On that very night, the prison guard went back to relieve the afternoon shift. At the sight of him, Jia Yin couldn't help becoming excited and tried to find an opportunity to talk to him.

But the prison guard ignored all his signals. Gradually, Jia Yin came to realize that something was wrong. He stopped gesticulating and started yelling to attract the prison guard's attention.

Since other prison guards looked in Jia Yin's direction, that prison guard had no choice but to walk up to the cell of Jia Yin. "Stop that! You're faced with imminent death. Why are you still making trouble? If you wish to kick the bucket earlier, I can do you a favor!"

"You–!" Through gritted teeth, Jia Yin lowered his voice and questioned, "You dug up the case, didn't you?"

"Maybe I did. Maybe I didn't. What are you going to do about it?" replied the prison guard in a flinty tone of voice.

"You took my gold. You owe it to me to offer me help!" Jia Yin said angrily.

"Offer you help? Jia Yin, who told you that I took your gold? That case was empty. There was nothing in it. You should consider yourself lucky I didn't kick your ass for cheating me. Yet you still have the nerve to request my help?" The face of the prison guard fell sullen.

"That's not possible!" Jia Yin raised his voice. "I buried that case myself. Nobody but me knew about its existence. There's no way that anybody had taken the gold in it before you. It has got to be your doing. Stop denying it!"

"Bah!" The prison guard reached out his hand and gripped Jia Yin's neck. "If you don't lower your voice, I'll snap your neck right now!"

"You–You don't have the balls to do that. If I suddenly die here, somebody will come to investigate! You won't be able to get away with it!" said Jia Yin with great difficulty, trying hard to remove the hand around his throat, a scarlet flush on his cheeks.

"Then go and tell on me. You're just a convict awaiting execution. Nobody cares if you die a day or two earlier. The worst-case scenario would be for me to lose my job, but nothing more than that," the prison guard smiled wryly, tightening his grip.

Jia Yin immediately tried harder to remove the hand from his neck, the misery on his face deepening. "Are you not afraid that I expose you taking my gold?!"

"Nobody will believe you in the absence of any proof. If I say the case was empty, nothing can prove otherwise."

"You..."

"Let me tell you something, Jia Yin. You'll never make it out of here. Even if Lord Tao were willing to spare you — and that's a big 'if' — by no means will people of Ling family let you get away. Have you any idea which big shot has come to the support of Ling family? The sound of his very name will scare the shit out of you!"

After saying this, the prison guard gave Jia Yin a hard push, who lost his footing and fell backwards onto the ground. Then he let out a pained groan and dissolved into terrible cough.

The loud noises caught other people's attention. A couple of prison guards walked over and asked, "What's going on?"

Cells of Mrs. Jia and relatives of Jia family were not far away. The noises brought them into panic. "Master? Are you okay?"

Coughing repeatedly, Jia Yin was unable to make a response.

"This old fox was trying to play tricks again. I taught him a lesson," said the prison guard who had squeezed Jia Yin's neck.

Other prison guards took a look at Jia Yin and, after confirming that he would survive, ignored him and reminded the prison guard, "Don't kill him. Otherwise we'll have trouble giving Lord Tao a plausible explanation."

"Rest assured. I know where the limit is," replied the prison guard.

The couple of other prison guards walked away and sat down near the peephole where there was more light. Maybe because they had just laid eyes on Jia Yin, one of them brought up what had happened outside. "Hey, guys. Did you hear the rumor today?"

"What rumor?"

"Tsk. That bigwig living in Ling family!"

"I heard about it."

Some were unaware of which big name the two men were referring to, but seeing that the two men became excited when merely mentioning the person, others couldn't help feeling somewhat curious.

"If the rumor is true, then members of Ling family are going to make rapid advances in their careers. They won't have to stay in this godforsaken place any longer."

"Why the fuck did they get to have such good luck?"

"Shh! Guard your tongue. If this by any chance reaches the ears of His Lordship, all of us will be incriminated."

"Ur... Don't you guys tell anybody else."

"Were I engaged to a dignitary of such high status, I would have let it be known to everybody. People of Ling family are so good at keeping secrets. I mean, not a single person has ever found out about this marriage contract over the past so many years."

"Tell me about it. This is what people say 'A lean camel is bigger than a horse'. After all, Old Master Ling used to be a high-rank official in the capital city. It's not too surprising that he found Childe Ling such a good spouse."

"Humph. Jia family is not half as powerful as Ling family. As far as I could tell, even if Jia family had not been convicted this time, they would still end up in jail sooner or later. Even their backer in the Prefecture Guards won't be able to make any difference. There's no way that Ling family will let them get away with what they have done."

Overhearing this conversation, Jia Yin, who was in the cell, paled visibly from anger. He had no access to information about what had happened outside, so he naturally was unaware of which big shot had come to Ling family, but judging from the conversation, that big shot seemed to have become an in-law of Ling family, and Ling family was going to have a meteoric rise, but members of Jia family were in prison. Such sharp contrast sent waves of rage through him, brought his stomach into churning, and he nearly spat blood again.

'Why did Ling family get to be so lucky? Previously, fortune had been smiling at Jia family all along.' Jia Yin was bitterly unreconciled to the situation.

"Puh!" Finally, Jia Yin spat out a mouthful of blood from rage and passed out.

Prison guards heard the sound and walked up to the cell of Jia Yin. After seeing what had happened, they looked at each other in astonishment.

"Let's report this to His Lordship and ask him if we should send for a physician."

"This Jia Yin guy was reduced to spitting blood from anger by merely a couple of remarks. What a good-for-nothing."

"Tell me about it. Ha-ha...."

Mrs. Jia and relatives of Jia family, who were further away from the spot that those prison guards had been sitting, had failed to distinguish their previous words and thus had no idea why Jia Yin had spat blood. Panic-stricken, Mrs. Jia repeatedly called Jia Yin's name, but Jia Yin was in a coma and unable to make a reply.

"Shut your mouth or see it torn!" A prison guard walked over and rebuked her aloud.

Mrs. Jia was scared and didn't dare to call Jia Yin's name again.

After being informed that Jia Yin had spat blood and blacked out, Tao Feng instructed, "Send for a doctor and treat him. Make sure he lives long enough to face execution."

Given the deep hatred between Ling family and Jia family, people of Ling family definitely would prefer to see Jia Yin beheaded at the entrance of the food market, so he might as well do Ling family a favor.

...

"How are you feeling?"

Yuwen Tong had a palm against Ling Zhang's back, and the other on Ling Zhang's lower abdomen where the Dantian was.

The medicated bathwater in the bathing pool was gradually growing clean. Slowly and constantly, beads of sweat were flowing down Ling Zhang's fair-skinned body into the bathing pool. Yuwen Tong's eyes were in pain as he watched this scene — pain caused by his efforts to subdue the surges of desire he had been feeling. This would be the last time that Ling Zhang took a medicated bath, and it would also be the last time that he helped Ling Zhang unblock his meridians. He had to take advantage of this opportunity to teach Ling Zhang a special breathing exercise.

"Did you find it?" Yuwen Tong asked again, trying hard to stop himself from concentrating his attention on Ling Zhang's body.

After a while, Ling Zhang opened his eyes and answered in excitement, "I did!"

"Okay. Do it this way one more time. Focus on that warmth in your Dantian and try to concentrate your Qi in there every time you breath."

"I will!"

Bursting with impatience, Ling Zhang immediately closed his eyes. Following Yuwen Tong's previous instructions, he performed Qi circulation once again. His Dantian felt nice and warm. Compared with the previous few times, the prototypical internal energy in there seemed to have grown significantly. It was warmer and made him feel very cozy.

Pressing his palm against the Dantian of Ling Zhang and feeling the patch of his skin that was manifestly warmer than other parts, Yuwen Tong clenched his teeth and managed to forbear from kneading and stroking it in the knowledge that there was a high risk of wasting all previous efforts of Ling Zhang if he alarmed Ling Zhang.

Consumed with the excitement of feeling that small amount of internal energy, Ling Zhang was totally oblivious of the battle that was raging in Yuwen Tong's head.

After quite a while, Ling Zhang managed to convince himself to open his eyes and stopped the Qi circulation that had been giving him a curiously comfortable feeling. "I did it."

"Yes, you did. From now on, practice this breathing exercise for two hours every morning and every night."

"I will!"

Ling Zhang was very excited.

"This is just a breathing exercise. Will I be able to feel it more distinctly after you teach me the mental cultivation method of internal energy?"

"This breathing exercise is meant to help you lay a foundation for the mental cultivation method of internal energy I'm going to teach you. Keep practicing this during the next half a year. After that, I'll teach you something else and then you'll get the secret of it, and your internal energy will also reach a whole new level instantly."

Ling Zhang's eyes lit up as he heard this. He wished only if he could experience what Yuwen Tong had just described right away.

"Be patient." Yuwen Tong lowered his head and looked at him.

Ling Zhang gave a bob of the head. "I understand."

Yuwen Tong twisted his head aside, looked at Ling Zhang's cheek, ear lobe, neck, etc, and then moved his hands off Ling Zhang's Dantian and back.

"Okay, then. So much for the medicated bath. You may rise now, and you don't have to do this ever again."

Ling Zhang answered, "I see." Actually, he had begun to enjoy this. The first few medicated baths had indeed been torturous, but after toughing them out, the next few baths had turned out to be considerably more tolerable, and he could feel the improvement he had made after each of them. This medicated bath, like each of the previous six ones, had also made his five senses more acute. Currently, he could keep practicing fist technique for two hours in the guards' yard without feeling tired.

His horse stance was very steady now, so Wang Dashan had taught him an elementary-level fist technique, which he had been practicing every morning over the past few days.

"You may practice some simple fist techniques and leg techniques. After those matters are handled, I'll teach you some external martial art that best suits you."

'External martial art?' Ling Zhang's heart lurched and he abruptly turned his head back to look at Yuwen Tong.

Unexpectedly, Yuwen Tong was standing very close to him and his lips nearly touched Yuwen Tong's face when he twisted his head back. Dismayed, he couldn't help but ask, "Why–Why are you standing so close to me?"

The bathroom was filled with humid vapor, which was why he had failed to feel Yuwen Tong's breath, though Yuwen Tong had been standing so close.

Staring at Ling Zhang's tender and rosy lips, Yuwen Tong succumbed to the temptation, lowered his head and kissed Ling Zhang.

When their lips touched, Yuwen Tong fell powerless to stop.

Ling Zhang was not surprised by this kiss. A moment ago, he had noticed that the look in Yuwen Tong's eyes had been alarmingly deep, and there had seemed to be flames of desire in the depths of his eyes. Though he had had a puzzled look when he had asked that question, actually he had already come to realize what Yuwen Tong was going to do, so he was not surprised at all that Yuwen Tong kissed him, and he would have been astonished if Yuwen Tong hadn't kissed him.

As a matter of fact, he found that Yuwen Tong's kiss was not bad. Instead, it was a little intoxicating.

But Ling Zhang felt that he was too inexperienced, that Yuwen Tong had led him by the nose during every kiss, and his reaction had always been under Yuwen Tong's control. Ling Zhang was somewhat unreconciled to this kind of situation. Besides...

'Why do I let him kiss me so frequently? Am I really going to marry him?'

Ling Zhang quickly collected himself and shook his head repeatedly.

Yuwen Tong was thrown into perplexity by his reaction. "What's wrong?"

'Am I a bad kisser?'

'If this was the real reason, it would be kind of hurtful,' thought Yuwen Tong in embarrassment.

A flush in his cheeks, Ling Zhang had also come to realize what he had just done, appearing somewhat awkward. "I–"

The unmistakable discomfort on his face brought Yuwen Tong into deeper misunderstanding. A somewhat vexed look in his eyes, Yuwen Tong asked, "Did I make you uncomfortable?"

'Ah? What kind of question is this?' Ling Zhang raised his head to look at him and saw the vexation in Yuwen Tong's eyes. Light suddenly dawned on him and the next moment, all his embarrassment disappeared from his face and he dissolved into chuckles, surprised that a man like Yuwen Tong would also be vexed at this kind of matter.

His chuckle made Yuwen Tong more annoyed, and his face fell tense. Eventually, with a sullen look in his eyes, he abruptly stepped out of the bathing pool.

Believing that he got angry and was about to leave, Ling Zhang hurriedly tried to stop him. "Wait a moment. I'm not...Hey!"

Before Ling Zhang could finish his sentence, Yuwen Tong picked up a blanket, turned around, wrapped it around him, scooped him up in his arms and carried him out of the bathing pool, heading towards the outside.

Ling Zhang was startled. "What are you doing?"

"Wiping out the humiliation," replied Yuwen Tong.

Ling Zhang fell speechless with embarrassment.

"What humiliation are you referring to?"

'Surely it's not what I think it is?'

Yuwen Tong lowered his head and flicked a glance at Ling Zhang. "You tell me."

Ling Zhang directly gave him a dirty look. "Put me down. I don't want any part in your so-called–"

Before he could finish his remark, Yuwen Tong gagged him.

It had not happened in his memory when he was carried to the inner room, nor when he was laid on the bed, nor when Yuwen Tong removed that blanket from him. In order to "wipe out the humiliation", Yuwen Tong went to quite some trouble to "serve" Ling Zhang, who was struck all of a heap and was totally unaware of what was going on.

Ling Zhang had no idea how much time had passed, but when he collected his thoughts panting heavily, he found that he was lying in bed and the blanket around him had been removed by Yuwen Tong...

Propping himself on his hands with Ling Zhang lying down below, Yuwen Tong watched him with smiling eyes. Clearly, the intoxicated expression Ling Zhang had had on his face had greatly pleased Yuwen Tong.

"Shall we continue?" asked Yuwen Tong.

'Continue what?' Ling Zhang instantly pushed Yuwen Tong aside. "Cut the shit. I want to change clothes. Go back to your own place right now! You might miss Yao Yi's message if you don't hurry."

Ling Zhang's words would have been more convincing if there had not been a pink flush on his cheeks and he had not been trying to avoid Yuwen Tong's.

Yuwen Tong stretched out his hand and gently scratched Ling Zhang's cheek, feeling that the soft, tender touch was incredibly good.

Ling Zhang raised his hand and was just about to push Yuwen Tong's hand away when he caught sight of the deep look in Yuwen Tong's eyes and paused.

The air in the room seemed to have instantly warmed up. Ling Zhang uneasily turned his glance away, afraid to look at Yuwen Tong's eyes, but this time Yuwen Tong didn't do anything. He withdrew his hand and walked away from Ling Zhang's bed. "Get dressed right away or else you might catch a cold. I'm going back."

Ling Zhang abruptly raised his head to look at Yuwen Tong. The look in the depths of Yuwen Tong's eyes suggested that he was subduing something. Seeing this, Ling Zhang briefly paused again and then said, "Okay."

Yuwen Tong turned around, went to the bathroom, retrieved his clothes and left.

Ling Zhang also got out of bed. While changing, he absent-mindedly replayed in his mind Yuwen Tong's deep look a moment ago. As he came to realize that Yuwen Tong valued him, a sense of security spontaneously rose in him.

He was not a woman, but the feeling of being cherished like treasure, which transcended gender or identity, still touched him.

'Did I make the right choice to agree to go to the capital city with Yuwen Tong?' He had a premonition that he probably would have to marry Yuwen Tong after he went to the capital city with him.

"Young Master, Yao Yi's letter arrived. Marshal requests your presence." Suddenly, the voice of Yuwen Tong's bodyguard came from outside the window.

Ling Zhang immediately rose to his feet. "I'll be there soon."

"What did Yao Yi say? Did it work?" asked Ling Zhang after entering the Green Bamboo Mansion, bursting with impatience.

Yuwen Tong signaled him to calm down. "It took the army longer than we'd expected to find the den of those bandits. Currently, all bandits are under control. Their correspondence with Zhang Chong and some other evidence as well as the hidden stockpile of armaments have also been found. This operation in the Grand Mang Mountain is extensive. Zhang Chong will get wind of it by tomorrow morning at the latest. Yao Yi informed us that we should get prepared."

Ling Zhang immediately nodded. "Okay. Should we go to Lord Tao's place right away?"

According to the plan, they were to meet Lord Tao and have him give the order to shut all city gates lest Zhang Chong lead the Prefecture Guards into the city and took all residents hostage, which would reduce them to a passive position.

Unexpectedly, Yuwen Tong fell silent.

"What's wrong?" asked Ling Zhang nervously, sensing that something was not right.

Yuwen Tong fished out a thin, folded pamphlet and handed it to Ling Zhang. There was a pattern of a dragon on the cover of the pamphlet.

Ling Zhang was sent into a brief trance. Then he took it and opened it.

"The emperor ordered me to stop my intervention in this matter. Dai Cheng must have got this handwritten imperial edict quite some time ago. It was after the situation on the Grand Mang Mountain was verified that he asked Yao Yi to have this edict delivered here," observed Yuwen Tong.