Ling Zhang had not perceived that Yuwen Tong had become suspicious, but Xie Shi found his legs trembling.
In order not to raise doubts in Yuwen Tong’s mind, Ling Zhang, after finishing his congee, went to sleep as he had said he would a short while ago. The moment he left, Xie Shi slumped to his knees before Yuwen Tong, too scared to even lift his head.
Yuwen Tong remained silent. Xie Shi, unable to nerve himself to speak, furtively looked up at him.
At the sight of Yuwen Tong looking at him with icy dissatisfied eyes, Xie Shi gave an involuntary shudder. A brief moment ago he had wanted to take his chances, thinking that maybe Yuwen Tong had not noticed anything out of the ordinary, but now he didn’t dare hold on to that fond hope and hurriedly confessed that the Child Worm was in Ling Zhang’s body.
Yuwen Tong crushed the armrests on his chair as he listened. A Child Worm was in Ling Zhang!
“Why didn’t you stop him?” railed Yuwen Tong, flying into a temper, radiating a palpable sense of power so potent Xie Shi found himself unable to straighten his back, beads of cold sweat welling up profusely on his forehead.
“It didn’t occur to me there were two Gu worms. When I realized what His Highness intended to do, I tried to stop him but he hit my acupoints and immobilized me … ” said Xie Shi in a guilty voice. “I failed in my duty. Please punish me, Sire!”
“Why did you keep it back from me?” demanded Yuwen Tong, furious, his heart aching for Ling Zhang, feeling a throbbing in his chest which should have disappeared for good with the extraction of the Gu worms.
“His Highness doesn’t want you to be distracted by anything before the upcoming battle outside Jifang City. He also said the Child Worm is not as vicious as the Mother Worm, that his internal energy has an intrinsically deterrent effect on that kind of creatures, that the Child Worm wouldn’t be able to do him any harm inside his body, and in a couple of days Mr. Mu would arrive and get it out.” Xie Shi repeated Ling Zhang’s words to Yuwen Tong, but he showed no inclination to defend himself, for he knew that it had been remiss of him to help Ling Zhang conceal the truth, no matter for what reason he had undertaken to do that. “I failed to keep His Highness safe, and I lied to you. I deserve the severest punishment for such actions. I request permission to return to the Shadow Battalion to receive my punishment.”
Yuwen Tong’s eyes were still glacial. He opened his mouth and was just about to speak when footsteps came from outside the tent and he looked up in the direction of the doorway.
“Xie Shi is not the one to blame for this. I made him promise not to tell you. I’m the empress, and they have orders from you to follow my commands as they follow yours. He would be disobeying you had he disobeyed me,” said Ling Zhang after entering the tent.
He had decided to come back to the tent to tell Yuwen Tong that a couple of days ago Yang Liuzi and some others had discovered in the city the body of someone who presumably had been a henchman of Chen Jing’s. That person had entered the city through the city gates facing in the direction of Jifang City, unluckily got caught in the battle and later died in the street before he could rendezvous with Chen Jing, a secret letter in his bosom. At that time Wang Dashan and the others had been unsure as to whether or not there was any truth in the message in the letter, so they had requested him to check it out, but unexpectedly, shortly after that he had been informed of Yuwen Tong falling victim to Gu worms and had not been in the mood for dealing with that matter ever since. Two days later he had forgotten about the whole thing, and it was not until he had caught sight of Wang Dashan standing guard outside that he had recalled it and returned to the main tent with the intention to talk to Yuwen Tong and ask him his opinion about it. He had not bargained on overhearing a conversation between Yuwen Tong and Xie Shi.
If truth be told, Ling Zhang was a little angry. It had never crossed his mind that Xie Shi would yield so easily and betray his trust so soon. However, though annoyed, he felt it unfair to make Xie Shi a scapegoat. If he did that, he would be too ashamed to ask Xie Shi or any of the others to do anything else for him.
At the sight of Ling Zhang, Yuwen Tong stood up, fixing him with a stare. “You shouldn’t have lied to me. I would’ve preferred to let those goddamn Gu worms stay in my body,” said Yuwen Tong.
Ling Zhang sighed, “I knew you would, which was the very reason why I kept it secret from you. I’m really fine. Do you not remember I … ”
Ling Zhang was just about to blurt out the matter of the Force of Blood in him when he held it back as he realized that Xie Shi was present.
Yuwen Tong immediately said to Xie Shi, “Your service is still needed at the moment, so I’ll postpone punishing you. You are to go back to the Shadow Battalion to receive your punishment on your own initiative when all this is over.”
“Wait. I told you Xie Shi is not the one to blame. I made him swear not to tell you,” said Ling Zhang hastily.
But Yuwen Tong refused to relent. “I did give them orders to follow your commands, but on one condition – that they are to guarantee your safety, not to let you get hurt! Even if I were the one trying to harm you, they should still protect you without a second thought!”
Ling Zhang opened his mouth but suddenly found himself unable to speak.
At this moment, Xie Shi’s forehead was within an inch of touching the ground. He knew he had done the wrong thing. The emperor was right. He was supposed to keep the empress safe. He shouldn’t have concealed the existence of the Gu worm in the empress’s body from the emperor, subjectively believing that he was doing it to save the emperor from being distracted. It was not for him to decide whether that would be a distraction. That was the emperor’s decision to make.
“I deserve to be punished, Sire.”
“But–”
“Say one more word to intercede for him and I’ll double his punishment.”
Ling Zhang immediately shut his mouth, not daring to utter another word on that score.
“Leave us, Xie Shi.”
“Yes, Sire.”
After Xie Shi took his leave, Ling Zhang said in a quite injured tone, “Xie Shi would nurse grievances against me if you punish him for this.”
“If he couldn’t see where he’s wrong when his mistake is staring him in the face, I’ll send him packing and never reinstate him, despite his consummate medical skills,” said Yuwen Tong very explicitly. “Do you still not understand? Nothing is of greater importance to me than you are.”
Ling Zhang’s eyes reddened. Yuwen Tong was of no less importance to him than he was to Yuwen Tong, which was why he didn’t want Yuwen Tong to be worried, or distracted on the battlefield, or faced with even the slightest possibility of danger. If anything happened to Yuwen Tong, everything he had done would be meaningless. This incident had made him realize that all he really wanted was for Yuwen Tong to stay safe and sound, that Yuwen Tong staying safe and sound was more important than anything else.
The sight of his eyes reddening rendered Yuwen Tong powerless to say another reproachful word. He felt an urge to hug and console him, but he had just reached out his hand when he recalled the worm in Ling Zhang’s body and managed to withdraw it, fearing that him touching Ling Zhang would bring the latter agony in the heart.
Eyes red with tears, Ling Zhang looked confusedly at him. “What’s the matter?”
Yuwen Tong clearly had wanted to hug him. Why had he drawn back his hand?
Yuwen Tong felt very upset, a painful lump in his throat. “I don’t want to cause you pain.”
It was a brief moment before Ling Zhang caught on to what he meant. “You won’t!” he said hastily, shaking his head.
The words had hardly left him when he felt a severe throbbing in the heart. It seemed that his intense mood swing stimulated the worm in him. However, Ling Zhang exerted himself and managed to subdue the pain. In order to prevent Yuwen Tong from finding out about it, he flung his arms around Yuwen Tong. “I’m really okay.”
Yuwen Tong stiffened. He wanted to push Ling Zhang away but didn’t dare.
“Mr. Mu was the one who told me to use this method to get rid of the Gu worms. Surely you don’t think Mr. Mu meant me harm? I have the Blood of the Phoenix Clan in me, and my Force of Blood has been growing with my internal energy. In ancient times, phoenixes had all other animals in their power. They were the ultimate bane of creatures like Gu worms. Although the Force of Blood in me couldn’t hold a candle to Ji Yanlai’s, it’s more than powerful enough to hold a Child Worm at bay. If you don’t believe me, you may feel my chest and pulse. I’m fine, truly.”
Yuwen Tong still didn’t dare move, not because he disbelieved Ling Zhang’s story but because he worried he might hurt Ling Zhang’s wrist. “Your wound. Stop hugging me. The cut might reopen if you don’t let go of me right away,” he said anxiously.
The anxiety in Yuwen Tong’s voice drew Ling Zhang’s attention back to his wrist. Feeling that Yuwen Tong believed him, Ling Zhang slowly slackened his embrace. A moment ago, what with that mood swing of his, he had forgotten about the cut in his wrist, which was now indeed aching dully. It probably had reopened slightly, but the styptic drug Xie Shi had administered to it was very efficacious, and the wound had been healing well, so it was not bleeding badly. At least the blood was not seeping through the bandages.
Yuwen Tong gingerly checked his wrist and severely cautioned him not to use that hand again. “You are not to do anything by yourself before the cut fully heals. Have Wang Dashan and Liu Yi stay by your side at all times. I’ll hold them responsible if this cut in your wrist worsens a little bit.”
Ling Zhang, who was eager to distract Yuwen Tong’s attention, naturally agreed without hesitation.
Yuwen Tong sat him down into a chair with such care as though he were something fragile. Ling Zhang wanted to remind him, but at the sight of the look in Yuwen Tong’s eyes, he found himself unable to say anything. He hastened to hold Yuwen Tong’s arm with his uninjured hand and said, “Don’t worry. I’m perfectly all right. Trust me.”
The look in Yuwen Tong’s eyes was heavy with emotional upset. He took Ling Zhang’s hand off him, holding it. “I trust you. I just hate myself for not being strong enough. I wouldn’t have fallen victim to that Gu master’s trick were I more powerful. It’s my fault you’re suffering from all this–”
“Stop saying that. What do you mean by ‘it’s your fault’? Is it really necessary for us to be so clear about this kind of stuff? Why are you acting like this? Is it because you want an amicable divorce?” Ling Zhang interrupted him immediately, throwing a couple of sharp questions at him. His worry had been replaced by a sudden surge of anger.
Yuwen Tong’s face also changed at the last question. “In no circumstance will I do that!” he demurred, fixing Ling Zhang with a gaze.
“Then stop saying that kind of stuff to anger me!” huffed Ling Zhang, his eyes reddening again. “You shouldn’t have said that. Since you and I are a married couple, we are one. Should I not share your burdens? Should I not offer you help when you’re in trouble? The reason why I kept it back from you was because I didn’t want you overthinking it. How am I supposed to be honest with you about everything knowing that you would see it this way, that you would say this kind of stuff when I tell you the truth? Yuwen Tong, the way I see it, you’ve grown quite some balls, or maybe those goddamn Gu worms damaged your brain. Don’t you dare say anything like that again!”
Yuwen Tong was taken aback by the series of questions from Ling Zhang. Then he noticed Ling Zhang’s eyes reddening for emotional arousal and promptly admitted his mistakes. “I’m sorry. All those words of mine were rubbish. Take it easy.”
Ling Zhang was consumed with anger. Maybe because of his agitation, the Child Worm in him gave his insides another couple of bites and he narrowly avoided showing a pained expression on his face. Fortunately Yuwen Tong’s attention was focused on something else. Otherwise he might really let the cat out of the bag.
“Repeat what you just said,” requested Ling Zhang.
Looking at him, Yuwen Tong obediently did as Ling Zhang asked. “I hate myself for not being strong enough. I’ll be extra careful and I’ll never fall prey to this kind of trick again. I won’t let myself be subjected to this kind of suffering or worry you again.”
“There you go. Be careful with your words from now on!” said Ling Zhang.
Yuwen Tong said with an earnest inclination of the head, “I understand.”
After saying that, he quietly looked at Ling Zhang’s face and then wiped the fine beads of sweat off Ling Zhang’s forehead. “Is it aching badly?”
Ling Zhang’s heart lurched. What? Had he been showing it on his face?
