The Glory After Rebirth [ɇÇ”Ÿä¹‹Å°Šè£] Chapter 235- 237

Chapter 235: The Day of the Hunt Meeting

Although having a guilty conscience, Ling Zhang, who had been deprived of chances to whisper to Yuwen Tong by the presence of Yuwen Han and Yuwen Jin, felt fairly frustrated.

Eventually, resigned, Ling Zhang made an excuse, went outside and found Yao Yi to get some information about the situation in the hunting ground.

Yao Yi said, “Rest assured, Childe Ling, the Marshal has some time ago made some secret arrangements, so the King Hui wouldn’t really have his way.

Currently, everybody invited has gone to the hunting ground except for the King Yu. Yesterday when he was on his way back home, the horses of his carriage were abruptly alarmed by a crazy horse and he suffered a minor injury, leaving him unable to participate in the hunt. Also, half of the palace guards have been dispatched there.”

Ling Zhang went skeptical. “The King Yu was hurt? This is so coincidental.”

Yao Yi observed, “I think someone did it on purpose.”

Ling Zhang furrowed his brow. “Who? There are others aware of this?”

Yao Yi shook his head. “Not really. It was Shan Congwen.”

Shan Congwen? Ling Zhang was bewildered. Why had Shan Congwen tried to stop the King Yu from going to the hunting ground? Had these two people had any dealings in private, by any chance?

Yao Yi remarked, “The reason is still unknown to us, but it was by no means because Shan Congwen suddenly decided to have mercy on him. There’s no doubt he did that for a particular motive.”

Ling Zhang pondered over it. The only thing he worried about was whether there was anything that had escaped their notice and, if there was, whether it would upset Yuwen Tong’s plan.

Also, the situation in the hunting ground still concerned him, for he was unable to go there to see for himself. But since Yuwen Tong was “grievously wounded” and the whole residential compound was being staked out, it was inconvenient for him to leave.

…

The hunting ground.

Because of the attempted assassination that happened here in the horse race, palace guards in preparation for this event had some time ago checked the whole hunting ground several times, including the perimeter. And on this day the security in this place was exceptionally tight.

The King Hui had anticipated this situation, so he hadn’t arranged for any assassins to hide in the hunting ground. Instead, he’d had some explosives planted beneath the grandstand. Meanwhile, 20,000 soldiers who had been dispatched over as a matter of urgency were lying in wait outside the hunting ground, along with the marksmen equipped with the kind of crossbows that Shan Congwen had lent him.

All people in the grandstand would be wiped out in an instant once he detonated the explosives, and the possibility that some might survive the explosion didn’t concern him at all, for his men and the marksmen of the Wan Kingdom would immediately hurtle in, making sure nobody escaped. Though there would be some friendly fire, he deemed it necessary sacrifices for his great undertaking.

Shan Congwen as the representative of the Wan Kingdom had some time ago accepted the emperor’s special invitation. Like the King Hui, he also had a seat in the grandstand, but the two of them would make an excuse and take their leave as soon as the time was ripe.

The emperor glanced around before his eyes rested on the commander of the palace guards, who gave a nod implying that all defense and security arrangements had been properly handled.

The emperor inclined his head with satisfaction and then started making an opening address for the hunt meeting.

Courtiers of every description were all listening with undivided attention. The King Hui was also listening attentively on the surface but in fact had been running out of patience. Previously, every time his father was giving a speech, he’d listen in fear and try not to show even the slightest sign of perfunctoriness, worrying that his father might suddenly mention him or ask him a question, to which, if his father did, he would have to strain every nerve to give an answer his father deemed satisfactory.

But now, when this operation was over, he would finally be rid of that kind of misery, and never again would he have to observe anybody’s face gauging their mood to decide what he should or should not say. With the mountain-like, suffocating authority gone, the whole world would be his to rule, and he would be the one giving others whatever looks he felt like giving, and having them tremble in front of him! And those people – the King Duan, the Crown Prince, the King Yu – none of them would be able to cause him any trouble ever again!

Though the King Hui had been doing a great job with his pretence, a hint of smugness still appeared on his face in spite of himself at the thought of this, his eyes sweeping through the opposite side.

Opposite him, sitting in the first seat to the emperor’s right was a gorgeously-clothed man in a crown prince’s robe, but he didn’t look very well, striking people as rather sickly. However, this invalid was the crown prince of the Great Yue, and also the emperor’s most favored son. His seat was in the top row, overlooking everybody, including the King Hui who was also a prince just like him.

The King Hui fixed him with a stare, a mixture of jealousy and disgust involuntarily glinting in his eyes. Though there was merely a ghost of it, the Crown Prince still sensed it, looking in the direction of the King Hui.

Had it been in the past, the King Hui would definitely put on a smile and make a couple of flattering remarks to curry favor with the Crown Prince, but on this occasion the King Hui, who firmly believed that he was about to win, found himself unable to fake an obsequious expression as he had done many times before. After making eye contact with the Crown Prince, he directly swiveled his head aside.

Naturally, this reaction of the King Hui’s, which was a manifest diverge from the norm, aroused the Crown Prince’s suspicions. He gazed at the King Hui for a while, a somewhat uncertain and thoughtful gleam in his eyes.

The King Hui, after taking his eyes off the Crown Prince, looked at the King Duan. In recent days, there had been quite some conflicts between the King Duan and the King Hui. The two of them hated each other’s guts and could sense each other’s gaze almost immediately. At this moment, the King Duan shot a glance back at the King Hui, his eyes full of contempt and sarcasm, and coldly snorted.

The King Hui had an apathetic countenance. If what he felt for the Crown Prince was disgust and jealousy, then what he had for the King Duan would almost be hatred. The strife between the two of them in the imperial court had never ceased and neither of them was willing to budge an inch, and nor would any of them hesitate to resort to crooked means to do the other side harm when the occasion arose. There had been several occasions when the King Hui had fallen prey to the King Duan’s dirty tricks, suffering great losses, and even he himself had nearly come to grief. As a result, he hated the King Duan so much that he would literally eat him alive and drink his blood had he got the chance.

He was even considering whether or not he should whip the King Duan’s body to vent his resentment after blowing him up a while later.

The confrontational eye contact between the two of them lasted only a brief moment, but the disgust in their eyes had been so manifest that everybody else present had perceived.

Eventually, the King Hui cast a demonic and bloodthirsty sneer at the King Duan and then withdrew his gaze.

The King Duan was briefly stupefied by that murderous sneer tinged with bloodthirstiness from the King Hui, and then knitted his eyebrows and wondered, ‘Was Zhou Mingci the damn fool trying to provoke me just now? No, that smile was heavy with murderousness. Does Zhou Mingci want to kill me, by any chance?’ Whatever that sneer had been about, the King Duan was on the alert.

After making eye contact with the King Duan, the King Hui looked in the direction of the seat of the King Yu only to find that he was not there. He couldn’t help but frown. What was going on?

He twisted his head aside and cocked an inquisitive eyebrow at one of his personal bodyguards, who saw the questioning look in his eyes and explained under his breath, “Last night the King Yu was alarmed by a crazy horse and suffered minor injuries which affected his mobility, so he’s not attending this hunt.”

He was alarmed by a crazy horse and got hurt last night? Wasn’t this too coincidental? The King Hui’s heart jolted. Why was it that stupid Zhou Mingyi who’d got hurt? Had it been a mere coincidence or had he smelled anything?

“Where did that crazy horse come from? And how come it so coincidentally ran into my fifth brother’s carriage?”

The personal bodyguard answered, “Your Highness, that crazy horse escaped from a stud farm. As luck would have it, the King Yu happened to be on his way back home. The wheelers of his carriage were alarmed and went wild, which caused him to bump his arm against the side board and get his foot jammed in the door as well. Fortunately all those are just superficial injuries. He’ll fully recover after nursing them for a few days.”

A horse from a stud farm? The King Hui was suspicious. How was it possible for a horse of a stud farm to escape and go into the streets? But if it hadn’t been a coincidence…

Even he himself had made arrangements in great haste for this operation in the hunting ground. There was no way his fifth brother had found out about it. Even if it had come to his knowledge, he would never have had enough time to take any precautions.

But he had expected to wipe them out. How come his fifth brother was now going to slip through the net?!

‘Fuck! What makes Zhou Mingyi think he could sit idle and enjoy the fruits of my work? I’m definitely having his little neck snapped immediately after these people are handled. On no account will I give him any chances to compete with me for the final victory.’

As a number of ruthless methods for killing the King Yu flitted across the King Hui’s mind, the emperor had finished his opening speech.

All those that were supposed to go hunting on this occasion stood up, ready to enter the hunting ground, but the King Hui was still sitting in his seat. Everybody else looked at him. The emperor appeared disgruntled, while the Crown Prince sitting to the emperor’s left had a thoughtful expression on his face once again.

His personal bodyguard very quickly nudged the King Hui, reminding him in an undertone, “Time to go, Your Highness.”

It was at this moment that the King Hui jerked out of his trance. Finding that everybody was looking at him, he subconsciously tensed his back and sprang to his feet, too nervous to sneak a glance at his father’s displeased eyes, fearing that his father might become skeptical.

The emperor originally had wanted to reproach him, but refrained from doing so as his eyes fell on Shan Congwen and other members of the diplomatic corps.

The King Hui hurriedly left the stands with the others. Shan Congwen watched his hastily receding back, a flicker of impatience crossing his eyes.

What a moron.

“You’re not going down there to have some fun?” Shan Congwen looked at the Crown Prince.

There were also a lot of courtiers staying in the grandstand, civil and military. All those going down to hunt were those in the prime of life. Most of these high-ranking courtiers were of advanced years, and they felt no need to compete with young officials for anything.

At this moment, all of them looked at him after hearing Shan Congwen’s words.

Zhou Mingtang, the Crown Prince, who hadn’t shown his face in public for a long time, not only had a sickly face but also was more white-skinned than everybody else – it was the ghastly kind of white.

By asking this question the answer to which he clearly knew, Shan Congwen had meant it as a thinly disguised provocation.

“I’m not in a fit state to perform this kind of activity, which I suppose you might find amusing, King Ming’en. Actually you should join the hunt. I heard that you’re widely known as a marksman in the Wan Kingdom. Today, a lot of young talents of the Great Yue are present. Why don’t you go out there and have a competition with them? You’re not afraid to lose to any of them, are you?” said the Crown Prince.

Without the slightest change of his countenance, Shan Congwen gave an utterly immodest smile. “I think I’ll spare them the embarrassment of being routed.”

The Crown Prince said, “That figures. You’re a prince of the Wan Kingdom after all, and if you lose to youngsters of the Great Yue, you might have quite some trouble justifying your defeat after returning home. Reputation does mean a lot.”

Originally Shan Congwen had intended to provoke the Crown Prince, but it’d never crossed his mind that his opponent would be able to checkmate him with a counter-attack. The Crown Prince was obviously trying to goad him. He had glossed it over once, but if he refused for the second time and word got out about it, people would no doubt make very unfavorable remarks on him.

Shan Congwen felt that he had made an unwise move, but…

He tossed a glance at the unoccupied seat of the King Hui, feeling totally uninterested in sitting in this explosive-laden place any longer. Who knew whether or not this place would be accidentally blown up ahead of schedule? These people were sitting on explosives but were totally oblivious. They couldn’t blame him for their deaths.

Their beloved prince would be the one they should blame.

“Since you’ve put it this way, I feel obliged to display my skills.” Shan Congwen rose to his feet and really went down into the hunting ground.

The Crown Prince’s brow corrugated in a slight frown. He had thought that this verbal duel between him and Shan Congwen would last a little while longer, but unexpectedly, his opponent admitted defeat so soon.

First it’d been Zhou Mingci, and now Shan Congwen…

A peculiar expression appeared in the Crown Prince’s eyes and with that he stole a glance at his father.

The emperor didn’t notice this. He seemed fairly pleased, a faint smile on his face, as if in a good mood because of something pleasant.

Chapter 236: The King Hui’s Failure

In the Ling Mansion.

Ling Zhang finally found a window of opportunity to talk to Yuwen Tong without the presence of Yuwen Han or Yuwen Jin or any court physicians.

Unsure whether or not there was anybody in the dark spying on him, he held Yuwen Tong’s hand and started writing on Yuwen Tong’s palm with his finger.

He had just finished two strokes when his fingers were tightly wrapped up in Yuwen Tong’s warm palm.

Ling Zhang blinked and fixed Yuwen Tong with a stare.

Yuwen Tong opened his eyes and looked at Ling Zhang who was gazing at him. Then he drew Ling Zhang’s hand to his mouth and kissed it.

Ling Zhang nervously glanced around. “You–”

Yuwen Tong said in a hoarse voice. “Relax. It’s high time I, a ‘seriously wounded man’, came around.”

Ling Zhang let out a sigh of relief, watching Yuwen Tong give him another kiss on the hand. The gentle touch of Yuwen Tong’s lips on his fingers made them bend in spite of himself.

“You must be having a tough time,” said Yuwen Tong.

Ling Zhang gave a light cough and commented under his breath, “Not as tough as yours.”

He had been lying in bed for days.

Yuwen Tong, who hadn’t made out with Ling Zhang for several days, missed him very much, unwilling to release his hand, his affections spontaneously gleaming in his eyes, which gave Ling Zhang a flush on the cheeks.

Ordinarily, he didn’t blush so easily when the two of them were in intimate moments, but on this occasion, somebody might be hiding in the shadows keeping watch on them, and sure enough his grandfather might be watching as well…

Ling Zhang slightly moved his hips, feeling somewhat uneasy. To make things worse, Yuwen Tong was still gazing unblinkingly at him.

“A kiss?” Yuwen Tong suggested.

Ling Zhang secretly gave him a dirty look. Maybe someone was watching!

Yuwen Tong parted his lips and said in a very low voice, “I was hurt so badly and have just come to. It’d be weird if you make no gesture of affections for me, wouldn’t it?”

Ling Zhang, “…”

He craned over and gave Yuwen Tong a kiss.

Yuwen Tong was savoring this kiss, but Ling Zhang’s lips parted from his too quick and he felt he hadn’t had enough of it. Smacking his lips, he wished the kiss had lasted longer. “How about another one?”

Ling Zhang made an attempt to pull his hand out of Yuwen Tong’s grip but failed. Yuwen Tong kissed his hand once again and finally felt slightly satisfied.

“There’s no need to worry about the situation in the hunting ground. What the King Hui did has come to the knowledge of the emperor,” said Yuwen Tong.

Ling Zhang widened his eyes. “How did that happen?”

Yuwen Tong replied, “Of course, I played a small part in that.”

Ling Zhang was puzzled. “Why did you inform the emperor of it?”

Yuwen Tong said, “I can’t let so many people die there. It’ll take a heavy toll on the Great Yue. And I’m ‘injured’, so the best way is to disclose it to the emperor. What the King Hui has done is done, and there’s nothing he could do to make any difference.”Read more chapters at ReadNovelFull.com

Indeed, just like Yuwen Tong said, on the surface the emperor seemed to be happy, but in fact flames of wrath was leaping in his chest.

The Crown Prince had sensed the peculiarity in the conduct of the King Hui as well as that of Shan Congwen – of course he had.

He was extremely disappointed with the King Hui.

…

At noon, almost all people hunting in the hunting ground had left the woods one after another. The King Hui made an excuse and lingered for quite some time before returning to the entrance.

Like the King Hui, Shan Congwen also delayed his return by a considerable amount of time.

Standing beside him, Shan Congwen looked through the woods at the grandstand which he only had a vague view of, and said, “Almost all of them are there now. When are you going to do it?”

The King Hui clenched his teeth, a tic going in his cheeks. Eventually, his intent to kill got the best of him. “Now.”

He decided to make his move right now when all these people were in the stands, lest there be any unexpected changes.

Shan Congwen gave a soundless sneer, gazing at those people in the stands, finding the King Hui’s callousness somewhat disgusting, but he felt no regret. He was just somewhat sympathetic to these people of the Great Yue who were going to die such violent deaths. Many of them probably would die before they could realize what happened.

It was so unfortunate of the emperor of the Great Yue to have a son like this.

The King Hui raised his hand, instructing the subordinate beside him to send out word.

After a while, the King Hui’s order was communicated to his men in the stands, and the explosives were about to be detonated.

The King Hui had started a countdown in his head, waiting for the moment when everybody in the stands would be blown to pieces.

He clenched his fists tightly, his eyes staring fixedly at people in the stands.

Even Shan Congwen couldn’t help but hold his breath, expecting the arrival of the startling moment.

As the final moment drew near, the atmosphere went increasingly repressive. Feeling that it was about time, the King Hui suddenly closed his eyes, waiting for that moment to pass.

…

After quite a while, the King Hui abruptly opened his eyes and looked at the intact grandstand and the people in it. “What’s going on?”

Shan Congwen’s face also changed, a foreboding feeling rising in him as he found himself drawing back.

Time was ticking away, but still nothing happened in the stands. There weren’t even any unusual sounds, not to mention an explosion.

The King Hui shot out his hands to grab the collar of the robe of his henchman standing beside him and demanded, “What’s going on? Why haven’t anybody lit the fuse?”

The henchman had been sweating buckets for some time. “This can’t be happening. I personally sent your order there. They definitely have lit the fuse.”

The reason why the explosives still hadn’t detonated was either they’d suddenly malfunctioned or…

Nobody dared to give the second possible reason any more thought. The only feeling they had at this moment was dread mixed with anxiety, their legs trembling.

“You good-for-nothing! What are you standing here for?! Go and tell them again! Have them light the fuse immediately!” The King Hui’s eyes nearly popped out of his head.

His henchman was terribly scared. Even if he were a fool, he would have realized that the arrangements they’d made in the stands had gone awry, but the King Hui’s face was even more frightening than what might be waiting for him in that place, so he had no alternative but to go there once again to send the instruction, staggering and almost falling over when leaving the King Hui.

Shan Congwen, who had quietly backed off quite a few paces, winked at the man beside him.

He was ready to retreat at any moment.

After quite a while, the one he’d sent to check out the lay of the land was still not back. This was the worse-case scenario.

Shan Congwen stopped hesitating and turned around with the intention to leave.

“Where are you going, King Ming’en?” Shan Congwen’s body went rigid at the sudden voice. He looked in the direction of the speaker only to find that numerous armed men were abruptly showing up one group after another in the woods. The one in command was unfamiliar to him but seemed to be a commander of the Palace Guards.

Naturally the King Hui had also heard this voice. He spun around to look at the countless men that were emerging from the woods, his teeth gritted. “It’s you.”

All these men were palace guards – half of the Palace Guards who were supposed to be on guard duty in the capital city!

“Your Highness, His Majesty requests your presence in the grandstand,” said the commander in an apathetic tone, looking at him with a face just as apathetic.

The King Hui, who felt as though his insides had turned to ice, stared fixedly at these palace guards, unable to understand why his plan had been exposed, and why these hurdles had arisen when there had been an unmistakable prophecy saying that he was to be the next emperor?!

He was toast. He was indeed toast.

“Your Highness, His Majesty requests your presence in the grandstand,” that man repeated.

The King Hui clenched his fists. His subordinates beside him looked at each other, panic washing over their faces.

…

When the King Hui was marched to the grandstand, many people were still perplexed as to what it was about. Even the King Duan was bewildered for a few moments.

But at the sight of the emperor’s cold and angry countenance, everybody realized the severity of whatever it was that was going on, and none of them dared to utter a word.

A palace guard walked over and reported, “I’m honored to bow before you, Your Majesty. All explosives beneath the grandstand have been dug out.”

Explosives?! Buried right beneath this grandstand?!

Many of those that had come to understand what could’ve happened to them broke out in a cold sweat, their faces drained of colors. Meanwhile, they had got a shrewd idea of what was going on!

The King Duan incredulously eyed the King Hui. He had always believed that the King Hui was stupid, but it’d never crossed his mind that he would resort to adopting this kind of method!

“You! Exactly what have you done, Zhou Mingci?!”

The King Hui raised his head and flicked him a frosty glance, his eyes manifestly suggesting that he was despairing, indignant and unreconciled to the situation.

“What have I done? I’ve tried to get above all of you!”

“Outrageous!” thundered the emperor. “You vile spawn. How dare you talk such nonsense when your death is imminent!”

The King Hui, upset by the emperor’s furious face, not resigned to his fate, sniffed, “Father, have you never thought about this? I’m also your son, and I clearly outshine all of them. Why didn’t you make me the heir to the throne? The Crown Prince is an invalid, yet you’re still going to enthrone him? Aren’t worried that he might not be able to outlive you?!”

“Shut up. Shut up!” The emperor was almost reduced to vomiting blood with ire, repeatedly hitting the armrest of the chair so heavily that the armrest almost broke.

“Zhou Mingci, are you out of your mind?!” The King Duan looked at the King Hui in shock. “What makes you so confident that you are the best?”

Was he soft in the head?

This remark infuriated the King Hui even more than the emperor’s reprimand had, and his eyes reddened. “Zhou Mingyuan!”

At this time, the King Duan had cooled down, fully aware of what was going on. Though astounded by the King Hui’s madness, he soon felt a thrill of rapture. With the downfall of a rival, he was yet another step closer to the throne. As long as he figured out a way to have the sickly Crown Prince die of illness and then eliminate his fifth brother, he would be the only heir to the throne! And his father would have to crown him emperor even if he didn’t want to!

Thinking of this, the King Duan could barely keep from laughing, but he must refrain on this occasion, which was why his face twisted somewhat. Others mistakenly believed that he was angry, but in fact it was because he was exercising all his self-restraint to stifle his laugh.

“Guards! Flog this evil creature to death!” The emperor, who had almost spat blood from wrath, finally recovered himself.

Everybody was startled. Flog him to death?

After a while, the Crown Prince stood up. “Father, please turn from your anger. It’s true that my fourth brother made a mistake, but that doesn’t make him any less of your son, and nor does it make him any less of my brother. Please spare his life, father.”

The courtiers were also brought back to their senses, realizing they had to do something to allay the emperor’s anger, otherwise the King Hui might really be beaten to death.

At first the King Duan was stupefied, but eventually he also hastened to intercede for the King Hui, though he was actually only too anxious to see the King Hui dead.

Finally, the emperor’s fury slowly subsided. He was just about to speak when another palace guard came over to report.

“Your Majesty, we found fifty packs of explosives in total. They were densely planted beneath the grandstand. Had all these explosives detonated…”

The emperor’s countenance went purple with anger once again, and he stared at the King Hui, an extremely icy expression in his eyes. This traitorous son of his had actually planned to blow all of them to pieces!

Chapter 237: Just the Two of Us

The King Hui was thrown into the Court Prison; the Imperial Concubine De was placed under house arrest in the cold palace (a palace where an emperor installs members of the imperial family who do something wrong); all those involved in the attempted usurpation by the King Hui were subjected to thorough search of their abodes and confiscation of their property. What the future held for the King Hui was an execution in private.

Shan Congwen had gone for wool but come home shorn. The Great Yue taking advantage of this opportunity claimed a considerable amount of indemnity. Had it not been for a dispatch from the emperor of the Wan Kingdom, a border province of the Wan Kingdom would have to cede a city to the Great Yue.

Shan Congwen left the Great Yue with his tail between his legs. Waiting for him in the Wan Kingdom were fierce condemnations and severe punishments. It could be said that his diplomatic mission had turned out to be a complete failure.

In the meantime, Yuwen Tong improved very quick. Maybe because the King Hui’s maniac attempt at exterminating the whole imperial court had distracted people in the capital city, when they finally shifted the focus of attention from the King Hui’s crime to other matters, Yuwen Tong had already “regained” his mobility, and he even went to the imperial palace to express his gratitude to the emperor.

Even court physicians of the imperial hospital were astonished by how quick Yuwen Tong had made such a recovery, but no matter what, it was a fact that Yuwen Tong’s “wounds” had healed very soon.

The assassins that had ambushed the Supreme Commander of Armed Forces of the Great Yue had also been found to be sent by the Wan Kingdom. Shan Congwen, who had already left the Great Yue, was unable to defend himself even though he wanted to.

The Ling Mansion finally found itself in peace again. Ji Yin personally checked the residential compound and confirmed that those secret bodyguards had left. As regards the perimeter, secret bodyguards out there could only gather some basic intelligence about who went in and out of the Ling Mansion and when. Other information was beyond their reach, and they were by no means powerful enough to perceive the presence of a kung fu expert like Ji Yin without seeing him directly.Visit website our ReadNovelFull.com

After bringing down the King Hui and forcing Shan Congwen into returning to the Wan Kingdom with a humiliating defeat, both Yuwen Tong and Ling Zhang felt relaxed and delighted.

“It turns out that you were right – the Crown Prince did make his appearance,” said Ling Zhang, gnawing at a peach.

Yuwen Tong raised his hand and wiped the juice from the corner of Ling Zhang’s mouth with his thumb, staring at Ling Zhang’s rosy lips, passion building up in his eyes. He said, “Those courtiers might have forgotten about him had he not put in an appearance that day.”

Ling Zhang didn’t notice that Yuwen Tong was gazing at him like a hungry wolf at a lamb, his eyes glinting. “You said that the Crown Prince might have made some underhand arrangements. What did you mean by that?”

Yuwen Tong, who had ascertained the truth about a lot of matters these days, replied, “The reason why Shan Congwen tried to kill you was because Zhou Mingci meant your death as a precondition for their cooperation. It’s true that we made an enemy of Zhou Mingci by having the Ninth Princess punished, but it was because of the suggestion of Zhou Mingci’s aide that he suddenly requested Shan Congwen to kill you, and this aide was planted in the King Hui’s residence by the Crown Prince.”

Ling Zhang, finding this message very unpleasant, finished the peach in three gulps and said in a cold voice, “Why did the Crown Prince do that? He and I have no history.”

“He has no history with you. He just wanted the King Hui to infuriate me,” remarked Yuwen Tong.

A flurry of thoughts flashed across Ling Zhang’s mind and with that he frowned, “Will he connect you with the downfall of the King Hui?”

Yuwen Tong said, “He has no proof. Besides, given that so many court physicians and the emperor personally confirmed the severity of my injuries, he has no choice but to accept it as true even if he doesn’t want to.”

Ling Zhang inclined his head, feeling slightly relieved. “That’s good to know.”

“What about the prophecy?” Ling Zhang asked.

Yuwen Tong twisted his head aside and cast a mysterious smile at him. “Prophecy? What prophecy?”

Ling Zhang, slowly lifting his eyebrows, came to understand what Yuwen Tong meant, but about the head star-watcher…

Yuwen Tong confided in a muted voice, “The head star-watcher never made any prophecies. That messenger faked it. He is just an insignificant messenger, for whom it’s very easy to quietly go underground. Even if someone traced it to that part, they wouldn’t be able to find anything.”

It’d merely been a trick to make the whole thing more complicated and bewildering. Let them have some fun guessing.

Thinking about this, Ling Zhang still couldn’t help but stare at Yuwen Tong for quite a while. Yuwen Tong, who had been growing increasingly aroused with his eyes on Ling Zhang, succumbed to the temptation moments after Ling Zhang’s unblinking gaze rested on him, threw his arm around Ling Zhang and instantly drew him into his embrace, kissing him.

The kiss didn’t last long before their desire overpowered their self-restraint. The two of them did the same thing they did in the bathroom that day, and Ling Zhang’s legs were limp when it was over.

This time Yuwen Tong also tentatively gave Ling Zhang’s privates a gentle touch, feeling fully satisfied and content.

Ling Zhang’s countenance was as pink as a lotus flower.

When the two of them recovered themselves, Ling Zhang said, “My arm injury has almost healed, and it’s time I went back to the Imperial College.”

Yuwen Tong hadn’t been able to spend much time with Ling Zhang in private when pretending to be injured, and it’d only been a couple of days when the two of them had their carefree life back, so he was unwilling to let Ling Zhang return to the Imperial College so soon. He said, “You still want to learn formations from Mr. Ji, don’t you? How about we go to the manor? Just take a few more days off from school.”

Ling Zhang’s eyes lit up. “I can do that?”

Yuwen Tong said, “Why can’t you? Just tell them your arm still hurts. Surely they won’t dare pressure you to go back.”

On hearing this, Ling Zhang could barely keep from leaving right away. “Then let’s get going.”

Seeing that his interest was piqued, Yuwen Tong added, “But Mr. Ji still has to give lessons in the Imperial College. He took several days off from work because of me, and I don’t think he could spare any more time.”

Ling Zhang was somewhat disappointed.

Yuwen Tong consoled him in a slow voice, “Although Mr. Ji won’t be able to be with us in the manor, we can go there ourselves. You may first digest what Mr. Ji taught you previously, and then return to the Imperial College to consult Mr. Ji after you master all of it.”

Ling Zhang gave it some thought and felt that Yuwen Tong had got a point, so he nodded. “All right.”

Yuwen Tong, pleased, playfully nibbled his rosy cheek once again, holding him tightly. “We go there today.”

The manor was very quiet, and it’d be just the two of them.

Yuwen Tong gave some instructions to his subordinates and then had a message delivered to the emperor, saying that he was going to his manor to nurse his injury. The emperor, having no reason to stop him, gave his approval.

Yuwen Tong in contentment took Ling Zhang to the manor. Zhao Shude, as usual, was waiting for them at the front gates. “Marshal, Childe Ling.”

“Uncle Zhao,” smiled Ling Zhang, greeting Zhao Shude.

After serving Ling Zhang for a day during his last stay in this manor, Zhao Shude was now more genial to Ling Zhang than he’d been the first time they’d met. “Have you recovered from the arm injury, Childe Ling?”

Seeing he didn’t ask about Yuwen Tong’s injury, Ling Zhang thought that Zhao Shude probably was aware Yuwen Tong hadn’t really been wounded, so he replied, “Almost. I ate all those goodies you delivered to my place. Look, I even gained some weight because of them.”

A faint smile broke across Zhao Shude’s serious face and he said, “We’ve raised quite some rabbits lately. I’ll have them cook some for dinner and you may give it a try.”

Ling Zhang was happy to hear this, looking at Yuwen Tong.

Yuwen Tong said to Zhao Shude, “We’ll be staying here for a few days. Is there anything else apart from rabbits?”

Zhao Shude answered, “Yeah. We raised a lot of livestock in the rear. They’re all over the place.”

Yuwen Tong was fairly pleased with it. After entering the manor, he and Ling Zhang went to the Roosting Dragonfly Pavilion first and spent the whole afternoon there fishing. Dinner was fish soup and various dishes made with rabbit. Ling Zhang overate without noticing like the last time.

Yuwen Tong happily took Ling Zhang outside for an after-dinner walk. Ever since faking his injuries previously, he had missed out on several after-dinner walks, so of course he had to catch up on them.

The weather was getting increasingly hot these days. There were more trees in this manor than there were in the residential compound in the capital city, so it was cooler here. As a night breeze blew by taking away with it the stuffiness that had been lingering for a whole day, Ling Zhang felt so comfortable that he slightly narrowed his eyes.

When passing a pond where frogs were croaking, Ling Zhang casually commented, “I think it’s going to rain tomorrow.”

Yuwen Tong said, “Given how sultry today is, there’s probably going to be a heavy shower tomorrow afternoon. We may go to the hill in the rear when it does. There’s a pavilion overlooking this whole area.”

After giving it a brief moment’s thought, Ling Zhang feeling it a good idea agreed.

Yuwen Tong was thinking that he would have Ling Zhang all to himself in that pavilion, and maybe they could do something else apart from enjoying the beautiful rain. The very thought of this gave him a twitch of arousal. He let out an unnatural cough, bridling his imagination that was going wild, telling himself to show some patience.

Ling Zhang was unaware of what had just occurred to this man beside him. The pleasant, bracing night breezes made him feel fully relaxed and comfortable, and at this moment there wasn’t anything of complexity in his mind. He was just amazed by the feeling of happiness walking side by side with Yuwen Tong was giving him. This was something he had never expected before. Recalling that he might not have made Yuwen Tong’s acquaintance had he not tried to call off their engagement after rebirth, that their current relationship was actually the result of a strange twist of fate, he felt that what people called destiny was such an indescribably intriguing thing. At the thought of this, his eyes flickered towards Yuwen Tong beside him in spite of himself.

Sure enough Yuwen Tong immediately sensed this glance at him that Ling Zhang sneaked. Though Ling Zhang’s eyes merely grazed him and it was at night, Yuwen Tong still saw it distinctly.

In this glance was so much more than there seemed to be that for an instant he was stupefied, and when he was back to his senses, he and Ling Zhang had been in a lip-lock for quite some time, his arms holding Ling Zhang around the middle.

It struck Yuwen Tong that he might not be able to wait until the next day – he wanted to do something else right now.

Ling Zhang, feeling Yuwen Tong’s physical response, held him around the waist instead of pushing him aside.

What was he waiting for when they were having such a moment? As chance would have it, after walking for a while, their stomachs didn’t feel as stuffed now, so Yuwen Tong held Ling Zhang’s hand and started walking back. Halfway to the courtyard house, he let out a curse in a frustrated low voice and then pinned Ling Zhang to the trunk of a big tree in a corner. Arms around Ling Zhang, he lowered his head and nibbled from Ling Zhang’s neck all the way downwards, clenching Ling Zhang’s collar between his teeth to undo his clothes, so urgently as though there was some kind of fire burning inside him and he had to do something immediately to put it out.

Originally Ling Zhang had been feeling pretty cool, but Yuwen Tong’s feverish passion infected him and he was now feeling rather hot as well.

One of Yuwen Tong’s hands, in particular, was rubbing his hips and waist in a very restless way, which immediately jogged Ling Zhang’s memories of the previous few times the two of them had made intimate contact. He could feel his cheeks burning, but was subconsciously cooperating with Yuwen Tong.

Yuwen Tong, taking this as an incentive, was rid of all misgivings…

Soon the hush beneath the tree was broken by loud breathing.