Ling Zhang first went to see his grandfather and father to wish them good health.

It had been after Ling Zhang’s departure that his journey to Jiangzhou came to Ling Xingzhong’s knowledge, and the old man, deeply concerned, had blamed Ling Zhaowu, saying that he could have stopped Ling Zhang had Ling Zhaowu told him sooner.

“Grandfather, I made my father promise not to tell you, because I didn’t want you to worry about me. You see, I’ve come back safe and sound.”

Naturally, Ling Xingzhong was happy to see Ling Zhang return in one piece, but he still affected an air of anger and remained poker-faced for a few moments. “You’re a consort now and that’s a noble identity. How could you risk going to such a dangerous place as Jiangzhou? Had anything happened to you, His Majesty would be heartbroken, and your father and I would be heartbroken as well; it would also affect the political situation that has just stabilized. It’s no joking matter.”

Ling Zhang obediently listened as his grandfather lectured him.

Ling Xingzhong talked for a while and it was not until he saw that Ling Zhang’s attitude towards his ‘mistakes’ was acceptable that his sulky face softened.

Seeing this, Ling Zhang naturally hastened to placate him by telling him about some of the things he’d seen in Jiangzhou.

After pacifying Ling Xingzhong, Ling Zhang went to see Fu Caiwei and Ling Maomao.

It’d been merely a month since he’d last seen Ling Maomao, but it struck him that Ling Maomao had grown taller. He wondered if it was an illusion. Fu Caiwei’s belly had been growing, and all the handmaids and doula in her courtyard house were giving her intensive care, not daring make the smallest mistake.

For fear of worrying Fu Caiwei, neither Ling Zhaowu nor Ling Xingzhong had mentioned anything to Fu Caiwei about Ling Zhang’s journey to Jiangzhou. She’d been told that Ling Zhang had left the capital city to attend to something, and she’d never connected it with anything concerning Jiangzhou.

“You’ve been away from a month. Did you settle what you set out to deal with?” Fu Caiwei asked him.

“I did, and I won’t have to leave the capital city to deal with anything anytime soon, so I’ll come back here to see you more often,” replied Ling Zhang.

Since Fu Caiwei’s belly had been growing, he was rather worried. However, as he was a man, there was no way he could get to know all the details in this regard, and there were also a lot of things he was supposed to leave to women to handle, so he could only try to offer help in other ways. Apart from hiring experienced midwives, he had given Mr. Mu full access to all the precious and rare medicinal herbs in the imperial hospital. If Fu Caiwei was in need of any of them, it would be delivered to the Ling Mansion immediately.

There were only two masters in the imperial palace, and how much Yuwen Tong valued the Ling family was public knowledge, so nobody dared take this matter lightly. Fu Caiwei didn’t have to concern herself with anything during her pregnancy.

“Seeing as you’re now the empress, I’m sure there are a lot of things you have to deal with. You don’t have to come back here to see me on a frequent basis. I have some handmaids by my side wherever I go. Also, Mr. Mu lives in this residence. It’s totally unnecessary for you to worry about me.”

Fu Caiwei was both gratified and apprehensive. For fear that people might gossip about Ling Zhang if Ling Zhang came back to the Ling Mansion too often, she tried to persuade him not to frequently return to this residence. She had an intimate knowledge of her physical condition, and she had so many people watching over her. On occasion she would be worried about her husband who was in Shengzhou, a faraway city, but other than that, she really couldn’t think of anything she had to concern herself with. She had barely even felt any morning sickness that pregnant women normally suffered from.

“I’ll strike a balance. The things I’m supposed to handle will be handled properly, but at the same time I’ll come back here to see you when I’m needed,” said Ling Zhang. In his eyes, all Fu Caiwei’s worries were needless. “By the way, Aunt Caiwei, the weather is getting colder. I fear that this courtyard house might not be comfortable enough in winter. How about I have your room revamped?”

During his return journey to the capital city, Ling Zhang had encountered a cold wave and put on an extra piece of clothing, and the temperature had dropped continuously as he’d got closer to the capital city. The weather would be even colder in a few days, and he was worried that Fu Caiwei’s room was not warm enough.

“That won’t be necessary,” Fu Caiwei hurriedly interrupted him. “This house is pretty good and doesn’t need revamping at all. Everything was taken into consideration when they built this house. And there was also a kang (a heatable brick bed). I can have them make a fire in it when winter comes, and it’ll be very warm. Didn’t you used to live in this house? Surely you know about this?”

Ling Zhang smiled, “I didn’t live here long enough to spend a winter, so I’m not sure whether or not it’s warm enough in winter.”

“It is,” affirmed Fu Caiwei with curt finality for fear that Ling Zhang might once again offer to revamp this house. Of all the houses in this residential compound, her courtyard house was the best in terms of layout and furnishings, except for Ling Xingzhong’s courtyard house. It could be said that this was the main courtyard house of the whole compound, and Ling Zhang had given it up for her. The main courtyard house of such a vast residential compound was by no means shabby. All that should be taken into consideration had been taken into consideration when it’d been built. Fu Caiwei was positive that she wouldn’t feel cold in this house in winter. “I’m stronger than you give me credit for. There’s no need to worry so much about me.”

The little boy that she had had to keep an eye on had now grown up and was thoughtful enough to always put her needs first, which naturally struck Fu Caiwei as quite sweet and greatly gladdened her heart.

“I heard that it was His Majesty who picked this residence for you, that before you moved in, he had this whole place revamped, that a lot of efforts were put into the revamp of this main courtyard house. Considering how much His Majesty cares about you, I think this place might well be as good as the imperial palace, so you may rest assured that I’ll be fine. If you have this place revamped, I’ll have to move to another place before it’s finished. I don’t want that trouble.”

After hearing these words of Fu Caiwei’s, Ling Zhang dropped the idea of revamping the courtyard house, believing that he could come here more often in winter, and if it was really not warm enough, he could always bring his aunt into the palace to make sure she was well attended.

Seeing he had given up the idea of revamping the house, Fu Caiwei felt a slight sense of relief.

“Your grandfather has been worried about your going out of the city all the time. You didn’t anger him when you were talking to him just now, did you?”

Ling Zhang smiled, “You know I would never anger my grandfather, Aunt Caiwei. He’s not mad at me any more. Actually he had a broad smile on his face before I came here.”

Fu Caiwei was amused by his words, knowing that basically, Ling Xingzhong had merely been apprehensive about Ling Zhang’s safety and hadn’t really been angry, so he would naturally dissolve into smile if Ling Zhang cajoled him.

Ling Zhang asked Fu Caiwei about her daily life, and then specially sent for Mr. Mu and asked him about Fu Caiwei’s physical condition. It was not until Mr. Mu told him that Fu Caiwei was very healthy that Ling Zhang took his leave.

Before leaving the Ling Mansion, he gave Ling Maomao the gifts he’d brought back from Haizhou. There was a whole box of them. Ling Maomao was so happy he almost jumped. The boy had become a lot more poised than before and was now able to keep his cool in circumstances where he would normally jump for joy in the past.

“How’s Maomao’s emotional condition lately? Does he still miss Cong?” Ling Zhang secretly asked one of the servants responsible for waiting upon Maomao.

“Yes, he does. Recently, Second Young Master hasn’t been as cheerful as he used to. I heard that he was a bit down for some time after you left the capital city, but because today you came back, he looks a lot happier,” answered the servant.

After being informed of this, Ling Zhang didn’t go to offer Ling Maomao any words of comfort. After all, the boy had to undergo all this to grow up. Ling Maomao was a teenager now, and, given enough time, he should be able to handle this kind of things by himself. Still, considering he was the only child at this age in this residence, he might well feel lonely, and Ling Zhang was worried that the boy might become taciturn.

“Recently, when the madams living in the abode of the Marquess Fuan come here to visit my aunt, do they bring their children with them?” asked Ling Zhang.

“Yes. The two young masters come here with the two madams a lot, and Second Young Master has gradually taken to them. Previously, when you were away from this city, Second Young Master was depressed, and it was after he had some dealings with the two young masters that his spirits rose noticeably.” The servants, who had come to realize what it was Ling Zhang wanted to know, gave him a detailed report about the boy.

Ling Zhang inclined his head, glad to learn that there were some peers Ling Maomao could talk with. He decided to throw a party in the palace in a few days and invite all the boys who were from aristocratic families and were about Ling Maomao’s age, so that Ling Maomao would have a chance to strike up relationships with them. As for whether or not Ling Maomao would hit it off with any of them, it would depend if Ling Maomao was in luck that day.

Apart from that, there was also the matter of Ling Maomao going to school. Recently Ling Xingzhong and Ling Zhaowu had been schooling Ling Maomao themselves, but they couldn’t make it a regular thing. It was about time they considered sending Ling Maomao to a school. Previously, Yuwen You’s great grandchildren had been receiving education in a school outside the palace, but now their identities were different, and it was inappropriate to let the boys continue to go to that school outside the palace. Previously both Yuwen Tong and he had been otherwise engaged and hadn’t had the time to think about this kind of things. Now it was time they took these things into consideration.

After these thoughts crossed his mind, Ling Zhang asked some other questions about Ling Maomao’s daily life, and the servant answered them one by one.

When he had finished prioritizing the matters that concerned him, Ling Zhang went to have a father-son talk with Ling Zhaowu in private.

“Father, we did find some silver ingots in Zhu You’s residence during the search. All of them are government-cast ingots from a previous dynasty. We did some research and confirmed that an ancestor of the Zhu family’s stole them from some prince.” Ling Zhang related to Ling Zhaowu that he and Yuwen Tong had taken some men to Zhu You’s residence to search it and confiscate his possessions.

Ling Zhaowu was rather unsurprised at the news of the discovery of silver ingots. “The Zhu family has been hiding those ingots for so many years. Now the money could finally be put to good use.”

Ling Zhang inquired of him, “But it took us a lot of time to find that secret room in the underground chamber. I wonder how those Jiangzhou residents you mentioned had managed to find it in your last life. That hidden door was sabotaged, and we had to use explosives to blast it open.”

Ling Zhaowu raised his head and cast his mind back for a moment before he said, “I do seem to remember someone led those residents to search the Zhu family’s residence. At that time, Wang Xiangxin and Zhu You were in league with each other, running roughshod over Jiangzhou people. The people were driven beyond endurance and stood up to them. They had a couple of leaders, and the one leading them into the Zhu family’s residence seemed to be one of them. Given that he was a leader, he shouldn’t be too stupid. It’s not surprising that he found some clues. I didn’t pay much attention to that matter.”

In his last incarnation, Ling Zhaowu had been wealthy and powerful. When those residents had found those ingots in Zhu You’s residence, he’d merely been impressed by the large number of them, not giving much thought to any other matters.

Apart from anything else, it had been in his last life that that thing happened. As it had never happened in this life of his, and the course of history was different, there was no point trying to get to the bottom of it. Ling Zhang was just curious. Anybody who could find those silver ingots was by no means a common person.

“Currently, the imperial court is undermanned. If that person is a talent and moral, I would really want to recruit him to work for the imperial court. There’s going to be an imperial examination next year, but it’ll take time to knock those who pass it into shape. It’s impractical to assign them to important positions right after the exam and expect them to do their jobs as well as they’re supposed to,” remarked Ling Zhang. Presently the imperial court was indeed short-handed, and Yuwen Tong was somewhat fretful about this very matter. If there were any talents out there, he wouldn’t hesitate to recruit them to have them work for the imperial court.