The Glory After Rebirth [ɇÇ”Ÿä¹‹Å°Šè£] Chapter 367- 369

Chapter 367: A Fight

It happened in an instant.

Fang Quan suddenly launched himself at the Concubine Liu, produced a knife from somewhere about his person and abruptly stabbed it at the Ninth Prince who was in the Concubine Liu’s arms!

He did it so fast that nobody was able to stop him. When the Concubine Liu’s scream was heard, the Ninth Prince had already fallen to the ground, lying in a pool of blood. The ringleader kicked Fang Quan aside, whipped out his saber and held it to Fang Quan’s neck, a glacial look on his face.

“You’re not supposed to have done this, Your Lordship.”

Fang Quan’s teeth were chattering from the coldness of the blade against his neck. “You–You can’t kill me. I’m the Eighth Prince’s grandfather, and my life is worth something. You want to lose the part of the payment for my life?!”

The ringleader’s eyes went cold, the rippling muscles on his face making him look like a cacodemon. The Concubine Jin and the Eighth Prince both screeched with horror, flinching and curling up.

“My son! My son!” wailed the Concubine Liu, holding the Ninth Prince. “You’re scaring me, my son!”

All the others stood motionlessly, not daring utter a word. The Concubine Liu’s shrill crying sounded exceptionally poignant in the wilds on this pitch-dark night.

The ringleader dealt Fang Quan a blow with the flat of his saber which knocked him out. Icy-faced, looking at the Ninth Prince’s body and the Concubine Liu who was still wailing, he instructed, “Gag her.”

Soon someone forced the Concubine Liu into stop crying. With a demented face, the Concubine Liu stared murderously at Fang Quan and the Concubine Jin, the look in her eyes so venomous as though she would eat them alive and drink their blood if she could.

At first the Concubine Jin was scared, but after a while, seeing that the ringleader was showing no inclination to kill Fang Quan and the Concubine Liu had been restrained, she became smug again. “It’s no good staring at me. This is your fate.”

The Concubine Liu struggled frantically and somehow she actually managed to free herself from her bonds and lunged towards the Concubine Jin and the Eighth Prince. The Concubine Jin immediately dodged aside, squawking, so anxious to save her own hide that she failed to notice that her son was glued to the spot. The Concubine Liu held the boy, jerked the pointed gold hairpin out of her bun and plunged it deep into the Eighth Prince’s chest.

“NOOOO!” yelled everybody nearby, but none of them was quick enough to stop the Concubine Liu who had suddenly put on a spurt.

“AAAAAAARGH! YOU BITCH! I’LL KILL YOU!” It was after seeing her son sink to the ground that the Concubine Jin came to herself and dived at the Concubine Liu.

The ringleader gave each of them a kick, sending them flying, his face so cold as though it were about to frost. Then he looked from the Eighth Prince’s dead body on the ground to the two women who were half dead from the kicks, a bloodthirsty expression flashing across his eyes. “What a double whammy. These two women ruined such a lucrative deal.”

“What should we do now, Chief?” a killer asked.

The ringleader’s eyes raked the Concubine Jin and the others who were still alive, and then he replied flintily, “It’s the two princes that our employer wants. The others are insignificant. Now that the most important goods were damaged, the others are naturally useless now. Kill them all and burn this place.”

“Yes, Chief,” answered the killer.

“No! Don’t kill me! I’m the Concubine Jin! I’m an imperial family member! You riff-raff! Don’t you dare kill me!” the Concubine Jin cried out in fright.

The two courtiers were also thrown into terror.

“Chief, the pursuers are here! We’ve been surrounded!”

In the distance, a vast patch of lighted torches were approaching. The ringleader’s face twisted with fury for quite a while before he ordered, “Retreat!”

“What about these people?”

“Let them be. They’re just a bunch of good-for-nothings.”

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

The gang of killers quickly retreated. Before leaving, they set the whole place on fire. Nobody knew how they did it, but the flames instantly raged out of control, encircling the Concubine Jin and the others!

“HELP! HELP!” The Concubine Jin and the others started shouting. The Concubine Liu struggled to her feet and, while the Concubine Jin was crying for help, launched herself on the Concubine Jin, holding a blood-stained dagger which she had pulled out of the Ninth Prince’s body, and heavily sank it into the Concubine Jin’s neck. “DIE!” she bellowed.

“AAAARGH–Uh–Uh–” With a dagger sticking in her neck, the Concubine Jin was unable to utter another word, gripping the Concubine Liu’s hand in agony, struggling vainly for her life. Blood was spewing from the wound as quick as her life was leaving her body, and soon she breathed her last.

After watching her die, the Concubine Liu raised her head and broke into hysterical laughter, oblivious of the flames that were about to reach her. When she was on the verge of losing her mind, she blacked out.

The two courtiers whom the killers had bust out of the prison in passing were the only ones still conscious. They yelled madly for help. The lighted torches in the distance were approaching quickly and their bearers would soon arrive.

All of a sudden, a gust of wind generated by a palm strike soundlessly came at the two of them and with that they stopped shouting and fell to the ground.

Two black figures quietly leaped into the inferno. One of them scooped up the two princes from the ground and immediately left. The other quickly tampered with the scene and then rapidly retreated. Nobody saw what they had done.

Very soon, the large number of pursuers surrounded the whole place. As this was a wilderness and it was very inconvenient to get water, the soldiers had no choice but to rescue as many as they could from the inferno. What with the chaotic situation, they didn’t even know whom they had rescued. It was not until the spreading flames became too fierce for the soldiers to get close to any of those still in the fire that the water was delivered to the scene, and putting out the fire alone took the soldiers a very long time.

…

In the distance, a couple of black figures had been gazing in the direction of the fire all along. After confirming that there was no loose end, they pivoted around and left.

“Lao Shi, can you save the two princes?” asked Miao Shisan, removing the piece of black cloth from his face.

Xie Shi examined the two princes and then replied, “Brother San used his internal energy to change the directions of Fang Quan’s and the Concubine Liu’s stabs in time, and he also struck some of the two princes’ acupoints, so although their injuries are severe, they’re still curable. Give me my medicine chest. We have to get them somewhere quiet. It’ll take some time.”

Miao Shisan unfastened the medicine chest from his back and handed it to Xie Shi.

There was another man standing silently on the side, whose whole body seemed to have merged into the dark night. His existence was barely perceivable when he was not speaking. “Their identities as princes of the former imperial family have met their ends in that big fire. From now on, Zhou Ming’an and Zhou Mingyun no longer exist in this world. Xiao Yi and Xiao Er will be their temporary names. The Marshal will decide where they should be taken after they recover.”

“Yes.”

“There’s a small town ahead. Go there and find Tai’an Drugstore. It’s our hideout. Settle the two princes in there. Shisan, bring our men back and report this to the Marshal. I’ll keep watch on those people.”

“Yes.”

…

It was at dawn that the message was delivered back to the capital city. The Eighth Prince had died at Fang Quan’s hands; the Ninth Prince had been killed by the Concubine Liu who did it in revenge for the murder of her son; the Concubine Jin had died in the big fire. It was a quite tragic event.

“Fang Quan, the Concubine Liu and the other two courtiers are on their way back. As the two young princes’ and the Concubine Jin’s bodies were reduced to skeletons by the fire, those in charge of the clean-up are still trying to identify them. It’ll take some more time. The gang of killers fled after their mission failed. Commander Xie is personally leading the hunt for them. So far there haven’t been any developments.”

Courtiers in the hall had different facial expressions at the news. Lord Hu and Lord Pei appeared to be in grief. “Are you sure the two princes are among the victims? Did you see them with your own eyes?”

“When we arrived at the scene, the two young princes’ bodies hadn’t been burnt yet, and all of us saw them with our own eyes. The two princes were indeed in there. We were anxious to rescue those who were still alive, but those killers had used Black Oil to set the fire before leaving, and the flames were so fierce that we were unable to get the two princes’ bodies out of the scene.”

Lord Hu and Lord Pei lapsed into a long silence. Whatever they had expected, it wasn’t that things would come to this.

“Was it really… Fang Quan and the Concubine Liu who killed the two princes?” asked Lord Pei.

“Both the other two survivors are eyewitnesses to the killing. Also, Fang Quan and the Concubine Liu confessed everything.”

There was a deathly hush in the hall. Yuwen Tong also had a grave face.

“When Fang Quan and the others are escorted into the city, bring them to this hall directly instead of the prison. All courtiers will interrogate them collectively and get justice for the two deceased princes,” ordered Yuwen Tong.

Everybody present were surprised at this instruction, because nobody would be able to play any tricks if this matter was to be handled this way. Lord Hu and Lord Pei exchanged glances, both having mixed expressions in their eyes, torn between admiration for Yuwen Tong’s candidness and grief over the demise of the two young princes.

…

Night had already fallen when Fang Quan and the others were escorted into the capital city. The Concubine Liu, Fang Quan and the two courtiers who had previously been broken out of prison all cut sorry figures. After they were forced to their knees in the hall, the two escaped courtiers were the first to kowtow and plead for their lives. Fang Quan’s face was full of resentment, while the Concubine Liu’s was pale and blank.

The Concubine Liu’s father, Lord Liu, was also present. His rank was not high, but he was also a courtier. At the sight of the Concubine Liu, a sense of grief flooded over the old man, who burst into tears in spite of himself and implored, “Marshal, would you be so kind as to grant me the permission to personally interrogate my daughter? I fear that she might suffer a mental breakdown or even die on the spot if anybody else questions her.”

Yuwen Tong looked at the others and asked, “What do you think?”

The Right Prime Minister and those on his side kept silent, but judging from the expressions on their faces, they were against it. Seeing this, Lord Hu and Lord Pei had no choice but to step up. “We both find Lord Liu’s request understandable. Please give your consent to it, Marshal.”

Yuwen Tong said, “You have my consent, Lord Liu.”

“Thank you, Marshal.” Lord Liu expressed his gratitude, walked up to the Concubine Liu and crouched down. “My daughter, my daughter, look at your father.”

The Concubine Liu slowly raised her eyes. Bit by bit, her face crumpled up and then she wept, “Father, my son died. He died!”

The father and daughter held each other, wailing in one another’s arms. After quite a while, Lord Liu asked her what had happened. The Concubine Liu, as though having just been subjected to some kind of stimulation, launched herself at Fang Quan like crazy. “It was him! It was this bastard Fang Quan who killed my son!”

The Concubine Liu seemed to have lost control of herself and the guards hurriedly restrained her.

“You son of a bitch! I’ll kill you, drink your blood and eat your flesh! You’ll pay with your life for my son’s death! You’ll pay with your life for my son’s death!”

“Lord Liu, you need to figure out a way to calm the Concubine Liu down so that she could give us an account of what happened back there,” said Yuwen Tong.

While Lord Liu was trying to quiet her daughter, Fang Quan was also hurling abuse. “You bitch! You killed my grandson and ruined everything! You son’s life was nothing compared with my grandson’s! How dare you want me to pay for his death? Today I’ll kill you or die trying!”

The guards, who had far less sympathy for Fang Quan, immediately kicked him aside.

The interrogation was thrown into disarray.

It was after the Concubine Liu and Fang Quan were both restrained that they gradually cooled down. The Concubine Liu was the first to relate what had happened. “It was indeed me who killed the Eighth Prince, and I have no regrets about having done that. Fang Quan killed my son, so I shattered his stupid hope. That bitch the Concubine Jin is also dead. She’s got her just deserts.” After saying this, she burst into laughter.

The Concubine Liu was too demented to continue, so eventually it was one of the two escaped courtiers who gave them a full account of the events, starting from their coming into contact with that killer in the prison who had claimed to be from Jiangzhou and come to rescue them, to the deaths of the two young princes and the soldiers’ coming to their rescue in the end.

After the truth about the whole thing was ascertained, Fang Quan was sentenced to death and would be beheaded immediately; the two courtiers were sentenced to life imprisonment; the Concubine Liu was to spend the rest of her life in the cold palace (a palace where an emperor installs members of the imperial family who do something wrong).

Chapter 368: Xu Lingyun and Xiao Ziyan

In the Ling Mansion.

When Ji Yanlai was informed of the deaths of the two young princes, a quizzical look appeared on his face and with that he looked up into the night sky.

Ji Yin asked, “What’s the matter, Clan Leader?”

Ji Yanlai made no reply. After quite a while, he suddenly observed with a smile, “Yuwen Tong turns out to be a pretty interesting guy.”

Curiously enough, the two stars which had originally become dim miraculously started shining brightly again, though they were now as ordinary as the countless nondescript stars around them.

…

The tragedy about the two young princes was like a farce, and residents in the capital city either felt sorry for them or took an unconcerned attitude towards the matter. All this stopped the day before the enthronement ceremony. Too many events had happened, which was why people were forgetting about them sooner than usual. With the enthronement ceremony drawing near, all those events seemed to have become water under the bridge so quick, and it wouldn’t be long before they were consigned to oblivion.

Governors of the various prefectures had all entered the capital city. The envoys of the Wan Kingdom, the Luohai Kingdom and the Fangcun Kingdom had also arrived. Each of the three countries had sent a prince to attend the ceremony. All three princes were strangers to people of the capital city, and even members of the diplomatic corps were all strangers. Everything was new.

Apart from them, some other people’s arrival in the capital city also attracted people’s attention, such as the Ji family.

Old Master Ji had taken all his family to the capital city, but they didn’t move into their original abode, because it had long since been taken back by the government. Instead, they settled themselves in another large residence. Their servants were bustling around, cleaning the residence in an orderly fashion. Many people were confused and took a wait-and-see attitude, wondering why the Ji family had chosen to come to the capital city at this point in time.

In the imperial palace.

Seven people – Ling Zhang, Yuwen Jin, Tao Yi, Zhao Jiusi, Zhao Turui, Xie Qing, Ji Feng – gathered in a side hall, sitting around the same table.

“So glad you’re back, Ji Feng. We’ve missed you so much,” said Yuwen Jin.

Ji Feng had grown much taller than before, and he also seemed to be a lot more well adjusted. The arch and unbuttoned air that he used to have about him had mostly been replaced by a poised and unhurried one.

“All my family have the Marshal’s kindness to thank for this opportunity to come back to the capital city,” said Ji Feng.

Only very few knew that this time around it had been after receiving an invitation from Yuwen Tong that the Ji family returned to the capital city. Also, Old Master Ji would be appointed to a position of responsibility after Yuwen Tong’s enthronement.

“By the way, which position will your grandfather be appointed to?” asked Yuwen Jin curiously.

Ji Feng smiled, “I don’t know either. Maybe… you should ask Ling Zhang about it.”

Ling Zhang flicked him a glance and replied, “You leave me out of this. I wouldn’t tell you even if I knew. Just wait for further notice.”

“Brother Zhang, I assure you none of us will breathe a word of it to anybody,” promised Yuwen Jin.

Ling Zhang ignored him. Zhao Jiusi said to Yuwen Jin, “Stop putting Ling Zhang on the spot. You’re an adult now. Why are you still asking questions without thinking about them first?”

Yuwen Jin rolled his eyes upwards. “That’s because I see you guys as my brothers, and brothers don’t keep secrets from each other, do they?”

Ling Zhang said, “Well, this will sound awkward, but I don’t feel like telling you the truth. What are you going to do about it?”

Yuwen Jin, “…”

“Haha… Yuwen Jin, it seems that your efforts to guilt-trip him into telling you the truth were in vain.”

All the others burst into laughter.

“When will you and the Marshal get married?” Ji Feng inquired of Ling Zhang.

Ling Zhang responded, “The wedding ceremony will be held right after the enthronement ceremony. Yuwen Tong will announced the date for the wedding at the enthronement ceremony.”

“Well, I guess staff members of the Ministry of Rites are going to have some really hectic days,” commented Zhao Jiusi.

They were old friends, and it had been quite some time since the last time they had sat around the same table to catch up. Although they were missing one, all of them avoided mentioning it by tacit agreement. The past was behind them, while the present and the future were in front of them. A new imperial dynasty was about to start, and they were all in their prime. Any one of them who had some dash – however faint it was – would muster up all their fight to strive for their goals, and none of them would admit defeat.

After the party, Ji Feng, Zhao Jiusi and the others took their leave and walked out of the palace six abreast.

When they looked over their shoulders in the direction of the imperial palace, transports of emotions welled up inside all of them in spite of themselves. “It surprises me how many changes a year’s time could bring.”

“The next time we meet, we’ll have to refer to Ling Zhang as ‘the empress’.”

“Haha. I don’t think Brother Zhang is going to be very happy about people referring to him as that.”

The others exchanged knowing looks and then all broke into laughter.

…

After seeing Yuwen Jin and the others off, Ling Zhang made towards the consultation hall. Halfway there, he chanced upon two young officials led by guards. One of them was wearing prefectural governor’s robes, and the other a military officer’s full dress uniform. Both of them were strangers to Ling Zhang and seemed to be from out of town and have come to the capital city to attend the enthronement ceremony.

They were walking along another path and met Ling Zhang at the fork.

“It’s an honor to meet you, Childe Ling.” The two guards hurriedly dropped to one knee to pay their respects to Ling Zhang at the sight of him.

The two young officials stopped dead, looking at Ling Zhang. The one in governor’s robes who was relatively handsome was the first to come to himself. He gave the sleeve of the one beside him a pull and bowed with hands folded in front. “It’s a great honor to meet you, Childe Ling. My name is Xu Lingyun. I’m the Shengzhou governor.”

The other man also jerked out of his trance. “It’s a great honor to meet you, Childe Ling. My name is Xiao Ziyan. I’m a deputy commander of the Shengzhou garrison.”

The Shengzhou governor, Xu Lingyun? A deputy commander of the Shengzhou garrison, Xiao Ziyan? Ling Zhang was astonished. These two names sounded so familiar that he immediately recalled that these two people were a married couple. Xu Lingyun and Xiao Ziyan were the gay couple that almost everybody in this country knew about. Xu Lingyun was the youngest ever governor, which was a very high rank for his age. Everybody had believed that he had exceptionally good career prospects, until he had suddenly declared that he was going to marry Xiao Ziyan. As there was a precedent for gay marriage – the Emperor Gaozu and his male consort – nobody dared lay any blame on him, because criticizing him would be synonymous with criticizing the Emperor Gaozu. Still, since then, everybody had believed that Xu Lingyun’s official career had been sentenced to death. In fact, Xu Lingyun had indeed been the Shengzhou governor for many years. Though appearing quite young, he was actually in his thirties, but the couple of them were quite vigorous and seemed to be in their early twenties.

Also, Xiao Ziyan had been the one who led the Shengzhou garrison southwards to intercept the Jiangzhou garrison when they marched north.

In other words, Xiao Ziyan and Xu Lingyun were on pretty good terms with Yuwen Tong. Otherwise they might not have obeyed Yuwen Tong’s orders.

Ling Zhang immediately asked them to rise and said, “I keep hearing people talk about you. It’s really an honor to meet you here today.”

Xu Lingyun and Xiao Ziyan rose to their feet. One of them said with a smile, “You’re too courteous, Childe Ling. We hear a lot of favourable comments about you as well.”

The other one gave a nod of agreement. The two of them stood there side by side, one chuckling, the other quiet, their respective air bringing out the best in each other.

Finding this sight quiet enjoyable, Ling Zhang said, “It’s very nice of you to say so, but I’m sure there are far more unfavorable comments about me than there are favorable ones. By the way, you two are here to see Yuwen Tong, I suppose? How about we go there together?”

Xu Lingyun smiled, “Thank you, Childe Ling. After you.”

“This way, please.”

Thus the three of them headed for the consultation hall together. On their way there, Ling Zhang fell into conversation with Xu Lingyun and found that this man was equable-mannered and had a good sense of humor. Xiao Ziyan, a man of few words as he was, didn’t strike Ling Zhang as unsympathetic. Most of the time he was just listening, but he made Ling Zhang feel he was really paying attention to his words, and his body language was showing his self-restraint all the time.

Ling Zhang talked with them about a lot of things unawares, including the matter of Shengzhou. Ling Zhang had previously passed through Shengzhou several times, but he had never specially paid it a visit to really get to know that place. Xu Lingyun was quite good at providing information about his hometown. Every characteristic of Shengzhou he described sounded more tantalizing than the last, and they made Ling Zhang feel a sudden upsurge of liking for the city.

It was after they reached the doorway of the consultation hall that Xu Lingyun stopped talking about that topic, and Ling Zhang seemed not to have heard enough.

A guard on duty in the doorway of the hall walked up to Ling Zhang at the sight of him. “Childe Ling.”

“Are they busy with anything in there?” asked Ling Zhang.

“The Marshal is double-checking the ceremonial arrangement of the enthronement tomorrow with some officials of the Ministry of Rites,” answered the guard.

Ling Zhang inclined his head, turned around and said to Xu Lingyun and Xiao Ziyan, “Please wait here for a moment. I’ll go inside and have him spare some time to see you guys first.”

“That’s very kind of you, Childe Ling,” said Xu Lingyun. “Sorry to put you to the trouble.”

Ling Zhang gave a smile, pivoted around and entered the consultation hall.

“Childe Ling seems different from what he’s rumored to be,” Xu Lingyun said to Xiao Ziyan, watching Ling Zhang’s receding back.

“His eyes are honest and clean, his manner mild and frank,” observed Xiao Ziyan.

“I wonder who started those rumors about him being domineering and arrogant. Back then I was quite confused as to what the Marshal saw in him. Now it seems that all those rumors are false,” said Xu Lingyun.

“Well, that’s why they’re called rumors,” remarked Xiao Ziyan.

Before long, Ling Zhang walked outside and invited them to go into the hall.

Xu Lingyun and Xiao Ziyan entered only to see that those officials of the Ministry of Rites were gone, presumably waiting in the side hall.

“Xu Lingyun pays his respects to you, Marshal.”

“Xiao Ziyan pays his respects to you, Marshal.”

“You may rise.”

Xu Lingyun and Xiao Ziyan rose to their feet and saw Yuwen Tong and Ling Zhang who was standing beside him and looking at them with a beam on his face.

“What with the dispatch of the garrison, it took the two of us some time to deal with the follow-up matters, so we arrived in the capital city later than scheduled. Please forgive us, Marshal.”

“You both had some hectic days. The Shengzhou garrison rendered outstanding service in the handling of the matter of the Yanzhou garrison’s unauthorized northward movement. If there’s anything you two want apart from the routine reward, all you have to do is tell me. Take it as a bonus I offer you in private.”

Xu Lingyun smiled, “Since you’re so generous, it’d be a shame if we let this opportunity slip away.”

“Thank you, Marshal.” Xiao Ziyan, however, earnestly expressed his gratitude.

Yuwen Tong lifted his eyebrows and looked at the two of them. “To be honest, originally I intended to transfer Xu Lingyun to the capital city.”

Xu Lingyun’s smile immediately disappeared. Xiao Ziyan also looked nervously at Yuwen Tong.

“But at the thought that it’d be rather unkind to have you two live apart for that long, I had no choice but to give up that idea. As a result, this reward I’m offering you in private could be regarded as a kind of compensation. There’s no need for you to have any misgivings. Give it some careful thought and then tell me what you want.”

Both Xu Lingyun and Xiao Ziyan felt relieved. “Thank you for your kindness, Marshal.”

“We promise we’ll think it through.”

After that, Xu Lingyun and Xiao Ziyan reported on their respective work. As Shengzhou was a border city of great strategic importance, many of its local policies should be different from those of other prefectures, for it was best if policies were in line with local conditions. However, the former emperor had rejected Xu Lingyun’s proposals, so many of Xu Lingyun’s good plans had been shelved. This time around, Xu Lingyun had specially come to the capital city to seize this opportunity and convince Yuwen Tong to approve these proposals of his.

Yuwen Tong discussed those proposals with the two of them for quite some time and eventually finalized some preliminary plans. “The remaining few of these proposals can wait. You two may go back and confer with each other about them and see if there’s still room for improvement.”

“Yes, Marshal,” answered Xu Lingyun.

The main purpose of this visit of theirs was to pay their respects to Yuwen Tong and report on some civic affairs and people’s livelihood in Shengzhou. Many of the matters were indeed not of urgency.

“With your permission, we’d like to take our leave and go back to make preparations to attend the enthronement ceremony tomorrow,” said Xu Lingyun.

Yuwen Tong bobbed his head, allowing them to leave.

Xu Lingyun and Xiao Ziyan took their leave. When they were walking through the doors, they looked over their shoulders and saw that Yuwen Tong, who had been quite serious when talking with them a moment ago, twisted his head around to tenderly look at Ling Zhang standing by his side and softly asked him if he was tired, his voice tinged with heartache.

Xu Lingyun gave a smile, turned his head and left with Xiao Ziyan.

Chapter 369: The Enthronement Ceremony and a Bowl of Noodle (1)

The enthronement ceremony was interminable and complicated. Before daybreak, Yuwen Tong would have to climb to the top of a high alter to offer sacrifices first to the gods and then to his ancestors. After that, he was to kowtow to the people to pay his respects. It would be after all the sacrificial ceremonies that the enthronement officially started.

Yuwen Tong got up at early Yin Hour (03:00-04:59). After a staff member of the Ministry of Rites delivered the ceremonial robes to the imperial bedchamber, Ling Zhang crawled out of bed to help Yuwen Tong change, yawning constantly. In order to figure out how to put on the ceremonial robes, Ling Zhang had spent a solid day in the Ministry of Rites familiarizing himself with all the details.

Before changing into the robes, they had to bathe first and then burn some incense. With some officials of the Ministry of Rites repeating prayers, Ling Zhang helped Yuwen Tong change into the robes one by one, carefully smoothing every inch of them. It took him an hour to get it done. While he was dressing Yuwen Tong, the latter was looking down at him all along, Ling Zhang’s reflection the only thing in his eyes. As he watched Ling Zhang bustling around him to adjust his robes, even his eyes seemed to be beaming.

When it was finally done, Ling Zhang’s hands were limp with tiredness. Seeing Yuwen Tong’s waist which was now considerably thicker, Ling Zhang gave a little snicker in spite of himself and then hurriedly wiped the smile off his face.

Yuwen Tong reached out a hand to give him a pinch on the cheek. “What are you smiling about?”

“Your waist is so much thicker. Is this what they mean by saying ‘a thickset tough hombre’?” said Ling Zhang.

Yuwen Tong, “…”

On the side, the officials of the Ministry of Rites, Yao Yi and some others all couldn’t help but chuckle despite their efforts to restrain themselves.

“Do they feel heavy?” Ling Zhang asked him.

The number of the layers of the robes was daunting, and Ling Zhang couldn’t imagine what he would look like if he were the one in these robes. He probably wouldn’t even be able to walk, he thought.Visit website our ReadNovelFull.com

Yuwen Tong, however, turned slowly on the spot and replied, “Not quite.”

Ling Zhang blinked his eyes and could barely took them off Yuwen Tong. Although these robes had so many layers and were heavy and difficult to put on, it was undeniable that Yuwen Tong looked unbelievably handsome in them, oozing with dignity, grace and valour, emanating an almost palpable air typical of an emperor.

At the sight of Ling Zhang staring fixedly at him, Yuwen Tong came to know that he’d done the right thing by changing into these robes. He didn’t interrupt Ling Zhang and just stood there, willingly let Ling Zhang feast his eyes.

Ling Zhang’s eyes were on his robes, while his eyes were on Ling Zhang’s face. Ling Zhang couldn’t take his eyes off his robes, and he couldn’t take his eyes off Ling Zhang’s face. Ling Zhang was fascinated by his attire, while he was fascinated by the infatuation gleaming in Ling Zhang’s eyes.

It was quite a while before Ling Zhang jerked out of his trance and noticed that Yuwen Tong, who only had eyes for him, was tenderly gazing at him with a smile on his face.

Throat feeling somewhat dry, Ling Zhang gave a little cough, swallowed hard and glanced around him only to find that those officials of the Ministry of Rites and the guards were all gone, that he and Yuwen Tong were the only ones left in the bedchamber.

“Why did they all leave?” Ling Zhang looked left and right, not daring to make eye contact with Yuwen Tong again, a faint flush over his cheeks.

Yuwen Tong raised his hand and stroked Ling Zhang’s face, the strings of beads hanging from the edge of his crown shaking, tinkling slightly. “Because I told them to.”

“Oh, then let’s go out as well,” said Ling Zhang, his eyes hastily moving away after meeting Yuwen Tong’s.

Right now Yuwen Tong struck him as unnaturally attractive, and the strings of beads seemed to be tickling his heart with their every wag, making him itch so terribly to do something about it.Visit website our ReadNovelFull.com

“You don’t want to give me a kiss?” asked Yuwen Tong in a low and deep voice.

Ling Zhang paused, looking at him earnestly. “I do.”

Yuwen Tong looked encouragingly back at him, as though saying, “Then what are you waiting for?”

Ling Zhang took in a large gulp of air, gently moved aside the strings of beads attached to Yuwen Tong’s crown, leaned over, slightly tilting his head, and planted a kiss squarely on Yuwen Tong’s lips.

Their lips were locked. The kiss was not wild but very long.

It was quite some time before the two of them parted. Ling Zhang’s lips were wet, red and swollen. Staring fixedly at them with burning eyes, Yuwen Tong breathed heavily, unwilling to take his eyes off them.

Ling Zhang pressed his hands against Yuwen’s shoulders to stop him from getting closer. “We should get going right now, or we’ll be late.”

Yuwen Tong looked deeply into his eyes, reluctantly backed away a pace, raised his hands to hold Ling Zhang’s and take them off his shoulders, and then walked out of the bedchamber abreast of him.

The moment they left the imperial bedchamber, they were greeted by a large group of courtiers who knelt before them to pay their respects.

Ling Zhang slightly shook, but Yuwen Tong gripped his hand tight.

…

It was a long and tiring day. When Ling Zhang watched Yuwen Tong standing at the top of the altar to the thunderous chants of ‘Long Live the Emperor!’ from the people, he had a somewhat unfocused look in his eyes, recalling that on the day of the abdication ceremony, the scene had been equally awe-inspiring. On that occasion, he had been awestruck because he’d never seen anything like that before, but on this occasion, he was awestruck because he’d got himself all psyched up.

The location for the last part of the enthronement ceremony was the Taiqing Palace. Yuwen Tong, standing at the top of the long flight of stairs, watched as everybody knelt before him.

From this day on, Yuwen Tong would be the monarch of this country, the founding emperor of the Great Wen.

…

After Yuwen Tong went into the great hall of the Taiqing Palace, all the officials followed him inside and paid their respects to him one by one. The process lasted a whole afternoon. And then, in the hall, Yuwen Tong issued a series of imperial edicts as a gesture of kindness.

Firstly, he granted a general amnesty for the people of Cangzhou; secondly, he abolished many unnecessary heavy taxes to allow the people to restore their lives; thirdly, he ordered retrials of all the cases in all prefectures in which there were still questionable points, and some imperial commissioners would be sent to go on a nationwide tour of inspection to make sure that there were no injustices or misjudged cases.

Then an imperial examination was scheduled for half a year later.

After that Yuwen Tong declared that the imperial court would soon start recruiting talents, that officials of provincial cities were welcome to make recommendations. The Great Wen had just been established and was in dire need of gifted, moral people who were willing to devote themselves to nation-building. By doing this, Yuwen Tong sent a timely signal to the whole country.

Then there was the award presentation. The North-western Army and the Shengzhou garrison were rewarded for their meritorious service. Yuwen Tong conferred the title of marquess on some officials. Also, there were some changes in a couple of important military positions. Some civil officials were promoted…

On the heels of that was the issue of a series of decrees and policies beneficial to the people, copies of which would be delivered to all prefectures on this very day.

In the end, Yuwen Tong passed sentence upon all those people whose punishments hadn’t been decided before the enthronement.

After all these lengthy steps, there was a banquet at night.

Ling Zhang, who had undergone the whole rigmarole with Yuwen Tong on this day, believed that he wouldn’t have been more tired even if he had been practicing kung fu for a whole day. Before the banquet, the two of them returned to the palace and changed into lighter robes. Ling Zhang reached out his hands to massage Yuwen Tong’s shoulders.

“How do you feel? Are you shoulders sore?”

Yuwen Tong moved his arms slightly. “Not really. This is nothing. What about you? Is your waist okay?”

Ling Zhang, “…”

He quietly placed a land on his waist and kneaded the small of his back.

Actually the night before, the two of them hadn’t made out for too long, so Ling Zhang felt fine. The problem was that during the day there had been more occasions when he had to stand still than he’d expected, and on one occasion he had even stood there motionlessly for two hours. If it weren’t for his internal energy, he really wouldn’t have made it though the whole thing. In this regard, he found those courtiers quite admirable, all of whom hadn’t shown the slightest change in their countenance throughout the enthronement ceremony. It seemed that being a courtier indeed entailed enduring things common people couldn’t endure.

Yuwen Tong reached out his hands and massaged Ling Zhang’s waist for a while. “You may leave the banquet early and come back here to rest if you don’t feel like sitting there.”

Ling Zhang shook his head. “I’ll tough it out. Besides, at the banquet we’ll be sitting, not standing. I’ll be fine.”

Yuwen Tong heaved a sigh of contentment, took Ling Zhang in his arms and said, “From now on nobody in this world will ever dare do you any harm.”

Ling Zhang gave a smile. “It’s true that nobody will ever dare do you any harm. As regards me, I’m not so sure.”

“Who do you think would dare harm you?” asked Yuwen Tong.

Ling Zhang flicked him a meaningful glance which told him that the answer was right in front of him.