“There has been a rise in the number of wounded soldiers recently, and some of them have to be transferred back into the city. As there are not enough physicians in the city, physicians in Youzhou are being drafted in as a matter of urgency. I wonder if you and your father could offer some help before the physicians arrive.”
At night, Yuwen Tong suddenly brought this matter up. After hearing this, Ling Zhang just paused for a fleeting moment before agreeing, “No problem. I’m sure my father will be glad to help. I’ll talk to him early tomorrow morning and then go back to the city with the injured.”
Yuwen Tong stepped over, put his arms around Ling Zhang and said, “I’ll go back to the city to keep you company by night.”
On hearing this, Ling Zhang rejected the offer. “No. Shuttling between two places is too much trouble. You’re the commander-in-chief and there are a lot of matters you need to deal with. If you don’t rest well at night, things could easily go wrong. Us not seeing each other for a couple of days wouldn’t be a big deal, but this army needs its commander to be in position. You staying healthy is the most important thing.”
Yuwen Tong looked at him. “At least let me pay you a visit every other day, okay?”
Ling Zhang said, “Cut the nonsense. The execution of your plan is at a crucial juncture. We can’t afford to let anything go awry.”
Unhappy, Yuwen Tong hugged Ling Zhang and caressed him and kept silent for a long moment.
Stroking his back, Ling Zhang said gently, “We have to win, because after we win, we’ll go back to the capital city to get married.”
Yuwen Tong uttered “Um” in a deep voice and lay down onto the bed with Ling Zhang in his embrace, making out.
…
The next day, Ling Zhang told Ling Zhaowu about that matter and, unsurprisingly, Ling Zhaowu agreed almost without thinking. The two of them went into the city with the team of soldiers transferring the wounded. Naturally, Wang Dashan and the others went with them, along with the guards from the Millennium Pavilion.
Yuwen Tong escorted them back to the city. Ling Zhang and the others would be staying in the headquarters in the city.
“You’ve been here for quite some time and should go back right away. Deputy Commander Jiang and the others would get anxious if anything comes up and they couldn’t find you,” said Ling Zhang, looking at Yuwen Tong.
Yuwen Tong heaved a sigh. Seeing there was nobody else around, he gave Ling Zhang a quick peck on the cheek, lingered for a while longer and then reluctantly exited the city.
Ling Zhang followed Yuwen Tong with his eyes as he left. After quite some time, he pivoted around and returned to the place he’d be staying in during the next few days. He and Ling Zhaowu needed to help the physicians settle the injured soldiers that had just been transferred.
Yuwen Tong had just returned to the military encampment outside the city when Jiang Xi came out of nowhere and said, “Has Childe Ling settled in? Did he suspect anything?”
“I’ve got him settled. For the present he’s not suspicious of anything,” replied Yuwen Tong.
“That Shan Congwen guy is such a sly asshole. He pulled this nasty trick on us and now we have to play it his way,” huffed Jiang Xi.
“We can’t expect to have them take the bait without paying a price,” said Yuwen Tong.
Jiang Xi flicked him a glance and thought, ‘You’re saying this, but the dark look on your face suggests otherwise.’
Yuwen Tong entered the main tent with a sulky face. Before long, he summoned all his generals. With a cold face, he consulted with them and eventually drew up a series of plans aimed at ambushing the allied forces of the Wan Kingdom and the Luohai Kingdom, the Wan Kingdom’s army being the primary target. It seemed that he was determined to wipe out the whole army of the Wan Kingdom.
Jiang Xi, who was getting chills up his spine, stroked his back, thinking that a man could get so scary when forced to part from his partner, that under no circumstances should he do anything that might anger the Marshal at this point in time.
…
After moving into the headquarters in the city, Ling Zhang was unable to get up-to-date messages about the situation in the encampment outside the city.
“You are not anxious any more?” asked Ling Zhaowu, applying a dressing to a soldier’s wound and bandaging it.
On hearing this, Ling Zhang who was putting things away answered matter-of-factly, “I am, but given that he suddenly sent me away on that pretext, there must be something he doesn’t want me to know about, presumably because he wants to save me worrying. Had I insisted on staying in the encampment outside the city, he would’ve had some misgivings about doing what he has to do, which would’ve made things more dangerous for him.”
Ling Zhaowu cast him a surprised look. “I thought you really believed his excuse.”
Ling Zhang gave a brief smile. Of course he had perceived Yuwen Tong’s contradictory behavior and come to know that something was wrong. The day before Yuwen Tong had wanted him to stay by his side at all times, but now Yuwen Tong had sent him downtown on the lame pretext of needing him to help tend the injured because of understaffing. Even if he hadn’t come to realize the truth when he agreed, he should’ve caught on to it some time ago.
“What kind of danger do you think he’s faced with which made him decide to send you here?” inquired Ling Zhaowu, who had finished bandaging the soldier’s wound and was making towards another one.
Following in his wake, Ling Zhang responded, “I’ve got some suspicions.”
As there were outsiders present, it was inappropriate to be specific about this matter, so Ling Zhaowu didn’t persist with his questioning to get more details. After hearing Ling Zhang’s reply, he said, “Considering even the Clan Leader has to cooperate with him, you may rest assured that nothing will happen to him, and there’s no doubt he’ll succeed in achieving his goal.”
Naturally, Ling Zhang also had faith in Yuwen Tong, but it couldn’t stop him from worrying about Yuwen Tong.
…
A few days later, the growing conflict between Yuwen Tong and Shao Feng, the general in charge of the defense of Youzhou, suddenly was settled, because Shao Feng personally went to meet Yuwen Tong, admitted his mistakes and apologized to him. The tension in the atmosphere in the encampment outside the border city instantly dissolved, and a lot of people felt greatly relieved.
At this moment. In the encampment of the allied forces of the Wan Kingdom and the Luohai Kingdom.
“Shao Feng took the bait as expected. He faked his reconciliation with Yuwen Tong, waiting for an opportunity to deal Yuwen Tong a blow. We may start to execute our plan now,” said Dong Gao.
Shan Congwen thought about it for a moment and then asked, “Are you sure Shao Feng is not playing any tricks?”
Dong Gao answered, “You were the one who came up with this plan in the first place, King Ming’en. Although it took some doing and we lost quite some men, things are going exactly in the direction we want them to. What doubts do you still have in these circumstances? We’re so close to reaping the rewards. You’re not getting cold feet, are you, Your Highness?”
Shan Congwen said, “I’m not. It’s just we can never be too cautious about Yuwen Tong, given how cunning he is.”
Dong Gao chuckled contemptuously, “No matter how resourceful Yuwen Tong is, he cannot keep everything under his complete control, not without the assistance of loyal subordinates. Surely he’s not some three-headed, six-armed demon capable of bewitching people?”
Shan Congwen felt a little piqued by the dismissive sneer on Dong Gao’s face. He was fully aware of how many defeats Yuwen Tong had inflicted on the Wan Kingdom over the years. The Luohai Kingdom, however, had been standing by all along. Dong Gao, as the general-in-chief of the Luohai Kingdom, had never fought Yuwen Tong’s army on the battlefield before, which was why he was so proud. By taunting Yuwen Tong, Shan Congwen believed, Dong Gao was actually taunting the Wan Kingdom, and taunting him about his overcautious behavior as well.
“Okay, then. Please give the order for the final plan to be carried out, General Dong,” said Shan Congwen.
Dong Gao chuckled, “That’s the spirit! Guards!”
…
The allied forces of the Wan Kingdom and the Luohai Kingdom were on the move. There was frequent deployment of large groups of troops, not small detachments like the ones they’d sent the last few times.
Tension was rapidly reaching flashpoint, and even Ling Zhang and Ling Zhaowu in the headquarters inside the city were feeling it. Soldiers were being drafted out of the city, along with a lot of physicians, leaving those who stayed really short-handed. Ling Zhang and Ling Zhaowu had to bustle around in the infirmary all day along to share the burden of army physicians.
Even Qiu Bing had been summoned to help. He was not an army physician. It was under the identity of Ling Zhang’s bodyguard that he was offering assistance. The relations between Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong had long since reached a lot of people’s ears. During the past few days, he had been fully occupied in the infirmary from dawn until dark and barely had any time to rest, and many soldiers had seen it. If previously it had been because of Yuwen Tong that they liked Ling Zhang, now their liking for Ling Zhang was based on their acknowledgement of his character and their recognition for his deeds.
Of course, not surprisingly at all, Ling Zhang caught a group of young paramedics’ fancy in this place as well. They all liked to stay around Ling Zhang and talk with him.
It saddened Ling Zhang that they had to come to a war zone at such young ages, though they were staying in the rear where it was relatively safe. As a result, he was very patient with them. No matter which one of them came to ask him about something, as long as he had some acquaintance with it, he’d always answer the questions. He helped them sort medicinal herbs, too, which made the teenagers like following him even more.
Before the battle, Yuwen Tong paid a visit to the infirmary, and his face fell drastically at the sight of the scene, instantly scaring those teenagers off, leaving Ling Zhang looking at him walking over with a mixture of surprise and delight in his eyes.
“Do these brats have too little to do? Everybody else is working flat out, but they have the leisure to idle around you. I think they are getting a little slack and need disciplining,” said Yuwen Tong.
Ling Zhang paused briefly. “What are you talking about? They were sorting medicinal herbs and filling prescriptions with me, not slacking.”
Yuwen Tong stepped closer. “But it’s unnecessary for all of them to cluster around you. Surely there are things to be done elsewhere?”
Ling Zhang was thrown into perplexity at the sight of his sulky face. He stopped what he was doing and looked at him apprehensively. “Did something happen? You don’t look very well.”
Yuwen Tong, “…”
He opened his arms.
Ling Zhang blinked his eyes. His immediate reaction was to look around him. There was nobody else nearby, and those in the distance were occupied with their own business and probably wouldn’t look in this direction. Seeing this, he also opened his arms and hugged Yuwen Tong. Then he persisted, “Did something really happen?”
“No.” Having Ling Zhang in his embrace, Yuwen Tong was no longer unhappy. He said, “I wouldn’t have come here if something did happen.”
Ling Zhang felt that these words made sense, but why had Yuwen Tong appeared sullen just now? And why had he acted grumpily?
“The very sight of those brats around you made me unhappy,” said Yuwen Tong.
Light dawned on Ling Zhang and he pulled a wry face. “What are you talking about? They’re just kids, and we were all incredibly busy. What are you thinking?”
After saying this, he tried to free himself from Yuwen Tong’s embrace, but Yuwen Tong didn’t let him. “Let me hug you a little while longer. Soon there will be another battle and I won’t be able to come here until it’s over. I want you and your father to stay here. Only by knowing that you’re safe can I have piece of mind. Both my heart and my life are in your hands, so on no account are you to be taking any risks.”
Ling Zhang quietly stopped struggling, willingly let Yuwen Tong cuddle him. He took a deep breath and said, “Likewise. If you don’t want to see me charge onto the battlefield, you must stay safe. I don’t dare imagine what I would do if anything happens to you. I think I’ll go crazy.”
He put his arms around Yuwen Tong’s back tight, his voice trailing away to a whisper as he made the last remark.
Yuwen Tong twisted his head aside and planted a kiss on Ling Zhang’s neck. “I promise I’ll keep myself safe. For your sake alone I’ll win this fight and come back unharmed.”
“Um,” said Ling Zhang. After a long silent hug, the two of them reluctantly released each other. Yuwen Tong had specially carved out some time for this visit and had to return to the encampment. He had been telling the truth when saying that he wouldn’t be able to find the time to come downtown again until the war was over.
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