Chapter 149: A Competition Between the New One and the Old One
Translator: DragonRider
After returning to his own courtyard with the letter in his inner front pocket, Ling Zhang reached into the pocket and held a corner of the envelope. He was eager to open it and read the letter right away, but his uncle’s previous words ca to mind and he held the impulsion back.
‘All I want to know is in this letter.’ Thinking of this, he felt an urge to depart for the capital city imdiately.
Yuwen Tong, who noticed that he was in a trance, asked, “What’s the matter? I can see that your mind is wandering.”
Ling Zhang shook his head, making no reply. It was not that he didn’t trust Yuwen Tong but that even he himself had no idea what was inside the letter, so he didn’t know how to explain.
For a few monts, Yuwen Tong seed to be pondering over sothing, but he didn’t persist with his questioning. Instead, he offered, “Let’s go to the street tomorrow.”
This was the first ti that Yuwen Tong had invited him to go to the street. Ling Zhang asked curiously, “What do you want to buy?”
Yuwen Tong answered, “We’ll have to pay a visit to my uncle after we return to the capital city. It’ll lift his spirits even more if you bring him so Tanyang specialties.”
Ling Zhang imdiately understood but also went nervous. “Ur... Are there any preferences of your uncle?”
Yuwen Tong replied, “He likes liquor.”
Ling Zhang’s eyes lit up. Tanyang was famous for a variety of dicinal wine, each of which had its own curative effects against certain dical conditions, and many of which were suitable for people of advanced years.
Ling family had their own herb farms, so of course they also made dicinal wine.
Actually his grandfather had treasured up quite a lot.
Ling Zhang told Yuwen Tong about this. “What do you think? I can go and get a jar or two from my grandfather.”
Yuwen Tong inclined his head. “That’ll do.”
Ling Zhang observed in an animated tone of voice, “His dicinal wine is milder than the Pear Blossom Wine that you brought here that day. It’s of less pungency, but after you drink it, its taste lingers. It helps with sleep and reduce ostalgia caused by rheumatism as well. It’s just that I don’t know whether your uncle prefers liquor or sothing milder. If he is used to drinking liquor, I’m afraid this dicinal wine might not be strong enough.”
“It’s okay. My uncle will love it as long as it’s good. If it’s really beneficial to health, that’ll be even better. My uncle is at his advanced age, and his shoulders ache every ti it gets windy or rainy.”
On hearing this, Ling Zhang ca to realize what kind of dicinal wine the old man needed.
Ling Zhang went to Ling Xingzhong’s place, stated his business and eventually asked, “Grandfather, can I have a jar or two of dicinal wine?”
Ling Xingzhong chuckled, “By all ans. Did Marshal ntion whether or not there are any chronic dical conditions that his uncle has been suffering from for years? If there are any, you should take the kind that has the needed efficacy. If there are not, take the kind that is good for health.”
“He did ntion this.” Ling Zhang related to his grandfather what Yuwen Tong had told him earlier.
Ling Xingzhong gave a bob of his head and bade so servants to get four jars of wine from the wine cellar. Two of them had the curative effect against ostalgia caused by rheumatism, and the other two helped improve people’s constitution. The amount of ti that dicinal materials had been soaking in them was perfect.
“Grandfather, two jars will suffice,” Ling Zhang hurriedly said.
His grandfather had preserved the wine for himself. And the jar was pretty big, so two jars would be more than enough.
“The more the better. Nobody gets blad for bringing too many gifts.” Ling Xingzhong, who didn’t begrudge the wine, insisted and had the servants get four jars out of the cellar.
Since his grandfather insisted, Ling Zhang had no choice but to agree.
“But with these jars of wine on the horse-drawn carriage, you should be more careful on your journey to the capital city. It would be a great pity if any of them broke,” Ling Xingzhong exhorted him.
“I’ll take care,” replied Ling Zhang.
These jars of wine happened to give them reason to take their ti on the journey, and they wouldn’t have to make haste.
Apart from getting these four jars of wine, Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong also went to the street to buy so more gifts.
His family had prepared a couple of bags of precious dicinal herbs of high quality, which had been growing for many years before being harvested and preserved, so Ling Zhang didn’t have to buy any gifts of this kind.
But there were also so other local specialties in Tanyang, so when the shopping was over, they found that they had bought a lot of things.
On their way back, Ling Zhang specially paid a visit to Tao Feng on his own, asking Tao Feng whether or not there was anything particular he would like him to deliver to Tao Yi.
Tao Feng had indeed prepared a lot of things that he wanted Ling Zhang to deliver to Tao Yi in the capital city, but none of them were for Tao Yi. They had been ant for the teacher of Tao Yi as well as Tao Feng’s own teacher.
Heedless of whom these things Tao Feng had ant for, Ling Zhang agreed to help him deliver them to his son. Because there were too many of them, Ling Zhang didn’t take them ho but told Tao Feng to have them loaded onto a horse-drawn cart, saying that he would sent soone here to drive the horse-drawn cart away three days later when he departed for the capital city.
But Tao Feng said, “I’ve already arranged for soone to drive the cart, so there’s no need for you to send another cart-driver here. I myself will go to the city gate to see Marshal off. Let’s et there.”
Ling Zhang felt that this was even better. “So it’s settled.”
There had also been an imperial edict ant for Tao Feng, in which the emperor praised him for his ritorious service in this incident in Tanyang. There was also a vague indication in it that Tao Feng might be transferred to the capital city when his tenure as a governor was over.
During Ling Zhang’s stay in Tao Feng’s place, there had never been a single instant when smile was absent from Tao Feng’s face.
After taking his leave of Tao Feng, Ling Zhang went back ho.
In the afternoon, he took Maomao to the street and specially brought him to the Fengtai Pavilion to enjoy snacks. The two brothers had a good ti and didn’t return ho until night.
After returning ho, Ling Maomao first took a bath and then ca to Ling Zhang’s bedroom, his pillow in his arms, followed by Ada wagging its tail.
Ling Zhang ca to know what his younger brother wanted the mont he saw him. He gave the boy a gentle slap on the hip, told him to put the pillow on the bed and instructed a servant to wash Ada clean.
The Hai Hour (21:00-22:59) was almost over when they got everything done and went to bed. Ling Maomao went sleepy almost imdiately after lying down. Leaning against Ling Zhang, he said, “Elder Brother...”
“Sleep. I can see that you could barely keep your eyes open,” said Ling Zhang affectionately.
Ling Maomao replied “Um” and forced his eyes open to glance at him. After confirming that his elder brother was indeed on the bed with him, the boy, unable to resist the overwhelming sleepiness, closed his eyes and fell asleep almost in an instant.
Ling Zhang craned beyond the edge of the bed, blew off the candle and laid back down, his heart weighed down by the unwillingness to leave as he watched Ling Maomao sleeping soundly.
This was going to be the first ti that he journeyed to a distant city in both this incarnation and the last one, and he would be away from ho for quite a long ti. Even he himself had no idea what the future held for him.
He was just following his heart. He had already collected the huge debt of blood, and now, because there were so people in the capital city with whom he had a score to settle, and also because of... Yuwen Tong, he must go to the capital city. And he also had a premonition that only by leaving Tanyang could he be able to find more information on his mother and that person. No matter what, he must find more about the truth, so that this second incarnation of his wouldn’t fall aningless, and it was also the only way for him to find peace of mind.
As a result, no matter how much he begrudged leaving, he must do it.
...
The departure for the capital city was only two days away. Wang Dashan and other security guards, who had just mastered a new array of the Trap-and-kill Formation, were racing ti practicing the sixth array of it.
Yang Liuzi and so others were still learning the first array.
The first array was fundantal to future progress. Once they laid a solid foundation by mastering the first array, it would be easier and easier for them to learn the subsequent ones.
The training of Wang Dashan and his n had been a concrete proof of this. Originally, Ling Zhang had only ant them to learn three arrays, but unexpectedly, after laying a solid foundation by mastering the first and the second arrays, they had been developing proficiency in the following arrays at an increasingly fast pace, and the amount of ti they needed to master an array had been getting shorter and shorter, which had been quite a pleasant surprise for Ling Zhang.
What was different was that, on this day, apart from them, who numbered twenty-four, there were also twenty-four newly recruited security guards present in the guards’ yard.
Knowing that these n were here to substitute for them as security guards of Ling family, Wang Dashan and his n were both happy and subtly hostile towards them.
They were happy because they could now follow their young master to the capital city secure in the knowledge that so other n would be performing their duties after they left.
But they were also subtly hostile towards them because these n were going to replace them becoming family security guards of Ling family. During the past over a month, Wang Dashan and his n had been having an increasingly strong sense of group identity while serving Ling family, and they had almost subconsciously begun to regard this place as their ho. As a result, they couldn’t help but show faint hostility when these newcors showed up trying to “snatch” their positions.
They found this even more unacceptable after hearing that their second master had long ago selected these n as substitutes for them, that all of them had so skills.
Therefore, Wang Dashan and his n had already covertly made so trouble for these newcors by, without Ling Zhang’s knowledge of it, challenging them to a secret competition.
Twenty-four n versus twenty-four n. Single combat. There were twelve rounds in total. And they took turns to fight.
At first, Qiu Bing and so others took the opponents lightly, believing that these newcors were by no ans their match, but when Zhou Xiang was defeated by his opponent, they dismissed their underestimation of those n from their minds imdiately.
After over a month’s training, all of them had changed considerably and beco much more discreet.
“Given the current circumstances, none of you are to preserve any strength. Do your level best. This is about the reputation of all the twenty-four of us. Don’t give these new guys the chance to look down upon us!” instructed Wang Dashan from behind them.
After they adopted a more serious attitude towards this competition, situation took a favorable turn. Though they suffered another couple of defeats, Wang Dashan and his n secured more victories than the other side.
Seeing this, Wang Dashan secretly felt a sense of relief. If their young master found out that they challenged newly recruited security guards to a competition and lost it, they would definitely have so serious trouble justifying themselves.
The other side, after suffering the seventh defeat, began to take Wang Dashan and his n seriously. “We lost, and we will run in the guards’ yard for two hours with rocks on our heads as agreed.”
Qiu Bing and others exchanged glances and gave a chuckle of complacency.
Wang Dashan stepped forward and said, “We were just joking when we said that losers were to run with rocks on their heads. We challenged you to this competition mainly because we intended to get to know our new brothers. We are also family security guards of Ling family just like you. Though we are going to the capital city with young master very soon, our identities will never change, so we are brothers. ‘No discord, no concord.’ Please don’t take that joke seriously.”
‘Don’t be ridiculous. How am I supposed to explain if I have you guys run and young master sees?’ he thought.
The twenty-four n on the other side exchanged glances and one of them replied, “All right.”
In fact, these twenty-four n had had little acquaintance with each other, and remarkably, after having this competition with Wang Dashan’s n as a group, they beca much more acquainted with each other and also more united, and the teamwork between them also improved sowhat.
After generously stated that this competition had rely been ant as a thod of getting acquainted with new brothers, Wang Dashan and his n, who believed that they had successfully dealt newcors a head-on blow at their first encounter, hurriedly resud their training in the formation.
These newly recruited security guards had actually so ti ago noticed what they had been doing, but they couldn’t understand their moves, so all of them were very curious.
They had felt too embarrassed to ask, but after the competition, an inquiry about it seed to have beco a less difficult task. As a result, soone asked, “Captain Wang, may I ask what you are doing?”
It was after a few monts’ trance that Wang Dashan realized that the man was asking him a question, but he made no imdiate response. Instead, he asked a question, “Well, this is good stuff. Did any of you get a grasp of it?”
Those twenty-four n exchanged glances with one another in private and then one of them stepped forward. “Are you training in so kind of martial formation?”
‘Oh, there is indeed soone with discernnt among them,’ Wang Dashan thought.
Not only Wang Dashan and his n but also Xie Shi, who had been covertly observing them, flicked an appraising glance at the speaker after hearing the question.
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