C31

"Woof woof!"

At breakfast time, the big dog A Da came in from the outside. No one knew where the big dog A Da had come from, and his body was dirty.

Ling Maomao did not mind it, he was still holding onto the bowl, and shouted happily: "A Da!"

"Eldest Young Master, it's all my fault that I should be put to death, I couldn't stop A Da." The servant that followed A Da in was standing guard outside. The run left him breathless, he trembled the moment he saw Ling Zhang, and actually kneeled on the ground with his head lowered, begging for forgiveness.

The atmosphere in the hall immediately changed, causing the servants to not even dare to breathe loudly.

Ling Maomao looked at the servant who was kneeling on the ground in confusion. He did not understand why the servant was so agitated, but his brother did not say anything.

The only one who did not feel the change in atmosphere was the A Da, it did not feel like its own body was dirty at all as it ran over to Ling Zhang's side to rub itself against him.

The servant standing to the side stared at A Da. He wanted to go up and stop him, but he did not know if he should do so. In the dilemma, there was sweat on his forehead.

Ling Zhang put down his chopsticks, waited for A Da to come over, and reached out his hand to caress its head, then said gently: "Where did you run off to be so dirty?"

Ling Maomao was still looking at the servant kneeling on the ground, when he heard that, he turned to look at A Da, "I think it must have run out to find A Hua in the neighborhood again."

Ling Zhang raised his eyebrows, "How did you know that it is looking for A Hua?"

A Hua was a dog raised by neighbor next door, and was female. A Da couldn't even walk straight when it saw A Hua, and followed excitedly behind A Hua's butt as it ran.

"Of course I know. I saw it and A Hua fighting under the wall in the backyard last time." Ling Maomao replied.

Fighting? Ling Zhang:...

Ling Zhang immediately understood the meaning of this fight.

Ling Zhang retracted the hand that was touching the top of A Da's head in disdain and looked down at it: "You bastard, you only know how to fool around."

A Da probably understood that Ling Zhang despised it, and wailed in grievance, rubbing its head against Ling Zhang's legs.

"A Da, don't dirty my brother's clothes. Be careful to be driven out." When Ling Maomao saw that his brother's clothes had a little bit of grey stains, his mood of protecting his brother immediately exploded, and he threatened A Da.

A Da raised its head, and wailed at a low voice at Ling Maomao.

Ling Maomao stood up angrily, Ling Zhang patted on his shoulder, "Let it rub, you focus on eating, after eating, it's time to go to the academy."

Hearing that, Ling Maomao who was still fuming just a moment ago immediately became listless, "I just got back yesterday, now I need to go to school again?"

"If you don't hurry, then your dad will come and get you later." Ling Zhang said.

The moment Ling Maomao heard that his father was going to capture him, he became obedient and ate his meal with his head lowered. At the same time, he did not forget to look at the person kneeling on the ground in front of his.

Ling Zhang also looked over, and said indifferently: "Stand up, don't stop A Da when it comes in, just don't let it run into my bedroom and study room."

"Yes, I will remember it!" The servant who was kneeling on the ground stood up and wiped the sweat off his forehead.

"Take it down and clean it." Ling Zhang said.

"Yes sir!" That man quickly answered, coming to coax A Da out.

A Da stared at the food on the table, not willing to move but wanting to eat it. Its eyes were about to fall off.

Ling Zhang asked his servants to carry a bowl of mulberry leaf meat broth outside, and the A Da followed.

Ling Maomao moved closer to Ling Zhang, "Big brother, what happened to that person just now?"

"Nothing, hurry up and eat your food."

"Oh."

...

"Is the Second Young Master awake?" Ling Zhaowen asked the servant after finishing his breakfast.

“Your honor Second Master, Second Young Master has finished breakfast with Eldest Master. He is on the way back right now and is preparing to bring the textbooks to the academy. " The servant replied.

Ling Zhaowen nodded his head in satisfaction: "Still know to go to the academy, he didn’t get slacking, at least becoming more sensible."

"What about the Eldest Young Master?" Ling Zhaowen asked again.

"Eldest Young Master has gone to the Old Master's courtyard." The servant replied.

Why would he look for the old Master so early in the morning? Ling Zhaowen did not understand.

Who would have thought that after Ling Zhaowen finished changing his clothes and was preparing to go to the yamen, Ling Xingzhong sent someone to call for him.

"Second Master, Old Master invites you over."

This hour was when he was going to the yamen, and his father would not call him if it was not absolutely necessary. Ling Zhaowen wondered if it had something to do with his nephew going to find the old Master early in the morning.

"Got it, I'm going now."

Ling Zhaowen went over, but did not see Ling Zhang, only saw his father.

"Dad, you're looking for me?"

Ling Xingzhong pointed to a chair, "Sit down and we will talk."

Was this a long conversation? Ling Zhaowen thought for a while before sitting down. It was not necessary to report on time to the yamen, so it wouldn't matter if he delayed for a while.

"Let me ask you, did you tell the matter of the marriage engagement with Yuwen Clan to Zhang Er?" Ling Xingzhong looked at Ling Zhaowen sternly.

Ling Zhaowen was startled, "No."

Ling Xingzhong frowned, "Really?"

"I really didn't. How could I dare to lie to you?" Ling Zhaowen said. He immediately thought about Ling Zhang coming to find the old Master, "Father, did Zhang Er tell you something?"

"He wants to break off the engagement with Yuwen Clan." Ling Xingzhong said.

"Withdraw the engagement?" Ling Zhaowen's heart skipped a beat, and he almost immediately recalled the dream Ling Zhang told him about yesterday.

At that time, he was shocked by the contents of the dream. He didn't even have time to explain to his nephew about the marriage engagement with Yuwen Clan. With his intelligence, he was afraid that he had already confirmed the existence of the marriage engagement.

Thus, he couldn't wait to come over early in the morning and tell the old Master that he were going to withdraw the engagement …

In that split-second, Ling Zhaowen thought about it a lot, and felt that he had found the truth, but he didn't know that Ling Zhang didn't even need to confirm it for him.

Ling Zhaowen felt a little guilty, he felt that according to this reasoning, he really disclose this thing, but he did not dare explain it to the old Master.

"Then, dad, what are your plans?"

"The reason I called you over for a discussion is also to ask what your thoughts are." Ling Xingzhong looked at him.

Ling Zhaowen calmed down and thought seriously for a while before saying: "Ever since you left the capital, Yuwen Clan has not contacted us for so many years. If they still have the heart to acknowledge this engagement, they would not be so estranged."

"That's because Yuwen Clan's Old General passed away. Yuwen Clan is currently managed by Old General's second son, Yuwen Tong has been in the borders for the past few years." Ling Xingzhong said.

"So what? Does no one in the Yuwen Clan know about this other than the Yuwen Old General? Even if you believe, I don't believe it. " Ling Zhaowen said.

"So you're saying that you agree with Zhang Er's decision to cancel the engagement?" Ling Xingzhong looked at him.

Ling Zhaowen nodded his head affirmatively, "Although there have been several cases of a man marrying another man since the founding of the Da Yue and the emperor Gao Zu also had a male empress, these are still a small number after all. Most of people in the world still loathe this kind of marriage. For the Yuwen Clan, they only had Yuwen Tong as the descendant in the eldest branch of the family. Probably they would rather tend to let Yuwen Tong marry a woman. Our family getting in is just asking for a snub. Furthermore, the status of Ling Family and the Yuwen Clan are as different as heaven and earth. Zhang Er is also a dignified man, letting him marry into the Yuwen Clan to be confined in the backyard, how can we, as elders, tolerate that. "

Hearing Ling Zhaowen's words, Ling Xingzhong's serious expression actually eased up quite a bit.

Ling Zhaowen was smart, upon seeing the change in his father's expression, he knew that his father had already decided on this matter. He was just testing him out just now, so he didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

"Father, do you really think that I will force Zhang Er into Yuwen Clan just to obtain the Yuwen Clan's support?"

Ling Xingzhong said: "After all, you are currently in the official arena. If you are connected to the Yuwen Clan, in order to protect their self-respect, they will naturally promote you."

If it wasn't for Ling Zhaowen keeping his image stable, he would have glared at him on the spot, "Father, in my heart, Zhang Er is more important than these imaginary official positions."

Ling Xingzhong saw his son really did not want his grandson to fulfill the marriage engagement with Yuwen Clan. Although feeling relieved, he can't help but signed with pity: “Old General Yuwen was a good person, and his family has been loyal for several generations. In order to protect the borders for Da Yue Dynasty, they threw away their heads and spilled their blood, and moreover, Yuwen Tong is a genius hard to come by for hundreds of years, he managed to turn the tides and firmly protected the borders, protecting the peace of the Da Yue Dynasty." If they can be kind to Zhang'er and not tie him down, I would rather Zhang'er and Yuwen marry together. It's a pity that Yuwen Clan has not expressed their stance in so many years, so I won't bring ridicule upon myself. I had intended to write to break off the engagement in a little while, but never thought that it was Zhang'er who first suggested it.”

"Father, in that case, you don't have to feel sorry for it, just break it off." Ling Zhaowen said.

Ling Xingzhong nodded his head, and said immediately: "I have already written the marriage annulment certificate, it’s on the desk, you take it to yamen and find some reliable people to take it over to the capital."

Ling Zhaowen said ‘as expected’ in his heart. His father had long made his decision. He stood up and walked to the side of the table, and indeed he saw that there was already a marriage annulment certificate on it. After reading it, Ling Zhaowen folded the marriage annulment certificate and sealed it inside an envelope. After sealing the envelope, he affixed a seal in the joint.

"Dad, why don't we let the butler to do this thing?" Ling Zhaowen said.

Ling Xingzhong thought for a while, "Alright, then let him do."

Ling Zhaowen walked to the door of the study, called for the butler, and ordered him to do this task.

The butler replied, "Master and Second Master, please rest assured, I will definitely complete this task well and deliver the envelope to Yuwen Clan. It's just that there are still some matters in the official residence, so I have to make some arrangements. Also, the matter that Your honor asked me to observe servants in the residence yesterday … "

The butler did not know what was inside the envelope and did not ask further.

"You just have to go and make the arrangements. I'll come personally to observe the servants." Ling Xingzhong said.

"Then I will go and make the arrangements. I will look for second Master at the yamen in two hours." The butler said.

Ling Zhaowen nodded: "Go."

After the butler left, Ling Zhaowen took the envelope to the yamen.

In his own courtyard, Ling Zhang soon received a clear answer from Ling Xingzhong.

Knowing that the marriage annulment certificate was about to be sent to the capital, Ling Zhang heaved a sigh of relief. A feeling of depression seemed to have finally evacuated.

He knew that if he used it well, that marriage contract could bring some benefits to the Ling Family, but he wasn't willing to do that. He just wanted to end it quickly.

He hoped that this marriage annulment certificate would successfully reach the capital.