Chapter 333 - The Enemy Took the Bait, but the Marshal Was Still Jealous All Day (1/2)

“There has been a rise in the number of wounded soldiers recently, and some of them have to be transferred back into the city. As there are not enough physicians in the city, physicians in Youzhou are being drafted in as a matter of urgency. I wonder if you and your father could offer some help before the physicians arrive.”

At night, Yuwen Tong suddenly brought this matter up. After hearing this, Ling Zhang just paused for a fleeting moment before agreeing, “No problem. I’m sure my father will be glad to help. I’ll talk to him early tomorrow morning and then go back to the city with the injured.”

Yuwen Tong stepped over, put his arms around Ling Zhang and said, “I’ll go back to the city to keep you company by night.”

On hearing this, Ling Zhang rejected the offer. “No. Shuttling between two places is too much trouble. You’re the commander-in-chief and there are a lot of matters you need to deal with. If you don’t rest well at night, things could easily go wrong. Us not seeing each other for a couple of days wouldn’t be a big deal, but this army needs its commander to be in position. You staying healthy is the most important thing.”

Yuwen Tong looked at him. “At least let me pay you a visit every other day, okay?”

Ling Zhang said, “Cut the nonsense. The execution of your plan is at a crucial juncture. We can’t afford to let anything go awry.”

Unhappy, Yuwen Tong hugged Ling Zhang and caressed him and kept silent for a long moment.

Stroking his back, Ling Zhang said gently, “We have to win, because after we win, we’ll go back to the capital city to get married.”

Yuwen Tong uttered “Um” in a deep voice and lay down onto the bed with Ling Zhang in his embrace, making out.

…

The next day, Ling Zhang told Ling Zhaowu about that matter and, unsurprisingly, Ling Zhaowu agreed almost without thinking. The two of them went into the city with the team of soldiers transferring the wounded. Naturally, w.a.n.g Dashan and the others went with them, along with the guards from the Millennium Pavilion.

Yuwen Tong escorted them back to the city. Ling Zhang and the others would be staying in the headquarters in the city.

“You’ve been here for quite some time and should go back right away. Deputy Commander Jiang and the others would get anxious if anything comes up and they couldn’t find you,” said Ling Zhang, looking at Yuwen Tong.

Yuwen Tong heaved a sigh. Seeing there was n.o.body else around, he gave Ling Zhang a quick peck on the cheek, lingered for a while longer and then reluctantly exited the city.

Ling Zhang followed Yuwen Tong with his eyes as he left. After quite some time, he pivoted around and returned to the place he’d be staying in during the next few days. He and Ling Zhaowu needed to help the physicians settle the injured soldiers that had just been transferred.

Yuwen Tong had just returned to the military encampment outside the city when Jiang Xi came out of nowhere and said, “Has Childe Ling settled in? Did he suspect anything?”

“I’ve got him settled. For the present he’s not suspicious of anything,” replied Yuwen Tong.

“That Shan Congwen guy is such a sly a.s.shole. He pulled this nasty trick on us and now we have to play it his way,” huffed Jiang Xi.

“We can’t expect to have them take the bait without paying a price,” said Yuwen Tong.

Jiang Xi flicked him a glance and thought, ‘You’re saying this, but the dark look on your face suggests otherwise.’

Yuwen Tong entered the main tent with a sulky face. Before long, he summoned all his generals. With a cold face, he consulted with them and eventually drew up a series of plans aimed at ambus.h.i.+ng the allied forces of the Wan Kingdom and the Luohai Kingdom, the Wan Kingdom’s army being the primary target. It seemed that he was determined to wipe out the whole army of the Wan Kingdom.

Jiang Xi, who was getting chills up his spine, stroked his back, thinking that a man could get so scary when forced to part from his partner, that under no circ.u.mstances should he do anything that might anger the Marshal at this point in time.

…

After moving into the headquarters in the city, Ling Zhang was unable to get up-to-date messages about the situation in the encampment outside the city.

“You are not anxious any more?” asked Ling Zhaowu, applying a dressing to a soldier’s wound and bandaging it.

On hearing this, Ling Zhang who was putting things away answered matter-of-factly, “I am, but given that he suddenly sent me away on that pretext, there must be something he doesn’t want me to know about, presumably because he wants to save me worrying. Had I insisted on staying in the encampment outside the city, he would’ve had some misgivings about doing what he has to do, which would’ve made things more dangerous for him.”

Ling Zhaowu cast him a surprised look. “I thought you really believed his excuse.”

Ling Zhang gave a brief smile. Of course he had perceived Yuwen Tong’s contradictory behavior and come to know that something was wrong. The day before Yuwen Tong had wanted him to stay by his side at all times, but now Yuwen Tong had sent him downtown on the lame pretext of needing him to help tend the injured because of understaffing. Even if he hadn’t come to realize the truth when he agreed, he should’ve caught on to it some time ago.

“What kind of danger do you think he’s faced with which made him decide to send you here?” inquired Ling Zhaowu, who had finished bandaging the soldier’s wound and was making towards another one.

Following in his wake, Ling Zhang responded, “I’ve got some suspicions.”

As there were outsiders present, it was inappropriate to be specific about this matter, so Ling Zhaowu didn’t persist with his questioning to get more details. After hearing Ling Zhang’s reply, he said, “Considering even the Clan Leader has to cooperate with him, you may rest a.s.sured that nothing will happen to him, and there’s no doubt he’ll succeed in achieving his goal.”

Naturally, Ling Zhang also had faith in Yuwen Tong, but it couldn’t stop him from worrying about Yuwen Tong.

…

A few days later, the growing conflict between Yuwen Tong and Shao Feng, the general in charge of the defense of Youzhou, suddenly was settled, because Shao Feng personally went to meet Yuwen Tong, admitted his mistakes and apologized to him. The tension in the atmosphere in the encampment outside the border city instantly dissolved, and a lot of people felt greatly relieved.