Chapter 88 - Send for a Physician. Don’t Let Him Die. (1/2)
“…Steward He is interrogating him. Steward Li is also there. The two stewards sent me here to report this to Young Master and request his instructions. Will Young Master go there himself or…”
Outside the courtyard of Ling Zhang’s dwelling, Xia Feng was standing at the gateway. After hearing the servants’ words, he replied with a cold look on his face, “I’m informed about this matter. Young Master is too busy to be distracted by this. Go back and tell the two stewards to keep the man alive for the moment. Young Master might want to go there and interrogate him himself when he finds the time.”
“Yes.”
“Did you inform Second Master and Second Mistress of this?” Xia Feng recalled something and asked.
“Not yet. I came here to report to Young Master first,” responded the servant.
Xia Feng cast a meaningful glance at him and told him, “That’s very thoughtful of you, but the next time this kind of occurrence arises, inform Young Master and Second Master at the same time. Do not report to any of them sooner than the other. Understand?”
“Yes.” Uncertain about whether this was a compliment or a criticism, the man was somewhat alarmed and didn’t dare raise his head to look at Xia Feng.
“Now go and tell Second Master and Second Mistress,” ordered Xia Feng.
“Yes,” the man responded and hurriedly left.
Xia Feng returned to the courtyard and entered Ling Zhang’s room. He looked around, unsure as to whether he should go inside and report this to Ling Zhang right away.
At this point, Ling Zhang was taking a medicated bath with Yuwen Tong behind him trying to unblock his meridians with his internal energy. Compared with the previous two baths which had been agonizing and torturous, the third bath was much more bearable. Though he still felt miserable, the pains were much less intolerable and he could also spare part of his concentration for something else.
After unblocking his meridians twice, he found that his hearing had become much more acute than before. At night when all was still, he could even hear sounds from the gateway of the courtyard. This time, though he hadn’t distinguished the contents of the conversation between Xia Feng and that servant, he was well aware that someone had come to talk with Xia Feng, that Xia Feng was now pacing the floor outside the bathroom.
“Xia Feng, what’s going on?”
Ling Zhang abruptly called Xia Feng’s name, which took Xia Feng aback. Then he realized that his pacing up and down outside had come to the knowledge of the man inside, so he stopped dithering and replied immediately, “Young Master, Steward He just caught a greedy servant who intended to provide an outsider with inside information about Ling family in exchange for money. The name of the servant is Wu Er’niu. He’s an odd-job man in the kitchen. It is said that someone delivered a note to him via a firewood seller offering to buy intelligence about the ident.i.ty of the kung fu expert hiding in Ling family.”
‘The kung fu expert hiding in Ling family?’ Ling Zhang’s heart lurched.
“It seems that someone has noticed something,” said Yuwen Tong. Then he raised his voice and asked Xia Feng, “What else did he say?”
Xia Feng was not surprised to hear Yuwen Tong’s voice. Having heard no further questions from Ling Zhang, he realized that this was also what his young master wanted to know, so he answered, “The one who made an offer to buy intelligence also intended to find out how many kung fu experts there are in Ling family as well as whether it was the day Young Master went to the herb farm that they entered Ling family.”
“Who was the one that offered to buy intelligence?”
“Well… Even Wu Er’niu himself didn’t know the ident.i.ty of the buyer. He said that he ignored the note at first, that it was after he saw the offer of a hundred taels of silver that he was swayed. Tonight he made contact with a person outside the wall to confirm the time and place for their meeting. Wu Er’niu has a one-day leave after two days, and he planned to meet the buyer on that day. Just now, it was a man sent here by Steward He that I was talking to. He asked whether Young Master wanted to go there and interrogate Wu Er’niu. I made an excuse and told him that Young Master was busy. I also bade him to tell Steward He to keep Wu Er’niu alive and wait for Young Master’s further instructions.”
“Well, you did a good job. What about my uncle? Did you send someone to inform him of this?”
“That servant is on it. I think Second Master probably has already been informed by now.”
“I see. You may take your leave.”
“Yes.”
After Xia Feng left, Ling Zhang said, “Your existence has already attracted the attention of either Jia family or Zhang Chong or somebody else.”
“The buyer specially asked about the day when my people entered the city. It seems that some opponent of ours noticed.”
“If the buyer works for Zhang Chong, will he have misgivings because of this? If by any chance our plan is compromised…”
“I don’t think Zhang Chong is the one behind this, but if the buyer is from the Jia family, Zhang Chong will be informed very soon. However, it doesn’t matter whether Zhang Chong knows about it or not. They have no clue whatsoever who that kung fu expert is. Zhang Chong is now a local despot n.o.body dares to defy in Tangyang. He’s not necessarily going to be alarmed by this matter.” Yuwen Tong appeared totally unworried.
“Anyway, it will never occur to him that it was me who had been crossing him in Tanyang. As regards other people, whom do you think he possibly fears?”
Ling Zhang didn’t know how to respond.
He had to admit that Yuwen Tong’s words made sense.
A man like Zhang Chong who had always been acting domineeringly like a tyrant in Tanyang would never be worried by an issue of this kind.
“If it bothers you, I’ll have Yao Yi go and do some interrogating. That Wu Er’niu will take a day off in two days. We can just send someone disguised as him to meet the buyer.”
“I’ll handle it. Currently, this matter is the focus of all people’s attention in Ling family. I must do something to send them a message, to remind them that there are some things they should do but there are also some they must not do, that no matter how much money they are promised, they need to consider whether they would be able to live long enough to spend it before saying yes.”
Yuwen Tong gave a smile. “All right.”
The medicated bath was over and Ling Zhang didn’t pa.s.s out this time. He still felt exhausted, but after moments’ rest, he regained enough strength to get dressed by himself.
Yuwen Tong appeared faintly regretful. Beneath Ling Zhang’s gaze, he left the bathroom, face full of regret.
Of course Ling saw this distinctly, the color of his face alternating between red and normal. As he recalled that it was Yuwen Tong who had helped him change on the previous two occasions when he fell unconscious after bath, his cheeks burned with embarra.s.sment. Then the regretful look Yuwen Tong had on his face a moment ago re-appeared in his mind, and he couldn’t help clenching his teeth. ‘a.s.shole,’ he thought.
“Marshal, why did you come back so soon today?” Yao Yi couldn’t help but ask when seeing that Yuwen Tong returned sooner than he did the previous two times.
Clothes in hands, upper body naked, Yuwen Tong walked straight into his room. “This time he didn’t faint.”
Yao Yi uttered “Oh” and understood. This time the marshal failed to take advantage of Childe Ling.
“How’s it going in Zhang Chong’s encampment? Any unusual movements of his troops?”