Jiangzhou was, for all intents and purposes, in the same situation that Cangzhou had previously been in. To restore order in Cangzhou, Xu Lingyun and Xiao Ziyan had been transferred there. To select two suitable candidates to be assigned to Jiangzhou, the courtiers consulted with Yuwen Tong for two consecutive days before a decision was made.
After Yuwen Tong settled this matter, the first winter rain came, accompanied by fine snowflakes.
The capital city had entered winter. Ling Zhang paid a visit to the Ling Mansion and then returned to the palace. After stamping his feet for a moment, he went into the imperial bedchamber. Yuwen Tong had finished work early on this day and returned to the bedchamber before dark.
“Is Aunt Caiwei okay?” Yuwen Tong asked him.
Ling Zhang replied, “Yeah. Everything’s fine.”
It was snowing and Ling Zhang had been worried about Fu Caiwei’s health, so he’d specially gone out of the palace to pay her a visit.
Yuwen Tong, who had heard Ling Zhang stamping his feet outside the imperial bedchamber a short while before, held out his hand to Ling Zhang and said, “Come here.”
Ling Zhang walked up to him, confused. “What’s the matter?”
Yuwen Tong took his hand and felt his clothes. “Put on more clothes next time you go out,” he cautioned.
Ling Zhang’s hand was held by Yuwen Tong whose warm palm was warming up his, making him feel so comfortable that he was unwilling to withdraw his hand. And then he put his other hand into Yuwen Tong’s.
Yuwen Tong, faintly turned on by this small movement of his hand, abruptly drew him into his arms. As he fell into Yuwen Tong’s embrace, Ling Zhang was instantly enveloped by a warm air, relaxedly let out a sigh, rubbed his face against Yuwen Tong’s chest and then slightly shifted his position to let his whole body into Yuwen Tong’s embrace.
After he finished shifting his position, Yuwen Tong hugged him tight, let him sit on his lap, and then caressed his ear with his lips. “Why are you so meek today?”
Ling Zhang softly snorted, “I’ve heard you say this many times. When was I ever not meek in front of you?”
Yuwen Tong gave a chuckle, slightly raised Ling Zhang’s chin and the two of them kissed for a while.
After a few moments, Ling Zhang pushed him away. “Soon they’ll deliver dinner here.”
Feeling somewhat regretful, with lingering longing in his eyes, Yuwen Tong hugged Ling Zhang and made out with him for another long moment.
“I want you to go with me to pay a visit to my great-uncle tomorrow,” said Yuwen Tong.
Ling Zhang looked at him. “What for?”
“Yuwen Qian’s wife’s time is near,” replied Yuwen Tong.
Ling Zhang’s eyes widened slightly. Recalling Yuwen Tong’s plan, he was somewhat flustered, at a loss as to how to conduct himself in front of Yuwen Qian and his wife after they entered the abode of the Marquess Fuan the next day.
“Don’t worry,” Yuwen Tong consoled him, stroking his back. “We’ve agreed on it some time ago. Everybody in my great-uncle’s family has psyched themself up. After we adopt the baby, they’ll still be able to come here to see him from time to time.”
Ling Zhang lightly inclined his head. “I know. I’m just not sure what the proper way to conduct myself in front of Yuwen Qian and his wife tomorrow is.”
“The usual way. Tomorrow you may just behave the same way you behaved in front of them previously. You’re the consort, and they are beneath you. They should be worried about how to conduct themselves in front of you, not the other way around,” said Yuwen Tong.
Ling Zhang was slightly surprised, looking at Yuwen Tong.
Yuwen Tong continued, “It’s true they also bear the surname Yuwen, and in the past they were our elders and peers, but now they’re our subjects. Yuwen Qian’s child, after being fostered with us, will be a prince or a princess, and their birth parents will be their subjects as well. The moment I was enthroned, a chasm between the imperial family and subjects came into being. Nobody would be able to change that. Also, we’ll need to broaden and deepen that chasm when necessary. Remember, we’re the rulers, and they’re our subjects. You don’t have to take anybody’s feelings into consideration before doing anything, and you don’t have to explain anything to anybody. They can only revere you or fear you. None of them will dare judge you.”
Ling Zhang listened quietly. After a while, he replied with a heavy nod, “I see.”
Yuwen Tong was right. He was now the consort. He and Yuwen Tong were at the top of the social hierarchy in the Great Wen. The two of them were the only ones at the top, and all those beneath them could only look up at him. There were some rules that must be enforced and engraved in everybody’s heart. If the domestic situation of the Great Wen was to stay stable, emperorship must be of supreme superiority.
A smile curled the corners of Yuwen Tong’s mouth as he saw that Ling Zhang had caught on.
Ling Zhang, though young and inexperienced, always got Yuwen Tong’s meaning in one, and Yuwen Tong never had to spend much time explaining anything to him.
“When the new year starts, the conversion of the palace will start as well. The preparatory work may well last until after the imperial examination, and by that time, Jiang Yu and Zhao Jiusi will have returned to your help, and you’ll be able to delegate the other matters in your hands to them. I’ll put you in charge of the conversion,” said Yuwen Tong.
Ling Zhang thought about it for a moment. “Originally I planned to deploy a large-scale defensive formation in the palace, but afterward it occurred to me that the Millennium Pavilion might have in hand some copies of the handbooks on formations they gave me. It’s too risky to deploy a defensive formation offered by the Millennium Pavilion, but currently I’m not capable of creating a new large-scale defensive formation that compares with any of those given by the Millennium Pavilion. What do you think we should do?”
Ling Zhang was not afraid of taking on responsibilities. Putting him in charge of the conversion of the palace was synonymous with putting the security of the whole palace in his hands. Now that Yuwen Tong had enough trust in him to let him loose on the project, he had no reason to be frightened of doing it. But how should he convert the palace to make it safer and more defendable? Ling Zhang had been bearing this in mind for quite some time.
Yuwen Tong said, “A defensive formation is of secondary importance. No matter how secure a formation is, there’s always a way to crack it. Also, people could easily grow dependent on it. It is people that we ultimately rely on for the security of the palace.”
At first Ling Zhang was baffled as to why Yuwen Tong stressed that it was people that they ultimately relied on, but after a few moments he slowly came to understand, his eyes gradually brightening. “Are you saying that…”
“This palace was built when the Zhou family was in power. The first emperor from the Zhou family was also a capable monarch, and the palace he built naturally has some merits. By converting it, we’ll actually be making adjustment to his work. How safe this palace is depends on the capabilities of its owner. If its owner is weak and careless, all defensive measures would be no good, no matter how strong they are; if its owner is smart and able, the situation would naturally be under control,” explained Yuwen Tong.
The point Yuwen Tong was trying to make was that the owner was to this palace as a commander-in-chief was to his army. If the commander-in-chief was competent, his army would naturally win the war; if the commander-in-chief was incompetent, the guards around the main tent, no matter how many there were of them, would be of no use.
As a result, it would be better to do it in an open and direct way than it was to deploy a large-scale defensive formation like an escape-proof net. The palace built in the former dynasty was vast, and the matter of defense had been taken into consideration during the building of it. Also, there were several underground passageways. Given that Yuwen Tong had no intention of expanding the imperial seraglio, what they needed to revamp was the underground passages and the main body of the palace. There could be a defensive formation, but the principal defensive measure would be the tight security maintained by the palace guards. Sometimes playing it above aboard was a smarter move than playing all kinds of tricks.
Ling Zhang was enlightened by Yuwen Tong’s words. He had seen the overall plans of the imperial palace, and at this moment several conversion plans popped into his mind in spite of himself. All he needed to do was compare them in detail and select the best one, and then he’d be ready to make preparations for the conversion.
As regards the future generations… Yuwen Tong had the ambition to unify the three countries, so there was no telling whether or not the capital city of the Great Wen would still be this one. Besides, the imperial court was now indeed short of money, and it was inadvisable to spend an extravagant sum of money on the conversion project.
Ling Zhang pondered more and more deeply, considering a widening range of details, gradually lost in thought. Seeing he was mulling over it, Yuwen Tong didn’t interrupt him. Every time Ling Zhang did some serious thinking with someone he trusted by his side, he lapsed into such a state as though he’d forgotten about himself, especially when the one beside him was Yuwen Tong. In this kind of circumstances, Ling Zhang would subconsciously obey Yuwen Tong, no matter what the latter wanted him to do…
Yuwen Tong tossed his book to a side of the desk and kissed Ling Zhang all over while that latter’s mind was wandering, indulging in ‘playing’ the apple of his eye in his arms.
It was not until a eunuch’s voice came from outside requesting permission to deliver the dinner inside that the two of them, both of whom were in their own worlds, were brought back to their senses.
On seeing that his belt had been unfastened and Yuwen Tong’s hands were moving around in his clothes, Ling Zhang got mad, shook off Yuwen Tong’s hands and hastened to rearrange his clothes. “What are you doing? I told you they’d soon deliver dinner here. Why did you still do that?!”
Yuwen Tong had been fully aroused while caressing Ling Zhang. Unfortunately for him, now was not the time to satisfy his desire. He had no choice but to subdue his urge, rose to his feet and helped Ling Zhang rearrange his clothes, his eyes still burning.
“Let’s go to the Imperial Bathing Pool to have a bath after dinner.”
Ling Zhang paused, briefly avoiding Yuwen Tong’s eyes. “Why go to the Imperial Bathing Pool? It’s too much trouble.”
Built by order of the former emperor, the Imperial Bathing Pool was splendid and deluxe. Not long ago, shortly after the eunuchs cleaned it, Yuwen Tong had had him go to that place with him, and he’d shouted so much in there that night that he’d almost gone hoarse. That place was virtually… virtually tailor-made for people wanting to indulge in debauchery. Yuwen Tong had turned him over and over to try different positions on that day. Ling Zhang shuddered at the very thought of that, but it was more because of the numb sensation shooting up his spine from the small of his back as his body automatically recalled those things than because of bashfulness.
Yuwen Tong, who knew him well, could divine what he was thinking just by looking at the expression in his eyes or a small movement of his body. The yearning in Yuwen Tong’s desire-laden eyes was deepening, as though he were about to swallow Ling Zhang whole.
Ling Zhang knew what the expression in Yuwen Tong’s eyes was like without even having to look at them. To prevent Yuwen Tong from doing anything crazy straight away, he hurriedly instructed the eunuchs to brought the dinner inside.
The eunuchs, who finally got the permission to enter, neatly served the dishes one by one and then quietly left.
These eunuchs, who’d been allowed to stay in the Infinite Fortune Palace to serve the imperial couple, had all been through very strict selection process and were very observant. During their stay in the Infinite Fortune Palace since the imperial couple had moved in, they had all come to know that once in the imperial bedchamber, their eyes must not dart around and they must guard their tongue, that the imperial couple didn’t like noises or talky people. Also, whenever the imperial couple were in a noticeably different mood, they’d have to leave as soon as possible. The only way to make sure they could continue to stay in the Infinite Fortune Palace was to always take their leave immediately after finishing what they were supposed to do.
Looking at those delicacies prepared by court chefs, all of which were appetizing in appearance, tantalizing in smell and delicious in taste, Ling Zhang naturally felt hungry. Yuwen Tong was just about to sit down beside him when Ling Zhang shooed him to the opposite side. Given the situation a few moments before, the two of them would, without doubt, end up making out if he allowed Yuwen Tong to sit beside him. No matter how they were feeling, at least they had to eat dinner in a normal way!
