning to sue for peace, by any chance?” said one of the officers.

Xiao Jiangyue shook his head. “They would be showing a blatant disregard for us if they sue for peace at this point in time. I mean, we’ve taken Langqiao City and occupied the whole south of the Wan Kingdom. From the vantage point of the present, there’s no way their troops could stop us from taking more cities. If they want to sue for peace, the terms they’ll have to offer would be the cession of all the cities we’ve taken or reducing the Wan Kingdom to a tributary of the Great Wen, but I don’t think the Wan Kingdom would give up that easily. Even if they really make that offer, and that’s a big if, on no account would we accept it.”

Given how things stood in this war, what made the Wan Kingdom think they were still in a position to sue for peace? The troops in Jifang City? Their northern garrisons that could move south? They seriously believed they would be able to hold the army of the Great Wen at bay with these two forces? They were too naive.

Yuwen Tong thought for a while and then said, “It does no harm for me to grant their envoy an audience. I’ll find out what it is they’re up to.”

Xiao Jiangyue and the others also felt that there was no harm in Yuwen Tong’s meeting the envoy. They wouldn’t suffer any losses anyway. They just wanted to ascertain what game the Wan Kingdom was playing.

…

The Wan envoy soon arrived. He acted quite humbly when he was brought to Yuwen Tong. “We want to make peace with the Great Wen.”

It turned out the envoy was indeed here to sue for peace, but currently it was manifest that the two sides were not on equal terms. Besides, the Great Wen had nothing to gain by signing a peace accord. What made these people of the Wan Kingdom think they would agree?

Yuwen Tong, who couldn’t be bothered to beat around the bush, directly said, “You’re in no position to sue for peace. More than half of your country is under my control. Considering Langqiao City has fallen, it’s only a matter of time before my army flatten the Wan capital. Why would I agree to make peace with you?”

The look on the envoy’s face instantly went ugly. In a disapproving tone of voice, he replied, “No offence, but don’t you think you’re being overconfident, Your Majesty? There’s no way your men could breach the defense of Jifang City. On top of that, a Luohai army has mustered outside Youzhou Pass. If you want to stop them from taking Youzhou Pass, you’ll have no choice but to sent your North-western Army back. How are you going to take Jifang City without the North-western Army? Besides, your troops, who have come a long way and been through so many fights, have some time ago been tired out. Soon our northern garrisons would arrive to rendezvous with our troops in Jifang City. How long do you think your men would last under their concerted attack? It’s a far better choice to put an end to this war which is taking a heavy toll on the economy of both sides than it is to continue it. We’re willing to cede the two south-western prefectures to you as a demonstration of our sincerity.”

Every one of the others had an odd expression on his face at these words. Yuwen Tong, however, gave several sneers and, looking at the envoy, said, “It would seem Chen Jing is ill-informed. Does he not know that Mu Hengtian is dead? Nian Feng has some time ago drafted more than half of the troops stationed outside Youzhou Pass back to Luohai capital to help the prince he supports take the throne. The Luohai Kingdom is in full-blown internecine warfare as we speak. Your monarch should at least do some research before sending you here to sue for peace, shouldn’t he?”

The envoy’s face changed drastically. “That’s impossible!”

Yuwen Tong looked at him with wintry eyes. “My army will take Jifang City by hook or by crook. You people would be putting your time to better use if you think about how to beg me for mercy instead of suing for peace.”

…

The Wan Kingdom sending out an envoy to sue for peace was like a farce. The envoy, after being humiliated, left with indignation written all over his face.

After the envoy took his leave, Yuwen Tong asked with a slight frown, “How many people did that envoy bring here? Who did they talk to in our encampment?”

“He brought a team of crack troops with him. They’ve been staying outside the encampment all along. None of them entered or talked with any of our men. I myself led the envoy to this tent after his arrival and he never conversed with anybody on his way here,” responded Yao Yi.

“Does the arrival of this envoy strike you as weird, Sire?” asked Xiao Jiangyue.

Yuwen Tong said, “Either Chen Jing is indeed unaware of Mu Hengtian’s death, or they have some ulterior motive. What are the odds Chen Jing doesn’t know Mu Hengtian has died?”

The others furrowed their brows. Xiao Jiangyue said, “Zero. Even if Chen Jing is not in the capital and Shan Congli is trying to keep it secret from him, there’s no way he hasn’t received any secret messages about it, given how many influential contacts the Chen family has in the Wan capital. In addition, a city near the border between the other two countries is in the charge of a loyal ally of the Chen family. The moment there are any changes of the situation in the Luohai Kingdom, Chen Jing, as the patriarch of the Chen family, would without doubt be informed immediately.”

After hearing Xiao Jiangyue’s words, the others felt that the arrival of the envoy was indeed quite odd. However, none of those brought by the envoy had entered the encampment, and the envoy himself had been under constant watch and never talked with anybody other than Yuwen Tong. He hadn’t had any opportunities whatsoever to play any tricks. What ulterior motives could he possibly have that were unknown to them?

Yao Yi felt that this thing had happened in suspicious circumstances. To be on the safe side, he had some men examine everything that the envoy had touched in the encampment. He even sent some men to watch the diplomatic corps leave. However, the envoy, after entering the encampment, had not only never talked with anybody except for Yuwen Tong but also hardly touched anything. In fact, he hadn’t even had the time to sit down to take a sip of water.

Yuwen Tong gave it some thought and then instructed, “Keep a close eye on Chen Jing’s army.”

“Yes, Sire.”

…

On that very night.

The candle in Yuwen Tong’s tent had been ablaze all along. When he was having some rest in the bed at the far side of the tent, Yao Yi and some others were standing guard in it. Xie Shi, chewing a piece of beef jerky, thought back to the envoy’s brief stay in the encampment during the day. To be honest, he really couldn’t think of anything out of the ordinary about it. The detoxification skills of Xie Shi were top-notch, if not unparalleled, and, having been in tense atmosphere for many years, he was particularly sensitive to a lot of things. If that envoy had played some kind of trick in this regard, Xie Shi would have immediately found out about it.

However, the matter that Ling Zhang had talked about in that letter delivered by a carrier hawk had been weighing on their minds all along. Xie Shi didn’t dare drop his guard for a single moment before that “avenger” was taken care of.

It had been very late when Yuwen Tong had finished dealing with all the military affairs and the few memorials to the throne from the capital city. The thought that Ling Zhang should have arrived in Jifang City by now and his worries about Ling Zhang’s safety were keeping him from getting to sleep. As Ling Zhang had been covering his tracks, it was inconvenient to write to him. He had received an urgent letter from Ling Zhang a couple of days ago but hadn’t heard anything about him ever since.

Though unable to sleep, Yuwen Tong, in order to be refreshed and energetic the next day, forced himself into performing Qi circulation, deciding to have his Qi go a couple of circuits of his meridian network.

By the candlelight, Xie Shi and the other guard, who were on the other side of the screen, could vaguely see Yuwen Tong sitting cross-legged in meditation. They kept quiet lest they disturb Yuwen Tong’s meditation.

While meditating circulating his internal energy, Yuwen Tong retained a small part of his consciousness so that he would know if something happened around him.

About two hours passed. The Zi Hour (23:00-00:59) had ticked away, and it was now Chou Hour (01:00-02:59). Yuwen Tong suddenly seemed to feel a peculiar fragrance waft into his nostrils. The fragrance was different from the refreshing perfume he had been using for years. It was pungent, faintly stale and unpleasant, making him reflexively frown. Yuwen Tong held his breath and opened his eyes almost immediately. Everything around him was the same as they had been before he started meditating. Xie Shi and the other bodyguard were still present. As they perceived the change in Yuwen Tong’s breathing, the two of them were instantly on the alert, looked in Yuwen Tong’s direction and, standing on the other side of the screen, said, “Sire?”

Yuwen Tong’s piercing eyes swept around him. Almost at the same time, he felt a sudden prickle in his arm. Immediately, he raised his other hand, and, mobilizing his internal energy, generated a strong air current as sharp as a blade, cut his sleeve with it, quickly ripped the sleeve off and saw that a red spot had suddenly appeared on his skin close to his wrist.

Yuwen Tong knitted his brows, and, promptly striking a particular acupoint in his left hand, called, “Xie Shi!”

Xie Shi hastened inside almost in the blink of an eye. At the sight of Yuwen Tong’s bare arm, he immediately stepped over to check it before Yuwen Tong could say anything. It took him only a split instant to notice the red spot. He reached a hand into his belt, produced a couple of fine silver needles from somewhere about his person, rapidly stuck them into a couple of acupoints in Yuwen Tong’s forearm, then used another silver needle to cut open the red spot to let it bleed. Bright red blood instantaneously flowed out. The color of it was perfectly normal. Surprised, Xie Shi scrutinized it for a while but still couldn’t find anything out of the ordinary. To be on the safe side, he meticulously felt Yuwen Tong’s pulse and then examined his arm once again, carefully checking his skin inch by inch, a deep frown on his face. Still, no anomaly was found.

“Nothing?” Yuwen Tong could tell that Xie Shi didn’t find anything just by looking at him.

Xie Shi looked up at him. “When did this red spot appear?”

Yuwen Tong said, “Only a moment ago. First there was a weird fragrance, and then I felt a sudden sting in my arm. I ripped off my sleeve and saw this red spot. I’ve blocked a couple of acupoints of mine before you came in.”

Xie Shi immediately crouched down, picked up the sleeve on the ground and, fumbling at it, inquired, “What kind of fragrance?”

Yuwen Tong thought back to that moment and gave Xie Shi a detailed description of the peculiarity of that scent. “It lasted only a fleeting instant. I held my breath the moment I smelled it. It has disappeared by the time you came in.”

After hearing it, Xie Shi, instead of relaxing, had an even more grave look on his face. He told the bodyguard beside him to examine the furnishings in the tent, while he himself resumed scrutinizing Yuwen Tong’s sleeve, carefully checking each seam.

“There’s nothing wrong with any of the furnishings. I’ve also checked the ground. There’s not even an ant here,” said the bodyguard, who had checked everything in the tent.

Xie Shi was still examining the piece of cloth torn from Yuwen Tong’s sleeve. His first check was unfruitful. Concerned, he checked it again. The existence of one questionable point might be coincidental, but the existence of two was by no means a coincidence. The source of that odd fragrance was unknown. There was no doubt the red spot on Yuwen Tong’s arm had been caused by a bite of some kind of creature. Though it was tiny, Xie Shi was positive that it was a bite. Otherwise there wouldn’t have been a red spot, and neither would Yuwen Tong had felt a sting.

Chapter 503: A Yearning for Reunion, a Letter and Pain

The mood in the main tent was quite subdued. Soon Yao Yi and some others also entered and started an intensive search.

Yuwen Tong appeared fairly composed. Xie Shi’s silver needles were still blocking the acupoints in his arm, and he himself had scrupulously checked his meridians and Dantian, but hitherto nothing out of the ordinary had been found. Of course, this didn’t mean that he could take this matter lightly. On the contrary, the longer their check remained unfruitful, the more perilous the current situation might be.

Suddenly, Xie Shi spoke, confirming the truth of this conjecture.

“Bring me the candle!”

On hearing this, the bodyguard beside Xie Shi brought him the lighted candle from the table. The candle flame was burning brightly. Xie Shi moved Yuwen Tong’s sleeve closer to the candle flame and saw that a small patch of the inside of the sleeve, which approximately had been above that red spot of Yuwen Tong’s when the sleeve had been still intact, was reflecting the candlelight as though a snail had left some mucus there. Xie Shi lightly peeled off that reflective substance and found that it was something transparent and cocoon-like, something sloughed by a kind of tiny creature, to be precise.

The look on Xie Shi’s face instantly went ugly. This proved that Yuwen Tong had indeed been bitten by something. It was a living thing. Considering they had searched everywhere but failed to find that thing, it might well have entered Yuwen Tong’s body.

The thought of this possibility also occurred to the others, all of whom looked at Yuwen Tong’s arm, their faces instantly registering concern.

Xie Shi put down the cloth torn from Yuwen Tong’s sleeve, produced a very small jade casket lined with flannelette, opened it, put the tiny shell-like thing into it and then closed it.

“What is this thing, Xie Shi?” Yao Yi inquired of him.

With a serious expression on his face, Xie Shi shook his head. “I have no idea. I’ve never seen any shells of this level of transparency. If it has indeed burrowed its way into Sire’s body, it would be either a poisonous insect or a Gu worm. I’ve never heard of anything like this before.”

As he finished speaking, the looks on all the others’ faces turned ugly. If even Xie Shi didn’t have a clue what the creature was, how were they supposed to get Yuwen Tong the medical treatment he needed?!

Looking at the silver needles on Yuwen Tong’s arm, Xie Shi who also had an ugly look on his face carefully examined Yuwen Tong once again and found that the color of Yuwen Tong’s blood was still normal. The only part he was sure about was that that thing was at least not poisonous, if it had indeed entered Yuwen Tong’s body.

What with his uncertainty about whether or not that thing was in Yuwen Tong’s body, Xie Shi didn’t dare remove the needles, fearing that the creature, without the needles holding it at bay, might move to another part of Yuwen Tong’s body.

In fact, as they had failed to find anything that might be the body of a bug or a worm or any living thing after an intensive search, everybody thought of the worst-case scenario – that creature had wormed its way into Yuwen Tong’s body.

Of course, Yuwen Tong, the victim, should have perceived its existence more distinctly than anybody, but he had experienced no discomfort, outside of the sting he had felt a while ago.

“Remove the needles at daybreak if nothing has been found by that time,” said Yuwen Tong.

“Sire, that’s too dangerous. What if…” Yao Yi and the others didn’t dare agree. Xie Shi also had a frown on his face.

Yuwen Tong said, “Tomorrow I have to show my face in front of the others, and these needles will cause needless panic. The war has reached a critical juncture, and I couldn’t afford to jeopardize the morale of my army.”

Yao Yi and the others still wanted to dissuade him, but before any of them could say anything, Xie Shi sighed, “The needles must be removed before dawn. I blocked the meridians in Sire’s arm, and it will lead to some problems if his meridians are obstructed for too long.”

Yao Yi and the others opened their mouths, closed them again and lapsed into silence. Eventually Yao Yi resignedly said to Xie Shi, “Then figure out something else that might work.”

Xie Shi said, “Previously Sire ingested a miracle drug given by His Highness to detoxify the poison named ‘Mrs. Pistil’, and there’s still a certain amount of the active ingredient of the drug in Sire’s blood. No matter that thing is a Gu worm or a poisonous insect, it will be temporarily immobilized after entering Sire’s body, which means it won’t be causing any problems anytime soon. Still, we need to locate that thing as soon as possible. I’m not capable of identifying what that thing is, but I’m sure Mr. Mu can figure it out. You should write him a letter first. I’ll see what I can do to stimulate it.”

Yuwen Tong looked down at his arm and said, “Let’s do it your way.”

Yao Yi wrote a letter and then immediately had a secret bodyguard set off to deliver it to Mr. Mu.

Xie Shi began to try some other methods to see if he could provoke any reactions from that thing inside Yuwen Tong’s body which was presumably some kind of living thing.

To be on the safe side, Xie Shi readied the alexipharmic pill and panacean pill given by Mr. Mu.

…

Time was ticking away. Xie Shi had tried a variety of methods, but Yuwen Tong still hadn’t felt any discomfort. Eventually, Xie Shi began to suspect that he was overreacting, that there was actually no harmful foreign body inside Yuwen Tong whatsoever, that all their speculations were mistaken.

But better safe than sorry, so Xie Shi dismissed that idea from his mind and decided to try one last method, which might trigger some minor bodily reactions in Yuwen Tong.

Yuwen Tong allowed Xie Shi to try it on him. He rid himself of all miscellaneous thoughts and started meditating, concentrating his mind on the changes that the medicine Xie Shi had him take was bringing to his body. He could even hear his powerful internal energy coursing through his meridians. When dawn broke, he opened his eyes and shook his head at Xie Shi.

Xie Shi hastened to prepare another medicine for Yuwen Tong, who drank it and then felt his internal energy quiet down.

“Now that nothing has been found, remove the needles,” said Yuwen Tong.

Xie Shi inclined his head, pulled the needles out of Yuwen Tong’s arm and then looked nervously at him.

Yuwen Tong felt the sensation gradually coming back to his left arm as time passed at its usual pace, but after a long moment, there was still no discomfort of any kind in his body.

Xie Shi was bewildered. He had never heard of any situations as baffling as this one before. How come there had been no reaction whatsoever when he had tried every method he knew of? In recent years he had been learning medical skills from Mr. Mu whenever he had the time. He didn’t dare say that the man he had been five year ago was nowhere close to a physician of his present caliber, but he believed that with these methods he should be able to detect the existence of any poison or Gu worm inside a patient’s body. If he had had these skills five years ago, he would no doubt have immediately detected the poison named ‘Mrs. Pistil’ without being fooled by it at the beginning.

The others were also bemused. Even Chairman Sun of the imperial hospital highly appreciated Xie Shi’s detoxification skills, but now even he had failed to identify what the problem was after trying every method. Was there anything in His Majesty’s body or not?

Most importantly, even Yuwen Tong himself couldn’t perceive anything wrong. This…This was so weird.

“Sire!” Someone showed up in the doorway of the tent, requesting an audience with Yuwen Tong, a hint of anxiety in his voice.

Yuwen Tong gave the permission for that man to enter. “What is it?”

“That Wan envoy who visited our encampment yesterday died,” said the man.

Died? Yao Yi and all the others present had a sense of foreboding at these words, and their ominous feelings intensified as they connected the red spot on Yuwen Tong’s arm with the fact that they had failed to find anything suspicious after searching for the whole night.

“How did he die?” asked Yuwen Tong, looking composed.

Affected by Yuwen Tong’s composure, the man became noticeably more collected and answered, “The man died on his way back to the encampment of the Wan army. When walking towards the front gates of the encampment, he fell to the ground without warning. Even the one beside him didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary before his death. Actually even the envoy himself didn’t have any particular feelings. The expression on his face remained unchanged when he died at the front gates. There was no pain, and he didn’t struggle. His life was taken from his body in the twinkling of an eye.”

“Were there any symptoms of poisoning?” inquired Xie Shi.

The man shook his head. “We don’t know. His body was brought back into the encampment. We were unable to get access to it.”

With a grave face, Xie Shi said, “Sire, we need to figure out a way to have someone get access to that envoy’s body.”

It had been after that envoy had met them that he died, and the way he had died was quiet odd. It couldn’t have been a coincidence that something entered Yuwen Tong’s body last night when he had just had a meeting with the envoy during the day. None of them would be able to have peace of mind unless they ascertained the truth.

Yuwen Tong made arrangements for some of his secret bodyguards to look into it. A couple of years ago he had planted one of his men in the Wan army. He had never assigned any tasks to that plant of his ever since, mainly because there had never been any necessity for him to do that. He hadn’t bargained on needing the plant’s service at this point in time.

As they couldn’t find anything, Xie Shi and the others didn’t dare drop their guard for a single moment. For the rest of the day, Xie Shi stayed close to Yuwen Tong wherever the latter went, carrying the alexipharmic pill and panacean pill given by Mr. Mu at all times. This matter concerned his life, so Yuwen Tong naturally had been paying close attention to his bodily changes all day, but by the end of the day he still hadn’t experienced any discomfort.

Then he recalled that Ling Zhang had probably arrived in Jifang City by now and might show up in this encampment in a couple of days. Yuwen Tong couldn’t imagine how heavy a blow it would be to Ling Zhang if he came to know about this matter. At the thought that Ling Zhang might be upset or even anxious, Yuwen Tong began to have difficulty breathing. It was as though a giant rock were weighing him down, and his heart was throbbing painfully too.

At first it didn’t strike Yuwen Tong as some kind of problem, because lately he always felt transports of emotions whenever he missed Ling Zhang. However, on this occasion, with every thought he had about Ling Zhang, the pain in his heart worsened, the feeling of constriction in his chest deepening. It was only then that Yuwen Tong came to realize that something was not quite right.

In order to confirm his conjecture, Yuwen Tong, after handling all military affairs and fixing a date for the next attack and arranging for preparations to be made, returned to his tent, fished out a casket he had been keeping in a safe place all this time, took all the letters written by Ling Zhang out of it and started reading them one by one.

Xie Shi and all the others believed that Yuwen Tong missed Ling Zhang as they saw him produce the letters, and they didn’t give much thought to it. It was not until Yuwen Tong’s face gradually turned pallid, fine beads of sweat breaking out on his forehead, that Xie Shi came to realize something was wrong.

“Sire?!” Xie Shi hastened forward and quickly grabbed Yuwen Tong’s wrist to feel his pulse.

Yuwen Tong put down the letter and clapped a hand to his chest, gripping his clothes, wheezing heavily. Just now, for an instant he couldn’t breathe. The throbbing in his heart was so sharp all the color had drained from his face, and he had to put down the letter immediately to cool himself down.

Chapter 504: An Uncontrollable Whirlpool of Emotion

Xie Shi was taken aback as he felt Yuwen Tong’s pulse. How come Yuwen Tong’s pulse which had been steady and even only a few moments ago had suddenly become so irregular and fluctuant?

Yuwen Tong’s face was pasty, but his eyes were quite clear, the look in them alarmingly inscrutable.

“Sire, you … ” Xie Shi was anxious and wanted to ask Yuwen Tong what seemed to be the problem, but he had just finished the first two words when he felt Yuwen Tong’s pulse slowly stabilize. Astonished, he left his sentence hanging in spite of himself.

Yuwen Tong removed his hand from his chest, carefully folded the letters on the table one by one and put them back into the casket.

Right at this moment, Xie Shi perceived that Yuwen Tong’s pulse changed again. Though the change was not as drastic as the one a moment ago, it shouldn’t be taken lightly. However, Yuwen Tong didn’t appear to be suffering from misery as intense as what he had felt just now. Though his face was still slightly pale, he looked as unhurried as usual but for the faintly veined backs of his hands.

“What is ailing you, Sire?” Xie Shi hastily asked as he jerked out of his trance.

Yuwen Tong put the letters back into the casket one by one and closed the lid before he replied, “My heart.”

Heart? Xie Shi, recalling that a short while ago Yuwen Tong had clapped a hand to his heart, immediately offered to check Yuwen Tong’s cardiac meridian but was turned down.

Xie Shi was confused. “Sire, please allow me to perform an examination.”

Yuwen Tong was looking at the casket with a tender look in his eyes, but his tone was quite steely when he spoke. “That won’t be necessary. I’ve already come to know what the problem is.”

Xie Shi and all the others were baffled as to why Yuwen Tong was still so collected.

“As long as I don’t think of Brother Zhang, I won’t experience any discomfort. Once I think of him, my heart throbs painfully and I have difficulty breathing,” said Yuwen Tong.

Ah? Wh–What kind of symptom was this? From one perspective, it sounded like some kind of illness, but from another, it didn’t sound like a disease at all.

Yao Yi and the others were all somewhat befuddled. Xie Shi was the only one aware that there was indeed something fishy going on. Yuwen Tong’s pulse, pallid face and the veined backs of his hands all indicated that something was wrong. However, even Xie Shi had a frown on his face, for the combination of these symptoms was something he had never seen before.

Gradually, Yao Yi and the others also came to realize the severity of the problem. Having been serving Yuwen Tong since childhood, they knew Yuwen Tong too well to be unaware that no common injury or pain could make Yuwen Tong’s face pale or blue veins stand out on the backs of his hands. Given that Yuwen Tong had mentioned pain and breathing difficulties, he must be in anguish and having problems breathing indeed.

Xie Shi bustled around for another few moments in an attempt to figure out the cause of those symptoms of Yuwen Tong’s, but the result of the examination was the same as that of the one he had performed last night: Yuwen Tong was not under the influence of any poisons, and there was no sign of any Gu worms existing in his body.

The night before he hadn’t found anything because Yuwen Tong hadn’t shown any symptoms, but now Yuwen Tong was showing noticeable symptoms. Why was he still unable to find the cause? This time Xie Shi really began to doubt the medical knowledge he had accumulated since childhood.

It was impossible for Yuwen Tong to stop thinking of Ling Zhang, for nobody could rid themself of the yearning for a reunion with their lover, just like nobody could rid themself of the need for air and water. The throbbing in his heart and his breathing difficulties were only the beginning. After a night, Yuwen Tong discovered that even his temper had been affected by that thing inside his body.

The fight between his army and the Wan army had been in a stalemate for the whole morning. This time, Chen Jing’s men, with the advantage of the defense of the city they were stationed in, managed to withstand the attack from the Great Wen’s army. Morning had passed but Yuwen Tong’s troops hadn’t made any progress in breaching the enemy’s defense, showing a sharp contrast with the fact that they had taken all the cities along the way during their northward advance with unstoppable momentum.

Yuwen Tong furrowed his brows, a sepulchral expression on his face, looking at the teams of his men attacking the city as well as the Wan soldiers clamoring on the opposite side. On this day, the enemies were hurling abuse on the ramparts, which was rather uncharacteristic of them.

“Yuwen Tong, you’re unworthy of your reputation. You couldn’t even take such a small city, yet you have the fond hope of attacking our capital? Ridiculous!”

“Yuwen Tong, you are at the end of your rope. You’re ‘undefeated’ so far only because your men caught us unprepared. Now our reinforcements have arrived. I suggest you people go back to where you came from before we beat the shit out of you!”

“We sued for peace out of goodwill but you turned our offer down. Today we’ll have you know we made that offer only because we wanted to help you save face. Now that you refused to accept it, we’ll drive you out of this place. The city gates you couldn’t batter down on this day are just a beginning. Tomorrow you’ll have to retreat to the southern bank of the Wan River with your tails between your legs!”

At first there was no expletive in their derision and abuse, but gradually the enemy soldiers on the ramparts began to use all kinds of swear words. Troops of the Great Wen were all indignant and only too anxious to tear those people’s mouths, but killing them all seemed an impossible task. Jiang Xi had the archers shoot down the enemy soldiers shouting abuse, but for every one they shot down, two more arose to take his place. All of them were cursing.

Jiang Xi, face dark with rage, tossed a backward glance at Yuwen Tong who was in the command center. The look in Yuwen Tong’s eyes was cold and gave little away, and the expression on his face was so calm as though he was totally unaffected by any of those words. The sight of this allayed Jiang Xi’s anger significantly. He turned his head back to look at those enemy soldiers on the ramparts, let out a sneer, summoned one of his bodyguards and gave him a couple of instructions.

Soon the army of the Great Wen started shouting abuse back at the enemies, each voice louder than the last, each sentence more insulting than the last.

“Hear this, you sons of bitches on the ramparts! Your country’s days are numbered! Chen Jing put you on the ramparts to be targets for our arrows because he knew he’s fighting a losing fight! He’s using you to buy himself more time! He’s fled already, yet you fools are still here daydreaming of winning!”

“Chen Jing wet his pants from his fear of us some time ago, and there would never be a better time for him to flee than this day, but he won’t be able to delay his death for long. When we get to your capital city, Chen Jing and your monarch will both be dead!”

“You are just a bunch of cowards and wusses who couldn’t even defend your own country! All you are fit to do is scream abuse. Even rats in the sewer have bigger balls than you do!”

…

All Jiang Xi’s men had some kung fu skills, and their howls of derision drowned out the abuse of the enemy soldiers on the ramparts. This, coupled with the thunderous beat of war drums and the sound of the war flag whipping around its pole, boosted the soldiers’ morale, and they started attacking the city with greater ferocity.

Yuwen Tong, though standing there with a poker-face, was actually feeling as though a fire were burning inside him. A few moments ago, before Jiang Xi had some men snap back, he had felt as if something were weighing his heart down, as if someone were churning his heart with a knife, pain and fury frantically sweeping over him in waves.

Almost immediately, he came to realize that this kind of mood was uncharacteristic of him.

For a military commander, winning or losing a battle is a common occurrence, not to mention that his army had just failed to make any progress in breaching the enemy’s defense after attacking for the whole morning. It was no big deal. What Chen Jing relied on was just a special advantage of this city – the wide moat around it. Chen Jing had had his men position a lot of pointed bamboo poles in the moat. Yuwen Tong’s soldiers had had to remove those bamboo poles first braving a rain of arrows, which had cost the army some time and the lives of many men.

However, when Yuwen Tong had heard the abuse of the enemy soldiers on the ramparts, the words he would normally ignore without feeling anything particular had actually roused his anger which had surged uncontrollably inside him. This had instantly put him on the alert. It was as if something was forcibly manipulating his mood, forcing him to get angry, to lose his cool.

Having sensed that something was wrong, Yuwen Tong didn’t utter a word, subduing the knifelike pain in his heart and the rage bubbling in him. The attack was being carried out as planned, but this kind of situation was not good. What was happening to him was only the beginning. There were many more fights ahead of him, and there was no guarantee that all his decisions would be absolutely unaffected by his emotion.

Yuwen Tong closed his eyes and felt something heaving frantically in his chest where his heart was. There was indeed something in there.

Chen Jing, who uncharacteristically had his men hurl abuse during the fight, had clearly made preparations some time ago and was putting out feelers. As things stood, it was unmistakable that there had been something fishy about the visit of that Wan envoy. What kind of method the enemy had adopted was a mystery to him, but he had indeed fallen prey to their trick.

At the thought that Ling Zhang would soon arrive, the rage inside Yuwen Tong which he had been able to hold at bay a moment ago flared up almost in an instant. The throbbing in his heart had turned into an agony so insupportable as though countless ants were gnawing at his heart.

Yuwen Tong’s eyes instantaneously became scarlet but soon, exercising all his self-restraint, he managed to have them return to normal. Nobody noticed these details, except for Yao Yi and Xie Shi who were standing beside him.

Xie Shi immediately offered to use his acupuncture skills to help Yuwen Tong recover himself, but Yuwen Tong refused to let him do that. “I got this. Some of the enemies on the opposite side are watching. If you do that, they’ll be able to confirm I’ve fallen victim to their trick.”

Xie Shi immediately stopped, but he still suggested apprehensively, “Maybe you should go back to the encampment first, Sire.”

Yuwen Tong shook his head. “I can’t do that.”

Xie Shi and Yao Yi exchanged a glance, both of them appearing quite concerned.

…

The attack stopped shortly after noon. This time around Chen Jing had invested a lot in the defense. He had had his men splash oil over the vertical surface of the ramparts, making it slippery and thus difficult to climb up. Also, if the enemy ignite the oil, the ramparts would be instantly turned into a sea of flames and the casualties would be quite heavy. Xiao Jiangyue, who had been directing the troops at the front, decided to withdraw the army and suspend the attack.

When the army of the Great Wen retreated, someone on the ramparts stared fixedly at the horse-drawn carriage Yuwen Tong was in, the look in his eyes laden with hate.

Yuwen Tong, after returning to the encampment, immediately went back to his tent, sat down and started performing Qi circulation in an effort to recover himself.

Xie Shi, Yao Yi and some others were standing guard around the tent, keeping their eyes peeled, not allowing anybody to enter. Xiao Jiangyue, Yuwen Jin and the others, all of whom had no idea what was going on, began to worry.

At this time, Ling Zhang had exited Jifang City. Between him and Yuwen Tong was now only one city, the suburbs of which were a battlefield where two armies had fought not long ago. An army of the Wan Kingdom was stationed in it.

Presently it was impossible for him to cross the city to get to the encampment of Yuwen Tong’s army. He had to detour around it.

Ling Zhang felt his heartbeat quicken as he approached the encampment. As he had to cover his tracks and had been on the run all the time, it had been several days since the last time he had received a message from Yuwen Tong. He wondered how Yuwen Tong had been doing.

He had received a letter Mr. Mu had written in reply to him. Mr. Mu had departed from the capital city and was on his way to the Wan Kingdom. Considering the time of his departure, he probably had arrived in Shengzhou by now.