The Glory After Rebirth [ɇÇ”Ÿä¹‹Å°Šè£] Chapter 166- 168

Chapter 166: Uninterested

After sparing a couple of men to help carry the baggage, Yue Qi and other bodyguards got acquainted with Wang Dashan and his men as well as Xia Feng and a couple of supervisors. Then they showed Ling Zhang around the residence.

Just like Yuwen Tong had told him, this residence covered a vast area. After walking through the front door, he was greeted by a spacious and quite imposing front yard. On the right side of the yard was the first row of houses, among which there was a generously and ingeniously furnished reception hall.

On each of the two sides of the first row of houses was a corridor, and there was broad open space, too. Behind these houses was an altogether different world all its own, which was two even three times the area of the front yard. This was a garden. Ling Zhang believed it was probably the one Yuwen Tong had mentioned. There were two-story buildings with attic on both sides of the garden, the furnishings of which had their own respective characteristics.

Further ahead was a lake, where lotuses had been planted. Currently, the whole surface of the lake was covered in lotus leaves. Behind the lake was a large drill ground. An ingenious part of the layout of the garden was that there were rockeries, pavilions and platforms in the garden, which meant that people were not able to see the drill ground from the other side, so the concealment of this drill ground was satisfactory. Beside the drill ground were small courtyards and rows of living quarters for security guards.

Amid those living quarters was an exquisite main courtyard house that had been prepared for Ling Zhang. All furnishings and arrangements inside it had cost a lot of money and efforts. The more of the abode Ling Zhang saw, the fonder of it he grew.

Apart from these, there were also a couple of other courtyard houses, which were reserved for people of Ling family who might come to the capital city some day.

All necessary facilities were readily available, such as the kitchen, living quarters for servants, utility rooms, stables etc.

In a word, Ling Zhang was very satisfied with this residential compound.

Yue Qi and others had already had the whole compound thoroughly cleaned. All furniture and daily essentials were new.

The management of messing arrangements had not started yet. Since Ling Zhang and his men had arrived, chefs and other servants working in the kitchen would prepare the first meal after all baggage was properly handled.

They had moved into this place in a haste, so Ling Zhang decided to make it simple.

First they set off firecrackers at the front door. Then a wooden board engraved with the name of Ling family was hung on top of the door. After that servants in the kitchen made a fire in the stove.

When it came to the first meal in a residence, chefs were well acquainted with related customs. After going through a series of ceremonies and making quite some auspicious remarks, everybody took a seat around the tables, waiting for food to be served.

Having just finished such a long and weary journey, all of them were satiated by the feast. Chefs were still busy preparing all kinds of food in the kitchen and probably wouldn’t be able to get any spare time until the next day.

After the meal, they drank some wine.

Wang Dashan and other security guards had some time ago started chatting and messing around with Yao Yi and his men, their arms around each other’s shoulders, which was an uproarious and frivolous scene.

Yue Qi and other bodyguards, holding their fellows they had not seen for quite a long time, sighed in sentiment, “It’s been really difficult for us to find a place like this to let off steam since we returned to the capital city. We had to behave very cautiously in the abode of the Marshal and never got to relax in this way. It seems that life in the north-west is the most comfortable.”

Qiu Bing instantly craned over. “Bro, you get to drink and mess around like this in the encampment?”

“Of course. Why shouldn’t we? But we have to get the Marshal’s consent first. There are a great number of men in the encampment, and it’s quite a scene when all of them start having fun. This is nothing compared to that,” said Yue Qi.

Once a conversation was stuck up, these bodyguards who seemed to be cold and unapproachable in ordinary times seemed unable to stop talking, but Wang Dashan and others happened to like this kind of stories. All of them gathered around listening carefully.

Even Xia Feng, Wang Qing and Li Sicai couldn’t help but walked up to them.

Ling Zhang himself also failed to forbear from becoming one of the listeners. He lay down on the side with the white fox cub in his arms, listening to their aimless chat. It had been such a long travel, and he had been haunted with fear during the past few days. Now he could finally relax safe.

Ling Zhang exhaled deeply and stroked the white fox cub. On this occasion, he had completely forgotten about Yuwen Tong. Not only he but also all others in this room had put the existence of the Marshal on the shelves at the back of their minds. ‘The Marshal? What’s that? Is it edible?’

‘It’s much more fun to drink and chat with brothers.’

After all of them got tired from talking and drank enough liquor, servants brought them sweet dumplings from the kitchen, which excited exclamation of all bodyguards.

“Oh, I miss this. We’d been eating solid food all along when you were in Tanyang. The very thought of it makes me sympathize with myself!” yelled Yue Qi.

As Ling Zhang heard this, his heart involuntarily ached for them, but he also could barely forbear from laughing.

Yao Yi rolled his eyes, nudged Yue Qi and said, “You think I don’t know you guys had been sneaking outside to buy food?”

“But we couldn’t do that often, and we couldn’t afford to be spotted either. It was really difficult!” Yue Qi’s voice was still tearful.

Seeing a tough hombre behaving like this, Ling Zhang nearly laughed to death.

Yao Yi simply kicked him on the hip and said, “Beat it. Find yourself somewhere else to weep. You are ruining my appetite.”

Yue Qi accused him of caring little about brotherhood. Yao Yi rolled his eyes and butted Yue Qi with the back of his head.

Yue Qi looked around and directly walked up to Ling Zhang. He sat down on a short stool beside the deck chair, looked at Ling Zhang and the white fox cub in his arms and said, “Childe, where did you get this white fox cub? It’s pretty good-looking.”

Ling Zhang almost dissolved into laugh as he saw him. “Yao Yi and some others gave it to me as a gift.”

Yue Qi widened his eyes. “What? Those boors sent you a gift? It seems that they’ve developed some cunning. They didn’t use to be like this!”

After saying that, he added, “Childe, if there are any other animals you like, just tell me. I’ll deliver them to you tomorrow.”

Ling Zhang forbore to laugh. “Not really. The company of this white fox cub is enough for me. You’ve already done me too many favors, Guard Yue.”

Yue Qi gave a wave of his hand. “Hey, you are being too courteous, Childe. There’s no need to address me as ‘Guard Yue’. We’ve drunk wine together and that means something. Just call me Old Yue.”

He had just finished his sentence when Xie Shi aimed a kick at him and said, “Stop such undisciplined behavior. The Marshal will kick your ass if this comes to his knowledge.”

“The Marshal?” Yue Qi was confused. After quite a while, he recalled who this person was, smacked his palm onto his chest and replied, “The Marshal won’t find out, not if you and I don’t tell him.”

He openly expressed his intention to keep this back from his superior. It seemed that he was somewhat drunk.

Xie Shi’s temples involuntarily twitched. He disregarded this drunkard and said to Ling Zhang, “Childe, please just ignore him. This is typically him. He talks nonsense when drunk.”

Ling Zhang smiled, “It’s okay. I’m pretty comfortable with him behaving this way. Actually I feel a little embarrassed when you guys are being polite to me.”

Xie Shi gave a smile, picked up a sweet dumpling with his chopsticks, swallowed it and then continued, “Childe, is there anybody you’d like to visit in the capital city? If there is, we’ll deliver a visitor’s card to their place for you tomorrow.”

Ling Zhang thought for a few moments and replied, “There’s indeed a particular person. Those gifts I brought here for Lord Tao have to be delivered to two different places, so I do need to send them visitor’s cards first. I’ll get the cards ready later.”

Xie Shi inclined his head. “All right.”

After saying this, he kicked Yue Qi off the stool and sat down on it himself.

Yue Qi who got kicked was in a daze. After quite a while, he realized what had happened and came at Xie Shi.

Seeing them roughhousing, Ling Zhang couldn’t help smiling. The white fox cub in his arms gave a soft cry and watched Yue Qi and Xie Shi playfully fighting, amusement gleaming in its sparkling black eyes.

Ling Zhang had thought that he would feel very uncomfortable during the first few days after his arrival in the capital city when he was unaccustomed to it. However, with the company of this group of men, he didn’t feel lonely any more.

Xie Shi and Yue Qi, after roughhousing for a while, challenged each other to a kung fu competition. The drill ground happened to be nearby. After they started fighting, all others came to spectate.

“The two of them started fighting once again. I wonder who will be the winner this time.”

“Well, Yue Qi is drunk and Xie Shi is a wily old fox. Yue Qi is definitely going to lose.”

Ling Zhang, whose interest was aroused by their words, carried the white fox cub and followed in their wake to watch the fight.

These two men proved themselves to be kung fu experts subordinate to Yuwen Tong. Their moves were fierce and powerful. Gusts of wind generated by their punches and palm strikes could be distinctly felt even by people outside the drill ground.

Gradually, Ling Zhang was fascinated. His eyesight was much better now, which enabled him to distinguish the rapid movements of these kung fu experts.

Xie Shi’s fighting style was ferocious and aggressive, while that of Yue Qi was flexible and artful. This fight between these two men was also an intense confrontation between two fighting styles, which was a real feast for spectators.

Watching the fight, Ling Zhang spontaneously thought of the mental cultivation method of internal energy recorded in the secret manual in his bosom.

He wondered whether his kung fu would some day be as good as that of Xie Shi or Yue Qi if he started practicing it.

And he had also promised Yuwen Tong that he would make a definite reply to him after settling down in the capital city.

In fact, he knew that deep down there, he had made up his mind some time ago.

Thinking of this, he finally recalled Yuwen Tong who he had completely forgotten. It had been quite some time since Yuwen Tong went to the imperial palace. He wondered how things were going in there.

…

“Are you sure you want to marry that Ling Zhang guy of Ling family?” The emperor stared at Yuwen Tong.

Yuwen Tong replied, “Yes, Your Majesty. I’m positive of this. I’ve already started making preparations.”

“Oh?” The emperor’s face remained unchanged. “So soon?”

Yuwen Tong said, “I’m afraid that he might change his mind, so I want the wedding held as soon as possible. I might be reduced to living in regret for the rest of my life if I don’t hurry.”

The emperor fell speechless.

‘Why does Yuwen Tong like that Ling Zhang guy so much?’ he wondered.

“Aiqing (a term of endearment used by an emperor or an empress to address an official in feudal China), Ling Zhang is a man after all.”

“Your Majesty, I know very well that Ling Zhang is a man. Never have any women taken my fancy, so I think I’m only interested in men.”

The emperor fell speechless once again. ‘Yuwen Tong is a gay?’

Even the King Duan standing on the side had a somewhat weird expression on his face. ‘How could this have never occurred to us before?!’

“What a pity. Originally, I wanted to marry a princess to you,” said the emperor in a regretful tone of voice.

“Thank you for your great kindness, Your Majesty. I’m afraid I’m unworthy of such blessing,” Yuwen Tong responded.

“It wouldn’t do you any harm to have a try, would it?” the emperor was somewhat unresigned.

Yuwen Tong kept silent for a few moments and then replied in a very explicit manner, “I’m uninterested.”

Both the emperor and the King Duan were reduced to an embarrassed silence.

‘This remark is almost synonymous with an admission of his inability to be sexually aroused by women!

Has Yuwen Tong any idea what he just said? There won’t be any room for maneuver!’

However, both of them also knew what kind of person Yuwen Tong was –a man of great credibility, who never went back on his words.

Having just been informed of such a piece of “grave” news, the emperor was clearly not in the mood for continuing this private talk with Yuwen Tong. Finally, seeing his travel-soiled clothes, he let Yuwen Tong take his leave.

“Bring Ling Zhang with you to the welcome reception tonight,” the emperor suddenly added.

Yuwen Tong thought for a while and replied, “I’m grateful for your patronage, Your Majesty, but he is still weak after the horrifying experience during our journey and needs more rest.”

On hearing the words “horrifying experience”, the emperor naturally recalled the “near misses” that Yuwen Tong and Ling Zhang had been through on their way to the capital city. After his countenance changed several times, he asked, “Have you found out who acted so boldly as to resort to assassination, Aiqing?”

Chapter 167: Dog Eat Dog

“Both the assassins and the poisoner were very cunning. I’m still investigating.”

After hearing that the inquiry was still on going, the emperor gave a bob of his head and said with a grave look on his face, “I myself have also ordered the Dali Temple (the Supreme Judicial Court in feudal China) and the Ministry of Penalties to hold a thorough investigation into the two palace guards’ attempted assassination targeted at Ling Zhang. If you have any clues, feel free to tell me. Rest assured, I promise I’ll bring those responsible for this to justice.”

Back then when news of these incidents reached the ears of the emperor, he had almost jumped from horror, since at that time Yuwen Tong was still in Tanyang and could have mistakenly believed that he was the mastermind and decided to stage an armed revolt! Had Yuwen Tong really done that, he definitely wouldn’t have managed to stop him! If it weren’t for the fact that he continued to read the letter and found out that the target of the two assassins was Ling Zhang, he would probably have ordered enforcement of martial law in areas along their way to the capital city.

However, even though Yuwen Tong had not been the target, the severity of this incident was still uncertain. It depended on how much Ling Zhang meant to Yuwen Tong. What had just happened at the city gate seemed to have suggested that Yuwen Tong cared about Ling Zhang very much. However, he had not taken Ling Zhang to meet his family immediately after entering the city. Instead, he had let Ling Zhang go to another place alone. These facts confused the emperor.

As a result, the emperor had taken this so seriously because, firstly, he wanted to state his stand, and secondly, he wanted to sound out Yuwen Tong’s attitude.

“I’m much obliged to you, Your Majesty. Currently, I have not yet confirmed the authenticity of the clues, so I’m afraid Your Majesty will have to give me some more time.”

‘Haven’t confirmed the authenticity of the clues? Exactly what did he find out?’ the emperor wondered in uncertainty.

The King Duan’s attitude towards this issue was much more relaxed. He interposed, “If there’s anything you need my help with, all you have to do is ask, Marshal.”

Yuwen Tong expressed his gratitude to the King Duan, making no further remarks.

“In that case, I think I’ll just wait for the results of your investigation, Aiqing (a term of endearment used by an emperor or an empress to address an official in feudal China),” observed the emperor. “It’s been a long and weary journey and you must be tired. I’ll let you be rid of my nagging voice and have the King Duan see you out of my palace.”

“I take my leave, Your Majesty.”

The emperor’s eyes followed Yuwen Tong and the King Duan until they walked out of the hall. With that, his face instantly darkened. Where Yuwen Tong was concerned, he always had mixed feelings, but distrust and fear definitely accounted for a dominant proportion. No matter how respectful Yuwen Tong seemed, he could never let his guard down and trust him without misgivings.

The reason why the Wan Kingdom had so willingly come to the Great Yue to sue for peace had been that it had suffered several defeats in a row these years, and that people of the Wan Kingdom were having trouble providing enough resources required to proceed with the war. Since the Wan Kingdom had already shown signs of decline, normally, the emperor of an neighboring country, if he was ambitious, would take advantage of the opportunity to invade the Wan Kingdom, expand his domain and even annexed the Wan Kingdom. However, what worried the emperor of the Great Yue was that Yuwen Tong might refuse to obey his orders after entering the Wan Kingdom. The Wan Kingdom covered a good deal of territory, and if by any chance Yuwen Tong grew a desire to become a king himself, betrayed him and launched an attack on the Great Yue, he would undoubtedly be powerless to fight back!

As a result, after the Great Yue overwhelmingly triumphed the Wan Kingdom during this battle, the emperor had, bursting with impatience, ordered Yuwen Tong to return to the capital city for fear that Yuwen Tong might get out of control, but unexpectedly, Yuwen Tong had changed his route halfway, gone to Tanyang and stayed there for half a month. What had angered him even more had been that Zhang Chong had attempted to stage an armed uprising. Had Yuwen Tong not gone to Tanyang, some day Zhang Chong might lead his rebellious forces to the capital city before he knew it.

Apart from everything else, the Concubine Shu and the Sixth Prince had been put under house arrest, and the fraction headed by them had also just been uprooted, so the emperor had been in a terrible fix lately as well.

“Tell Zhang Xi and Zhao Pingchuan to come in.”

Zhang Xi and Zhao Pingchuan had hurriedly come to the imperial palace after returning to the capital city and were waiting outside at this moment.

“Your loyal servant is honored to kneel before you, Your Majesty!”

The emperor’s cold eyes appraised the two of them back and forth. After quite a while, he queried, “Is it true that the two assassins are dead?”

“Your Majesty, one of them bit through a wax ball with poison inside and killed himself. The other one also committed suicide by biting off his own tongue. I examined their bodies and confirmed their deaths myself,” Zhao Pingchuan hastily answered.

“Did any of them confess anything?”

“The one who poisoned himself died an instant death on the spot. Yuwen Tong’s men didn’t have the chance to challenge him. The other one was interrogated but didn’t say anything, as if having some kind of grave misgivings about confessing. Maybe somebody had something on him.”

The emperor lapsed into silence. Uncertain about what the emperor’s intention was, both Zhao Pingchuan and Zhang Xi were afraid to raise their heads to look at the emperor’s face.

“Zhao Pingchuan, were you really unaware of it?”

Zhao Pingchuan was taken aback and hurriedly replied, “I swear on my life they did it without my knowledge, Your Majesty. Both of them had served in the Palace Guards for many years and had been nothing but loyal and honest. It had never crossed my mind that they would suddenly attempt to assassinate Ling Zhang. Had I had any prior knowledge of their plan, I would no doubt have had them executed before they could take action.”

The emperor fell silent once again. Zhao Pingchuan had already broken out in a cold sweat, shuddering all over in fear.

After quite a while, the emperor instructed, “Go back and rectify the situation in the Palace Guards as soon as possible. Keep your eyes peeled for anybody who has questionable allegiance and might dare to betray his commander. If you find any, have them beheaded. It is worse to let a guilty one get away than to mistakenly kill ten innocent ones.”

Zhao Pingchuan felt an instant sense of relief. “Yes, Your Majesty. I will conduct an intensive appraisal of all of them! I take my leave.”

After Zhao Pingchuan left, the emperor inquired of Zhang Xi, “You went to Tanyang. How’s everything going there? I’d told you to pay extra attention to Ling family and that Ling Zhang guy. Did you find anything?”

“Your Majesty, currently the Tanyang Prefecture Guards is under sole command of General Dai Cheng. This is a secret report that General Dai asked me to relay to you.”

Zhang Xi fished out a secret report and, with the emperor’s permission, rose to his feet and handed it to the emperor.

The emperor’s face slightly softened after he read the secret report. “It seems that Yuwen Tong has indeed stopped his intervention in the military affairs of Tanyang.”

Maintaining a bow, Zhang Xi said, “As regards Ling family, I made some inquiries and found out that Ling Xingzhong had no longer been the patriarch for years. It was Ling Zhaowen, his second son, who had been dealing with all kinds of family affairs. However, that Ling Zhang guy is not someone to be taken lightly…”

Then Zhang Xi informed the emperor of some of the things that had previously occurred in Tanyang.

After hearing his story, the emperor commented disapprovingly, “Those were just some trivial performance made in Tanyang which is a small city. He wouldn’t have managed any of those without Yuwen Tong’s help.”

Zhang Xi replied, “I stand awed by your wisdom, Your Majesty.”

…

Meanwhile, Yuwen Tong and the King Duan had just walked out of the imperial study when they saw the Ninth Princess walking towards them head-on.

She was wearing a luxurious floor-length pink gown, followed by a group of reverent and respectful court maids and eunuchs. Wafts of perfume were carried over by breezes before she approached.

The Ninth Princess had taken off her veil and, before coming to this place, applied a dot of cinnabar to the middle of her forehead, which provided a perfect foil for her elegant and well-featured face. In front of Yuwen Tong, she slightly bent her knees in a graceful way and asked, “Marshal, you finished the audience with my father and are leaving the palace?”

The expression on Yuwen Tong’s face was just as bland as it had been a while ago, and there was no amazement in his eyes as he saw the looks of the Ninth Princess. “Greetings, Your Highness. I’m indeed on my way out of the palace. Allow me the honor of making way for you. After you, Your Highness.”

The Ninth Princess briefly twitched her long eyelashes, raised her head and looked at Yuwen Tong, expecting to see in his eyes signs of him being amazed by her beauty. However, to her disappointment, Yuwen Tong seemed totally unaffected by her presence!

Dismayed, the Ninth Princess was at a loss for words. ‘How is this possible!

No matter how good his self-control is, there’s no way he could stay totally indifferent!’

But the King Duan standing on the side knew very well what was going on. He recalled what Yuwen Tong had said in the imperial study –”Never have any women taken my fancy.”

‘So he was telling the truth?!’

The King Duan had extremely mixed feelings, but he was somewhat glad to see that Yuwen Tong was unconcerned with the beauty of the Ninth Princess. After all, the Ninth Princess was not on his side but on the side of the Fourth Prince.

“Sister? What are you standing there for? Go to the study right now while father is still there.”

The Ninth Princess was pulled out of her trance and, for an instant, there was a somewhat embarrassed look on her face. When she saw that Yuwen Tong’s face was still bland and he had even made way for her, in particular, the Ninth Princess felt a twinge of intense awkwardness. She was unable to find a plausible explanation for what had just happened no matter how hard she tried. Never once had she been treated this way by a man!

“What’s the hurry, ? Are you by any chance taking the Marshal to somewhere fun?” The Ninth Princess was unwilling to leave just like this. She had come here to see Yuwen Tong, not her father.

“What do you mean by that remark, Sister? The Marshal is tired after the long journey and I’m seeing him back home. As a girl, you are not supposed to have that kind of thoughts in your mind,” the King Duan snapped with heavy sarcasm.

The Ninth Princess’ face changed. “You!”

However, because of Yuwen Tong’s presence, she had no choice but to subdue her anger. “I have no idea what you are talking about, .”

The King Duan replied, “I hope for your own sake that’s true. You are a princess of the Great Yue. Act like one.”

The Ninth Princess’ face turned livid with rage.

Yuwen Tong had no interest in watching his enemies having a dog-eat-dog quarrel in this place. Eager to go back to see Ling Zhang, he said, “Your Highnesses, if you’d like to have a talk, I’ll give you some privacy.”

“No, I’ll see you back,” the King Duan and the Ninth Princess chorused.

The King Duan immediately observed, “Sister, aren’t you here to have an audience with father? Surely you are not here to see the Marshal on the pretext of having an audience with father, are you? It’s not that I take pleasure in lecturing you, but you are a girl. You should have been more reserved.”

Before the Ninth Princess could react, Yuwen Tong walked away.

The King Duan hurriedly caught up with him.

“Y–You!” The Ninth Princess was left behind, face livid with rage, staring fixedly at the receding figure of the King Duan with venomous eyes. “Zhou Mingyuan, I will make you pay for this!”

“Please calm down, Your Highness. Don’t lose your temper. The imperial study is not far away. His Majesty will hear you.” A court maid hurriedly tried to persuade him.

The Ninth Princess clenched her fists, her eyes red. Clearly she felt humiliated and was reduced to tears by fury.

…

After Yuwen Tong left, the King Duan returned to his residence, looking in a good mood.

“Your Highness, Peng Fang came here last night but you happened to be not in. He said that even if Yuwen Tong found out the truth of the poison incident, he would still be able to rid himself of suspicions and at the same time help you eliminate a political opponent, that you might rest assured.” A henchman of his immediately walked up to him and reported to him.

The pleasure on the face of the King Duan instantly disappeared. He reprimanded, “What a good-for-nothing! He couldn’t even handle a commoner, yet he still has the nerve to seek refuge with me? If he dares to implicate me this time, I’ll skin him alive!”

The henchman was reduced to a scared silence.

However, the next moment, something seemed to have just occurred to the King Duan and he suddenly instructed his henchman, “You, go and made some inquiries. Find out as much information as you can about the personality, likes and dislikes of Yuwen Tong’s betrothed, Ling Zhang.”

The henchman was surprised. “Your Highness, may I ask why?”

“Just do it. I have my own plans. By the way, have someone with relevant expertise draw a portrait of Ling Zhang,” added the King Duan.

The henchman was shocked, having no idea what his master’s intention was. ‘He not only wants to find out that man’s personality, likes and dislikes, but also wants a portrait of him. Is this what I think it is?’

Chapter 168: Refusal of Entrance

The capital city was swarming with spies, which was why news of Yuwen Tong’s leaving the imperial palace soon reached the ears of all those who believed they ought to be informed of it…

Yuwen Tong didn’t go back to the residence of Yuwen family. Instead, he went to a residential compound where a board engraved with the name “Ling Family” had just been fixed above the front door.

Everybody knew Yuwen Tong was going there to see Ling Zhang.

Apart from other people’s reaction, Yuwen Zhi, on being informed of this, smashed his teacup to pieces, an extremely sullen look on his face. Yuwen Tong’s not returning home first after entering the city had already made him feel shamed, and he had been struggling to keep his temper all along, but now, after leaving the imperial palace, Yuwen Tong had gone to Ling Zhang’s place instead of returning home, which he found unbearably humiliating.

Yuwen Zhi had always been highly status-conscious and cared about face very much, regarding himself head and shoulders above all other dignitaries in the capital city. Except for members of the imperial family, he never compromised with anybody in any circumstances, and almost everybody would think twice before doing something that might be offensive to him. It was true that he had not really been on good terms with Yuwen Tong, but in the past, every time Yuwen Tong returned from the border areas, he would always come back home to visit him first. Never once had Yuwen Tong been so disrespectful to him like this.

‘How am I supposed to show my face after this?! What would others in this city think of me?!’

Yuwen Zhi was within an inch of failing to catch his breath, feeling that nobody had ever inflicted such humiliation on him.

“I told you so. That Ling Zhang guy is a male courtesan. Feng’er criticized me for using that word. Now you see what’s happening. Didn’t that male courtesan bewitch Yuwen Tong and have Yuwen Tong in the palm of his hand?! He forgot where his home is. Does he still have a shred of respect for us? Does he still remember you’re his uncle and I his aunt? I doubt he still remembers his surname is Yuwen!” Zheng shi was also very indignant.

Yuwen Tong had repeatedly humiliated them on this day. How was she supposed to show her face in front of those officials’ wives in the future? She felt that she might have to stay at home for the rest of her life!

Yuwen Qi angrily sprung to his feet. “I’ll go to Ling Zhang’s place. I don’t believe that Ling Zhang guy would be so shameless and bold as to take my cousin from us like this!”

Yuwen Feng also had a frown on his face, but he was not an impulsive man like Yuwen Qi was, and neither did he lose his head. “Sit down,” he said.

“Elder Brother! How could you bear to just sit there after this? Yuwen Tong refused to return home, showing a total disregard for our feelings!” Yuwen Qi was very displeased.

“Sit down,” Yuwen Feng repeated, looking at Yuwen Qi.

Consumed with indignation, Yuwen Qi sat back into his seat and replied, “If I’m not to go there, what do you think we should do? Just sitting here watching that Ling Zhang guy swaggering around?”

Brow furrowed, Yuwen Feng said, “Father, I think he’s doing this because he’s angry with you for sending my younger brother to Tanyang. Judging from what happened earlier this day, he cares about Ling Zhang very much.”

Yuwen Zhi looked at him and responded, “Are you laying blame on me?”

Yuwen Feng said, “I don’t dare, Father. I’m just trying to point out the fact to you. Currently, our first priority is to mollify him. No matter how displeased you are with Ling Zhang, it should be a family matter concerning nobody but us, rather than a laughing stock of the whole city.”

“That’s easy for you to say. What do you suggest we should do?”

Though anger was bubbling inside Yuwen Qi, he had no choice but to obey his elder brother. It was just that his obedience was tinged with unwillingness. He didn’t know why, but he just disliked it when Yuwen Feng acted as if he had got everything sorted out, as if he was better than him in everything.

Yuwen Feng rose to his feet. “I’ll go to Ling Zhang’s place.”

On hearing this, Yuwen Qi also stood up and said, “I’m going with you!”

Yuwen Feng declined. “That won’t be necessary.”

Yuwen Qi was displeased. “Why? Why can’t I go there?”

Zheng shi chipped in, “Maybe you should let Qi’er go with you, so that the two of you can keep each other company.”

Yuwen Feng’s brow corrugated in a frown, as if saying that only a three-year-old child needed company. However, it was inappropriate for him to contradict his mother too often, so eventually he inclined his head.

Yuwen Qi gave a smug chuckle, thinking, ‘Mother is on my side. Even Elder Brother has to obey her.’

…

When Yuwen Tong arrived at Ling Zhang’s residence, people in there were still partying. Yao Yi and other bodyguards had not seen Yue Qi for a month. On top of that, they had drunk a lot of liquor with Wang Dashan and other security guards, so they were having a really good time and it seemed as if the party would never end.

Yuwen Tong walked to the sidelines of the drill field, looked around but didn’t see Ling Zhang. Instantly, he fell into a foul mood, his face sulky. “Where’s Younger Brother Zhang?” he asked.

Yao Yi and others had stopped messing around when they saw Yuwen Tong return. On seeing Yuwen Tong’s face darken, all of them flinched.

“Childe Ling was tired, so he went back to his room to sleep,” replied Yao Yi.

“He’s sleeping inside, while you are here partying. Tell me, what do you think you are doing?” asked Yuwen Tong in a flinty tone of voice.

“We shouldn’t have done this, Marshal.”

Yuwen Tong coldly snorted, “Your punishment is standing here. Nobody leaves without my consent.”

Instantly all people on the drill ground fell silent in fear, standing where they were like a group of quails. ‘All right. So much for the party.’

After walking into Ling Zhang’s dwelling, Yuwen Tong first changed out of his travel-soiled overgarment, quickly washed his face and hands and then entered Ling Zhang’s bedroom.

Ling Zhang had fallen asleep. It seemed that he was indeed exhausted, given that he was sleeping so soundly in a strange bed.

The white fox cub, like a ball of fur, was lying beside his pillow, its eyes closed. It was hard to tell whether the fox was having a deep sleep or just a nap.

No sooner had Yuwen Tong walked up to the bedside when it vigilantly opened its eyes. It flicked Yuwen Tong a glance with its sparkling black eyes and then closed them again.

Feeling this reaction fairly acceptable, Yuwen Tong didn’t lay any condemnation on it for occupying the pillow beside Ling Zhang. He reached out his hand, scooped up the fox cub and put it down onto the teapoy at the bedside. There was a wooden box on the teapoy, which had been specially prepared for the fox cub, but sometimes Ling Zhang would carry it to the bed.

The liquid black eyes of the fox cub were full of dismay and displeasure after it was taken away from its master and put into its den to sleep alone. If it could speak, it probably had already been reduced to hurling abuse at Yuwen Tong, and maybe had scratched him with its claws as well.

This little creature could never pose any threats to Yuwen Tong. After putting the fox cub into the wooden box, Yuwen Tong went to bed and lay down in the spot where the fox cub had been lying. Then he put his arm around Ling Zhang and drew him against his chest. Feeling satisfied, he closed his eyes.

Naturally, Ling Zhang was woken up by this movement, but the smell of the man beside him was familiar, and so was the touch of his chest, so he just reached out his hand and gave Yuwen Tong a push. Having failed to push him aside, Ling Zhang ignored him and drifted off to sleep again –he was really tired.

Yuwen Tong gave him a kiss on the cheek and lay down again, then closed his eyes and slept.

The fox cub glanced out the window and then looked at Yuwen Tong who was sleeping with Ling Zhang as if this was how things should be like. Its eyes were full of perplexity.

The bedroom was very quiet, and servants outside didn’t dare to make any sounds.

Surprisingly, Yuwen Tong really fell asleep, which was rather rare.

However, this sleep of his was destined to come to interruptions.

A horse-drawn carriage of Yuwen family halted at the front door of Ling Zhang’s residential compound. Seeing this, guards on duty exchanged glances and wondered, ‘Whose carriage is this?’

When they saw Yuwen Feng and Yuwen Qi get out of the carriage, both of the guards made a bow with hands folded in front and greeted them. “Childe Feng, Childe Qi.”

Face full of impatience, Yuwen Qi flicked a disgusted glance at the wooden board engraved with the name of Ling family, sized up the front door and commented, “What kind of shabby place is this? This guy’s so stingy.”

However, this place was actually by no means shabby. The predecessor of it was the residence of a high-ranking official, who had resigned from office and returned to his hometown. Yuwen Tong had purchased it and converted it into this residential compound. It was not far away from the residence of Yuwen family and was rather convenient for various public facilities as well. It could be said that people couldn’t buy a residential compound like this in the capital city if money was the only thing they had.

After hearing Yuwen Qi’s words, both of the two guards had a bland face and made no response.

“May I ask what it is that you are here about, Young Masters?”

Yuwen Feng gave a smile. “We’re here to see my cousin. It’s said that he came here after leaving the imperial palace.”

The guards were Yuwen Tong’s personal bodyguards, which gave Yuwen Feng a new recognition of how much Ling Zhang meant to Yuwen Tong, and his adopted a more discreet attitude.

“The Marshal is indeed inside. Please allow me to pass word of your presence,” said a guard.

“Pass word of our presence?” Yuwen Qi glared at him. “What do you mean by that remark? You know who we are yet you are having us wait outside? You are guards of Yuwen family not Ling family! Are you soft in the head?!”

“Please wait a moment, Young Master Qi.” Unswayed, the guard turned around and went inside.

“You! Stop right there!” Yuwen Qi yelled angrily and intended to pursue him, but the other guard blocked his path.

Yuwen Qi was just about to hurl abuse when Yuwen Feng stopped him. “Younger Brother, this has always been our cousin’s rule. Show some patience.”

Even when Yuwen Tong was in the residence of Yuwen family, nobody was allowed to enter his courtyard house without his consent, and even his uncle was no exception, which was a fact known to all members of Yuwen family, but this was not Yuwen Tong’s courtyard house…

Yuwen Feng also secretly frowned, feeling that Yuwen Tong was getting too emotionally involved with Ling Zhang.

It was due to his elder brother’s intervention that Yuwen Qi managed to keep from hurling curses at the guard, but still, his face was extremely sepulchral. He couldn’t help but recall how he had been humiliated before being put under house arrest when he was in Tanyang. Rage had been simmering inside him from the very moment he laid eyes on on the board with Ling family’s name on it, and now even his eyes became ferocious.

“Younger Brother.” Seeing this, Yuwen Feng hurriedly shook his head at him, trying to dissuade him from taking any rash actions.

He was even suffering from headaches. He had anticipated Yuwen Qi would be reduced to this kind of reaction, which had been the very reason he had tried to stop Yuwen Qi from coming.

It was after quite a while that a man walked out. He was the guard that had talked to them just now. “Sorry, Young Masters, the Marshal is sleeping. I’ll inform the Marshal of your visit later. Please go back.”

After hearing this, even Yuwen Feng failed to stop Yuwen Qi from flying into a temper. He directly raised his foot and aimed a kick at the guard, yelling, “Bullshit! How dare you talk to me like that, you motherfucker! I’ll kick you to death!”

Yuwen Feng’s face also darkened, but he still had his senses. “Younger Brother, stop!”

The guard’s kung fu was much better than that of Yuwen Qi, so he easily sidestepped Yuwen Qi’s kick. In a flinty tone of voice, he observed, “Young Master Qi, if there’s anything you are displeased with, you can just talk with the Marshal about it after he wakes up and nobody’s going to stop you. Venting your anger on us is a conduct unbecoming to a young master.”

“Is my cousin really sleeping? Hasn’t he just come back a moment ago?” queried Yuwen Feng disbelievingly.

“Childe Ling was sleeping, so the Marshal went to sleep with him,” replied the guard candidly.

‘What? He went to sleep because of that?’ Yuwen Feng wondered in dismay.

“But we came here to see my cousin because our parents asked us to. It would be somewhat impertinent if my cousin has us return just like this, wouldn’t it? I mean, we’re family after all. He’s really going to shut the door on us like we were strangers to him?” remarked Yuwen Feng.