Ling Zhang thanked Tao Yi for his kindness and at the same time came to understand one particular thing more clearly – Yuwen Zhi’s disapproval of the marriage between him and Yuwen Tong probably had come to the knowledge of everybody in this city, and maybe in the eyes of some of them, what he had been doing was no different from a moth flying into the fire.
“But you really did a good job.” Tao Yi changed the topic and paid Ling Zhang a compliment.
“How so?”
“First you stood up to the Ninth Princess at the city gate, and then you shot down those gossips at the gateway of the imperial palace. After that, you even directly confronted Yuwen Zhi, and even he failed to get the best of the confrontation. News of all these things has spread. His Majesty having the Ninth Princess practice Buddhism due to her attempt to have you assassinated, in particular, shocked a lot of people. Before you entered the capital city, situation in the capital city had been different. It’s been less than two days since you arrived, but now all people in this city know that it’s inadvisable to mess with you.”
Tao Yi was looking at Ling Zhang in admiration while making these remarks. Clearly he was gratified at Ling Zhang’s capabilities.
“This is exactly what I want.”
Deterring those people was exactly what Ling Zhang intended to do. Only by having them know that he was no soft target would others think twice before deciding to do things that might be offensive to him.
The two old friends continued to talk about the old days and neither of them had any pretence of courtesy. After a while, Tao Yi offered to take Ling Zhang to the most famous tavern in the capital city to enjoy a meal.
“Their signature dishes are very well-known. I’ll let you have a taste of every one of them,” observed Tao Yi smugly.
The tavern Tao Yi talked about was the Taibai Tavern. It was located in the eastern avenue, which was an uproarious street crowded with people.
Ling Zhang and Tao Yi went into the Taibai Tavern together, followed by Wang Dashan and Zhang Liu. None of their faces was familiar to many in this city, so their arrival didn’t attract anybody’s attention.
Tao Yi was the one who ordered the dishes. He also ordered a pot of wine for the occasion.
The Taibai Tavern was a three-story building. Rooms on the third floor were all private rooms. On the second floor were comfortable seats and tables separated by screens. And in the hall on the ground floor, there were neither private rooms nor screens. When the two of them arrived at the Taibai Tavern, it was almost filled to capacity. Fortunately, there were still a couple of comfortable seats available on the second floor, which happened to serve as a convenience for them.
“This place is pretty popular.” Ling Zhang specially observed this tavern and found that most customers were sumptuously clothed.
“The food here is good, and it’s located in a busy street, but most importantly, many respected figures in this city dine here regularly. Every year, before the imperial examination, a poem competition or something like that will be held in this tavern, and a lot of talented students will come here to participate, which is why it’s so popular,” explained Tao Yi.
Ling Zhang inclined his head and looked outside, thinking about opening a drugstore. When it came to opening a drugstore in the capital city, choosing the right site was very important, but most importantly, it was not easy to get the ownership of a good site. ‘All things are difficult before they are easy’, as the saying goes. ‘No matter how difficult it will be, I must figure out a way to get it done,’ he thought.
“You see the guest at that table? They both work for the Dali Temple (the Supreme Judicial Court in feudal China). They didn’t even change out of their robes,” said Tao Yi, stealthily pointing at two guests at another table.
Then he pointed at guests sitting beside another few tables.
“Those are the King Hui’s subordinates. You can recognize them by the ID plates on their belts.”
“Those students sitting there are from the Imperial College. They are wearing Confucian scholar’s robes.”
‘From the Imperial College?’ Ling Zhang flicked another glance at them. A Confucian scholar’s robe issued by the Imperial College was of blue and white, the main part blue, the piping white, which lent an air of vigorousness to the wearer.
“My teacher told me that you were going to the Imperial College to study?” queried Tao Yi, who recalled something after seeing Ling Zhang flick another glance at those students of the Imperial College.
Ling Zhang gave a bob of his head. “Yeah.”
Tao Yi commented, “Pity I’m in the Oriental Proprieties Academy. If I were a student of the Imperial College, we would be classmates.”
‘Tell me about it. It’s all the emperor’s fault. It’s his interference that caused this,’ Ling Zhang thought.
Tao Yi, who had come to this city a long time ago, had not been in Tanyang when those events happened there, so he took advantage of this opportunity and asked Ling Zhang a lot of questions.
“In those days, Tanyang was not the only place shrouded in panic. The atmosphere in the capital city was also extremely tense. The Sixth Prince was put under house arrest. The Concubine Shu was sent to the cold palace (a palace where an emperor installs members of the imperial family who do something wrong). All hard-core members of the faction headed by the Sixth Prince were stripped of their titles. Oh, there’s also that Li Chong guy. He’s the most unfortunate one. It is said that he was dragged out of his bed before he could make any reaction. In a word, there were quite some upheavals in the capital city as well. It was not until shortly before you and the Marshal arrived that the situation stabilized,” remarked Tao Yi.
Ling Zhang had also heard Yuwen Tong talk about the previous situation in the capital city. ‘Speaking of people on the Sixth Prince’s side, that Peng Fang guy working in the Ministry of Works used to serve the Sixth Prince. Now he has switched allegiance to the King Duan. He also tried to have me poisoned in the Wu City,’ thought Ling Zhang. He wondered how Yuwen Tong’s investigation into this case was going. In fact, he was more inclined to believe that Peng Fang had had orders from the King Duan. After all, the Sixth Prince had already been put under house arrest. Besides, even if they intended to take revenge, their target should have been Yuwen Tong rather than him.
“You know who’s going to fill the vacancy left by Zhang Chong’s death and become the new commander of the Tanyang Prefecture Guards?” asked Tao Yi mysteriously.
Ling Zhang had been informed of this by Yuwen Tong quite some time ago. “He Xiao.”
Tao Yi was amazed. “You knew about this?”
“Someone told me, of course.”
The light dawned on Tao Yi. “I almost forgot that you’re with the Marshal. There’s probably nothing you don’t know about.”
“You specially mentioned He Xiao. Is there anything particular you want to tell me about?” Ling Zhang inquired of him.
Tao Yi gave a inclination of the head. “He Xiao departed for Tanyang early yesterday morning. I’ve heard about something before, so I want to inform you.”
Ling Zhang’s heart briefly lurched. He had a general idea of what Tao Yi was going to say.
“It is rumored that He Xiao is not really on good terms with the Marshal. There’s no telling whether or not he would make things difficult for your family after going to Tanyang. I think you should write Tongzhi Ling a letter telling him to keep an eye open,” said Tao Yi.
As expected, it was indeed about this matter. Ling Zhang replied, “Thank you for reminding me, Elder Brother Tao. Yuwen Tong mentioned this to me as well. I’ve consulted with my uncle before I came here.”
Faintly disappointed to know that the information he offered wasn’t of help, Tao Yi sighed, “Alas, having a marshal as a backer indeed makes a lot of difference.”
Ling Zhang looked at him somewhat amusedly. “There are many things that I could use your help with as well. You see, I knew nothing about all those people that you just told me about. You’ve been in the capital city for many years. I’m sure there are plenty of things that you have a better understanding of and know more about than I do.”
After hearing this, Tao Yi smugly responded, “Well, that’s true. If you have any questions about any of these things, I’m the very person you should go to.”
Zhang Liu, who had been standing on the side as still as a painting hanging on a wall, quietly flicked a glance at Tao Yi who had a self-satisfied expression on his face, thinking, ‘This Tao Yi guy really knows about a lot of things, including even the fact that He Xiao and the Marshal don’t get along.’
After three cups of wine, the two of them almost finished half of the meal. Right at this time, on the avenue, a couple of sumptuous horse-drawn carriages escorted by a team of guards slowly came to a halt in front of the doorway of the Taibai Tavern.
What made them conspicuous was that, apart from guards, there were also some maidservants beside those carriages. Anybody could tell at a glance that the passengers in the couple of carriages were female.
Of course, there was yet someone else even more eye-catching. It was a young man who had just jumped off the first carriage, gorgeously clothed, a haughty look on his face.
“Cousin, we’ve arrived at the Taibai Tavern,” said the man after walking up to the second horse-drawn carriage.
The carriage curtain was lifted and a luxuriously dressed fair maiden walked out, who had pretty features and looked a trifle artless. She called the young man cousin with a smile, held his hand poised to support her, and with that the young man guided her off the carriage.
“It’s been quite a while since the last time I’ve come here. Thank you for bringing me here, cousin,” remarked the maiden.
The young man replied with an arrogant face, “I can take you here anytime you feel like to come. Let’s go inside. I’ve reserved a private room on the third floor and also ordered many dishes you like. I guarantee you’ll have a good time today.”
“Thank you, cousin!” the maiden smiled.
The group of people walked into the Taibai Tavern and the tavernkeeper himself came to their welcome. “To what do I owe this honor, Second Childe? Your gracious presence has added glitters to my humble tavern.”
“Tavernkeeper Wang, is the private room I booked ready?”
“It is, and all the dishes you ordered are poised to be served anytime.”
“You may have them served now.”
“You got it, Second Childe.”
The commotion from downstairs attracted many customers’ attention.
Tao Yi sitting beside the balustrade flicked a downward glance. At first he didn’t notice anything special, but after a few moments, as if something occurred to him, he hurriedly craned beyond the balustrade, took another look and muttered with a frown on his face, “How did he come to be here?”
Seeing this, Ling Zhang was somewhat curious. “Who is it?”
Tao Yi looked at him, fairly hesitating.
Ling Zhang was perplexed. “What’s the matter?”
“It’s Yuwen Qi,” replied Tao Yi.
Ling Zhang furrowed his brow. ‘Yuwen Qi?’
“There’s a maiden with him, whom I don’t recognize, but the horse-drawn carriage seems to belong to Su family. If my guess is right, that maiden is daughter of the patriarch of Su family,” said Tao Yi.
Ling Zhang’s corrugated brow flattened out as he queried, “Daughter of the patriarch of Su family? Is there a problem?”
“Well, not really. It’s just that this lady of Su family is Yuwen Qi’s cousin. Her mother and Yuwen Qi’s mother are cousins as well. Originally, her father was an official in another city. It was not until half a year ago that he was transferred into the capital city. His rank is not high, but because of the kinship between his family and Yuwen family, nobody dares to deal them a head-on blow, even though they’re new to this city. It’s said that Yuwen Qi dotes on this cousin of his,” explained Tao Yi.
‘His cousin?’ Ling Zhang’s countenance fell weird and with that he looked at Zhang Liu.
Zhang Liu was speechless.
‘Bad luck. How come Childe Ling so coincidentally encountered someone from Su family in a tavern?!’ he thought.
Zhang Liu inclined his head very grudgingly, suggesting that this cousin of Yuwen Qi’s was probably the one whom Zheng shi wanted to marry into Yuwen family. Quite unfortunately, the one she was meant to marry was their Marshal…
Ling Zhang sneered. ‘Very good.’
Tao Yi, who had not yet noticed anything wrong, was still talking. “… Anyway, the third floor is the only place Yuwen Qi would be every time he comes here. We won’t have to see them. Don’t worry.”
‘Worry? What could possibly worry me? Yesterday Yuwen Tong gave Yuwen Qi a kick, but he’s still in the mood for coming here today. It seems that that kick was not hard enough,’ thought Ling Zhang.
While they were talking, footsteps came from the landing. Unsurprisingly, it was Yuwen Qi, and the maiden by his side was indeed pretty. A lot of male customers in the tavern were eyeing her. Yuwen Qi’s piercing eyes raked those men. Having received the warning, all those male customers hastily took their eyes off the maiden and didn’t dare to look in her direction again.
The maiden was still chirping on to Yuwen Qi about something, looking as lively as a lark. Yuwen Qi listened to her, a very doting expression on his face.
Just like Tao Yi had speculated, they were going to the third floor, totally unconcerned with customers on the second floor.
Ling Zhang merely cast a glance at them and then immediately withdrew his gaze and lowered his eyes, making it difficult for others to see the look in them.
Zhang Liu stealthily observed him but failed to find any traces of his mood. Somewhat anxious, Zhang Liu made a suggestion, “Childe Ling, how about we go to the book market in the third east alley for a walk? You can conveniently find out if there are any particular books you’d like to buy.”
‘I’m toast. Is Childe Ling by any chance angry?’ he thought.
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