Novel Full ‘If this was the real reason, it would be kind of hurtful,’ thought Yuwen Tong in embarrassment.
A flush in his cheeks, Ling Zhang had also come to realize what he had just done, appearing somewhat awkward. “I–”
The unmistakable discomfort on his face brought Yuwen Tong into deeper misunderstanding. A somewhat vexed look in his eyes, Yuwen Tong asked, “Did I make you uncomfortable?”
‘Ah? What kind of question is this?’ Ling Zhang raised his head to look at him and saw the vexation in Yuwen Tong’s eyes. Light suddenly dawned on him and the next moment, all his embarrassment disappeared from his face and he dissolved into chuckles, surprised that a man like Yuwen Tong would also be vexed at this kind of matter.
His chuckle made Yuwen Tong more annoyed, and his face fell tense. Eventually, with a sullen look in his eyes, he abruptly stepped out of the bathing pool.
Believing that he got angry and was about to leave, Ling Zhang hurriedly tried to stop him. “Wait a moment. I’m not…Hey!”
Before Ling Zhang could finish his sentence, Yuwen Tong picked up a blanket, turned around, wrapped it around him, scooped him up in his arms and carried him out of the bathing pool, heading towards the outside.
Ling Zhang was startled. “What are you doing?”
“Wiping out the humiliation,” replied Yuwen Tong.
Ling Zhang fell speechless with embarrassment.
“What humiliation are you referring to?”
‘Surely it’s not what I think it is?’
Yuwen Tong lowered his head and flicked a glance at Ling Zhang. “You tell me.”
Ling Zhang directly gave him a dirty look. “Put me down. I don’t want any part in your so-called–”
Before he could finish his remark, Yuwen Tong gagged him.
It had not happened in his memory when he was carried to the inner room, nor when he was laid on the bed, nor when Yuwen Tong removed that blanket from him. In order to “wipe out the humiliation”, Yuwen Tong went to quite some trouble to “serve” Ling Zhang, who was struck all of a heap and was totally unaware of what was going on.
Ling Zhang had no idea how much time had passed, but when he collected his thoughts panting heavily, he found that he was lying in bed and the blanket around him had been removed by Yuwen Tong…
Propping himself on his hands with Ling Zhang lying down below, Yuwen Tong watched him with smiling eyes. Clearly, the intoxicated expression Ling Zhang had had on his face had greatly pleased Yuwen Tong.
“Shall we continue?” asked Yuwen Tong.
‘Continue what?’ Ling Zhang instantly pushed Yuwen Tong aside. “Cut the shit. I want to change clothes. Go back to your own place right now! You might miss Yao Yi’s message if you don’t hurry.”
Ling Zhang’s words would have been more convincing if there had not been a pink flush on his cheeks and he had not been trying to avoid Yuwen Tong’s.
Yuwen Tong stretched out his hand and gently scratched Ling Zhang’s cheek, feeling that the soft, tender touch was incredibly good.
Ling Zhang raised his hand and was just about to push Yuwen Tong’s hand away when he caught sight of the deep look in Yuwen Tong’s eyes and paused.
The air in the room seemed to have instantly warmed up. Ling Zhang uneasily turned his glance away, afraid to look at Yuwen Tong’s eyes, but this time Yuwen Tong didn’t do anything. He withdrew his hand and walked away from Ling Zhang’s bed. “Get dressed right away or else you might catch a cold. I’m going back.”
Ling Zhang abruptly raised his head to look at Yuwen Tong. The look in the depths of Yuwen Tong’s eyes suggested that he was subduing something. Seeing this, Ling Zhang briefly paused again and then said, “Okay.”
Yuwen Tong turned around, went to the bathroom, retrieved his clothes and left.
Ling Zhang also got out of bed. While changing, he absent-mindedly replayed in his mind Yuwen Tong’s deep look a moment ago. As he came to realize that Yuwen Tong valued him, a sense of security spontaneously rose in him.
He was not a woman, but the feeling of being cherished like treasure, which transcended gender or identity, still touched him.
‘Did I make the right choice to agree to go to the capital city with Yuwen Tong?’ He had a premonition that he probably would have to marry Yuwen Tong after he went to the capital city with him.
“Young Master, Yao Yi’s letter arrived. Marshal requests your presence.” Suddenly, the voice of Yuwen Tong’s bodyguard came from outside the window.
Ling Zhang immediately rose to his feet. “I’ll be there soon.”
“What did Yao Yi say? Did it work?” asked Ling Zhang after entering the Green Bamboo Mansion, bursting with impatience.
Yuwen Tong signaled him to calm down. “It took the army longer than we’d expected to find the den of those bandits. Currently, all bandits are under control. Their correspondence with Zhang Chong and some other evidence as well as the hidden stockpile of armaments have also been found. This operation in the Grand Mang Mountain is extensive. Zhang Chong will get wind of it by tomorrow morning at the latest. Yao Yi informed us that we should get prepared.”
Ling Zhang immediately nodded. “Okay. Should we go to Lord Tao’s place right away?”
According to the plan, they were to meet Lord Tao and have him give the order to shut all city gates lest Zhang Chong lead the Prefecture Guards into the city and took all residents hostage, which would reduce them to a passive position.
Unexpectedly, Yuwen Tong fell silent.
“What’s wrong?” asked Ling Zhang nervously, sensing that something was not right.
Yuwen Tong fished out a thin, folded pamphlet and handed it to Ling Zhang. There was a pattern of a dragon on the cover of the pamphlet.
Ling Zhang was sent into a brief trance. Then he took it and opened it.
“The emperor ordered me to stop my intervention in this matter. Dai Cheng must have got this handwritten imperial edict quite some time ago. It was after the situation on the Grand Mang Mountain was verified that he asked Yao Yi to have this edict delivered here,” observed Yuwen Tong.
After reading the pamphlet, Ling Zhang felt anger rising inside him. “What is he trying to do? Why does he wants you to stay out of this? Wouldn’t he have still been kept in the dark about these things in Tanyang if it weren’t for your investigation?”
Yuwen Tong sneered, “Isn’t the reason manifest enough? The emperor stands concerned that my prestige is already alarmingly high, that troops might switch their allegiance from him to me if I’m the one who successfully settle this issue, that it will impose a threat to his reign if my prestige among Tanyang residents grows unduly high.”
“This is ridiculous. Has he by any chance already forgotten to whom he owes this country’s survival? He’s treating you like a potential usurper.” Ling Zhang was filled with indignation.
But Yuwen Tong seemed very composed. Apparently he had foreseen this as well. “What kind of man he is has come to my knowledge quite some time ago, and I didn’t defend the Great Yue so that I could be a deputy ruler of it. Currently, we should go and have Tao Feng give the order to seal off the city first. We can discuss other issues after this thing is over.”
Ling Zhang knitted his eyebrows, rose to his feet and said, “I’ll go and inform my uncle.”
Yuwen Tong was not allowed to intervene, so Ling Zhang had to ask his uncle for help.
Fortunately, news of Yuwen Tong’s presence in his home had already spread out, and Tao Feng had also had an audience with Yuwen Tong. Though Yuwen Tong couldn’t overtly intervene, Tao Feng would guess what was going on and he wouldn’t decline.
“Be careful. I’ll have my bodyguards secretly follow you protecting you,” said Yuwen Tong.
Ling Zhang nodded and watched Yuwen Tong, intending to say something, but then he felt it was not the right time, so he forbore from doing so, turned around and left the room.
‘I have to inform Tao Feng immediately. Otherwise city gates will be opened at daybreak and things will be tricky,’ he thought.
‘Yuwen Tong’s issue…’ Ling Zhang had an increasingly clear realization of how bad the terms Yuwen Tong had been on with the emperor. Though the wording of this handwritten imperial edict was mild and tactful, the meaning was definite. The emperor was unmistakably telling Yuwen Tong that he didn’t trust him. ‘Why did the emperor shed his pretence of cordiality so thoroughly? Was he not afraid that such bitterly disappointing deed might send Yuwen Tong into an armed revolt? Or does he by any chance have somebody to back him up and have nothing to fear?’
Previously, Yuwen Tong’s lack of due respect for the emperor had worried Ling Zhang. But now, he realized that this so-called emperor didn’t deserve to be respected at all. During these years, though there had been a semblance of peace in the Great Yue, arbitrary corvee and exorbitant tax levies had been a heavy burden on people’s shoulders all along, and most officials had been indulging in corruption. The whole country had been rotten to the core for a long time.
‘Instead of carrying out an anti-corruption campaign and giving the people real peace, all this emperor has been doing is suspecting meritorious officials and military officers. Has it ever crossed his mind that he wouldn’t have been sitting on that throne if it weren’t for Yuwen Tong?’
Anger built up in Ling Zhang while he was thinking about this. He felt that an emperor like this was totally unworthy of Yuwen Tong’s service, that one day, when the emperor believed he didn’t need Yuwen Tong any more, he would surely try to get rid of him.
‘No. When this mater is over, I must warn Yuwen Tong to take adequate precautions. Everything might not go smoothly in the capital city as well after we go there. We must make contingency plans.’
With a cold face, Ling Zhang stormed to the gateway of Ling Zhaowen’s dwelling.
“Young Master?” Wang Dashan, who was guarding the gate, was somewhat surprised to see Ling Zhang coming at such a late hour.
“I need to see my uncle. It’s urgent,” said Ling Zhang.
Wang Dashan hurriedly let him in, asking in a low voice, “Did anything happen? Should we make any preparations?”
Ling Zhang paused, turned his head back and looked at him. “Elder Brother Wang, tell all our brothers to stay alert. I’m afraid there’s going to be an upheaval in Tanyang tomorrow. All you have to do is protect Ling family. If things go south, my uncle’s safety shall be your first priority.”
The look on Wang Dashan’s face immediately became serious. “Young Master may rest assured that we will do all we can to keep them safe!”
“Thank you.”
“This is what I do. Please go inside, Young Master. I’ll go and make arrangements right now.”
Ling Zhang nodded and walked into the courtyard.
It was Li Fu who had been on night duty outside Ling Zhaowen’s bedroom. He was not surprised to see Ling Zhang come at midnight. “Please wait a moment, Young Master. I’ll go and wake up His Lordship.”
Li Fu walked inside and woke up Ling Zhaowen, who simply put on a coat and walked out. “Zhang’er, did it begin?”
Ling Zhang nodded. “Uncle, I’m afraid I’ll have to put you to the bother of paying a visit to the Prefecture Yamen with me and having Lord Tao give the order to keep the city gates shut.”
Ling Zhaowen was startled. According to the original plan, Yuwen Tong was the one who should do this. “Did anything happen to the Marshal?”
“Nothing serious. Just a minor hindrance. I’ll tell you on our way there. Please go and get changed right now,” replied Ling Zhang.
Ling Zhaowen gave a bob of the head and said no more. He went back inside, changed and soon walked out, saying, “Let’s go.”
The two of them hastily left the residence, heading for the Prefecture Yamen along streets of Tanyang at midnight.
“Exactly what happened?” asked Ling Zhaowen in a muted voice. He and his nephew were the only ones in the horse-drawn carriage.
“It was His Majesty. He ordered Yuwen Tong to stay out of this matter of Tanyang. It is said that Dai Cheng has taken over,” answered Ling Zhang, a cold look on his face.
Ling Zhaowen’s brows furrowed. “Dai Cheng?”
“The commander of the Garrison Battalion stationed in southern capital city and also the commander of the troops dispatched here this time. He’s one of His Majesty’s henchmen,” Ling Zhang explained.
Ling Zhaowen kept silent and pondered for a while. Clearly he had come to grasp something. “What did the Marshal say?”
“He wanted us to guard Tanyang. As long as the situation in Tanyang stays stable, Zhang Chong won’t be able to spare any time to deal with us after Dai Cheng’s army arrives. It won’t take long. All we have to do is hold our ground. Though he cannot offer us any overt assistance, he can secretly direct the defense of the city,” Ling Zhang informed Ling Zhaowen.
Ling Zhaowen nodded and his frown lightened somewhat. “I’m glad to hear that.”
After saying this, he lapsed into silence again, pondering over something, his frown deepening.
The horse-drawn carriage hurriedly drove to the back door of the Prefecture Yamen. Seeing the carriage coming, a Yamen runner guarding the door was alerted, yelling, “Stop! Identify yourselves!”