The Glory After Rebirth [ɇÇ”Ÿä¹‹Å°Šè£] Chapter 340- 342

Chapter 340: Abdication of the Throne

At the sight of the harassed-looking Right Prime Minister grabbing Yuwen Tong, Ling Zhang quietly backed away two paces and then unblushingly walked away, leaving Yuwen Tong in the lurch.

Yuwen Tong, “…”

The Right Prime Minister and some others immediately besieged Yuwen Tong for fear that he would leave as well. Yuwen Tong had no alternative but to invite them to his study to sit and talk. Thus, Ling Zhang successfully made good his escape.

Ling Zhang went to see his grandfather. Ji Yin, who had some time ago sensed his grandson’s arrival, was waiting for him.

“Grandfather.”

Ling Zhang walked up to Ji Yin, who looked at his grandson with penetrating eyes and immediately found that something about Ling Zhang was not quite right. “Your internal energy is not as powerful as before. You are hurt?”

Not having expected that his grandfather would perceive it at a glance, Ling Zhang had no choice but to honestly give Ji Yin an account of how he had accidentally drained himself of internal energy.

“The pill Yuwen Tong gave me worked like a charm. Grandfather, I think I’ll soon make a breakthrough and reach the third layer of the mental cultivation method.”

Ji Yin made no reply, reached out a hand to hold Ling Zhang’s wrist, carefully felt his pulse and then said, “It seems that that misfortune was a blessing in disguise. But your internal energy hasn’t been restored completely yet. Right now you need to recover your internal energy first before considering how to make a breakthrough.”

“I understand.”

“Where’s your father?”

“Yuwen Tong and I needed to come back as soon as possible, and we worried that my father wouldn’t be able to endure the weary journey, so we didn’t let him travel with us. It’ll probably take him another three to five days to arrive,” Ling Zhang explained and then inquired of Ji Yin, “Did anything particular happen during these days, Grandfather?”

“It’s been fairly peaceful. There hasn’t been anything requiring my personal intervention.”

Ling Zhang felt a faint sense of relief, happy to learn that everything was fine.

Ji Yin was not very interested in the matters in the borderlands. As the Wan Kingdom and the Luohai Kingdom had been defeated, what they should consider right now was Yuwen Tong’s enthronement.

“I wonder what that Yuwen boy is planning. He still hasn’t killed the two princes of the imperial household.”

Ling Zhang didn’t know any details about Yuwen Tong’s plan either, but he did know that the reason why Yuwen Tong spared the two princes’ lives must be because they would prove useful. Otherwise Yuwen Tong would have some time ago taken their lives.

“Have there been any accidents in the imperial palace, Grandfather?”

“No. Some trouble-makers tried to sneak in to rescue them. I took care of them.”

“Who tried to rescue Fang Quan and his allies? Were they related to any courtiers?”

“They were sellswords from Jiangzhou. Someone hired them to rescue those in the palace. We killed several batches of them before they stopped showing up.”

Surprised that the garrison of Jiangzhou were still unreconciled to the situation after the garrison of Shengzhou defeated them and forced them back to Jiangzhou, Ling Zhang slightly furrowed his brows.

“Those people are the least of our problems. I can take them apart with a flick of my finger. What we need to do right now is bury the old emperor’s body. His coffin has been in there for long enough.”

Had Ji Yin not mentioned this matter, Ling Zhang would probably forget that the old emperor’s body was still in the palace. After the old emperor’s death, they had been using ice to preserve his body. Currently, placed in the great hall of the imperial palace was a giant ice coffin, but no matter what, it had been in there for long enough.

Ling Zhang felt that the first thing they should do was probably hold a burial of the old emperor.

This was also the very matter that those in the study were discussing. The Right Prime Minister and all the others suggested they had the old emperor’s body delivered to the imperial mausoleum and buried as soon as possible.

“What’s the head star-watcher’s opinion? When is the nearest day suitable for a burial?” inquired Yuwen Tong.

“The day after tomorrow,” answered the Right Prime Minister immediately. He had done some research some time ago.

“The day after tomorrow it is.”

…

Two days later, the old emperor’s coffin was finally moved out of the imperial palace and sent to the imperial mausoleum to be buried. Previously the mausoleum had been under construction, but recently they had specially ordered the builders to speed it up and the project had been finished shortly before the burial of the emperor. Thus, the burial ceremony was handled without much trouble.

The old emperor buried, the enthronement of a new emperor became pressing.

…

Fang Quan and all the others who had attempted to rebel had been temporarily thrown into the Court Prison. The Eighth Prince and the Ninth Prince were still in the imperial palace.

The next day, word got out that the Eighth Prince had been enthroned. Right at the time when a lot of people were in astonishment, another extremely dramatic event occurred.

The Eighth Prince abdicated in favor of Yuwen Tong, the Supreme Commander of the armed forces.

After the imperial edict of abdication was released, everybody, both discerning ones and undiscerning ones, came to understand what was going on.

Of course, there were also some who were unreconciled to the situation, such as the garrison of Jiangzhou and the garrison stationed in the south-west, but naturally some people would make them shut their mouths, such as the garrison of Shengzhou and the garrisons He Xiao had united. On top of that, the whole north-west was completely under Yuwen Tong’s control, and all the uncertainties in and outside the imperial court had been taken care of. Yuwen Tong ascended the throne almost utterly unopposed.

The abdication ceremony turned out to be quite an occasion. When Yuwen Tong took the imperial edict of abdication with both hands, Ling Zhang was standing right by his side. From this moment on, Yuwen Tong’s identity changed thoroughly.

“I’m honored to kneel before you, Your Majesty. Hail to the emperor!”

The Right Prime Minister prostrated himself and with that civil officials and military officers of all descriptions followed suit, offering their congratulations to the new emperor.

Even at this moment, Ling Zhang still had a somewhat distant look in his eyes. Previously he had considered several possibilities, but it had never crossed his mind that this matter would be settled this way. Yuwen Tong became the new emperor just like this?

Yuwen Tong holding his hand, the two of them were standing shoulder to shoulder on a high platform. However, looking down at the scene in front of the platform, Ling Zhang felt that what was happening seemed to be somewhat unreal.

“What’s the matter?” asked Yuwen Tong under his breath, noticing that Ling Zhang’s mind was wandering.

Ling Zhang slightly shook his head. “I just haven’t got used to the change of your identity.”

Yuwen Tong smiled, “I’m not the only one whose identity has changed. Yours has changed as well.”

Ling Zhang looked at him in a stupor. Yuwen Tong firmly tightened his hold on his hand and said, “Soon we’ll get married, and you’ll be my consort.”

Ling Zhang’s eyes dilated with shock. Con–Consort?

For an instant Ling Zhang suspected that he was hallucinating. Then he abruptly had an astounding feeling that a sea change was really happening right in front of his eyes.

“Why do you look so shocked? You’ve never thought of any of this?” said Yuwen Tong.

Ling Zhang subconsciously shook his head. He had indeed never thought of any of this. Even at the time when Yuwen Tong had confided to him that he was planning to take the throne and become the emperor of this country, he had believed Yuwen Tong was just trying to help them survive. In his eyes, Yuwen Tong was still that marshal, and he was going to marry a marshal, not an emperor, but now he suddenly came to realize that things had changed, which was an overwhelming shock to him.

When Yuwen Tong had drawn him down the high platform, Ling Zhang still hadn’t come to himself.

“Although I’ve got the imperial edict of abdication and a proclamation has been made, we still have an official enthronement ceremony to prepare, and there are also a lot of other matters to attend to before that, so I won’t be able to find the time to go to the Ling Mansion any time soon. How about we move into the imperial palace and stay there for some days?”

Ling Zhang twisted his head aside to look at Yuwen Tong. “Move into the imperial palace?”

Yuwen Tong was still holding his hand, fixing him with an expectant gaze.

“Okay,” responded Ling Zhang.

…

“What do you think, Father-in-law? Yuwen Tong’s performance doesn’t strike you as disappointing, I suppose?”

In the Ling Mansion, Ling Zhaowu was playing chess with Ji Yin. The commotion outside was shattering the air, but the two of them were totally unaffected by it, sitting there unhurriedly, enjoying their game of chess.

“A man with the physiognomic attributes typical of a ruler could hardly do anything disappointing,” observed Ji Yin. “Otherwise the Clan Leader wouldn’t have pinned his faith on him.”

Ling Zhaowu smiled, “The Clan Leader will soon take action, right?”

Ji Yin replied, “I think so. Two days ago I received a letter from him, which said that he’d come to attend the enthronement ceremony and Zhang’er’s wedding.”

“I wonder how they are doing with the preparatory work in Tanyang. The wedding ceremony will be held right after the enthronement,” said Ling Zhaowu, a different expression finally appearing on his placid face.

Ji Yin replied, “I would’ve personally gone to Tanyang if it weren’t for the possibility of unexpected changes of the situation in this city.”

Ling Zhaowu said, “I cannot put you to the trouble of doing that, Father-in-law. I want to bring my father and little brother to this city first. When Zhang’er and Yuwen Tong get married, it’d be inappropriate for Yuwen Tong to go to Tanyang and escort Zhang’er back to the wedding, for it’s too far away.”

Ji Yin inclined his head. “Let’s do it this way – I’ll have Donglin and Chaofang take some men and go to Tanyang and then escort all of them back to the capital city.”

With Ji Donglin and Ji Chaofang protecting them, at least Ling Xingzhong’s and the others’ safety wouldn’t be a problem.

“There’s no point waiting. I’ll have them depart right away. As for you, given that you’ve just finished a long journey, you should sit this out. Right now nursing yourself back to health is the most important to you,” said Ji Yin.

Ling Zhaowu gave it some thought and then agreed, “Okay. Thank you, Father-in-law.”

Ji Yin moved a piece on the chessboard. “With you staying safe and sound, Zhang’er will naturally have more peace of mind.”

Ling Zhaowu gave a smile and looked at the chessboard, a faintly brooding expression in his eyes.

…

Before moving into the imperial palace, Ling Zhang returned to the Ling Mansion.

“Maternal Grandfather, Father, I want to have Wang Dashan and some others go back to Tanyang and escort my paternal grandfather and uncle here,” said Ling Zhang.

Apart from Yuwen Tong’s enthronement and their oncoming wedding, Ling Zhang’s worries about the safety of his family in Tanyang was also a reason why he wanted to do this. After all, some risks would never cease to exist unless Yuwen Tong acceded to the throne.

Ling Zhaowu said, “It’s been handled already. Your grandfather had Donglin and Chaofang take some men and go to Tanyang.”

Ling Zhang was very happy to hear that. “You two always outthink me, Father, Grandfather.”

Ling Zhaowu and Ji Yin both chuckled.

Ji Yin said, “With Donglin and Chaofang escorting them, you don’t have to worry about your paternal grandfather’s and uncle’s safety. That Yuwen boy will definitely be fully occupied for some time. What about you? Do you have any plans?”

Ling Zhang responded, “I’ll be keeping him company. Later I’ll pack a few things and bring them into the imperial palace. I’ll stay there with him.”

Ji Yin exchanged glances with Ling Zhaowu, who asked somewhat surprisedly, “You’re moving into the imperial palace?”

Seeing the astonishment on both their faces, Ling Zhang was worried that there was some kind of problem.

Ling Zhaowu said, “Well, it’s not really a serious problem. It’s just you two are not married yet. Although previously the two of you were living together, the place you were staying was the Ling Mansion. Now his identity is different, and numerous people are keeping watch on the imperial palace. If you move into the palace with him, you’ll become the focus of everybody’s attention, and it’s very likely that there will be malicious rumors.”

Ling Zhang’s forehead corrugated in a slight frown. In fact, he had thought about this on his way back, but he didn’t like the idea of leaving Yuwen Tong in the palace alone. There were not many things he could do for Yuwen Tong, but keeping him company was one of them.

“I’m not going to be bothered by rumors. What with my identity, there are probably rumors about me circulating out there right now, and they won’t stop even after I marry him, but I don’t really care. It’s not them that I live for. From the vantage point of the present, even if they have something to say about it, they’ll have to keep it to themselves.”

Both Ling Zhaowu and Ji Yin appeared calm, unsurprised at Ling Zhang’s decision.

“Then bring your bodyguards with you. They have learned how to deploy the formation that I deployed in this compound. Have them deploy one in your place and stay close to you whenever possible,” said Ji Yin.

Chapter 341: Busyness

Ling Zhang inclined his head. “I’ll bring them with me.”

With the imperial edict of abdication in hand, their first priority was to hold an enthronement ceremony. However, holding an enthronement ceremony was no easy job. There was a lot of preparatory work involved, including sending invitations to neighboring countries. Though they had decided to omit all the unnecessary formalities, there were still a lot of matters left to be dealt with. These things were keeping them so occupied that they frequently lost track of time.

Ling Zhang, along with his bodyguards, moved into the imperial palace with Yuwen Tong, planning to stay there for some days. A thousand crack troops that Yuwen Tong had brought back from the north-west, who were under the command of Yao Yi and some other personal bodyguards of Yuwen Tong’s, were overtly guarding the palace. Qi San, one of Yuwen Tong’s trusted subordinates, and the Shadow Battalion at his command, were guarding it covertly. The palace where Yuwen Tong and Ling Zhang were staying was under heavy security.

The palace they were temporarily staying in was called the Infinite Fortune Palace, which was the closest to the great consultation hall. Yuwen Tong had picked this palace because it’d be more convenient for him to deal with the many affairs that he was supposed to handle during the next few days.

After entering the palace with Ling Zhang, Wang Dashan and the other bodyguards deployed a formation around the Infinite Fortune Palace, which was riddled with smaller concealment formations and traps. Anybody who dared to approach the Infinite Fortune Palace without someone leading the way would fall victim.

…

Invitations had been sent to the Wan Kingdom, the Luohai Kingdom and the Fangcun Kingdom as a matter of urgency. Governors of the many prefectures, after receiving the messages, had all started making preparations for their journeys to the capital city. Garrisons of all prefectures had orders to stay where they were. In the capital city, staff members of various departments were mainly engaged in the preparatory work for Yuwen Tong’s enthronement. All other matters had been shelved.

There were quite some pressing issues that they needed to find solutions to before the enthronement: firstly, what to do with the Eighth Prince and the Ninth Prince, the two surviving members of the Zhou family, the former imperial household; secondly, how to reward the North-western Army for their meritorious service; thirdly, how to reward the garrison of Shengzhou; fourthly, how to punish the garrison of Jiangzhou; fifthly, the follow-up settlement of the issue of the rebel forces in Cangzhou; sixthly, the security of the capital city on the day of the enthronement ceremony; seventhly, the amnesties for prisoners at the enthronement; eighthly…

How to resolve these problems had to be decided before the enthronement, so that decrees could be issued one by one in an orderly fashion after the ceremony.

“The rebel forces in Cangzhou have been thoroughly overpowered. After the rebellion was suppressed, the General Zhongwu (AKA the General of Loyalty and Valor) adopted a conciliatory approach as you ordered him to. Keeping the situation in Cangzhou stable for a certain period of time won’t be a problem, but it usually takes a long time for a policy of conciliation to produce the desired effect, so we may have to show some patience. The best solution, I believe, is for Sire to grant amnesties to some criminals at your enthronement, treat the rebels leniently except for the leaders, and those who were originally common folk may be spared. And those miscellaneous taxes that could be abolished should be killed off. Also, we need to make sure those common folk get their paddy fields back after returning home, so that they could sustain their families.”

“The Right Prime Minister’s got a point. When the Zhou family were in charge, there were too many exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous levies imposed on people in this country. You should abolish as many of them as possible when you grant amnesties to prisoners. Our people have been under heavy burdens during the many years of war. We have to give them a respite so that they could restore their lives as soon as possible.”

“Sire, here is the list of taxes that we made previously. We consulted with each other and took the liberty of marking the taxes that we believe could be scrapped. Please go over it and make a decision, Sire.”

“This is a draft plan concerning the amnesties and conciliation aimed at the rebel forces and common folk in Cangzhou. Please look it over, Sire.”

“Here is a list of the vacant positions of responsibility in the imperial court, along with the several selection mechanisms that we came up with after some consultations. We don’t know whether you would find any of them feasible. Please go over it and make a decision, Sire.”

“Here are some proposals about the rewards for the service of the North-western Army and the garrison of Shengzhou. We don’t know which one is the most appropriate, so we list them all. Please go over them and make a decision.”

“Here are some suggestions about the punishment of the garrison of Jiangzhou…”

“This is a proposal about what to do with the Eighth Prince and the Ninth Prince…”

In the consultation hall, courtiers fell into heated discussion with each other. Staff members of the Ministry of Rites were burdened with all the preparatory work for the enthronement, and the courtiers were mainly consulting each other about the series of issues the solutions to which needed to be declared in the form of decrees at or immediately after the enthronement.

Ling Zhang’s original intention was to accompany Yuwen Tong to the hall to take a look, but the very sight of the tall stack of pamphlets on the desk gave him headaches, and those were just drafts. Yuwen Tong had to first read them all and then finalize them. Ling Zhang had a sneaking suspicion that instead of a day or two, Yuwen Tong might not be able to extricate himself from this consultation hall for ten days or even half a month.

Yuwen Tong had just come back from the north-west where he risked life and limb fighting enemies, and now things had taken a turn for the worse – even a breather seemed to be a luxury for him.

Was the throne really worth all this?

He was rather inexperienced in this regard, so there was very little he could do to help… Ling Zhang looked at those pamphlets, appearing daunted. When he had just entered the hall, he had quite positively thought that he needed to find someone to teach him how to deal with these things so that he could share Yuwen Tong’s burden, but now, he silently twisted his head aside, pretending not to have seen the pamphlets, stealthily edging his butt sideways, intending to slink away.

Suddenly, a hand was pressed onto his thigh. Yuwen Tong, without the slightest change of his countenance, was still talking with some courtiers, but his hand beneath the desk had tightly gripped Ling Zhang, keeping him from slipping away.

Ling Zhang, “…”

They were sitting at the front of the hall, and if he made any particular movements, everybody present would easily notice, so he didn’t dare struggle and could only secretly use his hand to try to free his thigh from Yuwen Tong’s grip.

Yuwen Tong’s grip was very firm and wouldn’t slacken no matter how hard Ling Zhang tried. After he made another couple of unsuccessful attempts, Yuwen Tong flipped his hand and grabbed Ling Zhang’s, holding it tight, rendering him unable to make any small movements with it.

The courtiers in front of the desk were still in discussion and their voices were pretty loud. Feeling that those people couldn’t hear him, Ling Zhang said in a hushed voice, “Let me get out of here.”

“No. You have to stay here with me. It’s an ordeal listening to these people’s constant babble, and I wouldn’t be able to keep myself sitting here if you’re not by my side. Besides, you should feel lucky that I’m not asking you to make decisions. How could you try to slip away and leave me in the lurch?” breathed Yuwen Tong, his lips moving unnoticeably, pretending to be attentively listening to the courtiers.

“This is an ordeal for me, too. There are literally stars dancing before my eyes,” implored Ling Zhang in a quiet voice. In the beginning he had been able to force himself to patiently hear these people out and analyze those state affairs, pondering what he would do if he was the one to make decisions, but afterward, issues had come up one after another and his mind had been overloaded. Right now, not only was he having headaches, he could barely breathe.

“Even if you’re seeing stars, you’re still not going anywhere. If you dare flee, your dinner will be utterly vegetarian.” Yuwen Tong had no sympathy for him whatsoever.

Ling Zhang, “…”

He vexedly wavered over whether to have a vegetarian dinner or to stay and endure the dizzy spells. The misery caused by a vegetarian dinner would only last one night and he believed he could tough it out, but sitting here for a whole day…

“I’ll go with the vegetarian dinner.”

Yuwen Tong, “…”

Finally, he couldn’t help but turn his head aside to look at Ling Zhang. “There will be roasted meat tonight.”

Ling Zhang secretly swallowed hard. “I–I can resist the temptation.”

At this time, one of the courtiers in heated discussion observed that Yuwen Tong wasn’t listening, looked in this direction and called, “Sire?”

Ling Zhang sprang to his feet and smiled at the crowd, “Excuse me, but I need to answer the call of nature. Please continue, Your Lordships.”

The corners of Yuwen Tong’s mouth twitched. Ling Zhang had already said in the presence of all these courtiers that he needed to answer the call of nature, so he had no choice but to let Ling Zhang go. Before loosening his grip, he heavily scratched Ling Zhang’s palm.

Ling Zhang withdrew his hand, rubbed his palm against the small of his back to ease the pain and then, with an apologetic smile on his face, strode away and quickly disappeared from view.

After Ling Zhang left, Yuwen Tong’s face hardened somewhat. The mild and calm expression that had been there just now disappeared, which made him appear much more serious. “Go on,” he said.

Seeing this, all the others were rather perturbed, wondering whether they had just said something wrong or something had happened. Anyway, they became more cautious than they had been a moment ago, and their voices were lower.

Meanwhile, Ling Zhang, after walking out of the consultation hall, heaved a long relieved sigh. The bracing air outside refreshed him considerably.

“Being an emperor is so…” he mumbled, holding back the latter half of his sentence.

Never mind. Given how far they had already gone, there was no way he would chicken out at this point in time. Besides… it was not him who had to deal with all those memorials to the throne.

Though feeling faintly sorry for Yuwen Tong, Ling Zhang still decisively made up his mind that he was not going back to the consultation hall.

…

Since the Ministry of Rites had been put in charge of all the preparatory work for the enthronement, Yuwen Feng, as the Assistant Minister of Rites, naturally had been working off his feet. Previously he had been placed under house arrest by Yuwen Zhi and Yuwen Qi. Afterward, Yuwen Zhi and Fang Quan had been imprisoned, and right now Yuwen Qi was also under house arrest. Yuwen Feng, after being set free, had taken a few days off. And then Yuwen Tong had returned to the capital city and had Yuwen Feng returned to the Ministry of Rites to work.

Yuwen Feng looked a lot thinner than before and rarely smiled. What with the overtime he’d worked during the past couple of days, he had got dark shadows under his eyes.

When Ling Zhang met Yuwen Feng, the latter was walking inside in a hurry, seeming to be heading for the consultation hall to report something. Seeing how Yuwen Feng looked, Ling Zhang slightly frowned.

Yuwen Feng, who also spotted Ling Zhang, briefly paused in surprise and then walked up to him and greeted him. Ling Zhang folded his hands in front in response, but Yuwen Feng hurriedly twisted aside and said, “I don’t deserve this.”

“Is there anything in the Ministry of Rites that I could help with? I could tell that you haven’t slept for days,” said Ling Zhang.

Yuwen Feng was fleetingly surprised and then caught on to it. “We don’t have much time before the enthronement and there’s a lot of preparatory work to do. We have drafted in some men to help as a matter of urgency, but currently the political situation is still fairly unstable, and all other departments are working flat out as well and could hardly spare any men for us, so I have to personally deal with some of the matters, which is why I’ve been busy, but overall, I’m handling it.”

Ling Zhang said, “Well, that’s exactly why I should come to your help.”

Young Feng said, “The wedding ceremony is right after the enthronement, and you’ll soon get busy as well, Childe Ling. The Ministry of Rites will probably send someone to contact you in just a couple of days, so I appreciate your kind offer, but I really can’t put you to the trouble.”

Seeing Yuwen Feng was putting it so politely, Ling Zhang came to know that even if the Ministry of Rites did need his help, Yuwen Feng still wouldn’t ask him, so he didn’t insist. “You seem in a hurry. I guess you probably have something to report. I’ll let you get on with it. After you, Childe Feng.”

Yuwen Feng gave a smile, inclined his head and then made towards the consultation hall.

Ling Zhang stood there for a while and then pivoted around and left. Right now he didn’t have the time to deal with the matter of the Yuwen family, but sooner or later he’d have to settle it.

Chapter 342: A Glimpse of the Past

Ling Zhang had just returned to the Infinite Fortune Palace when a white ball of fur jumped at him. Quick of eye and deft of hand, he immediately caught the ball and gave it a couple of strokes. “Haven’t I told you enough times? Don’t suddenly jump at me like this. Look at your paws. They’re so dirty. Where the hell have you been messing around?”

Whitie the fox, who had grown a little bigger, gave a soft cry, placed his two front paws onto Ling Zhang’s shoulder and instantly climbed onto it. Crouching on his shoulder, Whitie rubbed himself against Ling Zhang’s cheek.

Ling Zhang raised his hand and patted Whitie’s little head. “Okay, okay, that’s enough. I have to go outside the palace in a few moments.”

Whitie let out a howl and started acting cute, crying in a faintly urgent way, as though requesting Ling Zhang to take him out of the palace.

Ling Zhang glanced at the paw prints of dirt on his clothes and said, “Later I’ll bathe you, and I’ll take you out if you promise me you’ll behave yourself.”

Whitie hastily gave a cry, rubbing himself against Ling Zhang.

Seeing that he agreed, Ling Zhang returned with Whitie on his shoulder and changed, and then, accompanied by Wang Dashan and some others, left the palace and went back to the Ling Mansion.

He came back to this place because there was something he needed to consult with Ling Zhaowu about, something about the drugstore.

Ling Zhang had a drugstore in his name in the west of the city, but he planned to secretly establish a network which consists of drugstores, variety stores, etc. He wanted to open stores in the capital city, Cangzhou, Jiangzhou, Tanyang, Haizhou, Youzhou, Shengzhou, Jingzhou, the south-west, even the Wan Kingdom, the Luohai Kingdom and the Fangcun Kingdom, speculatively reselling medicinal herbs and all kinds of sundry goods. He also intended to build trade caravans the routes of which would gradually cover all the four countries, covertly collecting intelligence in the name of commercial activities.

It would be an intelligence network of his own, independent of any force.

Soon his identity would be different. Not only was he going to gain a foothold, he would also help Yuwen Tong, which meant that an intelligence network was a must.

But this intelligence network must not be under his name. He couldn’t overtly ran this network. It had to be set up by stealth. Originally Ling Zhang had thought that he wouldn’t be able to get a chance to talk about this plan with anybody any time soon, but unexpectedly, Ling Zhaowu stated that he could make it happen.

“As for the drugstore in the west of the city, you’ve publicly shown your face in that place, so everybody out there knows you’re the proprietor. In order to weaken people’s impression of this and blur their images of you as a merchant, you may pick a time and openly transfer that drugstore to the Ling family. And then, after a year or two, people’s attention would shift away from the drugstore, and they’ll gradually stop linking you with any trading activity. Both opening new stores and building caravans could be performed covertly. On the surface, this network will have nothing to do with you or the Ling family, but it will be under your de facto control. There’s not much I can do for you, but helping you establish a commercial network covering the four countries’ territories is within my power,” observed Ling Zhaowu.

“Father…” Ling Zhang was astonished at these words of Ling Zhaowu’s, because Ling Zhaowu appeared very poised and confident while saying this, and to his knowledge, his father didn’t really have the required skill set or aptitude in this regard.

“If you have any misgivings, you may wait for a few days and see how things develop before making a decision,” said Ling Zhaowu. Seeing the quizzical and confused expression on Ling Zhang’s face, he didn’t gave any explanations and just said that he would prove it through action.

“I’m not doubting you, Father. I’m just quite surprised,” said Ling Zhang. “You’ve never told us anything about you engaging in trade, and as far as we know, you’ve never been in business before, but I believe right now you’re telling the truth. There’s something between the two that strikes me as contradictory and puzzling. Can you explain it to me, Father?”

Ling Zhaowu kept silent for a few moments, looking at Ling Zhang, a distant and faintly significant expression in his eyes. “This question has been in your mind for quite some time, I suppose?”

Ling Zhang inclined his head and explicitly expressed his thoughts.

Ling Zhaowu began, “Of course, the version of me you know was never a businessman. Just like you, I’ve been keeping secrets, too. Your grandfather and your uncle watched you grow up, but they don’t really know everything about you. What I’ve been keeping back from you is the same as what you’ve been keeping back from them.”

Ling Zhang started and instantly sprang to his feet, gaping at Ling Zhaowu in shock, his mind racing feverishly, all the questions that he had been having since he’d found Ling Zhaowu exploding in his head.

How had his father come to know about his uncle’s son when he had been in a coma for over ten years and nobody had ever told him about it?

Why had his father cared so much about that “dream” which he’d mentioned to his uncle, and had that inscrutable expression on his face when asking about it?

Why had his father been acting like an entirely different person since he’d woken up, someone poised and unhurried and not bigoted at all as though nothing could surprise him, someone who could quickly get the key points of so many matters as if he had years of experience in them when in fact he should’ve never had any acquaintance with any of them?

Why was his father utterly unsurprised at the fact that Yuwen Tong was about to succeed in taking the throne? And why was he, who was clearly just a commoner, not in awe of the imperial authority or enormous wealth at all and instead appearing apathetic about it?

Why had his father from time to time forgotten about him being a common person and acted like he were a kung fu expert before the long coma?

Apart from these, there were also some other details. These questions had accumulated one by one in Ling Zhang’s head, and he frequently had this feeling that a flash of inspiration crossed his mind, that he was about to fathom something out, but all the times he had been disappointed. In fact, it hadn’t been because the flash of inspiration slipped away but because he subconsciously felt that this conjecture was too absurd to be true. That kind of thing happening to him alone had struck him as incredible and astounding, and until this day, he still occasionally suspected that he was living in a dream. How was it possible that his father had also been through the same thing?

“I know it is very difficult for you to believe this to be true, because it was for me. Being able to see you alive again has been a godsend for me. I don’t dare ask for anything more. I’ll do everything I can to keep you safe, whatever the cost may be,” said Ling Zhaowu.

Ling Zhang was thunderstruck for a long moment and then these words of Ling Zhaowu’s jogged him back to his senses. He gave a sudden start, slumped back into his seat and gaped squarely at Ling Zhaowu. “Father, you… Why did you… Is this a dream or reality?”

“Reality,” replied Ling Zhaowu, fixing him with a look, a gentle and affectionate gleam in his eyes which was so full of fatherly love as though it would spill out of them. “This is undoubtedly a miracle.”

Ling Zhang was unable to speak for a long time. Then his eyes quickly reddened, stinging from tears, and his throat slightly moved. An aggrieved feeling hidden fathoms deep which even he himself didn’t know about surged up and flooded over him. He was sad, incredulous and aggrieved, lips pressed tightly together.

Ling Zhaowu could tell what kind of indescribable grievances Ling Zhang was nursing. Being gazed by his son’s reddish and stubborn eyes which were glinting surprisedly and delightedly, Ling Zhaowu for an instant had trouble breathing, and his eyes inevitably reddened as well. In a deep voice, he said, “I failed you, Zhang’er.”

On hearing this, Ling Zhang twisted his head aside to look away and blinked his eyes several times. His back was still straight but the overwhelming emotions inside him were on the verge of getting out of control. “I don’t understand. What is going on exactly?”

Ling Zhaowu responded heavily, “I don’t know either. I can guess the reason why it happened to you, but I don’t have a clue why it happened to me. I thought that my life of misery and self-accusation was finally coming to an end, but unexpectedly, I was given a second life. When it came to my knowledge that you’d been through the same thing, I didn’t dare tell you about it, because it hadn’t been easy for me to see you again, who was safe and sound, and I feared that you might hate me and leave me, but I didn’t dare keep it back from you for too long either. If I was to do something for you, I would inevitably rouse your suspicions, which was something I had to face up to. Right now all I ask is that you give me a chance to do something for you.”

Ling Zhang remained silent for quite a while, his mouth a thin line. Then he inquired, “Where were you when it happened?”

Ling Zhaowu, who knew what he was referring to, recalled, “I was still in a coma. It was half a year after… after that thing happened that I came to. Your grandfather besought the Clan Leader, got the miracle drug and healed my injury. Then he and I left the mountains and returned to Tanyang…”

Ling Zhaowu’s voice gradually grew low, deep and pained as he related his experiences. “I’m not supposed to recollect those things in detail. Also, now is not the right time to give you a blow-by-blow account of what happened. I’ll tell you everything after you and Yuwen Tong get married and the political situation stabilizes.”

Ling Zhang raised no objections. He just asked one last question. “Did those people die?”

“They died. All of them.” Ling Zhaowu’s tone fell apathetic and disgusted.

“I’m glad to hear that,” said Ling Zhang. There was something in his mind that had been bothering him all this time. Although he had been reborn and changed the fate of the Ling family, what he had experienced in his last incarnation was also real. Who would mete out punishment to those foes of his who had lived in his past?

But now Ling Zhaowu told him that all those people were dead, which gladdened his heart.

“I think your marriage with Yuwen Tong is probably preordained. He’s a nice guy. I could relax safe in the knowledge that you’re with him,” Ling Zhaowu suddenly said.

Ling Zhang looked at him, bemusement in his eyes.

“I was comatose for half a year and missed a lot of things. When I and your grandfather returned to Tanyang, Zhang Chong and those people of the Jia family had already died. They’d died at Yuwen Tong’s hands,” confided Ling Zhaowu, eyes on Ling Zhang.

Ling Zhang looked at him in astonishment. “How come?”

“As far as I know, at that time he was in the north-west, and it was Zhang Chong’s rising in rebellion that attracted his attention. Your paternal grandfather once did the Yuwen family a favor, so he looked into the matter of Tanyang. Afterward, Zhang Chong and those people of the Jia family all died at his hands. He disowned all other members of the Yuwen family, stayed in a border city and never went back to the capital city. The emperor tried to have him killed several times and threatened him with Yuwen Zhi’s death, but he was indifferent. Yuwen Zhi died during a political struggle between princes. All his family were incriminated and died as well. Yuwen Tong stayed in the north-west defending the border and never married, and the emperor didn’t dare do anything about it. The north-west was under his sole dominion. Before my death, the north-west was in peace, but I don’t know what happened afterward,” responded Ling Zhaowu.

For quite a while, Ling Zhang remained silent, unable to recover himself from shock.

“It seems you and Yuwen Tong were predestined to be together. As long as you two stay safe, I’ll have nothing more to ask for,” said Ling Zhaowu.

Ling Zhang slightly lowered his head, his eyes burning. It was a long moment before he collected his thoughts and said, “I–I want to go back to the palace.”