On the table was a long, unrolled piece of cloth, on which rows of thin needles of different lengths were fixed. These needles alone made the security guards' blood run cold. There was also a large bathtub on the side, which contained black decoction giving off a weird odor beyond description. Xie Shi informed them that the decoction inside was poisonous, that Wang Dashan and others were to go in there one by one to test their sensitivity to the decoction. Apart from these, Xie Shi had also prepared quite a lot of phials and pots, some of which contained poison, and the others antidotes. Wang Dashan and other security guards were to observe the contents with all methods they could think of, ingest those they believed to be antidotes and then state the reason.

In other words, it was very likely that they might mistakenly consume poison.

Even Yao Yi and other bodyguards were somewhat scared as they saw the things that Xie Shi had prepared, let alone Wang Dashan and other security guards. If anyone of them survived all these, he could definitely count himself extremely lucky. Wang Dashan and others were so nervous that cold sweat was oozing out of their backs continuously, and their clothes were soaking wet. They feared that they might kick the bucket after a small mistake. As a result, when Yue Qi showed up, all of them looked in his direction with expectant eyes, as if he were their savior.

Yue Qi, who was just about to speak, was startled by their gaze and gave a hiccup. "Wh–Why are you giving me that look?"

"What business do you have here?" Xie Shi impatiently slid him a sideways glance.

Yue Qi pointed in the direction of the main courtyard house and responded, "The Marshal and Childe Ling returned."

Yao Yi was amazed. "At this hour?"

Yue Qi inclined his head. "The Marshal didn't seem very happy."

On hearing this, Xie Shi put down the needle in his hand. "The Marshal took Childe Ling back to Yuwen family this afternoon. It seems that things didn't go very well there."

No longer in the mood for these things, they all went to the main courtyard house.

At this time, Ling Zhang had changed into a lighter outfit and walked outside. Seeing Yuwen Tong was not in the room, he was surprised and called, "Yuwen Tong?"

"I'm in the study." Yuwen Tong's voice came from the study.

Ling Zhang hurried there and found that Yuwen Tong had also changed clothes. Seeing him writing something, he walked over and asked, "What are you writing?"

"A dispatch to my men in the border area," responded Yuwen Tong.

"Did something happen?" Ling Zhang queried in worry.

Yuwen Tong replied, "A small group of soldiers were seen wandering near the border with unknown intentions. Jiang Ke wrote me a letter and reported it to me."

While speaking, he finished the letter and with that he put it into a special correspondence-tube and had someone take it out to be delivered to the border areas.

Ling Zhang carefully observed Yuwen Tong's countenance and saw that the displeasure he had returned with was gone. Feeling slightly relieved, he said, "Envoys of the Wan Kingdom are still in our capital city. It's not likely that they would be so bold as to make any trouble that might lead to another war."

Yuwen Tong shook his head. "Waging another war is definitely not on their to-do list, but they might not necessarily be afraid to make trouble. I told Jiang Ke and others to keep a close watch on them and find out what it is that they intend to do."

The two of them were talking when Yao Yi and others showed up at the doorway, craning their necks to glance inside.

Ling Zhang fell speechless.

Even he had seen them, let alone Yuwen Tong!

Unsurprisingly, the next moment, Yuwen Tong shot out the writing brush in his hand and hit Yue Qi, who had just poked his head into the room, on the head, leaving his forehead covered in ink.

"Why are you acting stealthily?"

"Marshal, we're worried about you and our young master." Wang Dashan stepped inside.

Ling Zhang was confused. "Worried about us? Why?"

Since Yuwen Tong was present, Wang Dashan and others felt it inconvenient to tell the truth, hemming and hawing.

But Ling Zhang came to realize what was going on and observed, "It's nothing serious. There's no need for such fuss. Go back and do what you've got to do."

'That's a mere trifle,' Ling Zhang thought. What had happened in the residential compound of Yuwen family actually had caused him neither pain nor itch. It was Yuwen Tong that concerned him more.

But manifestly Yuwen Tong had some time ago prepared himself for this kind of situation. Seeing Yao Yi and other bodyguards of his were also present, he called them in and instructed, "Have my uncle and his family under surveillance. Keep me informed of their conduct."

"Yes, Marshal!" Yao Yi answered and immediately left to make arrangements.

Before long, the dinner was ready. Chefs in the kitchen prepared a sumptuous meal, most courses of which were Ling Zhang's favorites. Of course, there were also some that Yuwen Tong liked, but Ling Zhang could tell at a glance that his favorite dishes were disproportionately more than Yuwen Tong's, and he also vaguely guessed that Li Sicai had done this on purpose. Feeling somewhat amused, he shook his head.

Naturally, what Ling Zhang could understand was also within Yuwen Tong's grasp. He commented, "I have to admit Li Sicai is indeed a talent."

Ling Zhang couldn't help but chuckle, "I'll have them prepare two more dishes."

In fact, though dishes Yuwen Tong liked were not as many as those Ling Zhang liked, they still numbered three. Given Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong's habit of being thrifty, three dishes were enough for either of them. Ling Zhang made this offer merely to cheer Yuwen Tong up.

Yuwen Tong declined the offer. He reached out his hand, picked up a piece of food from a dish before Ling Zhang with his chopsticks and observed, "I'm not a picky eater."

So Ling Zhang didn't rise from his seat to make arrangements but merely lifted his eyebrows.

In fact Yuwen Tong was indeed not a fussy eater. Living conditions in the encampment in border areas were poor, which made it impossible for him to be fussy about food. As a result, he had been an omnivore for many years.

Ling Zhang picked up a piece of pork and put it in Yuwen Tong's bowl. Then he glanced at the tableful of courses and asked, "How about some wine?"

Yuwen Tong inclined his head. "All right."

Ling Zhang had a servant bring some wine and the two of them had a drink together.

Ling Zhang's tolerance to alcohol was not as high as that of Yuwen Tong. A flush spread over his cheeks after a couple of glasses of wine. Yuwen Tong pressed Ling Zhang's hand to the table and said, "I think you've had enough."

Ling Zhang shook his head. "One more glass."

Beneath his beseeching gaze, Yuwen Tong felt it utterly impossible to refuse, so he refilled Ling Zhang's glass and exhorted, "This is the last glass."

It was not that he didn't want Ling Zhang to drink more but that... Ling Zhang looked very seductive after drinking, and Yuwen Tong was worried that he might not be able to control himself if he allowed Ling Zhang to drink more.

Ling Zhang was unaware that in Yuwen Tong's eyes he was now as appealing to him as an appetizing steamed bun to a starving man. After drinking another glass, he gave a hiccup heavy with smell of wine and comfortably remarked with a sigh, "It tastes so good."

Tanyang abounded with medicinal herbs and was also famous for medicinal liquor, but Ling Zhang, maybe because he was a young man, didn't really like medicinal liquor very much. He preferred stronger drinks. This Pear Blossom Wine brought by Yuwen Tong, for example, took his fancy very much. After drinking it, he felt fully relaxed and warm all over.

"You see, I'm still sober, am I not?" He even specially said to Yuwen Tong in a smug tone, "So I can definitely handle another glass."

At this moment, a thin soft cry was heard. Surprisingly, the white fox cub, after smelling the wine, ran up to them, raised its head and looked at the two of them.

Ling Zhang scooped it up, put it on his lap and lowered his head to look at it. "You want to try it as well? Good boy, Whitie. You're so brave. Come on. Here you are."

At this time he was already somewhat drunk. While saying this, he really reached out his hand to pour some wine for the white fox cub.

Yuwen Tong hurriedly stopped him. "It is a fox, not a human being."

Ling Zhang blinked and queried, "Don't those books say that foxes love drinking?"

After a brief moment's silence, Yuwen Tong asked him, "What books?"

"Scripts for story-telling," Ling Zhang replied.

'Oh, that's true. In those stories, foxes can not only drink but also turn into human beings,' Yuwen Tong thought disapprovingly, took the white fox cub from Ling Zhang's arms, dipped the end of a chopstick into wine and sent it to the mouth of the white fox cub. The fox cub flicked out its tongue, licked the chopstick and briefly shivered.

Yuwen Tong put it down and said to Ling Zhang, "It had a try."

Ling Zhang gave a bob of his head after a few moments' thinking and then lowered his head to look at the white fox cub which had been put down on to the ground. "How do you like it, Whitie?"

The white fox cub, which was still recollecting the pleasant flavor of the wine, shook its head and gave another thin soft cry.

Ling Zhang dissolved into laugh. With one arm on the table, he leaned his upper body on it, looked sideways at the white fox cub and reached out the other hand to stroke its back. "Good boy. You does have something in common with me, your master. I'll let you drink a whole glass when you grow a little bigger."

He didn't know whether the white fox cub understood his words or not, but it raised its head to face him and gave another thin soft cry, as if extremely pleased.

Ling Zhang laughed again, a pink flush on his cheeks, which made him look as radiant as a cottonrose hibiscus blossom.

Yuwen Tong stretched out a hand and held Ling Zhang's with which he was stroking the white fox cub. Then he craned over and pressed his lips precisely against those of Ling Zhang who had just raised his head in puzzlement.

Ling Zhang squinted his eyes and opened his mouth.

The look in Yuwen Tong's eyes instantly went deeper and with that he drew Ling Zhang over from the chair to his lap, put a hand behind Ling Zhang's waist to support him, raised his chin with the other hand and deepened their kiss.

Taken aback by this sudden, wide-range motion of theirs, the white fox cub let out a screech and jumped aside. Then it squatted down onto the ground, raised its head and watched the two men who were kissing passionately showing a total disregard for everything else. After giving another thin soft cry, it lowered its head and licked its fur in a quite unhurried way, as if a trifle scornful of this kind of intimacy between lovers. It was surprising that at such a young age, this fox cub displayed a worldly-wise demeanor typical of a seclusive master.

Feeling comfortable while kissing, Ling Zhang relaxed his body resting his whole weight on Yuwen Tong. The range of their motions was a little too wide and they accidentally overturned Yuwen Tong's wine glass on the table, which rolled and came to a halt at the edge, wine spilled out of it all over the ground.

Eyes of the white fox cub lit up. It rose to its feet and cockily walked over. After a lick of the wine, it squinted its eyes and let out a thin soft cry. This lick of the wine was far more intense a stimulation than the chopstick dipped in wine had been. It was so pungent that its hair stood on end.

Indulging himself in his kiss with Yuwen Tong, Ling Zhang failed to notice what the white fox cub was doing. Besides, groans from throats were far more pleasant to hear than the thin soft cry of the white fox cub was. Yuwen Tong enjoyed them very much and had tightly put his arm around Ling Zhang's waist.

A bodyguard at the doorway vaguely saw what was happening inside and quietly walked away. Soon all others were informed of it.

In fact, Yao Yi and others had been worried that Ling Zhang might be angry with Yuwen Tong after being aggrieved in the residential compound of Yuwen family earlier this day, that their marshal's chance to marry Ling Zhang would be lost for good, which would be very tragic.

On hearing that the two of them were making out in the room, they all heaved a sigh of relief.

"It seems that Childe Ling is no longer angry," remarked Yao Yi.

"Alas, had our master and second master known so many things would happen, they definitely wouldn't have allowed our young master to come to the capital city," said Wang Dashan.

Yao Yi and the others had a somewhat guilty conscience. After all, they were aware that Yuwen Qi and Supervisor Zhao had gone to Tanyang and threatened Ling Zhang and Ling Zhaowen, but they didn't disclose this to others for fear that their marshal might die a bachelor if they did.

Yuwen Tong was unaware that his subordinates had been worried that he might die single and alone. If it came to his knowledge that they had so little confidence in him, he would undoubtedly fly into a rage and have them stand in the drill ground for a full day as a punishment.

Yuwen Tong scooped up Ling Zhang, who had been in dizziness during the kiss and eventually drifted off to sleep, and carried him into the bedroom. Ling Zhang unconsciously rubbed his face against Yuwen Tong's chest, sleeping soundly with his mouth slightly open. Yuwen Tong's chest felt nice and warm, an intense desire churning inside him. He couldn't help but lower his head and kiss Ling Zhang on forehead, cheek and mouth.

What had happened earlier this afternoon had indeed made him very unhappy. He felt that his uncle had been growing increasingly interfering. He had warned his uncle several times in an effort to persuade him stay out of his business, but his uncle was too stubborn and refused to listen to reason; even Yuwen Feng had more sense than he did. Yuwen Tong knew that his uncle had been harboring grudges against his grandfather for his keeping him from joining the army. When young, his uncle had been a very conceited man who believed that he would definitely be able to render meritorious service on the battlefield with his wide knowledge of military strategy and tactics, who was unaware that those theories he'd learned from books were totally useless when faced with the cruelty of an actual war. Besides, at that time, the Great Yue had been in decline for years, and every battle was of utmost significance; any small careless mistake might lead to the subjugation of this country, which meant that people couldn't risk letting his uncle gain experience through mistakes. As regards the situation in Yuwen family, Yuwen Tong's grandfather and parents had all gone to the front, and his uncle was the only pillar of this family left. In those trying times when the future of the whole country were hanging in the balance, having his uncle stay in the capital city had actually been a precaution against extermination of this family. However, his uncle didn't – or was unwilling to – see things this way, always believing that his grandfather's decision had ruined his whole life, that Yuwen Tong had snatched from him the glory that was rightfully his.

In that year, Yuwen Tong's father, on his deathbed, exhorted Yuwen Tong to come back home more often and take good care of his uncle and other family members if he could. During these years, he had always been true to his word. Though he had had to stay in the border areas most of the time, he had planted some men in the capital city, who'd been keeping a close watch on the residential compound of Yuwen family. This was also a protection for his uncle and others. The emperor was wary and afraid of him, but the more so, the more misgivings he had about causing any member of Yuwen family any harm. Instead, he had to ensure their safety, which was yet another form of protection for members of Yuwen family.

However, in recent years, his uncle had been growing more and more discontented with the current situation. He had even interfered in his marriage. Not only had he tried to keep the engagement between him and Ling Zhang secret from him, he also had the fond hope of gaining a final say on his marriage. In the final analysis, he merely wanted to stay in sole charge of the whole Yuwen family and have Yuwen Tong in the palm of his hand, which might be just two smaller ones of his ambitions...

Yuwen Tong took no pleasure in assuming the worst about the intentions of his kin, but he really felt he should teach his uncle a lesson, because if not, his uncle would always be as oblivious of the reality as he had been since youth, mistakenly believing that everything was under his control, which would only reduce Yuwen family to a more disastrous situation.

"Uh."

Ling Zhang, who had been in a sound sleep, was woken up as Yuwen Tong took the liberty of kissing him. He unhappily uttered "Uh" and twisted his head aside trying to avoid Yuwen Tong's lips.

Yuwen Tong raised his head to look at Ling Zhang and with that all the thoughts that had been bothering him were dismissed from his mind.

The next morning, Ling Zhang woke up very early and his head felt a trifle uncomfortable. He removed the arm around his waist and got out of bed, intending to go and wash his face to clear his head.

Seeing him get up, Yuwen Tong, who had been awake for quite some time, also got out of bed and asked, "Are you going to visit Tao Yi today?"

"Yeah." Ling Zhang inclined his head and vaguely recalled what happened the night before. Feeling that being kissed to sleep was really somewhat shameful, he gave Yuwen Tong a dirty look. "Where's Whitie?"

"I had Yao Yi take care of it."

'We were having such a good moment last night. You think I would let that white fox cub ruin it? I'm not a fool,' thought Yuwen Tong.

The corners of Ling Zhang's mouth involuntarily twitched. He had a servant bring hot water and towels into the room. After he washed his face, his mind felt a lot clearer.

Yuwen Tong kneaded Ling Zhang's temples and said, "I had them prepare lean pork congee and stir-fried bok choy."

The night before they drank some liquor, so he believed that it would be best if they had a light breakfast.

Since the breakfast wasn't ready yet, Ling Zhang went to the drill ground, where he practiced fighting skills for two hours. Then he returned, changed clothes again and sat down to have breakfast with Yuwen Tong.

It was after he sat down that Ling Zhang recalled something that he had forgotten for quite some time. With that he queried Yuwen Tong, "Are there any particular places you need to go to today?"

"I have to go to the Ministry of War first, and then the imperial palace. I think I won't be able to return until night."

"Then I'll talk to you about it at night."

Yuwen Tong didn't ask him what it was about, since he would find out after he came back at night.

Before leaving, Ling Zhang summoned Liu Yi. "Elder Brother Liu, you once told me that you needed to look for an old friend of that kung fu expert. If it's urgent, you may go and attend to it first."