The Glory After Rebirth [重生之尊荣]

Chapter 205- 207

Chapter 205: A Gathering

This was Ling Zhang's first vacation since he'd enrolled in the Imperial College. Under no circumstances would Yuwen Tong let this chance slip away. "Of course I am," replied Yuwen Tong.

Ling Zhang was very happy. This kind of one-day vacation was not really a daily occurrence for students, so certainly he'd like to enjoy it with Yuwen Tong. It was just that he felt obliged to express his gratitude to his classmates for their help.

The next morning, the five classmates of his showed up at the agreed time.

When they arrived, everyone of them seemed rather formal and unrelaxed. Ling Zhang knew that it was not because this was the first time they came here but because of Yuwen Tong. In order to help them set their mind at ease, he friendlily greeted them first and then told them, "Today we're going to a manor of Yuwen Tong's in the suburbs. He's otherwise engaged, so he won't be with us. A friend of mine named Tao Yi will join us. He'll be here in a short while. We'll go there together."

Yuwen Tong had left for the manor first in the knowledge that his presence would make these people feel uneasy. He could also help Ling Zhang make preparations for the feast in passing.

The five students, on hearing that Yuwen Tong was not in, felt a sense of relief but were also somewhat disappointed.

After a while, Tao Yi arrived. The moment he entered, he remarked, "Sorry I'm late. When I was leaving, my teacher summoned me and had a word with me."

"I'd like to introduce these five classmates of mine to you: Zhao Jiusi, Zhao Turui, Xun Huo, Ji Feng, Xie Qing..."

"This is Tao Yi. He's my friend and studies at the Oriental Rite Academy."

Ling Zhang introduced them to each other. Tao Yi gave a hearty laugh, pointed at Zhao Jiusi and Zhao Turui and said, "I know these two. We met a couple of times."

Zhao Jiusi was the one who was the first to stand up for Ling Zhang the day before, and who was also the most poised of these five people. He and Zhao Turui were cousins. Both of them were members of Zhao family. Many of their elders were courtiers, and the most powerful one of them was Zhao Zheng, their father's eldest brother, who was the Minister of War.

Xun Huo's father was Xun Yi, a ministry councillor of the Ministry of Penalties. His family members were also respected figures in the capital city.

Xie Qing's father was Xie Dongsheng, the new Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Works. It was actually quite coincidental: Peng Fang's attempt to have Ling Zhang poisoned had been the reason why Xie Dongsheng was promoted to the Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Works. The causality in this was very subtle.

The name of the last one was Ji Feng, who was of the highest standing among the five of them. His grandfather was the Zhongxin Marquess, whose legal wife was Ji Feng's father's birth mother. The Zhongxin Marquess' way of doing things was relatively low-key compared with those of other marquesses living in the capital city, but unlike most of his counterparts who merely had a fancy title, the Zhongxin Marquess had some real powers, which was why members of the Zhongxin Marquess' family were held in higher regard by citizens.

Tao Yi, who had lived in the capital city for many years, had heard of all these five people before, and he had met and talked with Zhao Jiusi and Zhao Turui on a few occasions.

Since two of the five of them were acquaintances of Tao Yi and Tao Yi was a great talker, their feelings of estrangement soon dissolved.

Before long, the seven of them, accompanied by twelve security guards of Ling family, departed for the manor in the suburbs of the capital city.