Wang Dashan and a couple of others were on guard duty outside the room of Ling Zhang when Yao Yi suddenly came into sight, beckoned to them and said in a lowered voice, “Come here.”
Wang Dashan walked over and asked him, “Guard Yao, what’s the matter?”
Yao Yi drew him a few paces further away from the others and replied, “Childe Ling is still asleep?”
Wang Dashan tossed a glance at his hand which was still being held by Yao Yi.
Yao Yi hurriedly released his hand and gave an apologetic giggle, “Sorry. Please don’t take me wrong.”
Wang Dashan was thrown into speechlessness.
‘I just asked you to release my hand. What could I possibly have misunderstood?’
In a resigned tone of voice, he said, “Our young master is still asleep. Is there anything particular that the Marshal wants to see our young master about?”
Yao Yi replied, “Not really. It’s my intention of consulting with you about something that brings me here.”
Wang Dashan was rather surprised, “What is it? Does it have anything to do with the assassin?”
Yao Yi shook his head. “No. It’s…” He gave an unnatural cough and continued, “Do you know how to make Childe Ling happy?”
Wang Dashan’s eyes dilated with astonishment goggling at him. “Guard Yao, how dare you attempt to poach from the Marshal?”
Yao Yi was sent into embarrassment and hastily gestured for him to lower his voice, “What are you talking about? The Marshal will have me beheaded if this reaches his ears!”
Wang Dashan also felt somewhat awkward. He had just blurted that out in a jolt of dismay. “Then why did you take it into your head to win my young master’s favor?”
Yao Yi answered in a deep tone of voice, “It’s for the sake of Childe Ling that I’m doing this.”
Wang Dashan looked at him in puzzlement. ‘For the sake of young master?’
Yao Yi observed, “The attempted assassination must have scared Childe Ling pretty bad. We can even see it on his face. It’s just that we want to know if there’s anything we can do to cheer Childe Ling up.”
Wang Dashan gave a bob of his head. “We are not as considerate as you are. This never crossed the mind of any of us.”
Yao Yi patted Wang Dashan on the shoulder. “You’re too young to be blamed for it.”
Wang Dashan, who was no younger than Yao Yi, fell speechless with embarrassment.
“In the past, every time our young master feels depressed, our second mistress will cook him dishes that she’s best at cooking, and young master always cheers up after enjoying them.”
Yao Yi raised his head and pondered for a while. “Is there an alternative?”
‘The level of difficulty of this method is too high. Surely we can’t just return to Tanyang and take Second Mistress Ling here?’
“Sometimes, when our young master feels a bit down, he would play with our second young master and Ada. We can always hear his laughter when he is with them.”
Once again, Yao Yi responded in resignation, “I’m afraid I’ll have to pass on this one as well. Hey, bro, it’s not that I’m being picky, but neither of these two is an option for us. Childe Ling is now away from Tanyang.”
Wang Dashan looked at him with a deeply meaningful expression in his eyes and remarked, “As far as I could tell, our young master is actually pretty happy when he’s with the Marshal.”
Yao Yi was delighted to hear this, but soon something occurred to him and with that his face darkened again. ‘This one is not doable either. The reason why the Marshal wants us to cheer Childe Ling up must be that it’s not very convenient for him to do it himself. Thinking about this, Yao Yi frowned and said, “Is there by any chance another way? For instance, Childe Ling’s favorite food, what he likes to watch the most, what he likes to listen to the most, etc. Whatever and wherever it is, we’ll figure out a way to bring it to Childe Ling.”
Wang Dashan looked at him with a resigned expression on his face. ‘Did I not tell you that our young master likes dishes cooked by our second mistress, likes to watch Childe Maomao playing with Ada and also likes hearing the Marshal say…’ Thinking of this, Wang Dashan secretly gave a cough.
Wang Dashan stopped deliberately making impracticable suggestions, which had put Yao Yi in an awkward situation. “Our young master likes Ada pretty much, which he was unable to take with him on this journey to the capital city. Though he didn’t say anything, I could tell that he feels somewhat regretful. So maybe you could try get him a puppy?”
Yao Yi’s eyes lit up. “Thanks, bro!”
After saying this, he left like the wind.
Wang Dashan stroked his nose and returned.
Liu Yi flicked him a glance. For fear of waking up Ling Zhang, Wang Dashan didn’t say anything about the conversation.
…
In the afternoon, the group resumed their journey. Ling Zhang had just woken up and was still a little sleepy, so Yuwen Tong settled him in a horse-drawn carriage instead of on the back of a horse.
All palace guards and Zhang Xi were bring up the rear. In the knowledge that Yuwen Tong might vent his anger on them, all of them kept quiet.
Ling Zhang looked back, lifted his left brow and then let down the carriage curtain.
“Would you like to get some extra sleep, Young Master?” asked Xia Feng.
Originally, Ling Zhang had wanted to shake his head, but after a brief moment’s thinking, he replied, “Yeah. I do want to catch up on my sleep. You may go out there and sit with the driver.”
‘There’s nobody else around. I should take advantage of this opportunity and read the letter as soon as possible,’ he thought.
Ling Zhang’s instruction aroused no doubts in Xia Feng’s mind. He immediately went outside, sat down beside the driver and even let down the front curtain for fear that the sunlight and the wind might be a disturbance to Ling Zhang.
This was exactly what Ling Zhang wanted. After the front curtain was let down, he hastily fished the envelope out of his inner pocket, unsealed it and started reading, his heart involuntarily fluttering with nervousness.
The letter written by his uncle was very long. In it, he gave an account of the series of events happened within a couple of years, from the first meeting between Ling Zhang’s parents to his mother’s death and his father’s missing.
It was not until Ling Zhang read this letter that he discovered that his mother had also been a very important reason why his grandfather had chosen to leave the capital city in that year.
It had been his father who had rescued his mother. Back at that time, all the handmaids of his mother had been killed, and his mother was the only one left struggling with the enemies, trying to survive. His father, who had some kung fu skills and mistakenly thought that those men were bandits, sprang to her help without much hesitation. After his parents joined hands and disposed of the enemies mobbing them, his mother, drained of energy, passed out and was taken home by his father.
Originally, people of Ling family had thought that his mother was from some family in the capital city, intending to ask his mother about it and then have her escorted to her home after she came around. Unexpectedly, after reviving, his mother was instantly on the alert, overreacted and almost killed his father. People of Ling family were startled and intended to report this to local authorities, but eventually his father stopped them from doing so. After that, his mother lived in the residence of Ling family. Because of her injuries and weak constitution, it took her a long time to make a full recovery. During her stay in Ling family, she and his father fell in love with each other. After his mother recuperated, his father asked his grandfather for permission to marry her.
At first, his grandfather disagreed, saying that she was a very dangerous woman because her family background was known and she had Jianghu kung fu skills. His father implored his grandfather for a very long time. His mother, not having the heart to see his father suffering from the tough situation, decided to leave, but his father didn’t agree, saying that he would leave Ling family as well if she left. Eventually, unwilling to see his father part with his family, his mother told people of Ling family about her parentage.
His mother was not from the Great Yue or the Wan Kingdom but the Millennium Pavilion, all members of which had been living in seclusion for generations.
It was rumored that the Xia (about 2100-1600 BC), the last dynasty, used to have a department called the Foreseers Agency, that foreseers were descendants of phoenixes and capable of foreseeing the future developments of all events in the world as well as bringing peace.
The Millennium Pavilion had grown out of the Deca-millennium Pavilion. At that time, the Xia was a country far larger than the Great Yue. With the Wan Kingdom, the Luohai Kindom and the Fangcun Kingdom, to name but three, under its rule, this whole land was under its sole dominion. The Deca-millennium Pavilion, having been serving the imperial family of the Xia for hundreds of years, were highly revered. However, as the Xia fell apart, the Deca-millennium Pavilion suffered an unprecedentedly heavy blow and disappeared from history.
No one could have foreseen that the Deca-millennium Pavilion had not really been erased from existence. A few surviving members, taking with them the imperial family of the Xia and manuals on unique skills that had been treasured by the Deca-millennium Pavilion for centuries, escaped from pursuers from various sides, secluded themselves in remote mountains and renamed themselves the Millennium Pavilion. From then on, they started living in seclusion, staying away from all disputes in the world. Their secluded life lasted hundreds of years. As daughter of the head elder of the Deca-millennium Pavilion, Ling Zhang’s mother possessed the blood of the foreseers clan. The reason why she left the mountain was that she wanted to find her younger brother who had also secretly left. Unexpectedly, her younger brother, after leaving the mountain, was framed in a sudden misfortune and died. Ling Zhang’s mother, in a fit of rage, with the martial formations of the Deca-millennium Pavilion, killed the man responsible for her younger brother’s death and all his family members…
Those dispatched by the Deca-millennium Pavilion to look for Ling Zhang’s mother and her brother found out about this matter and reported it back. Those in charge decided that the unsanctioned use of martial formations of Ling Zhang’s mother was against the rules, caused quite a stink and was punishable by death. Unconvinced, Ling Zhang’s mother, taking her handmaids with her, tried her best to flee from the killers sent by the Deca-millennium Pavilion. After a couple of fights, both sides suffered serious injuries. The last time they engaged each other was in the suburbs of the capital city, when both sides were like spent arrows. All handmaids of Ling Zhang’s mother died protecting her, and she was reduced to an extremely unfavorable situation. Had his father not suddenly shown up, she would have met her end as well.
Deeply shocked by the truth told by Ling Zhang’s mother, Ling Zhang’s grandfather raised an even stronger objection to his father marrying her. In the end, his father had a long private talk with Ling Xingzhong in the study, the contents of which were unknown to Ling Zhaowen. After that, Ling Xingzhong changed his mind and agreed.
Their wedding was a very low-key affair. When his mother conceived him, she kept feeling somewhat worried that some others from the Deca-millennium Pavilion might find her. As chance would have it, something else happened and his grandfather conveniently resigned from office, took his family out of the capital city and retired to Tanyang. After returning to Tanyang, his mother finally managed to rid herself from fear. However, she insisted on giving birth to Ling Zhang despite the risks and the delivery took a heavy toll on her. Drained of vital energy, his mother, on heavy medication, lingered on for a couple of years and passed away.
At the end of the letter, his uncle conjectured that the reason why Ling Zhaowu had suddenly left home was because he intended to find the Millennium Pavilion, because rumor had it that a descendant of a phoenix was capable of rising from the dead. His father, not resigned to accepting his wife’s death, wanted to figure out a way to resurrect his wife.
Ling Zhang’s brow corrugated in a deep frown. After reading the letter, the only feeling he had was that this whole thing was ridiculous. ‘Resurrection? How is it even possible?! Ling Zhaowu must have taken leave of his senses when he came to believe that. In order to chase a shadow, he chose to forsake his family. What a heartless bastard!’
Thinking about this, Ling Zhang felt a terrible constriction in the chest as well as an urge to vent his anger but didn’t know how.
‘And about that so-called Deca-millennium Pavilion or Millennium Pavilion, given that they had never shown up in Tanyang for so many years, it was almost certain that they had failed to find anything. Under the circumstances, Ling Zhaowu should have kept his head down and stayed with his family, but he was actually stupid enough to go to their place on his own account!
No, if he had found them, we wouldn’t have heard no news of it for so many years. It must be that he had never found any traces of them whatsoever.’
Ling Zhang barely slept the night before and merely had a few moments’ sleep in the morning. At this time, he was suffering from spells of headache, which made his face somewhat pale.
By this moment, he had also managed to figure some things out. ‘No wonder uncle believed me so willingly when I told him that I’d been having dreams about those things. It turns out that there was a reason for that.’
All the martial formations his mother left to him, along with the medicinal jade, were from that so-called Millennium Pavilion.
Ling Zhang fished out the medicinal jade he was wearing, which was blackish green and giving off a mild glow. People had to pay great attention to be able to detect an extremely faint smell of medicine.
He remembered that when he had been young, the smell of medicine had been stronger, but now it was very light. Only when in contact with something of the opposite medicinal property would the jade give off a stronger smell of medicine, just like the poisonous creature carried by Yuwen Qi the last time they’d met.
‘Its medicinal efficacy has been getting weaker…’ he thought.
