The Glory After Rebirth [ɇÇ”Ÿä¹‹Å°Šè£] Chapter 400- 402

Chapter 400: Elders’ Attitudes

As the wedding day neared every day, Ling Zhang inevitably began to feel strained.

The day before the imperial wedding, everything was in readiness.

In the Ling Mansion, people busting around could be seen everywhere. The imperial wedding ceremony was right the next day. Everybody appeared more tense than Ling Zhang did. Even the two little boys, Ling Maomao and Ji Xiaocong, were nervous and excited. Whitie the fox, worried that his pretty fur would be stroked bald by the two thrilled kids, refused to stay with them and insisted on crouching on Ling Zhang’s shoulder. The fox had grown considerably bigger and heavier. Sometimes when he abruptly jumped onto Ling Zhang, the latter was sent staggering.

“How many times do I have to tell you this, Whitie? Don’t jump at me without warning like this. You’ve been gaining weight. Understand?”

Ling Zhang resignedly reached out a hand with the intention to pull the fox off his shoulder. Whitie, who was quite agile, transferred to Ling Zhang’s other shoulder in the blink of an eye, showing his unwillingness to leave and a total disregard for Ling Zhang’s comment about him gaining weight without even giving Ling Zhang a glance.

“Big Brother,” said Ling Maomao, casting a look at the little white fox on Ling Zhang’s shoulder, his intention to stroke Whitie’s fur manifest in his eyes. Whitie stiffened for an instant, his hair on the verge of bristling. Fortunately Ling Maomao took his eyes off the fox after a brief stare at him. “Grandfather would like a word with you.”

“I see. I’ll go there right away,” said Ling Zhang. “I want you two to behave yourselves. Don’t mess around. In the next few days this residence will be swarming with people busy with all kinds of things. You might bump into someone and hurt yourselves if you’re not careful enough. Cong is still young, which makes you his big brother, Maomao, so you need to take good care of him.”

Ling Maomao looked at Ji Xiaocong who was standing beside him and then said, “Cong is a good boy.”

The corners of Ling Zhang’s mouth twitched and with that he gave Ling Maomao a playful knock on the forehead. “It’s you that I fear would misbehave.”

Ling Maomao had a urge to knead his brow, but after glancing at Ji Xiaocong who was beside him, he managed to subdue it and said to Ling Zhang with a poker face. “I never messed around, and I’ve been taking care of Cong.”

Ling Zhang lifted his eyebrows, surprised that this little guy seemed to be quite unconvinced.

“Let’s go.”

Holding a hand of each of the boys, Ling Zhang headed for Ling Xingzhong’s place.

“Brother Ling, can you bring us to the palace to play tomorrow?” asked Ji Xiaocong, looking up at Ling Zhang.

For some unknown reason, Ji Xiaocong had been quite obsessed with visiting the imperial palace. A few days ago Ling Zhang had promised him and Ling Maomao that he would bring the two of them to the Infinite Fortune Palace and let them stay there for a couple of days, but afterward what with the matter of the Abode of the Marquess Huaiwen, he had had to delay it.

“Yes.” Ling Zhang gave it some thought and then scooped up Ji Xiaocong, holding him in the crook of his arm. Ji Xiaocong reached out a hand to wrap it around Ling Zhang’s neck, carefully shifted his position slightly by moving his butt and then relaxedly sat on the crook of Ling Zhang’s elbow. Ling Maomao threw a look at them and then quietly tightened his hold on Ling Zhang’s hand which was holding his. After thinking about it for a brief moment, he edged closer to Ling Zhang until he was walking with his side almost against his big brother.

Ling Zhang just subconsciously held Ling Maomao’s hand tighter in response, oblivious of the unnoticeable detail of Ling Maomao’s reaction. Then he continued to talk to Ji Xiaocong. “Tomorrow there will be a lot of people. You two must stay close to your elders lest you get lost. I’ll take you two to the palace to stay for a couple of days after the wedding.”

“I won’t get lost. I know the way,” said Ji Xiaocong, having great confidence in himself.

“That’s quite impressive, Cong. Brother Maomao will be relying on you to lead the way for him during your stay in the palace,” observed Ling Zhang.

Ji Xiaocong patted his own chest, suggesting that that wouldn’t be a problem for him.

Ling Maomao looked up at his big brother and was about to say something but forbore from doing that after a moment’s hesitation. Ling Zhang, who noticed it, asked, “What is it you want to say, Maomao?”

“The imperial palace is a huge place. Will we be allowed to go anywhere we want in there?” inquired Ling Maomao.

“Yeah,” Ling Zhang answered in the affirmative.

But Ling Maomao was just worried that the imperial palace was too large, that if he let Ji Xiaocong lead the way, they would definitely get lost. However, looking at Ji Xiaocong, Ling Maomao subconsciously felt that he shouldn’t express this worry of his in the presence of Ji Xiaocong lest the latter get angry, so he had no choice but to keep his concern to himself.

Ling Zhang, who was unaware that Ling Maomao had thought that far already, led the two little boys into Ling Xingzhong’s courtyard house only to find that apart from Ling Xingzhong, Ji Yin was also in there.

Ling Zhang put Ji Xiaocong down, inquired after them and then asked, “What is it that you want to see me about, Paternal Grandfather, Maternal Grandfather?”

“Tomorrow is your wedding day. Have you got everything ready?” asked Ling Xingzhong.

“Everything’s in readiness,” replied Ling Zhang.

Ji Yin gave him a wave and with that Ling Zhang walked up and sat down beside them.

“Are you nervous?” said Ji Yin.

A faint flush spread over Ling Zhang’s ears. “Kind of. I’m worried that I might get things wrong tomorrow.”

The ritualistic formalities of the wedding ceremony were too complicated. Though having done a dry run with Yuwen Tong, Ling Zhang was still concerned that he might not be able to get all the steps right.

Naturally, he couldn’t bring himself to tell them the most important reason: the next day he would really be married, and everything would be different after the wedding, so he was secretly somewhat perturbed.

As Yuwen Tong was not present, Ling Zhang didn’t have the heart to express his concern to worry his family.

Ling Xingzhong and Ji Yin had called him in with the intention to have a talk with him to set his mind at ease.

“Just relax and get married. If Yuwen Tong is not good to you, Grandfather is going to stick up for you and get you free,” said Ji Yin.

If Yuwen Tong was not good to Ling Zhang and Ling Zhang was not happy, Ji Yin would undoubtedly put his grandson first, and he would, by hook or by crook, break Ling Zhang out of the imperial palace and help him return to freedom. He was telling Ling Zhang this because he wanted Ling Zhang to have no misgivings about doing what he wanted to do.

Ling Zhang believed that his grandfather was capable of doing that. Though having never thought about parting from Yuwen Tong, he was still grateful to his grandfather for his heartfelt concern for him.

“His Majesty’s a nice and trustworthy man, and he’s given you his word, so naturally we should believe in him,” commented Ling Xingzhong. Unlike Ji Yin, Ling Xingzhong would never refer to Yuwen Tong by his full name, for he held Yuwen Tong in very high regard.

However, he also added, “But if by any chance that kind of thing does happen, we’ll always be on your side.”

A warm glow flared inside Ling Zhang. Ling Xingzhong had always been a man of his word. His family’s take on this matter was clear-cut: they would be there for him and on his side.

“I’ll make things work between me and Yuwen Tong. I have faith in him. Also, after I move into the palace, I’ll take good care of myself and protect myself. There’s no need for you to worry about me, Maternal Grandfather, Paternal Grandfather.”

Ji Yin said, “After the transfer of our clansmen is finished, I’ll resign my eldership and move to the manor in the suburb. By that time, my clansmen will no longer need me. You’re the only family I’ve got left, so I’ll watch over you for the rest of my life, making sure nobody does you any harm.”

Ling Zhang was almost reduced to tears. “Grandfather, I’m really capable of taking care of myself. The suburban manor is too secluded. You’ll feel lonely if you live there by yourself. It’s totally unnecessary for you to do that. Besides, you’re the Prime Elder of the Millennium Pavilion. How could you leave on account of me?”

Ji Yin said with a wave of his hand, “With the Clan Leader in charge, nothing could go wrong. Although I won’t be the Prime Elder any longer, I’ll still be a member of the clan. If anything happens, I’ll go back there and help deal with it, so you don’t have to concern yourself with that. As for that suburban manor, the quiet of it is exactly what takes my fancy. I don’t like the hustle and bustle of the city, so the manor is the perfect place for me to be.”

Ji Yin was so insistent that it seemed nothing would make him change his mind.

Ling Zhang was resigned, feeling it inappropriate to make another attempt to dissuade him in the knowledge that Ji Yin was also an intransigent man.

Ling Xingzhong said, “I’m a geriatric too, and the capital city is too noisy for me. Would it be too much trouble if I visited your manor from time to time, my dear in-law?”

Ji Yin replied, “Not at all. We’re family now. Your politeness makes me feel I’m being treated as a stranger. If you go there, we’ll live together. I think we both could use some company. Besides, that manor is huge and can accommodate a lot of people. When I’m at my leisure, I’ll go for a stroll in nearby areas and take on a couple of apprentices. Teaching them and joking with them will make my life quite comfortable. Also, I’ll help Zhang’er make a breakthrough and reach the third layer of the cultivation method, and teach him more knowledge of formations too. Come to think of it, life there won’t be boring at all. By that time, we’ll be able to have Zhang’er stay in that manor with us to perform closed-door cultivation. It’d be nice.”

As Ling Xingzhong offered to go to the manor to keep Ji Yin company, Ling Zhang’s worry doubled, and then, when he heard that Ji Yin was going to take on some apprentices, he was somewhat astonished.

“You want to take on some apprentices, Grandfather?”

Ji Yin bobbed his head. “I’m getting old, and I think it’s about time.”

Ji Yin looked very young and far from old, but if he was to take on apprentices, it would by no means be a trivial matter.

“Have you talked with the Clan Leader about your plan to take on apprentices? Does someone have to a member of the Millennium Pavilion to be your apprentice?” asked Ling Zhang.

Ji Yin answered, “For the moment it’s inadvisable to let any of the kung fu skills of the Millennium Pavilion be known to the outside world, so I’ll select a couple of my clansmen to be my apprentices. I think I’ll be bringing my apprentices with me when I come back from the island.”

This decision of Ji Yin’s was a little unexpected. Ling Zhang was surprised by it but at the same time felt that this was a good thing. With those young apprentices in the manor, that place would be much less cheerless.

“Have you mentioned the matter of your plan for closed-door cultivation to Yuwen Tong?” Ji Yin inquired of him.

Ling Zhang inclined his head. “Yes. I think I’ll have extricated myself by the time you return to this city from the sea.”

“Good. Then it’s settled,” said Ji Yin. Then he added, “Oh, by the way, we called you here because we want to tell you there’s no need for you to worry that there’ll be no going back after you enter the imperial palace. Grandfather got your back.”

Feeling warm inside, Ling Zhang smiled, “I know.”

Although Ling Xingzhong was not a consummate kung fu master as Ji Yin was, he had always been upright and outspoken, and as he had said that he’d be on his grandson’s side, he would do everything within his power to make sure that Ling Zhang wouldn’t be subjected to any unkind treatment.

Both the two elders wanted Ling Zhang to marry Yuwen Tong without the worries behind.

When he had walked out of Ling Xingzhong’s courtyard house, Ling Zhang was told that Ling Zhaowen wanted to talk to him.

Although Ling Zhaowen’s words were different from the two old men’s, he wanted the same thing for Ling Zhang, hoping that Ling Zhang wouldn’t have many misgivings after moving into the imperial palace. He promised that he would be at Ling Zhang’s back and wouldn’t let anybody hurt him, even if he had to give up his job.

Ling Zhang was touched. He had just left Ling Zhaowen’s courtyard house when a servant informed him that his father would like a word with him.

This time around, Ling Zhang, before meeting his father, got a shrewd idea of what his father was going to say.

On this day, his elders had talked to him one after another to make their stands, hoping that he would happily and relaxedly marry into the imperial family, that he would have a happy marriage.

Chapter 401: Before the Wedding

Ling Zhang had thought that Ling Zhaowu would say the same thing, but the latter didn’t.

“You should have Yuwen Tong cancel his sleepover in your house tonight. If there’s a rule you’re supposed to obey, you ought to obey it,” said Ling Zhaowu.

“Yes, Father,” answered Ling Zhang, his face burning slightly, planning to have Miao Shiba deliver a message to the palace in a few moments.

“Sit. Let’s have a little father-son talk.”

Ling Zhang took a seat, looking at Ling Zhaowu, who looked back at his son with mild eyes for quite a while before he began, “Today I’m not going to talk about any other things. After you marry Yuwen Tong, you two will be sharing both your honor and your disgrace together. I have only one hope for you, and that is you two will be by each other’s side and take care of each other for the rest of your lives.

Back at the time when I married your mother, we also swore an oath that we’d live together till old and gray. Pity providence didn’t give us the chance to honor it. Your mother was taken from me only a few years after she married me, but I could still remember vividly her every frown and smile. Recently I’ve gone back quite often to the time you were just born. Sometimes, when I’m in a daze, those happy moments of the three of us being together feel like yesterday. These two incarnations of mine strike me as an instant, but everything that happened in those days remain clear and distinct in my mind. My greatest regret is that your mother and I couldn’t grow old together, but you and Yuwen Tong still have a chance to do that. I hope you two will live happily together for the rest of your lives. If you do, I’ll be able to look your mother in the face in the underworld.”

“Father…”

After hearing Ling Zhaowu’s words, Ling Zhang felt sorry for him. The deceased were gone for good, and the living tended to have to endure even more pains, especially when they used to love each other so much they couldn’t bear the shortest separation. The reason why his father had gone crazy previously had also been because the death of his mother had been too heavy a blow for him, which showed how unbearable the loss of a loved one could be.

“I’ll never be able to rid myself of the regret that I failed to protect your mother, so I hope things will work out between you two. When two people are together, sometimes they quarrel, and that’s especially the case with you two, considering both of you are men. There will inevitably be moments when your temper fray, and you lose your cool or even go berserk, but on no account should you impulsively hurt each other’s feelings. The right thing to do is show more patience, figure out a way to calm down and try to understand each other. It takes only a bad choice of words to hurt your lover badly, because you have an intimate knowledge of where the softest and most sensitive part of your lover is.

Yuwen Tong is several years your senior. He’s well informed, resourceful and poised. All this time he’s been quite protective of you. Everything you’ve been through so far, he’s been through the same. Even when you’re in a mood, he could quickly fathom out why you’re mad, and he knows how to dissolve your anger with patience and tolerance and wouldn’t let a minor discord sour your relations, which is something you should feel lucky to have. However, the Great Wen has just been built, so after you marry him, you’ll have to face a lot of problems, and there will be an endless list of things you’ll have to deal with in the next one or two years: things you’ll have to learn, things you’ll have to do, pressure from inside and outside the imperial court, affairs in the imperial harem, etc. You’ll find yourself overwhelmed by all those things, which will make you feel drained and irascible. When that happens, it’ll be a test to see if what you two have is firm enough. I hope you two will be able to tough it out. The key is to have faith in each other.

By the way, I’ll be staying in the capital city for the next half a year. You may talk to me when you encounter any difficulties. I’ll do what I can to help you out.”

Ling Zhang heard Ling Zhaowu’s words very clearly and knew that his father meant every word he said. He was also aware of what kind of issues he and Yuwen Tong would have to face after their wedding. “I know what you mean. I’ll bear your words in mind.”

“You said that you’ll be in this city for the next half a year. Are you going anywhere next summer?” Ling Zhang asked.

“I’m going to Shengzhou to look up your uncle and set up a Chamber of Commerce,” answered Ling Zhaowu.

Ling Zhang was amazed. “A Chamber of Commerce? Why do you want to establish a Chamber of Commerce in Shengzhou?”

“Shengzhou is a border city bordering the Wan Kingdom. To the north of it is Youzhou, and further north the Luohai Kingdom. In fact the most ideal location is a city on the borders of the three countries. Pity such a city doesn’t exist, what with the Sanguan Mountains. If you are to build a business empire and an underground intelligence network covering the three countries, a Chamber of Commerce would be a must. It’ll make it more convenient for us to open markets in the Wan Kingdom and the Luohai Kingdom. Furthermore, a Chamber of Commerce would make a perfect smokescreen. On the surface, members of a Chamber of Commerce are from various forces, but in fact, as long as those forces are secretly united, the Chamber of Commerce will actually be in our hands, and it won’t arouse anybody’s suspicions.”

Ling Zhang caught on to Ling Zhaowu’s explanation. It seemed that his father had to pay a visit to Shengzhou. After all, it’d take quite some time to establish a Chamber of Commerce. The sooner his father went there to get started, the sooner he would start to benefit from the trading network certered around the Chamber of Commerce.

But it would, without doubt, cost a lot of money. Without enough money to pave the way, it’d be much more difficult to set up a Chamber of Commerce. Ling Zhang immediately thought of his trousseaus, beginning to consider how to convert them into money after the wedding so that his father could put it to good use.

“Zhang’er?”

Ling Zhang jerked out of his trance. “What’s the matter, Father?”

“What are you thinking? You look so absorbed in thought.”

“I’m thinking about money.”

“Money?”

Ling Zhaowu was confused for merely a brief moment before he came to understand what his son meant. “There’s no rush to prepare money. I have an idea how to solve that issue.”

“I still have some money, which, coupled with my trousseaus, should be enough,” Ling Zhang said.

Ling Zhaowu was not in a hurry to discuss this matter. He preferred not to use Ling Zhang’s trousseaus unless he really had to. “We may talk about these things after your wedding. There’s still half a year for us to make preparations. We may take our time.”

Ling Zhang inclined his head. “Incidentally, did you mention this to my paternal grandfather?”

“I did. Your uncle will go to Shengzhou to take office right after your and Yuwen Tong’s wedding. Your aunt will be staying here. I’ll depart for Shengzhou around the time their baby is born next year, and I can conveniently bring them to Shengzhou to be reunited with your uncle. As regards our family, your paternal grandfather said that he wanted to move into your maternal grandfather’s manor so that the two of them could keep each other company. Mr. Mu will stay in this city, and he’ll move into that manor as well. Everybody has a place to go to.”

This meant that after half a year, there would be barely anybody staying in the Ling Mansion. For a few moments, Ling Zhang was at a loss for words.

Right now the whole family were in the same residence enjoying the sweetness of family life, so it really disheartened Ling Zhang somewhat to learn that they would have to go their separate ways in half a year.

…

In the imperial palace.

Miao Shiba delivered a message to the palace. Yuwen Tong, after being informed, furrowed his brows slightly.

As a matter of fact, the word of warning from the Ling family was not the only that he had received. Yao Yi and some others had also reminded him in a roundabout that it was inappropriate for him to go to the Ling Mansion on this night, that it’d be more auspicious if he waited until the next day to meet Ling Zhang.

The very thought of sleeping alone this night made Yuwen Tong feel rather frustrated, but he had no choice but to put up with it.

The imperial palace, decorated with red silk everywhere, was beautiful and uproarious.

Ling Zhang’s wedding robes had been sent to the Ling Mansion some time ago, leaving Yuwen Tong’s in the Infinite Fortune Palace alone.

“Jiang Xi and Jiang Ke said they wanted to train the troops. How did it go?”

Yuwen Tong asked Yao Yi about it. The next day Yuwen Tong would personally go out of the palace to pick up Ling Zhang in the Ling Mansion, and a thousand crack soldiers of the North-western Army would be the guard of honor. Jiang Xi and Jiang Ke, two of Yuwen Tong’s most trusted generals, would go with him. In order to do Yuwen Tong proud on the wedding day, the two of them had been training the one thousand crack troops for quite some time.

“Tell them to go easy on the soldiers. I don’t want them to exhaust their men. They need to save some strength for tomorrow.”

On hearing this, Yao Yi immediately replied, “The one thousand soldiers are fully prepared. I’m sure they’ll be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed tomorrow.”

“What about Jiang Xi’s and Jiang Ke’s robes? Tell them to make themselves presentable lest they be an embarrassment to me.”

Jiang Xi and Jiang Ke were military officers, and their taste in clothes struck Yuwen Tong as rather poor, which was why Yuwen Tong was worried that they’d fail to make themselves presentable the next day.

After hearing this, Yao Yi hastily undertook that he would deliver the message to the two generals.

“Have the Ministry of Rites got everything ready? If anything goes awry tomorrow, I’ll wring their necks with my bare hands.”

For an instant Yao Yi was concerned about the neck of Yuwen Feng, the Marquess Huaiwen (AKA the Marquess of Moderation). Then he said, “Rest assured, Sire, everything is in readiness.”

“What about the palace? I feel that the decoration in the Taiqing Palace is not gorgeous enough. Get some red silk over those railings at the front gates.”

Yao Yi, “…”

“Sire, the last time Childe Ling came to the palace, he said that we must not get red silk all over this place, because it would dazzle him, so there shouldn’t be any red silk on the railings. How about I have some men scatter some petals there tomorrow?”

Yuwen Tong kept silent for a few moments, attentively picturing what it would like to have petals all over the ground, seriously considering the feasibility of the suggestion.

“Let’s go with petals.”

“Yes, Sire,” Yao Yi immediately answered, preparing to instruct some men to start looking for suitable flowers in a few moments, pick them early the next morning and then scatter the petals over the ground. As for how great a disaster it would be for the flowers in the palace, Yao Yi didn’t take it into consideration at all. Even the idea of scattering petals was from a subordinate of his. At that time he hadn’t taken the advice, but now it turned out to be quite helpful, which surprised him.

However, scattering petals at the front gates of the Taiqing Palace wouldn’t be impressive enough. He felt that they needed to do the same thing in the Infinite Fortune Palace and the imperial garden as well.

Ling Zhang, who was still in the Ling Mansion, was unaware of what kind of plan the master and servant in the palace had come up with, and he certainly didn’t know how long he’d be in a shower of petals the next day. Otherwise he would definitely rush into the palace to have them drop the idea.

“Sire, apart from this, is there anything else you want done?” asked Yao Yi after writing down the requirements Yuwen Tong laid down one by one.

Yuwen Tong flicked him a glance. “That’ll be all for the moment. You may leave.”

Yao Yi readily took his leave immediately.

This was merely a man who was having a tantrum because he couldn’t sleep with his lover in his arms for one night. If he stayed any longer, Yuwen Tong might give him some other weird instructions, which would increase his workload considerably.

Yuwen Tong knew his subordinate was secretly complaining about him, but he didn’t mind. Right now the only thing he was thinking about was how Ling Zhang was doing with the preparations. The next day was their wedding day, and he wondered whether or not Ling Zhang would be too happy to be able to sleep on this night. Yuwen Tong believed that he himself was bound to have a sleepless night.

“Yao Yi!”

On hearing Yuwen Tong call his name from behind, Yao Yi, who had only walked a short distance away, came to a halt, the corners of his mouth twitching, and with that he hastened to pivot around and doubled back.

“Is there anything else I can do for you, Sire?”

“Will Brother Zhang be riding Snowflake tomorrow? Where’s North Wind? I haven’t seen him for some time. Get him out of the stable immediately. I want him well groomed.”

Yao Yi was amazed. “Now?”

“Yeah. Hurry!”

Chapter 402: Pre-Wedding Jitters

North Wind was just a horse, and when Yuwen Tong drew him out of the stable and started grooming him vigorously, he was in utter confusion, wondering what had got into his master. As the emperor’s steed, he was held in great honor, and nobody dared trifle with him. Every day he was fed the best fodder and well groomed, and he could walk out of the stable an imposing good horse and do his master proud at any moment. It was totally unnecessary to groom him.

As a result, he gave a loud snort to express his displeasure, and he would’ve rolled his eyes upwards if he could.

“Tomorrow you and I are going to go out there and escort Brother Zhang back here. We must not lose face, so I need you to brace up and be at your best.”

While grooming North Wind, Yuwen Tong was exhorting him to be on his best behavior the next day and not to make him lose face.

Irritated beyond endurance, North Wind tried to kick Yuwen Tong. As the king of all horses in the Great Wen, he didn’t need anybody to lecture him. Didn’t his master feel that his constant chatter was rendering him far removed from his usual image of a commanding and badass master?

North Wind was exasperated at his master’s failure to live up to his expectations, but Yuwen Tong patted his horse butt and said, “If you dare embarrass me tomorrow, I’ll lock you up with a herd of female horses and let you do some serious exercise.”

North Wind, “…”

If he were able to speak, he would no doubt tell his master off.

…

After cleaning North Wind, Yuwen Tong took an inspection tour around the Infinite Fortune Palace and the imperial garden, checking every corner of them, muttering about details of the decoration that struck him as not good enough. The eunuchs following in his wake were in such horror that their backs were covered with cold sweat.

Eventually Yao Yi explained that all these arrangements had been made by Ling Zhang before he left the palace.

On hearing that it’d been Ling Zhang who’d made these arrangements, Yuwen Tong made no more comments, though still poker-faced.

Seeing he finally shut up, Yao Yi and the others were all secretly relieved. Just now Yuwen Tong had been so picky about the decorations as though he was going to get rid of them and have the artisans do it all over again. Given that the wedding ceremony was right the next day, how were they supposed to finish it on time?

Yao Yi could also tell that this was not about the quality of the decoration at all. Their emperor was probably stressing out as well due to the wedding ceremony the next day.

“Sire, if you do miss Childe Ling very much, how about we sneak out and pay him a visit?”

Yao Yi ventured a suggestion. It struck him that apart from being nervous, Yuwen Tong was also frustrated at the fact that he couldn’t see Ling Zhang this night, and Ling Zhang was the only one who could dissolve these negative emotions of his. Although by convention the two of them were not supposed to see each other the day before the wedding day, the rules were not really unchangeable, as long as nobody found out.

On hearing this, Yuwen Tong came to a halt. It was a long moment before he said, “We stick to the rules.”

He decided to respect and honor the long-standing rules and not to visit the Ling Mansion this night, despite his craving to see Ling Zhang right away. He wanted to look at him, to share with him his nervousness and excitement the day before their wedding day, to watch the hustle of everybody making preparations for their wedding, running around with bright red satin, their faces etched with delight owing to the upcoming imperial wedding. Those scenes were like blessings. The next day was the biggest day of their lives. He wanted to watch it approaching bit by bit until the selected auspicious hour of the next day, but intense as his yearning was, he managed to subdue it. It was a convention that a would-be couple should not see each other on the eve of the wedding. Some people believed that it was because such conduct was inauspicious. Previously Yuwen Tong had never taken any of these seriously, but this time around things were different. He would force himself to obey this rule. He must get his wedding an auspicious start. Under no circumstances would he allow anything bad to show up between him and Ling Zhang.

Yao Yi noticed the sign of an inward struggle flash across Yuwen Tong’s eyes during his silence. “Please forgive me for being a busybody, Sire.”

“Let’s go to the hall to take a look.”

Yuwen Tong made towards the great hall. The next day a sacrificial ceremony would be held at the highest platform in front of the hall to offer sacrifice to the gods. At this moment the place was heavily guarded. Staff members of the Ministry of Rites were checking the arrangements again and again. On his arrival, Yuwen Tong saw those decorations immediately and with that transports of rapture surged inside him in spite of himself, the image of Ling Zhang in scarlet wedding robes in the imperial bedchamber on that day reappearing in his mind. The next day, wearing the same red wedding robes, Ling Zhang would be standing there by his side. Together, they would offer sacrifice to the gods before they were officially pronounced husband and wife who were going to share joys and sorrows and live to a ripe old age in conjugal bliss.

“Sire?”

Seeing Yuwen Tong staring vacantly in that direction, Yao Yi couldn’t help but call him. On this day, first Yuwen Tong had acted tensely and fretfully, and now he was in a daze. As the captain of Yuwen Tong’s personal bodyguards, Yao Yi had never seen Yuwen Tong conduct himself so uncharacteristically before, and the reason for all this was the wedding ceremony the next day. Having been serving Yuwen Tong all along, Yao Yi better than anybody knew how strong the bond between Yuwen Tong and Ling Zhang was. He was fully aware that Ling Zhang meant everything to Yuwen Tong, that nothing must go wrong at the wedding. As the captain of imperial guards, Yao Yi was very happy to see Yuwen Tong find a marriage partner like Ling Zhang, but sometimes he involuntarily feared that there might be a disaster if one day something did happen to Ling Zhang, considering Yuwen Tong’s deep affection for Ling Zhang. However, Yao Yi could do nothing but keep telling himself that he must do everything within his power to protect the two of them, especially Ling Zhang.

Yuwen Tong, who was brought back to his senses by Yao Yi’s voice, didn’t continue walking forward. He earnestly watched for a while and then pivoted around and left. He himself also knew that on this particular day he was being a little irritable and having difficulty cooling down, which was quite uncharacteristic of him. As a marshal who had hundreds of thousands of troops under his command and had fought so many fights, Yuwen Tong had long since developed the ability to retain his composure in the face of all kinds of situations, no matter how dire they were, but evidently he was really losing his cool on this day which felt like a year.

If possible, Yuwen Tong wouldn’t hesitate for a split instant to have the next day arrive sooner.

…

While Yuwen Tong in the palace was willing the next day to come sooner, Ling Zhang was thinking about the same thing, and he was just as impatient and expectant as Yuwen Tong was.

When he had left Ling Zhaowu’s courtyard house and was looking up into the sky, he wondered why this way felt so much longer than any of the previous ones, why the daytime was still not over after such a long time, and how much longer it would take for night to fall.

However, no matter how hard they willed the time to go faster, the sun in the sky was still edging westwards bit by bit, not moving any quicker than usual at all.

“Childe Ling.”

When Ling Zhang was impatiently gazing into the sky in the corridor, Jiang Yu and Zhao Jiusi showed up together.

The two of them were staying in the Ling Mansion for the time being. The next day they would accompany Ling Zhang to the palace as his advisers.

The two of them had come here to talk to Ling Zhang about the matter of supervisors. Ji Yin had transferred many stores to Ling Zhang, many of which were quite famous. Each of them had a history of at least over ten years, and the most prestigious one had been there for more than a century. They were distributed throughout the country. All these were private property of Ji Yin, the Prime Elder of the Millennium Pavilion. Some of them had been given to him by the clan after he was made the Prime Elder. Some others had been purchased by him along with the whole chains of stores after he left the Sanguan Mountains, which had cost quite a fortune. Anyway, Ji Yin had personally worked on the management modes of them, and now he had given all of them to Ling Zhang to be his trousseaus. Actually it was unnecessary for the managers and supervisors of these stores to come to the capital city, and simply adding them to the list of trousseaus would be enough, but Ji Yin on a whim had had all of them come to this city, made arrangements for them to follow the two advisers at the ceremony and accompany Ling Zhang to the palace to add to the pomp.

After being informed of this, Ling Zhang hastened to meet those general storekeepers. At the sight of them, he was amazed. There were over a hundred of them. How impressive it would be to have so many people in the wake of his advisers? No, it wouldn’t be just impressive – it’d be startling. Ling Zhang hurriedly went to confer with Ji Yin, trying to dissuade him from doing this, but the latter disagreed, insistent on including these people in the team.

Resigned, Ling Zhang had no alternative but to make compromises, allowing twenty of the over a hundred people to act as representatives. All these people were of high prestige in the cities where their stores were located, so the weight they lent to Ling Zhang’s adviser team would be enough. As for a team of a hundred men, Ling Zhang really believed that was needless.

Jiang Yu and Zhao Jiusi had orders from Ling Zhang to deal with these people and make arrangements for them to do what they were supposed to do the next day. Now the two of them had returned to report on the completion of the task.

“All arrangements for the twenty general storekeepers to participate in the ceremony have been made.”

Jiang Yu gave Ling Zhang a minute account of the twenty men’s case. After being promptly informed of the existence of the storekeepers, Ling Zhang had done a general background check on them, especially these twenty of them.

“Master Ling said he’d talk to the rest of them. Right now he’s talking with those storekeepers about the stores in various cities.”

Ling Zhang inclined his head. It would do some good for his father to handle this matter, because he would include these stores as part of their plan if possible.

“There’s also the matter of the account books. As there are too many of them, I classified them into several categories. You and His Majesty may spare some time to take a look at them after your wedding.”

Zhao Jiusi was responsible for sorting the account books. Though not as interested in commerce as Zhao Turui was, he also had some acquaintance with this kind of things, so it was within his power to separate account books into groups. Besides, after he came to know about the current situation, especially detailed information about Ling Zhang’s trousseaus, Zhao Jiusi had been in a state of shock all along, because the truth was really very different from people’s speculations. Most people believed that the Ling family’s household finances were just average, that they wouldn’t be able to provide Ling Zhang with many trousseaus. They definitely had no idea how astounding Ling Zhang’s trousseaus were. The next day, the part of the trousseaus, including those general storekeepers, which would be going with the team would only be the part that the Ling family wanted people to see. Those on the list of the trousseaus, which wouldn’t be made public, were the really shocking part. If information about those things was disclosed, it would undoubtedly send everybody dumbstruck.

Zhao Jiusi had made some inquiries about the real identity of Ji Yin. After all, he was now Ling Zhang’s adviser, and it was part of his duty to ascertain this kind of things, but he and Jiang Yu had both failed to find out anything about who Ji Yin or that mysterious clan leader really was. After that, Zhao Jiusi had come to realize that Ling Zhang’s maternal grandfather was by no means just a member of some Jianghu sect, that the identities of the two of them were definitely far more mysterious than that, which was why even people around them were kept in the dark about it. As far as they knew, nobody in the Ling family knew about the real identities of Ji Yin and that mysterious clan leader, except for the couple of main members of the Ling family and the emperor.

Zhao Jiusi was faintly depressed. He wanted to gain Ling Zhang’s trust, be privy to these things and have a part to play in them, but clearly he was not there yet. Jiang Yu, however, was much calmer than him and told him to show patience.