The two of them fooled around the whole night. The next morning Ling Zhang did not wake up at his usual time. Yuwen Tong, after returning from the court meeting, found him still asleep but did not awake him.

Ling Zhang was having a dream about some events that had happened in the past.

It was when he and Yuwen Tong had first met.

At that time he had been mistaken about Yuwen Tong, who had plausibly pleased Ling Xingzhong who then had asked Ling Zhang to address Yuwen Tong as Big Brother.

Ling Zhang was now re-experiencing that moment in his dream. He was unwilling to do as his grandfather asked.

Yuwen Tong sought help from Ling Xingzhong, who insisted that Ling Zhang do as he said, but Ling Zhang found himself unable to utter those two words. It was as though something was stuck in his throat. No matter how hard he tried, he still could not use that form of address. On the surface he appeared composed, but in fact he was so anxious he had broken out in a sweat. 'Just do it,' he said inwardly to himself. 'Do it and it'll all be over.'

However, the harder he struggled, the more difficult it became for him to utter those words. Such was his anxiety that his eyelids were twitching. Yuwen Tong sitting opposite him hypocritically defended him, and his grandfather began to scowl at him.

"Bi–Big Brother!" Somehow he finally managed to force the words out of his mouth.

But the moment the words left him, he woke up from the dream and found himself all sweaty.

"You dreamed of the past?" A voice suddenly came from beside him.

Taken aback, Ling Zhang jerked his head aside with a start and saw that Yuwen Tong was lying beside him on his side, looking at him with burning eyes.

Ling Zhang's temper frayed as he recalled that in the dream Yuwen Tong had glibly tricked his grandfather into forcing him to call Yuwen Tong "Big Brother", which had rendered him so anxious he had almost been reduced to tears. "How do you know I was dreaming of the past? How do you know I was not calling someone else?"

Yuwen Tong's eyes squinted and became penetrating. "I doubt there's a second person who dares to have you address him as Big Brother."

Ling Zhang snorted, "You will be surprised."

Having just struggled out of that dream, Ling Zhang was fully relaxed and not inclined to move, so he, lying there languidly, said these words to annoy Yuwen Tong.

Yuwen Tong suddenly leaned over, laid all his weight onto Ling Zhang, pinned Ling Zhang's hands to the pillows and stared deep into his eyes. "Anybody who dares accept that form of address from you shall be beheaded."

Ling Zhang looked back at him. "Why are you being so possessive? Calling someone 'Big Brother' is not that big a deal."

Yuwen Tong lowered his head and, circling Ling Zhang's lips with his own, said, "I'm the only one you're allowed to address as such. Now be a peach and call me that again."

Ling Zhang, whose lips were itching for the caress, subconsciously wanted to open his mouth, but his lips had just begun to move when he cottoned on and snorted lightly, "No."

"Why?" Yuwen Tong gazed into his eyes.

Ling Zhang curled his lip. Wasn't it obvious? Under no circumstances would he grant Yuwen Tong's request so easily, not after what Yuwen Tong had done to him in his dream.

Yuwen Tong sighed, "That was the only time you called me 'Big Brother'. You've never called me that again since that day. Actually you've always called me by my full name ever since. I've been looking forward to hearing you call me 'Big Brother' all these years, but my wish was never granted."

Ling Zhang lapsed into silence.

So Yuwen Tong had a wish of this sort? But Yuwen Tong had never told him about it. How was he supposed to know that Yuwen Tong had been expecting this?

"You really want to hear me call you Big Brother that bad?"

Their bodies were tight against each other, and Ling Zhang began to sweat again due to the heat. Their breaths were mixing between the tips of their noses, causing him to relax his limbs unawares. He wanted to lie in Yuwen Tong's embrace like this forever. Having come to know that he had never granted this wish of Yuwen Tong's which the latter had had for so many years, Ling Zhang could not help feeling a pang of guilt.

"Yeah. I do," breathed Yuwen Tong.

Ling Zhang's lips twitched and after a brief moment, faintly abashed, he averted his gaze and said, "Big Brother."

His voice was low and, what with his embarrassment, sounded slightly unsteady, but the look in Yuwen Tong's eyes was instantly replaced by one of deep longing. He abruptly wrapped his lips around Ling Zhang's, fondling them. "Again."

Ling Zhang, with his lips caressed by Yuwen Tong's, knew very well what this atmosphere meant. In addition, he himself also had a subtle feeling. It was as though the relations between them became more different with every time he addressed Yuwen Tong as Big Brother, as though their relations were tinged with something else and thus made his heartbeat quicken. He involuntarily swallowed hard and said, "Big Brother."

They were not brothers, but after he uttered the two words, he felt as though a brotherhood was forged. This, coupled with the marital bonding between them, made him feel as if ... as if they were in that kind of relationship.

Yuwen Tong gave a faintly husky chuckle, enwrapped Ling Zhang's lips with his own and then his tongue started exploring Ling Zhang's mouth.

Ling Zhang docilely opened his mouth. Apart from that subtle feeling, there seemed to be something else. It was as though ... as though he had really become Yuwen Tong's junior, as though he was making out with his own big brother, willingly letting his brother do whatever he wanted to him ...

He exhaled deeply and heavily.

The very thought of this made his body burn up further.

Yuwen Tong, fully aware of the bodily responses of Ling Zhang's, naturally perceived the influence the two words had had on Ling Zhang. After a while, he released Ling Zhang's lips and, looking down at him, said in an imperative tone, "Again."

Ling Zhang, immersed in that subtle mood, caught sight of Yuwen Tong's possessive eyes and subconsciously chose to obey. "Big Brother."

With that, his toes curled in spite of himself, rubbing themselves against the quilt. He was somewhat shamefaced, but maybe it was more because of the verbal stimuli.

Yuwen Tong reached out a hand downward, held Ling Zhang's leg, slowly bent it, and then his hand edged across Ling Zhang's thigh all the way to his ankle and closed around it, his thumb kneading it.

"Again."

"Big Brother!"

Yuwen Tong started at Ling Zhang's fair-skinned, ruddy toes which then curled slightly. His breathing was getting progressively heavy.

When Ling Zhang sensed that Yuwen Tong was eyeing his toes, in particular, that feeling became even more subtle.

Yuwen Tong slowly lifted Ling Zhang's foot and gently put it against his cheek which then started sliding down Ling Zhang's leg until ...

"Um!" Ling Zhang gasped, his chest heaving more violently, his eyes becoming somewhat unclear.

They had been married for many years and had made out countless times, and yesterday they had messed around all night, but today Ling Zhang was feeling something he had never felt before, and he had never been so aroused.

Yuwen Tong also perceived it, and he kept stimulating Ling Zhang verbally with the air of a big brother, Ling Zhang's body beneath his hands convulsing slightly ...

...

The two of them fooled around the whole morning. This experience felt more special than any of the previous ones.

The eunuchs in the vicinity of the imperial bedchamber had some time ago left. The imperial couple's voices were the only sounds in the large residence.

Nobody came to disturb them. People outside, except for the guards and eunuchs serving in the bedchamber, found that the imperial couple had still not shown up, and mistakenly believed that the two of them had drunk too much yesterday and thus needed more sleep, which was understandable because yesterday had been the consort's birthday.

This allowed the two of them to make out to their hearts' content.

It was at noon that Yuwen Tong carried Ling Zhang to the bathing pool, in which he massaged the small of Ling Zhang's back for an hour before they walked out of the pool, toweled themselves and put on dry, soft clothes.

Ling Zhang stretched lazily, looking somewhat listless. The day before he got drunk and made out with Yuwen Tong for long hours, and today they had made out again all morning, which was why he was feeling rather groggy.

"I'm hungry."

Yuwen Tong, naturally, had food brought to him as quick as possible.

"We should do this again next time," said Yuwen Tong.

Ling Zhang gave him a dirty look. "There won't be a next time."

Though it had indeed felt different, Yuwen Tong's movements had been particularly rough – too rough for his liking, if truth be told.

Moreover ... hem ... he kept having this feeling that there was something queer about it.

Seeing that he was not very struck on that idea, Yuwen Tong did not mention it again, but he himself was the only one who knew whether or not he was planning a next time.

"A lot of the presents you got yesterday have not been unwrapped. You want to find out what they are after the meal?" Yuwen Tong asked when eating.

Ling Zhang was not in high spirits and probably was not inclined to leave the imperial bedchamber, so Yuwen Tong made an attempt to find him something to do to while away the time.

Ling Zhang was indifferent to it. After thinking for a moment, he said, "All right."

Yesterday he had received tons of presents. Though the courtiers had not been invited to the banquet, they had had gifts delivered to the palace.

Ling Zhang was not very enthusiastic about the gifts from the courtiers but was quite interested in those from the attendees at the banquet yesterday. After all, all the attendees were family, and gifts were more about the goodwill of the senders. He wanted to see what his family had given him.

...

Ling Xingzhong and Ji Yin had each sent him a picture drawn by himself, as they had done in every previous year. They had done this at Ling Zhang's request.

His paternal and maternal grandfathers were both of advanced years. He would rather they sent him some pictures than other things, because he could preserve the pictures for a very long time and see them from time to time. Getting a picture from either of his grandfathers was also some kind of commemoration of the previous years. Ling Zhang carefully stowed the pictures from his grandfathers in the place where he kept the others. He had marked the years on all of them.

The gift from Ling Zhaowu was an account book and a rare fruit from South Xinjiang, which, allegedly, when ingested, would increase the person's internal energy by an amount they normally had to practice for ten years to attain.

The account book was about the gains of the newly established businesses of Jiahe Chamber of Commerce. The fruit was the most practical gift. His father wanted him to become stronger and stronger and enjoy growing longevity. Both gifts were very practical, and it was very characteristic of Ling Zhaowu to send him these things.

Naturally Ling Zhang valued them very much.

Ling Zhaowen and the others who were not in the capital city, had had some men deliver the gifts to him on fast horses. They were some specialities and clothes made by Fu Caiwei.

These things, though not valuable, meant a lot to Ling Zhang. The very sight of the clothes made by Fu Caiwei reminded him of his childhood.

Ling Zhang eagerly took them out and tried them on. "No one knows my size better than my aunt does. Look, she hasn't seen me for years, but the clothes she made still fit me the best. She never makes mistakes when it comes to making clothes for me."

Yuwen Tong inclined his head. "Your aunt has an eidetic memory."

In fact Fu Caiwei had wanted to make some clothes for Yuwen Tong as well, but after giving it some thought, she had dropped the idea, because Yuwen Tong was the emperor. Though he was her nephew's husband and constituted a junior, Fu Caiwei found it difficult to regard him as one. The very thought of it struck her as stressful.

Yuwen Tong was fully aware of it. Knowing Fu Caiwei's and Ling Zhaowen's goodwill was enough for him. He did not need them to treat him exactly the same way they treated Ling Zhang.

The children got him some wood carvings. There were five of them in total: Yuwen Tong, Ling Zhang, Yuwen Qi, Yuwen Lin and Yuwen Yue – all five members of the family.

It had been Yuwen Qi that had done the wood carving; Yuwen Lin had drawn the pictures; Yuwen Yue had supervised them on the side. These wood carvings, the fruits of the collective efforts of the three teenagers, had been beautifully wrapped up in a big gift box.

"No wonder a couple of days ago Mr. Mu told me in private that Qi asked him for some vulnerary ointment, that I'd better find out what it was about. After I returned here, I asked Qi about it, but he wouldn't tell me, and you dissuaded me from persisting with my questioning. His behavior was rather abnormal in those days. Now it turns out he was doing this." Ling Zhang fingered the five wooden figurines, a tender look in his eyes. Knowing that his son had carved these stroke by stroke and even hurt his hand, Ling Zhang felt a sense of mingled heartache and warmth.

Yuwen Tong said, "Those were a token of the kids' affection for you, and I felt obliged to give them an opportunity to finish them."

Ling Zhang chuckled and, after fingering the five wood carvings caressingly for a few moments, ranged them on top of the headboard. The boy's techniques of sculpture were poor and his works looked rough, but what mattered was the efforts he had put into this. Besides, this kind of natural style of simplicity imparted a novel flavor to this room full of exquisite furnishings.

"They're beautiful," beamed Ling Zhang, paying his son's work an unsparing compliment.

Seeing that he was happy, Yuwen Tong said, "I got you a gift as well. Check it out."

Ling Zhang turned to look at him. "What is it?"

Yuwen Tong did not reply but told him to open it to see for himself. Ling Zhang found among the pile of presents the one sent by Yuwen Tong. It was in a casket, which was not very eye-catching, so he had not noticed it sooner.

Ling Zhang, his curiosity now piqued by the shroud of mystery that Yuwen Tong cloaked the gift in, sat down and attempted to open the casket.

After a few moments' exertion of strength, he found that the casket would not open.

Ling Zhang was confused. Was it because he was not doing it right? He exerted more strength, but the casket was still tightly shut.

"Is the lock broken?" he asked. What other explanation was there? Surely Yuwen Tong would not make trouble for him by tampering with the gift box?

Yuwen Tong smiled but made no reply.

Ling Zhang, " ... "

Feeling that his intelligence was being challenged, he picked up the casket and scrutinized it.

He spotted the problem almost immediately. The lock of the casket was actually a red herring. It could not be opened in a conventional way.

Ling Zhang, having developed a certain level of proficiency in Formations over the years, found without much difficulty the correct way to open it.

Click.

A crisp sound was heard.

After he slid back the fine clasp, the lid of the casket spontaneously sprang open and with that a flow of pleasant clinking issued from it. This was a music box!

The pleasant clinking was a beautiful melody. There was a revolving cylinder in it. Every time the cylinder moved a notch, a note was sounded. The mellifluous tune lightly resounded through the imperial bedchamber. Ling Zhang had never heard anything like this before.

He gazed at it in amazement. He had once heard his grandfather mention this kind of music boxes. It was said that in the Xia Dynasty, a craftsman of genius had made a music box and presented it to the then emperor, which had caused a sensation that had lasted some time, but hardly any music boxes had been made ever since!

"Th–This is a music box? The fabled kind? Where did you get it? And when did you bring it here? Why didn't I find out about it sooner?" Astonished, Ling Zhang asked a battery of questions, goggling at the box, a manifestly curious, excited and searching look in his eyes.

Seeing that he was happy, Yuwen Tong came to know that the trouble he had gone to to prepare this gift had been worthwhile.

"You like it?"

"Yeah!"

Who wouldn't like this amazing thing?

"Don't prolong the agony. Where did you get this?"

Seeing that Ling Zhang was eager to know, Yuwen Tong slowly replied, "I bought it from a descendant of that master craftsman. Actually I have your uncle to thank for that. He was the one who wrote me a letter and told me about it before I sent some men to make contact with that artisan."

"My uncle?" Ling Zhang was surprised.

Yuwen Tong nodded.

The descendant of that master craftsman lived in an area which used to be southern Wan Kingdom. He led a fairly secluded life, worked as a carpenter and was quite famous in that prefecture.

But nobody could have bargained on him being a descendant of that master craftsman of the Xia Dynasty. Ling Zhaowen, when dealing with a case that the artisan had been involved in, had struck up a relationship with him, found out about this secret afterward and come to know that the man possessed a duplicate of that music box which took one of his elders over ten years to finish.

After being informed of it, Yuwen Tong had not tried to force the artisan into selling the music box. He had just made a deal with that man. Having got the box, he had planned to give it to Ling Zhang at their tenth wedding anniversary, but at that time the music box had had a glitch and the artisan had been trying to fix it. The box had not been delivered back to the capital city before the anniversary, so Yuwen Tong had decided to wait until Ling Zhang's birthday to give it to him.

When Ling Zhang had heard the story, he stroked the edge of the music box and, listening to the slow melody, asked, "How long could this tune go on?"

Yuwen Tong said, "If you don't close the lid, it'll keep playing until it can't continue."

In fact the tune was not complex, and it would repeat itself when it ended. Beautiful as it was, it would no doubt become boring some day, but this was a birthday present from Yuwen Tong, so Ling Zhang, though having heard the tune several times now, found it as charming as always. Worried that the box might malfunction if it played for too long at a time, he reluctantly closed the lid and the clasp after listening for another few moments.

"Why did you close it?" Yuwen Tong asked.

Ling Zhang said, "Because I want it to stay in working order for a longer time."

Yuwen Tong caught on to the undertone contained in Ling Zhang's words. This music box was a present from him, so Ling Zhang wanted it to be in good shape forever.