If anybody dared steal a glance at Yuwen Tong, he would gouge their eyes out.
This remark quietly came floating into Ling Zhang’s mind, instantly rendering his eyes reddish.
Yuwen Tong saw it clearly, but he didn’t try to stop him. Not only did he have no intention to stop Ling Zhang, but the feverish excitement in him which he had just managed to restrain welled up again and, as though the constraints on it had disappeared, threatened to get out of control.
A sudden cough, as though it had issued from another dimension, was abruptly heard in the minds of the two of them who were gazing at each other.
The chimes brought the two of them back to their senses, whose emotions were teetering on the brink of burst boundaries.
It was Ling Zhaowu’s voice. Of all the people present, Ling Zhaowu was the first to perceive that there was something wrong with the mood of Ling Zhang’s and Yuwen Tong’s conversation. He had been through numerous tough situations and had dealings with countless people of all descriptions. There had even been a time when he himself didn’t scruple to do whatever he wanted, sometimes fell prey to his hate and pain, let his desire for vengeance get the better of him and failed to refrain from doing horrible things.
So he knew very well that right now there was something not quite right about Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong. Clearly things had been going pretty well in the beginning, but suddenly they’d got out of hand.
No, it hadn’t been all of a sudden that things got out of control. From the moment Yuwen Tong had walked into this courtyard, the two of them had been emanating an air that deterred everybody else from breaking in. The two of them had been in a state where they could see nobody but each other. They’d submerged themselves in a world of their imagination and nearly failed to extricate themselves from it!
Others present were still somewhat confused. They had just seen Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong standing opposite and looking at each other for quite some time, as though they could never get tired of seeing each other, but as this day was all about the two of them, one of whom was the emperor, and the other the empress-to-be, nobody had dared at this point in time disturb their eye contact or ruin the sweet moment the two of them had been enjoying, so they’d pretended not to notice any of it, some standing with their heads down, some still staring vacantly. Eventually they’d sensed that something felt wrong about the atmosphere, that the whole courtyard was cloaked in a weird aura which was quite powerful but not emanating from themselves. It’d been only two people, Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong standing in the middle of the courtyard, who were radiating it. None of them had been able to fathom out what that aura was exactly, but they had perceptively sensed a whiff of danger, as though something perilous was approaching and about to drag every one of them into some kind of whirlpool. At last Ling Zhaowu had suddenly let out a cough, breaking them out of that atmosphere, suddenly allowing them to breathe after having held their breath unawares for a long time. Many people were still in perplexity, wondering what had just happened, and for what reason that kind of thing had appeared without warning. Jiang Yu and Zhao Jiusi, who were quick-witted, both perceptively realized that it’d been Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong who were the source of that perilous air.
That’d been some kind of fierce, almost palpable emotion which was so intense as though it could burn everybody present to ashes.
Zhao Jiusi was still looking at Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong in fear, but Jiang Yu, in the next moment, had identified the problem. He had even come to know what that thing had been about specifically…
Ling Zhaowu was also fully aware of it. He’d always known that Yuwen Tong was very good to Ling Zhang, that Ling Zhang was the light of his life, and he certainly knew that Yuwen Tong was a man of his word, that he would keep the promise he’d made to Ling Zhang. Also, thanks to his memories of his last incarnation, Ling Zhaowu knew how stubborn Yuwen Tong was, so he had no worries about the reliability of Yuwen Tong’s feelings for Ling Zhang, confident that their marriage would endure. He also knew how his son felt about Yuwen Tong – that was something more complicated and deeper than common love. Ling Zhaowu had only a vague idea of it.
But Ling Zhaowu had never thought that Ling Zhang would be so possessive of Yuwen Tong, or that Yuwen Tong, who unmistakably had known that Ling Zhang was on the verge of franticness, would tempt Ling Zhang repeatedly in a low voice with the intention to drag Ling Zhang into the abnormal mental state he’d been in and trap him there for good, even if the cost was his own sanity… This was virtually madness.
Did either of them still remember that this day was their wedding day? Did they really want to ruin everything at this point in time?
Ling Zhaowu, who had let out a cough just in time to bring them back to their senses preventing them from losing their minds, found his palms wet with cold sweat. It’d been a very, very long time since the last time that Ling Zhaowu had been in this kind of mood.
Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong were standing opposite each other. On hearing Ling Zhaowu’s cough, they both came to themselves, but after that, Ling Zhang also felt that it was incredible.
He also could hardly believe what he had just thought about. It’d been as though he wanted to possess Yuwen Tong thoroughly. That kind of franticness, which he’d never felt before, had seemed to be devouring his sanity and almost driven him crazy. He’d never realized that deep down there he was actually so insecure about himself, so badly wanted Yuwen Tong to belong to him, and was unwilling to even let anybody else see Yuwen Tong…
This kind of feeling was demented but… addictive.
Ling Zhang lowered his eyes, a glitter flashing across them. If that glitter was to be described with words, it would be “savoring the fine aftertaste”.
He could scarcely forbear from thinking back to the few moments they’d just had. There was even a voice in his mind urgently telling him to go back to the palace with Yuwen Tong straight away to do something so that these intense emotions inside him would be allayed.
And then, thanks to Ling Zhaowu’s cough, he managed to preserve part of his sanity. After briefly savoring the aftersensation, he soon suppressed his feelings which were within an inch of getting out of control, hoping that the others wouldn’t perceive anything, especially not in the presence of his father.
Yuwen Tong standing before him came to realize that his behavior had angered Ling Zhaowu somewhat, that just now he’d acted irrationally. He’d done it in the wrong place at the wrong time, but the state Ling Zhang had been in just now was so uncharacteristic of him, and there was no telling when he’d have another opportunity like that if he’d let it slip away. He must seize it. He must find out about Ling Zhang’s truest thoughts hidden in the deep recesses of his mind, because he was insecure as well. He liked to see Ling Zhang crazy about him, because the sight of him being like that was so reassuring.
But it was such a pity that he could no longer see that at this time, for Ling Zhang had hidden that side of himself.
However, Yuwen Tong’s worry was now gone. He knew that it existed fathoms deep inside Ling Zhang and would never disappear, that Ling Zhang would be highly possessive of him for the rest of his life, not allowing anybody to take him away. That was enough for him. He still had plenty of time to lure Ling Zhang deeper into the whirlpool of affection, making sure he would fall into the abyss of his love and never be able to get out.
Of course, just now that moment had indeed been intoxicatingly amazing, and the lingering thrill inside him was the best proof of it.
But right now the first priority was to placate his future father-in-law.
Of all the people present, his future father-in-law had been the first to realize the situation and let out a cough in time to stop it from getting worse. Yuwen Tong knew that he’d been through a rebirth, and that he was quite secretive, but this was his first time feeling it so strongly that his future father-in-law would the biggest hindrance to the fulfillment of his goal. This person, who had already perceived it, wouldn’t allow him to trick Ling Zhang into the abyss of his love or trap him there.
Ling Zhaowu loved Ling Zhang very much, so he wouldn’t allow his son to be thoroughly deprived of his personal freedom like a bird having its wings broken…
But how would he have the heart to break Ling Zhang’s wings? He would let Ling Zhang fly freely in his domains, but under no circumstances would he allow Ling Zhang to fly beyond the boundaries!
“You look gorgeous today as well, even more gorgeous than you did the other day. I can’t even get my eyes off you.”
Yuwen Tong affected a natural air of delight and said these words to Ling Zhang.
The presiding official was baffled as to what had happened just now, but as the wedding officiant, he naturally knew what was the right thing to do in these circumstances. Seeing this, he immediately said, “Your Majesty and His Highness are a match made in heaven, one for which there’s no precedent, and which will never be equaled.”
On hearing his words, all the others naturally started offering congratulations to the two of them, making witty remarks with a flood of eloquence, each of which was more pleasant to the ear than the last. The atmosphere in the courtyard house soon became harmonious and festive once again. Everybody ignored what had happened just now, as if it were just an insignificant interlude.
However, the two people who’d been the cause of it both knew that it wasn’t water under the bridge yet. Ling Zhang raised his eyes to glance at Yuwen Tong and saw a flicker flash across Yuwen Tong’s eyes.
Ling Zhaowu looked at Yuwen Tong with faintly admonitory eyes which were quite threatening.
Of course, Yuwen Tong, who wouldn’t be so foolish as to argue with his future father-in-law at this point in time, conducted himself in the most natural and most unexceptionable way.
“Father-in-law, just now I got a little carried away when I saw Brother Zhang, and I behaved discourteously. Please forgive me.”
As Yuwen Tong was the emperor and had put it so gracefully, and this day was his wedding day, Ling Zhaowu naturally wouldn’t be unforgiving with him, but they both knew very well about what had really happened and the existence of what had caused it to happen.
Ling Zhaowen laughed, “Today is the big day of the two of you, so that’s quite understandable. Back when I was on my wedding day, I was even less composed than you are, Your Majesty.” He’d been standing behind Ling Zhaowu all along, and what with his position, he hadn’t seen the whole thing and just believed that Ling Zhaowu was unhappy because Yuwen Tong had stared at Ling Zhang unblinkingly for too long, so he made these remarks in an attempt to smooth things over.
On hearing Ling Zhaowen’s words, Ling Zhang, catching on, feigned to be embarrassed and sneaked a surreptitious glance at his father.
Ling Zhaowu noticed this furtive glance from his son and had no choice but to keep his many thoughts to himself.
“I’m very glad to see that things between you two are so great, and I hope they’ll stay this way for the rest of your lives.”
“Your Majesty, Your Highness, it’s time to move to the hall to bid farewell to the elders of the Ling family,” said the presiding official in a timely manner.
