The Glory After Rebirth [ɇÇ”Ÿä¹‹Å°Šè£] Chapter 103- 105

Chapter 103: You Are Trying to Gauge the Heart of a Gentleman with…

“I’m not eating this!”

Yuwen Qi violently swept the bowls and chopsticks off the table, which then dropped down to the ground with a mixture of clanks and smashes, rice and dishes scattered everywhere.

“What are these things? You call them food? How dare you offer me this kind of meal? Are you courting death?!”

Without even a slight frown, the guard looked at him, a calm look on his face. “We can’t afford to let anybody of Ling family know about your presence here. There’s no alternative food.”

This meal, which had been specially prepared by the chef of Ling family, was meant for the Marshal. ‘It’s of better quality than that of any other people in Ling family. Yet he still thinks this is not good enough?’

The guard felt that Yuwen Qi was even pickier than the emperor.

“I want to see my cousin!” Yuwen Qi said angrily.

“Marshal is occupied. He doesn’t have the time.” After saying this, the guard cleared the food, chopsticks, pieces of bowls from the ground with a broom and a dustpan, and then left.

Angered, Yuwen Qi kept yelling for quite a long time but nobody showed up. Eventually, he thundered, “You goddamn lackeys! How dare you treat me like this! One day when I return to the capital city, I’ll skin each and every one of you alive with my bare hands!”

Yuwen Tong, who was sitting in his study, distantly heard the yelling from the wing-room and observed in a bland tone of voice, “Let him be. I’d pay to see him starve himself to death.”

“Yes, Marshal,” the guard answered, feeling that Yuwen Qi had got his just deserts.

Yuwen Qi cursed loudly for a long time, but there was still nobody coming to his service. Consumed with rage, he gave the table a kick and overturned it. “Bastards!”

Then he slumped down to the chair. His movement was so precipitous that it tensed his injured wrist, his face twisted with anguish. As he recalled that Yuwen Tong had wounded him for a man from an obscure family, the fury inside him went more unbearable. Realizing that he was under house arrest in this room where no help of any form was accessible to him, he nearly spat blood due to the rage.

‘No. I can’t just stay locked up here. I’ve got to find a way out.’

Yuwen Qi fished a bamboo tube out of his pocket and stared at it for a while, a sneer on his face.

…

At dusk, Ling Zhang finished dinner earlier than usual, roughly washed and then bade the servants to make preparations for the medicated bath.

“All necessary arrangements have been made according to your instructions. There should be rumors on the streets by tomorrow. Young Master…Young Master?”

Puzzled, Xia Feng looked at Ling Zhang whose mind seemed to be wandering. There had been very few occasions when he saw Ling Zhang act like this, so he was somewhat surprised. “What’s the matter, Young Master?”

On hearing Xia Feng’s voice, Ling Zhang collected his thoughts and hurriedly asked, “What?”

“All necessary arrangements have been made according to your instructions. There should be rumors on the streets by tomorrow.”

Ling Zhang nodded, “I see. You’ve done a good job.”

With a worried look on his face, Xia Feng looked at him. “Young Master, are you tired?”

Cheeks burning slightly, Ling Zhang gave a soft cough and replied, “I’m fine. You may leave.”

Xia Feng was still somewhat concerned. “Then call my name aloud if you need me. I’ll be here immediately.”

“Okay. Just go.”

Xia Feng watched Ling Zhang’s face carefully for a few moments. Confirming that there was indeed nothing wrong, Xia Feng took his leave. Hot water for the medicated bath had to be prepared in advance, and two of Ling Zhang’s servants were occupied with something else, so Xia Feng had to keep a watch on the fire.

The moment Xia Feng left, Ling Zhang gave a gasp of relief and looked around. Seeing that there was nobody else nearby, he raised his hand and held his forehead. Lingering heat of the previous flush on his cheeks could still be felt.

‘Yuwen Tong is such a brazen hooligan. Why did he say those shameless to me?’ On the thought that he and Yuwen Tong would be half-naked in the same bathing pool in a while, Ling Zhang felt terribly uneasy.

On the first two occasions when he took a medicated bath, he concentrated his mind on fighting against the pains caused by unblocking meridians, and he directly blacked out at the end of the process without any chance to see what Yuwen Tong was wearing. But during the last medicated bath, he didn’t pass out, and he surprisedly saw that Yuwen Tong was wearing only a pair of shorts just like him!

At that time he had no suspicions, believing that Yuwen Tong just didn’t want to wet his clothes, but now…

“Put your coat on!”

The whole bathroom was filled with billows of steam. Yuwen Tong began to undress the moment he entered. Ling Zhang’s eyelids twitched involuntarily as he saw this. When Yuwen Tong was taking his coat off, Ling Zhang couldn’t help yelling at him with alarm.

Yuwen Tong paused, watching Ling Zhang who had been sitting in the bathing pool with almost his whole body in water for quite some time. “Why? I’d like it to stay dry.”

He made this remark in a serious tone of voice, as if he really minded his clothes getting wet.

“I’m not giving you any particular reason. Just put it on.” Ling Zhang insisted.

“You’re so difficult to deal with,” said Yuwen Tong, walking over with a resigned look on his face. He stepped into the pool full of medicated bathwater and stared at Ling Zhang’s shoulders and neck above the surface of the water with his keen, sparkling eyes.

Beneath his gaze, Ling Zhang felt uneasy and couldn’t help moving a step backwards in the pool. “Where are you looking at?”

“We’re both men. The previous few times we did this, you were not so hard to get along with.”

‘What a nerve.’ Ling Zhang shot a dark glance at him. “Stop playing dumb. You know what you said in the tea house that day.”

Yuwen Tong’s eyebrows slightly lifted. “What did I say?”

Ling Zhang clenched his teeth. ‘Jerk.’

“Don’t touch anywhere you’re not supposed to or else I’ll kick your ass.”

Yuwen Tong could barely forbear to laugh. With a sulky look on his face, he observed, “You’re trying to gauge the heart of a gentleman with the mean measure of vile characters.”

The corners of Ling Zhang’s mouth twitched. ‘This is the gentleman everybody’s been talking about? Bah! He’s nothing but a shameless hooligan.”

“Get over here. There’s somewhere I have to go after unblocking your meridians,” urged Yuwen Tong, poker-faced.

Ling Zhang fell speechless.

He turned around and moved to Yuwen Tong’s side.

Yuwen Tong stretched out his hands and held his shoulders.

As if some kind of weird feeling had just swept over him, Ling Zhang felt a shiver from head to toe and let out a cry of alarm. “What are you doing!”

Taken aback by his overreaction, Yuwen Tong slapped him on the arm. “What’s wrong with you? I’m trying to adjust your posture here.”

“Just tell me where I should move. I’ll do it myself.”

“With this uncooperative attitude of yours, you won’t be able to get your posture right even if I give you half a day. Okay, it’s done. Just sit cross-legged like this.”

Yuwen Tong moved his hands off the shoulders of Ling Zhang.

Ling Zhang relaxed slightly and sat cross-legged, but he could still feel Yuwen Tong’s fervent gaze from behind.

After a while, Yuwen Tong still didn’t begin. Ling Zhang turned his head back and asked in surprise, “What’s the matter?”

“I need a moment to calm down.”

“What?”

‘What did he mean?’ Ling Zhang was puzzled.

After a few moments, Yuwen Tong said, “Okay. Let’s get down to business. When we get started, get rid of all distracting thoughts and concentrate your mind on feeling my internal energy circulating in your meridians, which will prove helpful for you to comprehend the breathing exercises I’m going to teach you in the future.”

This time, Yuwen Tong’s tone of voice was very sober, and Ling Zhang felt that the fervent gaze was no longer there.

After a brief trance of surprise, Ling Zhang answered, “Okay.” Unconsciously, he had also cooled down.

“Now collect your thoughts and concentrate your mind.”

Sitting still, Ling Zhang adjusted his breathing and gradually got all distracting thoughts out of his mind. “I’m ready.”

He had just finished the last word when Yuwen Tong pressed his palms against his back. Originally, he had thought that he would feel uneasy when Yuwen Tong’s palms came into contact with his body, but to his surprise, he didn’t feel anything special. And then a stream of warm internal energy slowly flew into him through the palms of Yuwen Tong. With this familiar feeling setting in, he quickly got into gear.

On the three previous occasions when Yuwen Tong helped unblock Ling Zhang’s meridians, he always cautiously kept his internal energy under control and circulated it in Ling Zhang’s meridians at a low speed, but since his meridians had been considerably broadened after the three previous baths, this time the warm stream of internal energy was flowing rapidly and freely inside him, which was a very marvelous feeling.

Following Yuwen Tong’s instructions, Ling Zhang began to memorize the names of the acupoints that the stream had passed as well as the route of the circulation. Unconsciously, as the internal energy circulated inside him, his breathing gradually changed. The circulation of internal energy and his breathing were following the same pattern.

Yuwen Tong, who had an uncommonly keen sense of hearing, noticed the change of Ling Zhang’s breathing, a glimmer of smile in his eyes.

‘Ling Zhang is indeed very smart. Some people need a long time to get the hang of this breathing exercise, but he began to slowly grasp the regularity in it in such a short time after concentrating his mind,’ Yuwen Tong thought.

Both of the two people were in deep concentration, attentively unblocking the meridians.

Time passed by bit by bit. After two hours, the medicated bathwater gradually became clean. Ling Zhang’s lower abdomen, where his Dantian was, felt comfortably warm, and his five senses had been enhanced significantly again. He could distinctly make out what the two servants beside the stove chamber were talking about.

“How do you feel?” Yuwen Tong asked him after withdrawing his internal energy.

“My Dantian feels very warm, and I can hear more distant sounds more clearly,” replied Ling Zhang delightedly. He had completely forgot those disagreements that he had had with Yuwen Tong previously.

“You were performing the special breathing exercise just now because of my internal energy inside you and the help of the medicine. That warm stuff you felt in your Dantian is a small amount of prototypical internal energy. It’ll start to grow when you begin cultivating internal energy. You’ll feel it by then.”

On hearing that there was a small amount of prototypical internal energy in his Dantian, Ling Zhang rejoiced. He lowered his head to look at his abdomen, curiously stroking it.

The look in Yuwen Tong’s eyes gradually changed as he watched Ling Zhang stroking his own belly. His composure was dissolving, his breathing growing heavy. Yuwen Tong decisively rose to his feet and left the bathing pool. “Okay. Go outside and get some fresh air. Change clothes and have some rest.”

Having heard him stand up, Ling Zhang turned around to look at him. “You’re going out now?”

“Yeah.”

“There won’t be any danger, right?”

“Nothing’s going to happen. I’ll be back by early morning.”

“What is it that you want to investigate?”

“Just some tail-in work I have to handle. Yao Yi has already departed for the capital city. There are still some matters requiring my presence.”

Yuwen Tong didn’t tell Ling Zhang any details because he didn’t want him to worry, while Ling Zhang didn’t persist with his questioning because he trusted Yuwen Tong. There was a kind of curious tacit agreement between the two.

“Well, then. Be careful. By the way, is it okay to lock Yuwen Qi up in a mere wing-room?”

“Some of my men are guarding him. Yuwen Qi is a known troublemaker. Don’t go there, for your own sake.”

“I’d never do that,” responded Ling Zhang, affecting an affirmation he didn’t feel. ‘It’s so strange. How did he come to know I want to talk to Yuwen Qi?’ he wondered.

Ling Zhang just intended to worm some information out of Yuwen Qi. Since Yuwen Qi had once said that the emperor wanted to betroth the princess to Yuwen Tong, he wanted to find out some details. Hopefully, he might be able to figure out a way to have Yuwen Tong cool down his fevered desire to marry him.

Yuwen Tong flicked a glance at him, the look in his eyes seeming to be suggesting – “It’s written right on your face.”

The corners of Ling Zhang’s mouth twitched, and he got a feeling that Yuwen Tong was like a devil capable of reading people’s mind.

“Fine. I promise I won’t go there. Just go and do what you’ve got to do lest anything be delayed.”

Yuwen Tong picked up his clothes, turned around and left the bathroom.

When Yuwen Tong was out of sight, Ling Zhang walked out of the bathing pool, intending to quickly ran to his bedroom to get changed.

Unexpectedly, Yuwen Tong abruptly returned and Ling Zhang, who was just about to exit the bathroom, ran squarely into him. Yuwen Tong instantly held him in his arms.

Chapter 104: The Second Verbal Duel with Yuwen Qi

Ling Zhang ran so fast that he failed to notice the sudden appearance of Yuwen Tong, while Yuwen Tong had never expected that Ling Zhang would abruptly hurtle out of the bathroom. Thus the two people bumped against each other.

“Ouch!” Ling Zhang held his nose and gasped. Yuwen Tong’s chest was as hard as rock and caused him great pain.

“Let me have a look.” Yuwen Tong tossed the clothes in his hands aside, held Ling Zhang’s shoulder with one hand and raised Ling Zhang’s chin with the other, scrutinizing his nose. Seeing that Ling Zhang’s eyes had gone red and there were even tears, Yuwen Tong knew that this bump must have been pretty hard.

“You … Hiss… Why did you suddenly come back?!” Ling Zhang asked with a heavy nasal accent.

“There’s something I forgot to tell you.” Yuwen Tong stared at Ling Zhang, painfully concerned. “Don’t hold it. Let me see whether you got hurt.”

Ling Zhang shot him a dark glance and moved his hand off his nose.

After checking his nose carefully, Yuwen Tong breathed a sigh of relief. “Your nose is okay. It’s just a little red. The pain should go away in a short while. Why did you rush out so abruptly? Was there an emergency?”

“I was afraid that I might catch a cold, so I ran very quick,” replied Ling Zhang.

Since this incident had happened so fast, it was not until this moment that Yuwen Tong observed that Ling Zhang was merely wearing a pair of water-soaked shorts. His face instantly darkened. “Why didn’t you grab that blanket?”

“I didn’t notice.” Ling Zhang told a thinly disguised lie.

Yuwen Tong knitted his eyebrows and made way for Ling Zhang. “Go to your bedroom. Hurry!”

Ling Zhang slid him a sideways glance. ‘If it weren’t for that you suddenly came back and bumped into me, I would have been in my bedroom for some time now. Yet you still have the nerve to yell at me?’ he thought angrily.

Ling Zhang walked back to his bedroom. Seeing Yuwen Tong following him, he asked, “Why are you still here?”

“There’s something I need to talk to you about. Go and change clothes first.”

Ling Zhang stood speechless.

Silently, he took some clean clothes and went behind a screen to change.

While changing, he asked Yuwen Tong, “What is it that you want to talk with me about?”

“Tomorrow morning I’ll join you for breakfast. Wait for me to come back.”

‘So this trifle was why he came back and almost hurt my nose?’ Ling Zhang could barely forbear to curse.

“I have to go now.” Probably having sensed that Ling Zhang was on the verge of beating him up, Yuwen Tong made this remark and left.

After getting changed, Ling Zhang walked out and was somewhat amazed to find that Yuwen Tong was gone. ‘He really left?’

Suspicious, he went to the outer room and looked around. Confirming that Yuwen Tong had really left, he heaved a soft sigh of relief, as if that bump had caused him some kind of psychological shadow.

But he still had an inexplicable feeling that something was not right, and for the first time, it struck him that this house he had been living in was somewhat too spacious.

In the Green Bamboo Mansion next door, Yuwen Tong, who had just changed clean clothes, intended to leave. Before leaving, he asked, “Why is Yuwen Qi so quiet?”

The guard answered, “His wrist aches, so he doesn’t have the strength to make any more trouble.”

“Keep a close watch on him. Don’t be careless.”

“Yes, Marshal.”

After a brief pause, Yuwen Tong added, “If by any chance Ling Zhang comes here and requires a meeting with Yuwen Qi, you… Never mind. If he wants to do this, don’t stop him, but remember to offer him help if he needs any. Don’t let Yuwen Qi get the best of him.”

The guard was surprised but still responded quickly, “Yes, Marshal!”

It was not until these arrangements had been made that Yuwen Tong appeared slightly satisfied and left the Green Bamboo Mansion.

Ling Zhang stealthily came to the Green Bamboo Mansion only a few moments after Yuwen Tong left. First, he tentatively called, “Yuwen Tong.”

There was no response.

“Yuwen Tong – “

“Childe Ling, I’m afraid Marshal is not in.” A guard in black suddenly craned beyond the edge of the rooftop.

Taken aback by his appearance, Ling Zhang somewhat embarrassedly gave a soft cough. “I see.”

“May I ask if there is any particular issue that you came here to talk with Marshal about? Would you like me to take a message?” asked the guard in black, watching Ling Zhang.

Ling Zhang waved his hand. “Nothing special. I’m just taking a walk.”

The guard in black grunted, “Oh.” Then he returned to his original position, thinking, ‘Marshal’s guess was right. Childe Ling did come here.’

Ling Zhang, who was “taking a walk”, gradually approached the wing-room. Seeing this, the guard in black on the rooftop mumbled, “Unbelievable. He’s really here for Yuwen Qi.”

The candlelight in the room was not very bright. Yuwen Qi was lying in bed. Ling Zhang had no idea whether he was asleep or not.

Ling Zhang deliberately made his footsteps more detectable but Yuwen Qi still made no reaction.

Ling Zhang couldn’t help frowning. ‘Is he really asleep?’ he wondered.

“Beat it.” Yuwen Qi abruptly spoke.

Ling Zhang sneered, “Yuwen Qi, didn’t you try to threaten me? Is there any chance you’ve already given up?”

Yuwen Qi immediately opened his eyes and flintily looked in the direction of the doorway. “It’s you?”

He sat up from the bed and sneered, “You think you have my cousin at your back, so you came here to swagger before me? Ling Zhang, has it ever crossed your mind that you’re courting death by doing this?”

“You’re locked up in my place. Actually, it’s no exaggeration to say that you’re a prisoner. Are you sure you still want to act so arrogantly?” responded Ling Zhang.

“A prisoner? You really think my cousin is going to punish me? Well, I can’t really blame you, a guy who was born in an impoverished family, for being so ignorant.” Yuwen Qi sized up Ling Zhang, as if Ling Zhang was a hateful sight that would dirty his eyes. “As a man, you actually stoop so low as to compete against women for a man. What makes you think you stand a chance of winning? Attractive looks? Good figure? Noble identity? High status? You have none of these, which is why spending your whole life in this God-forsaken shitty place is exactly what you deserve, yet you’re stupid enough to have the fond hope of marrying into Yuwen family?”

These words didn’t arouse the faintest twitch of anger or any other emotion whatsoever in Ling Zhang, since he had already heard of these words in his last life. Compared with what he had been through in his last incarnation, these remarks were nothing.

However…

He intentionally put on an angry face and glared at Yuwen Tong. “There’s an engagement between me and Yuwen Tong, which is undeniable.”

Seeing that Ling Zhang “got angry”, Yuwen Qi was very pleased. “That engagement is nothing. Do you have any idea how many ladies from noble families are eager to marry my cousin? Even if we stand by, as long as word spreads out, numerous people will take action to force you into breaking off the engagement. You really believe that engagement paper is something you can rely on? What an uneducated clodhopper.”

“Ladies from noble families?”

“And there’s also a princess. What’s wrong with your tone? You’re scared?”

Ling Zhang was eager to roll his eyes but still said, “You can’t fool me. Whether the princess wants to marry him or not won’t make any difference. We are already engaged to be married. Even His Majesty cannot inflict arbitrary interference on this. Is he not afraid to become the laughing stock of the whole world?”

“You’re so naive. Who would care about that engagement if you’re dead? Eradicating Ling family is as easy as blowing away a speck of dust for us,” replied Yuwen Qi, a venomous look on his face.

Ling Zhang secretly frowned. It suddenly occurred to him that, in his last incarnation, people of Yuwen family were fully aware that Ling family was confronted with a crisis of life and death, that Ling family would be thrown into everlasting perdition if the engagement was broken off, but they still chose to end it. ‘Is there any chance that Yuwen Qi was telling the truth? That there was someone behind that misfortune who was only too anxious to see me die immediately?’ he wondered.

The more time Ling Zhang spent with Yuwen Tong, the better he was aware of what Yuwen Tong was capable of. Having the whole Northwestern Army at his command, Yuwen Tong might even be able to usurp the throne if he wanted to. The very reason why Zhang Chong feared to launch an attack on Ling family at that crucial juncture in his last life was because of his engagement to Yuwen Tong. Once he actually married Yuwen Tong, neither Zhang Chong nor Imperial Concubine Shu nor the Sixth Prince would dare to cause him any harm. At least Ling family would have the power to fight back against them instead of being powerless to resist.

But people of Yuwen family – or Yuwen Zhi’s men, to be precise – arrived too soon. The moment they declared the annulment of the engagement, Zhang Chong immediately took action, as if he was afraid that undue delay might bring trouble.

This was why Yuwen family broke off the engagement in his last life but merely came here to threaten him in his current incarnation…

Because this matter had already come to the knowledge of Yuwen Tong.

Ling Zhang’s face darkened. Coldly staring at Yuwen Qi, he suddenly found that his determination to break off his engagement to Yuwen Tong was no longer as firm as it always had been.

But Yuwen Qi mistakenly believed that Ling Zhang was scared. He added, “Here’s my advice for you, Ling Zhang. Break off the engagement on your own account, if you wish to live.”

The guard in black crouching on the rooftop was unaware of what was on Ling Zhang’s mind, but he felt that Ling Zhang had been at a disadvantage from the very beginning during his verbal duel with Yuwen Qi. ‘How can I stand by and watch this happening? My task is to protect Childe Ling and make sure that Yuwen Qi doesn’t bully him.”

“Yuwen Qi, I’ll tell Marshal each and every word that you just said. Shut your mouth if you don’t want to be beaten to death by Marshal.”

“You goddamn lackey. Are you blind? Have you any idea who your master is?!”

“My master is Marshal. Childe Ling is Marshal’s wife-to-be, which means he is also my master-to-be. You’re neither of these.”

“You…”

Ling Zhang, however, was somewhat amazed. ‘It turns out that Yuwen Tong’s guards see me this way?’

“Childe Ling, don’t fall for Yuwen Qi’s shit. Marshal got your back and nobody dares to lay hands on Ling family, not even His Majesty,” said the guard in black, thinking, ‘So just say ‘yes’ to Marshal and cling on to him for shelter, Childe Ling!’

Ling Zhang was indeed swayed. ‘Don’t those people want me dead? Their disappointment is certain. It’s true that Zhang Chong and Jia family are hateful, but aren’t these people hateful as well?!’

The reason why he hadn’t cared much about his engagement to Yuwen Tong before this day was because he could console himself that the man his grandfather had rescued was an ungrateful bastard, but now, it came to his knowledge that there had been so many hidden facts behind the annulment of his engagement to Yuwen Tong in his last life, that he had been blaming Yuwen Tong wrongly all along, that he hadn’t even figured out whom he was supposed to hate. Anger surged through him.

‘I was so stupid.’

Ling Zhang’s mouth tightened, his fists clenched.

“Childe Ling?” Seeing that Ling Zhang had stood there silently for such a long time, the guard mistakenly believed that Yuwen Qi’s words had hurt his feelings. He hurriedly consoled him, “Childe Ling, it’s totally unnecessary for you to mind Yuwen Qi’s remarks. Just take his words as bullshit.”

“That’s foul,” replied Ling Zhang abruptly.

“What?” The guard was puzzled.

Ling Zhang turned around and was just about to leave when suddenly a weird odor was smelled. He paused and twisted his head back to look at Yuwen Qi.

“What are you looking at? If you’re scared, break off the engagement.” Yuwen Qi coldly looked back at him.

Ling Zhang’s eyes swept through Yuwen Qi from head to toe. He was rather suspicious. There was a strange, fishy smell just now. It was faint but he was positive that he had smelled it. The medicinal jade he wore before his chest happened to give off a very light herbal smell which negated that fishy one.

‘What kind of weird thing is Yuwen Qi carrying?’ he wondered.

“I’m looking at you because you’re uncommonly ugly,” replied Ling Zhang flintily. Then he turned his head back and left the doorway of the wing-room.

“You!” Angered, Yuwen Qi smacked his fist onto the bed.

“No. I can’t stay here any longer.” He took out the bamboo tube from behind him and stroked the plug. “Tonight Yuwen Tong will surely be absent. Otherwise that Ling Zhang wouldn’t have been allowed to come here. This is the perfect opportunity I need…”

Meanwhile, after walking out of the sight of Yuwen Qi, Ling Zhang informed the guard, “Yuwen Qi is carrying something weird on him. I think it’s some kind of poisonous creature.”

The guard was taken aback. “Poisonous creature? Did you see it?”

“I didn’t, but I smelled a disgusting fishy odor. If it were harmless, my… Just be careful.”

Believing that Ling Zhang wouldn’t slander anybody, the guard replied seriously, “I will. Thank you for reminding me, Childe Ling. By the way, Childe Ling, don’t ever believe any of Yuwen Qi’s bullshit. Don’t be fooled by him.”

Ling Zhang smiled. “I know. Just now I was merely trying to worm some information out of him. Those words of his were nothing to me and caused me no harm. Okay. I have to go now. If Yuwen Tong comes back… Uh… Never mind. He definitely has already guessed that I would come here to talk to Yuwen Qi.”

Chapter 105: A Fright Inflicted on Jia Family

After hearing Ling Zhang’s reply, the guard wondered in astonishment, ‘How did Childe Ling come to say the same thing that Marshal once said? They’ve already developed such amazing tacit agreement even though they haven’t got married yet?’

Silently, he reached out his hand and held his chest where the heart was, feeling as if his heart had just suffered some kind of damage.

The guard followed Ling Zhang with his eyes until he was out of range. Then he returned to his original position outside the wing-room to resume his guard duty. To be on the safe side, he scattered some medicinal powder over his body to prevent unwanted contact with any poisonous bugs, poisonous snakes or poisonous ants.

As the night got darker, quietness gradually descended on Tanyang.

In Jia family.

“Master, Mistress Liu is in one of her moods again. Do you want to go there and talk to her?” the butler of Jia family cautiously asked Jia Yin.

“Will she never stop making trouble?!” There were strips of white cloth everywhere in the mansion, which had been causing Jia Yin’s eyes suffering. As a result, comforting a woman was the last thing he wanted to do. Moreover, he had never really liked Liu Chengfang very much. He had threatened to make her his concurrent wife merely to anger Mrs. Jia. Taking Liu Chengfang into this family as his concubine had been an unavoidable choice. He remembered vividly that Ling Zhaowen was the reason why Liu Chengfang showed up in the tavern that day. The very thought of Ling Zhaowen stirred his dislike for Liu Chengfang.

“Tell her she’ll end up in a temple if she doesn’t stop the madness right now!”

The butler of Jia family obediently answered “Yes” in a muted voice. Then he went to Liu Chengfang’s place and delivered the message but was abused by the furious woman and forced out of the house by her servants.

“Bah! This bitch really regards herself as a mistress now. She needs to be taught a lesson.”

Consumed with anger, the butler of Jia family returned to Jia Yin’s dwelling and dramatized Liu Chengfang’s reaction to Jia Yin’s words. Infuriated, Jia Yin directly grounded Liu Chengfang.

“Go and find out where Master is spending the night,” Mrs. Jia said to a maidservant beside her. Though the death of her son had come as a terrible blow to her, she still wanted to stay informed of which woman her husband favored.

The maidservant hurriedly left and made some inquiries. Before long, she came back and reported to Mrs. Jia the news of Liu Chengfang being grounded, and then added, “Master didn’t go anywhere. He’s sleeping in his own room.”

On hearing that Liu Chengfang had been grounded, Mrs. Jia coldly gave a snort. “That bitch got her just deserts.”

In the knowledge that Jia Yin was not with any women that night, Mrs. Jia believed she would have a sound sleep. Unexpectedly, in the middle of the night, a sudden commotion was heard in the mansion.

“Mistress! Mistress!” Mrs. Jia’s maidservant urgently ran into the room, calling her. “Something happened to Master. You need to go there immediately.”

Taken aback, Mrs. Jia hurriedly got up. “What happened to Master?”

“The butler said that Master had blebs all over, that it seemed like… like smallpox!”

“What?!” Mrs. Jia was transfixed with horror, her face deathly pale. Then she shrieked, “Smallpox?”

“There’s no confirmed diagnosis for the moment. The butler has already sent for a physician!” The maidservant was also scared.

On hearing this, Mrs. Jia had a fleeting blackout. “Hel–Help me get up. Let’s go and hear the physician’s opinion.”

The maidservant hastily helped Mrs. Jia get up and get changed. Then they hurried towards the dwelling of Jia Yin.

The whole Jia family was shocked by the incident. Everybody was afraid to get close to Jia Yin’s dwelling. The butler of Jia family was also horrified. Legs trembling, he invited a physician over but didn’t dare to enter Jia Yin’s bedroom for fear of being infected with the disease.

Wearing thick attire, mouth and nose covered, the physician went into Jia Yin’s room.

Agonized screeches of Jia Yin occasionally came from inside.

Mrs. Jia gripped the hand of her maidservant, wavering between going in and staying outside. Eventually, she chose not to take the risk, her face wild with ill-concealed terror.

After quite a while, the physician walked out of the room, took off his outerwear, burnt it and then observed, “What Master Jia developed doesn’t seem like smallpox. It’s more like he got bitten by some kind of poisonous bug or ant. The blebs on him are going red and swollen and festering. I’ll prescribe Master Jia some medicine and prepare some ointment. Then we’ll have to wait and see how it works.”

The physician’s words slightly eased the concern of Mrs. Jia and others, but they still didn’t dare to enter Jia Yin’s room. After all, even the physician wasn’t a-hundred-percent sure that it was not smallpox. What if it was indeed smallpox? They could get infected and die if they took the risk.

At last, it was the butler who was forced to go inside. The moment he entered, Jia Yin angrily swore at him. “You cheap lackey! Are you really so afraid of death?! I’ll have you meet it right now!”

“I’m sorry, Master. I’m really sorry. Just now I went to the physician’s. I was too occupied to spare a moment to come here.”

“Where’s Mistress!”

“Mis–Mistress is outside.”

“Tell her to come in here!”

“Ye–Yes, Master!” The butler rejoiced at the instruction and immediately ran out of the room to inform Mrs. Jia. “Mistress, Master requires your presence.”

“What? I–I’m not feeling well, so I’ll just stay here. You people go,” replied Mrs. Jia hesitantly.

The butler instantly saw through Mrs. Jia’s thinly disguised excuse. But if Mrs. Jia didn’t go inside, he would have to enter the room again, which was against his wish to stay alive.

“Mistress, Master said that he needed to see you. Maybe you should go in and tell this to Master yourself. Only in this way will my task be deemed fulfilled.”

Mrs. Jia tightened her grip on her handkerchief. ‘Son of a bitch! He dare to pressurize me with Master’s authority!’

The maidservant grabbed Mrs. Jia’s hand and shook her head vigorously, begging her not to go into the room.

“Mistress, please hurry. Master is waiting for you.” The butler deliberately raised his voice to make himself heard by Jia Yin who was in the room.

Unsurprisingly, Jia Yin heard the butler’s words and, in the knowledge that his wife was unwilling to go into the room, thundered, “Fang shi! Get your ass in here immediately or see yourself disowned!”

Such was the rage of Jia Yin that he actually threatened to repudiate Mrs. Jia.

Mrs. Jia felt a shiver of fear run through her, her face ghastly pale.

“Mistress, the physician said that Master’s illness didn’t seem like smallpox. Maybe you should have faith in the physician.” Eventually, an old wet nurse walked up to Mrs. Jia, trying to console her.

The fear on Mrs. Jia’s face dissolved somewhat. She replied, “You are right. It can’t be smallpox.”

Quaking in her shoes, Mrs. Jia stepped into Jia Yin’s bedroom and saw that Jia Yin was lying in bed, his clothes undone. The sight of his chest covered with red, swollen, festering blebs struck horror into her heart, leaving her too afraid to take another glance at him. “Ma–Master, I was supervising the physician prescribing medicine for you just now. I came here immediately when it was done. The physician has already confirmed that you were just bitten by some poisonous bug. He said that you would recover soon after drinking the medicine and applying the unguent.”

“Then what are you standing there for? Get your ass over here and clean my body.” Jia Yin stared fixedly at Mrs. Jia.

The very sight of those blebs gave Mrs. Jia goose pimples. Step by step, she moved closer to the bed, her lips twitching involuntarily. “Someone get some hot water here!”

“Don’t worry, Master. I’ll clean your body after the servant brings hot water here.”

As Jia Yin saw her walking over to the bed, the anger on his face was allayed and he slowly loosened his grip on the quilt.

Those blebs on Jia Yin were both itchy and painful, filling him with fright. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been so insistent that Mrs. Jia come inside.

News that Jia Yin’s body was covered with blebs spread very quick. Since people of Jia family made a lot noises when they were anxiously looking for physicians and informing other people of the situation, this matter came to the knowledge of all residents nearby.

Mrs. Lin had been waiting all along. The Zi Hour (23:00-01:00) was almost over, yet there was still no news. She couldn’t help asking Lin Yuan, “My dear, why is there still no news? Was Childe Ling by any chance just joking with us?”

Lin Yuan was more patient than his wife. “There’s no hurry. It’s midnight. Even if anything does happen, news of it won’t spread here so soon. Since Childe Ling made those remarks, he must have done something. He had no reason to fool us.”

After hearing this, Mrs. Lin calmed down. When word came that something had happened in Jia family, she immediately sent someone to stake out the gateway of Jia family’s messuage to find out details about it.

The servant was a clever man. When he saw those physicians hastily going in and out of the mansion, he knew that there must have been some kind of emergency, though he had no idea exactly what it was. He returned and reported everything he had seen to Lin Yuan and Mrs. Lin in detail.

“They sent for physicians so urgently. Do you think Jia Yin was–” Mrs. Lin’s face paled somewhat.

Lin Yuan knew what she was going to say. He interrupted her, “He wasn’t. If the plan were to kill him, Childe Ling wouldn’t have told us about it. He would have done it covertly.”

Mrs. Lin gave a bob of the head. “You’ve got a point, my dear. I wonder exactly what it was that had happened.”

“Let’s wait until tomorrow morning. Definite news should have spread out by then,” Lin Yuan replied calmly.

‘Since there has indeed been an incident in Jia family, Childe Ling’s plan must have turned out to be a success. He kept his word. All we have to do is show patience and wait until tomorrow morning to find out what has happened,’ Mrs. Lin thought.

A faint smile appeared on her face. “Infliction of suffering of any form on people of Jia family would be a comfort to me.”

Lin Yuan shared the feeling of his wife. Anybody who got beaten up by people of Jia family for no good reason would harbor hatred towards them.

Ling Zhang was also waiting for the news.

After midnight, Qiu Bing quietly came to Ling Zhang’s dwelling.

Seeing him show up at such a late hour of the night, Xia Feng, who was on night duty, asked, “What’s the matter?”

“Supervisor Xia, please inform Young Master that the job is done,” said Qiu Bing in an undertone.

Xia Feng was slightly surprised, but judging from the look on Qiu Bing’s face, it was obvious that Ling Zhang knew Qiu Bing would return at this hour, so he walked inside, woke Ling Zhang up and delivered the message.

Ling Zhang, who was woken up from a light sleep, replied, “Let Qiu Bing in.”

Xia Feng walked outside and led Qiu Bing into the room. Qiu Bing reported with a delighted face, “Young Master, it’s done. Jia Yin did develop that disease. Physician Lin’s method proved amazingly effective.”

Ling Zhang said, “Keep this matter to yourself. The assistance Physician Lin offered us shall stay secret. Make sure it is known to nobody else.”

“Yes. Rest assured, Young Master. I’ll button up my mouth,” Qiu Bing promised.

“People of Jia family hastily sent for a physician. I sneaked into the mansion and eavesdropped on them for half a night. They did believe that Jia Yin developed smallpox. Everybody there was scared shitless and the situation nearly went out of control. But that physician was pretty good. He managed to find out that it was not smallpox. Currently, most people of Jia family have regained their composure.” There was manifest disappointment in Qiu Bing’s tone of voice when he was making the last remark.

“Smallpox is fatal and highly infectious. It’s very likely that news of this matter would bring the whole city into panic, which is exactly what we need. Jia Yin will be confined to bed for quite some time. Tomorrow, word will get out and Zhang Chong is bound to take immediate action. The mine would have changed hands when Jia Yin recovers from the disease.”

“Will Jia Yin reconcile himself to that?”

“Of course he won’t, but what could he possibly do about it? By no means will Zhang Chong be stupid enough to have his men storm into the mine and take it by force. He will definitely make up some excuse. Let’s just wait and see. Jia family is going to suffer.”

Qiu Bing nodded in delight. “Then I’ll take my leave, Young Master.”

“Go. Have some rest.”

“Yes, Young Master.”

After seeing Qiu Bing out of the dwelling, Xia Feng returned and asked, “Young Master, will Zhang Chong really do that?”

“He will,” affirmed Ling Zhang.