After leaving the abode of the Marquess Huaiwen (AKA the Marquess of Moderation), Ling Zhang sitting in his carriage flicked a backward glance at the residence. He hadn’t seen Yuwen Feng’s wife during the visit. The marchioness had always dwelt in deep seclusion and rarely come out. Ling Zhang had merely glimpsed her a couple of times at palace banquets, and his only memory about her was her smile befitting her status at palace banquets.
A few moments before, when he’d been leaving, the court physician had given him a significant look, which had confirmed his suspicion that there was nothing wrong with the marchioness’ pregnancy.
The so-called “compromised her pregnancy” had indeed been a story Yuwen Feng and his wife had made up, one meant to be a reason for him to pay them a visit.
Recalling the process of his visit in the abode of the Marquess Huaiwen, Ling Zhang had some speculations about what Yuwen Feng might be thinking.
…
When Ling Zhang returned to the palace, Yuwen Tong was still in the consultation hall, so he made arrangements for some matters to be dealt with.
At noon, Yuwen Tong returned from the consultation hall, and Ling Zhang told him about his visit to Yuwen Feng.
“His wife’s father is the Taizhou Tongpan (an official under assistant governor). I don’t know much about her, but I do know a thing or two about her father. He’s been in that position for several years. According to related regulations, he should’ve long since been transferred back to this city. However, for some unknown reason, two transfer orders issued by the imperial court eventually ended up being ignored. I did some digging and I have a sneaking suspicion that he secretly did something which made the former emperor change his mind and let him continue to stay in Taizhou.”
After hearing Ling Zhang mention Yuwen Feng’s wife, Yuwen Tong brought up something about her father.
“He made the former emperor change his mind twice?” Ling Zhang was somewhat surprised. The marchioness’ father was merely a Prefectural Tongpan and didn’t wield as much power as a high-ranking official of the capital city did, but he actually had influential contacts in the capital city and had made the emperor change his mind twice? “Does he have some force at his back that is unknown to us, by any chance? Is he…dangerous?”
On top of that, why had he refused to be transferred to the capital city? All Tongpan were officials of the capital city sent to provincial areas, and they were supposed to return to the capital city when their terms ended. If they made achievements during their terms, they without exception would be promoted. Why had he thrown such good opportunities away instead of seizing them?
Ling Zhang, before marrying Yuwen Tong, had done his best to acquaint himself with the background of the officials of every description in this country. The Taizhou Tongpan was a fairly high position, so he still had some recollections of this official, but he didn’t remember reading anything about this person having any particular force at his back.
Yuwen Tong said, “He’s not really dangerous, but he’s pretty visionary and smart. He had the former emperor change his mind by taking advantage of the power struggles between the couple of princes of the Zhou family. His position is neither high nor low, because to the north of Taizhou was Jingzhou. It’s a coastal prefecture, but what with its geographical location, the maritime trade industry there is not as thriving as that of Haizhou. It’s not of great strategical importance, and it doesn’t have any obvious commercial advantages; the Taizhou governor is in charge of prefectural affairs, and the commander of the Taizhou garrison is in charge of military affairs, so the Taizhou Tongpan is a position neither important nor insignificant, and the former emperor had much less trust in him than he did in the Tongpan in more important prefectures. The couple of princes were also not very interested in him. Transferring him back to the capital city would mean that one of the princes’ subordinates in an important position would lose his job. Therefore, after they weighed up the pros and cons, they decided to let him stay there, which made it easier for him to line his pocket. I said he’s smart because he knew how to take advantage of that, and he achieved his ends by have his contacts in the capital city pull strings for him. I deem him visionary because at that time the situation in the capital city was too complicated, and many officials whose ranks were much higher than his were dragged into power struggles; had he returned to the capital city and been assigned to a particular position, he would no doubt have been forced into taking sides. He saw it clearly, which was why he chose not to return.”
After hearing this, Ling Zhang finally came to understand what Yuwen Tong meant – the Taizhou Tongpan was a smart person.
“Yuwen Feng married his daughter because Zheng shi insisted. At that time, the Taizhou Tongpan’s daughter had a reputation for being gentle and kind and honest, and her repulsion spread to the capital city. Zheng shi set great store by her place in the pecking order, and a daughter-in-law from a powerful family was the last thing she wanted, which was why she chose the Taizhou Tongpan’s daughter. After marrying Yuwen Feng, his daughter has indeed been keeping a low profile, and she never fought her mother-in-law for power in the house. She always focuses on serving her husband and raising their children. Never once did she come into conflict with her mother-in-law. Since she’s almost invisible, many people are beginning to forget about her.”
Ling Zhang bobbed his head as he listened, coming to have a general idea of what kind of person the marchioness might be.
“But as far as I could tell, Yuwen Feng’s wife is just as smart as her father is. Firstly, though she always keeps a low profile, she gave birth to two sons and a daughter in succession and is soon going to have her fourth child. It’s almost like Yuwen Feng has eyes only for her. None of his concubines has ever been pregnant. Yuwen Feng is a very strong-minded man. Otherwise he wouldn’t have managed to stay clear-minded when his parents and brother all took leave of their senses. Given that his mind is completely occupied by her, she’s sure as hell a smart person; secondly, in most cases, the saying ‘like father, like son’ makes sense. Children do tend to grow into the likes of their fathers.”
After hearing Yuwen Tong’s words, Ling Zhang said, “Do you think it’s possible that our adoption would lead to some trouble?”
This was what concerned Ling Zhang. Now that they’d made up their minds to adopt some children, they should leave all the other matters aside. There was no doubt he’d have to clear the path for it in advance, no matter whether or not he still had misgivings.
Yuwen Tong shook his head. “They’re all smart people. I’m sure they know what the right thing to do is.”
He’d given it some thought before making the decision. Under no circumstances would he put anybody who might make trouble on his list, because he knew very well that Ling Zhang would inevitably have mixed feelings about the matter of adoption for some time. On no account would he let anything go awry during his handling of this matter, for he didn’t want to further burden Ling Zhang with anything. The people whose children he was going to adopt must be sensible enough to know what they were supposed to do and what they were supposed to not do.
“There’s no need to concern yourself with it. If you don’t believe me, you may wait and see,” said Yuwen Tong.
Ling Zhang said, “I believe you. It’s just I don’t really know much about them. There’s no harm in taking some precautions.”
Yuwen Tong briefly paused and then gave Ling Zhang’s head a stroke.
Ling Zhang looked at him. “What’s the matter?”
“Eighteen. When I was your age, I was bold and ambitious. You’re much more sophisticated than I was at that time,” replied Yuwen Tong.
Ling Zhang gazed at him quietly. Was that a compliment or a sly little dig? Besides, at the age of eighteen, Yuwen Tong had made his name known to many. He stood no comparison whatsoever with Yuwen Tong at that age.
“Were I still a marshal, I would surely have brought you back to the north-west where the sky is high and the land is vast, and where you could go wherever you want as freely as a bird,” added Yuwen Tong.
Ling Zhang was faintly amazed for an instant and then caught on to what Yuwen Tong meant.
“Why are you bringing this up? Though we’re not in the north-west, there isn’t anybody in this city who dares do me any harm, is there? I’m the second most powerful individual in this country, and I can do anything I want. I’m much freer than a bird, aren’t I? I like it here pretty much. Do you not like it here? We’ve just got started and you’re going to chicken out?”
Yuwen Tong chuckled, “Do I strike you as that kind of man?”
Ling Zhang gave a little snort. He knew that Yuwen Tong said that because he wanted him to have a better life, but he was also a man, and a man doesn’t lay down the responsibility on his shoulders. He was not weak. Besides, Yuwen Tong had a lot of state affairs to attend to on a daily basis, and nobody without a strong will could endure a workload that heavy. He had a lot less to deal with than Yuwen Tong did. It was totally unnecessary for Yuwen Tong to feel sorry for him…
“If you say anything like that again, I’ll begin to think that you look down upon me.”
Yuwen Tong took two strides forward and hugged Ling Zhang from behind. “Why would I look down on you? I’m just expressing concern for my sweetheart. What’s wrong with that?”
Sweetheart? This was Ling Zhang’s first time hearing Yuwen Tong say this word out loud. His face instantly started burning. “Mind your words. It’s so embarrassing.”
Yuwen Tong twisted his head aside and planted a kiss on Ling Zhang’s cheek. Looking at the scarlet blush over his cheeks, he said in a voice heavy with amusement, “It’s not embarrassing. I address you as such inwardly every day. Why don’t you give it a try?”
As Ling Zhang pictured him calling Yuwen Tong ‘sweetheart’, he involuntarily gave a shudder and with that the flush over his cheeks finally ebbed away. He turned his head around and looked at Yuwen Tong incredulously. “Would you not feel embarrassed if I do that?”
“Why would I feel embarrassed?” Yuwen Tong looked back at him with a quite injured expression on his face. “I’d be beside myself with joy.”
Ling Zhang, “…”
These words rewrote Ling Zhang’s understanding of how shameless Yuwen Tong was. How had this guy been brought up exactly?
“Is everybody in the army as shameless as you are?”
Yuwen Tong chuckled, “Sort of.”
After saying this, he kissed the corner of Ling Zhang’s mouth loudly and then whispered something in Ling Zhang’s ear.
Yuwen Tong saw Ling Zhang’s face quickly blush once again and with that Ling Zhang pushed him away and glared at him, but he immediately drew Ling Zhang back into his embrace, pressed his cheek against Ling Zhang’s neck and then whispered something else in Ling Zhang’s ear. Ling Zhang was abashed to such an extent that he felt an urge to kick Yuwen Tong’s ass.
“Shut your mouth already. Why are you being like this? How could you say that? Tha–That’s just…You’re an emperor now! Not a vulgar soldier!”
“There’s nothing to feel shy about in this. We’re both men. What’s the point of being bashful about this?”
Was Yuwen Tong implying that he felt shy as easily as a woman? Ling Zhang was so annoyed he wanted to give Yuwen Tong a hard bite. “You’re the most shameless person I’ve ever met!”
“Okay, okay, don’t be mad. I was just joking. You’re the only one I’ve ever said these words to. If you don’t believe me, ask Yao Yi or any of my bodyguards. I’ve always been a moral and dignified man, and I’ve never said any of these to anybody before. All right…Now, how about you say it back?” While placating him in a low voice, Yuwen Tong, who was quite thick-skinned, required Ling Zhang to say those words back.
Naturally, Ling Zhang could never bring himself to utter those words. What Yuwen Tong had whispered in his ear a moment before were…were too gooey. They’d been not only cloying but also…also…
“Stop dreaming. There’s no way I’m saying any of that. The way I see it, you’re taking leave of your senses. If this comes to the knowledge of the courtiers, you’ll have to kiss your dignity goodbye.”
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