Ling Zhang had no idea what had got into him. He’d actually done that with Yuwen Tong in the open air. On their way back, they encountered a couple of servants working in the manor. Although they greeted the two of them and paid their respects in the usual way and Ling Zhang was sure that nobody had seen what they’d just done under the tree, he still felt somewhat uneasy, an embarrassed look on his flushed face. Despite the after-effects and his fairly limp legs, he managed to draw Yuwen Tong off like the wind.
Yuwen Tong was being drawn forward by him, but Ling Zhang was faintly unsteady on his feet and his Qi circulation was slightly irregular as well, so he didn’t have the heart to let Ling Zhang tire himself any further, obediently following Ling Zhang who was merely holding the lower hem of his clothes.
There was a contented smile on the corners of his mouth. They had just made out a while ago, but seeing Ling Zhang’s adorable bearing, he still felt a surge of longing.
Ling Zhang was quickening his pace. Worrying that he was exhausting himself, Yuwen Tong took a stride forward catching up with him, his arm poised behind Ling Zhang’s waist. “Slow down a little bit.”
Ling Zhang, having just done something that he was afraid of being found out by others, wished he could grow wings and fly back indoors. He slapped Yuwen Tong’s arm away from his waist and grabbed Yuwen Tong’s wrist, drawing him forward even faster.
Yuwen Tong, both amused and somewhat resigned, had no choice but to speed along with Ling Zhang so that he wouldn’t tire himself out.
The two of them ran into Zhao Shude when they returned to the courtyard house. The butler had been fairly worried about his two masters who had gone out for quite a long time late at night. Distantly seeing Ling Zhang walking in this direction with Yuwen Tong in his wake, a blush on the former’s cheeks, a satisfied smile in the latter’s eyes, Zhao Shude who was not a fool could tell at a glance from the weird mood that something definitely had happened between the two of them.
“You may go and rest, Uncle Zhao. It’s so late. Yao Yi and the others will be on guard. There’s nothing you need to be concerned about,” Yuwen Tong said to Zhao Shude.
Zhao Shude, having no intention of being the third wheel, gave a nod and took his leave.
After Zhao Shude left, the two of them had the house all to themselves. Yao Yi and the others had got bathwater ready in the bathroom some time ago. In this kind of weather, it would be preferable to have a cold shower. Besides, the two of them had just had some passionate moments, and both their bodies felt somewhat sticky and sweaty, so they directly went to the bathroom without further ado.
Finally, the two of them had some private space. Ling Zhang quickly stripped off and then Yuwen Tong walked inside. “Let’s bathe together.”
Ling Zhang’s legs still felt weak. A while ago the two of them had stopped at the third base as the last time, but Yuwen Tong had been…
His crotch was red even at this moment!
“Get out. I’ll bathe first. You may come in after I finish my bath.”
Yuwen Tong closed the door without turning around, walked over and got undressed even faster than Ling Zhang. “That’ll be such a waste of time. It’ll be quicker if we bathe together.”
Ling Zhang, “…”
His eyes accidentally fell on something private and he flushed scarlet and spun around. Originally he had planned to scoop water with a water ladle to have a shower, but now he wanted to go straight into the bathtub and crouch in it.
However, he had just swiveled around when Yuwen Tong held him around the middle from behind, his warm even slightly scalding skin against his. Ling Zhang’s scalp instantly prickled. He turned to look at Yuwen Tong only to find his lips met those of Yuwen Tong who had clearly been waiting for this…
…
They were supposed to feel cool and refreshed after this bath, but when it was over, Ling Zhang was totally limp and bodily carried out of the bathroom by Yuwen Tong, wearing thin underclothing, terribly drowsy.
Yuwen Tong put him down on the bed. Ling Zhang comfortably let out a sigh on the cool bamboo sleeping mat, turned over and lay prostrate on it. In a quick surge of sleepiness, he closed his eyes, ignoring Yuwen Tong, and drifted off almost in an instant.
Yuwen Tong, worried that he might catch a cold, put a thin quilt over his waist, and then his palm slid downwards until it reached Ling Zhang’s perfectly round nice buttocks. He gently kneaded it in satisfaction for a while and then got into bed as well and lay down beside Ling Zhang. After a few moments’ thought, he put his arm around Ling Zhang and drew him over to his chest.
Ling Zhang, who was going into deeper sleep, subconsciously gave Yuwen Tong a push after being taken into his embrace, but his arm was limp, and this push devoid of strength. Yuwen Tong comfily squinted his eyes, took Ling Zhang’s hand and kissed it.
“Stop that,” sniffed half-asleep Ling Zhang in a barely audible voice.
Smiling, Yuwen Tong gave him a kiss on the forehead. “Sleep. I won’t cause any more disturbance.”
Ling Zhang said no more. After an unknown amount of time, feeling a little hot in Yuwen Tong’s arms, he turned over in an unconscious effort to get away from the heat source and return to the cool, comfy part of the bamboo sleeping mat. After Ling Zhang lay prostrate in a spot further away from him, Yuwen Tong moved over, put a hand onto his waist and drew him closer to his chest. Soon, Ling Zhang was in a sleeping position where his back was against Yuwen Tong’s breast, Yuwen Tong’s arms around him.
Too sleepy to make any more efforts to get rid of him, Ling Zhang angrily gave him a kick and then gradually fell into a sound sleep, a faint snore issuing from his nostrils.
This sound was, for all intents and purposes, celestial music to Yuwen Tong, who finally closed his eyes in contentment.
It was a very good night’s sleep, and Ling Zhang missed his usual morning cultivation the next day. The exuberant tree in front of the courtyard house they stayed in, which blocked the morning sunlight, was also responsible for this. Its dense foliage kept sunlight from reaching the rooftop as well. And there were also some Nan bamboos (phyllostachys pubescens) growing in a corner of the backyard. Though servants had been taking care of them making sure they didn’t overgrow the whole place, those tall bamboos in the corner also overshadowed part of the house. On top of this, there were some ingenious horticultural designs around the house, so even when the sun was riding high, it’d still be bracing inside.
This courtyard house was a summer home. Since the weather was getting hotter by the day, Yuwen Tong and Ling Zhang had chosen to stay in this place, which had turned out to be a wise decision.
Seeing the daylight, Ling Zhang who had just woken up came to know that it was pretty late, that he’d overslept.
Yuwen Tong was sitting in a deck chair in the house reading a book, wearing thin underclothing, looking as if he had been staying indoors all along.
Ling Zhang, who could barely remember any occasions when Yuwen Tong had dressed like this at home reading a book in a lying position, couldn’t help but feel somewhat surprised. “You didn’t go out?”
Yuwen Tong put down his book. It seemed that he had been totally absorbed in the book, which was why he hadn’t noticed earlier that Ling Zhang had awoken. He tossed the book aside, rose to his feet and walked up to him. “How did you sleep last night?”
The night before, they first made out in a pitch-dark spot in the manor, and then once again in the bathroom, but Ling Zhang’s constitution had been greatly improved by dint of cultivation of internal energy. As a result, though he had felt very drowsy before turning in, now after a good night’s sleep, he felt fully refreshed and very comfortable.
Ling Zhang shook his head, got out of bed and stretched. “Not bad. This place is pretty comfy. It’s still very cool in here at this hour of the day.”
There wasn’t a house in the Ling Mansion in the capital city that was so liveable. It was getting hotter and hotter, and sometimes when he woke up in the morning in the Ling Mansion, he could feel his underclothing cling to his body due to sweat.
“If only I could stay here for the whole summer,” Ling Zhang couldn’t help but say wistfully.
Yuwen Tong responded, “We can stay here and wait until summer is over to return to the city if you want.”
Ling Zhang said, “I still have to go to the Imperial College. Also there’s no way you could idle around in this manor all summer. So forget about it.”
Yuwen Tong didn’t think this was merely a fond hope. As long as Ling Zhang really wanted to do this, he definitely would figure out a way to make it happen.
Since he felt cool and comfortable, there was no need for him to take a morning bath. After a quick wash, he combed his hair, changed and took a couple of bites of breakfast to ease his hunger. There would be a hearty lunch at noon.
Before lunch, Wang Dashan came over to Ling Zhang’s place and reported, “Young Master, Supervisor Wang said that the trade caravan had entered the city, and all herbs had been unloaded. He checked them all and no problem was found. They have started purchasing goods as planned, and the caravan will be ready to set off to return to Tanyang in a couple of days.”
Ling Zhang was happy to hear this. “Tell him I got the message, that I’ll reward him after going back. Remind him to pay extra attention to the procurement and see to it that nothing goes awry.”
Wang Dashan inclined his head. “Yes, Young Master.”
Originally Ling Zhang had wanted to do this himself, but the recent events had upset his plans, so he had had no choice but to put Wang Qing in charge of it. Wang Qing had proved himself a competent supervisor, and there hadn’t been a single matter that Ling Zhang had had to personally intervene to help handle.
Wang Qing and Li Sicai shared the responsibility for the procurement of goods to be transported back to Tanyang. Wang Qing was mainly in charge of the purchase of herbs and didn’t really have much acquaintance with other commodities. Li Sicai had specially visited all trading centers in the capital city recently and, with Yuwen Tong as a backer, had also modestly consulted many outstanding merchants in various industries and learned a lot, adequately preparing himself, which was why Ling Zhang believed he could relax safe knowing this task was in Li Sicai’s capable hands.
During the process, Xia Feng in the Ling Mansion had rid himself of the need of Li Sicai’s assistance. He had changed considerably these days. Everything in the Ling Mansion was neat and in order under his watch. Even at the time when Yuwen Tong had been faking his serious injuries and the Ling Mansion had been in disarray, Xia Feng had still managed to retain his composure. Because of his presence, none of the servants in the mansion had buckled at the knees or fainted even when faced with the emperor. Everything had been dealt with in a proper and orderly fashion, which had greatly gratified Ling Zhang.
In the trading center, an auspicious date for the grand opening of the drugstore had been selected, all in readiness.
Also, the general storekeeper of the Jiang’s Drugstore Chain had specially helped with the publicity, offering them a lot of constructive suggestions. Ling Zhang, after taking into consideration all others’ opinions and his own judgement, had invitations sent to all those whom he should invite, and soon received their replies promising that they would go to the drugstore on the day of the grand opening to offer their congratulations to him.
Half of the invitees were people that either Ling Zhang himself or Li Sicai or Wang Qing had had some dealings with recently. Some others had been introduced to him by the general storekeeper of the Jiang’s Drugstore Chain. Of course, there were also some invitations that had been sent merely because it was the right thing to do according to the professional etiquette. Although Ling Zhang had Yuwen Tong at his back, he had no intention of taking advantage of this to do whatever pleased him. Opening a drugstore was only the first step. Adapting himself to the rules of this industry and socializing more with other practitioners would help him better integrate into this business, avoid giving rise to anybody’s displeasure with or exclusion of him, and spare himself needless trouble as well.
Sure enough, not all his invitations had been replied in the affirmative. Some had been ignored. All these people had powerful backers to rely on, and their disregard of the invitations provided much food for thought. Ling Zhang put their names down but had no intention of sending men to ask them about the reason. He just told his men to have half an eye on news concerning these people, planning to stand by first and wait until identities of these people’s respective backers were ascertained to decide what he should do next.
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