The Glory After Rebirth [ɇÇ”Ÿä¹‹Å°Šè£] Chapter 403- 405

Chapter 403: The Imperial Wedding (1)

Ling Zhang, after running an eye over the account books delivered to him by Zhao Jiusi, had a general idea of how things stood.

“You two must be tired doing all this. You may call it a day and go back to rest up, recharge and prepare yourselves for tomorrow.”

“Yes, Young Master,” Jiang Yu and Zhao Jiusi answered. After taking their leave, they didn’t go back to rest immediately. Instead, they double-checked the things that they were supposed to bring with them the next day in the task of accompanying their master to the palace. As Ling Zhang’s advisers, they knew very well what they should put first. Also, the next day they would officially make their first public appearance as Ling Zhang’s advisers, and they couldn’t afford to let anything go wrong.

The whole residence was immersed in excited anticipation. After night fell, oil lamps were lighted everywhere. Ling Zhang had dinner with his family, who then shooed him back to his own courtyard house, exhorting him to rest up and get ready to be a bride the next day.

As Yuwen Tong couldn’t come to keep him company this night, in order to keep from thinking too much and being eluded by sleep, Ling Zhang brought Ling Maomao and Ji Xiaocong back to his courtyard house and then washed Whitie the fox clean. The two kids and the little white fox, after the bath, ran into the bedroom, jumped onto Ling Zhang’s bed all at once and started roughhousing boisterously.

“Don’t pull Whitie’s tail, Maomao. Keep an eye on Cong. Don’t let him fall off the bed.”

Ling Zhang was all sweaty after bathing the three of them. He gave Ling Maomao a word of warning and then went to bathe himself.

When he had returned, he saw that the two little boys were whispering about something on the bed, snickering so hard that their shoulders were shaking.

The chirping and laughter of the boys lent an air of ease to the scene, and Ling Zhang’s mood also lightened in spite of himself. He walked to the bedside, gave Ling Maomao a pat on the butt and then pushed him inside to make some room. “What are you two talking about that fascinates you so deeply? You were within an inch of falling off the bed. Do you think your butt is fat enough to spare you the pain?”

Ling Maomao gave his butt a stroke and replied, “I’m telling Cong something about the imperial palace.”

So they were talking about the imperial palace yet again. These two little boys had great curiosity and had been meaning to go to the palace for an adventure all this time.

Ling Zhang also got into bed, moved the two boys to the depths of the bed, grabbed Whitie who had just jumped onto him, put it down beside the pillow, and then said, “What did you tell him?”

“That there’s a huge imperial garden in the palace and there will be a lot of lighted lanterns in it tomorrow night. Big Brother, are they really going to light a lot of lanterns in there tomorrow?”

Ling Maomao and Ji Xiaocong both looked at Ling Zhang with gleaming eyes. Because of the expectant expressions in their eyes alone, even if there hadn’t been a lantern show scheduled for the next night in the imperial garden, Ling Zhang would have the eunuchs make it happen.

“Yeah. The whole imperial garden is decked out in lanterns of every description. You two should have a good night’s sleep tonight. Tomorrow you’ll see them.”

Ji Xiaocong let out a cheer in excitement and said to Ling Maomao, “Brother Maomao, can we play hide-and-seek tomorrow night?”

Playing hide-and-seek at night? Face falling, Ling Zhang looked at Ling Maomao. “What are you planning on doing? Why is Cong talking about playing hide-and-seek?”

Ling Maomao was taken aback by the serious look on Ling Zhang’s face. With a guilty expression, he replied, “Nothing. We’re not going to play hide-and-seek.”

“But Brother Maomao, you promised me you’d play hide-and-seek with me. You can’t go back on your word.”

Ji Xiaocong looked accusingly at Ling Maomao, an injured expression in his eyes.

Ling Maomao was in over his head. Looking from Ji Xiaocong’s reproving eyes and Ling Zhang’s darkening face, he got so anxious that he almost broke out in a sweat. After a brief moment, he hastily explained, “It’s during daytime that we’ll play hide-and-seek. We can’t do it at night, because we might get lost. Also, it’s very dark at night, and there’ll be scary things wandering around.”

“You can’t do it during the day either. Tomorrow you two must stay close to your elders. You are not to go anywhere without permission. If you two wander off tomorrow and I find out, I’ll spank you both.”

Ling Zhang put on a stern face. The next day both the Ling Mansion and the palace would be seething with people, and the adults might not be able to keep an eye on these two little boys all the time, so he had to warn them to behave themselves.

Ling Maomao and Ji Xiaocong were both startled, not daring to speak.

“Do you still want to go to the palace to stay for a few days?”

“Yes.”

“Then you’ll have to behave yourselves tomorrow. Understand?”

“I understand,” the two boys obediently replied in unison.

For fear that Ling Zhang would get angry again, the two little boys repeatedly promised that they wouldn’t run around or play hide-and-seek the next day.

The two boys appeared meek and faintly disappointed but didn’t dare air their grievances. Seeing this, Ling Zhang inwardly snickered in spite of himself. Then he lectured the boys for another few moments. It was not until he believed they indeed wouldn’t dare misbehave that his face softened. “If you two behave yourselves tomorrow, I’ll bring you to the palace in a couple of days, and you’ll be allowed to play all the games you want there.”

It was only then that Ling Maomao and Ji Xiaocong happily smiled. Before long, the two of them burrowed down beneath the quilt again, laughing and jesting, taking up more than half of Ling Zhang’s bed.

Ling Zhang tucked them in. The warm days had turned cooler and it was a little cold at night. People could easily catch cold in this kind of weather if they were not careful enough.

After that, he himself also lay down, but he didn’t tell the boys to stop whispering. Hearing their words and occasional chuckle, Ling Zhang also put his mind at ease. After some time, he gradually drifted off, presumably sooner than the two boys did.

Ling Maomao, after finding that his big brother had fallen asleep, quietly motioned for Ji Xiaocong to stop speaking. The latter gave a yawn, reached out a hand to hold the hem of Ling Maomao’s clothes, rubbed his face against the pillow and then fell asleep as well after a few moments. Ling Maomao scooped Whitie off the pillow and into his embrace. Whitie struggled for a while, but instead of wriggling free, he let Ling Maomao hold him, maybe because he didn’t want to wake Ling Zhang up.

After the room quieted down, Miao Shiba, who was on guard duty outside the doors, delivered a message to a contact in the palace.

Yuwen Tong in the palace was still awake. He was lying on a rooftop when the message from outside the palace was delivered to him. After hearing that Ling Zhang had fallen asleep, he muttered with a little sigh, “I’m lying here too anxious to sleep, but he is sleeping like a baby.”

While saying this, he dissolved into chuckle, his affectionate eyes reflecting the starry sky, softening the sharp contours of his handsome face significantly.

The next day being his wedding day, both his mind and his body were in a state of feverish excitement. The very thought of the next day thrilled him. He’d been lying on the rooftop staring at the night sky for quite a while. After hearing that Ling Zhang had fallen asleep, he gradually cooled down, rose to his feet, leaped off the roof, lightly landed on the ground and entered the imperial bedchamber.

…

Early the next morning, Ling Zhang was woken up before daybreak.

“Young Master, it’s time to get up.”

Having just awoken, he was still a little sleepy. After a while, his mind cleared and he was very surprised that he had slept right through the night. It’d been quite a good night’s sleep. The two little boys were still in bed asleep, snoring faintly. Ji Xiaocong had a smell of milk about him. His hand which had originally been holding the hem of Ling Maomao’s clothes was now gripping the breast of them, his cheeks florid with sleep. Whitie had freed himself from Ling Maomao’s embrace some time before and curled up into a ball in a corner of the bed. When Ling Zhang woke up, the fox vigilantly opened his jet-black liquid eyes, which roved around and then flashed at the vague figure of the person outside who had just called Ling Zhang.

After waking up, Ling Zhang recalled the event scheduled for this day and his heart gave a horrible jolt before it started to hammer. This was the official day of the wedding. It turned out that when the time really came, he was indeed very very nervous. It was a long moment before he jerked out of his trance and hastened to sit up with the intention to get up, but the next moment he slowed down and quietly got out of bed.

When Ling Zhang had got out of bed, Whitie rose to his feet, walked out of the corner, instantly leaped onto Ling Zhang’s shoulder and let out a cry.

Ling Zhang raised his hand and gave the little fox a stroke. As he felt Whitie’s body heat and heartbeat, the transports of delight slowly ebbed away, his face growing composed. He walked outside and lit the candles in the house. Dawn hadn’t broken yet, and the house was still quite dark, which made it difficult for him to see things clearly without candlelight.

Standing in front of a mirror, Ling Zhang looked into it at himself, but it was Yuwen Tong in the palace that he was thinking about. There were even more rules in the palace, so Yuwen Tong definitely had got up already. Ling Zhang wondered what kind of mood Yuwen Tong was in at this moment, and whether or not he had washed and finished dressing himself. The more he thought about it, the more anxious to see Yuwen Tong he was, the look in his eyes changing spontaneously. Before he knew it, he lowered his head and dissolved into chuckle. Happy smile could even be seen at the corners of his eyes and the tips of his brows.

He was still wearing white underclothing, his hair loose, standing in front of the mirror, a smile on his face, the oil lamps in the house shedding a soft glow over him. His smile was so charming that even Whitie the fox was dazzled by the beauty of it. After a few moments, Whitie raised a chubby paw and tapped Ling Zhang’s cheek, presumably trying to jog him back to his senses.

It was not until Ling Zhang was pulled back to the present by Whitie’s paw and looked at the mirror that he came to realize that he’d been standing and smiling in front of the mirror for quite a long time. Then he noticed that smile and with that his face burned somewhat. He hastened to walk away from the mirror with Whitie on his shoulder, carelessly tied his hair up and went to take a bath.

When he had finished his bath and walked out, a lot of people had come, standing in the house. Ling Zhaowu and Ling Zhaowen had both arrived. The two little boys, Ling Maomao and Ji Xiaocong, had been scooped out of the bed and were now being helped wash and change.

“Father, Uncle Zhaowen.” At the sight of the two elders of his, Ling Zhang came to know that he probably should’ve got up a little earlier.

“Don’t worry. There’s still plenty of time,” said Ling Zhaowen with a smile.

“It’s time to change clothes, Young Master.”

Xia Feng walked over with a couple of men, offering to comb Ling Zhang’s hair and help him change clothes.

Ling Zhang inclined his head, sat down in front of the mirror and then let someone else comb his hair. The one responsible for combing his hair was a staff member of the Ministry of Rites, who was singing a particular song of benediction while combing Ling Zhang’s hair in a gentle, neat and unhurried manner.

Royal scarlet decorations and brightly burning candles could be seen everywhere in the house.

At first Ling Zhang was a little uneasy, but gradually his mind wandered into the palace. Wondering whether or not Yuwen Tong was going through the same thing, he couldn’t help but smile again. He himself didn realize it, but the others noticed, who exchanged glances and then smiled knowingly.

After combing his hair, the official tied it up and helped Ling Zhang put on the headwear. The next step was to change into the robes.

One by one, Ling Zhang put on the scarlet wedding robes that he’d tried on in the imperial bedchamber of the Infinite Fortune Palace on that day.

Ling Zhang still remembered how Yuwen Tong had helped him change into them, as well as all Yuwen Tong’s reactions after that. As he recalled this, smile appeared at the corners of his eyes and the tips of his brows once again despite his efforts to stifle it. He knew that everybody present was looking at him, but he just couldn’t help it, so he had to slightly hang his head, delight sweeping over him in waves uncontrollably.

Seeing his nephew’s countenance, Ling Zhaowen gently nudged Ling Zhaowu, a sentimentally gratified expression appearing on his face.

Chapter 404: The Imperial Wedding (2)

Ling Zhaowen, who was inwardly sighing for recollection and at the same time feeling happy for Ling Zhang, couldn’t help but nudge Ling Zhaowu and breathe, “Seeing Zhang’er smiling, I feel some contentment as well. What about you, Big Brother?”

“If he smiles like this every day, nothing would stop me feeling content, and his mother would be gratified too.”

Ling Zhaowu looked at his son, his eyes full of fatherly love. On this day, his son’s wedding day, there were a lot of words he wanted to say to his deceased wife, and he had said all of them inwardly. The greatest wish of Ling Zhaowu, a man who had been through a rebirth, was that his son would have this kind of smile on his face every day for the rest of his life. If anybody tried to take this smile away from his son, he would ruthlessly destroy them.

Ling Zhang’s robes were the most formal and also the hardest to put on. It took him a lot of time to change into them, but Ling Zhang himself was unaware of it, because he was immersed in his memories of what had happened in the Infinite Fortune Palace that day, including how Yuwen Tong had looked in his wedding robes.

The two boys, Ling Maomao and Ji Xiaocong, had been excitedly watching on the side since they’d been dressed. Seeing Ling Zhang smiling constantly, the two of them snickered with their hands over their mouths, casting Ling Zhang occasional glances. The two kids were clothed very festively, bearing a striking similarity to the two boys in a New Year picture, one of them taller than the other, both quite good-looking.

Ling Zhang had originally been absorbed in his reminiscences, and it was not until he accidentally glimpsed the two boys who were sneaking glances at him and snickering that he hastily pulled himself back to the present only to find that everybody else present was doing the same thing, including his father and uncle. His face instantly started burning.

“It’s okay. There’s nothing to be embarrassed about. Today is your wedding day, and everything is supposed to be festive, so smile whenever you feel like it.”

Ling Zhaowen even bantered with his nephew. The moment he finished speaking, everybody else in the house burst into laughter, filling the house with joy.

Ling Zhang’s face had been burning all along. “Uncle Zhaowen!”

As the Ling family were laughing, Yuwen Tong in the palace changed into his robes with the help of a couple of eunuchs.

As though the two of them shared some kind of telepathic bond, when Ling Zhang was looking at his wedding robes and smiling, Yuwen Tong also recalled the day when he helped Ling Zhang put on his wedding robes one by one, longing gradually filling his eyes, a fire blazing in them.

Morning still hadn’t come. Time seemed to have slowed down considerably, which struck Yuwen Tong as somewhat unbearable.

“Yao Yi, are there any messages from the Ling Mansion?”

Yao Yi hurriedly walked inside, looking as if he had just rushed up to the palace from somewhere. “Childe Ling has woken up. When the message was delivered here, the man said that Childe Ling had just awoken. Now I think he’s probably changed clothes already.”

Yuwen Tong inclined his head and studied his outfit from head to foot, turning left and right in front of a mirror to check the robes from different angles. “Am I wearing these robes in the right way?”

“Yes, yes, Sire. It’s perfect. You look even more handsome in your wedding robes.”

Yao Yi quickly answered the question and even complimented Yuwen Tong on his handsome appearance without hesitation. After all, this was his first time seeing Yuwen Tong turn left and right in front of a mirror to check how he looked. He was so astounded that even the speed of his speech was faster than usual.

Yuwen Tong straightened his back and looked into the mirror again. It was not until he confirmed Yao Yi wasn’t lying that he walked away from the mirror, looked up into the sky outside the window and furrowed his brows in displeasure. “How come dawn still hasn’t broken?”

Yao Yi cautiously swallowed, glanced over his shoulder at the sky and replied, “It’ll get light soon. It takes only a short while for morning to chase away darkness.”

While he was speaking, Yuwen Feng showed up, some staff members of the Ministry of Rites following in his wake. At the sight of them, Yao Yi felt a sense of relief. These people arrived just in time, for his master would stop complaining about the seemingly delayed daybreak when he was otherwise engaged.

“I’m honored to kneel before you, Your Majesty.”

Yuwen Feng looked at Yuwen Tong and then added, “Today you look exceptionally imposing and attractive, Your Majesty. Your presence overshadows that of everybody in this city.”

Yuwen Tong flicked him a glance, as though finding this compliment quite pleasant to the ear, his displeasure at the tardy morning dissolving noticeably. “Why did you come here with them?”

“I’m your cousin. How could I miss your big day? Cousin Hong and some others should also be here in a few moments.”

Yuwen Feng made a reply, a smile on his face. His previously sunken cheeks were now slightly fuller, and the shadows under his eyes had dwindled considerably. He seemed to be getting more energetic by the day and finally looked like a living person now, and he’d regained much of his original presence as well.

Before long, Yuwen Hong and some others arrived at the palace as expected. Yuwen Hong, Yuwen Han, Yuwen Qian and Yuwen Jin, all four of them came. Yuwen Jin, on his arrival, excitedly walked once around Yuwen Tong.

“Way to go, cousin. You look so dashing and handsome and elegant in these robes. I can guarantee you Brother Zhang won’t be able to take his eyes off you once he claps eyes on you!”

Yuwen Tong lifted his eyebrows. He had tried these robes on in the presence of Ling Zhang, who had indeed been struck dumb and stared unblinkingly at him at that time.

“You look fantastic indeed. The Ling family will definitely be very satisfied when they see you,” Yuwen Hong also observed.

The four cousins of Yuwen Tong’s circled him again and again, sensibly complimenting him repeatedly, which gave Yuwen Tong a manifestly good mood.

When the imperial palace began to hum with life, residents in different areas of the capital city also started to light their oil lamps. It was well before sunrise, but the whole city woke up earlier than usual and soon became animated. This was the day of the imperial wedding ceremony.

In the Ling Mansion, Ling Zhang was still in his chambers. Xia Feng, along with some servants, delivered his breakfast to him.

“Young Master, you should fill your belly first. Soon you’ll be too occupied to find any time to eat.”

All the breakfast foods had been specially prepared by the cooks under the supervision of Fu Caiwei who had got up very early this day.

“My aunt got up so early? How is she? Have someone deliver a message to my aunt. Tell her to rest and leave this kind of things to the others.”

Ling Zhang was worried about Fu Caiwei’s physical condition. She had a fairly strong constitution and Mr. Mu had been keeping an eye on her, and it hadn’t really been a tough pregnancy for her, and she could even do some exercise, but Fu Caiwei was of a certain age after all, so Ling Zhang feared that getting up so early to bustle around would take a heavy toll on her.

“When I was there a while ago, Second Mistress seemed to be in a good mood, and there was a smile on her face all the time. She’s accompanied by some middle-aged handmaids. If Second Mistress feels any discomfort, they’ll stop her, so there’s no need to worry, Young Master. Second Mistress has always seen you as her own son, and today is your wedding day, so even if you have Second Mistress go back to her room to rest, she wouldn’t have complete peace of mind. You might as well let her walk around from time to time, so that she’d feel more at ease.”

Ling Zhang looked at him. He really had never thought of any of these things that Xia Feng had just told him. Maybe his aunt would be happier if she could be of some help. Given the circumstances on this particular day, if he were in his aunt’s shoes, he wouldn’t be able to just sit and do nothing either.

“I think you’ve got a point. Send someone there to tell my aunt not to exhaust herself.”

“Yes, Young Master,” Xia Feng answered and then instructed a servant to relay the message to Fu Caiwei.

Since it’d been Fu Caiwei who supervised the cooks preparing the breakfast, naturally all the foods were Ling Zhang’s favorites, which was why he failed to restrain himself and enjoyed them to his heart’s content. After realizing that he’d have much fewer chances to eat meals prepared by his aunt after the wedding, he valued this breakfast even more.

Seeing as Fu Caiwei was now pregnant, there was no doubt she would no longer be able to do any of these things in a couple of months. Also, he would soon move into the palace. After he became the empress, it would surely be inconvenient for him to leave the palace and return to the Ling Mansion on a frequent basis. On top of that, his aunt would have to move to Shengzhou after she was delivered of the baby and nursed back to health, and there was no telling when they would see each other again after that.

Though the moment of parting hadn’t arrived yet, Ling Zhang, for some inexplicable reason, felt a pang of sorrow and heartache.

Unexplainably, Ling Zhang came to understand the scene previously described to him by someone else in which a bride and her mother wailing in each other’s arms before leaving home. Although he wouldn’t really cry, he could faintly feel what other brides might’ve felt on their wedding days.

Ling Zhang ate this breakfast in such a careful way as though it were something valuable, which was why he was quite full when he finished it and couldn’t help but stand up with the intention to go for a walk.

Everybody else in the residence was busy. Ling Zhang’s courtyard house, however, was rid of bustle. When he was fully dressed and had finished his breakfast, the presiding official of the Ministry of Rites still hadn’t arrived, because it was not the time yet. Compared with other parts of the residence which were full of hustle, this courtyard house was much quieter.

Ling Zhang wanted to go outside to help but was stopped by Xia Feng and the others.

“Young Master, today is all about you. How could you go out there to help others at this point in time? What you should do is patiently stay here waiting for His Majesty to come and pick you up.”

Waiting for Yuwen Tong to come here to pick him up? Ling Zhang looked at the color of the sky and saw that it had just begun to lighten in the east. How long would he have to wait?

Yuwen Tong was asking the same question. He had been staring into the sky for quite some time. After what felt like a lifetime, the sky finally began to brighten, but Yuwen Feng told him that he still had to endure a long wait before the scheduled departure.

Yuwen Tong, who had also seen the wedding plan, naturally knew that there was still a long time before the scheduled departure, but every time he stopped pacing the floor, it struck him that time was going slower than usual.

Yuwen Feng, Yuwen Si and Yuwen Chi, was somewhat amused to see Yuwen Tong behave like this, who had always been collected and unhurried but on this particular day had been frequently looking at the color of the sky and pacing up and down in the room.

“When I was on my wedding day, I never acted so anxiously as he does,” Yuwen Hong told his brother and cousins.

Except for Yuwen Jin, they had all got married and found Yuwen Tong’s reaction quite understandable, but on their wedding days, none of them had ever been so fidgety as Yuwen Tong was at this moment.

“Tell me about it. As far as I could tell, his mind has wandered to the Ling Mansion already, but he has to stay in this palace. He looks so anxious as though he could break out of here at any moment.”

“Alas. Come to think of it, I’ve never seen him like this before. On one occasion, he’d just returned to the capital city when a dispatch was delivered to him saying that something urgent came up in the borderlands. At that time all courtiers were startled, but he didn’t even blink and unhurriedly returned to the borderlands, as though his countenance wouldn’t change a bit even if the sky fell. Look at him now. What a striking contrast.”

“That’s why I told you he has deep feelings for Ling Zhang. Previously he was indeed uninterested in this kind of stuff, but now he’s in love. It’s indeed true that no man can extricate himself from love once he’s in it, no matter how puritanical he is. Tsk, tsk.”

“No hero escapes the charm of beautiful women. Haha…”

The four of them jested about it on and on. Yuwen Feng, listening on the side, shook his head. Looking at Yuwen Tong, he inwardly sighed, amazed how dramatically a romantic relationship could change a man.

Chapter 405: The Imperial Wedding (3)

Yuwen Feng sentimentally imagined how different many things would have been if his family had seen sense earlier and realized how much Ling Zhang meant to Yuwen Tong instead of making trouble for them from the very beginning. However, it was no good feeling regretful about it. He was fully aware that some people would never come around, as though they’d been possessed by demons.

This thought only stayed in his mind for an instant before Yuwen Feng dismissed it, feeling that dwelling on the past wouldn’t do any good. Moreover, right now he didn’t even feel like think about any of those things, so it was totally unnecessary to force himself to give them any thought.

…

As the morning mist lifted, dawn broke. It was a cloudless, breezy day. The boisterous twittering of magpies on tree branches and the golden light from the rising sun in the east lent an air of joy to this festive day.

Every striding figure in the Ling Mansion was oozing delight. The day of the imperial wedding that people had been anticipating for such a long time had finally come. At the selected auspicious hour, the emperor would promptly show up at the front gates of the Ling Mansion to pick up the eldest grandson of the Ling family’s patriarch, the apple of the Ling family’s eye.

As the sun rose higher in the sky, the selected auspicious hour got closer and closer, and the crowd of lookers-on staring expectantly in the direction of the end of the street outside the Ling Mansion was getting larger and larger.

Ling Zhang was sitting in his courtyard house, his twenty-four bodyguards in the gateway, Jiang Yu and Zhao Jiusi standing in the courtyard, the wedding officiant assigned here by the Ministry of Rites standing opposite a table. All of them were nervously waiting in anticipation, straining their ears to hear the movement outside. At this time, all other members of the Ling family had gone to the front yard, where a lot of guests close to the Ling family were present, such as Tao Feng, Tao Yi, the couple of good friends of Ling Zhang’s and so on, all of whom were waiting for Yuwen Tong to arrive.

People in the courtyard house were also waiting. Ling Zhang, whose sense of hearing was unnaturally sharp, naturally could hear the movements in the distance clearly. It was the time yet, so Yuwen Tong hadn’t shown up. Everybody else in the courtyard was tense. Ling Zhang, however, appeared relatively collected, but in his broad sleeves, his hands had balled into fists, unnoticeably quivering, his long, fair-skinned fingers curling up in his palms, his knuckles faintly white. He was stressed. He concealed all his tenseness beneath his sleeves. Other people couldn’t see the tremble in his hands and were oblivious of the transports of emotions churning inside him.

Sitting there, he seemed to be quite undisturbed, but actually his mind had wandered to the outside of the residence some time before, his ears cocked, listening hard to the sounds from outside, trying to differentiate between the noises to see if Yuwen Tong was coming. The harder he strained his ears, the worse his hands in his sleeves shook. Gradually his palms became sweaty. Nobody could see this. He himself was the only one aware of it.

Seeing he was so unruffled, the presiding official from the Ministry of Rites, who was standing ahead of him on the right and unaware of how Ling Zhang actually felt, mistakenly believed that Ling Zhang was really very calm, an admiring look in his eyes.

Jiang Yu’s and Zhao Jiusi’s nerves were also on edge, but when they saw that Ling Zhang wasn’t nervous at all, the two of them had different reactions. The former carefully sized Ling Zhang up from head to foot, quietly trying to find out whether or not Ling Zhang was really as unhurried as he appeared. His searching gaze was not malicious. He was doing this only because Ling Zhang’s reaction piqued his curiosity. Back at the time when Jiang Yu had decided to be Ling Zhang’s adviser, he had told Ling Zhang that he wondered how far Ling Zhang would be able to get. At this moment, Jiang Yu was eager to know what Ling Zhang was actually thinking about. This kind of curiosity and desire for an answer hadn’t been obvious in the beginning. At that time, Jiang Yu had made that decision partly because of Jiang Shennian’s plan, and partly because of his own curiosity, but after having served Ling Zhang for some time, his desire for the answer had taken root in his mind without him noticing, and his eyes from time to time wandered off onto Ling Zhang in spite of himself just as they were doing at this moment.

Zhao Jiusi’s thoughts, however, were much simpler. At first he’d been friends with Ling Zhang, and it’d been afterward that he’d become Ling Zhang’s adviser. There had always been a basis of trust between him and Ling Zhang as friends. Now, as he saw that Ling Zhang looked composed and undisturbed, his immediate reaction was to trust Ling Zhang, and he admired Ling Zhang as well.

The two of them were both quietly looking at Ling Zhang, curbing their searching gaze with their self-restraint, maintaining their respective attitudes with their sense of propriety. Neither of them stepped out of line, so Ling Zhang didn’t sense their gaze.

“Young Master, there’s still some time. Would you like to have something to eat? It’s very likely you’ll be too occupied to grab a bite for a very long time.”

Zhao Jiusi was the first to break the silence in the courtyard house. The remainder of Ling Zhang’s schedule was very tight, and he probably wouldn’t be able to find the time to eat until the wedding feast started, and the wedding feast was not really the perfect occasion to fill one’s belly.

Ling Zhang had eaten the breakfast Fu Caiwei had cooked him early in the morning, and he’d eaten it all. Not hungry, he hesitated.

“You should follow the advice, Childe Ling. It’s indeed very unlikely you’d get another chance to eat before the wedding feast,” the wedding officiant of the Ministry of Rites also admonished.

Jiang Yu glanced around him and then turned to walk into the house. Before long, he returned with the snacks and the tea set on the table in the living room, and placed them on the stone table before Ling Zhang.

“You should have a bite or two, Young Master. The tea is still warm.”

Jiang Yu had taken action directly and considerately. Although Ling Zhang hadn’t instructed him to do this, his conduct was not beyond the pale, and neither was he being insistent, so it naturally didn’t make anybody feel uncomfortable. Ling Zhang accepted the kind offer and had a couple of cookies with tea.

Zhao Jiusi, who had seen the whole thing, thoughtfully cast an appraising look at Jiang Yu. Recently he had perceived how competent Jiang Yu was and also noticed that Ling Zhang held Jiang Yu in increasingly high regard. A competitive man as well, at first he had felt somewhat unconvinced, but gradually he had come to realize the reason why Ling Zhang thought a lot of Jiang Yu. It struck him that Jiang Yu’s sense of propriety was great, especially in the presence of Ling Zhang. Jiang Yu always made remarks and did things in a perfectly measured manner, which was an ability Zhao Jiusi believed he himself hadn’t developed yet. Because of the change of Ling Zhang’s identity, Zhao Jiusi still had some misgivings which made him felt hemmed in, so when he did things, he was constantly under some restrictions and didn’t dare act freely. He was friends with Ling Zhang, which should’ve been an advantage of his, but now Jiang Yu was outshining him. He indeed needed to work on it in this regard.

Ling Zhang was unaware of the covert competition between Jiang Yu and Zhao Jiusi for the time being, and the main reason for this was that he had indeed been too busy lately and hadn’t had the time to observe them. Also, Zhao Jiusi had been intentionally improving himself. Knowing his shortcomings very well, he’d been trying to adjust his mentality on his own initiative. If he kept doing this and things went well, he would be able to finish the transition of his role before Ling Zhang could realize it, and nobody would be able to perceive anything about it, except for his current associate Jiang Yu.

After having a couple of cookies and two cups of tea, Ling Zhang didn’t touch anything else on the table. A moment ago he had stealthily wiped his sweaty palms dry on his sleeves without anybody noticing.

The scheduled time of departure was drawing near. Ling Zhang withdrew his hands into his sleeves, listening to the movements outside, his countenance changing somewhat.

A measured clatter of horses’ hoofs was heard, approaching the Ling Mansion, the ground quaking slightly. Though unable to distinguish the words of people on the other side or see the scene at the front gates, Ling Zhang could tell from the clattering alone Yuwen Tong was coming.

“It’s time,” said the wedding officiant from the Ministry of Rites in a happy voice, looking up into the sky.

It was time. Yuwen Tong, followed by a team of a thousand crack troops, arrived at the front gates of the Ling Mansion.

By convention, Yuwen Tong didn’t have to personally come here to pick up Ling Zhang, but Yuwen Tong had insisted he come, so the Ministry of Rites had changed the wedding plan. At this time, the road in front of the Ling Mansion were packed with long ranks of cavalrymen, who were the most elite members of the North-western Army. They were in full fig, good spirits and looked quite imposing. All of them were the best of the best and each of them was worth a hundred on the battlefield, but on this day, they were here to help Yuwen Tong escort his marriage partner back to the palace, so they were all curbing their ferocious air, wearing festive, neat outfits, smile in their eyes.

The emperor’s wedding convoy came to a halt at the front gates of the Ling Mansion. Ling Xingzhong, along with other members of his family, came out to welcome the emperor.

Yuwen Tong dismounted from his horse and with that all the cavalrymen behind him did the same thing in unison with awe-inspiring panache.

Yuwen Tong quickly strode up to the gateway and held Ling Xingzhong’s arms, stopping him from getting on his knees, sparing Ling Zhaowu and the others the formalities as well.

“Today I came here to request permission to marry your grandson, so I don’t dare have you welcome me with such a high level of formality. In fact, I should pay my respects to you, considering all of you are my elders.”

On this day, he was the Ling family’s “son-in-law”, not the emperor.

Ling Xingzhong chuckled. Other members of the Ling family also smiled a joyous smile.

The wedding officiant of the Ministry of Rites hastened up to them to make arrangements for all people involved to do what they were supposed to do. When it came to escorting the bride, there were also certain rules.

A band started playing jubilant music. The red silk hanging from the lintel of the front gates was radiant with gaiety and particularly adorable. The satin fluttering in the breeze, like the chirp of magpies, lifted the spirit of everybody whose eyes beheld it.

Hearing the sounds from the front gates, Ling Zhang in the courtyard house clenched his fists tighter, the feverish excitement inside him on the verge of bursting its boundaries. He could barely sense anything except for the uproar from the front gates, and as the growing commotions moved closer in his direction continuously, he had no room in his head to think about anything other than those sounds and the person whom he’d been eagerly looking forward to seeing emerge through the gates.

“They’re coming,” reported Wang Dashan, trotting into the courtyard.

The wedding officiant hastened up to the gateway, ready to welcome the emperor. Jiang Yu and Zhao Jiusi followed him.

Ling Zhang rose to his feet, gazing fixedly in the direction of the gateway, waiting for his lover to show up.

The jubilant music was quite joyful and occasionally mixed with children’s cheerful and excited laughter. Step by step, the tumultuous crowd approached.

“It’s an honor to kneel before you, Your Majesty,” chorused the wedding officiant, Jiang Yu and Zhao Jiusi, respectfully sinking to their knees.

“You may rise,” said Yuwen Tong’s voice.

Ling Zhang stared unblinkingly at the gateway, motionless. After a short while, a small part of the hem of robes appeared first and soon grew into a handsome man of great presence, whose face was very familiar. At the sight of him, Ling Zhang’s mind was packed with the image of this person, his eyes unable to move or see anybody but Yuwen Tong.