Ling Zhang, after running an eye over the account books delivered to him by Zhao Jiusi, had a general idea of how things stood.

“You two must be tired doing all this. You may call it a day and go back to rest up, recharge and prepare yourselves for tomorrow.”

“Yes, Young Master,” Jiang Yu and Zhao Jiusi answered. After taking their leave, they didn’t go back to rest immediately. Instead, they double-checked the things that they were supposed to bring with them the next day in the task of accompanying their master to the palace. As Ling Zhang’s advisers, they knew very well what they should put first. Also, the next day they would officially make their first public appearance as Ling Zhang’s advisers, and they couldn’t afford to let anything go wrong.

The whole residence was immersed in excited anticipation. After night fell, oil lamps were lighted everywhere. Ling Zhang had dinner with his family, who then shooed him back to his own courtyard house, exhorting him to rest up and get ready to be a bride the next day.

As Yuwen Tong couldn’t come to keep him company this night, in order to keep from thinking too much and being eluded by sleep, Ling Zhang brought Ling Maomao and Ji Xiaocong back to his courtyard house and then washed Whitie the fox clean. The two kids and the little white fox, after the bath, ran into the bedroom, jumped onto Ling Zhang’s bed all at once and started roughhousing boisterously.

“Don’t pull Whitie’s tail, Maomao. Keep an eye on Cong. Don’t let him fall off the bed.”

Ling Zhang was all sweaty after bathing the three of them. He gave Ling Maomao a word of warning and then went to bathe himself.

When he had returned, he saw that the two little boys were whispering about something on the bed, snickering so hard that their shoulders were shaking.

The chirping and laughter of the boys lent an air of ease to the scene, and Ling Zhang’s mood also lightened in spite of himself. He walked to the bedside, gave Ling Maomao a pat on the butt and then pushed him inside to make some room. “What are you two talking about that fascinates you so deeply? You were within an inch of falling off the bed. Do you think your butt is fat enough to spare you the pain?”

Ling Maomao gave his butt a stroke and replied, “I’m telling Cong something about the imperial palace.”

So they were talking about the imperial palace yet again. These two little boys had great curiosity and had been meaning to go to the palace for an adventure all this time.

Ling Zhang also got into bed, moved the two boys to the depths of the bed, grabbed Whitie who had just jumped onto him, put it down beside the pillow, and then said, “What did you tell him?”

“That there’s a huge imperial garden in the palace and there will be a lot of lighted lanterns in it tomorrow night. Big Brother, are they really going to light a lot of lanterns in there tomorrow?”

Ling Maomao and Ji Xiaocong both looked at Ling Zhang with gleaming eyes. Because of the expectant expressions in their eyes alone, even if there hadn’t been a lantern show scheduled for the next night in the imperial garden, Ling Zhang would have the eunuchs make it happen.

“Yeah. The whole imperial garden is decked out in lanterns of every description. You two should have a good night’s sleep tonight. Tomorrow you’ll see them.”

Ji Xiaocong let out a cheer in excitement and said to Ling Maomao, “Brother Maomao, can we play hide-and-seek tomorrow night?”

Playing hide-and-seek at night? Face falling, Ling Zhang looked at Ling Maomao. “What are you planning on doing? Why is Cong talking about playing hide-and-seek?”

Ling Maomao was taken aback by the serious look on Ling Zhang’s face. With a guilty expression, he replied, “Nothing. We’re not going to play hide-and-seek.”

“But Brother Maomao, you promised me you’d play hide-and-seek with me. You can’t go back on your word.”

Ji Xiaocong looked accusingly at Ling Maomao, an injured expression in his eyes.

Ling Maomao was in over his head. Looking from Ji Xiaocong’s reproving eyes and Ling Zhang’s darkening face, he got so anxious that he almost broke out in a sweat. After a brief moment, he hastily explained, “It’s during daytime that we’ll play hide-and-seek. We can’t do it at night, because we might get lost. Also, it’s very dark at night, and there’ll be scary things wandering around.”

“You can’t do it during the day either. Tomorrow you two must stay close to your elders. You are not to go anywhere without permission. If you two wander off tomorrow and I find out, I’ll spank you both.”

Ling Zhang put on a stern face. The next day both the Ling Mansion and the palace would be seething with people, and the adults might not be able to keep an eye on these two little boys all the time, so he had to warn them to behave themselves.

Ling Maomao and Ji Xiaocong were both startled, not daring to speak.

“Do you still want to go to the palace to stay for a few days?”

“Yes.”

“Then you’ll have to behave yourselves tomorrow. Understand?”

“I understand,” the two boys obediently replied in unison.

For fear that Ling Zhang would get angry again, the two little boys repeatedly promised that they wouldn’t run around or play hide-and-seek the next day.

The two boys appeared meek and faintly disappointed but didn’t dare air their grievances. Seeing this, Ling Zhang inwardly snickered in spite of himself. Then he lectured the boys for another few moments. It was not until he believed they indeed wouldn’t dare misbehave that his face softened. “If you two behave yourselves tomorrow, I’ll bring you to the palace in a couple of days, and you’ll be allowed to play all the games you want there.”

It was only then that Ling Maomao and Ji Xiaocong happily smiled. Before long, the two of them burrowed down beneath the quilt again, laughing and jesting, taking up more than half of Ling Zhang’s bed.

Ling Zhang tucked them in. The warm days had turned cooler and it was a little cold at night. People could easily catch cold in this kind of weather if they were not careful enough.

After that, he himself also lay down, but he didn’t tell the boys to stop whispering. Hearing their words and occasional chuckle, Ling Zhang also put his mind at ease. After some time, he gradually drifted off, presumably sooner than the two boys did.

Ling Maomao, after finding that his big brother had fallen asleep, quietly motioned for Ji Xiaocong to stop speaking. The latter gave a yawn, reached out a hand to hold the hem of Ling Maomao’s clothes, rubbed his face against the pillow and then fell asleep as well after a few moments. Ling Maomao scooped Whitie off the pillow and into his embrace. Whitie struggled for a while, but instead of wriggling free, he let Ling Maomao hold him, maybe because he didn’t want to wake Ling Zhang up.

After the room quieted down, Miao Shiba, who was on guard duty outside the doors, delivered a message to a contact in the palace.

Yuwen Tong in the palace was still awake. He was lying on a rooftop when the message from outside the palace was delivered to him. After hearing that Ling Zhang had fallen asleep, he muttered with a little sigh, “I’m lying here too anxious to sleep, but he is sleeping like a baby.”

While saying this, he dissolved into chuckle, his affectionate eyes reflecting the starry sky, softening the sharp contours of his handsome face significantly.

The next day being his wedding day, both his mind and his body were in a state of feverish excitement. The very thought of the next day thrilled him. He’d been lying on the rooftop staring at the night sky for quite a while. After hearing that Ling Zhang had fallen asleep, he gradually cooled down, rose to his feet, leaped off the roof, lightly landed on the ground and entered the imperial bedchamber.

…

Early the next morning, Ling Zhang was woken up before daybreak.

“Young Master, it’s time to get up.”

Having just awoken, he was still a little sleepy. After a while, his mind cleared and he was very surprised that he had slept right through the night. It’d been quite a good night’s sleep. The two little boys were still in bed asleep, snoring faintly. Ji Xiaocong had a smell of milk about him. His hand which had originally been holding the hem of Ling Maomao’s clothes was now gripping the breast of them, his cheeks florid with sleep. Whitie had freed himself from Ling Maomao’s embrace some time before and curled up into a ball in a corner of the bed. When Ling Zhang woke up, the fox vigilantly opened his jet-black liquid eyes, which roved around and then flashed at the vague figure of the person outside who had just called Ling Zhang.

After waking up, Ling Zhang recalled the event scheduled for this day and his heart gave a horrible jolt before it started to hammer. This was the official day of the wedding. It turned out that when the time really came, he was indeed very very nervous. It was a long moment before he jerked out of his trance and hastened to sit up with the intention to get up, but the next moment he slowed down and quietly got out of bed.

When Ling Zhang had got out of bed, Whitie rose to his feet, walked out of the corner, instantly leaped onto Ling Zhang’s shoulder and let out a cry.

Ling Zhang raised his hand and gave the little fox a stroke. As he felt Whitie’s body heat and heartbeat, the transports of delight slowly ebbed away, his face growing composed. He walked outside and lit the candles in the house. Dawn hadn’t broken yet, and the house was still quite dark, which made it difficult for him to see things clearly without candlelight.

Standing in front of a mirror, Ling Zhang looked into it at himself, but it was Yuwen Tong in the palace that he was thinking about. There were even more rules in the palace, so Yuwen Tong definitely had got up already. Ling Zhang wondered what kind of mood Yuwen Tong was in at this moment, and whether or not he had washed and finished dressing himself. The more he thought about it, the more anxious to see Yuwen Tong he was, the look in his eyes changing spontaneously. Before he knew it, he lowered his head and dissolved into chuckle. Happy smile could even be seen at the corners of his eyes and the tips of his brows.

He was still wearing white underclothing, his hair loose, standing in front of the mirror, a smile on his face, the oil lamps in the house shedding a soft glow over him. His smile was so charming that even Whitie the fox was dazzled by the beauty of it. After a few moments, Whitie raised a chubby paw and tapped Ling Zhang’s cheek, presumably trying to jog him back to his senses.

It was not until Ling Zhang was pulled back to the present by Whitie’s paw and looked at the mirror that he came to realize that he’d been standing and smiling in front of the mirror for quite a long time. Then he noticed that smile and with that his face burned somewhat. He hastened to walk away from the mirror with Whitie on his shoulder, carelessly tied his hair up and went to take a bath.

When he had finished his bath and walked out, a lot of people had come, standing in the house. Ling Zhaowu and Ling Zhaowen had both arrived. The two little boys, Ling Maomao and Ji Xiaocong, had been scooped out of the bed and were now being helped wash and change.

“Father, Uncle Zhaowen.” At the sight of the two elders of his, Ling Zhang came to know that he probably should’ve got up a little earlier.

“Don’t worry. There’s still plenty of time,” said Ling Zhaowen with a smile.

“It’s time to change clothes, Young Master.”

Xia Feng walked over with a couple of men, offering to comb Ling Zhang’s hair and help him change clothes.

Ling Zhang inclined his head, sat down in front of the mirror and then let someone else comb his hair. The one responsible for combing his hair was a staff member of the Ministry of Rites, who was singing a particular song of benediction while combing Ling Zhang’s hair in a gentle, neat and unhurried manner.

Royal scarlet decorations and brightly burning candles could be seen everywhere in the house.

At first Ling Zhang was a little uneasy, but gradually his mind wandered into the palace. Wondering whether or not Yuwen Tong was going through the same thing, he couldn’t help but smile again. He himself didn realize it, but the others noticed, who exchanged glances and then smiled knowingly.

After combing his hair, the official tied it up and helped Ling Zhang put on the headwear. The next step was to change into the robes.

One by one, Ling Zhang put on the scarlet wedding robes that he’d tried on in the imperial bedchamber of the Infinite Fortune Palace on that day.

Ling Zhang still remembered how Yuwen Tong had helped him change into them, as well as all Yuwen Tong’s reactions after that. As he recalled this, smile appeared at the corners of his eyes and the tips of his brows once again despite his efforts to stifle it. He knew that everybody present was looking at him, but he just couldn’t help it, so he had to slightly hang his head, delight sweeping over him in waves uncontrollably.

Seeing his nephew’s countenance, Ling Zhaowen gently nudged Ling Zhaowu, a sentimentally gratified expression appearing on his face.