Ling Zhang affectionately rubbed the tip of his nose against the white fox cub’s nose and said, “Be good. I’ll get you something to eat after I finish my lunch.”
The white fox cub let out a soft cry in response, as if having understood Ling Zhang’s words, which melted Ling Zhang’s heart and gave Ling Zhang an almost overwhelming desire to give up the meal.
He flicked a glance at the dishes on the table, all of which were of appetizing looks and delicious smell, making his mouth water.
Ling Zhang took up the chopsticks, picked up a piece of meat and was just about to send it into his mouth when he saw that the white fox cub suddenly started sniffing in this direction crying urgently.
After a brief trance of surprise, Ling Zhang put down the chopsticks. “What’s wrong? Are you terribly hungry? I’ll feed you immediately after I finish lunch. I’ll be quick. Just hold on for a few moments.”
With that he picked up that piece of meat intending to eat it, but the white fox cub started crying urgently once again, and the cries were even sharper and somewhat brittle. Its sparkling black eyes were staring at Ling Zhang with manifest anxiety in them.
This time Ling Zhang was really amazed. He put down his chopsticks again. “You want this piece of meat?”
And then his brows were furrowed. “But the raiser told me that it’s inadvisable for you to eat this kind of food for the moment.”
He thought that he should finish the meal as soon as possible and then feed the white fox cub.
However, the white fox cub was very anxious. Seeing Ling Zhang was about to send that piece of meat into his mouth, it abruptly rose to its feet in the cotton-padded jacket and leaped towards Ling Zhang, crying urgently.
Ling Zhang was taken aback, subconsciously dropped his chopsticks and quickly went to catch the white fox cub.
Unsurprisingly, still young and unable to jump far, the white fox cub hit its head on the edge of the table and fell to the ground, groaning in pain repeatedly.
Heart aching badly for it, Ling Zhang hurriedly picked it up, checked it carefully and asked in an anxious tone, “Did it hurt? Are you injured?”
After being picked up by Ling Zhang, the white fox cub curled up in his arms, occupied both of his hands, raised its head and softly cried at him. The cries sounded not as urgent as the previous ones.
Ling Zhang, no longer in the mood for lunch, carried the white fox cub outside and informed Liu Yi and some others, “Get it something to eat. I think it’s starving.”
Liu Yi and other security guards had become accustomed to feeding the white fox cub. They nodded and spared one of them to prepare fox food.
At this time, the white fox cub was quietly lying on Ling Zhang’s hands and no longer crying, as if aware that somebody was preparing food for it.
Relieved, Ling Zhang pulled a wry face and observed, “It’s a short-tempered little guy.”
However, he was still somewhat surprised. In fact, the little fox cub had just had a small meal in the morning. According to the dietary habits it had developed during the past half a month, this was not its usual mealtime. Even if it was really hungry, it wouldn’t behave so anxiously. ‘Was it because it had grown somewhat and needed an extra meal?’ Ling Zhang wondered.
At this time, Yuwen Tong, who had left the inn earlier this day to pay a visit to somewhere, returned. Seeing Ling Zhang standing at the doorway with the white fox cub in his arms, he was somewhat surprised. “Why are you standing there? Have you had lunch?”
Heedless of the disagreement they had had in the morning, Ling Zhang told him about the white fox cub’s reaction a while ago.
Yuwen Tong looked at the white fox cub thoughtfully and commented, “It is said that white foxes are highly intelligent animals.”
Ling Zhang was puzzled. “So they have low tolerance to hunger?”
Yuwen Tong shook his head, entered the room and looked at the meal on the table. Then he took up and sniffed at those dishes one by one while his eyes gazing at the white fox cub.
Meanwhile, Ling Zhang was just standing beside the table carrying the white fox cub. Seeing what Yuwen Tong was doing, he immediately understood, a grave expression on his face. The white fox cub, in particular, craned out of his arms and watched Yuwen Tong with vigilant eyes.
It was noteworthy that the white fox cub tended to give Yuwen Tong the cold shoulder. Never once had it shown such interest in Yuwen Tong’s every move.
When Yuwen Tong took the chopsticks…
A brittle cry was suddenly heard. The white fox cub warily eyed the chopsticks in Yuwen Tong’s hands, crying in intense anxiety.
Yuwen Tong’s face slightly changed. He raised the chopsticks, sniffed at them and eventually put them down.
Ling Zhang looked at the pair of chopsticks. “Is there anything wrong?”
Yuwen Tong replied, “I don’t smell anything particular, but it’s also possible that the strong smell of these dishes is concealing that of whatever on the chopsticks.”
After saying this, he raised his voice telling Wang Dashan to get Xie Shi.
Wang Dashan standing at the doorway had seen what was going on inside the room. In the knowledge that this was a serious matter, he immediately left and brought Xie Shi to the room.
Xie Shi walked inside and was informed of what had happened. He took the chopsticks away and, after the duration of drinking a pot of tea(approximately 10 minutes), returned and told them in a grave tone of voice, “There’s poison on the chopsticks. It’s colorless, odorless and was applied to the chopsticks and then dried, which was why Childe Ling failed to detect it. This poison has a very high level of toxicity and takes immediate effect after coming into contact with anyone’s throat. Someone did this to the chopsticks with the intention of killing Childe Ling.”
With a deep frown on his face, Ling Zhang held the white fox cub tighter. If it weren’t for this little fox, he would have been dead for quite some time.
His security guards always checked the food before delivering it to him, and of course they checked the chopsticks as well, but even Yao Yi might not be able to detect a poison of this kind, not to mention these security guards. Only Xie Shi, who was well acquainted with detoxication, was capable of detecting its presence.
“Find out who did this!” Yuwen Tong had an icy look on his face, an intense aura of thinly disguised murderousness about him.
His bodyguards quickly took action and soon ascertained whose hands the chopsticks had gone through, and then who applied the poison. It was a waiter of the inn, but…
That man had died after taking poison, which was the same as the kind of poison found on the chopsticks.
Yuwen Tong was angry, unprecedentedly angry, and his anger soon affected the whole city.
The inquiry started from the waiters of the inn. His bodyguards managed to get a lot of key information within two hours.
Their checking into this inn had not been scheduled in advance. Yuwen Tong never told anybody beforehand where he would be staying. He always informed his bodyguards of which inn they would check into for accommodations shortly before check-in.
Either someone had been waiting in the city for them to walk into the trap, or there were moles in the group.
This time, it was ascertained that a stranger had made contact with the waiter in the morning.
With clues provided by other waiters of the inn, the bodyguards started a citywide inquiry into this incident.
The culprit definitely wouldn’t leave so soon, since he or she had to confirm whether or not Ling Zhang had been poisoned.
This gave the bodyguards enough time to identify that person!
When the man was found, Yao Yi unhesitatingly dislocated his lower jaw lest he bite through a wax ball with poison inside to commit suicide like the assassin disguised as a palace guard had done.
All of them were aware that Yuwen Tong had really been angered this time, so they didn’t dare to waste any time, directly inflicted torture on the man and had him disclose who the mastermind was.
“It was Peng Fang working for the Ministry of Works. Marshal, Peng Fang used to serve the Sixth Prince. After the Sixth Prince was put under house arrest, he had switched his allegiance to the Third Prince,” reported Yao Yi. News they received from the capital city had been getting more and more detailed as they got closer to the capital city. Yue Qi had been having intelligence reports delivered to them from the capital city non-stop.
Yuwen Tong’s eyes were as cold as a saber. “Investigate Peng Fang. It must be ascertained whether it was Zhou Mingshen or Zhou Mingyuan that gave the order.”
“Yes, Marshal!”
“Zhang Liu, depart for the capital city right now. Find out everything about Zhou Mingyuan. Not a single omission or mistake of any kind is to be tolerated.”
“Yes, Marshal!”
Ling Zhang had been silent all along, not because he was scared but because he had just come to realize that he was faced with far more dangers than he had expected.
During his talk with Yuwen Tong in the morning, he stated that he had already found out the identities of all those in the capital city who wanted him dead. However, he had forgotten that the mastermind had a lot of stooges. There were so many people who intended to kill him!
The only thing that made him feel lucky was that he had got this white fox cub, which he had Yao Yi and some others to thank for. If it weren’t for this little fox, he would really have ended up dead in this inn.
This was also the reason why Yuwen Tong was furious. This incident had happened right under his nose. He had thought that the security arrangements he had made were tight enough, but the enemy still managed to find a loophole.
“Stop being angry. It’s not you but all of us who are responsible for this omission,” Ling Zhang said to Yuwen Tong. “Let it serve as a warning to us.”
With a sullen face, Yuwen Tong thought for quite a while and then replied, “I understand.”
He was Yuwen Tong, the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces of the Great Yue, who had numerous men around him protecting him, and who had made it out of mountains of corpses and sea of blood several times. Over the years, he had long ago got accustomed to the conceit resulted from the idea that everything was under his control, which was why he had almost forgotten that some tricks were so dirty and venomous that they were impossible to be defended against effectively!
And…
Yao Yi slumped to his knees. “I’m guilty! I deserve to be punished, Marshal!”
They had been serving Yuwen Tong from the very beginning and had always been vigilant and discreet, but maybe just like Yuwen Tong who had become unduly conceited, they had made a careless mistake despite the fact that they had been vigilant and discreet for years, which resulted in the present situation.
After quite a while, Yuwen Tong instructed, “You’ll be punished after returning to the capital city. Now go and do what you are supposed to do.”
“Yes, Marshal!”
Ling Zhang frowned, intending to intercede on behalf of Yao Yi and others. He didn’t think this was their fault. Besides, if it weren’t for the white fox cub given to him by Yao Yi and others…
“Only by getting the punishment they deserve will they be able to learn the lesson, lodge it firmly in their minds and save everybody’s life at a crucial moment. There’s no need for you to intercede for them.” Yuwen Tong seemed to know what Ling Zhang was thinking about.
Ling Zhang lapsed into silence after hearing these words.
At this time, Wang Dashan and other security guards were having such a guilty conscience that they could barely forbear from committing suicide to atone for their negligence.
The food and chopsticks had gone through their hands but they had failed to detect the poison and allowed it to be delivered to Ling Zhang.
Ling Zhang didn’t mete out any punishment to any of them. He merely asked, “Who’s interested in learning detoxication?”
Yao Yi and other bodyguards wouldn’t be able to protect him forever. A group of trained and skilled subordinates of his own would solely be what he could rely on.
Wang Dashan and other security guards raced each other to state their willingness –
“Young Master, I want to learn it!”
“I’m interested!”
“Me, too!”
Ling Zhang inclined his head. “Since all of you want to learn it, when Guard Xie is available, I’ll ask him to help test you to find out which one of you has the greatest talent for this. It’s not that I’m partial towards anybody but that I want to use the best material at the key point. When we are in the capital city, you’ll have to learn a lot more other skills apart from the trap-and-kill formation and detoxication skills.”
“Rest assured, Young Master, all of us understand.”
Naturally, palace guards and Zhang Xi, who were staying in the rooms on the second floor, heard the commotion upstairs and came to Ling Zhang’s room to see. After being informed of what had happened, all of them involuntarily tensed their back muscles.
Zhao Pingchuan was particularly nervous, fearing that once again any of his subordinates would be found responsible for this incident.
On hearing that the culprit was an outsider, Zhao Pingchuan breathed a sigh of great relief.
“Gonggong (Gonggong is a respectful form of address for an old eunuch whose rank is higher than that of common eunuchs), I really wish I could return to the capital city right now,” Zhao Pingchuan informed of Zhang Xi.
Zhang Xi also had a worried expression on his face. “You must be joking, Commander Zhao. Neither of us is calling the shots here. Let’s just hope there will be no more surprises during the next two days.”
Otherwise they wouldn’t be able to say for sure that neither of them would be implicated.
