Ling Zhang left the palace without bringing a guard of honor and directly went to the Ling Mansion. On that day, at the palace banquet, he had talked with his father about having the trading fleet add an extra voyage to the Fangcun Kingdom to their yearly schedule, but the two of them had not had the time to enter into details. Today he was free, so he decided to finalize the plan with his father, which would save his father a trip into the palace.
Wang Dashan and the others were all momentarily surprised as they saw that Ling Zhang was really here to confer with Ling Zhaowu about something.
“So our young master is not really angry?”
“He doesn’t seem to be.”
“What should we do? His Majesty sure as hell misunderstood him.”
“Well, I think it’s not that big a deal … ”
They exchanged apprehensive glances and then quietly averted their faces.
…
Yuwen Tong, after being informed that Ling Zhang was heading for the Ling Mansion, appeared fairly hesitant for a while, which was rather uncharacteristic of him.
Leaving everything else aside, the Ling Mansion constituted Ling Zhang’s “boyhood home”, and if it came to those people’s knowledge that he had pissed Ling Zhang off, they would not be so keen to listen to him justify himself.
However … the Ling Zhang he knew probably would not show any sign of his anger on his face, because if he did, he would have a hard job explaining to them why he was unhappy. Ling Zhang would never let anybody else know what had been drawn on his back.
As this thought crossed his mind, Yuwen Tong’s disquiet was allayed appreciably, and he began to ponder what he needed to do to get back in Ling Zhang’s good books.
Ling Zhang was angry at him because he refused to wash off the picture of peonies on Ling Zhang’s back. In fact Yuwen Tong had considered effacing the picture as Ling Zhang wanted him to, but after giving it some thought, he had, knowing Ling Zhang as he had done, realized that this was probably the last time Ling Zhang would allow him to draw a picture on his back, that if he washed it off, he would regret it for a very long time, which was why he could not bring himself to do it.
…
In the imperial palace.
Yuwen Yue, having watched her father leave, excitedly set off to her big brother’s place, planning to challenge him to a fight and defeat him with the two moves she had just learned.
Unexpectedly, Yuwen Qi, at the sight of her, gave a violent shudder and directly surrendered himself. “I admit defeat, Crescent. Please have mercy on me.”
Yuwen Yue was stunned. The reason why she had specially learned these two moves was because she wanted to defeat her big brother fair and square. How could her big brother admit defeat when they had not even fought yet?
“You’re not allowed to admit defeat. Let’s scrap right now. Father has just taught me another two moves, with which I’m sure I can flatten you!” Yuwen Yue disagreed, insisting on Yuwen Qi having a kung fu competition with her.
Yuwen Qi was vexed with her. If he won the fight, Yuwen Yue might snitch on him to their father again; if he was to let her win, how to do it without her realizing it would be a tricky problem.
“No, you must have a competition with me. If you refuse, I’ll talk to Father and have him make you do it,” said Yuwen Yue.
Yuwen Qi, ” … ”
That was exactly what he feared the most.
“Okay, okay, you’re the boss. Come on. Let’s get it over with!”
When the two of them were fighting, Yuwen Lin was enjoying the show on the side.
Losing the fight had not been easy for Yuwen Qi, but his sister, having “defeated” him, was glued to the spot, looking incredulously at him. “I really won?”
“Yeah, you really won. The new moves you’ve just learned are so badass!” Yuwen Qi hastily said.
However, Yuwen Yue, instead of being elated at the victory, indignantly hurled her weapon to the ground and flared, “You let me win!”
Yuwen Qi was flustered. “Ah?”
“You definitely let me win. I haven’t used any of my new moves yet!” huffed Yuwen Yue.
‘Oh, crap. I forgot that,’ Yuwen Qi muttered inwardly.
Yuwen Lin on the side lapsed into giggles, clearly deriding Yuwen Qi as brainless.
Yuwen Yue’s eyes reddened. “You’re insulting me! I don’t need you to let me win!”
Yuwen Qi hastened to placate her. “No, I really did not let you win. I was just momentarily distracted.”
Yuwen Yue did not buy it. “What distracted you?”
“Daddy gave me a punishment because of my poorly-done homework, and I’ve been having a tough time trying to figure something out to get Daddy to stop being angry. Crescent, would you please be the best sister you always have been and help me pacify Daddy?” Yuwen Qi’s eyes roved and with that he made an attempt to convince Yuwen Yue to help.
Yuwen Lin tossed him a disdainful glance.
Yuwen Qi gave a little cough, pretending not to have seen it.
“Daddy’s left the palace. There’s nothing I could do.” Yuwen Yue fell for Yuwen Qi’s story and finally cooled down.
“He left the palace? Why did Daddy leave the palace?” Yuwen Qi was astonished. Yuwen Lin also looked at Yuwen Yue.
Yuwen Yue recounted to her brothers what had happened on the drill ground earlier this day.
“This is bad. Do you think Daddy’s really so angry as to have abandoned us?” said Yuwen Qi.
Yuwen Yue had not deemed this a serious matter, but after hearing his words, she knitted her eyebrows and demurred, “Nonsense. Daddy would never do that.”
Yuwen Lin walked over to them and said, “Stop taking wild guesses. Daddy left the palace probably because he wanted to pay a visit to the Ling Mansion to keep our great-grandfathers company.”
“What should we do now? With Daddy being in the Ling Mansion, even if we figure out a solution, we wouldn’t be able to put it into action,” said Yuwen Qi.
“Father has left the palace as well, presumably to talk to Daddy. I think Daddy would have calmed down by the time they return,” said Yuwen Lin.
Yuwen Qi was anxious. “No!”
Yuwen Lin looked bemusedly at him. “What do you mean by ‘no’?”
Yuwen Qi leaned over and breathed, “You see, this time around it’s very obvious Daddy is really angry, and Father has been vainly trying to coax him out of anger for days, right? If we manage to cheer Daddy up at this point in time, we’d get all the credit, wouldn’t we? And Father is guaranteed to reward us, and better still, I’ll be rid of the threat of the punishment of copying out those books.”
The corners of Yuwen Lin’s mouth twitched. “Are you sure you’re not trying to get yourself scolded again?”
Yuwen Qi was actually suggesting they step on their father’s toes. If their father found out about it, they would sure as hell rue the day they made the decision. Unlike Crescent, the two of them would never get any special amnesty from their father.
There was no telling whether or not their father, considering how easily he got jealous, would be angry with them instead of grateful.
Yuwen Lin disagreed, believing that it was too much of a risk.
But Yuwen Qi felt that his plan was very practicable, and even Yuwen Yue was convinced. The two of them made up their minds to get out of the palace to see Ling Zhang.
Yuwen Lin, ” … ”
Though wanting no part of this whatsoever, he was worried that the two of them might get themselves in trouble if they left the palace together, so he had no alternative but to go with them.
The three of them brought many guards on their trip out of the palace, who kept the princes and princess under heavy protection. On top of that, there were some secret bodyguards following in their wake covertly.
The Ling Mansion was located to the south-west of the palace and fairly far away. It would take over an hour to walk from the palace gates to the residence.
Yuwen Qi and Yuwen Lin on horseback, Yuwen Yue sitting in a carriage, the large group headed in the direction of the Ling Mansion.
…
This was Yuwen Yue’s first time going out of the palace with her big brothers without their parents’ company, so she naturally did not have to take as much heed of the code of conduct as she did in the presence of the imperial couple, which was why she had been peering out of the carriage window all along.
At the Rosefinch Avenue, they chanced upon a wedding procession.
The wedding procession was heading east, which was different from the direction they were going. Yuwen Yue and her brothers had not brought a guard of honor, but they were in the company of so many guards that the wedding procession, who could tell that they were from special background, came to a halt, unsure as to whether or not they should make way.
Yuwen Qi, a reasonable youngster, waved his hand and said, “A wedding is too celebratory an event to be delayed. Make way for them.”
The team moved to the roadside to allow the wedding convoy to pass. A man on the opposite side thanked them repeatedly and then the procession resumed its eastward progress.
The bride should be from a large, wealthy family, given the many chests of trousseaus and the long line of men carrying them. Yuwen Yue, awestruck by the scene, exclaimed in spite of herself.
When the bridal sedan chair passed by, the curtain of it was lifted by a breeze, revealing the gorgeous-robed bride inside, whose bridal veil was adorned with beautiful, shiny, gold beads.
Yuwen Yue stared unblinkingly. When the bridal sedan chair went far away, she still could not take her eyes off it and even attempted to hang out of the carriage window, but the middle-aged handmaid beside her stopped her in time.
Still, after the wedding convoy went past, Yuwen Yue felt that she had not looked her fill at all. “Qi, Lin, let’s follow them and find out who’s marrying the bride!”
Yuwen Lin knitted his brows disapprovingly. “You’re not going anywhere. That kind of conduct is unbecoming to a princess.”
But Yuwen Qi believed otherwise. As he saw Yuwen Yue watching the receding wedding convoy with a twinkle in her eyes, it struck him that as her big brother, one who had brought her out already, he was obliged to grant as many of her requests as he could and make sure that she enjoyed herself.
“You really want to go along for the ride, Crescent?” asked Yuwen Qi.
Yuwen Yue, sensing that there was still hope, hastened to bob her head. “Yes!”
Yuwen Qi said, “Then we’ll follow them and take a look.”
Yuwen Lin demurred, “Don’t you put her up to this. We’ve breached the rules once already by making way for those people just now. It’d be frivolous of us to follow the bridal sedan chair with Crescent. If by any chance someone finds out you’re a prince, it would make the imperial clan seem flippant. And if it comes to Daddy’s knowledge that you’re responsible for it, he’s guaranteed to mete out punishment more severe than copying out those books ten times. I suggest you think twice.”
Yuwen Qi was momentarily stunned at his warning. “But nobody will find out who we are if we do it secretly.”
Yuwen Lin glanced at the guards and the pedestrians in the vicinity before saying, “Although we’re not in the company of a guard of honor, we brought so many men with us, and we went out of the palace through the front gates, so it’s safe to say all those with discerning eyes have guessed our identities. How are we supposed to cover our tracks?”
Yuwen Qi also glanced at the people in the vicinity and found that there were indeed many of them sneaking surreptitious looks at them, their faces respectful, their eyes full of curiosity.
Yuwen Qi scratched his head, shifted his gaze to the wedding convoy disappearing from view, and then said to Yuwen Yue, “Crescent, Ling’s got a point. We should drop the idea, but I’ll take you out another time.”
Dejection clouding her face, Yuwen Yue looked disappointedly at Yuwen Qi. “We really can’t go?”
“Crescent, you’re a princess. Do not forget that,” cautioned Yuwen Lin.
Yuwen Yue bowed her head and gave an “Oh” of reluctance.
Yuwen Qi could not bear to see her like this. He came up with an idea and said to Yuwen Lin, “We can turn into that street first, change clothes and then bring only a couple of guards and secret bodyguards with us there.”
Yuwen Lin was almost rendered speechless. “What the … Why do you want to see it so bad? It’s just a wedding.”
“Alas.” Yuwen Qi leaned closer to him and breathed, “Can you not tell Crescent is eager to see what it’s like? Unlike us, she can’t get out of the palace whenever she wants, and there are a lot of things out here she’s never seen before. Beautiful as the palace is, she’s been in there too long to still find the scenery enjoyable. Let’s take her there to see the fun and then come back. It won’t take long.”
Yuwen Lin’s forehead twitched at these words and with that he looked over his shoulder at their sister who was sitting in the rear of the carriage, looking somewhat crestfallen. After a long moment’s hesitation, he finally relented. “Fine, but only a brief look, and then we come back immediately. We cannot linger there for long.”
“Don’t worry. We won’t stay there for long. We satisfy Crescent’s curiosity and then return right away,” Yuwen Qi promised.
The team resumed progressing. After turning into the street ahead, they found an inn and had a guard get two rooms for them. The three of them entered the inn with the others, changed out of their sumptuous robes into plain clothes their guards had just bought on the street, which constituted a disguise of some sort, then left the inn, followed by some guards and secret bodyguards, setting off to look for the wedding convoy.
A wedding convoy as large as that would not make only a short trip. They would normally make a circuit of the city before entering the groom’s residence at the agreed auspicious hour.
Yuwen Qi, adept at making inquiries because of his regular trips out of the palace, soon found out about the current location of the wedding convoy and promptly led Yuwen Qi and Yuwen Yue in that direction.
