The Glory After Rebirth [ɇÇ”Ÿä¹‹Å°Šè£] Chapter 388- 390

Chapter 388: A Visit from Friends

Nobody in the Ling family cared about what kind of speculations people were making. All their efforts were concentrated on the preparations for Ling Zhang’s wedding.

Everybody was taken aback when they learned that Ji Yin planned to include some manuals of long-lost skills of the Millennium Pavilion as part of Ling Zhang’s trousseaus.

“Grandfather, these things belong to the Millennium Pavilion, don’t they? Would the Clan Leader and the other clansmen be okay with you giving them to me? They’d probably be angry with you, wouldn’t they? You should take them back right now.” Ling Zhang hastened to decline the offer.

But Ji Yin replied, “The Clan Leader has given his consent to this. Otherwise I wouldn’t have taken them out. These are for you, and you should take them without any misgivings. The Clan Leader said you may take these as a wedding gift from the Millennium Pavilion.”

Ling Zhang was astonished. “They’re really meant for me?”

“Of course. Nobody’s going to ask for them back,” responded Ji Yin.

Ling Zhang was really amazed that Ji Yanlai had agreed to give him some manuals of long-lost skills to be his trousseaus. Now that these things had been given to him, what to do with them was completely at his discretion. Such generosity surprised Ling Zhang greatly.

“Yuwen Tong is a master of military strategy and tactics. For him, these manuals of warcraft would be like the frosting on the cake. It’s no big deal. Those diagrams are for you to learn in the future. There are also some fairly good manuals of internal energy, which you may use to lick your subordinates into shape. Just take them.”

Half of these manuals were about warcraft, and the others half various formations. According to Ji Yin, if he didn’t give these things to Ling Zhang, they would only end up being buried in dust in the book chamber of the Millennium Pavilion. Needless to say, the beneficiary of the manuals of warcraft would be Yuwen Tong, though they’d been given to Ling Zhang. He had learned quite some formations, but the diagrams Ji Yin was offering to him at this moment were about relatively advanced formations, which Ling Zhang was not yet ready to start learning. There were also a few manuals of internal energy, which were actually of little use to Ling Zhang himself, but he could use them to train his subordinates.

“Thank you, Grandfather, and I’ll have to thank the Clan Leader as well,” said Ling Zhang.

Ji Yin beamed, “After you marry Yuwen Tong, I’ll go back to the Millennium Pavilion with the Clan Leader to make preparations for our move. When everything’s done, I’ll come here to keep you company. That manor that I bought previously is meant for you, but it never crossed my mind that Yuwen Tong would act so quick. I’m afraid living in that manor is not an option for you for the moment. Come to think of it, I should’ve finished the preparatory work for the move by the time when you and Yuwen Tong are settled in the palace, and I’ll be able to have plenty of time to instruct you in formations.

I could see that recently you’ve been too busy to find enough time to clear your mind and focus on your cultivation of internal energy, which is why you still have a long way to go before you can make a breakthrough. After these things are handled, take a month out for closed-door cultivation. You should be able to reach the third layer successfully by the end of it.”

Ling Zhang listened to him attentively and then said, “I’ll carve out time for closed-door cultivation after the wedding ceremony.”

Ji Yin clapped him on the shoulder, “There’s no need to rush into anything. Haste does not bring success. Do it step by step.”

“I will,” promised Ling Zhang.

…

“Young Master, the trousseaus are ready, and the wedding robes have been delivered here from the palace too. The preparatory work here basically is finished. All that’s left is to determine the list of subordinates who are to go with you to the palace on the wedding day,” said Jiang Yu.

Because of Ling Zhang’s special identity, apart from the trousseaus, he was also supposed to bring some attendants with him on the wedding day. Presently Jiang Yu was his only subordinate aside from his twenty-four bodyguards.

It’d been only when Yuwen Tong had given Ling Zhang a reminder after the matter of Jiang Yu that Ling Zhang had come to realize the importance of having his own think tank. Although it was a little late, he would rather go without than make do with substandard substitutes. Also, he was unwilling to blindly recruit more advisors merely for the sake of pomp. Besides, because of Jiang Yu’s high level of competence, Ling Zhang would inevitably be a little picky about whom he recruited next, so it’d be harder for him to find someone taking his fancy.

“For the moment I’m the only one. Would you like to recruit some more before the wedding?” asked Jiang Yu.

Ling Zhang shook his head. “I would rather go without than have someone incompetent, and I don’t really need a large group of attendants to impress the guests. I’ll have Wang Dashan, Liu Yi and Yang Liuzi act as my attendants as a last resort.”

Jiang Yu had no different opinions on this matter. He’d always been a proud man and there weren’t many he’d deem worthy of being his associates. In his eyes, Ling Zhang’s decision was very wise.

“This is a minute wedding plan delivered here by a staff member of the Ministry of Rites. An official will come here in two days to guide you through the details of the parts of the ceremony requiring your cooperation,” said Jiang Yu, handing a pamphlet to Ling Zhang.

Ling Zhang took it and ran an eye over it. Officials of the Ministry of Rites had consulted with each other and omitted some unnecessary steps before making this outline wedding plan. They hadn’t made any major changes to the plan. After that, Ling Zhang carefully read it again. All these were what he needed to lodge firmly in mind. On the wedding day, Yuwen Tong would personally come to pick him up. What he had to remember was mainly the courtesy he was supposed to show when bidding farewell to his parents. As regards the other steps, there would be specially-assigned officials guiding him. After he walked out of the front gates of the Ling Mansion, he would be in sync with Yuwen Tong, with whom he was supposed to cooperate to finish the remainder of the ceremony. The Ministry of Rites would probably send someone to inform Yuwen Tong of it as well.

Ling Zhang gave it some thought and then put the pamphlet down. “I’ll need more time to look over it,” he said.

He planned to confer with Yuwen Tong after he came at night. If Yuwen Tong believed it was okay, they would make it final; if there were any changes to be made, he’d have Yuwen Tong inform the Ministry of Rites.

Jiang Yu gave a bob of his head and was just about to tell Ling Zhang some other specifics when someone walked inside and reported, “Young Master, Childe Ji, Childe Zhao and some others request an audience with you.”

Ling Zhang was somewhat surprised. They came to visit him at this hour?

“Let’s go and meet them together,” Ling Zhang said to Jiang Yu.

Jiang Yu nodded again, his face calm, giving no particular reaction to his upcoming meeting with Ji Feng and the others.

In the ante-room of the Ling Mansion.

Ji Feng, Zhao Jiusi, Zhao Turui, Xie Qing, Yuwen Jin and Tao Yi were all present. Clearly they had planned this visit together. Eyes of the six of them were appraising those servants of the Ling Mansion who were busting around making preparations for the approaching wedding ceremony, as well as the many newly made adjustments to the furnishings, their faces etched with curiosity.

“This looks pretty good. Some day, when I decide to marry someone, I’ll make my wedding a grand occasion as well,” said Yuwen Jin.

“Speaking of which, it’s about time you got married. Your parents still haven’t made any arrangements in this regard?” Ji Feng inquired of him.

“That’s right. All our parents have been making arrangements. We’ll probably all be married in a year or two. It’s high time you did something about it,” observed Zhao Turui.

Yuwen Jin’s face immediately changed somewhat at these words. “Don’t get me started. My parents did set me up with a couple of girls, but I’m not struck on any of them.”

The others exchanged looks and then Zhao Jiusi was the first to speak. “Why? Your status is now quite different than before. You’re His Majesty’s cousin, which makes you an extremely eligible man. Also, you’re the only single member in your family. Theoretically, all girls in this city are on your menu. You have no idea how jealous of you we all are. Given your excellent family background, the girls your parents set you up with were definitely the best of the best, yet you still think none of them is good enough for you?”

However, after hearing these words, Yuwen Jin had an even more peculiar expression on his face. Seeing this, the others were further bewildered, wondering why he was having that look.

“Well, that’s exactly where the problem lies,” muttered Yuwen Jin. “Alas, forget about it. I don’t know how to explain this to you guys. Today we’re here to visit Brother Zhang, so let’s just drop this. Those girls are taking a wait-and-see attitude, anyway. Nobody has promised anything. If I talk too much about it, their reputations might be compromised.”

“I think you’ve got a point,” said Tao Yi. “We’ll ask no more questions about it. Your elders probably have considered a lot about your future marriage, and they won’t rush into anything. If there’s anything you find tricky and could use our help with, you may find another time and arrange for another meeting. We’ll see what we can do.”

“You said that you’re not struck with any of the girls, but you’ve started worrying about their reputations already,” said Xie Qing with a smile.

Yuwen Jin replied, “That’s different. Just because I don’t have feelings for them doesn’t mean I could jeopardizing their reputations. I’ll invite you guys to my parents’ summer house and talk about it after Brother Zhang’s and my cousin’s wedding.”

“Talk about what?” asked Ling Zhang, who had just arrived at the doorway with Jiang Yu and heard Yuwen Jin’s words.

“Brother Zhang!” Yuwen Jin spun around, looking at him delightedly, but at the sight of Jiang Yu standing beside Ling Zhang, his smile disappeared instantly. “What’s he doing here?”

The others rose to their feet and greeted Ling Zhang. Though they didn’t react as dramatically as Yuwen Jin had when they saw Jiang Yu, their countenance also changed to a greater or lesser degree.

Ling Zhang cast a glance at Jiang Yu behind him, who appeared composed and quite collected beneath the appraising gaze from Yuwen Jin’s and the others’ eyes.

Ling Zhang turned his head around and said to Yuwen Jin, “Jiang Yu is now my adviser. He’s been quite helpful. Just now we were discussing something, so he came here with me.”

Jiang Yu’s decision to become Ling Zhang’s adviser had previously caused quite a sensation. Probably the whole city had come to know about it.

Yuwen Jin and the others naturally were fully aware of it and had psyched themselves up, but they still felt rather unaccustomed to it when they really clapped eyes on Jiang Yu standing beside Ling Zhang.

Yuwen Jin was the one who took it the least coolly. He had always been ill-disposed towards Jiang Yu. Though knowing that Jiang Yu was now Ling Zhang’s adviser, he still found it difficult to affect an air of friendliness when he met Jiang Yu at this point in time.

“Brother Zhang, you really trust him?” asked Yuwen Jin, frowning, staring at Jiang Yu with a piercing look in his eyes.

Ling Zhang responded, “Jiang Yu is my adviser now, so of course I trust him.”

Yuwen Jin still wanted to say something, but Xie Qing gave his sleeve a gentle pull.

Naturally, this small movement didn’t escape Ling Zhang’s notice. He said to Yuwen Jin, “I know you and Jiang Yu have history. Maybe you two should clear the air today. There will inevitably be occasions when you have to cooperate with each other. It’s best if you talk things over and get past it. What do you say?”

Glaring at Jiang Yu, Yuwen Jin said, “I’m okay with talking things over. I have nothing to hide, but someone might not have the balls!”

Ling Zhang turned around to look at Jiang Yu. “How about you? What do you think?”

Jiang Yu made a bow. “I’ll do what you tell me to, Young Master.”

A flicker flitted across the eyes of everyone else at the sight of this. Yuwen Jin also gazed at Jiang Yu.

Ling Zhang said, “Well, then, let’s find somewhere else to sit and talk. I think my courtyard house would be a good choice. Incidentally, is the matter you guys came here to see me about of urgency?”

Ji Feng answered, “Not really. We’re just here to see if there’s anything we could help with.”

Ling Zhang smiled, “Well, there’s indeed something. You guys have come at just the right time. Originally I was a little too embarrassed to ask you for help, but now that you’ve come here of your own accord, you’ve got to stay and give me a hand.”

These words of Ling Zhang’s dissolved the tension in the atmosphere considerably. Yuwen Jin wrenched his gaze from Jiang Yu and said, “Brother Zhang, if there’s anything you need my help with, all you have to do is ask.”

“Let’s go to my courtyard house and sit down first.”

Chapter 389: A Duel Between Jiang Yu and Yuwen Jin

The real reason for Yuwen Jin’s personal grudge against Jiang Yu was actually a previous conflict between their fathers, which had happened when the Zhou family was in power. Yuwen Si had had some public disputes with Jiang Chengfeng at court meetings due to the divergence of their politics. Afterward, the latter had found an error in Yuwen Si’s work and made an accusation against him, but at that time the Great Yue had been at war with the Wan Kingdom, and because Yuwen Tong had been at the front defending the border, the former emperor wouldn’t mete out punishment to any member of the Yuwen family unless he really had to, so Yuwen Si had got off. Although Yuwen Si hadn’t been held responsible, there had been open hostility between the two of them ever since, and they had argued with each other at court meetings from time to time. Though there hadn’t been any subsequent serious conflicts, they had been quite ill-disposed towards each other.

Jiang Chengfeng was the very reason why Yuwen Jin disliked Jiang Yu. Their fathers were at odds with each other over politics, so it was a natural thing that the two of them were on bad terms. On top of that, although Yuwen Jin’s elders were all civil officials, he himself was more inclined to become a military officer, so maybe he had an inbuilt dislike for childes like Jiang Yu who had been born with a silver spoon in his mouth and grown up in a family of civil officials, which had further deepened the enmity between them. Although the disagreement between them was not serious enough to cause them to come to blows, each of them had done a lot of things to make life difficult for the other.

If they were to wipe the slate clean, they’d mainly have to settle the matter of the feud between their fathers, which, if truth be told, had actually begun to exist in the previous dynasty.

Jiang Chengfeng had been exiled back to Cangzhou, the Jiang family’s native place, to watch over their ancestral mausoleum, so it was impossible for him to work against Yuwen Si again in the imperial court, which meant that this matter had actually been settled some time ago.

Actually, in terms of Jiang Yu’s and Yuwen Jin’s status, it could be said that the shoe was on the other foot, which showed how subtle the arrangements of fate could be.

“My father once made an accusation against yours, and they had some disputes over politics, but that was because they saw things from different standpoints. My father is now watching over our ancestral mausoleum in Cangzhou, my hometown. If your father still has a grudge against him, he may try pressuring the Jiang family again. Although the Jiang family’s current status pales in comparison with yours, we will take up the gauntlet. As for you and me, if you have a grudge against me, I suggest we settle it in a more simple way. I heard that your kung fu is not bad, so maybe we could have a kung fu competition. You may offer some other ways to settle this, but I’m now Childe Ling’s adviser, and my words and deeds would affect his reputation, so I hope we could resolve it in private, without causing any negative influence on anybody else,” Jiang Yu said to Yuwen Jin.

Yuwen Jin was not a fool acting only on impulse, and he naturally understood what Jiang Yu was talking about. His father had warned him that things had changed, that the Jiang family’s stand was different now, and Jiang Yu’s identity was even more different than before, so he shouldn’t dwell on the past. However, anger had been smoldering in Yuwen Jin for such a long time that he would never find peace of mind unless he vented it.

“Okay. Let’s do it your way and have a kung fu competition. If you win, I’ll let go of the past; if you lose, you’ll have to make an apology to me and admit that you were in the wrong in all those things that you did previously. Do you dare accept this?” said Yuwen Jin.

“I accept it,” answered Jiang Yu.

The two of them stood opposite each other, a penetrating look in the eyes of either of them.

Ling Zhang gave a little cough. “Well, in that case, let’s go to the drill ground. It’s more spacious and you’ll be able to make your moves freely. There’s only one rule – nobody aims to kill.”

Yuwen Jin and Jiang Yu both agreed.

Thus, they went to the drill ground which was very broad. Knowing that Ling Zhang and the others needed to use the drill ground, Wang Dashan and the other bodyguards had asked the servants working nearby to leave, so the drill ground was now empty.

Both Jiang Yu and Yuwen Jin took off their overgarments, rolled up their sleeves and tucked the lower hems of their robes into their belts, standing opposite each other.

Ling Zhang looked at the color of the sky to gauge the time and then shifted his gaze to the two of them. “Are you ready?”

“Yes,” chorused Yuwen Jin and Jiang Yu.

“I’m going to count to three. One, two, three. Go!” said Ling Zhang.

Yuwen Jin and Jiang Yu made their move at the same time, directly coming at each other.

Yuwen Jin’s elders were all civil officials, but their parenting methods retained some of the attributes of the parenting skills of their ancestors who’d been military officers, which was why all male members of the family had some pretty good kung fu skills. Yuwen Jin, who had every intention of becoming a military officer like his cousin Yuwen Tong and going to the battlefield to kill enemies and perform wartime exploits, had never stopped practicing kung fu for a single day. His horse stance was very steady, his punches accompanied by whooshing sounds. Most of his attacks were ferocious and aggressive.

Jiang Yu’s elders were also all civil officials, but because the Jiang family was large and prestigious, Jiang Shennian’s expectations for his offspring were higher than usual. Apart from academic knowledge, he’d also had them learn kung fu. It could be said that Jiang Yu had had to learn a lot of things since childhood: poems, literary works, etiquette, music, riding skills, archery as well as kung fu. As a lineal descendant of the patriarch of the Jiang family, his elders had particularly high expectations of him. It had been swordcraft that Jiang Yu had learned from the kung fu expert hired by Jiang Shennian, and his swordcraft was pretty good. However, fighting with weapons was too dangerous. In order not to cause Yuwen Jin any fatal wounds, he couldn’t use a sword and had no choice but to use his palms instead. Given the circumstances, he should have been at a disadvantage, but he was quite nimble on his feet, and because of the swordcraft he’d learned, he moved in such a swift way that it was very difficult for his opponent to catch him, which was why Yuwen Jin hadn’t got the upper hand.

One of them was ferocious in attack, and the other was agile in footwork. After a few moments, they actually fought each other to a stalemate.

“Jiang Yu…” Ji Feng and the other spectators were well acquainted with Yuwen Jin, but they didn’t know much about Jiang Yu. Seeing Jiang Yu was so fast and light and frequently tricked Yuwen Jin with feints, they were all astonished. “It surprises me that his footwork is so good. I thought he was just a rich boy who didn’t have enough strength in his hands to tie a chicken fast.”

“Tell me about it. Jiang Yu never displayed his kung fu skills before this day,” said Xie Qing.

Zhao Jiusi exchanged a glance with Zhao Turui. With a thoughtful look on his face, he observed, “Maybe we just never saw it before. Jiang Yu is a lineal descendant of the patriarch of the Jiang family. There’s no doubt Jiang Shennian has invested a lot on him, given how much Jiang Shennian values him.”

“That’s right. We didn’t find out earlier because he was always accompanied by the many cronies of his, and he never had an opportunity to fight anybody personally. Besides, hardly anybody dared mess with him in the past, what with his family background,” agreed Tao Yi.

“Alas, this is tricky. Do you think Jiang Yu would get the better of Yuwen Jin?” said Ji Feng.

Ling Zhang was also watching the two of them fighting. Because of his abilities, Jiang Yu’s and Yuwen Jin’s kung fu skills were nothing in his eyes. Their kung fu was not bad, but he could bring them to the ground with a single finger. However, not everybody had the luck to obtain a manual of top-notch mental cultivation method of internal energy that went perfectly well with their constitution.

Yuwen Jin’s fist techniques were highly offensive, and some of his moves bore some similarity to the fighting skills of soldiers. Jiang Yu’s footwork had Jianghu quality written all over it, so the kung fu instructor the Jiang family had hired to teach him was probably from some Jianghu sect. His footwork incorporated the features of a certain sort of lightness skill, but he had no internal energy, so his footwork was merely nimble, which was also the reason why back at the racecourse on the Back Hill of the Imperial College, Jiang Yu hadn’t been able to utilize his kung fu skills to overpower his horse that had run wild.

Although Yuwen Jin seemed to be attacking more savagely during this fight, if he couldn’t break the stalemate, Jiang Yu would stand a better chance of winning.

Unsurprisingly, as the fight went on, sweat gradually appeared on the tip of Yuwen Jin’s nose, and his temper began to fray. Jiang Yu had been dodging all the time, and he couldn’t hit Jiang Yu, wasting his strength constantly as though he’d been punching cotton. He had been attacking for such a long time but it struck him that he would never be able to hit Jiang Yu.

“Man up and stop dodging! Don’t be such a wimp!” Yuwen Jin was so annoyed that he resorted to personal insults. The others could tell from his tone that he had started to feel anxious and fretful.

Jiang Yu, who was not provoked by his words, replied, “My kung fu is of a different style from that of yours. I’m a swordsman, and the reason why I’m not using a sword is because I don’t want to hurt you, okay? Don’t you think it’d be rather unfair to me if I have to fight you in a diamond-cut-diamond way as you want me to? You’re not seriously expecting me to let you take advantage of me like that, are you, Childe Yuwen?”

Yuwen Jin was almost reduced to vomiting blood with fury. Was Jiang Yu saying that he was going easy on him? Even any of the spectators would find this intolerable, let alone Yuwen Jin.

“You wait till I get hold of you. You can keep dodging all you want. I swear I’ll catch you and flatten you!”

“Humph. Maybe you should catch me first before you say that. Don’t be all talk and no action.”

There was also sweat breaking out on the tip of Jiang Yu’s nose. He felt that it wasn’t a good idea to keep dodging and fight back only occasionally. Yuwen Jin had more brawn than he did. If he hung in there, he would definitely get the best of this fight, so he needed to figure something out.

Watching in the distance, Ling Zhang found this fight quite interesting. He knew Yuwen Jin too well to be surprised by this reaction of Yuwen Jin’s, but recently Jiang Yu had been behaving like a quite poised man with a great sense of propriety, one totally different from the man he used to be, and Ling Zhang had believed that he had changed completely, but unexpectedly, when Yuwen Jin hurt his pride, he also started to speak in an unforgiving tone of voice, which was faintly reminiscent of the person Jiang Yu used to be.

The fight caused a lot of noise which drew many others to the drill ground to spectate. Even Ling Zhaowen and Ling Zhaowu showed up.

“What’s going on? Why are the two boys fighting?” asked Ling Zhaowen.

Ling Zhang explained it to them.

Ling Zhaowen came to understood. “So that is what this is about. Wow, that Yuwen boy’s fist techniques are not bad. His punches seems pretty heavy.”

After watching for a while, Ling Zhaowu commented, “One of them is over-ferocious but lacks flexibility, and the other one is the other way around. Both are rather inexperienced and incapable of landing a decisive blow. More than half of the time was wasted on meaningless dogfighting.”

Ling Zhaowen twisted his head around to look at him and asked, “Which one of them do you think is going to win the fight, Big Brother?”

“Jiang Yu, I think. He’s clearly more astute than that Yuwen boy,” responded Ling Zhaowu.

Ling Zhaowen lifted his eyebrows. Though having little acquaintance with kung fu, he could still tell how the situation on the drill ground was developing. “Jiang Yu is indeed more shrewd than that Yuwen boy. Given that the boy is being led by the nose and wasting his strength, he’s definitely going to lose eventually.”

Ji Feng and the others were startled at these words of the two elders of Ling Zhang’s and looked in the direction of the two people fighting on the drill ground. Xie Qing asked anxiously, “Crap. Is Yuwen Jin really going to lose?”

Nervous, Ji Feng and all the others pressed their lips together, looking at the two people on the drill ground. Every one of them had an urge to offer Yuwen Jin some help but didn’t know how, anxiety building inside them.

“Zhang’er, when this fight is over, you should get down there and go a few rounds with someone too. Your father told me your kung fu’s pretty good. I’ve been looking forward to seeing it,” Ling Zhaowen suddenly said to Ling Zhang.

Ling Zhang was surprised by this suggestion.

Chapter 390: Do You Have Any Plans?

Ling Zhang had never thought that his uncle would suddenly ask him to do something like this, but it was a request he couldn’t reject. “All right. I’ll get down there after Jiang Yu and Yuwen Jin finish their fight, and my opponent will be…”

Ling Zhang glanced around him before he added, “Shiba will be my opponent.”

Of all the people present, Wang Dashan and the other bodyguards of his were no match for him in single combat, and if they fought him together in formation, there would be too many noises and it’d cause some inconveniences. Miao Shiba’s kung fu was the best compared with that of the others, and Ling Zhang wanted to find out how long he could last during a fight with Miao Shiba.

On hearing that Ling Zhang wanted to have a kung fu competition with him, Miao Shiba was excited. “Are you serious, Childe Ling?”

Ling Zhang gave an inclination of the head.

Miao Shiba rubbed his hands, looking thrilled.

The other spectators were also distracted by this conversation and started to anticipate the next fight.

On the drill ground, the fighting between Jiang Yu and Yuwen Jin was getting increasingly furious. Yuwen Jin was making frantic attempts to catch Jiang Yu, who, though not as nimble as he’d been in the beginning of the fight, had figured out a way to defeat Yuwen Jin…

After a Joss-stick (a unit of time used in feudal China; how long it takes for a joss stick to burn itself out), Jiang Yu brought Yuwen Jin to the ground and restrained him, winning the fight.

“You…” Yuwen Jin, pinned to the ground, was still unable to believe he had actually lost to Jiang Yu.

Panting heavily, Jiang Yu said, “You fought well.”

“The winner is Jiang Yu,” announced Ling Zhang.

Ji Feng and the others each clapped a hand to his face. It struck them that Yuwen Jin cut a rather sorry figure and they couldn’t bring themselves to look at him.

Jiang Yu rose to his feet and then held out his hand to Yuwen Jin, eyes on him.

Yuwen Jin gave a snort and pulled himself up. “I can manage it myself.”

Watching him standing up, Jiang Yu asked, “Are you keeping you word?”

“A promise is a promise,” replied Yuwen Jin. Though he was still having difficulty accepting the fact that he had actually lost to Jiang Yu, he was never a sore loser. “We’re even now.”

Jiang Yu gave a bob of the head, pivoted around and walked out of the drill ground, appearing somewhat unsteady on his feet. It was manifest that he was trying his best to stand upright, that the fight with Yuwen Jin had been quite wearing on his body.

However, his performance during the fighting had indeed made the others start to look on him in a quite different light than before. Although Ji Feng and the others still hadn’t made any overtures to him, when they looked at him, the expressions in their eyes were a lot less distant now.

Ling Zhang, seeing Jiang Yu and Yuwen Jin were both making towards him, asked, “Do you want to leave here to get some rest or do you want to stay and watch for a while?”

Just now Jiang Yu’s and Yuwen Jin’s attention had been focused on the duel, so they hadn’t heard the conversation between Ling Zhaowen and Ling Zhang.

“Is there anything else, Brother Zhang?” asked Yuwen Jin.

“I’m having a kung fu competition with Shiba,” replied Ling Zhang, shifting his gaze to Miao Shiba. “It’s our turn,” he added.

“After you, Childe Ling,” said Miao Shiba in excitement.

Seeing the perplexity on Yuwen Jin’s and Jiang Yu’s faces, Ji Feng explained to them what had just happened a moment ago.

Ling Zhang changed into an outfit suitable for fighting, standing opposite Miao Shiba.

“You may go all out, Childe Ling,” Miao Shiba said to Ling Zhang.

Miao Shiba’s kung fu was much better than Ling Zhang’s. Given his current kung fu, only by reaching the third layer would Ling Zhang really stand a chance of defeating Miao Shiba, so the purpose of this fight was mainly for Ling Zhang to spar with him.

Ling Zhang said with a nod, “Let the battle commence.”

Immediately after saying this, he seized the initiative and made his move, swooshing up to Miao Shiba and giving a karate chop in a flash.

The palm techniques Ling Zhang was using were from the Millennium Pavilion, and they were unconventional and varied. Although he was merely at the second layer of the method of cultivating internal energy and thus was unable to fulfill the highest potential of his palm techniques, his combat capabilities were at a totally different level compared with Yuwen Jin’s and Jiang Yu’s.

Soon, it was two rapid blurs of movement exchanging blows on the drill ground.

Ji Feng and the others were all struck dumb with amazement. They had seen Ling Zhang practicing kung fu before, but at that time, they had been able to distinguish Ling Zhang’s moves. Now they were having difficulty making out his movement. This was no different from a fight between two real kung fu masters.

“How did Brother Zhang come to improve his kung fu so quick?” Yuwen Jin wailed, looking at the two streaking figures exchanging blows on the drill ground, feeling bruised.

Ling Zhaowen was also deeply shocked. He had heard that Ling Zhang’s kung fu had improved dramatically after he started cultivating internal energy following a method of cultivation of the Millennium Pavilion, but he had never had an opportunity to see it with his own eyes. At this moment, actually seeing it, he couldn’t help but ask with a pole-axed face, “I–Is that really Zhang’er?”

Ling Zhaowu replied, “Yes. He’s made an improvement in his palm techniques. It seems that Yuwen Tong has given him quite some directions in private.”

At this time, Ling Xingzhong and Ji Yin also arrived, accompanied by Ji Yanlai and the two little boys, Ling Maomao and Ji Xiaocong. At the sight of Ling Zhang and Miao Shiba on the drill ground, all their eyes widened with incredulity except for Ji Yin’s and Ji Yanlai’s.

“In-law, you taught Zhang’er all this?” asked Ling Xingzhong, looking at Ji Yin.

Ji Yin’s face registered a hint of pride. “I just gave him some tips. Zhang’er mainly has his great comprehension to thank for.”

Of course, Yuwen Tong also deserved some credit for the time he’d spent on sparring with Ling Zhang in private, but Ji Yin naturally wouldn’t mention it.

Ling Xingzhong watched in shock for a while. It was after he gradually recovered himself that he said to Ji Yin, “Thank you, In-law. All my family knows nothing about kung fu, so we didn’t teach Zhang’er any previously. Fortunately he has you.”

Ji Yin smiled and started exchanging pleasantries with Ling Xingzhong, but the pride on his face was ill-concealed.

Ling Zhang’s palm strikes were quite varied, and he had received a lot of directions from Yuwen Tong who had been acting as a sparring partner that was always willing to tell him everything he needed to know, so although Ling Zhang had barely fought with any enemies, he still had some fighting experience. However, compared with Miao Shiba, he lacked an air of ferocity, which was why the former had hit his vital parts several times.

Ling Zhang was secretly counting the number of times Miao Shiba had hit his vital parts. He was also learning from his mistakes and trying to overcome the deficiencies in his defense.

Miao Shiba, who could tell what he was thinking about, was offering advice to him most of the time while fighting.

“There’s no need to hurry, Childe Ling. Currently your main shortcoming is a lack of experience. Aside from that, your internal energy needs improving. Both could be fixed if you spend enough time working on it.”

Ling Zhang nodded. Gradually, he became more collected, his moves even steadier. With his mind concentrated, he was now able to find more problems, and at the same time, he could dodge more blows from Miao Shiba that were aimed at his vital parts.

Naturally, spectators who had discerning eyes also saw it clearly.

Ji Yin was nodding repeatedly while watching. Ling Zhaowu’s eyes were gleaming with gratification. Ji Yanlai felt that Ling Zhang’s comprehension was indeed pretty good.

“Big Brother is so badass,” exclaimed Ling Maomao. He had no idea what was going on on the drill ground, and his eyes were dazzled, but he could tell that Ling Zhang was doing something badass.

Ji Xiaocong, however, had been seeing this kind of things on a frequent basis since he’d started to have memory, so he appeared just as unsurprised as his uncle did. The uncle and nephew had the same expression on their faces.

Ling Maomao looked at him and asked, “Cong, do you not think my big brother is badass?”

Ji Xiaocong looked back at him for a few moments, blinked his big eyes and then replied with a bob of his head, “I do.”

Pleased, Ling Maomao shifted his gaze to his big brother on the drill ground, staring unblinkingly. “When the fight is over, I’ll ask my big brother if he could teach me a couple of moves. I want to learn this badass kung fu as well.”

Ji Xiaocong nodded vigorously. “Um.”

Ji Yanlai glanced down at his nephew, who looked up back at him. The uncle and nephew just gazed at each other. It was a few moments before Ji Yanlai raised his head, rubbing his nephew’s little one. Ji Xiaocong quietly turned his head back and cast Ling Maomao a glance before looking in the direction of the two people fighting on the drill ground.

Ling Zhang and Miao Shiba fought for two hours before they stopped. The servants had moved some tables and chairs to the sidelines, and all spectators except Yuwen Jin and his friends had been sitting at tables, watching the fight and drinking tea.

When Ling Zhang, all sweaty, walked out of the drill ground with Miao Shiba, Ling Maomao streaked towards him like greased lightning. “Big Brother!”

Ling Zhang stopped him. “What’s the matter? Why are you running so fast?”

“You’re so badass, Big Brother. How did you learn to do that? Teach me!” said Ling Maomao excitedly.

Ling Zhang wiped the sweat from his face and, leading the boy towards his elders, replied, “Well, if you want to learn it, of course I will teach you.”

Ling Maomao would be the pillar of the Ling family. It’d do him good to learn some kung fu.

Ling Maomao was pleasantly surprised. “Really?”

“Um, but there’ll be hardships and you’ll have to tough it out. Otherwise you won’t be able to learn anything even if I teach you,” said Ling Zhang.

“I will. I can handle hardships!” Ling Maomao hastily promised.

Ling Zhang smiled, “Good. I’ll start teaching you in a few days, when I have spare time.”

“Promise?” asked Ling Maomao, raising his hand.

“Promise,” said Ling Zhang, giving the boy a high five to seal his promise.

Ling Zhang walked back to Ling Xingzhong, Ji Yin and the others. “Paternal Grandfather, Maternal Grandfather, Uncle, Clan Leader.”

“You fought well. Your palm techniques have improved somewhat, but you’re still fairly inexperienced, and there’s a lot of room for further improvement. After these things are handled, you should put more efforts into practice. Also, you should go out there to enrich your experience. Only by fighting with real enemies will you be able to make real improvement,” observed Ji Yin.

Ling Zhang said, “I will, Maternal Grandfather.”

Then Ling Zhang answered a lot of questions from Ling Xingzhong and Ling Zhaowen. It was after his elders finished asking questions that he made towards Yuwen Jin and the other peers of his.

No sooner had he walked up to them than they rapturously clustered around him. Jiang Yu paused briefly before he joined them, a gleam in his eyes as he looked at Ling Zhang, which hadn’t appeared in there before.

“You’ve been keeping it so well hidden, Brother Zhang. My kung fu bears no comparison with yours,” said Yuwen Jin.

“Well, it’s nothing. My kung fu couldn’t hold a candle to that of a real master,” said Ling Zhang.

“Still, you’re much better than us,” remarked Ji Feng.

After talking with each other for a while, Ling Zhang’s elders went back. Ling Zhang ushered his friends back to his courtyard house.

Yuwen Jin and the others had paid Ling Zhang this visit to see if there was anything they could help with, but actually Ling Zhang’s family had finished almost all the preparatory work. All that was left was to do a couple of dry runs for the wedding according to the wedding plan finalized by the Ministry of Rites. There wasn’t really anything that any of them could help with.

“The imperial examination is next year. Do you have any plans?” Ling Zhang asked them.

Yuwen Tong had declared at his enthronement ceremony that there would be an imperial examination, but what with the imperial wedding and some other affairs and the inadequate time, scheduling the imperial examination for this year was not an option, so it’d been scheduled for the next spring.

“Xie Qing, Tao Yi and I have all decided to take the exam. Yuwen Jin wants to take the Imperial Martial Arts Examination (IMAE),” said Ji Feng.

Ling Zhang inclined his head, unsurprised at their decisions. Old Master Ji was now the Left Prime Minister, and Ji Feng was the eldest lineal descendant of his, so it was a natural thing that Ji Feng would go down this path. Given Ji Feng’s academic performance, getting a pass in the examination wouldn’t be a problem for him. Xie Qing was also quite intelligent and wouldn’t have any difficulty passing the exam either. Tao Yi, who had been learning from an eminent scholar, had long since set a goal of getting into the imperial court to serve as a civil official. Yuwen Jin had always dreamed about becoming a military officer, so it was not surprising that he’d decided to take IMAE. In fact, considering his current identity, even if he didn’t take the exam, he wouldn’t have to worry about his future at all, but he was an ambitious young man and had a craving to prove himself just as most of his peers did.