It struck Ling Zhang that none of his body parts was still under his control. Right now the only thing he wanted to do was throw himself onto the bed again and get back to sleep. There was no room in his head to think about anything else.
Yuwen Tong’s heart ached for Ling Zhang as he saw Ling Zhang so groggy. Still, this was their wedding day, and it would be too much to ask that he restrain himself. He scooped Ling Zhang up along with the quilt and directly carried him to the side hall where warm bathwater had been prepared already.
Dreamily lying prone on Yuwen Tong’s shoulder, Ling Zhang was still half asleep. It was after Yuwen Tong removed the quilt and put him into the warm water in the bathing barrel that he slowly gave a shudder and opened his eyes to look at Yuwen Tong.
“Is the water temperature okay?” asked Yuwen Tong.
Seeing Ling Zhang looking emptily at him, Yuwen Tong gave a chuckle in spite of himself, reached into the water to take a stroke, and then rubbed the water onto Ling Zhang’s shoulder. Covered with droplets of water, his frost-colored skin looked so delicate that Yuwen Tong’s mouth and throat went dry. Ripples on the water surface in the large bathing barrel were kissing Ling Zhang’s body one after another, making a sight full of strong visual stimuli, but Ling Zhang was totally unaware of it, his eyes wide open.
Yuwen Tong inwardly let out a long sigh. His desire had been fully satisfied only a short time before, and a couple of provocative words would be enough to turn him on again, let alone a scene like this. However, right now he couldn’t do anything, for Ling Zhang wouldn’t be able to bear it. Also, they were running out of time.
“Take a bath. We need to go to the imperial garden after you get dressed.”
It was after hearing these words of Yuwen Tong’s that Ling Zhang’s mind slowly cleared. He looked around to see where he was, shifted his position to sit in the bathing barrel, leaned against the inside of it, raised his head and heaved a sigh. The warm water alleviated his fatigue, making him feel much more comfortable. Also, his head was clear now.
Gazing at him with a longing in his eyes, Yuwen Tong took off the clothes draped around his shoulders and stepped into the bathing barrel as well.
The water surface in the barrel instantly rose. Looking at Yuwen Tong’s private parts which were showing signs of a particular bodily response, Ling Zhang couldn’t help but recall what the two of them had done a short time before, and with that he hurriedly averted his eyes from them and said, “Don’t you do anything else to me.”
Yuwen Tong chuckled, “What do you think I want to do to you?”
After saying this, he picked up a wet towel and said, “Come over here. I’ll help you wash yourself.”
Ling Zhang looked incredulously at him. It was after confirming Yuwen Tong was not up to anything that he moved over to let Yuwen Tong wipe his body and massage the small of his back.
Having just experienced intense pleasure, their bodies were very sensitive, and merely getting close to each other was enough to cause their bodies to quiver with excitement, not to mention Yuwen Tong wiping and kneading Ling Zhang’s body. As a result, neither of them dared to linger in the barrel for long. After washing themselves in haste, they got out of the barrel, toweled their bodies and hair and then changed into clean clothes.
Standing on the ground, Ling Zhang gingerly stretched and felt it amazing to have some internal energy inside him. He and Yuwen Tong had obviously made out in a quite strenuous way, and he could barely stand only a few moments before, but now, after a mere bath in warm water and a massage given by Yuwen Tong and a short while’s Qi circulation, he was feeling no serious discomfort except a particular body part of his was still fairly uncomfortable.
They dried each other’s hair with their internal energy, tied each other’s hair up and helped each other change into new, light clothes. Every inch of their adornment was the work of their lovers. Ling Zhang felt as though Yuwen Tong’s handsomeness and great presence should be attributed to him, while Yuwen Tong felt that he deserved all the credit for Ling Zhang’s elegance and charm. Their faces registered pride in spite of themselves, their eyes fixed on each other and full of proudness and affection.
Eventually, Yuwen Tong adjusted Ling Zhang’s hairgrip and observed, “The one you wore during the day is prettier.”
That hairgrip had had exquisite red ribbons attached to it, which had hung behind Ling Zhang and flown whenever there was a wind. Yuwen Tong had noticed it during the day when escorting Ling Zhang out of the Ling Mansion. It had set off his sweetheart, making him look even more refined and graceful.
Ling Zhang, however, believed that the lighter one he was wearing right now was better. “I prefer this one. It’s easier to wear. That one’s too heavy.”
Apart from those ribbons, the main body of the hairpin was rather heavy as well. Ling Zhang didn’t feel like having it on his head for a whole night. On top of that, it wouldn’t match the attire he was clothed in at this moment.
Yuwen Tong was secretly a trifle regretful. He liked it when breeze brought those ribbons around his arm as he and Ling Zhang walked hand in hand. It felt as though Ling Zhang were wrapping himself around him, which gave him a unique sense of contentment.
“Let’s go. We’ll be late if we don’t hurry.”
Ling Zhang grabbed Yuwen Tong’s hand and hastened to make towards the doors, not caring whether or not Yuwen Tong was still having some kind of romantic fantasy.
They had originally planned to get something to eat, but time was terribly short, so the two of them had to drop the idea.
…
In the imperial garden.
Hundreds of thousands of lanterns had been lit, every one of which was emitting light different than that from the others, making the garden a glaring ocean of rays of a myriad of colors, creating a sight of unparalleled beauty.
Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong had just reached the front gates when they heard the tumultuous uproar inside. Officials of all ranks and descriptions, the diplomatic corps of the couple of foreign countries and other invited guests had all gathered in there, producing incessant mirth and a babble of voices, mixed with the noises of children frolicking.
Ling Zhang, who had a keen sense of hearing, could tell that there were far more than two children in there, looking at Yuwen Tong, somewhat confused.
“Why am I hearing voices of a lot of kids? Those officials brought their children here?”
Yuwen Tong explained, “According to the rules, tonight all officials are allowed to bring their family members here, but they tend not to take children to an evening banquet like this. I think this has something to do with Maomao.”
Ling Maomao was Ling Zhang’s cousin and the only great-grandchild of Ling Xingzhong, and his existence had indeed come to the knowledge of everybody without him noticing. Ling Zhang had married Yuwen Tong and become the empress, making the Ling family in-laws of the emperor. On top of that, Yuwen Tong valued Ling Zhang and the Ling family very much, which had given many people the idea of striking up relationships with the Ling family. Even if they couldn’t make friends with the Ling family, they wouldn’t make enemies of them. After all, nobody knew how far the Ling family would get.
However…
The Ling family were in the limelight, because the emperor cared about them very much, but the Ling family had been keeping a low profile, barely rubbing shoulders with anybody other than a limited few such as the Yuwen family and the Tao family. As a result, most officials were unable to find any opportunities to strike up friendships with the Ling family, though they wanted to, which was why in their eyes, Ling Maomao was a way in to a relationship with the Ling family. It might be difficult for them to get acquainted with any of the adult members of the Ling family, but it should be easy for their children to make the acquaintance of Ling Maomao, so they’d brought their kids to this banquet with the intention to have them play with Ling Maomao. As regards whose children would be able to make friends with Ling Maomao, they could do nothing but trust to luck.
Therefore, Ling Maomao was also very busy on this night, holding Ji Xiaocong’s hand, talking with a group of children from aristocratic families clustering around them.
At first Ling Maomao was somewhat unaccustomed to this situation, but gradually he sensed that something was not quite right. These children, both those older than him and those younger than him, seemed to be a trifle afraid of him. Though they spoke in different ways, all of them appeared to be somewhat overcautious. After Ling Maomao came to the capital city, he had seen more people and experienced more things, and his elders had drummed a lot into his head, so he had got some acquaintance with the various aspects of this city. On this occasion, he had perceptively perceived that the reason why these children were trying to make friends with him was because of his brother, who was the empress, and whose husband was the emperor.
Having got a vague idea of what was going on, Ling Maomao knew what to expect. Gradually, his unease ebbed away and he developed the ability to calmly deal with every one of the children accosting him. When the topic was unfamiliar to him, he would keep silent. Even when asked about something he knew of, he would always make his reply as short as possible. With a poker face, he looked somewhat unapproachable, as though he were really a patronizing child.
Though Ji Xiaocong standing beside him was young, this little guy was a member of the Ji family and thus intellectually precocious. Although he was still unable to figure out the ins and outs of this matter, he had generally came to realize what this might be about. When Ling Maomao was feigning unapproachability, he followed suit, looking impassive. With two expressionless faces, one bigger than the other, the two little boys were not flustered at all in the face of a group of children besieging them.
Members of the Ling family in the distance, who’d been paying attention to the two little boys all along, found this scene quite amusing.
“Maomao has indeed grown a lot,” sighed Ling Zhaowu, looking at Ling Maomao with exceptionally affectionate eyes. Because of his feelings of guilt, he saw his little brother’s son as his own. He left home over ten years ago, and it’d been his brother who’d brought Ling Zhang up, so he was eager to make it up to his brother by doing something for his nephew.
Naturally, Ling Zhaowen was very happy to hear his big brother’s praise for his son’s conduct, but he still put on a disapproving look and remarked, “He’s wearing a poker face because he doesn’t have a clue how to deal with that situation.”
“It’s pretty smart of him to speak less, listen more and observe more, making it difficult for others to guess what he’s thinking. It’s not that he doesn’t know how to deal with it. Actually he’s handling it in the exactly correct way. Your bark is worse than your bite, and it always has been. You’re secretly happy about it, but you’ll never admit it.”
Ling Zhaowu put it very explicitly, not caring at all whether or not his little brother would be embarrassed. Ling Zhaowen, who was faintly disconcerted and felt that his big brother was being too blunt, looked at Ling Zhaowu and said, “You’re clearly coddling him.”
Ling Zhaowu gave a smile and didn’t contradict him again, letting him retain a little dignity.
On the other side, Ling Xingzhong and Ji Yin were also looking at the two little boys.
“Tonight he doesn’t seem like the naughty boy he usually is at home at all,” commented Ling Xingzhong with a sigh, vaguely gratified.
Ji Yin said, “All little boys are naughty at home and pretend to be mature in the presence of outsiders. It’s a normal thing.”
Ling Xingzhong smiled, looked into the distance and said, “It’s been a while. What’s taking Zhang’er and His Majesty so long?”
Ji Yin glanced at a spot in the distance and replied, “They’ve already arrived. There, they’re watching the two kids.”
Ji Yin, whose hearing was very good, could hear all the movements nearby if he wanted to. As Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong had come with a lot of guards following in their wake, so he’d heard the sound some time before.
Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong indeed paused for a while to see how Ling Maomao would deal with the situation. The little boy’s approach struck Ling Zhang as satisfactory.
“You should give him a reward for this later,” said Yuwen Tong.
Ling Zhang thought about it for a brief moment and replied, “He’s not getting a reward so easily. I’d like to see his performance during the remainder of this banquet before making a decision.”
Yuwen Tong looked at him in surprise. It’d never crossed his mind that there would be circumstances in which Ling Zhang could bring himself to be strict with Ling Maomao.
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