Tao Yi decided to go to the capital city two days later. Seeing Tao Yi was so excited, Ling Zhang regretted a little. But he couldnât tell Tao Yi the truth that he wouldnât see Yuwen Tong even if he went to the capital right now.
Yuwen Tong guessed that the news he was in Tanyang might spread out in the capital soon. Tao Yi would spit out blood with anger when he knew it.
Ling Maomao came back from school when Ling Zhang and Tao were in the restaurant. He rushed to Ling Zhangâs yard with his big dog, Ada, and shouted, âElder brother! Elder brother!â
âSecond young master,â A servant said, âFirst young master is not here.â
âWhere is my elder brother?â Ling Maomao asked.
The servant didnât know Ling Zhang went to see Tao Yi. So he answered, âI donât know, either. He is out for an hour.â
Ling Maomaoâs eyes lit up suddenly. He said, âI know. He must have gone to see Brother Yuwen.â
After that, he ran out of Ling Zhangâs yard and to the Green Bamboo Mansion with Ada hurriedly. The gatekeepers didnât stop Ling Maomao and Ada. After all, Marshal Yuwen had already told them that Ling Zhang and Ling Maomao could enter directly without his permission.
âElder brother! Brother Yuwen!â Ling Maomao shouted as he ran.
Yuwen Tong heard it and went out. He asked, âMaomao, looking for your elder brother?â
âBrother Yuwen, is my elder brother here?â Ling Maomao ran to ask him. Ada ran fast behind him. But it stopped as soon as it saw Yuwen Tong and stood behind Ling Maomao, daring not to come close to Yuwen Tong.
âYour elder brother went out. Someone wanted to see him.â Yuwen Tong said.
âAh? Who is it?â Ling Maomao looked so disappointed.
âTao Yi.â Yuwen Tong answered.
âOh. Brother Tao? Then they must be drinking in Fengtai Restaurant now.â Ling Maomao said.
Drinking? Yuwen Tong raised his eyebrows.
âYou call him Brother Tao. Are you familiar with him?â Yuwen Tong asked.
âBrother Tao is my elder brotherâs friend. I donât know him well. But he is a good man because he always tells me stories about Marshal Yuwen.â
It was interesting that Tao Yi told Marshal Yuwenâs stories to Ling Maomao. Yuwen Tong touched his chin.
âWhat did he tell you? Would you like to share with me? I also heard some of his stories. If yours are great, I will tell you what Iâve heard.â
Ling Maomaoâs eyes lit up quickly, âReally?â
âI never lie.â Yuwen Tong said.
Ling Maomao told Yuwen Tong in haste that he and Ling Zhang met Tao Yi when they walked on the street the other day. He said, âBrother Tao said that Marshal Yuwen is more handsome than the dough figurine my elder brother bought for me!â
Yuwen Tong curled the corner of his mouth. He felt that he found another character of Ling Zhang. To his surprise, Ling Zhang actually bought a dough figurine of him for Maomao.
âHe is right. I⦠Marshal Yuwen is more handsome and stronger than the little dough figurine.â
âIâve told you that. You should tell me stories about Marshal Yuwen!â Ling Maomao urged.
âOkay. Come here and Iâll tell you.â Yuwen Tong brought him into the house.
Ling Maomao followed and sat on the chair obediently, looking at Yuwen Tong with expectation.
âWhat do you want to hear?â Yuwen Tong asked.
âI want to hear everything about him!â Ling Maomao said loudly.
âThere are so many stories. You are too young to hear the bloody facts in war. Iâll tell you a story about how scared the enemies got when seeing Marshal Yuwen.â Yuwen Tong said without any shame.
âOkay, great.â âDo you know Wan Country?â Yuwen Tong asked.
âYes. It is our enemy with wild ambition.â Ling Maomao answered.
âYou are right. There was a general called Chen Feng in Wan Country. He was is empressâs younger brother and got his position with the help of his elder sister. He was a stupid fat man. But he was so arrogant and ambitious, craving for greatness and success. When he came to the front line, he dared to provoke me⦠Marshal Yuwen on the first day. He claimed that he would behead Marshal Yuwen and take his head back to be rewarded.â Yuwen Tong said.
Ling Maomao gasped in astonishment and asked anxiously, âWhat happened next?â
âMarshal Yuwen didnât say anything to him. He took an arrow and shot him directly. The arrow went straight into his hair, bruising his scalp. His blood fell down, which frightened him so that he wetted his pants. Then he tumbled off a horse and his fat body didnât stop after rolling several times. Everyone was laughing at him.â Yuwen Tong said.
âWow. Marshal Yuwen is so great!â Ling Maomao said with his shiny eyes.
Yuwen Tong was happy in his heart. He asked, âGuess what happened next?â
âWhat happened?â Ling Maomao asked him quickly.
âChen Feng suffered from a serious illness when he went back, which made him become thin. Then he escaped to the capital if Wan Country as soon as he recovered.â Yuwen Tong said.
âAh? He ran away.â Ling Maomao said disappointingly.
âMarshal Yuwen did that intentionally.â Yuwen Tong said.
âWhy?â Ling Maomao couldnât understand it.
âAlthough Chen Feng was a fool, he had an elder sister who loved him so much. In order to avenge him, she vilified Xue Chi, the general of Wan Country, in front of the emperor. Xue Chi was in frontier at that time. Then he lost his position and went back to stay at home in Wan Country.â Yuwen Tong explained.
Ling Maomao did not fully understand. He asked, âThen what happened?â
âLater, the new general of Wan Country was worse than Xue Chi and was killed by Marshal Yuwen.â Yuwen Tong continued.
Ling Maomao was shocked. Then he finally understood it and praised, âMarshal Yuwen is so clever!â
âHe is not bad.â Yuwen Tong was not humble at all.
âYou told him that. What if he inadvertently disclosed that to others?â Ling Zhangâs voice came from the door.
Yuwen Tong turned back and looked at him, âWhat do you think of the story?â
Ling Zhang walked into the house and said, âGreat.â
Hearing it, Yuwen Tong felt he was happier than hearing Ling Maomaoâs praise.
âMaomao, you canât tell others the story Brother Yuwen just told you. Do you understand?â Ling Zhang said in a serious tone.
Ling Maomao nodded, âI get it. I wonât tell others.â
âBrother Yuwen, do you know other stories?â He looked at Yuwen Tong with expectations.
Yuwen Tong took a look at Ling Zhang and said, âOnly story a day. I need some time to recall themâ
Ling Maomao was a little disappointed, but also pleasant when he knew that he could hear a story every day. He promised, âIâll come here every day.â
âMaomao, you canât always come to bother Brother Yuwen.â Ling Zhang looked at him seriously.
âIt doesnât matter. I will ask people to tell him if I am busy.â Yuwen Tong said.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
Ling Zhang looked at him disapprovingly. But he didnât have the heart to turn down Ling Maomaoâs request when seeing the expectation in his eyes. So he had to agree with Yuwen Tong.
âElder brother, when did you come back?â Ling Maomao asked.
âI came back when you were immersed in the story.â Ling Zhang said.
âI have a day off tomorrow. Letâs go out to play!â Ling Maomao suggested.
âIâm busy tomorrow. I have no time to play with you.â Ling Zhang said. Yuwen Tong said they had only half a month. So he had to make some arrangements.
âWhat are you busy with?â Ling Maomao was a bit disappointed.
âItâs not safe outside recently. Letâs go out next time. I will ask the kitchen to prepare your favorite dessert tomorrow.â Ling Zhang comforted him.
âOkay. Why is it dangerous outside?â Ling Maomao asked.
âThere are some bad guys.â Ling Zhang said.
âWho are they?â Ling Maomao asked again.
âThey want to harm our Ling Family.â Ling Zhang explained.
Ling Maomao was shocked. Did anyone plan to hurt Ling Family?
âSo you should be vigilant when at school. You canât walk around. When seeing strangers, you should avoid and ignore them. Do you understand? Youâd better stay with guards and servants. Donât be out of their sights.â Ling Zhang told him.
Seeing his elder brotherâs serious attitude, Ling Maomao didnât dare to refuse.
After staying at Yuwen Tongâs house for a short time, he finally left with Ada.
âThe story that you told Maomao⦠is it real?â Ling Zhang asked Yuwen Tong.
âOf course it is.â Yuwen Tong said.
âWhat happened after the new general was killed?â Ling Zhang asked.
âThe Wan Country sends emissary to sue for peace. They will arrive at the capital soon.â Yuwen Tong said.
Ling Zhang finally understood that Yuwen Tongâs story was about the war this time.
âYou didnât kill Chen Feng because you believed he would let his elder sister try to get Xue Chi back?â Ling Zhang asked.
Yuwen Tong poured a cup of tea and drank it before saying, âI was not sure. But I thought it would probably happen. Besides Chen Feng, Chen Family has always wanted to aim at Xue Chi. The emperor of Wan Country was afraid that Xue Chi would threaten his power because he had got military power for a long time. The two parties wanted to weaken Xue Chi. But they didnât find an opportunity. And Chen Feng was the opportunity I offered to them.â
âNo wonder Wan Country dared to change the general in the war just because of such a ridiculous matter.â Ling Zhang said.
Yuwen Tong smiled mysteriously, âWan Country might be stupid sometimes. But it is also clever.â
âWhy?â Ling Zhang looked at him in confusion.
âAfter that, our emperor would definitely insist on asking me to stay in the capital. Wan Country doesnât want me to go back to frontier, either. They sue for peace this time, but their true intention is to frame me up before our emperor. Our old emperor has a very suspicious mind. My military exploit is so high that he canât sleep well. With the instigation of Wan Country, it wonât be long before he schemes something to find fault with me.â Yuwen Tong said.
Ling Zhang was shocked, âWhy did you come to Tanyang? You should go back to the capital soon.â
Seeing that Ling Zhang was worried about him, Yuwen Tong felt quite happy in his heart. He said, âDonât worry. He always wants to let me stay in the capital. But he never succeeded. No one can make me stay in the capital if I want to leave.â
Ling Zhang heaved a long sign of relief, âBut how do you resolve this problem?â
âIâve got a plan. We just have to be patient.â Yuwen Tong said.
What was all that secrecy about? But Ling Zhang was assured by Yuwen Tongâs confident attitude.
âNevertheless, he is the emperor, the most powerful man in our country. If he decides to do you harm, how could you avoid it?â
Yuwen Tong sneered, âThe imperial power sometimes is nothing.â
Then his face changed suddenly. He said to Ling Zhang, âSince you worry about me, why donât you go to the capital with me?â
Ling Zhang was stunned. âGo to the capital with Yuwen Tong?â