"How dare you! The Marquess Huaiwen (AKA the Marquess of Moderation) is His Majesty's cousin. Concealing any accidents that happen in his family is punishable by death!" bawled the guard.

This guard, in order to curry favor with Ling Zhang, spared no efforts to press the servant into answering the question, which struck Ling Zhang as quite interesting.

Startled, the servant hurriedly replied, "I...I don't dare. It's really because... because some people died in the residence..."

"Some people died? What happened?" Ling Zhang knitted his brows, staring at him.

"It wa–was Second Young Master who beat them to death. Old Master is sick abed, and Second Young Master threatened to break his own legs if we didn't let him. We couldn't stop them, so I immediately came here to report to His Lordship so that he might return home to restrain Second Young Master," said the servant.

"Who died?" inquired Ling Zhang.

"Two house guards," answered the servant.

Ling Zhang looked at him for a few moments and then instructed the guard, "Let him through. Remember, don't breathe a word of this matter to anybody else."

"Yes, Childe Ling," the guard answered and then let the servant to go inside to see Yuwen Feng.

Ling Zhang glanced inside the Ministry of Rites. To his knowledge, Yuwen Qi had been placed under house arrest by Yuwen Feng. How come he had beaten two guards to death? It seemed that there would be yet another stink in Yuwen Zhi's branch of the Yuwen family. He had to inform Yuwen Tong of it.

Ling Zhang sent someone back to the imperial palace to tell Yuwen Tong about this matter, and then ordered some men to keep close watch on Yuwen Zhi's branch of the Yuwen family. After doing all this, he went back to the Ling Mansion.

...

No sooner had he walked into the living room than his whole family clustered around him.

"Big Brother! I'm so glad to see you back."

"Your face is all sweaty. You must be really tired."

"You've got everything done in the Ministry of Rites?"

"This wedding ceremony is so troublesome. There are too many rules."

"That Yuwen boy had you do it all by yourself once again? You should take a couple of days off and stay at home. Let those officials deal with those matters. Given that even the enthronement ceremony was handled by them, they won't have any problems taking care of a wedding ceremony, will they?"

Ling Xingzhong's and Ling Zhaowu's tones were normal, but the others – Ji Yin, for example – were talking in quite disapproving voices.

"Are you hungry? Your aunt made some ginseng chicken soup. Take a seat. I'll have someone proffer it to you." Ling Zhaowen pivoted around and headed for the kitchen so quick that Ling Zhang failed to stop him.

Ji Yanlai was the only one present who remained composed. The Clan Leader was leisurely sitting there, watching Ling Zhang being swamped with greetings and inquiries from his family. He smacked his lips, because he would like some chicken soup as well but was too embarrassed to ask.

Ling Zhang had a job handling his concerned elders. After he sat down, the chicken soup was served. The tantalizing aroma instantly made his mouth water.

"Dig in. It stewed for a very long time. The chicken meat is fully cooked," said Ling Zhaowen.

A delicious smell was wafting out of the crock placed on the table. Ling Zhang glanced around him and asked his uncle, "Where's my aunt? How is she?"

"She's in good health. Her face is slightly plumper than before, so she's ashamed to come here. The Marquess Fuan's two daughter-in-laws visited us shortly after noon. Right now your aunt is chatting with them in the Splendor Pavilion," replied Ling Zhaowen.

Ling Zhang inclined his head. "I see. I brought some premium anti-abortifacient drugs from the palace. Later I'll ask Mr. Mu to help me check them and see if they are suitable for aunt."

Ling Zhaowen said, "We have plenty of that kind of stuff at home. You shouldn't take things home from the palace so often. If by any chance people find out and gossip about it, your reputation would be compromised."

"That won't happen. Besides, I'm not going to tell everybody about it. Don't worry." Ling Zhang took a slurp from his bowl of chicken soup. It tasted so good that his eyes narrowed in spite of himself, happiness written all over his face.

Ling Zhaowen still wanted to say something but Ling Zhaowu chipped in, "It's indeed nothing serious. If anybody gossips about this and refuses to let it go, it would mean that they have too little to do. In that case, Yuwen Tong would assign them more tasks and I'm sure they wouldn't dare utter another word after that."

Ling Zhang gave his father a thumbs-up sign and smiled, "That's a good one, Father."

Ling Zhaowen snorted, "I'm saying this only because I care about you."

Ling Zhang hastened to placate him.

Holding Ji Xiaocong's hand, with Whitie the fox crouching on top of his head, Ling Maomao asked Ling Zhang, "Big Brother, when could you get us into the palace to play? Cong wants to go there."

Ji Xiaocong on the side bobbed his head, looking at Ling Zhang, blinking his sparkling eyes.

Ling Zhang reached out a hand to give Whitie a stroke and then his butt a push. Whitie moved slightly and then instantaneously leaped from the top of Ling Maomao's head to Ling Zhang's shoulder. After giving a soft cry, he squatted down. Feeling Whitie's body weight, Ling Zhang said, "You've grown bigger and are a little heavy now. Do not jump onto Maomao's head again. Understand?"

Whitie let out a cry, as though promising he wouldn't do that again.

Ling Maomao gave a little gasp of relief and then looked at Ling Zhang, waiting for him to answer the question.

Ling Zhang stretched out his hands to adjust Maomao's bun and then replied, "Maybe in a couple of days. There will be a banquet in the palace in a couple of days. You may go in there and stay with me for a day or two."

Ling Zhaowen said, "No. You're too busy. If the two boys go there, you'll have to keep an eye on them and thus be distracted."

"It's okay. I'll have Wang Dashan and some others take care of them when I'm busy," said Ling Zhang.

Ling Maomao and Ji Xiaocong were both very happy to hear that. "Big Brother, I promise I'll watch over Cong and make sure he behaves himself."

Ling Zhang lifted his eyebrows. 'Oh, this little guy knows how to keep his little buddy in line now.'

Ling Zhang shifted his gaze to Ji Yanlai and asked, "What do you think, Clan Leader?"

Ji Yanlai looked at Ji Xiaocong who was gazing at him with an expectant look on his face, somewhat baffled as to why his nephew was not shy with strangers at all and seemed to be quite comfortable with accepting other people's kind offers. He answered, "I'm okay with it. If this little guy refuses to behave, just have someone bring him back to me."

It was just an imperial palace, not somewhere dangerous. Ji Yanlai didn't think it was a big deal, feeling that a trip to the palace might help broaden his nephew's horizons.

...

Bearing in mind the situation in Yuwen Zhi's branch of the Yuwen family, Ling Zhang didn't stay at home for long. He had come out mainly to inform his family members that he would move back home in a few days and stay here until the wedding ceremony.

"Maybe you should move back here right now," suggested Ji Yin.

Ling Zhang knew that Ji Yin suggested this out of his concern for him, so he explained to Ji Yin for a while and then added, "Yuwen Tong is too busy, so I must keep watch on the preparatory work for the wedding ceremony. Like you said, this concerns our face, and we can't take it lightly."

Ji Yin thought better of it. "But you have to get some rest when you need it. Look at you. Your face is noticeably thinner."

Ling Zhang stroked his own face. He was thinner? Why was he not feeling it?

After taking leave of his family, Ling Zhang returned to the imperial palace. When Yuwen Tong finally got everything done and came back from the consultation hall at night, Ling Zhang told him what had happened at the front gates of the Ministry of Rites.

"I sent some men to keep watch on the residence. I wonder what happened in there exactly," said Ling Zhang.

Yuwen Tong sat down with him. "Yuwen Qi is going more insane by the day. There's madness in his bones."

Later that night, Miao Shiba returned and reported, "Sire, Childe Ling, it was two guards that Yuwen Qi killed earlier this day. He wanted to get out, but the guards refused to let him. Then he threatened to break his own legs again if they didn't let him go outside to see Yuwen Zhi. The guards on duty still wouldn't let him out, so he stabbed them."

"He stabbed them? Didn't he have them beaten to death?" Ling Zhang was astonished.

"That's just a story they're telling outsiders. Yuwen Qi carried a dagger with him. He stabbed the guards to death with it," replied Miao Shiba.

Furrowing his brows, Ling Zhang looked at Yuwen Tong and said, "Yuwen Qi's crippled and confined to a wheelchair. The guards were able-bodied and stronger than him. Even if one of them was caught flat-footed and received a stab, theoretically the other one should have been able to dodge the blow. How did he come to stab two guards in succession?"

"I was a little confused as well, so I specially slipped in there and made some inquiries. It was said that the wound caused by Yuwen Qi's dagger was not deep and not fatal, but for some unknown reason, the guard breathed his last very soon. When the other guard walked up to check on him, Yuwen Qi caught him unawares and slit his waist, and the other guard also died in a very short time. I suspected Yuwen Qi's dagger was poisoned, but then I heard some servants who had witnessed the whole thing discuss it in private. They said that neither of the two guards' wounds bore any signs of poisoning, which was very strange. Afterward, the Marquess returned to the residence and also found that the two guards had died in very suspicious circumstances. He tried to press Yuwen Qi into telling the truth, but Yuwen Qi refused. He held his dagger to his own throat, saying that he would kill himself if the Marquess didn't let him go and see Yuwen Zhi. Then the situation went chaotic. During the confusion, Yuwen Qi's dagger was taken away from him and he was bound and brought back to his chambers. I secretly checked the dagger but there seemed to be nothing wrong with it. I felt that this matter was not what it seemed, so I had some men stay there to stake out the residence and then came back here to report to you," said Miao Shiba.

"Yuwen Feng didn't question Yuwen Qi again after that?" inquired Ling Zhang.

Miao Shiba answered, "He did, but Yuwen Qi refused to say anything. The Marquess almost gave him the third degree."

"What happened exactly? There's definitely something wrong with that dagger. Or maybe Yuwen Qi is concealing something. We need to get to the bottom of it," said Ling Zhang.

Yuwen Tong gave it some thought and then observed, "First we need to ascertain whom Yuwen Qi has made contact with since he was locked up."

After Miao Shiba took the order and left, Ling Zhang asked Yuwen Tong, "Didn't you say that you let Yuwen Zhi go back because you had a plan or something? Now Yuwen Zhi is still in his sickbed. What are you going to do about it? We've never seen him with our own eyes and we don't even know whether or not his illness is really that severe."

Yuwen Tong said, "Show some patience. It has begun already, hasn't it?"

Ling Zhang's eyes dilated. "The matter of Yuwen Qi was your–"

Yuwen Tong replied, "No. I haven't interfered much in it from start to finish. What I've been doing is just wait for them to walk to their own doom."

Ling Zhang looked at him in bemusement.

"If Yuwen Zhi had obediently stayed in the Court Prison and accepted his sentence of exile, he might get to survive. When he stubbornly tried to go back home, I came to know that he would make trouble again. Since he has a death wish, how could I not grant it? He wouldn't lie in bed for long. What Yuwen Qi did today was the beginning of his plan," said Yuwen Tong.

"What about Yuwen Feng?" inquired Ling Zhang.

Yuwen Tong said, "You've seen what he did to himself. He reduced himself to a total mess. I've given him plenty of time to deal with it, but things still came to this. If this time around he still couldn't bring himself to take decisive action, I wouldn't bother with him again."

Ling Zhang heaved a sigh. He had really been taken aback when he'd met Yuwen Feng in the Ministry of Rites earlier this day. Every time he saw Yuwen Feng, the latter struck him as thinner than the last time they'd met, as though something had been sucking his life out of his body constantly. It was really horrifying.

"Are you sure you still don't want to tell me?" Yuwen Feng looked flintily at Yuwen Qi, the expression in his eyes heavy with apathy.

Yuwen Qi let out two guffaws of unbridled arrogance. "I am. What are you going to do about it, my loving big brother? Kill me? Then do it!"

"Yuwen Qi, you're literally incorrigible," observed Yuwen Feng.

"I'm incorrigible? How noble do you think you are, Marquess? Yeah, you're Yuwen Tong's bitch now, and he'd made you a marquess. With this fancy, awe-inspiring title, you think you're better than me now, don't you? You've been like this since childhood. Whenever you look at me, your eyes seem to be saying I'm something filthy and repulsive! You didn't do anything when Yuwen Tong forced our mother to take her own life, and neither did you do anything when he forced our father to break my legs. You're no brother to me. The way I see it, it's Yuwen Tong who's your blood brother!" reprimanded Yuwen Qi.

Yuwen Feng was consumed with fury, veins throbbing horribly on his forehead, his eyebrows flickering uncontrollably. It was true that he had been disgruntled at Yuwen Qi all along, but that was merely because he felt that his little brother had become arrogant, willful and domineering owing to the indulgence his mother had shown to him, and he had been stern to his little brother only because he wanted him to be a better person.

"Fine. Fine," muttered Yuwen Feng, his vision going dark intermittently. A skinny pallid-faced man, he was on the verge of passing out from rage. "Since you no longer see me as your big brother, I have no intention to prolong this conversation. If you want to live to see another day, tell me the cause of the two guards' deaths!"

"Faugh!" Yuwen Qi spat at Yuwen Feng, his saliva staining Yuwen Feng's robe. "Why should I tell you that? So that you could tattle on me to Yuwen Tong, huh? Let me tell you something, Yuwen Feng. You'd better release me as soon as possible and let me see our old man. Otherwise there will be consequences!"

"You're really not going to tell me?" persisted Yuwen Feng through gritted teeth, eyeing Yuwen Qi coldly, a mixture of extreme anger and disappointment on his face.

"I'm not! Let me go!" snarled Yuwen Qi.

A dark look in his eyes, Yuwen Feng stared at him for quite a while before he instructed aloud, "Guards! Take Second Young Master away and interrogate him. Do not let him out until he makes a confession!"

"Yes!" Two guards wearing armor immediately walked inside, making towards Yuwen Qi with wary eyes, their faces sepulchral.

Two guards had died earlier this day because of Yuwen Qi, and so far nobody had been able to identify the cause of their deaths, so these two guards naturally harbored grudges against Yuwen Qi and wouldn't be nice to him.

"Don't you dare, you flunkeys! I'll kill you where you stand if you dare lay a finger on me!" spat Yuwen Qi.

The two guards paused and looked over their shoulders at Yuwen Feng.

With a cold, sulky face, Yuwen Feng said, "Take him. Be careful not to get hurt by him."

The two deceased guards had been either stabbed or slit by Yuwen Qi before they died. Both of them had wounds on their bodies. Although the wounds bore no signs of poisoning, there was no doubt that the cause of their deaths had something to do with their injuries. Otherwise Yuwen Qi wouldn't have gone to the trouble of wounding the two guards.

Both these two guards were among those who'd examined their companions' bodies. After hearing Yuwen Feng's words, they resumed closing in on Yuwen Qi.

Yuwen Qi's face slightly changed. "Stop, both of you! Are you really so anxious to die?!"

The two guards disregarded Yuwen Qi's yells. They just kept a weather eye on Yuwen Qi in case he suddenly drew a knife or something pointy on them. Each of them was holding a club.

Angry as Yuwen Qi was, he was a cripple and there was not much he could do to resist. Soon the two guards overpowered him.

"Take him away. Make sure he's securely bound," ordered Yuwen Feng.

"Yes!" chorused the guards. Nothing had happened to them after they restrained Yuwen Qi, which showed that Yuwen Qi did have to wound people first before he could kill them. The two guards both felt relieved, gagged Yuwen Qi who was bellowing furiously and escorted him out of the house, bringing him elsewhere to be interrogated.

After Yuwen Qi was taken away, Yuwen Feng glanced around Yuwen Qi's chambers and then summoned some servants to conduct a search. The servants combed the chambers but didn't find anything suspicious. Yuwen Feng knitted his eyebrows and personally scoured the chambers but still couldn't find anything. His face darkened further.

This meant that Yuwen Qi was still carrying with him whatever it was that had caused the deaths of the guards.

"Tell them to search Yuwen Qi and see if he's carrying anything with him. Remind them to be careful," instructed Yuwen Feng after leaving Yuwen Qi's courtyard house. "And there's another thing. I want all those who's contacted Yuwen Qi recently found and interrogated one by one."

"Yes, Your Lordship!"

...

Intelligence about the events in Yuwen Feng's residence was immediately delivered back to the imperial palace.

Both Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong were kept posted about what had happened in Yuwen Feng's abode.

"The truth should be revealed soon. Tell them to keep closer watch over that house lest they overlook anything," said Yuwen Tong.

"Yes, Sire," answered Miao Shiba.

After Miao Shiba took his leave, Ling Zhang said, "Yuwen Qi had been under house arrest for so long before he suddenly took action. Do you think it's possible that he got that weird deadly thing only recently?"

Yuwen Tong inclined his head. "Probably. On top of that, the one who provided him with that thing should be still in their residence."

Ling Zhang was startled. "Who do you think it is? Is it Yuwen Zhi's subordinate? But your men have been staking out that place ever since Yuwen Zhi was brought back. If anybody suspicious moved into their abode, you should've been informed of it."

Yuwen Tong replied, "The one hidden in the dark definitely has some underhand methods of covering his tracks. Otherwise Yuwen Qi wouldn't have got something that peculiar from that person. Still, given what Yuwen Feng has just done, that person would probably do something, and when he does, he might accidentally leave some tracks behind. I told Miao Shiba and the others to keep close watch on that place because I wanted them to find out who's been hiding there."