Chapter 201: For a Beauty
It was Yuwen Tong. Ling Zhang had never expected that he would come. Apart from Ling Zhang, Jiang Yu and his followers also saw him and were amazed.
“Come here. What are you waiting for?” said Yuwen Tong right at this moment, eyes on Ling Zhang.
It had been merely a day since students of the Imperial College heard about Yuwen Tong’s arrival at this college the day before, and a lot of them regretted not having seen him with their own eyes, but unexpectedly they saw Yuwen Tong after only one day. Everyone of them was both delighted and perplexed. It was not until someone mentioned Ling Zhang that light suddenly dawned on them. At this moment they happened to see Ling Zhang walking out and also hear this remark of Yuwen Tong’s, so they all turned around to look at Ling Zhang.
Instantly Ling Zhang became the focus of attention once again. Though he had been in the limelight for a full day and was now able to retain his composure, he still felt somewhat embarrassed at this instant. The jealousy these students felt was manifest in their eyes.
Even Yuwen Jin had a somewhat different expression in his eyes when he looked at Ling Zhang. “It surprised me that my cousin came here to pick you up, and his voice was so tender. He indeed treats his betrothed differently, as I expected. I could barely believe that’s my cousin.”
Ling Zhang, “…”
He hastily walked up to Yuwen Tong, closely followed by Miao Shiba who had disguised himself as a study-servant (a boy serving in someone’s study in feudal China).
“Why are you here?”
“I came to take you home. Get in the carriage. Tonight we’re going to have dinner in the Taibai Tavern and after that we’ll go to the riverside to see ship-lanterns.”
Ling Zhang found having dinner in the Taibai Tavern understandable, but enjoying the scenery of ship-lanterns… ‘Why does Yuwen Tong suddenly want to see ship-lanterns tonight? Is there going to be some special event, by any chance?’ Ling Zhang didn’t give any more thought to this matter. Since Yuwen Tong had said they were going to see ship-lanterns, he wouldn’t refuse. He inclined his head and intended to get into the carriage.
“Marshal.”
Someone walked over and greeted Yuwen Tong. This voice was fairly familiar to Ling Zhang. After all, he had had a verbal duel with this person in the morning. He turned around and looked at him.
Jiang Yu had come over with his followers and directly walked up to Yuwen Tong. With a smile on his face, eyes on Yuwen Tong, he remarked, “It never crossed my mind that I’d see you again after merely one day, Marshal. Did you specially come here to pick up Childe Ling?”
“Anything I can do for you, Childe Jiang?”
The tenderness Yuwen Tong had on his face when facing Ling Zhang was replaced by a very bland look as he turned around.
Yuwen Tong’s countenance had changed very quick. In the knowledge that Yuwen Tong had such a gentle side, Jiang Yu appeared a trifle unreconciled to the situation as he saw the chilly face Yuwen Tong had when facing him. In the morning he had given Ling Zhang a contemptuous look during his confrontation with Ling Zhang, but now Jiang Yu found that peace of mind was far out of his reach on this occasion.
“Yesterday you were in a great haste and I didn’t have the chance to have a good talk with you. Just now I heard that you were going to the Taibai Tavern to have dinner. We happen to be going to the Taibai Tavern as well. I wonder, if I might ask, if we can go with you?”
“No.”
Yuwen Tong refused in a very categorical manner. Jiang Yu’s smile could barely hold. He couldn’t help but ask, “Why?”
Yuwen Tong suddenly gave an inexplicable smile and replied, “Younger Brother Zhang and I are going out together without anybody else’s company. Anyone with discerning eyes can understand what this means, I suppose? All of you are from noble families. How come you’re so unobservant as to impose? Did you spend too much time studying and go soft in the head?”
There was a deathly hush at the gateway.
“Pooh,” Yuwen Jin sneered without any considerations of Jiang Yu’s face whatsoever.
Jiang Yu’s countenance virtually stiffened. “I was being inconsiderate.”
Under no circumstances could Jiang Yu have expected that Yuwen Tong would put it so explicitly, which was why he had a quite embarrassed expression on his face at this moment, unable to extricate himself from this awkward situation. After making this remark in embarrassment, he backed off, his face darkening as his eyes swept across Ling Zhang who had been enjoying this scene on the side.
Yuwen Tong guided Ling Zhang into the carriage and then got in as well. Miao Shiba sat down beside the driver and with that the horse-drawn carriage slowly started progressing, heading away from the front gate of the Imperial College.
There was a variety of expressions on the faces of students at the gateway. Those standing behind Jiang Yu didn’t dare to look at Jiang Yu. In the morning these people had merely speculated about Jiang Yu’s intention, but now they had a vague idea of it, which left them even more afraid to say anything that might anger Jiang Yu.
It could be said that Jiang Yu was humiliated twice in a row on this day. Fists clenched, he stared fixedly at the receding horse-drawn carriage.
…
“Are there any special events going on at the riverside tonight?” asked Ling Zhang.
As Yuwen Tong looked at Ling Zhang’s innocent eyes, he came to know that Ling Zhang misunderstood, but clearly Ling Zhang hadn’t realized it, and Yuwen Tong didn’t want him to realize it, so he replied, “Sort of. There are many gaily-painted pleasure-ships and entertainment-ships by the riverside, and the night view’s going to be pretty good. We may see lanterns in a teahouse on the bank of the river and celebrate your first day of school in the Imperial College.”
The driver sitting outside and Miao Shiba exchanged glances. They both knew that there weren’t any gaily-painted pleasure-ships or entertainment-ships anchored at the riverside on this day. Those boats only parked there on the first day and the fifteenth day of every month, and this day was neither of them. But since the Marshal said that there were boats there, then there definitely were.
When the horse-drawn carriage arrived at the Taibai Tavern, Miao Shiba made an excuse and left. Ling Zhang didn’t pay any extra attention to this and directly went to a private room on the third floor of the Taibai Tavern with Yuwen Tong.
The Taibai Tavern’s reputation in the capital city was well-earned. Ling Zhang tasted an authentic Tanyang course in this place, which surprised him in a pleasant way.
“This is… The last time I came here, I just heard that their signature dishes were pretty famous. I didn’t know that they could prepare such authentic Tanyang dish as well.”
Ling Zhang was pleasantly surprised. It had been quite some time since he’d left Tanyang, and sometimes he missed local Tanyang dishes very much.
Seeing him enjoy the dish, Yuwen Tong said, “Culinary skills of the head chef of the Taibai Tavern are pretty good. He used to tour around the country and also stayed in Tanyang for some time, so he knows how to prepare Tanyang dishes.”
Ling Zhang was happy. He knew that Yuwen Tong must have specially had the chef of the Taibai Tavern prepare this. Since Yuwen Tong didn’t like it when he thanked him, Ling Zhang kept all this in mind.
“About that Jiang Yu guy, you can just ignore him. If he makes trouble for you again, tell him to come to me,” said Yuwen Tong.
Ling Zhang flicked a glance at him. ‘Tell Jiang Yu to go to you? How did you come up with this lousy idea? I would be a fool if I let Jiang Yu who clearly harbors some ulterior motive to meet my lover.’
“I’d appreciate it if you don’t go to the Imperial College to pick me up again.”
Yuwen Tong was somewhat unwilling and asked him why.
“I don’t want anybody with ulterior motives to hook up with you.”
On hearing this, Yuwen Tong instantly realized what was going on. It was very rare that Ling Zhang showed such ill-concealed jealousy. Yuwen Tong’s judgement was clouded by excitement and he nearly decided to pick Ling Zhang up every day. It was not until Ling Zhang saw through him and cast him a cold look that he promised he wouldn’t go to the Imperial College to pick him up unless there was a special circumstance. As regards what kind of circumstance could be deemed special, of course Yuwen Tong was the one to decide.
It took them over an hour to finish their dinner in the Taibai Tavern. After that, the two of them left for the riverside. When they arrived, night started to fall, and the originally quiet riverside was beginning to hum with life. A lot of gaily-painted pleasure-ships and entertainment-ships anchored by the bank. Ship-lanterns of every description were lighted, and the night view at the riverside was aglow with lantern light.
All other people seeing this were very confused, wondering, ‘Today is neither the first day nor the fifteen day of this month. Why the riverside is so uproarious?’ Gradually more and more people congregated on the bank. As the news spread, more were coming to enjoy the night scene.
It was at this moment that Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong arrived at the riverside, which was congested with people already. Due to the crowds, the two of them were unable to get a clear view of ship-lanterns. All they could see was a patch of bright light. Yuwen Tong took him to the private room that Miao Shiba had booked for them in advance, which was on the second floor of a teahouse on the bank of the river and was next to a spacious balustraded platform. In the ordinary course of things, on the first day or the fifteenth day of every month, rooms like this would be booked out quite some time beforehand, for many people wanted the best position to enjoy the night view on the river.
Standing beside the balustrade, watching the patch of gaily-painted pleasure-ships and entertainment-ships, Ling Zhang was awed by the prosperity of the capital city. There was no such night view in Tanyang.
Yuwen Tong standing behind him held him. “The night scene in border areas is also very beautiful. I’ll take you there to see it after we get married.”
Ling Zhang’s eyes lit up. He had always wanted to go to the border areas to take a look. After hearing Yuwen Tong’s words, he immediately agreed without hesitation.
Smiling, Yuwen Tong kissed him. The key point of what he’d just said was still the two of them getting married, which Ling Zhang didn’t contradict. Then Yuwen Tong recalled what Ling Zhang said in the restaurant in the west of the city the day before. At this moment, he felt fully satisfied and content and even spared a few moments to think about the fact that there were at least two days before people in Tanyang could receive his letter delivered by a courier pigeon. He couldn’t help but hope the courier pigeon would fly faster so that Ling Zhang’s uncle’s reply would come sooner.
“Had I known about this ship-lantern show beforehand, I would have reserved that room in the teahouse. What a pity.”
“Surely the owner of the teahouse would immediately spare the room for you if you tell him want it?”
“The owner said that he had an honored guest today, whom he couldn’t afford to offend. No matter how much money I offered, he just wouldn’t relent.”
“An honored guest he would rather offend you than offend? Who’s this person that carries so much weight?”
“The owner refused to tell me.”
…
Suddenly, a group of people walked past the doorway of the teahouse. In the bright lantern light from the riverside, the two of them saw that all those people were young childes, who were gorgeously clothed and of quite casual and elegant bearing. The sound of their voices wafted into ears of Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong on the second floor.
At first Ling Zhang, who only noticed them talking about the rooms of the teahouse, thought, ‘This is such a coincidence. They were the ones who booked all rooms in this teahouse.’ But after pondering for a while, he realized that something was not quite right. ”Had I known about this ship-lantern show beforehand’… What did he mean by ‘beforehand’? Judging from their conversation, these people are regulars of this teahouse and come here to see ship-lantern shows quite often as well. They should know very well when a ship-lantern show will be held.’
“Is this kind of ship-lantern show a daily occurrence here or is it held on a regular basis?” Ling Zhang inquired of Yuwen Tong.
When Yuwen Tong had heard those childes’ words, he had known that Ling Zhang would ask about this. Having no intention of keeping the truth from Ling Zhang, he replied, “In the normal course of events, it’s held on the first day and the fifteenth day of every month.”
“Today is neither the first day nor the fifteenth day… Is this show the result of a snap decision?” Ling Zhang was puzzled. “Was there a particular reason for it?”
Yuwen Tong responded, “Yeah.”
Ling Zhang looked at him, waiting for his answer.
Yuwen Tong replied, “It’s held for a beauty.”
“A beauty?” Ling Zhang became interested. “What kind of beauty? Why didn’t the owner of this teahouse talk about it? Where is she?”
Yuwen Tong held him tighter, kissed him and said with a smile, “So close, yet so far away.”
Ling Zhang immediately looked down but didn’t see anyone who might be the beauty Yuwen Tong talked about. People down there were either enjoying the beauty of the ship-lanterns or walking by.
“Where? I didn’t see any beauties.” Ling Zhang was really curious.
Yuwen Tong, watching Ling Zhang in his arms who was restlessly trying to find the beauty and even had an anxious face, secretly snorted, pulled him into his embrace and remarked fiercely beside his ear, “Isn’t the beauty right in my arms? Why are you looking elsewhere?”
