The Glory After Rebirth [ɇÇ”Ÿä¹‹Å°Šè£] Chapter 232- 234

Chapter 232: A Premonitory Dream?

Late at night. In the imperial temple.

The Ninth Princess had been having a very hard time ever since she’d been penally sent to the imperial temple to be an un-tonsured Buddhist nun. In this place, there was no magnificent palace, no high-class delicacies, and no crowds of eunuchs, only terribly ugly, grayish clothes, a changeless menu on which all dishes were bland and unpalatable, a shabby bedroom, and a reticent handmaid. To make things worse, every morning she had to get up early for Buddhist matins, and there were Buddhist vespers at night. Overall, life here consisted of only two things: Buddhist chant and trance, which were driving her crazy.

Although her mother and elder brother had been having someone covertly take care of her, it didn’t make much difference. She was still stuck in this temple, and there was always someone following in her wake whenever she walked out of the main area, as if she were a prisoner never to have her freedom back.

On this night, as usual, the Ninth Princess threw a tantrum and exhausted herself before going to bed.

Incense had been lit in her bedroom. The aroma of it slowly wafted through the mosquito curtain and into the Ninth Princess’ nostrils.

…

The lofty palace was right in front of the Ninth Princess and she went wild with joy. Finally, she got out of that godforsaken temple and returned to the place she was familiar with.

“I knew it. Father would never really have me become a Buddhist nun. Father still favors me!” crowed the Ninth Princess happily, hurrying towards the hall with the intention to look for her father.

On entering the hall, she found that it was full of kneeling people, all of whom were chorusing aloud, “Long live the emperor.”

The Ninth Princess was startled, fearing that she had done something wrong once again and might be sent back to the imperial temple. She anxiously raised her head to look at the one sitting on the throne, but whom she saw dumbfounded her.Read more chapters at ReadNovelFull.com

“Brother?!”

Sitting on the throne was not his father but his elder brother, Zhou Mingci, the King Hui.

Her brother had ascended the throne!

Her brother had finally ascended the throne!

From now on nobody in the world would ever dare cross her!

The Ninth Princess gazed in utmost excitement at Zhou Mingci sitting on the throne and noticed that her brother was wearing a bluish white imperial robe with gold piping, which she had never seen before. She couldn’t help but fix it with a careful stare. The sleeves and lower hem of the imperial robe had been embroidered with wavy dark lines to make the robe exquisite and sumptuous.

As if he had finally observed the Ninth Princess’ presence, Zhou Mingci sitting on the throne said, “You came, sister.”

The Ninth Princess jerked out of her trance and looked at Zhou Mingci delightedly. “Brother!”

She woke herself up with this greeting. The beautiful and imposing hall slowly faded away, and so did Zhou Mingci on the throne. Both of them were replaced by the dark bedroom, which was terrifyingly quiet.

Someone carrying a lamp walked over. The reticent handmaid asked, “Did you have a dream, Your Highness? Tomorrow the King Hui would come here to see you. You may relax and continue to sleep. Dawn will break soon.”

But the Ninth Princess could barely keep from wailing. She snapped, “Get out!”

She clearly had already returned to the palace and seen her brother sitting on the throne as emperor. How come she was still in this godforsaken place!

…

The next morning, the King Hui went to the imperial temple and met his younger sister.

The Ninth Princess’ haggard face made his heart ache. He asked, “Why are you not looking well? A bad night’s sleep?”

The Ninth Princess burst into tears at the sight of the King Hui. “I don’t want to stay here anymore, brother. Please figure out a way and get me back home!”

The King Hui had an awkward countenance. It was the emperor who had ordered the Ninth Princess to practice Buddhism without tonsure. Besides, it had been only a few days, and the emperor was still angry. Even if he was to help the Ninth Princess get back, he had to wait until the emperor’s anger subsided to take action.

But the Ninth Princess, who was unwilling to listen to the King Hui’s explanation, said, “Brother, our father has given up on me. He would never let me get back. Please help me. You and mother are my only hope now.”

The Ninth Princess reached out her hands and grabbed her brother’s. With a beseeching look on her face, she implored, “Help me, brother. Please.”

Seeing this, the King Hui instructed the others to leave and consoled his sister, “Just show some patience. I promise I’ll get you out of here the moment father cools off. Trust me, sister.”

The Ninth Princess shook her head. “Father no longer has any love for me, brother. Once you become the emperor, I’ll regain my freedom. Yes, brother – you should mount the throne as soon as possible!”

The King Hui’s face paled and he hurriedly clapped a hand over the Ninth Princess’ mouth. “Stop that nonsense, sister. The Crown Prince is the heir to the throne.”

The Ninth Princess, her mouth held, was still shaking her head, a muffled sound emanating from her throat.

This gave the King Hui a terrible headache. Resigned, he huffed to the Ninth Princess under his breath, “You may repeat what you just said if you wish to die in this place, and I don’t mind dying with my sister.”

The Ninth Princess gradually recovered herself after hearing this remark.

The King Hui took his hand off the Ninth Princess’ mouth, heaving a sigh of relief. In an undertone, he reproved, “What got into you just now? Why did you say that so loudly? You want to get the two of us killed?”

The Ninth Princess, who also had a lingering fear on her face, flicked a glance at the door.

The King Hui said, “I don’t think any of them heard it. Don’t say that kind of crazy things again. Otherwise I won’t dare pay you another visit.”

The King Hui was the only one that the Ninth Princess could count on to help her, so of course she didn’t dare behave like that again. After calming down, she found her back drenched with cold sweat. Immediately, she promised, “I won’t. I really won’t dare. Please don’t be mad at me, brother.”

The King Hui looked at her, his countenance a mixture of resignation and vexation. Apart from anything else she was his younger sister, and his heart still ached for her. “It hasn’t been long since you were sent here. Though I want to get you out of this place, I have to wait until father’s anger subsided. Otherwise whatever I do will have the opposite effect. You have to endure this a few days longer. Mother is worried about you and has been having a hard time trying to save you. Don’t let her efforts go to waste.”

The Ninth Princess gave a bob of her head. “I understand. I’ll wait for you and mother to save me.”

After a few moments, she said, “The reason why I said that just now was because of a dream I had last night.”

The King Hui asked blithely, “What kind of dream?”

The Ninth Princess said in an undertone, “I dreamed that you were enthroned, and all courtiers chorused to you ‘Long live the emperor’ while you were sitting on the throne which our father sits in every day.”

The King Hui’s eyes briefly lit up. “Oh? That doesn’t sound so bad.”

The Ninth Princess chuckled. In the knowledge that her brother was no longer angry, she felt a sense of relief and continued, “I saw you wearing a bluish white imperial robe with gold piping, the sleeves and lower hem of it embroidered with wavy dark lines. It was just gorgeous. I’d never seen anything like that before.”

However, no sooner had she finished speaking than the King Hui’s face changed. “Did you say that it was bluish white, with gold piping, and the sleeves and lower hem of it were embroidered with wavy dark lines?”

The Ninth Princess nodded and gave a more detailed account of what she had seen in that dream of hers. “You were brimming with health and spirits just as you are right now. After I woke up, I felt that it won’t be long before you ascend the throne, which was why I said that nonsense just now. Please stop being angry with me, brother.”

The King Hui slowly shook his head. “I’m not angry. What else did you see in the dream?”

After thinking for a few moments, the Ninth Princess also shook her head. “I’ve been suffering from insomnia since the day I was sent here. Even if I fall asleep, I always wake up with a start. The only occasion when I had a sound sleep was last night, and I dreamt about you, brother. Maybe it was because I subconsciously knew you’d come here to see me today.”

The King Hui, however, didn’t think so, because the Ninth Princess was right about one thing – he did have a prince’s robe which was bluish white and had gold piping. It’d been rushed out only a few days ago, and its sleeves and lower hem were embroidered with wavy dark lines. It was very sumptuous, and he had specially had it made for the hunt meeting. This robe had just been delivered to him, and his henchmen, who were few in number, were the only ones aware of its existence. There was no way this matter had come to the Ninth Princess’ knowledge.

But now the Ninth Princess told him that she’d dreamt about it, and she’d also seen him wearing it sitting on the throne in her dream. What did this suggest?

The King Hui was more inclined to believe that his sister had had a premonitory dream, that this was some kind of herald!

After leaving the Ninth Princess’ room, the King Hui summoned the subordinates he’d planted in this temple and asked them about the Ninth Princess’ recent daily life. After hearing their replies, the King Hui was positive that it was impossible for the Ninth Princess to have known the existence of that robe. This gave his spirits yet another great lift.

“This is your reward. Make sure you take good care of my sister. If anything happens to her, all of you will be held responsible.”

“Rest assured, Your Highness, we’ll do whatever we can to take good care of Her Highness.”

The King Hui left the imperial temple in a good mood, and he appeared to be full of pep even on horseback. After an hour or so, the imperial temple was out of sight.

At a fork not far away from the city gate, he encountered a man riding over from the distance along the other branch road. He was wearing a white robe of a special style which bore some similarity to a Taoist robe, a bamboo tube tied with red string fastened to his felt.

The King Hui reined in his horse and looked at that man, a somewhat astonished expression on his face.

This branch road led to the Star Observation Platform of the Imperial Observatory, and that rider was a messenger working at the Star Observation Platform. His bamboo tube contained a dispatch, and the red string around it typically meant it was to be delivered to the emperor.

On no account would his father summon any members of the Imperial Observatory, particularly those working at the Star Observation Platform, except for on the New Year’s Day, when by convention he would inquire the Imperial Observatory of their deduction of the run of international situation in the new year, making a token gesture towards praying to providence for blessings, because his father wasn’t really a believer in this kind of things – none of his predecessors had been, as a matter of fact.

Therefore, members of the Star Observation Platform never sent any letters to his father of their own accord, which was very sensible of them. Why did they suddenly deliver a dispatch to him on this occasion?

The King Hui believed that the Star Observation Platform would never have done this had there not been an important event. Something definitely had happened.

He opened his mouth and was just about to stop that man when he, maybe startled by the King Hui and his attendants who had abruptly shown up, was sent into a brief trance. Meanwhile, his horse seemed to have accidentally trod on something and suddenly went restless, nearly throwing the messenger off.

The King Hui gestured for his attendants to offer the man some help. After calming his horse down, the messenger wiped sweat from his face, dismounted and said, “It’s a great honor to bow before you, Your Highness. Thank you for coming to my help.”

The King Hui nodded, suggesting that there was no need to thank him, then looked at the bamboo tube fastened to the messenger’s belt and asked, “Why are you suddenly sending a letter to my father? Did anything happen?”

The messenger replied, “I don’t know either. This is the result of the head star-watcher’s observation last night. I have orders from him to deliver it to His Majesty as a matter of urgency.”

The King Hui’s countenance grew thoughtful. “May I have a look at it?”

An awkward look appeared on the messenger’s face. The King Hui imagined that he was going to refuse, but unexpectedly, the man inclined his head. “Thank you again for helping me just now, Your Highness, but you must not let a second person read this letter, and what you’re about to learn must be kept in the strictest confidence.”

Sure enough, seeing he was so tactful, the King Hui smiled, “Of course.”

The messenger unfastened the bamboo tube, removed the seal, fished a piece of paper out of it and handed it to the King Hui.

The King Hui, as if thinking of something, looked at him. “You’re not reading it with me?”

“I can’t, Your Highness,” said the messenger.

The King Hui found this man fairly interesting. He then took the paper and glanced at it. At first he was confused, but after a few moments his face changed drastically and with that he abruptly fixed the messenger with a penetrating stare. “You really don’t know what’s in this letter?!”

Seeing this, the messenger shook his head. “I don’t, Your Highness. If you’ve finished reading it, please give it back to me. I’ve returned the favor, and from now on we’re even. Now if you’ll excuse me, it’s about time I delivered this letter into the imperial palace.”

The King Hui, gazing at those words on the letter paper, suddenly had a murderous expression on his face, stifling a wild laughter. Instead of giving the letter back to the messenger, he said, “Then you might as well go the whole hog.”

It had never crossed the messenger’s mind that the King Hui would break his word. All the color drained from his face. “You!”

Chapter 233: Give Them a Hand

After snatching the messenger’s letter and coercing him into pretending to have already delivered it into the imperial palace and not to breathe a word of this matter to anybody, the King Hui returned to his residential compound in a great hurry, hastened into his study, shut the door and read the letter from the head star-watcher to the emperor once again.

The King Hui, restraining his excitement, muttered to himself, “Even the head star-watcher says so. It seems that my sister’s dream was indeed a herald as well!”

“Guards, get my aides here!”

The King Hui had a couple of aides living in his residential compound, all of whom were very much in his confidence. These people gave counsel to him, sharing life and death with him. The King Hui believed that they would never betray him, so he confided to them the Ninth Princess’ dream and what the head star-watcher said in the letter.

The look on his aides’ faces turned from shock to rapture and then a mixture of nervousness and fright.

“Your Highness, originally this could’ve been unbelievably good news, but now it has come to the knowledge of the head star-watcher. You intercepted this letter today, but how could you intercept a second one? We must make sure the head star-watcher keeps his mouth shut about it,” an aide said immediately.

Certainly the King Hui himself was also aware of this. Earlier this day when his eyes had fallen on that letter, he’d felt a great thrill and broken out in a cold sweat. Had his father been informed of the head star-watcher’s prophecy, given his suspicious mind, he would no doubt figure out a way to have this potential usurper executed, though he wasn’t really a big fan of star-watchers.

“I’ve already sent some men to stake out the Star Observation Platform, keeping their each and every move under surveillance. The head star-watcher must die, but my father would definitely order an investigation into it if he dies a sudden death, so this matter has to be handled with great caution, and it’ll take a lot of doing,” said the King Hui.

His aides exchanged glances. They could see the mixture of delight and concern on each other’s faces.

“Your Highness, there could be many a slip between the cup and the lip, so I believe we should seize the initiative and strike first!” suggested one of the aides.

“That’s right. There’s no telling whether there will be a second head star-watcher after this one is down. Also, somebody else with knowledge of astrology might foresee this as well and report it to His Majesty. In that case, there’d be nothing we could do, so we might as well launch a pre-emptive strike before anybody could react,” another aide also said.

“We haven’t made any preparations whatsoever. It’ll be too hasty,” said a third aide.

The King Hui hadn’t made any remarks so far. On the surface, he was sitting in his seat listening to his aides’ opinions with utter composure, but excitement had actually been bubbling inside him for quite some time. As a matter of fact, on his way back from the imperial temple, he had already made a decision – striking first before the prophecy came to the knowledge of his father.

But as regards how to do it, as one of his aides had said, they were totally unprepared.

“Your Highness, once you take action, the King Duan, the King Yu and the Crown Prince would definitely come to stop us like wolves smelling blood. Moreover, His Majesty is still in good health. Unless we adopt special means, he–”

“Then we adopt special means!”

“But we could give this matter further thought, made a long-range plan and confound our rivals step by step. If we are to suddenly face them all at once, what kind of special means could we possibly find to defeat all of them?”

Finally, the King Hui knitted his eyebrows in spite of himself. “Making a long-range plan is no longer an option. For us, that prophecy is not only a good omen but also a death sentence. Once my father or any of my brothers finds out about it, we will meet our ends in no time.”

All his aides lapsed into silence. In other words, making their move as soon as possible was their only choice!

After a short while, one of them said through gritted teeth, “Your Highness is right. Things came to this too suddenly. We must take this path wherever it might lead us. For Your Highness’ great undertaking to succeed, we must create opportunities if there aren’t any in sight!”

On hearing this, the King Hui inclined his head, very pleased. Even wealth couldn’t be achieved without taking risks, let alone a position representing supreme power and utmost glory!

“Your Highness, our original plan is to cooperate with the Wan Kingdom. Do you think we could still join hands with Shan Congwen in these circumstances?” said an aide.

“Indeed, Shan Congwen has at his disposal some marksmen and also powerful crossbows suitable for assassination. Maybe he could lend us a hand,” another aide commented.

The King Hui pondered over it for quite a while. “That might not be a bad idea. I’ll contact Shan Congwen. Also, I’ll talk to my mother and my uncle about it. But first I need you to figure out a way to create that opportunity for me!”

“Yes, Your Highness!”

…

Shan Congwen was astounded by the letter from the King Hui.

“Your Highness, why did the King Hui decide to make his move so suddenly?” his henchman was very confused.

Shan Congwen also had a puzzled look on his face. “Something must have happened. Go and make some inquiries immediately! Find out whether there was any recent news spreading in this city that we neglected!”

“Yes, Your Highness! And, should we reply to the King Hui in the affirmative?” said his henchman.

Shan Congwen coldly snorted. “Zhou Mingci wants us to help him take the throne when there is no marriage contract or a solid alliance of any form between our two families. He really should stop kidding himself. Just ignore him. Ascertain what it was that had made Zhou Mingci rush into a decision like this.”

“Yes, Your Highness!”

The next day, the one sent to make inquiries returned to the courier hostel.

“Your Highness, there haven’t been any special occurrences in the capital city lately, and none of the other sides have taken any action.”

“Impossible. Something definitely has happened. What’s Zhou Mingci been doing these days?”

“He just paid a visit to the imperial temple… By the way, previous to his visit to that temple, he had stated that for him to cooperate with us, we had to kill Ling Zhang first, but after his return from the temple, he suddenly changed his mind. Could it be that something happened in the imperial temple?”

“Then what are you waiting for? Go and find out!”

Meanwhile, the King Hui, who had written Shan Congwen a letter but hadn’t received any replies so far, was rather anxious and soon sent another man to sound Shan Congwen out.

Shan Congwen, seeing the King Hui was in such anxiety, fell even more dismayed, but on no account would he take any precipitous action without knowledge of what had happened exactly.

Shan Congwen made an ambiguous reply. The King Hui immediately came to know what Shan Congwen meant after reading it.

“What does Shan Congwen think he’s doing? Not long ago he was fawning on me trying to convince me to cooperate with him, but now he’s adopting a totally different attitude!” The King Hui was both angry and afraid – angry with Shan Congwen’s fence-sitting, and afraid that Shan Congwen might disclose his plan to usurp the throne.

“I think you might as well pay Shan Congwen a personal visit, Your Highness,” an aide of his suggested.

The King Hui, though indignant, took his aide’s advice eventually.

Shan Congwen’s men returned from the imperial temple empty-handed, which sent him even more restless.

It was not until after having a meeting with the King Hui that Shan Congwen came to know the reason.

He found it hard to believe that there was a prophecy saying Zhou Mingci was to be the next emperor.

Shan Congwen immediately understood why the King Hui was so anxious, but he was still hesitating, because he couldn’t put his trust in the King Hui, though the reason had now come to his knowledge.

“I think you know very well what I desire. Yuwen Tong’s head is the only thing I want in return for helping you take the throne. If you refuse to kill Yuwen Tong after ascending the throne by dint of my assistance, wouldn’t all my efforts be in vain?” said Shan Congwen.

The King Hui remarked, “Under no circumstances will I break the promise I made you. When I become emperor of this country, Yuwen Tong naturally will be a mortal malady for me, one I will stop at nothing to eliminate even without my promise to you.”

Shan Congwen was hesitant, for this had happened so suddenly and he kept feeling that there were so many uncertainties.

Shan Congwen replied, “Please give me some time to consider this. I know time is not something you have in abundance. You shall have my reply by tomorrow at the latest.”

The King Hui was disgruntled, but there was nothing he could do about it. He said, “This is a golden opportunity. As long as you offer me help, all terms of our previous deal will remain unchanged, and I’ll fulfill all my promises to you, but if you give up this opportunity, the consequences…”

Shan Congwen’s face slightly changed.

…

In the Ling Mansion.

“Zhou Mingci did have an audience with Shan Congwen, but neither of them has taken any action after such a long time. Surely they’re still going to take the bait, aren’t they?”

Ling Zhang, after hearing the message sent back promptly by Yao Yi and the others, was deeply worried. Not long ago, when Yuwen Tong had told him about the plan, it had struck him as very ingenious, but now neither Zhou Mingci nor Shan Congwen had made their move, so he feared that they might not rise to the bait.

Yuwen Tong said, “There’s no doubt that Zhou Mingci will fall prey to the trap. It’s probably Shan Congwen who’s being the problem. He is worrying that Zhou Mingci might refuse to hold up his end of the deal after he helps him.”

Ling Zhang asked, “Then what do we do?”

Yuwen Tong thought for a while and then said, “Shan Congwen’s going after two goals. The first one is to kill me, and the second one is to throw the Great Yue into disarray and make a puppet of the new emperor. If one of these two is achieved, he would no longer have that many misgivings.”

Ling Zhang furrowed his brow. “If one of these two is achieved?”

The having sensed something, he asked, his countenance slightly changed, “What do you want to do?”

Yuwen Tong said, “Help him achieve the first goal of his.”

An I-knew-it expression appeared on Ling Zhang’s face, but the problem was that it was Yuwen Tong’s life that Shan Congwen wanted to take.

“I’ll just pretend to be severely wounded and is close to death,” said Yuwen Tong.

Ling Zhang felt that even this was very difficult. “But how? Once word gets out that you’re injured, there’ll be an unbroken stream of people coming to sound you out. How are you going to fool all of them? On top of that, in what way will you be able to keep up the pretence of a serious wound without arousing people’s suspicions?”

Yuwen Tong replied, “Most people are easy to fool. After the incident in the hunting ground in the western suburbs, they all believe that the Wan Kingdom wants me dead, but this time around, apart from them, we also have to trick Shan Congwen, which will take some other finesse.”

Then he added, “Actually finesse is not important. What’s important is the fact that I’m seriously wounded and dying.”

As a result, this time Yuwen Tong had no intention whatsoever of playing any elaborate tricks. He planned to directly arrange an assassination and then fake grievous injuries.

On that very night, the whole capital city was thrown into confusion – Marshal Yuwen had sustained severe wounds in an attempted assassination and was at his last gasp.

Shan Congwen was briefly dumbstruck as the news reached his ears. “Yuwen Tong is dying?”

“Yes, he is rumored to be ambushed by some assassins. Their emperor has hurried to the Ling Mansion bringing with him a large group of court physicians.”

Shan Congwen had a subtle expression on his face, feeling both overjoyed and worried that this was some kind of subterfuge. He instructed, “Figure out a way to get some definite information about this. I need to confirm Yuwen Tong is really dying!”

Meanwhile, the King Hui, who had also received the news, was almost delirious with joy, feeling that this was help from heaven!

“If Yuwen Tong really dies, Shan Congwen would no doubt join hands with me, and it’ll spare me the trouble of eliminating him after my enthronement, too. Divine intervention – this is definitely divine intervention!”

“Your Highness, we must confirm as soon as possible that Yuwen Tong is really dying from grievous wounds. We cannot afford any mistakes.”

“You are right. We need confirmation.” The King Hui exercised all his self-restraint and recovered himself.

Very soon, the threshold of the front doors of the Ling Mansion was worn smooth by shoes of a steady stream of visitors coming to pry. As regards Yuwen Tong’s injury, even physicians of the imperial hospital found it incurable. It seemed that he was really near his end.

Chapter 234: The Forthcoming Hunt Meeting

The wounds Yuwen Tong had sustained in the sudden assassination deteriorated, and all court physicians said that he didn’t have much time left.

The emperor, keeping up a pretence of wrath, ordered an intensive investigation into the attempted assassination.

The Ling Mansion was besieged circle upon circle by Ling Zhang’s security guards and members of the Palace Guards. Half of the court physicians of the imperial hospital had been dispatched to this residential compound.

Even getting close to Yuwen Tong’s bed was not easy for Ling Zhang. At the sight of Yuwen Tong covered in blood, although he was aware that Yuwen Tong was faking it, his heart still did a somersault, and he felt as though his insides had turned to ice. The fear was unbearable, especially after it became almost impossible for him to approach Yuwen Tong’s room. Originally he had been quite firm in the belief that all this was not true, but because he couldn’t personally confirm it, various unpleasant speculations began to arise in his mind, and his face was terrifyingly pasty.

Yao Yi and the others, however, seeing Ling Zhang’s countenance, mistakenly believed that Ling Zhang was faking it. All of them felt that Ling Zhang was so adept at acting. Every time Ling Zhang tentatively asked them about it, they would cooperate with Ling Zhang in his “acting”, sparing no efforts, thinking that Childe Ling was more discreet than all of them, that even when they were meeting in private, he was still keeping up his pretence in the knowledge that currently there were eyes everywhere both inside and outside this residential compound. They felt that he was really admirable.

But Ling Zhang was actually on the verge of a mental breakdown. No matter what kind of hint he dropped to Yao Yi and the others, the replies they gave were always full of grief. He was growing increasingly uncertain as to whether or not Yuwen Tong was faking his injury.

And maybe Ling Zhang’s unduly pallid and haggard complexion was the very reason why people coming to visit became more convinced of Yuwen Tong’s wound.

Currently, nobody was allowed to enter this house except for members of Yuwen family, and it was by a special permission from the emperor that Ling Zhang was staying here.

At this time Yuwen You and all his family as well as Yuwen Zhi and Yuwen Feng were all present. This small courtyard house in the Ling Mansion was crowded with people.

A day passed, followed by another. Yuwen Tong seemed to be slowly on the mend, but actually his injury was just no longer worsening. It was under control, but he was far from out of the woods.

Gradually, people from other sides stopped coming to pry, and now nobody had any suspicion that Yuwen Tong was faking his injury.

…

“I’ll help you, but you must marry my sister after ascending the throne.” Finally, Shan Congwen made up his mind.

Naturally, the King Hui was overjoyed. He replied, “The hunt meeting is in eight days. Everybody will be there, including that invalid. We’ve already formulated a plan. All you need to do is lend me your crossbows and your marksmen.”

Shan Congwen was unsurprised that the King Hui chose to make his move on that occasion, for this was the only way to eliminate all his rivals in one fell swoop in the near future.

But after hearing that even the Crown Prince who was an invalid would be present, Shan Congwen gave an almost unnoticeable frown. In the presence of the King Hui, he didn’t show any sign of what he was thinking. On his return to the courier hostel, he said to his henchman, “If the plan succeeds, Zhou Mingci’s enthronement will be assured, but it’s detrimental to us if we let him mount the throne too easily.”

“What do you mean, Your Highness?”

“It’s not every day that such a good opportunity presents itself right in front of us. We stand to benefit much more if we take advantage of this opportunity to throw the Great Yue into civil strife. Figure out a way to let the King Yu or the King Duan survive, so that Zhou Mingci will still have an opponent he could have fun with.”

“You’re so visionary, Your Highness!”

Shan Congwen coldly snorted. He was always visionary. Had it not been for that damn Yuwen Tong… No, Yuwen Tong was also about to die, and there was nobody in the Great Yue that he should be afraid of now. It was rumored that Yuwen Tong’s injury was no longer deteriorating, but unfortunately, after he helped Zhou Mingci with this plan, he would send Yuwen Tong to meet his Maker!

…

The hunt meeting was almost called off because of Yuwen Tong’s injury.

But surprisingly, Yuwen Tong came around briefly. Nobody knew what he’d said to the emperor in that rare lucid moment, but after their talk, the latter decided that the hunt meeting would be held as scheduled.

Ling Zhang felt that this was too coincidental, that Yuwen Tong’s timing was too perfect… Finally, after being in violently fluctuating moods and the verge of breakdown for quite some time, he slowly regained his composure. Now he was sure that Yuwen Tong was indeed pretending, though why so many court physicians couldn’t see through it was still a mystery to him.

As the hunt meeting drew near, there seemed to be ominous dark clouds gathering in the sky above the capital city. It was a lull before the storm.

Finally people stopped showing up at the front doors of the Ling Mansion causing disturbance, except for court physicians, palace guards and members of Yuwen family.

Ling Zhang also found a chance to see Yuwen Tong. On entering the inner chamber of the bedroom, amid the strong smells of various kinds of decoction and a faint smell of blood, he smelled another bizarre odor. Very subtle as it was, he still smelled it.

Ever since he’d started following the mental method of the Millennium Pavilion to cultivate internal energy, his five senses had been growing increasingly sharp. His sense of smell was far better than that of common people.

In addition, he didn’t know whether this was an illusion or not, but the furnishings in this room struck him as somewhat eccentric, and for an instant he felt that his mind was not very clear. He thought it was just a dizzy spell caused by hunger, for these days he had been in deep worry which had resulted in loss of appetite. He quietly circulated his internal energy for a few moments before his mind became clear again.

Due to his fears for Yuwen Tong’s condition and the limited time, he hurried to the bedside in the knowledge that he shouldn’t dwell on the intense weird feeling lingering in him. Yuwen Tong was lying in bed in a trance, his chest bandaged, pale-faced, his eyes closed. Though having confirmed that his injury was fake, Ling Zhang still couldn’t help but feel sorrowful at the sight of Yuwen Tong in this state.

There was no telling whether it was a coincidence or for some other reason, but there was no court physician in this house at this moment.

But Ling Zhang was worried that someone might be staking out this room, so he still assumed an air of grief, crouching down beside the bed, holding Yuwen Tong’s hand. As he thought of what he would feel if Yuwen Tong was really hurt, his eyes reddened in a twinge of sadness and he squeezed out a couple of teardrops.

There was no reaction from Yuwen Tong whatsoever except for a slight movement of his fingertips when Ling Zhang had held his hand.

That slight movement gave Ling Zhang a sense of relief, but he still wept for a while crouching at the bedside, swaying as though he was about to pass out.

When he slumped to the ground, someone walked inside and supported him out of the room.

A thought flashed across Ling Zhang’s mind, and he maintained his pretence of deep sorrow regardless of who the one guiding him was. It was not until someone walked him back to his own chamber that he slowly stopped sobbing.

Faking tears was also skilled work, and this was the first time that Ling Zhang had found that he was so good at acting.

Miao Shiba, who was still dressed as a study-servant (a boy serving in someone’s study), had been staying in Ling Zhang’s courtyard house. While nobody was watching, he sneaked into Ling Zhang’s room and stealthily gave Ling Zhang a thumbs up. “You were so good, Childe Ling.”

Ling Zhang flicked a glance at the doorway. It was true that his hearing was much sharper than before, but on that day when they were in the hunting ground in the western suburbs, he’d failed to sense the presence of that secret bodyguard of the emperor, so he didn’t dare let down his guard.

Miao Shiba said in a quiet voice, “Xie Shi is on the rooftop. They won’t hear us if we speak in undertones.”

On hearing this, Ling Zhang heaved a sigh of relief, asked Miao Shiba about the situation in this residential compound and relaxed slightly after being informed of what was going on in other areas.

“There are so many court physicians here. How come none of them see through Yuwen Tong’s faked wound?”

Miao Shiba said, “I don’t know either. It seems that some expert has been helping the Marshal.”

Expert?

Ling Zhang was confused. Who was this expert?

The answer presented itself that very night. He was frightened when he saw his grandfather noiselessly materialize in his room and with that a thought occurred to him in a flash of inspiration.

“Grandfather, is it you who’s been helping Yuwen Tong?”

Ji Yin said with a smile, “Yeah. Marshal Yuwen is indeed worthy of his title. He has a supple mind. After I demonstrated the formation that day, he came to me.”

Ling Zhang felt that the weird feeling he’d had in that room a while ago had not been his illusion, and nor had it been a dizzy spell resulted from malnutrition. It was because there’d been a formation.

Ji Yin had personally laid that formation, which was more or less of the same style as the Illusive Trap that Ling Zhang had laid in Jia family, only that it was far more powerful than the latter. The one laid by Ling Zhang previously had been just a simple and crude formation, but this one in Yuwen Tong’s room was so ingenious and profound that even Ling Zhang was unable to find any flaws in it.

“The peculiar odor you smelled did exist. It’s from an inducer drug. Your blood has special properties and you’ve been following mental cultivation method of the Millennium Pavilion, so you were unaffected by it.”

On top of these, Ji Yin had been hiding in the dark at that time, so naturally he hadn’t exerted all his power on Ling Zhang.

A formation, an inducer drug and a half-illusory effect created by Ji Yin hiding in the shadows with his internal energy had been ensuring that nobody would see through Yuwen Tong’s faked injury, no matter how many visitors or court physicians came.

“You’re awesome, grandfather.” Ling Zhang expressed his heartfelt admiration once again.

“Your comprehension is even better than mine. The mental cultivation of the Millennium Pavilion will, to a greater degree, help you fulfill the potential of the Force of Blood in you. Someday you’ll be more awesome than me,” Ji Yin smiled, looking at Ling Zhang with proud and expectant eyes.

This was the first time that Ling Zhang had heard that cultivation of internal energy would affect the Force of Blood in him. He wanted to ask for more details, but this was not the right time, so he had to subdue his curiosity for the moment.

Ji Yin didn’t stay long. After talking with Ling Zhang for a while, he took his leave, going back to Yuwen Tong’s room to resume watching over him lest the plan go awry. The reason why he had found some time to come here to talk with Ling Zhang was that after so many days, people had finally stopped visiting Yuwen Tong’s room as frequently as they had previously.

The next morning, Ling Zhang was given permission to tend Yuwen Tong at his bedside as well.

When Ling Zhang entered the room, Yuwen Zhi happened to be present. Seeing Ling Zhang walking inside, he made no effort whatsoever to conceal the revolted look on his face.

Ling Zhang pretended not to notice, showing a disregard for his existence.

Yuwen Zhi’s countenance went apathetic. Had it been in ordinary circumstances, he would have started picking on Ling Zhang already, but maybe because of Yuwen Tong’s serious wound, he was not in the mood for discomfiting Ling Zhang. He had no love for his nephew, but whether Yuwen Tong would survive or not was bound up with the well-being of all members of Yuwen family, so he had to take this matter seriously.

During Ling Zhang’s stay in the room, Yuwen Feng, Yuwen Han and some other members of Yuwen You’s branch of the family also come to visit. With a heavy heart, nobody felt like talking about any other topics.

Uneventfully, another few days passed. Yuwen Tong seemed to be on the mend, and slowly, he had improved enough to come around on a daily basis.

Meanwhile, the hunt meeting had started.

Yuwen Zhi, Yuwen Feng and some members of Yuwen You’s branch of Yuwen family all participated. Yuwen Jin and Yuwen Han were the only two staying keeping Ling Zhang company at Yuwen Tong’s bedside.

“You guys are not going?” Ling Zhang asked them.

Yuwen Han shook his head. “My grandfather and the others went there because they had to. I’m staying watching over Tong.”

Yuwen Jin, his face wan, also said, “I’m staying with my cousin as well.”

Ling Zhang looked at their drawn faces with a surge of guilt, thinking that he must apologize and make it up to them after this matter was settled.