Chapter 193: Missing Him
Translator: DragonRider
This store was suitable in every regard, and revamp, along with some other flaws, were just minor problems, so eventually Ling Zhang selected this one.
That petty official readily led Ling Zhang back to the property exchange affiliated to the yamen without raising any questions. Between a purchase contract and a lease, Ling Zhang chose the former.
Although the price was very high, Ling Zhang believed that this was not going to be a losing proposition. Even if his herb business turned out to be money-losing, he would still be able to make a small fortune by reselling the store. Of course, it was impossible for the owner of a drugstore in a place like that to lose money.
After signing the purchase contract and going through all necessary procedures, Ling Zhang officially became the owner of the store located in the west of the city.
Seeing this, the general storekeeper secretly clicked his tongue. ‘Even my boss would’ve found the price of this store pretty high. No, without a powerful backer, nobody will be able to get the ownership of this store, no matter how much money they have. Ling Zhang has just arrived in the capital city, yet he managed to purchase a store like this. Though he has Yuwen Tong at his back, only by signing the contract would he become the owner of this store.’
“Thank you for sparing time to help me pick a store, General Storekeeper. I might have to bother you with some other questions in the future,” said Ling Zhang.
The general storekeeper replied that the two of them had been cooperating with each other in herb business for many years, that he had undertaken to offer Ling Zhang help, so there was no need for Ling Zhang to be so courteous.
As a result, Ling Zhang no longer stood on ceremony and consulted him about the revamp issue.
The general storekeeper, accompanying Ling Zhang, went back to the store and consulted with Ling Zhang as well as artisans hired by Ling Zhang. Eventually, they decided which parts of the store were to be revamped. The revamp project would take quite a long time. Wang Qing was designated to supervise artisans revamping the store for the duration.
On this day they visited the store several times and some artisans started revamping it, which some time ago attracted the attention of many people in the trading center.
It had also come to the knowledge of a lot of people keeping a close watch on the Ling Mansion that Ling Zhang had bought a store in the trading center in the west of the city and was revamping it.
Those who had been waiting for Ling Zhang to come into conflict with people of Yuwen family so that they could profit from it were thrown into perplexity, wondering why the first thing Ling Zhang did after staying at home for half a month was purchase a store.
“Is buying a store by any chance more important to him than marrying Yuwen Tong?”
This was a question that confused most of them. In their eyes, if they were in Ling Zhang’s shoes, they would definitely have regarded marrying Yuwen Tong as soon as possible as the top priority. ‘What’s the point of buying a store? If in the end he fails to marry Yuwen Tong, how could he possibly keep the store?’
Ling Zhang had stood up to several powerful figures in a row after arriving in the capital city; even the Ninth Princess had been sent to a temple to practice Buddhism without tonsure as a punishment for her attempt to have Ling Zhang assassinated; also because of him, Yuwen Zhi broke Yuwen Qi’s leg – these things seemed to be suggesting that Ling Zhang was going to destroy anybody in his way, so a lot of people had very high expectations of Ling Zhang, anticipating a fight between he and Yuwen Zhi which would cause destruction to both sides, but the current situation terribly disappointed all of them.
“He seems a guy who knows some petty tricks, but it turns out that he’s soft in the head.”
Tao Yi was probably the only one who felt at ease after this long-time peace between Ling Zhang and Yuwen family. Every day he would make some inquiries about the situation outside before he could get down to studying safe in the knowledge that everything was fine.
A school friend of his, seeing his behavior, couldn’t help but tease, “You are acting like his old man. Is this really necessary?”
Tao Yi gave him a dirty look, “You won’t understand.”
“I understand it very well. You are just worried that Ling Zhang would get hurt if he comes into conflict with Yuwen Zhi, aren’t you? If I had Marshal Yuwen at my back, I wouldn’t give a shit about Yuwen Zhi – nobody in this city would dare to mess with me, okay?” commented his school friend.
Tao Yi, in heartache and headache, looked at him. “Fortunately, it’s someone like you that the Marshal has his eye on.”
“Hey, that’s hurtful. What’s wrong with people like me? I’m remarkably eligible! I’m not only handsome but also talented. If the Marshal were to have his eye on me, he would definitely find me worthy of him,” replied his school friend.
“Stop dreaming. The Marshal is meant to be with Brother Ling.”
“Look at you. You still want to deny you’re not like his old man? I just made a single remark and you got tensed up.”
Tao Yi put an end to the frivolous chat with his school friend, since his teacher summoned him.
“What have you been doing these days? Where did your mind wander to? Look how lousy your essay is!”
Tao Yi, being scolded, felt somewhat aggrieved, believing that his essay was pretty good.
“Answer me! What have you been thinking? Why are you so slack in your study?!”
Originally Tao Yi had had no intention of telling the truth, but on second thought, he stepped closer to his teacher and said, “Mr. Gu, do you think Lord Yuwen will pick on Brother Ling again? And there’s another thing – many people outside say that Brother Ling is silly, that in these circumstances he should have the Marshal fix a date for the wedding. Did Brother Ling by any chance really do the wrong thing? Please give me some advice, Mr. Gu. If he’s really mistaken, I’ll go and warn him right away.”
His teacher speechlessly glared at him for a few moments and then reprimanded in a sonorous voice, “That’s none of your business! Stop being a busybody!”
“He’s my friend. I can’t just look on unconcerned,” replied Tao Yi in severe and categorical terms.
“Enough. You think you are smart? As far as I can tell, Ling Zhang is far smarter than you are.”
“Ah?” Tao Yi believed that was not true, that he was definitely smart.
“Those people say that because they want Ling Zhang to come into conflict with Yuwen Zhi, so that they could profit from it, while Ling Zhang has been unhurried and poised because he knows what those people are trying to do. Otherwise he would’ve ended up being other people’s pawn. If he really takes any rash actions, there’s a high chance that eventually he’d lose more than he’d gain. Yuwen Tong is not the kind of person who likes to be pressurized into doing anything. In these circumstances, he still has the leisure to buy a store, which is an unmistakable indication that Yuwen Tong values him very much and gives him enough confidence that his herb business wouldn’t be a losing proposition. So there’s nothing for you to worry about. Just focus on your study.”
Light suddenly dawned on Tao Yi and even the look on his face was much more relaxed. “You’re indeed a man of great wisdom, Mr. Gu.”
“Stop licking my boots and get your ass to your desk.”
“Mr. Gu, although there’s nobody else around, you shouldn’t forget your identity. How could you say such rude words?”
His teacher directly threw a writing brush at his head in response to his question, which frightened Tao Yi into fleeing hastily.
…
Ling Zhang was unaware of how people on various sides in the capital city were speculating about his conduct. After making arrangements for the store to be revamped, he got down to setting up a trade caravan.
There was one thing that Tao Yi’s teacher was wrong about: Yuwen Tong actually would be very glad if Ling Zhang tried to pressurize him into marrying him. Seeing Ling Zhang was fully occupied building a trade caravan, Yuwen Tong particularly hoped that Ling Zhang would be anxious to marry him as outsiders expected.
Ling Zhang practiced kung fu at night and went to see another man – the general storekeeper of the Jiang’s Drugstore Chain – during daytime. Yuwen Tong was suddenly forsaken, feeling that his life was as miserable as that of an unfavored concubine in the cold palace (a palace where an emperor installs members of the imperial family who do something wrong).
In fact, he did want to help Ling Zhang handle the trade caravan and all others matters, but the problem was that Ling Zhang would by no means let him.
“Any news on Peng Fang?” Out of sheer boredom, Yuwen Tong had no alternative but to find someone to vent his anger on.
“We’ve confirmed that the reason why Peng Fang tried to have Childe Ling poisoned was because he wanted to give the King Duan a written guarantee of allegiance. After we lay low for half a month, Peng Fang began to panic. He made some underhand arrangements and thought that we’d be misled into suspecting Qian Kang of the Ministry of Official Personnel Affairs. He’s already prepared to scapegoat Qian Kang, but since we’ve been lying low, he began to get paranoid. It’s said that he’s started suffering from insomnia since a couple of days ago, and he’s got noticeably thinner, too,” replied Yao Yi.
Yuwen Tong gave a sneer. “It’s about time we took action. Let’s start with him.”
‘This time Zhou Mingyuan is lucky to get away. Peng Fang just wanted to use this as a guarantee of allegiance, and Zhou Mingyuan was not directly involved. Otherwise I would by no means let Zhou Mingyuan walk away unpunished,’ thought Yuwen Tong.
Yao Yi replied, “Then I’ll send word to them and have them hand over that person right away.”
Yuwen Tong uttered “Um” and then queried, “How’s everything going in the Langya Garden?”
“Childe Qi is still locked in the ancestral hall. It’s been confirmed that he will never fully recover from his broken leg. He’ll be a cripple for the rest of his life. These days, Second Mistress has sent for each and every famous physician in the capital city but none of them could make a difference. There’s been several occasions when she kicked up a stink and wept in front of Second Master. Childe Qi also made a scene in the ancestral hall and drove all physicians away,” responded Yao Yi.
Yuwen Tong had a cold look on his face. Yuwen Zhi had broken Yuwen Qi’s leg but showed mercy to him, making sure the injury was curable. In the normal course of events, the wound in his leg could be healed. But how was it possible that he would let Yuwen Qi fully recuperate? By crippling him, Yuwen Tong was already being merciful.
“Let them be. Yuwen Zhi doesn’t dare to release Yuwen Qi. Kicking up a stink wouldn’t make any difference. It’s Yuwen Zhi himself that we should keep an eye open for in case he secretly plays some dirty tricks.”
Yao Yi shook his head. “Strangely enough, during the past half a month Second Master has been staying at home all along except for meeting time in the morning. And he refuses to receive any visitor.”
Yuwen Tong’s brow corrugated in a frown. He knew his uncle very well, and this was not what his uncle would normally do. “Find out what he’s been doing hiding in there.”
“Yes, Marshal,” replied Yao Yi.
A guard ran inside like the wind and reported, “Marshal, Childe Ling returned!”
On hearing that Ling Zhang had returned, Yuwen Tong, who had been sitting there bored stiff, instantly perked up and waved his hand motioning for Yao Yi to leave immediately and do what he’d got to do, so that he wouldn’t be a hindrance to him.
Yao Yi was speechless.
Ling Zhang had just come back from outside. A while ago, he had consulted with the general storekeeper of the Jiang’s Drugstore Chain about the trade caravan. About setting up a trade caravan, he had got a general idea of what kind of preparations he had to make, and also written a letter to his uncle in Tanyang telling him to build a trade caravan according to the contents of the letter. For its maiden journey to the capital city, his caravan was to go together with the trade caravan of the Jiang’s Drugstore Chain. After they were familiar with the route, they would be able to do it on their own.
Of course, the most important issue was security of the trade caravan, which was also the main business he consulted with his uncle.
No matter what, he had to wait for people in Tanyang to make a reply to him. He had some leisure now, so he returned early after everything was handled.
He had just reached the drill ground when he saw Yuwen Tong walking squarely towards to him. Ling Zhang had been fully occupied these days. Though he still had dinner and talked with Yuwen Tong every day, Ling Zhang missed Yuwen Tong very much, which was a feeling he found quite strange. When he finished his business and returned on this day, in particular, he somehow felt fairly excited.
As a result, what he failed to realize was that his eyes lit up as he saw Yuwen Tong walking towards him, which Yuwen Tong felt was exceptionally charming.
“You returned earlier than usual. Everything’s finished?” Yuwen Tong gazed fixedly at him.
