The Glory After Rebirth [ɇÇ”Ÿä¹‹Å°Šè£] Chapter 364- 366

Chapter 364: Get Up. The Show Is On

There were only thirty or so of them, the Concubine Liu and the Ninth Prince included, while the soldiers pursuing them numbered several hundreds, and the city gates ahead had been closed. They were cornered in the middle of a thoroughfare, unable to retreat to anywhere or exit the city, as though they had reached a dead end.

Fang Quan had no room in his head to wonder why these killers hadn’t killed the the Ninth Prince and the Concubine Liu as he’d instructed. Despair was the only thing he could feel at this moment. He had originally believed that he had a chance of escape, but now he ended up being trapped in this place. ‘I’m doomed. I’m so doomed,’ he thought.

“Wha–What are you doing?!” At this time the Concubine Jin’s scream was heard. With a start, Fang Quan jerked his head aside to look in that direction and saw that a killer had held a sword to his grandson’s neck, in which a bloody slit could be seen.

“What do you think you’re doing?!” railed Fang Quan.

“Calm down, Your Lordship. This is part of the plan. Just stay put and watch,” breathed the fake prison guard that had broken them out of the Court Prison, clapping Fang Quan on the shoulder.

“AAARGH! What are you doing?! Let go of my son!” the Concubine Liu squealed again.

The Ninth Prince, who was only two years old, was drawn to the roadside, crying aloud, a sword held to his neck as well. “Mother! Help me, Mother!”

“Let him go! Let go of my son!” The Concubine Liu tried to rush to her son’s help but was restrained by a man in black, unable to move a step.

At this time, their pursuers had encircled them ring upon ring. Before the soldiers could take any further action, the two young princes were forced out of the crowd, each having a sword held to his throat, the sharp blades reflecting the moonlight menacingly.

“Let us leave or see the two princes of the Zhou family die where they stand.”

Caught flat-footed by this turn of events, the one in charge of the manhunt didn’t dare take the liberty of making a decision and ordered a soldier to go back and report it to his superior as quick as possible.

The fake prison guard and the others… No, these killers, they were not anxious at all. It was as though they had been expecting the pursuers to send someone back to report. Somewhat confused, Fang Quan asked, “What do you want to do exactly?”

“Be quiet and enjoy the show, Your Lordship,” the fake prison guard warned Fang Quan in a placid tone, twisting his head aside to look at him. At the sight of the expression in the man’s eyes, Fang Quan didn’t dare utter another word.

…

When Ling Zhang was pulled out of his heap of covers, he was sleepy and groggy. Looking at Yuwen Tong standing at the beside with sore eyes, he said sourly, “What are you doing?!”

Why did Yuwen Tong get up in the middle of the night instead of sleeping? What had got into Yuwen Tong? He’d been sound asleep and having a really sweet dream before being suddenly awoken, and now his temper had begun to fray.

Yuwen Tong rubbed Ling Zhang’s head and then planted a large kiss on his brow. “Get up and come with me to watch a show.”

“Watch a show? What’s the problem with you? I was having a good sleep! If you’re soft in the head, you may go out there and mess around all you want. Why wake me up as well? It’s the middle of the night! What kind of show could there possibly be?!” Ling Zhang went berserk, raised a pillow and hurled it at Yuwen Tong.

Still sleepy, Ling Zhang hadn’t realized what Yuwen Tong was talking about. He mistakenly believed that by ‘watch a show’, Yuwen Tong was referring to an opera or something. Who would stage a show at this hour of the night? Had the theatrical troupe lost their mind? Or had the audience gone crazy?

Yuwen Tong was hit by the pillow, caught it and then explained explicitly, “Someone bust Fang Quan out of the prison, and some others broke the two princes of the Zhou family out of the palace. Right now they’re trapped at the South City Gates. The funny thing is that their rescuers demand to see me, threatening to kill the two young princes if I don’t go there.”

Ling Zhang’d mind was still a little unclear. “Um? What?”

It was after Yuwen Tong repeated his words that Ling Zhang came to understand what was going on. Also, his mind cleared. Fang Quan and the two princes of the Zhou family wanted to escape? They must be stopped. If they escaped, there would be serious trouble!

“What are you standing there for? Let’s go and check right now!” said Ling Zhang, giving Yuwen Tong a push, jumping out of bed, dressing in great haste.

Smiling, Yuwen Tong walked up to him to help him get dressed. “Without my leave, nobody would dare let those people go, and neither would those people dare kill anybody. It’s the middle of the night and there’s still several hours before daybreak. Let them stand there for a little while longer. Besides, it’s pitch-dark out there, so I sent some men to get some torches. We may wait until the whole street is well lit to set out.”

Ling Zhang was thrown into perplexity by these words. “Ah? You want us to wait until the whole street is lit to go there? Are you crazy?”

Yuwen Tong helped Ling Zhang adjust his underwear and put on the other clothes. Then he held Ling Zhang’s face in his hands and gave him a smack on the cheek, which nearly sent Ling Zhang into a stupor. Looking emptily at Yuwen Tong, Ling Zhang said heatedly, “Is your mind really not quite clear at night or something? Why did you make the kiss so loud?!”

There was no doubt that all the guards on night duty had heard it. What the hell did he think he was doing? Had he no shame?!

Yuwen Tong chuckled, “Well, isn’t night the time for me to kiss you loud? I mean, you don’t let me do this during the day. Okay, go and wash your face. It’ll help you get rid of the drowsiness.”

Ling Zhang felt like contradicting him but was at a loss for words. Eventually he still washed his face and was instantly fully awake. When he looked out of the window at the inky blackness of night, his face crumpled up as though he was on the verge of tears. Wasn’t everybody supposed to be asleep at this hour? Why did he have to get up?

“Let’s get going right now. I don’t understand why you don’t seem to be concerned at all. If they really escape, I doubt you would still have that smile on your face,” said Ling Zhang.

Yuwen Tong was pushed to the doorway, opened the doors and asked Yao Yi and Miao Shisan who were on guard duty outside, “Did they beat the gongs and drums loud enough?”

“They did! It’s definitely loud enough. I assure you the whole city have been woken up,” replied Yao Yi, excitement written all over his face.

Ling Zhang couldn’t quite understand what they were saying, looking at them with a bemused expression. “What do you mean by ‘gongs and drums’?”

“When we were pursuing the princes of the Zhou family, I specially had some men beat gongs and drums loudly on both the gate tower of the inner city and the one of the outer city, and I also had them yell. Right now probably everybody in this city has come to know that Fang Quan broke out of prison and abducted the two princes of the Zhou family.”

Ling Zhang was even more bewildered. “Ah? Didn’t some people try to rescue the two princes?”

“They’re living in the imperial palace and don’t need rescuing. It must be that those people kidnapped them,” responded Yuwen Tong in a significant tone of voice.

Yao Yi even let out two sly chuckles. “Come to think of it, we were worried that this explanation might not be convincing enough, but strangely – I don’t know what their rescuers were thinking – they actually really changed their mind and abducted the two princes, making it totally unnecessary for us to explain anything. Now it’s absolutely compelling enough.”

Ling Zhang slightly frowned, pondering over it. After a few moments, he had a general idea of what was going on. “Are you saying that you intentionally had some men beat gongs and drums to have the whole city believe that Fang Quan broke out of prison and abducted the two princes?”

Yao Yi inclined his head. “That’s right.”

Ling Zhang looked at Yuwen Tong. “Is that why you want the whole street lit by torches?”

Yuwen Tong also bobbed his head. “Yeah.”

Ling Zhang, “…”

“What do you have to do with this?”

Before Yuwen Tong could say anything, Yao Yi replied, “Don’t misunderstand, Childe Ling. The Marshal really has nothing to do with this. It was some men from Jiangzhou that came here to rescue Fang Quan and the Eighth Prince. They just abducted the Ninth Prince in passing, and it was shortly before they took action tonight that this matter came to the Marshal’s knowledge, and then the Marshal decided to outwit them with their own trick.”

“Outwit them with their own trick?” Ling Zhang looked at Yuwen Tong.

“The other two princes are a hot potato in my hands, and I don’t know how to deal with them without causing serious backwash. My original plan was to place them under house arrest after my enthronement and wait until people gradually forget about the two of them to figure something out, but this plan has a drawback – there’s no guarantee they won’t make any trouble, and the cost of keeping watch on them will be rather high. It’s a quite troublesome issue, but those people from Jiangzhou made things a lot easier for me by coming here to rescue them, because when they were under my control, I couldn’t do anything to them, but now, considering they have fallen into other people’s hands, that’s no longer the case,” explained Yuwen Tong.

Ling Zhang took a deep breath, feeling that Yuwen Tong had indeed done something big without him noticing.

“So the reason why you’re trying to have this matter come to the knowledge of the whole city is because you want to make it clear to those needing to know about this that it was some people from Jiangzhou who abducted the two princes, that you don’t have a choice and isn’t the one to blame, right?” observed Ling Zhang.

Yuwen Tong inclined his head. “You’re very smart, Brother Zhang.”

Ling Zhang, “…”

With such a broad hint provided for him, he needed to be a fool not to have guessed it.

“Can we go now?”

Yuwen Tong looked at Yao Yi, who looked at Miao Shisan. The corners of Miao Shisan’s mouth twitched and then he said, “Even Lord Hu and Lord Pei were alarmed. A moment ago I heard that the two old lords were hastening to this place.”

“What about the others? Are they heading for the street or the imperial palace?” asked Yuwen Tong.

“Almost all of them are heading for the palace. Only a couple of them are going to the street,” responded Miao Shisan.

Yuwen Tong snorted coldly, “Good. Keep close watch on those hurrying to the street. I’ll take care of them after this is over.”

Gaping at Yuwen Tong, Ling Zhang inquired, “Is this also part of your plan?”

Yuwen Tong replied, “I’m just turning their trick to my own use.”

Ling Zhang lapsed into silence. It struck him that he would never be able to outshine Yuwen Tong in terms of wit.

“So we’re staying?”

Yuwen Tong nodded. “Yeah. I’ll have them prepare some food. We may grab a bite first before going there to see those people. Yao Yi, when those people come here, tell them they’ll have to wait, that I’m still in bed.”

“Yes.”

…

The cooks in the kitchen soon prepared some noodle soup and the servants proffered it to the two of them. After they each drank a bowl of noodle soup, their stomachs felt very comfortable, and they were in good spirits. Ling Zhang would have drifted off to sleep if what was happening out there hadn’t concerned him.

Yuwen Tong had the servants clear the table, wiped his and Ling Zhang’s mouths clean, and then handed a cup of tea to Ling Zhang.

Ling Zhang took it, had a sip and said, “Don’t you think it’s time to go? Those people out there must be as anxious as cats on a hot tin roof.”

It was only then that Yuwen Tong twisted his head aside and said to Miao Shisan, “Tell Yao Yi to let them in.”

“Yes.”

Before long, the front gates of the Infinite Fortune Palace were opened. Almost all the civil officials and military officers who should be here at this point in time had come, gathering in the gateway, seeking an audience with Yuwen Tong.

Yuwen Tong walked outside with Ling Zhang and said to the two old lords, “I’ve been informed of what’s going on. Now let’s go and take a look.”

“Marshal,” said Lord Hu after paying his respects to Yuwen Tong with Lord Pei, “may I ask how you plan to deal with this issue?”

Chapter 365: Confrontation and Requests

Yuwen Tong cast the two of them a glance and replied, “We cannot let any harm come to the two princes, for they’re both still young. First we have to find out what Fang Quan wants, and the safety of the two princes takes precedence over anything else. Now let’s not waste any time and get going right away. We may continue our talk on our way there.”

The two old lords exchanged looks and came to know what each other were thinking about. They both felt relieved but were also inwardly sighing. That remark of Yuwen Tong’s made it inappropriate for either of them to say any of the words they intended to say. Yuwen Tong had said that the safety of the two princes took precedence of anything else, which meant that there was no need whatsoever for the two of them to try to persuade him. They were inwardly sighing because this incident was happening at the worst possible time. The two old lords had waited at the gateway of the palace for quite a while, along with a group of other courtiers, and they’d both come to know that the rescuers were from Jiangzhou. The two of them were fully aware of the situation in Jiangzhou. Previously Jiangzhou had picked the wrong side, and there was no doubt some day Yuwen Tong would make them pay for it. And now those people in Jiangzhou conspired with Fang Quan and did this. It was only too obvious that they were simply trying to take advantage of the two princes to make trouble.

If truth be told, both the two old lords had quite mixed feelings about this matter. Their allegiance belonged to the Zhou family, which was the former imperial household, but the former emperor had been fatuous and incompetent, and he had done a myriad of stupid things. The people of Cangzhou rising in revolt was only the beginning of the fallout, and more popular uprisings would have followed on the heels of it had someone not successfully saved the situation. In that case, the Great Yue would descend into civil strife and the people would still be the ones who suffered. Currently, Yuwen Tong had put the overall situation under control, and his method of taking the throne had been quite moderate – abdication, which had been a move that almost nobody had foreseen. For the Zhou family, it had been a catastrophe, and it might prove detrimental to Yuwen Tong’s future reign as well, because there was no telling whether or not the surviving members of the Zhou family would seek to take revenge. However, for the people of this country, it was absolutely a good thing. A smooth transition between the old dynasty and the new one, to the greatest possible degree, allowed things to stay the way they were instead of making anything worse. Many of the decisions that Yuwen Tong had made during the past few weeks had been very favorable for the people’s restoring their lives, and they would be put into action one by one after his enthronement. Thinking from the perspective of the people, the two old lords actually preferred Yuwen Tong to accede to the throne.

However, Lord Hu and Lord Pei also wanted to help the two young princes survive. After all, they used to be very much in the former emperor’s confidence. If they failed to save the deceased emperor’s sons, they would be living in guilt and shame for the rest of their lives.

But unexpectedly, Yuwen Tong seemed to have some time ago fathomed out what the two of them had been thinking, and at the very beginning of the conversation, he made them hold back their words.

It struck them that Yuwen Tong was too clever.

…

Martial law had been imposed when they reached the street, but there were still a lot of lookers-on on the sides of the street. Predictably, they had all been woken up at this late hour of the night.

All soldiers standing on the sides of the street were holding lighted torches, and the torches on the gate tower were also ablaze with light. The whole street was well lit as expected.

Ling Zhang unnoticeably gave a little cough. Had he not been informed of the secret orders given by Yuwen Tong, he would really have mistakenly believed that the soldiers had lit these torches of their own accord.

The group of killers, who abducted the two young princes, had thought that Yuwen Tong would soon come to see them. It had never crossed any of their minds that Yuwen Tong would wait until almost two hours later to show up. Even that fake prison guard, who had always appeared to be the most composed one of them, had a rather sulky face.

A scab had formed at that long thin wound in the Eighth Prince’s neck, and the Ninth Prince was so exhausted from crying that he could barely stand on his own. The abductor restraining him had had no choice but to scoop him up, and after such a long time, his arms were terribly sore, but in order to save face, he had to tough it out, showing no sign of his tiredness.

The Concubine Jin was on the verge of losing her temper and would probably have started hurling abuse had Fang Quan not been trying his best to keep her from doing it.

“It took you so long to come here, Marshal Yuwen. You’re indeed a quite poised man,” remarked the fake prison guard. From the vantage of the present, he should be the leader of this group of killers.

“Who are you? Why did you abduct the two young princes?” demanded Yuwen Tong.

“We’re just a group of people who do what people pay us to do for a living. As long as you let us leave, I promise we won’t harm the two young princes. After all, their lives are worth a lot of money. We also don’t want things to get ugly, because we’ll lose our payment if that happens,” responded the leader of the killers.

“How dare you?! They are both princes. The value of their lives cannot be measured by money. Let the princes go and surrender yourselves right now!” bellowed a courtier.

Ling Zhang thought scathingly, ‘This guy really thinks blustering will do any good?’

Unsurprisingly, the leader of the killers didn’t even glance at that courtier. He just looked at Yuwen Tong and added, “So what’s your decision, Marshal Yuwen? Let’s not waste any more time. As long as you give the order to let us go, I’ll have my men take the swords off the princes’ necks. Then we’ll deliver the two of them to our employer. After that, you may do whatever you want. There’s no need to make things awkward for you and me at this point in time.”

“Who hired you?” asked Yuwen Tong.

The ringleader said, “I can’t tell you that. We have to keep the identity of our employer secret.”

“How am I supposed to get the two princes back if I don’t know where they’ll be taken? And why would I let you leave if I won’t be able to get them back?” said Yuwen Tong.

The look on the ringleader’s face flickered and with that he replied, “Stop sniping, Marshal. Are you not afraid that we’ll kill the two princes if you don’t let us leave?”

Yuwen Tong knitted his eyebrows, a sense of power radiating from him.

“Marshal, please calm down,” said Lord Hu, stepping forward. “Rescuing the two princes is the most important.”

Yuwen Tong tossed him a glance. “Then tell me, what do you suggest we do to rescue the two princes, Lord Hu?”

Lord Pei walked out of the crowd and said, “Please allow me to give it a try, Marshal.”

Yuwen Tong made no reply, which the old lord took as tacit permission. Lord Pei pivoted around to face the ringleader, his eyes raking Fang Quan, the Concubine Jin and the Concubine Liu before finally resting on the two men restraining the two princes. “However much your employer promised you, we’ll pay you double if you let the princes go.”

“That does sound an appealing offer, but credibility means something to us. Now that we’ve struck a deal with our employer, we have to honor it. So, old lord, if you want to rescue these two princes, you may wait until we deliver them to the employer to make a deal with us. I promise I’ll get them back to you safe and sound,” said the ringleader.

What? Fang Quan and the Concubine Jin looked at the ringleader in disbelief. “You–You can’t do that! Have you no shame?!”

The ringleader twisted his head around and said, “Your Lordship, we’re just contract killers, and we do the bidding of whoever pays us enough money, but you may rest assured that we’ll keep our end of this deal.”

“Fang Quan! Are you insane?! The Eighth Prince is your grandson, and the Ninth Prince is only two. Where do you want to take them?!”

Fang Quan’s reaction aroused a lot of courtiers’ suspicions, and one of them started to rebuke him.

“Enough of this nonsense! You’re wasting time,” reprimanded the ringleader flintily.

Fang Quan had originally wanted to snap back at those people on the other side but was interrupted by the ringleader and had to hold back the words on the tip of his tongue.

“This is taking too long, Marshal Yuwen. It’s a simple choice – do you want these two young princes to live, or do you want them to die?” said the ringleader.

“You need to think carefully, Marshal, and please make sure the two princes live.”

“You must not do that, Marshal. These people are killers. They can not be trusted.”

“That’s true, Marshal. You must not be soft-hearted at this point in time.”

“Marshal…”

There were two kinds of opinions. Only very few were in favor of accepting the offer to save the two princes’ lives, and all of them were those on good terms with Lord Hu and Lord Pei. The other courtiers, headed by the Right Prime Minister, all insisted that they do not let the killers leave.

Watching them arguing with each other with red faces, Ling Zhang wondered whether they would ever get tired.

“That’s enough,” said Yuwen Tong drily, looking at the ringleader, an icy expression in his eyes. “I’ll let you go, but you must promise you won’t hurt the two princes. If any harm comes to either of them, I’ll track you down and make you pay for it, whatever the cost may be.”

The ringleader grinned, “Since you made such a sensible decision, we naturally will keep our promise. Now, please give the order for the city gates to be opened so that we can leave.”

“Marshal!” implored the Right Prime Minister. “If you let them go and they by any chance use the two young princes to do evil, there would be yet another political disaster.”

“Your Lordship, you’re asking the Marshal to betray his moral code!” spat Lord Hu.

“Are you done quarreling?” said the ringleader, looking sulky. “Marshal Yuwen, you’re not going back on your word, are you?”

Yuwen Tong flicked a glacial glance at him and then commanded the soldiers guarding the city gates, “Open the gates. Let them leave.”

“Yes.”

The soldiers guarding the city gates always obeyed Yuwen Tong’s instructions unconditionally. The moment Yuwen Tong gave the order, they immediately opened the city gates, despite the fact that the courtiers were still arguing heatedly.

The ringleader gave a sneer and quickly went through the city gates with his men, abducting the two princes and Fang Quan and some others.

The Right Prime Minister and many other courtiers were sighing in disconsolation. Lord Hu and Lord Pei had mixed feelings, but no matter what, from a moral point of view, there was nothing wrong about Yuwen Tong’s handling of this matter.

“Guards, follow them and find out where they’re going exactly. If they mean the two princes harm, take immediate action and rescue them,” ordered Yuwen Tong.

“Yes, Marshal,” Miao Shisan answered, fell out with some men and hurried out of the city to pursue the killers.

Watching the receding figures disappear from view at the city gates one by one, Ling Zhang thought, ‘Yuwen Tong’s allowing the killers leave is actually a fairly risky move. What if they really successfully bring the two princes to Jiangzhou?’

Still, if Yuwen Tong had refused to let them leave, things would still have been quite thorny. Yuwen Tong had just chosen the lesser of two evils after weighing up the pros and cons.

This incident that had happened in the middle of the night had come to the knowledge of everybody, and those in the Ling Mansion were no exception.

Ji Yin walked into Ji Yanlai’s courtyard house. “It’s done, Clan Leader.”

Ji Yanlai inclined his head. “Since Fang Quan intends to kill the Ninth Prince, create an opportunity for him to do it. The other one is the least of our concern, for his Vitality Star is dim and lusterless, which means his fate has been sealed.”

“Yes, Clan Leader.” Ji Yin bobbed his head.

“Yuwen Tong acted pretty quick. Those gongs and drums awoke me in the middle of the night and rendered me unable to sleep,” complained Ji Yanlai.

Ji Yin chuckled, “It’s over. You may go back to sleep now, Clan Leader.”

Ji Yanlai rolled his eyes upwards and said, “Sleep my ass. Never mind. You may leave. I could use a little quiet.”

“Yes, Clan Leader.” Ji Yin nodded and left.

Ji Yanlai lapsed into silence and looked up into the night sky at the stars. Two of the stars were unnaturally bright, their radiance so brilliant that they overshadowed all those around them. “It seems that Father’s right. The momentum of a great destiny is unstoppable.”

Chapter 366: I Never Meant to Kill Them

It had been a rough night, and when Ling Zhang finally returned to the Infinite Fortune Palace, Yuwen Tong was still not back, occupied with tackling the aftermath.

Ling Zhang raised his hands to knead his temples, then closed his eyes and quietly sat there for quite a while.

He was not really a good Samaritan, and he knew that the loss of innocent people’s lives was inevitable on the path to supremacy, that in order to consolidate dominion, some difficult choices would have to be made. However, right now he was unable to find complete peace of mind, for there were miscellaneous thoughts racing through his mind, which he couldn’t dismiss.

Miao Shiba walked inside and saw Ling Zhang sitting there, massaging his temples. Mistakenly believing that Ling Zhang was experiencing some kind of discomfort, he hurriedly asked, “Are you not feeling well, Childe Ling? Do you want me to send for a court physician?”

Ling Zhang put his hands down and shook his head. “No. I’m just a little tired. Maybe it’s because of the tough night. I think I’ll be fine after sitting here for a few moments.”

Miao Shiba silently flicked a glance at Ling Zhang’s countenance, opened his mouth, paused briefly and then ventured, “Childe Ling, are you… in a bad mood?”

“No. It’s really just because of the interruption to my sleep. Don’t worry. I’m fine,” replied Ling Zhang.

Miao Shiba stood there for a while. Seeing Ling Zhang didn’t want to say anything more about it, he said, “Then maybe you should go and catch up on your sleep. There’s still some time before daybreak.”

Ling Zhang inclined his head. “You may leave and go where you’re needed. I can take care of myself.”

“Okay.” Miao Shiba walked out of the imperial bedchamber, his face etched with apprehension.

“What’s wrong?” asked a guard on duty outside the doors.

“Childe Ling doesn’t seem in a good mood. I wonder if what happened tonight affected him,” replied Miao Shiba.

The other man kept silent for a while and then said, “Childe Ling is soft-hearted.”

“How about we tell Childe Ling about the Marshal’s plan?” suggested Miao Shiba.

The man shook his head. “It’s best if Childe Ling hears it from the Marshal. Right now what he needs is some quiet.”

Miao Shiba sighed, “Okay.”

After Miao Shiba took his leave, Ling Zhang didn’t change out of his clothes to go to bed. He was still sitting there. For quite a while he was silent and motionless as though in a trance.

He didn’t think he was a tender-hearted man, and neither did he think he was totally blameless, but now that he had chosen to reign over this country with Yuwen Tong, he’d have to accept responsibility for half of the bloodshed and loss of lives that came with the achievement of dominion. ‘Never mind. Fretting about it won’t help. What’s done is done. I have to move on,’ he thought.

After forcing the last bit of turmoil out of his mind, Ling Zhang rose to his feet, changed and went to bed.

…

The sky was beginning to brighten when Yuwen Tong returned after handling everything. Miao Shiba saluted him with the other guards and said in a low voice, “Marshal.”

“Is Brother Zhang asleep?” asked Yuwen Tong.

Miao Shiba hesitated for a brief moment and then replied, “Childe Ling seems to have trouble sleeping. I’ve been hearing him tossing and turning in bed for quite a while.”

Yuwen Tong cast a glance into the imperial bedchamber. “What’s the matter?”

Miao Shiba told Yuwen Tong about Ling Zhang’s being in a foul mood.

Yuwen Tong inclined his head. “I see.”

He walked into the imperial bedchamber which was very quiet, took off his overgarment and then entered the inner chamber. Ling Zhang was indeed in a very light sleep. On hearing Yuwen Tong’s footsteps, he opened his eyes and asked, “You got everything done?”

Yuwen Tong stepped closer to stroke Ling Zhang’s forehead. Seeing the weariness on his face caused by bad sleep, he said, “Why were you sleeping so badly? Something’s bothering you?”

Ling Zhang didn’t want to tell Yuwen Tong about his thoughts which might put needless stress on Yuwen Tong, so he replied, “We watched the show for a whole night, and my mind is full of images of those people, which is keeping me from sleeping well. I was just thinking of lying here for a while. You want to join me? You’ve been bustling around all night.”

“I’m not sleepy,” said Yuwen Tong, stretching out a hand. “How about you get up?”

Ling Zhang gave a bob of the head, took Yuwen Tong’s hand and sat up. Then he subconsciously wanted to raise his hand to knead his temple, but his hand had just moved when he realized it and stopped.

Yuwen Tong flicked a glance at Ling Zhang’s hand but didn’t say anything about it. “Get dressed and go out there to practice kung fu. You’ll feel less sleepy after working up a sweat.”

“Okay,” answered Ling Zhang, getting out of bed with the intention to change his clothes.

Yuwen Tong got him some clothes suitable to wear for kung fu practice. While helping Ling Zhang change into them, Yuwen Tong asked, “Are you having a guilty conscience?”

Ling Zhang paused. “What?”

“There’s no need for you to feel guilty. I’m not going to kill them. I just need them to change their identities,” said Yuwen Tong.

Ling Zhang looked at him in astonishment. “H–How do you know I’m… But if you don’t want to kill them, why did you let them leave the city?”

It was after helping Ling Zhang change into the clothes that Yuwen Tong responded, “If they stay in this city, they’ll always be princes of the former imperial family. Children are innocent, and I don’t need the deaths of two kids to secure my throne. It’s their identities that I intend to kill.”

Ling Zhang gawked at him. “You…”

Yuwen Tong adjusted the skirts of Ling Zhang’s coat for him, making him look sharp and handsome. When he raised his head, he saw the stupefaction on Ling Zhang’s face, smiled, took Ling Zhang’s cheeks in his hands and gave him a smack on the forehead. “Why are you looking so dumb?” he asked.

Ling Zhang jerked out of his trance and huffed, “I… Why didn’t you tell me this sooner?! I couldn’t sleep all night, and the headache’s been killing me!”

‘Now he’s telling the truth,’ thought Yuwen Tong, chuckling. “There were too many things going on, and I didn’t have the time to tell you until now.”

In fact, Yuwen Tong had originally meant to wait until his plan succeeded to disclose it to Ling Zhang, because after all, right now the two princes were still in those killers’ hands, and the whole thing was fraught with uncertainties. However, he couldn’t bring himself to keep concealing it from Ling Zhang when he saw Ling Zhang so blue.

And now, Ling Zhang’s confiding his true feelings to him had set his mind at ease.

“Let’s go and start practicing. Haven’t you been looking forward to making a breakthrough to reach the third level? I think you’ll probably get there when all this is over,” said Yuwen Tong.

Ling Zhang drew abreast of him and replied, “My grandfather told me that as long as I kept accumulating experience at this pace, I’d naturally achieve a breakthrough when the time came, that I shouldn’t be too anxious to get quick results.”

“Mr. Ji had a point.”

…

In a wilderness about a hundred miles away from the capital city.

“Finally we shook off those nuisances. It surprises me that Yuwen Tong’s subordinates are pretty good at this. They actually followed us for a hundred miles.”

The thirty killers abducting Fang Quan and the others had split up into two groups and eventually managed to lose their pursuers. At this moment they were having a breather in the wildlands. Kung fu experts as all these killers were, they were still panting heavily after running a hundred miles without respite. For Fang Quan and the others who had no kung fu skills, the journey had been even more of an ordeal, and they would probably have breathed their last from fatigue already if nobody had carried them along the way.

“You need to bandage my son’s wound right now!” piped the Concubine Jin.

“His Highness’ wound is very shallow, and a scab has formed already. It’ll heal spontaneously over time. There’s no need to bandage it, and neither is there any need for Your Highness to lose your temper,” said the ringleader.

Naturally the Concubine Jin also knew about this. She was just using it as an excuse to vent her anger. The frantic bumpy long ride had almost killed her, and now they were in the heath which was teeming with mosquitoes, bugs, rats and ants. To make things worse, the only food they had was dry, hard pancakes, and she couldn’t even have a bowl of hot soup. In her eyes, this place was utterly unfit for anybody to stay.

“Who are you exactly? And where are you taking me and my son? Lord Fang, Concubine Jin, what on earth do you want to do?” demanded the Concubine Liu.

Unlike the Concubine Jin, the Concubine Liu, after being put down, immediately ran to her son as fast as she could and held him in her arms, comforting him and crying. Seeing Zhou Mingyun’s horrified face, she hugged him so tight as though she would never let him go. Then her eyes resentfully swept across those around her before resting on Fang Quan and the Concubine Jin.

At the sight of the Concubine Liu, the Concubine Jin’s temper began to fray. Instead of answering the question, she started reprimanding the killers, “I made it very clear that she had to die. Why did you bring her and her son out of the city as well?!”

Face hardening, the Concubine Liu cuddled her son tighter, fixing the Concubine Jin with a stare so menacing as though she was only too anxious to flay the Concubine Jin alive and eat her flesh.

“Don’t be mad, Your Highness. We but did what we were paid to do. Our employer didn’t say anything about killing them. In fact, he said that he’d double the payment if we could rescue the two of them in passing,” said the ringleader.

“What?!” Fang Quan’s countenance changed drastically. “If that’s the case, why did you promise me you’d kill them back when we were in the Court Prison?”

The ringleader responded, “Because I wanted Your Lordship to stay in a good mood and be cooperative during our operation, of course.”

“You!” Fang Quan went ballistic and was just about to spring to his feet when the two courtiers beside him stopped him. In an effort to calm him down, one of the courtiers said in a hushed voice, “Easy, Lord Fang. We still rely on them to get to Jiangzhou in one piece.”

Fang Quan’s face changed several times, and eventually he coldly gave a snort of indignation.

The Concubine Liu, holding her son, felt as though her insides had turned into ice. She looked in the direction of the killers and offered, “Since my son and I are of little significance, please let us go, mighty warriors. I’ll pay you double the money your employer promised you!”

The ringleader shook his head. “Like I said, credibility means a lot to us.”

The Concubine Liu lapsed into despair. The Ninth Prince, who sensed that there was something wrong with the atmosphere, kept burrowing his face deeper into the Concubine Liu’s chest. “Mother.”

The Concubine Liu could do nothing but embrace her son tighter.

The Concubine Jin disgustedly looked at the Concubine Liu and her son and sniffed impatiently, “Spare us the loving mother act. You both should feel lucky they saved your asses.”

The Concubine Liu looked back at her flintily. “I’m not like you. All I want is for my son and I to live in peace for the rest of our lives. My father has already requested Yuwen Tong to allow my son to sever all his relations with the Zhou family and change his name. We were only one step away from freedom, but you ruined everything!”

“Don’t kid yourself. You think Yuwen Tong’s going to let you walk away? Stop dreaming,” contradicted the Concubine Jin.

The Concubine Liu icily stared at her, hatred glinting in her eyes.

Fang Quan looked up at them and with that his eyes roved and a vicious plan formed in his mind.

After a while, Fang Quan put on a genial face and said to the Concubine Liu, “Your Highness, now that we’re all in this together, why don’t you cooperate with us to take back the throne that rightfully belongs to the Zhou family?”

The Concubine Liu gazed at him, making no reply.

Fang Quan stood up and was just about to make towards her when the ringleader stopped him. “Your Lordship, if there’s anything you want to say, just say it where you stand.”

“I just want to talk some sense into her. What do you think I could possibly do?” said Fang Quan, affecting an air of nonchalance, but the ringleader didn’t relent, so he had no choice but to sit down. Then he really started trying to persuade the Concubine Liu.

He rambled on for quite a while about things like the destiny of the nation, wealth, status and fame, but the Concubine Liu was entirely unswayed. “All I want is for me and my son to have an ordinary life. I have no interest in any of these things.”

Fang Quan was unconvinced and resumed his effort to make her see reason, sounding quite sincere.

At dusk, Fang Quan had moved from his original position to a spot very close to the Concubine Liu and her son. In the beginning the ringleader had warned him not to approach them several times, but all Fang Quan had been doing was merely try to convince her, so the ringleader had gradually lowered his guard.