“I’m sorry.”
Ling Zhang’s eyes began to sting from tears again at these words of Yuwen Tong’s.
Stroking the corners of Ling Zhang’s eyes, Yuwen Tong said, “For what? In my last incarnation, I didn’t even meet you. I killed Zhang Chong and those people of the Jia family because I wanted to return the favor, so my decision to stay single all my life had nothing to do with you. As for this incarnation, you have even less of a reason to apologize to me. You’re the best thing that has ever happened to me.”
His only regret was that he was unable to tell the Yuwen Tong in his last incarnation to go to Tanyang earlier, because if he had found Ling Zhang earlier, he would have been able to rescue him and change the tragic fate of the Ling family.
As Yuwen Tong fingered the corners of his eyes, Ling Zhang subconsciously twisted his head aside to rub his cheek against Yuwen Tong’s palm.
The look in Yuwen Tong’s eyes changed and he heavily swept Ling Zhang into his embrace, cuddling him close.
Ling Zhang conveniently shifted his position, pressing himself tightly against Yuwen Tong, his mind now at ease. “Thank you.”
Yuwen Tong gave him a pinch on the small of his back. “A moment ago you said ‘sorry’ to me, and now you are thanking me? You might as well just kill me.”
“I’m sorry,” Ling Zhang hurriedly said.
Yuwen Tong, “…”
His telling Ling Zhang to stop saying it seemed to be having the opposite effect.
“‘I’m sorry’, ‘Thanks’, ‘It’s my fault’ – I don’t want to hear any of these ever again. If you really feel you need to do something to make it up to me, give me a good kiss and don’t ever hide anything from me again, because I’ll be worried if you do that.”
“Okay.”
Yuwen Tong heaved a sigh of relief, held him tight and asked, “Now we know that you have the Blood of the Phoenix Clan in you. Did Ji Yanlai say anything else about it? Something like, whether or not your body was affected in some way or another after that thing happened.”
Ling Zhang shook his head. “I never told Ji Yanlai about this, but I think he has guessed it. On that day, he seemed to be implying that there’s no precedent for this kind of thing, and neither were there any records about it in the Millennium Pavilion, that the so-called ‘Rising Like a Phoenix From the Ashes’ was nothing but a legendary tale in those ancient books, and it was illusory and shouldn’t be taken seriously, that I was the only exception.
But after my father told me the same thing had happened to him as well, I began to feel that this whole thing’s incomprehensible. Maybe the Blood of the Phoenix Clan had nothing to do with it, but nobody knows the exact reason for it.
As regards its influence on my body, the only one I could think of is that the Blood of the Phoenix Clan in me was enhanced, which is why I make progress in cultivation of internal energy faster than others do. So far there haven’t been any other influences. I’m in excellent physical condition.”
Yuwen Tong mulled over it for a while and then said, “Well, in that case, let’s keep this between you, me and your father and never mention it to anybody else.”
Ling Zhang replied, “I understand.”
“I’m afraid those contradictory things about your father have raised a lot of people’s suspicions. They just haven’t started asking questions yet. Since they’re reserving judgment, we may just keep a poker face and pretend we don’t know anything about it.”
“Okay.”
The two of them conferred with each other and decided to keep this matter secret, and not to breathe a word of it to any outsiders.
“My father said that he would tell me the subsequent events in detail after we get these miscellaneous matters in this city handled,” said Ling Zhang.
“I see,” said Yuwen Tong. “I’d like to be an extra listener if your father’s okay with it.”
Now that those contradictory facts about Ling Zhaowu had been explained, Yuwen Tong became a little curious about what Ling Zhaowu had been through in his last incarnation exactly that had made his intuition so acute.
But before that…
“I owe your father an apology. I was a little blunt back there, and I hope he won’t take offence and refuse to marry you to me.”
A pink flush spread over Ling Zhang’s cheeks and all the way to his ears at these words. “What are you talking about? My father is not a child. He would never do something like that.”
Yuwen Tong hugged him tight and kissed him several times, as though he were some kind of lost treasure he had just recovered. Although Yuwen Tong had no memory of what had happened in his last incarnation, the carry-over of fear was still lingering inside him no matter how hard he tried to dismiss it.
Of course, it also struck fear into his heart to recall that he had almost offended his future father-in-law. With only a few days before the wedding ceremony, if Ling Zhaowu wanted to make things difficult for him, it would really give him headaches and he’d have to spare some time to figure out a way to make amends to Ling Zhaowu.
…
Having told Yuwen Tong the truth, Ling Zhang finally rid himself of the burden of the secret. He had been through some abrupt mood swings during the process, and now, with the stress gone, he looked rather tired and sleepy. Before long, he drifted off. Yuwen Tong was holding him in his arms, stroking his back automatically, unable to sleep, feeling as though there was something burning in his heart.
…
The next day, Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong left the palace to see Ling Zhaowu.
Yuwen Tong made an apology on his own initiative at the beginning of the conversation. “It was rude of me to talk to you like that last night. Please forgive me, Father-in-law.”
Seeing the look on Yuwen Tong’s face was calm and Ling Zhang looked in a good mood, Ling Zhaowu came to know that Yuwen Tong had accepted the truth, and inwardly gave a gasp of relief. Having seen what Yuwen Tong had been like in his last incarnation, he knew that there were quite some heterodox ideas in the very marrow of this man’s bones, for otherwise Yuwen Tong wouldn’t have stayed in the north-west like a warlord and never married for his whole life. Also, none of the orthodoxies or prejudices common people had could be seen on Yuwen Tong, so it didn’t really come as a surprise to him that Yuwen Tong had accepted the truth.
“You were looking out for Zhang’er’s best interests, so I have no reason to blame you. Now that Zhang’er has told you everything, you won’t have to suspect that he’s keeping anything else back from you. You two will soon be married, and it’s best if you two nurse no grievance against each other.”
Yuwen Tong said, “You’re right. I’ll keep your words in mind, Father-in-law.”
Ling Zhaowu lifted his eyebrows, finding Yuwen Tong’s obedience quite surprising, given how aggressive he had been the night before.
…
This matter settled, Yao Yi and the other bodyguards could finally relax. During the past few days, they had been caught in the middle between their two masters’ trust issues and had quite a hard time. Though unaware of how Ling Zhang had explained it to Yuwen Tong, they were glad that it had been resolved.
Miao Shiba no longer had a guilty conscience when following Ling Zhang. The very thought of the task that he’d been performing over the past few days by acting like a spy made his head pound.
On this day, the Court Prison sent someone to the palace, who reported that Yuwen Zhi was ill. Surprised, Ling Zhang asked about what kind of illness it was.
“It seems like a cold, and it’s said to be heavy. A court physician has gone there to check on him. Childe Feng made a request for permission to bring Second Master back home to receive treatment, but the Marshal turned it down. Right now Childe Feng is kneeling outside the hall and refuses to leave. Many courtiers are trying to persuade the Marshal,” said Miao Shiba.
Ling Zhang gave it some thought and felt that it was best if he stayed out of this matter.
But unexpectedly, Yuwen Feng came to intercede with him, kneeling outside the Infinite Fortune Palace.
Ling Zhang furrowed his brows. Yuwen Tong happened to be not in the Infinite Fortune Palace at the moment. With nobody able to handle it, Ling Zhang had no choice but to intervene.
“Please rise.” Ling Zhang asked Yuwen Feng to get to his feet. “It’s not my decision to make.”
Yuwen Feng was unwilling to stand up, his thin figure stamped with fatigue. “I know this is too much to ask, but my father caught a heavy cold, and living conditions in the Court Prison are terrible. He’ll die in the cell if I don’t get him out of there. Please do me a favor, Childe Ling. If you intercede with my cousin, he’ll definitely agree. Please.”
Ling Zhang gazed at him for quite a while. He knew that Yuwen Feng wouldn’t stand up if he declined.
“Apart from anything else, my father is my cousin’s uncle. Considering my cousin hasn’t acceded to the throne yet, it would compromise his reputation if people believe that he’s so callous as to watch his own uncle die. I know my father did something wrong, and I don’t dare have the fond hope that my cousin would forgive him entirely. All I ask is that you intercede with my cousin for my father, so that I could bring my father back home to nurse that cold. After he recovers, I’ll personally send him back to the Court Prison.”
That was easy for him to say. Who could guarantee that nothing would go awry? However, Ling Zhang had a hunch that this time around he had to help Yuwen Feng, because Yuwen Feng was Yuwen Tong’s cousin, and the reason why Yuwen Tong had put Yuwen Feng in charge of the Ministry of Rites was that he had bigger plans for Yuwen Feng. If Yuwen Zhi really died in the Court Prison, Yuwen Feng would no longer serve Yuwen Tong wholeheartedly.
Furthermore, Yuwen Tong was a military leader, and civil officials tended to have bias against military officers. If Yuwen Tong was accused of heartlessly murdering his own uncle, it would disadvantage him.
It didn’t matter much whether Yuwen Zhi would survive or not, but this matter must not add to Yuwen Tong’s trouble. Even if Yuwen Zhi was brought out of the prison, there would still be many ways to have him killed, and Ling Zhang believed killing him without arousing anybody’s suspicions wouldn’t be a problem at all.
“Get to your feet. I’ll go and talk to him, but I can’t guarantee he’ll listen to me. Stop kneeling here. By doing this, you’re actually inconveniencing me rather than begging me. If you really want my help, stop causing me trouble right now.”
Yuwen Feng’s body was stiff for an instant and then he slowly rose to his feet. “Thank you.”
“Hold sentiment until it is deserved,” said Ling Zhang.
Ling Zhang went to see Yuwen Tong, who glanced at him and asked, “Yuwen Feng left?”
“No. He’s still waiting outside,” answered Ling Zhang. “You know why I’m here.”
“I’ll let Yuwen Zhi go. Tell Yuwen Feng to go to the Court Prison to pick him up,” said Yuwen Tong.
Ling Zhang looked at him in great surprise. “You’ll let him go? Then why didn’t you just grant Yuwen Feng his request? It would’ve spared us a lot of trouble.”
Yuwen Tong replied, “It’s inappropriate for me to grant his request immediately. Besides, isn’t it a good thing that you’ve got an opportunity to have him owe you a favor?”
Ling Zhang looked at him, a fairly suspicious expression on his face. “Do you… have some ulterior motive for doing this so willingly, by any chance?”
Yuwen Tong gave a smile. “Don’t concern yourself with that. Just go to see Yuwen Feng and do him the favor.”
Though Ling Zhang was unable to fathom out what Yuwen Tong was up to, cooperating with him was within his power. “Okay,” he said.
Ling Zhang intentionally lingered in the hall for a few moments before going out. At the sight of him coming out of the hall, Yuwen Feng’s eyes gleamed with expectation.
Ling Zhang said, “This is the token you need. Bring it to the Court Prison.”
Yuwen Feng was overjoyed. “Thank you! Thank you, Childe Ling!”
“I don’t need your gratitude. I’m doing this because I don’t want Yuwen Tong to be accused of a crime he didn’t commit. Also, you should know very well that your father more than once tried to have us killed. It’s not that we’re impersonal. He was the one who showed disregard for kinship first. At that time the situation was so dangerous, and everybody else was trying to help those close to them, but your father tried to kill his own nephew. I really dislike him very much.”
Yuwen Feng wished the ground could’ve swallowed him up. “I know. This is all my father’s fault. I promise I’ll send him back to the Court Prison immediately after curing him of his illness. I won’t put my cousin in a difficult position.”
Ling Zhang didn’t want this conversation with Yuwen Feng to last any longer, and the latter perceived it, took the token and then took his leave.
An hour later came news that Yuwen Feng had brought Yuwen Zhi out of the Court Prison and back to his abode. Yuwen Zhi had indeed caught a bad cold, what with the poor living conditions in the Court Prison. After returning home, he directly lay down on his bed, feeling lucky that Yuwen Feng had interceded for him and got him out of the prison. Otherwise he would’ve died in his cell.
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