Since Ling Zhaowen had put it this way, Ling Zhang had Xia Feng lead Ling Zhaowen and the other two to the courtyard house prepared for them. He himself, along with Yuwen Tong, accompanied Ling Xingzhong to another courtyard house.
When they reached the gateway, Ling Xingzhong paused, pivoted around and said, “Don’t bother to walk me any further. Lao Li will unpack and take care of everything else for me as well.”
Ling Zhang wanted to stay to keep him company, so Yuwen Tong on the side said, “Maybe it’s better if Brother Zhang stays here to keep you company, Old Master Ling. I’ll go to the front yard to see how the arrangements for the welcome reception are going.”
Ling Zhang was rather surprised. Preparations for the welcome reception were not something that Yuwen Tong needed to personally supervise. Why was he doing this?
Then he glanced at Ling Xingzhong who unnoticeably heaved a sigh of relief, and with that he suddenly came to understand the reason why Yuwen Tong had offered to leave was because he could tell that his grandfather was feeling uneasy.
Ling Zhang’s lips briefly clamped together and he said to Yuwen Tong, “Come to think of it, my maternal grandfather probably has something to confer with you about. Also, the Clan Leader should arrive here soon. I’ll stay here with my paternal grandfather for a few moments and then go there.”
Yuwen Tong gave a nod. “All right.”
When Yuwen Tong had left, Ling Zhang guided Ling Xingzhong into the house.
Ling Xingzhong took a seat and looked at him. “Zhang’er, the Marshal will soon ascend the throne. His identity is different now. How could you have him go to the city gates with you to meet us? It’s against the etiquette.”
Ling Zhang kept silent for a brief moment and then replied, “We didn’t think much about it. He’s been quite busy lately. It’s not everyday he could spare the time to do something like this.”
Ling Xingzhong patted Ling Zhang’s hand and said, “You must not do anything like this again. He will be the emperor after the enthronement. Leaving etiquette aside, for the sake of his safety alone, you two should be more cautious.”
If truth be told, Yuwen Tong’s personally meeting them had indeed boosted the Ling family’s respectability earlier this day, and Ling Xingzhong also felt overwhelmingly flattered. It could be said that the Ling family had gained a firm foothold after this act of Yuwen Tong’s. However, Ling Xingzhong was also a little worried that Ling Zhang would be impeached because of this. There was no hurry about the Ling family gaining a foothold in this city, but if Ling Zhang was impeached before his nuptials, it would put him at a disadvantage.
“I see. I promise I’ll be more discreet,” said Ling Zhang. “Let me guide you to your room to change, Grandfather.”
Ling Xingzhong would like to have a word with his grandson, so he didn’t decline. With Ling Zhang supporting him, he washed his face, changed and then settled himself in a chair in the main living room. Butler Li was giving instructions to the servants, bustling around. Even so, the main living room was still very quiet. All servants were staying away from the main living room so as not to disturb their masters.
“How’s the current situation in the capital city? During the journey we heard a lot of rumors which we didn’t know were true or not. I was only too anxious to get to the capital city right away, but what with my senility, I had no choice but to travel here at a gentle pace,” said Ling Xingzhong.
Ling Zhang analyzed the current situation in the capital city for Ling Xingzhong.
Ling Xingzhong listened quietly. When Ling Zhang had finished speaking, he observed with a sigh, “Right now the first priority is to have the Marshal accede to the throne as soon as possible. Only after his enthronement would the political situation truly stabilize and other matters become easier to handle.”
“The date has been fixed already, and staff members of the Ministry of Rites are racing against time to finalize the ritualistic arrangements,” said Ling Zhang.
Ling Xingzhong gave a bob of the head. “Originally Tao Yi wanted to come here with us, but a serious case suddenly happened in Tanyang and he had to deal with it first. There will probably be another two days before he arrives in this city. Incidentally, how’s Tao Yi? I heard that he moved into the Ling Mansion. Why am I not seeing him?”
Ling Zhang explained, “He returned to the Oriental Rite Academy after the abdication ceremony. His teacher, after all, is a distinguished scholar. Thanks to the abdication ceremony, many of the literati have now let go of their personal antipathy towards Yuwen Tong. As his teacher has an influence on a lot of literary men’s opinions about the imperial court, I want to draw him over to Yuwen Tong’s side, and Tao Yi went back to the Oriental Rite Academy to help convince his teacher.”
Ling Xingzhong pondered over it for a few moments and then said, “Lord Pei, Tao Feng’s respected teacher, and Lord Hu, Tao Yi’s teacher, they go way back. It’ll advantage you two even further if you manage to get him on board as well.”
Ling Zhang said, “Currently I don’t have a clue how to rope Lord Pei in. Also, it would be presumptuous to pay him a visit. Do you have any good ideas, Grandfather?”
Ling Xingzhong answered, “Well, I wouldn’t call this a good idea, but Tao Feng will arrive in a day or two, and when he does, I’ll talk to him. He’s a smart guy. He’ll know what the right thing to do is.”
It struck Ling Zhang that this might be a way to handle it. “Thank you in advance, Grandfather,” he said.
Ling Xingzhong shook his head. “Overall, there’s too little I could do to help you owing to my lack of connections in this city.”
Of all the contacts he used to have before he left this city in that year, the Yuwen family were probably the only ones who still carried weight, and among them, Yuwen Tong was the only one that still remembered they owed the Ling family a favor.
“Neither our family nor your maternal grandfather has any connections in any of the political forces in the Great Yue. Our family is in Tanyang, a backwater, and your maternal grandfather leads a secluded life in remote mountains. The assistance we could offer you is limited, which is to your disadvantage.” Ling Xingzhong began to fret about his grandson’s future.
Ling Zhang instantly pulled a wry face. “Grandfather, you’re overthinking it. I don’t really care much about the so-called assistance. It’s not for fame or wealth that I’m marrying Yuwen Tong, so take it easy.”
Ling Xingzhong looked at him. “Nonsense. You really should think more about yourself.”
Ling Zhang smiled, “Grandfather, I know what I’m doing.”
Resigned, Ling Xingzhong had no choice but to keep his vexations to himself, planning to confer with Ji Yin in a few moments about what they could do for their grandson.
…
After the welcome reception, Yuwen Tong returned to the palace. Ling Zhang stayed and spent the whole afternoon with his family and didn’t go back to the palace until after dinner.
He entered the Infinite Fortune Palace, took a bath, changed, went to the kitchen and then made towards the Infinite Fortune Palace to deliver late-night snack.
“You had a bath?” He had just walked into the hall when Yuwen Tong took a couple of sniffs, put down his writing brush and looked at him.
“I was on the run out there all day and I was sweaty all over,” explained Ling Zhang, placing the snack onto the desk. “You’re working overtime tonight as well?”
Yuwen Tong replied, “It’ll take another few days to get all these things handled.”
He might as well directly say that he wouldn’t be able to get any leisure before the enthronement and would probably still be fully occupied in the few days after it.
“Did my maternal grandfather tell you during the day when the Clan Leader would arrive?” Ling Zhang inquired of him, handing a bowl to Yuwen Tong.
Yuwen Tong took it, picked up a pair of chopsticks and started eating the noodles in it, slurping noisily from the bowl. The soup was thick and tasty, the noodles chewy, the chopped green onion unnaturally appetizing.
“Yeah. He said that the Clan Leader would arrive the day after tomorrow.” Yuwen Tong swallowed a mouthful of noodle and then took a gulp of soup. “It strikes me that this soup was not made by an imperial chef.”
Ling Zhang gave a smile, looking at him with gleaming eyes.
Yuwen Tong paused and then the expression in his eyes suddenly became deep and ardent. “It was you who made it?”
Ling Zhang responded, “It’s not everyday that my aunt could come to this city. My aunt was the one who prepared the soup base; I made the noodle after learning from my aunt for a solid afternoon; the chopped green onion was ready-made; a cook helped me make the fried egg. How does it taste?”
Yuwen Tong made no reply. He just quietly finished the soup, wiped his mouth, drew Ling Zhang over to have him sit on his lap, put his arms around Ling Zhang’s waist, rested his head on Ling Zhang’s shoulder and then said with a sigh of contentment, “From now on, my late-night snack will always be noodle soup. I can sit here all night after drinking a bowl of noodle soup.”
Cuddled by him, Ling Zhang couldn’t move and didn’t want to move. He carefully shifted his position slightly to make it more comfortable for Yuwen Tong to rest his head on his shoulder, though he was now unable to twist his head around to see the expression on Yuwen Tong’s face. “I’ve learned how to boil down the mixture to make the soup base. Today I didn’t have the time to prepare it, but I’ll get it ready tomorrow.
I’m willing to make noodle soup for you every night. I just worry that one day you’ll get sick of it. Also, I don’t want you to have it every night, because that would mean you’ll have to work late every night. I want you to have more time to rest.”
Yuwen Tong hugged him tight, rocking gently. “And I don’t have the heart to have you go to the trouble of making soup base every day. Just let a cook handle it when you need it.”
‘How could that be the same?’ thought Ling Zhang. That would be different. In fact, a moment ago he had also fried an egg by himself, but it hadn’t looked very well, and he’d figured it probably didn’t taste well either. Worried that Yuwen Tong had waited too long and got hungry, he had asked a cook for help, who made a fried egg for him. He believed that he would get the hang of it after practicing it for a couple of more times.
Ling Zhang remained in Yuwen Tong’s embrace for a while and then asked him, “Where do you plan to settle Ji Yanlai in after he arrives?”
Yuwen Tong answered, “I’ll ask Ji Yanlai his opinion and see if I should keep his identity secret for the moment. As for the accommodation, I consulted with your grandfather and we decided to let him and his men stay in the Ling Mansion.”
Ling Zhang bobbed his head. “There are enough rooms to accommodate all of them.”
Fortunately this residence Yuwen Tong had purchased for him was large enough. Otherwise how to accommodate all these people would have been a big problem.
“Given that Ji Yanlai is coming here personally, I think he probably has plans to put an end to the seclusion he and his people have been living in, but they might not be totally honest with the public about their identity,” said Yuwen Tong.
“What do you mean?” Ling Zhang asked him.
“Previously we had a speculation that Ji Yanlai wanted to lead people of the Millennium Pavilion out of the Sanguan Mountains, that he just needed me to help him get a new place to live. Now we just have to wait to see where the place he wants is, but no matter where it is, seeing as he has chosen to cooperate with me, the place he picked must be somewhere he couldn’t take possession of without an authorization issued by the imperial court, somewhere he needs the imperial court’s help to keep outsiders from snooping around. This makes it inevitable that some information about the Millennium Pavilion will come to people’s knowledge, and it’ll be impossible for them to go back to the kind of state of absolute seclusion they used to be in,” said Yuwen Tong.
Ling Zhang gave it some thought. “Do you have any guesses about where he might want people of the Millennium Pavilion to settle down?”
Cuddling him and rocking him gently, Yuwen Tong said, “I’ll let you take a guess first.”
After a few moments’ silence, Ling Zhang said, “The south-west?”
“Why?”
“The south-west is off the beaten track, and the dense forest further south is inhabited by many nationalities. That area has always been difficult to govern, but it would make a perfect hideout.”
“Any alternatives?”
“To the north of this country is the Luohai Kingdom. He might make a deal with Luohai, but the further north he goes, the colder the climate gets, and the more barren the land is. He doesn’t strike me as someone who would lead his clan to an area like that. If he goes west, he may make a deal with the Wan Kingdom, but likewise, the further west he presses, the poorer the land is. Actually that area is basically a desert. If he goes eastwards, he’ll reach the sea… and the Fangcun Kingdom. Surely he’s not planning on moving to an island?”
Yuwen Tong smiled, “What’s wrong with moving to an island? Ji Yanlai is not struck on the north or the west, and the south-west is not very inhabitable either. It bristles with thick woods and poisonous miasma. I could tell at a glance that Ji Yanlai is the kind of person who hates having to handle troublesome issues. Dealing with those barbarians in the south would be a terrible ordeal for him. Going to the sea is his best option. All he needs is an island.”
Ling Zhang was astonished. An island?
