The expectant look in Ling Maomao’s eyes reminded Ling Zhang of the time when Ling Maomao and Ji Xiaocong had romped around every day in their childhood, as well as the reluctance on their faces at the moment of parting, and with that he also involuntarily began to hope Ji Xiaocong would come to the capital city, wondering what the clever little boy looked like now.
The last ten years felt like an instant, as though it were only yesterday that Yuwen Tong’s enthronement ceremony and their wedding had been held.
But Ling Maomao had had his rite of passage last year and was now eighteen, which was the same age that he, Ling Zhang, had been when he had arrived in the capital city with Yuwen Tong.
Yuwen Tong immediately perceived Ling Zhang’s absent-mindedness and shrewdly guessed what he was thinking at the sight of Ling Zhang looking at Ling Maomao with a reminiscent look on his face.
After lunch, Yuwen Tong, who was in no hurry to return to the palace, stayed in the Ling Mansion with Ling Zhang and their adopted children.
Ling Maomao, who had got used to being the headman of the children in the Ling family these years, brought them to the garden to have an after-meal walk, Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong slowly following in their wake. Though having been married for many years, the two of them still preferred to hold each other’s hands when walking together.
“Time does fly. The past ten years feels like an instant,” said Ling Zhang.
Yuwen Tong had not had any particular feelings when he had suggested they hold a celebration in honor of their tenth wedding anniversary. Not until he, a few moments ago, had seen Ling Maomao and the other children that had grown so much had he suddenly realized that it had indeed been ten years.
“This is the first decade. We’ll have the second, the third … We have many decades ahead of us before our deaths,” observed Yuwen Tong.
Yuwen Tong planned to hold a celebration every ten years. He was a thrifty and down-to-earth man and seldom held any celebrations. There had to be one during the Spring Festival, but other than that, he never went to the trouble. On this occasion, however, he had brought it up on his own initiative. The courtiers, after being informed that the emperor uncharacteristically wanted to hold a celebration, had immediately entered into the preparatory work with great enthusiasm for fear that the emperor might change his mind, all of them determined to make the celebration grand and ceremonious.
“I wonder what we’ll look like when we’re old several decades later.” Ling Zhang thought that he would probably, like his maternal grandfather, look much younger than his age, that he might live longer than the common people.
Yuwen Tong had powerful internal energy and made huge breakthroughs during the past ten years, so it stood to reason that he would enjoy longevity. Ling Zhang was thankful that he had adopted the internal-energy cultivation method provided by the Millennium Pavilion, which enabled him to stay in Yuwen Tong’s company for a longer period of time.
Yuwen Tong said, “There’s no way to find that out in advance, so we might as well slow things down and enjoy life to the fullest. We’ll know when the time comes, and there’s no need to be anxious about it. And, after the kids grow up, I’ll abdicate the throne so that the two of us will have time to do some traveling. Last year a mini-state in the Western Regions paid me some interesting tribute which they’d got from further west. Haven’t you been curious as to what kind of country those things were made in? We may go and find out.”
Ling Zhang’s eyes lit up at these words of his. “Really?”
“Of course. What’s the point of reunifying the three countries if we have to stay in this palace forever? We’d be like slaves if that’s the case,” said Yuwen Tong.
Yuwen Tong was probably the only monarch who would regard himself as a slave to the throne.
But Ling Zhang indeed looked forward to traveling around the world with Yuwen Tong. As for whom Yuwen Tong would abdicate in favor of, Ling Zhang did not ask. He had never brought up this matter. Yuwen Qi and Yuwen Lin were both his sons, and both were very good, but he would not interfere in the decision about which one of them should be the heir to the throne.
In fact, during these years, as Yuwen Qi and Yuwen Lin grew up, the differences between the two brothers had been growing progressively evident.
Both of them were very intelligent and strong-minded, but Yuwen Qi found the idea of becoming a renowned general more attractive than anything else, and he had clearly inherited the military leadership qualities that had passed from generation to generation in the Yuwen family. Though his academic performance was also pretty good, there was no doubt he much preferred kung fu and other fighting skills to knowledge. On one occasion he had even slipped out of the palace with the intention to sneak into the Garrison Battalion to watch the soldiers drill. Whenever he heard someone talk about kung fu practice or war, his eyes brightened and glittered with feverish excitement. Because of this, Yuwen Tong, who could have spared time to wipe out the Gu-masters in South Xinjiang and the northern tribes in the past few years, had eventually chosen to enhance domestic stability, spending more time guaranteeing the well-being of his subjects. Ling Zhang had vaguely guessed the reason why Yuwen Tong had done that, but he had been pretending otherwise all along, deciding to let nature take its course, because apart from anything else, their sons were still young.
Yuwen Lin, however, was somewhat sensitive and showed an extraordinary natural aptitude for politics. It had not been very obvious when he had been a little boy, but as he grew up, especially in recent years, it had been becoming more and more evident. Ling Zhang had no idea whether this was a good thing or a bad thing, because Yuwen Lin’s political precocity was bound to cause him to think more than his peers did. Ling Zhang had worried that Yuwen Lin might go bald at a young age, but after he overheard a conversation between Yuwen Lin’s teacher and Yuwen Tong, he had once again chosen to let nature take its course. However, maybe because Yuwen Lin had been spending more time on politics, which he found more interesting, his proficiency in kung fu had never stacked up against that of his brother, and he was rather thin too, which was why Ling Zhang from time to time had to remind the cooks to prepare extra nutritious food for Yuwen Lin.
Ling Zhang did not know whether or not it was a coincidence that his two sons had their respective interests between which there was no conflict. Also, the ties of brotherhood between them had been very close. Yuwen Qi, several months Yuwen Lin’s senior, was the big brother and had been protecting and taking good care of Yuwen Lin. Yuwen Lin, who was more sensitive to changes in the situation in the imperial court, from time to time reminded Yuwen Lin to pay attention. Sometimes, when he found Yuwen Qi “stupid”, he lit oil lamps at night and insisted Yuwen Qi write down the major political forces as well as the entangling relations between them. Ling Zhang would not have found out about it if he had not on one occasion discovered that they were not asleep late at night and gone to their bedroom to give them a prod, but he had not stopped them and had just told them that they must put out the lamps when it was time to sleep.
“Lin, bring Xuxu with you. We’re going to the drill ground.” Yuwen Qi, holding Yuwen Yue’s hand, told Yuwen Lin to bring Ling Xuxu as he saw Ling Xuxu straggle behind them.
Yuwen Lin turned on his heel and waited for a few moments before he took Ling Xuxu’s hand and yelled at his brother who was ahead of them, “Do not practice kung fu, Qi! We’ve just finished lunch! This is supposed to be an after-meal walk!”
“Alas, it’s okay!” said Yuwen Qi nonchalantly.
Yuwen Yue was also fun loving. Having grown up with a bunch of boys, she was somewhat of a tomboy and seemed to see herself as a boy. She had been into beautiful dresses when she’d been a little girl, but now, maybe because Yuwen Qi had had an influence on her, she had developed a strong interest in fighting skills.
At this moment, she freed her hand from Yuwen Qi’s and, with an I’m-grown-up expression on her face, said to Yuwen Qi, “You don’t have to hold my hand, Qi. I can manage it myself.”
With that she led the way towards the drill ground, strutting along in a very tomboyish manner.
Ling Zhang following them at a distance was rendered speechless at the sight of this.
He felt rather resigned. “I always remind her to behave like a princess before we go out of the palace, but she always forgets about it completely after only a few moments.”
Yuwen Tong, however, was totally okay with it. There was no rule that said they had to pamper their daughter and have her stay at home all the time. If they did that, their daughter might be too weak to lift a staff, let alone protect herself from danger, which was, naturally, not what he wanted to see happen. Their daughter seemed fine to him – she was pretty, intelligent and even capable of wielding a spear. She had got plenty of brains as well as brawn. What else could they ask for?
“It’s okay. We’re in the Ling Mansion, aren’t we? It’s our own place, and there’s no outsiders here,” said Yuwen Tong.
Ling Zhang slightly shook his head. He had known Yuwen Tong would say this.
He felt that it was indeed a good thing that their daughter had some kung fu skills with which she could protect herself, but it was inappropriate for her to spend too much time on that. The two of them were both men and, greatly to their daughter’s disadvantage, had little knowledge of how to raise a daughter properly, and if they by any chance failed to teach their daughter enough manners, she would, Ling Zhang feared, be angry with them after she grew up, and they would not be able to justify themselves to his aunt.
“Well, let’s just drop it. The most important thing is for our daughter to be safe and healthy. With the two of us and her brothers in her company, she’s bound to live a happy life, isn’t she?” said Yuwen Tong consolingly.
…
Meanwhile, the children had reached the drill ground. Ling Maomao was standing on the side, keeping an eye on the others lest any of them hurt themself.
Yuwen Tong drew Ling Zhang to one side where they settled themselves in chairs and a couple of servants immediately brought them some fruits and snack.
Yuwen Qi liked the drill ground in the Ling Mansion because it boasted many weapons that Ling Zhaowu had collected from various places. These weapons were neatly ranged in rows, and it was impossible for anybody who was interested in kung fu not to be attracted to them. At first Yuwen Qi had been the only one thinking about them all day long, but afterward Yuwen Yue had become obsessed with them as well.
Yuwen Lin was standing right behind them. As he saw his brother pick up a seemingly dangerous weapon, he cautioned, “That one’s dangerous.”
Yuwen Qi scratched his head and had just picked up another one when Yuwen Lin warned, “Qi, that one’s dangerous too!”
“Crescent, do not touch that big knife. It’s heavier than you are. You might hurt your foot if you try to move it!”
The drill ground was full of Yuwen Lin’s voice trying to dissuade the other two from picking up dangerous weapons.
“Alas, stop calling me by my pet name, Lin, will you? I told you I’m grown up now.”
With that the big knife in her hand clanked ominously to the ground.
Yuwen Lin’s forehead twitched with horror at the sight of it.
It was only then that Ling Maomao walked up to them and said, “Yueyue, you’re not strong enough to use this knife for the moment. Try this one.”
While saying this, he handed her a wooden saber.
Yuwen Yue, ” … ”
Though unconvinced, she still took the wooden saber after a glance at Ling Maomao, not daring defy her uncle who seemed to be becoming more and more commanding, and who looked somewhat intimidating when serious.
Yuwen Lin heaved a long sigh of relief as he saw that she finally switched to a wooden saber.
Ling Xuxu on the side burst into laughter.
On hearing the laugh, Yuwen Yue spun around and gave him a dirty look in an effort to stop him from laughing.
However, Ling Xuxu was not afraid of her at all. It was true that Yuwen Yue was a princess, but he was her uncle according to the family hierarchy.
Unsurprisingly, Yuwen Yue, who did not dare do anything to Ling Xuxu, stamped her foot in anger and then went to Yuwen Tong, wooden saber in hand.
“Father, I’ve learned all the moves you taught me the other day. Let me show you!”
Yuwen Tong had taught her some moves? On hearing this, Ling Zhang twisted his head around to look at Yuwen Tong.
Beneath Ling Zhang’s reproachful gaze, watching his daughter run towards him with an innocent look on her face, Yuwen Tong couldn’t help but sigh inwardly, ‘Oh, my goodness. Why are you so bad at keeping secrets, daughter? I told you to be careful not to spill the beans!’
