The Glory After Rebirth [ɇÇ”Ÿä¹‹Å°Šè£] Chapter 469- 471

Chapter 469: The Jiahe Chamber of Commerce

The bird flew into a branch of the Jiahe Chamber of Commerce located in the capital of the Luohai Kingdom. It was a large manor house. On either side of its front gates was a stone statue of a mythical beast symbolizing good fortune and prosperity. People going in and out of the house were all successful merchants in the capital.

The bird flew into a corner of the chamber of commerce which nobody was paying attention to, and then someone caught the bird and detached a roll of cloth from the bird’s leg. Then he unrolled it, glanced at it and set the bird free. After destroying the piece of cloth, he left the corner in haste and went to a secluded courtyard house in the chamber of commerce.

Seen from the outside, this courtyard house was rather run-of-the-mill, except for its high outer walls and vast size. There was no well designed paths or deluxe furnishings. Hardly anybody would notice this courtyard house. Also, it was isolated and normally nobody would come to this place.

The man first greeted the two guards on duty at the front gates. “Guard Zhao, Guard Zhou, I just received a message and I’m here to seek an audience with Childe Ling.”

“Please wait a moment, Chairman Lian.”

“Thank you.”

The chairman of the Jiahe Chamber of Commerce was a renowned figure in the capital of the Luohai Kingdom. Merchants and even the monarch’s relatives had to show him some respect. However, on this occasion, at the front gates of this courtyard house, he was, in a deferential and humble manner, waiting for permission to go inside.

The past five years, apart from frequent frictions between the Wan Kingdom and the Luohai Kingdom and the rejuvenation of the Great Wen, had also witnessed the rise of a new force – the Jiahe Chamber of Commerce, which had branches in all the three countries. Within merely five years, it had achieved the feat of having its caravans travel to every area of the three countries and at the same time opening stores in all important cities and towns of the three countries. The commercial forces it had united were amazingly powerful – one third of all successful merchants of the three countries had joined the Jiahe Chamber of Commerce, which was why the organization had quickly grown into an enormous trading power within five years.

Also because of this, many people had been paying special attention to and making speculations about the Jiahe Chamber of Commerce. Some said that it had originally been a Jianghu sect; some others believed it had been founded by the richest family of one of the three countries; there were also some who claimed that it had a royal family member as its prop. In a word, there were a large variety of rumors about it, but the Jiahe Chamber of Commerce was totally unaffected and thriving. There were intense conflicts between the Wan Kingdom and the Luohai Kingdom near the border, but caravans of the Jiahe Chamber of Commerce could always safely get through. Its business was booming, and more and more people were coming to know about it…

Currently, hardly anybody in business hadn’t heard of the Jiahe Chamber of Commerce.

The headquarters of the Jiahe Chamber of Commerce was located in not one but three places – the capital cities of the Luohai Kingdom, the Wan Kingdom and the Great Wen, which seemed to be the reason why nobody was sure about the identity of the founder, or the owner, of the Jiahe Chamber of Commerce.

Businesses affiliated to this newly emerged organization had sprung up all over the three countries over the past five years, striking the attention of the world.

And now, a leading figure who wielded enormous power within the chamber of commerce was respectfully waiting for the owner of a nondescript courtyard house to give him the permission to enter. Hardly anybody, if told about this story, would believe it.

“Please come in, Chairman Lian. Childe Ling requests your presence.”

After Chairman Lian waited at the front gates for a while, the one who had gone inside to send word of his arrival came out and told him to go in.

Chairman Lian thanked him and then entered the courtyard house.

On the surface this courtyard house was not at all eye-catching, and only by going inside it would people come to know that it was not what it seemed.

It’d been under Chairman Lian’s supervision that this courtyard house had been built. It could be said that he better than anybody knew that this courtyard house was the most exquisite and luxurious in the whole chamber of commerce. The furnishings in this house were so costly that people’s jaws would drop if the price of any of these items came to their knowledge. When supervising the construction of this house, Chairman Lian, picturing how his mater would praise him after moving into this place, had felt smug for a few moments, but when his master had really come, Chairman Lian, at the sight of his master’s impassive countenance, had come to realize that he might well be mistaken, and the complacency on his face had instantly vanished and never appeared again.

Chairman Lian quietly walked through an ornamental arch, across a small garden and up the stairs in front of the reception room. In the doorway, he made a bow and said, “Your humble servant Lian Hai requests an audience with you, Childe Ling.”

“Come in,” said an unhurried, brisk, male voice. The tone was bland but aristocratic.

Chairman Lian entered the reception room, deferentially paid his respects to his master, then slightly raised his head and reported, “Childe Ling, a group of horsemen from the Wan Kingdom are heading for this city. Judging from the time of the arrival of the message, they’ll get here in about an hour. There are twelve of them. The one heading the team seems to be Xue Yi, Xue Chi’s son. All of them are in disguise.”

“I see.” The man inside the room put down the account book in his hand and looked in the direction of Chairman Lian, who hastened to lower his head as he sensed the gaze from the man’s clear, piercing eyes, not daring look back at the man, keeping his head down respectfully.

“That tallies exactly with the intelligence I received. Because of the serious trouble Chen Feng caused in the border city, the monarch of this country is displeased with the Chen family, but what with the forces at the queen consort’s and her father’s back, he’s powerless to mete out punishment to the Chen family, which was why he reinstated Xue Chi whom he’d clamped down on with all his might previously…It would seem Shan Congli trusts Xue Chi’s son pretty much, considering he’s entrusted such an important task to Xue Yi.”

“Do you think we should stick to the plan, Childe Ling?”

“Of course. No matter who it is that has come here, we must make sure they won’t have their way. Since Xue Chi will soon arrive, you should go and make preparations. It’s time people of the Dugu family proved themselves useful.”

“Yes, Childe Ling.”

Chairman Lian reverently made a reply and then quietly backed out of the reception room. It was not until he made towards the front gates after descending the stairs that he felt some cold sweat on his back, which had broken out in spite of himself when he’d narrowly avoided meeting his master’s eyes a few moments before. It struck him that no matter how many audiences he had with his master, he would never be able to straighten his back in front of his master, and nor would he ever be able to summon up the courage to make eye contact with his master. He didn’t even dare have the faintest disrespectful thought or a single idea that was not supposed to appear in his mind.

After lightly heaving a sigh of relief, Chairman Lian walked through the ornamental arch, making towards the front gates. When he had left the seemingly run-of-the-mill courtyard house, his eyes gradually became penetrating. Looking in the direction of the north-eastern corner of the city, he gave a little sneer.

He would do whatever he could to fulfill the task his master had assigned him, even if he had to sacrifice his life. Xue Yi? Xue Yi didn’t scare him at all. ‘The Wan Kingdom are going to have to go through me first if they want to make some secret alliance with the Luohai Kingdom to work against the Great Wen!’ he inwardly snorted.

…

Sitting in his chair, Ling Zhang pondered for a while, wondering if he was really being too stern. He was positive that a few moments before he hadn’t emanated any menacing air. Why Lian Hai had still broken out in a cold sweat and acted like he were running for his life when leaving?

“Young Master,” said Yang Liuzi, walking inside. “Here’s some freshly made snack. Would you care to give it a try?”

Ling Zhang always brought his twenty-four bodyguards with him wherever he went. This time around, Ling Zhang had sneaked into the capital of the Luohai Kingdom, and they had followed him to this city to protect him.

On hearing this, Ling Zhang looked at Yang Liuzi.

After a brief moment’s eye contact, Yang Liuzi slightly bowed his head, walked over and lightly put the tray down on to the table.

Eyes on him, Ling Zhang asked, “Do I scare you as well, Liuzi?”

Yang Liuzi looked up at Ling Zhang and then shook his head earnestly. “No, I’m not scared of you, Young Master. It’s just your eyes are so clear and piercing I…ahem, I’d have trouble walking steadily if I make eye contact with you for too long.”

Ling Zhang, “…”

“When did you first find yourself in this situation?”

Yang Liuzi thought back carefully for a while before he answered, “I think it was after you made a breakthrough and reached the sixth layer, right before your departure from the capital city. I’m not the only one. Brother Wang and all the others are experiencing the same thing. We all feel that this is actually a good thing, because you’d be safer if others don’t dare get close to you.”

Ling Zhang listened carefully as Yang Liuzi talked. It turned out that even Wang Dashan, Yang Liuzi and the other bodyguards all of whom had served him for years didn’t dare look him in the eye for too long. No wonder Lian Hai had reacted that way. Ling Zhang suspected that Lian Hai’s stress response could well be minor compared with those of others. If he were now in the Great Wen, this would, naturally, be a good thing, for he was the consort there, but this was the Luohai Kingdom, and he had a mission to accomplish. Surely he should at least make sure those he needed to have dealings with wouldn’t be deterred from clapping eyes on him? He had to figure out a way to fix this. He had just made a breakthrough and reached the sixth layer of the mental cultivation method of internal energy, and maybe he’d been radiating some kind of sense of power unawares.

“I’ll be in closed-door cultivation in the next two days. Go and invite Mr. Han over. And, tell Dashan and Liu Yi to come here later.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Yang Liuzi accepted the order and then left. Ling Zhang picked up a piece of snack and put it into his mouth, chewing with bulging cheeks, beginning to mull over what he needed to arrange for his men to do in the following two days.

He and Yuwen Tong were behind every one of the frictions between the Wan Kingdom and the Luohai Kingdom. They were the ones who’d lit the fuse and afterward added fuel to the rage of the two sides. Their objective was, naturally, to hinder the two countries from joining hands to work against the Great Wen. It’d been several years since the last war and the Great Wen was getting stronger and stronger. Thanks to the Great Wen’s unique advantageous geographical location, it had recovered from war injuries much faster than the Wan Kingdom had. Presently the Great Wen was far more powerful than the Wan Kingdom in terms of overall national strength. The North-western Army had been drilling day and night and at the same time recruiting new members, and its combat power was greater than ever.

Shan Congli had definitely perceived the widening gap between the two countries’ military strength unless he was a fool. If he stood by and did nothing as the Great Wen’s advantage grew, the Wan Kingdom would not only never be able to get a chance to annex the Great Wen but also might be annexed by the Great Wen. He was scared, which was why he’d sent Xue Yi, Xue Chi’s son, who’d been very much in favor with him recently, to the Luohai Kingdom to seek an audience with Mu Hengtian, the Luohai monarch, with the intention to forge a secret alliance against the Great Wen, despite the frictions between the two countries.

Once they successfully made an alliance against the Great Wen, the latter would be under heavy pressure.

Therefore, Ling Zhang had journeyed from the Great Wen to the Luohai Kingdom, intending to thwart the Wan Kingdom’s plan to ally themselves with the Luohai Kingdom, and to do his best to help the Great Wen strike up a relationship and reach an agreement with the Luohai Kingdom in the Wan Kingdom’s stead.

If the Great Wen was to break the balance of power between the three countries and unify them, he and Yuwen Tong would have to figure out a way to subjugate the other two countries one by one. It was very difficult for the Great Wen to fight two opponents at the same time. The Wan Kingdom’s monarch was greedy, cruel and full of wild ambitions, and also had a personal vendetta against Yuwen Tong, so it was impossible for the Great Wen to make an alliance with the Wan Kingdom, which made the Luohai Kingdom the only potential provisional ally. It would be much easier for the Great Wen to handle the Luohai Kingdom when the Wan Kingdom was out of the game.

By means of the Jiahe Chamber of Commerce and the secret agents Yuwen Tong had long since planted in the Wan Kingdom and the Luohai Kingdom, they had made some arrangements in both of the two countries. Speaking of the Luohai Kingdom…

Presently, the Luohai Kingdom was in the same situation that the Great Yue used to be stuck in when the Zhou family was in power. There was intense political infighting. The internecine struggle in the court was becoming increasingly white-hot.

Chapter 470: Arrangements- The Dugu Family

The current situation in the Luohai Kingdom was the same as that in the Great Yue during the reign of its former emperor surnamed Zhou. There was fierce covert infighting going on in the court. Three forces, headed respectively by Mu Rongfeng the crown prince, the Dugu family who were relatives of the queen consort, and a group of generals with Nian Feng the General-in-chief as the leader, had shaped the political landscape into a tripartite confrontation. Mu Rongfeng, undoubtedly, was fighting for himself; the Dugu family were in support of a puppet prince; Nian Feng the General-in-chief was also assisting one of the potential heirs to the throne. In recent years, Mu Hengtian, the incumbent monarch, had been in worsening physical condition, and could well kick the bucket in a couple of years, which was why the three forces had been fighting at outrance for the throne.

What with what happened in Jiangzhou five years ago, Mu Rongfeng hated Ling Zhang’s and Yuwen Tong’s guts, and in no circumstances would he cooperate with them. Nian Feng, who had the majority of the Luohai Kingdom’s troops under his command, believed that his victory was certain, so it was next to impossible to convince him. The Dugu Family was the only potential ally. Although the Dugu family had almost half of the court at their service, in fact they were relatively less dangerous compared with the other two sides, despite the fact that they were quite formidable on the surface, because firstly, the prince they were in support of was not the queen consort’s son but a concubine’s, which left him in a very low position in the line of succession to the throne; secondly, the Dugu family had no armed forces at their disposal and thus didn’t stand a chance of defeating Nian Feng.

As a result, both Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong had chosen to use the Dugu family to make inroads into the Luohai Kingdom.

The strategy they’d adopted was not to reveal their identities to seek cooperation with the Dugu family, because after all, for the Luohai Kingdom, people of the Great Wen were outsiders, which meant that it’d be very difficult to get the Dugu family to trust them completely even if he agreed to cooperate. Therefore, Ling Zhang had made use of the Jiahe Chamber of Commerce to carry out his plan.

As early as three years ago, when the Luohai headquarters of the Jiahe Chamber of Commerce was set up in the capital of the Luohai Kingdom, Ling Zhang dropped a hint to the chairman of the chamber of commerce, who then made contact with the Dugu family. In others words, the Dugu family was now one of the shareholders of the Jiahe Chamber of Commerce. In the Luohai Kingdom, the patriarch of the Dugu family was one of the three people who shared the final say in important decisions. For years people had been speculating who the owner of the Jiahe Chamber of Commerce was. The Dugu Family didn’t know the truth either, but they believed that they did, and they were also under the false impression that they owned eighty percent of the Luohai branch of the Jiahe Chamber of Commerce, that they actually ran the Jiahe Chamber of Commerce de facto. They were very ambitious – they were seeking to put the whole Luohai branch of the chamber of commerce under their complete control, and even had plans to gobble up its branches in the Wan Kingdom and the Great Wen. Ling Zhang had deliberately had his men create these spurious impressions to hoodwink the Dugu family into believing that they had securely controlled the Jiahe Chamber of Commerce.

Of course Ling Zhang was not so stupid as to hand the Jiahe Chamber of Commerce to the Dugu family on a silver platter. He was just utilizing the Jiahe Chamber of Commerce to get the Dugu family to drop their guard. On the surface the Jiahe Chamber of Commerce was a trade organization, but actually it owned a secret intelligence network which had been growing and improving, and which had helped the Dugu family win a lot of rivalries for interests and solve many troubles. Correspondingly, the Dugu family had been getting more and more dependent on the Jiahe Chamber of Commerce. The intelligence and funds this trade organization had been providing for the Dugu family were like some kind of tasty, slow-acting poison, one that the Dugu family were becoming increasingly addicted to…This was exactly what Ling Zhang wanted. The greater the Dugu family’s dependence on the Jiahe Chamber of Commerce was, the more he would be able to do to manipulate the political situation in the court of the Luohai Kingdom. Presently, the Dugu family was like a pawn, a weapon that the Jiahe Chamber of Commerce had in hand.

Back at the time when Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong had first made this plan, the former had worried about it for quite some time, fearing that the Dugu family might not take the bait.

It was not until Ling Zhaowu had come to the Luohai Kingdom, secretly helped Lian Hai hook up with the Dugu family and tricked the Dugu family on board that Ling Zhang had felt a sense of relief.

As regards Lian Hai, he was a talent that Ling Zhaowu had personally recruited. According to Ling Zhaowu, Lian Hai had been his right-hand man in his last incarnation and was a scrupulous, smart man. It had turned out that Lian Hai was indeed quite competent and had never disappointed his master. He undeniably deserved great credit for the Dugu family’s growing reliance on the Jiahe Chamber of Commerce during the past few years.

Ling Zhang appreciated Lian Hai very much, and Lian Hai had always been quite respectful and loyal to Ling Zhang.

This time around, the objective of Xue Yi’s visit to the Luohai Kingdom was to convince the Luohai monarch to sign a covert cooperation agreement with the Wan Kingdom. More than half of the courtiers of the Luohai Kingdom would agree to work hand in glove with the Wan Kingdom to deal with the Great Wen. And almost all those people served Mu Rongfeng the crown prince. Because of what happened to Mu Rongfeng five years ago, they harbored deep hatred towards the Great Wen, so it was unfeasible to use any of them to frustrate the Wan Kingdom’s plan. The Dugu family, on the contrary, would help hinder Xue Yi because of the benefits he could get out of it.

Before Xue Yi entered the city, they had to have some ‘false’ intelligence delivered to the Dugu family to mislead the Dugu family into making the judgement they wanted the Dugu family to make, so that the Dugu family would take action to stop Xue Yi from getting in touch with any members of the faction led by Mu Rongfeng the crown prince.

It wouldn’t be easy, but it must be done.

Gauging the time of Mr. Han’s arrival, Ling Zhang picked up another piece of snack and resumed eating. Recently, after he made a breakthrough and reached the sixth layer of the mental cultivation method of internal energy, his appetite had suddenly grown appreciably. He felt hungry quite often and needed to eat a lot to fill his belly. He had to have his fill before Mr. Han showed up lest his stomach rumble during the conversation.

…

After Ling Zhang finished the whole tray of snack, the sound of footsteps came from outside.

“Young Master, Mr. Han has arrived,” reported Yang Liuzi in the doorway.

“Let him in,” said Ling Zhang, rearranging his clothes and shifting his sitting position.

Before long, a middle-aged bearded man in his forties or fifties, dressed like a scholar, followed Yang Liuzi into the reception room. He had jet-black hair and didn’t look old at all, his face pleasant, his eyes bright, his pace sedate and measured.

“I’m honored to bow before you, Childe Ling.”

“You may rise, Mr. Han.” Ling Zhang looked at him with calm eyes. “Please take a seat.”

This man’s name was Han Shu. He was a native of the Luohai Kingdom. It was also Ling Zhaowu who’d discovered this person. Before being recruited to the Jiahe Chamber of Commerce, Han Shu had been in rough shape. It was not that he’d been in poverty because of his incompetence, but that he’d displeased some members of the Luohai royal family, and Mu Hengtian had had all his family members executed, except for his eldest grandson. He and his grandson, while running for their lives, had been rescued by Ling Zhaowu and been hiding in the Jiahe Chamber of Commerce ever since.

Han Shu were mortal enemies with the Luohai royal family and had every intention of getting his revenge on them, which meant that he and Ling Zhang had a common goal.

Han Shu used to work in the court of the Luohai Kingdom and thus knew very well people in the court and their contacts outside the court, especially the faction headed by Mu Rongfeng the crown prince, for he used to be a member of that faction, but afterward Mu Rongfeng and Mu Hengtian had joined hands and persecuted him because of his discovery of some secret he hadn’t been privy to.

“May I ask how I could be of service to you, Childe Ling?” asked Han Shu.

Currently, Han Shu was in the full swing of his activities in the Jiahe Chamber of Commerce. He was in charge of internal affairs, while Lian Hai was responsible for handling issues involving dealings with the outside world. The two of them made a perfect team. Thanks to their efforts, the Jiahe Chamber of Commerce had gained a firm foothold in the capital of the Luohai Kingdom within merely over three years.

“I won’t be receiving any visitors in the next two days. You and Chairman Lian have to keep a close eye on the matter of Xue Yi, and you must figure out a way to have the Dugu family make their move. I expect to see everything going as planned when I come out two days later,” said Ling Zhang.

Han Shu rose, made a bow and said, “Rest assured, Childe Ling, I promise I’ll fulfill this task you assigned me.”

Ling Zhang inclined his head, asked him about the current situation in the chamber of commerce and then let him leave. Watching Han Shu’s receding back, Ling Zhang had a thoughtful look on his face. Han Shu’s mental endurance was manifestly higher than that of Lian Hai. Lian Hai didn’t even have the courage to look at his eyes, while Han Shu at least had made brief eye contact with him before averting his gaze.

Those who’d been hardened by the situation in the court were indeed somewhat different.

“Young Master, Brother Wang and Brother Liu have come,” reported Yang Liuzi.

Ling Zhang gave a nod of permission for the two of them to come in.

Meanwhile, Han Shu, after leaving, glanced over his shoulders at the courtyard house, an astonished expression in his eyes. Ling Zhang thought that he’d been unaffected by the eye contact, but in fact, Han Shu had been just as shocked as Lian Hai had been. Cold sweat slowly broke out on his back as he thought back to that moment. This was what made him different than Lian Hai – he could temporarily control his feelings.

He was fully aware of the true identity of this ‘Childe Ling’ he’d been serving, and he also knew what consequences he’d have to face if he did anything disloyal, but he was grateful to the Jiahe Chamber of Commerce and they had a common goal, so he wouldn’t betray his master.

However…

Han Shu thought of those people in the court of the Luohai Kingdom. Comparing them with Ling Zhang who was the consort of the Great Wen, had amazing tolerance and was progressing with unstoppable momentum, Han Shu felt as though he could see how the Luohai Kingdom would end up in the future…The air about Ling Zhang, to some degree, represented the fortune of the Great Wen. From the vantage point of the present, the Great Wen was at its zenith, while the Luohai Kingdom was stuck fast in internecine struggles. During the past few years, instead of racing against time to grow stronger like the Great Wen and the Wan Kingdom did, the Luohai Kingdom had been weakening itself with civil strife all along, and it was showing signs of decline and fall…

Had he not undergone that painful experience, he wouldn’t have woken up to reality and might well have still been in the faction led by Mu Rongfeng who was fighting for the throne, utterly blind to the current international situation and the fact that the Great Wen had become unstoppable.

Han Shu raised his hand to wipe the fine beads of sweat from his forehead, rearranged his clothes and put on a poker face, preparing to make arrangements for the rest of the plan to be carried out.

…

“You need to perform closed-door cultivation, Young Master? Is it because you’re feeling some kind of discomfort?” Wang Dashan and Liu Yi both got anxious as they heard that Ling Zhang had suddenly decided to start a two-day period of closed-door cultivation.

Ling Zhang slightly shook his head. “Don’t be nervous. I’m fine.”

After hearing these words of Ling Zhang’s, Wang Dashan and Liu Yi exchanged a glance and neither of them persisted with their questioning.

During the past few years, as Ling Zhang had made one breakthrough after another in his cultivation of internal energy and had been the consort for a long time, his bodyguards’ confidence in Ling Zhang’s abilities had grown considerably and they no longer had to repeatedly confirm Ling Zhang was okay before they could have complete peace of mind as they used to. Right now Ling Zhang’s ability to take care of himself was more than enough to spare his bodyguards from the necessity of worrying about him. Since Ling Zhang was telling them that he was okay, they naturally believed Ling Zhang.

“After Xue Yi enters the city, Lian Hai and Han Shu will covertly incite the Dugu family to hinder him from getting what he wants. I need you guys to keep close watch on those people’s every move and tell me all the details after I finish my closed-door cultivation,” said Ling Zhang.

“Consider it done, Young Master,” answered Wang Dashan.

Ling Zhang inclined his head. There was no need for him to arrange for any of the other matters to be handled. Having served him for years, Wang Dashan, Liu Yi and the others had long since learned how to deal things of this kind and many other kinds. Besides, there was no way Xue Yi could gain the Luohai monarch’s trust within merely two days, even if the Dugu family made no efforts to stop him, because the two countries had quite some old scores to settle, some of which had been there for years. On no account would the Luohai Kingdom or the Wan Kingdom place any trust in the other side before they wiped the slate clean.

Chapter 471: Two Princes and a Princess

“Sire, according to the intelligence report we just received, Xue Yi may well have already reached the capital of the Luohai Kingdom by now.”

In the imperial palace of the Great Wen, a secret bodyguard deduced the time of Xue Yi’s and his men’s arrival in the capital of the Luohai Kingdom from the intelligence he’d received.

“Are there any new messages from Brother Zhang?” asked Yuwen Tong. Being an emperor for all these years had made the air about him more dignified and also made him appear more poised and aristocratic.

“Not yet, Sire,” answered the secret bodyguard.

Yuwen Tong’s brow corrugated in a slight frown and with that his eyes raked the map hanging on the wall beside him and lingered on the capital of the Luohai Kingdom for a brief moment, a displeased look appearing on his face at the sight of the two words “Luohai Kingdom”.

Sensing Yuwen Tong’s displeasure, the secret bodyguard bowed his head, not daring utter a word.

Over the past few years, the emperor and the consort had never parted from each other. They had been with each other even during their journey to and their stay in the two south-western prefectures. All the bodyguards and servants could tell that the imperial couple had deep feelings for each other. This time around, the consort had gone to the Luohai Kingdom, and the emperor had been in low spirits for a solid month. The secret bodyguards protecting the consort had been sending letters back on a regular basis to report on the situation in there to the emperor, but that place was the capital of the Luohai Kingdom after all, and the enemies had eyes everywhere in that city, so the secret bodyguards there were unable to send letters as frequently as they could in other cities, which was why the emperor’s face had been even sulkier in the past few days.

But the consort had twenty-four personal bodyguards by his side and was under the covert protection of some of the emperor’s secret bodyguards. On top of that, the Jiahe Chamber of Commerce was at the consort’s service, and the consort himself had become a top-notch kung fu master in terms of proficiency in internal energy. It wouldn’t be easy for anybody to do him harm.

‘Apart from Sire’s concern for His Highness, him missing His Highness is probably also part of the reason why he’s been in such mood,’ thought the secret bodyguard.

Head down, the secret bodyguard didn’t dare risk saying or doing anything that might anger Yuwen Tong, but he kept his eyes averted. Apart from anything else, as a secret bodyguard, he’d seen a lot of public displays of affection conducted by the imperial couple during these years. It could be said that suffering from that kind of things had become a daily occurrence for him.

“Is the Earl Taichang (AKA the Earl of Prosperity) still in Youzhou?” Yuwen Tong suddenly asked another question.

The secret bodyguard answered, “Yes. He seems to have plans to stay in Youzhou for some time.”

It was after hearing these words that Yuwen Tong’s sullen face softened slightly. Ling Zhaowu loved his son more than anything. Given that Ling Zhang was now in the capital of the Luohai Kingdom, it was only too obvious why Ling Zhaowu was lingering in Youzhou – once the situation in the Luohai Kingdom changed, he would go there immediately and get Ling Zhang out of the Luohai Kingdom.

Yuwen Tong’s impression of his father-in-law had changed again and again. At first, when it’d come to his knowledge that both Ling Zhang and Ling Zhaowu had been through rebirth, he’d been shocked and no longer dared take Ling Zhaowu lightly; after Ling Zhaowu, within merely five years, helped the Jiahe Chamber of Commerce develop into such a commercial juggernaut and recruited a large group of talents every one of whom was absolutely loyal to him, Yuwen Tong had begun to hold Ling Zhaowu in even higher regard. Considering the many experiences this man had had in his last life, he might have turned the world upside down in his last life had he not been devastated by his wife’s death. In this life, due to his concern for Ling Zhang who meant the world to him, he had been restraining himself on his own account and always looked out for Ling Zhang’s best interests, which was a good thing for Yuwen Tong who wanted the domestic situation to be stable. However, Yuwen Tong also had reason to suspect that his father-in-law had achieved such great things within merely five years not only to help Ling Zhang but also to send him a word of warning…

Yuwen Tong was not scared of Ling Zhaowu’s flexing his muscles. On the contrary, the more Ling Zhaowu cared about Ling Zhang, the happier Yuwen Tong was.

“I want intelligence reports from Youzhou delivered to me immediately after their arrivals. Members of the Jiahe Chamber of Commerce could go wherever they want in the Luohai Kingdom, which means they have advantages over our men in terms of intelligence delivery in the Luohai Kingdom. The Earl Taichang is in Youzhou, so he could get information about the situation in the Luohai Kingdom faster than we could. Tell our men there that they may stop collecting intelligence, that all they need to do is keep a close eye on the Earl Taichang and pay attention to his words, behavior and mood.”

On hearing this, the secret bodyguard came to understand what Yuwen Tong meant. “Yes, Sire. I’ll send them a message right away.”

It took less time for a message to be delivered from Youzhou to this city than it did from the Luohai Kingdom. Of course, this didn’t mean that it was unnecessary for people in the Luohai Kingdom to send messages back. Those in Youzhou could send letters back more frequently so that their emperor would miss the consort less badly.

After making arrangements for the matter of the Luohai Kingdom to be handled, Yuwen Tong collected his thoughts and instructed a secret bodyguard to send a confidential letter to Jiang Ke and Jiang Xi both of whom were in the encampment of the North-western Army. In all likelihood, there would be a war between the Great Wen and the Wan Kingdom in the next half a year. A lot of preparatory work had been covertly going on for some time already.

“And, ask Qi San how’s it going with the man he planted in Shan Congyi’s palace.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

After being given the orders, the secret bodyguard quickly left the imperial study.

Yuwen Tong walked up to the map and stared at the area representing the Wan Kingdom.

Back in Cangzhou, Shan Congyi somehow had survived that powerful explosion and even made good his escape. However, he had suffered permanent disfigurement and lost an arm in the blast which had rendered him as horrifying-looking as a ghost. Also, what with his grievous injuries, it had taken him three solid years to nurse himself back to health, and it wasn’t until two years before that he’d shown his face in the court of the Wan Kingdom. Planting a man in Shan Congyi’s palace had been only the first step. Unlike the Luohai monarch, the Wan monarch had wild ambitions, and his whole court’s hatred towards the Great Wen and their greed for its land and wealth was unchangeable, which made it unmistakably impracticable for Yuwen Tong to use the Wan Kingdom as he did the Luohai Kingdom. On top of that, unlike the Luohai monarch who was of advanced years and hemmed in by three forces and thus made his kingdom quite vulnerable, Shan Congli wielded enormous power in the Wan Kingdom. As a result, recourse to some unconventional strategies was unavoidable. The resentment against and desire to annex the Great Wen of the Shan brothers, Shan Congyi and Shan Congli, was the very thing the Great Wen could take advantage of…

The number of secret agents planted in the Wan Kingdom was not as big as that of agents infiltrated into the Luohai Kingdom. Also, the Wan branch of the Jiahe Chamber of Commerce run by Ling Zhang hadn’t struck up any direct relationships with any powerful officials as the Luohai branch had done with the Dugu family. They had been doing business in a low-key fashion, and there was not as much they could do in the Wan Kingdom as their Luohai counterpart could in the Luohai Kingdom. Yuwen Tong had to rely more on the secret agents, all of whom had been planted there by Yuwen Tong himself. There were not many of them, but all of them were specialists in their respective fields.

He would sneak into the Wan Kingdom himself if the occasion arose, but right now the time was not ripe…

At the thought that Ling Zhang was still in the Luohai Kingdom and would continue to stay there for some time, Yuwen Tong knitted his brows unawares. The insomnia was nothing. What was killing him was the worry that accidents might happen to Ling Zhang in the Luohai Kingdom.

Presently, nobody knew Ling Zhang had left the imperial palace, except for a couple of top-ranking courtiers. These years Ling Zhang had been having frequent closed-door cultivation sessions, and all courtiers had got used to it, which was the very reason why nobody else had come to know that Ling Zhang had actually left the imperial palace, though it’d been almost a month since he’d last made a public appearance. In fact Yuwen Tong didn’t want anybody else to find out about it, because the fewer who knew about it, the safer Ling Zhang was in the Luohai Kingdom.

If possible, he would have infiltrated into the Luohai Kingdom with Ling Zhang. Unfortunately for him, in order not to alarm anybody or rouse anybody’s suspicions, he had no choice but to stay in the capital city and continue to be the emperor. There was nothing else he could do. If some day the three countries were unified and the overall situation stabilized, he would have much more freedom…Yuwen Tong knew that he was being somewhat impatient, but no matter how intense his impatience was, he had restrained himself for five years after all. It was high time he made his move.

“Sire, His Highnesses, Her Highness and Childe Ling request an audience with you.”

Outside the imperial study, a eunuch suddenly reported to him a request for an audience with him.

Yuwen Tong’s countenance flickered and with that his grave face softened slightly. “Let them in.”

“Yes, Sire,” the eunuch answered and then respectfully relayed to the young imperial family members the emperor’s permission for them to enter the study.

The sound of footsteps was heard. In the lead was a slender-figured teenager, who was handsome, well-featured, poised and sure-footed, and who looked somewhat like Ling Zhang. He was holding a two-year-old little girl in his arms, flanked by two five-year old princes. The little girl, light-complexioned and delicate-skinned, looked quite pretty and adorable. If anybody paid close attention to her, they would find that she bore a striking similarity to Ling Zhang, that she was virtually the image of him. Her clothing was sumptuous and gorgeous, which made her look as cute as a white bunny. She had a smile at the corners of her mouth, and her sparkling eyes were looking from one person to another. Anybody would take a liking to her at the sight of her. This little girl was Yuwen Tong’s and Ling Zhang’s adopted daughter. Her name was Yuwen Yue, and her pet name was Crescent. People could tell from the resemblance between her looks and Ling Zhang’s that she was blood relations with him. Her birth parents were Ling Zhaowen and Fu Caiwei. After bearing her husband two sons, Fu Caiwei had given birth to a girl, who afterward had been adopted by the imperial couple. As she was blood relations with Ling Zhang and had eyes bearing a strong likeness to Ling Zhang’s, she was the apple of Yuwen Tong’s eye. Yuwen Tong always felt an overwhelming desire to hold her in his arms at the sight of her.

The two princes, naturally, were Yuwen Qian’s son and Yuwen Feng’s son respectively, both adopted by Yuwen Tong. The two of them were of the same age. A more amazing part was that the two boys closely resembled Yuwen Tong. Maybe because they were blood relations, or maybe because this was how things were meant to be, though the two of them were not Yuwen Tong’s natural sons, they looked like Yuwen Tong so much that even the courtiers who knew about the truth were astonished whenever they saw the two princes. Those who didn’t know any inside information about it would no doubt mistakenly believe that the two princes were Yuwen Tong’s natural sons. Even Yuwen Qian and Yuwen Feng, birth fathers of the two princes, had been shocked when they’d first noticed this. What they found more astounding was that as the two boys grew, the likeness between their looks and Yuwen Tong’s seemed to be growing as well. This was the very reason why the two of them, when seeing the two princes, had difficulty convincing themselves that the two boys were their natural sons. Privately they couldn’t think of any explanations other than the possibility that this was some kind of cosmic plan.

The elder of the two princes had been named Yuwen Qi, and the one who was several months his junior Yuwen Lin. The former looked relatively strong – or fairly chubby, to put it plainly; the latter was somewhat slim and his features struck people as more exquisite. Still, the similarity between their looks and Yuwen Tong’s was undeniable.

Unlike Crescent who was the youngest and Yuwen Tong’s favorite, Yuwen Qi and Yuwen Lin preferred to be in Ling Zhang’s company. Maybe because Yuwen Tong was quite serious, they were somewhat scared of him and tended to act punctiliously in front of him, but whenever they saw Ling Zhang, they always smiled and couldn’t help but get close to him like fledglings to their mother. This also struck people as quite astonishing.

Strangely enough, Ling Zhang was strict with the two princes as well, but for some unknown reason, the two princes still had a deeper affinity with him. When they’d been younger, they had on a daily basis insisted on sleeping with Ling Zhang, because they’d both enjoyed being in Ling Zhang’s embrace. Every time they’d done that, Yuwen Tong had had a sulky face, for the two of them had taken up too much of Ling Zhang’s time. When he’d tried to compete with the boys for Ling Zhang’s attention, Ling Zhang had dressed him down, saying that that sort of behavior was a disgrace.