The Glory After Rebirth [ɇÇ”Ÿä¹‹Å°Šè£] Chapter 304- 306

Chapter 304: Petrifying Aftermath

“What’s going on?!” ranted the King Yu.

When their clothes caught fire, people within the ring of encirclement, regardless of which side they were on, were all seized by panic and tried madly to put out the fire on them, unable to defend themselves against the enemies’ sabers. The situation was one of utmost disarray, clashes of weapons and burning soldiers’ cries for help resounding around the whole battlefield. Roaring flames surrounded the two armies, pressing on towards them from all sides continuously.

The besiegers were waiting outside the inferno, killing everyone on sight who made it out of the fire.

Standing in the distance, Ling Zhang watched this scene, deeply astounded, wondering where this third army was from.

At this moment, Yuwen Tong returned, carrying the comatose emperor with him. He flicked a gauging look at the battleground and said, “They’re the other half of the Palace Guards.”

Ling Zhang’s eyes dilated. “Aren’t these people under the command of the Gu family? They have orders from the King Yu to defend the imperial palace. Why are them–”

“Clearly the Gu family have turned their coats,” observed Yuwen Tong.

Ling Zhang was amazed.

“Actually this is a good thing for us. It’ll spare us a lot of trouble,” remarked Yuwen Tong flintily, watching the ongoing fight.

‘The mantis stalking the cicada might fall prey to the siskin following in its wake’, as the saying goes. “People of the Gu family are going to be the biggest winner in the end?” asked Ling Zhang.

“They won’t. The emperor is still breathing. I’ve already instructed Yue Qi to inform the Northern City Garrison Battalion and have them enter the city to defend the imperial palace. Now we need to send the emperor back to the palace,” said Yuwen Tong.

Ling Zhang tossed the unconscious emperor a glance, his face taking on a disgusted expression. “Didn’t you say that we couldn’t let him go back unharmed?”

Yuwen Tong lifted his eyebrows. “How do you know he’s unharmed?”

Ling Zhang looked at Yuwen Tong, who leaned over and gave him a kiss. “I’m going back. You stay here and keep watch. Yao Yi will be back in a little while. Keep yourself hidden.”

Ling Zhang inclined his head. “I’ll be careful.”

Yuwen Tong gave a nod and then left with the emperor on his shoulder. Predictably, before long Yao Yi showed up. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and glanced at the mounting sea of flames. “It seems that we’ve got them all in one fell swoop.”

After a few moments, Xie Shi and Miao Shiba also arrived. The three of them crouched on boughs of trees around Ling Zhang, observing the situation on the battlefield.

This battle caused extremely heavy casualties. Hardly any soldiers of the King Duan’s or the King Yu’s army survived. They were either killed by weapons of the opposing side or burned to death or slaughtered after breaking through the ring of encirclement.

The King Yu also managed to make it out of the inferno and came to realize what was going on at the sight of the other half of the Palace Guards. When his eyes fell on the member of the Gu family in command, he was almost reduced to vomiting blood from fury. “The Gu family actually stooped to back-stabbing?!”

“Winner takes all. You should know this better than anyone, shouldn’t you, Your Highness?” clucked that member of the Gu family, and then at a single motion of his hand, the King Yu and the couple of others who had just struggled out of the sea of fire were ringed. “Kill them.”

…

Before dawn, the fire slowly went out. The air was heavy with fetor, corpses lying higgledy-piggledy right and left.

That member of the Gu family in command had a small group of palace guards stay and clean the battlefield, and then led the others back to the capital city.

He thought that this was a triumphant return, that he would be welcomed as a victorious leader. However, when the city gates came into sight in the distance, he found that they were tightly shut and heavily guarded by soldiers – soldiers of the Northern City Garrison Battalion…

His eyes widened with incredulity. “This can’t be happening!”

“Restrain them!”

At the command of the vice commander of the Northern City Garrison Battalion standing behind the parapet on the city gates, the palace guards led by the member of the Gu family were surrounded.

…

On this day, though it was already late in the morning, residents of the capital city still didn’t dare open their doors to go outside.

The sound of fighting had lasted a whole night, and the entire city was pervaded by the lingering, horrifying smell of blood mixed with stench of charred corpses which was being carried over by the wind.

In the imperial palace, the emperor was lying in bed, breathing feebly. The medication given by court physicians was the sole reason why he hadn’t kicked the bucket yet.

“I hereby stri–strip Zhou Mingyuan of his title of nobility… relegate him to a commoner. He is to be executed, and his body is to be thrown to the mass grave…”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“The Gu family are rebels… All of them are to be beheaded… The sentence is to be carried out tomorrow…”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

All was chaos and confusion in the capital city. All those that had joined the King Duan or the Gu family in the rebellion were without exception condemned to death and confiscation of all their property. They were all beheaded the next day, blood flowing the execution ground like water. Dark clouds gathered in the sky above the capital city and didn’t dissipate for several days, residents in the city consumed with horror and as silent as cicadas in late autumn.

Thus, all adult princes of the Great Yue were dead – even Zhou Mingshen the Sixth Prince under house arrest had quietly died the night the rebellion had broken out, and nobody knew how.

The emperor was at his last gasp, medication keeping him from walking through the gates of death; half of the courtiers had been executed for their involvement in the insurrection mounted by the Gu family; the uprising in Cangzhou still hadn’t been suppressed. What with civil strife, the Great Yue was in great peril.

All the other princes were not yet of age, and Yuwen Tong suddenly appeared in the imperial court.

Surprisingly, in this moment of nationwide panic, officials who were at a loss what to do regained their composure at the sight of Yuwen Tong in the imperial court.

In a quick and effective fashion, Yuwen Tong took temporary command of the Northern City Garrison Battalion, and at his command, the garrison eliminated all remaining threats in and outside the capital city, stabilizing the disordered situation.

He didn’t have the authority to detach the Northern City Garrison Battalion, so a lot of courtiers raised objections to it, including Yuwen Zhi.

However, to these courtiers’ surprise, the ones in favor of it outnumbered them. Previously, all these people had been neutralists, but at this crucial juncture, they actually played a very important role. Among them were the Right Prime Minister, the Minister of War and Yuwen Feng of the Ministry of Rites, to name but three.

Those courtiers looked at Yuwen Tong, stupefied. It hadn’t occurred to any of them that this seemingly isolated marshal actually had so many people at his back!

This came as a shock to all the forces behind the underage princes, who had rejoiced to see the succession of deaths of adult princes and the series of downfall of high-ranking officials and aristocratic families.

The emperor had three underage princes in total, including the one in the cold palace. Even the eldest of them was only ten years old, and the youngest of them two.

…

“Although you’re a marshal, you cannot detach the Northern City Garrison Battalion without His Majesty’s authorization,” huffed Yuwen Zhi, glowering at Yuwen Tong.

“Father.” Yuwen Feng stepped up, intending to stop his father.

But Yuwen Tong raised his hand to signal Yuwen Feng to quiet, walked up to Yuwen Zhi and said, “Then who do you think has the authority to do that? The deceased King Duan? Or…”

His eyes performed a flick in the direction of the imperial harem and then moved back onto Yuwen Zhi, boring into him.

Yuwen Zhi gave a start of terror. “You–!”

“Pull back, Uncle, before it is too late.”

Yuwen Zhi clenched his teeth, glaring at Yuwen Tong fixedly.

A serious incident happened on that very night. There was a fire in the cold palace. What with the high temperature and a several-day dry spell, the fire actually raged out of the cold palace and burnt some nearby palaces to the ground, taking a couple of lives overnight.

Yuwen Zhi, after being informed of this, sat motionlessly in his chair for a long time, tightening his grip on the armrests until his knuckles were white. “Yuwen Tong!”

In the imperial bedchamber.

“Someone come here… Someone come here…”

It was after the emperor called for quite a while that an eunuch walked inside. “How can I help you, Your Majesty?”

“Where’s Wang Lubao?”

“Gonggong Wang (Gonggong is a respectful form of address for an old, high-ranking eunuch) fell over and broke his leg last night. He’s lying in bed nursing his wound.”

“What about Zhang Xi? Te–Tell Zhang Xi to come in,” said the emperor haltingly, having a hard job finishing his sentence.

Zhang Xi walked inside. “You want to see me, Your Majesty?”

“How… is everything going… out there?”

Zhang Xi filled the emperor in on what had happened outside. The latter’s eyes dilated with shock at his words, a muffled sound emanating from his throat. After quite a while, seeing that his eyes were involuntarily rolling upwards, Zhang Xi swiftly walked up, heavily pressed a finger onto the emperor’s philtrum and then stuck a couple of needles into several of the emperor’s acupoints, and with that the emperor caught his breath and slowly relaxed. Then he stared at Zhang Xi watchfully and asked, “Ho–How come you have medical skills?”

Zhang Xi smiled, “I always do. You just didn’t know about it, Your Majesty.”

The emperor sensed that something was not right. “Ge–Get out. Tell Dou He to come in!”

“Dou He was not cautious enough when battling the fire with his men last night and died there.”

The emperor began to panic. “Then ge–get me Zhu Xiang!”

“Zhu Xiang is dead as well, Your Majesty. Don’t you remember? A few days ago, he made a careless mistake and you personally gave the order to drag him out and flog him to death. He was beaten to death right outside this palace, and his blood was all over the ground.”

The emperor eyed Zhang Xi menacingly. “Then bring me someone else!”

“It won’t make any difference, Your Majesty. I’ve been serving you so many years. If you need anything, all you have to do is ask. I’ll handle everything properly for you.”

The emperor raised his tremulous hand to point at him. “Who pla–planted you here exactly?!”

Zhang Xi beamed, “I’m afraid I don’t quite understand you, Your Majesty. I’ve been your servant for so many years. How could you not know this?”

“Yo–You!” The emperor rolled his eyes upwards in spite of himself and fainted.

Zhang Xi stepped up to check. After feeling the emperor’s pulse, he felt slightly relieved and muttered, “I was nearly scared to death. I thought he died just like that.”

…

It was several days before the foul odor of blood in the air in the capital city gradually dissipated. As almost all members of the City Patrol and the Palace Guards had ended up dead during the fighting between the King Duan and the King Yu that night, soldiers of the Northern City Garrison Battalion stepped into the breach, patrolling streets in the city, and public order was slowly restored, the panic among citizens alleviated.

The Western City Garrison Battalion and the Eastern City Garrison Battalion, which used to do the King Duan’s and the King Yu’s bidding respectively, had also perished during that battle, while almost all troops of the Southern Gate Garrison Battalion had gone to Cangzhou with Dai Cheng. As a result, currently, Yuwen Tong virtually had the whole city under his control.

People who perceived this slowly came to realize what it meant, all of them breaking out in a cold sweat. However, for several days running, Yuwen Tong was merely in charge of the city security and the palace security and never interfered in any other state affairs, and neither did he take any other action. Many people were baffled, wondering what Yuwen Tong was thinking exactly.

Right at this time, a dispatch from Cangzhou was delivered to the capital city, which said that the rebel army had taken a couple of cities in the south of Cangzhou, that the insurrection was gaining momentum, and Dai Cheng had been wounded during a battle, so the suppression of the Cangzhou rebellion was almost in the sole charge of his deputy who was standing in for him.

“How did it come to this?!” Courtiers began to get flustered. Cangzhou was very close to the capital city, and the garrison in the latter was evidently short-handed and wouldn’t be able to stop the insurrectionary army from breaking into the city if they came up to attack. The capital city was in danger!

“Send reinforcements there immediately!”

Chapter 305: The Issue of Cangzhou

“That’s easy for you to say. Yanzhou is the closest to Cangzhou, but the garrison there is also the army closest to the capital city. If the Yanzhou garrison is detached there and something happens in this city, they would never be able to make it back here in time.”

“Then who do you suggest we send? Yanzhou and the capital city are the only two cities near Cangzhou. Currently there are not enough troops in the latter, which means we either have Yanzhou send backup or watch the Cangzhou uprising get out of control!”

These people directly started quarreling with each other at the court meeting. Half of them advocated detaching Yanzhou garrison to Cangzhou, while the other half believed Yanzhou garrison should stay put.

“His Majesty is still in a coma. If we don’t figure out a way to tackle the issue of Cangzhou right away, I’m afraid before long we are going to have some serious problems,” Zhao Zheng the Minister of War observed and then looked at Yuwen Tong. “What do you think, Marshal?”

On hearing his remarks, all the others at the meeting fell silent and shifted their gaze to Yuwen Tong.

Previously, Yuwen Tong had never expressed his opinions on this kind of matters, and most courtiers were uncertain of his position. Now that Zhao Zheng was asking Yuwen Tong about it, they immediately quieted down, intending to hear what Yuwen Tong would answer.

“Right now the Northern City Garrison Battalion is the only security force stationed in the capital city. They are not only guarding the imperial palace and city gates but also patrolling streets, despite the fact that they’re badly short-handed. If any foreign enemies launch an attack on this city, we might not be able to defend against it, so the garrison in this city must not be drafted elsewhere.

Sending the military presence in Yanzhou is feasible. Yanzhou is the closest to Cangzhou. If we don’t quash the rebellion in Cangzhou, sooner or later it will spill over to Yanzhou, so we must dispatch Yanzhou garrison there. It’s just that there are two problems facing us.”

Those against detaching the garrison in Yanzhou were just about to speak when the Right Prime Minister and Zhao Zheng started talking.

“You’ve got a point, Marshal. The issue of Cangzhou is of utmost urgency. Once General Dai fails to hold back those rioters, it would be the capital city rather than Yanzhou that’d be in the gravest peril. Given the severity of the incident that happened here a few days ago, we can’t say for sure that it hasn’t come to the knowledge of leaders of the rebel army. If by any chance they decide to attack this city, it’d be very difficult for us to defend against them with the men we have at our disposal, and we’d be forced to draft the garrisons in other cities here. Since drafting security forces in other cities is inevitable, we might as well launch a pre-emptive strike instead of deploying defense. Finishing the insurrectionary army once and for all is the only way to ensure long-time security.”

These words rendered those courtiers speechless. After all, the capital city was now indeed quite vulnerable and in dire danger.

“May I ask what the two problems are, Marshal?”

After they quieted down, Yuwen Tong continued, “The first one is that we need His Majesty’s authorization to detach the army in Yanzhou. As you all know, His Majesty passed out this morning and still hasn’t come to yet. According to the director of the imperial hospital, his prognosis is rather gloomy, which means how to get his authorization is going to be a problem. The second one is that the commander of the garrison in Yanzhou is no less incompetent than Dai Cheng. If he leads the garrison to Cangzhou to back up Dai Cheng, I’m afraid the only thing he would be doing there is get his men killed by the rebel force for nothing.”

“Uh…”

“Aside from that, we don’t really know how the situation in Cangzhou is specifically, and neither do any of us know the real reason why Dai Chen got hurt, or any details about the insurrectionary army. The intelligence reports from Cangzhou are somewhat vague and ambiguous. I worry that the rebel army is not the only problem in Cangzhou – there might have been some changes in the garrison of Cangzhou, so the leader of the reinforcements must be someone having enough authority to have the officers toe the line.”

After hearing Yuwen Tong’s words, many courtiers at the meeting broke out in a cold sweat. There’d been some changes in the garrison of Cangzhou?

Then the capital city… Was the capital city still safe?

What with the spate of unforeseen events that had happened in the capital city recently, these courtiers were all like frightened birds and had no sense of security whatsoever.

“I volunteer for the mission.” Someone suddenly stepped up. It was the General Zhongwu (AKA the General of Loyalty and Valor) who was already in his fifties.

All courtiers’ eyes flashed in his direction. Yuwen Tong also looked at the General Zhongwu and gave a smile. “I was just about to suggest you.”

On hearing this remark of Yuwen Tong’s, the courtiers came to know that the General Zhongwu being the commander of the reinforcements sent to Cangzhou was now a sure thing.

Someone proposed Yuwen Tong be the leader, but the Right Prime Minister and Zhao Zheng objected to it and the proposer had to give up.

“Now that we’ve got a commander, the only thing we need is His Majesty’s authorization. Which one of Your Lordships is willing to talk to His Majesty about it?” said Yuwen Tong after his eyes swept across everybody present.

“I’ll go. Lord Zhao, Lord Liu, how about you two go with me?”

“It’d be a pleasure, Right Prime Minister.”

Currently, all civil officials were looking to the Right Prime Minister for leadership. Owing to the attempted usurpation, half of the courtiers had been executed, and the emperor was unconscious. None of the vacancies in the imperial court had been filled, so the court seemed rather empty and bleak, and not many of the courtiers were competent enough to help improve the situation.

The Right Prime Minister, accompanied by the Minister of War and the Assistant Minister of Revenue, paid a visit to the imperial bedchamber. When they walked out, all their faces clouded over with deep apprehension.

“Wha–What happened, Your Lordships? Did you get His Majesty’s authorization?”

“His Majesty is still comatose, and a court physician said that His Majesty probably… didn’t have much time left. He’s been relying heavily on medication to keep himself alive, and now I’m afraid it won’t be long before he breathes his last.”

At this juncture?! Everybody at the court meeting exclaimed in shock, their hearts sinking so low that they felt as though the bottoms had dropped out of their stomachs.

“The Ministry of Rites… has got to start making preparations.”

“I see,” the Minister of Rites answered and then exchanged glances with Yuwen Feng.

“What should we do now? Without His Majesty’s authorization, nobody could detach the garrison in Yanzhou.” Now everybody came to realize that the issue had got tricky.

Subconsciously, these people shifted their gaze to Yuwen Tong, who hadn’t shown a single sign of alarm and had been unhurried and collected all along from the very beginning. As though he was their “stability anchor”, they all started to depend on him in spite of themselves.

“Are there any other adult members of the imperial clan?” Yuwen Tong looked at the Right Prime Minister.

The Right Prime Minister looked back at him, made a slight bow and replied, “Only an uncle of His Majesty’s. He’s in his nineties and has been lying in bed to nurse his illness since last year. Also, his mind is not very clear. He frequently mistakes people for others and has a memory like a sieve. It’s very inadvisable to put him in charge.”

There had originally been more members in the imperial clan, but because of the emperor’s suspicious mind and his sudden changes of mood lately, he had had almost all of them executed on various pretexts. Just a few days ago, an imperial member involved in the King Duan’s attempted usurpation was beheaded.

As things stood, to put it simply, the two underage princes were the only candidates.

When almost everybody was at their wits’ end, someone stepped up and suggested, “We might as well have the Eighth Prince make the decision.”

“The Eighth Prince is only ten. What could he possibly do to help?”

“But what choice do we have? The Great Yue has reached a point where its very existence is at stake!”

“Faugh! The way I see it, you’re just doing this for your own gain. Everybody knows you’re the Eighth Prince’s grandfather.”

“You–!”

“That’s enough,” said Yuwen Tong flintily.

The hall fell silent again.

“Let’s invite the Eighth Prince to this meeting.”

With his back to the others, the Right Prime Minister looked up at Yuwen Tong, puzzlement in his eyes.

Yuwen Tong’s countenance remained unchanged. After giving it some thought, the Right Prime Minister said, “Okay, then. Let’s hear what the Eighth Prince has to say.”

Aside from anything else, the Eighth Prince was just an underage prince. His mother hadn’t been in the emperor’s good graces for many years, and his mother’s family wasn’t very powerful. He himself used to be under the shadows of his many big brothers, striking people as rather weak.

When he entered the hall, his face was still a little pale. His eyes raked the courtiers and then moved to Yuwen Tong, and with that he walked up and said, “Marshal.”

“It’s an honor to meet you, Your Highness,” said Yuwen Tong.

After the Right Prime Minister briefed the Eighth Prince on what was at issue, the latter paled even further and also appeared somewhat scared. “But… I don’t have a clue how to deal with this kind of thing, and neither can I right an imperial edict.”

“The Right Prime Minister will draft the imperial edict for you. All you have to do is stamp the imperial seal on it,” observed Yuwen Tong.

“The imperial seal?” The Eighth Prince was flustered.

The others also looked at Yuwen Tong. “Marshal, it’s inappropriate for anybody other than His Majesty to touch the Privy Seal, isn’t it?”

“How about you find us a better way of solving this tricky problem?” Yuwen Tong looked at him.

Unconvinced as the speaker was, he had no choice but to shut his mouth.

After all, the Right Prime Minister and the couple of ministers raised no objections to this. Given that all the top-ranking courtiers were keeping silent, he felt that as an inferior official, he’d better keep his mouth shut.

The Right Prime Minister drafted an imperial edict, and then the Eighth Prince was brought to the imperial bedchamber. When they exited it, the imperial edict in the Right Prime Minister’s hand bore the imperial seal.

The General Zhongwu took the imperial edict and left.

All courtiers in the hall raised their hands to wipe the sweat from their foreheads, feeling that the circumstances in which things had gone at this meeting were rather suspicious, but they were also fully aware that at this point in time, there was no way to look into the details.

They had found a solution to the issue of Cangzhou, but it meant that there would be no garrison left in any of the cities near the capital…

…

In the Ling Mansion.

“Have some rest. Are you hungry? They’ll serve lunch soon,” said Ling Zhang, proffering Yuwen Tong a cup of tea.

Yuwen Tong took it, drank the cup of tea in one gulp, exhaled deeply and replied, “The garrison of Yanzhou were detached. Barring accidents, they’ll be able to hold back the rebel army in Cangzhou for some time.”

“How’s everything going in Cangzhou exactly?” asked Ling Zhang.

“Dai Cheng is wounded. Wang Cai took advantage of the opportunity and took command of half of the army. Troops are not happy about it, but there’s nothing they could do, because he’s got an imperial edict. On top of that, Wang Cai did a lot of things behind Dai Cheng’s back that the rioters found provocative, which was the very cause of the turmoil that happened afterwards,” said Yuwen Tong.

“Surely it won’t get out of hand?” Ling Zhang was worried.

“The General Zhongwu has set out for Cangzhou, so there’s nothing to worry about. He’s far more capable than Dai Cheng,” observed Yuwen Tong.

“He is? But I have barely heard of him,” said Ling Zhang.

“That’s because you don’t know that he used to be my father’s comrade-in-arms and they performed some wartime exploits together. It’s just that after I achieved fame, the emperor transferred him back to the capital city to let him live out his life in retirement,” said Yuwen Tong.

Ling Zhang’s eyes dilated with astonishment. “Are you saying that he’s actually an old acquaintance of yours?”

Yuwen Tong inclined his head. “I’ll tell you more about it another time. Anyway, with him being in Cangzhou, the situation will be stabilized. From the vantage point of the present, the emperor wouldn’t last long. In all likelihood, he’ll kick the bucket in a day or two, and when he does, news will soon spread through the whole country, and troublemakers will emerge from all sides. I’ve already taken adequate preparations in the south, but the north… is the most part.”

Ling Zhang’s brows were furrowed at these words. He had a lot of questions to ask, but…

“Then what do we do? The emperor’s death will leave the imperial court leaderless. It’s very likely that the Eighth Prince will be enthroned by the courtiers, right?”

“Currently, there is but one person whose words carry weight with the imperial court.”

“Who is it?”

Yuwen Tong looked at him. “Me, of course. Who else could it be?”

Chapter 306: What’s Your Plan?

Tanyang.

It had been quite a few days since Ling Zhang had returned to the capital city. News about the political turbulence happening in the capital city had been reaching the Ling family’s ears one piece after another. All members of the family were worried about Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong both of whom were in the capital city. Even the joy brought by Mr. Mu’s confirming Fu Caiwei’s pregnancy two days before didn’t last long.

“Don’t concern yourself. Nothing’s going to happen to Zhang’er. Your first priority is to make sure you and our unborn baby stay healthy. Zhang’er will definitely be very happy when he receives the letter in the capital city.”

At night, after returning to his bedroom, Ling Zhaowen consoled his wife.

Fu Caiwei said, “I know. It’s just that disturbing messages have been coming from the capital city one after another, and they really scare me.”

“The poison in Yuwen Tong has already been detoxified. With him by Zhang’er’s side, everything will be fine,” remarked Ling Zhaowen.

Ever since Fu Caiwei had married into the Ling family, she had been dutifully managing household affairs all these years. It had been her who took care of Ling Zhang when he was young and watched him grow up. Ling Zhang was almost like a son to her. As she grew older, she sometimes treated Ling Zhang as her biological son. Right now, since Ling Zhang was in a faraway, troubled city, she naturally was in deep apprehension.

“Alas, speaking of the Yuwen family, there have been so many twists and turns. I really don’t know if we did the right thing by insisting that Zhang’er marry Yuwen Tong,” said Fu Caiwei.

Ling Zhaowen also recalled what Ling Zhang had said to him in the bamboo grove on that day, but his calm face remained unchanged. “Relax. These troubles are transient. Yuwen Tong is a reliable man. I’m sure he’ll be able to rid himself of the predicament and get out of the jaws of danger.”

“I hope you’re right,” said Fu Caiwei. “Tomorrow, our big brother is going to depart for the capital city with Mr. Ji and the others. You and your father will have more to worry about. Having been your wife for so many years, I know you well. Right now you’re actually in deeper concern than I am.”

Ling Zhaowen smiled, “I can keep no secret from you.”

The two of them held each other’s hands, giving each other strength to ease their minds.

…

In Ling Zhang’s courtyard house.

After being cured of his illness, Ling Zhaowu had been living in this place all along. Maybe because he wanted to make up for the lost time with his son, during his stay in this house, he had trodden every inch of the ground, read the books in the study that Ling Zhang had read, including the remarks made by him, seen his drawings and calligraphy, and also asked the servants responsible for maintaining this house about a lot of trivial details, all of which he then had lodged in his mind.

According to the original plan, he should have left for the capital city by now, because Mr. Mu had told him that he would be in a fit state to travel half a month after his recovery. It had been owing to a letter from the capital city that he delayed the departure. Ling Zhaowen had covertly left the residential compound and returned with a secret letter, which he’d given to Ling Zhaowu, telling him to bring it to the capital city and deliver it to Yuwen Tong. Though having some speculations, Ling Zhaowu had taken it and put it in a safe place without asking any questions.

“You still haven’t gone to sleep, Big Brother?” Ling Zhaowen walked into the room.

Ling Zhaowu looked at him. “Why did you come here at such a late hour instead of sleeping?”

“I knew you were probably still awake, so I came here to check on you,” replied Ling Zhaowen.

The two brothers walked up to the teapoy and sat down. Ling Zhaowu said, “I’ve just recovered and should stay at home taking care of our father, but instead I’m leaving again, and you’ll have to continue shouldering all the family responsibilities. I’m being so unfair to you.”

Ling Zhaowen said, “Don’t say that, Big Brother. There’s no need for us to be so clear about these things. We’re brothers, remember? Besides, it’s for Zhang’er’s sake that you’re leaving for the capital city. Right now, our whole family are worried about the situation in the capital city. If it weren’t for the fact that our father is old and I’m otherwise engaged, both of us would go with you. You and Mr. Ji being in the capital city would more or less spare us some worry. At least I’d know that if there’s some kind of trouble, you would surely bring Zhang’er out of the capital city safely.”

Ling Zhaowu reached out his hand to pat Ling Zhaowen’s shoulder. “I overthought it. You’ve been taking care of Zhang’er since he was a boy. In terms of worries about his safety, you have no less than I do.”

Ling Zhaowen said, “We’ll be able to live together as a family after all this is over, Big Brother, and some day we’ll all go to the capital city to attend Zhang’er’s wedding. Although our father is old, he would definitely be there as well, so you and Zhang’er must stay safe and take good care of yourselves in the capital city.”

“I know. We will,” said Ling Zhaowu.

…

The next morning, in the side hall of the Ling family, all members were present. Ling Zhaowu, Ji Yin, Mr. Mu, Ji Donglin and Ji Chaofang were going to set off for the capital city after breakfast.

The family quietly finished breakfast and had a few moments’ rest, and then it was time for Ling Zhaowu, Ji Yin and the others to depart.

“In-law, I know you’re a wonder and have amazing powers. Please keep Zhang’er safe in the capital city,” Ling Xingzhong said to Ji Yin.

“Don’t worry, In-law. I’ll make sure Zhang’er comes to no harm,” replied Ji Yin.

Ling Xingzhong gave a nod, personally saw them to the front gates with other members of the family and watched as they rode off.

After quite a while, the horses and the riders were all out of sight.

“Let’s go back, Father,” said Ling Zhaowen.

Ling Xingzhong softly let out a sigh, pivoted around and walked back into the compound.

…

In the local yamen.

“Have Ling Zhaowu and the others left?”

“Yes, they just departed. After exiting the city, they started riding hell-for-leather. At that speed, they’ll get to the capital city in less than seven days.”

Tao Feng thought for a while and said, “Has the letter to my son been sent?”

“Yes. The messenger set out early this morning.”

Tao Feng heaved a sigh. “I hope he’ll listen to reason. Nobody could have foreseen that the situation in the capital city would take so many drastic turns in such a short time. Things are different now, and if he doesn’t stay away from Ling Zhang, I’m afraid sooner or later he’ll get himself in trouble.”

“Master, there haven’t been any messages from the capital city for quite a few days. Nobody knows how things are going there. Should we be worried about Young Master’s safety?”

Tao Feng had an apprehensive face. “With the old lord’s protection, his life wouldn’t be in danger as long as he’s not stupid enough to get involved in any perilous things.”

But Tao Feng was still worried about Tao Yi. After all, the situation in the capital city struck him as rather strange. Given that it’d been quite a long time since the last time he’d received a message from the capital city, there was no doubt that something serious had happened.

…

In the capital city.

Ling Zhang was still unaware that his father had set off for the capital city. So far, there hadn’t been any other unexpected occurrences in the imperial court. The General Zhongwu (AKA the General of Loyalty and Valor) had received the imperial edict this morning and left the capital city in the afternoon, heading for Cangzhou.

Yuwen Tong had told him that the situation in the imperial court was under his control, but Ling Zhang was still concerned.

After all, the emperor was still breathing, along with his two sons. This matter would remain full of uncertainty unless the imperial household of the Great Yue were exterminated.

However, Yuwen Tong said, “There’s no need to wipe them out. It won’t do me any good if they’re all dead. Even if we are to exterminate them, it’d be inadvisable to do it in these circumstances.”

Ling Zhang looked at him. “Is it because you have some other plans?”

Yuwen Tong replied, “Yeah. Barring accidents, this matter will be settled in a simpler way.”

Before Ling Zhang could ask him how this matter could be settled in a simpler way, Yuwen Tong was informed that his presence was requested in the imperial court and immediately left.

Watching Yuwen Tong leaving in haste, Ling Zhang tensed again, somewhat worried that something unforeseen had happened.

In a side hall of the imperial palace, courtiers had gathered to consult with each other.

“Marshal, there’s been another aggravation of His Majesty’s condition. I’m afraid he only has two days left,” said the Right Prime Minister.

A moment ago, a court physician had come in great haste and given the courtiers a report. Having been expecting this for some time, the courtiers were not really panic-stricken, but once the emperor died, the rule of the imperial household of the Great Yue would come to an end, and currently, all troops in the capital city were from the Northern City Garrison Battalion and, worryingly, were under Yuwen Tong’s sole command, which meant that the life of everybody in this city was at the mercy of Yuwen Tong, so they all wanted to know whether or not Yuwen Tong had the intention of taking the throne.

“How’s the Ministry of Rites doing with the preparatory work?” Yuwen Tong looked at Yuwen Feng the Assistant Minister of Rites.

The Minister of Rites was fully occupied, and Yuwen Feng had been called in as a matter of urgency.

“We’ve been working day and night trying to get it done. Two days is rather short notice, but I think we’ll be able to manage it. The problem is that there are some parts requiring a lot of money. We prodded he Ministry of Revenue twice but they didn’t allocate any money to us,” said Yuwen Feng, looking back at Yuwen Tong. Though having shadows under his eyes owing to the hectic, sleepless nights, he still appeared composed.

Yuwen Tong shifted his gaze to officials of the Ministry of Revenue, all of whom gave a start. Previously they had never felt it this way, but now they suddenly discovered that Yuwen Tong’s seemingly bland gaze was actually even scarier than the emperor’s piercing eyes…

“Marshal, it’s not that we’re keeping the money back. The tru–truth is, the Ministry of Revenue doesn’t have much money left. Currently, the army is still trying to suppress the rebellion in Cangzhou. In addition, the reinforcements have departed, so extra provisions have to be delivered there immediately. Given that there might be an emergency, we don’t dare use what’s left of the exchequer.”

Countenance remaining unchanged, Yuwen Tong asked Yuwen Feng how much money the Ministry of Rites needed. Yuwen Feng gave a number.

Then Yuwen Tong asked the Ministry of Revenue how much money they had left. The latter also gave a number.

Yuwen Tong instructed, “The Ministry of Revenue is to ditch all the non-essential needs and then give me another number. The Ministry of Revenue is to allocate as much money as possible to the funeral plan. This has to be settled by dusk. We don’t need any dead weight at this point.”

Yuwen Feng was the first to promise he’d finish the job on time. The Minister of Revenue stole an upward glance at Yuwen Tong and then also hurriedly undertook that he’d do his part.

After these two people hastily took their leave to start working on their respective tasks, there weren’t many people left in the side hall.

The Right Prime Minister said to Yuwen Tong, “Marshal, I’m afraid there will be social unrest in our country after His Majesty leaves us. May I ask if you have made any preparations?”

This question of the Right Prime Minister’s was quite delicate. Several courtiers glanced at him, and one of them opened his mouth and was about to say something but eventually held back the words on the tip of his tongue.

The Right Prime Minister was presently the head of civil officials. As the imperial clan was now almost non-existent except in name, and the two princes were still young, and all powerful families and forces in the capital city had been uprooted, the Right Prime Minister was the pillar of the imperial court, and what he should do was gather all courtiers to figure out a countermeasure, but surprisingly, instead of doing that, he directly asked Yuwen Tong whether he’d made any preparations. The undertone in it was only too obvious.

Yuwen Tong’s eyes slowly raked the faces of the people present and then he said, “As things stand, there are indeed several matters worth extra attention. Maybe Your Lordships should consult with each other.”

The Right Prime Minister was slightly surprised. And then, as though having come to understand something, he twisted his head around and said to the others, “So, may I ask what you have in mind, Your Lordships?”

All the others kept silent.

Them consulting with each other? They would like to do that, but the problem was that their lives and family possessions were now in Yuwen Tong’s hands. How were they supposed to consult with each other in these circumstances?

Zhao Zheng the Minister of War, however, began, “The Wan Kingdom and the Luohai Kingdom both border the Great Yue. There’s no telling what action they might take after the unrest in our country comes to their knowledge, so our army in the north-west has to get ready for all possibilities. Aside from that, in the south…”