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This was even more serious than Ling Zhang’s not giving himself away in front of Yuwen Tong, because it meant that Ling Zhang cared about this matter so much that he went to such lengths as to restrain himself constantly to conceal it from him!

At this moment Yuwen Tong was unable to describe what kind of mood he was in. He only knew that something intense was churning inside him and gnawing at his heart. He couldn’t tolerate this. Under no circumstances would he tolerate anything about Ling Zhang getting out of his control. This kind of strong feeling was like nothing he had felt before.

Previously, when Ling Zhang hadn’t learned how to conceal his emotions, he had been able to perceive it when there was something Ling Zhang wasn’t telling him, but now Ling Zhang had become so good at keeping secrets that even he couldn’t tell whether or not he was hiding anything!

If some day Ling Zhang was going to leave him, would he be able to conceal it just as well?

A violent shock wave abruptly burst outwards from Yuwen Tong. Miao Shiba, who was on one knee before him, started and hurriedly mobilized his internal energy to defend against it, terribly astounded. It had never crossed his mind that Yuwen Tong would react so dramatically. In his opinion, this matter was no more serious than Ling Zhang keeping something back from Yuwen Tong, and it was probably not something important, but now, having seen Yuwen Tong’s reaction, he was scared, not daring to imagine what might have happened had he not reported it to Yuwen Tong.

“You didn’t catch any snatches of the conversation between him and Ling Zhaowu?” asked Yuwen Tong, eyeing him coldly.

Head down, cold sweat breaking out over his back, Miao Shiba immediately answered, “Childe Ling had me stay at a distance from them.”

Miao Shiba hadn’t done anything wrong in the task. He had orders to follow Ling Zhang to protect him, not to keep watch on him as though he were a prisoner. Ling Zhang was also his master, and he had to obey Ling Zhang. Besides, it had been Yuwen Tong himself who had instructed Miao Shiba and the others to do that.

But now Yuwen Tong regretted it, for the consequence of that instruction was that he was unaware of what Ling Zhang was concealing from him.

“Send Miao Shisan to deliver a message. I’ll pay a visit to my father-in-law tonight. Remember, do not alarm anybody else.”

Miao Shiba was astonished at this order. “Yes, Sire.”

...

Ling Zhang was going over an account book delivered to him by Li Sicai and Wang Qing when Yuwen Tong arrived. He raised his head and asked in a slightly surprised tone, “Didn’t you go to the consultation hall?”

“I’ve got everything taken care of. You’re looking over an account book?”

“The Fangcun trading fleet sent me a message, saying that they’d departed with the Fangcun mission, and there’s a much larger variety of medicinal herbs on the list,” said Ling Zhang, handing the account book to him.

Running his eyes over the account book, Yuwen Tong said, “Your identity is different now. They would be utter fools if they don’t curry favor with you.”

After reading it, he observed, “The income is not bad.”

It was far more than not bad. Shrewd businessmen were queuing up to get on board.

Ling Zhang said, “Tomorrow my father will go to the drugstore and take charge. I’ve had some men put the word out on the street that I’ve transferred the drugstore to my father.”

At the mention of Ling Zhaowu’s name, the look in Yuwen Tong’s eyes subtly changed, but it lasted only a split instant and escaped Ling Zhang’s notice. “Your father was never in business. I wonder if he’ll be able to handle it. On that day you told me that you would put your father in charge of all the businesses. Do you think it might be too much to ask of your father?”

Ling Zhang’s eyes lightly moved away in a seemingly natural manner, but Yuwen Tong still detected the unnaturalness of that fleeting eye movement. Then he heard Ling Zhang say, “Although my father was never in business, his business ideas are more far-sighted than mine. Besides, Wang Qing and Li Sicai would be assisting him, so I believe he’ll be fine. Nobody’s good at doing business when they begin. I’ll let him take his time. There’s no hurry.”

Yuwen Tong looked at him, a searching expression in his eyes. Ling Zhang set great store by that drugstore and had an ambition to have it grow into a business empire. If Ling Zhaowu had no experience whatsoever, Ling Zhang would never have entrusted Ling Zhaowu with the drugstore.

On top of that, Ling Zhang seemed to be avoiding eye contact with him, which further confirmed his suspicions.

Without the slightest change of his countenance, Yuwen Tong said, “You have a point. Your father seems to have no intention to become a government official. Since he’s interested in doing business, it might not be a bad idea to let him give it a try.”

Ling Zhang inwardly heaved a sigh of relief, feeling that Yuwen Tong bought it.

What he didn’t know was that Yuwen Tong didn’t believe it at all and had made up his mind to get to the bottom of this matter.

...

That very night, after Ling Zhang fell asleep, Yuwen Tong left the palace.

Ling Zhaowu was waiting for him in his courtyard house. Yuwen Tong directly went to see him without alarming anybody else. “Father-in-law,” he called.

Ling Zhaowu slightly raised his eyebrows, asked him to take a seat and then said, “Earlier this day you had a man deliver a message to me, saying that you needed to talk with me about something tonight. I don’t know why you’re making it seem so mysterious. Is it something about Zhang’er?”

Yuwen Tong started making tea. He was doing it in a relaxed and natural manner, but his tone of voice was a little curt. “I’m here because there are a couple of questions I need you to answer for me, Father-in-law.”

Back when Miao Shisan had come to deliver the message to him during the day, Ling Zhaowu had fathomed out what Yuwen Tong wanted to do and had psyched himself up for it. “Go ahead,” he said.

“Father-in-law, would you please tell me how you came to know about the existence of your nephew after you woke up from a coma that lasted over ten years? As far as I know, your brother wasn’t even married when you left home. In addition, you were comatose for many years, so your knowledge and experience should have stayed at the same level that they were at before you fell unconscious over a decade ago. How come you didn’t at all seem unaccustomed to anything and instead knew about many things you should be unaware of after you came to? I’ve looked into it and I know that you’d never left the Sanguan Mountains during the years of your coma.”

Ling Zhaowu’s heart gave a slight lurch. Unsurprisingly, Yuwen Tong had indeed become suspicious of him.

“The truth is, I didn’t know that matter you just mentioned. At that time my brain was damaged, and I wasn’t thinking clearly. I didn’t even know who I was. Those words were nothing but fits of delirium. You can’t take them seriously. As for why I was not unaccustomed to my new life after I came around, you weren’t in Tanyang at that time – how do you know I wasn’t unaccustomed to anything? I knew I’d missed too many things, and I didn’t want to waste any more time, so after I came to, I did everything I could to find out what had happened during the over ten years when I’d been unconscious, so that I would be able to communicate with Zhang’er without any difficulty when I met him and wouldn’t have to spend any time getting to know about those things. My brother knows about this better than anybody, because he was the one I asked questions the most often during those days.”

Ling Zhaowu’s explanation was watertight and unassailable.

But maybe because his explanation was unduly watertight, Yuwen Tong didn’t feel relieved. Instead, his heart sank.

“I heard that your fist techniques are pretty good, and you have amazing comprehension in that regard. Have you ever practiced any fist techniques before?”

Ling Zhaowu said, “Before I fell into a coma, I’d had some acquaintance with kung fu. Though not an expert, I have a grounding of sorts, so when I started practicing fist techniques again, I progressed a bit quicker than a common person would.”

Then Yuwen Tong asked another couple of questions in succession. Ling Zhaowu gave plausible answers to all of them, but Yuwen Tong was fully aware that Ling Zhaowu was just skirting around the real issue and evading the crucial point.

“Father-in-law, did you experience anything special during the two years before Mr. Ji saved you and brought you back to the Millennium Pavilion?”

Ling Zhaowu gave a smile and then answered, “People of the Millennium Pavilion are very good at hiding their tracks, and at that time, I was bigoted and obsessed with finding the Millennium Pavilion. I went in the wrong direction all the time, sometimes heading in precisely the opposite direction of the Millennium Pavilion. I made a lot of wasted trips, trying to find proof that the Millennium Pavilion still existed. It took me two years to trace it to Shengzhou, but afterward, I got into trouble. I was seriously wounded and I thought that my death was certain. Survival was something that never crossed my mind at that time. If I experienced something special, it would be the countless trips I wasted by going in the wrong direction.”

This answer still had nothing to do with what Yuwen Tong wanted to know about. The expression in his eyes had gone faintly cold, but as he was keeping his eyes down, Ling Zhaowu couldn’t see it clearly.

“Thank you for your answer, Father-in-law. This is the last question – what did you say to Brother Zhang that he’s unwilling to tell me about? On that day, after Brother Zhang returned to the palace, he was in an erratic mood, and the same thing happened earlier this day as well. Twice he started to have abrupt mood swings after talking with you, Father-in-law, so please tell me the truth. We both care about Brother Zhang, and I think you would like me to do my best to protect Brother Zhang, rather than letting him get hurt because of some needless oversight. If something like that happens, you and I would both be upset.”

Ling Zhaowu lapsed into silence. Yuwen Tong sitting opposite him looked up at him, radiating a palpable sense of power.

Ling Zhaowu didn’t feel uncomfortable because of the stressful air Yuwen Tong was emanating. It was the undertone contained in Yuwen Tong’s words that was making him hesitate. Zhang’er was going to marry Yuwen Tong, and it was Yuwen Tong who would be living with Zhang’er, and who would be by his side all the time and capable of keeping him safe. If, what with this matter, the two of them no longer trusted each other as much as they did presently, he would have to take most of the responsibility for it, but the matter of rebirth was preposterous and unbelievable, and there was no telling what the consequences might be if he disclosed it. If by any chance Yuwen Tong was unable to accept the fact, it would hurt Zhang’er even worse.

Seeing Ling Zhaowu was totally unaffected by the air he was emanating, Yuwen Tong slightly narrowed his eyes and said, “I don’t care whether those answers you gave me just now were true or not, because after all, those are your private matters. As long as they don’t do Brother Zhang any harm, I won’t interfere, but please give me an honest answer to this one, Father-in-law.”

Ling Zhaowu looked at him. “Do you really have to find out about it? It’s unthreatening to both you and Zhang’er. Also, Zhang’er’s mood swings are just temporary. I can tell you definitely that this matter will not compromise the relations between you two, and after I told Zhang’er about it, he just cared about you even more. There won’t be any trouble if you just let it go. It won’t be a threat to your power or status, and neither will it be a threat to your safety, and it certainly won’t be a threat to the relationship between you two. Technically speaking, it’s nothing more than a little secret between me and Zhang’er, between a father and his son. Why are you so insistent on knowing the details? I’m Zhang’er’s father, and there are certain things that he is the only one I’m willing to disclose to. I don’t owe it to anybody to tell them about any of those things. Is it really so difficult for you to tolerate something like this? Zhang’er is your partner, not a bird you can keep in a cage. He deserves some space and privacy.”

Yuwen Tong’s eyes became penetrating, staring at Ling Zhaowu. “So you’re not telling me, right? There’s no need for you to beat around the bush, Father-in-law. Both Brother Zhang and I know very well how I feel about him, and I think you’re fully aware of the reason why I have to get to the bottom of this. There are a lot of things about you that are contradictory, which means you’re keeping a lot of secrets. I don’t know whether these secrets are about good things or bad things, and I’m okay with turning a blind eye to them, but right now you’re affecting Brother Zhang, which makes you a danger to him. Even after I ascend the throne, I won’t be able to have everything under my complete control. I have to eliminate the danger promptly when it approaches him.”