The white fox cub’s sparkling black eyes were full of confusion. It didn’t quite understand why climbing into the bed was suddenly banned. What happened just now?
It had been a hectic tiring day. Ling Zhang vaguely felt that there was something he had been meaning to talk with Yuwen Tong about, but he couldn’t remember what it was no matter how hard he tried to. After a short while, he drifted off to sleep.
Yuwen Tong, who didn’t have the heart to cause him any disturbance, slept beside him.
…
The two of them were sleeping soundly in this room, while in the residence of Yuwen family, lamps had been ablaze all along. Yuwen Zhi, who had almost been infuriated to death at the banquet in the imperial palace earlier this night, smashed more than half of the things in his study.
Yuwen Feng was kneading his brow. He had some time ago reminded his father not to pick on Ling Zhang, because they would be reduced to a passive position if Ling Zhang played the favor card. Unfortunately, everything he had said to his father had gone in one ear and out the other. However, after this matter, it had come to his knowledge that Ling Zhang was not as gentle as he seemed. His father had merely cold-shouldered him at the banquet, yet he had counter-attacked almost immediately… ‘It seems that father has already made an enemy of Ling Zhang due to what he sent those people to Tanyang to do,’ Yuwen Feng thought.
The reason why Yuwen Feng was unwilling to offend Ling Zhang was that he didn’t want to offend Yuwen Tong, but what if Ling Zhang had felt offended already? Moreover, from the vantage point of the present, it was very unlikely that his parents would change their minds. ‘What should I do? No matter what, I’ve got to convince father. Tomorrow Yuwen Tong and Ling Zhang will come back here. We can’t afford to screw things up.’
“Father–”
With a smash, a teapot was dashed to pieces beside Yuwen Feng’s feet. He had barely finished the first word when the smash interrupted him.
The situation in the chambers of the King Hui and the Concubine Liang was almost the same as that in Yuwen family. The punishment of the Ninth Princess was, for all intents and purposes, synonymous with stripping her of her identity as a princess. All of them were bound to have a sleepless night.
…
Early the next morning. In the Ling Mansion.
Yue Qi and some other bodyguards were somewhat surprised to see the twenty-four security guards start training so early. And they were amazed even further when they saw that they were training in two groups. “What kind of formation is this?” Yue Qi asked.
“How about you give it a try?” Yao Yi egged him on.
Yue Qi, who was sharp-eyed, could tell a mile off that the formation Wang Dashan was in was the ripe one. He took a flying leap charging at Wang Dashan and others in the formation. Wang Dashan and others quickly reacted and surrounded Yue Qi before he even landed.
“Eek, you guys have pretty quick reflexes,” Yue Qi observed appreciatively and with that the look in his eyes went piercing and he suddenly made his move without warning.
With a loud bang, his blow was deflected by a counter-strike. Feeling the strength of his opponents, Yue Qi perked up and abruptly quickened his moves. He had originally believed that Wang Dashan and his men would be flustered, but unexpectedly, there was not a shred of fluster in their movements. Not only were they very composed, their flexible and varied formations had won them an edge over Yue Qi.
“Ha! Not bad. You know what you’re doing.” The look in Yue Qi’s eyes grew serious as he observed this changeable formation consisting of twelve.
“Yue Qi took them lightly and paid the price. Ha!” commented Yao Yi gloatingly.
With that he flicked Xie Shi a glance and asked, “Why aren’t you training Yang Liuzi and the others?”
Xie Shi answered in a leisurely tone of voice, “There’s no hurry. I’d like to finish watching this fight.”
Yao Yi said, “Exactly how did you best Du Shi’er having him left in Tanyang?”
Xie Shi’s voice was still leisurely. “I can’t tell you. It’ll lose its magic if I do.”
The corners of Yao Yi’s mouth involuntarily twitched. ‘This guy wants to keep it secret so he could use it against us again? Du Shi’er is such a poor guy. He clearly could have returned to the capital city with us. Xie Shi tricked him and had him stay in Tanyang helping train those new recruits. It’s so surprising that the Marshal was okay with that.’
Thousands of miles away, in the guards’ yard of Ling family in Tanyang, newly recruited security guards were also training, but their training was different from that of Wang Dashan and others –the Horse Stance.
They had been practicing the Horse Stance for almost half a month!
“Guard Du, when can we start practicing formations? We’ve been practicing the Horse Stance for half a month!” a newly recruited security guard finally couldn’t help but ask.
Hearing this, Du Shi’er lying on a giant rock with a length of green bristlegrass clamped between his teeth, made no reply but threw a stone which hit the man’s knee, and with that the man fell to the ground with a dull thud.
“When you can take the hit of a stone without losing your balance,” responded Du Shi’er.
Newly recruited security guards exchanged glances in speechlessness. ‘When will that day be?!’ they wondered.
“Your foundations are on various levels, yet you want to start practicing formations?” Then Du Shi’er added, “This trap-and-kill formation requires tacit understanding. You guys couldn’t even rid yourselves of your messy thoughts, let alone develop tacit understanding. I’m already going easy on you by merely having you practice the Horse Stance. If any of you utter another word of complaint, I’ll make you rue the days you were born.”
All newly recruited security guards gave a cold shiver of fear and thought, ‘Isn’t this already tough enough to make us rue the day we were born? After practicing the Horse Stance, we have to do pile-driving, and after that, there’ll be footwork practice on quincuncial piles or something like that. Anyone who fails to keep his balance and falls off will have to stand for two hours with a vat on his head.’ They not only rued the days they’d been born, they were on the verge of going crazy.
‘If there’s anything even harsher to come…’
They recoiled from the idea of it.
In the capital city, Xie Shi’s eyes raked faces of Yang Liuzi and the others. There was some kind of meaningful look in his eyes. Those who accidentally made eye contact with him felt cold shivers of fear run through them.
Yao Yi flicked a thoughtful glance at him and thought, ‘There’s something not quite right with this guy. Is he by any chance up to anything?’
Those security guards were training in full swing and Ling Zhang was woken up by the loud noises they were making. A whole night’s dreamless sleep had refreshed him considerably.
Seeing him wake up, Yuwen Tong, who had already got up, washed and changed clothes, walked over and asked, “Do you feel like sleeping for a little while longer?”
Ling Zhang sat up and shook his head. “Not really. I’ve already overslept today.”
‘We’re scheduled to visit Yuwen Tong’s father’s uncle this morning and we can’t be late. It’s impertinent to keep an elder waiting,’ he thought.
…
The horse-drawn carriage of the Ling Mansion slowly came to a halt at the doorway of a residence. The day before, Yuwen Tong sent someone to inform his father’s uncle beforehand that he and Ling Zhang would visit him this morning, so a lot of people had been waiting at the doorway.
The old man at the front bore a resemblance to Yuwen Tong, but not a striking one. He stood there with firm footing, cutting a hale and hearty figure. The old man’s clothes seemed to be of high quality but low-key in color and style. Apart from his, clothes of all those behind him were unobtrusive, which was a clear indication that they were different from Yuwen Zhi and his family.
Theoretically, Yuwen You was Yuwen Tong’s elder and didn’t have to come to his welcome, but obviously Yuwen You was not the kind of person who liked to put on airs. Seeing Yuwen Tong and Ling Zhang getting off the carriage, he walked up to them with a smile.
Yuwen Tong and Ling Zhang hastened to walk towards him.
“Grandfather.” Yuwen Tong greeted him.
“My name is Ling Zhang. I’m honored to kneel before you, Your Lordship.” Ling Zhang respectfully knelt down and prostrated himself before the old man.
Smiling, Yuwen You held Ling Zhang’s arms and said, “You may rise, good boy. There’s no need for such formality. Just call me grandfather as Tong does.”
Ling Zhang rose to his feet with a faint flush on his cheeks and replied somewhat timidly, “Then I think I’d better do as you ask instead of standing on ceremony, grandfather.”
Yuwen You burst into hearty laughter, which was very sonorous and resonant. The laughter traveled far away and there were even echoes sent back.
Ling Zhang was somewhat shocked, thinking that Yuwen Tong’s father’s uncle was so robust. ‘If only my own grandfather’s constitution was as strong as his.’
“Come here. Let me introduce them to you. This is Yuwen Chi, my eldest son. He’s works in the Ministry of Official Personnel Affairs. This is Yuwen Si, my second son. He holds a post with very little to do in the Imperial Academy. This is Fang shi, my eldest daughter-in-law, and this is Liu shi, my second daughter-in-law. These boys are your peers: Yuwen Hong, Yuwen Han, Yuwen Qian and Yuwen Jin. You’re of similar age and should hang out more. Later this year, Jin will go to study in the Imperial College. I heard that you were going to study in the Imperial College as well. You two may keep each other company there.”
Respectfully and cautiously, Ling Zhang greeted the elders one by one by making a bow with hands folded in front. When he was introduced to Yuwen Hong and other peers, they acknowledged each other with due formality.
Yuwen You was very approachable, and so were the others. Yuwen Chi and Yuwen Si, who were high-ranking officials, also appeared very polite and amiable, with no bureaucratic airs. Fang shi and Liu shi were nice people as well. As regards his peers, both Yuwen Hong and Yuwen Han were a lot older than Ling Zhang; Yuwen Qian was two years older than him. All three of them had married. Their wives were occupied with the luncheon and thus had not come to welcome them. Yuwen Jin, the only one unmarried, was of the same age as his. Apart from these four men, there were also some female members, all of whom, except for Yuwen Yan, a ten-year-old girl, were married.
All these people struck Ling Zhang as approachable and sociable. On some aspects, they bore a striking similarity to Yuwen Tong who was straightforward, brisk and neat. Ling Zhang had a feeling that these people were Yuwen Tong’s true family.
“Cousin, I thought that you’d be bachelor your whole life. It surprised me that you found yourself someone willing to marry you,” Yuwen Jin archly said to Yuwen Tong.
“Our uncle’s father accumulated a lot of good karma. Otherwise our cousin would’ve still been a bachelor,” Yuwen Hong also remarked.
“Younger Brother Ling, what do you see in him, anyway? You need to be cautious. Don’t be fooled by him.” Yuwen Han was even more direct.
Their words surprised Ling Zhang somewhat. ‘They are really on such good terms?’
Yuwen Tong put his arm around Ling Zhang’s waist and replied with two words, “Beat it.”
The three of them who had been told to get lost didn’t mind at all and even dissolved into laughter.
Ling Zhang, however, was somewhat embarrassed by Yuwen Tong and hurriedly freed himself. ‘What is this guy thinking? There are elders here. This kind of conduct is so undignified.’
Yuwen You and others all appeared cheerful and gay. Judging from the look in their eyes, they believed these youngsters were merely joking with each other, and there was no sign of displeasure on their faces.
“Okay, that’s enough. You may continue to have your fun inside the house. Let Xiao Zhang have some rest. You guys should be careful not to scare him. It took Tong a lot of doing to find the right one. If you scare him away, your uncle’s father will scold you in your dreams,” said Yuwen You.
After hearing an elder’s words, those youngsters naturally didn’t dare to mess around any longer. They crowded around Ling Zhang and walked him into the house, while Yuwen Tong was left alone with only his own shadow.
Yuwen Tong quickly walked forward, drew Ling Zhang out of their encirclement to his side and cast each of them an admonitory look.
“Tsk, what are you doing? Why so possessive? Are you afraid that we’ll tell Younger Brother Ling any dirt on you?” queried Yuwen Han.
“That’s true, cousin. We’re not going to tell Elder Brother Zhang about the shameful things you did in your childhood,” remarked Yuwen Jin. Though merely a couple of months Ling Zhang’s junior, he was calling Ling Zhang elder brother, and he did it in a very natural way, not at all regarding him as an outsider.
Yuwen Tong raised his hand and hit him hard on the head. “Shut up. You weren’t even born when I was a boy!”
