“Tao Yi,” called Ling Zhang, quickly walking up to him.

Tao Yi pivoted around and his face crumpled up at the sight of Ling Zhang coming. In a tearful tone of voice, he said, “My teacher chucked me out, so I have no choice but to turn to you. You’ve got to take me in. If I get my sorry ass back to Tanyang like this, my father would definitely beat me to death.”

Ling Zhang, “…”

While speaking, Tao Yi handed his several traveling bags of different sizes to the couple of servants and said “Give me a hand with these. Thank you.” as though Ling Zhang had already agreed.

The servants exchanged hesitant glances and then all looked at Ling Zhang.

Ling Zhang stared at Tao Yi for quite a while before saying to the servants, “Take all Childe Tao’s baggage to a guest room and get the room ready.”

“Yes, Young Master,” the servants chorused and then took all Tao Yi’s baggage away.

Tao Yi gave a gasp of relief, stepped over and threw his arm around Ling Zhang’s shoulders. “I’m entrusting you with my life here. You and the Marshal need to make it work and show that stubborn old man he’s wrong about you.”

Ling Zhang resignedly looked at him. “Why did you leave the academy? None of this would’ve happened to you had you stayed there.”

“It would’ve happened even if I stayed. My teacher is so influential that even I, a nobody who’s close to him, cannot stay out of this,” said Tao Yi.

“Alas, you have no idea how difficult it was for me to make a choice between my teacher and you. My father told me to keep my nose out of these things so that I wouldn’t get hurt, but I did some careful thinking and felt that the imperial family was so boring, that things would be much more interesting if I follow you and the Marshal. It’s just I could no longer stay in my teacher’s place after I picked a side, and I have nowhere else to go to in the capital city, so I risked making myself seem thick-skinned and came here to ask you for help.”

Eyes still on him, Ling Zhang asked, “Your teacher chucked you out?”

“Well…sort of. But this time around he didn’t lash out at me. He just told me to think things through. I made a decision and he calmly had me leave the academy. Before I left, he drummed it into me that I should take the imperial examination and become an official, and make myself useful to both the imperial court and the people in this country.”

After saying this, Tao Yi lapsed into silence, the smile on his face fading, appearing rather upset.

Ling Zhang knew what it was about. “Your teacher wanted you to take the examination and become an official because he had faith in you, because he had faith in us. Cheer up. As long as you keep the goal in mind and fight for it, it will come true.”

Tao Yi bobbed his head. “I’ll strive for it.”

“Actually I knew what that was about. My teacher dropped a hint by saying those words. He’s fully aware that the Zhou family’s dominion over this country is coming to an end. Otherwise he wouldn’t have had me leave just like that, but he himself doesn’t want to leave. He’d rather die with the Zhou family. What’s the point of that?”

Maybe only when they reached the same age as the old man would they be able to understand the point of that.

Ling Zhang patted his shoulder. “You’re his student, and you’ll carry on his legacy. If you want to repay your teacher for his guidance, you should study hard and earn yourself a position in the government, so that you’ll live up to his expectations.”

“Alas, it seems that I still have a lot of books to read,” said Tao Yi, harassed-looking.

Ling Zhang smiled, “Let’s go. I’ll take you to see my maternal grandfather and father.”

Tao Yi gave a nod and then abruptly paused. “Your… maternal grandfather? And your father?”

Ling Zhang said, “Yeah.”

“This is… No… I thought that your father… He’s been away for many years, hasn’t he? And about your maternal grandfather…. What’s going on exactly?” jabbered Tao Yi, astonishment written all over his face.

“It seems that recently you’ve really been quite vexed and distressed, which is why you’ve ended up ill-informed. I thought the news about my father had spread through the city,” said Ling Zhang.

With an aggrieved face, Tao Yi replied, “I didn’t know. Nobody told me about it!”

“Well, I’m telling you now,” said Ling Zhang.

“I… Well… I need to change clothes and make myself presentable. And I haven’t prepared any gifts,” said Tao Yi.

Ling Zhang rolled his eyes upwards. “You’re not here for a blind date.”

Tao Yi quietly looked left and right and then responded, “Are you trying to get me killed? If anybody hears this and tells the Marshal about it, the Marshal will definitely take a dislike to me.”

“He’s not as childish as you think he is,” commented Ling Zhang.

Tao Yi curled his lip. “You don’t know that, not for sure. The Marshal cares about you so much that he seems to want you staying by his side all the time. If I dare have any funny thoughts about you, he’d surely have me killed.”

Ling Zhang was terribly embarrassed. “Cut the nonsense, will you?”

But the mention of Yuwen Tong sent Ling Zhang so depressed that he didn’t seemed to have any insides. Yuwen Tong was not in this city. What was the point of talking about this?

Seeing him instantly become dispirited, Tao Yi came to realize that he’d said the wrong thing and hastened to change the topic. “Hurry. Take me to meet your father and grandfather. They deserve to make the acquaintance of an outstanding talent like me.”

His sorrow dissolved by Tao Yi’s quip, Ling Zhang took him to see Ji Yin and Ling Zhaowu.

Tao Yi’s eyes slightly widened at the sight of Ling Zhaowu. Before Ling Zhang could introduce him, he walked up on his own initiative. “You must be Uncle Ling. I’m Tao Yi. My father’s Tao Feng, the prefectural governor of Tanyang. I’m friends with Ling Zhang. Please forgive me for visiting the Ling Mansion uninvited today.”

Ling Zhaowu gave a smile and put his hands to Tao Yi’s upper arms. “I heard Zhang’er talk about you many times. Lately he’s been quite worried about your safety.”

“It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have concerned my friend,” said Tao Yi.

“I met Governor Tao in Tanyang before I came to this city. He’s in good health,” said Ling Zhaowu.

Tao Yi was delighted. “I’m glad to hear that. Thank you for telling me this, Uncle Ling.”

Ling Zhaowu found Tao Yi a fairly sympathetic person on first acquaintance, and the two of them enjoyed the conversation pretty much.

Seeing that Tao Yi’s tongue was loosened and probably wouldn’t stop talking any time soon, Ling Zhang hurriedly interrupted him and introduced Ji Yin to him. “This is my grandfather. His surname is Ji.”

Tao Yi gaped at Ji Yin and then moved his eyes to Ling Zhang, a you’ve-got-to-be-kidding-me expression on his face. The reason why he’d talked with Ling Zhaowu for so long and hadn’t shown the slightest inclination to stop was that it didn’t strike him that this mustached middle-aged man on the side was Ling Zhang’s grandfather, because he appeared so young!

“Are you introducing the wrong person to me?” Tao Yi asked Ling Zhang, lowering his voice, incredulous.

Ling Zhang looked at him resignedly. “No, I’m not. He’s really my grandfather.”

Tao Yi still didn’t believe him. In a voice he thought was low enough, he said, “Impossible. He’s so young. How could he be your grandfather?! I mean, he looks even younger than your father.”

Ling Zhaowu, who heard this, was rendered speechless with embarrassment.

Ling Zhang gave a soft cough and explained, “My grandfather is a kung fu master with powerful internal energy, which is why his look doesn’t age.”

At this time, Ji Yin was also amused by Tao Yi’s whisper. Heedless of Ling Zhaowu who was having a faintly awkward face, he said to Tao Yi, “You have a good sense of humor, Childe Tao.”

It was at this moment that Tao Yi believed Ling Zhang’s words. In the knowledge that his behavior just now had been impolite, he hastened to pay his respects to Ji Yin. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr… Ji. Please forgive me for not being discerning enough to accept the fact earlier that you’re Ling Zhang’s grandfather.”

Ji Yin said, “That’s a mere trifle. Most people were just as surprised when they first came to know I was Zhang’er’s grandfather. Your reaction was totally understandable.”

Tao Yi was a great talker, and it took him only a few moments to send Ji Yin into fits of laughter. The embarrassment on Ling Zhaowu’s face ebbed away and he just amusedly shook his head.

“I heard that your teacher is a famous, learned scholar, and you’re a student of the Oriental Rite Academy. You have very good prospects,” said Ji Yin.

Tao Yi replied, “Actually I’ve sort of graduated now, and I’m waiting for the next imperial examination. I could use some quiet, so I specially came to Brother Zhang, wondering if I could stay here for some time.”

“There’s not much I can guarantee you, but I assure you all the servants here are absolute rule-followers. Your courtyard house will be quiet all the time and nobody will disturb you. You may put your mind at ease, stay here and focus on your study,” said Ji Yin.

“Thank you, Mr. Ji,” said Tao Yi.

With Tao Yi enlivening the atmosphere, they didn’t have to worry about the climate getting tepid. Ji Yin found Tao Yi’s talkativeness pretty endearing.

Seeing that Tao Yi got along so well with the others, Ling Zhang believed there was no need for him to worry about Tao Yi. “You may go to your room to get some rest. The reception will start soon.”

Without any pretence of courtesy, Tao Yi took his leave of Ji Yin and Ling Zhaowu and then made towards the guest room.

“Tao Yi is more interesting than his father,” observed Ling Zhaowu. “Tao Feng is more inclined to play it safe. His son is far more audacious than him.”

Ling Zhang said, “You talked with Tao Feng in Tanyang, Father?”

“It was just a quick chat. I’m not very interested in making friends with Tao Feng, but your uncle works for him, so I had to make his acquaintance,” responded Ling Zhaowu.

Ling Zhang could tell that Ling Zhaowu loathed Tao Feng.

“You seem to be quite ill-disposed towards Tao Feng,” remarked Ji Yin.

Ling Zhaowu gave a sneer. “Tao Feng has no balls. Back then when Zhang Chong was still alive, he could barely breathe under Zhang Chong’s oppression but never dared put up a fight. Had Zhang Chong not been brought down, he would’ve stayed that way till this day. A man like him would never be able to get to a position higher than the governor of Tanyang.”

After hearing this, Ji Yin curled his lip with a feeling of anticlimax. “Well, then he’s indeed an uninteresting guy. Fortunately Tao Yi is not like him.”

Ling Zhang smiled, “If he was, he wouldn’t have disobeyed his father or chosen me over his teacher.”

Ji Yin inclined his head.

“Given how long it has been, those people in this city should’ve got wind of the Jiangzhou garrison’s moving north. I’m afraid there’s going to be a panic among citizens, and the situation would take a turn in an unforeseen way. It’s time for the garrison of Shengzhou to make their move, so that some people will get the shot in the arm they need.”

Feeling that Ling Zhaowu had got a point, Ling Zhang gave a nod. “Okay.”

After having Miao Shisan sent a message to the commander of Jiangzhou garrison, Ling Zhang received a letter from the borderland, which had been written by Yuwen Tong personally. Judging from the handwriting, Yuwen Tong must have written this letter in haste. He probably had carved out time for it in his hectic schedule.

In the letter, Yuwen Tong gave a sketchy account of the situation at the front and how he’d been recently, told Ling Zhang not to worry and then reminded him to stay safe in the capital city with a lot of words.

After reading Yuwen Tong’s letter word by word, Ling Zhang became even more concerned about the situation in the borderlands, summoned Wang Dashan and asked, “Is Wang Qing ready? Has he got all the medicinal herbs prepared? When could they depart?”

“Wang Qing has just sent a message here, saying that everything’s ready, that the caravan will set off early tomorrow morning,” answered Wang Dashan.

This would be the second batch of medicinal herbs delivered to the borderlands. The first batch had been transported there along with other supplies from the capital city.