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Ling Zhang rose to his feet and hastened towards the door. Suddenly, he paused, pivoted around to look at Ling Zhaowu and said, “I remember we had a talk back when you first came to this city. I said that I used to have a grudge against you, but that is all water under the bridge now. Our past is full of pain, and I’m not necessarily the one who suffered the most. I’m your... your son (the second “your” in honorific form). You don’t ever have to apologize to me. And, thank you for being honest with me about these things, Father. When all this is over, I hope you’ll tell me more details about what happened in the past.”

Having sensed the change of Ling Zhang’s attitude, Ling Zhaowu was excited. “I will.”

...

On his way back to the palace, Ling Zhang’s mind wandered constantly. He kept running over his father’s words in his head.

Even when he returned to the imperial palace, he still had a somewhat distant look on his face.

Yuwen Tong was still in the consultation hall. He had decided to have lunch in the hall. It was just lunchtime that Ling Zhang came back, so he personally delivered Yuwen Tong’s lunch to the hall.

As he entered, everybody in the hall stopped talking and shifted their gaze to him.

“Your Lordships, you’ve all had a hectic morning. Maybe you should take a break and continue your discussion after lunch. Our people rely on you to deal with all those state affairs. Staying energetic is the key to maintaining high work efficiency.”

Yuwen Tong also said, “You may all go to the side hall and get some rest. We’ll continue the consultation in an hour.”

The courtiers were indeed tired and hungry. Seeing the serious expression on Yuwen Tong’s face, they all came to know that this was not the time to play the dutiful servant. They ended their discussion and a eunuch led them to the side hall to rest.

Yuwen Tong walked down the platform, up to Ling Zhang and breathed, “I thought you went out of the palace and wouldn’t return until the end of the day. Why are you back? The sight of that pile of memorials no longer makes you feel dizzy?”

Ling Zhang fixed him with a stare and replied, “It doesn’t.”

Yuwen Tong was amazed, the look in his eyes instantly changing. “What’s wrong? Did something happen when you were out there?”

Ling Zhang shook his head and fought down the tears that were about to well up. “Nothing. I just went back and talked with my father about the drugstore. Right now you’re too busy, so I’ll wait until you have everything handled to tell you the details.”

However, Yuwen Tong knew Ling Zhang well and was observant enough to perceive the slightest change in Ling Zhang’s mood. His eyebrows immediately contracted. “Was there anything particular that your father said to you?”

“I just consulted with him about the drugstore and then came back,” responded Ling Zhang.

At once, Yuwen Tong took Ling Zhang’s hand and strode towards the Infinite Fortune Palace.

“Wait a moment. We’re not having lunch in the consultation hall?”

“Forget about lunch. How am I supposed to eat when you’re keeping something back from me?”

With a sulky face, Yuwen Tong drew him back to the imperial bedchamber, had everybody else leave and then turned around to look at Ling Zhang. “Tell me the truth.”

While being drawn to the bedchamber, Ling Zhang had psyched himself up. His rebirth must not come to the knowledge of Yuwen Tong, and he certainly couldn’t breathe a word of what his father had told him to Yuwen Tong. Therefore, when Yuwen Tong looked at him, there was no sign of any particular emotion on his face. “I told you we just talked about the drugstore. I’m going to transfer the store to the Ling family and my father will be the one managing it, but I’ll secretly remain the actual owner of it. We consulted each other about some details, and when I came back here, I heard that you hadn’t had lunch yet, so I went to the consultation hall with the eunuchs delivering lunch, planning on having lunch with you.”

Yuwen Tong looked deep into his eyes. “You’re not only keeping secrets from me but also lying to me. Exactly what is it that you are unwilling to tell me about? There should be no secrets between us. I’m not tolerating this!”

Ling Zhang looked back at him, a quizzical expression on his face. Yuwen Tong had held his wrist. “Tell me. If it’s something difficult to deal with, we’ll figure out a solution together. Otherwise what’s the point of me being an emperor? If I take the throne but couldn’t use it to do anything for you, what do I need it for?”

“I–I’m really not keeping anything from you. Stop overreacting,” Ling Zhang hurriedly said.

Yuwen Tong lapsed into silence, stared at him with irritable eyes, his whole being emanating an air that was telling Ling Zhang he was angry.

Ling Zhang opened his mouth and his stomach suddenly clenched. Then he averted his eyes and added in an undertone, “I just suddenly felt that I shouldn’t have left you alone in the consultation hall. There are so many memorials. Although I know nothing about dealing with those affairs, at least I could keep you company at lunch.”

“And?” demanded Yuwen Tong in a deep voice.

Ling Zhang cast a glance at him and then looked away again. “And I shouldn’t have left you in the lurch.”

“And?” persisted Yuwen Tong in the same deep voice. “You returned to the palace only a short time after leaving it. If you were really consulting with your father about the matter of the drugstore, your talk would at least last until afternoon. Are you seriously expecting me to believe that you returned to the palace in such haste all because of your guilty conscience? If you don’t tell me the truth right now, not only will you not get any roasted meat for dinner tonight, you’ll be having vegetarian meals tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, too.”

Ling Zhang’s face crumpled up with vexation. “You can’t keep threatening me with vegetarian meals!”

“Then take heed of my words.”

Ling Zhang, “...”

Yuwen Tong was such an asshole. He found his Achilles heel and kept using it to his advantage!

“Of course. When did I ever not take heed of your words?”

“Then tell me the truth right now. Don’t push me, because if you do, I will have them serve a vegetarian meal straight away. You haven’t had lunch yet either, I suppose? Are you hungry? You want some meat?”

Ling Zhang gritted his teeth. Originally he had been touched by what Yuwen Tong had done for him in his last incarnation, but now, what with Yuwen Tong’s attitude, the inexpressible feeling was gone. Right now the only thing he was feeling was an urge to bite Yuwen Tong to death.

“I just felt I was not being good enough to you, and I didn’t like the idea of you staying in the palace to have lunch with a bunch of insipid geriatrics, which was why I finished my talk with my father in a hurry and hastened back here. It saddens me that your workload is so heavy and you have nobody to keep you company. Are you satisfied?!”

Yuwen Tong slightly lifted his eyebrows. As far as he could tell, maybe there was still something that Ling Zhang was holding back, but Ling Zhang had definitely told the truth about the most important part. Now all he needed to do was ascertain what had aroused these emotions of Ling Zhang’s, and why Ling Zhang had hurried back to the palace to see him to find peace of mind without even sparing some time to have lunch with his father and grandfather first.

It shouldn’t be some security threat from outside. If it was, Ling Zhang would by no means conceal it from him, because Ling Zhang would never trifle with anything concerning his safety, particularly so in these circumstances where Ling Zhang, after his identity had changed, got tensed up every time he got wind of anything suspicious, and had nearly had Wang Dashan and the others deploy a formation covering the whole imperial palace.

And it shouldn’t be anything concerning Ling Zhang’s own safety either. Otherwise Wang Dashan and the other bodyguards wouldn’t have remained composed.

So it was something unthreatening but made Ling Zhang feel he owed him...

The Ling Mansion had been the only place that Ling Zhang went to after leaving the palace, and Ling Zhaowu and Ji Yin were the only two people who could have said something to him. Was it because any of the two disclosed something to him, by any chance?

A gleam flitted across the depths of Yuwen Tong’s eyes as he came to realize this. Then he gave a little cough, softened his tone and said, “Certainly. Presently I’m fully occupied with state affairs, and the idea of you going out of the palace alone really concerns me. Although the situation is under our control, and so is the capital city, these are not normal times and I’m constantly worried that you might get hurt or something. Even when I was sitting in the consultation hall, I still had such worries and couldn’t collect myself, which was why I got scared at the sight of that look on your face when you came back. And then you refused to tell me what it was about, which deepened my anxiety even further. I feared that you were under some kind of coercion and I really couldn’t calm down.”

While listening, Ling Zhang felt a twinge of guilt, realizing that Yuwen Tong had been dealing with all those miscellaneous government affairs and worrying about him at the same time, that it was indeed inappropriate for him to keep it back from Yuwen Tong, that if he were Yuwen Tong, he would surely be anxious as well.

However, some of the facts really must not come to Yuwen Tong’s knowledge at this point in time. Firstly, he didn’t dare confide them; secondly, now was not the right time to talk about them.

“I’m sorry. I just...” Ling Zhang let out an unnatural cough and then continued, “I was too embarrassed to say those words.”

Yuwen Tong said, “But I would’ve still been worried had you not told me. Don’t keep anything back from me ever again, especially not in these circumstances.”

On hearing these words of Yuwen Tong’s, Ling Zhang, who was in the wrong, naturally promised without hesitation that he wouldn’t.

Another gleam flashed across Yuwen Tong’s eyes. “I’ll have them serve the courses.”

“Vegetarian ones?” Ling Zhang’s eyes stared at him.

“Non-vegetarian ones,” replied Yuwen Tong.

Predictably, what was served was a tableful of meat dishes, all of which were appetizing in appearance, tantalizing in smell and delicious in taste. Naturally, the culinary skills of the imperial chefs were superb, and Ling Zhang enjoyed the meal to his heart’s content.

While lunching, he and Yuwen Tong were talking about some of the government affairs. Currently there were a lot of things going on and it seemed the two of them would never find themselves short of topics.

Ling Zhang, who didn’t give the spat any extra thought, was unaware that when Yuwen Tong had gone to instruct the eunuchs to serve the meal, he had taken advantage of the opportunity and sent someone to the Ling Mansion to make inquiries about what Ling Zhaowu had said to Ling Zhang.

...

Meanwhile. In the Ling Mansion.

Ling Zhaowu looked at Miao Shisan, a quizzical expression on his face. “What did I tell Zhang’er?” he asked.

“Yes. After Childe Ling returned to the palace, he looked as though something was bothering him. Sire was worried about Childe Ling, but Childe Ling was unwilling to tell him the truth, so Sire sent me here to ask you whether or not you said anything particular to Childe Ling. Only by finding out the reason would Sire be able to figure something out to set Childe Ling’s mind at ease,” said Miao Shisan.

Ling Zhaowu unnoticeably lifted his eyebrows briefly, but on the surface, he appeared utterly collected. “I just consulted with Zhang’er about the drugstore, nothing else. I only reminded him that Sire had been engaged in state affairs lately, that he should spend more time with Sire and see Sire through these trying times. Shortly before noon, Zhang’er went back to the palace in haste. Do you think this might be the reason? If so, Sire is overthinking it. Zhang’er is probably just worried about him.”

Miao Shisan kept silent for a moment and then said, “Thank you for your time, Master Ling. I’ll go back and report it to Sire right away.”

“See you around,” said Ling Zhaowu.

When Miao Shisan had left the Ling Mansion, he looked over his shoulder in the direction of the mansion, fingering his chin, feeling that there was something odd about this matter. Never mind. He should just relate to the Marshal what Master Ling had told him. Master Ling seemed to like the Marshal pretty much. Surely he wouldn’t suddenly raise an objection to Childe Ling marrying the Marshal? Miao Shisan didn’t even dare let this absurd thought linger in his mind for another instant.

After returning to the imperial palace, Miao Shisan relayed Ling Zhaowu’s reply to Yuwen Tong.

The smallest frown creased Yuwen Tong’s face. Ling Zhaowu’s answer seemed to tally exactly with Ling Zhang’s explanation. However, his instinct was telling him that Ling Zhaowu hadn’t told the truth.