“Officers, two officers, something bad happened!”
In a courier station in a small town in the south-west, before daybreak, a staff member yelled, “The prisoner died!”
“What!”
People went out of their rooms, hurried to the canopy of the courier station and immediately saw Jia Yuanling who had died in the prison wagon.
“What happened? Wasn’t he fine yesterday?”
“You think he was fine? After leaving Tanyang, he’d been suffering from the climate all along, vomiting and having loose bowels constantly. I told you we should get him some medical treatment lest he die and bring us trouble. Now what do we do!”
“Suffering from the climate? Jia Yuanling was a young man. How was it possible that he died so easily of an unaccustomed climate?”
“Hey! What are you talking about, Old Four? Jia Yuanling was tortured in the yamen first, and then Zhang Chong gave him a hard kick and wounded his heart and lungs. He’d never recovered from the injury and had been having a bad cough all along.”
The yamen staff member whose nickname was Old Four also had a deeply concerned look on his face. “No matter what, we have to find someone to perform an autopsy. Otherwise there will be consequences we’ll have to face after returning.”
“That’s true. Jia Yuanling’s death itself might be insignificant, but the Jia family surely won’t let this go. We’d better have someone perform an autopsy.”
“An autopsy it is. I don’t want to be held responsible for this either. But first things first, everybody has to pay their share of the fee.”
“Money is the only thing you can think about.”
A crowd of residents gathered around the doorway of the courier station. Some people felt that this might bring them bad luck, so they left. Others were still looking on.
The post-mortem examiner of the town was soon invited to the station. After examining Jia Yuanling’s body, he said, “This man’s heart and lungs had been seriously injured. He went on a long tiring journey without recovering from the injury first, and he also had a weak constitution, which was why he died of a mere unaccustomed climate.”
The four staff members of yamen exchanged glances. One of them said, “I told you by no means had he died of an unaccustomed climate. In the final analysis, it was that kick Zhang Chong gave him that was the fundamental cause.”
“That’s true. Accepting this task was such a stupid decision. How are we supposed to report this after going back?”
“We tell them the truth.”
“I suppose that’s the only thing we can do.”
“Should we bury him or just…. ” The four people kept silent for a while. The staff member whose nickname was Old Four said, “Let’s put him in the mortuary temple first and then have someone in the courier station send a letter back to Tanyang as soon as possible. Then we wait for our lord’s response.”
“O–Okay, then. Let’s do it your way.”
“What an ominous matter.”
The rest of the lookers-on also cleared off. Soon the body in the prison wagon was sent to the mortuary temple in the town.
Among the crowds clearing off, someone flicked a look in the direction of the prison wagon with a frown and then secretly followed.
…
When Ling Zhang woke up the next day, he felt his body was filled with warmth, as if he had inexhaustible strength. His spirits were also much better than before.
As he recalled the anguish he suffered the night before, his heart still fluttered with fear.
He remembered that he had eventually passed out, but he had no idea what had happened in the wake of that.
“Xia Feng.”
On hearing Ling Zhang calling his name, Xia Feng immediately walked inside and said, “You woke up, childe.”
“What happened after I fainted last night?”
“It was Lord Yu who carried you out of the room. He also helped you change your clothes. In the latter half of the night, you suddenly went into convulsions in misery. It was also Lord Yu who hurried here and gave you a massage. He stayed tending you until you fell into deep sleep after a certain amount of time.”
Xia Feng told Ling Zhang what happened the night before. His wariness of Yuwen Tong had been greatly dissolved after what Yuwen Tong did the night before, and his tone of voice was more natural.
Ling Zhang’s eyelids twitched as he heard the story. Yuwen Tong helped him get changed?
“It is said that the oil lamp was on all night in the Green Bamboo Mansion.”
With a mixed expression on his face, Ling Zhang wondered whether Yuwen Tong had stayed up all night in case he needed help.
“I see.”
He raised his hand, clenched his fist and threw a punch at the air with great force, which generated a gust of wind he could distinctly feel. Not only was he able to punch in a much more relaxed manner, but also his body was easier to control.
Surprisingly, Yuwen Tong’s method was so effective.
After thinking for a while, Ling Zhang didn’t directly go to his dwelling in the Guards’ yard but took a detour to the Green Bamboo Mansion next door.
“Did your marshal wake up?” On entering the Green Bamboo Mansion, instead of going deeper inside, Ling Zhang stopped and asked the guard on duty.
The guard was just about to answer when Yao Yi walked out and said, “Childe Ling, our marshal has woken up. Would you like to come inside?”
“He didn’t sleep last night?”
On the sight of Ling Zhang’s expression, Yao Yi realized it had already come to Ling Zhang’s knowledge that the marshal stayed up all night the night before, so he answered, “He didn’t. The night before last, Marshal was writing something and didn’t sleep until very late. And last night he stayed up all night. I tried to persuade him to get some sleep but he wouldn’t listen.”
The night before last night? It was the stack of paper full of formation diagrams and words that Yuwen Tong had given him. Having barely had any sleep for two days in a row, even Yuwen Tong must have been tired.
Ling Zhang briefly tightened his lips and said, “I’ll go and check on him.”
“This way please, childe.” Yao Yi turned aside making way for Ling Zhang.
After watching Ling Zhang entering the room, Yao Yi gave a smile.
Standing beside him, the guard on duty said in an undertone, “Captain, our marshal’s internal energy is excellent. Even if he doesn’t sleep for seven days and seven nights in a row, he’ll still be fine. Did you just say that on purpose?”
Yao Yi gave him a dirty look and said, “Don’t be so talky.”
The guard flinched, gave a giggle and with that the serious look reappeared on his face, leaving no trace of the fact that he was gossiping just a moment ago.
Ling Zhang walked across the courtyard onto the winding corridor. Standing there looking inside, he saw that Yuwen Tong was standing before a wall observing various maps on the wall and thinking about something.
“You came around. How are you feeling?”
Yuwen Tong didn’t turn his head back but he seemed to have known that the visitor was Ling Zhang.
Ling Zhang walked over and took a look at the map on the wall first. The familiar terrain briefly stunned him. A map of Tanyang?
“I feel a lot more relaxed and my spirits are also in a much better state,” Ling Zhang answered. “I heard that you stayed up all night tending me. Is it true?”
“Yeah. Last night, it was the first time that you’d taken a medicated bath and had your meridians unblocked by somebody else with internal energy, so you might convulse and have trouble sleeping, or maybe some other problems would arise. I figured it was best if I kept an eye on you myself. Now that you survived last night, there will be no further problems.”
“Thank you.”
Finally, Yuwen Tong moved his eyes off the map, turned around and looked at him. “Um? Do you still remember what I told you?” Of course Ling Zhang didn’t forget. Yuwen Tong had told him to never thank him.
“You’ve barely had any sleep for two days. You’d better go and take a rest.”
Yuwen Tong lifted his eyebrows, thinking, ‘Not bad. He probably began to care about me.”
“There’s no need for that. I’ve just performed Qi circulation and finished several circuits. I don’t feel tired. It’s about time. You should go and teach those morons.” “Though your kung fu is pretty good, you can’t keep depriving yourself of sleep.” Ling Zhang was insistent.
Yuwen Tong watched him for a while and then said, “Fine. I’ll get some sleep right away. Just go. If we keep talking, it’ll be daybreak soon and I won’t be able to sleep.”
Seeing that he had been convinced, Ling Zhang was secretly relieved. “I’ll drop by again at noon.”
Yuwen Tong nodded.
After Ling Zhang left, Yao Yi walked inside. “Marshal, rest assured. We’ll keep an eye on Childe Ling for you. Just have a good sleep.”
Yuwen Tong flicked a sideway glance at him and then moved his eyes back onto the map on the wall. “That’s not necessary.”
“Ah?”
“Who told you I was really going to take a sleep?”
“But you’ve just promised Childe Ling that.”
“I did that merely to have him leave. I haven’t punished you yet for your being a busybody a moment ago, and you began to interfere with my business again.”
Yao Yi shut his mouth immediately, thinking, ‘It was for your sake that I did that, marshal. How would Childe Ling know it if you don’t tell him what you’ve done for him? How would his heart ache for you if he doesn’t know it? And how would his feelings for you deepen if his heart doesn’t ache for you?’ Marshal not only didn’t praise him, but also blamed him, totally unaware of his good intentions and thought for him.
“If you don’t stop grumbling inside right now, I’ll send you back to the capital.”
Terrified, Yao Yi turned around and left immediately. It was not until he was far away from the room that he exhaled in relief.
He didn’t say anything but the marshal somehow guessed what he was thinking as if he could read his mind, which nearly scared him to death.
In the Prefecture Encampment…
“Commander, County Magistrate Jia requires an audience with you.”
Zhang Chong gave a sneer with a twitch of his heavy face and then said, “Bring him in.”
“Yes, Commander.”
Jia Zhong was led into Zhang Chong’s tent. On the sight of Zhang Chong, he immediately bowed respectfully with a smile and said, “Your humble subordinate pays his respect to you, Commander Zhang. You seem even more dignified than the last time I saw you a couple of days before, Commander.”
“Save it, Jia Zhong. There’s no need for formalities. What did you come here for?”
“I mean every word, Commander. Originally, I planned to give Commander some good stuff earlier, but unfortunately, some domestic chores have been delaying me until this day.”
“What is it?”
Jia Zhong clapped his hands and signaled Adviser Qian waiting outside to come in. Adviser Qian was holding a tray on which there was something covered with a piece of red silk.
Jia Zhong removed the silk and said, “Please take a look, Commander.”
Zhang Chong flicked a glance at it and with that an interested look appeared in his eyes. He said in a milder tone of voice, “Not bad, Jia Zhong. I didn’t expect that you would be able to come by this thing.”
Jia Zhong smiled, “You’re the one I have to thank for all this, Commander. And you’re the only one who deserves this thing.”
Zhang Chong waved his hand, gesturing his bodyguards to take it. Then he looked at Jia Zhong and said, “I heard that there was quite a scene in your family two days ago.”
The smile on Jia Zhong’s face briefly froze. “We must have incurred Commander’s ridicule.”
“Ridicule? I’ve long ago lost my interest in ridiculing you. The Ling family got the best of you again and again, yet you never learned your lesson. Liu Chengfang was such a good pawn but you wasted her. You not only failed to cause Ling Zhaowen any harm but also got yourselves in deep trouble. Liu Weiling has already been to your home to shit on you, I suppose?”
Jia Zhong was so embarrassed that he could barely retain his smile. “Yes. That old dog is determined to bite a piece of meat off our family and he won’t relax his bite until he gets it. What a bastard.”
“It is rumored that your elder brother insists on taking Liu Chengfang as his concurrent wife?”
“He was just joking with my sister-in-law. How could he really take her as his concurrent wife? She could be nothing more than a concubine.”
“Then what is it that you want me to help with this time? Do you want me to help you get rid of Liu Weiling?”
Zhang Chong stared at Jia Zhong, as if he could see right into Jia Zhong’s soul with his piercing eyes.
Jia Zhong broke out in a layer of fine beads of cold sweat covering his back. He affected a calmness he did not feel and said, “The petty matter of Liu Weiling is not worthy of Commander’s trouble. I came here today to ask Commander whether you have any good plans to help me eliminate Ling Zhaowen.”
Zhang Chong slowly leaned against the back of the chair and said with a cold look in his eyes, “I know what you’re thinking about. Ling Zhaowen is nothing. This time I’ll annihilate all those who disobey me.”
“If Commander has any plans, I am at your service,” Jia Zhong said delightedly. He couldn’t wait to hear Zhang Chong’s plan.
“There’s no hurry. I’ve had this matter worked out. Just go back and wait. I’ll let you know if I need your service.”
As a very discreet man, Zhang Chong had no intention of disclosing anything to Jia Zhong.
Though unreconciled in mind, Jia Zhong didn’t dare to offend Zhang Chong. Knowing that the Ling family would soon be eliminated, he said in patience, “Then I’ll wait for Commander’s orders.”
