Yuwen Tong's remarks brought a warm flush to Ling Zhang's cheeks. He hurriedly shifted his gaze elsewhere, too embarrassed to stare at Yuwen Tong's eyes any longer.

Yuwen Tong felt a sense of relief mixed with regret. After all, this was the first time that Ling Zhang had fixed him with a fascinated gaze.

...

"Please punish me, Young Master."

After Yuwen Tong left, Xia Feng knelt down in front of Ling Zhang, admitting his error and requesting punishment.

Technically speaking, Xia Feng's mistake lied in drawing a conclusion without confirming whether Wang Dashan and his men had still been punitively running or not.

However, at that time, Xia Feng had been serving Ling Zhang in the room, which was fairly far away from the guards' yard, so there was no way he could have known the change of situation there.

"Xia Feng, do you still remember, when the betrayal of Wu Er'niu was found out, that servant sent by Steward He came here and informed you of it without any delay?"

"I remember, Young Master."

"What do you think of it?"

"They are in awe of Young Master, so they came here to report immediately."

Ling Zhang let out a sigh. "Is this the only reason you could think of?"

"I..." Xia Feng broke out in a cold sweat.

"These days, every time something happens in this house, big or small, some servant would report it to you, right?"

"Yes."

"You've just mentioned the reason yourself –they are in awe of me. But this is only the reason why they do these things. Have you ever tried to harness them as a source of intelligence?"

Words failed Xia Feng thoroughly.

"If I were you, with such a golden opportunity in front of me, I would definitely have seized it and taken control of all servants in this house, establishing an intelligence network. Just like a spider sitting at the center of its web, once you finish this web, even the slightest movement of the web will come to your knowledge in a timely manner. But currently, you are just passively receiving the information that the servants provide for you, which is why the messages you get are not the latest. They might even be mistaken ones if the servants want them to be."

Xia Feng could actually feel the cold sweat on his back, so ashamed that he couldn't even raise his head.

"You are considerate and poised, which is one of the strengths of yours, but you are not audacious enough, not ambitious enough, and not far-sighted enough."

Xia Feng prostrated himself, his forehead against the ground. "I was terribly wrong and I'm sorry to have put you to such bother, Young Master. Please give me a second chance. I promise I won't let you down."

"You've already got it, but it's not to be taken as a precedent. If you fail to fulfil your promise before I depart for the capital city, you will be left behind in Tanyang."

"Young Master! Please don't give up on me, Young Master!"

"Then don't disappoint me."

Xia Feng kowtowed heavily and promised to his young master that he wouldn't fail him, a determined expression in his eyes.

In fact, Ling Zhang had no intention of replacing Xia Feng with somebody else. Xia Feng had been serving him for many years, and there was a strong bond between them. But in a few days, he was going to leave Tanyang, which was a tiny place compared with the capital city. He must not take a single step without prior contemplation, since he couldn't afford to make any mistakes, neither could he afford to let people around him make any.

After contemplating for a whole night, Ling Zhang had come to realize how wrong he was to lose his temper with Yuwen Tong the day before.

Yuwen Tong, who saw things more clearly than he did, had punished Wang Dashan and the others not only because he had been angry about their failure to keep him safe, but also to motivate Wang Dashan and other security guards, reminding them that they should prepare themselves for going into the capital city.

After motivating Xia Feng, Ling Zhang went to the guards' yard.

Surprisingly, Wang Dashan and his men, who went to sleep rather late the night before because of the punishment, had got up very early this morning and were training more actively and harder than before.

Ling Zhang had already taught them all three arrays. They could now perform the Trap-and-Kill Formation in a fairly proficient way and even stood a decent chance of defeating a kung fu expert.

On this day, he was going to teach them the fourth array of the formation. Of course, before that, he needed to have a talk with them.

"Young Master!"

"What did you come here for, Young Master? You got injured yesterday. Maybe you should stay at home and rest today."

"That's true, Young Master. You're still recovering from the injury in your arm and should try not to move around before it heals up. You can always practice fist technique after recovery."

On noticing Ling Zhang coming to the yard, all security guards walked up to him and expressed their concern for him.

"Young Master, we stand at fault for failing to keep you safe yesterday."

On hearing Qiu Bing's remark, all security guards fell silent, fixing Ling Zhang with a look of guilt.

"I'm partially responsible for what happened yesterday as well. I should have been punished together with you," commented Ling Zhang.

"How can you blame yourself for it, Young Master? It was our negligence that caused the incident. Marshal rebuked us yesterday and we are still in a panic fear. Yesterday, if it weren't for the fact that Marshal arrived in time, we would never be able to atone for our guilt, not even by our deaths."

All security guards had guilty consciences, gazing at Ling Zhang, faces full of uneasiness.

"Young Master, if you have to be punished for this as well, none of us would have the nerve to show our faces in front of you again," observed Wang Dashan.

"Okay, then. Since we are all at fault for what happened yesterday, we should improve ourselves together. Let the incident yesterday be a lesson to us, a reminder that we are not to make the same mistake," commented Ling Zhang.

"Yes, Young Master!" chorused all security guards aloud.

"Today I'm going to teach you the fourth array of the formation. I want all of you to cheer up and put some serious efforts into the learning. Put what happened yesterday behind you."

"Got it!"

"All right. Let's get started."

Ling Zhang spent two hours teaching them the fourth array of the formation. They still needed a lot of practice. It was not something that could be mastered in a short time.

Seeing Ling Zhang had been standing for such a long time, all security guards tried to convince him to go back and have some rest.

Ling Zhang, having no intention of playing tough, said, "I'll come back and check your progress in it tomorrow."

"Rest assured, Young Master, we won't let you down tomorrow," replied Qiu Bing in a loud voice.

"That's right!" all others also hurriedly yelled.

Ling Zhang inclined his head and shifted his gaze on to Liu Yi who was always rather quiet. Liu Yi sensed it, looked back at Ling Zhang and walked up to him. "Young Master."

"I'd like to have a talk with you tomorrow," said Ling Zhang.

From the vantage point of the present, Ling Zhang could basically confirm that Liu Yi harbor no evil intentions, but he had never found the time to talk with Liu Yi to find out what Liu Yi had been keeping back from him. Now that Zhang Chong had been eliminated, he believed that now it was the time.

Liu Yi's face instantly went grave. In a serious tone of voice, he replied, "Yes, Young Master."

After agreeing with Liu Yi on the time for their talk the next day, Ling Zhang summoned Yang Liuzi and some others. A while ago, when Wang Dashan and others had been practicing the formation, Yang Liuzi and a couple of others had been watching on the side, green with envy.

"Young Master!" On hearing Ling Zhang summon them, Yang Liuzi and his fellows immediately gathered around Ling Zhang, gazing at him enthusiastically and expectantly.

Fully aware of what they were thinking, Ling Zhang gave a smile and asked, "Do you want to learn it as well?"

"Yeah. Badly!" replied Yang Liuzi immediately. Others, bursting with impatience, also expressed their desire to learn the formation.

"Okay. I'll teach you," said Ling Zhang.

Overjoyed, Yang Liuzi and the others couldn't help but ask in a delighted tone of voice to confirm it, "Really?"

"Of course." Ling Zhang didn't mind.

"Terrific! Thank you, Young Master!"

"But..." Ling Zhang added slowly. This word immediately dissolved the excitement on the faces of Yang Liuzi and the others. In nervousness, they looked at Ling Zhang.

"But you have to go back to the herb farm first. Zhang Chong is dead, and the Prefecture Guards won't go there to make trouble for you, but those bushrangers and bandits are still a threat. The new garrison should lay siege to the dens of those bushrangers and bandits in the next few days. I fear that some of them might flee to the herb farm, so I'm afraid I'll have to put you to the trouble of guarding the herb farm for another couple of days. You may come back after the new garrison eradicate those bushrangers. And then I'll teach you."

Yang Liuzi and the others had thought that there would be some unexpected turn of events, but it turned out that Ling Zhang just wanted them to guard the herb farm for another couple of days, which was nothing for them, since they could definitely afford to wait for a few more days. As a result, they immediately promised that they would keep the herb farm safe and wouldn't let those bandits and bushrangers cause any harm to people on the farm.

"Okay, then. Liuzi, take them back to the herb farm right now, and deliver this letter to Supervisor Zhou in passing." Ling Zhang fished a letter out of his inner pocket and handed it to Yang Liuzi.

Yang Liuzi took the letter and put it away. "We'll return to the herb farm right away, Young Master. Please take good care of yourself. I hope you'll get better soon."

Ling Zhang inclined his head.

Yang Liuzi and the others quickly packed and then departed for the herb farm immediately.

All these things had been handled, Ling Zhang had to go with Ling Zhaowen to Lu family.

However, when he returned to his place, he was greeted with Yuwen Tong's sulky face.

After a brief trance of surprise, Ling Zhang hurriedly walked up to him and asked, "What's the matter?"

'Is he still angry about what happened yesterday?' he wondered.

"You are still recovering. Why were you in such a hurry to go to the guards' yard to mess around? Are you not afraid that your wound might reopen?" Yuwen Tong fixed him with a disapproving stare, worry gleaming in the depths of his eyes.

Ling Zhang instantly felt a wave of warmth run through him. Meanwhile, a feeling of awkwardness also welled up inside him, as if he had just been caught misbehaving, though he actually believed that he had done nothing wrong.

"I wasn't practicing fist technique. I just told them about the positions and required footwork concerning the new array of the formation. Look, I didn't even work up a sweat. And the wound is fine as well. I'm okay."

Upon saying this, Ling Zhang intended to raise his arm to show Yuwen Tong but was stopped by him. "Okay, I get it. Try not to move your arm. Go inside and dig in. Are you not hungry after messing around for the whole morning?"

Yuwen Tong held the other hand of Ling Zhang and led him into the room. Breakfast had been served, but Xia Feng was not the one waiting on them.

Yuwen Tong slightly squinted his eyes, saying nothing about it.

But Ling Zhang knew that Xia Feng had finally straightened out his thinking and come to realize that instead of making his young master the center of everything he did, he should put more efforts into achieving more.

This servant in the room had also been serving Ling Zhang since childhood, whose background information was clear and definite. He was a man of few words but also unquestionable loyalty.

"Start eating. You still have a bowl of medicine to drink after breakfast." Yuwen Tong guided Ling Zhang to his seat, filled a bowl with rice congee and put it down before him.

After instructing those security guards for a whole morning, Ling Zhang was indeed hungry, but a bowl of rice congee without a shred of meat in it...

"Young Master, there's medicated soup in the congee, which helps to heal wounds. Though it tastes fairly bland, you'll find it satisfactory. Please have a try," explained the servant after seeing him staring emptily at the rice congee.

Ling Zhang took a scoop of it and, like the servant had said, it was a little bland but not utterly tasteless. It was just that the taste of it was slightly weird.

But it didn't change the fact that there was no meat in it.

"They have already begun preparing lunch for you in the kitchen, so please rest assured, Young Master, there will be meat at noon," added the servant.

Ling Zhang blandly gave a bob of his head and the servant, making no further remarks, quietly walked back to the side.

Yuwen Tong sitting in a seat beside him chuckled, "Your family chef is being overprotective. During a war, food for injured soldiers is the same as that of unharmed ones. There's no such fastidiousness."

Ling Zhang silently gave him a dirty look. 'Isn't he supposed to console me under the circumstances? How could he tease me instead?'

'He chose to tease me under these circumstances. Is he not worried that I might refuse to marry him because of this?'

Ling Zhang quietly stared at Yuwen Tong.

Yuwen Tong could scarcely stop himself from laughing, "Okay, okay. Dig in."

'Then stop laughing!' Remaining silent, Ling Zhang cast another glance at him and privately snorted. If it weren't for the fact that he still had a guilty conscience due to what happened yesterday, he would never have tolerated Yuwen Tong laughing so arrogantly.

After breakfast, Ling Zhang changed clothes and then went to Lu family with Ling Zhaowen. Yuwen Tong, heedless of his identity, decided to go with them.

"With you accompanying us, there will no doubt be a sensation. We'll be besieged by those people," observed Ling Zhang.

"Relax. They won't dare," replied Yuwen Tong, clearly very confident about his experience of handling that kind of situation.

It turned out that those people indeed didn't dare to approach. When they were in Lu family, Yuwen Tong maintained a sulky face from start to finish, deterring everyone who had the intention to have a close look at him.

They did admire this legendary war hero of iron will, but they couldn't withstand his killing intent and the air of coldness about him.

Lu Fengnian and Lu Kui walked up to them. Originally, they had meant to accompany Yuwen Tong, but Yuwen Tong drove them away with just a couple of remarks and then stayed by Ling Zhang's side from beginning to end.

Those people indeed didn't dare to approach, but they seemed to have trouble guarding their eyes. Each and every one of them kept looking in his direction, which made Ling Zhang feel very uneasy.

The Taoist priest who was going to perform a ritual even observed that Yuwen Tong was the incarnation of the God of War, that around him was an aura of sacredness deterring all ghosts and evil spirits, that his presence in Lu family was more effective than his performing dozens of rituals.

His remarks sent Ling Zhang into silence. 'If it's really so efficacious, shouldn't I and my family count ourselves extremely lucky?'

Yuwen Tong even whispered into his ears, "Now you know how much good I can do, don't you?"

Ling Zhang was sent speechless with astonishment.

'What a narcissist.'

After quite a long time, the ritual in Lu family was still ongoing. In the realization that they wouldn't be able to make it back in time for lunch, Ling Zhang bade a servant to hurry back home to inform them lest his family chef be kept waiting.

Finally, at noon, the ritual was over. Normally, it was time for guests to take their leave, but due to Yuwen Tong's presence, everybody remained on their seat. None of them had the intention of leaving.

Ling Zhaowen was a close friend of Lu Kui's, so he couldn't be the first one to leave.

Resigned, Ling Zhang had no alternative but to leave with Yuwen Tong first on the pretext of having to return home to change fresh dressing for his wound.

The moment they left, all guests sighed regretfully and then took their leave one after another.

Lu Kui had been busy for a full day, which made his meagre face seem even thinner.

"You really don't look very well. Has anything been bothering you?" asked Ling Zhaowen in a worried tone of voice.

"No. It's just that I'm trying to lose weight. I gained a lot of weight a few days ago and the physician said that I should keep in shape, and I was vexed about it for quite some time. Now it's no longer a problem," laughed Lu Kui heartily. Though looking rather thin, he was in pretty high spirits.

Seeing this, Ling Zhaowen was relieved. "You'll be inaugurated as the Right Tongzhi in the Prefecture Yamen in a couple of days and there will be tons of work waiting for you. You should take some tonics to improve your health before taking office, while you still have the time."

A lot of officials in Tanyang, high-ranking or low-ranking, had been relieved from office. As a result, Tao Feng and Lu Kui had been having quite hectic schedules and wished that if only they had the ability to magically conjure up half a dozen duplicates of themselves to share the burden. If it weren't for the fact that Lu Kui was obliged to be present at this ritual of Lu family, Tao Feng would actually never have granted him the permission to take a day off.

Lu Kui smiled, "Rest assured, I'll manage. In fact, I think there's no need for me to wait for a couple of days. I'll go there tomorrow."

But Ling Zhaowen disapproved. "That's not a good idea. You should take some tonics first. Just rest during the next few days."

Seeing the insistent look on his face, Lu Kui had no choice but to agree.

"The vacancies for county magistrates of the Wu County, the Tai County and the Qi County are a matter of the official circle. What about the others?" asked Lu Kui.

Ling Zhaowen slid a sideways glance at him. "What are you trying to say?"

"This is a golden opportunity!" Lu Kui craned closer to him and observed in an undertone. "None of those rich merchants and squires deeply involved in Zhang Chong's revolt is going to get away with it this time. There are so many properties registered in their names that we can make use of. I'm not talking about doing anything illegal. What I'm saying is that we can buy those properties fair and square. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It will be such a shame if we let it slip away!"

Ling Zhaowen gave a smile and replied, "Had I waited for this to occur to you to take action, it would have been far too late. Rest assured, I've already consulted with Zhang'er and started handling procedures concerning those that we can buy or directly take for free."

"What?! You are leaving me out of this?!" On hearing this, Lu Kui went anxious.