It was Yuwen Tong who noticed that there seemed to be something behind Ling Zhang's silence. "What's wrong?"

Subconsciously, Ling Zhang shook his head. "Nothing."

Yuwen Tong squinted his eyes. Clearly, Ling Zhang was keeping something back from him.

Ling Zhang, beneath his gaze, was afraid of being found out and intended to change the topic. Before he could speak, Yuwen Tong persisted, "You don't want to move into the residence of Yuwen family?"

Taken aback, Ling Zhang immediately responded without thinking, "It's not about that!"

Yuwen Tong squinted his eyes even further, which were alarmingly piercing, as if he would see straight into Ling Zhang's soul.

Ling Zhang was transfixed with such nervousness that he was involuntarily trying to keep his breathing shallow.

"Someone told you something. Tell me –was it your grandfather or your uncle?"

This reply sent Ling Zhang speechless.

He had not uttered a single word about it, yet somehow Yuwen Tong guessed everything. 'How did he come to know me so well?!' he wondered.

"It's–It's just that..." Ling Zhang gave a soft cough, steeled himself and told the truth. "I intend to buy a house in the capital city, a spacious one."

Before Yuwen Tong could make a reply, Ling Zhang hurriedly continued, "Let me explain. I plan to start a business. Currently, my family sell our herbs to other stores in the city. This time, I want to open a drug store in the capital city selling medicinal materials transported there from Tanyang. I know it's not going to be easy, of course. Building a trade caravan alone will take quite some doing, but at least Ling family will gradually gain a foothold in the capital city and will no longer be so vulnerable as to have no other social contacts there. Apart from this, I also have a plan to study in the Oriental Rite Academy."

Ling Zhang told Yuwen Tong about his general future plan. In order to make his words more convincing, he added through gritted teeth, "You also don't like the idea of me being able to leave whenever I want to, I suppose? If Ling family has a business foundation in the capital city, theoretically, I will settle down there."

Yuwen Tong gazed at him, making no instant response.

Ling Zhang looked back at him in perturbation and nervousness.

Suddenly, Yuwen Tong heaved a sigh and replied, "Then let's do it your way."

Eek? Ling Zhang was surprised. "You agreed?"

"If I disagree, will you be racking your brains trying to figure out a way to convince me?"

Ling Zhang flicked him an embarrassed glance, thinking, 'O–Of course I will.'

"Then let's do it your way. You've got a point, actually. With your family business there, I won't have to worry that you might leave. But I'll buy the house for you. The capital city is more familiar to me than it is to you, so I stand a better chance of buying you a house in an area with more convenient transportation. Also, I'm more experienced than you in how to revamp a house to make it more defensively advantageous. Rest assured, after buying it, I'll consult with you before the revamp."

Ling Zhang fixed him with a look in silence for quite a while and then replied in a deep voice, "Okay."

What could possibly worry him when Yuwen Tong had promised to handle this for him? It was just that he had owed Yuwen Tong yet another favor...

"But," Yuwen Tong added, "I'll also revamp the courtyard house in the residence of Yuwen family as planned. That place is meant for you, and you may move in there whenever you like. I will not take no for an answer."

Of course Ling Zhang couldn't refuse. Yuwen Tong had already made a compromise. If he refused, he would no doubt be denied the chance of living elsewhere.

Yuwen Tong let out a sigh. "Since you insist on finding another place to live, you have to pick up the pace in training those twenty security guards of yours lest they be unable to be of service when they are needed to."

Ling Zhang replied, "I sent them to the herb farm. They'll be back after the new Prefecture Guards eradicate those bushrangers and bandits."

'Strangely enough, it's been several days already, why isn't Dai Cheng taking any action?' he wondered.

Clearly, Yuwen Tong had also thought of this, the look on his face slightly cold.

Naturally, shortly after, Yuwen Tong went to the encampment of the Tanyang Prefecture Guards. The content of the conversation between him and Dai Cheng was unknown, but the next day, Dai Cheng obediently led his men out of the encampment to deal with bushrangers and bandits.

Surprisingly, the bushrangers had foreseen that the new Prefecture Guards would sooner or later launch an operation against them, and around half of them had already fled!

The remaining half of them were real outlaws, who were ferocious and totally unafraid of the Prefecture Guards. Having made preparations for this day, they fought against Dai Cheng's men.

Due to the adequate preparations of those outlaws and Dai Cheng's unfamiliarity with the terrains of Tanyang, the battle, unexpectedly, reached an impasse.

When the battle situation came to the knowledge of Yuwen Tong, his face went cold. After quite a while, he said angrily, "What a good-for-nothing!" and then instructed Yao Yi, "Yao Yi! Go and give Dai Cheng a hand."

The flinty tone of Yuwen Tong sent a cold shiver of fear running through Yao Yi, who immediately followed the order.

'The Marshal was not just angry. There was murderousness on his face!'

'But why was the Marshal so anxious this time?' Yao Yi wondered for quite a while but failed to grasp the reason.

When Dai Cheng saw Yao Yi coming, the corners of his eyes involuntarily twitched for quite some time before he managed to forbear from asking him to return.

"The Marshal said that you were not doing your job fast enough and sent me here to give you a hand."

This remark sent Dai Cheng into huffing and puffing, but what could he possibly do about it? Of course he had no alternative but to accept the offer of help. He couldn't just go back to argue with Yuwen Tong. Even if he did that, he didn't really stand a chance of besting Yuwen Tong.

Given the circumstances, Dai Cheng had every reason to be angry.

"General, it's our fault. We're useless," observed a trusted man of Dai Cheng, head hanging.

"Save it. I know very well whether you are useful or useless. These bushrangers are worming their way here and there in these mountain forests of Tanyang. They are even more cunning than foxes. Given their familiarity with the terrains and their topographicalal advantages, it's impossible for us to eradicate them in one breath, so stop belittling yourself and pull it together. Don't give Yuwen Tong another chance to laugh at us!"

"Yes, Young Master!"

Yao Yi had brought with him a topographical map of Tanyang. On the map, all special terrains, particularly those mountain forests where bushrangers were hiding, were expressly marked.

Dai Cheng goggled at the map for quite a while before asking in an amazed tone of voice, "How did you come to get this thing?!"

'Even Yuwen Tong himself wouldn't have shown this thing to me like this!

Besides, even Yuwen Tong is not allowed to possess a map of Tanyang as detailed as this one. Does he not know that His Majesty is already in constant fear of him?! Is he not afraid that I might report to His Majesty that he put this map right in front of me?!' Dai Cheng wondered.

Yao Yi replied in a calm tone of voice. "Lord Tao gave me this."

In the yamen, Tao Feng gave a sneeze, unaware that someone had just made him a scrapegoat.

"Tao Feng gave you this?" Dai Cheng's brow corrugated in a frown.

"There used not to be any bushrangers here, and every five years, some staff members of the yamen would come here to scout out the lie of the land and update the topographical map. What's so strange about it? These years, there haven't been any earthquakes or other geological calamities severe enough to change the terrains, so this map could still be of service to us."

The light dawned on Dai Cheng. 'It was stupid of me to have forgotten this.'

However...

"What about these?" Dai Cheng pointed at the detailed annotations on the map. 'This is way too exhaustive,' he thought.

"I caught a fleeing bushranger and had him make some supplements," responded Yao Yi.

This answer sent Dai Cheng into silence.

Yao Yi's explanation sounded perfectly plausible, leaving no room for contradiction.

With the topographical map and some suggestions that Yao Yi provided, Dai Cheng's men finally broke the deadlock. They quickly found a breakthrough point and broke into the den of those bushrangers at one fell swoop.

This battle lasted a full day before came to an end.

Yao Yi quietly left in the knowledge that Dai Cheng was able to finish the job by himself.

Seeing him leaving, Dai Cheng secretly felt a sense of relief, but at the same time, he also nursed a grievance. Having no other ways to vent his anger, he channeled it into the fight against those bushrangers. Before long, he wiped out all enemies –literally all of them –taking no prisoners.

Finally, the scourge of bushrangers and bandits that had been haunting Tanyang for so many years was brought to an end.

People on the herb farm were also relieved to hear the news. Ling Zhang hired another five security guards and assigned them to the herb farm to perform routine guard duty. Yang Liuzi and the other eleven men were recalled to the residence of Ling family.

Shortly after their return, Yang Liuzi and the others were subjected to harsh training given by Ling Zhang. The rudimentary knowledge of formation alone gave them frequent headaches and dizzy spells. What was more horrifying was that Wang Dashan and some others were eyeing them on the side with severe faces. If any of them dared to slack off, ruthless punishment would immediately be meted out by their brothers.

Yang Liuzi and the others had been tense for a whole day. When the night finally fell, all of them lapsed into sleep almost immediately after their heads touched the pillow. They slept so deeply that even the collapse of the sky might not be enough to awake them.

"Tsk, what a bunch of good-for-nothings. It's just some elementary-level knowledge, yet they got so exhausted. Yang Liuzi and his fellows are so disappointing," observed Qiu Bing at the doorway, arms folded across his chest, watching Yang Liuzi and some others who, heedless of what kind of scene they might be, were huddled together sleeping.

"Tell me about it. Fortunately it was us that Young Master instructed first. Otherwise Young Master would definitely have been terribly angry," replied Zhou Xiang standing beside him, arms folded across his chest as well.

Wang Dashan walked up to them from behind and gave each of them a hard clout with his fingers. "You two are always the talkiest. What makes you think you get to be so smug? You were no better than them when you started your training. Go and turn in right now!"

Qiu Bing and Zhou Xiang, holding the back side of their heads, hurriedly ran away.

Wang Dashan looked at Yang Liuzi and others who were sleeping inside in an undignified manner. After quite a while, he shook his head, heaved a sigh, turned around and left. Before leaving, he commented, "So disappointing."

Had Yang Liuzi and the others been still awake, they would probably brush side the so-called brotherhood and pick up a fight with them.

The next day, Yang Liuzi and others were dragged out of their beds. This time around, it was not Ling Zhang but Yuwen Tong who was going to teach them.

Legs of Yang Liuzi and others started trembling with horror after they were informed of this. "The Mar–Marshal?!"

'My goodness. Will we be able to survive?!'

Yuwen Tong's impassive expression alone struck fear into their hearts. Since Ling Zhang, who went to the Qi County with Ling Zhaowen on this day, didn't have the time to teach them, Yuwen Tong substituted him.

"I'm fully aware of what you were taught yesterday. Now you are to repeat it in front of me. I'll ask you some questions. If any of you gives a wrong answer or a wrong demonstration...Heh."

The threatening chuckle at the end of Yuwen Tong's remarks made calves of Yang Liuzi and others tremble even more violently.

"Mar–Marshal, I'm ready to answer your questions!" said Yang Liuzi aloud who had managed to stop his legs from trembling after taking a deep breath and bracing his legs for quite a while.

'The Marshal is teaching me, which is something enough for me to brag about for the rest of my life! What else can I possibly ask for? I won't feel any regret even if I'm going to die right here right away!' thought Yang Liuzi.

The others, apparently, had also come to the same realization. All of them threw their chests out and volunteered to be the first one to answer Yuwen Tong's questions.

'They do have some fight, and they also collected their thoughts pretty quick. Maybe they are not as good-for-nothing as I think they are,' thought Yuwen Tong.

Wang Dashan and some others watched in this direction, green with envy.

'The Marshal is teaching them himself! How exactly did they come to be so lucky?!'

'Damn it!'

Minds of all of them raced and soon they came up with their respective ideas of how they would kick those people's asses to best vent their anger.

Yang Liuzi and others had already sensed the killing intent of their brothers, but they were not scared. Instead, they straightened their back even further. 'Go ahead. Be jealous all you want. I'm not afraid!'

Seeing this, Wang Dashan and others went even angrier. They clenched their teeth, bursting with impatience to teach them a lesson.

Ling Zhang and Ling Zhaowen left in the morning on this day and didn't return until the next day. The reason why they had paid a visit to the Qi County was that there was a herb farm for sale there. The previous owner of it was the magistrate of the Qi County, who had already been taken into custody, and whose properties had been confiscated. The local government had decided to sell the herb farm.

The herb farm was a large-scale one, and a lot of people intended to purchase it, but after people of Ling family mounted a bid for it, all those people gave up.

It took quite some doing for Ling Zhang and his uncle to officially take over the herb farm. They discharged all previous works on the farm except for herb farmers. Ling Zhaowen seconded Zhou Quanfu to this herb farm to take charge of it. The herb farm in the southern city was now in the charge of Wu Kang, who was Zhou Quanfu's apprentice and had just got a promotion.

There was a long distance between the Qi County and Tanyang City. It would take a long time to travel between the two places, so they needed some security guards to guard the herb farm.

Ling Zhang spent the night there. After handling most important issues with Ling Zhaowen, Ling Zhang assigned Butler Li to stay, recruit some security guards and then return to Tanyang after everything is back on track.

During his stay in the Qi County, Ling Zhang had discovered that over 10,000 troops of the new Prefecture Guards had passed by the Qi County before going to the Grand Mang Mountain, their intention unknown.

"I saw Dai Cheng's men going to the Grand Mang Mountain. There were a lot of them," Ling Zhang informed Yuwen Tong after returning home.

"The shortcut on the Grand Mang Mountain considerably shortens the time that it takes to get to the capital city. The emperor fears that someone else might take advantage of it and mount another revolt, so he ordered Dai Cheng to block it, which will be a huge project. Zhang Chong's men had been secretly digging in there for years. It'll take a month or two to block it," replied Yuwen Tong.

"So Dai Cheng is going to stay in Tanyang for one even two months?"

"Yeah. The emperor has nobody else he can trust to do this for him. Moreover, the commander of the new Tanyang Prefecture Guards still stands undecided."

"I wonder who will be assigned here."

Ling Zhang was somewhat worried that the new commander might be like Zhang Chong. In that case, people of Tanyang would suffer again.

Yuwen Tong appeared rather composed, as if he had got it all worked out some time ago.

Ling Zhang, who found his reaction somewhat suspicious, craned closer to him and asked, "You've got some news, haven't you?"

Yuwen Tong flicked a glance at him. "You want to know?"

Ling Zhang looked at him with an expectant expression in his sparkling eyes. "Yeah."

Yuwen Tong lifted his eyebrows and suddenly flicked his chin signaling Ling Zhang.

Ling Zhang watched him, confused. 'What's that supposed to mean?'

Yuwen Tong just gazed at him.

It was after pondering for quite a while that Ling Zhang came to understand. With that he flushed and gave him a dirty look. "Keep it if you like it so much."

'He wants me to kiss him on my own account? No way!' he thought.

The next moment, Yuwen Tong suddenly craned over and kissed his lips hard with a distinct sound.

This reply sent Ling Zhang speechless.

'Does Yuwen Tong wish to be beaten up?!'

"The emperor intends to assign He Xiao here."

He Xiao? Ling Zhang was instantly distracted. That visit he paid Tao Feng a couple of days ago turned out to be helpful. He had already had a shrewd idea of who this He Xiao guy was.

He Xiao was loyal to the emperor and counted as one of the emperor's trusted high-ranking military officers, just like Dai Cheng, only that he was of humble blood and young, promoted from the Number One Warrior (title conferred on the one who came first in the highest imperial examination of martial arts).

He had been working under Dai Cheng from the very beginning of his military career. After Dai Cheng left the capital city, he had been named acting commander of the Garrison Battalion, which was an unmistakable indication of the emperor's trust in him.

"But He Xiao is so young. Is the emperor really going to appoint him as the commander of the Prefecture Guards?" Ling Zhang was greatly surprised.

"Because He Xiao is from an unquestionably clean background. He had been scouted and trained by Dai Cheng himself before the title of the Number One Warrior was conferred on him. It could be said that he has been a loyal member of the emperor's faction from the very beginning. On top of this, He Xiao is a man of great dash. He once openly stated that he was unconvinced of my reputation. Three years ago, when I returned to the capital city, he, who happened to have just been assigned to the Garrison Battalion under Dai Cheng's command, challenged me to a competition. His kung fu is pretty good, and so are his military strategy and tactics. He's a talented officer. The emperor thinks pretty highly of him.

Besides, after the post of the commander of the Tanyang Prefecture Guards fell vacant, a lot of people in the capital city have been secretly pulling strings trying to get this position. There are very few people that the emperor deems trustworthy after the attempted usurpation of the Sixth Prince and Zhang Chong. Under no circumstances will he assign any of those people to Tanyang."