The Glory After Rebirth [ɇÇ”Ÿä¹‹Å°Šè£] Chapter 412- 414

Chapter 412: The Imperial Wedding (10)

While Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong were talking, some of the guests noticed their arrival, so the two of them didn’t linger there.

“His Majesty and His Highness approach!” someone announced.

“Your Majesty, Your Highness.”

The two of them walked through the crowd of kneeling officials. The imperial garden bristled with lanterns ablaze with glaring light, but all of them seemed to be overshadowed by the great presence of the two of them, as though all the lanterns existed to provide a foil for the two of them and the light from them became brighter after being reflected by the two people.

Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong walked up to the seats of honor and sat down hand in hand.

“You may rise.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty, Your Highness.”

All the officials of the Great Wen and members of the diplomatic corps of foreign countries rose to their feet, looking in the direction of Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong sitting in the seats at the top.

“Sit.” Yuwen Tong always tended to be clear and concise and dispense with formalities, which had much to do with the fact that he’d started as a military officer.

The guests took their seats according to the seating arrangement. Fortunately this garden was large enough, otherwise it might not be able to hold so many people. However, even so, sitting at the top of a platform, Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong still got the impression that the sea of guests in front of them seemed boundless.

Slow wedding music started, and the atmosphere gradually lightened. Everybody’s eyes were on Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong. Naturally, more people were sneaking glances at Ling Zhang.

Most people present were quite curious about Ling Zhang. After all, he was the first empress of the Great Wen, a male one, and the emperor cared about and favored him very much. This person was now standing at the top of the social hierarchy in the Great Wen with the incumbent emperor. These people were casting Ling Zhang curious glances for different reasons. Some of them – most of the womenfolk of officials, for instance – were purely curious. They were seated on the other side, and their view was partially blocked by tall bamboos, so they couldn’t see Ling Zhang clearly, but because of the privacy provided by these bamboos, they were looking at him very boldly, unaware that Ling Zhang, whose five senses were unnaturally acute, could sense their gaze distinctly.

On the surface Ling Zhang appeared composed, but in fact he’d been feeling discomfited for quite a while.

He also noticed that his aunt was there as well, sitting in the middle of the couple of daughter-in-laws of Yuwen You, looking relaxed and at ease. She should be feeling no discomfort, but she was secretly enjoying his awkwardness as well, her eyes full of amusement she couldn’t disguise.

Ling Zhang, “…”

The glances from the womenfolk were bold and searching. Though some of them were mixed with some inexplicable emotions, it didn’t change the fact that the motives of the people they were from were fairly pure. In addition, Ling Zhang believed that a man shouldn’t be afraid of women’s gaze, so he was just a trifle disconcerted and felt no pressure.

Compared with the gaze from the womenfolk, the glances from the crowd of officials and members of the diplomatic corps in front of him struck him as rather thought-provoking. These people were all adept at concealing their feelings, and their true thoughts were much more complicated.

Ling Zhang was a male empress, and also the first empress of the Great Wen, so everybody was very interested in what his way of doing things would be like, especially after Yuwen Tong appointed Jiang Yu and then Zhao Jiusi as Ling Zhang’s advisers. All officials were speculating about the emperor’s intentions, about how deep Ling Zhang’s involvement in state affairs would be in the future, because their emperor didn’t seem to mind.

The officials actually had mixed feelings about this matter. On the one hand, as the empress, Ling Zhang was a member of the seraglio and shouldn’t interfere in any state affairs, but on the other, Ling Zhang was a man, not a woman, and it seemed impracticable for him to live like a woman in every way. If Ling Zhang was to get involved in state affairs, what would he do? And in what way would his deeds affect them? These were what concerned the officials the most.

The emperor’s take on this was ambiguous. Now that the empress had the intention to participate in government and political affairs, they must find out how deeply he’d be involved, so that their paths to higher positions would be less bumpy.

Most officials saw things this way. They mainly wanted to figure out how deep Ling Zhang’s involvement in politics would be, so that they would be able to adopt the right attitudes towards Ling Zhang in the future. However, some others thought differently. They were also wondering about Ling Zhang, but mostly about Ling Zhang’s relations with Yuwen Tong, and about the bonding between the two of them. They were observing Ling Zhang’s and Yuwen Tong’s every move, trying to find out where Ling Zhang stood with Yuwen Tong exactly, because the answer would help them suit their methods to the situation. Of course, from the vantage point of the present, none of them wanted to do anything to Ling Zhang, for anybody could tell that no matter whether the marriage between the two of them was solid or vulnerable, at this point in time Ling Zhang meant far more to Yuwen Tong than anybody else did. Messing with Ling Zhang would be synonymous with offending Yuwen Tong, bearding the lion in his den. For them, suiting their methods to the situation meant planting someone in the imperial seraglio.

The Great Wen had been built, and the political landscape had basically stabilized, so although nobody had mentioned the matter of the imperial seraglio so far, there was no doubt this issue would be put on the agenda after some time. After all, Ling Zhang was a man, which meant he was not able to bear children. If anybody could marry their daughter or niece to the emperor to be his concubine and help her consolidate her position in the imperial seraglio and thus benefit their family, it would be perfect. The early stage of a dynasty was also the time for courtiers to gain their footholds in the imperial court. Who would be so foolish as to let this opportunity slip away?

Even Chu Liangyan, the Right Prime Minister, was considering it, for he happened to have an unmarried daughter of marriageable age. Chu Liangyan had rendered meritorious service by assisting Yuwen Tong to take the throne, so he believed that his status was solid. Those aristocratic families which used to be above the Chu family had now either been eradicated or declined. Presently, in the whole capital city there were very few girls who could compare with his daughter, so Chu Liangyan was confident that as long as he recommended his daughter as an imperial concubine, the emperor, for the sake of his respectability alone, would undoubtedly give his daughter a pretty good position in the imperial seraglio. However, while considering this, Chu Liangyan also had some misgivings. As the Right Prime Minister who was very much in Yuwen Tong’s confidence, Chu Liangyan naturally had great political instincts. Though he firmly believed that the emperor would surely have a woman bear him a son to be his heir, he was still somewhat worried.

The reason why he was worried was because of the relationship between Yuwen Tong and Ling Zhang. Chu Liangyan had rubbed elbows with Ling Zhang several times and also had previously been associates with Yuwen Tong for many years, so he was fully aware of how deep Yuwen Tong’s feelings for Ling Zhang were. The bonding between them was very strong, and it wouldn’t be easy for anybody to get between them, so although he had the intention to marry his daughter to the emperor, he was still hesitating, wondering whether it was the right thing to do, and how he should do it if it was.

Many others had the same thoughts as Chu Liangyan’s, and they all wanted the same thing. Some of these people, like Chu Liangyan, knew about Ling Zhang’s place in Yuwen Tong’s affections pretty well. Some others were rather blind to it, and they all believed that Yuwen Tong would, without doubt, take some women in as concubines to bear him sons, that Ling Zhang, a male empress, had nothing but a fancy title, that there was not much he could do. Therefore, there was much less respect in their eyes when they looked at Ling Zhang, and their gaze was even tinged with disdain.

Naturally, Ling Zhang sensed these people’s gaze distinctly. As a matter of fact, he could see clearly what the expression in the eyes of everybody present was like. He was just pretending not to notice.

Apart from those who were giving him searching looks because of their concern for their official careers or their speculations about Yuwen Tong’s future seraglio, members of the diplomatic corps of foreign countries were also observing him. These people’s gaze was more complex and also more varied. More than half of them held Ling Zhang in icy disregard, presumably thinking, ‘A male empress? He’s unable to bear the emperor any sons, so he’s just ornamental and won’t have any say in state affairs. All he has is just a fancy title.’

The diplomatic corps of the Wan Kingdom was led by their emperor’s little brother, Shan Congyi, who was also the younger brother of Shan Congwen that had previously died on the battlefield. The look he was giving Ling Zhang was inscrutable. Compared with Shan Congwen, he looked thinner and milder, and his eyes seemed free of aggressiveness, but because of this, he appeared unduly equable, and all his thoughts were concealed by the semblance of mildness.

The diplomatic corps of the Luohai Kingdom was headed by Murong Feng, who was the son of Mu Hengtian, the emperor of Luohai, and was also the crown prince. He was in his forties already. Owing to his father’s longevity and good health, he had been the crown prince for almost twenty years. He stood in the starkest contrast with Shan Congyi. The latter was frail and gentle, while he was quite thickset, looking like a tough hombre, and his eyes were rather ferocious and had something sinister hidden inside them too. He first sized Ling Zhang up for a brief moment and then dismissively looked away from him. Of all the people present, he was the one who made the least effort to conceal the scorn in his eyes.

The leader of the diplomatic corps of the Fangcun Kingdom was Hai Feng, the Prime Minister of Fangcun, who appeared somewhat stout and always had a smile on his face, looking more like the patriarch of a rich family than a prime minister. He seemed to be the most benign one, but what he was really thinking was known to nobody but himself.

The expressions in these people’s eyes didn’t escape Ling Zhang’s notice either, and he still maintained a poker face. No matter whether they were showing their true feelings or concealing them, Ling Zhang wouldn’t believe they were what they seemed at this moment. All these people were courtiers serving their respective emperors, and were either members of imperial households or top-ranking officials. They would’ve long since kicked the bucket if they were really so innocent as to wear their hearts on their sleeves. On top of that, the Wan Kingdom and the Luohai Kingdom were vanquished nations, and this time around, their diplomatic corps, apart from attending Yuwen Tong’s enthronement ceremony and wedding, had also come here to sign a peace accord, which meant that they’d been at a disadvantage from the very beginning. They would be fools if they had their true thoughts written on their faces in the presence of Yuwen Tong. Therefore, Ling Zhang secretly analyzed their facial expressions several times, pondering what was hidden behind these reactions of theirs, showing a total disregard for those shallow, negative emotions such as disdain. Even if they were really dismissing him, he wouldn’t care.

He knew about Yuwen Tong’s ambitions very well. He would be an utter fool to take offence at this kind of seemingly manifest hostility.

Apart from Ling Zhang himself, Yuwen Tong had also seen everything, but just like Ling Zhang, he also maintained a poker face, pretending not to notice any of it.

Chapter 413: The Imperial Wedding (11)

Such was the tacit understanding between Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong that they seemed to be reading each other’s minds.

But those sitting down there didn’t necessarily know anything about what the two of them were thinking. Mu Rongfeng, seeing Ling Zhang’s and Yuwen Tong’s countenance didn’t change a bit after he wore a dismissive look for quite a while, briefly furrowed his brows, a thoughtful expression appearing on his face. Some of the others had also been observing, but at this time they were also baffled as to what Ling Zhang’s and Yuwen Tong’s intentions were.

Members of the Ling family, however, were all beaming as though they were really here to enjoy the banquet, watching the dancing, listening to the music, talking and laughing happily.

Seeing this, all the others had mixed feelings, for they had no idea whether the Ling family were really unconcerned or just faking it.

It struck them that the Ling family didn’t seem to be really unconcerned, that it was more likely they were pretending.

Nobody considered the possibility that the Ling family were simply happy and didn’t care about any of those miscellaneous things.

Ling Zhaowu, who was scornful of those anxious to scheme against each other, couldn’t even be bothered to glance at any of them. Ji Yin and Ji Yanlai had unequaled kung fu skills and thus didn’t have the slightest inclination to look at any of those people who were like ants in their eyes. Ling Xingzhong also relaxed considerably because of Ji Yin’s company. Ling Zhaowen had always been an astute man and was now under the protection of his big brother, so he certainly wouldn’t cast any of those people an extra glance.

The group of them were sitting together, and beside them were Yuwen You’s branch of the Yuwen family, who had the same blood as Yuwen Tong’s, and whose personalities bore striking similarity to that of Yuwen Tong as well, so they wouldn’t toss a single needless glance to those people.

Aside from them, the Left Prime Minister, the Ji family and Zhao Zheng, the Minister of War, were also present and their reactions were, for all intents and purposes, the same.

Seeing this, some of the others caught on to the situation, immediately withdrew their searching, curious gaze and started making remarks of benediction without cease. These sly old foxes were not stupid. They stood up to offer their congratulations one after another, as though the delicate mood just now had never existed.

And then it was time to present gifts to the newly-weds. Wedding gifts from the officials all had their own characteristics. Naturally, diplomatic corps of the Wan Kingdom, the Luohai Kingdom and the Fangcun Kingdom had also brought presents, each better than the last, as though this were some kind of contest.

All the lists of gifts were announced loudly and everybody could hear the contents distinctly. Gifts from most of the officials had good omens attached to them. Some of the gifts were costly, and some others were more about the omens they represented than their monetary value, but overall, the gifts were all appropriate for the occasion, and there was nothing wrong about any of them. Presents from the Wan Kingdom, the Luohai Kingdom and the Fangcun Kingdom were mostly expensive ones, including their respective regional specialities such as rare marine products from the Fangcun Kingdom, precious medicinal herbs from the Luohai Kingdom, thoroughbred horses from the Wan Kingdom, etc. Nobody tried to rock the boat by doing something like send beautiful women as gifts. Even the diplomatic corps of the Wan Kingdom were doing things by the book, and Ling Zhang was secretly a little surprised by it.

The Wan Kingdom had been in incessant conflict with the Great Wen since the last imperial dynasty, and Yuwen Tong had inflicted numerous defeats on them. Even Shan Congwen had died by Yuwen Tong’s sword during the latest fighting, but these envoys from the Wan Kingdom were still so well-behaved, which showed that they were indeed badly in need of a couple of years’ peace to recuperate and build up strength. In other words, the situation in the Wan Kingdom was indeed dire. If the Great Wen had enough strength, they might be able to take the Wan Kingdom first, but unfortunately at this time the Great Wen badly needed to regain strength as well, and the people needed to rehabilitate their homeland and restore their lives. From this, it could be deduced that in the tripartite balance of the Great Wen, the Wan Kingdom and the Luohai Kingdom, the third was, surprisingly, the most capable of waging a sudden war, no matter which of the other two would be the target…

Ling Zhang looked at the diplomatic corps of the three countries. He’d been impassively observing them as well.

“The Ji family present a long-lost manual of martial formation…”

Right at this moment, the Millennium Pavilion’s gift was announced. Ling Zhang was somewhat astonished to hear it. The gifts that were being announced were from Ji Yanlai, and there was actually a manual of martial formation among them! During the day, when he’d entered the palace, among his trousseaus was a casket containing manuals of superb martial formation, cultivation methods, kung fu skills, etc. He had thought that those were all the gifts from the Millennium Pavilion. How come Ji Yanlai was sending him another manual of martial formation?

A flicker of surprise flashed across Ling Zhang’s eyes which looked in the direction of Ji Yanlai.

The others were also looking at Ji Yanlai. What with Ji Yanlai’s obtrusive appearance, many people had been secretly observing him, so at this time they naturally took advantage of this opportunity to boldly size him up. However, he just stood up, sent his best wishes to the newly-weds and then sat down, showing no inclination to explain anything.

Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong were uncertain about his intentions, so they naturally wouldn’t ask him for any details, but some guests started whispering to each other.

It was quite a while before the last gift was presented. The next step was for the emperor to reward the Ling family.

Yuwen Feng made Ling Xingzhong the Marquess Yongkang (AKA, the Marquess of Eternal Health), granting him yearly salary, fief and a series of other privileges. Ling Zhaowu was made the Earl Taichang (AKA the Earl of Prosperity) and was also granted yearly salary, fief and a series of privileges. The title of the Marquess Yongkang was hereditary.

By bestowing titles of nobility to two members of a family, the emperor was already making an exception, and the title of the Marquess Yongkang was hereditary. Also, Ling Zhaowen had been transferred to Shengzhou to be the new governor and would soon go to Shengzhou to take office, which showed how much the emperor valued the Ling family.

Ling Xingzhong and Ling Zhaowu rose to their feet, stepped forward and expressed their gratitude to the emperor. All other officials offered their congratulations to the two of them. The Ling family had instantly become one of the most powerful families in the capital city, one that was very much in favor with the emperor.

While warmly sending their congratulations to the two people, the officials were also bearing some other thoughts in mind. Ling Xingzhong was of advanced years, and it was impossible for him to resume pursuing a political career, so he wouldn’t wield real power. His title was mainly about honor and the most important attribute – hereditariness. As long as the Ling family still stood and Ling Xingzhong’s offspring were competent enough, the title of the Marquess Yongkang would be carrying more and more weight. Take Ling Zhaowen for example. He was now the Shengzhou governor, and if one day he made some achievements and was transferred back to the capital city, he would have both real power and marquessdom after Ling Xingzhong’s death, and his career prospects would be limitless. It could be predicted that some day the Marquess Yongkang would be a very influential political figure.

As for Ling Zhaowu, the Earl Taichang, he was the one that the officials found it most difficult to figure out, because Ling Zhaowu had chosen to pursue a business career rather than a political one. On top of that, his earldom was not hereditary, which meant that the title “the Earl Taichang” would be gone with his death. Given that Ling Zhaowu was Ling Zhang’s father, if he’d chosen to enter politics, his brother wouldn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of succeeding to the title of their father, but he seemed to be totally uninterested in pursuing an official career, and would rather give up all the honor he could some day have for his little brother. Most outsiders felt that Ling Zhaowu was stupid, for he was the empress’ father but refused to take advantage of this. Another thing that confused everybody was that Ling Zhaowu was barely forty and in the prime of his life, so he could totally remarry and have more sons, but Ling Zhaowu seemed to be quite content with what he had and had no interest whatsoever in marrying another woman… Many people in the capital city had covertly made some inquiries and tried to strike up relationships with Ling Zhaowu and marry their daughters to him, but Ling Zhaowu had turned down them all. Nobody could fathom out what Ling Zhaowu was thinking. As a result, all of them had faintly searching expressions in their eyes when they looked at Ling Zhaowu, wondering what was going on in the Ling family.

There was, in addition, another matter. The Ling family had been rewarded, and the die had been cast, but hitherto, the emperor hadn’t made anybody Wang (a nobleman of the highest rank below the monarch in feudal China).

The titles “the Marquess Fuan” and “the Marquess Huaiwen” had been conferred on two members of the branch of the Yuwen family, and the titles “the Marquess Yongkang” and “the Earl Taichang” on two members of the Ling family. Nobody had been made Wang since the new dynasty had started. It was as though the emperor was reserving it. As regards for how much longer he would reserve it, the officials could only rely on their powers of deduction and imagination to figure it out.

Now the empress had been selected, and the political landscape had basically stabilized, so the speculations about the imperial seraglio once again came floating out of the officials’ memory in spite of themselves, but this time around, they were thinking about this matter deeper. The emperor had allowed the empress to take Jiang Yu and Zhao Jiusi in as his advisers, both of whom had elders that either were or used to be high-ranking courtiers. This showed that the emperor’s attitude towards the empress was ambiguous, so everybody was waiting to see what the empress’ style of dealing with things would be like.

Moreover, the imperial seraglio was indeed a great temptation, and everybody wanted to have some contacts in it, but this emperor of theirs was different from any of his predecessors. He not only had taken a man as his consort but also refused to be manipulated by anybody. Most of his predecessors, when they’d first been enthroned, had chosen to marry daughters of top-ranking officials to gain their support so as to consolidate his emperorship. Also, some of them had had to marry female members of some aristocratic families too powerful to be kept under control in order to pacify them and rope them in. But now things were different. Back at the time when the Great Wen had just been built, almost all large families that had carried enough weight with the imperial court had been eradicated, which was why currently nobody was able to rock the foundation of the imperial court or pose a threat to the emperor’s status. The emperor had been a marshal before acceding to the throne, and the strongest and largest army of the Great Wen was under the emperor’s command. All his subordinates were infinitely loyal to him. It could be said that the incumbent emperor had absolute dominion over this nation, and nobody could undermine his authority.

After realizing this, some of those who previously hadn’t caught on to the situation gradually saw sense, and they could all feel cold sweat on their backs.

This emperor of theirs had taken the throne without any bloodshed. It’d seemed a runaway victory, but in fact all his obstacles had been removed before his enthronement! The officials recalled the confused fighting and the precarious situation in the capital city during the short period before the downfall of the Zhou family. At that time, this emperor of theirs had appeared quite unthreatening because of his loss of half of his military power, and most people had seemed to forget about him, but what if he had actually been having everything under his control all this time? Their emperor was even more formidable than they imagined him to be, and he had absolute power over them.

Thus, all those who had some insight came to understand. Nobody should mess with Yuwen Tong at this point in time. Many of those who’d been coveting positions in the imperial seraglio slowly calmed down.

Also because of this, many people began to feel bitterly regretful. Previously they had also considered recommending their sons or nephews to Ling Zhang, but what with their misjudgement, all those they’d recommended had been their family members who were believed to be mediocre, which was why they’d missed the opportunity to plant someone in Ling Zhang’s think tank. Presently, Jiang Yu of the Jiang family and Zhao Jiusi of the Zhao family were the only two members of it.

The Jiang family had Jiang Shennian who was very visionary. As for the Zhao family, Zhao Zheng was now the Minister of War. Though it seemed that he’d been neither promoted nor demoted, everybody knew that in his case, rank didn’t mean anything, that the emperor’s trust in him was the most important, that Zhao Zheng was in the emperor’s confidence. By sending Zhao Jiusi to be Ling Zhang’s adviser, the Zhao family had actually sent a message to everybody. However, the die had now been cast and it was no good regretting it.

Chapter 414: The Imperial Wedding (12)

The officials’ minds were all very active. Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong, who’d been observing all their reactions, found this scene fairly amusing.

This was Ling Zhang’s first time sitting in a seat like this. If truth be told, he was seeing a lot of things he couldn’t see previously. This feeling struck him as quite new and interesting.

His and Yuwen Tong’s hands under the table were clasped tightly together all along. Yuwen Tong stroked or tickled Ling Zhang’s palm from time to time. After a few unsuccessful attempts to stop him, Ling Zhang became resigned and just let him do what he wanted.

“Are you bored?”

Ling Zhang, whose palm was tickled again, slightly moved his fingers and replied, “No. It’s pretty interesting.”

Yuwen Tong gave a chuckle and gently wrapped his palm around Ling Zhang’s restless fingers once again. Feeling the faintly numb and itchy sensation caused by Ling Zhang’s fingers which were furtively tickling his palm, he had an urge to hold Ling Zhang’s hand to his lips and kiss it. Unfortunately for him, if he really did that in the presence of so many people, Ling Zhang would no doubt go berserk and probably wouldn’t let him get close to the bed tonight.

“Your surname is very rare, Childe Ji. May I ask where you come from?”

Someone suddenly spoke aloud, mentioning the surname Ji. Ling Zhang’s attention was instantly attracted. When he looked in that direction, he found that Mu Rongfeng had stood up with a wine cup in his hand and was now gazing at Ji Yanlai, who, naturally, was the one he was asking.

As he asked that question, everybody else’s eyes were drawn to the two of them, because Ji Yanlai’s and the other two’s identities were indeed too mysterious.

On this day, Ji Yanlai was still wearing high priest’s robes of the Millennium Pavilion, but priest’s robes of the Millennium Pavilion were mainly white, and the few patterns seemed to be merely ornamental, so nobody had associated his robes with the priesthood so far, but because of his rather special, luxurious and flashy attire, he had a quite imposing air about him, and nobody dared look down upon him. Previously some people had speculated that Ji Yanlai and Ji Yin were from a Jianghu sect, but given that Ji Yanlai’s and Ji Yin’s demeanor bore no similarity whatsoever to that of members of a Jianghu sect and they seemed more confident than members of an aristocratic family, this speculation sounded somewhat ungrounded.

Furthermore, as Ji Yanlai’s appearance was very obtrusive, nobody could overlook him, though he cared about nothing but food and drink.

Sitting beside Ji Yanlai was Ji Xiaocong, beside whom sat Ling Maomao. The two little boys were seated at the same table. Noticing that everybody’s eyes suddenly flashed in their direction, the two of them stopped eating and looked at Mu Rongfeng, very confused.

Ji Yanlai had originally been drinking, but Mu Rongfeng’s sudden question had spoiled his enjoyment, so the expression in his eyes became faintly apathetic and impatient. In a bland voice, he replied, “Just a common Jianghu sect.”

“A common Jianghu sect? Tell us more about it and see if anyone here has ever heard of it,” Mu Rongfeng immediately said.

“There’s nothing about it that’s worth mentioning.” Ji Yanlai flicked him a glance and then couldn’t be bothered to even lift his eyes. He probably wouldn’t have bothered answering him if it weren’t for the fact that Mu Rongfeng’s voice was very loud and had drawn too many people’s attention to the two of them.

Ji Yanlai’s attitude indicated that he refused to save Mu Rongfeng’s face. A flicker of displeasure flashed across Mu Rongfeng’s eyes and with that he persisted, “Well, you don’t know if it’s worth mentioning until you tell us. Even if none of us has ever heard of its name, we won’t laugh at you.”

These words were rather rude. Ling Zhang narrowed his eyes which aggressively flashed in that direction. He was just about to say something when he heard Ji Yanlai asked, “You want a fight?”

“What?” Mu Rongfeng was uncertain about what he’d just heard.

“If you want a fight, you may make your move directly. There’s no need to beat around the bush or waste any time. I don’t have that much leisure for your little game,” said Ji Yanlai, putting down his wine cup, looking wintrily at Mu Rongfeng, radiating an almost palpable sense of power which instantly enveloped Mu Rongfeng, who involuntarily gave a muffled grunt of misery, feeling as though the air around him had suddenly become thinner. Not only was he abruptly weighed down by something, he was also having difficulty breathing, the look on his face becoming ugly.

“Your Highness!” exclaimed an envoy of the Luohai Kingdom in alarm at the sight of the abnormal expression on Mu Rongfeng’s face.

Others in the imperial garden were also taken aback, unaware of what was happening. How come Mu Rongfeng suddenly appeared to be on the verge of suffocation?

Having trouble breathing, Mu Rongfeng reflexively threw out his chest and began to gasp for air, beads of sweat welling up on him constantly, panic-stricken.

Mu Rongfeng had started reacting this way without notice. Although a few moments before he’d been talking with Ji Yanlai, and the latter’s tone had been somewhat hostile, the two of them’s seats were pretty far away from each other, and Ji Yanlai was still sitting in his chair doing nothing in particular, so this matter seemed to have nothing to do with Ji Yanlai at all, but this scene still gave the others present the willies. Although Ji Yanlai seemed to have done nothing, everybody had a hunch that this was Ji Yanlai’s doing, as though it was some kind of… witchcraft.

“Your Highness! Your Highness!” The envoy of the Luohai Kingdom paled visibly from fear, for the look on Mu Rongfeng’s face was growing increasingly uglier and veins were throbbing horribly in his temples. If nobody did anything about it, he would undoubtedly end up dead.

“Your Majesty, please save our prince!” The envoy turned to Yuwen Tong for help.

Yuwen Tong, who was a master of internal energy, naturally could tell at a glance what was happening to Mu Rongfeng, and he knew that Ji Yanlai wouldn’t really take Mu Rongfeng’s life, so his face had been calm all along. However, there might be trouble if anybody of the Luohai diplomatic corps saw through it, so he affected an air of concern and asked, “What’s going on? He was fine only a moment ago.”

“We don’t know either. His Highness began acting like this without warning. Please send for a court physician, Your Majesty!” responded the envoy, flustered.

Mu Rongfeng’s horrified eyes widened so dramatically that they nearly popped out of his head. He started to wave his arms around frantically, clutching at straws, but breathing was getting more and more difficult and he was in deep fright, his vision blurring. “Help…Help me…”

Right at this moment, Ji Yanlai withdrew his flinty eyes which had been fixed on Mu Rongfeng, took up the wine cup on the table and resumed drinking. Meanwhile, the pressure weighing Mu Rongfeng down disappeared and he could finally breathe again, his breath coming in short, loud pants. Unable to keep his footing, he directly sat down onto the ground, gasping madly for air, casting aside all considerations of face. The couple of members of the Luohai diplomatic corps clustered around him. It was after seeing he was finally breathing normally and his face softened that they heaved a sigh of relief and then examined him one after another.

“How do you feel, Your Highness? What happened to you just now?”

The envoys around Mu Rongfeng nervously asked him how he felt and at the same time tensely kept a weather eye on everybody nearby, as though all those people could do them harm at any moment.

Bored by this scene, Yuwen Tong said, “It seems that you’re okay now, but I think it’s best if I have a court physician perform a medical examination on you. I don’t want you to suffer any more miseries on this festive day.”

“Tha–That won’t be necessary.” Mu Rongfeng managed to make a reply, his voice uneven from the effort of subduing something. With the help of the envoys, he rose to his feet. Due to the oxygen deprivation he’d been subjected to just now, he still felt faintly dizzy, his vision somewhat blurry. “It’s nothing serious. I just suddenly had difficulty breathing. I think it’s probably because the climate here doesn’t agree with me. I’ll be fine after having some rest in the courier hostel.”

In an apparently casual way, Mu Rongfeng looked at Ji Yanlai sitting behind a table diagonally opposite, a sinister and highly wary expression in his eyes. He knew very well that he was not ill at all, and he was certainly not unaccustomed to the climate. It’d been the man opposite him who had done that to him. Just now that pressure had been put on him by that person surnamed Ji! If it were somebody else who’d done it, Mu Rongfeng would’ve flied into rage and had them beheaded some time before, but that gaze of Ji Yanlai’s had struck fear into the depths of his heart. Those eyes had not only put heavy pressure on him, making the hair on his scalp prickle and rendering him unable to breathe, but also seemed to bore into him, leaving him nowhere to flee to. Anyway, Mu Rongfeng found Ji Yanlai to be a very formidable opponent. He didn’t want to fight Ji Yanlai at this point in time, because if he put up a fight, he wouldn’t be able to get the better of it and might end up falling prey to some trick of Yuwen Tong’s. As a result, Mu Rongfeng chose to keep his mouth shut.

Mu Rongfeng had wisely decided to shut his mouth, and the others present were not stupid either. Although it didn’t seem to be Ji Yanlai’s doing at all, all the others became wary of him. Ji Yanlai, a man surnamed Ji, who had come out of nowhere, along with that middle-aged man beside him, were both Ling Zhang’s mother’s relatives. People only knew that their surname was Ji, but they were unaware of either of their given names, or where they were from. They were too mysterious! The two of them also possessed some long-lost manuscripts of martial formations, and had provided Ling Zhang with a trousseau of shockingly high value, and now Ji Yanlai seemed to be capable of some kind of horrific witchcraft… Where were the two of them exactly?! They were by no means from some common Jianghu sect! If even a common Jianghu sect had such skills at their command, the world would long since have been turned upside down!

Also, the officials could deduce a lot from the emperor’s take on the incident. It was evident that the emperor knew who the two of them were.

The officials’ minds were racing, and they forgot completely that they were along for the ride. At the same time they once again labeled Ling Zhang’s background as mysterious.

After this day, many people kept an eye out for any information that might be connected with anybody surnamed Ji in Jianghu, and began to look into the identities of Ji Yanlai and those around him. However, when Ji Yanlai and the others had left the capital city, all inquiries seemed to reach a dead end. Not only were they unable to make any progress, they couldn’t even erase the traces they left behind, and certainly their plans to track down Ji Yanlai and his men were consigned to the scrap heap. Nobody ever found anything. Also, after that, the expressions in the eyes of people in the capital city became faintly more searching whenever they saw Ling Zhang, and the shroud of secrecy cloaking Ling Zhang’s family background grew thicker.

Of course, all those things happened after Ji Yanlai and his men left the capital city. At this moment, owing to this interlude of Mu Rongfeng, nobody dared to accost Ji Yanlai again. By tacit agreement, this incident was never mentioned again at the banquet.

Ling Zhang felt a slight sense of relief and meanwhile found that being of a higher status had indeed enabled him to see things in a much different way, as though many things had been given very different meanings. Take this farce that had just happened for example. Were he not in this position, he would definitely have seen only a small part of it, but because he was now in a high position sitting beside Yuwen Tong, he had felt very differently. From this angle, he could see everybody’s reaction distinctly, including their micro-expressions such as how far their eyes roved sideways, and he could hear their whispers too, which they themselves believed nobody could hear.

This kind of feeling was really very peculiar and amazing. He believed that no common person would feel it so deeply as he did when they were seated in this position, because his five senses were far more acute than common people’s. He could see everything within his sight and hear every sound within earshot of him very clearly.

Yuwen Tong also had the same feeling, and he probably could see and feel more, given that his internal energy was far more powerful.

So this was how it felt to be at the top of the hierarchy?

As though having sensed the question in Ling Zhang’s mind, Yuwen Tong twisted his head aside to look at him. After seeing the hidden inquisitiveness in Ling Zhang’s eyes, he took Ling Zhang’s hand again, fingering it. “It’s quite interesting, isn’t it? Do you like it?”

This was the scenery that he and Ling Zhang from now on would be seeing standing shoulder to shoulder at the top of the hierarchy. It was unique, accessible to the two of them only.

Ling Zhang caught on to the undertone contained in Yuwen Tong’s words said in an amused tone. At this moment, he suddenly felt in an exceptionally distinct way what Yuwen Tong had meant by “standing shoulder to shoulder”, and he also had a deeper perception of their marriage – he would be seeing what Yuwen Tong saw, and this scenery belonged as much to Yuwen Tong as it did to him. This was the true meaning of being a married couple.

“I do.”

Ling Zhang suddenly relaxed every muscle in his body and put his hand completely in Yuwen Tong’s, allowing himself to trust and rely on Yuwen Tong once again, whom he had placed all his trust in already. Yuwen Tong, who could sense every change of Ling Zhang’s emotion, stopped fingering Ling Zhang’s hand and solemnly wrapped his own hand around it, along with Ling Zhang’s trust and affection, as though he were wrapping Ling Zhang in his palm which would be the only world that Ling Zhang was going to live in.

BOOM!

Fireworks were set off not far away. They shot into the night sky in succession before exploding into numerous flowers of sparks, making a spectacular sight of breathtaking beauty.

“The fireworks show is on,” said Yuwen Tong, standing up and pulling Ling Zhang to his feet. The two of them stood side by side, enjoying the fireworks show specially scheduled for this night.

The moment they rose from their seats, all the guests followed suit. A fireworks show of this scale was appealing enough to arrest anybody’s attention.

Meanwhile, excitement of the common folk in the capital city was also ignited. The cheers from them were making the welkin ring, and even people in the imperial palace could feel the sound wave.

It was at this moment that the boisterous mood of the banquet reached its height. Everybody was immersed in the joyous spirit of the imperial wedding.

Ling Zhang didn’t know when, but Yuwen Tong had stepped behind him. He put his arms around Ling Zhang, who gave a smile and, ignoring whether or not anybody was watching, leaned himself against Yuwen Tong’s chest and raised his head to watch the fireworks shooting into the sky perpetually with Yuwen Tong.

Yuwen Tong said in his ear, “From this day on we are one. Together we’ll see countless times this kind of fireworks and those things we saw just now. Be it the imperial court or the world, we’ll be having exactly the same view.”

“Um,” said Ling Zhang. “No matter what it is we’ll have to face up to in the future, I’ll be by your side. You have your ambitions, and I have mine. Now that we’ve gone this far, we need to make our efforts count.”

Yuwen Tong chuckled and gave him a kiss. “You’re right.”

More booms were heard as a myriad of beautiful glaring fireworks exploded into and against the night sky, adding to the celebratory mood of the imperial wedding.