The two of them hugged each other tight.
Yuwen Tong’s hands were moving passionately over Ling Zhang’s back, rubbing Ling Zhang’s black hair the form of which was shifting constantly. The silk-like touch of it was enthralling, but it was so smooth that it kept slipping from Yuwen Tong’s fingers, as though it was impossible to hold the hair, which rendered Yuwen Tong restless and impatient, so when he kissed Ling Zhang, he did it so urgently as if he wanted to swallow Ling Zhang in one gulp.
Even the corners of Ling Zhang’s eyes were now red. He involuntarily tightened his grip on Yuwen Tong’s arms. He had a shrewd idea why Yuwen Tong had suddenly become so feverish, but this kind of feeling struck him as somewhat horrifying, and it made him felt as though he was forgetting who he was, as though Yuwen Tong was the only one he could rely on… It was not that they had never had this kind of moment before, but most of those experiences had happened at night, and now they were doing it in broad daylight.
Yuwen Tong’s breathing was so heavy as though something was about to explode beside his ear. During fleeting intervals of the kiss, while gasping for air, Ling Zhang grasped Yuwen Tong’s arms, pushed them and said intermittently, “They…are…waiting for…us…outside. Stop…it.”
Yuwen Tong’s eyes, filled with longing, were a royal scarlet and an inky black. The person in his arms, whose eyes were red and watery from his kiss, struck him as someone taking his soul away. Exercising all his self-restraint, he subdued his desire and uttered a throaty “Um” but didn’t stop what he’d been doing.
After quite a while, when Ling Zhang was beginning to have trouble breathing, Yuwen Tong finally let go of him slowly, but his lips were still against Ling Zhang’s. He stared fixedly at Ling Zhang’s full, rosy and faintly swollen lips, nibbling them gently while Ling Zhang was panting.
It was after another few moments that the two of them parted with difficulty and managed to cool down a little.
Yuwen Tong still couldn’t take his eyes off Ling Zhang who was in scarlet wedding robes, a flush over his cheeks, his hair all streaming loose. He stood there motionlessly, staring unblinkingly at him.
“You…Ahem.” Ling Zhang opened his mouth and had just uttered one word when he found that his voice was hoarse, hastened to clear his throat and then continued, “Go and change into your robes. Hurry. I’ll take mine off lest they crumple.”
Actually both of them had been aroused, and they had to stop only because it was daytime and there were people waiting for them outside, so at this moment they both felt somewhat uncomfortable. Ling Zhang, who’d been the first to speak, went behind a screen to change. If he didn’t do this, both of them would fail to restrain themselves.
Yuwen Tong, who had robed Ling Zhang, naturally wanted to personally disrobe him, but he managed to forbear from doing that as he saw Ling Zhang walk to the other side of the screen.
The look in the depths of Yuwen Tong’s eyes suggested there was an intense struggle ongoing in his mind. ‘Calm down! I’ll get to undress him in whatever way I want the night of the wedding!’
Ling Zhang was unaware that Yuwen Tong was picturing all kinds of ways of removing the wedding robes from him and almost let his desire get the better of him because of the fantasy. Standing behind the screen alone, he took off the wedding robes one by one. It took him quite some time and he gradually calmed down. When he had put on his casual clothes and walked out with the wedding robes in his arms, Yuwen Tong had changed into his wedding robes. Caught unawares, Ling Zhang stopped dead beside the screen, fixing Yuwen Tong with an astonished gaze. If it weren’t for the fact that he still had a small part of his composure left, the wedding robes in his arms would have dropped to the ground.
Yuwen Tong standing opposite him opened his arms and asked, “Do I look good?”
Eyes on Yuwen Tong, Ling Zhang didn’t realize that he had subconsciously walked up to Yuwen Tong already and was now reaching out a hand to stroke the robes.
Yuwen Tong, quick of eye and deft of hand, caught the robes dropping from Ling Zhang’s arms, carefully placed them onto the table, pivoted around and looked at Ling Zhang who was staring blankly at him. Brightening up, he leaned over Ling Zhang, their noses within an inch of touching each other. “Do I look good?” he repeated.
“Yeah,” Ling Zhang subconsciously answered with a nod and then stretched out a hand to stroke him. “You do,” he added.
Yuwen Tong gave a chuckle, the sound of which brought Ling Zhang out of his trace and back to his senses. Yuwen Tong’s long, beautiful eyes were gleaming with confidence which originated from the infatuation in his lover’s eyes.
The warm blush on Ling Zhang’s cheeks hadn’t ebbed away yet, but at this moment it didn’t seem to bother him at all. He stroked Yuwen Tong’s wedding robes, his liking for them deepening with every movement of his hand. Then he swallowed hard and vaguely came to understand why a moment ago Yuwen Tong had reacted so dramatically at the sight of him in his wedding robes. Right now he himself was also a little inclined to…
No! He must control himself!
Ling Zhang shook his head vigorously, inwardly telling himself that it was daytime, that there were people waiting for them outside, so he had to restrain himself.
“Stop stroking me.” Yuwen Tong’s chuckle suddenly became low and deep, his delighted voice turning as husky as it had been a while ago. “If you don’t, I might be turned on and do stuff, and then you’ll be mad again.”
Ling Zhang abruptly came to himself and immediately withdrew his hand, but Yuwen Tong grabbed it halfway, rubbing his fingers. For a few moments both of them kept silent.
“I really wish today was the wedding day,” said Yuwen Tong.
Ling Zhang looked up at him. “That makes two of us.”
No sooner had he said this than he regretted it. Worrying that he had fueled Yuwen Tong’s desire, he hastened to change the topic. “Do your robes fit? Are there any parts of them that you want the dressmaker to alter?”
Yuwen Tong held Ling Zhang’s hand to his mouth and nibbled it. “Wait a moment.”
Ling Zhang gave a gasp of pain at the nibble, quickly withdrew his hand and shot Yuwen Tong an annoyed glance. All the romance in the mood seemed to have dissolved with that nibble. “Hurry up. Don’t waste any more time.”
Yuwen Tong slightly shook his head, turned around, walked up to the dressing mirror, looked into it and then returned. “They fit well. There’s no need to alter anything.”
Both their robes fit, and no alteration had to be made. The dressmakers who’d made these two sets of wedding robes were the best in the imperial palace and even in the whole capital city. Though they had confidence in their skills, after hearing that the robes fit perfectly and that the emperor and the future empress were both satisfied, the dressmakers were all relieved.
The matter of the wedding robes handled, Ling Zhang packed his things, ready to leave the palace and return home.
Originally they had planned to hold a banquet in the palace and bring Ling Maomao and Ji Xiaocong to the palace to stay for two days in passing, but what with the matter of Yuwen Zhi and that Gu master, it had to be delayed until after the wedding ceremony.
The next day, Yuwen Tong accompanied Ling Zhang back to the Ling Mansion. All Ling Zhang’s family members had been expecting him.
This time around, two officials of the Ministry of Rites had come to the Ling Mansion with Ling Zhang. They were responsible for helping the Ling family with the wedding preparations and some details on the wedding day.
The Ling family had also started festooning the residence. Although Ling Zhang was marrying into another family, it didn’t mean that the Ling family shouldn’t make the wedding a grand occasion.
The courtyard house that Ling Zhang was living in had been revamped, and all the furnishings had been replaced with top-of-the-line ones.
“You’re both men, and your wedding will be different from traditional ones, but that’s not a reason for us to make it any less great than it should be.” This was the opinion of every member of the Ling family.
Before Ling Zhang could say anything, Yuwen Tong agreed and promised very willingly to satisfy all the requirements members of the Ling family laid down. The corners of the eyes of the two officials of the Ministry of Rites twitched as they heard those requests, but Yuwen Tong accepted all of them without hesitating for a single moment, assuring the Ling family that all their requirements would be met.
The two officials thought about it for a while and then realized that an imperial gay marriage was without precedent in the history of the Great Wen, that they might as well let the emperor hold the wedding in whatever way he wanted. Besides, it was unwise to put a damper on the emperor’s high spirits, so they turned a blind eye and wrote down all the terms that the emperor agreed to. As for whether or not they would have to work their asses off to get it done, thinking about this question was pointless, for this was their job, and they were paid to do it. Moreover, the Minister of Rites was the emperor’s cousin, so they’d have no choice but to work as hard as they could if they valued their positions.
Eventually, Ling Zhang stopped his family whose ‘suggestions’ were getting more and more absurd. “Paternal Grandfather, Maternal Grandfather, Father, Uncle, Aunt, the wedding plan would go awry if you want so many things to be done on the wedding day. Let’s stick to the original plan. Otherwise there would be too many distractions and the guests would be confused, which is the last thing we want to see happen.”
Ling Zhaowu gave a little cough and then said, “Zhang’er has a point. I think these would be enough. There’s no need to add anything more. In addition, the wedding day is quite close. If we ask for too much, the Ministry of Rites won’t have enough time to finish the preparatory work. It’s quality that matters, not quantity. The wedding ceremony should be about Zhang’er and Yuwen Tong. Let’s not add any more needless stuff to it.”
It was after hearing this that Ji Yin and the others reluctantly agreed, “Okay, then. The plan is finalized.”
“For our part, the most important thing is to make sure that nothing goes wrong with the trousseaus, that everybody will be awestruck on the wedding day.”
These words did make sense, so everybody nodded.
Recalling those trousseaus that his maternal grandfather had added to the list, Ling Zhang secretly asked his father in an uncertain tone, “My maternal grandfather didn’t add anything else to the list, right?”
Ling Zhaowu lightly shook his head. “No, but he’s been saving some privately.”
Ling Zhang first let out a sigh of relief and then pulled a wry face.
The two officials of the Ministry of Rites heard them talk about the trousseaus. When hearing the word ‘awestruck’, they didn’t take it seriously. After all, in their eyes, although the Ling family counted as a wealthy one when compared with most families in provincial towns, its wealth couldn’t hold a candle to that of a rich family in the capital city, and no matter how shocking the Ling family believed the trousseaus were, they would by no means awe residents of the capital city.
However, when the two of them started helping the Ling family make wedding preparations and saw the trousseaus, they could hardly believe their eyes. The more astounding part was that what they saw was only part of the trousseaus. There were more of them in the warehouse. It was inconvenient to take them out, so the officials only saw the names of them on the list. Although the two of them hadn’t seen the rest of the trousseaus, the thickness of the pamphlet shocked them so deeply that they both swallowed hard. ‘The Ling family is rea–really so wealthy?’
This happened afterward. For the moment they were unaware, so they didn’t give that remark another thought, the looks in their eyes unchanged.
After having lunch in the Ling Mansion and conferring with the Ling family about some details of the wedding ceremony, Yuwen Tong had to go back to the imperial palace, for there were a lot of affairs he needed to attend to.
Before leaving, he squeezed Ling Zhang’s hand. In the knowledge that it was inappropriate to do anything further in the presence of so many people, he grudgingly took his leave but was secretly quite regretful. At the prospect of spending the next several days alone, in particular, he felt even more lonesome.
Gazing at Yuwen Tong’s forlorn receding back, Ling Zhang was somewhat sympathetic to him, but at the same time he couldn’t help but inwardly ridicule him. They’d be separated for only a couple of days. Why was he making it so gooey?!
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