Before dawn the next day, when most residents of Tangyang were still asleep, Yuwen Tong returned.

As soon as he showed up in the mansion, the guard informed him of Ling Zhang's talk with Yuwen Qi the night before. Yuwen Tong wondered after hearing the message, 'To what end did Ling Zhang ask Yuwen Qi those questions?'

"How was his expression last night?"

"Childe Ling said that he just wanted to worm some information out of Yuwen Qi. The look on his face was normal, but when he left the wing-room, he seemed a little angry."

Yuwen Tong thought for a while and went into his room to change. Then he walked out and asked, "And then?"

"Then Childe Ling returned to his place. Before leaving, he told me that there was something weird about Yuwen Qi, that he had smelled some kind of disgusting fishy odor. He suspected that Yuwen Qi was carrying some poisonous creature on him. I kept a close watch on Yuwen Qi outside the room for a whole night but have noticed nothing suspicious so far."

Yuwen Tong's movements briefly paused. Then he turned around, went to the wing-room and directly kicked the door open.

The door of the wing-room swung open with a loud bang. Yuwen Qi, who was still sleeping, was taken aback. "Who is it?!"

Yuwen Tong walked up to him, dragged Yuwen Qi out of the bed and said to the guard, "Come here and search him."

Startled, Yuwen Qi yelled, "Why are you doing this to me, cousin!"

Regardless of Yuwen Qi's efforts to resist, the guard forcibly searched him. Apart from some money, a pouch and an official seal, there was also a bamboo tube.

As soon as the bamboo tube was revealed, an extremely faint, fishy smell emanated from it.

The guard was instantly on the alert. "Marshal."

The look in Yuwen Tong's eyes went cold. He took the bamboo tube and asked Yuwen Qi, "What's in it?"

Beads of cold sweat seeped out of the forehead of Yuwen Qi. "Nothing. It's just a bamboo tube. I–I use it to contain letters."

"Letters?" Yuwen Tong smiled wryly and then unplugged the tube.

"Be careful, Marshal!" the guard hurriedly reminded him.

Unexpectedly, there was nothing in the tube. It was empty.

Yuwen Qi observed immediately, "I told you I use it to contain letters. There's nothing special about it."

Yuwen Tong raised the tube to his nose, took a sniff and then said with a cold, sullen look, "Snake."

Yuwen Qi's countenance changed. He couldn't believe that Yuwen Tong actually found out by merely taking a sniff.

"Snake? What are you talking about, cousin? You can't wrong me like this!"

"What did you send it to do?" Yuwen Tong stared fixedly at him.

"I really didn't send out any snake." Yuwen Qi briefly rolled his eyes sideways and added, "It's just that this bamboo tube was once soaked in special medicine to make it poisonous, so that only people who have ingested the antidote beforehand can take the letter out of it without being poisoned. It's for the sake of confidentiality. I got this tube before coming to Tanyang and carried it on me in case I need it in an emergency."

His explanation aroused the guard's suspicions. 'Is he by any chance telling the truth? After all, there are indeed people who would adopt this kind of method to keep their letters safe.'

Yuwen Tong didn't even believe a single word of Yuwen Qi, but due to the absence of any definite proof, he couldn't mete out any punishment to Yuwen Qi.

"If you dare to play any tricks, or hinder my plan, or hurt any of my men, I will not let you get away with it, even though I've made a promise to my father that I would take care of you. Yuwen Qi, you'd better behave yourself. Don't test me."

"Cousin, I really didn't do anything. I made those remarks yesterday because I feared that you might force me out of Tanyang. Why on earth would I want to ruin your plan? And I won't stoop so low as to harm that Ling Zhang either," responded Yuwen Qi immediately.

"Is that so? Then how did you find out that I'm dealing with Zhang Chong?" asked Yuwen Tong, staring at him.

Yuwen Qi fumbled awkwardly for words. Seeing Yuwen Tong's darkening face, he didn't dare to hide the truth any longer. "I heard about the feud between Ling family and Zhang Chong the first day I arrived in Tanyang. Ori–Originally, I had intended to take a glimpse at Zhang Chong and see what he looked like, but after I entered the Prefecture Encampment, I accidentally found that one of your guards was covertly staking out that place."

The guard was taken aback by Yuwen Qi's words. 'How's this possible? One of us got spotted by Yuwen Qi but has been oblivious of it all along. And that person also failed to notice Yuwen Qi's appearance in the Prefecture Encampment."

"You went there with the intention to have Zhang Chong deal with Ling family, didn't you?" asked Yuwen Tong flintily.

Under great pressure from Yuwen Tong, Yuwen Qi instantly broke out in a sweat. "To what end would I do that? Although I believe you are way out of Ling Zhang's league. I will never do that kind of thing. You misunderstood me, cousin. I was just curious as to what kind of man Zhang Chong is and why he came into conflict with Ling family."

"What else did you find apart from these?" asked Yuwen Tong.

"Nothing else." Yuwen Qi quickly shook his head. "I realized the reason why you'd been spying on Zhang Chong must be that you were trying to deal with him, so I didn't dare to conduct any further investigation for fear of compromising your plan."

"Why didn't you come to Ling family to meet me at the very beginning?" Yuwen Tong asked another question. "Was threatening Ling Zhang in private part of your original plan?"

Yuwen Qi was startled. "Of course not. It was after my arrival in Tanyang that I came to know your presence in Tanyang was a secret. It greatly surprised me, which was why I didn't come to Ling family immediately."

Yuwen Tong coldly gave a snort. "Stay here and behave yourself."

After having the guard release his grip on Yuwen Qi, Yuwen Tong left the wing-room.

The guard locked the door and followed in Yuwen Tong's wake. "Marshal, was Childe Qi telling the truth?"

"You tell me," replied Yuwen Tong coldly.

'It was in a covert manner that Yuwen Qi came to Tanyang, so his intention was no doubt to lay threat on Ling family and put an end to this engagement. Anything suggesting otherwise is bullshit,' he thought.

"I think he wasn't. He came to covertly threat Ling family," said the guard.

"Your stupidity is not incurable," observed Yuwen Tong.

The guard gave a soft cough. "But Marshal, it has already come to Childe Qi's knowledge that you're preparing to deal with Zhang Chong. If by any chance he discloses this..."

"Judging from his previous remarks, it has been only two or three days since his arrival in Tanyang. Even if he saw something, he couldn't have inferred much from it. As regards potential disclosure, worries about it are totally unnecessary. When Zhang Chong's conspiracy is brought to light, will there be a single person in the capital city who will remain unaware I'm the one who's been conducting behind-the-scenes investigation?"

"That's right," answered the guard. "I was being foolish."

"Then, that bamboo tube..."

Yuwen Tong halted, turned around and looked at him. "Spare a couple of detoxifier pills."

The guard immediately produced five detoxifier pills, put them into a little porcelain phial and handed the phial to Yuwen Tong.

Yuwen Tong took the little porcelain phial and walked out of courtyard, heading straight next door.

Ling Zhang, who had just got up as well, was bidding Xia Feng to tell servants in the kitchen to prepare breakfast when he saw Yuwen Tong coming.

'He came so early. The breakfast isn't ready yet.'

"You've just woken up?" Yuwen Tong asked him.

Ling Zhang nodded. Seeing that Yuwen Tong was wearing dry clothes, he came to realize that Yuwen Tong had changed clothes before coming. "So how did it go? Was there any trouble?"

"So far so good. Everything's going as planned." Yuwen Tong entered Ling Zhang's room, sat down, fished out the porcelain phial and put it on the table. "There are five detoxifier pills in the phial. Keep one and give the other four to your grandfather and others."

"Detoxifier pills?" Ling Zhang was confused about why Yuwen Tong gave him detoxifier pills.

"The poisonous creature carried by Yuwen Qi has gone. It should be a venomous snake. I don't know what his intention is, so keep these detoxifier pills, just in case."

On hearing that the poisonous creature carried by Yuwen Qi was gone, Ling Zhang knitted his eyebrows. Since the person Yuwen Qi worked for didn't want him to marry Yuwen Tong, it was not impossible that he or she would resort to dirty tricks to take his life. Therefore, he put away the porcelain phial. "Thanks."

Yuwen Tong flicked a glance at him.

Ling Zhang gave a cough in the knowledge that he had just displeased Yuwen Tong with that remark "Thanks" once again. "I'll deliver these to my grandfather and others later."

"My apologies. I know Yuwen Qi is definitely an eyesore, but I can't evict him right away," observed Yuwen Tong.

"I understand. He's locked up anyway. The worst thing he could possibly do is swear, which won't really bother me," said Ling Zhang, slightly lowering his eyes to conceal the cold look in them.

'In this incarnation, they haven't got the opportunity to do that yet, and I'll make sure they never get one,' he thought.

"You once said that you wanted to invite me to the capital city. Is that offer still available?" Ling Zhang raised his eyes to look at Yuwen Tong and asked in earnest.

A delighted look unnoticeably flashed across the eyes of Yuwen Tong. "Sure. It'll always be available."

"Okay, then. After all these matters are handled in Tanyang, I'll go with you to the capital city," observed Ling Zhang.

The day before, he spent the whole night contemplating and eventually he made up his mind. Since those people resorted to every expedient to kill him in his last incarnation, he wanted to go to the capital city and make life difficult for each and every one of them in this life. Besides, even if he chose to let it go, there was no guarantee that those people would do the same. Only by removing all threats would he find peace of mind.

Yuwen Tong had no idea why Ling Zhang had suddenly come to this decision, but he was positive that it had something to do with those remarks made by Yuwen Qi.

'Exactly which words made Ling Zhang change his mind?'

"Do you know what it means to go to the capital city with me?" Yuwen Tong fixed Ling Zhang with a stare, a meaningful look in his eyes.

Ling Zhang felt a fleeting twitch of alarm. "I do."

Acceptance of Yuwen Tong's invitation to go to the capital city was synonymous with approval for continuing his engagement to Yuwen Tong.

Watching him with deep eyes, Yuwen Tong suddenly rose to his feet and drew Ling Zhang to him. Putting an arm around Ling Zhang's waist, he raised Ling Zhang's chin with the other hand, quickly lowered his head and landed a kiss on Ling Zhang's soft and rosy lips.

Ling Zhang was dragged over to him and held tightly. The tender touch on his lips was different from the ones he had had during the previous two kisses. This time, Yuwen Tong was really kissing him.

Ling Zhang's whole body involuntarily tensed. His hands were stiff for quite a while before he could reach them out and grab the front of Yuwen Tong's clothes.

"If you give me your word, there's no coming back." After a while, Yuwen Tong let go of Ling Zhang and made this remark.

Ling Zhang panted for a while and swallowed hard. Yuwen Tong's gaze froze his blood. Just for an instant he felt an urge to give up, but he never shrank from doing what he had made up his mind to do. "I never go back on my word."

The fervency in Yuwen Tong's eyes instantly deepened significantly. He put his arm around Ling Zhang's waist again and pinned Ling Zhang tightly against him with great force. With his lips within an inch of touching Ling Zhang's, he said, "Remember your words."

With that, he immediately pressed his lips onto Ling Zhang's again.

Ling Zhang gasped for a few moments. He moved his lips aside but Yuwen Tong's lips immediately found their way back to his, as if Yuwen Tong wouldn't let him go until he deemed this kiss long enough. The thought that Xia Feng might come back at any time worried Ling Zhang, his heart fluttering, a pink flush on his cheeks and ears. 'I just agreed to go with him to the capital city. Why is he reacting so dramatically?' he wondered.

But Yuwen Tong's aura was very intense, and the movements of his lips and tongue blunted Ling Zhang's response.

"Young Master, breakfast is..."

Since Ling Zhang had bidden him to get the breakfast ready as soon as possible, Xia Feng walked into the room in haste to report. On entering the room, he saw his young master abruptly pushed Lord Yuwen away. Xia Feng widened his eyes, wondering what he had just seen, 'What were they doing? Was it what I think it is?'

"You may serve," Ling Zhang quickly wiped his lips and said as calmly as he could, his back to Xia Feng.

Xia Feng was still in an astonished trance, barely able to believe what might have just happened.

Not having heard Xia Feng moving, Yuwen Tong cast a penetrating stare at him.

On contact with this kind of gaze, Xia Feng abruptly shuddered and collected himself. Lowering his head, he answered, "Yes, Young Master."

'That must be a hallucination. It must be. How was it possible that Young Master and Lord Yuwen were hugging? I must be imagining things,' Xia Feng thought.

Keeping telling himself that he had been hallucinating, Xia Feng bade servants outside to bring the meal boxes into the room and place them on the table.

While the servants were serving breakfast, Xia Feng couldn't help stealthily sizing up Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong.

On the sight of Ling Zhang's slightly swollen lips and the blushes on his cheeks, Xia Feng was transfixed with shock as if he had just been struck by lightning. All those words that he had said to himself stood feeble in the face of reality...

"Xia Feng." Ling Zhang called Xia Feng in a cold voice as he saw Xia Feng staring at him emptily.

Xia Feng abruptly snapped out of trance. As his eyes met Ling Zhang's cold ones, he hurriedly lowered his head. "I was being disrespectful and I deserve to be punished, Young Master."

"Make sure it doesn't happen again. You may leave. None of you is needed here," Ling Zhang replied blandly.

"Yes, Young Master!" Xia Feng and those servants left the room immediately. After walking outside, Xia Feng heaved a deep sigh of relief and then fell into a light trance again.

'So Young Master has been in that kind of relationship with Lord Yuwen?'

After Xia Feng and those servants left, the room went deadly quiet. Ling Zhang immediately glared at Yuwen Tong and reprimanded, "Obviously you heard Xia Feng coming in just now. Why didn't you let go of me right away?"

Yuwen Tong raised his eyebrows. "What's wrong with letting him see it? He'll find out about our relationship sooner or later."

Ling Zhang stood speechless.

'I just agreed to go to the capital city. My engagement to him merely stands temporarily! I never gave him my word that I would marry him! Yet this guy is acting like we're a couple-to-be,' Ling Zhang thought angrily.

"Our engagement stands but only temporarily. I never promised I would marry you."

Yuwen Tong merely flicked a glance at him. "Do you want to go back on your word in front of a Marshal or are you afraid to take responsibility for me?"

Ling Zhang's eyes rounded. 'He sounded as if I'm forsaking him after having dallied with him.'

"Finish your breakfast," said Yuwen Tong as he down a bowl of congee before Ling Zhang. "After that, we'll go and check how your security guards are doing with their training. We can have one of my bodyguards test them."

Ling Zhang stood speechless.

He took up the bowl, having no intention to utter another word.

Yuwen Tong's eyes softly swept across his cheeks and then his lips before he withdrew his gaze, recollecting the pleasant feeling of that kiss a moment ago, a deep look in his eyes.

Neither of them made any further remarks during the breakfast. Ling Zhang finished first. He put down his bowl, wiped his lips, gargled and intended to stand up and leave.

"Wait," said Yuwen Tong. He hadn't finished breakfast yet.

The corners of Ling Zhang's mouth twitched. Believing that he would be a fool to listen to Yuwen Tong and wait for him, Ling Zhang unhesitatingly rose to his feet and walked straight out of the room.

Yuwen Tong put down his bowl, looked at Ling Zhang's receding figure and chuckled, "What a little hedgehog."

Then he rose from his seat and followed in Ling Zhang's wake.

When they arrived at the guards' yard, all security guards were startled as they caught sight of Yuwen Tong. 'Is it this Lord Yuwen who's going to spar with us again today? Didn't Young Master say that it would be a bodyguard?' they wondered.

Wang Dashan, who had already been informed of Yuwen Tong's true identity, involuntarily straightened himself on Yuwen Tong's arrival, excitement gleaming in his eyes.

Apart from anything else, this man in front of him was the Supreme Commander of armed forces, a legendary war hero. It was in his nature to revere the strong. Though Wang Dashan was a security guard of Ling family, whose first duty was to Ling family, his admiration for Yuwen Tong and his duty were not mutually exclusive.

"Today I'll have my guard spar with you," Yuwen Tong said. As soon as he finished his sentence, a guard in black descended from mid-air and landed on the drill field.

All security guards gave a gasp of relief. 'Fortunately, it is not Lord Yuwen who's going to test our formation.'

While they refused to admit defeat and were confident that one day they would be able to trap Lord Yuwen, clearly that day hadn't arrived yet. They were bound to suffer a quick and disastrous defeat if the opponent was Lord Yuwen, and none of them was willing to find out how it felt to suffer a quick and disastrous defeat.

The guard in black's eyes swept across the twelve people. "Bring it on."

Those security guards exchanged glances, thinking, 'Fuck! We're indeed no match for Lord Yuwen, but by no means will we fail to trap this guard. This kind of underestimate is beyond the pale!'

"Brothers, form up!"

All security guards yelled "Aye!" and with that the twelve of them formed into Trap-and-Kill Formation, encircling the guard in black at the center ring upon ring.

"Begin," said Yuwen Tong.

On hearing the order, the guard in black immediately launched an assault.

Those security guards were instantly on full alert. After their fight with Yuwen Tong on that day, they had been specially training their reflexes during the past two days. As a result, instead of being flustered, they stood more able than the last time when dealing with the sudden and violent attack of the guard in black, and the teamwork among them had also improved.

"Not bad. They sort of made progress," Yuwen Tong standing beside Ling Zhang said in a low voice.