With a calm look on his face, Yuwen Tong said, "You may cut to the chase with me, Your Highness. I don't like it when people beat around the bush."

The King Yu, not offended at Yuwen Tong's bluntness, responded, "I like your straightforwardness, Marshal. My intention is very simple – I wish to strike up a friendly relationship with you."

He didn't say anything about wanting Yuwen Tong's help. He just said he intended to cultivate good relations with him.

"And how do you want to do that?" Yuwen Tong looked at him.

Eyes on Yuwen Tong, an earnest expression on his face, the King Yu replied, "Marshal, I think you know very well that although you've ceded half of your military power, there's no guarantee you and your family will be safe forever. I hope you'll give more consideration to your escape route. Actually I invited you to meet me here today because there's a particular thing I want to tell you about – the sole reason why my father set out to eliminate you so soon was that the Wan Kingdom's emperor, in order to ensure Shan Congwen's safe return from the Great Yue, had agreed to prolong the period of validity of the non-aggression treaty to twenty years!"

Yuwen Tong's brows briefly twitched, his eyes flashing towards the King Yu.

Seeing that there was finally an expected expression on Yuwen Tong's face, the King Yu secretly felt a slight sense of relief and continued, "Think about it – the non-aggression treaty will last twenty years. Such a long time is more than enough for my father to put the North-western Army under his command, turning them into an imperial guard, which will, naturally, render you redundant."

The King Yu had made it very clear – what with this twenty-year peace treaty, Yuwen Tong had become the emperor's greatest threat, and on no account would the emperor let Yuwen Tong live; if Yuwen Tong wanted to survive, he must find a way out, and offering him a way out was exactly why the King Yu had come here.

"I've always been holding you in high regard and admiring you, Marshal. When I was a young boy, what I heard the most often was battlefield report about where you, who was then still a general, had won yet another victory. So since childhood, I've been looking up to you as a hero of the Great Yue, the incarnation of the God of War. I never believed that you'd ever do anything traitorous. If I'm enthroned, I'd want to see you remain the marshal of the Great Yue."

The King Yu, having expressly made his point, fixed Yuwen Tong with a gaze, waiting for him to make a decision.

Yuwen Tong didn't make a reply immediately. After a while, he rose to his feet. "Thank you for your advice, Your Highness. Consider your efforts to cultivate good relations with me successful. As for what might come next, we shall have further talks about it."

Inwardly the King Yu was very satisfied. Yuwen Tong's positive response to his overtures was a good start!

"Sure. You don't have to rush into any decisions. I arranged this meeting merely because I wanted you to know about the cause of that unfortunate incident, so that you'd be more aware of the situation."

Having achieved his ends, the King Yu didn't try to persuade Yuwen Tong to stay longer when Yuwen Tong expressed his intention to return.

"Your Highness, do you think Yuwen Tong will agree?" said the King Yu's henchman, watching Yuwen Tong's receding back.

The King Yu replied in a deep voice, "He will agree."

"Well, if by any chance the King Duan..."

"Zhou Mingyuan?" the King Yu sneered. "Impossible. Back then when Yuwen Tong and Ling Zhang were on their way to this city, Ling Zhang was almost poisoned in Wu City, for which Peng Fang was the one responsible. Although at that time Peng Fang hadn't openly taken Zhou Mingyuan's side, Yuwen Tong has definitely found out about the truth, and even if he hadn't, we'll have to figure out a way to make sure he's informed. Everybody knows how protective Yuwen Tong is of Ling Zhang. You think he would still choose Zhou Mingyuan after this matter comes to his knowledge?"

"Uh... there are no permanent enemies."

The King Yu shook his head. "Yuwen Tong is different, and if he really could put aside Zhou Mingyuan's previous attempt on Ling Zhang's life, he would be too formidable, and what he wants to be would by no means be merely someone who helps a prince accede to the throne."

His henchman fell silent.

...

Meanwhile, Yuwen Tong had returned to the Ling Mansion, and Ling Zhang had seen Tao Yi off.

"What was it Tao Yi wanted to see you about?" Yuwen Tong was the first to start asking questions.

On hearing this, Ling Zhang, who wanted to asked him about his meeting with the King Yu, had no choice but to tell him about why Tao Yi had visited him. "I declined the invitation, because I don't want to get them into any trouble, given the circumstances."

Yuwen Tong nodded. "It's indeed not the right time, but if you really want to meet them, I can make it happen."

Ling Zhang shook his head. "No, that won't be necessary. Knowing that they care about me is enough for me. Right now you need me more than they do."

Yuwen Tong was briefly stupefied and then, as a beam broke across his face, reached out his hand with the intention to sweep Ling Zhang into his embrace to make out with him.

Ling Zhang slapped his hand away. "Stop it. You still haven't told me what your meeting with the King Yu was about."

"Just as I expected, he wants me to take his side and assist him to take the throne," said Yuwen Tong blandly. "It turns out that previously I kind of underestimated him. At this juncture, he's showing more daring and greater resolution than Zhou Mingyuan is."

Unfortunately for the King Yu, no matter how audacious and committed he was, it was already too late. In addition, Yuwen Tong didn't believe a single word of what he'd said during the meeting. His statements about admiring Yuwen Tong as a hero could only fool the unsophisticated. If Yuwen Tong really helped the King Yu ascend the throne, the King Yu would also try to eliminate him just like the incumbent emperor. None of the members of the Zhou family was trustworthy.

"What did he say?" asked Ling Zhang curiously.

"He told me about the cause of this upheaval. The period of validity of the peace treaty between the Wan Kingdom and the Great Yue has been extended to twenty years," said Yuwen Tong.

"Twenty years?" Ling Zhang was astonished. To his knowledge, previously it'd been ten years.

Yuwen Tong appeared very calm. "I've long since come to know about this. It doesn't matter whether it is twenty or thirty years. Actually the Wan Kingdom would've made it fifty if they have to. All they want is for Shan Congwen to return safely, and for their country to have enough time to regain strength. When they have enough troops and provisions, they might immediately wage another war."

It was ridiculous that the Zhou family, after suffering so many losses during their previous dealings with the Wan Kingdom, still hadn't learned their lesson and had actually believed it. Or maybe they just needed something to justify their attempt to eliminate him.

It wasn't for merely one or two days that the emperor had been wary and suspicious of him anyway.

"Are you saying that the Wan Kingdom could scrap the treaty at any moment? Then what should we do?" The possibility of the outbreak of another war concerned Ling Zhang.

"That won't happen anytime soon. Without help, the Wan Kingdom needs at least five years to regain enough strength to start another war," replied Yuwen Tong.

Five years? Ling Zhang felt slightly relieved. Chances were that after five years, many matters would have been settled. Relaxed, he failed to see that a glint flitted across Yuwen Tong's eyes.

Without help, the Wan Kingdom indeed would need that much time, but what if they got help?

Yuwen Tong didn't remind Ling Zhang of this, because there were some things he'd been planning, the developments of which would depend on potential changes of situation.

Yuwen Tong's cession of half of his military power was indeed being a hindrance to the emperor's further moves, and it'd even silenced many of the courtiers. Added to the cession of power had been a farce which had ended in a rather ugly fashion, and maybe because of this, the emperor, apart from paying generous compensation for the Yuwen family's loss during the search, had willingly granted Yuwen Tong's request for a long extension of his leave of absence in an effort to get a fig leaf.

There was no telling whether or not people were still discussing it in private, but on the surface, nobody was so insensible as to bring up what had happened in the residential compound of the Yuwen family earlier.

Yuwen Zhi had also taken a leave of absence and hadn't been attending court meetings. Yuwen Feng and Yuwen You, however, were unable to rid themselves of the prying eyes. When in the imperial court, no matter how hard the other courtiers tried to nose out the details, the two of them refused to breathe a single word of the incident, having no intention whatsoever to satisfy their colleagues' curiosity.

On this day, after a court meeting, Yuwen Feng and Yuwen You chanced upon each other.

"Granduncle." Yuwen Feng made a bow with hands folded in front.

Yuwen You inclined his head, flicked a glance at him and sighed, "Is your father okay?"

Yuwen Feng replied, "He's just suffering from some ailments caused by depression. He'll recover in a couple of days."

"And your brother?"

It was a few moments' silence before Yuwen Feng said, "A court physician said there's a high chance he'd never be able to walk again, so he's been giving us a rather hard time recently."

Yuwen You reached out his hand to pat his shoulder and asked, "You have grudges, don't you?"

Yuwen Feng slightly shook his head. "Granduncle, if I say I don't, you definitely wouldn't believe me, but I also know that this time around my mother had only herself to blame. At bottom it was my fault. As her son, I failed to detect in time signs of my mother's plan, almost allowing her to bring a disaster to our family. I inwardly hate myself more than anybody."

Yuwen You made no remarks, sighing repeatedly. After quite a while, he said, "If you need my help, all you have to do is ask. The Yuwen family... is faced with an oncoming calamity, which makes many of our personal grudges trivial. Only by surviving this calamity will we be able to have a chance to settle the other matters."

Yuwen Feng nodded. "I understand."

What the Yuwen family was faced with was far more serious than just a calamity. If they failed to tackle it in the correct way, everybody bearing the surname 'Yuwen' in this family would meet their end. Nobody wanted to die.

Yuwen You, after parting from Yuwen Feng, sighed constantly on his way back and didn't stop even when he was at home.

"Father, just now Tong had someone deliver a message here, saying that he'd pay us a visit in a while, that the team sent to Tanyang should return to the capital city in two days," said Yuwen Si.

Yuwen You inclined his head, finally a hint of delight appearing on his face. "I see."

...

In the Ling Mansion.

"I wonder whether or not news of what happened in the capital city has reached my grandfather's and uncle's ears. If it has, they must be very worried right now," said Ling Zhang.

"I've personally written them a letter to explain everything already," said Yuwen Tong.

Ling Zhang was astonished. "And when did you do that?"

He found that recently Yuwen Tong had been quite mysterious about his letters to his family in Tanyang, keeping them from him.

Yuwen Tong replied, "Quite a few days ago. I think their reply is about to arrive."

Ling Zhang looked at him. "Don't you keep this kind of thing back from me ever again. You must tell me. I don't want my family to worry about us."

Yuwen Tong hadn't been intentionally trying to hide it from Ling Zhang. He'd just been too busy and forgotten that he needed to inform Ling Zhang. At this moment, after hearing Ling Zhang's words, he naturally hastened to promise that next time he would tell him beforehand and would never keep it from him ever again.

Ling Zhang's mood lightened somewhat as he heard his promise.

"Second Master Ling had originally planned to come to the capital city in a few days. Fortunately, my cousin's letter arrived in time and Second Master Ling changed his mind," said Yuwen Jin.

Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong were going to leave the capital city in a couple of days, went to the Millennium Pavilion first and then Tanyang. Ling Zhaowen would miss them had he been unaware of it and come to the capital city.

"It never crossed my mind that so many things would happen during our absence. Will we be able to finish the preparatory work for the wedding on time?" Yuwen Chi asked with a serious look on his face. He'd always had a perceptive understanding of the whole picture and anticipated some time ago that Yuwen Tong would hand over part of his military power, but he hadn't expected that it'd happen so soon, and the occurrence of such an absurd incident had also come as a surprise to him. Although he was asking about the wedding, what he worried about was something of a higher plane – the fate of the Yuwen family.

"We will," answered Yuwen Tong. Of course he knew what his uncles and cousins were concerned about. "I'm afraid I'll have to put you to the trouble of dealing with all family matters for some time. I'll sort things out after I return with Brother Zhang."

Yuwen Chi felt that there was some kind of undertone in his words, but Yuwen Tong didn't explain anything and just signaled him to look at Yuwen You. Having come to understand, Yuwen Chi nodded and said, "Rest assured, we'll be cautious and have everything properly handled in the capital city."

While Yuwen Tong was consulting with Yuwen Chi and the others about something, Yuwen Jin and Ling Zhang found a quiet spot to talk. First Yuwen Jin told Ling Zhang about their stay in Tanyang and also handed him what Ling Maomao had asked him to deliver to Ling Zhang. Ling Zhang watched the little wooden figurine in his hand which had been carved with childish technique. The features of it were rather rough, and he could tell at a glance that this was Ling Maomao's work.

"Maomao wanted you to have this and keep him in mind at all times," said Yuwen Jin.

Ling Zhang gave a smile, solemnly thanked Yuwen Jin for his trouble and started fingering the wooden figurine, inevitably homesick.

"He also wanted to come with me to the capital city to see you. Originally my uncle was very happy about it and intended to convince Second Master Ling to allow Maomao to come with us, but afterwards news of what happened here spread to Tanyang, and we realized that the situation here instantly became dangerous, so all of us didn't dare bring him here any longer," added Yuwen Jin.

After Yuwen Jin finished his remarks, both of them fell silent.

"Brother Zhang, do you regret having agreed to marry my cousin?" Yuwen Jin suddenly asked.

Ling Zhang's face wore a quizzical look. "Why are you suddenly asking about this?"

Yuwen Jin sighed, "A little short-tempered as I am, I have a shrewd idea of what might be coming for our family. On our way back, my uncle was saying that he had no idea whether it was fortunate or unfortunate of you and my cousin to have decided to get married in these circumstances. If you two haven't proclaimed that you are getting married, and something does happen, you could still–"

"Stop that nonsense!" Ling Zhang interrupted him, frowning. "You guys think I'm a coward who'd prefer life to dishonor?"

"That's not what I mean," Yuwen Jin hastened to explain. "I know you are not that kind of person. It's just that Second Master Ling has been quite worried ever since what'd happened here came to his knowledge. My uncle and I and the others are all very guilty. We feel that this is not the right time, that we're going to incriminate the Ling family."

Ling Zhang shook his head. "Enough. Don't sound so defeatist. This is just the beginning. Why are you getting so dejected as though you're admitting defeat? Aren't you the one who trusts your cousin the most? Since he told you to hang in there and wait for us to come back, he definitely has a plan. Have faith in him."

The time had not come for Ling Zhang to confide Yuwen Tong's plans and resolution to Yuwen Jin, so he could only drop a hint to him in a roundabout way. He added, "And for the record, I've never regretted it from the moment I decided to come to this city with Yuwen Tong, so don't ask me this kind of questions ever again."

Yuwen Jin raised his hand to scratch his head, feeling a sense of relief, awkwardly making an apology.

"By the way, where are you going with my cousin, Brother Zhang? Is it really so important that you have to leave at this juncture?"

Ling Zhang slightly nodded. "It's very important."

Yuwen Jin threw his chest out. "Then just go with my cousin. I'll keep an eye on the Ling Mansion and make sure nobody in here is subjected to bullying."

Ling Zhang smiled, "Thanks."

...

Two days later, Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong secretly left the capital city and moved into the new manor.

Ji Yin was still absent, but he seemed to have come back once, for there was a message for them, in which he told them to go directly to Cangzhou to meet him.

Ling Zhang was worried about what might happen in the capital city, so he planned to go there and come back as quick as possible. After reading the message, he immediately instructed servants to get his baggage ready, preparing to depart. Almost all important parts of the revamp of the manor had been finished, and the rest of it didn't require his occasional supervision. Yuwen Tong designated Yue Qi and some others to stay in the capital city. Apart from guarding this manor, their job also includes keeping a weather eye on the forces in the city and promptly reporting to him if anything happened.

Ling Zhang was bringing all his twenty-four security guards. Yao Yi and other personal bodyguards of Yuwen Tong's naturally were going with them as well.

On that very night, they left the manor, heading south.

...

They rode non-stop on fast horses and reached Wu City at noon the next day.

At the sight of them, Ji Yin who had been waiting for them asked, "Is there anybody following you?"

Ling Zhang shook his head with absolute certainty. They had taken several detours on their way to Wu City, used some formations to conceal their traces, and also changed their disguise several time. Currently, both he and Yuwen Tong didn't look as they used to. One of them appeared to be an itinerant merchant traveling to another city, and the other an accountant. There was no way any outsiders could recognize either of them.

Ling Zhang's security guards and Yuwen Tong's personal bodyguards had all scattered, covertly following the two of them, keeping a certain distance away from each other.