Ling Zhaowen’s reprimand instantly brought down the momentum of the three men, leaving them speechless with rage.
This was exactly what Ling Zhaowen wanted. The seal on the letter that he had received in the morning seemed to be authentic, and he believed that there was an eighty-percent chance these three people were really from Yuwen family, but their stealthy behavior was a manifest indication that they harbored evil intentions. ‘These guys want to bully me? I’d like to see if they’re capable of it!’
“Li Fu, send for Yamen runners. I want these three frauds locked up in the prison of the Prefecture Yamen!”
“Yes, Marshal!”
“Wait!” Supervisor Zhao hurriedly stopped him. Through gritted teeth, he said, “I do have proof of identity.”
“Oh? Then show me.” Ling Zhaowen stared at him.
Hands trembling with rage, Supervisor Zhao gritted his teeth to calm himself down and produced his ID plate to show Ling Zhaowen.
Ling Zhaowen winked at Li Fu, who walked forward, took the ID plate and scrutinized it before handing it to Ling Zhaowen. Naturally, this spiteful course of action added fuel to the fury bubbling inside the three men.
“As far as I can tell, this is not a counterfeit. So you are really servants of Yuwen family. Then why did you intentionally avoid the Marshal, your master, and request an audience with me at this restaurant? Isn’t this too bold an action for servants to take? Or are you hatching some kind of sinister plot?”
After checking the ID plate, Ling Zhaowen slightly adjusted his attitude, reluctantly acknowledging their identities, but the tone in his voice didn’t soften at all. Instead, it went even colder.
The wording of Ling Zhaowen — “servants”, “audience with me”, “master” — was a manifest indication that he didn’t take these three servants seriously. When in the capital city, Supervisor Zhao and the other two had always been acting arrogantly on most occasions. Because of Yuwen family’s position and powerful influence, even high-ranking officials in the capital city would show some respect to Supervisor Zhao and the other two, which was why they could barely keep their temper under control after being treated this way.
‘What a clodhopper. He really thinks that just because we’re servants of Yuwen family, he gets to talk to us like this. He forgets that he’s a mere Tongzhi!’
“Tongzhi Ling, now that you’ve put it this way, I’m afraid we might have to stop saving your face. Our master is Marshal Yuwen’s uncle as well as the current patriarch of Yuwen family. He sent us, a couple of servants of his, here to deliver a message to you.”
Supervisor Zhao, who was infuriated by Ling Zhaowen’s deeds, directly mentioned Yuwen Zhi in an attempt to face Ling Zhaowen down.
“Is that so? The fact that your master is Marshal Yuwen’s uncle makes it even more unreasonable of you to try to keep this visit of yours secret from Marshal Yuwen. You’re but a couple of servants. Surely none of you is closer to the Marshal than his uncle is? Actually, your remarks have just aroused suspicion in me that this ID plate is a forgery.” Ling Zhaowen left Supervisor Zhao no chance to speak.
‘The attitudes of these guys alone suggest that they are not going to say anything kind!’ thought Ling Zhaowen.
But then he was on the alert. ‘What is Yuwen Zhi trying to do? Why does he want this engagement annulled?”
“You!” Supervisor Zhao’s face was dark with rage. “Ling Zhaowen, our master stated expressly that by no means would he allow anyone of Ling family to marry into Yuwen family, because you’re far from worthy. You’d better call off the engagement on your own account. Otherwise you’ll find that the flame of anger of Yuwen family is not something Ling family can survive!”
“This is outrageous!” Ling Zhaowen snapped. “I knew it. You’re undoubtedly frauds. How dare you impersonate servants of Yuwen family trying to ruin the marriage contract. This marriage contract was concluded by Old General Yuwen himself. Lord Yuwen is his son. He would never question his father’s decision. Who are you? Why are you trying to disgrace Lord Yuwen?! Li Fu, send for Yamen runners! They shall be taken into custody awaiting Marshal Yuwen’s further instructions!”
“Yes, Marshal!”
This time, without any pretence, Li Fu really ran out to inform Yamen runners.
Seeing this, the three men were thrown into panic. “You…You… Ling Zhaowen, we’re trusted followers of our master. How dare you do this to us! Even if some day your nephew marries into Yuwen family, life is not going to be easy for him! I advise you to come to your senses before things reach the point of no return!”
With a sullen look on his face, Ling Zhaowen refused to make any concessions. Of course he knew these people were really sent here by Yuwen Zhi, but if he compromised with them on this occasion, his nephew would surely be bullied by them after marrying into Yuwen family.
If it were before this morning, maybe he would have chosen to handle this matter in a more delicate manner, but his nephew had staked out his position on this issue saying that he was willing to stay engaged to Yuwen Tong, which meant that he would marry Yuwen Tong sooner or later. This being the case, he had decided to do whatever he could to support his nephew. Under no circumstances would he allow these people any chances to cause any harm to him.
“Supervisor, there are really some Yamen runners coming. We should leave!”
A man standing beside Supervisor Zhao craned out of the window and discovered that there were really a team of Yamen runners approaching quickly from the end of the street. His expression instantly changed and he anxiously informed Supervisor Zhao of it.
“Young Master bade us not to openly cross the Marshal. Let’s just go!”
Staring fixedly at Ling Zhaowen, Supervisor Zhao said through gritted teeth, “Ling Zhaowen, you’re not getting away with this!”
With that, he quickly left the private room with the other two and fled as fast as they could.
Ling Zhaowen didn’t try to stop them in the knowledge that they might resort to more aggressive methods if he pushed them too hard. ‘Let this be a deterrent to them.’
After they left, Li Fu waved at the Yamen runners in the distance. The captain gave a bob of his head, led his men into another street and disappeared.
“Second Master, all of them left.”
“Mount a watch outside that inn. Inform me if they leave.”
“Yes, second master,” Li Fu answered.
After leaving the Fengtai Pavilion, Ling Zhaowen returned to the Prefecture Yamen. He didn’t go home to question Yuwen Tong about this matter, since he knew very well what Yuwen Tong had been doing these days, and he believed that Yuwen Tong had nothing to do with this matter, but a word of warning was still necessary, so he had to figure out how to do it in a tactful way.
At this time. In the residence of Ling family.
“This way please, General Dai.”
“Thank you.”
As expected, Dai Cheng came to Ling family seeking an audience with Yuwen Tong.
“Marshal, you have been in Tanyang for over half a month. May I ask when you plan to go back to the capital city? His Majesty misses you very much.”
After taking a seat, Dai Cheng merely exchanged a couple of pleasantries before asking Yuwen Tong when he would return to the capital city. Though Yuwen Tong had made no intervention whatsoever in the matter of the Prefecture Guards of Tanyang, Dai Cheng and the emperor still seemed to be deeply concerned, bursting with impatience to have him depart for the capital city.
“I intend to go to the capital city with my betrothed. There are a lot of business to attend to in Ling family, so we need some more days to make preparations,” replied Yuwen Tong.
Ling Zhang watched Dai Cheng, an apologetic look on his face. “Surely General Dai wouldn’t blame me for it, would you? I have a great deal of arrangements to make. As you know, we don’t have many family members, and my grandfather is absent. I have to make sure everything is properly handled.”
Dai Cheng looked at Ling Zhang and let out a laugh. “You overthought it, Childe Ling. I was just relaying His Majesty’s message. Actually, it’s better if Childe Ling makes adequate preparations. After all, you’re engaged to the Marshal. There’s no doubt that you’ll be in the limelight when you’re in the capital city. You could never be too prepared.”
“Thank you for reminding me.” Ling Zhang showed faint timidity on his face.
There was no way to tell what Dai Cheng was actually thinking, but on the surface, he was laughing heartily.
After Dai Cheng left, faces of both Yuwen Tong and Ling Zhang went cold.
“They want you back so badly. Why are they so wary of you?”
“They’ve been like this ever since I took command of the Northwestern Army. They’re wary of me but they also need me.”
“I’ve been meaning to ask you what you plan to do in the future.”
Since the emperor had such a suspicious mind and was so wary of Yuwen Tong, Ling Zhang believed that sooner or later he would try to eliminate Yuwen Tong. ‘What would Yuwen Tong do when that day comes?’ he wondered.
Watching him, Yuwen Tong gave a mysterious smile and then craned to his ear, saying in an undertone, “Stay with me and you’ll find out.”
Ling Zhang looked at him. ‘Stay with Yuwen Tong?’
“Okay. I’ll wait and see, but you have to make sure I don’t die with you.”
Yuwen Tong briefly squinted his eyes. “Dying together sounds pretty good.”
Ling Zhang gave him a dirty look. ‘Who wants to die with you? Isn’t it better to stay alive and enjoy my life?’
Amused by the dirty look given by Ling Zhang, Yuwen Tong said, “Rest assured, I won’t let you die.”
‘I’ve merely held your hand and kissed you for a couple of times. It would be such a shame to let you die,’ he thought.
At dusk, Ling Zhaowen returned. After having dinner, Ling Zhaowen invited Yuwen Tong to the side hall.
“Is there anything you want to talk with me about, Uncle Ling?”
“Marshal, may I ask if there are any people in Yuwen family against the engagement between you and Zhang’er?”
Yuwen Tong’s face slightly changed. “Did anybody tell you anything?”
Ling Zhaowen gave a smile. “It seems that nothing escapes your eyes, Marshal. This morning, a man who claimed to be a supervisor working for Yuwen family came to me. He wanted me to call off the engagement on my own account, saying that he’s your uncle’s trusted follower.”
Yuwen Tong’s brows furrowed. “Where are they?”
Ling Zhaowen smiled, “I was worried that they might be frauds, so I threatened to lock them up. They got scared and ran away.”
After a short silence, Yuwen Tong let out a soft cough and observed, “I’m sorry you had to been through this farce. Rest assured, I’ll see to it that this matter is properly handled.”
“It’s a great relief to hear that Marshal is going to put this matter in capable hands, but Zhang’er…”
“I’ll tell him the truth without holding anything back.”
Ling Zhaowen gave a satisfied smile. “Then I shall ask no further questions. After all, this matter concerns Marshal’s family. Of course, there’s no need for you and Zhang’er to rush into marriage. Zhang’er has just reached adulthood after all. You might as well wait for a certain amount of time.”
Yuwen Tong fell speechless.
“I’ll have this issue handled after I return to the capital city.”
Ling Zhaowen raised his eyebrows and steered the conversation away from this matter to another topic.
Yuwen Tong’s face darkened after he walked out of the side hall.
He had just got rid of Yuwen Qi when these servants showed up. For fear that this matter might come to his knowledge, they had even dared to secretly invite Ling Zhaowen outside and threatened him. It seemed that he had been away from home for too long, and those people had forgotten what kind of person he was.
“Yao Yi, go and find those people and bring them to me.”
“Yes, Marshal!”
Seeing the cold, sullen look on Yuwen Tong’s face, Ling Zhang thought that something bad had happened.
“Did my uncle tell you anything? Is it serious?”
Yuwen Tong meant to keep it secret from Ling Zhang, but then he recalled that he had just promised Ling Zhaowen that he would tell Ling Zhang the truth. If he held this matter back, Ling Zhaowen might ask Ling Zhang about it afterwards and find out. He had no idea what Ling Zhaowen would say if that was the case. ‘What if he asks Ling Zhang to call off the engagement?’
He still remembered that the very reason why he had come to Tanyang in the first place had been that divorce paper.
Marshal Yuwen felt a fit of vexation, which was very rare.
“A couple of servants of my family came to Tanyang in the wake of Yuwen Qi’s leaving.”
The worry on Ling Zhang’s face was replaced by apathy after he heard this remark. “They talked to my uncle?”
Yuwen Tong gave a cough and then ventured, “Uncle Ling believed that they were frauds and threatened to lock them up. They were scared away.”
“They were scared away? My uncle was being too kind-hearted. If I were him, I would have directly broken their legs, put them in jail and left them to die.”
While saying this, Ling Zhang was staring at Yuwen Tong, which made Yuwen Tong’s blood freeze.
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