Chapter 159 - A Gift for Childe Ling (1/2)

“Are you suffering from headaches?” At this time, Yuwen Tong got into the horse-drawn carriage and saw that Ling Zhang was leaning against the wall of the carriage with one hand kneading his forehead, face pale.

He sat down beside Ling Zhang, held him in his arms and started kneading his temples for him.

Ling Zhang merely flicked a glance at him and then closed his eyes.

At first, seeing that Ling Zhang obediently let him hold him in his arms, Yuwen Tong thought that Ling Zhang was no longer angry with him, but he was just secretly delighted when the expression in Ling Zhang’s eyes brought a frown to his face. “What’s going on?” queried Yuwen Tong.

With Yuwen Tong kneading his temples, Ling Zhang felt much more comfortable, the twitches of pain in his forehead alleviated. “There’s some information that I’ve just found out, but I cannot tell you for the present.”

After a few moments’ silence, Yuwen Tong asked, “Does it have anything to do with what your uncle previously informed you of?”

Ling Zhang abruptly sat upright and looked at him. “How did you come to know it?”

Yuwen Tong’s hands were pushed aside by him. Seeing the wary expression on his face, Yuwen Tong felt somewhat upset and replied, “It’s just my guess, a lucky one made after I noticed that you’ve been frequently checking something in your inner pocket and having an absent-minded look on your face over the past few days.”

Ling Zhang was slightly surprised to hear that Yuwen Tong had observed some time ago something had been bothering him.

Just a few moments ago, he had been wondering whether Yuwen Tong had seen the envelope while he had not been paying attention. The parentage of his mother might be a matter of little significance, but it was also possible that this matter was of great importance. In either case, it was not yet the right time to let this come to the knowledge of anybody else. For the moment, he couldn’t tell this to anybody in a worry-free way, and even Yuwen Tong was no exception.

‘And there’s also the issue of our engagement. Given my complicated family background, if I marry Yuwen Tong…

Wait a moment.’

Ling Zhang couldn’t help but raise his head and kneaded his temples again. Now he came to a general understanding of why his grandfather, ever since Yuwen Tong’s arrival in Tanyang, had been so insistent that he marry Yuwen Tong. He also had a shrewd idea why his grandfather had still been wavering on whether he should tell him about the parentage of his mother.

But no matter what, since this matter had already come to his knowledge, he decided that he couldn’t marry Yuwen Tong, at least not when Yuwen Tong was unaware of this.

In other words, he had gone to so much trouble to avenge the sufferings of his family and himself only to find that Ling family were still faced with at least two formidable enemies either of whom could destroy them at any moment.

Yuwen Tong moved Ling Zhang’s hands off his temples and started kneading them for him again. “No matter what it is, I want you to know that I’ll be here with you. I respect you and I won’t pressure you into telling me, but if by any chance it involves some kind of danger, you must tell me.”

After a moment’s silence, Ling Zhang replied, “Um.”

However, because of this single moment’s subtle silence, Yuwen Tong guessed something. His eyes squinted softly and briefly.

‘I knew it. What Ling Zhang is keeping back from me indeed entails danger,’ he thought.

“You’ve got to give me some time to think it through,” Ling Zhang suddenly added.

‘This is enough for me.’ Yuwen Tong, who was brought to a much better mood by this remark, responded, “There’s no hurry. Take your time.”

Ling Zhang raised his eyes and looked at him. “Take my time? I’ll take your word for it.”

Yuwen Tong was reduced to an embarra.s.sed silence.

“No. You should figure it out as soon as possible. I was just trying to be polite. Don’t take my word for it.”

Ling Zhang gave a soft snort. After a few moments’ thinking, he leaned back against Yuwen Tong’s chest to make it more convenient for Yuwen Tong to knead his temples for him.

Seeing Ling Zhang lean against him of his own accord enjoying the ma.s.sage he was giving him, Yuwen Tong was only too anxious to hug him and give him a good long kiss. However, he was still faced with the task of kneading Ling Zhang’s temples, so he had no alternative but to regretfully dismiss this thought.

Maybe because of Yuwen Tong’s presence, though what his uncle told him in the letter had given him a heavy heart, Ling Zhang was not very nervous or afraid. With Yuwen Tong kneading his temples, the headaches gradually disappeared and eventually he drifted off to sleep.

Yuwen Tong s.h.i.+fted Ling Zhang to a more comfortable position and carried him in his arms while he was asleep.

Xia Feng looked over his shoulder. After seeing this through the gap between the curtains, he exhorted the driver to slow the horse-carriage down.

With their carriage decelerating, those behind them naturally slowed down as well. After this speed reduction, the procession, which had not been traveling fast, was almost crawling, as if they were on an excursion.

Noticing that carriages ahead were slowing down, Zhao Pingchuan and others bringing up the rear had no choice but to decelerate as well.

“Come on, not again. Have they any idea how long it’ll take us to get to the capital city if we keep going at this rate?”

On hearing this, Zhang Xi smiled, “How about you go and ask them about it, Commander Zhao?”

Zhao Pingchuan immediately fell silent. ‘This guy wants me to risk angering Yuwen Tong on an occasion of this kind? Does he really think I’m a fool?!’

Zhang Xi flicked him a glance, let down the curtain and his face became expressionless after he sat back in his seat.

He had a sneaking suspicion that the attempted a.s.sa.s.sination with Yuwen Tong as the target the night before had been conducted with Zhao Pingchuan’s full knowledge. He even suspected that it had been a secret task a.s.signed to Zhao Pingchuan by the emperor, one he was not privy to.

During this journey, he had tried to worm something out of Zhao Pingchuan but failed to get anything, which was why Zhang Xi had been sullen all along.

The young eunuch, scared by him, didn’t dare to stay close to him and had been sitting outside the carriage with the driver.

…

It was not until night fell that Ling Zhang woke up. The procession had just past the boundary marker of Tanyang. They would have to sleep in the open this night.

Preoccupied with his own thoughts, Ling Zhang seemed absent-minded even when he was having supper.

After traveling this way for another two days, they arrived in a county in northern Yanzhou.

The county seat covered a rather vast area and this day happened to be the date for some kind of festive occasion, which was why all streets were uproarious.