C40

"A Da, don't jostle anymore. If you jostle any more, I won't be able to see." Ling Maomao stood in front of the stall that was sculpting dough figurines, and stared fixedly at the stall owner who was sculpting dough figurines. The big dog A Da was squeezed beside him, staring at it with interest as well, and its tail was wagging wildly.

Ling Zhang held a bunch of candied fruits in his left hand and also his right hand as he helplessly looked at the figures of Ling Maomao and A Da. When they walked out of the house, they looked like birds that had released from the cage, flopping around ferociously, drilling everywhere they went. When they saw anything, they would go over and stare at it closely, and the candied fruits they bought had been just eaten a few did their hearts drift elsewhere.

"Mao Mao, don't use so much strength to break off the stall owner's stall! A Da, you are not allowed to rest your claws on it! "

"Haha, it's alright. My stall is heavy and steady."

The stall owner laughed happily as he sculpted dough figurines while talking to Ling Zhang. The people surrounding his stall were all children, chattering and bustling with noise and excitement.

"Sir, I also want to buy! Sculpt one like me, and another one like my big brother." Ling Maomao said with his eyes shining.

"Alright, alright, alright …" The vendor happily agreed.

Ling Zhang felt a headache coming on. The children around the stall owner were all waiting for the dough figurines. When would it be their turn?

"Mao Mao, don't we still have to go to Fengtai building to eat snacks? If we wait too long, there will be no vacant seats left for us. What about buying a Guan Yunchang and a Zhang Fei?”

Hearing that, Ling Maomao went to look at Guan Yunchang and Zhang Fei, then turned back to look at his brother. Originally, he wanted to insist on letting the stall owner pinch his and his brother's dough figurines, but after seeing his brother's warning look, he swallowed his retorts back and turned his head back to look at Guan Yunchang and Zhang Fei for a good while. His eyes suddenly lit up when he saw the other awe-inspiring dough figurine beside Guan Yunchang, "This, I want this!"

The stall owner found time to look at the figurine Ling Maomao pointed to and laughed: "Young master has good taste, he is the most wise and brillant marshal of our empire, Marshal Yuwen."

"Wow!" Ling Maomao called out in surprise, "Big brother, I want the Marshal Yuwen's dough figurine!"

Ling Zhang:...

Staring at the fugurine said to be Yuwen Tong, his expression changed several times.

"Mao Mao, Guan Yunchang is much more impressive than him. We’ll buy Guan Yunchang."

"But big brother, I want the Marshal Yuwen." Ling Maomao pleaded him with begging eyes.

Ling Zhang started to struggle in his heart. He had already made Mao Mao to give up on the dough figurines of them, he couldn’t even agree to this. Moreover, he did not believe that the stall owner had seen Yuwen Tong, he was only blindly pinching him. It was said that this figurine like Yuwen Tong, but no one knew that who it truely was. So he just bought it.

"Alright, then that's it." Gritting his teeth, Ling Zhang agreed.

Ling Maomao cheered as he took the majestic figurine from the vendor's hands and stared at it lovingly.

Ling Zhang looked at the figurine in disdain and reluctantly paid the bill.

He stared into the eyes of the figure’s face. For some reason, he thought back to that dream he had before leaving the house. The pair of dangerous eyes in that dream immediately appeared in his mind.

Ling Zhang's face darkened. Taking the chance that Ling Maomao did not see it, he glared fiercely at the figurine.

He just went out for a stroll that he would have been able to meet with things related to Yuwen Tong. If he had known earlier, he would have checked the almanac before he had gone out.

"Big brother, aren't we going to the Fengtai building?" Seeing that Ling Zhang did not move for a long time, Ling Maomao reluctantly looked away from the dough figurines and asked Ling Zhang curiously.

"Hey, let's go." Ling Zhang came to his senses and called the A Da to follow them. He brought Ling Maomao, Xia Feng and the others to the Fengtai building.

Arriving at the entrance of Fengtai building, he coincidentally met another familiar person — — Tao Yi.

"Younger Brother Ling." Tao Yi seemed to be pleasantly surprised to see Ling Zhang and came over to greet him, "Hey, this is your cousin Mao Mao, right? I often hear Ling Tongzhi mention him, he is really a smart little kid. "

"It is my cousin. Mao Mao, address him Big Brother Tao." Ling Zhang said.

"Big brother Tao." Ling Maomao greeted him politely, holding the dough figurine in his hand and curiously looked at Tao Yi.

"Brother Tao, you came to the Fengtai building as well?" Ling Zhang asked.

Tao Yi nodded his head, "Today's weather is pretty good, so I come over for a drink, it just so happens that I booked a good table near the window upstairs, let's go up together."

Since he wanted to get closer to Tao Feng, Ling Zhang naturally would not reject Tao Yi's invitation, "Then, as brothers i will not be courteous anymore."

"Of course, there's no need to be courteous to me. Let's go upstairs." Tao Yi said happily.

After going up to the second floor of Fengtai building and finding a good seat beside the window, Tao Yi looked at the figurine that Ling Maomao was holding and asked: "Mao Mao, this figurine of yours is rather impressive."

As if he had found his soulmate, Ling Maomao excitedly said to Tao Yi: "This is Marshal Yuwen!"

Tao Yi became interested, "Oh? No wonder he looks so mighty. Although he doesn't look like the true man, the charm is pretty good. Not bad, not bad at all. Did you buy it from the stall across the way?"

Ling Maomao nodded, and looked at Tao Yi with eyes full of desire to know: "Have you seen Marshal Yuwen?"

Tao Yi proudly raised his chest, "I've met him once."

"What does the Marshal Yuwen look like? Is he brilliant, mighty and awe-inspiring?" Ling Maomao immediately asked.

Tao Yi nodded his head: "Of course, let me tell you, Marshal Yuwen has a powerful and masculine appearance, an imposing manner that is full of daring, not only is he brilliant and wise, he is also extremely handsome, he is the dream-lover of all the girls in the capital."

Ling Maomao listened that he could not even have time to look at the figurine, "Then is Marshal Yuwen really a man of two people’s height?"

Tao Yi laughed out loud, "He is tall, much taller than your big brother and me."

This comparison did not make Ling Zhang happy at all, and even made him feel that it was a little demonic. Could it be that he was destined to not be able to escape the words "Marshal Yuwen" today?

He was unwise in this plan, he had forgotten that Tao Yi was Yuwen Tong's fanatical admirer, he should not have agreed to come up just now!

"Wow, then I also want to grow so tall in the future!" Ling Maomao was excited.

"Mao Mao, you can only grow up to be as tall as me." Ling Zhang said with a darkened face.

You are the descendant of the Ling Family, and you want to grow up as tall as Yuwen Tong? Stop dreaming. Moreover, all of these were just rumors. Yuwen Tong might not even be taller than him.

Ling Maomao was a little disappointed, "Why?"

Tao Yi hurriedly comforted him: "It's alright, you'll grow up to be a very tall man."

Maybe Ling Maomao's admiration for the Marshal Yuwen moved Tao Yi, for this guy actually took the initiative to defend for Ling Maomao.

Ling Zhang's face darkened even further. He wanted to say something, but when he saw Ling Maomao's face that was once again filled with joy, he paused for a moment and did not say anything.

Forget it, it’s Yuwen Tong’s only little use to be able to make Mao Mao happy. In any case, there wouldn't be any relation between them in the future, so there was no need to ruin Mao Mao's mood for this.

Ling Zhang calmed down and called for the waiter in the restaurant to send some snacks, dish to go with wine and a pot of wine upstairs.

Tao Yi was still talking about Yuwen Tong with Mao Mao. Ling Zhang took a look at him, isn’t it said that Yuwen Tong had been at the border trial all year round? Then when did Tao Yi meet Yuwen Tong?

Thinking like this, Ling Zhang asked.

"That was many years ago. At that time, I was rushing to the capital from Tan Yang and met Marshal Yuwen who had just returned from the border. It was just a fleeting glimpse that I couldn’t forget until today.” Tao Yi replied.

Ling Zhang shivered silently. Wasn't this Tao Yi crazy, to actually be able to say such words!

"It's a pity, I haven't seen Marshal Yuwen since then. Marshal Yuwen is at the border all year round, and the few times he went back to the capital were all in a hurry. I wouldn't have the luck to meet him again." Tao Yi said with extreme regret.

"I really also want to see Marshal Yuwen too." Ling Maomao said as well.

Ling Zhang:...

He was slightly jealous in heart. Mao Mao had always worshipped his big brother, but now, when he mentioned Yuwen Tong, he had become like this.

"Mao Mao, I don't recall telling you anything about Yuwen Tong before, where did you hear that from?"

“Teachers in the school said that. My father said it too, and my grandfather, my grandfather's family's cousin also said he wanted to save up money to buy the portrait of the Marshal Yuwen.” Ling Maomao replied.

Ling Zhang's heart was filled with unhappiness, "Mao Mao, it's good enough for you to have a big brother."

Ling Maomao did not understand, but it was actually Tao Yi who sitting from the opposite could not hold back and laughed, "It can't be, Younger Brother Ling, you can't be jealous, right?"

If not for the fact that he had to form good relations with the Perfect Tao, Ling Zhang could have just left with a slap on the table.

Fortunately, at this time, the waiter had brought the snacks and dishes as well as a pot of scalded wine, getting Ling Zhang out of a fix.

"Here's your favorite dessert. Hurry up and eat it." Ling Zhang said to Ling Maomao.

When Ling Maomao saw the snacks he liked to eat, his attention was diverted and he slowly forgot about the Marshal Yuwen.

Tao Yi was still laughing, but seeing that Ling Zhang was a little bit unhappy, he did not mention it again. He changed the topic, talking about the recent events in every families in Tan Yang, especially the movements of the Jia family and the guards of state.

Since they were in a restaurant, he didn't go very deep, but Ling Zhang generally learned from it that Jia family had been dealing frequently with Zhang Chong’s side these past few days. After returning, Jia Zhong frequently went to the State Guard's encampment.

"You guys have to be careful these days." Tao Yi said in the end.

"Thank you, Brother Tao, for your reminder." Ling Zhang said gratefully. He knew that during the period of time that Jia Yuanling had just been imprisoned, Jia family and Zhang Chong would temporarily not take action against Ling family, in order to not be too conspicuous. But after this period of time, they would definitely make their move.

This was also the reason why he was in such a hurry to train his guard.

Nowadays, all the servants in the house had been checked, and his personal attendants were strictly checked as well. The personal items that could prove his identity had been carefully checked and put away, so the matter that his token was stolen probably wouldn't happened like it was in his previous life. However, not until that time, he wasn't sure if there were no mistakes, so he still had to make preparations beforehand.

He had previously told the Second Uncle that he would beat them at their own game, so it was time for him to take action.

After drinking a few cups of wine with Tao Yi, Ling Zhang brought Ling Maomao and the others and went back home. He gave the things he bought to Xia Feng to tidy up while he went to Ling Zhaowen's courtyard to look for Fu Caiwei in order to check the list of guards in the courtyard. Since he was preparing to train the guards, he had to start choosing the manpower he had.