The Glory After Rebirth [ɇÇ”Ÿä¹‹Å°Šè£] Chapter 409- 411

Chapter 409: The Imperial Wedding (7)

“Kowtow to the gods.”

“Kowtow to each other,” instructed the presiding official in a drawling voice.

“LONG LIVE THE EMPEROR! LONG LIVE THE EMPRESS!”

As a pleasantly warm breeze blew by, the broad hem of the robes of the two of them fluttered rubbing against each other. They kowtowed at the same time to pay their respects to the gods before all officials present got on their knees to kowtow to the two of them. Thus, they officially got married at this grand ceremony, and from this moment on, the whole world would know them to be the emperor and the empress of the Great Wen.

After the two of them straightened their backs, Ling Zhang inwardly heaved a long sigh of relief in spite of himself, as though something weighing down his heart had just been removed. Arms hanging naturally, their hands were clasped together. Yuwen Tong’s palm was so hot that Ling Zhang felt as though his palm would melt in the heat.

“You may rise.”

The officials of all ranks and descriptions were given the permission to stand up. After rising to their feet, many of them looked up in the direction of the altar, on which stood the emperor and the empress, the former handsome and imposing, the latter elegant and graceful. The dragon and the phoenix embroidered on their scarlet wedding robes with gold thread were so vivid as though they were about to fly, and they seemed to be inseparable, on the robes or in the sky – if they could really get there.

There was a very long congratulatory speech. Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong stood on the altar shoulder to shoulder for a very long time before they descended it and made towards the Infinite Fortune Palace hand in hand.

The large crowd of officials chorused in a drawling voice, “Have a safe trip, Your Majesty, Your Highness.”

On hearing the enormous sound wave from behind, Ling Zhang came to a clearer realization of the change in his identity.

The two of them walked back to the Infinite Fortune Palace hand in hand. They were supposed to drink “cross-cupped wine” from one another’s cups in the imperial bedchamber.

The wedding robes had so many layers and were so heavy that Ling Zhang found his back was wet with sweat when he walked through the front gates of the Infinite Fortune Palace. Fortunately, after the “cross-cupped wine”, the wedding would conclude and then he could change into lighter clothes.

He raised his hand and stroked Yuwen Tong’s back only to find that it was just as sweaty as his own.

Though the weather was nice this day, it was inevitable that the two of them had broken out in a sweat, given the long duration of the wedding.

Yuwen Tong flung out a hand backward and grabbed Ling Zhang’s hand which was “caressing” his back. “I’ll let you stroke me later.”

One more stroke from Ling Zhang and he might lose control of himself.

Reading between the lines, Ling Zhang slid him a sideways glance. It was just a stroke. Why was Yuwen Tong being so dramatic about it?

At this time a shower of petals floated from mid-air. After entering the Infinite Fortune Palace, they found that the road ahead was carpeted in petals.

Ling Zhang looked up at the falling petals and then down at those veiling the road, faintly surprised. Why couldn’t he recall including this part in the wedding plan?

“Why am I seeing petals?”

Yuwen Tong replied smugly, “It was me who had them prepare this. They picked these flowers early this morning. What do you think of it?”

Ling Zhang caught a falling petal. The air was filled with the scent of flowers, but the corners of his mouth twitched slightly. “Where did you have them pluck these flowers from?”

Was it the imperial garden, by any chance? He could tell at a glance these flowers were not common, and there wasn’t another place he could think of that these flowers might be from apart from the imperial garden.

If it was really the imperial garden… The very thought of this gave Ling Zhang a momentary blackout. Had the imperial garden been reduced to a bleak landscape?

“They’re from that imperial park outside the city,” explained Yuwen Tong.

It was not until after hearing this reply that Ling Zhang could breathe normally again. Fortunately Yuwen Tong hadn’t been so stupid as to have his men pluck flowers from the imperial garden. “Why did you suddenly…”

Before Ling Zhang could finish his sentence, something occurred to him, rendering him unable to continue. It didn’t take a genius to guess why Yuwen Tong had had them do this.

“This is indeed beautiful. It just strikes me as a little wasteful.”

Yuwen Tong said, “Those plants will blossom again, but we won’t have another wedding for the rest of our lives. As long as you like it, it’ll be worth it.”

Ling Zhang tossed him a casual glance. If truth be told, he didn’t really feel unhappy. Instead, he found this quite… interesting.

“Originally I’d planned to have them decorate the balustrades from the altar to this palace with colorful satin ribbons, thinking it’d be more festive.”

Ling Zhang immediately looked at him at these words. “What? Colorful satin ribbons? From the altar all the way to this palace?”

Ling Zhang really felt lucky that Yuwen Tong hadn’t actually done that. He couldn’t imagine what he would’ve had to face up to on this day had Yuwen Tong put that plan into action. The mere thought of it made his eyes sting! Besides, it’d take a lot of satin to make that happen, which would definitely cost a lot of money.

Yuwen Tong glanced at him. “I knew you wouldn’t like it, so I didn’t do it.”

In the sight of Yuwen Tong who always preferred things to be simple and direct, there was nothing wrong with making the wedding festive and joyous. Wouldn’t some satin ribbons brighten this place up?

The corners of Ling Zhang’s lips twitched. He found that if he was not in the palace or stopped keeping watch on Yuwen Tong, the latter might really give him some “pleasant” surprises.

While talking, the two of them had walked into the imperial bedchamber.

The couple of cousins of Yuwen Tong’s who were close to him, including Yuwen Feng, had been following in their wake and heard all those “gossip” and “non-mainstream aesthetic opinions”, their foreheads wet with sweat, believing that they’d better finish the ceremony of “cross-cupped wine” for these two high-maintenance guys as soon as possible and then get out of this place.

Yuwen Tong was unaware of the unfavorable comments the couple of cousins of his were secretly making on his aesthetic standards. After entering the imperial bedchamber, he and Ling Zhang sat down opposite each other beside a table on which were two cups of wine.

Before the ceremony of “cross-cupped wine”, there was also a long congratulatory speech, which was made by Yuwen Feng. And then one after another, Yuwen Tong’s cousins walked up and offered their congratulations to the newly-weds. As they talked, Yuwen Tong sat watching them. Every one of them was rewarded at the end of his speech. Those whose speeches were not long enough or not good enough got only one gold ingot each, while those whose speeches pleased Yuwen Tong each got a wad of signed checks.

At first Yuwen Jin, who’d always been straightforward, didn’t realize what was going on. On top of that, he’d never liked studying and thus had little learning, so he cast around desperately for flowery language, but all he came up with was just a couple of hackneyed idioms like “a harmonious union lasting a hundred years”, “grow old together” etc. When Yuwen Tong handed a gold ingot to him with an unimpressed face, Yuwen Jin was speechless with depression, feeling that Yuwen Tong was discriminating against him.

It was not until Yuwen Han standing beside him gave him a nudge in the ribs and whispered a lot of words in his ear that he came to himself, immediately stepped up and unctuously recited in one breath what Yuwen Han had just told him. Motivated by his desire for reward, Yuwen Jin punched above his weight and actually repeated those sentences verbatim, which astonished Ling Zhang.

“… I wish you health and longevity, Brother Zhang. I wish you infinite good fortune, cousin. I wish you two a happy lifelong marriage!”

After finishing the long speech, Yuwen Jin inhaled deeply and looked at Yuwen Tong with expectant eyes.

Yuwen Tong looked back at him, gave a little sneer and then handed him a more decent reward.

Yuwen Jin quickly took it, let out a cheer and thanked his cousin for the reward, disregarding the sneer.

Ling Zhang sitting on the side lightly shook his head, feeling rather embarrassed for Yuwen Jin.

After the couple of cousins of Yuwen Tong’s finished speaking, it was Ling Maomao’s turn. The little boy, who had been forced into memorizing a long text by his father before coming to the palace, walked up to Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong and started reciting it earnestly as though reciting a lesson in front of his teacher.

Secretly amused, Ling Zhang looked at him. When the boy finished, he gave him a casket, telling him to hold it in his arms.

Ling Maomao curiously took the casket and wanted to ask Ling Zhang about the contents of it, but then he realized this was not the right time, so he forbore from doing that, thanked his brother and then walked back to his original position, casket in arms.

Ji Xiaocong, who had followed Ling Maomao into the bedchamber, also offered his congratulations to the newly-weds in a babyish voice, which sounded interesting and amusing and sent everybody into fits of laughter.

Because of Ji Xiaocong’s ability to make Ling Zhang laugh so much, Yuwen Tong generously gave the boy a handsome reward and specially had someone hold it for him, instructing the man to take it back for the boy.

The imperial bedchamber was filled with uproar. The babble of voices was so loud that it nearly lifted the roof. Yuwen Feng had a hard job quieting them before he started to preside over the ceremony of “cross-cupped wine” for Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong in a serious manner.

Holding the wine cup, Ling Zhang felt his cheeks flushing and burning from the joking crowd. Wine up in hand, Yuwen Tong stared fixedly at him.

At this time, a cough was heard.

Seeing the two of them were looking at each other motionlessly with wine cups in their hands, Yuwen Feng had no choice but to cue them.

It was only then that Ling Zhang jerked out of his trance. Face suffused with color, he crossed arms with Yuwen Tong, leaned over and then the two of them gulped down their wine.

While they were drinking, Yuwen Tong’s eyes seemed to bore into Ling Zhang. What with that gaze, Ling Zhang was still in a daze when he finished his wine, and he maintained that posture for a long moment.

“Ahem, now that you’ve finished your wine, you may take a break.”

Yuwen Feng, worrying that their arms would feel sore if they maintained the posture for too long, kindly reminded them.

Ling Zhang was jogged back to his senses. As he realized that he had once again been sent into a daze by Yuwen Tong’s gaze, the blush on his face spread all the way down to his neck and he hastily withdrew his arm.

Yuwen Tong felt faintly regretful, his eyes casually flashing at Yuwen Feng.

Yuwen Feng noticed it and inwardly rolled his eyes upwards. ‘In a few moments you two will get to do whatever you want. Is it really necessary to be so touchy-feely at this moment? Everybody present is watching,’ he thought.

But there was nothing he could do about it, given that his cousin was now the emperor. Having no alternative, he began to shoo the crowd out of the bedchamber.

“All right, everybody, let’s give the newly-weds some privacy. It’s time for us to go back to the hall.”

“Hang on. My cousin and Brother Zhang haven’t kissed yet,” said Yuwen Jin aloud.

The moment he finished his sentence, Yuwen Han and a couple of others took up the chant. All of them were along for the ride and would like to bring the occasion to a new level. Moreover, this was a celebratory occasion.

Kiss? Ling Zhang twisted his head aside to look at Yuwen Jin, feeling that this guy had grown quite some balls.

However, Yuwen Tong’s eyes lit up. Probably because this suggestion of Yuwen Jin’s struck him as not bad, he stared unblinkingly at Ling Zhang.

His gaze gave Ling Zhang the willies, so the latter glared at him, as though saying “You don’t seriously want us to kiss in the presence of so many people, do you?”

Yuwen Tong lifted his eyebrows, as though replying “Why not?”

Ling Zhang, “…”

And then Yuwen Tong suddenly leaned over, blocking Ling Zhang’s view with his chest. The next moment, Ling Zhang felt something warm on the corner of his mouth and knew that he was kissed.

“Wow! Way to go, cousin. Do it again! Do it again!” chortled Yuwen Jin happily, jumping up.

Looking at Ling Zhang who was dazed from the kiss and looked adorable, Yuwen Tong was itching to do what newly-weds were supposed to do in the nuptial chamber. He turned his head to look at Yuwen Jin and said, “Okay, that’s enough. Stop being the third wheel. Go and do what you’ve got to do.”

Unconvinced, Yuwen Jin urged the crowd to take up the chant but was stopped and forcibly removed from the bedchamber by Yuwen Han and a couple of others.

‘This is no joking matter. Yuwen Jin really needs to know where the limit is. Can’t he see that His Majesty is quite horny and could barely subdue his desire?’ thought Yuwen Han.

Chapter 410: The Imperial Wedding (8)

Yuwen Jin was dragged out of the bedchamber. The others, very sensibly, also took their leave, carrying Ling Maomao and Ji Xiaocong away for good measure.

Soon the imperial bedchamber quieted down. Ling Zhang threw a glance at the color of the sky outside the window and thought, ‘Surely Yuwen Tong wouldn’t really want to do something at this hour?’

The two of them were the only ones in the imperial bedchamber now. Yuwen Feng and the others had considerately closed the front gates when they left. Nobody would come here to disturb them at this point in time. Yuwen Tong would be a complete fool if he didn’t take advantage of this opportunity to do what he wanted.

He rose to his feet, walked up to Ling Zhang, stooped down and cleanly scooped him up.

When Yuwen Tong leaned over, the smell of him quickly enveloped Ling Zhang, flooding into his nostrils, briefly rendering him dizzy. Before he could figure out why Yuwen Tong suddenly leaned over him, he was picked up.

Without uttering a word, Ling Zhang wrapped his arms around Yuwen Tong’s neck.

“The next step is to consummate our marriage,” said Yuwen Tong after planting a large kiss on him. They had finished the wedding ceremony and drunk “cross-cupped wine” from each other’s wine cups, which meant that Ling Zhang was now his marriage partner.

“Wait. There are so many officials and foreign guests out there. Is it really okay to just leave them there?” asked Ling Zhang, hastening to grab Yuwen Tong’s shoulder, looking nervously at him.

“Yuwen Feng will make arrangements for these after-wedding matters to be handled,” replied Yuwen Tong, carrying him towards the bed. After they walked through the valance, it floated down automatically.

Ling Zhang sensed Yuwen Tong’s determination. Recalling the wedding plan, he realized that they indeed didn’t have to be out there at this moment. The officials and other guests needed to transfer to another location, and the banquet was scheduled for nightfall. In a word, it was all abustle and astir outside, but he and Yuwen Tong didn’t have to concern themselves with any of it.

This also meant that he really had no excuse to…ahem…to refuse.

Ling Zhang’s eyes seemed to be avoiding something but also seemed to be smiling. Yuwen Tong noticed this, came to a halt and gazed down at him. He didn’t kiss Ling Zhang, merely staring at him. As though finding Ling Zhang’s eyes exceptionally enthralling, he just watched, stationary.

Ling Zhang silently looked back at him, his eyes gazing into the depths of Yuwen Tong’s where fire was dancing. Fascinated by it unawares, he involuntarily raised his hand to stroke it.

But his hand was intercepted before it could touch Yuwen Tong’s eyes, and with that Ling Zhang found that Yuwen Tong had carried him to the bed and was putting him down.

After grasping his hand, Yuwen Tong bent from the waist, kissed him hard, took a deep breath and then said, “There’s no hurry. We’ve still got something else to do.”

Ling Zhang looked at him bewilderedly. What else did they have to do?

Yuwen Tong slightly raised his upper body, widening the gap between them, then reached out his hands and unbuttoned Ling Zhang’s coat. He didn’t remove it, just letting it lie beneath Ling Zhang. Then his hands moved towards Ling Zhang’s belt.

The cummerbund was undone and laid flat on the two sides instead of being removed from beneath Ling Zhang.

Yuwen Tong was doing it very slowly with the air of someone unwrapping their present with great care. There was manifest desire in his eyes that he couldn’t disguise, but his movements were meticulous and totally unhurried, though the craving in his eyes was intensifying as Ling Zhang’s robes were taken off one after another.

The two of them had had sexual contact several times, so Ling Zhang shouldn’t be feeling shy, but somehow at this time he was quite bashful and flustered… The red valance in the imperial bedchamber was hanging there soundlessly. One of the windows of the outer hall was ajar, and a breeze was blowing in through the crack, gently fluttering the valance, the red ripples of which seemed to be tickling Ling Zhang’s heart repeatedly, turning him on.

There were also scarlet wedding candles in the bedchamber, which were made of a kind of special spice provided by the Fangcun Kingdom as part of the tribute and could last two days and two nights. Ling Zhang was unable to see any of the candle flames from his position, but he was feeling the heat from them, which seemed to be baking him, as though the candles were burning in his heart.

What he wanted the most to avert his gaze from was Yuwen Tong’s eyes. The expression and desire in that pair of eyes was projected squarely onto him, as though the owner of them could lose control of himself at any moment. Ling Zhang, in an almost subconscious way, gripped his robes which had been unbuttoned but not taken away and were still beneath his body.

However, this movement of his immediately arrested Yuwen Tong’s attention. His eyes which originally had had some self-restraint in them seemed to get out of control in that instant, staring feverishly at Ling Zhang’s hands grasping his robes.

His fair-skinned wrists, long fingers and slender frost-colored arms were revealing graceful skin texture from the effort of gripping his robes. His knuckles were so white they were dazzling Yuwen Tong, showing the sharpest possible contrast with the bright red robes and bedding, which was a fatal attraction.

Ling Zhang was unaware of any of it. He just sensed something faintly subdued, tense and out of the ordinary in the mood as he looked at Yuwen Tong’s eyes which were staring at his arm. He automatically tightened his grip on his robes, creasing them, as though a blossom had just been conjured up beneath each of his hands.

Yuwen Tong stopped restraining himself and grabbed Ling Zhang’s bold hand which was tantalizing his every nerve, holding it and the fistful of robes within it tightly.

“Why are you…”

Before Ling Zhang could finish his sentence, Yuwen Tong held his hand to his eyes in response, considering it, his hot breath spraying over his hand. His almost tangible gaze made Ling Zhang’s palm sweat really quick, rendering him unable to speak.

It was quite a while before he recovered his voice. “What are you doing? Is there something wrong with my hand?”

When he was uttering the last few words, his voice became a trifle husky, low and deep, confused and apparently somewhat injured. On hearing it, Yuwen Tong gave a start.

His gaze shifted from Ling Zhang’s hand to his mouth, and with that he reached out his other hand to rub Ling Zhang’s lips heavily with his thumb and croaked, “It’s beautiful.”

Beneath his intent gaze, Ling Zhang swallowed hard involuntarily. The longing in Yuwen Tong’s eyes deepened further as the apple of Ling Zhang’s throat bobbed.

He moved his hand from Ling Zhang’s lips down to his throat and held his neck with moderate force not enough to hurt Ling Zhang.

Ling Zhang reflexively raised his head. The next moment Yuwen Tong’s hand kept moving downwards all the way to Ling Zhang’s waist. Yuwen Tong suddenly lapsed into silence and resumed unbuttoning Ling Zhang’s clothes one after another, still not taking them away. He kept undoing those robes until Ling Zhang was naked…

Yuwen Tong took Ling Zhang’s hand, put it onto Ling Zhang’s waist and started rubbing his fingers against his waist slowly and heavily, leaving layers of pinkish marks on Ling Zhang’s white-skinned waist, which overlapped each other and were reddening gradually, but unlike the bright red of the robes and bedding, the red of the marks struck Yuwen Tong as suffocating.

There had been a couple of occasions when the two of them had acted wildly in bed, but on this day, Yuwen Tong was holding his hand and fondling him with their overlapping palms, as though intending to caress every inch of his skin. Ling Zhang felt the hair on his scalp prickle both when their fingers interlocked and when they slid across or were pressed against his skin…

…

…

After quite a long time, Ling Zhang looked at Yuwen Tong with unfocused, watery eyes, his whole body pinkish from a carry-over of excitement, some kind of aftersensation lingering in his breath and his eyes. Yuwen Tong fixed him with an unblinking stare.

It was a long moment before Ling Zhang came to himself. After recalling what Yuwen Tong had tempted him into doing just now, what kind of delirious words he’d said, what unimaginable exclamation he’d let out, he looked at Yuwen Tong who was still fully dressed, and suddenly felt hurt. He stretched his weak and faintly tremulous hand towards Yuwen Tong’s robes and held it. “Why didn’t you take off your clothes?”

Yuwen Tong conveniently scooped him up from the bed to let him sit in his embrace straddling his thighs. When their bodies were pressed tightly against each other, Yuwen Tong gave a muffled gasp and replied through gritted teeth, “Now you’re to take them off for me.”

Ling Zhang looked at him with his watery eyes. After a while, instead of disrobing Yuwen Tong, he shifted his position slightly.

Yuwen Tong’s whole body stiffened and he abruptly gasped, clenching his teeth, the look in his eyes instantly changing, his face twisting from the effort of restraining himself. He reflexively gripped Ling Zhang’s waist with the intention to stop him but couldn’t help letting him continue…

…

…

The red candles were still burning, giving off a faint aroma pervading the imperial bedchamber and wisps of smoke slowly twining around each other. For a long time, groans of the two people in bed could be heard in the bedchamber. The red valance was still rippling gently and continuously, as though it were feeling its owners’ pleasure and insatiable hunger for more.

…

It was another long time before the sky gradually became dark, and thousands of lanterns were lit in the imperial palace, forming a sea of bright light.

The streets outside the imperial palace had been tumultuous for a full day. Acrobatic platforms could be seen everywhere, and the whole street was adorned with colorful lanterns ablaze with multicoloured light. When night fell, fireworks studded the sky, bringing the uproar of this day to the climax.

Ling Zhang stretched out an arm from beneath the quilt which was covered with minor bruises, unhappily pushing Yuwen Tong who was trying to pull him out of the heap of quilt.

“Be a peach and get up. You may continue to sleep after we get back, okay?”

Patiently coaxing him, Yuwen Tong gave a smile of contentment. Eventually, he bodily scooped Ling Zhang up from the bed along with the quilt.

Ling Zhang, who was so drained he didn’t even have enough strength to hold up a finger, was totally unwilling to leave the bed. When Yuwen Tong picked him up, he buried his face in Yuwen Tong’s neck and bit him hard.

Yuwen Tong gasped lightly and said, “Don’t be mad. We’ll be late for the banquet if we don’t hurry. If I go there without you, you’ll definitely be angry with me after you wake up.”

Right now Ling Zhang was too tired to think clearly. When he came back to his senses and found that Yuwen Tong had gone to attend the banquet without him, he would no doubt go ballistic.

Wouldn’t that be synonymous with telling everybody what they had done and that he was unable to get out of bed because of it?

Chapter 411: The Imperial Wedding (9)

It struck Ling Zhang that none of his body parts was still under his control. Right now the only thing he wanted to do was throw himself onto the bed again and get back to sleep. There was no room in his head to think about anything else.

Yuwen Tong’s heart ached for Ling Zhang as he saw Ling Zhang so groggy. Still, this was their wedding day, and it would be too much to ask that he restrain himself. He scooped Ling Zhang up along with the quilt and directly carried him to the side hall where warm bathwater had been prepared already.

Dreamily lying prone on Yuwen Tong’s shoulder, Ling Zhang was still half asleep. It was after Yuwen Tong removed the quilt and put him into the warm water in the bathing barrel that he slowly gave a shudder and opened his eyes to look at Yuwen Tong.

“Is the water temperature okay?” asked Yuwen Tong.

Seeing Ling Zhang looking emptily at him, Yuwen Tong gave a chuckle in spite of himself, reached into the water to take a stroke, and then rubbed the water onto Ling Zhang’s shoulder. Covered with droplets of water, his frost-colored skin looked so delicate that Yuwen Tong’s mouth and throat went dry. Ripples on the water surface in the large bathing barrel were kissing Ling Zhang’s body one after another, making a sight full of strong visual stimuli, but Ling Zhang was totally unaware of it, his eyes wide open.

Yuwen Tong inwardly let out a long sigh. His desire had been fully satisfied only a short time before, and a couple of provocative words would be enough to turn him on again, let alone a scene like this. However, right now he couldn’t do anything, for Ling Zhang wouldn’t be able to bear it. Also, they were running out of time.

“Take a bath. We need to go to the imperial garden after you get dressed.”

It was after hearing these words of Yuwen Tong’s that Ling Zhang’s mind slowly cleared. He looked around to see where he was, shifted his position to sit in the bathing barrel, leaned against the inside of it, raised his head and heaved a sigh. The warm water alleviated his fatigue, making him feel much more comfortable. Also, his head was clear now.

Gazing at him with a longing in his eyes, Yuwen Tong took off the clothes draped around his shoulders and stepped into the bathing barrel as well.

The water surface in the barrel instantly rose. Looking at Yuwen Tong’s private parts which were showing signs of a particular bodily response, Ling Zhang couldn’t help but recall what the two of them had done a short time before, and with that he hurriedly averted his eyes from them and said, “Don’t you do anything else to me.”

Yuwen Tong chuckled, “What do you think I want to do to you?”

After saying this, he picked up a wet towel and said, “Come over here. I’ll help you wash yourself.”

Ling Zhang looked incredulously at him. It was after confirming Yuwen Tong was not up to anything that he moved over to let Yuwen Tong wipe his body and massage the small of his back.

Having just experienced intense pleasure, their bodies were very sensitive, and merely getting close to each other was enough to cause their bodies to quiver with excitement, not to mention Yuwen Tong wiping and kneading Ling Zhang’s body. As a result, neither of them dared to linger in the barrel for long. After washing themselves in haste, they got out of the barrel, toweled their bodies and hair and then changed into clean clothes.

Standing on the ground, Ling Zhang gingerly stretched and felt it amazing to have some internal energy inside him. He and Yuwen Tong had obviously made out in a quite strenuous way, and he could barely stand only a few moments before, but now, after a mere bath in warm water and a massage given by Yuwen Tong and a short while’s Qi circulation, he was feeling no serious discomfort except a particular body part of his was still fairly uncomfortable.

They dried each other’s hair with their internal energy, tied each other’s hair up and helped each other change into new, light clothes. Every inch of their adornment was the work of their lovers. Ling Zhang felt as though Yuwen Tong’s handsomeness and great presence should be attributed to him, while Yuwen Tong felt that he deserved all the credit for Ling Zhang’s elegance and charm. Their faces registered pride in spite of themselves, their eyes fixed on each other and full of proudness and affection.

Eventually, Yuwen Tong adjusted Ling Zhang’s hairgrip and observed, “The one you wore during the day is prettier.”

That hairgrip had had exquisite red ribbons attached to it, which had hung behind Ling Zhang and flown whenever there was a wind. Yuwen Tong had noticed it during the day when escorting Ling Zhang out of the Ling Mansion. It had set off his sweetheart, making him look even more refined and graceful.

Ling Zhang, however, believed that the lighter one he was wearing right now was better. “I prefer this one. It’s easier to wear. That one’s too heavy.”

Apart from those ribbons, the main body of the hairpin was rather heavy as well. Ling Zhang didn’t feel like having it on his head for a whole night. On top of that, it wouldn’t match the attire he was clothed in at this moment.

Yuwen Tong was secretly a trifle regretful. He liked it when breeze brought those ribbons around his arm as he and Ling Zhang walked hand in hand. It felt as though Ling Zhang were wrapping himself around him, which gave him a unique sense of contentment.

“Let’s go. We’ll be late if we don’t hurry.”

Ling Zhang grabbed Yuwen Tong’s hand and hastened to make towards the doors, not caring whether or not Yuwen Tong was still having some kind of romantic fantasy.

They had originally planned to get something to eat, but time was terribly short, so the two of them had to drop the idea.

…

In the imperial garden.

Hundreds of thousands of lanterns had been lit, every one of which was emitting light different than that from the others, making the garden a glaring ocean of rays of a myriad of colors, creating a sight of unparalleled beauty.

Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong had just reached the front gates when they heard the tumultuous uproar inside. Officials of all ranks and descriptions, the diplomatic corps of the couple of foreign countries and other invited guests had all gathered in there, producing incessant mirth and a babble of voices, mixed with the noises of children frolicking.

Ling Zhang, who had a keen sense of hearing, could tell that there were far more than two children in there, looking at Yuwen Tong, somewhat confused.

“Why am I hearing voices of a lot of kids? Those officials brought their children here?”

Yuwen Tong explained, “According to the rules, tonight all officials are allowed to bring their family members here, but they tend not to take children to an evening banquet like this. I think this has something to do with Maomao.”

Ling Maomao was Ling Zhang’s cousin and the only great-grandchild of Ling Xingzhong, and his existence had indeed come to the knowledge of everybody without him noticing. Ling Zhang had married Yuwen Tong and become the empress, making the Ling family in-laws of the emperor. On top of that, Yuwen Tong valued Ling Zhang and the Ling family very much, which had given many people the idea of striking up relationships with the Ling family. Even if they couldn’t make friends with the Ling family, they wouldn’t make enemies of them. After all, nobody knew how far the Ling family would get.

However…

The Ling family were in the limelight, because the emperor cared about them very much, but the Ling family had been keeping a low profile, barely rubbing shoulders with anybody other than a limited few such as the Yuwen family and the Tao family. As a result, most officials were unable to find any opportunities to strike up friendships with the Ling family, though they wanted to, which was why in their eyes, Ling Maomao was a way in to a relationship with the Ling family. It might be difficult for them to get acquainted with any of the adult members of the Ling family, but it should be easy for their children to make the acquaintance of Ling Maomao, so they’d brought their kids to this banquet with the intention to have them play with Ling Maomao. As regards whose children would be able to make friends with Ling Maomao, they could do nothing but trust to luck.

Therefore, Ling Maomao was also very busy on this night, holding Ji Xiaocong’s hand, talking with a group of children from aristocratic families clustering around them.

At first Ling Maomao was somewhat unaccustomed to this situation, but gradually he sensed that something was not quite right. These children, both those older than him and those younger than him, seemed to be a trifle afraid of him. Though they spoke in different ways, all of them appeared to be somewhat overcautious. After Ling Maomao came to the capital city, he had seen more people and experienced more things, and his elders had drummed a lot into his head, so he had got some acquaintance with the various aspects of this city. On this occasion, he had perceptively perceived that the reason why these children were trying to make friends with him was because of his brother, who was the empress, and whose husband was the emperor.

Having got a vague idea of what was going on, Ling Maomao knew what to expect. Gradually, his unease ebbed away and he developed the ability to calmly deal with every one of the children accosting him. When the topic was unfamiliar to him, he would keep silent. Even when asked about something he knew of, he would always make his reply as short as possible. With a poker face, he looked somewhat unapproachable, as though he were really a patronizing child.

Though Ji Xiaocong standing beside him was young, this little guy was a member of the Ji family and thus intellectually precocious. Although he was still unable to figure out the ins and outs of this matter, he had generally came to realize what this might be about. When Ling Maomao was feigning unapproachability, he followed suit, looking impassive. With two expressionless faces, one bigger than the other, the two little boys were not flustered at all in the face of a group of children besieging them.

Members of the Ling family in the distance, who’d been paying attention to the two little boys all along, found this scene quite amusing.

“Maomao has indeed grown a lot,” sighed Ling Zhaowu, looking at Ling Maomao with exceptionally affectionate eyes. Because of his feelings of guilt, he saw his little brother’s son as his own. He left home over ten years ago, and it’d been his brother who’d brought Ling Zhang up, so he was eager to make it up to his brother by doing something for his nephew.

Naturally, Ling Zhaowen was very happy to hear his big brother’s praise for his son’s conduct, but he still put on a disapproving look and remarked, “He’s wearing a poker face because he doesn’t have a clue how to deal with that situation.”

“It’s pretty smart of him to speak less, listen more and observe more, making it difficult for others to guess what he’s thinking. It’s not that he doesn’t know how to deal with it. Actually he’s handling it in the exactly correct way. Your bark is worse than your bite, and it always has been. You’re secretly happy about it, but you’ll never admit it.”

Ling Zhaowu put it very explicitly, not caring at all whether or not his little brother would be embarrassed. Ling Zhaowen, who was faintly disconcerted and felt that his big brother was being too blunt, looked at Ling Zhaowu and said, “You’re clearly coddling him.”

Ling Zhaowu gave a smile and didn’t contradict him again, letting him retain a little dignity.

On the other side, Ling Xingzhong and Ji Yin were also looking at the two little boys.

“Tonight he doesn’t seem like the naughty boy he usually is at home at all,” commented Ling Xingzhong with a sigh, vaguely gratified.

Ji Yin said, “All little boys are naughty at home and pretend to be mature in the presence of outsiders. It’s a normal thing.”

Ling Xingzhong smiled, looked into the distance and said, “It’s been a while. What’s taking Zhang’er and His Majesty so long?”

Ji Yin glanced at a spot in the distance and replied, “They’ve already arrived. There, they’re watching the two kids.”

Ji Yin, whose hearing was very good, could hear all the movements nearby if he wanted to. As Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong had come with a lot of guards following in their wake, so he’d heard the sound some time before.

Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong indeed paused for a while to see how Ling Maomao would deal with the situation. The little boy’s approach struck Ling Zhang as satisfactory.

“You should give him a reward for this later,” said Yuwen Tong.

Ling Zhang thought about it for a brief moment and replied, “He’s not getting a reward so easily. I’d like to see his performance during the remainder of this banquet before making a decision.”

Yuwen Tong looked at him in surprise. It’d never crossed his mind that there would be circumstances in which Ling Zhang could bring himself to be strict with Ling Maomao.