The Glory After Rebirth

403 - 405

C403: The Imperial Wedding (1)

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?"