The Glory After Rebirth [ɇÇ”Ÿä¹‹Å°Šè£] Chapter 199- 201

Chapter 199: A Provocation on the First Day of School

Early the next morning, Yuwen Jin came to pick up Ling Zhang and the two of them went to the Imperial College together.

In the carriage, apart from Ling Zhang and Yuwen Jin, there were also Yuwen Jin’s study-servant (a boy serving in someone’s study) and that of Ling Zhang. The latter was Miao Shiba, the youngest member of the squad of bodyguards of Yuwen Tong, who was thin and seemed to be fifteen or sixteen but was actually nineteen. He was also younger brother of Miao Shisan who accompanied Ling Zhang to the trading center to check the store on that day. Both of the two brothers were Yuwen Tong’s personal bodyguards.

Yuwen Tong had eighteen personal bodyguards in total, whom outsiders called “the Eighteen Guards”. Everyone of them was kung fu expert. When on the battleground, they were also valiant and well-trained soldiers. Currently there were fourteen of them around Yuwen Tong, the other four staying in border areas. They were also Yuwen Tong’s most trusted subordinates.

Since Ling Zhang was going to study in the Imperial College, Yuwen Tong had had Miao Shiba disguise himself as Ling Zhang’s study-servant to provide protection.

Miao Shiba looked even thinner than Ling Zhang, which was why even Yuwen Jin didn’t suspect his identity.

Students who had come to the capital city from other parts of the country to study in the Imperial College lived on campus. Those who were locals, in the normal course of events, would choose to live at home. As a result, when Ling Zhang and Yuwen Jin arrived at the Imperial College, there were a lot of horse-drawn carriages parked on the broad level ground in front of the gateway of the college. The time they arrived was still relatively late, so they had to hastily find a vacant lot and parked their carriage.

The two of them got out of their carriage. Before they came, they had changed into Confucian scholar’s robes which were the same as what other students were wearing, so they didn’t attract anybody’s attention.

Miao Shiba and Yuwen Jin’s study-servant named Changle closely followed in the wake of Ling Zhang and Yuwen Jin.

Right at this moment, there was a disturbance at the front gate. A gorgeous broad horse-drawn carriage drove up. There were some other resplendent horse-drawn carriages parked on the open space, but none of them was as magnificent as this one. Besides, this horse-drawn carriage was escorted by a team of guards, which was even more ostentatious than an official on his way to a court meeting.

“Pooh, will we never be rid of him?” Yuwen Jin’s face darkened as soon as his eye fell on that carriage.

After a brief moment’s pondering, Ling Zhang queried, “Jiang Yu?”

“Who else could be so flaunty other than him? This guy’s only too anxious to have the whole world know who he is,” sniffed Yuwen Jin.

That horse-drawn carriage came to a halt precisely at the gateway of the Imperial College, and the team of guards also blocked the path of students on the open space. Ling Zhang and Yuwen Jin, who had just got out of their carriage, hadn’t had the time to enter and thus their path was also blocked.

Ling Zhang observed that a lot of students hastened to make way for that carriage as they saw it. There were also some who specially walked closer to look on. Some others furrowed their brows at the sight of the horse-drawn carriage and then strode away without a backward glance.

“Those who made way were trying to avoid offending Jiang Yu or Jiang family; those who stepped closer to look on are either on good terms with Jiang family or want to curry favor with Jiang Yu; most of those who swaggered off are ill-disposed towards Jiang family.”

Yuwen Jin on the side, who noticed Ling Zhang’s gaze, explained the situation to him. So although this guy appeared quite naughty, he was also pretty observant.

Ling Zhang inclined his head and, along with Yuwen Jin, stood silently where they were, waiting, for they didn’t really have another choice…

There were many other students waiting not far away from the two of them, a group of whom happened to be standing on their left side; and Ling Zhang noticed that this group of students all seemed to dislike Jiang Yu, for they either had a frown or a sulky face, and they clustered around two students who seemed to be their leaders. The two seemed to be of similar height and weight, but one of them was handsome, and the other somewhat rugged.

“Those are Qian Qingchuan and Shi Changgen. Both of their families had sour relations with Jiang family, and they are on hostile terms with Jiang Yu,” Yuwen Jin gave another explanation.

Ling Zhang quickly matched the information he had heard with these two people and asked, “So one of them is a childe from the family of Qian Kang who’s Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Official Personnel Affairs, and the other a childe from the family of Shi Dongming who’s Assistant Minister of Taichang Temple (a department in charge of religious affairs)?”

Yuwen Jin looked at him in dismay. “You know them?”

‘It seems that I guessed right.’ Ling Zhang replied, “I just heard of them before.”

Yuwen Jin nodded. “That’s true. Qian Qingchuan is Qian Kang’s son. Shi Changgen is Shi Dongming’s grandson.”

Then he craned to Ling Zhang’s ear and informed him in a lowered voice, “Both Qian Kang and Shi Dongming are on friendly terms with Gu family. The Crown Prince’s mother is a member of Gu family. Back in that year, Gu shi, the Crown Prince’s mother, and Jiang shi, a lady from Jiang family, were married to His Majesty at the same time. Eventually, Gu shi became queen and Jiang shi died in the palace without bearing any children. It is widely rumored that Gu shi was the one who murdered Jiang shi. Anyway, after that, Gu family and Jiang family became deadly enemies, but both of them are kin to His Majesty. One of them is His Majesty’s uncle, and the other his father-in-law. In a word, Jiang family wouldn’t be able to get the best of their wrangle with Gu family nor vice versa. Their respective followers have also been in intense strife, so naturally Qian Qingchuan and Shi Changgen are on hostile terms with Jiang Yu.”

Ling Zhang, after hearing this, generally grasped the core of the situation and said, “Shi Changgen’s grandfather is the Assistant Minister of Taichang Temple, so that Professor Gu we met yesterday is…”

“He’s a member of Gu family as well, the Crown Prince’s mother’s uncle. According to the family hierarchy, he should be the Crown Prince’s maternal granduncle.” Yuwen Jin had a somewhat worried look on his face while talking about this man, which was a clear indication that the old man’s ruler inflicted some kind of psychological scar on him that day.

Ling Zhang couldn’t help but secretly sigh in sentiment, thinking, ‘It’s indeed too easy to meet children of dignitaries in the Imperial College. There are so-and-so’s so-and-so everywhere. Besides, speaking of the Crown Prince, this is my first time dealing with someone related to him.’

It was said that the Crown Prince, whose name was Zhou Mingtang, was ill and hadn’t shown his face in the imperial court for quite a long time, which was why he and Yuwen Tong hadn’t seen him after entering the capital city. Yuwen Tong had told him that, after the Crown Prince fell ill and the Sixth Prince was brought down, the balance of power in the imperial court had been through a quick realignment before the two of them entered the capital city, that the King Duan, the King Hui and the Fifth Prince – also known as the King Yu whose name was Zhou Mingyi – had formed a situation of tripartite confrontation. In order to have their own subordinates fill the vacancies left by the Sixth Prince’s followers, the three sides had been fighting each other intensely all along. Because of this, Yuwen Tong couldn’t even be bothered to attend the daily morning meeting in the imperial court and directly took a sick leave. He would rather stay at home than go there and watch their undignified quarrel.

“He’s getting out,” said Yuwen Jin.

Jiang Yu got out of his carriage, followed by a study-servant and two bodyguards. His horse-drawn carriage and the team of bodyguards left heading in the other direction. With that, the congestion at the front gate of the Imperial College was greatly eased.

All those waiting for Jiang Yu to get out of his carriage gathered around him, but Jiang Yu appeared quite bland.

“Pooh, putting on airs? I can do that as well. But I feel it’s tiring and boring to live the way he does. Do you agree with me, Zhang?” said Yuwen Jin.

Ling Zhang hesitated for a brief moment and then replied, “Yeah.”

From the time when Jiang Yu got out of his carriage until the current moment when he was surrounded by students, Yuwen Jin had whispered criticism of Jiang Yu in his ear several times, each of which had ended with a question. If Ling Zhang made no reply, he would ask again, showing great “perseverance”.

“Oh, Childe Jiang, look, aren’t those Qian Qingchuan and his errand boys? They have such unhappy faces at such an early hour, as if someone owed them eight hundred taels of silver and refused to repay the debt.” One of those clustering around Jiang Yu suddenly made this remark and with that all others’ eyes darted in this direction.

Ling Zhang and Yuwen Jin fell speechless.

“Yuwen Jin?” Someone recognized Yuwen Jin.

Abruptly all people nearby lapsed into silence and looked in this direction.

Ling Zhang couldn’t help but secretly suspect that Yuwen Jin had committed some heinous crime to arouse widespread indignation and discontent, which was why all people fixed their eyes on him immediately after they heard his name.

Yuwen Jin himself was also secretly startled. He glared at them. “What are you looking at? You’ve never seen anyone as handsome and elegant as me?”

On hearing this, a lot of people rolled their eyes upwards. As a matter of fact, it was not Yuwen Jin but Ling Zhang that they were interested in.

“So that’s Ling Zhang?”

“He’s quite plain-looking.”

Just like this, those students started either discussing Ling Zhang’s appearance or criticizing him from head to feet, and everyone of them ended their remarks with the same question asked in astonishment – “That’s Marshal Yuwen’s betrothed? The guy who caused the Ninth Princess to be sent to a temple, Peng Fang to be thrown into prison, and Yuwen Qi’s leg to be broken?”

All these people were discussing in very low tones, believing that Ling Zhang couldn’t hear them, but Ling Zhang’d hearing was now amazingly good and he could distinguish words of everyone present at the front gate of the Imperial College if he wanted to.

“I heard that yesterday Jiang Yu tried to stop Marshal Yuwen and was abused roundly on the spot by Ling Zhang. Professor Gu rejoiced over this and praised Ling Zhang up to the skies for his essay, as if only a god could write an essay like that.”

Ling Zhang’s face was full of embarrassment as he heard this. ‘It’s been merely one day, yet rumors have already grown so dramatic?’

“So you are Ling Zhang?” It was not Jiang Yu and his followers but Qian Qingchuan and his friends standing in front of them on their left who were the first ones to come up to the two of them.

“I’m Qian Qingchuan. He’s Shi Changgen. We’re both students of the Imperial College. Would you mind going in with us?” said the one at the front of the group, who was relatively well-featured.

“You’re nothing but two dogs of Gu family. Childe Jiang is still here. You are in no position to speak,” remarked someone among those clustering around Jiang Yu.

The speaker was the same person who had yelled “Aren’t those Qian Qingchuan and his errand boys?” and then Yuwen Jin’s name causing all others to fix their eyes on Ling Zhang.

“Yet another nuisance showed up,” observed Yuwen Jin in disgust.

“Who is he?” Ling Zhang looked at the speaker among the group, a somewhat cold expression in his eyes. Clearly this man was deliberately working against them.

That person standing among the crowd had thought that Ling Zhang wouldn’t be able to spot him, but unexpectedly, Ling Zhang suddenly stared squarely at him. His calm eyes seemed to be seeing right into his soul, which made him subconsciously tense his back muscles.

“Zuo Yuanping, son of Zuo Yi who works for the Ministry of Works. He’s Jiang Yu’s lackey, and his father is no better,” responded Yuwen Jin.

‘Zuo Yi working for the Ministry of Works?’ Ling Zhang immediately recalled the couple of officials who privately talked about him at the front gate of the imperial palace and, after being shot down by him, flushed scarlet and nearly passed out with fury. ‘It turns out that this Zuo Yuanping guy is Zuo Yi’s son. Now I know why he’s working against us.’

“This is so funny. Jiang Yu’s dog is barking. Look, Shi, he’s barking so happily. Pity he’s not speaking human language. Probably only his master can understand him. He’s indeed a good dog which is good at currying favor with its master.”

Qian Qingchuan and Shi Changgen standing on the side, whom Zuo Yuanping called dogs, had started swearing back at the other side. Both their reactions and their speed of speaking were very quick, which was an indication that these two opposing sides verbally dueled with each other quite often.

Ling Zhang fell speechless as he heard this.

He wondered whether it was too late or not for him to request the emperor to rescind his decision, feeling a trifle unaccustomed to this kind of “verbal morning exercises” of students of the Imperial College.

Chapter 200: A Confrontation with Jiang Yu

“Guard your tongue,” reprimanded someone among the group of people clustering around Jiang Yu.

“Surely you know very well who started this, don’t you?” sneered Qian Qingchuan.

Jiang Yu, with a frown on his face, raised his hand and said, “Enough. We’re at the front gate of the Imperial College. It’s undignified to quarrel here.”

Qian Qingchuan coldly gave a snort and made no further remarks, but he seemed just as hostile to Jiang Yu as he was to the others. Then he looked at Ling Zhang, softened his tone and asked, “Childe Ling, shall we?”

Surprisingly, Jiang Yu standing on the other side looked in this direction and also spoke. “Childe Ling, given that you’re new to the Imperial College, I suggest you be more cautious about your choice of friends. And you should bear in mind your identity. Your each and every move might affect the Marshal and even cause him trouble.”

As the main focus of attention, Ling Zhang merely replied with one sentence in a calm tone of voice, “Thank you for reminding me, Childe Jiang, but I’m fully aware of what I should do, so there’s no need for you to bother worrying about it.”

Jiang Yu furrowed his brows and fixed Ling Zhang with a stare. “Childe Ling seems to be a rather poor judge of character.”

Ling Zhang cast him a perplexed look. “I find your words confusing, Childe Jiang. If my memory serves me correctly, this is the first time that we’re talking with each other. We’re not really well acquainted, and neither do you know much about me, yet you precipitously put yourself in the position of my betrothed, laid comment on me and made this ungrounded charge against me. Don’t you think you overstepped the mark a little?”

“Tell me about it. Elder Brother Zhang is my cousin’s betrothed. Of course he’ll always take my cousin into consideration. You are so unreasonable, Jiang Yu. You sound as if you have the final say in my cousin’s business. From what standpoint are you saying this? What’s your intention?” Yuwen Jin questioned in a sarcastic manner.

After hearing this, others present had a subtle expression in their eyes when they looked at Jiang Yu, and Jiang Yu became the focus of all kinds of speculative gaze. They all knew about the engagement between Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong, feeling that this conduct of Jiang Yu’s was so strange. ‘Does he by any chance have feelings for Marshal Yuwen? If that’s the case, there would be high drama once again in the capital city,’ many of them thought.

Jiang Yu, born with a silver spoon in his mouth, was of noble blood. Never once had anybody fixed him with this kind of stare since he’d enrolled in this college. He felt as if he were stripped naked, as if his private thoughts had just been roughly pulled out of his mind and exposed to numerous prying eyes, leaving his heart filled with shame and anger. ‘Who are these people to affront me like this? They are just a bunch of lowly people who are too cheap to even hold shoes for me. Who do they think they are? How dare they look at me like that! They’ll pay for this!’

“Now I have no doubt you’re the one who shot down the Ninth Princess rendering her speechless and also made mincemeat of Lord Yuwen at the palace banquet. Today I saw with my own eyes how you can make black look white, and white look black, Childe Ling. No matter whether you believe it or not, I just gave you a reminder out of goodwill. Marshal Yuwen is a national hero of the Great Yue, and I said that because I didn’t have the heart to see him subjected to gratuitous abuse because of you. Now that you have no appreciation for my kindness, I have nothing else to say.”

After saying this, Jiang Yu turned around with the intention to leave, but Ling Zhang said in a deep tone, “Wait a moment.”

Jiang Yu paused, looked at him and asked flintily, “What else do you want to say?”

“You’re better with words than I am, Childe Jiang. The Ninth Princess is a noble member of the imperial family. No matter what happened in the past, as a subject of His Majesty, I should lay no more remark on her, but just now you said that I confused right and wrong. Were you suggesting that what happened and has already been confirmed previously by His Majesty was a mistake? If you have any evidence to prove it, I don’t mind accompanying you to the palace of His Majesty and make things clear. After all, this is not a small issue,” Ling Zhang said to Jiang Yu with his eyes on him.

Ling Zhang’s tone was sincere, and his countenance unhurried, but Jiang Yu’s face darkened, his eyes chilly.

Ling Zhang directly suggested the two of them confront each other in front of the emperor, which was a manifest indication that he was not afraid of getting into trouble. Of course Jiang Yu didn’t fear Ling Zhang, and neither did he fear to see the emperor, but if they went to the emperor and he couldn’t show any proof… And Ling Zhang’s bearing unmistakably indicated that he had something secure to rely on, and it was only too evident who his backer was. The more Jiang Yu thought about this, the sullener his face grew.

“Maybe you should be more careful with your words, Childe Ling. It’s okay that you have little acquaintance with the rules in this city, for you just came here not long ago, but an audience with His Majesty is not something you can have as you please.” Jiang Yu made this remark, turned around and hurriedly left. All those behind him followed in his wake. It was not that they were afraid of Ling Zhang but that they suddenly recalled what Ling Zhang had once done – or what he and Yuwen Tong, his backer, had done during the past half a month since their arrival in the capital city: even the Ninth Princess had been sent to the imperial temple; Peng Fang, the Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Works, had been imprisoned; and Yuwen Qi’s leg had been broken… After Ling Zhang arrived in the capital city, all issues involving him had led to serious consequences. Now even Jiang Yu had left, and these people believed it was inadvisable for them to confront Ling Zhang with toughness, given that they didn’t have powerful family background as the Ninth Princess did.

“Pooh, what a wimp. He got scared the moment you suggested the two of you confront each other before His Majesty.”

Yuwen Jin satirized Jiang Yu, enjoying this moment very much. Ever since he’d made an enemy of Jiang Yu, this had been the first time that he had seen Jiang Yu shot down. Instantly, he couldn’t help but idolize Ling Zhang madly. “Brother Zhang, you’re indeed worthy of my cousin, so badass.”

Ling Zhang flicked a calm look at him, but there was no triumphant delight on his face. ‘The reason why Jiang family has such high status and Jiang Yu has so many followers is the strength Jiang family represents. What happened today was merely a verbal confrontation, and it won’t cause Jiang Yu any losses, and neither will it shake the foundations of Jiang Yu’s position. Just now Jiang Yu chose to avoid further conflict because he thought highly of himself and didn’t want to lower himself by arguing with me. Now I’ve openly fallen out with Jiang Yu. In the future, the two of us will meet frequently in the College and there will inevitably be a lot more confrontations between us. Once Jiang Yu mobilizes the resources his family possesses to work against me, I might really get the worst of it, given that I have so few allies in this college.

It seems that those words of Yuwen Tong’s might turn out to be a prophecy. The reason why Yuwen Tong told me not to be afraid of getting into trouble was probably that he had anticipated this kind of situation and also prepared himself to back me up when I’m in need,’ thought Ling Zhang.

“Let’s go. We’ll be late if we don’t get inside right away,” Ling Zhang said.

At this time, Qian Qingchuan, Shi Changgen and some others, who had been waiting on the side all along, issued a second invitation. “Would you care to come along with us, Childe Ling?”

Ling Zhang looked in their direction. Though family members of both Qian Qingchuan and Shi Changgen served the Crown Prince, it didn’t mean that making friends with them was totally okay, but since the two of them had made overtures to him, he wouldn’t give them the cold shoulder for no reason.

The invitation from Qian Qingchuan and Shi Changgen was accepted. Ling Zhang, Yuwen Jin and their study-servants passed through the front gate of the Imperial College with them.

…

Although what happened at the front gate of the Imperial College were merely between students, since the identities of those involved – both Jiang Yu and Ling Zhang who had recently been in the limelight in this city – were uncommon, news of this matter was bound to spread through the whole city very soon.

Yuwen Tong, after hearing this, squinted his eyes.

Seeing this, Yao Yi and other bodyguards all didn’t dare to utter a word in the knowledge that Yuwen Tong was angry. In fact they were puzzled as to what Jiang family’s intention was either. ‘Why did they let that Jiang Yu guy pick on Childe Jiang?’

“Prepare the carriage.”

…

This was Ling Zhang’s first day of school in the Imperial College. From morning until noon, he had been the focus of attention all along, and there hadn’t been a single moment when his classmates were not whispering about him. Even the professor frequently glanced at him. He didn’t know why, but the professor, for several times, specially asked him to express his opinions. Fortunately, what they were learning on this day was not difficult, and the professor was fairly satisfied with his answers and didn’t pick on him.

Yuwen Jin sitting beside him, however, had been in misery the whole morning, as if the textbook were a book from heaven totally beyond his grasp. Every time the professor called Ling Zhang’s name, Yuwen Jin got terribly nervous as if he were the one asked, afraid that he would be the next. But maybe because the professor could tell that Yuwen Jin was never meant for college, he didn’t ask him to answer any questions or have him demonstrate the meaning of the expression “hem and haw”, so Yuwen Jin was greatly relieved.

Ling Zhang was somewhat confused about this. ‘Why people of the offshoot of Yuwen family are so insistent that Yuwen Jin study at this college?’

At noon, they had lunch in the Imperial College. People in the Ling Mansion and Yuwen Jin’s family had lunch delivered to Ling Zhang and Yuwen Jin respectively. The Imperial College was sited in an out-of-the-way area, and they would have to do everything in great haste if they went back home at lunch break. They still had classes to attend in the afternoon.

Just like this, he made it through his first day of school in the Imperial College. After the whole morning’s adjustment, in the afternoon Ling Zhang got used to both the gaze others gave him and those whispers. Because of this he had even learned to rehearse the pithy formula of the mental cultivation method of internal energy during class, which was helpful in concentrating his mind and ignoring those people.

In the afternoon, when students left, Yuwen Jin even heaved a sigh of relief. “Finally I can rid myself of those people’s gaze and finger-pointing.”

Although Yuwen Jin’s hearing was not as good as that of Ling Zhang and he couldn’t hear those people’s discussion, he had still been under great pressure after being constantly eyed and pointed at for a whole day.

Ling Zhang consoled him, “This is the first day. Things will get better.”

Yuwen Jin curled his lip. “I hope so. You’re far more poised than I am, Brother Zhang. You seemed totally unaffected by them.”

Surprisingly, when the two of them left, they encountered Jiang Yu and his followers once again, which made the two of them wonder whether it was true what they said that one couldn’t avoid one’s enemy. Faces of both sides went sullen as they met.

Ling Zhang took his eyes off them and continued walking forward, ignoring them.

“This is such bad luck. Will we never be rid of them?” remarked Yuwen Jin unhappily.

Ling Zhang replied, “The Imperial College is not as vast as it seems, and sometimes it can feel rather small. This won’t be the last time that we encounter them. If you get angry every time, you might not have any time for other things.”

Yuwen Jin responded, “That can’t be true. Please don’t jinx me, Brother Zhang. I really don’t want to encounter them too often.”

While talking, the two of them arrived at the gate of the College. As the two sides approached each other, students nearby who had noticed this all looked in this direction with various kinds of inexplicable expression in their eyes, anticipating what was going to happen.

Ling Zhang slightly furrowed his brows, feeling it rather annoying to be watched like a monkey by so many people.

Right at this moment there was another disturbance outside the front gate. It seemed as if some big shot had just arrived, and all students nearby fell into excited discussions with each other.

Ling Zhang distinguished their words and was sent into a brief trance of surprise. He hurriedly walked through the front gate and saw that there was a nondescript horse-drawn carriage parked outside, beside which a man was standing looking over the crowd at him.

Chapter 201: For a Beauty

It was Yuwen Tong. Ling Zhang had never expected that he would come. Apart from Ling Zhang, Jiang Yu and his followers also saw him and were amazed.

“Come here. What are you waiting for?” said Yuwen Tong right at this moment, eyes on Ling Zhang.

It had been merely a day since students of the Imperial College heard about Yuwen Tong’s arrival at this college the day before, and a lot of them regretted not having seen him with their own eyes, but unexpectedly they saw Yuwen Tong after only one day. Everyone of them was both delighted and perplexed. It was not until someone mentioned Ling Zhang that light suddenly dawned on them. At this moment they happened to see Ling Zhang walking out and also hear this remark of Yuwen Tong’s, so they all turned around to look at Ling Zhang.

Instantly Ling Zhang became the focus of attention once again. Though he had been in the limelight for a full day and was now able to retain his composure, he still felt somewhat embarrassed at this instant. The jealousy these students felt was manifest in their eyes.

Even Yuwen Jin had a somewhat different expression in his eyes when he looked at Ling Zhang. “It surprised me that my cousin came here to pick you up, and his voice was so tender. He indeed treats his betrothed differently, as I expected. I could barely believe that’s my cousin.”

Ling Zhang, “…”

He hastily walked up to Yuwen Tong, closely followed by Miao Shiba who had disguised himself as a study-servant (a boy serving in someone’s study in feudal China).

“Why are you here?”

“I came to take you home. Get in the carriage. Tonight we’re going to have dinner in the Taibai Tavern and after that we’ll go to the riverside to see ship-lanterns.”

Ling Zhang found having dinner in the Taibai Tavern understandable, but enjoying the scenery of ship-lanterns… ‘Why does Yuwen Tong suddenly want to see ship-lanterns tonight? Is there going to be some special event, by any chance?’ Ling Zhang didn’t give any more thought to this matter. Since Yuwen Tong had said they were going to see ship-lanterns, he wouldn’t refuse. He inclined his head and intended to get into the carriage.

“Marshal.”

Someone walked over and greeted Yuwen Tong. This voice was fairly familiar to Ling Zhang. After all, he had had a verbal duel with this person in the morning. He turned around and looked at him.

Jiang Yu had come over with his followers and directly walked up to Yuwen Tong. With a smile on his face, eyes on Yuwen Tong, he remarked, “It never crossed my mind that I’d see you again after merely one day, Marshal. Did you specially come here to pick up Childe Ling?”

“Anything I can do for you, Childe Jiang?”

The tenderness Yuwen Tong had on his face when facing Ling Zhang was replaced by a very bland look as he turned around.

Yuwen Tong’s countenance had changed very quick. In the knowledge that Yuwen Tong had such a gentle side, Jiang Yu appeared a trifle unreconciled to the situation as he saw the chilly face Yuwen Tong had when facing him. In the morning he had given Ling Zhang a contemptuous look during his confrontation with Ling Zhang, but now Jiang Yu found that peace of mind was far out of his reach on this occasion.

“Yesterday you were in a great haste and I didn’t have the chance to have a good talk with you. Just now I heard that you were going to the Taibai Tavern to have dinner. We happen to be going to the Taibai Tavern as well. I wonder, if I might ask, if we can go with you?”

“No.”

Yuwen Tong refused in a very categorical manner. Jiang Yu’s smile could barely hold. He couldn’t help but ask, “Why?”

Yuwen Tong suddenly gave an inexplicable smile and replied, “Younger Brother Zhang and I are going out together without anybody else’s company. Anyone with discerning eyes can understand what this means, I suppose? All of you are from noble families. How come you’re so unobservant as to impose? Did you spend too much time studying and go soft in the head?”

There was a deathly hush at the gateway.

“Pooh,” Yuwen Jin sneered without any considerations of Jiang Yu’s face whatsoever.

Jiang Yu’s countenance virtually stiffened. “I was being inconsiderate.”

Under no circumstances could Jiang Yu have expected that Yuwen Tong would put it so explicitly, which was why he had a quite embarrassed expression on his face at this moment, unable to extricate himself from this awkward situation. After making this remark in embarrassment, he backed off, his face darkening as his eyes swept across Ling Zhang who had been enjoying this scene on the side.

Yuwen Tong guided Ling Zhang into the carriage and then got in as well. Miao Shiba sat down beside the driver and with that the horse-drawn carriage slowly started progressing, heading away from the front gate of the Imperial College.

There was a variety of expressions on the faces of students at the gateway. Those standing behind Jiang Yu didn’t dare to look at Jiang Yu. In the morning these people had merely speculated about Jiang Yu’s intention, but now they had a vague idea of it, which left them even more afraid to say anything that might anger Jiang Yu.

It could be said that Jiang Yu was humiliated twice in a row on this day. Fists clenched, he stared fixedly at the receding horse-drawn carriage.

…

“Are there any special events going on at the riverside tonight?” asked Ling Zhang.

As Yuwen Tong looked at Ling Zhang’s innocent eyes, he came to know that Ling Zhang misunderstood, but clearly Ling Zhang hadn’t realized it, and Yuwen Tong didn’t want him to realize it, so he replied, “Sort of. There are many gaily-painted pleasure-ships and entertainment-ships by the riverside, and the night view’s going to be pretty good. We may see lanterns in a teahouse on the bank of the river and celebrate your first day of school in the Imperial College.”

The driver sitting outside and Miao Shiba exchanged glances. They both knew that there weren’t any gaily-painted pleasure-ships or entertainment-ships anchored at the riverside on this day. Those boats only parked there on the first day and the fifteenth day of every month, and this day was neither of them. But since the Marshal said that there were boats there, then there definitely were.

When the horse-drawn carriage arrived at the Taibai Tavern, Miao Shiba made an excuse and left. Ling Zhang didn’t pay any extra attention to this and directly went to a private room on the third floor of the Taibai Tavern with Yuwen Tong.

The Taibai Tavern’s reputation in the capital city was well-earned. Ling Zhang tasted an authentic Tanyang course in this place, which surprised him in a pleasant way.

“This is… The last time I came here, I just heard that their signature dishes were pretty famous. I didn’t know that they could prepare such authentic Tanyang dish as well.”

Ling Zhang was pleasantly surprised. It had been quite some time since he’d left Tanyang, and sometimes he missed local Tanyang dishes very much.

Seeing him enjoy the dish, Yuwen Tong said, “Culinary skills of the head chef of the Taibai Tavern are pretty good. He used to tour around the country and also stayed in Tanyang for some time, so he knows how to prepare Tanyang dishes.”

Ling Zhang was happy. He knew that Yuwen Tong must have specially had the chef of the Taibai Tavern prepare this. Since Yuwen Tong didn’t like it when he thanked him, Ling Zhang kept all this in mind.

“About that Jiang Yu guy, you can just ignore him. If he makes trouble for you again, tell him to come to me,” said Yuwen Tong.

Ling Zhang flicked a glance at him. ‘Tell Jiang Yu to go to you? How did you come up with this lousy idea? I would be a fool if I let Jiang Yu who clearly harbors some ulterior motive to meet my lover.’

“I’d appreciate it if you don’t go to the Imperial College to pick me up again.”

Yuwen Tong was somewhat unwilling and asked him why.

“I don’t want anybody with ulterior motives to hook up with you.”

On hearing this, Yuwen Tong instantly realized what was going on. It was very rare that Ling Zhang showed such ill-concealed jealousy. Yuwen Tong’s judgement was clouded by excitement and he nearly decided to pick Ling Zhang up every day. It was not until Ling Zhang saw through him and cast him a cold look that he promised he wouldn’t go to the Imperial College to pick him up unless there was a special circumstance. As regards what kind of circumstance could be deemed special, of course Yuwen Tong was the one to decide.

It took them over an hour to finish their dinner in the Taibai Tavern. After that, the two of them left for the riverside. When they arrived, night started to fall, and the originally quiet riverside was beginning to hum with life. A lot of gaily-painted pleasure-ships and entertainment-ships anchored by the bank. Ship-lanterns of every description were lighted, and the night view at the riverside was aglow with lantern light.

All other people seeing this were very confused, wondering, ‘Today is neither the first day nor the fifteen day of this month. Why the riverside is so uproarious?’ Gradually more and more people congregated on the bank. As the news spread, more were coming to enjoy the night scene.

It was at this moment that Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong arrived at the riverside, which was congested with people already. Due to the crowds, the two of them were unable to get a clear view of ship-lanterns. All they could see was a patch of bright light. Yuwen Tong took him to the private room that Miao Shiba had booked for them in advance, which was on the second floor of a teahouse on the bank of the river and was next to a spacious balustraded platform. In the ordinary course of things, on the first day or the fifteenth day of every month, rooms like this would be booked out quite some time beforehand, for many people wanted the best position to enjoy the night view on the river.

Standing beside the balustrade, watching the patch of gaily-painted pleasure-ships and entertainment-ships, Ling Zhang was awed by the prosperity of the capital city. There was no such night view in Tanyang.

Yuwen Tong standing behind him held him. “The night scene in border areas is also very beautiful. I’ll take you there to see it after we get married.”

Ling Zhang’s eyes lit up. He had always wanted to go to the border areas to take a look. After hearing Yuwen Tong’s words, he immediately agreed without hesitation.

Smiling, Yuwen Tong kissed him. The key point of what he’d just said was still the two of them getting married, which Ling Zhang didn’t contradict. Then Yuwen Tong recalled what Ling Zhang said in the restaurant in the west of the city the day before. At this moment, he felt fully satisfied and content and even spared a few moments to think about the fact that there were at least two days before people in Tanyang could receive his letter delivered by a courier pigeon. He couldn’t help but hope the courier pigeon would fly faster so that Ling Zhang’s uncle’s reply would come sooner.

“Had I known about this ship-lantern show beforehand, I would have reserved that room in the teahouse. What a pity.”

“Surely the owner of the teahouse would immediately spare the room for you if you tell him want it?”

“The owner said that he had an honored guest today, whom he couldn’t afford to offend. No matter how much money I offered, he just wouldn’t relent.”

“An honored guest he would rather offend you than offend? Who’s this person that carries so much weight?”

“The owner refused to tell me.”

…

Suddenly, a group of people walked past the doorway of the teahouse. In the bright lantern light from the riverside, the two of them saw that all those people were young childes, who were gorgeously clothed and of quite casual and elegant bearing. The sound of their voices wafted into ears of Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong on the second floor.

At first Ling Zhang, who only noticed them talking about the rooms of the teahouse, thought, ‘This is such a coincidence. They were the ones who booked all rooms in this teahouse.’ But after pondering for a while, he realized that something was not quite right. “Had I known about this ship-lantern show beforehand’… What did he mean by ‘beforehand’? Judging from their conversation, these people are regulars of this teahouse and come here to see ship-lantern shows quite often as well. They should know very well when a ship-lantern show will be held.’

“Is this kind of ship-lantern show a daily occurrence here or is it held on a regular basis?” Ling Zhang inquired of Yuwen Tong.

When Yuwen Tong had heard those childes’ words, he had known that Ling Zhang would ask about this. Having no intention of keeping the truth from Ling Zhang, he replied, “In the normal course of events, it’s held on the first day and the fifteenth day of every month.”

“Today is neither the first day nor the fifteenth day… Is this show the result of a snap decision?” Ling Zhang was puzzled. “Was there a particular reason for it?”

Yuwen Tong responded, “Yeah.”

Ling Zhang looked at him, waiting for his answer.

Yuwen Tong replied, “It’s held for a beauty.”

“A beauty?” Ling Zhang became interested. “What kind of beauty? Why didn’t the owner of this teahouse talk about it? Where is she?”

Yuwen Tong held him tighter, kissed him and said with a smile, “So close, yet so far away.”

Ling Zhang immediately looked down but didn’t see anyone who might be the beauty Yuwen Tong talked about. People down there were either enjoying the beauty of the ship-lanterns or walking by.

“Where? I didn’t see any beauties.” Ling Zhang was really curious.

Yuwen Tong, watching Ling Zhang in his arms who was restlessly trying to find the beauty and even had an anxious face, secretly snorted, pulled him into his embrace and remarked fiercely beside his ear, “Isn’t the beauty right in my arms? Why are you looking elsewhere?”